GAYATHRI MANI n NEW DELHI

The much-awaited 103.93kilometre (km) six-corridor

Delhi Metro Phase IV projectwas cleared by the DelhiGovernment on Wednesday,bringing relief to residents ofouter Delhi, such as Bawanaand Narela, where there is nometro connectivity. The DelhiGovernment will provide`9,707 crore for Phase-IV dur-ing next five years.

After the completion ofPhase-IV, the Delhi Metrowill become the third largestmetro network in the world.With total length of approx-imately 453.58 kilometre, itwill overtake New York (380.2km), Nanjing in China (378km), Seoul (340.4 km),Moscow (381 km),Guangzhou (China) (391.8km), and London (402 km).Shanghai and Beijing are firstand second respectively withthe total length of 644 km and599.44 km respect ively.Currently Delhi Metro is theeight largest metro train net-work in the world.

The Phase-IV project hadbecome a bone of contentionbetween the AAP Governmentand the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union Government as theformer did not give its final nodto the project, even after its in-principle approval to the samein February 2016. Following thedelay, Union Housing andUrban Affairs MinisterHardeep Singh Puri had, inOctober, said, “We will open abox of sweets only when a for-mal announcement for themetro Phase-IV project ismade.”

“The Metro Phase IV pro-ject was hanging fire and wit-nessed war of words betweenthe Aam Aadmi PartyGovernment and the NationalDemocratic Alliance-ledCentral Government. It sawunwanted interference by the

Centre. However, the DelhiGovernment has sanctionedthe much-awaited projectwhich will be a boost for theDelhiites in the upcomingyears,” said Deputy ChiefMinister Manish Sisodia.

Of six corridors, three willbe elevated, and the rest willhave both elevated as well asunderground stations. The ele-vated corridors are 21.73 kmRithala-Bawana-Narela, 28.92km Janakpuri West-RK Puram,and 12.54 km Mukundpur-Maujpur stretches.

Inderlok to Indraprasthawith a length of 12.58 km willbe completely underground,Aerocity to Tuglakabad with20.2 km (elevated 5.58 km) and7.96 km Lajpat Nagar-Saket GBlock will be elevated. A totalof 79 stations will be there inthe upcoming Phase IV project.

PNS/AGENCIES n NEWDELHI/SRIHARIKOTA

The Indian Air Force (IAF)on Wednesday got a major

boost for its communicationsystems with the successfullaunch of the GSAT-7A satel-lite by the Indian SpaceResearch Organisation (ISRO)from Sriharikota.

The satellite will greatlyenhance the network-centricwarfare capacity of the IAF andall its assets, including fighterjets, air-borne early warningcontrol platforms, airbases anddrones, will be linked witheach other and ground stationsvia the satellite. It will alsoreduce the possibility of snoop-ing and leakage of informationthat is possible while usingsatellites launched by foreignoperators.

After a 26-hour count-down, the GSLV-F11, carryingthe 2,250kg GSAT-7A, lifted offat 4.10 pm from the secondlaunch pad at Sriharikota.Around 19 minutes after thelift-off, the GSLV-F11 injectedGSAT-7A into the intendedorbit. It will be placed in itsfinal geostationary orbit usingthe onboard propulsion sys-tems.

Incidentally, the Navyalready has a similar satellite,the GSAT-7, which waslaunched in August 2013. Ithelps the Navy warships, sub-marines and maritime aircraftwith inputs across the Indian

Ocean region and safe com-munications capacity. The twosatellites, along with a thirdGSAT-6 — will be communi-cations hub for the military.

According to the ISRO,the satellite would take a fewdays after separation from thelauncher to reach its orbitalslot. The advanced communi-cation satellite would facilitateexclusive frequency flight com-munication for the IAF.

From the Mission ControlCentre, ISRO chairman KSivan said Wednesday’s “suc-cessful and safe” launch was thethird one in 35 days and cameclose on the heels of the “grandsuccess” of two missions inNovember.

The GSLV-F11 successful-ly injected the “advanced” com-munication GSAT-7A intoorbit, an elated Sivan said,describing the mission as“wonderful.”

This was the heaviest satel-lite lifted by the GSLV withindigenous cryogenic stage, hesaid. It came with many firsts,including increased propellantloading and other features, theISRO chief said.

The “cryogenic stage isburnt to depletion to get asuper synchronous transferorbit to enhance the life of thesatellite,” he said.

The mission life of theGSAT-7A is eight years. It willprovide communication in Ku-band over the Indian region.

Continued on Page 7

GSAT boosts IAF prowessPNS n NEW DELHI

After the completion of sixmonths of Governor’s rule

in Jammu & Kashmir onWednesday, the State cameunder President’s rule frommidnight, paving the way forthe Centre to take all policydecisions related to the mili-tancy-hit State.

President Ram NathKovind signed the proclama-tion for the imposition ofCentral rule in J&K, whichplunged into a political crisis inJune after the Mehbooba-ledcoalition Government wasreduced to minority followingwithdrawal of support by the25-member BJP.

The gazette notificationissued on Wednesday said thePresident has received a reportfrom Governor Satya Pal Malikand after considering it andother information, he was “sat-isfied” that President’s rule inthe State was needed.

“In pursuance...Of theproclamation issued...By meunder Article 356 of theConstitution of India, I herebydirect that all the functions ofthe Government of the State ofJammu & Kashmir and all thepowers vested in or exercisableby the Governor of the Stateshall, subject to the superin-tendence, direction and controlof the President, (and) be exer-cisable by the Governor of theState,” the notification said.

Since J&K has a separateConstitution, six months ofGovernor’s rule is compulsoryunder Article 92 of the J&KConstitution, under which allthe legislature powers are vest-ed with the Governor.

President rule

slapped on J&K

ARCHANA JYOTI n NEW DELHI

The Government had rushedto bestow the “Institute of

Eminence” tag on the non-exis-tent Reliance Jio Institute. Buta year on, the Delhi-basedNational School of Drama(NSD), country’s premier the-atre training institute, contin-ues to await the tag of “Instituteof National Importance” (INI)as the proposal in this regard ispending with the PrimeMinister’s Office (PMO).

Expressing displeasure atthe delay, a Parliamentary panelheaded by Rajya Sabha mem-ber Derek O Brien has not onlysought a status report on theissue but also asked the UnionCulture Ministry to push forexpediting the proposal.

The panel in its report,which was tabled in Parliamenton December 14, noted that

despite the NSD approachingthe PMO several times, detail-ing its contributions to thetheatre, art and cinema worldto justify its request to berecognised as the INI, the laterremained unimpressed.

In fact, with the PMOholding up the proposal, theNSD has also deferred its ambi-tious plan of opening new cen-tres across the country.

Giving in detail thesequence of correspondenceexchanged between the PMOand the NSD, the report saidthat a draft Bill provided by theNSD was re-drafted by theUnion Culture Ministry takinginto account present and futurerequirement, declaring Delhi-

based NSD an INI and estab-lish in future as well similarschools with an identical status.

The NSD is one of theforemost theatre training insti-tutions in the world and theonly one of its kind in India. Itwas set up by the SangeetNatak Akademi as one of itsconstituent units in 1959. In1975, it became an independententity and was registered as anautonomous organisation, fullyfinanced by the Union CultureMinistry.

The draft Cabinet noteand draft Bill was prepared inconsultation with Departmentof Legal Affairs and LegislativeDepartment after approvalfrom the Culture Minister anda copy of the note for Cabinetwas forwarded to the PrincipalSecretary to the Prime Ministerfor comments, said the report.

Continued on Page 7

RAJESH KUMAR n NEW DELHI

There will be no respite fromthe prevailing cold wave

conditions in north India andNorth-East. The IndiaMeteorological Department(IMD) on Wednesday predict-ed that the minimum temper-ature may go below 5 degreesCelsius in the days to come tillFebruary.

In the Kashmir Valley andLadakh region, the minimumtemperatures have droppedseveral notches below the freez-ing point. The minimum tem-perature was minus 2.8 inSrinagar, while it was minus 8.4and minus 4.0 in Pahalgam andGulmarg respectively.

In Delhi and NCR, anunnerving combo of cold waveand pollution is set to haunt theresidents in the coming days.The air pollution level in theNCR has reached severe levelthese days.

The IMD issued a coldwave warning saying the min-

imum temperature may godown below two degreesCelsius at a few places in UttarPradesh, Punjab, Haryana andnorth Rajasthan. According toIMD, the night temperature inDelhi and NCR could further

drop to around 4 degrees in thecoming days.

“The cold wave and severecold wave conditions wouldcontinue to prevail over Punjab,Haryana and Rajasthan withincrease in severity and spatial

coverage. At some places, thetemperature may go downbelow 2 degrees Celsius,” theIMD said.

The combined effect of acurrent weather system overnorth India resulted in drop-ping night temperatures. Dueto northerly and northwester-ly winds, the chill could be feltin parts of the State.

Elaborating the cold wave

conditions, Dr Charan Singh,Scientist, IMD, said wheneverminimum temperatures are 4-5 degrees Celsius below theirnormal, it is then termed as acold wave condition. “Duringcold wave conditions, the min-imums drop, and maximumsrise. The minimums tend todrop when northerly windsblow,” Singh added.

Continued on Page 7

Cold comfort for north, N-E till Feb Top coldest places in north, North-East Temperature in Celsius

Churu (Rajasthan) 0.9

Narnaul (Haryana) 2.3

Udaipur (Rajasthan) 2.8

Faridkot (Punjab) 2.5

Gangtok (Sikkim) Minus 1

Tawang (Arunachal Pradesh) Minus 7

Coldest places in J&K Temperature in Celsius

Leh Minus 6

Pahalgam minus 8.4

Gulmarg Minus .04

Srinagar Minus 2.8

Kargil Minus 14.9

Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) communication Satellite GSAT-7A onboard the GSLV-F11 takes off during its launch in Sriharikota on Wednesday PTI

It will interlink airbases, augmentdrone operation by satellite control

Delhi GovtOK’s 104 kmsix-corridorPhase IV

Delhi Metro to jumpto top 3rd in world

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A year on, NSD awaits Jio fate as PMO sits on eminence tag

Bulandshahr incident a

political conspiracy: CM

PNS n LUCKNOW

Hitting back at theOpposition for stalling the

proceedings of the legislatureover law and order, ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath saidon Wednesday thatBulandshahr incident was a“political conspiracy” hatchedby those who had lost politicalground.

Yogi said that the stategovernment should be praisedand thanked for whatever stepswere taken in the Bulandshahrincident in which an inspectorwas killed by mob over cowslaughter allegations onDecember 3.

The entire Question Hourwas washed out in both Housesamid bedlam on Wednesday.Samajwadi Party and Congressmembers indulged in sloga-neering over various issues,including plight of farmersand deteriorating law and orderin the state, leading to repeat-ed adjournments.

Later, the Chief Ministertold mediapersons: “Thosewho are giving unnecessarystatements are doing it to con-ceal their failures, instead, theyshould applaud and thank thestate government.” Yogi hadearlier referred to the killing ofinspector as a 'durghatna'(mishap).

“It was a political conspir-

acy which has been exposed...peace and order will be main-tained at all cost. The admin-istration and government haverepulsed the designs of con-spirators sternly,” Yogi said.

“This is a conspiracy by thesame people who were tryingto take innocent lives by man-ufacturing illicit liquor. Thiswas a political conspiracy

which was plotted by cowardswho cannot take a challengehead on. Feeling threatened,they are embracing each otherand want to target innocent.This will not be allowed. Thosewanting to create unrest bykilling cows have been stopped.There will be rule of law in thestate at any cost," the ChiefMinister said.

Meanwhile, three personswere arrested for cow slaugh-ter in Bulandshahr on Tuesday.Two more were earlier arrest-ed for the mob violence but theprime accused in inspectorSubodh Kumar Singh’s killingis still on the lam.

On Wednesday. the inspec-tor’s widow and son sought toknow why were the killersbeing spared.

In the aftermath ofBulandshahr violence, YogiAdityanath has been criticisedfor focusing more on cowslaughter in meetings withsenior officials instead of theinspector’s murder.

Supplementary budget tabled inUP Assembly amidst Oppn dinPNS n LUCKNOW

Amid din by Oppositionparties in the Assembly,

the Yogi Adityanath govern-ment tabled its second supple-mentary budget of 2018-19totalling over `8,054 crore onthe second day of the four-daywinter session of the state leg-islature on Wednesday.

On August 27, the Yogigovernment had tabled thefirst supplementary budget tothe tune of `34,833.24 crore forthe current fiscal. Earlier, inFebruary, the government hadpresented the annual budget of`4.26 lakh crore for 2018-19.With the two supplementarygrants, the budget size hasnow increased to `4.69 lakhcrore.

Of the total supplementarybudget of `8,054 crore, capitaland revenue heads comprise`4,645 crore and `3,409 crorerespectively.

Of the total amount, asmuch as ̀ 5,018 crore is Centralassistance and grants and actu-al additional expenditure by

state government will be ̀ 3,894crore.

In the second supplemen-tary grants, the state govern-ment has sought ̀ 300 crore forgreen-field Jewar airport inGreater Noida and `200 crorefor Ayodhya airport.

Apart from Civil Aviationdepartment, the governmenthas sought additional alloca-tions for Energy, Agriculture,Excise, Medical, Home,Transport, Environment,Public Works, Justice andSocial Welfare departmentsbesides Kumbh Mela andSwachh Bharat Mission.

For the power sector, thegovernment sought `700 crorefor UDAY (Ujjwala AssuranceDiscom Yojna) of UP PowerCorporation Limited (UPPCL)against operative losses. TheCentrally-sponsored UDAYscheme is for restructuring ofpower distribution (discom)companies.

The has government alsosought `2,935 crore for DeenDayal Upadhyay Gram JyotiYojna.

For Kumbh Mela, anadditional demand underUrban Development depart-ment was raised for `100crore. The government hasalready made provision of`1,500 crore in the budget forKumbh Mela and has alsoprovided `800 crore in thefirst supplementary.

The government alsosought `10 crore for Atal BihariVajpayee Medical University tobe set up in Lucknow. The gov-ernment also sought ̀ 300 crorefor roads and bridges in ruralareas and rail over bridges.

Meanwhile, Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath said that thegovernment had judiciouslyutilised the allocated budgets sofar. He claimed that the revenuebase has been expanded underdifferent heads, includingGoods and Services Tax (GST),stamp and registration, trans-port, excise etc.

The Chief Minister saidthat the state had garnered anadditional `10,000 crore GSTcollections, while excise col-lections were higher by ̀ 4,900

crore followed by Stamp andRegistration, Mining andTransport departments at`1,600 crore, `658 crore and`400 crore respectively.

“So far, there were only 13medical colleges, in the state,we are now working on settingup 15 new medical colleges,apart from a cancer institute inVaranasi,” Yogi added.

Against the backdrop ofcrushing defeats in Hindi statesof Rajasthan, Madhya Pradeshand Chhattisgarh, theBharatiya Janata Party gov-ernment in Uttar Pradesh isleaving no stone unturned torepeat its 2014 poll perfor-mance. In 2014, the BJP and itsally Apna Dal had won 73 ofthe total 80 Lok Sabha seats inthe state.

With additional funds, thegovernment will loosen itspurse for projects to keep thepublic in good humour in therun-up to the 2019 generalelections, when BJP mascotand Prime Minister NarendraModi will seek re-electionagainst a joint opposition.

city 02LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 20, 2018

PNS n LUCKNOW

Family members of Sumit,who died of gunshot injury

during Bulandshahr violenceon December 3, met ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath onWednesday and demandedthat their son be given a mar-tyr’s status as given to inspec-tor Subodh Kumar Singh,who was killed in the same

violence. Sumit’s family metthe Chief Minister at his 5,Kalidas Marg official resi-dence here.

Later, sister of the killedBajrang Dal worker Sumitsaid that they had demandedthat Sumit be given a martyr’sstatus as he died in a violencefollowing recovery of cow car-casses in Mahav village ofBulandshahr on December 3.

“We have also demandedan increase in compensation ofRs 10 lakh as he died in policefiring,” she said.

The family of inspectorSubodh Kumar Singh, whodied of a bullet injury in theviolence, was given a compen-sation of Rs 40 lakh and ahousing loan procured by thecop was also taken care of bythe state government.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Samajwadi Party chiefAkhilesh Yadav said that

canards were being spreadabout the possible alliance ofhis party with Bahujan SamajParty and other small parties.

He said that BharatiyaJanata Party was behind suchnews appearing at regular inter-vals in a section of the media.

“It is the ‘dirty tricksdepartment’ of the BJP that isspreading and even plantingstories in a section of themedia about the alliance of SPwith the BSP and others.Nothing has been finalised asyet and everything will happenin due course,” Akhilesh saidwhile addressing a meeting ofparty MLAs and MLCs inLucknow on Wednesday.

The SP chief also clarifiedhis position over the candida-ture of Congress presidentRahul Gandhi as the opposi-tion’s prime ministerial candi-date in the 2019 Lok Sabhapolls.

“Why should I commentabout the candidate for thePrime Minister’s office after2019 Lok Sabha elections? Thisissue will be decided only afterthe elections,” he said.

On Tuesday, Akhilesh hadexpressed his disagreementwith DMK chief MK Stalin’ssuggestion to make RahulGandhi the prime ministerialcandidate of the anti-BJP front.Akhilesh had said, “People areunhappy with the BJP.Telangana CM KChandrasekhar Rao, Mamatajiand Sharad Pawarji have

attempted to bring together allleaders for the alliance. If some-one is voicing his opinion, itdoes not mean that all alliancepartners will have the sameopinion.”

Akhilesh also said in themeeting that be it Parliament orAssembly, the BJP was scaredof debate on burning issues

concerning common people,particularly farmers.

He charged that the lawand order situation in UP wasin a shambles and aggressivestatements by Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath were vitiatingthe atmosphere in the state.

A senior SP leader said thata section of Hindi media wassaying that the SP and BSP hadsealed a deal to contest the 2019Lok Sabha elections.

“It is also being said that wehave agreed to give three seatsto Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya LokDal. The SP chief sees these asa deliberate attempt to sabotagea possible coming together ofopposition parties to fight theBJP. We have credible reasonsto believe that such reports areappearing at the behest of theBJP,” said the senior SP leader.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Afirst year BTech studentwas kidnapped and taken

to a secluded place near PoiyaGhat in Agra and gan-grapedby four men on Tuesdayevening.

The incident took placeeven as a high-level meetingchaired by a top official wasunderway in Agra around thesame time. The victim washeaded to her coaching centrewhen she was stopped by twomen near Bhagwan Talkiescrossing and forcibly taken tothe ghat where two otheraccused joined them. The fourlater took turns with her.

Later, the semi-consciousvictim was noticed by a pass-er-by and taken to her home.Her family members lateradmitted her to SN MedicalCollege hospital for treatment.

A complaint was lodged bythe girl’s parents on Tuesdaynight at New Agra police sta-tion against which a case wasregistered and a hunt was on tonab the accused.

Elsewhere, in whatappeared to be a case of rapeand murder, the semi-nudebody of an 18-year-old girl wasfound near a field at Salarpurvillage in Muzaffarnagar onWednesday morning. The girlhad gone missing on Tuesday.

A case was registered andthe body was sent for autopsy.

As per reports, the victim’sbody was found in a cane fieldand bore injury marks caused bysharp-edged weapon. The policeare now trying to ascertain thevictim’s identity.

Lucknow (PNS): In a bizarrecase, a youth who lost his motor-cycle in Agra, found it being dri-ven by a police constable in the Tajcity five years after its theft. Thesensational fact surfaced after thepolice sent photo challan to thebike owner last week. As perreports, a Hero Honda SplendorPlus (UP80 BN6378), owned byUdaiveer of New Surya Lok Colonyin Dayalbagh area, was stolenfrom Mhow road in 2013. A casewas registered at Etmaddaula policestation but the stolen motorcyclecould not be traced.

Last week, Udaiveer receivedtwo photo challans for riding thebike without helmet, issued inHariparwat area of Agra inSeptember. Udaiveer started camp-ing around Hariparwat crossing,hoping to catch the person ridinghis bike and he finally succeededon Friday afternoon, when henoticed a youth riding his motor-cycle and entering Hariparwatpolice station campus. Udaiveerfollowed the motorcyclist andnabbed him. The rider claimedhimself to be a police constable andsaid he found the motorcycleabandoned in Sikandra locality ofAgra. However, as other cops ofHariparwat police station cameout, the constable slipped, leavingthe motorcycle behind. Sourcessaid he was posted in the local CO’soffice and his colleagues helpedhim to escape.

PNS n LUCKNOW

The Special InvestigationTeam (SIT) probe has fur-

ther buttressed the theory thatthe Bulandshahr violence wasindeed a well-orchestrated con-spiracy as it has surfaced thatthose named and arrested forcow slaughter earlier wereinnocent.

Earlier, the local policehad arrested four personsnamed in the FIR for cowslaughter and sent them to jail.The police are now preparinga report to get them released atthe earliest.

Sources said that circleofficer Raghvendra Mishra,who is a member of the SITprobing the Bulandshahr inci-dent, found that all fouraccused — Sajid, Sarifuddin,Banne Khan and Asif — sent tojail were innocent.

The Special Task Force(STF) sleuths identified twopersons — Sachin Kobra andJani — and on finding theircomplicity in the cow slaugh-ter with the help of CCTVfootage, arrested them. Besides,the Bulandshahr police onTuesday, claimed to have arrest-ed three persons — Nadeem,

Rais and Kala of Syana policestation area — for cow slaugh-ter in Mahav village.

A double barrel gun, amachete and a sharp-edgedweapon were also recoveredfrom them. One of their aides,Harun of Syana locality, man-aged to evade arrest.

The cops said that theaccused owned up their crimeand disclosed that they hadkilled a cow in a forest cover inSyana on the night ofDecember 1. They disclosedthat Harun shot the cow andlater they skinned it and dis-tributed the meat among thembefore throwing the carcass ina cane field.

The miscreants revealedthat they had shot three cows inthe night on December 2 and 3and had thrown the carcassesand some meat in a field. Theysaid that they took away thehides of the slaughtered cows.

The recovery of carcassesand meat from a field in Mahavvillage led to people taking tothe streets in protest. Whilecontrolling the situation,inspector Subodh Kumar Singhfell to the bullet of one of theprotesters while another youthSumit was also killed.

PNS n LUCKNOW

To galvanise its workers atthe ground level, the Uttar

Pradesh unit of BharatiyaJanata Party will organiseregion-wise booth sammelanswhich will be addressed byparty’s national president AmitShah.

A decision in this regardwas taken at a meeting of theBJP state office-bearers held inLucknow on Wednesday.

BJP state presidentMahendra Nath Pandey saidthat the party would organiseregion-wise booth presidents’sammelan.

“On December 25, thebirth anniversary of formerPrime Minister Atal BihariVajpyee will be celebrated at the

booth level as Sushasan Diwas(good governance day),”Pandey said.

Senior leaders of the party,including in-charges of differ-ent morchas, regional presi-dents and general secretarieswould participate in the pro-gramme.

The BJP state chief saidthat besides, sector sammelanwould be held at each divisionfrom December 20 to January19, in which BJP national offi-cer-bearers, Union ministersand Chief Ministers will takepart.

“In February, the party willidentify beneficiaries of bothCentral and state governmentschemes and light ‘jyoti’ (lamp)at their doorsteps and onFebruary 26, Kamal Jyoti Vikas

Yatra will be taken out,” Pandeysaid.

Briefing about the successof recently-held padyatra onthe occasion of the 150th birthanniversary of MahatmaGandhi, the BJP leader said thatthe party took out yatras in62,695 wards and organisedchaupals in 6,120 villages.

“Besides, 1.20 crore pam-phlets were distributed, high-lighting achievements of bothUP and Central governments,”he said.

When asked about the pro-posed alliance betweenSamajwadi Party and BahujanSamaj Party, Pandey said thatthe BJP was ready to face anychallenge as the proposedalliance was opportunistic andwas set to be exposed.

PNS n LUCKNOW

The Question Hour waswashed out in bothVidhan Sabha and

Vidhan Parishad in the uproarcreated by the opposition overvarious issues, including lawand order, on the second day ofthe brief winter session onWednesday.

Samajwadi Party memberswaved posters and bannersover issues relating to farmersand law and order as the Houseassembled on Wednesday.

Speaker Hriday NarayanDikshit tried to pacify theopposition members and askedthem to raise the issue afterQuestion Hour. But when theSP members continued to pressfor immediate discussion onthe matter, the Speakeradjourned the House, first for30 minutes and later extendedit till 12:20 pm.

After the adjournment, theSP members staged a sit-in inthe Well of the House.

Later, the SP membersalleged that the BharatiyaJanata Party government wasevasive and had hence calledfor a short session of the legis-lature.

The SP leaders said thatfarmers’ problems and law andorder situation in the state hadreached the nadir and the BJPgovernment had failed toaddress them.

In the Vidhan Parishadalso, the Question Hour couldnot be taken up on Wednesday

due to the din created by theopposition over poor law andorder in the state and problemsbeing faced by farmers.

SP MLCs protested in theWell of the House, whileCongress and Bahujan SamajParty members stood on theirseats and shouted slogans like‘Kanoon vyawastha dhwast hai,Yogi baba mast hai’ and “Sastaaaloo, mehanga balu, Babanikla sabse chalu’ etc.

As soon as the House com-menced at 11 am, SP membersstormed into the Well andstarted raising slogans.Chairman Ramesh Yadavadjourned the House for 20minutes.

The situation did notimprove when the Housereassembled and it was initial-ly adjourned till 12 noon andthen again till 12:20 pm.

Leader of oppositionAhmed Hasan (SP) said thatthe law and order situation inthe state was very bad andcharged the government withnot paying attention to it.

Amidst the din, leader ofthe House, Dinesh Sharma(BJP), presented the secondsupplementary budget for2018-19.

The House was lateradjourned for the day.

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Question Hour in both Houses

washed out in opposition din

Cinegoers can take eatables inside multiplexes: Govt PNS n LUCKNOW

There is good news for cine-goers as Uttar Pradesh gov-

ernment has admitted inVidhan Sabha that manage-ment of multiplexes or cinematheatres could not prevent aperson from carrying eatablespurchased from outside insidethe hall. Chief Minister YogiAdityanath informed this to theHouse in a written reply onWednesday.

Replying to a question ofMukesh Chandra Verma (BJP),Yogi said that there was no lawthat a multiplex or cinema hallowner could prevent a personfrom carrying eatables pur-chased from outside.

As per UP Cinema Act,1951, only eatables in sealedpackets are allowed for saleinside the halls.

“If it is brought to the gov-ernment’s notice that owners ofcinema theatres or multiplexesare preventing people from car-rying eatables in sealed packetspurchased from outside, thenstrict action will be taken againstthem,” the Chief Minister saidduring Question Hour.

There were complaintsgalore of multiplex ownersforcing people not to take eat-ables purchased from outsideinside theatres and forcing

people to purchase eatablesfrom their own counters atexorbitant rates.

NO PROHIBITION: Thestate government has made itclear that it would not imple-ment prohibition in UttarPradesh as sale of liquor helpsin earning sizeable revenueand a ban will lead to illegal salewhich will be harmful for peo-ple.

Answering a question ofMohammed Fayeem Irfan(Samajwadi Party) and AmanMani Tripathi (Independent)on Wednesday, Excise MinisterJai Prakash Singh said thatthere was no proposal to bansale of IMFL, beer or countryliquor in the state

“Prohibition is a policy ofthe state government but Excisedepartment is also the secondhighest revenue earner. Thegovernment is committed toprovide quality liquor to theconsumers as per the SeventhSchedule of IndianConstitution,” the minister said.

Singh said that the revenueearned through Excise depart-ment was used in carrying outdevelopment work. “If the gov-ernment bans liquor, it will leadto bootlegging and manufac-ture of spurious liquor whichagain will be detrimental forhealth,” the minister said.

Shah to address BJP booth

presidents, says Pandey

BJP state president Mahendra Nath Pandey addressing party’s UP unit office-bearers held in Lucknow on Wednesday Pioneer

BTech student gang-raped by4 men in Agra

Police to release 4held earlier in cowslaughter case

Kin demand martyr’s

status for Sumit

Family members of Sumit, the youth killed in Bulandshahr violence, going to meet Chief Minister in Lucknow Pioneer

BJP’s ‘dirty tricks dept’ spreading canard

about oppn alliance, says Akhilesh

Cop found ridingstolen motorcycle

city 03LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 20, 2018

PNS n LUCKNOW

“It was that one moment and ifsomeone had offered her help,

she would have been alive today.People passed by her lowering theglass windows of their cars and see-ing that she was lying withoutclothes, they chose to move on.Their insensitivity could be gaugedfrom the fact that no one steppedout to hand her a piece of cloth tocover her.” These views wereexpressed by Asha Devi, mother ofthe rape victim Nirbhaya on theoccasion of Nirbhaya Chetna Weekbeing jointly organised by LucknowMetro Rail Corporation andNirbhaya Jyoti Trust of Asha Deviat the Charbagh Metro station.Nirbhaya’ case was one of themost brutal rapes in the countrythat occurred on December 16,2012.

“I will not rest till I get justicefor my daughter. My struggle willcontinue till the perpetrators arehanged to death and till I have thelast iota of strength left in me,” shesaid. Asha Devi admitted that shewas pained to see the delay whichbrought her no peace. “I think thedelay in the hanging of thoseinvolved in the crime occursbecause there are some proce-dures which have to followed asthere are time limits fixed formaking appeals. The files get stuckand we have to again make aneffort to keep them moving” sheadded.

She categorically pointed outthat her wounds were fresh andwould never heal. “This is the rea-son that I keep moving from placeto place telling people and spread-ing awareness that they should edu-

cate their daughters and makethem independent. We also educat-ed Nirbhaya and had she been alivethere would have been a doctor inthe family,” she said.

On being asked what keeps hergoing, she said that it was primar-ily the strength of her daughter.“She was keen on getting justiceand despite the pain she wasundergoing she would tell me tokeep my strength. It is that whichhas kept me moving ahead,” AshaDevi pointed out.

Asha Devi said that she wasalso running Nirbhaya Jyoti Trustwherein rape victims approachedthem and they provided them freelegal advice. “We try and give themall possible help which they need,”

she added.LMRC MD Kumar Keshav

said that they had always been a bigsupporter of the cause of womenempowerment. “We have beenobserving the Nirbhaya Diwas forthe past few years to sensitise thestaff that they had to reach out towomen in distress,” he said.

Nirbhaya’s parents BadrinathSingh and Asha Devi were theguests of honour. On this occasion,Nirbhaya’s parents addressednewly-recruited trainees atTransport Nagar Metro depot andcreated awareness about the safe-ty of women, women’s rights andtheir empowerment in all spheresof life. An interactive train ridealong with passengers was taken

from Transport Nagar Metro sta-tion to Charbagh Metro station asa part of awareness drive aimed atshowcasing and providing peopleof Lucknow a safe mode of trans-portation. The event proceededwith an interaction with Nirbhaya’sparents highlighting NirbhayaChetna Week and discussingwomen’s issues and similar safetyconcerns. A ‘nukkad natak’ wasalso staged on the platform for pas-sengers highlighting day-to-daycrime against woman, particular-ly at home.

In the end, a total of 936 diyaswere also lit up at Charbagh Metrostation to highlight the total num-bers of crimes against women perday across India.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

The winter chill became moreintense on Wednesday because of

the icy north-westerly winds. The cityrecorded a minimum temperature of5.9 degree Celsius which was threedegrees below normal and a maximumtemperature of 22.3 degree Celsiuswhich was 2 degrees below normal.

In the state, the coldest wasMuzaffarnagar which recorded a min-imum temperature of 2.4 degreesCelsius. Among other districts whichrecorded a low minimum temperaturewas Bareilly at 5.9 degree Celsius,Lakhimpur Kheri 6.4 degree Celsius,Agra recorded 4.5 degree Celsius,Kanpur 6.5 degree Celsius, Jhansi 6.6degree Celsius and Meerut 6.4 degree

Celsius. Met office director JP Guptasaid that the similar conditions wouldprevail on Thursday at the state cap-ital. “The chill will persist because ofthe north-westerly winds,” he added.

The local forecast for Lucknowand neighbourhood is clear sky withmist and shallow fog likely in themorning. The maximum and theminimum temperature will be around23 degree Celsius and 6 degree Celsiusrespectively.

The state forecast is that theweather is most likely to be dry andshallow to moderate fog likely at iso-lated places over the state. Meanwhile,the Met department will be organis-ing a state-level review meeting onagro forecast on Thursday at a cityhotel.

Two held in abduction casePNS n LUCKNOW

Two youths were arrested on Wednesday in connection with theabduction of a middle-aged grocery shop-owner from his shop

on Gokhale Marg in Hazratganj on Tuesday evening. Those arrest-ed were identified as Pankaj Yadav and Ajeet Verma, both ofMadiaon, by a team of Hazratganj police after a long chase. Shop-owner Pankaj Jaiswal disclosed the names of the company for whichthe miscreants were working.

Giving details, police spokesman AK Dwivedi said the duo hadbeen challaned for the crime. He denied reports that one more per-son was involved in the crime. Pankaj was abducted around 8 pmby the miscreants, who came to his shop on a scooty and later madethe victim sit on their scooty before leaving the scene. The mis-creants said that they thrashed Pakanj who owned Rs 9,000 to thecompany which supplied him flour and later had dumped him onNishatganj bridge. The miscreants disclosed that they took the routethrough Dainik Jagran crossing and then to a multi-storeyed build-ing and then to Nishatganj bridge. Police had registered a case ofillegal detention and thrashing the victim. The incident had sentthe Hazratganj police in a tizzy and a huge team was pressed intothe job to work out the case. The cops conducted raids at half adozen places in search of the miscreants. “The police got the leadfrom Pankaj who disclosed the company with which he had a busi-ness tie-up. The police contacted company officials and later foundout the names of the employees who were sent to Pankaj’s shop.On revelation, the police later conducted raids at the house of themiscreants and nabbed them,” the sources said.

