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Women empowerment(nari shakti) was on full

display during the 70thRepublic Day parade onRajpath on Saturday as allwomen Assam Rifles contin-gent created history by partic-ipating in the parade for thefirst time, led by a daughter ofbus conductor MajorKhushboo Kanwar.

Women officers took thecentre stage as contingents ofthe Navy, India Army ServiceCorps and a unit of Corps ofSignals (transportable satelliteterminal) were all led by them.

Capt Shikha Surabhi fromthe Corps of Signals was at thecentre of attraction as shebecame the first woman to per-form bike stunts, alongsideher male teammates as part of

daredevils. She salutedPresident Ram Nath Kovindwhile standing atop the seat ofher motorcycle.

Leading the contingent ofthe oldest paramilitary force inthe country (Assam Rifles),thirty-year-old MajorKhushboo — inducted intothe Indian Army in 2012 andhas been actively involved inmany counter insurgency oper-ations — said, “I am a daugh-ter of a bus conductor fromRajasthan and if I can accom-plish this, then any girl can ful-fil her dream.”

On this Republic day, thecountry witnessed severalthings for the first time:Participation of Gorkha Riflesand INA Veterans-Parmanand,Lalti Ram, Hira Singh andBhagmal, all aged over 90 years,display of American howitzers

M777, the Main Battle Tank(MBT) T-90 and indigenouslydeveloped Akash weapons sys-tem and conferring India’s high-est peacetime gallantry awardAshoka Chakra to Lance NaikNazir Ahmad Wani, a militant-turned-soldier who laid downhis life fighting a group of ter-rorists in Shopian in Kashmirin November. Wani’s wifeMahajabeen and mother RajaBano received the award.

South African PresidentRamaphosa was the ChiefGuest at the 90-minute cele-brations. This year, a total of 22tableaux, 16 from States andUnion Territories and six fromCentral Government Ministriesand departments, were part ofthe cultural parade, the overalltheme of which was life andideals of Mahatma Gandhi.

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To decongest traffic at Delhiroads, the Narendra Modi

Government will take uphighway projects worth�50,000-crore in the nationalCapital that is battling withthe twin problems of air andwater pollution.

Addressing an event afterlaying the foundation stone ofa �2,820-crore highway corri-dor project that will linkAkshardham to the EasternPeripheral Expressway (EPE)junction on Baghpat road,Union Road Transport andHighways Minister NitinGadkari said the foundation

stone for Dwarka Expressway,to be built at a cost of �10,000crore, will be laid next weekand time has been sought fromPrime Minister Narendra Modifor this. The expressway start-ing from Shiv Murti in Delhi toKherki Daula in Gurugram is

expected to reduce the trafficload on Delhi-Gurgaonexpressway.

The project once complet-ed the road will emerge as analternate route between Delhi-Gurgaon.

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APatiala House’s specialcourt on Saturday remand-

ed lawyer Gautam Khaitan totwo days’ custody ofEnforcement Directorate (ED)in a fresh case of black moneyand money laundering.Khaitan, an accused in theAgustaWestland VVIP choppercase, was arrested by the ED onFriday. The Court granted onlytwo days’ custody as opposedto seven days demanded by ED.

Metropolitan MagistrateNeetu Sharma sent the accusedto custody after the ED allegedthat he was operating and hold-ing a number of foreignaccounts illegally and therebypossessing black money andstash assets. During the hearing,Special prosecutors for ED,Advocate Davinder Pal Singhand NK Matta maintained that

the present case had nothing todo with the allegedAgustaWestland scam. The EDcounsels told the Court thatincome tax sleuths have discov-ered black money over �500crore. The ED said the accusedKhaitan is running less of a lawfirm and more of a moneylaundering business. The EDcounsels told the court that theaccused who was arrested onFriday evening, is not co-oper-ating with the investigation.

ED counsels said the lawyerhad been “controlling” themodus operandi and wasresponsible for routing themoney, misusing his connectionsand clients, including the onesinherited from his father, tolaunder the money with the useof a variety of accounts in Dubai,Mauritius, Singapore, Tunisia,Switzerland, the UK, and India.

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The high decibel, high volt-age campaign in Jind came

to an end on Saturday even asthe animated discussions overhookahs at halkas and urbanareas about the likely winnercontinue to dominate the socialand political space in the Jat-dominated seat in Haryanathat goes to bypoll on Monday.

“Whoever corners 45,000votes, will be the winner” is thecommon refrain in the con-stituency that has about 1.70-lakh electorate, includingPunjabis, Baniya and Sainis inconsiderable numbers. Jind iswitnessing a stiff triangularfight between the BJP, Congress

and the JJP, the new outfit fromthe Chautala stable and is alsobeing seen as a referendum onthe Manohar Lal Khattar dis-pensation just ahead of the LokSabha polls.

The constituency, whichfell vacant after the demise ofBJP MLA Dr HC Middha, hasnow become a matter of pres-tige for all political parties inHaryana, especially since theperception is that the Statemay go to polls for both theAssembly and Lok Sabhatogether.

It is also said the clout ofUnion Steel MinisterChaudhary Birender Singh,who switched from Congress toBJP, will also be gauged by theCentral BJP leadership.

“He (Khattar) promised aAtal Park in Jind Sector 10 forwhich he had announced thework will begin within 24 hoursof his taking charge as CM.Today the area is still a barrenland and a haven for sharabis,”said Shekhar Khatkar, a residentexpressing his annoyance, alongwith his other companionsbasking in the sun in the samepark on Saturday morning.The middle-aged personclaimed the colony had votedfor BJP last time. This time, theyare not so sure.

The contest gained attrac-tion and became a high sweep-stakes one with the entry ofCongress’ chief spokespersonRandeep Singh Surjewala.

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After a row over his seatingarrangement at the

Republic Day last year,Congress president RahulGandhi was seen sitting in thefront row, along with UnionMinister Nitin Gadkari, andjust three seats beside BJPchief Amit Shah. And on dis-play in full public view wasGadkari and Rahul’s bonhomieas they were seen chattingright through the RepublicDay ceremony.

While Rahul got a frontrow seat, Leader of Oppositionin Rajya Sabha Ghulam NabiAzad was seen seated in thesecond row behind him, unlike

last year when both of themwere made to sit in the sixthrow prompting angry protestfrom his party which hadaccused the Government ofsetting aside traditions andindulging in “cheap politics”.

Gwalior: A Madhya PradeshMinister was on Saturdayunable to read out ChiefMinister Kamal Nath’s messageduring a Republic Day func-tion organised here and had toask the District Collector to dothe needful.

A video of the incident isbeing widely circulated on socialmedia platforms. The videoshows MP Women and ChildDevelopment Minister ImartiDevi (43) starting to read outNath’s message in broken Hindi.

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As completely as Kangana owns RaniLaxmibai, Nawazuddin Siddiqui ownsBalasaheb Thackeray, more so in a

tightfitting movie that goes its no-nonsenseway much like the character that itshowcases.

Does Nawaz tide over the pitfalls ofbeing the controversial Shiv Sena supremo?Mostly yes, giving you an insight intoThackeray’s cutting humour, stridentnationalism and his ability to rouse a crowdvirtually from the dead.

Nawaz plays the role with a straight face,never straying into any kind of nuances thatmay heckle the dispensation so the biopic ismostly laudatory and sometimes evenshowing up an awe-inspiring side of thispolitically active man who held the spirit ofMaharasthra together and on a crescendothroughout his career. Be it his take onPakistan cricketers, or his artistic acumen,he remains on screen the centre of attractionwith Nawaz proving why he was the rightchoice for playing this complex character.

You could call it a visual version of theSena mouthpiece Saamna though youmarvel at the openness of the producers forhaving the courage to cast a rank outside,that too a Muslim, Nawazuddin to play therole of Marathi manoos spewing Thackery,as also the silence of the Shiv Sena over sucha choice.

All sequences in the movie are therewith the aim of highlighting Thackeray’sstridence in every sphere of politics andinterest nodes get stoked through hisconversations with Indira Gandhi, his viewson Emergency, his stoking of the Marathimobs, the green signal to the culture ofpolitical violence and everything thatThackeray signified during his lifetime. Anengaging affair despite its obvious pitfalls ofworshipping a demigod with grey areas.

