µEVR^ ;¶\YR_U¶ UZU h`_UVcd Z_ DeReV+ 4> - Daily Pioneer

16
T he Union Cabinet on Friday approved amend- ments to strengthen the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and included the death penal- ty for “aggravated” sexual assault on children, besides providing stringent punishments for other crimes against those below 18 years of age. Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said children should be protected from sexual offences and the modification is made to address the need for stringent measures required to deter the rising trend of sex- ual abuse of children in the country. “This is a wholesome ini- tiative whereby the entire POCSO architecture is not only strengthened but also enlarged so that artificial med- icines or hormones could not be abused to kill the childhood of a child. An unfortunate thing was going on in the country, that children were being administered hormones to make them artificially majors, said Prasad. Addressing the media here on decisions taken in the Union Cabinet meeting, Prasad said the amendments to Sections 4, 5, 6, 9, 14, 15 and 42 of the POCSO Act 2012 are made to address child sexual abuse in an appropriate manner. Sections 4, 5 and 6 of the Act are proposed to be amend- ed to provide the option of stringent punishment, includ- ing the death penalty, for com- mitting aggravated penetra- tive sexual assault on a child. These amendments are aimed at discouraging the trend of child sexual abuse by acting as a deterrent, he said. The Act defines child as any person below the age of 18 years. It is a gender-neutral leg- islation, said the statement issued later. The amendments are also proposed to the Section 9 of the Act to protect children from sexual offences in times of natural calamities and disasters and in cases where children are administered, in any way, any hormone or any chemical sub- stance to attain early sexual maturity for the purpose of penetrative sexual assault, it said. Sections 14 and 15 of the POCSO Act are also proposed to be amended to address the menace of the child pornogra- phy. It is proposed to levy fine for not destroying or deleting or reporting the pornograph- ic material involving a child, the statement said. The offender can be fur- ther penalised with jail term or fine or both for transmitting, propagating, administrating such material in any manner except for the purpose of reporting as may be prescribed and for use as evidence in court. “Penal provisions have been made more stringent for storing/possessing any porno- graphic material in any form involving a child for commer- cial purpose,” the official state- ment said. Prasad said, “The modifi- cation is made to address the need for stringent measures required to deter the rising trend of child sex abuse in the country.” A day after the Lok Sabha passed the Triple Talaq Bill with some contentious penal provisions for the desert- er husband, the Opposition seemed to be united to stall it in the Upper House. The Opposition has accused the Government of indulging in vote bank politics and demanded that the Bill be referred to a joint select com- mittee. According to sources, Opposition parties will meet to devise their strategy to block the Bill in the Rajya Sabha on Monday when it is likely to come up for consideration. Sources said all Congress members in the Rajya Sabha would meet in Parliament on Monday morning, ahead of the start of House proceedings, to evolve its strategy on the Bill. The numbers are tilted in favour of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, where the UPA has 112 members and the NDA 93. One seat is vacant. The remaining 39 members of other parties are unattached to either NDA or UPA and are likely to play an important role in the passage of the contentious Bill. The Government had not agreed to the Opposition demand for sending the earli- er Bill to the select committee, when it was brought before the House in the Monsoon Session of Parliament. I ndia will send a three-mem- ber team to space for seven days as part of the Gaganyaan project which will entail a cost of 10,000 crore. The ambitious project, which was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech, was approved by the Union Cabinet in its meeting on Thursday night. If successful, India will become the fourth country in the world to send a manned mission to the outer space. So far only the USA, Russia and China have send manned mis- sion in the outer space. Briefing about the out- come of the Cabinet meeting, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the Gaganyaan Mission is expected to be undertaken by 2022 and India has already inked pacts with Russia and France for assis- tance in the ambitious project. The testing for the mission will start in December 2020. “A human rated GSLV Mk- lll will be used to carry the orbital module which will have necessary provisions for sus- taining a 3-member crew for the duration of the mission. The necessary infrastructure for crew training, realisation of flight systems and ground infrastructure will be estab- lished to support the Gaganyaan programme. ISRO will collaborate extensively with national agencies, laboratories, academia and industry to accomplish the Gaganyaan pro- gramme objectives,” said the Government in a statement. The total fund require- ment for the Gaganyaan pro- gramme is within 10,000 crore which includes cost of tech- nology development, flight hardware realisation and essen- tial infrastructure elements. Two unmanned flights and one manned flight will be undertaken as part of Gaganyaan programme. Gaganyaan programme will be a national effort in col- laboration with industry, acad- emia and other scientific agen- cies and laboratories as stake holders along with ISRO. ISRO will be responsible for realising the flight hardware through industry. National agencies, labora- tories and academia will par- ticipate in crew training, human life science technology development initiatives as well as design reviews. First human space flight demonstration is targeted to be completed with- in 40 months from the date of sanction. Prior to this, two unmanned flights in full com- plement will be carried out to gain confidence on the tech- nology and mission manage- ment aspects, said the statement. C ome Lok Sabha polls, the BJP will remove the age-bar on contesting and holding polit- ical posts as two of its prominent women leaders Sushma Swaraj and Uma Bharti have suo moto announced their intention to not contest and Speaker Sumitra Mahajan may be opting out of the poll. The post-2014 victory in the Lok Sabha polls led the BJP to re-write rules of the games for the party members which included retirement from active politics after 75 and diminish- ing chances of getting party tick- ets after reaching 70. The for- mation of Margdarshak Mandal in August, 2014, to accommo- date aged veterans like LK Advani and MM Joshi had raised many eyebrows even as they also did not find seat in BJP’s Parliamentary Board, the all powerful decision-making body of the party. All that may change now with the onset of the election season. The BJP sees age 75 with no-bar for con- testing Lok Sabha polls, sources in the party said. As the com- ing poll turning out to be a keen contest, the party would put premium on winning the seat rather than allowing “youthful experiment” a chance. The age flexibility in the candidates selection for the Lok Sabha may thus see many ‘seniors’ allowed to contest, if they are wanting to throw their hat in the ring again. D eputy Commissioner, Dumka, Mukesh Kumar launched the phase two of ‘Jal hai Jahaan hai’ here on Thursday. The project has been designed to boost rural econ- omy in the district. He launched the project with beginning of construction work of tube well. Kumar said that the project will give a boost to the farmers. He said that this well will prove to be a boon once again for the farmers fighting from the Sunderda. He said that the construction of tube well will be completed. He said that the beneficiaries would not have to run round the block office for the amount of tube well con- struction. It is said that under ‘Jal hai Jahaan hai’ 20 feet wide and 30 feet deep tube well is being con- structed. He also said that a vegetable market will be con- structed at Saraiyahat's Hansdihah. Farmers will face no problem in selling the veg- etable like potatoes, tomatoes, peas, brinjals to the farmers. The outside traders will come and buy the vegetables in good prices. DDC Varun Ranjan said that tube well will not be lim- ited to the cultivation of paddy and wheat but also cultivation of vegetables and fruits. Under the leadership of Mukesh Kumar, the layout of the tube well was prepared for beneficiary Dhanraj of Bhelwadangal village. On the occasion, the trainee IAS Shashi Prakash initiated excavation with the hoe. A large number of rural women and men were present on the occasion. At the same time, the BDO of Sariyahat Mukesh Manjhi also gave assurance to support the ben- eficiaries while giving infor- mation about the scheme. In the program, five bene- ficiaries were given an approved letter for making tubewell Dhanraj, Ganesh Ram, Inspector Kunwar, Shivshankar Kunwar and Balram Kunwar. In the first phase of the project 1100 irrigation wells will be constructed. The district administration started this scheme to provide irrigation facilities to the mid- dle class farmers. Farmers are expected to get help for cultivating vegetables, fruits and flowers. DC Mukesh Kumar said that due to the onset of this scheme the agri- cultural production of the farmers will increase and their income will also increase. Irrigation facility will be pro- vided. Deputy Development Commissioner Varun Ranjan said that the cultivation of vegetables, fruits and flowers by farmers on irrigated land will increase the income of farmers in one year to 1.5 crore rupees. Rural economy will improve. C hief Minister Raghubar Das today gave credit of all the accomplishments of the Government in the last four years to ‘Team Jharkhand’ that he said comprises the State Cabinet Ministers, Government officials and employees alongwith others, who directly or indirectly helped the Government to tread the path of development. The Chief Minister addressing a press conference her on Friday on the comple- tion of four years of Government in the State said that stability is a must for development as in a coalition politics ‘Sushasan’ (good gov- ernance) takes a back seat and it was his government, which in its four years of rule has man- aged to convert ‘Kushasan’ (poor-governance) into ‘Sushasan’ and bring out a pos- itive image of Jharkhand which was earlier known for its scams and Maoists menace. Das announced to launch Chief Minister Sukanya Scheme from January 2019. Under this scheme incentive of Rs. 5000 will be given on the birth of a daughter to her mother through DBT. Similarly on enrollment in standard 1, 5, 8, 10, 12, an incentive amount of Rs. 5000 will be given. Incentive will be given again of worth Rs 10,000 if the girl remains unmarried till the age of 18. In addition to that girl will get assistance of Rs. 30,000 for marriage of a daughter under Chief Minister Kanyadan Scheme. Incentive from government will be sent directly to beneficiaries account. It will help to remove child marriages and encourage the studies among the girls. The CM said that not a sin- gle allegation of scam or cor- ruption has been leveled against his government. He said that it was due to the strong government even the security personnel are willing to work in difficult terrains and it is due to their efforts that naxalism is counting its last breaths in the State and point- ed that peace was must to make sure that development goes on in an uninterrupted pace. Das said that through the Sakhi Mandals the women of the state especially those in the rural areas are being made entrepreneurs and under the Ujjwala Yojana they have been provided 47 lakh gas connec- tions while another 13 lakh women would be getting the connections by March. Similarly Jharkhand is the only state in which property in the name of the women is being registered at just Re 1 which is also a major step towards eco- nomic empowerment. The CM said that in these four years the focus of his government has been on agri- culture and rural development as the government is of the view that the State can only progress if the villages are developed. Pointing other key achievements he said that the length of rural roads and NHAI has been doubled in the while funds from District Mining Fund are being used to provide clean drinking water in the vil- lages. Adding further he said that so far 32 per cent villages have been provided access to pure drinking water through pipelines and a special provi- sion would be made in the bud- get so that all the villages of the state get pure drinking water through pipelines by the year 2022 while homes to homeless poor in urban and rural areas will be provided by the year 2020. Adding to that he said in January itself work would com- mence to build 27000 homes in Ranchi. Das said that another key area of focus in these years has remained the skill develop- ment of the youth and no one can find many job opportuni- ties in the State. He said that on January 10, appointment letters will be distributed among 1 lakh youth. He said that the govern- ment was working on the mantra of Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas and working to protect the rights of the poor, tribals, backwards and has ushered in schemes to bring changes in their lives and pointed that through his various ‘Jan-chau- pals’ he has come to notice that tribals of the state have now become aware about develop- ment. The CM also sought for- giveness from the masses and said that in these four years if any mistake has been commit- ted by him then he seeks for- giveness as after realizing the flaws the government has went on to correct the same in the interest of the people of Jharkhand. He also launched the cal- endar, dairy and telephone directory for the year 2019 and extended his greetings to the people for the upcoming New Year. Those present on the occasion included Cabinet ministers Amar Kumar Bauri, C P Singh, Ramchandra Chandravanshi, Randhir Singh, Louis Marandi and Raj Paliwar. Also present were Chief Secretary Sudhir Tripathi Development Commissioner Dr D K Tiwari, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Sunil Kumar Barnwal and other senior police and admin- istrative officials.

Transcript of µEVR^ ;¶\YR_U¶ UZU h`_UVcd Z_ DeReV+ 4> - Daily Pioneer

����� ��������

The Union Cabinet onFriday approved amend-

ments to strengthen theProtection of Children fromSexual Offences (POCSO) Actand included the death penal-ty for “aggravated” sexualassault on children, besidesproviding stringent punishments for other crimesagainst those below 18 years ofage. Law Minister Ravi ShankarPrasad said children should beprotected from sexual offencesand the modification ismade to address the need for

stringent measures requiredto deter the rising trend of sex-ual abuse of children in thecountry.

“This is a wholesome ini-tiative whereby the entirePOCSO architecture is notonly strengthened but alsoenlarged so that artificial med-icines or hormones could notbe abused to kill the childhoodof a child. An unfortunatething was going on in thecountry, that children were

being administered hormonesto make them artificiallymajors, said Prasad.

Addressing the media hereon decisions taken in the UnionCabinet meeting, Prasad saidthe amendments to Sections 4,5, 6, 9, 14, 15 and 42 of thePOCSO Act 2012 are made toaddress child sexual abuse in anappropriate manner.

Sections 4, 5 and 6 of theAct are proposed to be amend-ed to provide the option ofstringent punishment, includ-ing the death penalty, for com-

mitting aggravated penetra-tive sexual assault on a child.These amendments are aimedat discouraging the trend ofchild sexual abuse by acting asa deterrent, he said.

The Act defines child asany person below the age of 18years. It is a gender-neutral leg-islation, said the statementissued later.

The amendments are alsoproposed to the Section 9 of theAct to protect children fromsexual offences in times ofnatural calamities and disastersand in cases where children areadministered, in any way, anyhormone or any chemical sub-stance to attain early sexualmaturity for the purpose ofpenetrative sexual assault, it

said.Sections 14 and 15 of the

POCSO Act are also proposedto be amended to address themenace of the child pornogra-phy. It is proposed to levy finefor not destroying or deletingor reporting the pornograph-ic material involving a child,the statement said.

The offender can be fur-ther penalised with jail term orfine or both for transmitting,propagating, administratingsuch material in any mannerexcept for the purpose ofreporting as may be prescribedand for use as evidence incourt.

“Penal provisions havebeen made more stringent forstoring/possessing any porno-graphic material in any forminvolving a child for commer-cial purpose,” the official state-ment said.

Prasad said, “The modifi-cation is made to address theneed for stringent measuresrequired to deter the risingtrend of child sex abuse in thecountry.”

����� ��������

Aday after the Lok Sabhapassed the Triple Talaq

Bill with some contentiouspenal provisions for the desert-er husband, the Oppositionseemed to be united to stall itin the Upper House.

The Opposition hasaccused the Government ofindulging in vote bank politicsand demanded that the Bill bereferred to a joint select com-mittee.

According to sources,Opposition parties will meet todevise their strategy to blockthe Bill in the Rajya Sabha onMonday when it is likely to

come up for consideration. Sources said all Congress

members in the Rajya Sabhawould meet in Parliament onMonday morning, ahead ofthe start of House proceedings,to evolve its strategy on the Bill.

The numbers are tilted infavour of the Opposition in theRajya Sabha, where the UPAhas 112 members and the NDA93. One seat is vacant. The

remaining 39 members of otherparties are unattached to eitherNDA or UPA and are likely toplay an important role in thepassage of the contentious Bill.

The Government had notagreed to the Oppositiondemand for sending the earli-er Bill to the select committee,when it was brought before theHouse in the Monsoon Sessionof Parliament.

����� ��������

India will send a three-mem-ber team to space for seven

days as part of the Gaganyaanproject which will entail a costof �10,000 crore.

The ambitious project,which was announced byPrime Minister Narendra Modiin his Independence Dayspeech, was approved by theUnion Cabinet in its meetingon Thursday night.

If successful, India willbecome the fourth country inthe world to send a mannedmission to the outer space. Sofar only the USA, Russia andChina have send manned mis-sion in the outer space.

Briefing about the out-come of the Cabinet meeting,Union Minister Ravi ShankarPrasad said the GaganyaanMission is expected to beundertaken by 2022 and Indiahas already inked pacts withRussia and France for assis-tance in the ambitious project.The testing for the mission will

start in December 2020.“A human rated GSLV Mk-

lll will be used to carry theorbital module which will havenecessary provisions for sus-taining a 3-member crew forthe duration of the mission.The necessary infrastructurefor crew training, realisation offlight systems and groundinfrastructure will be estab-lished to support theGaganyaan programme. ISROwill collaborate extensively withnational agencies, laboratories,academia and industry toaccomplish the Gaganyaan pro-gramme objectives,” said theGovernment in a statement.

The total fund require-ment for the Gaganyaan pro-gramme is within �10,000 crorewhich includes cost of tech-nology development, flight

hardware realisation and essen-tial infrastructure elements.Two unmanned flights andone manned flight will beundertaken as part ofGaganyaan programme.

Gaganyaan programmewill be a national effort in col-laboration with industry, acad-emia and other scientific agen-cies and laboratories as stakeholders along with ISRO. ISROwill be responsible for realisingthe flight hardware throughindustry.

National agencies, labora-tories and academia will par-ticipate in crew training,human life science technologydevelopment initiatives as wellas design reviews. First humanspace flight demonstration istargeted to be completed with-in 40 months from the date ofsanction. Prior to this, twounmanned flights in full com-plement will be carried out togain confidence on the tech-nology and mission manage-ment aspects, said the statement.

����������� �� ��������

Come Lok Sabha polls, theBJP will remove the age-bar

on contesting and holding polit-ical posts as two of its prominentwomen leaders Sushma Swarajand Uma Bharti have suo motoannounced their intention tonot contest and Speaker SumitraMahajan may be opting out ofthe poll.

The post-2014 victory inthe Lok Sabha polls led the BJPto re-write rules of the games forthe party members whichincluded retirement from activepolitics after 75 and diminish-ing chances of getting party tick-ets after reaching 70. The for-mation of Margdarshak Mandalin August, 2014, to accommo-date aged veterans like LKAdvani and MM Joshi hadraised many eyebrows even asthey also did not find seat inBJP’s Parliamentary Board, theall powerful decision-makingbody of the party. All that maychange now with the onset ofthe election season. The BJPsees age 75 with no-bar for con-testing Lok Sabha polls, sourcesin the party said. As the com-ing poll turning out to be a keencontest, the party would putpremium on winning the seatrather than allowing “youthfulexperiment” a chance.

The age flexibility in thecandidates selection for the LokSabha may thus see many‘seniors’ allowed to contest, ifthey are wanting to throw theirhat in the ring again.

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

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

������������� �����������

������������������ � ��!"��#$!��

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

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

������������������ �������

����� ���

Deputy Commissioner,Dumka, Mukesh Kumar

launched the phase two of ‘Jalhai Jahaan hai’ here onThursday. The project has beendesigned to boost rural econ-omy in the district. Helaunched the project withbeginning of construction workof tube well.

Kumar said that the projectwill give a boost to the farmers.He said that this well willprove to be a boon once againfor the farmers fighting fromthe Sunderda. He said that theconstruction of tube well willbe completed. He said that thebeneficiaries would not have torun round the block office forthe amount of tube well con-struction.

It is said that under ‘Jal haiJahaan hai’ 20 feet wide and 30feet deep tube well is being con-structed. He also said that avegetable market will be con-structed at Saraiyahat'sHansdihah. Farmers will faceno problem in selling the veg-

etable like potatoes, tomatoes,peas, brinjals to the farmers.The outside traders will comeand buy the vegetables in goodprices.

DDC Varun Ranjan saidthat tube well will not be lim-ited to the cultivation of paddyand wheat but also cultivation

of vegetables and fruits.Under the leadership of

Mukesh Kumar, the layout ofthe tube well was prepared forbeneficiary Dhanraj ofBhelwadangal village. On theoccasion, the trainee IAS ShashiPrakash initiated excavationwith the hoe.

A large number of ruralwomen and men were presenton the occasion. At the sametime, the BDO of SariyahatMukesh Manjhi also gaveassurance to support the ben-eficiaries while giving infor-mation about the scheme.

In the program, five bene-

ficiaries were given anapproved letter for makingtubewell Dhanraj, GaneshRam, Inspector Kunwar,Shivshankar Kunwar andBalram Kunwar.

In the first phase of theproject 1100 irrigation wellswill be constructed.

The district administrationstarted this scheme to provideirrigation facilities to the mid-dle class farmers.

Farmers are expected to gethelp for cultivating vegetables,fruits and flowers. DC MukeshKumar said that due to theonset of this scheme the agri-cultural production of thefarmers will increase and theirincome will also increase.Irrigation facility will be pro-vided.

Deputy DevelopmentCommissioner Varun Ranjansaid that the cultivation ofvegetables, fruits and flowers byfarmers on irrigated land will increase the income offarmers in one year to 1.5crore rupees. Rural economywill improve.

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

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

����� � ���

Chief Minister RaghubarDas today gave credit of all

the accomplishments of theGovernment in the last fouryears to ‘Team Jharkhand’ thathe said comprises the StateCabinet Ministers,Government officials andemployees alongwith others,who directly or indirectlyhelped the Government totread the path of development.

The Chief Ministeraddressing a press conferenceher on Friday on the comple-tion of four years ofGovernment in the State saidthat stability is a must fordevelopment as in a coalitionpolitics ‘Sushasan’ (good gov-ernance) takes a back seat andit was his government, which inits four years of rule has man-aged to convert ‘Kushasan’(poor-governance) into‘Sushasan’ and bring out a pos-itive image of Jharkhand whichwas earlier known for its scamsand Maoists menace.

Das announced to launchChief Minister SukanyaScheme from January 2019.Under this scheme incentive ofRs. 5000 will be given on thebirth of a daughter to hermother through DBT. Similarlyon enrollment in standard 1, 5,8, 10, 12, an incentive amountof Rs. 5000 will be given.Incentive will be given again ofworth Rs 10,000 if the girlremains unmarried till the ageof 18. In addition to that girlwill get assistance of Rs. 30,000for marriage of a daughter

under Chief MinisterKanyadan Scheme. Incentivefrom government will be sentdirectly to beneficiariesaccount. It will help to removechild marriages and encouragethe studies among the girls.

The CM said that not a sin-gle allegation of scam or cor-ruption has been leveledagainst his government. Hesaid that it was due to thestrong government even thesecurity personnel are willingto work in difficult terrains andit is due to their efforts thatnaxalism is counting its lastbreaths in the State and point-ed that peace was must tomake sure that developmentgoes on in an uninterruptedpace.

Das said that through theSakhi Mandals the women ofthe state especially those in the

rural areas are being madeentrepreneurs and under theUjjwala Yojana they have beenprovided 47 lakh gas connec-tions while another 13 lakhwomen would be getting theconnections by March.Similarly Jharkhand is the onlystate in which property in thename of the women is beingregistered at just Re 1 which isalso a major step towards eco-nomic empowerment.

The CM said that in thesefour years the focus of hisgovernment has been on agri-culture and rural developmentas the government is of theview that the State can onlyprogress if the villages aredeveloped.

Pointing other keyachievements he said that thelength of rural roads and NHAIhas been doubled in the while

funds from District MiningFund are being used to provideclean drinking water in the vil-lages.

Adding further he saidthat so far 32 per cent villageshave been provided access topure drinking water throughpipelines and a special provi-sion would be made in the bud-get so that all the villages of thestate get pure drinking waterthrough pipelines by the year2022 while homes to homelesspoor in urban and rural areaswill be provided by the year2020. Adding to that he said inJanuary itself work would com-mence to build 27000 homes inRanchi.

Das said that another keyarea of focus in these years hasremained the skill develop-ment of the youth and no onecan find many job opportuni-

ties in the State. He said that onJanuary 10, appointment letterswill be distributed among 1lakh youth.

He said that the govern-ment was working on themantra of Sabka Saath SabkaVikas and working to protectthe rights of the poor, tribals,backwards and has ushered inschemes to bring changes intheir lives and pointed thatthrough his various ‘Jan-chau-pals’ he has come to notice thattribals of the state have nowbecome aware about develop-ment.

The CM also sought for-giveness from the masses andsaid that in these four years ifany mistake has been commit-ted by him then he seeks for-giveness as after realizing theflaws the government has wenton to correct the same in theinterest of the people ofJharkhand.

He also launched the cal-endar, dairy and telephonedirectory for the year 2019 and

extended his greetings to thepeople for the upcoming NewYear. Those present on theoccasion included Cabinetministers Amar Kumar Bauri,C P Singh, RamchandraChandravanshi, Randhir Singh,Louis Marandi and Raj Paliwar.

Also present were ChiefSecretary Sudhir TripathiDevelopment CommissionerDr D K Tiwari, PrincipalSecretary to Chief MinisterSunil Kumar Barnwal andother senior police and admin-istrative officials.

��������������������������������� !%�&'����(��������������&��������������������)*������ � �

����� � ���

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

"!���� ����������������!���� �#��

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

� ��$�!��������'* �����������*���������������1�������������������$�$����������$� ���%�#����������������������������������*�����������$����������'�� �����-���� '���/��0���������

01�����!�������� &�'����/('��2���!�)������$� ��������

������������� ���

�%�&'#�()

#�.341�#�1�3���#�1�13��� .�3��13�+,56

�"*+*�+�,4�1�� �#� #�3�1� ����3�

�"�&��(-��31� #�7� 1�

� �#1 ����8�#1�1�#1

���������('��2���!�)������2

���� �����55� ���� 9%5: ���#��'�������;�����&� ))!�'��!�

����������� ��������������� ! "� �#�

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

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

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

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

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

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

����������� ������ �������������������� ��������������������������� ������������������������ !"�#�����$�%�����#��������������#���#����&' "!!'�(���!)* " !!* ��&���+������������,-������������������.��������������/�������0��������.��������1���-��#���#����23������45�����+����������#�������5�����+�������������#67#�-��38�569:*!!':**) !�#590�6��#6&;"*:*!!'��7#�<#�8�#95��#��;�!!5��+�������%�� ���.��6����+���=���+��� �>����� ������+%�-����>�������������+��$�����0����?�����+6��@�%�����9�� %�.��%�������A����-�6�.0����&;;!!!*������+!;;&"!;;!"BB�������������?�����+C& ;�������@�6?70��9���%���6-�&*!; !;�<��������+!;*!&"'D)'!!>"'D))!!�������.?�����+"��C���������������-�������C�E �#���������.**@!;@�(���������+!B**&* "@"" �* "@"""�* "@""B�

#�+� "�,�� #����� �13�. �$

The Water Resources depart-ment, which is the user

agency of the Mandal dam, haswashed its hands of Laat groupof villages, if and when sluicegates are installed in this dam.

Aftab Alam, executiveengineer of irrigation officehere in Daltonganj, said, “Thereare 13 villages in Laat group.Our department has rightfullydropped this group of Laat vil-lages from our project of theMandal dam.

This group of villages is notgoing to be affected by theinstallation of gates in the dam.”Alam said there will be no sub-mergence and so there will beno relocation and rehabilitationin the wake of any displacement.Similarly two other villagesGaree and Kaer close toNational Park Betla are too faroff from any impact of thedam once gates are installed.

Sources said there is a sud-den spurt in the activities relat-

ed to the Mandal dam as PrimeMinister Narender Modi is dueto arrive here in Jharkhand onJanuary 5. Sources said there isan undercurrent that PM’s visitwould mean a big thrust for theMandal dam lying in limbo overthe last 38 to 40 years or so.

The dam in all these yearsis without any sluice gate and ifall goes well by the plan thenthere will be four gates that areto be installed in this dam witha full reservoir level height ofjust 341 meter now.

Mandal dam comes underChatra Lok Sabha constituency

while it falls under Latehar dis-trict. On Friday Chief EngineerMukesh Kumar, executive engi-neer Aftab Alam and host ofother senior officials made a tripto Mandal dam.

Sources said the 22 kilo-meter stretch of metallic roadfrom Barwadeeh to Mandaldam has been handed down toPWD road for its strengthening,widening and better black top-ping said executive engineerAlam who said, “ Our depart-ment has urged PWD road o dothis on their own.”

However, sources said hereon this stretch of 22 Kms therecomes as many as 5 to 8 Kmswhich fall under forest divisionand here again there is theglitch of forest clearance for thestrengthening widening andblack topping of this road.Sources said the forest clearancefor this stretch of road which isvery vital may not linger thistime following central govern-ment’s high pursuance of thisdam.

"!��.���������������������������!���� ����

����� $ �#�����

Domuhani bridge overSubernarekha river linking

Sonari to Dobo in Chandil isset to miss its December 31deadline .

According to information,the 7.7-km-long approach roadfrom Dobo to Kanderbera inChandil is likely to take anoth-er one month, the under con-struction roundabout onKadma-Sonari Marine Drivewill take another 15 days or so.

The construction of the252m bridge linking Sonarilocality in the steel city toDobo at Chandil in adjoiningSeraikela-Kharsawan districthad started in December 2015with a target of getting com-

pleted in 24 months. Thoughthe bridge was completed intime, but work for the con-struction of 7.7 kms-longapproach road could not becompleted though additionone year time has elapsed.

Aimed at easing trafficcongestion in the steel city, theDomuhani bridge is being setup by Road ConstructionDepartment's (RCD)Jamshedpur division.

The bridge was construct-ed by the Kolkata-based com-pany, Royal Infratech, where asthe approach road connectingDobo to Kanderbera on NH-33is being constructed by RCD,Seraikela division.

Executive engineer, RCD,Seraikela, Dinesh Kumar Rajaksaid the construction ofapproach road was going on infull swing and it would havebeen completed by the end ofthis year. The new bridge inriver Subernarekha linking

Sonari with Dobo in theadjoining Seraikela-Kharsawandistrict is being set up at a costof Rs 41 crores. The foundationstone for the ambitious projectwas laid by chief ministerRaghubar Das on March 13,leading the Kolkata-based con-struction agency, RoyalInfratech Pvt Ltd to go aheadwith the construction work.

The project assumes sig-

nificance as the commissioningof the bridge would reduce toload of heavy traffic on cityroads and in the process reducetraffic congestion and roadmishaps on city arteries andalso reduce travel time fromJamshedpur to Ranchi by near-ly 40 minutes.

The 252-meter long four-lane bridge (dual-carriageway)with each carriageway of near-

ly 8.5 meters and pedestrianpathway on each flanks of 1.5meters will have the Sonariside of the proposed bridgereaching out to Swarn Viharand the Chandil side will con-nect to a village called Dobo.From Dobo, an approach road(nearly 6 km) will be con-structed which would will leadto Kanderbera(near Chandil)and then meet NH-33.

Once the bridge gets oper-ational, the distance betweenChandil from Jamshedpur willreduce by about 30 kms as thecommuters will not have to goto Chandil -- the route forgoing to Ranchi -- via DimnaChowk.

About 10,000 vehicles,including trucks, trailers andcar move toward Chandil fromJamshedpur via Dimna Chowkon the NH-33 for the destina-tion like Chandil, Chowka andRanchi beside other places inBihar.

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

(���'���+���&������������������

����� .����

In a joint operation of Giridih Police and StateExcise today illicit liquor worth Rs 72 lakh was

confiscated from Chatro area on Giridih-TundiRoad within limits of Muffasil police station in

Giridih district. “Aninformer had messaged SP,Giridih Surendra KumarJha that there was illicitliquor stocked in a house inChatro village,” said SDPO,Jit Wahan Oraon of Giridih.

Sources said that whenthe police team alongwithState excise officials visitedthe area, it found 1600 car-tons of illicit liquor whichwere confiscated. Thehouse owner, DablooMandal, managed to flee

from the spot, added the SDPO. After seeing thepolice five or six persons who were present onthe spot managed to flee.

The smugglers were planning to take theillicit liquor to either Bihar or Bengal viaDhanbad, sources added.

��&��������*������������������,������ �����'

����� 7���3�

ARenault Kwidcar caught

fire on Phusro-Jainamore roadon Friday after-noon. The ownerjumped out of hismoving car tosave his life. Thedriver also ran offas soon as theincident tookplace, police said.

According topolice the car keptmoving like a fireball across thePhusro-- Jainamore road andcould be seen from a mile away.The vehicle even hit a motor-bike during overtaking nearKhutri village near PolytechnicCollege at Jainamore area anddragged it a few meters.