ACCUSED A sub-inspector accused a man of hindering the official work

and attacking him inside a police outpost in Hasanganj onWednesday afternoon. The S-I lodged a case with the police. Theman is yet to be arrested. As per reports, Gomti Nagar resident NitinPaliwal, along with his wife and son, reached the Babuganj policeoutpost to lodge a complaint against one of his in-laws. Police out-post incharge Vinod Kumar alleged that Paliwal talked rough withhim and started abusing him without any provocation. “I object-ed to Paliwal on his conduct and asked him to mind his language.At this, Paliwal started crying and then abused the entire staff atthe police outpost. I asked him to give in writing whatever com-plaint he had but he did not budge. He kept talking in a rough wayand misbehaving with me. I then pushed him out of the police out-post at which he started throwing stones at me and the police out-post. His act scared commuters and they assembled at the scene,”the S-I alleged. The S-I added Paliwal banged his head against awall and injured himself. “He threw tantrums accusing me of thrash-ing him in police custody,” the S-I alleged. SHO Amber Singh saidPaliwal had given a complaint against one of his relatives and was askedto get his statement recorded. “Instead of helping police, Paliwal tookpolice call as offensive and created the scene,” he said. The policespokesman said Paliwal was detained and was produced before the court.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Atruck driver was bludgeoned todeath in Mohanlalganj early

Wednesday morning allegedly overan extramarital affair. Police, how-ever, claimed the victim was killedby his neighbour over an old enmi-ty. The woman in question and herhusband had been detained whiletheir son is absconding.

As per reports, Raj KaranChaurasiya of Bhawa Kheda villageof the area was all alone at his housewhen he was attacked. His wifeShanti, along with her son Anuj,had gone to their relative’s house in

Nagram. On Wednesday morning,victim’s niece Anita went to RajKaran’s house for some work andfound him lying in a pool of bloodin the verandah. She informed herfather Satish who called Shanti andalso informed the police about theincident.

A look of the scene suggestedthat Chaurasiya was attacked mer-cilessly. Blood was spattered allaround. His head was found rippedoff and there were a number ofinjuries on his body seeminglyinflicted by a sharp-edged weaponand iron rods. The police sent thebody for autopsy and started the

investigation into the case.The victim’s wife Shanti

accused her neighbour, his wifeReena (name changed) and theirson to have hand in the murder. Onthe revelation, the police raided thehouse and rounded up Reena andher husband while their son wasfound absconding.

It surfaced that Reena hadinjuries on her hands and head.When she was asked to explainabout the wounds, she initiallytold police that she fell down andsuffered the injuries. At this, thecops quizzed her strictly and shedisclosed that Chaurasiya caught

her by her hand around 3 pm whenshe went out of her house for somework. She told police that shescreamed for help and later attackedChaurasiya killing him on the spot.

Police, however, did not seemfully convinced with Reena’s con-fession of the crime. “More thanone person was involved in themurder which took place early inthe morning (around 3.30 am). Itseemed that Reena was trying tosave her husband and her son. Shewould have been caught in the ‘act’with the victim and probably afterthis Reena and her son attacked thevictim killed him.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Constable Prashant Chaudharywas found guilty in the sensation-

al Apple executive Vivek Tiwarimurder case which had invited anational outrage and had put the UPgovernment in bad light for thepoor show on the law and order front.

The Special Investigation Team(SIT) submitted its report in the courtafter 81-day-long probe into thecase. In the report, other constableSandeep Kumar was charged withattacking Vivek and his female friendSana with a police baton on the fate-ful day on September 28 night.

DIG, Law and Order, PraveenKumar said that the chargesheetagainst Prashant Chaudhary for mur-der (section 302 of IPC) and againstSandeep for attack (section 323 ofIPC) was submitted in the court ofCJM on Wednesday.

The SIT also found the thenCircle Officer, Gomti Nagar, and thethen SHO, Gomti Nagar, guilty on thecount of laxity in their report. Thereport was submitted in the court bySHO, Mahanagar, Vikas Pandey.

Vivek Tiwari was shot dead incold blood from a close range on thefateful day for not obeying theinstructions of constable PrashantChaudhary while Sandeep had hitSana with a stick in order to forcethem to stop. Vivek was going to dropSana at her house after attending alate night office party on the launchof a new product.

In the SIT probe, it surfaced that

constable Prashant Chaudhary inten-tionally opened fire at Vivek Tiwariand he had no threat to life as he hadsaid in his defence during the initialinvestigation into the case. It was alsofound that Prashant would not havebeen hurt even if Vivek had drivenaway the car as he was standing at asafe distance. The SIT found thatPrashant knew the bullet he had firedwould kill Vivek and he did not firewith an aim to injure him, soPrashant’s claim that he opened firein self-defence also was preposterous.

The entire incident took place in38 seconds. Vivek and Sana were sit-ting inside with seat belts on and the

SUV was not stranded as stated by theconstables. The tangent formed by thebullet showed the constable aimedbefore opening firing.

The minor tyre marks of SUV onthe bike showed a slight touch andnot collision as claimed by the copsin their statements.

The position of the bike waschanged by the constables after theincident. The SUV’s damagedbumper was because of the collisionimpact with the pillar of the under-pass. The left side of the windshieldof the SUV was broken because of thebursting of the airbag. The bike’s posi-tion was changed after the incident.

September 29| Prashant took aim at Vivek with his 0.9mm service revolverfor not stopping and trying to flee. Police hurriedly lodged an FIR of mur-der against unidentified constables on the complaint of Sana. Ten-mem-ber SIT was formed under IG (Lucknow range) to probe into the caseSep 30| Public outrage forced Lucknow police to lodge second named FIRagainst Prashant and Sandeep. Damages in the SUV also raised doubt asthe family members brought this to media. SIT visited the spot and start-ed the crime scene reconstructionOct 1| Post-mortem report of Vivek Tiwari leaked on social media. Politiciansof various parties visit Tiwari’s houseOct 2| Second crime scene reconstruction was carried by the SIT. A thirdrecreation was also done two weeks late during the actual timeOct 4| Sana recorded her statement in the courtOct 5| SHO, Gomti Nagar, was removed following irresponsible behaviour.Police constables across the state lent support to accused cops, Prashantand Sandeep, by wearing black bands. Several suspendedOct 6| Some photos of the apple executive leaked on media and it turnedout to be fakeOct 8| Technical inspection of SUV and the bike debunks cops collisiontheory.

SEQUENCE OF INCIDENT

SIT indicts cop Prashant for

Apple executive murder

Mother recounts Nirbhaya’s horror

Mother of Nirbhaya with Kumar Keshav at Charnagh Metro Station on Wednesday Pioneer

Truck driver killed over extramarital affair?

Chill to continue

People enjoying sunshine at GPO park in Lucknow on Wednesday Pioneer

city 04LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 20, 2018

Six-yr-old boy kidnappedPNS n LUCKNOW

An unidentified woman kid-napped a six-year-old boy

from Bazaarkahla onWednesday afternoon. Policeregistered a case and the inves-tigation was underway tosearch the missing boy.

As per reports, the boy,identified as Ayan of Bhadewanlocality, went to a shop to pur-chase shampoo pouchesaround 12.50 pm onWednesday.

After Ayan did not reachhome hours after he left for theshop, his mother Farida went tothe shop and inquired aboutAyan.

The shop-owner told herthat Ayan left the shop alongwith a woman who knewher.

On the revelation, Faridastarted weeping drawing theattention of commuters andresidents.

It surfaced that the womanwas not acquainted withFarida or with any members ofher family. She called herfamily members and theystarted searching for the boybut to no avail. Farida laterlodged a case in this connec-tion.

The Bazaarkhalapolice registered a case of kid-napping.

“A team had been formed.Police are also scanning theCCTV footages to get a clue ofthe mysterious woman whokidnapped Ayan,” the policespokesman said.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Hundreds of villagers tookto the street and lobbed

stones at HCL police outpost inGosainganj on Wednesdayafter a car carrying meat of pro-hibited cattle hit a loader andthe meat was scattered on theroad. The incident exposedthe police failure in curbingcow slaughter and transporta-tion of meat of prohibited cat-tle.

As per reports, an overspeeding car hurtled into aloader at Surya Hotel inGosainganj police station area,a few distance away from apolice outpost in the locality. Asthe car overturned, the man onthe driving seat suffered seri-ous injuries and also wastrapped inside the car. Two ofhis aides, who also sufferedinjuries, fled the scene afterabandoning the car. The meatweighing some quintals wasscattered on the road after thecar’s boot opened due to thejerk.

On seeing this, a hugenumber of villagers and com-muters converged at the spotand they started creatingruckus while criticising theGosainganj police for failing toprevent cow slaughter andtransportation of cow meat.

Later, Amarkesh of Barabankiinformed the police about theincident.

On the information, apolice team reached the placeand the injured man wasrushed to Ram Manohar LohiaHospital. The police teamrecovered meat and sent sam-ples to the forensic lab.

As cops tried to dispersethe mob, villagers went berserkand they assembled in ahuge number and later threwstones at the HCL police out-post.

A heavy police force frompolice stations in the neigh-bourhood was summoned atthe spot to control the situation.The Mohanlalganj CO and thedistrict administration offi-cials reached the scene.

To contain the public ire, ateam of doctors was sum-moned at the spot and the sam-ples were collected from thescene.

Giving details, policespokesman AK Dwivedi saidthe identity of the man couldnot be identified as yet.

“The injured is in a seriousstate and yet to regain his con-sciousness,” he said while quot-ing reports of doctors of RMLHospital. He said the policeregistered a case under 3/5/8 ofCow Slaughter Act. “The team

of doctors suggested that therecovered goods to be cowmeat. The case was registeredon this basis,” he explained.

Police sources disclosedthat cow slaughter was a rou-tine affair in Gosainganj,Mohanlalganj, Nagram andother localities in rural parts ofthe city.

“As Gosainganj is close toBarabanki, it is suspected thatthe meat was being transport-ed from Barabanki and was tobe supplied to some sellers inLucknow or Rae Bareli,” theydisclosed. The policespokesman said sub-inspectorUpendra Singh was assignedthe task to investigate the case.

AWARENESS CAMP CGES (Clean and Green

Environmental Society) will beorganising awareness camps andseminars on enviromentalissues. The executive committeemeeting of CGES took this deci-sion to organise seminars on theuse of solar energy, climatechange, gardening, afforesta-tion and cleanliness in 2019besides publishing a bookletcontaining tips on the home gar-dening. It was also decided toinvolve students from schoolsand colleges in these pro-grammes. The meeting waschaired by president of the society Sumer Agarwal and was attended by PK Seth, former direc-tor, IITR, SK Barik, director, NBRI, SC Sharma, Secretary General, Rana Pratap Singh and NaveenArora of BBAU, S Prasad of CSAUAT, Kanpur, Ramji Prasad, senior scientist, Vegetable Farm,Kanpur.

WORKSHOPA three-day technical cooperation work-

shop was organised at RDSO fromDecember 17 to December 19 in which aresearch team of Korean Railroad ResearchInstitute (KRRI), headed by Dr Ji-Taek Oh,visited RDSO. In the workshop, possibilityof taking up joint R&D projects in the fieldof railway safety, passenger comfort andmutual cooperation between IndianRailways and Korean Railways for trainingof Indian railway officials was also exploredby the KKRI and RDSO teams. The dialoguebetween the two organisations will contin-ue on a regular basis to ensure that the pro-ject gets completed within the target time.

UPSRTC CONCLAVEUttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation is holding a developers’ conclave at a city

hotel on Thursday. Transport commissioner P Guru Prasad said that 30 companies which wereinto the business of construction of bus stands would congregate in the city. He said that devel-opers would be from states of Gujarat, Kolkata, Mohali, Mumbai and Uttrakhand. “Apart fromthese developers, there will be senior officials from various state road authorities from six states,”he said. The commissioner added that they would showcase the RFP (Request for Proposal) whichthey had prepared for 21 bus stations coming up in the state. “We will later float the RFP in January,”he said. The meeting will be inaugurated by Transport Minister Swatantra Deo Singh and ChiefSecretary Anoop Pandey. The Transport department, after the success of Alambagh bus stand,is now gearing up for more such stations in coming days.

GLOBAL AWARENESS PROGRAMMEPrithvi Innovations, as member of IPEN (International POPs Elimination Network, in col-

laboration with Amity University organised an important global awareness program on healthand environment.The programne was a part of international campaign by IPEN that works fortoxic-free future. Anuradha Gupta, founder-cum-general secretary of Prithvi Innovations, con-ducted the programme by giving the overview.

TIGRESS SHIFTEDTigress Renu, which was

brought to the Lucknow zooon April 14 this year from theKheri division, has now beenshifted to the tiger cage. Thetigress was brought in anextremely injured statebecause it had been beaten upby people since she had killeda man. The general publicwill now be able to see thetigress.

Christmas function

organised

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

The combined Christmas programme ofthe Assembly of Believers Church was

organised at Ravindralaya on Wednesdaywith the opening prayer of Rev Jagdish Das.

Bishop Shalendra Das welcomed the con-gregation and conducted the programme.Then a choir consisting of 50 young per-sons representing four different states ofIndia, namely, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala,Goa and Arunachal Pradesh, presentedsongs.

The main attraction of the programmewas ‘Nativity’ (a traditional drama) present-ed by the kids and children of the church. TheChristmas drama was directed by long liveVictor and Neelam Anthony.

The choir was prepared under the ableguidance of pastor Allen Rocky Anthony. Thechoir presented the song , ‘Bethlehem kegaushale mein, Badshah Yeshu paida hua’. Theyouths of the Assembly of Believers Churchpresented a dance on the story of JesusChrist’s birth.

The Christmas message was given bychief guest Bishop Augustus Anthony (BroTony). In the end, the visit of Santa Clausbrought excitement and joy amongst the con-gregation.

Meanwhile, the Christmas Carnival washeld at St Francis’ College on Wednesday.Vicar general Fr R D’Souza, along with man-ager Fr Donald D’Souza, inaugurated the fete.There was an assortment of games and foodstalls. Students, parents and guests turned upin large numbers.

The kids’ corner and request stall werea huge attraction. Everyone enjoyed them-selves a lot. Principal Fr Alwyn Mora’sthanked everyone for their support.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Rich tributes were paid to the brave-hearts of the Kakori incident in a pro-

gramme organised near Kakori railwaystation by the district administration.Tributes were paid to Pandit Ram PrasadBismil, Ashfaqullah Khan, RajendraSingh Lahiri and Roshan Singh who werehanged to death for the incident.

Speaking on the occasion, GovernorRam Naik said that for the developmentof the country it was important to havethe contribution of youths. He said thatthe country would have the maximumnumber of youths by the end of 2025 andUttar Pradesh being the most populousstate would have them in maximum num-ber. He said that the progress of the coun-try was possible only with the develop-ment of UP. He said that it was the respon-sibility of youths to take the country for-ward.

He said that those who had laid downtheir lives for the freedom of the coun-try were great men and added that it wasalso necessary to fight for freedom alongwith ‘ahimsa.’ The Governor said that thewealth of the country was being sentabroad and hence the Kakori incidenttook place to prevent this from happen-

ing. He added said that from 1857 to 1947there were several youths who made a con-tribution in the country’s struggle for free-dom. He also felicitated school studentson the occasion. He also told them to visitthe Allahabad museum on the momentousoccasion of Kumbh Mela and see the

revolver of great freedom fighter ChandraShekhar Azad themselves. Giving a wordof advice to students, he said that they werethe creator of their own destinies and theyshould keep moving in life. Also presenton the occasion was District MagistrateKaushal Raj Sharma.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Cookies in the shape of Christmas treesand cakes in the shape of reindeers

— the Christmas baking is showing in thebakery shops of the city with the festivalof Christmas just a few days away.

Talking to The Pioneer, Jasjit Singhfrom a well-known bakery shop said thatthey had brownies in the shape ofChristmas trees and cookies in the shapeof letters ‘H’ and ‘O.’ “The brownies arecut in a triangular shape and decoratedlike a Christmas tree. The cookies are inthe shape of ‘H’ and ‘O’ because whenthey are put together they form the excla-mation ‘Ho-Ho-Ho’ which goes well withthe buyers since it could be connectedwith the laughter of Santa Claus,” he said.

Singh said that the traditional plumcakes always remained the most popu-lar.

“This time, we have made them moreextravagant by having more nuttyflavours in them. There are also the rumand the raisin cakes this Christmas,” hesaid.

He further stated that they werebaking a three-foot-high cake in theshape of a reindeer on a sleigh for dis-play at the time of Christmas. “This willbe displayed in the show window andthen cut on Christmas and will be dis-tributed free of cost among those whovisit the shop,” he said.

Balwinder Singh, a city chef, said thatthey were selling combos in theChristmas season. He said that inChristmas combos, people could choosebetween the edible Santa Claus,Christmas tree and other items. “We arealso offering the plum pudding, the gin-ger bread man, breads, the minced pieand star-shaped tarts which are full ofjam. People can choose from these orplace an individual order or buy individ-ual items,” he added.

Lucknow (PNS): The mon-itor lizard is facing a threat to itsexistence in the city. WildlifeCentre, Lucknow University,coordinator Amita Kannaujiasaid that the main reasons forthe threat were the growing con-structions across the city, thekilling of the hapless reptile dueto the misconception that it waspoisonous and, lastly, because ofthe illicit trade of its reproduc-tive organ. Kannaujia said thatthey would be beginning anintensive awareness programme

amongst people to tell them thatthe monitor lizard was not poi-sonous at all.

Talking to The Pioneer, shesaid that she had seen the rep-tile being chased and killed inrural and urban areas. “Peoplethink that it is poisonous andhence attack it but the actual factis that the creature is totallyharmless and all its species inthe country are non-poisonous.In those cases where death hasoccurred due to the bite of themonitor lizard, it is due to sec-

ondary infections in thewound,” he said. She pointed outthat their habitats had beendestroyed with so much con-struction. “They normally occu-py places below bridges and increvices and holes the same wayas the snakes. When they aresighted during these construc-tions, they are chased and killedbrutally. The extensive con-struction which has taken placein Jankipuram Extension hasseen many of these monitorlizards being killed,” she added.

She said that another illegaltrade which was prevailing wasthe sale of the monitor lizard’sreproductive organ.

“The organ is termed as‘hatha-jodi’ and is extracted ina brutal manner by burning thelower part of its body. It issold in the name of the plantherb which it is not. Themyth goes that keeping the‘hatha jodi’ can bring in a lot ofwealth to the person somethingwhich is totally nonsensical,” shesaid.

Meat recovered from car

likely to be of cow

AS COPS TRIED TODISPERSE THEMOB, VILLAGERSWENT BERSERKAND THEYASSEMBLED IN AHUGE NUMBERAND LATER THREWSTONES AT THEHCL POLICEOUTPOST

Villagers stage protest; samples sent for test

Christmas cookies, cakes, brownies flood shops

“The brownies are cutin a triangular shapeand decorated like aChristmas tree. Thecookies are in theshape of ‘H’ and ‘O’because when they areput together they formthe exclamation ‘Ho-Ho-Ho’ which goes wellwith the buyers since itcould be connectedwith the laughter ofSanta Claus”

Rich tributes paid to Kakori bravehearts

SCHOOLSCAN

CITYBRIEFS

Monitor lizard facing threat to life in city

OVERWHELMING PERFORMANCETiny-tots of pre-primary and prima-

ry classes of City Montessori School,Aliganj Campus I, mesmerised their par-ents and grandparents with their bloom-ing and blossoming talents. It was theoccasion of ‘Annual Mothers Day andGrandparents Day’ of the school whichconcluded on Wednesday at CMS, GomtiNagar, auditorium. The presence of a largenumber of grandparents of studentsadded special attraction in the celebrationsending the message that without the sup-port of grandparents, character develop-ment of children suffered and moral val-ues could not be instilled in them. Earlier, additional commissioner, IncomeTax, Puja Raj inaugurated the function bylighting the lamp of learning. In heraddress, Puja Raj said that elders had aresponsibility to provide moral and spir-itual values and good ideas to childreneverywhere in home, school, and society.Prasing the talents of students, she saidthat both parents and teachers of CMSwere dedicated in their duties and it waslargely because of them that CMS studentswere making such outstanding progressin various fields of knowledge.

EUREKA INTERNATIONALEureka International, a four-day inter-

national educational-cultural fest organ-ised by City Montessori School, Anand

Nagar campus, concluded with a grandclosing ceremony on Wednesday at theCMS, Kanpur Road auditorium.Commandant, CTI, Homeguards, SanjeevKumar Shukla inaugurated the prize dis-tribution-cum-closing ceremony by light-ing the lamp of learning and honouredand awarded trophy, medals and certifi-cates to winners of Eureka Internationalamidst scintillating educational-culturalpresentation. The Super Overall

Championship of Eureka International-2018 went to Spring Dale Senior School,Amritsar, whereas Sagar Public School,Madhya Pradesh, won the OverallChampionship trophy in primary catego-ry; St Stephen’s School, Chandigarh,won the Overall Championship trophyin junior category and Bal BhartiPublic School, New Delhi, won theOverall Championship trophy in seniorcategory.

HC rejects bail plea of Yadav Singh’s wifePIONEER NEWS SERVICE n ALLAHABAD

The Allahabad High Court on Tuesdayrejected the bail application of Kusumlata,

wife of former NOIDA chief engineer, YadavSingh, who is an accused in the multi-croreNOIDA land scam.

Rejecting the bail application, a divisionbench comprising Justices Ramesh Sinha andDinesh Kumar Singh-I, however, said that tak-ing into account the order of the apex court theapplicant, Kusumlata, would not be arrested tillJanuary 10, 2019. However, the court made itclear that if she fails to get relief till the said peri-od then the trial court would be at liberty to

take coercive action against her to secure herpresence if she did not surrender before the trialcourt after January 10, 2019. Earlier this courton November 3, 2018, had granted interim bailto Kusumlata, wife of former NOIDA chiefengineer, Yadav Singh, on medical ground asshe was suffering from some serious ailments.The court has directed her to cooperate withthe trial pending against her in the CBI court,Ghaziabad, in a money-laundering case. TheCBI has submitted a chargesheet against YadavSingh, the then chief engineer of NOIDAAuthority, Greater NOIDA Authority andYamuna Expressway Industrial DevelopmentAuthority along with several others in the multi-crore land scam of NOIDA.

LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 20, 2018 nation 05

PNS n NEW DELHI

The BJP on Wednesdayattacked Congress presi-

dent Rahul Gandhi for lackingoriginality and living off bor-rowed ideas on loan waiverswith Union Minister SmritiIrani wondering if he was tak-ing tuitions for even dreaming.Niti Aayog Vice ChairmanRajiv Kumar also took a digsaying Rahul's statement islike "maano na maano, mainhi champion".

Irani hit out at Rahul andmade a satirical comment, "Ajkal sapna dikhane ke liye betuition leni padti hai???". Thisafter an audible Pre-press con-ference conversation suggest-ed that Congress leaderJyotiraditya Scindia promptedRahul on loan waivers to farm-ers in Madhya Pradesh andChhattisgarh.

Before his impromptustatement to the media, theCongress president is seennodding as colleague Scindialeans in and advises him onwhat to say. "You need to saywhat Modi could not do, Ihave done," Scindia audiblysays adding "...and don't ask

for Centre's assistance..." Latching on to the video,

Irani tweeted, ""Rahul Gandhitakes tuition to dream and thecurrent video shows that hedoesn't trust his own wordsbut he relies on others whoteach him what to speak. It isa warning for the people ofthis country to know that heis not eligible for any electoralpost."

At the same press confer-ence, Rahul had also made thecatchy comment " sone nahindunga" against Prime MinisterNarendra Modi. He said theOpposition "would not allowPrime Minister NarendraModi to sleep" until farm

loans are waived.The loan waivers are seen

as populist political measuresto woo voters rather than pro-vide a long-term solution tothe agrarian crisis faced by thefarmers in the country. It isestimated that around threelakh farmers have committedsuicide from 1995 to 2015and around 17 crore debt-rid-den farmers have turnedlabourers as agriculture ceasedto be remunerative over aperiod.

As one State Governmentafter another announces pop-ulist loan waivers, it is notknown who would foot the billfor the thousands of crore of

rupees. Soon after his party's poll

victories in Madhya Pradesh,Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh,Congress president moved fastto take credit for any potentialfarm loan waiver the Modi-Government might announceahead of the 2019 Lok Sabhaelections.

The BJP Government inAssam on Tuesday announcedthe approval of `600 crorefarm loan waivers, which itsaid will benefit around eightlakh farmers of the State. Thesame day, the party'sGovernment in Gujaratannounced a complete waiverof `625 crore in unpaid elec-tricity bills, under its one-timesettlement scheme for over sixlakh people living in ruralparts of the State.

"What can I say? It's like'maano na maano main hichampion'. Govt works afterlooking at everything. I don'tthink any other Govt has everworked for farmers as much asthe present Govt is doing",claimed Niti Ayog Vice-Chairman in a tweet whilereacting to Rahul's pro-nouncements on loan waivers.

Rahul takes tuition to dream: Irani

CONG CHIEF’S IMPROMPTU PRESS BRIEFING

PNS n NEW DELHI

Seeking continuously to takemileage in the run-up to the

2019 Lok Sabha election,Congress president RahulGandhi on Wednesday said hisparty had managed to wake upthe Chief Ministers of Assamand Gujarat to grant farm loanwaivers and will rouse a "sleep-ing" Prime Minister NarendraModi too. His comment camea day after he said he would notlet Modi sleep till a loan waiv-er is given to all farmers.

"The Congress party hasmanaged to wake the CMs ofAssam & Gujarat from theirdeep slumber. PM is still asleep.We will wake him up too,"Rahul said on Twitter. TheCongress president has movedquickly to take credit for anypotential farm loan waiver theGovernment may plan ahead ofthe 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

There are reports the

Modi-led BJP dispensation ismulling major relief for farm-ers but the contours of suchrelief are not yet known. TheGandhi has been championingthe cause of farm loan waiversthough he recently said in apress conference that they werenot permanent solutions tothe farming crisis and techno-logical advances in agriculturein consultation with farmerswere needed.

All Congress Governmentshave been promising farm loanwaivers within 10 days of com-ing to power. Punjab offeredone followed by Karnatakawhich is yet to ensure the realbenefits of waivers reach farm-ers. Now, the Chhattisgarh andthe MP Govts have alsodeclared waivers. "We said ourGovernments will waive loansin 10 days. In MP andChhattisgarh, it has taken lessthan six hours," Rahul Gandhisaid on Tuesday.

PM still asleep, we will wakehim up too: Congress chief

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Lok Sabha onWednesday passed the

Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill,2016 that ensures effective reg-ulation of surrogacy, and allowsonly altruistic surrogacy byinfertile Indian couples, legal-ly married for at least fiveyears. Surrogacy is an arrange-ment where a couple commis-sions a woman (called a sur-rogate) to carry their child.

The Lok Sabha saw repeat-ed adjournments, but man-aged to pass the bill withvoice vote amid disruptions.Welcoming the passage of theBill, JP Nadda, Union HealthMinister tweeted, "This(Surrogacy Regulation Bill2016) protects dignity ofwomen, economic exploitationand also protects the interestof the surrogate children whoare abandoned. The Bill hasbeen a demand from all sec-tions of society."

Only childless couples,legally married for at least fiveyears, are allowed to commis-sion surrogacy, from a womanwho is a "close relative" of the

couple. Singles or those in ahomosexual relationship can-not apply for surrogacy. Thechild, thus born, will bedeemed to be the legal off-spring of the intended couple.

The surrogate mother andthe intending couple will needeligibility certificates from theappropriate authority. The sur-rogate mother must be a 'closerelative' of the intending cou-ple, as per the bill.

Once enacted byParliament, the NationalSurrogacy Board will be con-stituted at the central level,while the states and UnionTerritories will constitute theState Surrogacy Boards andState Appropriate Authoritieswithin three months of thenotification by the CentralGovernment.

As the bill restricts surro-gacy by only a "close relative",couples who do not have alarge "close" family — or mem-bers in it who might be willingto be surrogates for them —cannot have a baby throughsurrogacy. The only availableoption for them will then beadoption.

Surrogacy Bill 2016passed in Lok Sabhaamid disruptions

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Enforcement Directorate onWednesday interrogated former

Finance Minister P Chidambaram inthe INX Media bribe case.Chidambaram was confronted withdocuments and statements of otheraccused and INX Media owners Peterand Indrani Mukherjea who allegedlypaid `5 crore to son Karti for the ille-gal post dated approval of FIPB clear-ance. ED have already attached `55-crore worth properties of Karti and hisfirm Advantage Strategic Consulting inDelhi, Ooty, London and Spain.

Questions were posed toChidambaram on why he entertainedpost clearance, when the INX Mediawas caught by Income Tax in 2007 forillegally bringing `300 crore as FDI,

while it was allowed to receive only `5crore. It was learned that Chidambaramput all blame on officers in FIPB andclaimed that he only signed the files putforward to him. Chidambaram alsoclaimed that he was not aware of Son'sbusiness activities and relation withIndrani, though he admitted that headmitted that Indrani and Peter methim in office when files were pendingwith him.

INX Media case was unearthedduring the joint raid of ED and IncomeTax in connection with Aircel-Maxisprobe at Karti's offices and home inDecember 2015. In 2006, INX Mediagot only approval for five crore as for-eign direct investment. But Income Taxin 2007 found that illegally they rout-ed `306 crore as FDI throughMauritius.

ED questions PC inINX media bribe case

New Delhi: Hamid NihalAnsari, the software engi-neer who has returnedhome after spending sixyears in a Pakistani jail, onFriday had an emotionalinteraction with ExternalAffairs Minister SushmaSwaraj as tears rolleddown his cheeks whilenarrating his ordeal.

"Please forgiveme...Thank you so much,"Ansari, accompanied byhis mother and a numberof family members, toldSwaraj as she embracedand patted him.

On her part, Swaraj,who was personally mon-itoring Ansari's case,hailed his courage andsaid destiny had takenhim to that country andthat he should not feelsorry.

"You have lots ofcourage...You should notsay sorry," Swaraj told ateary-eyed Ansari, whoreturned to India onTuesday.

Ansari was arrestedin Pakistan in 2012 forillegally entering Pakistanfrom Afghanistan, report-edly to meet a girl he hadbefriended online.Authorities in Pakistanhad slapped charges ofespionage against him.

Ansari 's motherFauzia too thanked Swarajand her Ministry for allthe assistance to the fam-ily in its legal battle inPakistan.

"Mera Bharat Mahan.Meri madam (Swaraj)Mahan (My India is great.My madam is great," anemotional Fauzia told

Swaraj while hugging her.Officials said 33-year-

old Ansari became emo-tional while explainingthe difficult phase he hadto endure in Pakistan.

Ansari and the familythanked Swaraj and theMinistry of ExternalAffairs for persisting withthe case and taking it upwith Islamabad.

The Mumbai resident,who returned to Indiaafter crossing the Wagah-Attari border, was impris-oned in the PeshawarCentral Jail after beingsentenced by a militarycourt on December 15,2015. According to officialsources, India issued 96notes verbales to Pakistanseeking consular accessto Ansari. The decision torelease him was on

account of relentless pres-sure from New Delhi, theysaid.

Shortly before hisarrival on Tuesday,Ansari's mother FauziaAnsari told reporters thatthe prayers of the familyand of all those whowished for his safe returnhad been answered.

His father, NihalAnsari, said, "It is a newdawn for us."

Ansari 's jail termended on December 15but he was not able toleave for India as his legaldocuments were notready.

On Thursday, thePeshawar High Court gavethe Pakistan Governmenta month's deadline tocomplete his repatriationprocess. PTI

Ansari released by Pak meets Sushma

IN SHORT

TDP ISSUES ZERO HOURNOTICE OVER EVMSNew Delhi: Telugu Desam Party(TDP) has given a Zero HourNotice over EVMs failure in LokSabha on Thursday. The noticehas been given by TDP MPsMurali Mohan, Ravindra Babuand Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao.

BUDDING ENTREPRENEURS,INDUSTRIALISTS INTERACTNew Delhi: Hundreds ofbudding entrepreneurs interactedwith industry leaders during theInternational Conference onEntrepreneurship, Innovationand Leadership organised onAmity University campus inassociation with the MSMEMinistry on Wednesday. UnionMinister Mahesh Sharmainaugurated the conference.

SKIN SAFAR RATH TO BEFLAGGED OFF TODAYNew Delhi : As a part ofcommunity outreach programme‘Swatch Twacha Swastha Bharath’,Indian Association ofDermatologists Venereologists andLeprologists (IADVL) will flag offon Thursday ‘Skin Safar Rath’campaign, covering 11,000 Km in60 days in 15 States to raiseawareness about skin health, saidDr. Ramesh Bhatt.

TN RAGHUNATHA n MUMBAI

Disapproving the effort tolink his party’s recent elec-

toral debacle in Madhya Pradesh,Rajasthan and Chhatisgarh withits prospects in the forthcomingLok Sabha polls, BJP presidentAmit Shah on Wednesdayridiculed the speculation aboutthe “threat” faced by his partyfrom the combined Oppositionin the 2019 polls, saying thatthere was nothing like a“Mahagathbandhan” in thenational level.

“It’s true that the results forBJP weren’t good (in the threenorth Indian states). But to linkthis to 2019 wouldn’t be com-pletely right. If we accept thistheory, then before 2004 wehad won Assembly polls in thesame states, yet we lost the 2004Lok Sabha elections. In 2013,we had won in these states andwe won in the 2014 Lok Sabhapolls as well. We will fight onthe basis of the changes thathave taken place in the coun-try since 2014,” Shah said.

“In MP, there was a 7-seatgap between us and only 3500votes cumulatively differenti-ated us and Congress. In UPand MP, the political issues onthe ground needn’t be thesame. It’s not possible to under-mine PM Modi’s work in thesestates. We will win the Hindi

Heartland in 2019,” Shah said.

In an interview withRepublic TV’s Editor-in-chiefArnab Goswami at theRepublic Summit here, Shahalso debunked the “threat”posed by “Mahagathbandhan”,saying: “‘Contrary to the man-ner in whichMahagathbandhan is beingpresented in the country today,its reality is different. In thenation-wide scenario, there’s noMahagathbandhan. If DeveGowda comes to Maharashtra,how much difference will itmake? The same is the casewith Mamata Banerjee inGujarat or Chandrababu Naiduelsewhere? TheseMahagathbandhans are instates, they have no impact onthe national platform. They

aren’t in a position to help eachother. You must rememberthat we beat them all in 2014.”.