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KanganaRanautowns the

screen with anever-beforefierceness,nabling thefabled queen ofJhansi to comealive in publicimagination.From the firststunning shotof her downinga tiger, to the last one in which she steps onfire, she dominates the proceedings but moreas an actor than as the first-time director.

Kangana as Manikarnika, or Jhansi KiRani as we know her more popularly, breathesbrimstone and fire into the character andstokes all possible shades of patriotismthrough the legendary queen’s meteoric andglorious journey through the thick and thin ofIndia’s azaadi yatra in the 19th century when itwas the unscrupulous British East IndiaCompany lustily gobbling up territories andprides of local kings.

But Jhansi was another story and Ranautleaves no fort unturned to showcase this smallkingdom’s fight to keep its independencethrough their charismatic queen, much afterthe death of her husband who leaves her tofend with the sword to save their adopted sonafter the real one is poisoned to death by theking’s rival brother.

The war scenes are impeccably shot, as isKangana as the warrior almighty. There is adig at the Scindias siding with the Brits, a jabat the British lack of culture and anunforgiving wave of anger against those whohave no fire in their belly for the motherland.Amid all this and much more, you can’t justhave enough of Kangana’s screen brillianceeven as the narrative gets too stuck betweenswords and cannons towards the end.

On the whole, this one is a treat to watch.More from you Kangana both before andbehind the camera.

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�How does it feel making your TVdebut with Rajaa Beta?

I could not have asked for a betterrole to mark my debut on small screen.I have been offered TV shows earlier aswell but I was waiting for the right timeand the right show to come my way. Ihave always wanted to do familydramas and I feel this is the rightchoice for me.�One thing you like and dislikeabout your character.

Vedant is that he is an idealcharacter and he wants to retainthe family together. Thedetermination of the character iswhat draws me towards him. Idon’t dislike anything in himbecause Vedant can handlemany situationssimultaneously and solve anyproblem that comes his way,which shows he has a spine.� What was morechallenging— TV or web?

Web is a shorter format,we shoot just seven or eightepisodes. It is a product of 40days and everything happensin a very planned way but inTV, we work at length andthe execution is also verydifferent. The telecast has togo on a daily basis andtherefore, doing TV shows isa tad more difficult andexhausting.

Also, the success of any TVserial is measured by the life span of theshow so when we work in TV, we can’tanticipate whether it will be for threemonths or three years. �How was the experience workingwith Vikram Bhatt in Maaya andTwisted?

He is an amazing human being. Iwould call him my mentor becausethe way he has groomed me as anactor and the kind of inputs that hegives has helped me a lotthroughout my journey. I don’tknow what I would have beendoing today, if I hadn’t workedwith him.�How do you unwind?

I can play PUBG (PlayerUnknown’s Battle Grounds) on mymobile all day. I sleep and I havefood all the time, this is myperfect mantra for unwinding.� What was the mostchallenging project for you?

I consider myself very newas an actor. The previous projectthat I have done was Twisted 2and that was the first big project

that I have done as a main actor. Now Iam playing the lead in a TV show, so byfar, this is the most challenging projectfor me as there is a change of mediumand everything is new for me here.� What is your take on shiftingrelationships?

This show is so apt and it is the righttime for the people to witness a show likethis because suddenly in the past 10-15odd years people have started shiftingfrom small towns to larger metros.

The divorce rates nowadays havegone high and more nuclear families arecoming up. The concept of joint familiesis slowly shrinking and it was importantto come up with a show like this becauseeach and every relationship is preciousand we are nothing withoutrelationships.�How do you see television evolving?

In the current scenario, a lot of TVchannels are coming up and there is asudden increase in the web contentwhich is happening in a country like uswhere the industry is predominantlydominated by television industry. So theonus lies upon people like us and I amglad that television is coming up withmore fresher content and it has becomemore refreshing for the viewers.�Do you think male-centric shows aremonotonous?

This is the best thing that hashappened on television. We have seen a

lot of shows where a woman is goingthrough all the misery, so

we don’t need to show‘a dukhiyaari female’

every now andthen.

Now it istheresponsibilityof the manin oursociety totake upduties. They

need to havea role model.

So now, weare not just

making idealwomen but ideal men

also. I don’t think it is creating

monotony because with every storythere is a different concept and adifferent angle. The struggle of eachcharacter is different. There was a timewhen only female-oriented shows werethere but all of them had a different story.At the end of the day, there are just twogenders so either it will be a male or afemale.

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Hailing from the Pink City, 12-year-old Gourav Sarwan is amaster of freestyle. He started dancing when he was seven.

Speaking about how he evoked interest in dancing, Sarwan said:“I learned dance from my father. When I was seven, I used towatch him dance and eventually I gained interest in it.”

Sarwan choreographs his performance himself and takes noprofessional training in dance. “My parents made me join thedance class Dance Mafia. Ilearned there for a year andthen left. Since then Ipractice myself andchoreograph songs on myown,” he says.

Sarwan's parentssupported his dream fromthe beginning andencouraged him to work onhis passion. “My parentswere very supportive,especially my father. He usedto help me with thechoreography and gave metips to improve my dancesteps. There were times whenI was not able to get a dancestep right but he was alwaysthere to help me out. He islike a confidence-booster forme. My mother alwaysappreciated my performanceand encouraged me to do better,” he says.

Speaking about how he manages his study and dance, Sarwanexplains: “I practice for four-five hours daily but don't let thataffect my studies. My mother makes sure that I study daily,though I don't like to (laughs).”

Talking about how confident was he when he came for theaudition, he said; “I was little nervous that whether I will be ableto make it in Top 12 or not but then all my hard work paid offand I got selected in Top 12. Now I am looking forward to winthe title of Super Dancer 3.”

This seven-year-old fromLudhiana — Saksham

Sharma — is leaving no stoneunturned in convincing us thattalent has no boundaries. Atsuch a young age, Sharma notonly performs dance but livesit too.

"I started dancing when Iwas five years old. The firsttime I decided to dance waswhen I saw Hrithik Roshandancing. I was impressed by hismoves," he tells you.

Sharma said he was verynervous and worried when hecame for the audition round. "Iwas anxious and nervous abouthow I will perform and whatreaction will I get from thejudges but then I prayed to Godand gave my auditions and gotselected in Top 12," Sharmaexplained.

Sharma feels that with theright amount of dedication,hard work and focus any childcan reach his goal.

Guru Vaibhav Ghuge, whois Sharma's mentor in the show,feels that Sharma is a verytalented and hardworking childwho doesn't know to give up onthings.

"All the kids on SuperDancer 3 are extremely talentedbut Saksham has the quality ofa performer. There is a lot ofdifference between a dancerand a performer. Anyone candance but only a few know howto feel dance, that is the quality

of a true performer andSaksham inherits this quality.He doesn't give up easily and heis very stubborn when it comesto dance. Whenever there is astep that he can't catch I tellhim 'rehendo yeh tumsey nahinhoga, step change kar deteyhain' and he quickly replies 'Iwill do it Sir, give me tenminutes' and within the nextten minutes he does the stepwith so much perfection. So hehas that determination inhimself which makes himdifferent from other children,"Ghuge says.

Another young talent who isdoing well at the age 9 —

Tejas Varma — tells you thatPrabhu Deva is his inspirationand he aims to dance like himone day. Varma comes from aneconomically weak family andhis father works as a worker ina transport company. But beingunderprivileged has not hithis passion for dance.

He started dancing at theage of 4 and learned dancefrom his father. "My father is atrained dancer. He took part inBoogie Woogie. Earlier, he usedto train me at home and thenhe realised that I can perform

better and he started sendingme to dance classes. Then Itook part in certain dancecompetitions that used tohappen near my house and Iwon them,” he says.

“I was a contestant in HighFever and I reached the grand-finale but I ended up as arunner-up but now I want towin this show and make a placefor myself in the industry," headds.

Though Varma's motherdid not support him in theinitial days, she now wants himto become a successfulchoreographer. "I did not want

him to become a dancer at thattime because we did not haveenough money to pay for hisdance classes and I was anxiousabout his future. But now afterseeing him perform I believethat he will do well in life. Iwant him to become asuccessful choreographer andmake his name in the industry,"she exclaimed.