Sources said that car driver

initially jumped out of the carto save himself and later ranbehind his car, only to find itoverturned after 30 meters.The unmanned vehicle finallystopped after moving somedistance and caught fire.Reason for this incident isunknown.

-� ��&�������'��������+����

��� � $ �#�����

Imagine sitting in sprawlingnatural environs facing the

sea and having multi cuisinefood and celebrating marriageor birthday party or say kittyparty. The wait of the denizensto enjoy their life or celebratetheir events at spot all themore idyllic, is seems to beover.

Denizens of the Steel Citycan look forward to enjoy awide range of delicacies servedup with a smile at Up &Above,a premium multi cuisinerestaurant that has been inau-gurated at Bindal Mall, MarineDrive in Sonari. SubodhKumar, ADM, law and Orderinaugurated the new restaurant.

Situated on the fourth andfifth floor of Bindal Mall, Up&Above is a complete familyrestaurant offering a variety ofdelicacies along with widerange of mock tails. The seafacing restaurant gives anappealing view.

Its lounge has sitting capac-ity 85 persons while the restau-rant has 70 persons and therooftop is 80-seater. It also hasfacility of pool for the young-sters to spend their time inleisure. There is also specialparking arrangements for the

visitors.The partners of newly

inaugurated restaurant, AkashAgarwal and Amitesh Narayansaid that it will be one of thefew awesome locations in thecity where you can enjoy yourfeats and dine together withfamily and friends.

Agarwal said that they havedecided to make specialarrangements for 31stDecember night. A live musicband will perform on NewYear ’s Eve along with specialdelicacies will be served.

The restaurant specialises

in variety of delicacies to addspice in your life. If you are oneof those foodies who enjoyauthentic food, Up & Above isthere to satisfy your tastesbuds. The restaurant boasts oftrained chef to serve food inauthentic tastes. A variety ofmouthwatering cuisines willmake you come here again andagain.

“You get authentic, tastyfood in sizeable portions. At aprice that is affordable. If youlike vegetarian food, both qual-ity and quantity will always loveto dine here,” noted Agarwal.

) � �)*������)����� �&������������������������ ��������� ���

#)�'��!������������������&����� �<�����"�

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

1�����������!!��������������� ����������

�!��'������������&��!!����� �!!��������)!������������� �!!����&�����������������������������!!�������������� ������&�!!

�����"����!�"�!���������&*����9=5���������

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

�� !�"#���-�����"�-+����-��� ����� ��.�-�)�� ��� ��������&��"����� ��������������������� �����'�������"�!����������������������� >������!�����8�����(� �&���������� �������?�����

����8����������������)���������&����'��������-����!!�������!�������� (1���)��)�����&������&���������� �������������� ���������&��������������������������&�$���/�����1�������!� ���'���!�?�����������������&�)!�'���!�/��������8�!!@���������@�7��!�@���*�))�@����������@��'(���������'�����������&�&���������� @�����!������'�� �!/�����-#�"�.��!����!�-������(� �!�������������&�'��!��������/�)�������&��'�������'��)�������(�#�������'����������������@�������������������7���@�����@���)��������'(��������!�����*���������.�!��))�����������)����������!����&� ������������'��)�������(�1����������&������-����&���'��)�!������ �������'�!���������!�������������&�)��)!��'����������'�!��(�����������'������&���*�"�#����@�����������-<����*�3������-@��������������#�&���@� ����!���������?������$���/�����8�!�����1������� '�����(

$ �� ���� ������"�-+��� ��� �� �������� 1���5AA�������������"��������&�#���#���#��������"�� ���'�!��������!���&�!!��������/��������������� ���������'������8�����(�4���������@������!� ���@���"�����������*���� ���������&&�����������������)�'��������(� ��������'�������# ����7��"����������������!��)����������#���#���#��������"�B��!�&������������"�������� ��������

��������(�����!����������������������&�#���#�������������������������!��! ���������������������"���������������&�!�&�@�&��������)�'�&�����������!(7������� *������������@�7���������*�"���������������# �������)��������������'������������������(�1����''������ ������'���������)�����'���&�# ������/)�!�����@�# ���� ��������������������(

��� � � ���

The officials of RanchiDistrict administration on

Friday presented a consolidat-ed report of all departmentalprojects, schemes undertakenwithin four years in the StateCapital. With the introduc-tion of schemes like PrimitiveTribal Group (PTG) DakiyaYojana, yellow card for thedifferently-abled persons, spe-cial provision of food distrib-ution for underprivileged,introduction of online systemetc under the food securityscheme in which the Statetouched a new height, the per-formance of Ranchi district hasbeen was commendable.

According to the official ofFood, Public Distribution andConsumer Affairs department,in Ranchi, over 400 PublicDistribution System (PDS)shops was started, providingbenefit to Kerosene oil vendors.

Giving thrust to digitalization,in Ranchi district alone, thedata of 19,87,000 beneficiariesunder the food securityschemes was registeredthrough www.aahar.jhark-hand.gov.in.

Under the PTG ‘DakiyaYojana’, over 390 PTG familiesresiding in nine pockets of theCapital City received the ben-efit. Notably, Jharkhand is thefirst State in the country tointroduce the PTG schemeunder which 35 Kg rice isgiven to the beneficiaries. Inaddition, over 5000 yellowcards were distributed hereamong the specially-abled per-son, starting from July 2018.

Jharkhand rolled out theNational Food Security Act(NFSA) in October 2015, enti-tling 2.33 crore people of thestate’s 3.29 crore population to5 kg rice and wheat everymonth at a subsidised rate ofRe.1.Meanwhile, covering 303

panchayats and different wardsof the Capital City – monitor-ing committees have been con-stituted at the Panchayatsincluding all wards to counterstarvation death cases.

Moreover, in accordance tothe record of the Departmentof Food, Public Distributionand Consumer Affairs, as manyas 4, 55,000 red/yellow card-holders are there in Ranchi. Asper the department officer, thefood distribution rate under the

PDS is 98 per cent here. Inaddition, the officials of SocialWelfare Department stated thatin four years, pre-matric schol-arships was distributed to over10 lakh children of worth Rs.95 crore. Similarly, around twolakh kids were covered in post-matric scholarship of worth Rs.67 crore.

In the fiscal year, 2018-19– as many as 23, 333 kids werecovered under the ‘CycleScheme’ in Ranchi District. In

four years, 77,000 children gotthe benefit of the scheme cov-ering Rs. 25.18 crore. Thesenior officer of Department ofSocial Welfare further pre-senting the bifurcated report ofRanchi district added thatunder the Shaheed GramVikash Yojana scheme, 10, 000houses are being constructed atthe cost of Rs. 4.29 crore.

Further, the official saidthat nearly 107 ‘Sarna- Masna’spots have been revamped in

Ranchi at Rs. 10.6 crore whilein an attempt to link the trib-al and backward groups to themainstream, Women’sPolytechnic College nearRanchi Women’s College willbe started soon. Also, NursingTraining College at Itki is like-ly to get started soon. UnderVan Bandukalyan Yojana(VKY), Rs. 54 lakh has beenspent here.

24 Dhumkuriya Bhawans(Akhras for preservation oftribal cultures) have been sanc-tioned here in the Capital Cityat the cost of Rs. 2.15 crore. Theofficial gave the details of dif-ferent pension schemes. Underthe AIDS pension schemestarted recently, 233 patients sofar in Ranchi district havereceived the benefit under theplan. ADM (Naxal), PoonamJha stated that 38 families ofdeceased killed in naxal attackshave got the compensation asper the guidelines.

#��������������������������������/����

��� � � ���

In a shocking incident, son ofAdditional Sirector General

(ADG) Tadasha Mishraallegedly committed suicideby shooting himself from theservice revolver of a body-guard on Friday afternoon.

Police said that the man(25) was going towards airportto catch a flight to Bangluruwhen he shot at himself aftermoving past the Hinoo roadcrossing. He received two bul-lets and was rushed to theMedica Hospital in grievouscondition but he succumbed tothe injuries on the way.

It is learnt that the deceasedwas studying medical course.

Police said it was investigatingthe case adding that a casewould be registered in thisconnection. The ADG hastaken the body of her son to hernative place in Cuttack.

“It was shocking to hear

that son of one of our seniorofficials has allegedly commit-ted suicide,” said IG AsishBatra. Senior police officialshad also rushed to Medicahospital after receiving infor-mation regarding the incident.

%�#��������������!���������*�����������&��2������������������ �����������������3�'�����������'��/ ��%��������������������������������"�� ���'4�� �����'�� �����-���� ��������� ����

��� � � ���

Taking a serious exception ofCM Raghubar Das’ allega-

tion in Seedhi Baat that BDOsand COs were bringing badname for the government, theJharkhand AdministrativeService Association (JHASA)on Friday stated that blamingthe entire cadre on basis of onecase is not proper from anyangle.

It may be stated here thatduring Seedhi Baat a com-plainant had raised allegationsof corruption against a BDOposted in Giridih district.Reacting to it CM had direct-ed that cases of corrupt BDOsand COs must be sent to anti-corruption bureau after ascrutiny.

Around two dozen JHASAmembers held a meeting to dis-cuss the CM direction atProject building here on Friday.Later, the organisation issuedpress statement informing thatJHASA members have criti-cized the CM statement andhoped that in future no elect-ed representative would raiseallegation against any officerswithout solid proof.

“We have no objection ifthe government takes actionagainst any officials after aproper inquiry,” said the pres-ident of organisation RamKumar Sinha.

JHASA general secretaryYatindra Prasad said that whileofficials were being harassed,their genuine demands havebeen ignored. He pointed outthey have met the CM andsenior government officialsregarding their demands sev-eral times in past.

Among the main demandsof JHASA is removal ofinequity in wages, promotionof BDO’s to the vacant posts ofSDOs and additional collectors,declaration of StateAdministrative Service as pre-mier service, revocation of sus-pension order issued longback, passage of the RevenueAuthorities Protection Act andlinking the block level officialswith the Ayushman Bharatscheme.

JHASA stated that it wouldchalk out an agitation plan ifthe government fails to seri-ously consider their demandsin the first fortnight of January.

��� � � ���

On the occasion of comple-tion of four years of

Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)led government the Congressparty termed the performanceof the government as completefailure on all issues and statedthat the government lying onthe issue of development.

Addressing a press confer-ence on Friday State Congresspresident Ajoy Kumar said,“Even after 70 years of inde-pendence there are cases ofhunger deaths, which havemaligned the image of theState in the country. But onother side the government ispoliticizing the issue which isvery shameful. What is mostagonising is that cases ofhunger death come fromschedule cast and scheduletribes.”

Hitting hard on the gov-ernment Kumar said, “Closingof 5000 schools is biggest mis-take of the government. TheNDA government has not been

able to recruit teachers in theState but it has mitigated theeducation sectors in the villagesby not hearing the voice of parateachers.”

Critisising on the issue ofa large number of job provid-ed by the State government hesaid, “One can’t believe on jobdata provided by Raghubargovernment that 35 lakh gotjob during four years. But it isdefinite that with 3.5 crore

population of the State if 10 percent will get job then not a sin-gle person will unemployedhere. You can ask it on roadsthat the government has givenjob to how many people. Thegovernment claimed that 25thousand people got job inKhel Gaon, Ranchi but maxi-mum of them refuse to joinjobs saying who would go toother city for only Rs 8 thou-sand to Rs10 thousand.”

Speaking on issue of cor-ruption Kumar said, “The gov-ernment is advertising in newspapers that the corruption-free State but when we opensecond page then there isreport that by fake withdraw-al Rs. 18 crore of cheating forpurchasing blanket for poor atthe Governments agency calledJharcraft. In mining scam of Rs.1113 crore involvement of ShahBrothers came to light justsome time earlier.

The situation of law andorder, crime and molestation inJharkhand left other states farbehind. The NCRB report saysthat the State is number one inthe country in poor law andorder situation.

More than 18000 cases ofmurder, abduction molesta-tion are registered in last fouryears. It is announced that theState is Open Defecation Freebut a large numbers of cases offake withdrawal of fund cameto light as only digging pit onthe name of making latrineroom.”

��� � � ���

Agitating para teachersunder different umbrella

organisations of JharkhandPara Teachers Sangh will con-duct a meeting on December30 to chalk out further strate-gy of their ongoing movement.According to the member ofEkikrit Para Sikshak SangharshMorcha (EPSSM), BajrangPrasad, the meeting will beconducted in all the 24 districtsof the State.

“The meeting will be con-ducted under the guidance ofblock heads, general secre-taries including the treasurersto intensify the movementacross the State.

We will keep pushing forour demands until the Stategovernment accepts the pro-posal.

Further, the para-teacherswill discuss the details of theplans outlined during the block

level meet at the State-levelmeeting on January 2. TheState-level meeting will be con-ducted at Ranchi,” said BajrangPrasad.

Notably, the para-teacherassociations on December 27had conducted a meeting withEducation Minister, NeeraYadav, however, the dialoguefailed as the State governmentis not ready to acknowledge thelist of demands of para teach-ers – job regularisation and‘Equal pay for Equal work’.

The para-teachers hadlaunched ‘Ghera Daalo, DheraDaalo’ programme at the resi-dences of BJP ministers, par-liamentarians and legislators topush for their demand fromNovember 25.

Notably, around 67,000para-teachers across the Stateare on an indefinite strike sincemid-October forcing over morethan 12,000 to 14,000 govern-ment schools to shut.

��� � � ���

As the BJP led governmentin the State was busy in cel-

ebrating its four years rule ofgood governance and devel-opment, the principal opposi-tion party Jharkhand MuktiMorcha (JMM) today said thatit is government of hunger, ter-ror and corruption.

Addressing a press confer-ence on Friday, JMM executivepresident and OppositionLeader Hemant Soren said thatat one side the CM ordered forthe scrutinizing of property ofthe COs and BDOs but on theother side the CM has pendingfile of corrupt IAS officersgiven by Central Bureau ofInvestigation. The CM is nottaking any initiative on it, headded. Criticising the Stategovernment on various issuesSoren said, “The governmenthas completely failed in redres-sal of people’s grievances be itthe case of para teachers,MGNREGA staffs, sanitationworker and sevika sahayikaall of them are on road due tobad governance of the Stategovernment.”

Hitting hard on employ-ment issue, Soren said “Toorganise big summits likeMomentum Jharkhand,Agricultural Summit and nowupcoming Skill Summit can’tprovide job for the youths ofthe State. The claim of gov-ernment on job issues is com-pletely false.

As according to the reportof United Nation DevelopmentProgramme, Jharkhand ranked26 positions. Niti Ayog’s worst111 districts of the country 19are from Jharkhand.

The State government isdoing nothing but only cheat-ing the people as all the depart-ments are being involved inonly amassing money.”

“The government hasspent Rs325 crore only inadvertising for various summitsand scheme. In order to do sothe government only busy ingiving shining to faces of theministers.

The government is sayingthat it is spending money tosave culture of the Statethrough improving tourismbut is a big question that howmuch money the governmenthas spent on development of

tourism industry in the State”he further added.

Speaking on the corruptionissue Soren said, “As govern-ment is patting itself for itsdevelopment work in last fouryears all the government is onlyhelp to increase corruption asa numbers of scams came tolight during the Raghubar gov-ernment such as Jharkraftscam, blanket scam, land scam,mining scam and many more.All the leaders of the party areinvolved in land acquiring.They are looting land of trib-als at meager price and givingit to their capitalist friends onhigher price.”

“The government has nomoney to improve electricitycondition and traffic conditionbut it has money to go on for-eign tour like Dubai, Las Vegas,etc” he added.

/�� #����#�� � ���

Christmas is over and itscold and sunny, but the

enthusiasm of people to wel-come the New Year 2019 intheir own style is on the rise inthe last days of the year. Peoplefrom Ranchi living outside areheading home to party andenjoy with family. And. thoseliving in Ranchi are lucky tohave ample amount of spacesavailable for partying and out-door picnic or touring duringthis time of the year.

Several programmes arebeing prganised across the citythis winter to welcome theNew Year. At Radisson Blu, theonly five star hotel of the citypreparations have been madefor the people of Ranchi to setthe dance floor on fire on theDJ night. Unlimited snacks,food , beverages will be servedon actuals.

Entry will be allowed tocouples only and is restrictedfor any guest below the age of18. Entry will be allowed for thefirst 60 couples only.

This venue is priced at Rs799 plus taxes per pay forStarters Package and Rs 1499plus taxes per pax for Starterswith Buffet Dinner Packageand beverages on actual, man-agement officials informed.

Meanwhile, the secondevent is specifically designed tothe needs of couples and fam-ilies. The lobby level has a big-ger menu of foods on offerwhere guests can experiencefun at many stalls & decora-

tions like, The Great KebabFactory, Skylit lounge, andWaterfront café. Entire lobbywill be decorated by use of mas-querades in Desi Vegas Theme.

There will be live foodcounters, a wide array of dish-es and delicacies which includestarters, an island of salads, veg& non-veg main course, andmore than 15 varieties ofdesserts.

Later on in the night dancefloors will be lit on the trendymusical beats played by the DJ.The party entry is limited to 70couples only. Charges are setat RS 9449( per couple) Anyadditional individual accom-panying the couple will have topay an extra INR 5000 extra forfood and beverages. Specialpackage for children betweenthe age group of 08-18 is avail-able at Rs1500 and below 08years will be on complimenta-

ry basis.The 'xtreme sports bar &

grill' is hosting a two day partywhich will begin on the eve of31st December 2018 and willend late in the night of January01, 2019.

The bar has been decorat-ed with neon lightening basedon their themed party ' NEWYEAR EVE (NEON NIGHT)'.With DJ dance floors andgroovy tracks played by DJFlorel and DJ Rishi the peopleof Ranchi can set the floor onfire. The drinks and snacks arefree for the couples whereasvisitors fee will be chargedfrom couples Rs 7000 (percouple).

Whereas at Holiday homewill the party will commenceafter 7 PM . The party is set ona PUNJABI THEME, so peo-ple so people can expect to seefolk bhangra dance, giddha ,

dhol - Nagara and DJ dance .Free drinks and unlimited foodWILL BE offered to everyone.

The place has been set fora family celebration for every-one, though the registrationsare limited to only 500 people.

The first 100 people tobook the tickets may also gethandy gift coupons worth ofthousands. Rs 3999(couples) &Rs 1999(stag) are the applica-ble charges for the entry.

The WINTER GLIT-TER(New year party)at Le LacPortorico Hotel,(Ranchi) willhave many new things to tryand enjoy this year . Specialattraction of the celebration willbe a dance performance by aRussian dancer 'Nadia' and shewill be followed by anotherdance performance by YuvraajDance group.

Later on the anchors willkeep the audiences entertained

by many fun activities andgames set to happen during theoccasion.

More than a hundredtypes of foods & cuisines willbe served and to topple thatbranded drinks are on the listfor the visitors to enjoy the eveof celebration as hard as theywant too.

This time the managementteam of the hotel has ensuredthat even the married couplescan have fun as there will be aseparate section for the kids sothat they as well can enjoy theNew Year while their parentsspend time together.

At midnight when theclock strikes 12, an Air LanternShow has been organised towelcome 2019.

The enjoyments atPortorico will cost INR6000(Per-couple) & Rs 4000(Per-single) for entry.

,�������$$�������$������������������������'�� �������*�����������$���������5� ��� �����-���� ��������� ���

�(�)����!�*&���* ������ %%���&!+ �,

���������������������������������������������$���������$�)�%�+�� �!�� �����������������������'�� �����-���� '���/��0���������

%�#�������������#������������� ��$�����6����*

���������������)4���"�������*�� ��������������������,���� �"���, ���������������"&�+���� �������*�����������$������������*������ ����'�� �����-���� '���/��0��������

������ ��������������������*�������������78

.������/�������������&��������0+(��

� ��� ����&'��&��0������������������1.--

�!!�(9�����#������������:�����,����������*�����������$����������'�� ����-���� ��������� ���

���&��%�"&�,����*&���-���.�$���������/)�������������������������$�&��2�������

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

����� � ���

The Central Government is concernedabout the increase in the death of ele-

phants and other wild animals in recentyears. In order to prevent these accidents,the Regional Office of the Railway is con-tinuously making efforts with the help ofthe Ministry of Environment and Forestsof the Government of India. In a writtenreply to a question raised by MP MaheshPoddar in the Rajya Sabha, the Ministerof State for Railways Rajen Gohain gavethis information.

Gohain said that the number of wild

a n i m a l s ,including ele-phants killedon tracks in theyear 2015, wasincreased to 29in 2016.

This num-ber declinedmarginally in2017 but byNovember of the year 2018, 34 elephantsand other wildlife died due to the accidenton the rail paths.

He said that in order to curb the deathsof wild animals and elephants while cross-ing the tracks, a work plan has been pre-pared by regional railways in collaborationwith the Ministry of Environment and

Forest, which includes imposing speedrestrictions in identified locations, arrang-ing sign mark boards to alert rail enginedrivers about marked elephant corridors,making train crew and station masters sen-sitive on regular basis, cleanliness accord-ing to the requirement of vegetationaround the railway under the railway land,construction of underground routes andramp paths for movement of elephants at marked places; installation offencing at deserted sites and the employ-ees of the forest department have beendeployed in the Railway Control Office tomaintain contact with the Railways and theelephant trackers were deployed by theForest Department to alert the station master and rail engine drivers and taketimely action.

0�.����������.�� �����1������� ������� ������������ ������

����� � ���

South Eastern Railway hasprovided CCTV based

Surveillance system at itsimportant stations to enhancesafety and security of the pas-sengers. Till now, 533 CCTVCameras have been installed atmajor and important stations ofSER to ensure security of thepassengers. The importantstations where CCTV Camerashave been installed areKharagpur, Midnapur,Santragachi, Jhargram, Gidhni,Sardiha, Ranchi, Muri,Tatanagar, Chakradharpur,Jharsuguda, Rourkela,Monoharpur, Goilkera,Jaraikela, Adra, Purulia, BokaroSteel City, Godapiasal, Salboni,Piardoba etc.

CCTV footage is being

monitored round the clockand on getting informationabout any untoward incident,immediate action is taken bythe Task Force/Quick ResponseTeam. Moreover, in some ofthe stations of SER, monitoringhas become possible fromHeadquarters Office alsothrough net connectivity. Toextend top most priority to pas-senger security, regular analy-

sis is being done toidentify the spots,sections, stations andtrains prone to crimeviz. dacoity, snatch-ing, robbery etc.Accordingly, securityarrangements havealso been strength-ened through intenseRPF patrolling toensure safety and

security of the passengers andtheir belongings. This is donein close co-ordination withthe state authority.

Besides, in order to preventcrimes in railway areas andpremises, South EasternRailway has planned to installCCTV Cameras at 33 stationsfrom Nirbhaya Fund. ThisNirbhaya Fund support hasbeen initiated towards pro-

tecting the dignity and ensur-ing safety of women in railwaysby installing CCTV Camerasfor quick response system tocreate deterrence againstcrimes. Rs. 7 crores have beensanctioned to install CCTVCameras covering 33 denselypopulated stations. Till now,CCTV monitoring has beenprovided at Balasore and Dighastations under Nirbhaya Fundand 16 Cameras have beeninstalled at both the stations.

To enhance safety & secu-rity of woman passengers inSER’s suburban sections,CCTV Cameras have beeninstalled in LadiesCompartments of all new rakesof GPS based 3 phase indige-nious EMU trains running insuburban sections ofKharagpur Division.

,('���������������+5����#��������$��������*�����������

����� �3� �� .

DDC Lohardaga R Ronitaon Friday said that all the

Panchayat level schools inLohardaga have zero dropoutswhile 100% villages have elec-tricity. She was addressingmedia persons to tell about theachievements of the State gov-ernment in last four years. Shetold about various completedand ongoing projects in the dis-trict. She said that 1407 PMAYHouses were sanctioned ofwhich 1242 have been com-pleted. To complete this 88%houses under 2014-15 and2015-16 years Rupees 9.87 hasbeen given as help from thegovernment. In 2016-17 and2018-19 7899 PradhanmantriAwas were sanctioned and tillnow 4931 have been complet-ed. She also shared the achieve-ments, details about variousother schemes includingAyushman Bharat, Anganbari,free ambulance services, schol-arship, drinking water facilitiesand uplifting of educationsenhancing basic amenities likebenches and desks.

C�������)�������!!����'�����!�"�!��'���!��

����� � ���

Annual sports meet forsenior and junior wing

students was organised at DelhiPublic School Ranchi onFriday. Chief Guest, Justice SNPathak of Jharkhand HighCourt set ablaze the flame ofsportsmanship and conveyedhis blessings to the students. Hediscussed about the impor-tance of sports and discipline inthe life of a student.

Justice Pathak appreciatedthe immense contribution ofthe institution in the overalldevelopment of the studentsand was really hopeful to wit-ness the students rise high in

their fields. Guest of Honour, Sanjay

Prasad, Principal LawSecretary, Jharkhand Govt.appreciated the facilities pro-vided by the school in thefield of sports.

Principal of the school DrRam Singh took to the podiumto address the students andguests and enlightened themon the need for the holisticdevelopment of children intoday's competitive world.

He also stressed on theimportance of the sports in astudents’ life and explainedthe true meaning of education.It was also announced by himthat in order to broaden thehorizon in the field of sports anew Swimming Pool is comingup in the school and also men-tioned about ‘ToastmasterClub’, which will help the stu-dents, teachers and parents tobecome confident publicspeakers.

The cultural events includ-ed a ground breaking andenergetic performances by thestudents. Zumba dance hasalways been a favourite for allbecause of its rhythm. Further,to instil the sentiments ofnationalism amongst theassembled audience the crowdwitnessed an enthusiastic, yeta solemn dance to the beats ofour National Song “VANDEMATARAM”.

The March past was per-formed. Sutlej house took thehonors of being the best housein March past this year. Varioustrack and field events includingrace, high jumps, long jump,discuss throw etc were held. Itwas spectacular to see the tugof war played between theschool staffs including princi-pal Ram Singh. Parents andstudents looked overjoyed.

The event was attendedby teachers and other staffs ofthe institution.

����� .3�

In a bid to gain the confidenceof the residents of Gomia and

Nawadih blocks, which haveborne the brunt of naxalism,the 26th battalion of theCentral Reserve police Force(CRPF) on Friday distributedblankets, school books, pencils,copies and playing kits amongthe villagers at a function inGomia and Nawadih blocks inBokaro district.

The function organised bythe CRPF has spread a messageof brotherhood and peaceamong the villagers. More than200 villagers, including womenand children, assembled at theground in village at Halwe,Asanapani, Ghosi, Laeyo,

Chilgo, Bagjorba, Argamo,Kharpito and Kurkapania.

Assistant CammandantAshok Kumar Yadav and otherCRPF personnel, police offi-cials distributed blankets,

books, school bags and sportskits (Cricket) under its civicaction programme on thedirection of Bokaro SP KartikS among the needy villagers ofNawadih and Gomia blocks,said sources of CRPF.

Gomia and Nawadih areone of the most extremists hitblocks of Jharkhand and is amajor hideout of the Maoist.But CRPF had organized sev-eral such type of programme ataround the Gomia andNawadih block includingJhumra and also a sports tour-nament including football,cricket and volleyball was orga-nized here by CRPF 26th bat-talion ,in which several youthsof the villages participated.There was a huge gathering ofvillagers to watch the games.

�%�2'������ ����������&������� ����

'�����)!���)��)��������������! �������'�!!���������� �������8����������������&���"��������

'4��,� �!��! �� ������-����� ����0���������

(��%���'�'���������������-���

��,����������'��,��* ����*�� ���������������$���� ����������*�)����,������������*��������'�� �����-���� �3������� ���

%�����������&���� ���������'���������� �'��������'�� �

���������������������������

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

���)*+!%�!*'0�1-���.����#-���+�-#�)�2����-����. ����3������4�1�����"�������.����������������D.�E���������"��=@9,%�*�����!��&��������!�����&�))��"���*�����!�����������F'���&�!�'��������������!����G@�����������&#�����&�������#�������!�#������&������������*���#����(

��� ��� �����)������# �-� �"��������3������4 ������H��;������������ ���������������������������'����&�'�����������������))��������%6%�!��������@��#�&�������#�������!�#������&������������*���#��������8�����(1��������@�5@,5I�'����� ��������������&����������&����������������'����&�'���@�����695�'��������)�����������������������������������>���������#����������������)���������>�������(

-����0!0''��� $�.��)-�+�..-/� ��4�)-����3������4 1��������������� �����&�!!� ���)������"���%@%,,�#'����!��1�����������������������'�����������!���������������@��������!�����������������&�����(�1�������������&�1����! &&�����������'����������)!���������J�������!�8�!!� ���)�����#'��!�����)&�������������'�������&�#1���������-K ������ ��'��I%,�&�!!� ���)������'��!�����)������� �������������������������!�����������"��������K �������� ��&����+,5IH5L(�

����� ��������

The Modi Government onFriday approved new rules

governing India’s coastlineskeeping tourism promotion,employment generation andeconomic development alongwith nature conservation inmind. The new regulationsstipulate a No DevelopmentZone (NDZ) of 20 metres fromthe High Tide Line (HTL) forall islands, but allows tempo-rary tourist facilities on thebeaches, falling under theCoastal Regulation Zone-III,like shacks and changingrooms. The temporary tourismfacilities would, however, haveto be 10m from the High TideLine.

The Union Cabinet chairedby Prime Minister NarendraModi approved the CoastalRegulation Zone (CRZ)Notification, 2018, wherein itdelegated powers to give clear-ances to projects falling inCRZ-II and III at the State levelwith necessary guidance.

“The proposed CRZNotification, 2018 will lead toenhanced activities in the

coastal regions thereby pro-moting economic growth whilealso respecting the conserva-tion principles of coastalregions. It will not only resultin significant employment gen-eration but also to better lifeand add value to the economyof India. The new notificationis expected to rejuvenate thecoastal areas while reducingtheir vulnerabilities,” an officialstatement said.

The CRZ notification waslast reviewed and issued in2011. The move comes in thebackdrop of a series of repre-

sentations received by theEnvironment Ministry fromvarious coastal States/UTs andother stakeholders.

“Temporary tourism facil-ities such as shacks, toiletblocks, change rooms, drinkingwater facilities etc. have nowbeen permitted on beaches.Such temporary tourism facil-ities are also now permissiblein the NDZ of the CRZ-IIIareas as per the Notification.However, a minimum distanceof 10m from HTL should bemaintained for setting up ofsuch facilities,” the statement

said.The notification also

streamlined the process of CRZclearances and only projectslocated in the CRZ-I(Ecologically Sensitive Areas)and CRZ IV (area coveredbetween Low Tide Line and 12nautical miles seaward) willnow be dealt by the UnionEnvironment Ministry forclearance.

“The powers for clearanceswith respect to CRZ-II and IIIhave been delegated at theState level with necessary guid-ance,” the statement said.

“For islands close to themain land coast and for allbackwater islands in the mainland, in wake of space limita-tions and unique geography ofsuch regions, bringing unifor-mity in treatment of suchregions, NDZ of 20 m has beenstipulated,” it added.

All ecologically sensitiveareas have been accorded spe-cial importance and specificguidelines related to their con-servation and managementplans have been drawn up as apart of the notification.

“Pollution abatement hasbeen accorded special focus. Inorder to address pollution inCoastal areas treatment facili-ties have been made permissi-ble activities in CRZ-I B areasubject to necessary safeguards.Defence and strategic projectshave been accorded necessarydispensation,” it said.

According to the state-ment, as per CRZ, 2011Notification, for CRZ-II(Urban) areas, Floor SpaceIndex (FSI) or the Floor AreaRatio (FAR) had been frozen asper 1991 Development ControlRegulation levels.

����� ��������

India for the first time willhost an international level

competition of UnmannedAerial Vehicles (UAV) named“Drone Olympics.’’ It will beheld during the forthcominginternational aerospace exhi-bition Aero India 2019 inFebruary next year atBengaluru. The top three win-ners of the drone competitionwill be honoured with totalcash prize of �38 lakh.Aerospace exhibition will takeplace from February 20 to 24.Prime Minister Narendra Modiis likely to inaugurate it.