Refusing steadfastly toattach any importance to theparty’s defeat in the 2018 LokSabha by-polls in UttarPradesh, the BJP presidentsaid: “The UP by-polls weren’ta barometer to determinePrime Minister’s performanceor popularity. I know UttarPradesh well. We lost the by-polls where we had very littleleast chance of winning. TheU.P government has done verywell. And we will be evenstronger there than we were”.`

Responding to questionsrelating to the 2019 polls,Shah reiterated that the BJPwould fight the 2019 LokSabha polls under the leader-ship of Prime Minister

Narendra Modi. “‘We aregoing to fight the elections onthe strength of NarendraModi. This government isn’tfighting to remain in power.It’s a contest to change thecountry. All previous govern-ments have landed in someform of trouble or the other”.

“This government hasn’tfallen into any such distress –in all the fields like agricultureand industry, bureaucracy andleadership, cities and villages,reforms and raising of stan-dard of living -- all of it hashappened. The governmenttakes decisions based onwhether it’ll benefit people,not for vote banks,” Shah said.

Queried if the BJP wouldcobble a “Super NDA” for the2019 polls, the BJP presidentsaid: “‘We have 31 parties.

We can still have talks withothers and we will formalliances, but until it’s done, Ishouldn’t speak. But look atNorth-East. We’ve cometogether with a number ofsmall parties. In the South andin UP, we can have alliances.We will go as NDA into 2019,with pre-poll alliances. But thenucleus of the NDA is the BJPand PM Modi”.

Replying to a question onthe BJP’s seat projections forthe 2019 polls, Shah said: “Onseats, I can only make projec-tions after we f irm upalliances. But I can say thatwith the existing seats, theNDA and BJP, under the lead-ership of Narendra Modi, willmake an even bigger gain andcome back to power with fullmajority”.

Says BJP doesn’t

face any threat

from combined

Opp in LS polls

Shah: There’s nothing like mahaghatbandhan

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI) has

arrested 10 persons twoDirectors of Mumbai-basedprivate firms of fugitive dia-mantaires Nirav Modi andMehul Chosksi and eight for-mer officials PNB’s BradyHouse Branch of Mumbaifor misuse of Letters ofUndertaking worth Rs 9crore. The alleged corruptionin the PNB’s branch resultedin the over Rs 13,000 crorescam. On March 9, theagency had filed a case relat-ing to “fraudulent” issuanceof LOUs worth Rs 9 crore toChandri Papers and AlliedProducts by the PNB’s BradyHouse branch.

An LoU is a credit facil-ity through which the bankguarantees a customer’s pay-ment obligation of a specifiedamount to an overseas bank.

The two LoUs wereallegedly issued in April, 2017

in favour of SBI, Antwerp,Belgium, sources said.

The company did not payback the credit avai ledthrough the LoUs leading toa loss to the public sectorbank. Retired PNB employ-ee Gokulnath Shetty and asingle-window operator(SWO) at the branch, ManojKharat, who are facing CBIprobe in the Modi-Choksicase, were named by theagency in an FIR.

“The case was registeredon the allegations of defraud-ing of Punjab National Bank,MCB, Brady House to thetune of around USD1421311.82 (equivalent toRs.9,09,63,956.48 @ Rs.64per USD) in the matter of dis-honest and f raudulentissuance of two Letters ofUndertakings (LoU) aggre-gating to the said amount, infavour of State Bank of India(SBI), Antwerp, Belgium,”the agency said in a state-ment.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Both the houses ofParliament on Thursday

saw disruption for the sixthconsecutive day on Wednesdaywith the Congress raising a dinover the Rafale fighter jet dealdemanding a Joint ParliamentCommittee(JPC) probe. TheTDP, the AIADMK and DMKcontinued to raise the issue ofthe dam over special status forAndhra Pradesh and Cauverydam issue respectively.

While the Rajya Sabha wasadjourned for the day shortlyafter it met due to pandemo-nium, the Lok Sabha sawrepeated adjournments, butmanaged to pass the Surrogacy(Regulation) Bill amid theruckus. Efforts to pass TheConsumer Protection Bill failedas Speaker Sumitra Mahajansaid there was too much dinand the bill will be taken up onThursday.

The Upper House wit-nessed uproar soon after paperswere laid with the AIADMKand some members fromAndhra Pradesh trooping intothe well showing placards. Inthe din, Minister of State forParliamentary Affairs VijayGoel demanded that seniorCongress leader Anand Sharmashould withdraw remarksmade by him against the min-ister in the House on Tuesday.Goel said Sharma had wrong-ly quoted him to say that hehad demanded an apologyfrom Rahul Gandhi on theRafale issue. Chairman MVenkaiah Naidu said he wouldlook into the records. Goel alsosaid the Congress wanted todisturb the proceedings eventhough the government wasready for a debate on the Rafalematter.

As the Congress memberswaved placards demanding aJPC probe into the Rafale deal,

the BJP MPs countered withplacards seeking apology fromRahul Gandhi following theSupreme Court clean chit to theRafale deal. As sloganeeringfrom both sides continued,Naidu said, “It is very clear thatnone of you want the House torun. I do not want this(ruckus) to be seen by the peo-ple,” while adjourning pro-ceedings for the day.

The Lok Sabha wasadjourned on three occasionsamid uproar after the govern-ment rejected the oppositiondemand for a JPC probe intothe Rafale deal. As the Housere-convened for the secondtime in the noon, membersfrom the Congress, AIADMKand TDP trooped into theWell, holding placards andshouting slogans.

While AIADMK membersprotested the construction of adam across the Cauvery river,those from the Congressdemanded a JPC probe into theRafale deal. The TDP soughtto raise issues related to AndhraPradesh.

Leader of the Congress inthe Lok Sabha MallikarjunKharge said there were “seriousapprehensions” in the minds ofthe people over the Rafale dealand this needs to be probed bythe JPC. Responding to this,Parliamentary Affairs MinisterNarendra Singh Tomar said thegovernment is ready for a dis-cussion on this issue, but reject-ed the demand for a JPC.Home Minister Rajnath Singhsaid the government was readyto discuss any issue demandedby the opposition, including theRafale deal.

When the House metagainst at 2.00 PM, the surro-gacy bill was taken up for con-sideration. Some members par-ticipated in the discussionbefore the bill was passed amidthe din.

PTI n MUMBAI

External Affairs MinisterSushma Swaraj has said

that her Ministry is in theprocess of getting JinnahHouse, the sea-facing Mumbaibungalow of Pakistan founderMohammad Ali Jinnah, trans-ferred in its name.

In a letter to city BJP leg-islator Mangal Prabhat Lodha,Swaraj also said that herMinistry will refurbish the

bungalow on the lines ofHyderabad House in Delhi.

Lodha had written toSwaraj on October 5 requestingthat Jinnah House should bemade a cultural centre.

“Prime Minister’s Office(PMO) has instructed us torenovate and refurbish JinnahHouse to develop it on the pat-tern of facilities available inHyderabad House in Delhi.Accordingly, approval of thePMO was sought for transfer of

the property from ICCR(Indian Council for CulturalRelations) to our Ministry.PMO has now accorded nec-essary approvals,” Swaraj said inher letter to Lodha.

The letter, dated December5, further said, “We are in theprocess of transferring theownership in our name.”

Lodha told PTI Wednesdaythat with this development,“the controversy (about thebungalow’s ownership and how

it should be utilised) will getover now as it is going be devel-oped on the patterns ofHyderabad House”.

The bungalow onMalabar Hill was designed byarchitect Claude Batley inEuropean style and Jinnahlived there in the late 1930s.Pakistan had demanded inrecent years that the proper-ty should be handed over toit for housing its Mumbaiconsulate.

Interestingly, Lodha hadonce demanded that the struc-ture be demolished, as it was a“symbol of partition”.

Jinnah’s daughter DinaWadia had in August 2007approached the Bombay HighCourt claiming that being thesole legal heir of Jinnah, sheshould get the possession of thehouse. After her death, her sonand Wadia Group chairmanNusli Neville Wadia is carryingon the litigation.

MEA is getting Jinnah House transferred in its name: Swaraj

PNB case: CBI

arrest 10 persons

NITI pitches for Agri Tribunal to boost farmers’ income

Din in Parliament for

sixth consecutive day

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Niti Aayong onWednesday pitched for set-

ting up an agricultural tri-bunal and auctioning of farmproduce in mandis by fixingminimum reserve price toboost farmers income.

In its ‘Strategy for NewIndia@75’ document releasedby Finance Minister ArunJaitley, the Aayog suggestedmany reform measures toincrease the farm sector growthand double farmers’ income by2022.

“The government should

consider replacing theCommission on AgriculturalCosts and Prices (CACP) by anagriculture tribunal in linewith the provisions of Article323B of the Constitution,” itsaid.

The CACP is a govern-ment’s advisory body that sug-gests the minimum supportprice (MSP) for 22 kharif andrabi crops. The governmentgenerally agrees to the sugges-tion made by the CACP.

The Niti Aayog should setup a group to examine “replac-ing the minimum support price(MSP) by a minimum reserve

price (MRP), which could bethe starting point for auctionsat mandis”, the document said.

The group should alsoexamine if MSP can be fixedbased on the three different cri-teria -- surplus produce, prod-ucts in deficit in domesticmarket but available globallyand products that are in deficitboth domestically and global-ly, the report added.

The Aayog further sug-gested examining options forincluding private traders oper-ating in markets to comple-ment the minimum supportprice (MSP) regime through a

system of incentives and com-mission payments.

Stating that raising MSP orprices can only be a partialsolution to the problem ofassuring remunerative returnsto farmers, it said,

“A long-term solution liesin the creation of a competitive,stable and unified nationalmarket to enable better pricediscovery, and a long-termtrade regime favourable toexports.”

The Niti Aayog alsoemphasised the need toencourage futures trade andremoval of entry barriers to

increase market depth shouldbe considered. It also advocat-ed contract farming.

On farm exports, the thinktank suggested the govern-ment should come up with acoherent and stable agriculturalexport policy, ideally with a fiveto ten-year time horizon and abuilt-in provision for a mid-term review.

The strategy documentalso talked about modernisingagriculture sector throughimproving irrigation facilities,marketing reforms, post har-vesting management and bet-ter crop insurance products.

LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 20, 2018 nation 06

KHURSHEED WANI n

SRINAGAR

Former Jammu and KashmirChief Minister Dr Farooq

Abdullah on Wednesday urgedfor early elections in the embat-tled state to end the prolongedcentral rule imposed in thestate six months ago. He saidthe elected government wouldbe able to deliver governance ina better way.

Abdullah was speaking toreporters after welcoming twoformer senior leaders of rivalPeople’s Democratic Party(PDP)—Basharat Bukhari andPeer Muhammad Hussain—into his party NationalConference (NC). The twoleaders who have been electedto assembly in the past have

been ministers at differentoccasions and once consid-ered part of the innermost cir-cle of late Mufti Sayeed and hisdaughter Mehbooba Mufti.Their jumping ship is consid-ered as a major jolt to the for-mer ruling party that has seena series of resignations frominfluential leaders sinceNovember 19 when GovernorSatya Pal Malik dissolved thestate assembly.

Bukhari, quit announcer’sjob with Radio Kashmir in2003 to join the PDP and wassubsequently nominated to leg-islative council in the sameyear. He successfully contestedtwo assembly elections in 2008and 2014 from Sangrama con-stituency of Baramulla andbecame a minister in 2015 in

Mufti Sayeed cabinet. Bukhariis elder brother of journalistShujaat Bukhari who was killedby suspected militants outsidehis office in Srinagar in Junethis year along-with his twobodyguards.

Hussain was a retired gov-ernment officer who joinedPDP in 2002 to successfullycontest 2002 assembly electionand became a junior ministerin Mufti Sayeed led PDP-Congress regime. Last year hequit the post of Vice Chairmanof Muslim Waqf Board, a polit-ical appointment, after devel-oping differences withMehbooba Mufti.

Abdullah welcomed theduo saying their inclusion “willhelp salvage people from thecurrent tumultuous times.”

“We have to show stead-fastness and maintain unityamong us. We have to give abefitting reply to those forceswhich are inimical to the spe-cial status of the state,” he said.

Abdullah demandedannouncement of elections inthe state to pave way for the

establishment of elected gov-ernment. “The Governor’s ruleis an autocratic rule. There is nosubstitute to a popularly elect-ed government,” he said addingthat his party has been impress-ing on the incumbent admin-istration to hold elections assoon as possible.

Farooq said that theregional coalitions can give atough competition to the BJPduring the upcoming LokSabha elections.

People’s ConferenceChairman Sajad Lone, whohad staked claim for the for-mation of government onNovember 19 took a jibe on thechange of loyalty of two formerministers and their welcome inthe rival party. “The twodynasts’ made fun of me ontwitter. Made a lovely skeletonof me. Now that one is poach-ing the other. Wonder—amongst the dynasts’ who issketching whose skeleton,”Lone tweeted shortly after thetwo leaders announced theirdecision to join the NC.

The NC and PDP had

formed a day-long coalitionalong-with the Congress andstaked claim for the formationof government last month.Mehbooba Mufti in her letterto Governor had claimed sup-port of 56 legislators to formthe government. However,Governor Malik instead ofinviting her or Sajad Lone toform the government, contro-versially dissolved the assembly.

The dissolution of assem-bly triggered permutations andcombinations in the politicalparties, especially in the PDP,which has lost public sympathydue to its alliance with the BJP.

Two former MinisterImran Ansari and HassebDrabu and legislators AbbasWani and Yasir Reshi havealready quit the party.

SAUGAR SENGUPTA n KOLKATA

The much awaited verdict onBJP’s petition seeking per-

mission for Rath Yatra inBengal was likely to be deliv-ered on Thursday, CalcuttaHigh Court lawyers said. TheBJP had gone to the Courtagainst Trinamool CongressGovernment’s denial of per-mission for the Yatra ongrounds of communal tension.

In a prolonged argumenton Wednesday the StateGovernment submitted beforethe Court of Justice TapabrataChakrabarty that in denyingthe permission theGovernment had relied onintelligence reports appre-hending communal disharmo-ny and the leaflets with com-munal undertone distributedby the saffron party along theproposed routes of the Yatra.

This even as the BJP coun-sels hinged their contention onthe party’s claim of a “purelypolitical programme” underthe banner of Save DemocracyYatra in support of which the

saffron leadership has beenstaging civil disobediencemovement throughout theState.

The Court however askedthe Government as to whatprevented the administration tocurtail the number of rallyistsand re-chart the route of theYatra saying in a democracywhether it was possible to stalla rally merely on the groundsof apprehension or intelligence

reports and whether the StateGovernment would have takena similar step had such a pro-gramme been taken up bysome other outfit.

The Court was likely todeliver its judgment onThursday when both the BJPand the Government’s counselswill be allowed to further placetheir arguments for 15 minuteseach. Sources on both sides saidthat petition of appeal hadalready been prepared and theside that lost the case wouldimmediately proceed onappeal.

The BJP had announcedthree Yatras each fromCoochbehar in North Bengal,Birbhum and Kakdwip nearGanga Sagar Islands. All theYatras were to be inauguratedby party chief Amit Shah andwould be addressed at intervalsby Prime Minister NarendraModi. The Prime Minister waslikely to speak at the end of thethree Yatras that would con-verge at the historic BrigadeParade Ground in Kolkata onJanuary 23.

SAUGAR SENGUPTA n KOLKATA

In a sudden developmentBengal Pradesh Congress

president Somen Mitra onWednesday flew off to Delhiafter he was summoned byparty president Rahul Gandhifor crucial talks.

Gandhi was likely to holdtalks with Mitra and BengalCongress observer GauravGogoi on Thursday noon,sources said adding the Stateleadership was expected toplace three points before thenational party president.

Firstly he will be requestedby the State president not tosend any senior Congress rep-resentative in the TrinamoolCongress’ January 19 rally ofanti-BJP parties called by ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee inKolkata as this would furtherdampen the spirits of the partyworkers who had been fightingthe Trinamool misrule onstreets, PCC sources saidadding a decision to the con-trary could erase the Congressfinally from the grassroots level.

Secondly the State leader-ship would request Gandhi tofinalise about the alliancemechanisms if the party reallywanted to go ahead with anykind of adjustments with theLeft Front. “In 2016 we couldhave defeated the Trinamoolhad the alliance been struck afew months before. Even aslast-moment alliance saw usgetting defeat in vital 70 seatsbe a margin of 150 to 4,000votes. Had we got those seatswe could have formed theGovernment,” a PCC leadersaid adding the leadershipwould be requested to take adecision allowing the workersto begin work in advance.

KUMAR CHELLAPPAN n

CHENNAI

Arulmigu Dandayudhapani SwamyTemple at Palani, known global-

ly as the Lord Muruga Temple, atopthe Palani Hills in Tamil Nadu’sDindigul district, is a ticking timebomb because of serious shortcom-ings in safety and security measuresfollowed by the temple authorities.Vinod C Menon, founder member ofthe National Disaster ManagementAuthority expressed his shock over thesafety and security scenario at Palani.

Any disaster in this shrine couldlead to thousands of pilgrims losingtheir lives, said people residing inPalani. Safety guidelines have beengiven a blatant violation by the author-ities of the Hindu Religious andCharitable Endowment (HR&CE)Department, a branch of theGovernment that administers thetemple which has a history dating back

to 3,000 BC.The Temple shot into fame

because of the material with whichthe idol of Lord Muruga has beenbuilt. “The idol of the deity in PalaniTemple has been built of a rare com-bination of nine minerals (navab-hasahanam in Tamil) , a compoundmade by Bhoga, an ascetic believedto have lived in the period 3,000 BC.This idol has many medicinal prop-erties. The proportion of the mate-rials with which it has been built ispurely based on science,” saidParappanangadi UnnikrishnaPanicker, thanthric and vedic schol-ar who through an AshtamangalaPrasna, prevented the Tamil NaduGovernment from its move toreplace the ancient idol with a stat-ue made of 200 kg gold.

Thousands of devotees make it toPalani on a daily basis from all overIndia and abroad. Even the vehiclesand houses of DMK leaders, sworn

atheists, spot the picture of LordMuruga. There are thousands ofMurugans, Saravanans, Subramanians, Dandayudapanis in the DMK aswell as the Dravida Kazhakam.

The decision of the TamilNadu Government to set up akitchen inside the temple forpreparing food for distributionunder the Annadana scheme hassent shockwaves across Palani aswell as among the devotees. “It isagainst all conventions and tradi-tions. No one can set up kitchensinside the temple premises. Onlythe offerings to the deity could bemade inside the temple in a sep-arate area,” said Panicker.

T R R amesh, president ,Temple Worshippers Society, saidthe Agama Sasthra has clearlystated that community kitchensshould never be built inside thetemple. “Imagine what would hap-pen in the eventuality of a fire

accident. There are hundreds ofLPG cylinders being used in thekitchen,” said Ramesh.

The kitchen is functioningclose to the devotees standing inqueue for getting a darshan, point-ed out Anirudh Garga, a practic-ing lawyer. “In the eventuality ofa fire, all the devotees waiting inthe queue will get charred todeath as there are no emergencyexits,” said a worried Garga.

A free-for- all system prevailsinside the temple. Last Saturdaysaw a devotee from Puducherrymaking it to the shrine with a let-ter of recommendation from ChiefMinister V Narayanasamy askingthe temple authorities to facilitatethe bearer of the letter to get a dar-shan of the Lord. The mainpriests would distribute the holyash only if they are given cash andthat too in front of the sanctumsanctorum.

PTI n PATNA

Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), akey constituent of the ruling

NDA, Wednesday pressed forfinalisation of the coalition’sseat-sharing arrangement inBihar by month-end whilemaking it clear it will not agreefor anything less than six LokSabha seats and one in RajyaSabha.

The assertion was made byLJP’s state president PashupatiKumar Paras, younger brotherof the party chief and unionminister Ram Vilas Paswan, aday after the party’s parlia-mentary board chairmanChirag Paswan expressed dis-satisfaction over no headwaybeing made on the seat-sharingissue despite several meetingswith the BJP leaders.

Paras said the NationalDemocratic Alliance (NDA)has “undoubtedly” weakened inBihar with exit of partners likeJitan Ram Manjhi and UpendraKushwaha.

Speaking to reporters here,Paras said Kushwaha partedways after he ran out of patience,as BJP chief Amit Shah andJD(U) chief Nitish Kumar madean announcement that theirparties would contest an equalnumber of seats without takinginto account that there wereother constituents.

Ideally, all NDA partnersshould have sat together andarrived at a seat-sharing for-mula through consensus, hesaid, while asking what wouldbe left for other allies followinga decision by the BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) and JanataDal (United) deciding to fighton an equal number of seats inthe 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

“Lack of clarity on theissue led to the RLSP’s exit. Afinal decision on sharing ofseats among the remainingallies must be arrived at byDecember 31,” said Paras, whois also a member of the NitishKumar cabinet in the state.

He said Chirag Paswan’stweets reflected the party’s sen-timents and the seat-sharingformula must be timely andrespectable.

Pointing out that the partyhad contested seven seats in the

2014 Lok Sabha polls, the stateLJP chief said there was no rea-son why it would settle for lessthan that for the 2019 elections,or for six Lok Sabha seats andone in Rajya Sabha.

There has been speculationthat the LJP chief and unionminister Ram Vilas Paswanmay not fight the Lok Sabhapolls next year owing to badhealth and leave his Hajipur(reserved) constituency forsome family member and him-self opt for the Upper House.

In a series of tweets, ChiragPaswan had on Tuesday cau-tioned the BJP against damageto the NDA in the event of theBJP’s failure to arrive at a seat-sharing formula that wasrespectable for other allies.

His tweets have triggeredspeculations that the party,which was part of theCongress-led UPA for a decadebefore switching over to theBJP-led coalition during the2014 polls, was bracing forchanging sides yet again.

Reacting to the develop-ments, RLSP’s UpendraKushwaha said the LJP shouldfollow his example and leavethe NDA. He alleged the BJPand Nitish Kumar in their

arrogance were hell bent upondestroying the smaller parties.

State BJP spokesmanNikhil Anand, however, soughtto downplay the latest outburstsfrom the LJP leaders saying theNDA remains intact and anydelay in announcing a seat-sharing formula could be dueto the top leaders of his partyhaving been busy in assemblypolls for five states.

He said things will be set-tled amicably and in time.

JD(U) spokesman RajivRanjan Prasad said the tuningbetween all three constituentsof the NDA in Bihar is perfectand there is no need for gettingalarmed over the tweets. Heasserted that all three parties -- JD(U), BJP and LSP -- willfight together and the NDA willwin all 40 Lok Sabha seats inthe state.

Senior Congress leaderPrem Chandra Mishra, how-ever, said the recent defeat ofthe BJP in its strongholds ofMadhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarhand Rajasthan has put a ques-tion mark on the leadership ofPrime Minister Narendra Modiand his allies have becomeuncertain about their ownprospects.

LJP demands 7 MP seats in Bihar

Wants at least6 LS seats,one in RS

Bengal Congwants Rahulto send noneto TMC rally

WBPCC CHIEF IN

DELHI, TO BAT

FOR ALLIANCE

WITH LEFT FRONT

PDP’s two senior leaders desert Mehbooba for NC

HC to deliver judgmenton BJP Rath Yatra today

Lord Muruga temple ticking time bomb

PTI n JAMMU

A49-year-old Assistant Sub-Inspector(ASI) of the Border Security Force (BSF)

allegedly committed suicide Wednesday byshooting himself with his service rifle inJammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district, offi-cials said.

The officer of the border guardingforce, Satpal Jaswal, was found in a pool ofblood after his colleagues pursued thesound of a gunshot at his post in forwardarea in Mendhar Bekt of the districtWednesday morning, they said.

Jaswal was admitted to hospital wheredoctors declared him brought dead, the offi-cials said, adding that a case was registeredin this connection.

PTI n IMPHAL

An Imphal-based journalist, whowas detained last month under

the stringent National Security Act(NSA), will remain in custody for 12months, according to a Manipurgovernment order which said hisactivities were “prejudicial to thesecurity of the state and maintenanceof public order”.

The District Magistrate ofImphal West had ordered detentionof Kishorechand Wangkhem, a 39-year-old journalist who works for alocal TV channel, on November 27allegedly after he uploaded videoscriticising the BJP-led governmentsin Manipur and the Centre forobserving Rani Jhansi’s birthanniversary.

The videos which he haduploaded on November 19 in bothEnglish and Meitei were not relatedto his official work, officials had said.

According to a state homedepartment statement issued onDecember 14, the Advisory Board ofthe National Security Act (NSA), inits sitting held on December 11, had

examined the allegations levelledagainst the journalist, KishorechandWangkhem. On December 13, theboard recommended that there were“sufficient grounds” to detainWangkhem under the provisions ofthe NSA, the statement said, withoutelaborating on the allegations againsthim .

Manipur Governor NajmaHeptulla has approved the advisoryboard’s recommendation on deten-tion of the journalist under theNSA, according to the statement.

“The Governor of Manipur afterconsidering the proximate past activ-ities of the detenu and potential dan-ger of his activities which are preju-dicial to the security of the State andmaintenance of public order andthere is apprehension of his contin-uing to act in similar prejudicialactivities, the moment he is releasedfrom detention, ....The said personshould be detained for the maximumperiod of 12 months as providedunder Section 13 of the said Act,” thestatement said.

In consonance with the opinionof the Board and exercise of power

under Section 12 (1), the Governorhas, therefore, ordered that hisdetention will be for a period of 12months, it said.

According to the provision, inany case where the Advisory Boardhas reported that there is, in its opin-ion, sufficient cause for the detentionof a person, the government mayconfirm the detention order and con-tinue the detention of the personconcerned for such period as itthinks fit. Under section 13 of theAct, the maximum period of deten-tion under the NSA is 12 months.

In the video clips posted by him,Wangkhem had purportedly said hewas saddened and shocked to learnthat the present government inManipur was observing the birthanniversary of Rani of Jhansi, accord-ing to media reports.

He reportedly said Rani ofJhansi’s deeds had nothing to do withManipur and the state was observ-ing her birth anniversary because theCentre had asked it to. In this con-text, he allegedly called ChiefMinister Biren Singh a “puppet of theCentre” and a “puppet of Hindutva”.

BSF officer shoots self inPoonch, dies

Manipur scribe held under NSA toremain in jail for one year: Govt

Coimbatore: NIA raids over alleged plot to kill Hindu outfit leaders

PTI n MUMBAI

The meeting of a delega-tion of the Hindi film

industry with Prime MinisterNarendra Modi came underfire on Wednesday for itsexclusion of female repre-sentation with some activistsand filmmakers pointing outthat it was 2018 and asking,“Where are the women?”

On Tuesday, an 18-mem-ber panel, including KaranJohar, Ajay Devgn, SiddharthRoy Kapur, Akshay Kumar,Ritesh Sidhwani and CBFCchief Prasoon Joshi, met theprime minister to discusshow to take the entertain-ment industry to the nextstage. No woman was part ofthe “manel” representing anindustry where women play apivotal role not just as actorsbut also as directors, pro-ducers and writers, a femaleproducer said.

It was a year whenskewed gender politics in theworkplace, including in theenter tainment industr y,became a topic of heateddebate with India being hit byits own #MeToo tsunami thatswept away some big names,she said asking not to be

named. “Where are thewomen of the industry?”tweeted #MeToo India’sTwitter handle.

Director Leena Yadav,whose latest film “RajmaChawal” has just released onNetflix, said it is sad thatfemale voices are beingignored, especially when theticket window has beentremendously responsive towomen directors.

“They are ignoring whatis happening at the box officevis-a-vis women directorsand their films and ignoringthem is sad and it is not onlysad but being very unaware intoday’s world and regressivein today’s world. So that isreally sad,” Yadav told.

But the filmmaker, whohas earlier made “Shabd” and“Parched”, said she refuses tofeel sorry for herself or side-lined. “I can feel offended byit but it doesn’t affect me tothat level as it does not wipeout my existence. I feel sorryfor them rather than formyself,” she said.

Alankrita Shrivastava of“Lipstick Under My Burkha”,which was well received bycritics and audiences, alsospoke out.

All male Bollywood

panel at meeting

with Modi draws flak

The BJP had

announced three

Yatras each from

Coochbehar in North

Bengal, Birbhum and

Kakdwip near Ganga

Sagar Islands. All the

Yatras were to be

inaugurated by party

chief Amit Shah and

would be addressed

at intervals by PM

Narendra Modi

New Delhi : The National InvestigationAgency (NIA) on Wednesday conductedsearches at seven places in Tamil Inconnection with the ISIS Coimbatore

module case and recovered large numberof electronic devices, unaccounted cashand radical Islamic literature. The searches were conducted by NIA at

the residences (three places in Chennai,three in Coimbatore and one inTrivandrum) of seven arrested accusedpersons.

LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 20, 2018 nation 07

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n

NEW DELHI

After dillydallying for last twoyears, the Union Health

Ministry has finally banned thedistribution and sale of anti-his-tamine drug Buclizine as anappetite stimulant “in publicinterest” under the Drugs andCosmetics Act. The drug will,however, be allowed to be mar-keted for “symptomatic treatmentof various allergic conditions(rhinitis, conjunctivitis andurticaria) and for preventionand treatment of motion sick-ness.” The Ministry has issued anotification in this regard. Theban follows recommendationsfrom the Drugs Technical

Advisory Board (DTAB) twoyears ago which called “pro-hibiting the manufacture, saleand distribution of Buclizine forthe indication as appetite stimu-lant in public interest and con-tinuing the marketing for theindications “symptomatic treat-ment of various allergic condi-tions (rhinitis, conjunctivitis andurticaria) and for preventionand treatment of motion sick-ness”. As per the notification, theCentral government regulatesthe manufacture, sale or distrib-ution of Buclizine and its for-mulations for use in humanbeings, subject to conditions thatthe manufacturer “shall label thecontainer of Buclizine and its for-mulation and also mention in

conspicuous manner on thepackage insert and promotionalliterature of Buclizine and its for-mulation with the words ‘Not tobe used as appetite stimulant’”.

It was brought to the noticeof the Government that the useof the drug Buclizine as appetitestimulant for human use was notrational, the notification stated.

In fact, a ParliamentaryStanding Committee in its reporthad raised concerns that variousdrugs, including the Buclizine asappetite stimulant were approvedwithout ensuring and safety andefficacy and any clinical trial. Thedrug is developed by Belgium-based UCB Pharma and sold asLongifene by Mankind Pharmain India.

Union Health Ministry bansappetite stimulant drugs

From Page 1Singh said that during cold wave, the normal wind speed is

recorded between 5 to 10 km per hour in winter season.Cold wave conditions are invariably related with clear weath-

er. On the other hand, cold day conditions are related with cloud-ing. It is termed as a cold day when the day temperature falls, andnight temperature rises. The IMD also issued warning that theground frost conditions are likely to prevail over Punjab, Haryanaand Rajasthan in the coming days. Kargil was the coldest town atminus 14.9 while Leh recorded minus 6 degrees Celsius. In Haryana,Narnaul was the coldest place recording a low of 2.3 degrees Celsius.In Punjab Faridkot also reeled under intense chill recording a lowof 2.5 degrees Celsius, while severe cold prevailed in Bathinda at3 degrees Celsius. In Delhi, the minimum temperature was record-ed at 5.2 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal making itthe coldest December day since 2015.

From Page 1The advanced communi-

cation satellite also came withnew technology regarding theantenna to improve the per-formance, Sivan said. Its solarpanels have been deployed andorbit raising manoeuvres willbe done from Thursday morn-ing from Bengaluru, he said.

Wednesday’s mission alsogave the scientists some anxi-ety “as the weather was not veryconducive some one weekback,” Sivan noted. However,the meteorological team heregave correct predictions, hesaid and congratulated theISRO team members behind

the successful launch, the lastof this calendar year.

“This is the last mission ofthis year. We are going to ini-tiate the new year with a grandmission soon,” he said.

The GSLV-F11 is theISRO’s fourth generationlaunch vehicle with threestages. Four liquid strap-onsand a solid rocket motor at thecore form the first stage of thelaunch vehicle, while the sec-ond stage is equipped with ahigh-thrust engine using liquidfuel, ISRO said.

The Cryogenic UpperStage forms the third and finalstage of the vehicle.

The seventh launch of2018 from Sriharikota marksthe 69th mission of GSLV-F11for ISRO. On November 14,ISRO’s GSLV-MkIII-D, whichis dubbed by the ISRO as the‘Bahubali’ or “fat boy” ofIndian rockets, injected intoorbit a 3,423 kg communica-tion satellite GSAT-29, thecountry’s heaviest to be putinto orbit. India’s earth obser-vation satellite HysIS and 30other co-passenger satellitesfrom eight countries werelaunched onboard ISRO’strusted workhorse PolarSatellite Launch Vehicle onNovember 29.

From Page 1However, the PMO in its

letter dated May 16, 2016 hadreturned the Cabinet noteobserving that the conferring ofINI by way of Central Act isnothing but creation of aUniversity by a Central legis-lation. The same purpose canalso be served if the Institutiongets a status of a ‘deemedUniversity’, said the PMO.

It also argued that autono-my for the Institution may bemore for the ‘DeemedUniversity’ than the institutioncreated by way of special Actwhich comes with certain con-ditionalities.

The PMO also advised theNSD to engage with HumanResource Development(HRD)/University GrantsCommission (UGC) andreclaim its status as a ‘Deemedto be University’. The CabinetSecretary after discussing thesame on July 29, 2016 appar-ently dismissed the request,commenting that the NSD didnot even need such a tag as itwas itself a highly reputedorganisation.

However, refusing to givein, the indomitable NSDSociety in its meeting datedNovember 28, 2016 unani-mously resolved to make per-sistent efforts to clinch theprestigious status consideringNSD’s valuable contributionin the field of theatre andtraining. “A delegation led byProf Waman Kendre, Director,NSD also met Private Secretary

(PS) to Prime Minister andapprised the position to him. ACabinet Note for declaring theNSD as an INI was again for-warded to PMO via a note onMay 3, 2017. But PMO sent itback on May 29, 2017 seekingmore justification to the needof a new law. Reply to the samewas conveyed to PMO onSeptember 22, 2017,” the reportsaid. “After that”, noted the par-liamentary panel, “no furthercommunication in the matterreceived from PMO so far.The committee is unable tocomprehend the delay in grant-ing the status of INI to NSD”.