"His father was verysupportive and did everythingto make him a dancer, vohkehtey they chahey meri job hikyun na chali jaye par merabeta dancer zaroor banega,”she adds.

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From “Mohan to Mahatma”,a tableau titled with installed

steam engine of IndianRailways depicted with the firstcarriage signifying the 1893incident of Pietermaritzburg,when Gandhi, a young barris-ter was thrown off a carriageafter facing racism. A group ofIndian-origin South Africannationals who attended theRepublic Day celebrations hereon Saturday were moved afterseeing the Railway’s tableauthemed on transformation ofMohandas KaramchandGandhi to Mahatma.

Yashika Singh, who hailsfrom KwaZulu-Natal Province,said the Pietermaritzburg trainincident depicted in the tableau‘Mohan to Mahatma’ touchedmany emotional chords amongus. “I am a fourth-generationSouth African of Indian-origin,and I love my country, but wefeel a sense of deep connectionwith India too. And, Gandhiand Mandela provide stronglinks. So, this tableau reallymoved,” she said.

Singh, who lives inEstcourt and works in themedia sector, said, a group ofIndian-origin journalists havecome from different parts ofSouth Africa to cover President

Cyril Ramaphosa’s Statevisit.Asked if they were travel-ling with the president,Johannesburg-based FakirHassen said, “No, this has beendone separately”.

Durban-based Salma Patel,another South African of Indian-origin who works for a radiochannel echoed Yashika’s senti-ments. “South Africa is ourhome. But, we feel a connectionwith India. And, we are verydelighted to participate in theRepublic Day of India,” she said.

On top of the engine, a bustof Gandhi has been installed,which is similar to bust installedin June last year at thePietermaritzburg station,according to information sharedby Defence Ministry on tableau.

The second coach depictsGandhi travelling in third-class compartment in Indianrailways after return fromSouth Africa. Yashika recalledthat last year marked 125 yearsof the Pietermaritzburg stationincident and External AffairsMinister Sushma Swaraj hadtravelled to South Africa.

“The incident was retraced,and it had really left us emo-tionally very moved,” shesaid.Gandhi’s 150th birthanniversary was the overalltheme of the Republic Dayparade this year.

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Amazing formations onwheels included Video

Conference, Yoga, Lotus, and aHuman Pyramid, ecstatic view-ers at the Rajpath clapped vig-orously as Captain ManpreetSingh presented a salute toPresident Ram Nath Kovind,parched on a 12.5-feet ladderplaced on the seat of his bike.Captain Singh broke his earli-er record of offering salutefrom an eight-feet ladder.

He was followed by LanceNaik Gajanan Misal displaying‘Jimmy’, a symbol of the Corpsof Signals, balancing himself belly down on hismoving motorcycle, displayingthe ‘swift and secure’ traits ofthe corps.

Rolling down on theRajpath, Yoga on wheels wasdisplayed by Havaldar GamitParesh doing Dhanushasana,Havaldar Sangram Kesri Jenaperformed Surya Namaskarand Lance Naik Swapnil astriking Tudraasana pose ontheir respective motorcycles.

The team has also made

the world record of 60 Yogapositions on a single motorcy-cle. A team of four men of theSignal of Corps showcasedcourage and strength by per-forming a PT display led by sig-nalman Sunshine PawarMangu. Signal Colours werecarried in ‘Signal Fighter’ for-mation. Havaldar Eswa Rao Ton centre motorcycle wasflanked by 14 daredevils ontheir motorcycles.

The Signals’ flag entered in‘Mercury Peak’ formation by 14 daredevils, symbolisingpride and valour of the corpson Rajpath Captain DishantKataria performed a standingsalute to the President on his bike.

An interesting formation of‘Video Conference’ with fourmen each on two bikes wasgreeted loudly by the crowd.

The people were riveted asmotorcycles and men rolleddown the Rajpath displaying awonderful combination of menand machine through awe-inspiring formations of ‘Teevra Chaukas Commando’and ‘Lotus’.

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Mahatma Gandhi’s 720-daystay in Delhi’s Birla House

between 1915 and 1948 was ondisplay on the national Capital’stableau at the 70th RepublicDay parade on Saturday.

The tableau highlightedthe Mahatma’s sojourns inDelhi, the first of which tookplace in 1915. It showcasedGandhi Smriti, formerlyknown as Birla House, wherethe father of the nation spenthis last 144 days.

The tableau’s front partshowed Gandhi seated and pray-ing with the symbolic charkhain the background. The sidepanels represented GandhiSmriti’s World Peace Gong andvarious visuals from his activi-ties during his stay in Delhi.

The middle part of thetableau showed Gandhi hold-ing his daily prayer meeting inthe lawns of Birla House whichwas attended by people fromevery section of society. His fol-

lowers were shown walkingtowards the prayer groundfrom inside the Birla House.

The tableau’s rear partshowed the serene whiteexpanse and beautiful windows

of the Birla House. The Delhitableau made a comeback at theparade after an year’s gap.

During the 2013 parade, itportrayed Delhi’s diverse cul-ture and inhabitants from dif-ferent backgrounds and regionsand its status as the country’shub for performing and finearts. For the next three years,the tableau was conspicuous byits absence.

However, it made a come-back in 2017 with ModelGovernment School themewhich portrayed the transfor-mation in state-run schools andthe new initiatives taken in theeducation sector.

Last year, the Delhi gov-ernment could not showcase itstableau because there was adelay by it in sending its pro-posal to the Centre.

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Relief and rescue operationsby the Defence forces dur-

ing the Kerala floods were thetheme of the Indian NavyTableau that rolled down theRajpath. In keeping with theIndian Navy’s theme for theyear 2019, “Indian Navy-Mission Deployed and CombatReady”, the tableau illustratedthe combat potential of themulti-dimensional Indian Navyof the 21st Century.

The Navy’s efforts inHumanitarian Assistance andDisaster Relief (HADR) oper-ations during operation‘Madad’ in Kerala was show-cased wherein a Dhruv heli-

copter was shown conductingrescue from a roof top.

The tableau also featuredstate of the art assets like MiG-29K multi role fighter,Rukmani Satellite, Boeing P81Maritime Patrol aircraft,Kolkata class Ship and Kalvariclass submarine.

The devastating floods inKerala last year claimed hun-

dreds of lives and renderedscores of people homeless. TheIndian Navy conducted a 14-day-long rescue operation inthe flood-hit southern stateand rescued a total of 16,005people during ‘OperationMadad’, launched on August 9for assisting the state adminis-tration and undertaking disas-ter relief operations.

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Prime MinisterN a r e n d r a

Modi continuedwith his traditionof donningcolourful turbansat Republic Daycelebrations onSaturday by sport-ing a yellowishorange headgearwith a red tail.

Wearing his traditionalkurta pajama and the trade-mark Nehru jacket, Modi paidtributes to the martyrs at theAmar Jawan Jyoti before head-ing for the Republic Dayparade. Turbans have been ahighlight of the PM’s sartorialchoices at Independence Day

and Republic Day events.For his maiden

Independence Day address asthe Prime Minister in 2014,Modi had opted for a Jodhpuribandhej turban in bright redcolour with green at the tail.

A yellow turban coveredwith criss-crossed lines in dif-ferent shades of the same

colour, alongwith a few in redand deep green,marked his 2015look, and hechose a tie anddye turban inhues of pink andyellow for hisappearance atthe Red Fort in2016.

The PM’sturban for 2017

was a mix of bright red and yel-low with criss-crossed goldenlines all over it followed by asaffron turban last year.

From bright red bandhniturban from Kutch to mustardRajasthani ‘safa’, the PrimeMinister has sported variedturbans at his Republic Dayappearances too.

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South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Saturday joineda select group of world leaders to have graced India’s

Republic Day celebrations in the past few decades. Ramaphosaas the chief guest at the 70th Republic Day celebrations,watched the colourful parade at the majestic Rajpath alongwith President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister NarendraModi and a host of other leaders. He is the second SouthAfrican President after Nelson Mandela to be the chief guestat India’s Republic Day celebrations. He became the secondpresident from South Africa to grace the celebrations as chiefguest after Nelson Mandela attended the event 24 years ago.