Giving details of the uniqueevent, Defence Ministrysources said here on Friday itwill not only encourage theUAV manufacturing in thecountry but will also provide anopportunity to the armed

forces to assess the capabilitiesthat exist in the world.

The market of UAV is oneof the fastest growing in theworld and role of the UAVs indefence sector is ever increas-ing on account of new features

being added to them makingthese machines fit for intelli-gence, surveillance, reconnais-sance, electronic warfare andstrike missions, they said.

As regards the DroneOlympics, officials said it is

open to both Indian and inter-national players. Three cate-gories of events include sur-veillance challenge to deter-mine surveillance capability,supply drop challenge to assessthe weight dropping capabili-ty of the UAV and formationflying challenge to demon-strate different shapes withgroup of UAVs. A newlydesigned webpage waslaunched on Friday for DroneOlympics for registration ofUV players.

On the Aero India 2019event, they said it will be the12th edition of the biennialexhibition. The coming eventwill see Indian origin US astro-naut Sunita William attendingthe show and other womenachievers will also be presentthere, officials said.

For the first time, the coun-try’s civil aviation exhibition

will be subsumed into theupcoming edition of AeroIndia. So far, Aero India hasbeen defence oriented while aseparate civil aviation exhibi-tion was held in Hyderabad.

The biennial Aero Indiabegan in 1996 and has emergedas the largest aerospace exhi-bition in Asia attracting allmajor aerospace manufacturersaround the globe given India’slarge armed forces looking atmajor modernisation.Yelahanka Air Force station inBengaluru has hosted all the 11editions so far. The tag line ofAero India 2019 is “runway fora billion opportunities.” Thelogo is inspired by indigenousLight Combat Aircraft (LCA)Tejas.

Several firsts are planned inthe 12th edition of the showwhich includes a round table ofglobal Chief Executive Officers

(CEO), a student’s event, aca-demic seminars and photogra-phy contests.

The CEOs round table isscheduled on the inauguralday and in which about 15-20CEOs from global aerospacemajors are expected to partic-ipate

Students will be encour-aged to present projects relatedto the industry and is being pro-moted and monitored by theDefence Ministry. A JointSecretary in the ministry isoverseeing the effort, they said.Two international level acade-mic seminars based are alsoplanned.

There will be two photog-raphy competitions, one beforeand one during the event, theofficial said and added thatthere will be two categories, onefor professional and one for thegeneral public.

����� ��������

Concerned over the fall inonion prices, the

Government on Friday dou-bled the export incentive forthe kitchen staple to boostshipments and ensure betterreturns for farmers. At present,onion traders get 5 per centexport incentive on fresh cropunder the Merchandise Exportsfrom India Scheme (MEIS).Commerce Minister SureshPrabhu has sought �179.16crore from the FinanceMinistry to double the incen-tives for onion exporters amidsignificant fall in prices of thevegetable.

Meanwhile, seeking to pro-vide relief to coconut growers,the Cabinet Committee onEconomic Affairs (CCEA) onFriday announced a steep hikein minimum support price ofcopra by up to �2,170 perquintal to �9,521-9,920 for2018-19 season. The MSP(minimum support price) ofball copra has been increasedby �2,170 per quintal to �9,920

per quintal for the 2018-19 sea-son from �7,750 per quintal inthe last year, an official state-ment said. The support price ofmilling copra has been raisedby �2,010 per quintal to �9,521per quintal for the currentyear from �7,511 per quintal inthe last year.

In a communication toFinance Minister Arun Jaitley,Prabhu said the Ministry ofCommerce is keen to increaseexport incentives under MEISfrom 5 per cent to 10 per cent.Under Merchandise Exportsfrom India Scheme (MEIS), thegovernment provides duty ben-

efits depending on productand country.

“The Government todayincreased the export incen-tives under the MEIS fromexisting 5 per cent to 10 percent in the interest of farmers,”an official statement said.

This will result in betterprice for onion in domesticmarkets. Wholesale prices ofonion are ‘subdued’ at presentdue to increase in the arrival ofthe fresh crop in the mandis, itsaid.

“To contain the situation, ithas been decided by the gov-ernment to encourage export of

onions so that the domesticprices stabilise,” the statementsaid. With the current increase,onion enjoys one of the high-est incentives for agro-exports.This timely intervention wouldhelp the farmers who haverecently harvested their pro-duce and who have sowed orrecently planted their seedsand expected better prices, itadded.

In July 2018, theGovernment had introduced 5per cent export incentive forfresh onions.

India’s exports of fresh andchilled onion stood at $256million during April-October2018-19.

It was $511.5 million in2017-18. Good monsoon instates like Karnataka, Gujaratand Madhya Pradesh has led tohuge production of onion,resulting in less demand fromsouth and north region.

Due to this, onion fromMaharashtra has not beentransported to other states,which caused a glut and sharpdecline in prices.

����� ��������

The Union Cabinet onFriday approved the draft

National Commission forIndian Systems of Medicine(NCIM) Bill, 2018, which seeksto replace the existing regula-tor, the Central Council forIndian Medicine (CCIM), witha new body to ensure trans-parency and accountability.

The draft Bill provides forthe constitution of a NationalCommission with fourautonomous boards entrustedwith conducting overall edu-cation of Ayurveda under theBoard of Ayurveda and Unani,Siddha and Sowarigpa underthe Board of Unani, Siddha andSowarigpa.

There are two commonboards namely Board of assess-ment and rating to assess andgrant permission to educa-tional institutions of Indian sys-tems of Medicine and Board ofethics and registration of prac-titioners of Indian systems ofmedicine to maintain National

Register and ethical issues relat-ing to practice under theNational Commission forIndian Medicine, the state-ment stated.

Union Minister RaviShankar Prasad said, “It alsoproposes a common entranceexam and an exit exam, whichall graduates will have to clearto get practicing licenses.Further, a teacher’s eligibilitytest has been proposed in theBill to assess the standard ofteachers before appointmentand promotions.” Till nowthings were adhoc, he added.

Prasad said the govern-ment was committed to pro-mote Indian System ofMedicine, from Ayurveda toSiddha to Unani. “But it isequally important that weremain alive to having valueaddition in terms of eligibility,quality, in terms of having asystem which produces quali-ty practitioners and qualityteachers. It is a major step inthis direction,” he said.

The draft Bill, according tothe statement, is aimed atbringing reforms in the med-ical education of Indian med-icine sector in lines with theNational Medical Commissionproposed for setting up forAllopathy system of medicine.

The proposed regulatorystructure will enable trans-parency and accountability forprotecting the interests of thegeneral public, it said.

The NCIM will promoteavailability of affordable health-care services in all parts of thecountry, according to the statement.

����� ��������

Union Home MinisterRajnath Singh on Friday

informed Lok Sabha that theCentre is committed to demo-cratic process in Jammu &Kashmir, while replying to thedebate on the StatutoryResolution on the imposition ofPresident’s Rule in the troubledstate. The Statutory Resolutionon imposition of President’sRule in Jammu & Kashmir,which requires Parliament’sapproval, was adopted withvoice vote amid din in theHouse. The Opposition termedthe decision to dissolve theAssembly as “unconstitutional”.

Countering the argumentsof the Opposition parties, theHome Minister said that noparty in the Assembly was in aposition to form theGovernment even a day beforethe decision to imposePresident’s Rule. He also reject-ed claims of some Oppositionparties that the BJP was prop-ping up a regional party underthe leadership of Sajjad Lone to

form Government, saying if hisparty had such an intention, itwould have done so within sixmonths of the Governor’s Rule.

“The Government doesn’tconduct elections but theGovernment is ready for elec-tion. It is the responsibility ofthe Election Commission tohold elections... We are totallycommitted to democraticprocess,” he said. The Ministerassured the House that securi-ty requirement of the ElectionCommission will be met forfree and fair Assembly electionin the State.

Soon after imposition ofthe Governor’s Rule in June,Singh said, the Governor’s

report of June 19 to thePresident indicated that noparty or coalition of parties inthe state was in a position toform government. TheStatutory Resolution will nowgo to Rajya Sabha for approval.

Initiating the debate,Congress MP Shashi Tharoorsaid Governor Satya Pal Malikacted in “gross violation” of theSupreme Court order in SRBommai case that had statedthat whether an alliance has amajority or not can be decid-ed only on the floor of theassembly. Malik’s decision toimpose Governor’s rule afterthe NC, PDP and the Congressmade a move to form theGovernment in the State wasalso in “violation” of theSarkaria Commission’s guide-lines on Centre-state relations,he said.

Trinamool Congress’Saugata Roy termed theGovernor’s decision as “arbi-trary” and claimed the Centrehad propped up a rival allianceled by Sajjad Lone, who had thesupport of “only two MLAs”.

����� ��������

The CBI has registered twoseparate cases of illegal

trafficking of women and chil-dren to the United States ofAmerica and Kenya.

Both the cases were regis-tered on Thursday and thefirst relates to a complaintfrom the US embassy whichreported that an attempt wasmade by a woman GaganGupta, in August last year, tosmuggle four minor children tothat country allegedly usingassumed identities of four stu-dents of St Joseph’s Convent inShaheed Bhagat Singh Nagardistrict in Punjab. Five personshave been named as accused inthe case. The second case reg-istered following a referencefrom the Ministry of ExternalAffairs which stated an unreg-istered recruitment agency wasinvolved in trafficking girlsand women to Kenya on thepretext of providing thememployment.

The embassy said that thestaff of United Airlines-83flight stopped them fromboarding the flight as the facesof four children did matchwith their photographs in thepassport, according to the usEmbassy complaint to the CBI,which is now part of the FIR.

However, their passportswere not seized and they wereallowed to leave the IndiraGandhi International Airport.The airline staff did not contactthe local police but it provid-ed photos of the minor sub-jects, of the passports and theairline tickets to the embassyofficials.

During inquiry by theembassy, it surfaced visasissued to the kids were part ofa school group from St JosephConvent for which a trip to theUnited States was organised byClick Education Services Pvt

Limited.The school was allegedly

sending its students for a cul-tural trip to the US for whichthe passports of student andstaff were collected by an agentpromising them to help in thevisa process. The agent alleged-ly tried to send four of its clientson the assumed identity by pro-viding them passports of thestudents to whom the visaswere issued for the cultural trip.

The embassy conductedits own enquiry and managedto get vital information beforeit sent a detailed complaint onFebruary 7 this year to the CBI.

The five named in the caseinclude Balraj Singh of KingsPunjab Travels, a travel agencybesides other agents whichinclude Gagan Gupta, ChetanSabharwal, Lovepreet Singhand Tilak Raj.

The second case has beenregistered on a complaint fromthe External Affairs Ministrythat Indian embassy in Nairobi,Kenya has rescued three younggirls who were allegedly traf-ficked to Mombassa on thepretext of giving employment asdancers but were coerced intoprostitution, The girls weretaken to Nairobi by ShamaJavaid Deen, a Kenyan nation-al and an agent Aryan whoallegedly ran an “organisedcrime syndicate” which involvedher family members too.

“It appears that the abovementioned persons are runninga human trafficking network bypushing young Indian girlsinto prostitution abroad with afalse promise of good job andsalary”, Col Rahul Dutt,Director (OverseasEmployment) said in com-plaint in March, 2018.

“They were forced to con-sume alcohol and smokeagainst their will and werealso being coerced to enter intoprostitution.

����� ��������

Congress President SoniaGandhi will convene a

meeting of General Body meet-ing of the CongressParliamentary Party (CPP) onJanuary 2 to discuss theremaining course of actionwithin Parliament scheduledtill January 8 and also deliber-ate upon issues related toGeneral elections 2019, thealliance partners and otherstrategy for the party ahead.The grand old party alsoobserved its 134th FoundationDay with Rahul Gandhi hoist-ing the party’s flag at its head-quarters on Friday.

Sources said that CPPmeeting will be presided asSonia as she continues to behead of CPP after steppingdown as Party president last

year which was taken over byRahul Gandhi.

A Congress MP said thatthough he was not aware of theagenda of the CPP, but assumedthat Rahul Gandhi’s success inthe recent concluded assemblypolls may be discussed and thenew chart of action for the LokSabha polls. A decision toreached out to “like-mindedparties” to defeat the BJP in thenext general election couldalso be discussed.

In her last year CPP addressthis year, Sonia had said that theparty needs to ready itself forthe challenge. “I will work withthe Congress president (rahulGandhi) and other colleagues indiscussions with like-mindedpolitical parties to ensure thatin the next election the BJP isdefeated and India is restored toa democratic, inclusive, secular,

tolerant and economically pro-gressive path,” she had said inFebruary 2018.

Celebrating the founda-tion day on Friday, the partystated it will continue to fightthe propagators of hate withpeace, unity and love. On theoccasion, Rahul Gandhiacknowledged the selfless ser-vice and contribution of lead-ers and workers in building theparty.

The event was attendedby senior party leaders, includ-ing former prime ministerManmohan Singh, RajasthanChief Minister Ashok Gehlotand former defence ministerAK Antony. Top party leadersAhmed Patel, Ghulam NabiAzad, Motilal Vora and KapilSibal were also present on theoccasion during which a cakewas also cut.

+���� �����������2�� ���������� ��+������������&���3��-

45���������� �����������������������

��55�67��#�8����6���6����6������������9�����:&���76�6��;6�5�����+�8�87�#�8���6<���������������87�8��=���;�6��8��8��>?�6��6��5�����98�;�7�8��;�����8�?6�7���;�����=�9������

�����������������������������32��&�4����

New Delhi: Days after theUnion Health Ministrydumped its plan to set up �100crore fund for treatment of rarediseases, its research wing, theIndian Council of MedicalResearch (ICMR) is mullingformation of a task force topromote therapeutic researchand expedite new drug devel-opment for the sector.

However, Ministry’s U turnafter it had announced fund of�100 crore under the Nationalpolicy for the rare diseases hasupset the patients and theirfamilies who cannot affordhuge treatment cost.

The Ministry recentlydecided to “reframe” the poli-cy citing bureaucratic hurdlesand financial shortage.

Compounding the prob-lem is the fact that there aresome rare diseases like

Gaucher, MPS, Pompe,Duchenne MuscularDystrophy, Spinal MuscularAtrophy etc., for which treat-ment is available but is unaf-fordable due to exorbitant costs.In many cases, the treatmenthas been seen to drasticallyimprove the quality of life of apatient. The high cost of treat-ment, thus, increases inequal-ity with respect to access totreatment for rare diseasepatients. A senior official fromthe MInistry said that theICMR’s task force studies arenational initiatives that arecentrally planned, coordinatedand implemented on a multi-centric basis.

The projects have definedtargets and specific timeframe.With the new programme, theICMR is encouragingresearchers in areas such as clin-

ical and molecular genetics,genomics, bioinformatics andnew drug development to col-laborate and come up withinnovative plans to tackleorphan diseases. Infact, theCouncil has already startedaccepting proposals fromresearchers. Apart from R&D,the task force will exploreoptions to improve diagnostic,prenatal diagnostic and coun-selling facilities across the coun-try.. Short-term training pro-grammes for clinicians to recog-nise and diagnose rare geneticdiseases are also on the cards.

It is estimated that one in20 Indians is affected by one ofthe 7,000 diseases listed asrare diseases. Last year, theICMR had joined hands withAIIMS and JNU to launch thecountry’s first Rare DiseaseRegistry. PNS

��!&�����"�!��!����!'����'�!���%���*,�#�����!���!�0

)����%�#����;�������3�!'���$������ �$��������������������

�*�������)������� �� ������������������������5�1�2���

(������*��������'�����+��&�����

������,�8���;�7����83��������6�=��3����8���������8�%'�������5�=��7�5����8������7@�6�?��;�����6����;�6�?6���8�����8�6�7��=����<����

�8=�6�85�8��#�8���6<;6�5�=�6�����7������������A����8������6

���@������6�

���8��6�89�����69�5�8����;����

-??������8�?�6����!���� �5��#�8����6������8�?�6�<��8���������5��<3����8���?������8����;�65����)�=�685�8���=�8����<���;�6��������7����8����5?�����6�����8�B������

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

#���� �..������������

It was Tamil Nadu’s responseto cow vigilantes and mob-

lynching which has becomefrequent affairs in North India.In Christmas day, Ponganallurin south west Tamil Naduplayed host to this century’sfirst ever ShodasaMahalakshmi Maha Yagamwhich saw hundreds of priestsoffering special Pooja andYagya for the Global peace,safety, security and prosperityof the country and its people,especially the farming com-munity.

The three day event whichcommenced on December 23culminated on December 25and nearly five lakh peopletook part in the Yagam, accord-ing to ThirunavukarassuElangovan, president, HinduMunnani, the lead oraganisersof the event. “ShodasaMahalakshmi Maha Yagam isto propitiate the 16 MahaLakshmis while we are famil-iar with only AshtalaksmiPoojas. Shodasa means 16,”Elangovan told The Pioneer.

He said ShodasaMahalakshmi Maha Yagamswere held during the days ofthe Chola, Pandya Kings inlines with Aswamedha Yaga. “It

was mandatory for the rulersto perform MahalakshmiYagam before assuming thecharges of administering thecountry. The yagam is a decla-ration to the people and thecountry that his life was dedi-cated to the prosperity and wellbeing of the people,” saidElangovan.

The three day event beganwith Aswa Pooja , worshipping108 horses to placate the Godof Power. “The last day saw thepriests and the participantsoffering poojas to 1,600 cows,all native breeds, mobilisedfrom various places in TamilNadu,” said G K Nagaraj, organ-iser of the event who is afarmer leader from Kongunadu,south west Tamil Nadu.

The enthusiasm of the peo-ple could be understood from

the way coupons for the eventwas sold out. “More than1,22,000 tickets costing �180/-per ticket was sold out a weekbefore the Yaga. We chargedentry fees to ensure that peo-ple attend the event,” saidElangovan.

Sreepriya Iyer travelled allthe way from Chennai to takepart in the three day event.“Normally, we performAshtalakshmi Poojas in ourhouses. But Maha Lakshi is wor-shipped in 16 forms during theShodasa Maha Yagam and it isa rare event,” said Iyer, a seriousstudent of Indian culture.

Rama Gopalan, octoge-narian founder of HinduMunnani who has been con-fined to a wheel chair led thethree day Yagam. “YasoLakshmi, Vidya Lakshmi,

Dhairya Lakshmi, DhanaLakshmi, Santana Lakshmi,Dhanya Lakshmi, GajaLakshmi, Veera Lakshmi,Samrajya Lakshmi, MokshaLakshmi, Sowmya Lakshmi,Sidha Lakshmi, Sri Lakshmi,Sowbhagya Lakshmi, PrasannaLakshmi, Jaya Lakshmi are theforms of Lakshmi we wor-shipped during the three days,”said Rama Gopalan.

Nagaraj said the ShodasaMahalakhmi Yagam, thoughnot held frequently, wasimbibed in the Kongunaduculture. “We wish people withthe words Pathinaru SevangalPettu Peruvaku Vazhka (Tamilfor “Live prosperously with allthe 16 assets which are themanifestation of 16 MahaLakshmis)”, said Nagaraj.

The event culminatedpeacefully but there was anattempt to derail it as membersof the Periyar DravidaKazhagam, followers of late EV Ramasamy Naicker hadapproached Madras HighCourt with a plea to ban theevent because of their fear thatthe cows may cause the spread-ing of anthrax in and aroundTirupur. The court is hearingthe case after the Christmasvacation but by that time thecows would have reached theirshelters after the Pooja.

�+������������������ ���������� ����3�

Islamic seminary DarulUloom Deoband issued a

fatwa forbidding women fromparticipating in marriage pro-cessions with men.

It is common for womenrelatives of the groom to par-ticipate in such processionswith other men in the family.Sometimes, music is also playedin these processions.

The fatwa came after aSaharanpur resident raisedquestions regarding the practicewith the fatwa department ofthe seminary. The seminaryresponded that not only werewomen forbidden from partic-ipating in such social functionswith men, they were also for-bidden from eating food along-side men on such occasions.

The seminary also assertedthat Muslims should not eatfood while standing and advisedthem to refrain from such activ-ities.

Deoband has come up withsuch bizarre fatwas at a remark-able frequency. Earlier inFebruary, the Islamic seminarydecided to issue a fatwa againstMuslim women from taking

help of men while trying ban-gles in shops.

Prior to that, Darul Uloom

Deoband clerics had issued afatwa against life insurance, asthey claimed that life and deathwere in the hands of Allah andno insurance company couldguarantee a man’s longevity.

In the past, a cleric of theseminary issued a fatwa againstwomen watching footballmatch, on the plea that watch-ing men playing with bare kneeswas forbidden for women.

�������$������������������������*���������������� ����

����� ����3��

Islamic seminary DarulUloom Deoband has

opposed the triple talaq billpassed by the Lok Sabha onThursday, terming it as “inter-ference in religious affairs ofMuslims”.

Reacting strongly to thetriple talaq bill which seeks tocriminalise instant divorce,Mohtamin (Vice-Chancellor)of Darul Uloom Deoband,Maulana Mufti Abul Qasim

Nomani, said that the bill notonly targeted Muslim men butwas also against the welfare ofMuslim women.

“The move of (Narendra)Modi Government to bring alegislation to criminalise tripletalaq is a direct interference inthe religious freedom ofMuslims. It is an infringementof Shariat law. Muslims want tolead their life and conducttheir family and social affairsstrictly as per provisions ofShariat,” Nomani said.

(���������(���������������������+���

Bulandshahr (UP): A courtFriday sent to 14-day judicialcustody the man who allegedlyshot dead a police inspector dur-ing mob violence in UttarPradesh's Bulandshahr districtearlier this month.

Prashant Nat, who wasarrested Thursday fromSikandrabad, was produced inthe court of the additional chiefjudicial magistrate.

"He was not named in theFIR but was held based on localintelligence, eyewitness accountsand assessment of the videofootage that was gathered.During the probe, we evenrecreated the crime scene,"Bulandshahr SeniorSuperintendent of Police (SSP)Prabhakar Chaudhary said.

Mob violence broke outnear Chingrawathi police poston December 3 after cattle car-casses were found strewn in afield near Mahaw village.Inspector Subodh Kumar Singhand 20-year-old Sumit Kumarwere shot dead as the mobattacked the police.

Chaudhary said Nat, around27, was absconding sinceDecember 3 and has confessedto shooting at the inspector. PTI

�����) ��� ��� ��7

Justifying the “clean chit”given by his predecessor ear-

lier in the alleged Sohrabuddin-Tulsiram fake encounter cases,Additional Sessions Judge SJSharma has indicted the CBI,saying that it had a “premedi-tated" theory and a "script”intended to "anyhow implicate"political leaders and it nearlydid what was required “toreach that goal rather thanconducting an investigation inaccordance with law”.

In the concluding portionof his 350-page judgementcopy of which was accessed bythe media on Friday, SpecialCBI court Judge Sharmaobserved: “Having given mydispassionate consideration tothe entire material placedbefore me and having exam-ined each of the witnesses andthe evidence closely, I have nothesitation in recording thatthe premier investigatingagency like CBI had before it apre meditated theory and ascript intended to anyhowimplicate political leaders.

“And the agency there afternearly did what was required toreach that goal rather thanconducting an investigation inaccordance with law, the judgenoted.

“It clearly appears that theCBI was more concerned inestablishing a particular pre

conceived and pre meditatedtheory. Rather than finding outthe truth. My predecessor has,while passing an order of dis-charge in the apicatuonnofaccused number 16 (Amit Shah)clearly recorded that the inves-tigation was politically motivat-ed,” Judge Sharma observed.

It may be recalled that thethen Special Judge M.B. Gosavi,while discharging BJP PresidentAmit Shah had on December30,2014 observed that thecharges against BJP presidentAmit Shah in the SohrabuddinSheikh and Tulsiram Prajapatifake encounters had a politicalundertone. “I found substancein the main contention made bythe applicant (Mr. Shah) that hewas involved in the case by theCBI for political reasons,” spe-cial CBI judge M.B. Gosavi hadsaid.

The concluding portion ofthe crucial judgement in theSohrabuddin Tulsiram “fake”encounter came into publicdomain exactly seven daysafter the CBI court acquitted allthe 22 accused in the case forlack of “satisfactory” evidence.

!�����������6����������(/7����������

$.���� � ��� -.����

,� �����������6���3���������������������������������� �����) ��� �����7

In what is being as the biggestdrug haul in recent years, the

Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC)sleuths of the Mumbai policeseized �1,000 crore worthbanned Fentanyl and arrestedfour drug peddlers from VileParle (East) in north-westMumbai.

Acting on a tip off about thedelivery of Fentanyl, the ANSpersonnel seized 100 kgs of therecreational (party) drug andfrom a car parked near the ser-vice road at Shakti Nagar locat-ed in the vicinity of the Mumbai

Airport at Vile Parle (East) onWednesday.

Fentanyl is a potent narcot-ic analgesic, abuse of whichleads to habituation or addiction.It is primarily a mu-opioid ago-nist. Fentanyl is also an opioidused as a pain medication andtogether with other medica-tions for anaesthesia.

Fentanyl is also made ille-gally and used as a recreationaldrug, often mixed with heroinor cocaine to increase its euphor-ic effects. It is 50 to 100 timesmore potent than morphine. Itis prescribed in the form oftransdermal patches or lozenges.

Most recent cases of fen-tanyl-related harm, overdose,and death in the United Statesare linked to illegally madeFentanyl. It is sold through ille-gal drug markets for its heroin-like effect. There were as manyas 20,000 Fetanyl over dose-related deaths in the UnitedStates in 2016.

“We have seized 100 kg ofthe banned Fentanyl. One kilo-gram of Fentanyl is wortharound �10 crore. In essence wehave seized �1,000 crore worthdrugs,” Deputy Commissionerof Police and ANC chiefShivdeep Lande said.

(��&�6���'�#!�����,����-�����7������������

�����) ��� ��� ��7

Averring that “togethernessis the essence of yoga”,

President Ram Nath Kovindsaid here on Friday that “Yoganot only helps us in connect-ing body, mind and soul but italso plays an important role inconnecting different commu-nities and countries”.

Speaking at the inauguralceremony of centennial cele-brations of ‘The Yoga Institute’in Mumbai, Kovind said: “It isnot appropriate to link yoga toany religion or sect. It is a com-mon heritage of mankind.. Itbelongs to everyone who islooking forward to healthy life.A healthy person makes ahealthy family, healthy com-

munity, healthy country andfinally a healthy world”.

The President said that itwas our responsibility to estab-lish good yoga institutes andskilled yoga teachers, since onIndia’s initiative yoga was get-ting more popular across theworld. Maharashtra GovernorCh Vidyasagar Rao released abook ‘Yoga for All’ written bydirector of the institute HansajiJayadeva Yogendra, on theoccasion. The book is based onhundred years of research byThe Yoga Institute.

Maharashtra ChiefMinister Devendra Fadnavis,Union minister of state forAYUSH Shripad Naik andother dignitaries were presentat the function.

2�*����������� ����*��$��� ���6����<�"�#���

����������'��&� �"�#�������*�����*�� �������������������������$��+ ��2�*3�������������!��������-����� ��������� ���

Sagar Island (WB): Comingdown heavily on the BJP for itsproposed Rath Yatras in WestBengal, Chief Minister MamataBanerjee on Friday said suchyatras are typically conducted inthe name of God, and notmeant to indulge in "danga"(riot).

The Supreme Court onMonday declined an urgenthearing on a BJP plea chal-lenging a Calcutta High Courtorder disallowing its Rath Yatrasin the state.

"There are yatras for LordKrishna and Lord Jagannath, wetake part in those rath yatras.

Those who carry out yatras tokill common people indulge in'danga' yatras," Banerjee said ata public distribution pro-gramme here.

"We don't insult anybody.We respect everyone irrespec-tive of their religious affinity,"she added.

The three-phased RathYatra, also being called the'Save Democracy Rally', wasscheduled to be held thismonth, covering all the 42 LokSabha constituencies in thestate. The rallies were to beflagged off by BJP presidentAmit Shah. PTI

%��'8������������� ��0����������&�������0��*�-�����

Lucknow: Amid growing pres-sure from partners in the rul-ing alliance, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Saturdaywill visit Varanasi andGhazipur, the areas where twoNDA allies have considerableinfluence.

The Prime Minister's tripto his Lok Sabha constituencyVaranasi will be his second visitthere in the last two months.

He will inaugurate theInternational Rice ResearchInstitute (IRRI) and South Asia

Regional Centre (ISARC) onthe campus of National SeedResearch and Training Centre(NSRTC) in Varanasi.

The centre will serve as ahub for rice research and train-ing in South Asia and theSAARC region.

Modi will also attend the'One District, One Product'Regional Summit at DeendayalHastakala Sankul (TradeFacilitation Centre & CraftsMuseum) in Varanasi.

A commemorative postal

stamp on the MaharajaSuheldeo will be released by thePrime Minister in Ghazipur,where he will also address apublic rally at the RTI groundthere.

However, senior ministerin the Yogi Adityanath gov-ernment and SBSP presidentOm Prakash Rajbhar, an MLAfrom Zahoorabad assemblyconstituency in Ghazipur dis-trict, announced that he willnot attend the Prime Minister'sprogramme. PTI

�!����#�����5������% <���������

,� ��������� ��� ���� 4�=����*�����$�*>���������������� ��"��� �!���?8@A�$����#�����)�� ������-����� �+3

Ahmedabad: A minor firebroke out Friday at the IndianSpace Research Organisation(ISRO) campus here, an officialsaid.

The fire broke out in astoreroom in ISRO's SpaceApplication Centre, the officialsaid. Chief Fire Officer M FDastur said the fire was broughtunder control in an hour, addingthat five fire tenders weredeployed for the operation, butonly one was used.

"The fire started in a storeroom in the SAC campus onFriday morning”, he said. PTI

) �����6�-�����������������3,'B������

Bengaluru: KarnatakaTransport Minister and JD(S)leader DC Thamanna onFriday took a jibe at BJP lead-ers using an analogy of streetdogs while rebutting seniorBJP lawmaker Umesh Katti'sclaim that the Congress-JD(S)coalition Government wouldcollapse soon.

Katti had recently claimedthat 15 disgruntled MLAs ofthe ruling coalition were intouch with him and that thesaffron party would form thenew Government in Karnatakaby next week.

Hitting out at Katti,Thammana said, "J H Patel (aformer Chief Minister) hadonce narrated a story in theState Assembly about an ele-phant and street dogs. Herecalled Patel saying an ele-phant was walking ahead ofstreet dogs who were hopingsomething would fall fromatop the tusker that they wouldeat.

"Neither did the food fall,nor the dogs got something toeat. This story fits perfectlywith BJP leaders, who areexpecting this Government to

fall," he told reporters atMaddur near Mysuru.

Replying to a query,Thamanna said Katti has beenpredicting the Government'sfall "today or tomorrow" forquite some time.

"For the past seven months,we are hearing this every daybut this has not materialised,"he said. Soon after Katti's claim,state BJP chief and Leader ofthe Opposition B SYeddyurappa had ruled outany attempt by his party todestabilise the present dispen-sation. PTI

.(9�:-�������;�<��������&;/�����+.��������

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

�� ����/�� �� #�� . �

Security forces shot dead aterrorist during a brief

encounter in south Kashmir’sPulwama district on Friday.Clashes erupted in the southernarea after the encounter and theauthorities halted train ser-vices as a precautionary mea-sure.

Sources said the slain ter-rorist, Ishfaq Yousuf Wani, hadjoined the terror ranks lastyear abandoning his fruit busi-ness. Before starting his ownbusiness he had quit job with aleading national bank.

Police said that on the basisof credible input about thepresence of militants a cordonand search operation waslaunched in Banderpora villagein Awantipora area of Pulwamadistrict, 30 kilometers fromhere.