Curiously, while giving thego-ahead to the Reliance Jioinstitute as ‘Institute ofEminence’, a move which hadsparked controversy, a selectioncommittee’s report had saidthat “ Jio Institute’s proposalwas well thought out, well pre-sented, and taking an impres-sive multi-decade view of insti-tution-building leveraging thatpromoter group’s known com-petencies in infrastructurebuilding and the timely cre-ation of new ventures”.

The NSD website says thattraining in the school is high-ly intensive and is based on athorough, comprehensive, care-fully planned syllabus whichcovers every aspect of theatreand in which theory is relatedto practice. As a part of theirtraining, students are requiredto produce plays which are thenperformed before the public, asper the website.

GSAT boosts IAF...

A year on, NSD awaitsJio fate as PMO sitson eminence tag

Cold comfort for north, N-E till Feb

STAFF REPORTER n NEW DELHI

Leaders and workers of theBharatiya Janta Party’s (BJP)

Delhi unit, along with its pres-ident Manoj Tiwari, weredetained near the Congressheadquarters on Wednesdaywhile they were protestingagainst Rahul Gandhi, whothey said was spreading “lies”on the Rafale deal.

The protesters had assembled at the VigyanBhawan here and raised slogans against the Congressand its president, who hasbeen instrumental in mountinga scathing attack on the Modigovernment over an alleged“scam” in the deal for theFrench fighter jets.

“We are here to expose thelies of Congress and its presi-dent Rahul Gandhi who isspreading lies on the Rafale

deal on a regular basis,” Tiwarisaid at the protest.

The protesters then tried tomove closer to the Congress

headquarters at Akbar Roadbut were stopped at a police

barricade. They were laterdetained and taken to theParliament Street police station.

The district presidents ofthe Delhi BJP had on Tuesdaysubmitted a memorandum,addressed to the President ofIndia, to respective districtmagistrates in the city.

“Even after the dismissal ofpetitions challenging the Rafaledeal by the Supreme Court,Congress president RahulGandhi continues his propaganda, not only insultingthe prime minister but alsodemoralising the defence forcesof the country,” the Delhi BJPchief said.

N o t w i t h s t a n d i n g the Supreme Court’s verdict on the deal, Congress president Rahul Gandhi had onFriday maintained that therewas massive corruption in thecontract.

Tiwari, BJP workers detained for protesting against RaGa

Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari protests along with BJP workers near Congress headquarters Ranjan Dimri | Pioneer

On private complaint, executive magistrate cannot direct cops to lodge FIR: SCPTI n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court has heldthat under the scheme of the

Code of Criminal Procedure(CrPC), an executive magistratecannot direct the police to reg-ister an FIR on the basis of a pri-vate complaint lodged beforehim. The top court, however,said that if a complaint is lodgedbefore an executive magistrateon an issue over which he hasan jurisdiction, then he canhimself lodge an FIR in the mat-ter after conducting an admin-istrative inquiry.

A bench of Justices RFNariman and Navin Sinha setaside the order of Lucknowbench of Allahabad High Courtby which it had refused toquash an FIR lodged against aprivate college on the directionof a Sub-Divisional Magistrate(SDM).

On January 31, 2018, SDM,

Unnao in Uttar Pradesh haddirected the police to lodge anFIR against a college run byNaman Pratap Singh after a stu-dent made a private complaintto the officer alleging that shehad been duped into takingadmission in an unrecognisedinstitution.

The bench after perusingvarious provisions of CrPCsaid, “It is therefore apparentthat in the scheme of the Code,an Executive Magistrate has norole to play in directing thepolice to register an FIR on basisof a private complaint lodgedbefore him”.

The court said that afterreading the FIR, it reveals thatthe police has registered the FIRon directions of the SDM whichwas clearly impermissible in thelaw as he (SDM) does not exer-cise powers under Section156(3) of the CrPC.

The court, however, said, “If

a complaint is lodged before theexecutive magistrate regardingan issue over which he hasadministrative jurisdiction, andthe magistrate proceeds to holdan administrative inquiry, itmay be possible for him to lodgean FIR himself in the matter”.

The top court said that inthe instant case, the very insti-tution of the FIR is contrary tothe law and without jurisdictionand hence is liable to bequashed.

It said that section 154 ofthe CrPC provides for registra-tion of a FIR at the instance ofan informant, reduced intowriting and signed by the per-son giving it while Section154(3) stipulates that in theevent of a refusal on part ofpolice officer to record suchinformation, it may be sent inwriting and by post to theSuperintendent of Police, whowill direct investigation intothe same.

The bench said that evensection 190 of the CrPC pro-vides for taking of cognizanceby a Magistrate either on a com-plaint or upon a police report.

“Similarly, Section 156(3)provides that any Magistrateempowered under Section 190may order such an investigation,and which also includes the

power to direct the lodgementof an FIR. The Code in Section200 of CrpC provides for lodg-ing of a complaint before theMagistrate, who after examina-tion of the complainant and wit-nesses, if any, can take cog-nizance,” the bench said.

It said that nothing pre-vented the student from lodg-ing an FIR before the police orif the circumstances so war-ranted, then she could haveapproached the superintendentof police under section 154(3)of CrpC.

“Alternately, the respon-dent (student) could havemoved the Magistrate con-cerned under Section 156(3) ofthe Code in the event of therefusal of the police to act.Remedy was also available to therespondent by filing a complaintunder Section 200 of the Codebefore the jurisdictionalMagistrate,” the bench said.

The court while refusing togo into the merit of the case saidthat any complaint made by thestudent under the establishedprovision will therefore have tobe considered by the appropri-ate authority or forum in accor-dance with law.

Naman Pratap Singh hasmoved the apex court chal-lenging the order of Lucknow

bench of Allahabad High Courtby which it had refused toquash the FIR.

He had contended that noobjection certificate has beenobtained from the ChatrapatiSahuji Maharaj University,Kanpur for establishment of thethree­year law course and affil-iation was also granted by thevarsity.

He said that they have alsodeposited a sum of Rs 3.5 lakhwith the Bar Council of Indiaand were awaiting permissionfrom it for starting the lawcourse.

Singh argued that the ques-tion of any fraudulent misrep-resentation by the appellants,persuading students to takeadmission in an unauthorisedinstitution simply does notarise.

“Several students have takenadmission in full awareness ofthe existent facts with no griev-ances and have sworn affidavitsto that effect,” he had said.

The student, who hadlodged a complaint against thecollege contended that by mis-representation and cheating shehad been persuaded to takeadmission in an unrecognisedinstitution. “There are severalstudents who are aggrieved,” shehad claimed.

Afirst meeting of the newly con-stituted India-China High LevelMechanism on Cultural andPeople-to-People Exchangeswill be held on December 21 in

New Delhi. It will be co-chaired by ExternalAffairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and WangYi, State Councillor and Chinese ForeignMinister. The decision to establish this newmechanism arose during the post-Doklamencounter between Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and President Xi Jinping inWuhan this April.

Both sides are now keen to build agreater synergy through people-to-peopleties in order to enhance “exchanges in areassuch as tourism, art, films, media, culture,sports and academic and youth exchanges.”This sounds good; though in the past, Indiahas been put to sleep by promises of ‘greatersynergy.’ New Delhi should certainly notforget the fact that China relentlesslyenhances its presence on the Indian fron-tiers, particularly north of ArunachalPradesh and near Ladakh.

A report tabled in the Lok Sabha by theParliamentary Committee on External Affairspointed to the dichotomy: “It comes as a mat-ter of concern to the committee that evenwhen India is overtly cautious about China’ssensitivities while dealing with Taiwan andTibet, China does not exhibit the same def-erence while dealing with India’s sovereign-ty concerns.”

For the committee, given China’s mus-cular approach, it is difficult “to be contentwith India continuing with its convention-ally deferential foreign policy towardsChina.” But the mandarins of South Blockare absolutely unable to see this. It has beenone of the greatest tragedies of modernIndia. There are, however, ways for Indiaand China to build the trust long-cherishedby Indian leaders.

Since the end of the 1950s, the Tibet issuehas been an impediment to better relationsbetween the two countries. Why is it so? Thereare many reasons but the most obvious oneis simply because before the occupation ofTibet by the People’s Liberation Army in1950/51, India had a special bond with thatregion which had different facets: One reli-gious (the Buddha dharma is born in India);one cultural (the Himalayan belt in Indiashares many values and affinities with thenorthern neighbours); another is economic(for centuries India and Tibet traded acrossthe passes).

Pilgrimage played an important role inthis special relationship. New pilgrimageroutes can strengthen people-to-peoplecontacts and become a true ConfidenceBuilding Measure (CBM) between Chinaand India. For this, the present scope of theKailash-Manasarovar Yatra (KMY) needs tobe extended. The 1954 PanchsheelAgreement lapsed in April 1962 and sixmonths later, India and China fought a bit-

ter war over Tibet, the mainsubject of the agreement. Theobjective of the accord was toregulate trade and pilgrimagefrom India to Tibet and vice-versa.

The agreement specified afew points of entry into Tibet:“Traders and pilgrims of bothcountries may travel by the fol-lowing passes and routes: Shipki-la pass, Mana pass, Niti pass,Kungri Bingri pass, Darma passand Lipulekh pass.” Apart fromthe first one located in HimachalPradesh, the other passes lie intoday’s Uttarakhand.

It is only in the early 1980sthat Beijing officially agreed toreopen the KMY. Since then, theyatra is being organised everyyear by the Ministry of ExternalAffairs. Yatris have to walk viaPittoragarh district before cross-ing into Tibet at Lipulekh pass.In 2014, a second extremelylong route was opened viaNathu-la pass in Sikkim. As aCBM, other traditional yatrascould be reopened — one ofthem is the Tsari pilgrimage.

In the Tibetan psyche, Tsarihas always been synonymouswith a ‘sacred place’. With the MtKailash and the Amye Machen ineastern Tibet, the pilgrimagearound the Dakpa Shelri, the‘Pure Crystal Mountain’, has forcenturies been one of the holiestof the Roof of the World. The‘Pure Crystal Mountain’ lies at5,735 metres above the sea, northof today’s Upper Subansiri districtof Arunachal Pradesh.

The yatra has the particular-ity to cross over from Tibet toArunachal Pradesh and return toTibet. Toni Huber, one of theforemost scholars on the subject,wrote: “The large-scale, 12-year-ly circumambulation of TibetanBuddhist pilgrims around themountain known as the RongkorChenmo had the character of astate ritual for the GandenPhodrang [Tibetan Government]…Pilgrims in this huge proces-sion crossed the McMahon Linebelow the frontier village ofMigyitun in Tsari district.”

After crossing the Tibet-India border, the pilgrimage pro-ceeded southwards along theTsari Chu (river) and then turnedwestwards to follow theSubansiri, to finally cross backinto Tibet to reach the first fron-tier village in Chame county. Thesouthern leg of the Rongkorprocession used to pass throughthe tribal Tsari/Subansiri areas.

Despite the fact that itcrossed into India, New Delhialways facilitated the Tsari pil-grimage on the Indian side of theborder till 1956. Today, with nosolution in sight to solve the bor-der dispute between China andIndia, the re-opening of theRongkor pilgrimage could be asignificant CBM between India,China and the Tibetan Buddhistpopulation from both sides of theborder.

Regarding the logistics, itshould be much easier sinceIndia has been working on infra-structure in the area, while China

has already undertaken develop-ment on its side, particularly inYumed region. Another area ofpossible contact is betweenLadakh and western Tibet. Forcenturies, the trade and pilgrim-age route for the Kailash-Manasarovar region followedthe course of the Indus, passedDemchok, the last Ladakhi vil-lage, and then crossed the borderto reach the first Tibetan settle-ment, Tashigang, some 15 milesinside Tibet.

A way forward could be tore-open this route for the KMYpilgrims in a first step; the nextone should be to re-open the bor-der for trade. Remember the skir-mishes at the end of the 1960s inSikkim! When the Nathu-Lapass was officially re-opened totrade in July 2006, it had the effectof ‘fixing’ the border, drasticallyreducing tensions in the area.Considering the ‘Nathu-La’ effect,re-opening the Demchok routecould be an efficient CBMbetween India and China. Therewould be an additional benefit —it would stop smuggling betweenChina and Ladakh, which posesserious security risks of infiltra-tion for India. We could add tothe list the re-opening of theKMY via Mana in Uttarakhand— it would probably be the eas-iest route. If China is interestedin creating a good feeling amongthe Indian population, it shouldagree to this small gesture.

(The writer is an expert onIndia-China relations and anauthor)V

ladimir Putin is an archetypal politi-

cal strongman who has always bent

Russia to his will and wants the world

to give in to it as well. Russian interference

in the democratic process in the United

States has plagued Donald Trump through-

out his presidency and Russia has been

alleged to have interfered in other elections

such as the one in the United Kingdom that

decided on Brexit as well as others.

Russia’s military intervention in Syria has

propped up the Bashar-al-Assad regime and

cost countless lives and while the Western

world shuns Saudi crown prince

Mohammad bin-Salman, Putin considers

him a friend. But strongmen have a soft underbelly of popular culture in their

own nations that allows disparate voices. Singers, artists and even movie stars

speak out using their celebrity status when others are cowed down, and in Russia

those singers apparently challenging Putin are rappers. Like the artist Husky, who

has been singing about the trouble that the man on the street faces, the high

cost of living, rampant crime and political cronyism. So unsurprisingly, President

Putin wants rap music to be ‘state guided’ that is, rappers can only perform at

state-sanctioned events and avoid topics that might rile up the masses against

their political overlords. This is a surprising turn of events even for Putin, who

had invited a rap artist to perform at his inauguration. But while he projects strength

abroad, he is worried about the influence of rappers among young Russians.

Russia’s economy has been suffering thanks to decades-long Western sanc-

tions that have slowed foreign investment into the country and the resultant infla-

tions as well as persistent allegations of crony capitalism have done little to change

perceptions despite his overwhelming win in the elections. But then again, Russian

democracy is nowhere close to meeting the standards of the Western or even

the Indian variety. That Putin allowed one of his daughters, Katerina Tikhonova,

to appear on national television, almost certainly with his explicit approval, have

some Kremlin observers suspecting that he is grooming her as his potential polit-

ical heir. Was that the final trigger for the stronger rap lyrics amounting to protest

and might explain the current crackdown? Possibly.

Of course, cracking down on popular culture of any sort is a reaction of almost

every strongman. This has been a precedent since time immemorial. There was

a similar crackdown in India during the Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi.

Before that, British colonialists cracked down on literature, pamphlets and plays.

Writers and actors endured incarceration just as much as political leaders; they

were just as important to the freedom struggle as politicians. By trying to bend

rap music to his will, Putin might just drive it underground and while that might

stifle Russian rap in the short-term, it will come back to bite him or his suc-

cessor in the long-term.

One would have expected a seasoned

politician like Kamal Nath to tick the

right boxes, especially after a hard-

fought battle to become the Chief Minister

of Madhya Pradesh, than sound like the

voice box of Raj Thackeray. Nath may have

been eager to please his voters by

announcing a swift loan waiver and incen-

tivising new businesses that hired 70 per

cent locals as some of the means of job

creation and kickstarting the local econo-

my but did he frankly need to link the job-

lessness of the youth of his state to

migrants coming from Uttar Pradesh and

Bihar? By the way, this floating worker pop-

ulation is the reason why we are considered a cheap and competitive labour

market. Mostly unorganised and often consigned to the lowest rung of the value

chain, migrant labourers are unofficially estimated to contribute to at least nine

per cent of the GDP and empower the economies of the states they choose to

work in. Most importantly, they take up outlier jobs which locals also abhor. Yet

they always end up getting vilified rather than appreciated for their multifarious

skill sets. So the divisive economics played by the Congress has clearly back-

flushed on its carefully crafted comeback story. Be it divisive politics or a soft

Hindutva, the Congress must realise that it cannot go far with a me-too formu-

la and has to be radically different in its script for 2019.

Everybody understands that Chief Ministers have to prioritise local dynam-

ics and Nath could have elucidated that need without dovetailing it with the tricky

migrant issue. This was quickly pointed out by BJP’s state leader Narendra Singh

Tomar, who said Nath’s remarks were highly misleading as industries in Madhya

Pradesh have always given primacy to locals in jobs. Many other states, the BJP’s

included, have some sort of an agreement of reserving a certain percentage of

jobs for locals with industries. Karnataka recently approved a policy where every

new public sector or private industrial unit would have to employ 70 per cent

Kannadigas and 100 per cent locals at the Group D level, which includes, among

others, security and housekeeping personnel, if it had to qualify for manufactur-

ing sops. The Maharashtra government has about an 80 per cent quota for locals.

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has said that manufacturing as well as ser-

vice sector entrepreneurs wanting to start their operation in the state must recruit

80 per cent locals. His government has even proposed a law that will make it

compulsory for industrialists to recruit 25 per cent of the required manpower

from the area where they set up a new unit. Himachal has local work quotas as

has Telangana. Now the Sikkimese want job protection for themselves too. Although,

protectionist measures can only lead to insular federalism and in principle are a

violation of fundamental rights — a Tamil labourer at a Volvo plant in Karnataka

wondered if we were making countries out of states within India — fact is local

aspirations have to be assuaged without riling up sensitivities.

The Congress, at this point of time, needs to be more politically expedient

as it looks to be a catalyst for a grand anti-BJP front. What Nath has done by

drawing in migrant labourers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar into the conversa-

tion is upset Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, who was a Congress

ally in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, and the RJD. In no mood to allocate

seats to the Congress and delicately sorting out seat-sharing with the BSP, Yadav

reminded that leaders issuing statements targeting people from his state should

remember that Uttar Pradesh was the bellwether for the Lok Sabha polls. The

Congress needs to score points, not burden itself with self-goals.

Be it divisive politics or a soft Hindutva, Congress mustrealise that it has to be radically different in its script for 2019

Build momentum

Sir — This refers to the article,“Congress has to tread carefully”(December 10) by Kalyani Shankar.Implicit in the writer’s observationis a suggestion that despite successcoming to the Congress, the warfor its chief Rahul Gandhi is farfrom over. The ensuing parliamen-tary elections next year pose themost formidable challenge to theparty. The Assembly results ofMadhya Pradesh, Rajasthan andChhattisgarh may have embold-ened Gandhi and his party. Evenpolitical analysts, who had hither-to written him off, acknowledgedhis political sagacity and manage-rial strategy.

The writer is spot-on to saythat Gandhi tapped into the sag-ging public image of the rulingBJP that suffered a massive blowfollowing demonetisation andthe erroneous implementationof the GST. Both measures proveddetrimental to the small, mediumand micro enterprises.Nevertheless, any complacencyon the part of the Congress maycost it all the labour it has exert-ed until now.

Azhar A KhanKanpur

Momentary happiness

Sir — Post the BJP’s loss in threeHindi heartland States, regionalparties have gained strength toforge an alliance with theCongress to fight against the BJPin the 2019 general election. It isan undisputed fact that regionalparties are bound to face a lead-

ership crisis even if their com-bined strength leads them to vic-tory in the general election.

The problem is insurmount-able: These parties are ideologi-cally disparate, disoriented andeven incompatible. Regional feel-ing and parochial tendency dis-tinctly inspires and encouragesthem for the development oftheir own States. National devel-

opment only remains secondary.The opportunistic alliance desiredby regional parties is only amomentary jubilation for power.

Nimai Charan SwainBhubaneswar

A good start

Sir — In his first act after taking

charge as the Chief Minister ofMadhya Pradesh, Kamal Nathsigned off a massive farm loanwaiver that was promised by theCongress during its poll cam-paign. Nath did in two hourswhat he had promised to do in 10days of assuming power.

“Loans to the tune of `2lakh for the farmers for the cur-rent year have been waived off,”said Nath, adding that “I havetaken oath to office several timesin the past but this issue was neverever raised.” By this move some33 lakh farmers owing `70,000crore in unpaid dues will bebenefitted.

Just a day before in RaeBareli, Prime Minister NarendraModi criticised the Congress’election promises as false. Surely,Nath’s signature is not only a slapin the face of Modi and hisGovernment but will come as ahuge help to the farmers. Thetime is ripe for other ChiefMinisters, too, to sign loanwaivers for farmers. This is howthe agriculture sector can becomemore vibrant.

Mohd UmarMadhya Pradesh

P A P E R W I T H P A S S I O N

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op nionLUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 20, 2018

08

Building synergies

CLAUDE ARPI

The re-opening of new pilgrimage routes can strengthen people-to-people contacts between

India and China. The present scope of the Kailash-Manasarovar Yatra must be extended

One of the richest men inthe country has spent `700crore in his daughter's mar-riage but donated nothingfor charity. They are devoidof any sensitivity.

J&K Governor —Satya Pal Malik

I admit that as a techgiant, Facebook needs todo more: To listen, lookdeeper and take action torespect fundamentalrights.

Facebook COO—Sheryl Sandberg

Digital platforms are actu-ally producing stories andputting up shows for whatfor they are, so the audi-ence gets a chance to seenew ideas.

Actor—Ratna Pathak Shah

The Pakistan Army is try-ing to revive militancy inPunjab. The PakistanGovernment has been apuppet regime, working atthe behest of the Army.

Punjab Chief Minister—Amarinder Singh

S O U N D B I T E

L E T T E R S T O T H E E D I T O R

Converge to tackle climate change

This refers to the editorial, “Not far enough” (December18). It is heartening that the just-concluded UN climateconference held in Poland’s Katowice has resolved to

implement the Paris Agreement through a ‘rule book.’ Thesummit ought to have accentuated and laid greater empha-sis on ‘differentiated responsibility’ to ensure ‘climate jus-tice.’ We cannot be cynical or complacent when the sta-bility of the biosphere is threatened by climate change. Fewhave now questioned the fact that the earth’s climate hasbeen altered by carbon emissions spewed into the atmos-phere. It is a proven fact that global warming goes beyond‘natural variation’.

Studies show that global warming resulting fromhuman activity is around 10 times greater than that fromchanges in the sun’s activity. It is neither fantasy nor scare-mongering to caution that climate change will affect soci-eties and economies across the world. Its consequencescan even prove to be catastrophic. Climatologists fear thatif such drastic change is not combated timely, it could be

a recipe for disaster. The case for reducing carbon emis-sions substantially is now overwhelming. We should realisethe full gravity of the threat and act to mitigate it before itbecomes too late to do anything about it. All countries mustshow willingness to meet their commitments to achieve thegoal of limiting temperature rise to below 1.5 degree cel-sius and prevent a huge disaster.

G David MiltonMaruthancode

BEFORE THEOCCUPATION OF

TIBET BY THE PLA IN1950/51, INDIA HAD ASPECIAL BOND WITHTHAT REGION WHICH

HAD DIFFERENTFACETS: ONE

RELIGIOUS (THEBUDDHA DHARMA ISBORN IN INDIA); ONE

CULTURAL (THEHIMALAYAN BELT IN

INDIA SHARES MANYVALUES AND

AFFINITIES WITH THENORTHERN

NEIGHBOURS); ANDLAST IS ECONOMIC

(FOR CENTURIESINDIA AND TIBET

TRADED ACROSS THEPASSES)

Putin’s war on rap

Political strongmen try and control popular culture simply because they see it as a threat

Kamal Nath’s faux pas

If you want to feel the pulse of acity, walk through its streets.This is exactly what I did in

Colombo, the city I visited recentlyas a delegate of the Indian Federationof Working Journalists (IFWJ). Iwent there as part of an exchangeprogramme through an invite by theSri Lanka Press Association (SLPA).

As I was walking through thestreets, I heard the sound of a bellringing. From my home experience,I thought it was an alarm. But whyan alarm in peace times? As I triedto guess every possible reason, Irealised that I was standing near alevel crossing and the gong wassounded to warn the commutersabout an incoming train.

I was expecting a mad rush

among motorists to cross the railwaytracks before the arrival of the trainbut what I saw surprised me —everyone on the road there hadstopped where they were on hearingthe bell. In India, we are used to see-ing people jostling to get past thelevel crossing even when the gates areclosed. And here in Colombo, noone, not even a cyclist, made anattempt to cross the rail line despitehaving ample opportunity to do so.They patiently allowed the train topass and moved only when thegreen signal came up.

Such discipline surprised mebecause when I landed at theBandaranaike International Airportin Colombo, I never felt I was in aforeign country. I felt as if I was inChennai because people looked thesame. India even made its presenceon the streets of Colombo felt in theform of automobiles, Bajaj tuk tuk,autos, Ashok Leyland buses, Tatatrucks and not to mention the ubiq-uitous Indian Oil Company (IOC)petrol pumps.

What’s the difference then? It is

to do with the discipline Sri Lankansshowed on the streets — two-wheel-er riders were seen wearing helmets,even those on pillion. In India,wearing a helmet is mandatory butnobody follows it and crackdownsare few and far between.

Suddenly I realised that therewas no honking even during peakhours. Why? Because Lankans havepatience and are ready to wait for

their turn.The interaction with people

exposed me to the fact that the lawenforcement agency carries out itstask diligently without fear of coer-cion or manipulation in civic issues.A tuk tuk driver said that drink-and-drive is a big no-no on the roads.“The police will fine 5,000 (SriLankan) rupees and take away mydriving licence,” he explained when

offered a free drink.In India, crime is big news with

almost all newspapers featuring itprominently. In fact, vernacularnewspapers devote a full page tocrime. In Sri Lanka, I struggled tofind crime reports in newspapers.The only report I read during myalmost week-long stay in differentparts of Sri Lanka was how policearrested a man, wanted in a bananatheft case, from a rally of a politicalparty. It was a hilarious news andreflected the law and order con-sciousness of the country.

An Indian journalist GitikaTalukdar, who is married to a SriLankan, put it succinctly. “In my in-laws’ house in Colombo, they havebig window panes all around thehouse. I told my husband if we useso much of glass in Guwahati (theplace she belongs to) they would haveto retrofit them with iron grillsunless we wanted the thieves todecamp with valuables.”

The Lankans’ love for cleanlinessis reflected in the way they keep thecities clean by not spitting on the

roads or relieving themselves in theopen. While travelling to Matale,(home to the famous Buddhist rocktemple where monks wrote downteachings of Lord Buddha in tripi-takas), one of the delegates threw anempty water bottle in the aisle of thebus. But the conductor picked it upimmediately and threw it in a wastebasket kept at the front, sending amessage loud and clear that a swach-hata abhiyaan does not always needGovernment push but is really aboutnational will. It should come from theinside. This probably is the reasonwhy Sri Lanka is fast becoming awanted international tourist destina-tion. Can anyone forget that just adecade ago, this was a war-torn coun-try that everybody wanted to keepaway from? But now the country hastaken a stride towards bettering itsmarkers and is leaving a positiveimpact. With crime control, disci-pline and cleanliness, it is attempt-ing to be a model state.

(The writer is Executive Director(News) with Lucknow edition of ThePioneer).

The big churn in Dhaka

LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 20, 2018

PEOPLE FROM STATES LIKE BIHAR AND UTTAR

PRADESH COME TO MADHYA PRADESH AND LOCAL

HERE PEOPLE DON'T GET JOBS.

—MADHYA PRADESH CHIEF MINISTER

KAMAL NATH

KAMAL NATH HAS TRIED TO DIVIDE THE COUNTRY ON

THE BASIS OF REGION. HE SHOULD BE SUMMONED TO

PARLIAMENT AND ASKED TO APOLOGISE.

—BJP LEADER

SANJAY JAISWAL

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

Deferred by a week, following the hang-ing of top Jamaat leaders for theirinvolvement in war crimes in 1971,the Bangladeshi parliamentary elec-tion, now scheduled to be held on

December 30 instead of December 23, will be aturning point in the nation’s political history. Sinceearly this year, security forces have been on guardto manage the tidal violence in the country, evenas the Jamaat-e-Islami continues to be outright-ly hostile to Awami League cadres. So, if theBangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) wins the gen-eral election and comes to power, the Jamaat-e-Islami, its subterranean ally, will again get a freehand and extract a gory revenge from the AwamiLeague. The BNP had requested that the electionsbe delayed by a month but permission to thateffect was not granted and the ElectionCommission delayed it by just a week.

The inner dynamics of the elections werecaptured by a senior Bangladeshi watcher whonoted: “People are eagerly waiting to cast theirvotes in the next election. Anti-incumbency andcorruption are the major factors that are likelyto go against the (ruling Awami League)Government. Instead of focussing on issues thataffect the public, the Opposition’s agenda is lim-ited to releasing its jailed BNP chairperson andhave a caretaker Government. It is not clearwhether the BNP will participate if its demandsare not met. The Government is likely to bene-fit from Opposition disunity and lack of vision.”

The BNP’s demand for a caretakerGovernment, however, is in itself impossible asthe nation’s Constitution has no provision for thesame anymore. While the Sheikh HasinaGovernment has banned the Jamaat-e-Islami fromcontesting the elections, its members have circum-vented the clause by propping up the Oppositionranks, which includes the BNP platform withwhich they have had a coalition Government inthe past. After the 2001 parliamentary poll, theBNP-Jamaat combination unleashed widespreadviolence, especially against the Hindu minorityin Bangladesh which mostly supports the secu-lar Awami League.

Even as the Jamaat uses every opportunityto target the Hindus, especially by levelling falseblasphemy charges, a certain section of theHindu feudal class supports the BNP-Jamaatcombine as well. Some notable examples amongthem are BNP Standing Committee member,Gayeshwar Roy, and the party’s senior foreignspokespersons in London — all of whombelong to the Hindu community. Some of theparty’s foreign associates, including a hardlin-er like William Nicholas Gomes, changed theirfaith to Christianity so that they could spreadthe Jamaat’s propaganda more easily in Britishnetworks. Gomes now writes for a few majorinternational media outlets.

It is worth noting that the Jamaat even nowhas a hold over the BNP cadre. Interestingly, onecan spot more flags of the Bangladesh IslamiChhatra Shibir (Jamaat’s student wing) at BNPrallies than those of the BNP.

The BNP was formed on September 1, 1978,by President Ziaur Rahman after Sheikh MujiburRahman’s assassination on August 15, 1975.Successive military Governments of Khaleda

Zia, Hussain Muhammad Ershad andlater the BNP-Jamaat, too, activelysponsored militancy in India’s North-East in cahoots with Pakistan andChina. Ershad, who is the chairmanof the Jatiya Party, has now softenedhis anti-India stance considerably.Even when in power, as the head of themilitary Government, Ershad wasnot virulently anti-India.

Commenting on the elections,Barrister Mohibul Hasan ChowdhuryNowfel, Organising Secretar y,Bangladesh Awami League, said: “Foryears, Kamal Hossain used to com-plain about the BNP-Jamaat combineoperating terror outfits out of HawaBhavan, the base of Tarique Rahman.Hossain was against Hawa Bhawanpolitics and took a critical stanceagainst it. However, after a while, hewent quiet suddenly. Now, Hossain issimply trying to take advantage of theleadership vacuum in BNP. But bydoing that, he has started givinglegitimacy to the criminal activities ofBNP.”

Meanwhile, Bangladesh hasalways witnessed foreign interferenceby Pakistan in its political process.This has intensified after the trials ofsenior Jamaat-e-Islami leaders whowere involved in committing atroci-ties through death squads (razakars),allied with the Pakistan Army duringthe 1971 war.

Stating that Pakistan’s diasporaand intelligence community are active-ly assisting the BNP’s convicted lead-ership in London, Barrister Mohibul

Hasan Chowdhury said, “These peo-ple, especially Tarique, are convictedand absconding from justice. Pakistanused to provide them with financialassistance earlier. Now, it has expand-ed aid in the form of huge diplomaticassistance. However, except for certainelements in Pakistan’s intelligenceagency, the Inter-Services Intelligence(ISI), even within Pakistan the BNP-Jamaat does not enjoy support from thecivil society or the politicians. They aremore or less shunned by civil societyand politicians in Pakistan. Now, it isjust an alliance of evil.”

It is worth mentioning that thePakistan military and ISI generals rou-tinely settle in the West post-retirement,to live off the often-illegally made gainsduring their tenure in Pakistan.Earnings are channelised either throughdrug trade commissions or activitiesthat Pakistan’s military establishmentremains engaged in, or the various mil-itary businesses it runs, marginalisingthe general population.

There are multiple credible booksand papers on Pakistan’s use of itsbiraderi networks in the UK to lobbyand even influence local politics. Onesuch seminal paper is that of DelwarHussain titled, ‘Globalisation, God andGalloway: The Islamisation ofBangladeshi Communities in London.’In his report, Hussain discusses howPakistan’s diaspora successfully gotthird generation Bangladeshis in its foldafter the Western attitude towardsMuslims changed post 9/11, which isremarkable because their parents had

classically been anti-Pakistan due to thememory of the 1971 war. The paperalso touches upon the opportunisticpolitics of Galloway and his defence ofconvicted war criminals of 1971.

As regards India, if the BNPcomes back to power by rigging elec-tions through violence, it would takeIndia back to the 1980s in Bangladesh’scalculus. There will be no powercentre that’s pro-India. The onlybright side is that there are sections inthe senior military brass that are welldisposed towards us. Like in the past,support to militants in India’s North-East and Islamist terror outfits likeHarkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (HUJI) andJamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh,that work in concert with the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba, would be revived withactive support and direction fromPakistan’s ISI. Drug trade and coun-terfeit notes have for long dominatedIndia’s border belt which are Jamaatstrongholds and are again run withactive support from the ISI.

Even though the BNP claims that itwon’t work against India, can it be trust-ed? For they made similar claims in2001, too, and as soon as it returned topower, its State Minister for HomeAffairs Lutfozzaman Babar was involvedin the Chittagong arms haul destined formilitants in India’s North-East.

(Aveek Sen is an independent jour-nalist working on cyber security and thegeopolitics of India’s neighbourhood,focussing on Pakistan, Afghanistan,Iran and Bangladesh. Prateek Joshi isa Research Associate at VIF)

Lessons from the neighbourhood

As parliamentary polls in Bangladesh draw closer, let’s take a look at the dynamics of terrorismand study the response of the state, right-wing lobbies, Jamaat and other pro-Pakistan leaders

A brief visit to Sri Lanka made it clear that even a war-torn history cannot stop a country from an impossible course

correction if there is national will. Crime control, discipline and cleanliness have added sheen to the island nation

IF THE BNPCOMES BACK TO

POWER BYRIGGING

ELECTIONSTHROUGH

VIOLENCE, ITWOULD TAKE

INDIA BACK TOTHE 1980S IN

BANGLADESH’SCALCULUS.