Last year, leaders of all 10 ASEAN countries attended theRepublic Day celebrations. In 2017, Crown Prince of AbuDhabi Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was the chiefguest at celebrations, while then French President FrancoisHollande graced the occasion in 2016.

In 2015, then US President Barack Obama watched theparade. In 2014, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was thechief guest at the celebrations, while Bhutan King Jigme KhesarNamgyel Wangchuck attended the parade in 2013.

The Heads of State and Government who have attend-ed the Republic Day celebrations include Nicolas Sarkozy,Vladimir Putin, Nelson Mandela, John Major, MohammedKhatami and Jacques Chirac.

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Bhubaneswar: Eminent writerGita Mehta, who is OdishaChief Minister NaveenPatnaik’s elder sister, onSaturday declined to acceptthe Padma Shri award, sayingits timing could be “miscon-strued” in an election year.

Mehta, 76, will be award-ed the Padma Shri in the fieldof literature and education,the Centre had announced onFriday. “I am deeply honouredthat the Government of Indiashould think me worthy of aPadma Shri but with greatregret I feel I must decline asthere is a general electionlooming and the timing of theaward might be misconstrued,causing embarrassment both tothe Government and myself,which I would much regret,”Mehta, who is the sibling of theBiju Janata Dal (BJD) chief anddaughter of former CM BijuPatnaik, said in a statement

from New York.Elections to Lok Sabha as

well as the Odisha Assemblyare due to be held together thisyear. Mehta’s declining of thePadma award, however, trig-gered a row in the state with theBJP saying her action was “notappropriate” and the Congressclaiming that the whole episodeshowed the close links betweenthe ruling BJD and the BJP.

Prominent among thebooks authored by Mehta are‘Karma Cola’, ‘A River Sutra’,‘Snakes and Ladders: Glimpsesof Modern India’ and ‘EternalGanesha: From Birth toRebirth’. The writer, wife of pub-lisher Sonny Mehta, has alsoproduced/directed 14 docu-mentaries. CM Naveen Patnaikside-stepped a question abouther refusal to accept the honourbut congratulated all thosefrom Odisha who have beenchosen for the award. PTI

New Delhi: The voice ofBhupen Hazarika, popularlyknown as the ‘Bard ofBrahmaputra’, resonated at theRajpath as the Assam tableau,depicting the handloom of thestate inspired by MahatmaGandhi made its way during theRepublic Day celebrations, aday after the Bharat Ratna wasposthumously awarded to him.

A poet, music composer,singer, actor, journalist, authorand filmmaker, Hazarika, theself-proclaimed jajabor (wan-derer) took the rich folk her-itage of Assam and interpretedit beautifully for the worldthrough his songs. The frontportion of Assam’s tableaushowcased a life-size Assamesewoman working on her loomproduction, depicting thegrowth of cottage industry.

Middle portion showed typ-ical Assamese ‘Sarai’ followed bySattriya Dance performed withthe song “Mahatmai Hasi Bole-Ram O Rahim” in voice ofHazarika. PTI

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From Page 1In the video, the Minister

is then seen giving the page toGwalior Collector Bharat Yadavand telling the gathering that“collector saheb padenge (col-lector will read it)”.

She then stood behind asYadav read out Nath’s addressto the gathering. L a t e r ,speaking to the media, theMinister said she is unwell forthe past two days and this wascausing her difficulty in read-ing. The Minister, in her affi-davit submitted for the 2018MP Assembly poll, had statedthat she had cleared her HigherSecondary Examination in2009 through open school. Sheis an MLA from Dabra con-stituency in Gwalior district.

PTI

From Page 1The dilapidated roads of

Jind have since seem a flurry ofactivities and high-profile vis-its by the likes of UnionMinisters Vijay Goel, formerHaryana CM BS Hooda, for-mer Union Minister KumariSelja to campaign for theirrespective candidates even as ithas drawn the attention of thenational media. Asked if hisentry made the contest a high-profile one, Surjewala said,“This one seat is relevant toswing the mood of country,especially northern India afterruling BJP’s debacle in threeStates recently”. The Congressmedia incharge has been sweat-ing it out day and night in thecold climes of Jind for over afortnight now to live up to theexpectations shouldered onhim ‘unexpectedly’ byCongress President RahulGandhi at the dead end of thelast day of poll nominations.

Surjewala is in the crossline of two strong candidates -BJP’s Dr Krishna Middha, sonof late HC Middha andJannayak Janata Party (JJP)candidate Digvijay Chautala,son of Ajay Chautala andgrandson of former Haryanachief minister Om PrakashChautala. Digvijay is the broth-er of sitting MP from HisarDushyant Chautala, who hasbeen extensively campaigningto establish JJP as the break-away faction of INLD.

INLD’s Umed Singh isanother contestant of the orig-inal version of INLD retainedby senior Chautala’s anotherson Abhay Chautala and is like-ly to end up as “vote-katwa” ofthe total of 45000 Jat votes thatwill certainly oscillate in equalterms between Digvijay andRandeep on voting day.

JJP has received supportfrom Delhi Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal’s Aam AadmiParty (AAP) which has takena door-to-door campaignprompting the Congress topinpoint the credibility of

Kejriwal for joining hands withthe “corrupt Chautalas”. As JJPdid not get the party symbolapproved by the ElectionCommission, Digvijay is inthe fray on a “cup-plate” sym-bol giving a run for theirmoney to the Congress andBJP. “Hamara to cup-plate hai,”says the elderly of many halka(villages). But youth andwomen are a divided lot. TheKhap Panchayats of Kandelahave, nevertheless, extendedtheir support to `cup-plate’which paves the way for aninteresting finish in the eventof division of Jat votes. In thatcase Dr Krsihna Midda of BJP,a Punjabi, is banking on anti-Jat consolidation and banks onthe popularity of his late father.“In the beginning of the cam-paign, many believed he wouldsail through. But the entry ofSurjewala and the announce-ment by local Jat strongmanand an independent MLA JaiPrakash to support Surjewala,which roughly calculates10,000 votes, has queered thepitch for the BJP,” locals point-

ed out. The Congress believesit would get substantial num-ber of votes from ScheduledCastes and backward classes asHaryana Congress chief AshokTanwar is campaigning forSurjewala. Congress also hopesthat rebel BJP MP, Raj KumarSaini, who has fielded aBrahmin candidate, woulddivide both Brahmin and Sainivotes in favour of Surjewala. Ifthe JJP is the “favorite” in therural areas, the BJP aims to geta “fair deal” from urban areas.And the Congress believes itwill have the support fromacross the castes in Jind andlater on in Haryana.

During nukkad campaignsSurjewala supporters have pro-jected Jind born “padha-likhaSurjewala” as future chief min-isterial candidate and someonewho would be instrumental inchanging the destiny of Jind. Inthe Congress, though, it is saidSurjewala could be a candidatefrom either Sonepat orKurkshetra Lok Sabha seatduring the upcoming generalelections.

From Page 1Ramphosa’s presence at the

event was significant as India iscelebrating 150th birth anniver-sary of the Father of the Nation,who spent 21 years in SouthAfrica before returning to Indiato join the freedom struggle.

The parade ceremonycommenced with PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, wear-ing a yellow -orange bandej tur-ban, leading the nation in pay-ing homage to the fallen sol-diers by laying a wreath at theAmar Jawan Jyoti under IndiaGate. Following the tradition,after unfurling the tri-colour,the national anthem was played with a 21 gun salute fol-lowing which President Kovindtook the salute of marchingcontingents.

Alongside Ramphosa, theceremonial parade was watchedby Vice President M VenkaiahNaidu, former Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh, CongressPresident Rahul Gandhi andthe country’s top political andmilitary brass.

The tableau of Maharashtraportrayed Quit India move-ment while the tableau ofAndaman and Nicobar show-cased Gandhiji’s role among theinmates of the cellular jail inAndaman. Jallianwala Baghwas the theme of Punjabtableau, which will evoke mem-ories of the watershed momentin the Independence struggle.