“As the searches were goingon, the search party was firedupon by the terrorists. The firewas retaliated leading to a gun-fight. In the ensuing encounter,one terrorist was neutralised,” apolice spokesman said.

Wani was wanted by thelaw for his complicity in a

series of terror crimes includ-ing attacks on security estab-lishments and civilian atrocities.

Sourced said that Ishfaq’sfather was a militant and hadbeen killed in an encounterwith security forces in 1996.Ishfaq had pursued masters inmanagement before joining aleading bank. The reasons forhis joining militancy were notknown.

Clashes erupted in Wani’sKoil village after his body washanded over to his family forlast rites. The authorities sus-pended train services in thearea after the clashes.

Meanwhile, General

Officer Commanding in Chief,Northern Command Lt GenRanbir Singh arrived inKashmir Valley to review theprevailing security situation. Adefence spokesman said thatthe Army Commander visitedthe forward areas in frontierdistricts of Kupwara andBaramulla where he was briefedby the commanders on groundon operational preparedness.He also visited the hinterlandformations for feedback oncurrent situation and recentcounter terrorist operations.

Gen Singh was accompa-nied by the XV CorpsCommander Lt Gen AK Bhatt.

�����7�����7��������� ������32��������

2��� ������������*�������������������� �����*�� ������������������������*���� ����,���*�����-����� �+3

#���� �..������������

The “Game Changer”promised in November

2017 by Union Minister forWater Resources Nitin Gadkarito the farmers of the fourSouth Indian States of TamilNadu, Andhra Pradesh,Telangana and Karnatakaremains a non-starter.

While speaking to journal-ists at Chennai on November23, 2017, Gadkari had said hewould soon call for a meetingof the Chief Ministers of thefour States to evolve an actionplan to transfer surplus watersof Godavari to Cauveri foraddressing the perpetual waterscarcity in Tamil Nadu andAndhra Pradesh.

“My Ministry has decidedto transfer surplus water fromGodavari river to Krishna, toPennar river (Karnataka) andfinally to Cauvery,” the Ministerhad said. His Ministry was dis-cussing with the States con-cerned, he said, adding “in nearfuture we will come up with aconcrete action plan.” But tilldate no such meeting has takenplace, according to farmers inTamil Nadu. Meanwhile anoth-er legal battle has erupted in

Supreme Court between TamilNadu and Karnataka over theMekadattu reservoir beingplanned by the latter acrossRiver Cauvery.

The Minister had also saidthat 3,000 Thousand MillionCubic (TMC) feet of waterwas being wasted fromGodavari into Bay of Bengal.This along with the diversionof a portion of the 2,000 TMCft of water being wasted intothe Arabian Sea from theHemavati River would havebrought an end to the woes offarmers in Tamil Nadu, accord-ing to KattumannarkoilKannan, farmer leader in TamilNadu’s Cauvery Delta.

“The recent Cyclone Gajawhich devastated a portion ofthe Nagapattinam district andThanjavur and Thiruvarur dis-tricts have upset the lives offarmers in the region,” saidKannan while speaking to ThePioneer. Since no farming

operations was possible in hisfarm land, Kannan has turnedauthor and is writing a bookon the sufferings of the ryots inthe region. Farmers inTamilNadu stand to lose 50 percent of the yield this yearbecause of Cyclone Gaja andan attack by a new breed ofpests, said Kannan.

“There are readymadesolutions to address the prob-lems faced by the farners butwhat the governments at theState and Centre lack the willpower to execute them. TheModi Government hadpromised many times that itwould launch the inter linkingof major Indian rivers, but silentbout it now,” he pointed out.

According to Kannan andArpathi Kalyanam, anotherfarmer from Nagapattinam,the Narendra ModiGovernment missed a goldenopportunity to earn the goodwill of the people by not takingup the inter linking of rivers.“More than waiving of loans,what we require is the infra-structure for agricultural oper-ations. “Making water and fer-tilisers available round the yearis the responsibility of theGovernment,” said Kannan.

Mohammed Raffi, former

associate professor, Centre forAdvanced Studies in MarineBiology (CASMB), Porto Novo,Cuddalore, said he was shockedover the apathy shown by thegovernment in taking up theproject to divert a portion ofwater from the west flowingrivers of Netravati to Cauverythrough Hemavati river. “Thisis a win-win situation for allstake holders in Karnataka andTamil Nadu. The flash floods inCauvery and Netravati could beavoided and water would beavailable to the farmersthroughout the farming sea-son,” said Raffi who has workedwith the Cuddalore districtfarmers for years.

Late Bhavani Shankar, whowas the chief engineer ofKarnataka Government hadsubmitted many proposals tothe authorities stating that itwas possible to transfer thewest f lowing waters ofNetravati to Cauvery by a net-work f canals.

Vijayakanth, leader of theDMDK, had cast his lots withthe BJP in the 2014 Lok Sabhaelection based on the assurance given by theHindutwa party that it wouldtake up the project to inter linkthe Indian rivers.

������"�����������������&%!.�)#"!�+#�)/!01/)�2+�.3.!��4.%"!�%+��./3"!�

����� �3�� 1

The Bengal Government hasdecided to file an FIR

against the Metro Railways aday after 47 passengers travel-ling in a Dum Dum-boundtube train fell ill and had to behospitalised after a fire brokeout in the engine of a runningtrain inside the tunnel barely100 metre off the MaidanStation.

Apart from the FIR beingregistered Trinamool CongressMP and Railways StandingCommittee chairman onFriday directed Metro RailwaysGeneral Manager to submit areport on the Thursday’s inci-dent within three days so thatthe same could be taken up fordiscussion in Parliament.

Bengal Fire Minister SujitBose who met top police offi-cers at Lal Bazar Police head-quarters on Friday said “we aretaking appropriate actionbecause this was no small inci-dent and many people mighthave been killed. We haveasked the Police to file an FIRand start a case,” adding theforensic experts had been askedto investigate the matter too.

Meanwhile a three-mem-ber committee comprising elec-trical engineers and traffic offi-cers had started an inquiry andwere likely to submit a reportwithin ten days’ time, sourcessaid.

A mild blast and fire some-where around the front wheelof the front coach got theentire passengers of the fullycrowded train running insidethe tunnel trapped. “Many feltsuffocated by the noxious fumeand people had to literallybreak the windows and jumpon to the track risking theirlives as power supply to thehigh voltage third railway linewas still on,” passengers said.

One of the victims awoman had lost voice tem-porarily and she was unable tospeech even 24 hours of theincident, doctors said.

���� �0�.������ �$*&�������2� �����!����������������

��)������)������3�� 1

Gyandas Mahant, the highpriest of Kapil Muni

Ashram at Ganga Sagar, onceagain drenched Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee ina cascade of praise sayingonly she could construct aRam Temple at Ayodhya.

A highly revered priest inthe Hindu order, Ganga Sagarmahant said, “we want a Ramtemple washed by milk, not byblood and that can only bedone by our Didi even as theChief Minister stood by hima tad embarrassed, but notaltogether disliking thepraise.

Attacking Modi, the cel-ebrant said “we do not want

a Prime Minister like himwho only talks big loud butdoes nothing. Rather wewant a Prime Minister likeour Didi, Mamata Banerjeewho means business andconverts her promises intoaction.”

If Banerjee is made thePrime Minister of India then“definitely India wil lprogress,” he said advising“conflict can never achieve ahuman goal.”

B���������������#��'�������������6����*��������

Mumbai: Sharad Kalaskar, asuspected right-wing Hinduactivist arrested in an arms haulcase, has sought bail contend-ing that the MaharashtraGovernment is more interest-ed in ensuring smooth conductof the Sunburn festival thanconducting his trial.

Kalaskar, Avinash Pawarand Shrikant Pangarkar, allarrested in August, moved aspecial court here Friday seek-ing bail. Judge D E Kothalikarwill hear the pleas on January 7.

The Anti-Terrorism Squad(ATS) of state police has arrest-ed a total of 12 people under theUnlawful Activities (Prevention)Act (UAPA) following raids atmultiple places and seizure ofarms and explosive materials.

The bail applications ofPawar and Pangarkar con-

tended that the material onrecord does not contain anyevidence against them, notdoes it prove any offence underthe UAPA.

Kalaskar said in his pleathat "social media reports sug-gest that the state home min-istry is too busy with preventiveactions for ensuring a smoothconduct of the Sunburn festivalnext week (at Pune)."

"Such smooth conduct hastaken priority over smoothand speedy trial. There is noseriousness for the State...Toconduct this case.

The liberty of accused can-not be curtailed for satisfyingwhims and fancies of politicalrulers who prioritise theirresources for their own culturaland political agenda," the pleaadded. PTI

Ahmedabad: The GujaratGovernment on Friday askedthe Vigilance Commissioner toprobe the allegations of corrup-tion in carrying out projects atreligious sites by the pilgrimagedevelopment board and orderedsuspension of an officer.

Chief Minister Vijay Rupaniordered the suspension of anofficer whose audio clip broughtthe issue of alleged corruption inthe board to the fore.

In an official release, thegovernment said the CM hasasked the VigilanceCommissioner to probe theallegations of corruption againstthe Gujarat Pavitra YatradhamVikas Board.

The issue came to the foreafter a purported audio clip, hav-

ing conversation of a senior gov-ernment officer and an RTIactivist, went viral on socialmedia platforms.

In the purported clip, AnilPatel, additional secretary inthe state panchayat department,can be heard admitting large-scale corruption in the boardwhere he was once posted.

Patel can be heard sayingthat corruption took place incarrying out various works atpilgrimage places such asPavagadh, Rameshwar,

Bahucharaji, Shabri Dham andDwarka.

As per the governmentrelease, Rupani has asked theVigilance Commissioner to sub-mit preliminary inquiry reportas early as possible.

The CM also asked the cor-ruption watchdog to take actionagainst those found guilty dur-ing the probe.

Terming Patel's conduct as"inappropriate", the CM hasordered his suspension forengaging in "indiscipline", saidthe release.

Patel has violated variousprovisions of the service conductrules by "criticising the govern-ment" and providing informa-tion "without having any author-ity" to do so, it added.

%�4��!�������������������*�$�� �*���*��������*���*������

� �;�������*���������0�����������1����'����������

Lucknow: The NHRC onFriday issued notices to theUttar Pradesh Governmentover the death of a Dalit manallegedly in police custody inAmroha district, while theUP SC/ST Commissionordered a probe into the mat-ter and action against thoseguilty.

The National HumanRights Commission (NHRC)noted that the incidentamounted to "gross violationof human rights" of the victim.

Taking suo motu cogni-sance of media reports thatBalkishan, 30, died in policecustody at the Dhanora Mandi

Police Station on December26, the human rights watch-dog issued notices to thestate's chief secretary and thedirector general of police,seeking a detailed report with-in four weeks.

It asked why the NHRCwas not intimated about hisdeath in police custody.

Balkishan was arrested bythe police in connection witha case of theft on December23. His family members havealleged that police personnelasked for a bribe of �5 lakh tolet him off, which they couldnot arrange and, therefore, hewas "tortured". PTI

Chennai: In yet another case ofalleged medical negligence inTamil Nadu, a woman hasclaimed that she contracted theHIV virus following blood trans-fusion at a Government hospi-tal where she underwent treat-ment for low haemoglobin.

The Government hospitalhas refuted the allegation.

The affected woman, said tobe in her 20s, told a Tamil TVchannel Friday she underwentthe transfusion in April whilebeing pregnant.

She came to know she hadHIV only when the hospitalinformed her after conducting

tests in August when she wentthere for check-up.

The women said though shehad been regularly visiting alocal public health centre whenshe was pregnant, she was onlyadministered vaccines there.

"The blood transfusion hap-pened at the GovernmentKilpauk Medical College andHospital (GKMCH) only. Thatis where the mistake happened,"she said.

Refuting the allegation, hos-pital dean Dr P Vasanthamanisaid the woman was transfusedwith "100 per cent HIV free"blood. PTI

)��� ����������*�����������*�:35�$��������$��������+&�%�#�� ������

)����� ������$��������*������ �������������$����/ �����������������*����,���*�����-����� �+3

&:'������������;��%�#���#������������������������ �

Globally, ‘veterans’ naturallygravitate towards conserva-tive parties as the Centristand Left-of-Centre parties aretraditionally perceived to be

‘soft on security’. The Republican Party inthe US and the Conservative Party (theTories) in the UK usually garner more sup-port than the Democratic Party or theLabour Party, respectively. With politicsassuming more nationalistic undertones,political appropriation and positing of the‘soldiers’ and their ostensibly-related caus-es has become more blatant and common-place. UK Prime Minister Theresa May hadslammed FIFA’s decision to disallowEnglish football players from wearing‘poppy’ lapels (in remembrance of soldierswho died in wars) as “utterly outrageous”;whereas US President Donald Trumpcame back from the Bastille Day militaryparade in Paris, wanting to replicate andtop the same with his own version of agrand military parade. Clearly, centeringthe ‘soldier’ makes for good politics.

However, beyond the immediate trac-tion, overplaying the symbolic hand on thistact without doing anything concrete ormeaningful has diminishing returns.Already, the unprecedented cuts in the UK’sDepartment for Work and Pensions, affect-ing the ‘veterans’, have made ‘ex-service per-sonnel account for one in 10 rough sleep-ers across the UK’. Indeed, in the US,Trump’s shocking mock of the post-trau-matic stress disorder (PTSD)-affected sol-diers or the ‘privatisation’ of the veteranhealth services, militate against the pro-fessed concerns for the uniformed frater-nity. The lazy perception that these menand women of honour could join theAdministration of the ruling political dis-pensations as ‘trophy-candidates’ and loyal‘yes-men’, to project militaristic muscular-ity, patriotism and decisiveness on thebankrolling party, is slowly coming undone.It is true that the institutional ethos andregimental/corps spirit bequeaths thesecombatants with certain outwardly machis-mo, steel and heroic ‘branding’, but beyondthe razzmatazz of their medals, uniformsand swagger, lie decades of hands-onexperience, blood-sweat-toil in disturbedareas and years of training and reflectionthat make these people amongst the mostbalanced and nuanced individuals who donot suffer from knee-jerk reactions.

Usually, what comes as a surprise to thepoliticos is the latent gravitas, inherentsense of self-respect and the undyingspirit of speaking the truth (gently but sure-ly), that ultimately make the politicalmasters uncomfortable in their midst. Theretired Marine Corps General James Mattis(who recently quit as the US Secretary ofDefence) is famous for telling his troops:“You are part of the world’s most feared andtrusted force. Engage your brain beforeyour weapon.”

The healthy institutionaldiversity within the ‘barracks’and the societal bonhomieunder the most trying of cir-cumstances make these veter-ans life-long believers in plural-ity and ‘inclusiveness’ that isabove the regressive dividesthat beset and define partisanpolitics.

Combatants are also hard-wired into believing “dissent isnot disloyalty”, albeit, expressedin a certain form with the req-uisite context, form and digni-ty. Thus, the unmalleable spir-it of ‘brothers-in-arms’ thatswears only to the hallowedConstitutional spirit of thenation, riles against the politi-cal necessities, compromisesand bigotry that usually accom-pany partisan politics.

Contrary to some carica-turised perceptions, soldiersare not war-mongering orblood-lusting cadres, as thenobility of the soldiers codeensures a more professional,rationale and reasonableinstinct that differentiates a sol-dier from a mercenary. Thelegendary General DouglasMacArthur famously said:“The soldier above all prays forpeace, for it is the soldier whomust suffer and bear the deep-est wounds and scars of war”.

The recent case of a similarrealisation dawned on the draft-evader, Trump, who, in order toinject some testosterone of mus-cularity that befitted his con-tours of ‘America First’, got car-ried over by the CaptainAmerica-like superhero imageof the iconic, four-star General,

James Mattis (popularly knownas ‘mad dog’ and ‘warriormonk’), and inducted him as theSecretary of Defence.

Perhaps, unknown toTrump was the erudition,sagacity and profundity thatalso came along with thePattonesque-persona, whosereal-time combat experiencewas enhanced by the scholar-ship that came with a person-al library of over 7,000 books,unlike the empty rhetoric andvacuous bluster of a DonaldTrump. The officer-like conductin Mattis had insisted on a cer-tain decorum and dignity inengaging with the allies, and notin the fanciful flights of tem-peramental rants that defineTrump. Mattis’ exit and inabil-ity to get along with Trumpmirrored the similar fate thatbeset other veterans, like theprevious National SecurityAdvisor, Lt Gen McMaster.

Historically, in India, too,veterans-turned-politicians havebeen amongst the most respect-ed, well-read and responsibleleaders like the classic cavalierJaswant Singh, Maj GenKhanduri and Rajesh Pilot —each of who did imminent jus-tice and service to their respec-tive political parties and admin-istrative responsibilities.However, in the last few years,a new phenomenon emerged ofnewsroom-warriors plumed intheir regimental regalia, thun-dering political invectives andpositions dominating theprime-time slots. Thankfully,time and tide forced some intointrospection, reflection and

realisation that the politicosappropriated and misused theimagery of the ‘soldier’ for theirown partisan purposes andbasically the institutional inter-ests and concerns remainedunanswered, as before.

Election time is alwaysfraught with the risk of suchtactical propping of veterans as‘show-horses’ for posturingpatriotism and political muscu-larity. Care must be taken toensure that the apolitical-con-struct and wiring of the ArmedForces is respected, and no ‘fir-ing from the shoulders’ ofthese veterans is done to justi-fy political pettiness, nefariousdesigns and selfish electoralobjectives.

Like the veterans of yore,no implied extension of theirmilitary service should beencouraged to suggest an ‘insti-tutional’ preference towardsany political party — the veter-ans should propagate their par-tisan preferences in their indi-vidual capacity and certainlynot on behalf of the ‘institution.A delicate line must be main-tained. Irrespective of the polit-ical parties, matters concerningthe ‘soldier’ have remainedunaddressed and in crunch sit-uations, the discomfort ofpoliticians with the perspectiveand concerns of the ‘soldiers’ —be it in the US, UK or India —has led to the steady diminish-ment of the ‘institution’ in thenational narrative.

(The writer, a military vet-eran, is a former Lt Governor ofAndaman & Nicobar Islandsand Puducherry)

���������������������� ���)*��#� �� ��������������������� ������ ������� ���(

����� ���� ��� ���������� ������������ �������������+����������������(�����������������������������������,���������� ����-��������������������������������� ���������� �� ���������������������� �,����������������(���������������������������������������������������������������� ������������������������ ���������

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

#�������������������������.�������������������������������������������������������������������������-������ ,��������(����������������������� ���������������������� �������(������������������������������� ��������������(�������� ������������+������������������������������������������������������%������������.������������/������ �������������������������&1+�����!�����&���������������(������������(����������������������� �����������������,�0�������������������������� ���������������� ��� �������������1��������&�������2�������������������������������� ������������&�����������������������������3�����&�%��������������� ������(�����������������������������������������������������

0���������� ��������������� ��+��� ��������������������������������� ���������������

��������������������� ��#��� �����(�&���������������������������������������������������� �������������������������������������������������������������������������(�����������������������������������������������������������������455(�������������"������������ �����������������������

����������(������������������������������������������������������������������������ �������������������������������������������������������������� ��������������������������������������������������� ��������#�����������������������������(�������������������������������������������������������������������������������� �,���"���������������������������������(����������6����� ����������������������������������(���������������������� ����������"�������������������������������(������������2��������������,��������������������� �� ����������������������� �����������������"������������������������������ �+��%����%����������������������������#���������� ���������������������������������������������� ���������������������� ������������� �����(����������������������&�����������������������������������������������������������������,����������������������������2�����2������� �����������������������#���7������������������8���������������������� �������������������������9��������� ���� �������:��������������(� 9������ ���:������������������ ������������9���������:�/�������������;��������������"��9��������:��<��������� 9���� :������6���������������������������"���� ������������� ����������������������������������9�����:����������������������������9� ��� :;��������������6���������������������������������� ���������������������������� �����������(�������������������� ��������� ������������,�������������� ���(��������������������������������������������������������������������������� ��������������������������������������� �����������(��������������������������������������������������������������������#��������������������������� � ������������������������������ ���������������������������������=����� ������� !�� ���������������������������������������������������������+��� ����������� ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� �� ����������� ���������������������� ��������������$�������������������� ������������������������������(���������"���#�� �������������$����%���������������� �#��������������������������� ��<����;2������2�������������������2��������������������#� ������������� �������<��������!�������!���>��� <���������,����<���������������� ��������������������� ����������"����������������������������������(������������������

!����������������������������������������������������������������������(,�����������������!�& �/��������������������(����������������������������� ���+��� ����������������������������������������������#���������������������������(�������������������������������������������7��������8

��������� ������� ����+��� �����������������������������2�� �����������������������������������������,��������������(�� ����������������������-����������+���������(�������������(����������������������$�� ����.�����( ���?������������������(�������� ��������������$���������!����2������������������� �������������������������������������� ������������(����������������������$�� ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ ���������#������� ����������������������+��� ��������� �

���������������

�������� ������� �����'�������������� ��� ������6������'� �������������������=�'����������'����'�������������������'��

�������������

Sir — This refers to the report,“Terror bids foiled in nick of time”(December 27). The timely inter-vention of the NationalInvestigation Agency (NIA) savedthe nation from a great deal ofchaos. That the investigative bodyseized a huge stash of bomb-mak-ing materials and a country-made rocket launcher from theterrorists’ hideouts, testifies theirvery intent. It is now up for theNIA to make a water-tight caseagainst these terrorists, undertakea thorough enquiry to get an in-depth details about their plansand modus operandi. Politicalparties must not politicise thismatter to score brownie points.

Yvonne FernandoChennai

���������� ��

Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “Annus Horribi l is”(December 27). I totally agreewith the views expressed in theeditorial. This past year, theBJP has seen many ups anddowns. However, despite themany losses, the Indian elec-

torate bestows faith on the PrimeMinister who still enjoys massivepopularity. His charisma is intactand his credibility remainsstrong.

A little jerk was the mostessential for the BJP to unshack-le it from day-dreaming aboutthe Modi wave. That alone can-not lead it to register victory inthe 2019 General Election.

Honestly, there is no close

substitute to Modi yet. It should,therefore, not be troublesome forthe BJP to get back to track onceagain.

All they need is proper strat-egy and a tactical plan to harmo-niously tie up with allies inregional areas and build robustbond with the electorate todefeat the nemesis.

Kirti WadhawanKanpur

����������

Sir — This refers to the report,“LS criminalises triple talaq”(December 28). While the LokSabha successfully passed thetriple talaq Bill yesterday, itsjourney will not be so smooth inthe Upper House. Already, oppo-sition parties, including theCongress, the Trinamool

Congress and the SamajwadiParty, staged a walk-out. Further,the ruling party does not have thenumbers in the Rajya Sabha.

Most Muslim countries havediscarded this practice. In fact, asection of the Indian Muslims,too, do not follow it. It is also a factthat attributing criminality andimprisoning of Muslim menwould have a cascading effect onthe livelihood of the affectedfamily. Reform must happen butone that benefits the community.

Syed Nissar Hyderabad

��������������

Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “Moment to movement”(December 28). Harassment orsexual exploitation against anygender can never be justified. Itis of utmost importance that noinnocent man/woman becomesa victim of allegations. It’s theduty of the courts to punish andfine those against whom allega-tions have been proved right.

Mahesh KumarVia email

" 8 " 9 & � % * � : � " 8 � � * � +

,����������$$����� ����6�����6���?��8��6C95����7�5�

$$$1*�&%,�&�!���1"�#&�'����/('��2���!�)��������M 01�����!����������M ���������('��2���!�)������2

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

�5

>�������������������

2�3�.(�� )��2*

1���'�����������������������4�!!������������'�����&����������&��!������������''��H��"�����������.�"���������������#�������������� ������������"�����!�����(�

8��8�#�8����6K$��������#����

�������!���'����������)����(�7�����'!��������)�'������������������������������&������ �����@����'�������D����E� ���������������#����)��������(�

+�65�6�1D�����;�#�8����6�K�����������&��

.�"�����-������������������)!�'�����)��"����*���H��(�.�"����������-�� ������������!"�����(�1�����!�H������������)���!����������������������)�!�'�(

��������6�K8����>� ���!!��

) + / � � � % "

1 " % % " ! ) % + � %% * " � " � � % + !

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

1���� ��&���� ��� ���� ��������!@� F1��� &��������GD��'������+LE(� �� ���������� !����������5%���������� ������� ���))��� ��� ��� �!!���!� ����� ��

�����!���(��������&�'�������������������'��������������'��������������(��������!�@��������!������������������������H���������!�� �������������������������������H�!������(��������������.�"��������/��)���!!�H��!!�H���������/������������'�����������'������������))�����������N� �� ������'����)���@�5+����������&� ���������1����&�����!!������ �����������������'�"���������.�"���������"���������������!!��&&�����������'������@���!���������1������!��������"���!��������!�&�(

��������������'���@�������������������������!�'�!�@�������������&����������#����������������"����!!�H��!��&����7���!�����(���/��������@����������)��'�������������������������.�"����������������������"��������� ��H&������(�����������H����/���������)��'����� �� ��/����"��)���������'�������''�����'���&����

�������(�����������"���/�� ���&�������������������!�"�(�!���!�@�����.�"�������� ��������>��))���������������'��!!����(��������'�!!�&����;�����!���!)�������'�����������������!����(�1���������'/����� ��(�#���������������������������!�������"������(

����8��8�8����

���� @�133@4�1�� �#H1����H

�3�1� �#� 4��7��� �3�.�1��

�3#1��#���1��@

����H�� �� ����#�3�#7��

�� ���#(�3��4��@��

�����1�1��#@� ���

����3���3�� #�����.��38����#�33�H

� ��3�#�������

1�����.���1 �

��. �

+���*6����5�������������*����6���'������ ���������6�����*�'���������� ��*���

�������*����&������������ ����� �������&�����)!�����'����'!�H&!�;���@��������������#@����������@������'����'�����)!�'�(����������@������������������������������B������������!���

1���.�"�����-��)��"����������������������������������������������������!������*�'�����)��H����!���!&�����'����$�����O��������(��

��896���������6�K#������1������

On December 14, 2018, PrimeMinister Imran Khanuploaded two short videos of

eminent Islamic scholar Dr IsrarAhmed. I am not quite sure whichyear the videos were from but theywere obviously at least eight yearsold, since he passed away in 2010. Inone of the videos, Ahmed quotes anexcerpt from a diary written by DrRiaz Ali Shah, who was a physicianof Pakistan’s founder, MuhammadAli Jinnah, when the latter was suf-fering from tuberculosis. Jinnahpassed away in September 1948.

In the video, Ahmed informedhis audience that he had picked theexcerpt from an article publishedin a September 1988 edition of theUrdu daily Jang — 40 years after

Jinnah’s demise. Ahmed quoted the1988 newspaper article about RiazAli’s ‘diary’ in which he wrote thatas Jinnah lay on his bed sufferingfrom tuberculosis, he (Jinnah)spoke about his vision of a Pakistanthat would be an Islamic state, ora 20th century manifestation of astate, constructed during the ruleof Is lam’s f irst four cal iphs(Khilafat-i-Rashida).

Riaz was one of the four doctorspresent during Jinnah’s last hours.According to an article in the PulseFortnightly written by Lt Gen (Rtd)M Ahmad Akhtar and published onNovember 1, 2014, four physiciansaccompanied Jinnah when he trav-elled to the vacation resort ofZiarat in Balochistan. They were:Dr M Ali Mistri, Dr Illahi Bakhsh,Dr Ghulam Muhammad and DrRiaz Ali Shah. Dr Mistri wasJinnah’s personal physician who,according to Lt Gen Akhtar, hadmoved to Karachi from Bombay onJinnah’s request after the creation ofPakistan.

Nothing was reported about

Jinnah’s ‘last words’ as such until theappearance of a book in 1978 by DrIllahi Bakhsh, which was re-printedby the Oxford University Press in2012. Dr Illahi’s book, With theQuaid-i-Azam during his Last Days,is largely a detailed account of theQuaid’s illness and how Jinnah triedto live with it. There is nothing in thebook about a man ravaged by a crip-pling disease but one lucidly advo-cating the creation of an Islamic state.

There is also a PDF copy avail-able online of an Urdu translationof Dr Il lahi Bakhsh’s book.However, attached to it is an Urdutranslation of notes supposedlykept by Riaz Ali Shah in a diary. Thenotes appear in the shape of a book-let called Quaid-i-Azam Kay AkhriLamhaat (The Quaid’s LastMoments). It does not mention thedate of publication. It is not avail-able in any of the major bookstoresin Pakistan nor on Amazon. And itis not mentioned in the long list ofbooks and papers on Jinnah thatappears on the Government ofPakistan’s website dedicated to the

study of Pakistan’s founder.In a 2003 article for The

Concept, Raja A Khan wrote thatthe booklet by Dr Shah was pub-lished in 1950. However, Raja onlyspeaks about Jinnah sharing hisviews on Kashmir with Riaz. Onewonders though, how many diversetopics the founder was discussingwith the good doctor during hisvery last moments. What is moreimportant is that after goingthrough the online version of thebooklet, I found no mention ofJinnah speaking to Dr Shah aboutthe idea of the caliphate.

The booklet is only scarcely ref-erenced in the papers and bookswritten on Jinnah. Moreover, when-ever it is, as in Masud-ul-Hasan’sAnecdotes of Quaid-i-Azam (1976)and in an article in the 2002 issue ofSouth Asian Studies, they simplyquote Riaz as saying that Jinnah’s lastspoken words were, “Allah, Pakistan.”Therefore, Imran Khan may havegotten a tad too excited — like animpressionable teenager — aftercoming across the mentioned clip of

Dr Ahmed. Without much thought,the Prime Minister used it in thesame manner in which Jinnah wasconcocted by the Gen Zia dictator-ship in the 1980s.

This is why I believe the confu-sion in this respect is rooted in whattranspired during the Zia regime. Forexample, only quotes of Jinnah thathad the word ‘Islam’ in them wereallowed to be used in state-ownedmedia. From 1978 onward, thesequence of words of Jinnah’s motto,“unity, faith, discipline” was switchedto “faith, unity, discipline.”

In 1982, a portrait of Jinnahpainted by artist Ahmad S Nagi wasreplaced in the waiting lounge of theKarachi Airport just because itshowed Jinnah wearing a suit and atie. An article on Nagi that appearedin the September 2, 2006 edition ofDawn said that the painting was fin-ished in 1944 and then brought toKarachi after the creation of Pakistan.It was placed in the airport loungebut replaced in 1982 with anotherportrait of Jinnah in which he is seenwearing a sherwani.

Then in 1983, the Zia regimegleefully announced the ‘discovery’of a diary kept by the founder inwhich he had expressed his desireof an Islamic state. KK Thomas, inthe 1998 issue of Asian Recorder,and author Khaled Ahmed in his2001 book Pakistan: Behind theIdeology Mask: Facts About GreatMen We Don’t Want to Know, writethat the state-owned media enthu-siastically began discussing thecontents of the so-called diary.

According to Ahmad, Jinnah’spersonal secretary, KH Khursheedand veteran Muslim Leaguer,Mumtaz Daultana, challenged thediscovery. Consequently, the claimwas quietly dropped. Most inter-esting is the similarity betweenwhat Zia claimed Jinnah wrote inhis diary and what Dr Ahmedclaimed Dr Riaz wrote in his. Onecan thus conclude that may be athird party was involved who, forpolitical reasons, concurrentlyascribed the mentioned quotes toJinnah as well as Dr Riaz.