THERE’S NOPOWER CENTRE

THAT WILL BE PRO-INDIA. THE

ONLY BRIGHTSIDE IS THAT

THERE ARESECTIONS IN THESENIOR MILITARYBRASS THAT AREWELL DISPOSED

TOWARDS US

analysis 09F I R S T C O L U M N

Killing more than

just the pests

KOTA SRIRAJ

BISWAJEET BANERJEE

Pesticides, which were once considered a boon forfarmers, are now seen as a threat as they

continue to take a toll on both land and lives

FOREIGNEYE

Producers and retailersshould have been handedresponsibility for wastemuch sooner, andincentivised by Governmentto change their ways,instead of allowed to passthe buck to other countries.The UK recycling industry,and manufacturers ofrenewable alternatives tosingle-use bags, batteriesand other items, shouldhave been nurtured. Wastemanagement presentsopportunities and costs.

(The Guardian editorial)

UK NEEDS A NEWWASTE STRATEGY

www.dailypioneer.com

Pesticides have always attracted a lot of controversies and

they are getting worse as increasingly powerful, lethal and

toxic variants have crept into the human food chain. This

is wreaking havoc. The situation is grim because one can no longer

say where and which pesticide will strike and how many human

lives will be lost. Rampant and indiscriminate use of these chem-

icals to safeguard crops and ostensibly increase the yield has led

to countless instances of lives being lost. The environment, too,

has been a silent sufferer — the sad part is that the Government

has been a mute spectator with no concrete plan to salvage human-

ity and ecology from the grip of such pesticides.

Monocrotophos is a highly toxic pesticide that is now prov-

ing to be a harbinger of death for many. This lethal chemical

has recently been blamed for the death of several devotees in

a temple in Karnataka. On December 17, at least 14 people died

and 107 were hospitalised after consuming prasad reported-

ly contaminated by the pesticide at the Kichugutti Maramma

temple in Chamarajanagar district near Mysore, Karnataka.

Monocrotophos had claimed lives in India earlier, too, as farm-

ers, who sprayed it on crops for a better yield in the Yavatmal

region of Maharashtra in 2017, had overlooked that traces

remained in the plant. In 2013, some 23 children died in a vil-

lage in Bihar’s Saran district after consuming a mid-day meal

tainted with traces of Monocrotophos. The school teacher had

brought vegetable oil for cooking from a grocery shop owned

by her husband. The oil was kept in a container that earlier con-

tained Monocrotophos. This contaminated the oil, causing the

deaths and awakening us to its damaging potency.

After the incident, the Bihar Government had taken pre-

ventive measures to avoid a re-occurrence. One such correc-

tive measure now being followed involves the storage of raw

grain samples at a sterilised godown from where items for the

mid-day meal scheme are supplied. A toll-free number for all

complaints related to the scheme will also be circulated soon.

However, the latest incident in a Karnataka temple shows that

in India our precautions are at best sporadic and ineffective.

How else can we explain the fact that while Bihar learnt its

lesson, Karnataka had to suffer first in order to learn the les-

son? The casual attitude of the authorities ensured that a coun-

trywide alert on the usage of Monocrotophos was not issued.

Monocrotophos is an insecticide of the organophosphate

family, commonly used to control pests, but of late has become

a poison for humans as well. Given this situation, it is time

for India to figure out a way to phase out Monocrotophos and

other Class I pesticides, which are known for acute toxicity.

One of the biggest controls is to ban the re-use of pesticide

containers as storage for any commodity. This also means that

there needs to be safety protocols in place for the disposal of

containers. The problem of unsafe disposal of plastic contain-

ers carrying hazardous substances is being totally ignored by

the concerned authorities. This is evident from the fact that any

common person can visit any scrap dealer across India and pur-

chase an old 50-litre can that was used earlier to store toxic chem-

icals. With this type of unrestricted availability, one can only under-

stand the risk one is running while using a contaminated can.

In order to prevent this from occurring, the Government must

organise awareness camps at small towns and villages where

this type of re-use and its associated risks are highlighted to the

local populace.

The authorities must also issue a list of dos and don’ts

for the farmers while using toxic pesticides. This will go a long

way in ensuring that the risk of accidentally ingesting the poi-

son is totally avoided. The rampant use of pesticides such as

these is also taking a toll on the top soil, eventually reducing

its natural resilience as a result of which the land is becom-

ing exceedingly dependent on artificial supports and chemi-

cals. These conditions are dangerous if they are allowed to

continue and must be curtailed immediately. Agriculture is the

mainstay of our economy and supports a huge farming pop-

ulation. Pesticides, which were once considered a boon for

the farmers, are now a threat as they continue to take a toll

on the land and lives. How can this be tolerated and allowed

to go on is beyond the logic of any common man. The big-

ger question is what benefit is the Government getting by allow-

ing such pesticides a free run in the market even if it means

that they are killing more than just pests?

(The writer is an environmental journalist)

AVEEK SEN PRATEEK JOSHI

money 10LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 20, 2018

PTI n MUMBAI

Continuing its risingstreak for the seventhsession, market bench-

mark BSE Sensex rose over 100points on Wednesday, drivenby gains in index majors likeAsian Paints, Axis Bank andSBI amid strengthening rupeeand falling global crude prices.

Besides, the Reserve Bank’sdecision on Tuesday to increaseliquidity infusion by `10,000crore to `50,000 crore inDecember buoyed sentiment.

The central bank had ear-lier announced to infuse liq-uidity amounting to `40,000crore through the purchase ofgovernment securities underopen market operations(OMOs) during December.

In global markets, Asianstocks traded mixed asinvestors await Federal Reservepolicy decision later in theday.

The 30-share index startedoff on a strong footing at36,441.46 and hit the session’shigh of 36,554.99 before set-tling 137.25 points, or 0.38 percent, higher at 36,484.33.

The barometer had ralliedover 1,387 points in the previ-ous six sessions.

The NSE Nifty too ended58.60 points, or 0.54 per cent,higher at 10,967.30 after shut-

tling between 10,985.15 and10,928 during the session.

According to analysts,market momentum remainedpositive on sharp fall in bondyield and continued infusion ofliquidity by RBI via open mar-ket operation.

On global front, market isexpecting dovish hike by theUS Fed which is likely to calminvestors’ nerves in the emerg-ing markets like India, theyadded.

Markets are expecting alow interest rate environmentand pro-growth policies by thenew RBI governor to reducecredit squeeze and spur growth,said Viral Berawala, CIO ofEssel Mutual Fund.

Domestic trading senti-ment also remained bullishbacked by persistent fall incrude oil prices, which droppedto over 15-month low,strengthening rupee againstthe dollar and fresh capitalinflows by foreign funds, bro-kers said.

After breaching the 70

mark against the US dollar byhitting a high of 69.87 in earlytrade, the rupee slipped to70.40 against the dollar in lateafternoon session at the inter-bank forex market.

Asian Paints was the topgainer in the Sensex pack,surging 3.39 per cent, followedby Axis Bank up 3.18 per cent.

Other gainers included SBI2.68 per cent, Maruti Suzuki2.04 per cent, Bharti Airtel 1.84per cent, ITC 1.76 per cent,Wipro 1.49 per cent, NTPC1.49 per cent, HDFC 1.28 percent, M&M 1.26 per cent,PowrGrid 1.20 per cent, ICICIBank 1.17 per cent, Bajaj Auto1.02 per cent, Adani Ports 0.66per cent, L&T 0.44 per cent, YesBank 0.39 per cent, ONGC 0.37per cent and RIL 0.06 per cent.

On the other hand, SunPharma, IndusInd Bank,Infosys, TCS, Vedanta, Kotakbank, HDFC Bank, TataMotors and Coal India wereunder pressure, losing up to2.10 per cent.

Shares of aviation compa-

nies rose after crude prices hitover 15-month low. InterGlobeAviation, SpiceJet and JetAirways rallied up to 4.33 percent. Stocks of oil marketingcompanies like BPCL, HPCLand IOC, too gained up to 2.53per cent.

Sector-wise, the BSE real-ty index gained the most by ris-ing 3.11 per cent, followed byinfrastructure index up 1.81 percent.

PSU, power, oil & gas, auto,bankex, capital goods, metal,healthcare, consumer durablesindices too ended higher by upto 1.51 per cent.

However, informationtechnology and teck indexended lower by up to 1.08 percent.

The broader markets alsodisplayed a firm trend, with theBSE mid-cap index rising 1.50per cent and small-cap indexgaining 1.09 per cent.

Most Asian markets endedlower, while European shareswere up in early deals.

Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.60 percent, Shanghai CompositeIndex shed 1.05 per cent, whileHong Kong’s Hang Seng rose0.20 per cent.

In the euro zone, ParisCAC 40 rose 0.40 per cent,Frankfurt’s DAX gained 0.19per cent and London’s FTSEwas up 0.37 per cent.

PTI n NEW DELHI

The country’s largest car-maker Maruti Suzuki India

(MSI) on Wednesday cut itssales forecast for the ongoingfiscal to 8 per cent from an ear-lier projection of double digitgrowth.

The company cited lowdemand in the second half ofthe year due to high interestrates, increased insurance costand fuel prices for its down-ward revision, besides its lackof new model launch in the vol-ume segment.

Interacting with reportershere, MSI Chairman RCBhargava also said in prepara-tion for transition to BS-VIemission norms, MSI wouldstop production of majority ofits BS-IV models by December2019.

“In the last five monthsafter the first quarter, saleshave been flat for Maruti whilethe industry saw negativegrowth. The question thereforeis what happens next,” he said.

Bhargava said the compa-ny was also offering attractivepackages to customers to pushretail sales in December toreduce dealer inventory, whichcoupled with a new modellaunch planned in January-March 2019, would help MSIreverse the trend of decliningsales.

“In the wholesales, we

expect sales to go up by 5 percent in January-March quarter,”Bhargava said.

In the first half of the fis-cal, the company had postedsales growth of 10.5 per cent,whereas it was flat in the thirdquarter. “So, we are looking ata growth of around 8 per centfor the ongoing fiscal,” he said.

Earlier this year, the com-pany had said it was looking ata double digit sales growth inthe current fiscal.

MSI senior executive direc-tor (sales and marketing) RSKalsi said external factors suchas higher interest rates, fuelprices and increase in insur-ance cost at the time of vehiclepurchase had affected con-sumer sentiment, therebyimpacting demand.

“Internally, we also had tocut down production of the oldversion of our best sellingMPV Ertiga ahead of thelaunch of a new version,” Kalsiadded.

Giving a historical per-spective of passenger vehiclesales in a pre-election year,Bhargava said, “We have donean analysis of the past numbersand the conclusion is that in thelast two pre-election years salesalways fell.”

He further said: “In theelection years, sales always goup substantially. So next yearwe have to see.”

Bhargava said MSI’s sales

growth had also been partlyaffected this year due to theabsence of a new model launchin volume segment.

“In the January-Marchperiod of next year we will havea new model which will againpush volumes for us,” he saidadding the newly launchedErtiga would also contributesubstantially as it has beenreceived well in the market.

According to Kalsi, Ertigahas received bookings of 23,000and currently has a waitingperiod of eight weeks.

Commenting on the com-pany’s plans for transition toBS-VI, Bhargava said: “Ourplan is for all new models to beintroduced in the next financialyear to be BS-VI. Production ofmajority of the existing BS-IVmodels will come to a stop byDecember 2019.”

By and large, BS-IV vehi-cles will be produced only ondemand from customers fromDecember 2019, or in case thecompany feels that it can man-age the time of distribution andregistration of such vehiclesahead of the deadline, headded.

The Supreme Court hadordered that sales of all BS-IVvehicles will stop from March31, 2020 and from April 1, 2020only BS-VI vehicles would besold across the country in thewake of increased pollutionissues.

Market rises for 7th session amid

easing crude prices, firm rupee

‘Markets are expecting a low interest

rate environment and pro-growth

policies by the new RBI governor to

reduce credit squeeze and spur growth’—Essel Mutual Fund CIO Viral Berawala

Maruti cuts sales growth

forecast for current fiscal

Glenmark foraysinto brandeddermatologysegment in USPTI n NEW DELHI

Glenmark Pharmaceuticalson Wednesday announced

its foray into the branded der-matology segment in theUnited States.

The branded portfolio forthe US market will be devel-oped and commercialised byGlenmark Therapeutics IncUSA, Glenmark Pharmaceu-ticals said in a regulatory filing.

“This represents an impor-tant step in the company’s long-term strategy to build a robustbranded business in the US,alongside the company’s exist-ing and successful genericsbusiness,” the company added.

Glenmark is already pre-sent in generic dermatologymarket in the US. GlenmarkTherapeutics recently acquiredthe rights to seven branded der-matology products from ExeltisUSA, Inc. The cumulative salesof the seven acquired brandswere USD 9 million.

“All the acquired productsare currently approved andmarketed in the US, givingGlenmark Therapeutics animmediate entry into the topi-cal branded products segment.In addition, GlenmarkTherapeutics intends to launchother branded dermatologyproducts over the next 12months,” Glenmark said.

Script Open High Low LTPRCOM 14.50 14.95 13.77 14.26JPASSOCIAT 7.30 7.39 7.04 7.30IBULHSGFIN 788.95 842.80 785.25 839.35SPICEJET 82.70 86.30 82.60 84.40YESBANK 180.95 183.20 178.80 179.60SBIN 294.50 301.95 294.05 300.40DHFL 215.85 230.00 215.85 227.10AXISBANK 623.00 649.85 619.75 639.45SUZLON 5.35 5.50 5.35 5.47FEDERALBNK 93.00 95.00 91.45 94.85INFY 673.00 673.00 661.75 665.25PCJEWELLER 86.20 87.75 83.45 85.15JETAIRWAYS 249.50 253.35 243.70 245.80ICICIBANK 364.65 369.25 361.05 366.60JAICORPLTD 107.00 119.05 107.00 115.80ZEEL 461.40 472.20 447.25 465.15SUNPHARMA 434.35 434.80 422.75 424.00BOMDYEING 120.85 120.85 115.10 116.20MARUTI 7771.00 7929.00 7771.00 7916.15BAJFINANCE 2550.00 2630.00 2546.00 2599.10L&TFH 147.60 156.50 147.60 155.60IBREALEST 84.85 91.65 84.85 90.65LT 1428.50 1438.80 1426.80 1434.65RELIANCE 1138.65 1146.55 1131.40 1137.10BANKINDIA 92.10 98.45 91.75 97.35NBCC 54.00 59.35 53.55 58.65STRTECH 302.10 307.80 298.60 300.50IDFCBANK 42.35 43.45 41.00 42.85ASIANPAINT 1370.00 1404.90 1369.90 1400.40RELCAPITAL 220.00 224.00 217.30 219.35PNB 74.60 77.15 74.60 76.90DLF 178.75 193.00 178.75 191.25TATAMOTORS 176.00 176.40 172.50 173.65CAPF 581.00 600.00 564.00 590.80KOTAKBANK 1230.90 1244.75 1223.50 1228.05INDIACEM 95.90 100.00 94.55 97.90IOC 147.00 147.75 145.80 146.05RELINFRA 297.90 301.95 291.55 298.80BANKBARODA 113.50 117.00 113.05 115.40DMART 1689.00 1696.15 1630.65 1647.85AVANTI 394.00 418.70 390.00 414.30SHANKARA 602.05 602.05 554.20 562.95JINDALSTEL 166.00 170.05 164.30 167.70ITC 280.00 283.95 278.75 282.90TATASTEEL 526.00 532.00 525.00 526.80VEDL 209.50 209.95 205.85 206.90ASHOKLEY 105.45 108.50 105.00 107.45PFC 96.80 98.80 95.85 96.65JKIL 142.05 151.85 138.00 139.00PEL 2185.00 2310.30 2185.00 2276.20TORNTPOWER 256.95 271.05 255.30 268.40BEL 84.50 87.25 84.40 86.70BANDHANBNK 572.00 577.40 555.00 556.00HINDPETRO 235.15 238.80 233.50 236.25MUTHOOTFIN 483.00 509.80 483.00 503.40TCS 1985.00 1985.00 1960.00 1967.20EDELWEISS 192.90 206.00 192.30 200.75NCC 84.50 89.55 83.80 88.40HDFCBANK 2139.00 2158.15 2114.40 2122.65SIEMENS 971.05 1043.80 971.05 1018.65SRTRANSFIN 1205.95 1284.75 1205.95 1273.60JUBLFOOD 1301.50 1346.45 1301.50 1340.65ACC 1510.30 1572.95 1510.00 1547.85DELTACORP 259.45 262.00 253.30 254.85HINDUNILVR 1846.05 1858.05 1841.80 1844.00JSWSTEEL 306.55 312.20 304.50 311.25ABB 1333.10 1359.00 1284.00 1333.05INFIBEAM 49.40 49.70 47.50 48.00TECHM 711.00 714.00 692.10 708.25AMBUJACEM 220.00 230.25 220.00 227.20HCLTECH 983.00 983.00 955.00 958.15TITAN 933.05 941.20 925.00 928.90MANAPPURAM 90.00 93.00 89.45 91.30BHEL 70.50 71.00 69.50 70.00UBL 1389.95 1413.00 1358.90 1366.50JMFINANCIL 89.70 93.60 88.15 92.35M&MFIN 461.55 475.80 461.55 470.80HDIL 23.70 25.00 23.70 24.30VIJAYABANK 44.50 48.70 44.40 48.25M&M 776.70 785.00 767.95 780.55IBVENTURES 405.00 419.05 401.25 404.75ULTRACEMCO 4029.95 4170.95 4008.80 4089.85LICHSGFIN 466.10 487.10 466.10 485.05BPCL 358.85 363.35 355.30 362.15KEC 303.80 316.20 302.50 310.60CANFINHOME 282.10 290.00 281.00 285.90FORCEMOT 1639.00 1673.75 1628.00 1648.30UNIONBANK 82.00 83.50 80.90 82.95CANBK 271.00 277.25 271.00 274.55BERGEPAINT 332.70 342.60 332.25 340.40GRAPHITE 850.00 853.90 838.65 842.20DRREDDY 2649.00 2650.05 2587.45 2613.35INDIGO 1133.80 1157.60 1125.80 1152.10BHARTIARTL 321.80 323.50 318.00 322.25PRSMJOHNSN 88.30 97.40 88.30 91.55HFCL 21.25 22.50 21.00 21.85BHARATFORG 519.60 527.20 518.55 521.45HSCL 134.70 139.20 133.10 137.95NAVKARCORP 43.25 50.90 42.60 50.80BAJAJFINSV 6166.00 6417.90 6166.00 6388.40INDUSINDBK 1646.00 1653.20 1607.65 1611.95GNFC 370.15 371.15 352.70 354.80ESCORTS 675.85 685.00 670.00 673.55DABUR 444.90 458.50 444.90 456.75BEML 855.00 861.35 844.00 848.15VENKYS 2530.00 2561.80 2455.00 2478.65HEXAWARE 337.05 337.65 328.60 330.15MINDTREE 872.00 872.00 827.25 850.00

BATAINDIA 1096.75 1127.70 1094.60 1115.00SYNDIBANK 35.65 37.85 35.30 37.60COALINDIA 252.30 253.30 250.35 251.85IRB 155.00 164.45 153.50 162.90BIOCON 640.65 646.60 631.50 634.60HDFC 1959.50 1982.40 1950.55 1978.20PIDILITIND 1170.00 1209.40 1169.00 1200.15WIPRO 338.70 342.20 331.55 340.70JISLJALEQS 66.45 67.50 64.90 66.50REPCOHOME 354.50 373.45 354.50 370.608KMILES 166.00 169.95 158.00 159.45MOTHERSUMI 173.00 175.50 171.50 172.00BAJAJ-AUTO 2856.00 2881.05 2846.00 2868.10ONGC 147.90 148.95 147.25 148.45CADILAHC 346.00 348.90 342.50 343.65JUBILANT 727.90 730.50 708.70 712.80RAIN 144.95 148.60 138.70 139.50EXIDEIND 259.90 272.50 259.90 269.85SAIL 53.20 54.90 52.95 54.50ENGINERSIN 117.25 123.70 116.85 122.70ABCAPITAL 100.75 101.55 99.80 100.10IDEA 37.20 38.05 37.20 37.75ORIENTBANK 92.00 95.10 92.00 94.10HEG 4059.75 4059.75 3955.05 3970.20SHARDACROP 275.20 331.10 273.40 328.75KPIT 216.60 229.90 213.40 228.20ALBK 46.90 48.95 46.40 48.30RPOWER 28.30 29.05 28.10 28.25ADANIPOWER 53.45 53.65 52.10 52.65UJJIVAN 251.00 258.20 250.60 254.70SREINFRA 34.00 36.45 34.00 36.05BALKRISIND 938.65 944.10 926.10 935.20JSLHISAR 90.25 92.20 89.70 90.10GRASIM 853.60 875.80 853.05 857.35RBLBANK 579.00 584.00 574.10 581.35PNBHOUSING 960.00 999.00 958.00 983.80IDFC 42.40 42.60 40.90 41.85COLPAL 1320.00 1340.95 1316.00 1329.15WOCKPHARMA 522.05 531.00 517.85 519.90DEEPAKNI 229.00 233.50 228.25 230.00BALRAMCHIN 103.65 105.70 102.10 105.00

CGPOWER 40.20 41.90 40.20 41.35RECLTD 108.00 109.10 106.55 106.95NTPC 149.75 150.80 147.40 149.80JINDALSAW 86.15 87.90 85.25 86.35RALLIS 172.50 178.00 172.50 176.90TATAELXSI 1018.45 1020.25 994.40 1004.75ICICIGI 905.60 905.60 860.15 868.00CHOLAFIN 1227.45 1301.00 1227.45 1284.10EQUITAS 118.30 121.00 117.95 119.70CEATLTD 1339.00 1353.15 1321.00 1344.20NATIONALUM 65.25 65.35 64.00 64.10PHILIPCARB 207.30 211.70 206.65 207.65CHENNPETRO 291.20 293.75 281.00 282.70CENTURYTEX 933.00 953.15 932.40 940.65ADANIPORTS 374.00 377.25 372.40 375.55BRITANNIA 3168.55 3245.10 3165.25 3234.10JKTYRE 98.95 104.50 98.95 102.95MARICO 382.80 395.00 381.00 394.20TVSMOTOR 579.90 583.60 573.10 577.20HEROMOTOCO 3317.80 3328.65 3280.85 3303.85FSL 51.30 51.55 49.90 50.10AUROPHARMA 737.00 740.15 731.10 734.00HCC 11.37 12.16 11.37 11.86BHARATFIN 1044.45 1047.20 1017.50 1020.75VOLTAS 574.00 578.40 562.00 571.50UPL 746.00 759.95 745.80 755.35KTKBANK 111.00 111.95 110.15 111.45RCF 64.10 64.80 63.10 63.35TATAPOWER 78.85 80.20 78.75 79.45JAMNAAUTO 64.05 64.50 62.75 62.95IGL 261.90 264.80 261.20 263.95DIVISLAB 1493.05 1524.50 1485.50 1514.10INDIANB 246.85 252.25 243.40 248.70MFSL 444.40 446.00 437.70 440.25POWERGRID 195.70 199.80 195.60 198.95SUNTECK 350.65 365.10 349.45 359.95NHPC 26.25 26.45 26.05 26.10JYOTHYLAB 195.00 202.90 194.90 200.80NIITTECH 1123.70 1148.30 1111.00 1132.25CUMMINSIND 824.95 836.35 815.40 817.15ITI 94.55 97.00 94.50 95.00MCX 748.00 750.50 730.10 732.60KEI 386.00 393.60 378.50 384.90APOLLOTYRE 238.50 240.30 236.70 239.50HINDALCO 225.60 228.75 225.30 227.15SUNTV 592.50 599.00 587.00 595.40PETRONET 225.50 228.80 224.00 225.25RADICO 425.00 434.00 421.60 422.70LTI 1699.80 1717.10 1680.00 1690.25

ABFRL 203.95 207.40 202.65 203.60GMRINFRA 15.65 16.65 15.65 16.45PARAGMILK 253.00 260.60 249.40 256.25BBTC 1369.00 1384.90 1348.80 1363.50CASTROLIND 148.05 154.50 148.05 154.20JUSTDIAL 497.00 497.85 487.00 489.90JSL 33.15 34.40 32.50 32.95CONCOR 673.50 680.20 662.15 667.25GODREJPROP 680.00 694.05 674.55 686.15LTTS 1617.40 1627.20 1585.00 1607.10MAXINDIA 85.50 86.80 84.00 85.20LUPIN 847.00 850.50 838.35 841.90RNAVAL 15.30 15.30 14.24 14.40FORTIS 137.75 138.00 136.00 137.10VGUARD 219.50 225.25 217.00 224.10GSFC 112.70 112.90 111.25 111.90NMDC 95.95 97.50 95.60 97.25TATAMTRDVR 97.00 97.00 95.00 95.50MEGH 62.40 63.85 62.35 63.35SUVEN 230.00 235.95 228.00 228.95MGL 892.30 906.60 891.70 896.95UCOBANK 19.75 20.80 19.75 20.40BAJAJELEC 512.45 525.40 508.05 511.00IFCI 14.25 14.85 14.15 14.64GAIL 355.10 359.15 353.35 358.45APOLLOHOSP 1233.00 1254.65 1215.50 1242.65DISHTV 37.00 39.20 36.75 38.45TV18BRDCST 35.95 37.55 35.95 37.30INFRATEL 255.80 267.00 254.85 264.00HAVELLS 702.20 711.20 700.00 703.85HUDCO 43.90 45.25 43.45 44.25MMTC 29.90 29.95 29.25 29.55INDHOTEL 145.80 149.80 145.70 147.85HINDZINC 279.60 282.60 276.00 281.60AUBANK 639.00 646.85 626.30 638.95EICHERMOT 23650.10 24210.00 23650.10 23961.85PAGEIND 24782.70 25331.80 24572.75 24981.25OIL 179.00 180.85 178.25 179.05CENTRUM 37.85 39.60 36.55 39.40KAJARIACER 461.05 483.20 461.05 476.60MANPASAND 86.60 89.20 85.50 85.65SPARC 211.30 212.50 208.95 209.65KSCL 580.25 601.15 577.40 595.25GLENMARK 687.00 693.10 678.50 685.50BLISSGVS 150.25 150.25 145.05 146.60TATAGLOBAL 210.65 214.45 209.70 210.70MOTILALOFS 609.90 641.50 609.90 638.20HDFCLIFE 392.95 393.50 387.40 388.25TATACHEM 716.80 722.25 707.00 709.85INTELLECT 246.00 247.00 240.00 242.45RAYMOND 854.80 862.50 849.05 852.70CIPLA 523.75 528.55 523.00 524.85DCBBANK 160.50 165.00 160.45 164.35GODREJCP 837.50 848.30 832.60 837.60TORNTPHARM 1740.50 1802.00 1736.40 1788.50GODREJIND 551.00 552.95 537.85 541.15DCMSHRIRAM 361.00 364.05 356.65 358.75SOUTHBANK 15.45 15.65 15.40 15.60ASHOKA 139.00 139.00 130.40 134.30BOSCHLTD 19870.00 19984.00 19555.00 19627.60DBL 431.55 439.00 426.55 430.10TATACOMM 533.40 551.80 530.50 547.70NAUKRI 1577.75 1620.00 1547.25 1590.60AMARAJABAT 741.70 757.50 729.80 749.30ITDCEM 110.35 118.65 110.30 117.15OMAXE 216.00 216.65 214.40 214.55VIPIND 529.15 531.45 518.60 520.35COCHINSHIP 383.05 395.20 382.55 388.80RAMCOCEM 646.25 668.75 646.25 659.15CHAMBLFERT 145.25 148.70 144.50 146.60KANSAINER 485.00 493.40 470.00 476.50ICICIPRULI 315.60 318.85 314.20 316.20DENABANK 16.85 17.20 16.70 17.00TRIDENT 65.50 67.65 65.50 66.45MAHABANK 13.75 15.33 13.50 14.76PFIZER 2865.00 2945.00 2855.00 2878.75GODFRYPHLP 907.00 921.00 901.15 906.75OBEROIRLTY 483.05 487.40 477.35 481.65JSWENERGY 72.00 72.00 70.70 71.50DEEPAKFERT 151.80 153.00 149.50 151.75FCONSUMER 48.75 48.75 47.25 47.80KWALITY 7.81 8.44 7.81 8.44GICHSGFIN 246.95 259.00 246.95 255.10GRANULES 89.05 91.60 89.05 90.70GRUH 299.90 304.50 296.50 301.50EIHOTEL 194.55 197.80 192.90 195.45RNAM 166.35 172.30 166.35 169.30SWANENERGY 101.55 102.30 98.45 100.10CENTURYPLY 181.25 184.85 181.00 183.75CENTRALBK 31.45 33.40 31.00 33.10EIDPARRY 208.95 214.90 208.00 209.70MRPL 74.25 75.25 73.35 74.60HINDCOPPER 50.60 51.40 50.00 50.30MPHASIS 994.00 1003.50 983.45 994.05OFSS 3635.00 3730.00 3576.90 3668.80PVR 1560.90 1569.85 1543.30 1554.45GLAXO 1423.85 1469.00 1413.95 1450.40MHRIL 200.00 202.50 198.55 199.80IDBI 61.65 62.40 61.50 62.05MRF 67968.00 69458.00 67625.00 69242.55GREAVESCOT 125.05 127.90 124.30 127.05CORPBANK 27.90 29.80 27.90 29.20AJANTPHARM 1123.45 1127.45 1110.10 1117.25WELSPUNIND 63.00 63.35 61.50 62.00WELCORP 153.95 153.95 147.80 148.55TEJASNET 221.40 224.00 219.50 221.70HEIDELBERG 160.05 164.30 159.35 159.95ALKEM 1952.40 1952.40 1816.00 1862.45INOXWIND 75.55 79.10 75.00 76.95

J&KBANK 36.40 37.40 36.15 37.05SUPREMEIND 1117.95 1145.00 1102.00 1134.40CARERATING 989.00 997.45 981.00 985.85SADBHAV 197.70 209.00 197.45 204.70VINATIORGA 1677.70 1709.95 1665.00 1671.25ATUL 3440.00 3497.85 3396.95 3470.10NESTLEIND 11155.00 11700.05 11130.45 11181.90NOCIL 167.95 170.25 167.65 169.60ZENSARTECH 257.50 257.50 240.00 241.80BIRLACORPN 602.50 631.85 600.65 619.40FINCABLES 454.35 469.00 450.00 456.45EMAMILTD 437.60 442.25 430.00 433.05ISEC 270.90 272.90 267.40 270.35GICRE 282.55 285.90 275.00 275.75IPCALAB 787.05 810.00 782.80 805.35SHREECEM 17233.95 17798.85 17150.00 17431.80PTC 88.40 88.95 86.30 87.85MAHINDCIE 250.70 251.00 247.00 249.25SHOPERSTOP 516.75 525.00 493.00 498.05TATACOFFEE 96.95 97.55 94.90 95.45INOXLEISUR 231.45 237.55 229.00 231.50FRETAIL 551.80 551.80 540.05 542.95NAVINFLUOR 716.00 731.25 713.10 725.40APLAPOLLO 1251.85 1251.85 1181.00 1192.35AEGISLOG 191.20 192.20 186.80 188.90JKLAKSHMI 282.00 293.00 282.00 285.70FDC 182.00 184.90 179.30 181.00SRF 2222.00 2254.00 2222.00 2238.70SYMPHONY 1154.35 1225.00 1147.30 1217.00ZYDUSWELL 1407.65 1430.00 1394.90 1407.15NILKAMAL 1575.70 1592.00 1550.25 1560.15GREENPLY 132.15 138.75 132.15 135.45BAJAJHLDNG 2943.50 2976.00 2926.80 2949.95ORIENTCEM 81.35 89.70 81.35 84.95WHIRLPOOL 1421.00 1426.95 1396.10 1407.50JKCEMENT 737.75 775.00 737.50 748.35GSPL 176.30 179.00 175.55 177.25QUESS 694.00 695.25 666.60 673.50GESHIP 351.80 353.00 345.10 347.70NETWORK18 39.00 39.75 38.50 38.95NLCINDIA 67.80 69.15 67.70 69.05CRISIL 1601.00 1646.70 1582.00 1632.20CYIENT 621.15 634.85 618.00 630.50ANDHRABANK 28.65 29.50 28.60 29.35HSIL 217.95 221.00 214.90 218.00SONATSOFTW 313.00 314.00 306.10 308.70ITDC 311.25 324.80 311.25 313.65LAXMIMACH* 5789.00 5821.00 5757.05 5789.50SHK 173.75 175.45 172.75 174.15THERMAX 1106.20 1145.00 1106.20 1130.15WABAG 270.00 277.80 270.00 274.25RELAXO 744.35 753.10 723.80 742.70MOIL 180.00 181.70 178.75 179.50TEXRAIL 59.05 60.35 59.05 59.50SBILIFE 586.45 590.00 578.10 582.00KALPATPOWR 384.05 389.05 380.00 382.30PNCINFRA 131.20 138.05 130.80 136.90ENDURANCE 1185.40 1207.00 1168.00 1179.25IEX 166.55 167.00 164.00 166.15TATAMETALI 651.65 663.95 646.05 649.70UFLEX 271.00 276.50 270.40 273.95SUPPETRO 206.60 219.75 206.60 216.80IL&FSTRANS 12.00 12.10 11.75 12.10PFS 17.60 17.80 17.30 17.45SOBHA 475.15 486.00 473.90 479.95TATAINVEST 879.60 882.00 876.60 878.80GUJALKALI 552.10 558.25 547.15 551.10TEAMLEASE 2914.00 3000.00 2898.00 2954.55ADVENZYMES 176.75 182.80 176.75 178.30NAVNETEDUL 111.00 112.40 109.50 111.30SCHNEIDER 102.10 105.25 101.55 103.90STARCEMENT 107.70 110.00 106.70 107.95JBCHEPHARM 290.65 308.35 290.60 300.65SOMANYCERA 314.10 327.00 311.85 319.85GUJFLUORO 919.00 919.00 892.45 906.85VBL 714.05 714.05 695.00 700.55ELGIEQUIP 264.30 268.15 262.00 265.45AARTIIND 1438.40 1467.05 1438.00 1451.10DBCORP 175.00 180.90 174.55 176.25KRBL 299.90 299.90 286.00 289.50GHCL 237.85 247.00 237.25 244.35FORBESCO 2489.75 2563.05 2472.00 2562.65SKFINDIA 1927.00 1951.05 1927.00 1947.00GODREJAGRO 511.15 515.75 511.05 512.60CROMPTON 230.90 231.30 226.90 228.40MINDAIND 330.90 334.15 328.10 331.85UNICHEMLAB 191.00 191.00 188.50 188.80NIACL 196.65 198.10 191.40 192.40CUB 179.70 184.40 179.55 183.90NATCOPHARM* 703.00 711.50 702.20 706.30SYNGENE 567.40 570.00 565.00 566.60SCI 44.25 44.50 43.85 44.05LINDEINDIA 679.90 684.05 667.55 675.30BALMLAWRIE 204.35 205.00 198.10 199.45COFFEEDAY 271.85 273.30 266.10 267.75PRESTIGE 207.65 212.00 207.65 209.20GULFOILLUB 783.85 789.60 767.10 776.45SUNDRMFAST 528.95 534.30 527.00 528.75MAGMA 113.85 116.35 112.80 115.00BAJAJCORP 364.75 370.00 363.50 364.10GPPL 101.75 104.00 101.35 102.95TRENT 349.00 350.25 345.40 347.75TRITURBINE 123.45 123.70 120.95 122.65PERSISTENT 615.80 619.20 610.40 616.85BASF 1601.95 1601.95 1573.00 1585.35PIIND 817.00 826.90 808.00 810.75ISGEC 5130.00 5199.90 5105.05 5156.70ASTERDM 150.85 155.65 149.30 154.95HAL 776.85 794.10 776.15 788.05