Models of the aircraft, radarand missile system which havebeen indigenously designedand manufactured were show-cased. The models displayedwere Light Combat Aircraft(LCA), Low-Level Light WeightRadar (LLLWR), Sukhoi-30MKI and Akash missile sys-tem.

The grand finale of theparade was a spectacular flypast

by the IAF. The flypast com-menced with the ‘Rudra’ for-mation comprising threeadvanced light helicopters in‘Vic’ formation, followed by the‘Hercules’ formation compris-ing three C-130J SuperHercules aircraft. One C-17Globemaster flanked by two Su-30 MKI fighter jets also dis-played their aerial manoeu-vring. Next in line was fiveJaguar deep penetration strikeaircraft, in Arrowhead forma-tion. Following the Jaguarswere five MiG-29 upgradedair superiority fighters in‘Arrowhead’ formation. Theculmination of the parade wasa lone Su-30 MKI flying at aspeed of 900 km/hr with a‘Vertical Charlie’ manoeuvreover the saluting dais. PMModi waved to the crowd afterthe conclusion of the ceremo-ny and were greeted with loudcheers.

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From Page 1It is further alleged that

Khaitan used several Indianand foreign bank accounts tolaunder the money of various politicians abroad andinfluential persons in foreigncountries.

Khaitan’s advocate P KDubey opposed the ED’s sub-missions and accused theagency of forging documents,saying that the present case wasrelated to AgustaWestland casefor which Khaitan was alreadybeing prosecuted and was outon bail. The defence counselclaimed that Khaitan’s arrest isillegal and that the entire inves-tigation pertains toAgustaWestland deal.

Sources in ED said a freshcriminal case under the PMLAwas filed by the ED againstKhaitan on the basis of a casefiled by the Income Tax

Department against him underSection 51 of the Black Money(Undisclosed Foreign Incomeand Assets) and Imposition ofTax Act, 2015.

Khaitan has been alleged tohave been operating and hold-ing a number of foreignaccounts illegally and therebypossessing black money andstash assets, ED said.

Khaitan stands chargesheeted- both by CBI and EDin the high profile VVIP chop-per deal. He was arrested inSeptember 2014 for his allegedinvolvement in theAgustaWestland deal. Khaitanwas enlarged on bail in January2015. Khaitan was again arrest-ed along with Sanjeev Tyagi onDecember 9, 2016 by the CBI.

It is understood that theinvestigative agencies have gotfresh leads against Khaitanafter the questioning ofChristian Michel, an allegedmiddleman in the VVIP chop-per deal with AgustaWestland,who was extradited by Indiafrom Dubai in December last.

The Income Tax

Department had last week car-ried out searches againstKhaitan in this new case filedunder the anti-black money law.

A charge sheet was alsofiled against him by the twoagencies and he was currentlyout on bail, ED officials said.The ED in its charge sheet hadelaborated on how the bribemoney paid to clinch the chop-per deal was “layered” andprojected as “untainted money”by creating “fictitious invoices.”It mentioned how fictitiousengineering contracts were cre-ated to hide the kickbacksallegedly paid byAgustaWestland to companiesdirectly controlled by Khaitanand his associate Rajiv Saxena,a co-accused in the case.

ED’s supplementary chargesheet put the spotlight onKhaitan. It explained how somedisclosures about his “com-plicity” came from Khaitan’s“associates, colleagues, staff.” Inresponse to the letters rogato-ry written by India, documentswere received from Mauritius,Singapore and Switzerland.

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From Page 1According to notification,

the 28 km long DwarkaExpressway starts from ShivMurti in Delhi on NH-8 pass-es through UER-II (parallel toTerminal-3 of Delhi Airport)up to Barthal Chowk (junctionof Sector 25-26 Dwarka) thenit will take left turn and gostraight up to Kherki Daula inGurugram and it culminates onNH-8, around one km beforeKherki Daula toll plaza at SPR,CPR junction. The 18.1 kmstretch of the road is inGurugram and rest in Delhi.

Gadkari was accompaniedby Minister of State for RoadTransport and HighwaysMansukh Mandaviya andMinister of State for ExternalAffairs V K Singh.

The minister announcedthat the work on Delhi-MeerutExpressway will be completedby March, and April onwards,people can reach Meerut fromDelhi in 40 minutes instead ofthe current 3.5 hours.

Listing various projects forDelhi, the minister also said anew ring road Urban ExtensionRoad (UER) will be construct-ed at a cost of Rs 4,000 crore.The Delhi Master Plan has pro-posed a UER-II, which con-nects NH 1, 8 and 10 and thisroad was proposed to reducetraffic on the Ring Road andOuter Ring Road.

The high-speed signal-free31.3-km corridor fromAkshardham to Saharanpurbypass, for which foundationstone was laid on Saturday, isexpected to contribute todecongestion and considerablereduction in pollution levels inDelhi-NCR.

The six-lane access con-trolled corridor will connectAkshardham in east Delhi tothe Eastern PeripheralExpressway junction onBaghpat Road.

The alignment of the roadwill be from the Akshardham-Geeta Colony-Shastri Park-Khajuri Khas-Delhi/UP bor-der-Mandola-EPE Intersection.

It will be developed in twopackages -- first a 14.75 kmstretch from Akshardham toDelhi/UP border and the other16.57 km stretch fromDelhi/UP border to EPE

Intersection. There will be a 19-km elevated section.

“Delhi is facing problem ofair and water pollution. Thereare frequent traffic jams. Wehave taken a decision to startwork on Rs 50,000 crore high-way projects to decongest it,”said Gadkari adding that thepollution level has reducedsignificantly in Delhi after sev-eral projects including theEastern Peripheral Expressway.

The estimated cost of theproject is Rs 2,820 crore. Theproject includes construction of3+3 lane service roads on eitherside of the highway, eight newunderpasses, seven ramps con-necting major roads, 15 majorjunctions, 34 minor junctions,and over-bridges at Delhi-Shahdara, New Delhi-AnandVihar railway lines and DilshadGarden-ISBT Metro Line.

Another highway project isthe Improvement of T-Junctionat Dhaula Kuan Metro Stationand Defence area on CarriapaMarg on NH-8 andImprovement andConstruction of flyover andunderpass at IFFCO Chowk,Signature Tower and RajivChowk on Delhi-GurgaonSection of NH-8 in the State ofHaryana is going on.

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The Noida-Greater NoidaMetro, which opened for

public on Saturday, witnesseda total ridership of 11,625 pas-sengers on day one, with offi-cials expecting a major surgeMonday onwards.

The metro rail service, alsoknown as the Aqua Line, wasinaugurated Friday by UttarPradesh Chief Minister YogiAdityanath but it was openedfor citizens only on RepublicDay, with curtailed timingsfrom 10 am to 5 pm, the NoidaMetro Rail Corporation(NMRC) said.

“Total ridership on themetro line stood at 11,625, withthe highest number of passen-gers boarding from Pari Chowkand Depot Stations (also theterminus station at one end) inGreater Noida,” NMRC

Executive Director PDUpadhyay said.

“Overall 266 smart cardsand 11,440 QR-coded papertickets were purchased by thepassengers on day one,” he said.

The sales of cards and tick-ets fetched the NMRC Rs 3.60lakh, Upadhyay said, addingthat if top up values in smartcards is included then theamount goes up to Rs 4.43 lakh.

The metro card, built inline with the central govern-ment’s initiative of nationalcommon mobility card, whichcould be used for NMRC-runcity buses, parkings and onlineshopping, is being sold for Rs100, he said.

“Total 64 trips were madeby the metros between thetwo terminus stations of Depot(in Greater Noida) and Sector51 (in Noida), covering a dis-tance of 1,906 km,” he said.

Mumbai: The MaharashtraEducation Department hasasked schools to air PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’sinteraction ‘Parikshe PeCharcha 2.0’ programme liveon Tuesday.

The programme is sched-uled to be aired on DDNational, DD News and DDIndia and will also be live-streamed on various websites.

A Maharashtra StateCouncil of EducationalResearch and Training depart-ment official told PTI Saturdaythat its circular clearly statedthat it was not mandatory onschools to air the interaction.