(Courtesy: Dawn)

���������������������������

%#�����'�$#(�%�#) '�����*"�%�+,-�+./0

� ��$1�� ����" �)��-�� ������ �������� -��-+�� ����-�.��+�-#�����.� ������ �-) �

� ��+ .#!��������������� ���������� �E�-�)�����.�����

�.��� ��

���F��/���G�����-��/ � ���+-����+ .#H�-�)����� ���$�����..�+-��+����-#!�/ "� � ��I��� -� �)�� ���+����-#��-/HE� -��# � �������1"����� ���� �) ���� -��

3��.�+/�%"!3��.�

The global climate change negotiation underthe United Nations Framework Conventionon Climate Change (UNFCCC) is held

periodically under the aegis of the Conference ofParties (CoP). The 24th CoP to the UNFCCC,COP24, was held in Katowice, Poland, fromDecember 2 to 14. After the historic ParisAgreement on Climate Change in 2015, theKatowice meet was the most significant. It wassupposed to lay down the contours for climatechange action plans. This year marked the dead-line, as agreed by signatories of the ParisAgreement, to adopt a “work programme for theimplementation” of commitments that weremade in 2015. An analysis of the decision takenin CoP24 clearly indicates that the shadow of theUS’ withdrawal from the climate change talk isover. A new global leadership has emerged andIndia is leading from the front.

Thanks to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’sleadership, his actions, determination anddynamism ensured that the commitments madeat the 2015 United Nations Climate ChangeConference, COP 21, reached the ultimate goaldespite the many problems faced by our country,most important of them pertaining to the growthin population. The second most important leaderin the global climate leadership is FrenchPresident Emmanuel Macron, who readily agreedto Prime Minister Modi’s proposal for setting upthe International Solar Alliance (ISA), which wassigned by both leaders earlier this year. More than120 countries have become signatories to the ISA.In October 2018, more than 48 countries alongwith 25 heads of states attended the ISA confer-ence that was hosted by India.

Another reason for the progress of climate-related talks is the trust factor. Most low andmiddle income countries bestowed faith inPrime Minister Modi’s capability to steer the cli-mate change proceedings due to his stature asa global leader. The only other country thatholds similar potential is China. But then, it suf-fers from trust deficit. It would be worthwhileto discuss some of the takeaways from theCoP24 and India’s role in the successful conclu-sion of the climate change conference. Prior tothis, we saw the then Minister for Environment,Forest and Climate Change, Jairam Ramesh, reg-istering similar impact on India’s idea of climatediplomacy. Ramesh also espoused the cause ofthe developing world.

Global rules are necessary to ensure thatevery percentage of the emission released intothe atmosphere is accounted for. In this way,progress towards the limitation goals of the ParisAgreement can be measured accurately.Currently, climate actions of rich nations for thepre-2020 period are being guided by the KyotoProtocol. The UN climate change conferenceadopted a rulebook for the implementation ofthe Paris Agreement only after protractednegotiations. This deal is meant for climateaction by all countries across the globe.

Its success was explained by Michal Kurtyka,CoP24 president: “We have worked on this(Katowice) package for three years. With 200countries in the room, it is not easy to findagreement on a deal so specific and technical.But under these circumstances, every single step

forward is a big achievement.”The Katowice climate package

includes guidelines that will opera-tionalise the transparency framework.It sets out how countries will provideinformation about their NationallyDetermined Contributions (NDCs)that describe their domestic climateactions. This information includesmitigation and adaptation measures aswell as details of financial support forclimate action in developing countries.

With this, countries can chalk outa roadmap for the implementation ofthe Paris Accord that covers the peri-od from now till 2020. The Katowicepackage also includes guidelines forestablishing new targets on financefrom 2025 onwards to follow on fromthe current target of mobilising $100billion per year from 2020 to supportdeveloping countries. The other guide-lines include how to conduct the glob-al stock-taking of the effectiveness ofclimate action in 2023 and how to assessprogress on the development andtransfer of technology by the developednations. The guidelines, known as theParis rulebook, will promote trustamong nations that all countries areplaying their part in addressing thechallenge of climate change.

The word ‘trust’ signifies the mostpositive outcome of the KatowiceConference. However, issues that stillhave to be taken into account circle theuse of cooperative approaches as wellas the sustainable development mech-anism, as contained in the ParisAgreement’s Article 6. These wouldallow countries to meet a part of theirdomestic mitigation goals through theuse of so-called ‘market mechanisms.’

On this matter, the Paris Agreement

recognises the need for global rules tosafeguard the integrity of efforts of allcountries. It is hoped that this issue willbe decided in future meetings, andIndia is expected to play a key role.

The Indian delegation reiteratedits stand with overwhelming supportthat the Paris Climate Agreement was“non-negotiable” and there could beno compromise on the basic princi-ples such as equity and common butdifferentiated responsibilities andrespective capabilities. It effectivelycountered the attempts of rich coun-tries, led by the US and the EuropeanUnion, to dilute this provision.

India stressed the need for usingscientific findings on climate changeand welcomed the recentIntergovernmental Panel on ClimateChange’s (IPCC) Special Report,which said that human activities areestimated to have caused approximate-ly one degrees celsius of global warm-ing above the pre-industrial levels andare currently increasing at 0.2 degreescelsius per decade.

India in its statement stood for thepoor, marginalised and vulnerablecommunities as they are worst-hit bythe vagaries of climate change. On thefirst day of CoP24, India made it clearto the world that it was well oncourse to achieve all its climate targetsmuch ahead of the deadline it set foritself. It asked its developed counter-parts to meet their obligations, includ-ing those relating to providing finan-cial and technological help to thedeveloping countries.

The Institute for Energy Economicand Financial Analysis (IEEFA), a US-based organisation that conductsresearch and analysis on financial and

economic issues related to energy andenvironment, showed that India waslikely to attain the goal of having 40 percent of its electricity generation com-ing from renewable sources by the year2020, instead of the original target of2030. It said that by the year 2027,renewable energies like solar, wind andbiomass would generate about 275GW of electricity, comprising 44 percent of India’s total power generationof 619 GW. Hydro and nuclear energy,which are also considered as cleansources of energy, would contributeanother 80 GW or about 13 per cent.

The Government, however, needsto take some more pro-active action,especially in tackling the landscape.This (because India is a tropicalnation facing the vagaries of climatechange) has already started affectingits landscape and consequently thelivelihoods of the poor. It has causeduncertainty in agriculture and dis-turbed hydrological cycles.

The Himalayan glaciers are reced-ing and the flow of rivers originatingfrom these glaciers is making thewhole living scenario precarious.There is a need to adopt a holisticapproach for the overall develop-mental process in which climatechange mitigation and adaptationshould be a collateral benefit.Otherwise, it will jeopardise the goalsof sustainable development in the longrun. Also, joint forest managementmust be made the central theme of theentire mitigation and adaptation pro-cedure. It is to be hoped that theGovernment takes action on the sug-gested lines.

(The writer is a Retired Civil Servant)

-*�'������.����';�����6����

� ���'���'�������*��6���������������'�� ��&������&������'�'������'����������0�'������������'���'���������'��&�����&�����������6���������������&���������

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

#�@4��%�������2�����#��9%2#:����������������AA�A54B�������������������������/������������������������������������@5����

������������� ���������������+�����������(���������������� ��������������������������������(�����������������������������������������������������������AB�����������4B��������4A�����������.������������������������?����� 4�A54C�=�� AB����� �������������������������������AB������������,������%�������������������������������4B@��������������������5����������� D@5B�����������������������D4EB����4A����������� D���F4E��������� �������� ��4B������������ � �� ��������������������%2#����������������� ���������������� �������������������G������(%2#������������������AB���@4������������/���%�������&�����(�������%2#����4�4BH�����;����������CE�HC���������4�A4I��������� ���;�������� ������4B������������.������ ������������������������������� �������� �� %�������������(��������,�����

J�������.����������!����%������������������� ���������������������������������������������������������&�������������� ��������� �����1���� �&������������+?$���1���������&�������������������� ����� �������� ���������������� ���������������%����������������������������������������������������,�����������/����� G��������-����+��� ���� �� �� �������� ����� ������� �� /���%�������&�%2#����#� ���������������������������������� ������%2#��������������������(�������������������������������������������,�������������������#�����������������������������(��� � ���������������������� �������C4�4IC�����������������������������������45����(�� �������������44����������������������@FA���������������������=���E�EH�����������������������������������������������A54B����������������� ���������������CE�555�����

=��������4I5��������������������������%2#;G�������������������������4CFI;��� IC���������������(������������D������AB��������������(�������������D�����������������������������%2#������������������������������� &������������#����������� ���������������������������1�����6������&���������=������������������%2#�����������������������-���������������������0������� ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ������������������������� ���������������������������������������������+��������������� ����������,����&��������� ������������� ���(��������������������������������� ���� ������������ ����������(2�������������

,� ������ ���45F�����������(��������IA���������������2K>������������/��������������A54B�������������������I�F���������(�������� � �� ��������������������������/�����(�������������������������!#=������������������������������� ����������������������������/�������������#�����$���������������#��������������� ����� ���� �@�555(�F�555 ��� ���(�������4B�555������������������������������� �H5�555�����2K>�+��%2#���������������������;�������������������������������������/������������������������ �������������������������������/�����/����������!�����

,� �����A54E����������A@���������%����������%2#.����������������������.������(�.�����(���������4B����������� ����� �������������������������������E�F55�������������������4B�����������������������������%2#.�����������������������������������������������������@I���� ��� ?�� ���� �������� ���� ����� #� /���%�������&�������������� 12����2����2����>����& ���������������������������������� ������ �

'���� �� ���� �� ��� ����� ��� ���� �� �#� �������������#��������(�� ����!� )

����� � �6# � ! ) % � + 1 / 7 �

�$��*����#���-�&�!*%,���

��.�� 3"!7.

.�(��4 0.!.�*.

#!� !������������!�@�����������/����������"��� �������!����&!� �����������&���)!����������(�� �����;������� �!!�������� �����'�"�����

5 .*/2/�.

#+!" �2� � "8"

&� ����'�-���������!�)��/�����������������@������������F<��� ! ������������3���<�����"�(G�1����������!����������������&&�����@�����&�������&&����'����������������@����&���������"�������������"�����&���(�������� �������'!��������������������)��/�(�7��������������������������������/��)����'������&����������&����������� �����!!������)��)!��'����������(����� �������������������

$.�#��� ����-/�+-��� ��� ���� -�

$$$1*�&%,�&�!���1"�#

1���� 13������ 1��� �� .�

�����#.�����#�1� 1����

3��� 13� �#�1���1� �#� ����<8� ���3��� ���3�1#�31��3��3�1��#����

��34���83�� 13� 731�1���� 13� ��<��1������

�3�1�713�#1� 1���#��7�1�����3��#1���� 1�� �13�#(1�#��83�� 13�

�����#�1. 13�� ��

� �1 13��� #��#� #�����

#���1 �#�388� �� ��#��3�1

83����� 1� �13���

��4��3��.�3�1��#

������9�%#�����'�$#(�%�#) '�����*"�%�+,-�+./0

�� ���� ������

�� �� ��������

To address farmers’ distressahead of 2019 general elec-

tions, the Government is con-sidering waiving interest oncrop loans for farmers who payon time, costing an additional�15,000 crore to the exchequer,according to sources.

Currently, farmers have topay 4 per cent interest rate ifthey repay their loans withindue date.

There is also a proposal tocompletely waive premium fortaking insurance policy forfood crops. The premium onhorticultural crops could alsobe reduced, they said.

When asked about theGovernment’s plan ofannouncing big farm package,Law Minister Ravi ShankarPrasad said: “The Governmentis committed towards farmers’welfare. Going forward, what-ever decision taken, will beannounced.”

He was speaking at aCabinet briefing here. The rul-ing BJP Government hasswung into action to address

distress in the agriculture sec-tor after it lost power to theCongress in Madhya Pradesh,Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh inthe recent state polls.

According to sources, sev-eral rounds of meetings havetaken place at the highest levelin the past few days to chalk outa plan to address difficultiesfaced by farmers in view of lowrealisation in several cropsamid bumper production.

To provide immediaterelief, one of the proposalsbeing studied is to waive the 4per cent interest rate on farm-ers repaying farm loan prompt-ly within the due date.

Currently, farmers getshort-term farm loan of up to �3lakh at 7 per cent interest rate.However, the interest ratecharged is only 4 per cent in casefarmers pay their loan withindue date. Normally, loans aregiven at 9 per cent interest rate.

The Centre bears a cost ofaround �15,000 crore annual-ly for the interest subsidies of2 per cent in normal cases and5 per cent in the case of promptrepayment of farm loans.

The Government has set atarget to provide �11 lakhcrore credit to farmers in thecurrent fiscal. It extended�11.69 lakh crore credit tofarmers last fiscal, surpassingthe target of �10 lakh crore.

Sources said the interestburden could double to�30,000 crore if the interest iscompletely waived for promptrepayment of farm loans.

Besides, the Government iscontemplating tweaking thePradhan Mantri Fasal BimaYojana (PMFBY) to bringdown the farmers’ premiumburden by fully waiving it onfood crops and reducing a biton horticultural crops.

Launched in April 2016,PMFBY provides comprehen-sive crop insurance from pre-sowing to post-harvest againstnon-preventable natural risks atextremely low premium rate of2 per cent for kharif crops, 1.5per cent for rabi crops and 5per cent for horticulture andcommercial crops.

The balance premium ispaid equally by the Centre andstate. Claims are settled on thebasis of yield loss assessed at theend of the season.

According to sources,farmers are paying currentlyabout �5,000 crore as insurancepremium to cover their kharifand rabi crops. The farmers’burden will reduce if the pre-mium is further subsidised.

During the 2017-18 cropyear (July-June), 4.79 crorefarmers were covered underPMFBY.

Political experts said farm-ers’ distress would be a majorelectoral issue in the 2019 LokSabha polls.

The agrarian crisis and theannouncement of loan waiversby the Congress were key fac-tors for the defeat of the saffronparty in three Hindi heartlandstates in the recent state polls,they added.

0�.���� �;�������������� ������� ������������������������������������������:���� � �������� ���� &��������������������������������

�� �� ��������

The Government on Fridaysaid action has been taken

against more than 6,000 officersof nationalised banks last fiscalin cases of lapses that led to badloans.

In written reply, FinanceMinister Arun Jaitley said thatminor and major penaltieshave been imposed againsterring officials. These include,dismissal, compulsory retire-ment and demotion.

“As per the inputsreceived from nationalisedbanks, in FY 2017-18, 6,049off icers have been heldresponsible on account ofstaff delinquency in NPAaccounts...,” Jaitley said.

Depending upon the grav-ity of lapses, the Minister said“minor penalty/ major penal-ty have been imposed againsterring officials” and in all thecases, depending upon theamount involved, CBI andpolice complaints have beenlodged.

The 19 nationalised banks,including PNB and CanaraBank, reported a net loss of�21,388 crore in the first halfof the fiscal. This compareswith a combined loss �6,861crore in the similar period of2017-18.

In another written reply tothe lower House, Shukla said asa result of transparent recog-nition of bad loans, the non-performing asset (NPA)amount of all commercialbanks rose from �5.66 lakhcrore at end-March 2016 to�9.62 lakh crore at end ofMarch 2018.

Since then the amount hasdeclined to �9.43 lakh crore.

�� �� ��������

Various initiatives taken bythe Government have

yielded results, with the badloans of public sector banksdeclining by over �23,000crore from a peak of �9.62lakh crore in March 2018,said a senior FinanceMinistry official.

At the same time, publicsector banks (PSBs) havealso made a record in recov-ery of �60,726 crore in thefirst half of the current finan-cial year, which is more than double theamount recovered in the corresponding periodlast year.

“Gross non-performing assets (NPAs) ofPSBs have started declining after peaking inMarch 2018, registering a decline of �23,860crore in the first half of the current financialyear,” Financial Service Secretary Rajiv Kumarsaid.

According to the latest Finance Ministrydata, non-NPA accounts overdue by 31 to 90days (Special Mention Accounts 1 & 2) of PSBshave declined by 61 per cent over five succes-sive quarters - from �2.25 lakh crore as of June2017 to �0.87 lakh crore in September 2018.

“This has substantially pared down creditat risk,” he said.

Talking about various initiatives, Kumarsaid, recognition of restructured standard assetsas NPAs, initiated with Asset Quality Review in2015, and discontinuation of restructuringschemes, the recognition exercise is nearly overwith such assets declining from the peak of 7per cent in March 2015 to 0.59 per cent as ofSeptember 2018.

He also said that the resolution process hasbeen strengthened by changing the creditor-debtor relationship through the Insolvency

and Bankruptcy Code and debarment of wilfuldefaulters and connected persons, which hasresulted in record recovery this year.

“Reforms have accompanied recapitalisationin the form of a comprehensive PSB reformsagenda that addresses the root causes of poorasset quality, and commits banks to clean lend-ing and rolling out of next-generation bankingservices by leveraging benefits of technology andformalisation of the economy,” the secretary said.

Banks have got capital support of over �3lakh crore since commencement of clean-up in2015-16.

Earlier this month, Finance Minister ArunJaitley said the Government will invest an addi-tional �41,000 crore into state-owned lendersover and above what was announced earlier tostrengthen their capital base. This wouldenhance the total recapitalisation in the currentfiscal from �65,000 crore to �1.06 lakh crore.

On December 20, the Government soughtParliament’s approval for infusion of an addi-tional �41,000 crore into the lenders.

Jaitley had said that this would enhance thelending capacity of PSBs and help them exit theReserve Bank of India’s Prompt CorrectiveAction (PCA) framework that imposes curbs oncertain business operations at the banks.

3���������������������*�?@0$$$�����#28#A1��������

�� � ��������

State-owned Central Bank ofIndia on Friday said it will

raise about �200 crore by issu-ing shares to staff under theemployee stock purchasescheme.

The board of directors ofthe bank at their meeting heldon December 28, 2018approved the proposal to raisecapital by issuance of shares toemployees through EmployeeStock Purchase Scheme (ESPS)to the extent of approximately�200 crore, the lender said ina regulatory filing.

The Committee ofDirectors will decide all oper-ative steps, including conven-ing of extra-ordinary generalmeeting of shareholders topass the resolution and deter-mination of pricing methodol-ogy and discount, Central Banksaid.

Last week, Syndicate Bankhad informed about raisingup to �500 crore by issuing 30crore shares to its staff underthe employee stock purchasescheme.

Punjab National Bank saidit has mobilised �500 crorethrough ESPS.

The Government inMarch 2017, had allowed pub-lic sector banks to offer stockoptions to their employees,aimed at retaining experi-enced hands and better incen-tives besides a means for rais-ing capital.

������!�7��/����������+,,�'�"������&&����'/)��'�����)!��

�� ��� ��)����,� ������������������(9�����#������������$�B��������� ��$��������.��� ��� ��)����,��������� �*����(9�����#������������$�� ���� ������������?C��?8@D.��� ��� ��)����,�����%���������)*����������������������$������������$�3�����3����������$��� ���.�)���� ��������7���������$���� �� ��*��9��������.�:�� ��������� ������������������������� �����)-B.�

&!���/��������:������� ����������$�������� �)���$���E�����,��������*B�*��<�����)�������������,�����F����G�������������-������$�3����=G�-3>������7?���&���������#����������G��������������� ������%�������������.�,����"�����%������!�*���=����������>��&!���������������%(�'����'������%!�=:'�>��&!����:������������#���� ��)�������� �$��$�&!���/������$����)"�!����������������(���������G�-3

�� �� ��7

In spite of the previlaing con-cerns around non-bank

lenders due to defaults byindustry major IL&FS, theReserve Bank on Friday said itwill ensure that growth in theshadow-banking sector is sus-tained and liquidity fears areeased.

The NBFC sector is liq-uidity crisis after a series ofdefaults by InfrastructureLeasing & Financial Services(IL&FS) and its many sub-sidiaries since late August.

“While in 2018-19, thoughconcerns surrounding the sec-tor due to debt defaults amidsttemporary asset liability mis-matches arose, the inherentstrength of the NBFC sector,coupled with the RBI’s con-tinuing vigil on the regulatoryand supervisory front, willensure that the growth of thesector is sustained and liquid-ity fears are allayed,” RBI saidin its annual report on ‘Trends& Progress of Banking in 2017-18’, released on Friday.

The report said the NBFCsector, with a size of around 15percent of the commercialbanks’ combined balance sheet,has been growing robustly inrecent years, providing analternative source of funds tothe commercial sector in theface of slowing bank credit.

The financial performanceof these shadow-banks, includ-ing profitability, asset qualityand capital adequacy,improved during FY18 as theyweathered the transient effectsof demonetisation and GST

implementation, the reportnoted.

Consolidated balance sheetof NBFCs expanded in 2017- 18and in 2018-19 (up toSeptember), buoyed by strongcredit expansion, the report saidwithout quantifying the same.

Category-wise, the balancesheet of NBFCs-NDSI expand-ed by 13.4 percent, while thebalance sheet of deposit- tak-ing NBFCs registering robustgrowth at 24.4 per cent in2017-18 on account of a sharprise in loans and advances.

%+��������������������&��6�'��3+2��6��'��������������

�� �� ��������

Markets regulator Sebi onFriday imposed a penalty

of �50 lakh on Citrus CheckInns and its directors for non-compliance of its order, where-in it had barred them from rais-ing funds from the public.

The regulator, through itsorders passed in June andAugust 2015, had directed thefirm as well as its directors —Omprakash Basantlal Goenka,Prakash Ganpat Untekar,Venkatraman Natarajan andNarayan Shivram Kotnis — notto collect any more money frominvestors through the existing ornew schemes.

Citrus collected �770 crorefrom about 4.5 lakh members inMarch 2013 through its various‘holiday plans’ which later wentup to �1,600 crore in 2015, theorders had noted.

The direction came after theSecurities and Exchange Boardof India (Sebi) found that the

company was raising moneyfrom investors through collec-tive investment scheme (CIS)without obtaining requisiteapproval from it.

In a fresh order passed onFriday, Sebi said the companycontinued to collect moneyfrom the existing investorsthrough periodic instalments.

“It is established thatnoticees collected/raised moneyfrom the investors even afterSebi prohibited them from doingso vide orders dated June 3, 2015and August 24, 2015 ....Andthereby noticees failed to com-ply with the directions containedtherein,” the regulator noted.

Accordingly, the regulatorhas slapped a penalty of �50 lakhon Citrus and its directors. Thefine is to be paid ‘jointly and sev-erally’ by them.

The regulator had began theprobe after receiving a complaintalleging that Citrus was runninga ‘Ponzi Scheme’ and ‘mis-sell-ing’ its schemes to the public.

���&��%�����67�%�8/-&!����!��&�� ��/�"89�*&��"����

�� �� ��������

The Government has detect-ed GST evasion worth

�38,896 crore in 6,585 cases inthe April-October period of2018-19, Parliament wasinformed on Friday.

Minister of State forFinance Shiv Pratap Shuklasaid while central excise eva-sion of �3,028.58 crore in 398cases was unearthed during theseven-month period, servicetax evasion of �26,108.43 crorewas detected in 3,922 cases.

Customs evasion wasdetected in 12,711 cases involv-ing �6,966.04 crore and Goodsand Services Tax (GST) evasionworth �38,895.97 crore wasunearthed in 6,585 cases, hesaid in a written reply in theLok Sabha.

The total amount of eva-sion in indirect taxes (GST, ser-vice tax, excise and customs)during April-October adds upto about �75,000 crore.

%,+��#������� ��7D�DAC�����������������*)�����B������

�"���A@,,,��#7��&&�'����'����������!����P�$���!��

������99%#�����'�$#(�%�#) '�����*"�%�+,-�+./0

�� �� ��������

The US-India StrategicPartnership Forum

(USISPF) has dubbed the newe-commerce rules as “regres-sive” and said that the changeswould harm consumers, createunpredictability and have anegative impact on the growthof online retail in India.

The Forum asserted that “itis not the government’s businessto micromanage businesses” andalleged that the amendmentsannounced came out withoutany consultation and were akinto changing rules in the middleof the game.

Earlier this week, the gov-ernment appeared to have yield-ed to demands of domestictraders and put in place newnorms, which would end dis-counts and cashback offers thatonline platforms with foreigninvestment are offering. Thenew rules are set to come intoeffect from February 2019.

“The amendment to theFDI in e-commerce policy isregressive. It harms the con-sumer, who is ultimately theking in any retail environment.It is not the government’s busi-ness to micromanage business-es. This amendment bars Indianmanufacturers and sellers fromeffectively competing in theglobal online marketplace,”USISPF president and chiefexecutive officer (FPO) MukeshAghi said in a statement. He fur-

ther stated that the amendment“highlights the lack of trans-parency in policy making andcreates unpredictability”.

USISPF, which highlightedhow American companies haveled investments into e-com-merce platforms in India andfacilitated job creation, is con-sulting its members on thecourse of action and plans tomeet government officials nextweek on the matter.

With about a month tocomply, American retailerWalmart-backed Flipkart andUS-based Amazon — the twolargest players in the Indian e-commerce sector — would be hitthe hardest. Smaller traders have,in the past, cried foul allegingthat preferential treatment wasgiven to certain sellers that areaffiliates of these larger onlinemarketplaces. This, they said,created an unfair marketplace.

Amazon India, in an e-mailed statement on Friday,said the company had “alwaysoperated in compliance with thelaws of the land” and it was eval-uating the new guidelines “toengage as necessary with thegovernment to gain clarity”.

The company has commit-ted an investment of USD 5 bil-lion — a large chunk of whichhas already been pumped inacross various entities (likewholesale, marketplace and pay-ments) that it operates in India.

Flipkart, which saw Walmartpicking up 77 per cent stake for

a whopping USD 16 billion ear-lier this year, has said the gov-ernment should follow a con-sultative process in framing rulesthat have long-term implica-tions, and any changes should befor driving the industry forward.

The new rules, announcedon Wednesday, bar online plat-forms from selling productssupplied by affiliated companies,and from offering customersspecial discounts. For retailerssuch as Walmart, the new rulesmay hinder selling productsunder their own private brands.

Market watchers said that sofar, wholesale companies con-trolled by Amazon (AmazonWholesale) and Flipkart(Flipkart India) would buygoods in bulk at cheaper ratesfrom manufacturers, whichwould then be sold on theonline marketplaces through‘select sellers’ (like Cloudtail)who would also offer discountsand cashbacks.

The new rules clamp downon exclusive deals; this could casta cloud on partnerships seen inthe past including those withelectronic and smartphonebrands like ASUS, OnePlus,BPL and others.

However, smaller playerssuch as ShopClues and Snapdealhave welcomed the move, say-ing the development will “closethe back door” that has been“blatantly exploited” by largercompanies and provide a level-playing field for all.

�� �� ��7

Benchmark indices surgedfor the third straight ses-sion on Friday on across-

the-board buying by foreignfunds amid a rebound in therupee and upbeat global cues.

The BSE Sensex rallied269.44 points or 0.75 per centto finish at 36,076.72, while thebroader NSE Nifty spurted80.10 points, or 0.74 per cent,to 10,859.90.

During the week, the Sensexgained 334.65 points, while theNifty advanced 105.9 points.

Apart from telecom, allsectoral indices on the BSE fin-ished in the green in Friday’s

session, led by consumerdurables and healthcare.

The biggest gainers in theSensex pack were Sun Pharma,Bajaj Finance, Vedanta, YesBank, ICICI Bank, HDFC, TataMotors, HCL Tech, IndusIndBank and Axis Bank, rising upto 2.98 per cent.

On the other hand, TCS,Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp,Bharti Airtel, PowerGrid andInfosys shed up to 0.70 per cent.

The gains were led by bank-ing stocks, which rallied onreports that the government waslikely to infuse �28,615 croreinto seven public sector banks(PSBs) through recapitalisationbonds by the end of this month.

Yes Bank, ICICI Bank, Bank ofBaroda, SBI and Kotak Bankgained up to 2 per cent.

“Nifty ended this weekabove 10,800 mark led bybanking and FMCG stocks.The domestic sentimentremained optimistic withreports that the government iscontemplating several incen-tives for farmers ahead of the2019 Lok Sabha elections,” saidHemang Jani, head (advisory),Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

The rupee, meanwhile,strengthened against the USdollar and was trading 37 paisehigher at 69.98. Brent crudefutures rose 1.95 per cent toUSD 53.76 per barrel.

On a net basis, foreign port-folio investors (FPIs) boughtshares worth �1,731.91 crore onThursday, while domestic insti-tutional investors (DIIs) were netsellers to the tune of �663.00crore, provisional data avail-able with BSE showed.

Elsewhere in Asia, Korea’sKospi ended 0.62 per centhigher, Hong Kong’s HangSeng gained 0.09 per cent andShanghai Composite Indexrose 0.44 per cent, while Japan’sNikkei slipped 0.31 per cent.

In Europe, Paris CAC rose1.47 per cent, while Frankfurt’sDAX fell 1.56 per cent.London’s FTSE gained 1.67per cent.

New Delhi (PTI): NationalMedical Devices PromotionCouncil, set up under theDepartment of IndustrialPromotion and Policy, willhelp promote growth of thesector and pave way for afford-able access to good qualitypharma instruments to people,CII said on Friday.

The industry chamber saidthat it was a long-standingneed of the medical devicesindustry in India. “Time hascome for the medical technol-

ogy sector to have an exclusivepromotion council that willsafeguard the interests of thepatients, industry and all stake-holders,” said Himanshu Baid,chairman of CII MedicalTechnology Division (CIIMTD) in a statement.

He said that this councilwould provide anchorage andan environment for conducivegrowth for this sector. “We arelooking forward to seeingstrong Indian presence in theglobal medtech map in the next

few years,” he added.The CII MTD is an indus-

try association comprising ofover 50 major domestic andglobal medical device compa-nies. The council aims at boost-ing manufacturing, attractinvestments and promoteexports of the fast-growingsector. The industry plays acritical role in the healthcareecosystem and is indispensableto achieve the goal of health forall citizens. Although the indus-try has been growing in dou-

ble digits, it is predominantlyimport-driven, with importsaccounting for over 65 percent of the domestic market.

The council will undertakeseveral activities including hold-ing seminars and workshops togarner views of industry andunderstand best global prac-tices. It would also identifyredundant processes and rendertechnical assistance to the agen-cies and departments concernedto simplify the approval process-es involved in the sector.

��<�.�� ��)=>������������ ���?=27����@�+�����������.�(A1,AA

+��7��������� �����.1�� ������������1����5�*�"$�

��� ����� ������$�����$����-��!����� � ���������#������������9�����

New Delhi: CommerceMinister Suresh Prabhu hassought `179.16 crore from theFinance Ministry to doublethe incentives for onionexporters amid significant fallin prices of the vegetable.

In a communication toFinance Minister Arun Jaitley,Prabhu said the ministry waskeen to increase export incen-tives under MEIS from 5 percent to 10 per cent.

Under the MerchandiseExports from India Scheme(MEIS), the government pro-vides duty benefits dependingon product and country.Rewards under the scheme arepayable as percentage of realisedfree-on-board value and MEISduty credit scrip can be trans-ferred or used for payment of anumber of duties including thebasic customs duty. The rewardfor exports of fresh onionunder this scheme is 5 per centtill January 12 next year.