ICIL 57.00 58.10 56.55 57.05ADANITRANS 218.90 222.25 218.05 219.25APLLTD 603.00 603.00 594.00 596.80RAJESHEXPO 570.00 571.90 569.50 569.90SUDARSCHEM 350.55 358.10 349.15 352.05COROMANDEL 444.90 449.00 444.50 446.55NH 194.00 202.90 191.00 199.90ECLERX 1100.85 1109.00 1085.05 1089.50ASTRAL 1068.95 1084.00 1065.00 1079.50GSKCONS 7846.75 7916.95 7794.65 7803.00AKZOINDIA 1595.00 1649.50 1595.00 1644.30IFBIND 860.00 865.30 842.90 854.35TAKE 136.50 139.60 136.50 137.90GMDCLTD 90.00 91.35 89.45 90.45KPRMILL 576.00 580.00 564.95 567.80ALLCARGO 106.90 109.40 106.90 108.10GDL 137.55 138.05 136.10 136.95LALPATHLAB 958.90 970.00 951.00 955.55MINDACORP 137.20 140.15 137.20 138.05SJVN 25.15 25.45 25.10 25.30THOMASCOOK 239.90 239.90 233.85 235.95GRINDWELL 543.50 559.05 543.00 551.15GET&D 255.30 264.00 253.55 262.20SHILPAMED 379.00 396.05 379.00 386.55EVEREADY 190.00 190.45 189.30 189.90REDINGTON 86.05 87.65 86.00 86.45TIMETECHNO 100.90 101.50 99.40 100.60JAGRAN 115.60 118.20 115.30 116.45LAKSHVILAS 87.25 87.60 86.65 86.85KNRCON 193.60 198.45 193.60 197.40APARINDS 642.45 667.00 638.20 641.70IOB 14.85 15.00 14.82 14.99BAYERCROP 4262.00 4325.00 4197.95 4256.15SIS 749.25 782.45 749.20 766.75ERIS 670.00 679.00 660.80 668.40GUJGAS 678.55 682.00 667.95 673.65VMART 2745.05 2816.90 2700.00 2722.60RATNAMANI 900.00 922.90 900.00 919.25ABBOTINDIA 7515.20 7524.85 7451.15 7509.65CAPPL 391.30 394.95 389.55 391.30PHOENIXLTD 601.00 608.00 598.55 602.50LUXIND 1470.00 1480.70 1447.05 1452.25ESSELPRO 108.15 111.55 107.55 108.30TNPL 261.10 261.10 255.25 257.20PGHH 9823.95 9941.00 9823.90 9925.00SUPRAJIT 230.85 231.00 222.50 228.10BLUESTARCO 645.00 649.00 635.00 640.85HIMATSEIDE 208.25 211.50 208.20 209.30ASAHIINDIA 253.70 257.00 252.55 253.50SANOFI 6206.40 6300.00 6195.20 6289.60TIMKEN 582.00 586.00 572.25 581.00WABCOINDIA 6900.00 6980.30 6800.00 6973.65HERITGFOOD 502.00 518.95 501.50 517.05CARBORUNIV 366.00 367.15 362.00 363.30DHANUKA 438.30 452.65 438.30 446.50TVSSRICHAK 2529.50 2560.00 2478.45 2540.35FINOLEXIND 528.25 535.00 528.25 533.10VTL 1089.00 1105.00 1085.45 1101.85TTKPRESTIG 7650.00 7765.00 7540.05 7563.35JCHAC 1839.00 1839.00 1795.00 1800.40AIAENG 1611.30 1653.55 1610.00 1639.80THYROCARE 558.60 562.20 556.00 560.55HONAUT 23000.05 23159.00 22700.00 22759.95HATSUN 622.95 623.85 618.00 622.30CCL 275.45 277.05 272.95 273.90NBVENTURES 121.25 121.80 120.15 120.603MINDIA 23140.00 23200.00 22864.55 22939.15ENIL 586.00 600.00 582.00 595.75CERA 2377.20 2391.70 2359.95 2379.95SOLARINDS 1056.20 1056.20 1022.00 1037.20SCHAEFFLER 5506.10 5510.00 5410.00 5492.75GEPIL 820.00 824.90 811.00 823.95MAHLIFE 392.70 396.45 390.10 393.05TVTODAY 371.95 379.35 371.50 373.50GILLETTE 6494.00 6498.95 6465.00 6481.25SUNCLAYLTD 3600.00 3600.00 3500.35 3501.45LAOPALA 221.20 223.40 220.50 220.55FLFL 395.75 401.40 395.75 398.95MONSANTO 2700.00 2702.65 2657.70 2683.30LAURUSLABS 391.00 391.35 387.20 388.95TIFHL 516.00 534.40 516.00 523.55KIOCL 155.70 157.00 153.60 155.00SHRIRAMCIT 1561.30 1581.00 1561.25 1579.00BLUEDART 3110.00 3110.00 3070.05 3077.80SFL 1482.00 1482.00 1427.00 1451.00

NIFTY 50

SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 10930.55 10985.15 10928.00 10967.30 58.60IBULHSGFIN 785.00 843.00 784.50 837.55 60.95BAJAJFINSV 6190.00 6425.00 6188.10 6397.95 245.30AXISBANK 624.25 651.65 619.15 640.00 20.60ASIANPAINT 1370.00 1406.80 1370.00 1400.00 44.30INFRATEL 255.00 267.10 254.55 262.40 7.80BAJFINANCE 2550.80 2629.10 2550.15 2592.00 59.80SBIN 294.70 302.00 294.70 299.50 6.75ULTRACEMCO 4010.00 4173.75 4005.10 4095.00 86.85BPCL 358.40 363.00 355.10 360.50 7.25M&M 775.00 787.00 767.10 785.90 14.95HINDPETRO 235.75 238.80 233.40 235.60 4.25MARUTI 7781.00 7949.75 7781.00 7915.10 142.75ITC 279.00 284.00 278.50 283.15 5.00WIPRO 335.05 342.25 331.40 340.20 5.15BHARTIARTL 319.50 324.00 318.05 322.55 4.75UPL 746.90 760.00 745.00 754.35 10.70HDFC 1954.00 1985.50 1948.55 1979.80 27.80POWERGRID 195.05 199.50 195.05 199.00 2.65JSWSTEEL 308.00 312.35 304.40 309.50 4.05ICICIBANK 363.00 369.25 361.00 366.85 4.60NTPC 148.35 150.30 147.25 149.55 1.85GAIL 356.00 359.40 352.80 358.45 3.95HINDALCO 225.55 228.30 225.00 227.60 2.35BAJAJ-AUTO 2853.90 2882.00 2845.05 2866.60 25.70IOC 147.00 147.75 145.55 146.00 1.25ZEEL 461.00 472.80 447.00 466.50 3.80ONGC 147.50 148.80 147.30 148.60 1.00TECHM 709.00 714.05 691.90 713.85 4.85ADANIPORTS 373.90 377.35 372.00 375.10 2.20LT 1431.00 1438.00 1426.40 1436.00 7.50CIPLA 524.00 528.60 522.55 524.45 1.55HINDUNILVR 1849.95 1858.00 1842.00 1845.00 4.25EICHERMOT 23865.65 24220.00 23808.05 23902.05 36.40HEROMOTOCO 3305.00 3330.10 3280.00 3302.20 4.15YESBANK 180.50 183.15 178.60 179.15 0.15TATASTEEL 527.90 532.45 524.60 527.00 0.00RELIANCE 1141.50 1147.30 1133.20 1134.85 -1.55GRASIM 859.00 876.00 851.15 852.15 -2.15COALINDIA 252.70 253.30 250.00 251.00 -0.85TITAN 933.10 941.55 927.50 928.20 -4.80HDFCBANK 2133.10 2159.40 2113.55 2123.00 -12.45TATAMOTORS 176.50 176.50 172.50 173.50 -1.25TCS 1984.80 1984.80 1960.05 1970.80 -17.05VEDL 209.80 209.95 205.65 206.75 -1.80DRREDDY 2645.00 2651.00 2584.65 2613.00 -26.30KOTAKBANK 1238.80 1245.70 1222.10 1224.10 -13.00INDUSINDBK 1641.00 1652.70 1609.40 1614.85 -24.70INFY 671.55 671.55 661.10 664.60 -12.00SUNPHARMA 433.45 434.40 422.80 423.10 -10.35HCLTECH 980.00 983.60 954.00 958.00 -27.20

SE 500B

NIFTY NEXT 50

SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 28314.75 28636.55 28301.50 28564.25 394.45DLF 179.35 193.30 178.40 192.80 14.75SRTRANSFIN 1210.95 1285.00 1206.10 1279.40 79.25L&TFH 147.70 156.75 147.15 155.70 8.95LICHSGFIN 468.70 487.00 467.05 485.70 21.05PEL 2195.00 2308.80 2193.70 2276.75 97.60AMBUJACEM 221.10 230.65 220.55 228.50 8.85INDIGO 1130.00 1155.60 1125.00 1152.00 43.50ASHOKLEY 105.10 108.50 105.10 108.40 3.60SIEMENS 986.00 1046.05 983.70 1015.00 33.00DABUR 445.95 458.80 445.30 456.95 14.05ACC 1516.00 1573.00 1508.00 1547.30 46.05SHREECEM 17159.00 17846.00 17005.00 17540.00 509.95BEL 84.65 87.30 84.40 86.70 2.35MARICO 383.00 395.00 380.80 392.60 10.50BANKBARODA 113.00 117.15 113.00 115.40 2.95PIDILITIND 1172.90 1211.45 1168.45 1198.20 30.00MRF 68000.00 69500.00 67749.40 69199.20 1637.70SAIL 53.45 54.90 52.90 54.35 1.20HINDZINC 279.00 283.50 276.00 283.30 5.50BRITANNIA 3179.90 3245.00 3170.00 3225.00 56.30COLPAL 1312.00 1343.00 1312.00 1333.00 22.20CONCOR 667.50 680.90 661.80 671.00 10.60NMDC 95.90 97.65 95.50 97.00 1.50SUNTV 592.50 599.50 586.45 598.00 9.15OFSS 3640.00 3737.85 3570.00 3687.00 42.35IDEA 37.50 38.10 37.30 37.65 0.35PETRONET 226.00 229.00 224.55 226.00 1.80PGHH 9852.00 9967.35 9827.80 9944.90 47.25HAVELLS 702.25 712.45 697.00 703.50 1.55ICICIPRULI 317.00 318.60 313.65 315.50 0.55BHEL 70.20 71.00 69.40 70.00 0.10OIL 178.25 180.80 178.20 179.00 0.20ABB 1323.00 1361.30 1280.10 1334.50 0.55LUPIN 848.00 850.65 838.10 845.00 0.00NHPC 26.15 26.55 26.00 26.10 -0.05GODREJCP 843.00 849.90 831.30 836.80 -1.90AUROPHARMA 736.50 740.60 730.65 733.30 -2.40MOTHERSUMI 173.70 175.60 171.40 172.00 -0.65MCDOWELL-N 653.00 655.95 635.85 642.20 -2.80CADILAHC 348.00 348.00 342.30 343.00 -2.25BIOCON 640.70 646.80 631.00 634.45 -4.40ABCAPITAL 100.85 101.20 99.50 99.75 -0.80NIACL 197.00 197.00 191.00 192.90 -2.10DMART 1685.10 1698.70 1630.30 1648.90 -19.25BOSCHLTD 19984.00 20000.00 19590.00 19628.60 -232.95SBILIFE 590.95 590.95 577.65 580.60 -7.00HDFCLIFE 394.40 394.40 387.00 387.05 -5.45GICRE 285.20 288.25 275.00 275.05 -7.85BANDHANBNK 572.80 577.50 554.00 555.50 -16.00ICICIGI 900.00 912.55 861.10 885.00 -28.45

world 11LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 20, 2018

Kendall Jenner is the highest paid model of 2018

Los Angeles: For the second year in a row, KendallJenner has been named the highest paid model in theworld by Forbes. Jenner brought in $22.5 million in12 months before June 2018, besting the likes of KarlieKloss, Gisele Bündchen, and her own besties, Bellaand Gigi Hadid. Kendall's first place income comesfrom lucrative partnerships with brands like Adidas,Estée Lauder, and Calvin Klein. Jenner is far and awaythe leader—Kloss clocks in at second place with $13million and has contracts with Swarovski, Away lug-gage, and Adidas. Bündchen, who held the top spotin 2016, came in at fifth place tied with CaraDelevingne at $10 million. Meanwhile, supermodelsisters Gigi and Bella Hadid ranked seventh andeighth respectively. Though Kendall is the highest paidmodel, she isn't the highest paid Kardashian/Jenner.Her sister Kylie Jenner runs away with that title, bringing in an esti

I could have even played Bumblebee’s

spare tyre: John Cena

Hong Kong: Bumblebee, a bright yellow petiteVolkswagen Beetle would have been another sightto behold had John Cena been cast as the affa-ble autobot’s “spare tyre”, a role the professionalwrestler-actor says he would have accepted in aheartbeat. But director Travis Knight had some-thing bigger planned for the actor. Cena playsLieutenant Jack Burns, a hardened military offi-cer who has a grudge against the Transformers.The film is fronted by Hailee Steinfeld, who playsCharlie Wilson, a headstrong vulnerable teenag-er who befriends Bumblebee. The actor said thescript of the film, penned by Christina Hodson,was like an unputdownable book and he waseager to feature in the film.

GLOBE TROTTING

US court to hear lawsuit against H-4 visa

PTI n WASHINGTON

Atop US court has given thego ahead for hearing a

lawsuit challenging the workauthorisation to H-4 visa hold-ers after the Trump adminis-tration delayed a formal noti-fication over the issue that canimpact spouses of H-1B visaholders, mostly Indians. TheBarack Obama administrationin 2015 allowed H4 visa-hold-ers - mainly spouses of the H-1B visa-holders - to be gainfullyemployed in the US.

The group ‘Save Jobs USA’took the matter to the appealscourt after a district courtupheld the Obama adminis-tration’s decision. The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visathat allows US companies toemploy foreign workers in spe-ciality occupations. H-4 visasare issued to the spouses of H-1B visa holders, a significant-ly large number of whom arehigh-skilled professionals fromIndia.

The US Court of Appeals,District of Columbia, in itsorder on December 17 orderedthat the motion to schedulebriefing and oral argument begranted and this case chal-lenging work authorisation toof H-4 visa holders “be

removed from abeyance.” Atleast three times, the Trumpadministration told the courtthat it has decided to revoke theObama-era decision and aformal notification would beissued soon. While the notifi-cation on the matter is yet to beissued, the Department ofHomeland Security (DHS) inits annual agenda has said thatit is determined to revoke workauthorisation to certain cate-gories of H-4 visa holders. Ithad said that the notificationwould be issued this month.

In September, Save JobsUSA which had filed the law-suit urged the court to removethe abeyance and move for-

ward with the case. The case isbefore a three-member bench,which includes Indian-American Sree Srinivasan.

In its submission, Save JobsUSA argued that even thoughthe case has been delayed, noproposed rule has been sub-mitted to the Office ofManagement of Budget.“Justice delayed is justicedenied,” Save Jobs USA saidand rued that the longer thecase remains in abeyance, thelonger American workers will“suffer injury from the presenceof foreign competitors in theirjob market”. As per the latestcourt order, the case is nolonger held in abeyance and the

new briefs must be submittedby Save Jobs USA by January16, 2019. The Trump adminis-tration has time till February22, 2019 to file its response. Ina related development, thecourt also granted permissionto ‘Immigration Voice’ to inter-vene in the case. ImmigrationVoice is a nonprofit organisa-tion working to alleviate prob-lems faced by legal high-skilledforeign workers in the UnitedStates.

“This is a major develop-ment because the Court ofAppeals does not typicallyallow a party to intervene at theappellate level and it is signif-icant that the court granted ourmotion to intervene,”Immigration Voice saidTuesday.

“That indicates the courthas some concern (and withgood reasons) that our interestswill not be adequately repre-sented by theDHS/Government,” it said.

“Since the court has alsogranted our motion to inter-vene, we get to file a brief inopposition to the new brief thatSave Jobs USA will file underthe soon to be issued briefingschedule,” it argued. Given thatthe DHS has already declared

its intent to get rid of H4-EADprogramme, the court’s accep-tance of its motion to intervenegives them a fighting chance tomake a representation onbehalf of its members forwhom H4-EAD is so impor-tant, Immigration Voice said.

Spouses of H-1B visa hold-ers are not allowed to workwith just an H-4 visa. There is,however, an option to obtain anEmployment AuthorizationDocument (EAD) whichallows them to work with an H-4 visa.

“For that outcome, theintervention in the lawsuit isthe only thing that is keepingH4-EAD programme alive andit stands between 50,000+ fam-ilies from losing their right toprovide for their families,”Immigration Voice said.

According to an official,the US Citizenship andImmigration Services (USCIS)continues to review allemployment-based visa pro-grammes, including H-4 EADs.

“No decision about theObama administration regula-tion granting work authoriza-tion to certain H-4 spouses isfinal until the rule-makingprocess is completed,” the offi-cial told

Mallya intends to appealagainst extradition verdictPTI n LONDON

Vijay Mallya intends to file anapplication to appeal against

a British court’s verdict in favourof his extradition to India, theembattled liquor baron’s legalteam confirmed on Wednesday.The 63-year-old businessmantold reporters soon after the rul-ing by Westminster Magistrates’Court Chief Magistrate EmmaArbuthnot last week that hewould consider the verdict indetail and decide his next courseof action.

“Mallya has now been able toconsider the court’s decision andintends to file an application forpermission to appeal at theappropriate time,” said AnandDoobay, Partner at UK-basedBoutique Law LLP, who hasbeen Mallya’s solicitor throughthe extradition trial process.Under the Extradition Treatyprocedures, the Chief Magistrate’sverdict has been sent to UKHome Secretary Sajid Javidbecause it is the minister who isauthorised to order Mallya’sextradition and has two monthswithin which to make that deci-sion. The Home Secretary’s orderrarely goes against the court’s

conclusions as he has to consid-er only some very narrow bars toextradition which are unlikely toapply in this case, including thepossible imposition of a deathpenalty in a particular case.

“Whatever that decision (bythe Home Secretary), the losingside has up to 14 days withinwhich to approach the HighCourt and seek leave to appeal.Any appeal – if granted – will beheard at the AdministrativeCourt [High Court],” noted astatement by the CrownProsecution Service (CPS), whichrepresents the Indian govern-ment in the extradition case.Meanwhile, Mallya remains on

bail on an extradition warrantexecuted by Scotland Yard inApril last year after the Indianauthorities brought fraud andmoney laundering chargesamounting to Rs 9,000 croresagainst the former KingfisherAirlines boss.

While Mallya’s legal teamhad argued in the UK court thatthe default on the loans sought bythe now-defunct airline werethe result of business failure, theCPS had claimed fraudulentintentions by the businessman inseeking and then dispersingthose loans.

Judge Arbuthnot, in her rul-ing delivered on December 10 atthe end of a year-long trial, con-cluded there is a case to answerin the Indian courts over sub-stantial “misrepresentations” bythe “flashy billionaire” of hisfinancial dealings.

The judgment had also dis-missed the defence team’s attemptto challenge the case on humanrights grounds by claiming thatBarrack 12 of Arthur Road Jail inMumbai, where the businessmanis to be detained following hisextradition, did not meet therequirements.

Donald Trump signals retreat on wall

funding, but shutdown threat remains

AFP n WASHINGTON

President Donald Trumpbacked off his demand for

USD 5 billion in border wallfunding but his subsequentoffer was rejected by congres-sional Democrats, leaving theopposing sides struggling toavert a partial US govern-ment shutdown.

Trump had stood firm fordays, declaring he needed thefunds to build the controver-sial wall, defiantly proclaiminglast week that he would be“proud” to stop some govern-ment operations cold after amidnight Friday deadline if hedid not get his wish. Heappeared to ease that stanceearly Tuesday when the WhiteHouse said it did not want ashutdown and was lookingfor “other ways” to obtainfunding, including gettingCongress to reprogram USD 1billion in unspent funds soTrump could use them on hisimmigration policies.

“The president askedevery one of his cabinet sec-retaries to look for fundingthat can be used to protect ourborders,” White House spokes-woman Sarah Sanders said.Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi— set to become speaker of theHouse when Democrats takecontrol of the chamberJanuary 3 — and top SenateDemocrat Chuck Schumershot down the proposal, say-ing the USD 1.6 billion in bor-der security funding in pro-posed legislation is sufficient.

“Leader Schumer and Ihave said that we cannotaccept the offer they made ofa billion-dollar slush fund forthe president to implement hisvery wrong immigration poli-cies,” Pelosi told reporters.“So that won’t happen.” The

deadlock leaves thousands offederal workers in limbo, won-dering whether they will besent home without pay oneweek before Christmas.

Trump said it was still“too early to say” whether adeal could be struck in time.“We’ll see what happens,” hesaid at the White House. “Weneed border security.” IfRepublican and Democraticlawmakers fail to reach agree-ment on a spending packageby midnight Friday, parts ofthe government will slide intoa shutdown, paralysing somefederal operations.

The exact impact is diffi-cult to foretell. About 75 percent of the government isalready funded throughSeptember 2019. But a quarter

of government operations stillrequire spending agreementsand could face disruptions,including the departments ofjustice and homeland securi-ty.

Republicans presentlycontrol Congress, including 51seats in the 100-memberSenate. But a deal in the upperchamber can only advancewith 60 votes, meaningDemocratic support is vital.

Pelosi said the path for-ward remained unclear, andthat a stopgap “continuingresolution,” or CR, might berequired.

Senate Majority LeaderMitch McConnell insisted heremained confident therewould be no work stoppage.“Ithink a government shutdown

is not a good option,”McConnell said, adding hewas in discussions with theWhite House on ways forward.But he acknowledged that abrief CR might be the likeliestmove. “If we end up goingwith a relatively short-termCR, we will end up, in effect,punting this year’s businessinto next year,” McConnellsaid. Meanwhile, Sandersexpressed optimism that theWhite House could find legalways to obtain extra funding.

“There are certainly anumber of different fundingsources that we’ve identifiedthat we can use... that wouldhelp us get to that USD 5 bil-lion that the president needs inorder to protect our border,”she said on Fox News.

AFP n BRUSSELS

With British politics grid-locked and just 100 days

until Brexit, the EuropeanUnion on Wednesday trig-gered contingency plansdesigned to cushion some ofthe shock of a “no-deal” UKexit from the bloc. The EUmeasures, announced a dayafter Britain ramped up itsown no-deal planning, areintended to alleviate “majordisruption” to people and busi-nesses in sectors includingfinancial services, customs, airtransport and climate policy.European Commission VicePresident Valdis Dombrovskistold reporters that the plan was“an exercise in limiting dam-age.” He said the aim was “toturn an abrupt exit into a moresoft landing.”

Britain is due to leave theEU on March 29, but it remainsunclear whether lawmakerswill approve the divorce agree-ment Prime Minister TheresaMay’s government has negoti-ated with the bloc. Leavingwithout a deal risks plungingthe British economy into reces-sion and touching off chaos atthe borders.

The 14 EU actions includetemporary one- to two-yearmeasures to allow U.K.-EUfinancial services to continueand a 12-month provision tokeep planes flying betweenBritain and the bloc.

But Dombrovskis stressedthat the measures “cannot repli-cate the benefits of the with-drawal agreement, and cer-tainly it cannot replicate thebenefits of EU membership.” On Tuesday, the British gov-ernment stepped up U.K. no-deal preparations, putting 3,500soldiers on standby and warn-ing thousands of businesses

and millions of households toget ready for disruption. Thegovernment said the plans —which include chartering boatsand stockpiling medicines —are a sensible precaution.

But opposition politiciansaccuse the government of try-ing to scare lawmakers intosupporting May’s Brexit deal.Opposition Labour Partyleader Jeremy Corbyn onWednesday accused May of “acynical attempt to drive herdeeply damaging deal throughthis House.” “No-deal would bea disaster for our country andno responsible governmentwould ever allow it,” Corbynsaid.

Many businesses agree.Britain’s five leading businessgroups said in a rare jointstatement that businesses “have

been watching in horror” aspolitical infighting made theprospect of a disorderly Brexitmore likely.

Organizations includingthe British Chambers ofCommerce and theConfederation of BritishIndustry urged lawmakers to“return to their constituenciesover Christmas and talk to theirlocal business communi-ties.”“We hope that they will lis-ten and remember that whenthey return to Parliament, thefuture course of our economywill be in their hands,” thegroups said.

In a bid to regain some ofits vanished political momen-tum, the British governmentwas publishing long-awaitedplans Wednesday for a post-Brexit immigration system that

will end free movement of EUcitizens to the UK.HomeSecretary Sajid Javid said theproposals — Britain’s biggestimmigration changes in morethan 40 years — would createa “skills-based immigrationsystem built around the talentand expertise people can bring,rather than where they comefrom.” At present, all EUnationals can live and work inBritain under the bloc’s free-movement rules, but that willend after the U.K. leaves inMarch. The government isproposing no limit on thenumber of well-paid, skilledimmigrants who can settle inBritain, but curbs on “low-skilled” workers. The rules willnot apply to more than 3 mil-lion EU citizens currently liv-ing in Britain.

Hundred days to Brexit: EU acts to cushion no-deal shock

EU probes hack of ‘thousands’of sensitive diplomatic cablesBrussels, (AFP): The EUannounced an urgent investi-gation on Wednesday afterhackers with possible links toChina accessed thousands ofsensitive diplomatic cables. Inthe latest embarrassing databreach to hit a major interna-tional organisation, the NewYork Times reported that hack-ers using similar techniques tothe Chinese military gainedentry to EU communications.

The cables from EuropeanUnion diplomatic missionsaround the world reveal anxietyabout how to handle USPresident Donald Trump aswell as concerns about thebehaviour of China, Russia and

Iran. The leak, discovered bycybersecurity firm Area 1, recallsthe publication by Wikileaks ofa vast haul of US StateDepartment cables in 2010,though in the EU case the troveis much smaller and consists ofless secret communications, theNYT reported. EU officials saidthey have begun a probe into theleak, which comes with Europeon high alert for malign onlineactivity in the run-up to key par-liamentary elections in Maynext year.

“The Council Secretariat isaware of allegations regarding apotential leak of sensitive infor-mation and is actively investi-gating the issue,” the EU

Council, which representsmember states, said. “TheCouncil Secretariat does notcomment on allegations nor onmatters relating to operationalsecurity. The Council Secretariattakes the security of its facilities,including its IT systems,extremely seriously.” EuropeanCommission Vice PresidentValdis Dombrovskis said thebloc took any report of hackingits systems “extremely serious-ly” but refused to comment onthe detail of the leak. “What isclear is that no institution orcountry is immune to thesekinds of hacks - all communi-cations systems have vulnera-bilities,” he told reporters.

Pak’s govt agrees to takefresh steps to avoidbeing blacklisted by FATFIslamabad (PTI): Pakistan’sgovernment has agreed to takefresh steps to address themoney laundering and terror-financing issues, in an effort toavoid being blacklisted byFinancial Action Task Force(FATF) ahead its crucial meet-ing next month, officials said.Currently placed on the Paris-based FATF’S ‘grey list’,Pakistan has been scramblingin recent months to avoidbeing added to a list of coun-tries deemed non-compliantwith anti-money launderingand terrorist financing regula-tions by the FATF, a measurethat officials here fear couldfurther hurt its economy.Finance Minister Asad Umaron Tuesday chaired a high-levelmeeting of the NationalExecutive Committee (NEC)on anti-money laundering,where a report titled ‘TerrorismFinancing Risk Assessment’was presented.

It was also the first com-prehensive risk assessmentreport jointly prepared by theNational Counter TerrorismAuthority (Nacta) and theFederal Investigation Agency

(FIA). The meeting approvedthe findings of report that for-eign funding, drug trafficking,kidnapping for ransom, extor-tion, robbery and bank heistswere the primary sources ofterror-funding in Pakistan.Highlighting that the terrorfinancing have roots outsidePakistan’s borders, the reportsaid the hostile agencies werefuelling terrorism in Pakistanby providing funding to sub-national terrorist groups.

Officials said that thereport was prepared as part ofimplementation on 27-pointaction plan that the FATFhanded over to Pakistan as aprerequisite to exit the grey list.Out of these 27 actions agreedwith the FATF, Pakistan isrequired to deliver on 10 pointsby January 2019. Officials saidthat most of the task set out bythe FATF have been met andothers will be fulfilled beforethe deadline.

They said the areas high-lighted in the report would beaddressed through legal andadministrative actions in ordermeet the commitments madewith the FATF.

Exercise as effective as drugsto treat high BP, says studyPTI n LONDON

Exercise may be as effective astaking prescribed drugs to

tackle high blood pressure, astudy claims. However, theresearchers from the LondonSchool of Economics andPolitical Science in the UKcaution patients against givingup their blood pressure lower-ing drugs in favour of an exer-cise regimen yet. The study,published in the British Journalof Sports Medicine, suggeststhat patients should boost theirphysical activity levels, along-side their medication.

Exercise can lower systolicblood pressure — the amountof pressure in the arteries whenthe heart is beating andexpressed as the top number inany blood pressure reading.However, how exercise com-pares with blood pressure low-ering drugs, is not clear. To getround this, the researcherspooled the data from 194 clin-ical trials looking at the impactof drugs on lowering systolicblood pressure and 197 trialslooking at the impact of struc-tured exercise, and involving atotal of 39,742 people.Structured exercise was cate-gorised as: endurance, to

include walking, jogging, run-ning, cycling and swimming,and high intensity intervaltraining; dynamic resistance, toinclude strength training — forexample, with dumbbells or ket-tle bells; isometric resistance,such as the static push-up(plank); and a combination ofendurance and resistance.

Three sets of analyses weredone: all types of exercise com-pared with all classes of bloodpressure lowering drugs; dif-ferent types of exercise com-pared with different types ofdrug; and different intensities ofexercise compared with differ-ent drug doses. Finally, theseanalyses were repeated, but in

a group of exercise trials thatincluded only participants withhigh blood pressure, as most ofthese trials were of younghealthy participants with nor-mal blood pressure.

The results showed thatblood pressure was lower inpeople treated with drugs thanin those following structuredexercise programmes. However,when the analyses were restrict-ed to those with high bloodpressure, exercise seemed to bejust as effective as most drugs.The effectiveness of exerciseincreased the higher the thresh-old used to define high bloodpressure — that is, anythingabove 140 mm Hg.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the assistant Democratic leader, is surrounded by reporters asking about the possibility of a partialgovernment shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington on Tuesday. AP

world 12LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 20, 2018

Judgment in corruption cases

against Sharif on Dec 24

PTI n ISLAMABAD

An anti-corruption courtin Pakistan on Wednesday

said it will deliver judgment onDecember 24 in two remain-ing corruption cases againstousted prime minister NawazSharif. Judge MuhammadArshad Malik of Islamabad-based accountability courtreserved judgment after com-pletion of hearing in theFlagship Investment and Al-Azizia cases against 68-year-old Sharif.

The verdict will beannounced on December 24,which is the revised deadlineset by the Supreme Court towrap up the remaining twocorruption cases against thethree-time former prime min-ister.

If found guilty, Sharif canbe sentenced up to 14 years injail. The accountability courthad indicted Sharif for hold-ing assets beyond his knownsources of income in August2017. The judge rejected appli-cation by Sharif ’s lawyerKhawaja Harris to provideone week time to submit moredocuments but allowed him toprovide any document by

Friday.The judge also observed

that the court was bound tofollow December 24 finaldeadline set by the SupremeCourt.

Three cases – Avenfieldproperties case, FlagshipInvestment case and Al-Aziziasteel mills case - were launchedby the National AccountabilityBureau on September 8, 2017following a judgment by theapex court that disqualifiedSharif.

The apex court initially set

six month deadline to con-clude the cases but it was sub-sequently increase aroundeight times on the request ofthe accountability court.

Sharif was disqualified bythe Supreme Court in thePanama Papers case in July,2017.

In July, 2018 Sharif, hisdaughter Maryam and hisson-in-law retired captainMohammad Safdar were sen-tenced to 11 years, eight yearsand one year respectively inprison in the Avenfield prop-

erties case related to theirpurchase of four luxury flats inLondon through corrupt prac-tices. However, the three werebailed out by the IslamabadHigh Court in September.