“We have only informedthe schools in accordance withthe Centre’s guidelines. They arefree to either air it or choose notto. When the PM interactswith students, others who havesimilar queries will get a chanceto have them answered,” theofficial said. PTI

Jaipur: Oxford dictionaries onSaturday declared “Nari Shakti”as the Hindi word for the year2018. The announcement wasmade during a session at theongoing Jaipur LiteratureFestival (JLF) at the DiggiPalace here.

According to the Oxforddictionaries, the word has been derived from Sanskritand is used today to symbolisewomen “taking charge of their lives”.

“March 2018 recorded alarge spike in the use of ‘NariShakti’ as discussion arosearound the Government ofIndia’s Nari Shakti Puraskar(Women Power Award) heldon the International Women’sDay,” they said in a statement.

The word was selected bythe Oxford Dictionaries (India)with the help of an advisorypanel of language experts,including Namita Gokhale,Randhir Thakur, KritikaAgrawal and Saurabh Dwivedi.

PTI

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In a late night operation, theIndian Navy rescued five

officers of the Indian CoastGuard (ICG) and an Armyjawan from a Seabird classsailing boat when the vesselencountered gusty winds andwas about to capsize off theMumbai coast.

Acting on an alert receivedby the Maritime OperationsCentre , Mumbai AT 21.35hours on Friday about a miss-ing Seabird class sailing boatwith five Coast Guard officersand one army jawan was aboutto capsize off ProngsLighthouse, 8 nautical milesfrom the Mumbai.

The sailors’ team was prac-tising sailing as a part of the on-going Coast GuardWeek celebrations, when strong

winds threw them off guard.The boat was sailing

Malad’s Marwe locality innorth Mumbai to ArmyYachting Node at Colaba insouth Mumbai.

The Western NavalCommand immediatelylaunched its night capableSeaking 42C helicopter from INS Shikra for search andrescue.

“The helicopter, usingnight vision, located all six sur-vivors in pitch dark night con-ditions and winched them upand returned to INS Shikra at2320 hrs,” Commander MehulKarnik, Chief Public RelationsOfficer, Indian Navy said hereon Saturday.

All six survivors werethereafter taken to INS Asvini for medical examina-tion.��"��#�� 1�� 4��#�� /��

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Bengaluru: A woman died and nine oth-ers, including two children, were hospi-talised after they allegedly consumed‘prasadam’ (offering) served outside a

temple in Chikkaballapura district, about100 km from here, police said on Saturday.

Two women have been detained inthis connection, they said. Kavita (22)

died, while nine others, including four ofher family, were admitted to a hospitalFriday after eating the offering. Twounidentified women came to the

Gangamma Devi temple in ChintamaniTown where a grand celebration tookplace Friday night, and distributed KesariBhat (halwa) to the devotees. PTI

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Ahead of the Lok Sabhapolls, it does not augur well

for the Modi Government. Theproduction of rice, wheat andpulses is expected to be loweras the gap between rabi sowingthis year and the previous yearhas further widened with thedifference surpassing morethan 30 lakh hectares for thefirst time in the current season.Earlier, this month the gap ofrabi plantation in 2018-19 andthe previous year was only 10lakh hectare which is nowincreased to 30 lakh hectare.

According to theAgriculture Ministry’s latestdata, as compared to 622.12lakh hectares planted in 2017-18, the sowing covered only591.64 lakh hectares till Fridaythis year. In other words, 30lakh hectare less planted thisyear during rabi crop season.The Pioneer had earlier report-ed that recent rainfall and hailstorm damaged the potatoes,pulses, oilseed and wheat crops

in Bihar, western Uttar Pradesh,Punjab and Haryana. As manyas 1.95 crore hectare of land in97 districts of six States -Maharashtra, Karnataka,Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat,Jharkhand and Rajasthan - arefacing drought this year. TheseStates have sought relief of Rs16,773 crore from the Centre totackle drought situation. ButBihar, West Bengal and UttarPradesh have not sought relieffrom the Centre due to tediousprocess to get relief from theCentre. Odisha has also

declared drought during Kharif2018 but the State Governmenthas not submitted any memo-randum so far. As per IMD, 250of the 681 districts across thecountry have faced deficientrainfall this year.

As per the data, the worsthit seems to be winter rice,which reported a shortfall ofmore than 21 per cent in plant-ing, with Andhra Pradesh,Karnataka, West Bengal,Odisha and Tamil Nadu report-ing a huge drop in rice acreage.Tamil Nadu, which accounts

for nearly half the rice cultiva-tion in the rabi season, report-ed a nearly 27 per cent short-fall in sowing.

The Agriculture Ministrysaid 10.20 lakh hectare less areacovered for wheat cultivationthis year. Wheat cultivation isrestricted to 296.37 lakhhectare which is 2.5 per centlower than the 304.88 lakhhectare reported in the corre-sponding week in the previousrabi season. The shortfall wasmainly from Maharashtra andGujarat, which are suffering adrought currently. West Bengal,Rajasthan and Bihar alsoreported less wheat cultivationthis year due to lack of soilmoisture due to erratic rainfallduring south west monsoonseason this year.

The acreage under pulsesdropped to 151.6 lakh hectare,a little over six per cent lowerthan in the same period in2017-18. The drop is mainlydue to less sowing of gram - themain rabi pulse crop - inMaharashtra, Andhra Pradesh,

Chhattisgarh, Haryana,Karnataka and Gujarat.

Though there was a slightincrease in pulses acreage inMadhya Pradesh, Jharkhand,West Bengal and Tamil Nadu,it wasn’t enough to pull up thenumbers. Two pulse varietiesthat have reported higher sow-ing this year were green peasand kulthi, which are substan-tially higher than in the sameperiod last year.

Another group of crops hitby drought conditions is coarsecereals. As per data, there is lesscultivation of oilseed inMaharashtra and Karnatakahas led to a 14 per cent fall inacreage, which is 47 lakhhectare as compared to 54.63lakh hectare in the corre-sponding period in the previ-ous year.

A good showing by themustard crop, mainly inRajasthan, has somehowhelped oilseeds come up closeto the levels last year. The totalarea covered under oilseeds sofar is around 79 lakh hectare.

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Conceived way back in 2007 dur-ing UPA-I era and announced in

2017-18 NDA Budget, proposedSpecial Tourism Zones (STZs) is nowgradually taking shape at the groundlevel. Incidentally, the UPA-IGovernment had to shelve off the ideafor setting up the STZ followingopposition from the civil society.

However, following its announce-ment in 2017-18 Budget, the UnionTourism Ministry has started work-ing for making it reality. It has decid-ed to hold a competition — on thelines of the Smart City challengeswhich led to identification of 98Smart Cities — soon asking people tohelp it identify specific exclusiveareas/zones for intensive tourismdevelopment.

In this direction, the Ministrywhich will be the funding agency forbasic core infrastructure in partner-ship with the States has floated arequest for proposal (RFP) seekingappointment of a Consultant for ana-lyzing the feasibility of the develop-ment of the STZs.

The move aims to give fillip to thetourism infrastructure in the countryas Travel-related businesses such ashotels, restaurants, transportation,handicrafts and cultural shows will begiven special incentives. Since, theseare all labour intensive, the UnionTourism Ministry, which will overseethe project hopes this will also boostemployment related activities.

The Zones which will also be con-nected with major railway stations,bus stand, airport, etc will be anchoredas Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs)

that will be set up in partnership withthe States.

However, incidentally, inNovember 2006, the National TourismAdvisory Council (NTAC), a thinktank under the Tourism Ministrymeant to advise it on policy issues, hadfloated the proposal of establishingalmost similar STZs on the lines ofSpecial Economic Zones (SEZs) toboost tourism and increase invest-ment, employment and infrastructurein the country. The NTAC’s propos-al to the Ministry suggested that STZsare to be located in tourist destina-tions, cities, along the coastline;Government should provide singlewindow clearance for setting up ofthese zones; 100% tax exemption fora period of 10 years; each STZ shouldbe able to provide 2,000 to 3,000 hotelrooms; facilities for shopping, enter-

tainment; exemption from importduty on capital goods; Withdrawal ofluxury tax, lower VAT etc; exclusive NRI tourism zones or eliteworld tourist zones for high-endglobal tourists.