“The higher reward ratesare expected to bolster theexports and would be necessaryto support the domestic prices.In view of the urgency of thesituation, the Finance Ministryis requested to allocate addi-tional funds of �179.16 crore,so that MEIS reward at 10 percent can be provided for theexport of fresh onion up toJune 30 next year,” Prabhusaid. PTI

&!�������$����*��� ��$������������������6��33

Script Open High Low LTPRCOM 14.39 15.03 14.36 14.69SUZLON 5.49 5.50 5.41 5.42PCJEWELLER 88.30 90.00 86.35 87.80JPASSOCIAT 7.64 7.73 7.54 7.63SUNPHARMA 415.10 428.05 413.95 424.60YESBANK 180.05 183.20 180.05 181.55RELCAPITAL 216.00 229.90 215.80 228.15JETAIRWAYS 272.00 277.35 267.40 276.10IBULHSGFIN 846.25 857.80 838.95 848.75DHFL 240.95 243.40 237.75 240.20RELIANCE 1123.30 1135.90 1122.00 1125.80IOC 134.40 138.60 134.20 137.65SBIN 294.70 297.05 293.60 294.45TITAN 905.00 925.90 899.25 922.50VEDL 198.40 200.50 197.20 199.40FRETAIL 514.00 520.40 484.50 510.35INFY 662.80 663.90 656.00 657.60LT 1415.00 1446.85 1415.00 1439.05HINDPETRO 252.10 257.50 251.10 256.50NBCC 55.00 57.85 54.35 56.65SAIL 51.85 55.00 51.85 54.85DMART 1580.00 1667.80 1575.05 1656.35TATAMOTORS 169.90 172.15 169.20 170.80RELINFRA 306.40 316.20 304.05 311.90SPICEJET 87.50 88.70 86.20 88.30ZEEL 469.00 477.95 461.10 473.20BAJFINANCE 2590.15 2638.50 2587.00 2631.65TATASTEEL 507.80 516.60 507.80 513.70COALINDIA 242.80 243.30 239.90 242.35TCS 1909.45 1921.00 1893.75 1895.80PFC 101.95 106.15 100.90 105.05RECLTD 117.90 123.00 116.85 121.45BLISSGVS 140.80 159.60 140.00 156.25MARUTI 7539.00 7575.75 7492.00 7510.70BEML 907.00 916.40 899.35 907.75UNIONBANK 84.05 87.20 84.05 86.00JUBLFOOD 1230.05 1266.55 1230.05 1249.75ASHOKLEY 103.40 104.40 102.40 102.80BANKINDIA 103.00 103.55 102.20 102.95ONGC 148.50 151.25 148.00 150.45HINDUNILVR 1811.00 1834.00 1811.00 1820.10AXISBANK 622.95 628.10 620.50 625.25JINDALSTEL 161.00 163.20 159.25 161.00LEMONTREE 77.15 77.15 73.50 74.65ICICIBANK 357.35 362.75 357.35 361.05INFIBEAM 47.30 48.30 46.75 47.85SUNTV 588.00 618.00 588.00 614.75JISLJALEQS 67.40 70.55 67.30 69.15BHEL 70.20 72.25 70.20 72.05HDFC 1956.30 1989.00 1953.10 1980.10DELTACORP 245.00 252.60 241.90 250.65ITC 279.75 283.95 279.55 281.95SIEMENS 1021.00 1059.00 1021.00 1044.40EDELWEISS 183.45 184.25 179.90 180.80BHARTIARTL 316.55 321.00 314.35 316.20ESCORTS 691.00 707.00 690.95 701.35HEG 3700.00 3728.00 3670.70 3691.20SPARC 195.95 197.00 189.00 190.05RPOWER 28.85 30.05 28.55 29.10PNB 77.90 79.00 77.90 78.35ADANIPORTS 384.10 390.00 384.10 386.30NCC 84.40 87.10 84.40 86.50CGPOWER 44.50 45.95 43.90 45.65AJANTPHARM 1184.95 1196.95 1172.35 1191.05ICICIGI 862.05 868.40 828.00 850.60JAICORPLTD 113.50 114.60 111.80 112.25BPCL 362.50 369.20 359.00 362.35MPHASIS 980.00 1009.90 975.00 998.55BOMDYEING 112.30 116.60 112.30 113.90PEL 2309.00 2373.00 2304.65 2354.25STRTECH 287.00 293.60 286.00 289.00WIPRO 328.10 333.35 326.15 331.05HDFCBANK 2114.10 2137.00 2114.10 2122.90L&TFH 155.00 156.00 153.50 154.50BBTC 1284.50 1346.00 1282.50 1317.80KOTAKBANK 1241.20 1252.45 1236.75 1244.65GRAPHITE 774.00 778.95 761.05 769.70BANKBARODA 117.30 118.90 117.10 118.40M&M 797.10 806.30 796.95 803.15NTPC 147.80 151.00 146.50 149.35ORIENTBANK 95.50 97.00 95.00 95.40GAIL 357.00 360.90 356.00 357.55WOCKPHARMA 511.00 520.00 506.90 518.05UPL 758.00 770.75 752.55 757.70JUSTDIAL 509.95 514.90 502.70 504.25ASIANPAINT 1372.10 1384.25 1361.00 1365.35INDUSINDBK 1587.00 1600.00 1573.50 1582.65BEL 87.30 88.30 87.00 87.75CANBK 274.00 279.00 272.65 277.55INDIGO 1145.00 1186.95 1145.00 1177.75IDFCBANK 43.40 43.40 42.60 42.90IBVENTURES 377.45 390.45 371.50 380.40CUMMINSIND 835.00 860.00 830.85 858.10DLF 176.50 180.65 176.50 177.75IBREALEST 88.30 89.15 86.65 87.25BATAINDIA 1134.00 1143.00 1130.00 1138.10WESTLIFE 383.95 392.05 378.15 380.65ADANIPOWER 51.35 51.65 50.50 50.85RBLBANK 579.00 583.60 574.20 580.55CENTRALBK 36.65 37.95 36.00 36.05AVANTI 389.50 397.50 386.00 388.00BHARATFORG 505.00 515.25 502.00 507.25SUVEN 227.75 233.30 227.60 229.90JSWSTEEL 294.00 300.35 294.00 297.80INDIACEM 93.60 96.10 93.50 95.20HEXAWARE 327.00 333.50 326.75 330.20SBILIFE 599.85 603.40 588.00 596.60BANDHANBNK 543.10 549.00 531.25 536.10

BALKRISIND 909.20 927.65 907.50 914.80BAJAJFINSV 6460.00 6523.15 6425.05 6496.50ACC 1465.20 1493.50 1465.20 1480.00OIL 172.00 177.80 171.35 177.20TVSMOTOR 557.00 568.40 548.85 564.30JYOTHYLAB 203.45 214.30 202.60 208.95AUBANK 601.00 601.15 570.00 584.10GLENMARK 685.00 700.00 679.80 696.50PETRONET 224.00 228.25 222.45 225.90DABUR 431.00 437.00 428.95 433.90TECHM 708.95 718.20 708.80 712.30HINDALCO 220.65 225.75 220.65 223.30TATAPOWER 77.20 77.80 76.85 77.15BIOCON 614.05 623.25 612.00 621.85M&MFIN 464.95 478.60 458.00 475.30MUTHOOTFIN 497.40 509.65 496.10 505.15LUPIN 841.80 851.90 835.90 839.05PIDILITIND 1121.85 1126.80 1098.00 1102.00FSL 47.50 48.00 46.60 46.70HEROMOTOCO 3131.55 3159.85 3118.35 3130.20CEATLTD 1284.00 1303.60 1279.25 1295.80HDFCLIFE 393.85 393.85 385.00 388.65UJJIVAN 273.00 276.65 271.85 272.85POWERGRID 197.75 198.25 195.50 197.75AUROPHARMA 713.00 726.80 713.00 723.35GODREJPROP 672.00 686.55 663.50 666.30APOLLOHOSP 1248.55 1251.30 1226.00 1240.50FORCEMOT 1627.95 1631.00 1606.00 1612.10PAGEIND 24000.00 25052.25 24000.00 24937.40EQUITAS 124.90 126.90 123.20 124.80CIPLA 519.00 525.00 518.20 522.00LTI 1687.30 1737.00 1683.50 1728.65TATAMTRDVR 91.95 93.00 91.55 91.95IDEA 37.40 38.10 37.40 37.60MHRIL 194.10 212.45 194.10 208.05KTKBANK 110.90 113.60 110.45 112.80LICHSGFIN 479.00 491.00 478.75 488.80

BAJAJ-AUTO 2745.00 2759.45 2719.00 2723.30SRF 2001.00 2034.00 1996.85 2003.25GRASIM 817.35 827.05 817.35 824.30FEDERALBNK 94.25 94.45 92.85 93.20GSFC 110.00 113.05 109.80 112.60DEEPAKNI 212.85 218.00 212.85 216.35NMDC 92.55 96.15 92.55 95.45ENGINERSIN 126.50 127.35 124.90 126.75ALBK 46.15 47.40 46.15 46.80ICICIPRULI 324.65 330.50 324.35 327.40CANFINHOME 289.35 293.40 286.45 292.20ITI 90.40 94.00 90.40 91.80SYNDIBANK 38.10 39.70 38.10 39.50STAR 458.70 469.25 458.05 464.80MANPASAND 88.45 90.00 88.00 88.35ABCAPITAL 98.30 100.25 98.15 99.75RAIN 131.10 136.75 131.10 132.95CENTURYTEX 904.00 928.35 902.05 918.50GNFC 343.00 345.80 341.00 342.80TATAELXSI 1019.00 1023.00 1009.00 1013.10TATAGLOBAL 221.90 223.10 219.65 220.55RCF 63.80 64.65 63.55 63.80IDFC 43.50 43.75 42.95 43.30RAJESHEXPO 571.55 597.30 570.50 572.20PTC 90.35 92.50 90.15 91.75PHILIPCARB 201.00 202.80 199.10 199.50MOTHERSUMI 163.15 164.55 162.30 162.90GODREJCP 819.00 823.40 806.60 813.55NATIONALUM 63.00 64.20 62.75 63.55DRREDDY 2606.00 2633.00 2604.10 2622.05IFCI 15.05 15.06 14.73 14.85HCLTECH 948.00 960.00 948.00 956.55SUNTECK 351.95 353.00 343.10 347.40KEI 350.00 362.00 347.10 350.80LALPATHLAB 925.70 931.25 900.80 910.00RADICO 407.70 409.70 401.10 402.85SRTRANSFIN 1220.00 1232.40 1217.00 1225.45PNBHOUSING 924.95 942.00 908.75 914.35UBL 1374.90 1388.25 1365.00 1375.60LTTS 1697.75 1707.00 1664.50 1700.60EXIDEIND 266.05 269.85 264.50 265.25CADILAHC 340.95 347.30 340.35 344.65BRITANNIA 3089.95 3116.75 3083.50 3098.00IGL 265.95 267.95 263.80 265.50JKTYRE 102.40 105.95 102.40 104.00NOCIL 163.00 165.00 162.00 162.65MANAPPURAM 90.15 92.80 90.00 92.30CHENNPETRO 288.00 293.10 288.00 289.45OMAXE 214.55 215.20 213.60 213.80HAVELLS 699.00 699.00 684.70 690.85RALLIS 171.95 180.00 171.85 179.00

JMFINANCIL 91.15 93.00 90.00 91.85SCI 49.60 49.70 47.40 47.75TATACOMM 524.25 526.90 517.55 522.45MARICO 374.60 381.45 370.15 378.10INTELLECT 219.75 228.85 219.75 223.40COLPAL 1309.00 1326.90 1305.50 1319.85NESTLEIND 11009.00 11287.85 10960.00 11235.60PVR 1588.20 1600.45 1577.55 1585.45JSLHISAR 86.50 89.25 86.50 88.65IBULISL 375.95 388.25 364.50 387.30TATACHEM 707.65 714.40 707.25 711.25SHANKARA 532.00 534.55 522.00 525.05TORNTPOWER 261.00 264.20 256.70 258.50TATACOFFEE 95.50 98.25 95.35 97.05MERCK 2940.60 3100.00 2921.30 3049.25MAXINDIA 84.20 86.00 83.80 84.05TRENT 345.60 365.70 345.45 359.90APOLLOTYRE 233.50 236.10 231.55 234.90CONCOR 667.35 674.50 667.35 670.70DIVISLAB 1477.90 1481.65 1462.80 1465.85NIITTECH 1151.00 1164.70 1147.00 1153.55KPIT 221.25 222.80 217.20 217.80GODFRYPHLP 871.00 892.40 871.00 888.25RAMCOCEM 640.00 646.75 621.00 637.20MOTILALOFS 680.00 697.95 675.55 681.70ABFRL 206.45 208.00 204.30 204.90INDIANB 239.95 244.70 239.95 242.75TV18BRDCST 37.50 38.45 37.50 38.25AMBUJACEM 218.05 222.75 217.25 220.75WELSPUNIND 60.00 60.40 59.05 59.55ENDURANCE 1172.50 1230.00 1169.00 1219.50MCX 727.55 736.85 725.70 733.15SOUTHBANK 15.20 15.45 15.20 15.35NAUKRI 1480.00 1480.00 1438.00 1452.90HFCL 21.15 21.60 20.95 21.05INFRATEL 269.80 269.80 262.00 263.65FORTIS 134.45 138.75 134.10 137.45DEEPAKFERT 150.90 152.50 149.45 150.20ADANITRANS 196.90 202.60 196.55 197.65GUJALKALI 521.35 550.00 521.35 545.20VIPIND 504.25 514.00 504.25 508.75KEC 287.90 299.75 285.80 298.60TORNTPHARM 1748.55 1785.00 1747.20 1779.90WELCORP 138.75 141.20 137.95 139.05BERGEPAINT 330.00 333.90 327.25 329.90RAYMOND 836.05 839.80 831.75 835.30GET&D 286.70 303.00 286.65 294.05DCMSHRIRAM 334.25 341.90 332.65 338.95WHIRLPOOL 1330.00 1386.80 1330.00 1373.85DISHTV 37.70 38.50 37.20 37.95DCBBANK 164.95 167.35 163.10 166.30BAJAJELEC 500.10 504.95 493.65 496.20SYNGENE 561.05 565.00 550.10 560.75EICHERMOT 23094.00 23287.25 23068.60 23110.65CASTROLIND 153.20 154.55 151.80 152.15VENKYS 2394.00 2425.00 2391.00 2398.10VOLTAS 553.95 556.60 550.00 551.55HINDCOPPER 50.00 51.25 50.00 50.70REPCOHOME 392.55 403.95 391.85 401.65PFIZER 2802.70 2812.90 2741.00 2789.50AMARAJABAT 741.00 741.95 733.85 736.35JAMNAAUTO 64.85 64.90 64.00 64.00HUDCO 43.70 43.80 42.80 42.90JUBILANT 710.05 716.00 703.45 706.40SREINFRA 35.95 36.20 35.30 35.75GRUH 312.50 315.90 309.90 312.60NLCINDIA 67.40 69.85 67.15 69.70MAHABANK 15.11 15.24 14.71 15.10GREAVESCOT 120.15 121.60 118.70 119.55JSWENERGY 67.40 69.80 67.40 69.35MMTC 30.20 30.50 29.75 29.85SYMPHONY 1104.95 1192.20 1103.05 1178.95WABAG 260.00 262.75 258.10 260.10MFSL 439.40 448.75 433.45 443.75INDHOTEL 147.35 150.10 147.35 148.25UCOBANK 20.70 20.85 20.50 20.60GODREJIND 533.40 542.70 528.15 537.55GMRINFRA 16.10 16.35 16.00 16.20ABB 1310.00 1322.00 1310.00 1314.10MRPL 74.70 75.55 74.55 74.80CHAMBLFERT 143.30 147.75 143.30 146.95NHPC 26.25 26.25 25.80 26.00JINDALSAW 83.65 85.60 83.65 84.60MGL 881.00 900.70 881.00 895.30MEGH 59.70 60.60 59.50 60.05CHOLAFIN 1243.85 1253.35 1233.05 1248.40UFLEX 272.95 279.85 272.80 277.95MINDTREE 865.50 869.00 859.00 863.15J&KBANK 37.00 37.60 36.70 37.35KSCL 577.20 587.90 571.80 576.65SUPREMEIND 1145.35 1200.00 1135.00 1191.40OBEROIRLTY 456.80 461.85 451.00 453.05FCONSUMER 45.95 46.65 45.55 45.75VGUARD 235.65 235.65 229.30 231.45IRB 157.00 162.40 157.00 161.65ULTRACEMCO 4000.00 4021.00 3994.55 4004.90ELGIEQUIP 253.35 271.05 252.85 269.25DBL 424.80 426.20 418.10 420.35IDBI 61.30 61.55 61.10 61.40SJVN 24.75 25.25 24.65 25.15TEJASNET 211.15 213.80 205.00 210.80IPCALAB 790.00 798.75 780.25 784.20LAXMIMACH* 5735.75 5770.00 5676.15 5751.70PARAGMILK 246.65 254.15 246.60 252.75MAHINDCIE 244.10 250.00 242.90 248.85SWANENERGY 100.90 102.00 100.60 101.40CENTURYPLY 174.05 178.20 174.00 176.70CORPBANK 28.85 30.20 28.85 29.50HINDZINC 276.00 277.80 272.50 274.95

ISEC 262.80 264.30 256.00 258.95GRANULES 89.90 90.50 88.45 89.70DCAL 231.05 236.25 228.50 232.95GICRE 261.70 264.15 254.50 255.90CUB 186.15 189.20 185.60 187.55AARTIIND 1435.30 1435.30 1412.45 1423.80KNRCON 217.30 218.90 210.50 212.15LAOPALA 221.00 222.00 215.60 219.00NAVKARCORP 56.50 56.85 55.45 55.60NILKAMAL 1480.05 1505.00 1475.00 1485.50FDC 173.75 177.25 172.50 173.85CARERATING 982.15 988.85 975.00 980.80JSL 32.50 33.30 32.45 33.00DENABANK 17.20 17.25 17.05 17.15VIJAYABANK 50.25 50.60 50.05 50.35NETWORK18 39.00 40.95 39.00 40.40APLLTD 574.15 577.65 563.10 574.20KPRMILL 552.10 567.15 552.10 562.80EMAMILTD 405.40 412.30 405.00 407.55BLUESTARCO 612.75 621.60 611.30 613.90TATAINVEST 882.80 885.00 880.00 881.30ASTRAL 1128.80 1165.00 1121.00 1153.60HSCL 130.15 131.85 130.10 130.85PERSISTENT 635.05 641.05 623.60 632.00QUESS 641.50 646.25 633.00 638.55TRIDENT 65.95 65.95 65.10 65.55KAJARIACER 488.90 493.00 485.10 485.55GODREJAGRO 497.30 504.00 497.25 498.50EIHOTEL 194.35 201.00 192.55 194.55KANSAINER 486.25 486.25 479.65 480.45RNAM 158.40 162.80 158.35 159.40NATCOPHARM* 686.95 688.95 678.40 684.20ADANIGREEN 42.00 42.55 41.45 41.65NBVENTURES 118.80 120.00 117.55 118.90GLAXO 1490.90 1515.00 1488.45 1509.15ALKEM 1870.75 1907.05 1866.30 1897.40BOSCHLTD 19400.00 19640.00 19300.00 19581.15OFSS 3649.85 3690.15 3638.70 3662.00ASHOKA 124.90 126.65 124.50 125.20PRSMJOHNSN 87.00 89.00 87.00 88.25SHREECEM 17014.10 17575.95 16995.00 17338.45DHANUKA 464.00 472.50 462.05 464.65ASTRAZEN 1507.00 1510.55 1430.40 1465.90SONATSOFTW 301.65 302.25 300.00 300.25SUNDRMFAST 525.05 534.45 525.05 532.75MINDACORP 145.65 146.50 144.60 145.55MOIL 170.20 171.10 168.90 170.20BAJAJHLDNG 2911.05 3004.20 2911.05 2934.35BHARATFIN 1001.30 1015.00 1001.30 1005.15CROMPTON 225.00 226.35 222.90 224.30GUJFLUORO 877.40 901.50 876.45 895.05KRBL 289.80 292.00 280.00 281.80KALPATPOWR 379.40 381.50 374.25 378.10BALMLAWRIE 202.00 205.00 200.55 201.05COCHINSHIP 386.00 386.00 376.90 379.05COROMANDEL 446.40 450.90 446.40 449.70VBL 744.15 760.00 744.15 756.85CYIENT 609.95 615.45 605.05 613.20TATAMETALI 625.05 628.50 615.55 617.75GSPL 175.90 177.70 174.05 174.65ASAHIINDIA 243.00 248.65 241.00 245.00HEIDELBERG 151.05 154.55 150.65 151.35ANDHRABANK 29.30 29.80 29.30 29.50CENTRUM 37.90 37.90 34.65 35.45MINDAIND 324.30 324.75 321.30 322.40ITDCEM 108.50 114.80 108.50 112.75EVEREADY 190.35 190.40 186.65 186.95TIMETECHNO 100.05 102.25 99.70 100.20BIRLACORPN 634.90 634.90 597.55 601.95EIDPARRY 204.95 206.95 204.30 205.45PRESTIGE 208.40 215.45 208.40 214.00GMDCLTD 87.25 89.00 87.25 88.35GICHSGFIN 254.20 261.00 254.20 257.00TIINDIA 335.70 344.90 332.60 341.50BASF 1571.00 1617.45 1568.00 1583.80VMART 2589.90 2729.25 2589.90 2617.25IEX 166.25 166.60 163.35 164.05HSIL 231.55 234.65 229.70 230.65VINATIORGA 1664.90 1664.90 1610.00 1625.90NAVINFLUOR 702.70 703.80 691.20 695.10ITDC 303.60 308.25 303.05 303.65PIIND 853.00 860.00 851.00 855.20NIACL 175.55 181.00 175.55 178.50LUXIND 1460.00 1473.00 1351.80 1364.65MRF 67350.00 67448.35 66700.00 66976.00THOMASCOOK 231.05 233.95 228.05 231.20ZENSARTECH 233.95 235.10 226.00 229.453MINDIA 20798.55 21124.55 20510.55 20970.00AIAENG 1682.00 1692.45 1652.70 1681.35INDOSTAR 340.15 350.00 340.15 348.55GUJGAS 670.00 671.55 664.00 664.85CAPPL 385.50 387.25 382.20 383.75PHOENIXLTD 566.50 573.85 555.00 559.50GESHIP 315.05 315.10 308.50 309.35RELAXO 725.00 737.50 710.00 730.35LINDEINDIA 675.95 687.15 675.95 685.15GHCL 238.55 242.35 238.05 240.30SOBHA 450.00 453.75 445.80 447.00COFFEEDAY 271.50 278.40 269.40 273.85HIMATSEIDE 218.20 220.55 215.10 216.05HERITGFOOD 550.75 550.75 520.20 533.30GSKCONS 7593.05 7700.00 7593.05 7667.35ABBOTINDIA 7525.00 7525.00 7432.40 7462.60PGHH 9792.00 9900.00 9781.30 9875.00ADVENZYMES 179.00 181.00 176.40 177.00INOXWIND 75.80 78.00 75.80 77.20NESCO 440.85 453.45 440.85 448.10BDL 270.10 277.90 270.10 275.90TAKE 151.10 151.15 147.00 147.85

BLUEDART 3210.20 3350.00 3191.25 3299.75MAHLOG 509.00 519.15 508.30 517.40GREENPLY 138.00 139.70 136.20 138.60AEGISLOG 189.00 193.55 189.00 192.45HONAUT 21350.00 21888.00 21201.05 21803.45THERMAX 1080.35 1086.00 1065.75 1075.70JAGRAN 114.35 115.00 112.60 112.95WABCOINDIA 6845.95 7000.00 6770.60 6961.50HAL 776.00 793.10 776.00 789.75ESSELPRO 107.85 108.65 105.05 108.15NAVNETEDUL 103.00 107.35 103.00 105.55SOMANYCERA 331.55 333.00 325.15 328.60BAYERCROP 4220.00 4300.00 4216.00 4284.65IOB 14.72 15.00 14.72 14.84INOXLEISUR 244.00 244.90 240.80 241.20SADBHAV 207.00 209.00 206.50 207.70JKCEMENT 719.20 727.75 711.00 712.10ISGEC 5070.00 5070.00 5005.15 5010.70APARINDS 667.00 676.00 654.90 656.70SCHNEIDER 100.90 101.65 100.10 101.25AKZOINDIA 1633.25 1695.00 1631.90 1673.95SANOFI 6211.00 6399.00 6151.05 6307.70GPPL 101.10 103.25 100.15 102.55APLAPOLLO 1110.55 1123.80 1100.00 1104.15SUDARSCHEM 340.90 343.00 339.50 341.85KIOCL 145.00 152.00 120.00 148.50NH 200.00 201.00 193.20 197.45SHOPERSTOP 506.20 554.90 502.40 537.25REDINGTON 87.35 88.15 87.25 87.85DBCORP 175.00 175.00 168.00 168.10ZYDUSWELL 1370.40 1375.65 1355.45 1360.55TEAMLEASE 2820.00 2860.50 2806.50 2837.10TIMKEN 559.90 570.00 556.00 561.60JKLAKSHMI 284.35 290.90 284.15 288.30CARBORUNIV 354.30 359.90 353.00 358.80MAHLIFE 388.10 396.40 388.10 391.70ASTERDM 148.20 152.20 148.00 151.85TRITURBINE 117.05 119.00 112.55 113.35SUNCLAYLTD 3428.00 3739.85 3411.00 3594.80FINCABLES 456.80 461.05 455.45 459.80LAURUSLABS 381.00 392.50 381.00 385.00TVSSRICHAK 2473.25 2500.00 2450.00 2482.45ATUL 3443.65 3451.00 3408.25 3424.95BAJAJCORP 363.00 364.30 358.70 359.85SHARDACROP 306.60 309.95 304.95 305.55JBCHEPHARM 293.10 301.25 293.10 299.75FLFL 391.00 398.00 388.15 395.50SFL 1460.00 1469.70 1450.00 1455.70ERIS 674.30 687.60 666.45 681.90GDL 130.95 131.15 129.65 131.00ALLCARGO 107.50 109.10 107.50 108.95LAKSHVILAS 87.00 87.15 86.50 86.80ECLERX 1111.00 1111.00 1086.10 1092.25FINOLEXIND 550.05 557.95 548.00 550.85CERA 2377.75 2404.90 2352.50 2378.85SHILPAMED 389.15 389.20 371.00 378.05MAGMA 110.95 111.55 108.75 110.25SUPRAJIT 217.45 220.00 214.30 219.05CRISIL 1623.80 1625.55 1600.00 1600.90PNCINFRA 145.50 148.00 144.80 147.70FORBESCO 2424.90 2424.95 2360.00 2400.00GRINDWELL 540.00 560.00 540.00 556.60GALAXYSURF 1205.90 1209.85 1188.75 1201.50SUPPETRO 207.60 211.55 206.00 209.10STARCEMENT 107.00 107.00 101.25 103.65GULFOILLUB 828.95 829.00 820.00 823.85THYROCARE 543.90 543.90 536.50 537.95TIFHL 506.00 515.45 505.50 509.90RATNAMANI 935.85 950.00 935.85 949.20SHK 170.50 172.00 170.50 171.85GEPIL 816.25 823.10 816.25 820.10JCHAC 1800.00 1800.00 1771.00 1786.15SOLARINDS 1051.50 1070.00 1042.30 1058.65SHRIRAMCIT 1571.90 1599.00 1569.10 1589.75ORIENTCEM 81.00 82.25 81.00 81.50TTKPRESTIG 7398.00 7500.00 7390.00 7459.40SKFINDIA 1947.00 2000.00 1895.35 1899.60HATSUN 622.70 627.00 622.10 623.95MONSANTO 2577.10 2639.00 2577.10 2619.00IFBIND 849.95 850.00 832.05 840.80CCL 272.20 272.70 271.25 271.55SCHAEFFLER 5578.90 5650.00 5553.05 5635.35GILLETTE 6497.55 6498.00 6460.60 6491.65TNPL 252.10 254.50 252.00 253.00SIS 768.55 769.80 753.95 759.85TVTODAY 370.50 370.55 370.00 370.10VTL 1029.65 1035.50 1029.65 1035.50

�������

SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 10820.95 10893.60 10817.15 10859.90 80.10TITAN 904.00 925.75 898.80 924.15 36.50SUNPHARMA 415.00 428.70 413.50 425.00 13.85IOC 134.60 138.70 134.20 138.20 4.30ZEEL 461.25 478.70 461.25 474.50 10.10BAJFINANCE 2603.00 2643.80 2585.95 2641.00 53.85VEDL 197.65 200.65 197.00 199.90 4.05YESBANK 180.00 183.30 180.00 181.65 3.55TATAMOTORS 169.40 172.20 169.15 171.40 3.15BAJAJFINSV 6424.00 6530.00 6412.60 6522.00 116.95JSWSTEEL 294.40 300.60 294.40 298.00 5.05HCLTECH 952.10 963.00 950.00 963.00 14.20HDFC 1959.00 1990.00 1952.00 1978.15 29.30INDUSINDBK 1578.85 1600.50 1571.00 1586.50 22.50GRASIM 814.90 827.95 814.90 825.10 11.35ICICIBANK 358.30 362.80 358.30 360.55 4.90HINDALCO 221.00 226.05 221.00 223.65 3.05DRREDDY 2605.00 2633.00 2601.10 2622.90 35.45AXISBANK 623.90 628.00 620.00 625.80 8.25HINDPETRO 253.50 257.00 251.00 255.80 3.10TATASTEEL 508.20 516.45 508.05 512.35 5.85UPL 752.50 771.00 752.50 758.00 8.35LT 1426.55 1448.00 1426.30 1440.00 14.95M&M 799.35 807.00 797.00 803.80 8.15NTPC 147.45 151.60 146.50 149.80 1.50HDFCBANK 2117.35 2137.75 2115.50 2124.00 18.95ADANIPORTS 384.95 390.75 384.00 387.20 3.20CIPLA 514.30 525.35 514.30 522.00 4.10SBIN 293.60 297.10 293.55 294.45 2.30ONGC 148.20 151.50 148.00 150.60 0.90TECHM 710.00 718.40 710.00 713.00 4.10EICHERMOT 23011.00 23310.00 22995.00 23120.00 125.50ULTRACEMCO 3986.60 4022.00 3985.00 4004.00 21.50WIPRO 326.20 332.90 325.80 329.10 1.65RELIANCE 1125.50 1135.25 1121.20 1125.65 5.45ITC 279.15 284.00 279.15 282.00 1.25IBULHSGFIN 850.00 858.00 838.90 847.50 2.40HINDUNILVR 1817.90 1834.90 1815.70 1820.00 5.10MARUTI 7548.00 7580.00 7490.00 7518.00 18.05KOTAKBANK 1244.25 1250.90 1235.05 1239.65 -0.60INFY 663.35 663.50 653.30 656.10 -0.70POWERGRID 197.50 198.35 195.60 196.25 -0.30HEROMOTOCO 3138.05 3160.00 3110.75 3123.45 -5.35BHARTIARTL 316.90 321.00 314.50 316.10 -0.60GAIL 356.45 361.35 355.05 355.50 -0.95COALINDIA 242.90 243.35 239.75 242.30 -0.65ASIANPAINT 1383.00 1383.00 1359.00 1365.00 -7.50BAJAJ-AUTO 2753.90 2759.95 2711.75 2720.00 -17.00TCS 1915.00 1920.00 1893.00 1897.00 -11.95BPCL 361.80 369.80 360.20 361.20 -3.40INFRATEL 269.05 269.75 262.00 262.65 -4.15

�������

�����������

SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 27863.40 28123.65 27860.90 28063.20 282.25SAIL 51.95 54.90 51.80 54.85 3.35DMART 1580.00 1669.50 1574.00 1656.00 85.85SUNTV 591.00 618.50 588.20 616.90 30.70OIL 172.45 178.45 171.30 178.00 7.25NMDC 92.40 96.25 92.40 95.55 3.25BHEL 70.05 72.40 70.05 72.20 2.20PEL 2308.00 2373.70 2302.15 2360.00 69.10LICHSGFIN 481.00 490.40 478.50 489.15 10.95AMBUJACEM 217.10 222.80 217.10 221.75 4.90CADILAHC 340.25 347.60 339.35 345.95 7.15BEL 87.00 88.25 86.60 87.90 1.75COLPAL 1302.05 1327.65 1302.05 1326.00 25.65BANKBARODA 117.25 119.05 117.10 118.50 2.10ABCAPITAL 98.50 100.25 98.05 99.85 1.70BIOCON 612.75 623.60 611.50 621.90 10.45PETRONET 224.00 228.70 222.30 226.20 3.70AUROPHARMA 712.00 727.35 712.00 723.30 11.45ICICIPRULI 324.00 331.00 323.45 328.00 5.15SHREECEM 16900.00 17350.00 16800.00 17200.00 252.60MCDOWELL-N 636.95 640.00 634.00 640.00 8.40ACC 1465.00 1493.00 1465.00 1478.00 18.80BOSCHLTD 19395.00 19678.00 19270.15 19640.00 230.85DLF 177.90 180.70 176.70 177.70 2.05SBILIFE 600.00 605.00 587.25 597.50 6.90NIACL 177.00 179.55 176.95 178.10 1.95INDIGO 1151.20 1188.00 1147.05 1176.00 12.20IDEA 37.25 38.10 37.25 37.50 0.35SIEMENS 1030.00 1060.00 1025.00 1041.75 9.75DABUR 431.85 437.25 428.50 433.00 3.05MRF 67279.00 67475.00 66980.00 67150.00 463.65HAVELLS 686.05 696.60 684.05 689.35 4.50PGHH 9790.00 9960.00 9751.00 9850.00 56.85ABB 1319.95 1323.35 1309.05 1316.50 7.50BRITANNIA 3083.00 3114.35 3080.95 3089.10 13.70CONCOR 670.00 674.20 666.60 669.00 2.55HINDZINC 276.00 277.70 271.50 276.00 0.85MOTHERSUMI 163.60 164.50 162.10 162.80 0.35OFSS 3660.00 3695.50 3637.50 3670.00 6.45L&TFH 154.25 155.95 153.30 154.50 0.25ASHOKLEY 103.05 104.40 102.55 102.95 -0.05LUPIN 841.00 852.00 836.80 837.65 -1.05MARICO 375.25 381.65 370.15 375.80 -1.05SRTRANSFIN 1224.00 1231.90 1216.25 1222.75 -3.95GODREJCP 819.00 824.00 805.15 808.55 -6.80NHPC 26.10 26.20 25.85 25.95 -0.25PIDILITIND 1123.20 1127.45 1098.00 1101.40 -12.30HDFCLIFE 391.40 393.40 384.50 386.00 -4.60BANDHANBNK 543.00 549.00 532.00 533.35 -7.25GICRE 260.50 264.50 254.50 255.00 -5.10ICICIGI 865.00 865.00 844.95 847.75 -27.60

�����9�%#�����'�$#(�%�#) '�����*"�%�+,-�+./0

%!+%%��2%!+%%��221+ "�

� ������� ���1� .��-����J����.�B�������.$��K�894 ���������/��������������'���� ������8������*��!���&��5L��������&�����������'��!���� ��������!��@���7��*����'��������@��)��/����'����'������!������������������'�� ������������(����<����@� ��� ��������'�����������<7����'�������� ����!�/�����������@�)��'/���&���'��!����� ��������!�������"������+,5I@�����7��*�����������������������(�

�G2���,���1-�. ���/ ��#���)�������-���8��8�8�6�=�4�8������������'���)��������� ������*��!���������������������"�!����)����'���������'��"�!���������������!�'��������������!!����������&�&����@�����!�'����!�'��������������1�������(���*��!�������������������)� ����&������� ��%%(AA�)���'������������==(9=)���'����&�����"�!�����������������H�&&�"������!��!���� ��/@�������(�

�&� ..��!�%�&� ��� ��������-�����4�)-����6���54��!��������� ���#������������H�����)�!�'�����)���������������������������������������������������)��'�����"��/�!!���56�)��)!�@��'!������� ����'������&��'�)�������!@�����.�"���������������1�������(F���������)��)!��!����������!�"�����������'���������'!������� �&������'������&��'��@G.�"���������)�/�����7�������$�������������������!�"�����@�������������+56)��)!�� ���� ������(

�� �� � #��.13�

The partial US Governmentshutdown is all set to drag

on to the new year asOpposition Democrats andRepublicans refused to show any sign of compromise Thursday to endthe impasse over PresidentDonald Trump’s demand forborder wall funding.