His two sons - Hassanand Hussain - were also co-accused in all three cases butthey were declared abscondersfor failing to appear before thecourt even for a single time.

The court decided to heartheir cases separately oncethey returned back.

The three-time formerprime minister and his fami-ly have denied any wrongdo-ing.

Sharif, who religiously fol-lowed the proceeding byappearing before the courtfor at least 78 times, told themedia after the court reservedthe judgment that he not com-mitted any corruption.

“Not a penny of corrup-tion has been proven againstme…I am very happy that Ihave done my duty, and Ithink that since I have steppedin politics I have neverindulged in corruption norhave misused my power,” hesaid.

2 opposition leaders in Sri Lanka’sParliament, says Tamil leaderPTI n COLOMBO

Sri Lankan ParliamentSpeaker Karu Jayasuriya’s

move to recognise MahindaRajapaksa as the Leader of theOpposition has sparked a newcontroversy as the main Tamilparty leader R Sampanthansaid on Wednesday that thereare now two people holding thesame position.

Speaker Jayasuriya Tuesdayannounced 73-year-oldRajapaksa’s appointment as SriLanka’s main opposition leaderin Parliament, days after heresigned as prime ministerafter clinging on to power fornearly two months.Sampanthan, who held theposition from 2015, said theSpeaker made the announce-ment without removing himfrom the position.

“Consequently, it wouldbe seen as two people holdingthe post of the Leader of theOpposition,” said Sampanthan,the leader of the Tamil NationalAlliance - the main Tamilparty. “This has further com-plicated the issue,” he said,referring to the recent politicalcrisis.

Sampanthan argued thatRajapaksa had ceased to be amember of parliament since he

defected from the partythrough which he had beenelected to parliament in 2015.“Your decision has been takenin haste, your decision is in vio-lation of our Constitution,”Sampanthan told the speaker.

Speaker Jayasuriya said hewould announce his decisionon appointing a select com-mittee to probe the issue on

Friday. The Tamil National

Alliance has 16 lawmakers inthe House and the party is thesecond largest group in parlia-ment.

President MaithripalaSirisena’s decision on October26 to sack prime ministerWickremesinghe and installRajapaksa in his place triggered

a constitutional crisis. Later,Sirisena also dissolved the 225-member Parliament and calledfor a snap election on January5.

However, Wickremesinghewas re-appointed as primeminister by Sirisena followinga supreme court order, endingthe 51-day political standoff inthe country.

Sri Lanka's disputed prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa greets religious leaders as he arrives to sign his resignation paper inColombo, Sri Lanka on Saturday. AP

PTI n WASHINGTON

US Secretary of State MikePompeo held a rare meet-

ing with Nepal’s ForeignMinister Pradeep Gyawali aspart of the Trump administra-tion’s effort to thwart increas-ing Chinese influence in theHimalayan nation. Pompeodescribed his meeting onTuesday with Gyawali as his-toric and said this demon-strates America’s commitmentto its strong partnership withNepal.

He emphasised the greatpotential for further develop-ment of the US-Nepal ties,State Department deputyspokesperson Robert Palladinosaid.

During the meeting,Pompeo highlighted theenduring strength of the US-Nepal partnership and theclose people-to-people ties thatform the foundation of therelationship.

“The two leaders discussedNepal’s USD 500 millionMillennium ChallengeCorporation compact, Nepal’scentral role in a free, open, andprosperous Indo-Pacific, andglobal issues, including NorthKorea,” Palladino said.

The meeting came amidstChina’s foray into the land-locked Himalayan nationwhere Beijing has been invest-ing heavily for the last fewyears to enhance connectivityand infrastructure.

The US is concerned aboutChinese investments in theIndo-Pacific and stepped up itsefforts to expand its engage-ments with the countries in theregion, including India andNepal.

It fears that Chinese invest-ments and activities are under-mining sovereignty and eco-nomic stability in the region

and will also be a threat toAmerica’s vision of a free andopen Indo-Pacific.

American officials believethat said China’s Belt and RoadInitiative for infrastructuredevelopment and investmentsin countries in Europe, Asiaand Africa lacked transparen-cy and was aimed at fulfillingChina’s own security andstrategic interests rather thanpromoting economic devel-opment.

They also warn thatChinese credit could lead todebt trap and undermine sov-ereignty.

Amid Chinese inroads, Pompeo meets Nepal foreign minister

Pope says Xmas not about consumerismAFP n VATICAN CITY

Pope Francis saidWednesday that Christmas

cannot just be about swappingpresents and indulging in amassive consumer binge, urg-ing the faithful to remember itsoriginal purpose to markChrist’s birth. “The advertisingmachine tells us we have toexchange more and more newpresents to give us a surprise.But is that the sort of celebra-tion that God wants?” Francisasked a regular open audiencein the Vatican.

“No, Christmas is aboutlistening to the silent voice ofGod,” he said. “Please, I askyou, let us not turn Christmasinto a fashionable event! “It isnot Christmas if we seek outthe bright lights, if we load upon presents but then don’thelp even one poor person,”said the Pope who is wellknown for his criticism ofsocial inequality and injus-tices. Pope accepts resignation of LAbishop accused of misconduct

Pope Francis has accept-ed the resignation of LosAngeles auxiliary bishopMonsignor Alexander Salazar,following allegations of mis-conduct with a minor in the1990s. The Vatican announcedthe resignation in a statement

Wednesday. It was the latest ina string of cases of alleged mis-conduct against bishops tocome to light this year, fol-lowing the scandal of ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick.The current archbishop of Los

Angeles, Most Rev. Jose Gomez,said the archdiocese was madeaware of the claim in 2005,which law enforcement haddeclined to prosecute, but thatthe archdiocese forwarded thecomplaint to the Vatican office

that handles sex abuse cases.Gomez said that office, theCongregation for the Doctrineof the Faith, imposed precau-tionary measures against Salazarand a further investigationfound the allegation credible.

Taliban say talksfocus on USwithdrawal fromAfghanistanAP n ISLAMABAD

The Taliban say their latesttalks with the US envoy

focused on the withdrawal ofNATO troops f romAfghanistan, the release ofprisoners and halting attackson civilians by pro-govern-ment forces.

US peace envoy ZalmayKhal i lzad met with theTaliban this week in theUnited Arab Emirates, withSaudi, Pakistani and Emiratiofficials also participating.The Afghan government senta delegation to the UAE butit did not take part in thetalks.

Khal i lzad tweetedWednesday that the talkswere “productive,” withoutmentioning the Taliban byname.

Since being appointed inSeptember, Khalilzad has metwith all sides to try to restartpeace talks aimed at endingAmerica’s longest war.

The Taliban control near-ly half of Afghanistan, andare more powerful than atany time since the 2001 US-led invasion.

Consumer groups allege Google

misleads kids in FTC complaint

AP n SAN FRANCISCO

Nearly two dozen con-sumer, privacy and pub-

lic health groups are urgingUS regulators to investigatewhether children are beingendangered by deceptive appsin Google’s app store forsmartphones running on itsAndroid software.

The 102-page complaintfiled Wednesday with theFederal Trade Commissionalleges Google’s Play store isharming kids by allowingapps that break privacy laws,contain adult content orinclude manipulative adver-tising in a section of its Playstore designed for children.

The call for FTC action isbeing led by two groups, theCampaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and theCenter for Digital Democracy,that have previously attackedGoogle’s approach to kids. InApril, they asked the FTC to

crack down on Google’sYouTube video site for allegedviolations of children’s onlineprivacy. Twenty other groups,including Consumer Action,Public Citizen and the U.S.Public Interest ResearchGroup, joined in the latestcomplaint.

Google issued a state-ment emphasizing its com-mitment to protecting chil-dren while they are online —one of the reasons the com-pany says it prohibits target-ed advertising at childrenunder 13. “We take theseissues very seriously and con-tinue to work hard to removeany content that is inappro-priately aimed at childrenfrom our platform,” Googlesaid.

More than 2 bi l l iondevices worldwide are pow-ered by Google software, witha significant number of thosebeing used by minors. The

complaint focuses on allegedmisconduct under U.S. lawsand regulations. The attemptto pressure the FTC to openan investigation comes amidan intensifying backlashagainst Google, Facebook andother companies that makemost of their money by usingtheir free services to trackpeople’s interests and where-abouts and then mining thatinformation to sell ads tar-geted at them.

The angst has raised thespecter of Congress drawingup tougher regulations tocurb the tech industry’s powerand restrict its ability to com-pile digital dossiers about thepeople who have becomeincreasingly dependent on itsservices. Rep. David Cicilline,a Democrat from RhodeIsland who has been critical ofGoogle, issued a statementsupporting the groups seekingan FTC investigation as did

Sen. Tom Udall, a Democratfrom New Mexico.

“It is past time for theFederal Trade Commission tocrack down to protect chil-dren’s privacy,” Udall said ina statement. Although theFTC doesn’t typically com-ment on whether it will inves-tigate issues raised in com-plaints, it has punished bothGoogle and Apple for what itdeemed to be child exploita-tion in the past. In 2014, itreached a settlement requir-ing Google to refund $19million for allowing apps dis-tributed through its store tocharge children for purchas-es made without parents’ con-sent.

That came after a similaragreement required Apple torefund $32.5 million for in-app purchases made oniPhones, iPads and otherdevices without parents’ per-mission.

PTI n NEW YORK

Social media giant Facebookhas been sharing its users’

personal data, including privatemessages and contact infor-mation for users’ friends, withsome of the world’s largesttechnology companies likeMicrosoft, Amazon, far beyondwhat it has publicly admitted,according to leaked internaldocuments.

Facebook gave Netflix andSpotify the ability to read users’private messages. They allowedMicrosoft’s search engine Bingto see the names of Facebookusers’ friends without permis-sion, and they let Amazonfind users’ names and contactinformation through theirfriends on the platform, TheNew York Times reported onTuesday.

Embroiled in a massivedata breach following theCambridge Analytica scandal,Facebook has been reelingfrom a series of privacy scan-

dals. In March, it was revealedthat a British political consult-ing firm, Cambridge Analytica,improperly used personal dataof up to 87 million Facebookusers.

Facebook gave access touser data to more than 150companies - most of themtech businesses, includingonline retailers and entertain-ment sites, but also automak-ers and media organisations.

In 2011 in an agreementwith the Federal TradeCommission (FTC), Facebook

stated that the company cannotshare user data “without explic-it permission.”

“This is just giving thirdparties permission to harvestdata without you beinginformed of it or giving consentto it,” David Vladeck, who ranthe FTC’s consumer protectionbureau, was quoted as saying bythe report.

The 270-pages internaldocuments, as well as inter-views with about 50 formeremployees of Facebook and itscorporate partners, reveal that

Facebook allowed certain com-panies access to data despite theprotections, the report said.

Their applications soughtthe data of hundreds of mil-lions of people a month, therecords show. The deals, theoldest of which date to 2010,were all active in 2017. Somewere still in effect this year, thereport said.

The documents showedthat “while Facebook users cancontrol what data they sharewith most of the thousands ofapps on Facebook’s platform,some companies had access tousers’ data even if they had dis-abled all sharing.”

Mark Zuckerberg, who co-founded Facebook in 2004,assured US lawmakers in Aprilthat people “have completecontrol” over everything theyshare on Facebook. Heacknowledged that it hadbreached users’ trust and insist-ed that it had instituted stricterprivacy protections long ago.

Facebook gave tech giants access to users’ private messages

Bangkok (AFP): A ThaiYouTube personality is facingdefamation charges after mak-ing comments about dressesworn by Thailand’s MissUniverse candidate, one ofwhich was designed by a daugh-ter of the country’s king.

The monarchy is consid-ered sacred in Thai society andfew dare to criticise the institu-tion for fear of running afoul ofstrict royal insult laws, which aresupposed to only cover theking, queen, heir-apparent andregent. But criticism of other

members of the royalfamily is still consid-ered off-limits formembers of the Thaipublic.

The fashion fra-cas started onMonday afterWa n c h a l e o mJamneanphol, aYouTube person-ality who goes bythe nickname“Mixy Bigmouth”,made unflatter-ing Facebook

comments about a bluedress worn by the ThaiMiss Universe contes-tant and designed by

P r i n c e s sS i r i v a n n a v a r iN a r i r a t a n a .Ja m n e a n p h o l ’scomments wentviral and KitjanutChaiyosburana, an

aspiring politiciancontesting next year’s

national election, toldAFP on Wednesday hefiled defamation

charges against her.“I think internet idols are

like an actor or actress withmany followers... so if theycommit wrongdoing online itshould not end up with justapologies,” Kitjanut saidWednesday.

Under local law, any Thaicitizen is permitted to filedefamation charges on behalf ofanother person, and convictionscan carry prison sentences of upto two years.A Thai policespokesman confirmed that thethe woman was under investi-

gation but she has yet to be for-mally charged.

Wanchaleom — who didnot immediately respond to arequest for comment —removed her original viral postand apologised for her com-ments on Monday night. “ToPrincess SirivannavariNariratana, I had no intentionto insult the monarchy,” shewrote. “I feel remorse and regretfor this incident.” She alsopromised to exercise “wisdomand prudence” for future socialmedia postings.

Storm in a teacup in Britainover eco-friendly bagsLondon: Britons are up inarms over new environmen-tally-friendly teabags that leavea bitter taste in the mouth asthey split open, spilling theircontents into teacups across theland. Yorkshire Tea, the coun-try’s second biggest brand afterPG Tips, launched the newbiodegradable teabags in Juneand has now been forced torespond to a barrage of com-

plaints. “Has anyone elsenoticed that Yorkshire Tea bagsare quite burst-able at the

moment?,” one disgruntleduser, BBC radio 3 presenterElizabeth Alker, said on Twitter.BT Sport football commenta-tor Darren Fletcher wrote thatthe Yorkshire Tea bags were“shambolic”. “Things maynever be the same again!” hesaid. The new bags, which nolonger rely on plastic to staysealed, are splitting whendunked in hot water.

Thai man faces legal woes after Miss Universe dress comments

Pope Francis caresses a child as he meets with faithful on the occasion of the weekly general audience, at the Vatican, Wednesday,

LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 20, 2018usp 13

r What are the latest develop-ments at NIFTEM?

NIFTEM is progressivelygrowing and has been on a consis-tent development pathway. I canconfidently say that we are verywell-established in terms of ourinstructional facilities, the labora-tories and even the incubationfacility, which is new and hascome up during the last one year.We have already conducted thetrial run and are now planning tobring in the budding entrepreneursto work at these facilities on a semi-commercial basis to produce prod-ucts and variants suitable for theIndian market and cuisine. We areon the final stages of the tenderprocess and will soon finalise thesame by the end of this month. Thepreliminary evaluation of the foodtesting laboratory has been com-pleted and we are now awaiting thefinal evaluation for recognisitionby NABL and will then make thelab functional. We have alreadymet the mandatory requirementsto utilise these facilities to bring inmore people into the food process-ing arena.

r How is NIFTEM working inthe field of ready-to-eat productcategory?

The ready-to-eat, ready-to-cook products and many otherfreeze-dried products are beingworked upon which can be takenanywhere and cooked. We arealso working on enhancing theirshelf life. So basically, in freeze dry-ing, we remove the moisture con-tent and maintain the quality of theproduct. For example, mushroomsand some important fruits can befreeze-dried, packed and be storedat cooler temperatures, to be usedat any time. Some products liketomato puree, tomato juice,ketchup and sauces can beprocessed thermally, and thenpacked in tins, bottles or sachets,branded, and sold to the public.Even the fruits can be processedinto juices, pulp, concentrates. Allthese activities are going to comeup in a big way at the IncubationCentre in a month’s time and wewill start the production. Theentrepreneurs at the incubationfacility may brand the products intheir own name but each of theseproducts will have an indicationthat they have been manufacturedat the NIFTEM Incubation Facility.

r What has been the key focusof the food testing lab?

In todays’ quality consciousworld, we have to give detailsregarding not only the compositionof the product but also the pesti-cide, anti-biotic and heavy metalresidues from the health point ofview. Thus, we need to conduct athorough evaluation at variouslevels. The microbes are the majorenemies which spoil food so weneed to conduct a proper evalua-tion of the various pathogenicmicro-organisms which, if at all arepresent, need to be discarded.The testing has to be done at phys-ical, chemical, biological as well ason a sensory level, all of which arepresent here. The reason we wantto make this process a little com-mercial is because, many foodproducts and raw materials, whichare exported, need a similar certi-fication. So, if can provide the cer-tification, we will be able to gen-erate some revenue and maintainthe lab simultaneously.

r There is talk of a specialisedfacility for cold-chain develop-ment. What are your views on this?

We are planning to establish a

Cold-Chain Development Schoolwhich is also a lab, to understandhow the linkages and activitiesrelated to food processing can bemanaged in India. The fresh pro-duce from the farms needs to betransported in a cooler environmentto the locations where it can beprocessed or value added. Thegrading and primary processing isalso value addition but for this, thequality of the original produce hasto be maintained. We have collab-orated with Danfos in this regard,to set up a lab here. So, the differ-ent cut sections required for train-ing is being looked at and I believeit is going to be a very importantfacility for the entire country.

r How effective has the VillageAdoption programme been for thestudents and the community?

We have already sent 17-18batches of students for this outreachprogramme to villages in Haryana,Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. We arealso changing its format. Earlier, thestudents would visit the villages inevery semester for a shorter dura-tion, but once the new format ismade functional, the students willvisit the villages for one semester for36 days. Under this programme,

the students work with the localfarmers, demonstrate the techno-logical advancements to boostproduction, and also educate themon importance of cleanliness. Wehave linked the students to theKrishi Vigyan Kendra (KVKs) ofthe Indian Council of AgricultureResearch (ICAR). Our main objec-tive is capacity building for entre-preneurship and skill develop-ment. We have asked the farmersto send a list of those who maywant to further train in variousaspects of food processing andthese will be linked to the pilot pro-jects as well. It is a symbiotic sys-tem; while villagers gain scientif-ic and technical knowledgethrough students, who promotefuture possibilities of food process-ing among them, the studentsobtain first-hand experience of theIndian rural scenario and under-stand traditional processing tech-nologies adopted by the villagers.They are able to then also facilitatethe process of integrating theunderprivileged sections of ourpopulation with the main stream.

r What role can NIFTEM play toassist exports of processed food?

Basmati rice, which is export-

ed by India to the world alonebrings in substantial foreignexchange annually. There is ademand for processed meat prod-ucts from the Gulf countries, fishand shrimps from the Americanand European countries.Gradually, traditional food prod-ucts, which have a regional tastecan be popularised in the interna-tional market. There is a lot ofdemand for Indian curries andspices in the global marketplaceand this can be leveraged.However, since we process only 10per cent of our produce, we exporta very small percentage of theseproducts. The whole purpose ofNIFTEM is to increase our capac-ity manpower and the awarenessabout quality and demand forprocessed food and also producethe same. I think, at least 30 percent of the food produced shouldbe processed. We can then easilystandardise them and scale upexports.

r What are the challenges in thefood processing industry? Howdo you think these can beaddressed?

The manpower in this indus-try is very low, which is a majorchallenge. The production sys-tem is also weak, since a major percent of the raw material is pro-duced by small holder farms. Theyare unable to meet the require-ments in terms of quality and lackthe facility to bring the produce toone place for further processing.Though farmer producer organi-sations have come up, their effec-tiveness remains an issue. I also feelthat there is a need to reform theleasing policy. We need to make itpossible to allow the leasee to availcredit on leased land for contractfarming and produce crops whichare good for processing. Also, inIndia, a substantial percentage ofthe land area is a dry farm wherewater is not enough and thus thefarmers depend on monsoons.They have to face the vagaries ofweather changes and hence, areunable to manage their productionto meet the cost of production. Weneed to provide them with someguarantee of food production sys-tems, which could be throughwater management, soil nutrientmanagement, integrated pest man-agement and good quality seeds totake care of their production.

Packed with a punch NMDC RECEIVES

FOUR PRSI AWARDS

The National MineralDevelopment Corporation

(NMDC), India’s largest ironore producer, bagged fourprestigious awards at the 40thAll India Public RelationsConference, organised by thePublic Relations Society ofIndia (PSRI) at Dehradunrecently. NMDC bagged theawards in CorporateSustainability Report, CSRProject of WomenEmpowerment, Best PSUOrganisation and CorporateFilm categories. The awards were received by P Jaya Prakash, the DGM(Corporate Communication) on behalf of NMDC from the ChiefMinister of Uttarakhand, Trivendra Singh Rawat, who graced the awardceremony as the chief guest.

KVS-NVS TEACHERS TOP DRAW ATSANGEET KALA SANGAMThe music and art teachers of the KendriyaVidyalaya Sangathan and the Navoday VidyalayaSamiti presented a cultural evening at theclosing ceremony of the three-day KVS-NVSSangeet Kala Sangam at the Dr AmbedkarInternational Centre in New Delhi recently. Theevent was graced by the Secretary (SE&L) of theMHRD, Rina Ray, as the chief guest.

VIT to add 3 new courses

Packed with all things trendy,from fashionable apparel,

funky jewellery, footwear andaccessories, the second edition of‘Fashionnquill’ dazed the capital ina new avatar. This year this exhi-bition-cum-sale was hosted atThe Lalit Hotel, New Delhi andwas presented in the format of atrunk show, titled—Fashionnquill:The Winter Trunk Show.

As many as 30 new and talent-ed designers were seen showcas-ing their collections. The eventproved to be a perfect fusion ofIndian and western wear, target-

ed at the millennial and the work-ing women.

Mithi Kalra, one of the direc-tors of N&M Evenire PrivateLimited, also the organisor of theevent said, “We have alwaysattempted to bring in a platformfor the new comers in the indus-try to showcase their talent. We aretrying to establish a niche for thistype of an exhibition. The design-ers here are either a month old inthe industry or have been aroundfor 20 years in the industry. Theirdesigns are fresh and not some-thing that you can find in the mar-

ket. The reason we hosted thisexhibition at The Lalit Hotel wasto target the crème de la crème ofthe fashion industry, who canafford the styles and also becomebrand ambassadors for the design-ers.”

The other directors, Mohitand Nishant Kumar Tomar,promised that though this editionof the show was more focused onwomen wear, the next editionwould showcase more designerwear for men. Tomar alsoinformed that in March 2019, thecompany is planning to organise

a large scale carnival which will bean open festival of fashion inDelhi. He added, “It is exciting andinspiring to see the quantum oftalent and entrepreneurial spiritthat proliferates in our countryand gratifying to have an oppor-tunity to be part of a process thatwill shape the fashionscape of thefuture.”

C O R P O R A T E B R I E F S

MANOJ KUMAR VARMA APPOINTED DIRECTOR (POWER), BHELOn his appointment as the director on the Board of the BharatHeavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), Manoj Kumar Varma hasassumed the charge as Director (Power). Prior to this, he washeading the company's Power Sector-Southern Region(PSSR), Chennai, as the executive director. Varma is amechanical engineering graduate from SGSITS, Indore and anMBA in marketing from Bhopal University. He has 35 years ofholistic and hands-on experience in the field of energy,industrial systems and infrastructure industries, coveringmajor value chain functions.

ICSI SIGNATURE AWARDS TOREWARD TOP RANKERSThe Institute of Company Secretaries of India(ICSI) has introduced the ‘ICSI SignatureAward Scheme', which will award the top rankholders in the BCom examinations ofuniversities and the toppers of the PGDMcourse of IIMs/ IITs with a Gold Medal and aCertificate. Besides, the top three rank holderswill also be eligible for a full waiver ofregistration fee for Executive Programmestage of the CS course. A memorandum ofunderstanding (MoU) regarding the same wassigned between the ICSI and the SavitribaiPhule Pune University, Pune.

CISF ‘SANRAKSHIKA'ESTABLISHES NIGHT SHELTERCAMP AT RML HOSPITALA 50-bedded night shelter camp (Rein-Basera) under the aegis of ‘Sanrakshika'CISF Wives Welfare Association, hasbeen established at the Ram ManoharLohia Hospital (RML Hospital), in NewDelhi. The camp facility which wasrecently inaugurated by the president ofSanrakshika, Ranjeeta Ranjan, is meantfor the needy attendants accompanyingthe patients admitted in the hospital whocannot afford the private accommodationin the vicinity of the hospital. Theadministration of the RML Hospital hasalso extended required co-operation forestablishing the night shelter.

LKA TO HOLD NATIONAL ART FESTIVAL IN TRIPURAThe Lalit Kala Akademi (LKA), in collaboration with the Directorate ofInformation and Cultural Affairs, Government of Tripura, is organising aweek-long art festival in Agartala. A total of 51 artists from across Indiaare participating of which 30 belong to the north eastern states. Theseartists are being assisted by 51 art students from the College of Art,Agartala. The LKA chairman Uttam Pacharne, said “To commemorate the150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi this year, the LKA hasorganised a number of camps and workshops for artists and exhibitionsfor the public and have extending this tradition to the North East.”

Keeping in view of the advance-ment in the digital era, the

Vellore Institute of Technology—Andhra Pradesh, University hasannounced to launch new courses toensure successful employment of itsstudents with relevant skills. TheVIT chancellor, Dr G Viswanathansaid, “The way we conduct examstraditionally, only assesses studentsbased on their ability to reproduceknowledge. We aim to reform theway we assess our students. We areaiming to match the assessment sys-tem with the outcome-based frame-work which our education andindustry has adopted based on per-formance indicators.” The VIT-APhas ranked at the 13th position, con-secutively for the last three years inthe NIRF Ranking by the Ministryof Human Resource Development.VIT’s innovations in the field of edu-cation and research have set abenchmark for higher education inIndia.

The vice president of the univer-sity, Sankar Viswanathan announcedthat digital skills would be provid-ed to the students through newcourses like the BTech in ArtificialIntelligence, BBA in BusinessAnalytics, Animation and Media

from the upcoming academic year.The university has collaborated withToonz to offer the courses on anima-tion, visual effects and gaming.

The university vice chancellor,Dr D Subhakar, explained that thethree courses to be introduced areAnimation and Film Making-Advanced (AFMA), Visual Effects-Advanced (VFXA) and the 3DFinishing Programme (3D-FP).

The VIT-AP School of Businesswill introduce a BBA in BusinessAnalytics and the VSB is exploringan international credit transfer pro-gram with the WP Carey School ofBusiness, Arizona State University(ASU), USA for a 2+2 program.Under this programme, the studentscan study two years in India and twoyears in USA and get theirUndergraduate degree from ASU.Twelve universities from USA, UK,Australia and Spain will offer inter-national transfership programs.

The registrar of the university,Dr CLV Sivakumar, furtherinformed that to ensure practicaltraining to the BTech students, theuniversity is offering engineeringclinics and 6-month and 9-monthinternship program even from thecompletion of their first year.

FASHIONNQUILL LETS IN FRESH TALENT

The National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM) is roping in entrepreneurs, industrystakeholders and farmers for capacity building in the food processing industry. The institute's Vice Chancellor, DR CHINDIVASUDEVAPPA, talks to ANKITA SAXENA on ways to grow the ready-to-eat and processed food industry

LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 20, 2018

Actress KANGANA RANAUT, whotook over the reigns as director ofher forthcoming film Manikarnika— The Queen of Jhansi, saysdirecting a film is like leadinga worker's life, but she hadfun while she was at it.Asked whether shewants to pursue direc-tion in the future aswell, she said, “I wastelling my sister yes-terday, no actor wantsto be sweaty where 80people are asking youlike 100 questions. I amso comfortable in thisjob that there is noth-ing more that I lovethan directing, eventhough I don't get towear make-up and Idon't get any spe-cial treatment.”

‘KareenaKapooris aninspira-tion fortheworkinggirls.

She has proved thatone can have a suc-cessful career alongwith enjoying theirpersonal life. Theway she has man-aged both her profes-sional and personallife is simply amaz-ing.’—Swara Bhasker

Actress STANA KATIC, who playeddetective Kate Beckett for eight sea-sons in the comedy-crime seriesCastle, says she is proud of thatcharacter.“Kate Beckett is a characterthat I am proud of. I per-sonally don't feel anypressure to break awayfrom the image ofKate Beckett. I thinkback to that charac-ter very fondly,”Katic said.She is now busyworking on thesecond season ofAbsentia inwhich she playsEmily Byrne.Asked how manyseasons she would likeAbsentia to have, Katicsaid, “I don't have a spe-cific number. I think aslong as we tell a goodstory and finish it offstrong... I feel like youhave to know when toend...at a stage where theaudience still wants more.

‘Directing is like aworker's life’

‘I’m proud of thecharacter Beckett’

vivacity 14

Actor VIKRANT MASSEY hasbagged a pivotal role in MeghnaGulzar's forthcoming film in whichactress DEEPIKA PADUKONE willplay the role of acid attack sur-vivor LaxmiAgarwal.“We will start thefilm in the thirdweek of March2019. Vikrant issomebody who Iwanted to workwith since Raazi.“And after I saw him in A Death InThe Gunj... you know there aresome actors that you just want towork with and I'm just glad I gotthe opportunity to have a suitablecharacter for him in this film,which is Deepika's partner,”Meghna said. “I think I can speak for bothDeepika and me that we're reallyexcited that he's playing this part,”she added.

Alittle arrogant but stillloveable, which is abrilliant combination.Self-confident, sure, alittle quirky, edgy,

sharp but has a heart in the theright place. If I list all these quali-ties, it is very difficult for me to saywhether I have described Meerut,where Zero is set, or the characterof Bauua, who is the protagonist,”says director-producer Anand LRai, who is the narrator of a resur-gent India that is rising from theraw earth, dusting itself casuallyand claiming the mike to announceits right to co-exist. This isn’t thefirst time that his protagonist per-sonifies the cities that aren’t shy ofdisembowelling their angularitiesand spilling out their guts. “InRaanjhanaa, Kundan was Benaras,in Tanu Weds Manu, Manu wasDelhi,” he adds.

With mofussil towns lendingthe canvas on which a film’s storyis painted, Rai has been adding lay-ers of complexity with each filmthat shows us a cross-flow of iden-tities that a changing India hasbecome. “My stories are where thereal country lives. When I wasmaking Tanu Weds Manu, nobodyexpected that a girl from a smalltown could be so bold. But now itis acceptable that a Kanpur girl,who studied in Delhi, would haveevolved and developed her own setof ideologies. In Raanjhanaa,Kundan, Dhanush’s character fromBenaras, was organic in his com-

pleteness and could take on theworld. Abhay’s character, whostudied at Jawaharlal NehruUniversity, had his own sensibil-ities and confidence. They repre-sent the country equally welland it is important that we don’thomogenise youth,” he tells us ashe lounges in his suite at a hotelin Gurugram, which overlooksthe road that’s leading to orcoming from, depending onyour perspective, Delhi.

Rai wanted the cast ofZero to travel to Meerut toget a feel of the city but theycouldn’t. However, hedid spend a lot of timethere before he start-ed shooting. Alongwith the shift towardssmaller towns is the readiness toexplore stories where the protag-onists are less than picture-perfectin appearance — something thathad been a no-go zone earlier. Raisays, “Film makers are more con-fident about having real conversa-tions and are more in sync with theaudience which enables us to pre-sent the stories that we do today.It is our way of taking somethingfrom our society and giving backto it. It is about normalising whatwe consider taboos. This is ourchance to say that the so-calledphysically or vertically challengedperson is as good as we are for weall have some flaws. Flaws are beau-tiful — filmmakers are under-standing that and making the

soci-ety compre-

hend that too. One can’tcalculate happiness.Perhaps a girl on a wheel-chair can be happier thanme. It is all about enjoying

and celebrating the incom-pleteness.”

Another manner in which thestory-telling has progressed is theway it looks at different kinds ofrelationships beyond the para-digms of conventional ones. “Zerois complex and layered. If you wantme to describe it, then there is alove story (Shahrukh-Anushka)and then there is a bond(Shahrukh-Katrina). It is not a tri-angle. There is a modern perspec-tive rather than the usual man-woman love story. Somewhere it isalso breaking the rule of stratawhere a top actress and a dwarf canhave a conversation and chemistry,”he says.

Rai believes that as story-tellers, filmmakers have to give theaudience a little extension of them-selves every time they get down onthe floor. “We were limiting our-

selves by working on formu-la. You can’t play safe anymore. If you do, there is morelikelihood of you failing. Go amile and the audience willwalk with you,” he says.

Though any industryassessment would attribute theswing towards unconventionalcontent to a change in audiencetaste, Rai believes there is greaterempathy. “More than the audi-ence acceptability, what is work-ing is that we as makers areunderstanding the audience waybetter. Earlier, we felt a hero withan erectile dysfunction or a geri-atric pregnancy would not beacceptable to the viewer but thatwas because we were judging forthem. The minute we broke downour barriers and thought that wehave to tell a good story, thingschanged. It is a gradual process andduring the journey there were filmslike Tanu Weds Manu, ShubhMangal Saavdhan, Vicky Donorand Badhai Ho. For the first time,there is no talking down from ourrarefied spaces but a give-and-take.There is an unsaid conversationthat has put both the director andaudience at ease with each other.A decade ago, a Badhai Ho wouldhave been rejected by the studio

but today it is ideal.” While many feel that it is the

the digital medium which is pow-ering the change in content, Raiagrees only partially. “It is a veryhealthy competition. The digitalmedium is like a delineation tool,because it helps us understandwhat is cinematic and what is not.What the digital platform hasdone is give us more clarity andbifurcation,” he says. However, heis yet to foray into the new plat-form. “It’s a different structure andform and needs a different kind ofstory-telling. I need to under-stand that before I start,” he adds.

A consistent theme that runsthrough his films are strongwomen characters, who are no wallflowers or pushovers and whomRai insists are drawn from theworld around him. “Women todayare strong; they are holding upfamilies, while making us proud.They aren’t as dependent as theywere earlier. So Datto from Jhajjarin Haryana can take care of herfamily and be an able athlete in thesame breath and not feel apologetic

about loving a man who comesfrom a different cultural context.Why, she even unsettles the world-ly wise Tanu,” says Rai as hechooses each word carefully.