However, the proposal never tookoff at the national level followingopposition by the civil society around the country urging theGovernment to seriously reconsiderits implementation.

Under mounting pressure, theGovernment in its statement in theParliament and letter to the Chairmanof the Parliamentary StandingCommittee on Transport, Tourismand Culture had stated that that STZshad only come up as a matter of rec-ommendation from the NTAC andthat the Ministry was yet to take anydecision with regard to STZs.

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Aday after the body of aminer was brought out of

the coal mine in East JaintiaHills district, Meghalaya, theNavy divers on Saturday locat-ed the body of another minertrapped inside the mine. Fifteenminers were trapped in the ille-gal mine on December 13 lastyear after water from the near-by Lytein river flooded itprompting a multiple-agencyrescue attempt.

“Indian Navy diving teamfinds second body 280ft insidethe rat-hole mine. First body wasrecovered yesterday,” aspokesperson of the Navy tweet-ed on Saturday. District DeputyCommissioner FM Dopth said,“The Indian Navy has informedus that another body was foundat 3am and is located at about280 feet away from the bottomof the main shaft.”

He said the body is decom-posed and efforts are on toretrieve it to the top of the mine,

using the Navy’s remotely oper-ated vehicle (ROV), with thehelp of the National DisasterResponse Force (NDRF).

Meanwhile, the first body,of Amir Hussain from Assam’sChirang district, spotted in themine was handed over to thefamily members Saturdaymorning. In a joint operation,the Navy and the NDRF pulledHussain’s body out of the mine’sshaft on Thursday, after it wasfirst spotted on January 17.

Nearly 200 rescue personnelfrom the NDRF, the IndianNavy, Odisha Fire Service andState agencies are involved in thesearch-and-rescue operation.

The owner of the mine,Krip Chullet, was arrested fromhis home on December 14. Hisaccomplices are on the run.The Meghalaya Governmenthas released Rs 1 lakh interimrelief for the families of thetrapped miners. Meanwhile,the Supreme Court is moni-toring the rescue mission andthe matter is scheduled tocome up for hearing again onMonday. The apex court hadearlier said search must con-tinue as “miracles do happen.”

Last week, the Navy divershad spotted some skeletons inthe ill-fated mine through theROV but could not bring outthem as most of the bodies weredecomposed due to high sul-phur content. However, alongwith other rescue teams theNavy is continuing its efforts tolocate and bring out bodies,source said in New Delhi.

Jammu: A ceremonial BorderPersonnel Meeting (BPM) onthe occasion of India’s 70thRepublic Day was held betweenIndian and Chinese army del-egations in Ladakh region ofJammu & Kashmir on Saturday.

In the meeting held at theIndian BPM huts in Chushul-Moldo and DBO-TWD meet-ing points of eastern Ladakh,both sides sought to buildupon the mutual feelings ofmaintaining peace and tran-quillity along the LAC, adefence spokesperson said.

The Indian delegation wasled by Brigadier VK Purohitand Colonel SS Lamba while

the Chinese delegation wasled by Senior Colonel Bai Minand Colonel Song Zhang Li, hesaid. The ceremonial BPMcommenced with saluting therespective national flags by thedelegation members followedby ceremonial address com-prising of exchange of greet-ings, wishes and a vote ofthanks, the spokesperson said.

The address reflected themutual desires of maintainingand improving relations at thefunctional level, he said, addingboth the sides also sought tobuild upon the mutual feelingto maintain peace and tran-quillity along the LAC. PTI

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Awhopping 3 lakh flowersincluding marigolds, jas-

mines, and roses were used todecorate Central Public WorksDepartment’s (CPWD)’s floraltableau, showcasing MahatmaGandhi’s freedom struggle thatrolled down Rajpath onSaturday as part of the RepublicDay Parade.

In keeping with this year’stheme of commemorating the150th birth anniversary ofMahatma Gandhi, the float ofthe CPWD tableau was front-ed by a huge floral statue of thefather of the nation in histrademark walking avatar.

Depicting Gandhi’s ‘DandiMarch’, the middle part of thetableau showed his non-violentfollowers while the rear portion

promoted his message forworld peace and unity.

“Different variety of flow-ers, foliage, ground covers wasused for the tableau. Around 3lakh natural flowers were fixedup by nearly 400 skilled work-ers hired by the CPWD,” asenior CPWD official said.

The official said the workstarted in the morning onJanuary 25 and was completed

by 1 am on Saturday, so that theflowers remained fresh.

Since the beginning, theCPWD has a tradition of show-casing floral tableaux at theRepublic Day Parade and thisyear was no different, the officialsaid, adding flowers likemarigold, jasmine, rose and asteramong others were used.

Various facets of MahatmaGandhi’s life journey were dis-

played by 22 tableaux thatenthralled the crowds duringthe parade to mark the 150thbirth anniversary of the fatherof the nation. While 16tableaux were from States andUnion Territories, six werefrom various Central Ministriesand departments — agricul-ture, power, drinking waterand sanitation, IndianRailways, CISF and CPWD.

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Wishing fellow citizens onthe 70th Republic Day,

former president PranabMukherjee on Saturday calledupon countrymen to strive toprotect and preserve the foun-dational ethics of justice, lib-erty, equality and fraternity asenshrined in the Constitution.

A day after his name wasannounced for the BharatRatna award, he urged them tostrengthen their resolve to liveup to the ideals of theConstitution. “As the Indianrepublic turns 70 years old, Iwish each & every citizen inIndia and abroad a very HappyRepublic Day. The foundation ofthis great democratic republicwas laid down by our foundingfathers in our IndianConstitution,” he said on Twitter.

After the honour wasbestowed on him, Mukherjeeexpressed his deep gratitude tothe people of this country, say-ing, “As I have always said, in mypublic life I have received muchmore from the people and from

this country than I have given toit.” He said “with all humility, Iaccept this honour”. The formerPresident said the highest hon-our for any individual in thecountry was to be the citizen ofIndia and he was proud of it.Mukherjee also unfurled thenational flag at his residence inCentral Delhi and took thesalute from a contingent ofCRPF personnel deployed there.“Our founding fathers have guid-ed us this far, let us go fartherwith greater vigour and spirit tocreate an India of our dreams.On this Republic Day, let usstrengthen our resolve to live upto the ideals of our Constitution.

“The dynamism of ourConstitution exemplified in theideals of Justice, Liberty,Equality and Fraternity sets thetone of our development. Wemust strive to protect and pre-serve these foundational ethics,”he also said. He said the coun-try began its new journey 70years ago and has covered a longdistance from where it started.

The former President saidIndia has always celebrated its

diversity, enjoyed its plurality.The unique thing about Indiathat inspires all is its huge mul-titude of people using differentlanguages in their daily life andyet living under one flag andone Constitution, he said.

This uniqueness,Mukherjee said, is possible asthe Constitution adopted andoperationalised on January 26,1950, provides the glue whichkeeps different groups of peo-ple together. He said one canrededicate themselves to pursuethe path of Constitutionalism,which is a sacred text for all, thatpromised not only to give aninstrument for administrationbut an instrument to make thepeaceful socio-economic trans-formation.

The Government onFriday announced conferringon Mukherjee the BharatRatna, the country’s highestcivilian award, for his contri-bution to public life. The latesinger Bhupen Hazarika andthe late Jana Sangh leaderNanaji Deshmukh were alsoconferred the Bharat Ratna.

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Amid tension along the Lineof Control in Rajouri and

Poonch sectors of Jammuprovince, the Indian Armydidn’t exchange ‘traditional’sweets with their counterpartsfrom the Pakistan Army.

Instead Pakistan choose totarget civilian pockets inMankote area of Pooncharound the same time whenlocal residents were preparingto attend Republic day cele-brations in their area. As thefiring continued unabatedIndian army too retaliatedeffectively and strongly usingsimilar calibre of weapons.

According to Ministry ofDefence Spokesman in Jammu,Lt Col Devendra Anand,”Pakistan Army initiated‘unprovoked’ ceasefire violationusing small arms fire andshelling with mortars inMankote area of Mendhar.