Trump has refused to signany stopgap spending bill thatdoes not has provisions tofund a wall along the US-Mexico border which he says isessential to stop the flow of ille-gal immigrants.

The Democrats, who willhold majority in the US Houseof Representatives in 2019 andcarries the crucial numbers inthe Senate despite being inminority, has argued that sucha move is waste of taxpayers’money.

Statements issued by boththe camps on Thursday indi-cated that the impasse is all setto continue in the new year.The partial Government shut-down that started last Saturdayhas affected 800,000 federalemployees, who have eitherbeen furloughed or are work-ing without pay.

President Trump contin-ued to blame Democrats for theshutdown. In a tweet, Trumpsaid the government shutdownis not about the wall.

“Everybody knows that aWall will work perfectly (InIsrael the Wall works 99.9%).This is only about the Demsnot letting Donald Trump andthe Republicans have a win.They may have the 10 Senatevotes, but we have the issue,Border Security. 2020!” he said.

White House press secre-tary Sarah Sanders also criti-cised Democrats on Thursday,saying in a statement that theyhad “decided to go home” overthe Christmas holiday ratherthan stay in Washington tonegotiate.

“The President has made

clear that any bill to fund theGovernment must adequatelyfund border security to stop theflow of illegal drugs, criminals,MS-13 gang members, childsmugglers and human traf-fickers into our communities -and protect the American peo-ple,” the White House said.

“The administration under-stands this crisis and made a rea-sonable, common-sense solutionto Democrats five days ago -we’ve not received a singleresponse,” it said in a statement.

The President and his teamstayed in Washington overChristmas hoping to negotiatea deal that would stop thedangerous crisis on the border,protect American communi-ties, and re-open theGovernment, it said.

5��0�.�������������������������)A(>�1���@����3�� 1##1���13�1����#1 ��#�

+ ��������������������������������*����H� ��*�������-����� )�

�+��� � #��.13�

US Secretary of State MikePompeo will meet next

week in Brazil with IsraeliPrime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu as Washington pre-pares to withdraw troops fromSyria, the State Departmentsaid on Thursday.

Pompeo and Netanyahuwill meet in Brasilia whereboth will be attending the NewYear’s Day inauguration ofpresident-elect JairBolsonaro, aright-wing firebrand who hasvowed to move Brazil closer toIsrael and US President DonaldTrump.

Netanyahu has met fre-quently with Pompeo andenjoys a warm relationshipwith Trump, happy about hiswithdrawal from a denu-clearization deal with Iran andhis landmark shift of the USembassy to Jerusalem.

But Netanyahu has for thefirst time found himself atodds with Trump after the US

leader’s sudden announcement last week thathe will bring home all 2,000American troops from war-rav-aged Syria, where Israel sawWashington’s presence as abulwark against Iran and coun-terweight to the influence ofRussia.

Israel has been measured inits public response, saying itrespects Trump’s decision,which led to the resignation ofDefense Secretary Jim Mattis.

Israel has carried out hun-dreds of strikes in Syria that itsays are targeting Iranian forcesand their Hezbollah allies.

Trump has said that UStroops were solely focused onfighting the Islamic Statejihadist group, which he has declared to be “largelydefeated.”

Pompeo will also meet inBrazil with Peruvian PresidentMartin Vizcarra and afterwardfly to Cartagena to hold talkswith Colombian President IvanDuque.

�����������3����*�'���+��,��������*����������� �+��� � #��.13�

Michael Cohen, DonaldTrump’s former attorney,

denied Thursday that he hadever visited Prague, shootingdown a report that he had ameeting with Russian officialsthere during the 2016 presi-dential election campaign.

“I hear #Prague#CzechRepublic is beautiful inthe summertime,” Cohentweeted. “I wouldn’t know as Ihave never been.”

“#Mueller knows every-thing!” he added in a referenceto Special Counsel RobertMueller, the former FBI direc-tor who is investigatingwhether Trump’s campaigncolluded with Russia to get himelected to the White House.

Cohen’s tweet came sever-al hours after the McClatchynews service reported that cellphone records showed thatCohen was near Prague in thesummer of 2016, supportingclaims that he met there withRussian officials.

Cohen, who was sentencedto three years in prison thismonth after pleading guilty to

tax evasion and other crimes,has denied ever visiting Prague.

Since then, however,Cohen has turned on his for-mer boss and has been coop-erating with Special CounselRobert Mueller, the formerFBI director who is investigat-ing whether Trump’s campaigncolluded with Russia to get himelected to the White House.

Details of Cohen’s cooper-ation with the Mueller probehave not been publicly revealedand Trump vehemently deniesany collusion with Russia.

The purported meetingbetween Cohen and Russiangovernment officials in Praguewas first reported in a docu-ment with compromisingmaterial on Trump compiledby former British spyChristopher Steele.

According to what hasbecome known as the “Steeledossier”, Cohen had a clandes-tine meeting with Kremlinofficials in Prague in August2016 to discuss hiding linksbetween members of theTrump campaign and Russia.

McClatchy, publisher ofthe Miami Herald and other

newspapers, said a mobilephone traced to Cohen hadbriefly sent signals off cell tow-ers in the Prague area in latesummer 2016.

“The brief activation fromCohen’s phone near Praguesent beacons that left a trace-able electronic signature,” itsaid.

Citing “four people withknowledge of the matter”,McClatchy said that the elec-tronic record supports “claimsthat Cohen met secretly therewith Russian officials.”

“During the same period oflate August or early September(2016), electronic eavesdrop-ping by an Eastern Europeanintelligence agency picked up aconversation among Russians,one of whom remarked thatCohen was in Prague,”McClatchy cited “two peoplefamiliar with the incident” assaying.

“The new informationregarding the recovery ofCohen’s cell phone locationdoesn’t explain why he wasapparently there or who he wasmeeting with, if anyone,”McClatchy said.

��'���������������������&��������&6��'%�������

�+��� �3��3�

British Foreign SecretaryJeremy Hunt on Friday crit-

icised Donald Trump’s view ofthe world after the USPresident’s announcement of awithdrawal of American troopsfrom the fight against theIslamic State group in Syria.

“President Trump makes aspeciality of talking in veryblack and white terms aboutwhat’s happening in the world,”Hunt told BBC Radio 4’s Todayprogramme.

“We have made massiveprogress in the war againstDaesh (Arabic acronym forIS), but it’s not over and,although they have lost nearly all the territory theyheld, they still hold some ter-ritory and there is still somereal risk,” he said.

“We have to continue to bevigilant,” he added.

Trump announced thepull-out last week, stunningallies including Britain andFrance who warned that thefight against jihadists in Syriawas not finished.

Some 2,000 US troops,joined by other foreign forces,have been assisting local fight-ers battling against IS.

Britain takes part in thecoalition by carrying out airstrikes in IS-held areas in Iraqand Syria.

During a visit to Iraq this

week, Trump declared an endto the US role of being theworld’s “policeman”.

“We don’t want to be takenadvantage of any more bycountries that use us and useour incredible military to pro-tect them,” he said.

Asked what would happenif US troops also withdrewfrom Afghanistan, Hunt said:“We will continue to do every-thing we need to do to makesure the streets of Britain aresafe.

“This is a security issue forthe UK as well as forAfghanistan,” he said.

����'��<��������6'���"6���� ��61.����*����

7��$�3��������*��$����� �������������������3������� �� �3��3�

Seven members of a UK-based Indian-origin family

were involved in a freak acci-dent in Iceland when theirSUV crashed off a bridge onThursday, killing two womenand a child.

Four others, including two British Indian brothersand two young children,remain in critical conditionafter being airlifted to a hospi-tal in Iceland’s CapitalReykjavik.

The family was reportedlyon holiday in the Nordic islandcountry when their hiredToyota Land Cruiser slammedthrough a railing while cross-ing a high single-lane bridge atSkeidararsandur, a vast sandplain in the southern part of thecountry.

Local police have onlyidentified the victims as British,with their names and ages notyet released until formal iden-tification.

The Indian Ambassador to Iceland, TArmstrong Changsan, visitedthe injured at Landspítali hos-pital, where he spoke to hospi-tal staff and the chaplain beforecontacting family members inIndia.

He confirmed that threepeople died, one of them ayoung child, and said the otherfamily members were in a “sta-ble” condition in hospital onThursday night.

;4�����<�����������������

��&����'���������������������� ������������������������� ����� ��� ���������������

����<

�+��� $ � �1

The number of people evac-uated after Indonesia’s

deadly tsunami has nearly dou-bled to some 40,000 whilemore than 7,000 were injuredin the disaster, officials saidFriday, as they trimmed theofficial death toll.

Authorities said 426 peoplehad been killed — down froma previous tally of 430 — withdouble-counting by differentdistricts blamed for the change.Two dozen people remainmissing almost a week after thedisaster.

The fresh figures come aday after Indonesia’s disasteragency raised the danger alertlevel for an erupting volcanothat sparked the killer tsunamiat the weekend.

They have also warnedthat fresh activity at the craterthreatened to trigger anotherdeadly wave.

Previously, the number ofdisplaced — including manyleft homeless — stood at22,0000 but that figure has nowjumped to just over 40,000,according to the latest tally.

Some 7,202 people suf-fered injuries, jumping from1,495, while nearly 1,300 homeswere destroyed as the wavescrashed into the coastlines ofwestern Java island and southSumatra, authorities said.

3����������������������� ������ � ����4��������

) * + ! % � � � ! � / � % )

�"��������@�����������%+�&�!����������(�#�@��"����8�����@��������������� �����������&�!����!����(�1���)��!�'�/�� ��"������������� �!!������������������������������ �!!�������&�!����� �����&�����&�!���������@���� �!!� ��/(7������@����������'���@�� �����!!����&�!������ ��/(

���&����'������&�!�@ ������������� �!!������'�������'��!������(���������������������!���*�'�����!���� ��������'��'�������!������&������!�Q�������H&�!!����)�'���� ����"����������H�����(����!�������������@��'�����$���!�$�����)�����������������"�!�����!������������������)������&�����'����'���(

8�:*�*��"8+�9 B8+9��8�:5#09+���)���??�� �����"��� ����(����������&�!��������'�����������������(�� �����"��������!!��������&�!�������� ���$����&�����)�?@�����!��!��/��� ������� ������������� ����������!��&���)�)���??�-��!���(������ ���@���������!����������� ��!���;)�����'����'�������;'�����(

B*B92��:8&!8

%#�����'�$#(�%�#) '�����*"�%�+,-�+./0

����������'������������'��H)��������"����)�)�!�������&�����������������B��'��'��!�&�������������!��������)� ���������!����������������(�1���������������)�����"��'������������'����������� �������&����'������������!��!�'H�����@������������������&��������"���������;)����������!"��� ����R�� ��3&5L(��

�8��*9�0*''������!�����&����������� ��/�&������������9,(�7�������!��������������������)�����������'������������!������������������'����������� ���(�-����!!�&����������"��'�(� ����-��/����&������"��������!�/�����@�����������-����/����������))��!�������'��"��'��������& �����������!�/���!�(

9!!8����+9

& &�� ���120��� �3 9�

Actress and theatreveteran LushinDubey feels thattheatre has becomemore fearless over

the years in terms of breakingthe norms. She also calls themedium the father of films andstresses that it’s best to partic-ipate in both and not treateither like a poor cousin of theother.

“I think theatre has becomemore fearless over the years interms of scripts, direction,music, costumes, breaking ofnorms and ideas. I do believethat having conviction in a pro-ject is more than 50 per centsuccess,” Lushin said.

“Theatre is the father offilms. For those who believethat success in the arts field isnot measured by just moniesand it’s makings, they willattest that theatre is a toweringmedium of expression, morepowerful than most othermediums because it demandsso much from an individuallike expression, voice, physiqueand so many other skills,”Lushin said when asked aboutthe changes that she has seenin the people’s mindset towardstheatre over the years.

The Indian stage actor anddirector has directed, acted inand scripted many drama pro-ductions over 20 years. She isknown for her solo playsUntitled and Pinki Virani’s BitterChocolate with theatre directorArvind Gaur.

She acted in films Partitionand Perfect Husband in 2007and Murder Unveiled in 2005— for which she won the 2006Gemini Award for BestPerformance by an Actress ina Featured Supporting Role ina Dramatic Program or Mini-Series.

Now she is back with yetanother theatre productionreinventing the popular story ofThe Sleeping Beauty along withBubbles Sabharwal.

“Kids World (her produc-tion company) has written anddirected innumerable produc-tions over the years and thisone is a classic re-written.Importance is linked not just tothe classic replaying (albeit animprovised version) but to all

these factors that interplay inthe kids presentation of theiracting prowess on stage. Eachenvironment offers a podiumfor fearlessness to grow andconfidence to grow,” she said.

However when asked iftheatre is facing challenges

when it comes to attractingyouth, she said that most youthare there in it.

“Some are immersed andsome are impatient, wanting tomake it quickly in the bigworld of films. It’s not that sim-ple. Filmline and a successful

entry into it may or may nothappen. So it’s best to partici-pate in both and not treateither like a poor cousin of theother. I strongly believe thatworking in both the mediumsis important,” she said.

Lushin calls theatre herbaby as is Kids World. “Itbelongs to us I am not depen-dent on anyone for its opera-tion or its movement forward.It belongs to us and our chil-dren. Not to be dependent onanyone gives us a liberated feel-ing. Besides, a film is a direc-tor’s medium and theatre is anactor’s medium. Even in myadult acting and solo perfor-mances, I am dependent on noone but myself,” she said.

Does she feel that senioractors are not getting enoughroles in Bollywood films now?

“In India, age defines a loton screen. There are a hugenumber of films being made.Mumbai is congested withactors wanting to make it —young, middle aged and olderones. There is no dearth ofactors. Whatever has come myway has come through with nopushing from my side,” shesaid.

“I don’t even live inMumbai. Also, I live partly inthe US, so I do films becausefilms have sought me, not theother way round,” she added.

Asked about her plans,Lushin said that her next pieceis for adults.

“I plan to direct (the piece),but cannot disclose much aboutit right now. I like to soak offlife. To never stop. To keepgoing with new thoughts, newideas and beginnings. I like thefact that I am restless and livein a world of imagination anddreams. Though I dream andplan I always surprise myselftoo. According to me that is theessence of joy, to not haveeverything predicted for you,”she said.

I3)&,

The year bore witness to a plethora ofnew material from various metalartistes. As they — old and new, the

famous and the underground — decidedon innovations and new ideas, it energiseda whole genre.

At the same time, rock charts showedlittle or no creativity by most of the alter-native and Indie bands that dominate,rehashing the sound of their past. That,however, does not mean that rock is dead.There were still bands putting out somereally cool stuff.

Here’s a look at the top metal and rockofferings which made a difference duringthe year.

10. Metal: Pal by Kalmah. The Finnishmelodic death metal legends returned withyet another brilliant album after fiveyears. While no means groundbreaking,Pal features amazing arrangements,melodies and death metal aggression andtechnical dexterous precision.

Rock: Eat The Elephant by A PerfectCircle. American rock band’s fourth stu-dio album was worth its 14-year wait. Thisrecord is more of an atmospheric art rockrecord and lacks the band’s previousheavier alternative metal sound. Butnonetheless, it’s a great piece.

9. Metal: Cobra Speed Venom by TheCrown. The Swedish melodic death andthrash metallers have come back withadded energy. There is a lot of violent fer-vour, growls, heavy thrash riffs, melodicleads and powerful drumming. It is a com-bination of thrash or death metal LP.

Rock: Prequelle by Ghost. While def-initely not a straight-up pop rock albumas it does contain plenty of heavy elements,this is far removed from metal, though itdoes have a lot going on: Hard rock, poprock, and for the first time arena rock. Mostsongs have the element of catchiness dueto the openly pop influences here such asABBA.

8. Metal: The Wake by Voivod. One ofthe most underrated and creative bands,

the Canadian progressive thrash metal vet-erans have released one of the greatestalbums of their career. It manages to rivaltheir original classics like Killing Technologyand Dimension Hatross while combiningmodern production.

Rock: Stone Temple Pilots by StoneTemple Pilots. The self-titled album of theSan Diego legends brings their trademarksound of distortion-filled heavy hard rock

riffs, marked by a psychedelic but alsogrooving melodic atmosphere. New leadsinger Jeff Gutt does a splendid job.

7. Metal: Electric Messiah by High onFire. You can always count of Matt Pike ifyou want something barbaric. This is def-initely one of High On Fire’s best. Thisalbum descends upon you with a pletho-ra of monstrously heavy riffs and is juststraightforward metal.

Rock: Still Cyco Punk After All TheseYears by Suicidal Tendencies. While essen-tially a near complete re-recording of front-man Mike Muir’s 96 solo album Lost MyBrain, it is still fully energetic, raw, fast,hard and fun.

6. Metal: Rainier Fog by Alice inChains. The band is renowned for theirdark and heavy sound and bleak subjectmatter. Rainier sounds a bit closer to their

older stuff while nonetheless having thesensibilities of their newer sound. Anothertruly brilliant record by AIC.

Rock: Living the Dream by Slash Ft.Myles Kennedy and Conspirators. Whenmaking a rock’n roll record with heavinessand attitude one can never truly go wrongwith the guitar legend Slash and vocalistMyles Kennedy. Bluesy hard rock riffs andpassionate soaring vocals, grooving drumsand strong bass make this record yetanother strong hard rock piece.

5. Metal: Devouring Radiant Light BySkeletonwitch. Rather underrated,Skeletonwitch is an American band whichplays blackened melodic thrash metal. InDevouring, there is a change in vocalistsand the style is different. The black metaltendencies are less and the music packsprogressive tendencies and a powerfulatmospheric element.

Rock: Time and Space by Turnstile.American punk band’s second album is aninstant classic for the hardcore scene. It haspretty much everything you want — raw,loud, aggressive, heavy, short and does notmess around with any experimental ten-dencies.

4. Metal: Automata Part I and II byBetween the Buried and Me. A double-partconcept album, about a man whosedreams are broadcasted worldwide as aform of entertainment. While the secondpart of this record is superior, the first isno slouch either. The band beautifully bal-ances their progressive elements with arefined melodic technical death metalsound.

Rock: Ember by Breaking Benjamin.Rarely has a band sounded so consistentand yet not managed to grow dull. It hashard heavy metallic riffs, melodic chorus-es with clean singing and raw screamspacked with a dark emotional atmosphere.Nothing different and yet everythingsounds fresh and original.

3. Metal: Thunderbolt by Saxon. Oneof the most legendary bands in heavy metal

history, Saxon were part of the New Waveof British Heavy Metal. Anyone whothought that Saxon’s quality may havedropped as a result of their age is in for asevere shock. This album has everything.Just listen and be transported to Valhalla.

Rock: Book of Bad Decisions by Clutch.Full of hard, raw gritty engaging songs,with southern rock and blues influences.And it packs a punch.

2. Metal: Firepower by Judas Priest.One of the first metal bands in history. Itis just full-on energy packed, no messingaround, straight-up melodic metal.Another masterpiece by The Metal God.

Rock: Vaxis Act 1: The UnheavenlyCreatures by Coheed And Cambria.Having influences in hard rock, alterna-tive rock, progressive rock, metal andpunk, it is a continuation of the conceptbased on frontman Claudio Sanchez’scomic book series The Armory Wars.Engaging to say the least.

1. Metal: Queen of Time by Amorphis.It is one of the greatest Finnish metalbands. While their style has changed,Amorphis have come out as an evolvedanimal, their sound being a unique mix ofmelodic death metal, heavy metal, folkmetal and progressive metal. Everythingabout it speaks perfection.

Rock: Lost on the Road to Eternity byMagnum. What is astounding about theBritish progressive rock veterans is howinspired Bob Catlin and Tom Clarkin, thecreative core of Magnum, manage tosound in their 70s. It is all you can want— melodic, catchy, progressive and full ofpomp.

Honourable mentions:Metal: Love In Shadow by Sumac; A

New Kind Of Horror by Anaal Nathrakh;The Science by Sleep; Our Raw Heart byYOB; Diluviu by Obscura; and SunshineDust by Skyharbor.

Rock: Vicious by Halestorm; ResistanceIs Futile by Manic Street Preachers and JoyAs An Act Of Resistance by Idles. I3)&,

This year, on a profession-al note, has been a verysatisfying one. It began

with performances at interna-tional festivals in Hungary andGermany and went on to sever-al other workshops during thesummer, encompassing variouscountries of Europe and Turkey.It was a series of whirlwind per-forming tours at several nation-al festivals in various cities andtowns.

However, one thing thatremained common in all theinternational and national work-shops was that the participantsshowed a tremendous interest inthe Indian classical dance form,Kathak. It dates back to over twoand half thousand years, pre-dat-ing the Natyashastra. I was sim-ply bowled over by the questionsasked by the students and mem-bers of such meets and work-shops, be it abroad or in Indiancities.

This drove some innovationin performances. Two of themost challenging acts that theyear welcomed were the balletproductions based on RamdhariSingh Dinkar’s Rashmirathi andon the select verses of theBhagwad Gita, with lesser-known episodes of theMahabharata titled TheBhagwad: Ma Ganga Dhyayati.

Dinkar’s celebrated workRashmirathi, centering aroundthe sorrowful life of Karna,Kunti’s first-born child whomshe had abandoned as he wasborn before her marriage, pre-sented the poignancy of Karna

and Kunti with all hues ofhuman emotions trapped inmoral dilemmas. On the otherhand, The Bhagwad’s themecentred around the pessimisticthoughts of mind that pollute theenvironment through ouractions as human weaknesseshave constantly been exhibitedages after ages, be it in the peri-od of Mahabharata as well. Setin five acts, it explores the prac-tice of virtues of abstentionfrom greed, non-egoism, ofeschewing pride, anger anddesire for revenge, for they spelldisaster in the long run as hasbeen exhorted in the Holy

Bhagwad Gita.There were more wonderful

performances, in which I wasinvolved as well — Kalidasa’spoetic work Shakuntala. Theperformance saw music com-posed by the early 19th centu-ry famous Austrian composerFranz Schubert. The perfor-mance, staged at packed hous-es in three cities, Delhi, Kolkataand Mumbai, was played live by

the Austrian ChamberOrchestra and sung by themembers of Shillong Choir.

Another challenging assign-ment that I was involved withwas acting in a feature film thatis scheduled for release sometime in 2019. I am looking for-ward to it as it’s an eternal storyof dilemmas and uncertaintiesthat each individual in all pro-fessions go through and is anattempt at diversifying my artis-tic expression. As a guru, it wasmost heartening to see my dis-ciples Shivani Varma, Mrinalini,Ragini Madan and KristinaDolinina (Lithuanian) winninggreat accolades from artistesand connoisseurs alike.

On the academic front, mynew book Illuminating ClassicalDance through Yoga waslaunched at the InternationalFestival on Health and Yogaunder the aegis of Ministry ofAYUSH at Goa. The ongoingresearch on Kathaks of kathakvillages (villages named after thecommunity of story-tellers),sprung several surprises that ledto awareness of a living traditionof the kathaks in the temples ofAyodhya and such other holyplaces.

On the artistic scene, theyear has seen creativity at vari-ous levels from artistes of sever-al genres bursting forth non-stopdespite challenging circum-stances, especially in the field ofKathak. It was heartening to seesuch dedication to a classicaldance form in the pop cultureenvironment of today.

%*" � ")% � +#

+%*�4+!1�)�"����������.�(�2�����%&������/����/������/�����"�#��#����-���%���������/��,�����$/�!�&��"�#����������8&!'�!��#�

�B��*����������������������/��;)������#�34 � � � < � ������������������� �!'�������������&��������!���� �!!����������������!�)��&�����'���

J1�� #�� �1���.�13#���#��

���� 13��13� �� ##� ��� ���83�����1����3�

��1����4�3����1�38

13� <B

����"�����������)����%��8�����/������#���%��!*���"8��--��&!'��$/&"/�#�*����*&--���!"��* �&!'��/��,���

/-#��� ������*'�# ����

& &�� ���120��� �3�9$%#�����'�$#(�%�#) '�����*"�%�+,-�+./0

##��� ����'�# ���� �-������� -��%0�# ����

Growing up, GeorgeHardeen never thoughttoo much about beingrelated to arguably themost famous magician

of all time, whose name is synony-mous with great escape.

But at 66, the Arizona man isdelving into the history of his great-uncle Harry Houdini in a journey atthe heart of a new series on theScience Channel.

“We spoke to many collectors andhistorians. These guys live Houdini allthe time,” Hardeen said. “They knowmore about Houdini than I will everbe able to.”

Houdini’s Last Secrets, whichbegins airing on January 6, followsHardeen as he and escape artist LeeTerbosic explore the engineeringbehind some of Houdini’s most leg-endary feats.

The Hungarian-born illusionist,who came to the U.S. as a child, gen-erated headlines in the early 1900s forescaping from handcuffs, straitjack-ets and even a milk can.

Each of the four episodes focus-es on a different stunt, including beingburied alive and the water torture cell,in which Houdini was lowered upsidedown into a water tank with his feetlocked in stocks. A stunt builder con-structs the props, and Terbosic re-enacts the stunts.

“No one knows how Houdini didthe tricks. So, we pondered it andcame up with our own methodologyso that Lee could perform the trick,”Hardeen said.

Wyatt Channell, a ScienceChannel executive producer, saidHoudini knew how to create a per-sona and hold people’s interest but theprogramme tries to look at him froma different perspective.

“Everybody thinks of him as anescape artist, illusionist and magician.But there was a ton of engineeringbehind what he was doing,” Channellsaid.

The production companyapproached Hardeen about a year ago.

“I think, in many ways, the showis George’s journey,” Channell said.“George is really the one, as the every-man, asking the questions we all arewondering — How Houdini did thesethings.”

It also touches on other questions,such as whether Houdini could havebeen recruited to be a spy. For that,Hardeen interviewed JohnMcLaughlin, former acting director ofthe CIA and a lifelong magician andHoudini fan.

Hardeen’s grandfather TheoHardeen was Houdini’s youngerbrother and an illusionist in his ownright. George Hardeen’s father didn’ttell his son about his magical lineage

until he was about 10.“My sister found a piece of mail

that came addressed to my dad,Harry Houdini Hardeen. He alwayswent by Harry H. Hardeen,” Hardeensaid. “That’s when he basically told us.”

The show has helped Hardeenlearn more about the man behind themagician.

Houdini, who died on Halloween1926 at 52, and other family membershad an incredible work ethic andaimed to be the best, Hardeen said.Houdini ran 10 miles (16 kilometers)a day to keep his body in peak shapebut also was a hoarder with a compul-sive side, he said.

“It jibes with stuff my dad toldme,” said Hardeen, a communicationconsultant for an Arizona utility.

The show brought him to theHouse of Houdini, a museum in hisancestral home of Budapest, Hungary,where he hopes to take his three chil-dren.

His youngest daughter, ShonieHardeen, said she would love thatopportunity. The 24-year-old from theArizona mountain town of Flagstaffsaid the show has increased her inter-est in her dad’s family and Houdini.

“Some people are from Europe,and they can’t pinpoint it. I guess it’seasier for my family to figure out stuffbecause he’s been written about for solong,” Shonie Hardeen said. I)�

The exhilarating and terrifyingjourney of the Winchesterbrothers continues as

Supernatural enters its 14th thrillingseason. Jared Padalecki as Sam andJensen Ackles as Dean have spenttheir lives on the road, battling everykind of supernatural threat. Overthe years, after countless adventures,they have faced vampires, ghosts,demons, shapeshifters, angels andfallen gods – but what will thebrothers encounter next? Lets catchup with Jared Padalecki to findout…

After 13 seasons ofSupernatural, how much do youenjoy playing the role of SamWinchester?