While being true to his story-line, Rai has been undaunted by thestar system, having worked with astring of actors, young and old.This is the first time that he hasworked with SRK and has nothingbut praise for King Khan. “He real-ly works hard on the detailing ofany character. He is well-read anddoes his homework even thoughpeople might believe, that given hisstar status he doesn’t. Apart fromthat, he is fun to work with and themost obedient actor. In fact, onehas to be very careful about askinghim what one wants because hewon’t stop till he delivers his 100per cent,” he says. He was quitecomfortable working with the trioof topliners, SRK, Anushka andKatrina. “Very easy to work with,professional, loveable and intelli-gent. At no point did they make mefeel that I was working with bigstars. We were aiming at the sametarget of telling a story as best aswe could. Life was beautiful andthere were no egos or tantrums.”

The filmmaker ensures thatthe audience, too, believes that lifeis beautiful. “I want to give themtheir money’s worth for the 2.5hours that they spend in the the-atre. There should be somethingthat they take away but it shouldbe layered with entertainment ina manner that it is not in yourface,” he says. And though he isnow a producer himself, he main-tains his balance between his dualroles. “I am a director by choiceand a producer by chance. Theproducer in me gives everythingto the director, which the latter inme wants from the former. As adirector, I want a certain kind ofspace, responsibility and work. Iunderstand the economics of film-making very well and this enabledme to create a platform, theColour Yellow Productions, whichI can claim is ‘ek director ka pro-duction house’. I don’t direct filmsevery year. I do it once every twoor two-and-a-half years. This plat-form is for like-minded peoplewho can direct films that I can’tlike a Tumbadd or Newton.”Clearly, he has attained a balanceof sorts.

With mobiles being the prima-ry source of accessing socialmedia apps, it is not surpris-

ing then that it is the brands whichpower these means of communiction,are making waves on Twitter.

Everything from breaking newsand entertainment to sports, politics arediscussed on social media. This year,some Indian brands on Twitter raisedthe bar for consumer engagementthrough innovative and inspirationalcampaigns. From driving brand aware-ness to product launches, Indian brandshave adopted an always-on approach tocultivate a deep, meaningful relation-ship with their customers.

While brands across industriesmake efforts to engage their audienceon the platform, Twitter shed the spot-light on the top 10 brands based onengagement that shone throughoutthe year and rose above the rest.

TOP 10 MOST ENGAGING BRANDS

Claiming five spots in the list of top 10Most Engaging Brands in India, it wasthe mobile phone majors that lead theway. Honor India’s Diwali campaign#YeDiwaliHonorWali tweet promotingthe #Honor9N and #HonorPlay gar-nered close to 20K retweets to lead theway.

Samsung Mobile India took the sec-ond place, with its emotive video tweetannouncing the partnership with AshaEk Hope foundation gaining the mostretweets.

OnePlus India stood a close thirdthanks to its innovative promotions ofthe OnePlus 5 and 6 variants. It was fol-lowed by Xiaomi India and MotorolaIndia respectively.

The monopoly of the mobilephones at the top was broken by theState Bank of India which claimed thesixth spot. It used the social mediumin an exemplary manner to makeannouncements that impacted audi-ences, whereas Wipro occupied the sev-enth place with updates regardingorganisational growth and#WOOLmagazine. Amazon India

secured the eighth position, with the#ShareforOnePlus6 campaign. The restof the list was closed by Tata Sky withits #Wishbox initiative and Mercedes-Benz India’s innovative gamificationchallenge.

TOP 10 BRANDS BASED ON VIDEO VIEWS

Videos continued to be the flavour ofthe year, with an increasing number ofbrands opting for it in different formatsto visually showcase their products andservices, driving up audience engage-ment.

Google India claimed the top posi-tion, outranked other brands across cat-egories, with its exemplary use ofvideo for audience engagement. Thelaunch of the Pixel 2 featuring AnushkaSharma for example, earned the brandover 3.35M video views on the app.

Samsung Mobile India graspedthe next spot with its effective use ofvideo to announce collaborationsthrough emotive storytelling, whileHonor India secured the third placewith sales announcements throughsnappy videos.

The fourth and fifth places weretaken by auto brands Maruti SuzukiNexa and Tata Motors with their topvideo tweets themed around#WorldOfNEXABlue initiative andunveiling of #TataHarrier’s name

respectively. Motorola India claimed the sixth

spot. The organisation shared a videohighlighting the dual rear-camera setupand unique modes and effects of theMoto G6 camera.

Up next was the video tweet byFlipkart in collaboration with MaheshBabu, (Telugu actor) which promotedthe big billion days sale which gener-ated a considerable amount of buzz. LGIndia claimed the second last spot byinvolving their target audience througha conversational video advertisementasking the app users to select the bestfeature of the LG Smart TV.

The Vistara Airlines captured theattention of Twitterati with its 2018brand film featuring Deepika Padukoneas she shared her flying experience withit. The HeroMotoCorp built a greatengagement by giving the app users realtime access to the launch event ofXtreme 200R.

TOP 5 MOST ENGAGING AUTO BRANDS

One of the most prominent industriesto actively engage with audiences onsocial media is the auto sector. WithAuto Expo kicking the year off, brandsamped up their efforts to drive conver-sations with Indian consumers in 2018.Topping the chart, Mercedes-BenzIndia indulged fans on the social appthrough innovative ways, like challeng-ing them to test their speed quotientwith Twitter gamification to win excit-ing prizes.

With people logging in to connectwith companies for a variety of reasons,brands are now looking at unique andrelevant ways of reaching out to theiraudiences on the platform. Notably,Mahindra and Maruti Suzuki adopt-ed a multi-prong handle strategy, as away to cater to different customer needsand succeeded in ramping up theirengagement levels. While the aggregateof brand-related handles propelledMahindra to the second spot, MarutiSuzuki Nexa established itself at thethird position.

Hyundai India and Tata Motorsrounded up the list at the fourth andfifth spots respectively.

TOP 5 MOST ENGAGING BFSI BRANDS

People expect direct customer servicefrom brands through the app today, andthose who are able to exceed customerexpectations, are featured in Top 5 mostengaging BFSI brands list.

State Bank of India emerged top ofthe list, followed closely by Yes Bankand Paytm. Bajaj Allianz Life andHDFC Ltd. took the fourth and fifthpositions respectively. Leveraging thelive, conversational and public natureof twitter, BFSI brands are utilising theplatform to keep their audiences abreastof the latest developments in the indus-try as well as their individual organi-sations.

It was a room full of men. In a year wheninclusivity and gender equality havebeen buzzwords, an all-male delegation

representing the Indian film industrymeeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi todiscuss issues plaguing the business — thattoo twice — has drawn considerable flakfrom women filmmakers and netizens.

“Would be great to have female rep-resentation in these delegations. It is2018,” said Alankrita Shrivastava, thedirector of the film Lipstick Under MyBurkha, unleashing a stream of messagespointing at the apparent gender imbalancein the meeting.

The delegation, including the likes ofKaran Johar, Akshay Kumar, BhushanKumar, Siddharth Roy Kapur and PrasoonJoshi, met Modi. They pitched for lowerand uniform rates of GST for the entertain-ment industry in India, apart from callingfor the development of Mumbai as theglobal entertainment capital, through var-ious initiatives and proactive approaches.

But a big question it raised was —“Where are all the women?” — in whatseemed like a reminder of a similar ‘Modiand film fraternity delegation’ meet held.

Shrivastava said, “I believe women areequal stakeholders in the film industry andoverall in the Indian economy. Policies thatconcern the film industry should be dis-cussed and shaped by collectives that haveequal representation of women. We can-not just assume that only men somehowknow everything and will decide every-thing.” She said that this held true for allindustries and all kinds of panels and del-egations. “The time is up on having all malegroups leading the way. If we truly want amore equal world, we have to makeproactive efforts towards creating it. Andthat will make us a genuinely progressivecountry,” added she.

Popular film producer Guneet Monga,whose co-production Period. End ofSentence, a short documentary, hasadvanced in the Oscar race, appreciated thegovernment’s interest in hearing out issuesof the Indian film industry. “It is great thatthe government and producers from filmindustry are meeting and I hope it helpsthe industry. It would have been wonder-ful for woman producers to be part of suchinitiatives too,” Monga said.

Acclaimed actress TannishthaChatterjee, who is turning director, said itwould have been great to have a “more

inclusive representation with women andfilm fraternity” from all other regions.

“Indian cinema is not only about Hindifilms, considering the fact that this year’sOscar entry from India was not a Hindifilm and directed by a woman,” Tannishthasaid while pointing out at the lack of rep-resentation from the regional film indus-tries at Modi’s meeting as well.

Twitter remained abuzz with indepen-dent writers and columnists calling out themeeting for being “half-baked male-dominated.” Akshay wrote on socialmedia, “Heartfelt thank you to the hon-ourable Prime Minister Narendra Modijifor taking out time to hear us at length,discuss issues pertaining to our industryand assuring positive consideration of sug-gestions.”

Karan, head honcho of DharmaProductions, wrote, “It was enlighteningto hear the honourable Prime MinsiterNarendra Modi shared his views on ourindustry’s soft power status and thestrength of our cinema... He gave ourmedia and entertainment representativesa patient and solid hearing.”

T-Series head Bhushan Kumar said, “Itwas my honour to be a part of an indus-try discussion with honourable PrimeMinister Narendra Modiji. The filmindustry’s contribution to the entertain-ment sector will see exponential growthin coming years and will put India on theglobal map.”

On his part, Modi wrote on socialmedia that the meeting involved “anextensive and fruitful” interaction. “Thedelegation spoke about the strides beingmade by the film and entertainmentindustry, and gave valuable inputs relat-ing to GST for their sector. Happy to seethe passion among members of the filmand entertainment industry towards thedevelopment of India. They talked atlength about ways to further Mumbai’sdevelopment, particularly with regard tomaking it a global hub for entertainment.”

Actress Gul Panag voiced what manyothers felt, “Hope the delegation includessome women next time.”

Not to forget, at the 49th InternationalFilm Festival of India this year, the IndianPanorama feature film jury comprised 12people, but not a single woman. And thegovernment-organised film jamboree alsokept #MeToo discussions at bay.

—IANS

OF CHANGE

WINDS

Producer-director ANAND L RAI’S latestventure Zero is a reflection of thetransformation that is underway in the Hindifilm industry, says SAIMI SATTAR

‘ZERO IS COMPLEX AND

LAYERED. THERE’S A

LOVE STORY

(SHAHRUKH-ANUSHKA)

AND THEN THERE IS A

BOND (SHAHRUKH-

KATRINA). IT’S NOT A

TRIANGLE. THERE’S A

MODERN PERSPECTIVE

RATHER THAN THE

USUAL MAN-WOMAN

LOVE STORY’

The film industry’s women brigade took up cudgels to highlight the apparentgender imbalance at a meeting of its representatives with the Prime Minister

The missing half

Mobile phone companies and the auto sector occupied the top 10 slots throughtheir innovative campaigns on social media

Terms of engagement

Photo: Pankaj Kumar

LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 20, 2018 sport 15

NEW KIT FOR INDIAN FOOTBALLNew Delhi: The Indian football team will bedonning new kits in the new year, starting with theircampaign in the AFC Asian Cup. The continentalshowpiece will be held in the UAE from January 5to February 1. The launch of the national team'snew kit took place in the Capital on Wednesdaywith seven players - Sunil Chhetri, Gurpreet SinghSandhu, Sandesh Jhingan, Jeje Lalpekhlua,Rowllin Borges, Shubhasish Bose and Pritam Kotalwalking the ramp. The kit sponsors, Six5Six havesigned a five-year deal with Football SportsDevelopment Limited (FSDL), the commercialpartners of All India Football Federation (AIFF), andwill be involved with national teams across all agegroups and genders, as per the agreement.

KISAN CRICKET LEAGUE LAUNCHEDNew Delhi: The first edition of Kisan CricketLeague - Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial Cup ofHope will start from 20th February 2019 and endon 20th March 2019, a day before the festival ofcolors - Holi. The event introduces a fresh shortformat cricket tournament and is first of its kindwhere ones only qualifications are 'Are you aVillager between 17-24 years & are you an aspiringCricket Player'! It is a brand-new gift ofopportunities for 'sons of the soil', youngstersfrom Rural India. Atul Pandey, the organizer of theevent calls it a tribute to one of India's favorite son,the iconic representation of poise and humility -Late Prime Minister Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri. Headds that Kisan Cricket will have 8 teams - MightyHimalyans, Frontier Gabroos, Awadhi Brothers,Eastern Eagles, Western Tharyans,OruvanThalaivas, Sahyadri Rangers and a special team fortribal youngsters, The Birsa Boys. The matches willbe organized in 8 Non-Metro Cities across Indiaand will be telecast live on one of the principalsports broadcasters in Indian footprint.

BOPANNA-DIVIJ GIVEN TOP BILLING Pune: Asian Games Gold medallist pair of DivijSharan and Rohan Bopanna was Wednesdaynamed as the top seed in the men's doubles eventof the Tata Open Maharashtra, starting hereDecember 31. Sharan, who briefly became India'snumber one doubles pair, and veteran Bopannarecently joined forces, keeping in mind the 2020Tokyo Olympics. Tata Open will be their firsttournament together. Radu Albot and Malek Jaziriwill be the second seed while Phillip Oswald andTim Puetz are seeded third. The team of MarceloArevalo and Jamie Cerretani is seeded fourth.Veteran star Leander Paes will team up withMexico's Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela with whom hewon the Santo Domingo Challengher title andended runner-up at Brest, Monterrey and Chicagoin the 2018 season.

DHAWAL BOOST FOR MUMBAI Mumbai: Former champions Mumbai, languishingway down in the points table, got a boost with thereturn to the squad of senior pacer Dhawal Kulkarnifor their Ranji Trophy Elite Group A game againstSaurashtra. Kulkarni, who was out of actionfollowing an injury, has been named in the squad ofthe 41-time champions for their game againstSaurashtra beginning here on Saturday. The squad,announced by the Mumbai Cricket Association onits website on Wednesday, would be led by in-formbatsman Siddhesh Lad. Mumbai need to defeatSaurashtra and get full points to stay in the hunt fora berth in the quarter-finals. They are in the 13thspot in the combined Group A and B points tablewith 8 points in their kitty.

PIRATES PLAY THRILLING TIE Panchkula: Patna Pirates scored three points inless than 20 seconds to pull off a 40-40 tie againstBengaluru Bulls in a thrilling Pro Kabaddi Leaguematch here on Wednesday. Vikas Jaglan was thehero for Patna as he got one tackle and two raidpoints to save the Pirates from a certain defeat.Pardeep Narwal was the top scorer for PatnaPirates with 17 points. For Bengaluru Bulls, RohitKumar scored 16 points while Mahender got a highfive in defence. Patna Pirates are still in contentionof a place in the playoffs while Bengaluru Bullshave already qualified.

ANUP KUMAR ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT Panchkula: Anup Kumar, one of the mostimpactful kabaddi players the country has seen, onWednesday announced his retirement withimmediate effect, drawing curtains to an illustrious15-year career. A veteran in the sport, Arjunaawardee Anup began his international career in2006 at the South Asian Games in Sri Lanka. He ledIndia to Gold medal at the Asian Games and wasalso part of the team which repeated the feat in the2014 edition. The 35-year-old had also led India tomemorable Kabaddi World Cup title triumph in2016. In season 2 of the Pro Kabaddi League, Anupcaptained U Mumba and led the team to victory.

Agencies

SINGLES

PTI n PERTH

Australian coach JustinLanger says he quite likedIndia's aggressive yet not-

crossing-the-line approach inthe second Test and insisted thatthe heated exchanges betweenVirat Kohli and Tim Paine werehumorous not abusive.

India skipper Kohli and hisAustralian counterpart Paineclashed on the field a few timesand exchanged a lot of words,with physical contact almostbecoming a reality at one point.

However, Langer said that heenjoyed the confrontation.

"I thought it was brilliant. Asthe two captains and they're try-ing to stamp their authority onthe game and I don't think at anypoint there was any abuse or anyreal aggression to it," Langer told'Fox Cricket'.

"In fact there was a bit ofhumour and there's been a lot oftalk about banter. There's got tobe some in a Test match. It's agreat part of the game, and therewas actually a bit of humour, a bitof Aussie humour as well.

"That's what we pride our-selves on — we've got a bad rep-utation in a lot of ways, but whenthere's a bit of humour in it Ithought it was a good exchange,"he said.

Langer said he was happythat his team could stand itsground against an aggressiveIndia during the Test.

"...It was quite emotional atthe end of day three to be hon-est because I felt India had beenreally aggressive. I love it andthat's what Test cricket is reallyabout. But we just needed to keepstanding our ground with ourskill, and hopefully we did thatin this Test match," he said.

Asked about that particularmoment when Kohli and Painewere almost in each other's phys-ical space, Langer said it was allpart of the theatrics.

"I think the days of DennisLillee and Javed Miandad aregone. I think Andrew Symondsdid it to a spectator one day, itwas one of the best shirt-frontsyou've ever seen in your life, butI can't ever imagine that in theenvironment we're now in withso many cameras," he said.

"It'd be absolutely silly forthat to happen. That's not crick-et. They (Paine and Kohli) gotclose, but in a lot of ways it's nota contact sport. We get that, butit was all part of that theatre ofTest cricket and I didn't see any-thing malicious in that."

India lost the second Test by146 runs as Australia pulledlevel 1-1 in the series.

Langer said that the win —Australia's first since the balltampering scandal — was morerelief than joyous.

"When we got Rishabh Pantout, that was the first time inabout 16 hours that I relaxed. Ijust had this sneaking suspicion

- he's a very dangerous player,when he got out I thought 'oknow we can maybe enjoy it',"Langer said.

"I remember my first Testhundred, if you go to my housethere's the bat I had, and it's justa relief after all that time. It's

probably eight years, and thatwas the emotion. In a lot of waysthat's the emotion now, relief toget the result."

"A lot of them (Australiancricketers) have been bashed fornine months. Now they can sitback and enjoy it."

India made the mistake ofnot going with a full-time spin-ner and it proved costly in theend, with Nathan Lyon pickingman-of-the-match award for hiseight wickets.

Langer paid tribute to theoff-spinner.

"When Mohammed Shamiwas bowling his aggressive spell(in the second innings on dayfour), I was nervous to watch andwas thinking 'maybe we shoulddeclare now because we didn'twant anything to happen toNathan Lyon (or any of ourbowlers)," he said.

"Kohli's the best player in theworld. Those two wickets (forLyon on day four), what heallows us to do by bowling sowell is give our fast bowlers a bitmore of a spell. And he can bowlso well, not just holding up anend but he's taking wickets forus," said Langer.

PTI n PERTH

Former Australian pacer MitchellJohnson slammed India captain Virat

Kohli, describing his behaviour as "disre-spectful" and "silly" during the second Test.

Kohli and Australia captain TimPaine were involved in a series of heatedexchanges, which at one point promptedumpire Chris Gaffaney to step in to dis-solve the tension.

However, once the second Test endedwith Australia beating India by 146 runs,both the captains played down the issue,saying no line was crossed.

But Johnson was extremely critical ofKohli's behaviour during the Test.

"At the end of the match, you shouldbe able to look each other in the eyes, shakehands and say 'great contest'," he wrote ina column for Fox Sports.

"Virat Kohli could not do that withTim Paine, shaking the Australian captain'shand but barely making eye contact withhim. To me, that is disrespectful.

"Kohli gets away with more than mostcricketers simply because he is ViratKohli and he gets placed on a pedestal butthis Test left the Indian captain lookingsilly," he wrote.

BCCI on Tuesday came out in supportof Kohli, rubbishing media reports inAustralia which claimed that Kohli hadbragged about being the best batsman inthe world while ridiculing Paine as a"stand-in captain".

Johnson said that Kohli didn't his keepwords after making pre-series claims thathe won't initiate any confrontations.

"Kohli has contradicted the things hesaid at the start of the series. He said hewas a changed person - that he was com-

ing in with a different attitude to last timeand wasn't going to initiate anything. Whatwe saw this Test says otherwise," he wrote."From my experiences with him and whatI am seeing as an observer now, not muchhas changed. It was disappointing and thatis not the only area where he let himselfdown." Kohli scored a sparkling 123 in thefirst innings before being dismissed in a

controversial fashion following a con-tentious catch at slip by Peter Handscomb.

Johnson was offended with Kohli fornot acknowledging the standing ovationat Perth stadium after his dismissal.

"To me the catch was given out so youaccept it and move on and as a player whohas scored a hundred you acknowledge thestanding ovation," he said.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Virat Kohli should remain the way heis, said former teammates Zaheer

Khan and Praveen Kumar on Wednesday,staunchly defending the combative Indiacaptain, who has copped criticism fromAustralian legends for his on-field behav-iour.

Allan Border, Mike Hussey, MitchellJohnson and even India's Sanjay Manjrekarhas expressed their displeasure overKohli's on-field antics in the ongoing seriesDown Under.

"I would say (Virat) stick to what youknow best. Stick to what has got you somuch of success. You can't move awayfrom your success formula. It doesn'tmatter what others are saying (aboutKohli). Series in Australia have alwaysbeen (intense) like this," former pacespearhead Zaheer said.

Ex-India pacer PraveenKumar could not agreemore with Zaheer.

"Kohli played withaggression at the U-16,U-19 and Ranji Trophylevel. What is the issue ifhe is showing the sameaggression while playingfor India? I have playeda lot of cricket with himand I can safely say thathe can't play his bestcricket without aggres-sion," said Kumar, a fineswing bowler in his hey-days, during the launchof Ferit Cricket Bash.

Both Zaheer and Praveen also ravedabout the performance of India's paceattack which has helped the team take 40wickets in the opening two Tests.

"They have been spot on with the exe-cution of their plans. Bumrah has beenproviding that X factor, Shami has beenin great form, Ishant has used his experi-ence very well, someone like Bhuvneshwaris waiting for his turn and Umesh has gotheaps of potential.

"Even though Umesh has had a toughgame in Perth, he has the ability to taketwo three quick wickets like Bumrah andShami."

Zaheer called the current attack asIndia's best ever.

"I think as a unit, yes (they arethe best ever) when you look at thefour five fast bowlers on tour. In along long time, you can see the

potential of each and every fastbowler including the bench

strength," he said.One of India's finest

seamers, Zaheer said the vis-itors remain favourites towin the series despite beingoutplayed in the second Test.

"The fact that you wonthe first Test, it was nevergoing to be easy after that.Australian team was actual-ly on the backfoot afterAdelaide but now the seriesis levelled.

"But before India depart-ed for Australia, they werebilled as favourites. They

still are," added Zaheer.

PTI n MUMBAI

The next step in the hunt forIndia's new women's cricket

coach will be taken here onThursday when short-listed can-didates, including Gary Kirsten,Herschelle Gibbs and incumbentRamesh Powar, appear for inter-views before the BCCI selectionpanel.

The other shortlisted candi-dates out of the 28 applicants whowill be interviewed are W VRaman, Venkatesh Prasad, ManojPrabhakar, Trent Johnston, MarkColes, Dimitri Mascarenhas andBrad Hogg.

The high-profile short-listwhich will be interviewed by anad-hoc panel comprising ex-Indiaplayers Kapil Dev, AnshumanGaekwad and ShanthaRangaswamy.

It is learnt that most of theforeigners will give their presen-tation via Skype while locals likePowar will appear in person.

"The ad-hoc panel comprisesformer players of high repute. Ihave no doubt that the commit-

tee will pick the best one," a BCCIofficial said.

The Supreme Court-appoint-ed Committee of Administrators(COA), comprising chairmanVinod Rai and former India cap-tain Diana Edulji, have beendivided over the coach selectionprocess.

While Edulji wanted Powar tocontinue at least till the NewZealand tour starting next month,Rai instructed the BCCI top brass

to invite fresh applications.Powar's controversial interim

tenure ended on November 30after a bitter fallout with ODI cap-tain and senior player Mithali Rajover selection issues.

The board is now going aheadwith the interview process.

Powar decided to apply afterT20 captain Harmanpreet Kaurand her deputy Smriti Mandhanacame out in strong support of theformer India spinner.

AFP nWELLINGTON

Sri Lanka battled to a rain-affected draw inthe first Test against New Zealand on

Wednesday after the Black Caps were unableto break an epic stand by Kusal Mendis andAngelo Mathews.

The tourists were 287 for three in their sec-ond innings — still nine runs away from aninnings defeat — when the umpires called timewith only 13 overs bowled on the final day.

Mendis was unbeaten on 141 andMathews 120 not out at stumps after a 274-run stand that, along with the weather,allowed Sri Lanka to salvage a draw.

New Zealand will view the draw as amissed opportunity after they took control ofthe Test with a mammoth 578 in the firstinnings, anchored by Tom Latham's unbeat-en 264.

Latham's epic effort overhauled formerEngland captain Alastair Cook's 244 as thehighest score by an opener carrying their batin Test history.

The emphatic performance should havegiven the New Zealand bowlers two full daysto attack a Sri Lanka line-up that showed lit-tle fight in the first innings, but Mathews andMendis responded with a masterclass of theirown.

The pair came together late on day threewith Sri Lanka reeling at 13 for three in their

second dig, and batted through the whole ofday four, fending off a barrage of bouncers fromthe New Zealanders in a stubborn rearguardaction that, along with the weather, allowed SriLanka to salvage a draw.

It was the only time in New Zealand thata full day's play has been completed withouta Test wicket falling.

The partnership was also a Sri Lankanrecord against the Black Caps. The draw snapsa four-Test losing streak against the Black Capson New Zealand soil. The second and final Testbegins on December 26 in Christchurch, wherethe tourists have never won in three attempts.

AFP n DHAKA

Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan was fined 15 per-cent of his match fee for shouting at the umpire dur-

ing Monday's opening Twenty20 international againstWest Indies, the International Cricket Council said.

Shakib was also handed one demerit point, his sec-ond such penalty since the introduction of the systemin September 2016, for the offence during hosts' eight-wicket defeat.

Shakib now has two demerit points, having beenhanded one for an offence during a Twenty20 againstSri Lanka in March this year.

Shakib showed dissent while batting after theumpire did not call a wide in the 14th over of theBangladesh innings.

"He first shouted at the umpire and then gotinvolved in a prolonged discussion," said an ICC state-ment issued late Tuesday.

"After the end of the match, Shakib admitted theoffence and accepted the sanction," it said, adding noformal hearing was required.

Shakib scored 61 off 43 balls in the game in Sylhetbut could not prevent a humiliating loss for his side.

West Indies bowled out Bangladesh for 129 andknocked off the target with 55 balls in hand to take 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

Shai Hope starred for the visitors as he bagged hisfirst T20 international fifty in just 16 balls.

The second and third matches will be held in Dhakaon Thursday and Saturday.

Bangladesh swept West Indies 2-0 in the precedingTest series before winning the three-match one-day inter-national series 2-1.

Langer loves India's aggressionAustralian coach admits to admiringvisitor's aggression in Perth Test callingverbal banter between skippers ashumorous and interesting

Kohli was silly and disrespectful: Johnson ‘Virat doesn't need to

tone down his aggression’

Kirsten, Gibbs, Powar toappear for interview today

SHAKIB FINED FORSHOUTING AT UMPIRE

RAIN, EPIC STAND

SAVE SRI LANKA

Ramesh Powar discuss team tactics with Indian Eves before game ICC

THERE WAS A BIT

OF HUMOUR AND

THERE'S BEEN A

LOT OF TALK

ABOUT BANTER.

THERE'S GOT TO

BE SOME IN A

TEST MATCH. IT'S

A GREAT PART OF

THE GAME, AND

THERE WAS

ACTUALLY A BIT

OF HUMOUR, A BIT

OF AUSSIE

HUMOUR AS WELL

LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 20, 2018 sport 16

AFP n LONDON

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was onWednesday named asManchester United's caretaker

manager until the endof the season follow-ing the sacking ofJose Mourinho.

The formerUnited strikerwill take chargeof the first teamwith immediateeffect and willremain in placewhile the club looksfor a new full-timemanager.

Mourinho was axed on Tuesdayafter just two-and-half years in chargeat Old Trafford, with the 20-timesEnglish champions languishing in sixthplace in the Premier League, 19 pointsbehind leaders Liverpool.

Solskjaer, 45, will be joined by MikePhelan as first-team coach, workingalongside Michael Carrick andKieran McKenna.

"Manchester United is in myheart and it's brilliant to be comingback in this role," said theNorwegian. "I'm really looking for-ward to working with the very tal-

ented squad we have, the staff andeveryone at the club,"

Executive vice chairman EdWoodward said: "Ole is a club

legend with huge experi-ence, both on the

pitch and incoaching roles.

"His histo-ry atManchesterUnited meanshe lives andbreathes theculture hereand everyoneat the club isdelighted tohave him andMike Phelan

back. We areconfident they

will unite theplayers and the

fans as we head intothe second half ofthe season."

U n i t e dappeared toa c c i d e n t l yannounce theappointmenton their web-site onTuesday, witha video post-ed on theclub's offi-

cial website celebrating Solskjaer.A video of him scoring the winner

for United in their 1999 ChampionsLeague final triumph against BayernMunich was accompanied with theheadline 'The most famous night ofOle's career'.

Norwegian Prime Minister ErnaSolberg also appeared to confirmSolskjaer's appointment on Twitter.

On Wednesday she tweeted:"FINALLY CONFIRMED! Great dayfor Norwegian football. Good luckkeeping control of the Red Devils,@olegs26_ole."

Solskjaer joined United as a play-er from Molde in 1996 and was part ofAlex Ferguson's team that won the tre-ble of the Champions League, PremierLeague and FA Cup in 1998/99.

He scored 126 goals in 366 appear-ances for United between 1996 and2007 and in 2008 he became the club'sreserve-team manager, before taking the

managerial role at Molde in Norway.

CARDIFF CHALLENGEThe Norwegian's first game in

charge of Manchester United willbe Saturday's trip to former clubCardiff.

Solskjaer managed the Bluebirdsbetween January 2014 and September2014, failing to stop them being rele-gated from the Premier League, return-ing to Molde in 2015.

Speaking moments beforeSolskjaer's appointment was madeofficial, former United first-team coachRene Meulensteen warned it would bea huge job for the Norwegian.

"It would be a good choice in termsof the fact that they want to bring backsome of the spirit that was at United inthe time of Sir Alex Ferguson, and OleGunnar Solskjaer was a big part of that,"he told Sky Sports News.

"In that respect I can understandthey were looking for a candidate whocan live up to those expectations.

"If they do decide for Ole and Oledecides to accept then again it is a bigask for everybody. But I think in theshort term it would be a good choiceto make."

Molde have confirmed thatSolskjaer will return to the club in May,with chief executive officer OysteinNeerland saying they are happy to"lend" their coach to United.

Tottenham manager MauricioPochettino and former Real Madridboss Zinedine Zidane are among thebookmakers' favourites to take theUnited job on a full-time basis at theend of the season.

AFP n LEICESTER

Manchester City survived apenalty shoot-out to reach

the League Cup semi-finals asyoung keeper Arijanit Muricstarred in the dramatic finale tothe holders' win over Leicesteron Tuesday.

Pep Guardiola's side tookthe lead when Kevin De Bruynemarked his return from injurywith a fine finish in the first halfat the King Power Stadium.

Marc Albrighton cancelledout De Bruyne's first goal sinceApril with a late equaliser to setup the 3-1 shoot-out win.

Muric, making his secondCity appearance in place of therested Ederson, stole the spot-light as the 20-year-old Kosovointernational made two penaltysaves to clinch his team's lastfour berth.

Just hours after Guardiola'sold rival Jose Mourinho wassacked by Manchester Unitedafter their worst start for 28years, City could afford to makeeight changes and still wentthrough as they chase the thirdtrophy of the Guardiola era.

"A tough game, it is alwaysdifficult at Leicester. We playedwith a guy (Eric Garcia) who is17 years old and some injuredplayers, but it was a good game,"Guardiola said.

De Bruyne added: "I feel stiffbut I am happy to contribute. Tobe out for so long and to play 70

minutes is a good sign for me."We want to win titles so

there's two games more and wecan battle for another trophy."

Guardiola's men had beat-en Leicester on penalties at thesame stage of the League Cuplast season.

Leicester had more recentspot-kick success after beatingWolves and Southampton onpenalties in the previous tworounds, but it was City who pre-vailed again. Leicester's ChristianFuchs and City's RaheemSterling both shot over.

Muric seized the momentwith saves to deny JamesMaddison and Caglar Soyuncubefore Zinchenko drilled in thewinner. Third tier Burton areinto the semi-final for the firsttime in their history after a shock1-0 win at Championship pro-motion chasers Middlesbrough.

Sixth in the second tier,Middlesbrough made a host ofchanges and were punished bytheir lowly opponents.

Burton, 15th in League One,is the first team from the thirdtier or lower to reach the semi-finals since Sheffield United in2014-15. Jake Hesketh put NigelClough's side into the lead in the48th minute, the on-loanSouthampton midfielder firinghome from the edge of thearea. Clough won the LeagueCup twice as a player withNottingham Forest in 1989 and1990.

Ole Gunnar steps into

Mourinho’s big boots

MANAGERIAL STATISTICS

Team From To P W D L Win %

Molde 9 Nov 2010 2 Jan 2014 125 69 25 31 55.2

Cardiff City 2 Jan 2014 18 Sept 2014 30 9 5 16 30.0

Molde 21 Oct 2015 19 Decr 2018 118 66 19 33 55.9

Man Utd 19 Dec 2018 present — — — — —

Total 273 144 49 80 52.7

CAREER STATISTICS

Club Time Period Matches Goals

Molde 1995-1996 50 40

Man Utd 1996-2007 366 126

Total 1995-2007 416 166

Manchester United appoint former great to take charge until end of the season

MANCHESTER:Tottenhammanager Mauricio Pochettino hasrefused to rule out replacing JoseMourinho at Manchester United.

The Argentine signed a newfive-year contract with Tottenhamin May and has spoken at lengthabout wanting to stay with theclub as they prepare to move intotheir new stadium.

But reports followingMourinho's exit suggestedPochettino is privately open to thepossibility of moving to OldTrafford.

"What is going to happen inthe summer? What is going tohappen tomorrow? No one knows.The most important is to enjoy thejourney. I'm so happy here," hetold reporters on Tuesday.

"What is going to happen isnot in our hands, I mean the deci-sion in another club, we don'tknow.

"That is not my business andthen I will not waste time or ener-gy because my focus and energyis in Tottenham." AFP

Pochettino won't ruleout Man U move

Manchester City

survive shoot-out,

enter EFL semis