I enjoy Sam Winchester, nodoubt in that. Selfishly, I learn a lotabout Jared by playing Sam. Plus, Ienjoy the hell out of the people Iwork with. It’s no secret that me andAckles are dear friends. I met themother of my kids on the show, andI enjoy Misha [Collins, who playsCastiel]. I think people sense the factthat we all legitimately enjoy eachother. There’s no bad apple here. Ienjoy telling the journey. I love beinga storyteller, and I can’t think ofanother TV show or movie that I’drather be on as an actor. I get to doeverything in this show. I get to docomedy, play different characters. I

get to die and then come back. Ieven get to be in Scooby-Doo. I’mreally happy to do it.

How would you describe Sam’srole at the start of season 14? Doeshe have more leadership respon-sibilities than before?

It’s different to when he ledhunters against the British Men ofLetters. There he was like, “Okay, wecan do this. I need to lead this fac-tion.” Now he’s the de facto leader.It’s like, “Oh God… I guess it’s all onme now. Okay, what do I do? But I’mworried about my brother, and thisand that.” He has people from a dif-ferent universe living in the Men ofLetters bunker. These people wantto kill Michael. It’s a tricky situation.Sam’s goal is to save Dean and killMichael. Michael destroyed theirplanet. They don’t care about Dean,but they obviously want to exactvengeance on this archangel whodestroyed everybody they knew, soSam has to calm the waters. It’ssomething I think that Sam is goodat.

How much do you enjoyexploring the new side to thecharacter of Sam?

I enjoy the parts of Sam wherehe goes, “I am lion. Hear me roar!”But I also enjoy the almost com-manding general part of Sam bet-

ter; the behind-the-scenes thing.Sam knows he’s got brawn, but Ithink he also knows that his powerlies in his brain. The powerful Samis cool and fun, but I prefer the moremeasured approach from him. Ienjoy the thoughtful, pensive, aca-demic, and research-driven Sam.

How does it feel to have JensenAckles play the big bad in?

It’s fun. We approached it a lit-tle bit before when he was demon– but this is different. There havebeen times where Dean and Samhave been at odds; where Dean’sbeen in the wrong or Sam’s been inthe wrong, but that’s always fun to

explore. This is a totally new dynam-ic, but it’s going to be interesting tosee how it all pans out.

At Comic-Con in San Diego,you made a joke about the discus-sions on whether or not you couldhave facial hair in Supernatural.Was there really a big debate?

For me, it wasn’t as much of anissue. I think Jensen wanted facialhair, but they were like, “No.” I wasallowed facial hair, but there’s somereasoning behind it. When the newseason starts, it’s a couple monthsafter the finale. I enjoy the fact thatthere was a passage of time. At thatpoint in time, I figured there’s a lot

going on with Sam. There are thehunters in the Men of Lettersbunker. Sam is trying to findMichael and Dean. He’s also tryingto help Jack [played by AlexanderCalvert] who’s now human. At thestart of the season, I feel like Sam isat the point where’s he’s a little toodistracted to eat. Everything’s on thego. He’s aware of the ticking clock.He has more important things tothink about than tweezing his eye-brows and lathering up his face totake care of some facial hair.

Did you have to ask permis-sion to have facial hair?

Yes, but it wasn’t too much a

debate. When we started shooting,I had a beard. I was very proud ofmy beard, but it was too much. Ireached out [to the show’s executiveproducers] to find out theirthoughts on the matter. I was like,“Hey Bob. Hey Andrew. I read thefirst few episodes. What do youthink about a little bit of facial hair?”I talked about a few other things inthe script, too. They said, “Yeah, let’sgo with full stubble.” They would-n’t say the word ‘beard’ but they said‘full stubble.’ We trimmed it down.

Let’s talk about the future ofthe show, Jared. WhenSupernatural finally comes to anend, what would you like to seehappen? Would you like the storyto end violently or to see Sam andDean ride off happily into the sun-set?

It feels weird to talk about theend of Supernatural. Believe me, I’vethought about it before, but I don’tlike it. We have talked and thoughtabout it. As a fan of storytelling andbooks, I think the boys have to die.Why? Because I think that’s whatneeds to happen. If the boys arealive, they will continue to hunt.And if they’re hunting, I want to seethem. For that reason, I think oneor both the boys has to go. I knowit would be difficult, but those aremy thoughts on the matter. I’m nota writer. I don’t get my say. If theykeep it open, I would love to keepon going – but that’s what I think.

After 13 seasons ofSupernatural, each of the charac-ters in the show have incrediblydeveloped. There are definingtraits in everyone. If you couldborrow one trait from anothercharacter that could then beexplored more for Sam, whatwould it be?

I enjoy the quirkiness of Charlie[played by Felicia Day]. I enjoy thatshe gets to read the fantasy books.Sam reads and he’s aware of what’sgoing on, but he doesn’t get to nerdout over stuff that he likes as muchas I wish he did. I’d love to see moreof that in the show. That would befun.

When Salman Ali sang Karu Main TeraSajda for the first time on the stage ofIndian Idol season 10 as he auditioned

for the talent hunt show, there were threespeechless judges and applause all around tocommend his voice that had limitless capaci-ties. Who knew he would survive a fierce 25-week competition emerging as the winner?

Well, it hasn’t been easy even for someonewho began singing at the age of seven, or so hebelieves. Salman, who hails from a family of pro-fessional singers, said that struggle is a part ofeveryone’s life and the only way out is to put yourheart and soul into whatever one’s passion is.

The singer believed that everyone’s aimwhile entering such a show is to win. “So wasmine. To win. Even though I never expected thatit might come true for me, but I did all my effortsinto it to make it happen. I also thank all theviewers and audience who voted for me,” he said.

When asked what has been one of the mostmemorable experiences while being a contes-tant on the reality TV show? He revealed thatit was meeting the two Khans — Shah Rukh andSalman — and singing with the veteran singerKumar Sanu that he “will cherish all his life.They joined me in my performance, liked it andwished me luck. What better a thing than that?”

While there have been numerous debateson how reality TV shows work in the real sce-nario and that do they even help the youngaspiring artists battling to win?

Salman, who has also been a part of the real-ity TV show, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li’l Champs dur-ing his childhood, said, “It does mount to atough competition where you feel that you mightlose or someone else is better than what you have

to offer. But the biggest thing is your resistanceand determination throughout the period ofstruggle.”

However, reality TV talent hunt shows dohelp the budding artists to a bit come closer totheir dreams, he felt. “It is not just about appear-ing on national TV and that so many people areable to watch you. It is also about how you asa person evolve. Honestly, Neha Kakkar (mam)and all the mentors have been really helpful tomake me grow as a person as well as a singer.”

He talked about the rehearsals and the rig-orous routine that they have to follow. “We haveto rehearse over and over for one song. It’s atough schedule but important to follow,” saidhe.

As more and more people are engagingthemselves on social media and targeting it asa platform to showcase their talents, whichmedium is the easier one? Salman answered,“Definitely, it’s social media. People today haveonline channels to showcase their dancing,singing, and even magic talents. They don’t haveto wait for a particular show on TV to show-case what they have. Though, yes it takes timeto get noticed there. The competition has risen.”

The 20-year-old singer, who has beenawarded with �25 lakh cash prize, and a Datsuncar, said that he will use the amount particu-larly to boost his singing career. “I am lookingforward to collaborate with Vishal Dadlani (sir)as he promised one to me on the show. I wantto try out my luck in singing for Bollywoodfilms as a playback singer,” he said.

However, he will also try out “acting” inBollywood now that he is “done with hissinging,” he laughed.a

:���#������) '����$ ����� � ������/�#����������������&��!�� ���������!/����������������&�������� @

�� ��������

;����������������������������� �')��=�0�����<����������������������.��������������� ����=����&������������������������ �������� �

����=������<���� ���������������%3

��� ��������& �������<��������������������������<

� �.-)��*'�# ����

���������� ������# �� �� ����!/���������� ���'��!�����������'����������������)!��&����&������������������������ '������������!���(�7���� � � �11 �

����'�'���6����*����===

���������(��.9��/��'����;!��/�$��-�#�'&"&�!�������(�.�9�*�%����&!����/��/&����,��-�/&�� !"%��&!���!�$����&��

4�.�2��.(��4������.

J1�����. � �H73��

��#3�#1@���3� ���13�1���# #� �����@.���� 1��

�� ����#���1��� ��<�56,,� 83��#� ��.�8�3�� ���88#@

#1� 1$ ���1# ����4��� ����� �(��3�3��

��3�#��3�������1���1���#B

%#�����'�$#(�%�#) '�����*"�%�+,-�+./0 ������9(

�� �� ���73����

Pacer Jasprit Bumrah had Australia'sbatsmen tied up in knots with hisimmaculate line and length, giving

India the decisive advantage that with-stood a second innings batting collapsein the third Test here on Friday.

Called a "genius" on air byAustralia's former captain MichaelClarke, Bumrah's career-best figures of6/33 in 15.5 overs also made him thefirst bowler from the subcontinent totake a five-for or more in South Africa,England and Australia in the sameyear.

At the end of day three, India, afterbowling out Australia for 151 inresponse to their first innings total of443/7 declared, took a 346-run lead. Thevisitors were struggling at 54/5 in 27overs in their second essay but had theupper-hand.

Debutant Mayank Agarwal (28 bat-ting), who scored an impressive 76 in thefirst innings, and Rishabh Pant (6)were at the crease after 15 wickets fellin all on an exciting day.

In their second innings, India werejolted by Pat Cummins (4-10), who tookfour wickets for two runs in the spaceof 19 balls, including Virat Kohli (0) andAjinkya Rahane (1) caught off succes-sive balls.

Rohit Sharma (5) prevented hishat-trick, but fell before end of play.

This was after Bumrah's outstand-ing effort handed India a 292-run lead.

Bumrah returned second-best fig-ures for an Indian bowler in Australiaafter Kapil Dev's 8-106 at Adelaide in1985. But he surpassed BChandresekhar's twin hauls of 6-52 ineach innings at this ground in 1977.

Post tea, Australia's innings lastedfor only four overs as Bumrah quicklycleaned up the worrisome tail. First hegot rid of Tim Paine (22) caught behind,and then trapped Nathan Lyon (0) lbw.

Three balls later, he bowled JoshHazlewood (0) as India took a hefty lead.Kohli though decided not to enforce thefollow-on and the Indian mini-collapsefollowed thereafter.

Cummins bounced out HanumaVihari (13) for the second time in thisTest, while Cheteshwar Pujara (0) wascaught at short square leg for a duck fol-lowing his hundred in the first innings.

India were reduced to 32-4 with adouble break against Kohli and Rahane.Rohit Sharma was caught at slip off JoshHazlewood (1-13) as India finishedfive-down but still in control of the

�+��� ���#1������

Centuries from Tom Lathamand Henry Nicholls put New

Zealand in line for a defining vic-tory over Sri Lanka Friday in thesecond Test with a 659-run sec-ond innings lead and the touristslosing early wickets in their recordchase.

New Zealand, who lead by 74on the first innings, declaredtheir second innings on day threein Christchurch at 585 for fourwith Latham scoring 176 to gowith his unbeaten 264 in thedrawn first Test.

Nicholls was not out on acareer best 162 with healthy con-tributions from Jeet Raval (74)and Colin de Grandhomme (71not out).

Sri Lanka at stumps were 24for two with Dinesh Chandimalon 14 and Kusal Menis on six.

Victory for New Zealandwould give them a fourth con-secutive series win for the firsttime after wins over the WestIndies, England and Pakistan inthe past year.

With more than two days left,Sri Lanka had reason for patiencebut lost both openers — DimuthKarunaratne without scoring andDanushka Gunathilaka (four) —in the first two overs.

No team has ever scoredmore than 418 in a successfulfourth innings run chase and thepitch continues to offer someassistance to the New Zealandbowlers.

Sri Lanka, however, were lesseffective with the ball and deGrandhomme in particular wasscoring freely when KaneWilliamson declared midwaythrough the final session.

De Grandhomme, who hadsix fours and two sixes in hiswhirlwind innings, passed the 50mark in a New Zealand record 28deliveries, one better than the pre-vious best by Tim Southee againstEngland 10 years ago.

New Zealand resumed Fridayat 231 for two and Latham, whoseunbeaten 264 in the drawn firstTest is the top score in all Testcricket this year, continued hispurple patch with grim determi-nation through 370 deliveries.

For the most part, it was anear faultless innings, although he

was dropped by DushmanthaChameera on 32 and survived anlbw review on 75. But, on thestroke of tea, Chameera made thebreakthrough when he hadLatham caught behind off a faintlegside edge.

The only reward with the newball in the morning session camewhen Lahiru Kumara trappedRoss Taylor in front to claim thesenior batsman's wicket for 40.Latham and Nicholls put on 214for the fourth wicket with Lathamachieving his eighth century andNicholls his fourth.

Only three times in crickethistory has the winning sidescored more than 400 in thefourth innings, while the currentrecord held by the West Indies is418 for seven against Australia 15years ago in Antigua.

The highest fourth inningsscore in the modern era is NewZealand's 451 chasing 550 againstEngland in 2002, while Englandscored 654 for five after being seta target of 696 by South Africa in1939.

�+��� ���1�3�

Dean Elgar and Hashim Amla hit half-cen-turies as South Africa beat Pakistan by six

wickets inside three days in the first Test atSuperSport Park on Friday.

The pair survived some early scares andput on 119 for the second wicket before Elgarwas caught behind off part-time medium-pacer Shan Masood for 50, one ball after reach-ing his half-century.

Amla finished a year in which he foundtop form by making 63 not out.

The value of the partnership between Elgarand Amla was shown as Theunis de Bruyn andcaptain Faf du Plessis both fell cheaply beforeTemba Bavuma swept Yasir Shah for four totake South Africa past their target of 149 short-ly before tea on the third day.

Both captains, Du Plessis and Pakistan'sSarfraz Ahmed, made 'pairs' by being dis-missed without scoring in both innings.

Pakistan made an ideal start when HasanAli trapped Aiden Markram leg before wick-et before a run had been scored.

Hasan and Mohammad Amir did not con-cede a run off the bat until Amla clippedHasan for four in the sixth over.

There were two crucial incidents with thetotal on 16, either of which could have swungthe game in Pakistan's favour.

Amla, on eight, was dropped by FakharZaman at third slip off Hasan when heslashed hard at the ball, which flew at chestheight to the fielder. In the next over, Elgar,on four, edged new bowler Shaheen Shah

Afridi low to first slip where Azhar Aliappeared to take a diving catch.

On-field umpires Bruce Oxenford andSundaram Ravi conferred before referring totelevision umpire Joel Wilson with a 'soft' sig-

nal of out, indicating they thought it was aclean catch.

After looking at several replays, includingsuper-slow close-ups, Wilson ruled the ballhad bounced and Elgar was reprieved.

The decision clearly astonished thePakistan players and coach Mickey Arthur wasseen leaving his place on the players' balconyand going to the adjacent office of match ref-eree David Boon.

Television commentator Michael Holdingcriticised his fellow West Indian Wilson.

"I'm convinced he was out," said Holding."I think the third umpire made a mistake. Theprotocol says you have got to be 100 percentsure the decision was wrong to change it."

In a similar situation, Indian captain ViratKohli was given out in the recent second Testagainst Australia in Perth when televisionumpire Nigel Llong found no conclusive evi-dence to overturn a 'soft' signal from the on-field umpires.

Elgar and Amla survived some testingbowling from the Pakistan seamers and grad-ually began to lift the scoring rate on a pitchwhich favoured bowlers throughout.

South African fast bowler Duanne Olivierwas named man of the match for his matchreturn of 11-96.

The second Test begins in Cape Town onJanuary 3.

�� �� ���73����

Bundled out for a paltry 151 in the first innings, pacer PatCummins on Friday said Australian batsmen need to learn

a lot from India captain Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujaraon how to pace their knocks on this MCG pitch.

Pujara and Kohli had put on 170 runs in the first inningsto help India declare at a mammoth 443 for seven andCummins said the Australian batsmen need to take a cue fromthe visiting duo's temperament.

"It was obviously not ideal. We turned up thinking of a goodfirst innings score and be right in the game. We wanted to takethis result away from them. This is a young batting group andthey are working hard. They are trying their best, but it is justone of those things. Today it didn't come off," Cummins saidafter the day's play.

"What we saw from India's first innings, we saw tem-perament of Pujara and Virat and how they pace their innings.They absorb pressure because on this kind of wicket, it is hardto score runs.

"You have to face a lot of balls to get big scores and it isprobably one of those wickets where you do the hard work early.Keep absorbing pressure and score later, but evidently it didnot work for us today," he added.

#�.$-���4� Jasprit Bumrahsaid his experience of gettingreverse swing on slower pitch-es in first class cricket helpedhim get the best out of a docileMCG track after his six-wickethaul put India in command inthe third Test here.

Bumrah's produced acareer-best effort of 6/33 in15.5 overs, becoming the firstbowler from the subcontinent totake a five-for or more in SouthAfrica, England and Australia inthe same year.

"When I was bowling there,the wicket had become reallyslow and the ball had becomesoft... I tried to bowl a slowerone, a fuller slow ball. Maybe itwill dip or go to short cover. Itworked because the ball hadstarted reversing," Bumrah saidon Friday.

"When we play on similarwickets back home, the ball

reverses. So you try to make themost of it. We were trying to useour experience in First-Classcricket where we have bowledwith reverse-swinging balls.That was the plan," he added.

Bumrah's exploits helpedIndia bowl out Australia for ameagre 151 in the first inningson the third day of the BoxingDay Test.

In fact, the pacer returnedwith 45 wickets in nine Tests thisyear and Bumrah said he isn'tsurprised by his rich vein ofform in his maiden season inTest cricket.

"I am not surprised. If I sayI don't believe in myself, whoelse will? I just try to backmyself in any situation that I go.Yes the start has been good andI have played in England, SouthAfrica and here - three differentkinds of conditions," saidBumrah. PTI

�� �� ��������

India's success against top-ranked nations this year has

instilled a new self-belief andhelped the women's hockeyteam shed its underdog tag,feels skipper Rani Rampal.

Indian women's hockeyteam won a historic Silver atthe 18th Asian Games andanother Silver at the AsianChampions Trophy this year.They also finished at the quar-terfinals at the World Cup inLondon and ended at thefourth place at theCommonwealth Games.

"Though we would havepreferred to win Gold medalat the 18th Asian GamesJakarta-Palembang as well asthe Asian Champions Trophy,I believe overall, we had a goodouting in 2018," Rani said.

"Beating England 2-1 atthe Commonwealth Games, a1-1 draw against them at their

home turf during theWomen's World Cup inLondon and a 0-1 loss toAustralia in the semi-final atGold Coast has given theteam tremendous confidence

and a self-belief."We can give top teams a

run for their money in big-ticket tournaments. We are nolonger considered an under-dog team by our opponentsand that's our biggest take-away from 2018."

Speaking of the yearahead, Rani said the team'sultimate goal will be to qual-ify for the 2020 TokyoOlympic Games.

"We will be reporting tothe National Camp in the firstweek of January and begin ourpreparations in this crucialOlympic cycle where we willbe playing OlympicQualifiers," Rani said.

"Though personally I stillregret not winning the GoldMedal at the Asian Gameswhich would have earned usdirect qualification, I believethe result has only motivatedand instilled a fighting spiritin us."

�� �� 7��� 7�

Chief coach Stephen Constantine on Fridaymade it clear that he believes in the ability

of his players and not their ages, saying he canforesee a team which can serve Indian footballfor the next 10 years.

India is fielding the second youngest sidewith an average age of 25 in the forthcomingAFC Asian Cup in UAE slated to begin fromJanuary 5.

"I never differentiate between seniors andjuniors. They are all playing for India. I'm notinterested in their ages, but their abilities. Ouraverage age is about 25. The situation is fantas-tic for Indian Football where we can foresee ateam for the next 10 years," Constantine said,the morning after India played a goalless drawagainst Oman in an international friendly.

"After this tournament, we'll have a youngIndian squad with an experience of playing inan Asian Cup," he added.

Referring to the goalless draw againstOman, Constantine said he was pleased with theefforts of his side.

"It was a very good game for us. Oman werea very difficult opponent and have been unbeat-

en in the last 12 months. The boys worked veryhard and I'm very pleased with the positiveresult," he said.

"It was phenomenal from the work-rate per-spective. The numbers are exceptional. We weresuperb physically."

Oman headed into the match with a 12-match-unbeaten-run which included victoriesagainst the likes of Kuwait, Palestine, Bahrainand even world-cuppers Saudi Arabia.

�;!'):���;+,�33&�3)�BB&�--'B&+-BB+4�� �5���6����7�5����������������5�#��5 �����8 �/9/� �������8� �5������:�

game.Earlier, Australia sunk to 145-

7 at tea. Post lunch, it took onlyfour overs for Bumrah to strikeagain as he bowled Travis Head(20), playing on in the 37th over.

Australia were in dire straits at92-5 and things didn't improvewhen Ravindra Jadeja (2-45) struckfor a second time against MitchellMarsh (9). The batsman tried anexaggerated onside flick, but endedup edging to slip as the ball explod-ed off the pitch.

The hosts managed to cross100 in the 41st over, but werestruggling at 102-6. The next pairthen batted with more patience andcut down on attacking strokes forthe next hour.

In doing so, Paine and PatCummins (17) added 36 runs forthe seventh wicket and addedsome respectability to the totalamid the ruins. To India's credit,they never relented the bowlingpressure and executed their plansto near perfection.

It could have been different,but Cummins was dropped on 2 bykeeper Rishabh Pant off HanumaVihari in the 50th over.

Just when it appeared thatAustralia might avoid another dis-missal, Mohammed Shami (1-27)got into the attack and bowled himto give India the advantage again.

The visitors struck four blowsin the morning session as Australiawere reduced to 89-4 at lunch.

Starting from overnight 8-0,Australia were under the pumpearly on as Ishant Sharma (1-41)and Bumrah gave them no roomfor manoeuvring.

Ishant struck in the fifth overof the morning as Mayank Agarwalscooped up a sharp catch at shortmid-wicket to send back AaronFinch (8). The fielder was stationedthere for any aerial shot and theplan worked to get an early break-through.

Four overs later, Marcus Harris(22) went for an uncontrolled pulland found the fine leg fielder asBumrah celebrated his first wick-et of the day.

India used the scoreboardpressure to good effect as Jadejacame on to bowl with close-infielders all around the bat. UsmanKhawaja (21) fell to this ploy,caught at short leg, as Australiaslipped further to 53-3 in the 20thover.

Shaun Marsh (19) and Headthen added 36 runs for the fourthwicket and brought some sem-blance of stability to the Australianinnings. They used good foot-work against Jadeja to smother thepossibility of turn from the rough.

But Bumrah came up with aninspirational yorker at the stroke oflunch, and the slow dipping deliv-ery caught Shaun Marsh plumb infront of the wicket, as Australia'stop-order was completely blownaway on this third morning.����������� ����$�������������$����*�����*�, ���!�� ����* �������������!��������� ��

:�&�� ������������ ��������*������*��

����(�*��������� ��������*� ��������*��*������ ��������� ��� ��������$�$�����+������������������ ����������� ���

'���'����������$���� ���*�� �� �%�����+������ ������ ���

,��� �������������������������,������ �������$������� ���

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

3���������������������$��������������� �����������, ���!�� � ��.%�%*"�"���+#��.8�%*!""����.�.#%"!� +41��2�+/%./)%!.1�.�#+!�9(9���

!")0+�)"�%+�%*"�!�#�!)%�����2)�%+%.1�+#�$$�>-

�"�1.!"��%++:�.��$,?!/�1".�=�%*"�3�)�%+!)�4"!")%!/221��2�.%�($>(�����-+3"!)����%*"�!�)"�+��

")).8� /%�*.��%*"�/00"!?*.��

%��/��5�������'���������� �����6��&1+����'

.��*��������%&8��3 +���&!�0!*�&!!&!'���� ##&!�

�#9��!�,��**���.< �*��!��'�

8!'81�9'08&�"5����5�:�8$&* 8�(7A�5"

H(��B�&B+�-()'�+B��')&"(�+()!,�)&2!B'(6�')&3

<�;-�3�4%4��4(�3�B�84%"��+�B���4�"

%#�����'��%��#) '�����*"�%�+0-�+./0 ������9,

France are the champions of the worldonce again. Twenty years after DidierDeschamps lifted the trophy with the

likes of Zinedine Zidane, Patrick Viera andThierry Henry by his side, he did so again,this time with the rest of his coaching staffbeside him. He was not wearing the Frenchblue but a three-piece suit that got drenchedin the rain in Moscow. He was the firstFrench captain to lead his team to a WorldCup title in 1998 and on 15th July he becamethe third man to win the title as captain andmanager with the same team.

This was the World Cup in whichstrength on paper was diminished to a use-less statistic. Germany ended the first roundas wooden spooners of their group, Spain,Argentina and Brazil fell in the knockouts.France themselves ensured the ouster ofBelgium. Out of all the teams that weredeemed favourites before the World Cupstarted, Les Bleus were the only side thatlooked on course to proving that tag right.

Over the years, World Cup finals havetended to become dreary affairs and therewas a danger that a tournament as enter-taining as the 2018 edition might be decid-ed by a stinker of a match. How misplacedwere those fears?

France were put ahead in the 18thminute of the match by an own goal fromnone other than Mario Mandzukic. He had

the dubious honour of becoming the firstman to score an own goal in a World Cupfinal but he would get to make amends laterin the match. Exactly 10 minutes later, IvanPerisic equalised for Croatia after a deft set-piece routine triggered by the inconquerableLuka Modric. The drama was not to endthere. Just over five minutes before half-time,then referee, with assistance from VAR gaveFrance a penalty kick due to an apparenthandball by Perisic. The validity of that deci-sion was debatable – replays indicated thatPerisic did not move his hands towards theball – but Antoine Griezmann was in nodoubt as to what he wanted to do with it. Hecalmly rolled the ball past Danijel Subasicinto the bottom left-hand corner and Francewere in the lead at halftime. Therein layrecord number 2: France are the first teamto go into halftime of a World Cup final inthe lead.

The second half started with Croatia allover the French defence. Deschamps’ men

weathered that storm and it was not too longbefore they extended their lead Paul Pogbasent in a thunderous strike from the edge ofthe box and extended France’s lead to 3-1.

Minutes later, Kylian Mbappe scored asimilar goal, from outside the box and thatmarked the third record of the day —Mbappe became the first teenager to scorea goal in the World Cup final since the greatPele. Croatian shoulders slumped at thatpoint but this match was not done yet.

France goalkeeper and captain HugoLloris has built a reputation of having a stur-dy pair of hands and a calm head to go withthem in the years in which he has beenTottenham Hotspur and France’s No 1 goal-keeper but he chose a very wrong time tomake an uncharacteristic blunder. He liter-ally put the ball into the path of Mandzukicwho tapped it in to goal. Record No 4 fell withthat goal: Mandzukic became the first play-er since Netherlands’ Ernie Brandts in 1978to score for his team and an own goal in thesame game. All those second-half goals werescored within the space of nine minutes andafter that, France held on. They kept mak-ing attacking moves whenever they could andeventually, the Croatian players’ body lan-guage said that they knew it was now a lostcause. The final whistle came and tearsflowed on both camps, albeit for opposite rea-sons.

�4%24��2%43��������7!��������+,H��������������&� ����������!����)����)����������������������=H+�����������!����)�&���!��� �� ������������������������������������� �����������&���;��������������&�&�����!!���)�������(�� -������-������/����!��/���'/����������&�������*�������!���������������������!���������+,5L

:8���&* 2��$��*�'9�

)""�8+/��"@%�A

In the most surprisingannouncement of the

year Arsene Wenger, whowas serving as Arsenal’smanager decided to leavethe club at the end of2017-18 season, endinghis 22-year career as thelongest-serving managerin the Premier League.

He won seven FA Cuptitles along with threePremier League while atthe helm of the northLondon club, the last ofwhich came as a result ofthe unbeaten 'Invincibles'season in 2003/04.

While a week afterwinning third UCL in asmany attempts, ZinedineZidane calls it time overhis Real Madrid job, hewas replaced by formerSpain boss Julen Lopeteguibut even his spell lasted foronly 138 days and wassacked after Real loseagainst Barcelona 5-1.

This was a massivesetback for Julen as he losthis Spanish national teamjob for the gaint club andwithin five month he was out of favour from that also.

In the Premier League cycle, Chelsea sack ItalianAntonie Conte at the end of 2017-18 season, whileManchester United parted ways with Jose Mourinho afterhis side lose against Liverpool in the English PremierLeague game.

During the World Cup also after the poor perfor-mance by Argentina in the group stage and later theirround 16 exit against France, coach Jorge Sampaoli wassacked by the Argentina football Federation.

3�6 � � � � � � � � � � � �

Two times defending championReal Madrid tharsh Liverpool 3-

1 in the final played at Kiev to winrecord third consecutive UEFAChampions League title.

After an evenly poised goallessfirst half and their star strikerMohamed Salah back into the dugoutafter getting injured during a clashwith Real Madrid's captain SergioRamos. Karim Benzema opened thescoring for Spanish giants in the 51stminute of the game after a goal-keeping error by Loris Karius.

Benzema deflected a throw byKarius back into the Liverpool's netto put his side ahead in the big final.However Real's advantage was veryshort lived as Sadio Mane scored theequalizer for the Merseyside club justfour minutes after Benzema's open-er to bring match back on the levelterms.

In the 61st minute, Real substi-tuted Gareth Bale in place of Isco andwithin two minutes of his arrival theWelshmen scored using an acrobat-

ic bicycle kick to finish cross byMarcelo. And then in the 83rdminute another mistake by Kariushelps Bale to net his second of thenight. This time a long range short byBale went through his (Karius) handsinto the net.

Real's star forward CristianoRonaldo wasn't able to make into thescore sheet but he was the chief archi-tect to Real's triumph to glory.

���� ���6������!����� ��������/�����*����)������H��*�����J��������J����� ����������

-���� ������������������� �� ��H������������� ��$���������*�������K�?����� ��H���������$�������!����� ��

In the most unexpected trans-fer of 2018, Portugal’s star

Cristiano Ronaldo leaves RealMadrid to join Serie A champi-ons Juventus for 100 millioneuros. After spending nine sea-sons at Spanish capital andscoring 450 goals in 438 games,five time Ballon d’Or winnercalls it time and move to Turinin search of new challenges. Hisnew deal will see him play forthe Old Lady for next fouryears.

However in 2018, Cristiano’stransfer wasn’t the only majorswitch but a couple of moresuperstars left their clubs insearch of new life.

England’s club Liverpoollooked to be the biggest gainervia these transfers. TheMerseyside club strengethed itsside by adding Brazilian goal-keeper Alisson Becker, Dutchdefender Virgil Van Djik, Swissplaymaker Xherdian Shaqiri,Neby Keita and Fabinho and allthese five have added strengthto the Reds side because ofwhich they are sitting at top ofthe Premier League table, stillunbeaten and six points ahead

of second placed Tottenham.Meanwhile, Borussia

Dortmund compeleted signingof Spanish forward Paco Alcacerfrom Barcelona, who on his loanspell at German Bundesliga cre-ated magic on the field forDortmund by repeatedly mak-ing his presence in the score-sheet.

In the January transfer mar-ket, Brazi l ian midfielderPhilippe Coutinho made hisdream come but joiningBarcelona for 120 million plus40 million benfits.

Also former Atletico andChelsea goalkeeper and WorldCup golden glove winnerThibaut Courtious landed inspanish capital again but thistime to join the other Madridclub. However by the end of hisfirst six months, he didn’t havea gala time and faced a lot ofcriticism.

In process of let Belgian goand join Real, Chelsea broughtKepa to London for the recordprice for any goalkeeper.

Manchester City landedRiyad Mahrez from Leicester toadd power to the attacking unit.But Alexis Sanchez stint at OldTrafford turned out to be a baddream for the Chile interna-tional as he suffered to findform under Jose Mourinho.