Following fresh escalationthe Indian Army officers decid-

ed against exchanging sweetpackets at the Chakan-da-baghcrossing point in Poonch.

In Jammu, jawans ofBorder Security Force openedfire to prevent an intruder frombreaching the barbed wire fencealong the International borderin Samba sector.

Initially, BSF authoritiesin the area assumed the intrud-er may have succumbed due tomultiple bullet injuries. But totheir surprise when they triedto retrieve his body theyrealised he was still alive.

The BSF authorities, latershifted him to the nearby hos-pital and after receiving first aidPakistani intruder was shiftedto Government Medical collegehospital in Jammu.

The intruder was identifiedas Farooq Ahmad, resident ofShakargarh area in Pakistan.

The officials said nothingincriminating was recoveredfrom the possession of theintruder, who seemed to be“high on drugs.”

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The Republic Day celebra-tions concluded in Kashmir

Valley peacefully despite ashutdown call by separatistsand an abortive attempt by ter-rorists to stage an attack thatled to killing of two militants inKhonmoh village in the out-skirts of Srinagar.

Sources said a gunfightraged between terrorists andjoint security forces inKhonmoh area followinglaunch of cordon and searchoperation on the basis of inputabout presence of terrorists. Asthe forces zeroed in on the sus-pected place, the hiding mili-tants opened indiscriminatefire triggering a gunfight. In theensuing gunfight, two mili-tants were killed.

Sources said slain terrorists,one each a local cadre and aforeigner, belonged to Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) that hadplanned a big attack on January26. Despite the attack, theRepublic Day (RD) functionsin the entire Kashmir Valleyincluding the main event inSrinagar passed off peacefullyamid tight security arrange-ments.

Advisor to GovernorKhurshid Ahmad Ganaiunfurled the tricolour and tookthe salute at the march past atSrinagar’s main RD function atmakeshift venue Sher-e-Kashmir Cricket Stadium inSrinagar. He also inspected theparade.

The march past was pre-sented by contingents of J&KPolice, JK Armed Police,Border Security Force, CRPF,ITBP, SSB, Women Police, StateDisaster Response Force, Fire

and Emergency Services, NCCcadets and student children.

On the occasion, variouscolourful cultural programmeswere presented by studentsfrom different educationalinstitutions in joint collabora-tion with various central andstate departments.

The peaceful RD celebra-tions were reported from otherdistrict headquarters in theValley.

Several journalists were dis-allowed entry into the venue ofmain official function inSrinagar despite receiving offi-cial entry passes. The act evokedstrong resentment from thejournalists. They held a protestdemonstration in press enclave.Advisor to Governor K VijayKumar has said that the issue ofbarring journalists from cover-ing Republic Day functionwould be looked into. “Thepasses issued to journalists werefound not to be authenticated.The matter would be lookedinto,” Kumar said.

The three tier securityarrangements had been put inplace across Kashmir ahead ofRepublic Day. The securityforces remained active on thejob of frisking in Srinagar cityand in others parts of theregion for the past around aweek. All entry and exit pointstowards Sher-e-KashmirStadium had been sealed to andfrom movement of people andvehicular traffic restricted anddiverted towards alternateroutes for the past week.

Authorities had soundedhigh security alert in central andsouth Kashmir areas followingat least six grenade attacks onpolice and security forces instal-lations a day ahead of the

Republic Day celebrations.The deployment of Police

and Central Reserve PoliceForce (CRPF) personnel hadbeen augmented all over thecity including Lal Chowk,Budshah Chowk, CivilSecretariat and Old Secretariatareas in capital Srinagar. Themovement of people was alsomonitored through the CloseCircuit Television (CCTV)cameras installed at vantagepoints in the city. Surprisechecks of vehicles and friskingof pedestrians, were being con-ducted including at all entryand exit points in the summercapital Srinagar.

Similar security arrange-ments had also been put inplace in all district headquar-ters. Mobile internet servicesthat remained suspendedacross Kashmir as a precau-tionary measure. The serviceswere restored after the conclu-sion of RD parades in Srinagarand district headquarters.

The normal life, however,remained crippled due to theshutdown observed by peopleacross Kashmir in response tothe call of Joint ResistanceLeadership (JRL), a separatistpolitical amalgam comprisingSyed Ali Geelani, MirwaizUmar Farooq and Yasin Malik.It had asked people to observecomplete shutdown today.Traffic movement and businessremained shut while commonpeople preferred to remainindoors.

JKLF chairman YasinMalik was put under preventivedetention by police yesterday.Several other separatist leadersand activists were also detainedahead of RD celebrations as aprecautionary measure.

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Succumbing to political pres-sure, President Donald

Trump has backed a deal totemporarily end the record-breaking Government shut-down in America’s historydespite getting no funding forhis controversial plan to builda wall along the US-Mexicoborder.

The deal resolved the crip-pling 35-day closure but not thefight over his proposed borderwall.

Trump is demanding USD5.7 billion of funding to buildthe wall, but the Democratshave refused. Trump previ-ously vowed to reject any dealunless it included funding forhis signature campaign pledge.

The deal reached on Fridayfunds the government for threeweeks, until February 15, whilelawmakers try to reach a widerdeal on immigration. Both theHouse and Senate passed theplan by voice vote on Friday.

The White House laterconfirmed Trump had signedit into law.

Announcing the pact in aspeech from the Rose Garden,

Trump said he would startnegotiations between theHouse and Senate over a full-year bill funding the HomelandSecurity Department, whichoversees the border.

“After 36 days of spiriteddebate and dialogue, I haveseen and heard from enoughDemocrats and Republicansthat they are willing to put par-tisanship aside, I think,” Trumpsaid.

Pressure mounted onTrump as the shutdown wasthreatening the economy andleft 800,000 federal workersmissing a second paycheque onFriday. The Republican-led USSenate rejected two shutdown-ending bills on Thursday.

Democrats in the Househad demanded a reopening ofthe government before anynegotiations with Trump andhis Republican allies inCongress on border security.

Trump said federal work-ers, whom he called “incredi-ble patriots”, would receive fullback-pay.

The reopening also easespressures on the airline indus-try, which was grappling withstaffing shortfalls in airport

security and air-traffic control.It could speed tax refundsfrom the Internal RevenueService, and restart other gov-

ernment functions related tosmall business loans, initialpublic offerings and infra-structure projects, among oth-

ers.However, the deal, political

analysts, said appeared to be adefeat for Trump as he could

not get any funding to con-struct the border wall, whichthe president says is essential toprevent the flow of illegalimmigrants into the US.

Asserting that deal is not aconcession that he gave to theDemocrats, Trump warned ofanother shutdown or declaringnational emergency to build thewall, in the absence ofCongressional funding for it.

“Let me be very clear: Wereally have no choice but tobuild a powerful wall or steelbarrier. If we don’t get a fairdeal from Congress, the gov-ernment will either shut downon February 15, again, or I willuse the powers afforded to meunder the laws and theConstitution of the UnitedStates to address this emer-gency. We will have great secu-rity,” Trump said.

House Speaker NancyPelosi, however, expressed hap-piness over the deal.

“Disagreement in policyshould never be a reason toshut down government, reallyshouldn’t. Especially, again, fora period of time that has animpact on the paychecks. AndI’m sad it’s taken this long. I’m

glad that we’ve come to a con-clusion today as to how we goforward in the next threeweeks,” she said.

Trump’s State of the Unionaddress, scheduled for Tuesday,has also been delayed due tothe shutdown.

Responding to a question,Pelosi said the new dates of theState of the Union Address hasnot been planned as of now.

“What I said to thePresident is, when the govern-ment is open, we will discuss amutually agreeable date and I’lllook forward to doing thatand welcoming the President tothe House of Representativesfor the State of the Unionwhen we agree on that mutualdate,” she said.

Congresswoman TulsiGabbard said that the tempo-rary opening will create theopportunity for Democrats andRepublicans to come togetherto address funding levels andauthorities for border securityand immigration concerns.

“We cannot allow our gov-ernment and federal employeesto suffer and be held hostagebecause of partisan politics orpolicy disagreements,” she said.

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Venezuela’s political show-down moved to the United

Nations on Saturday where aSecurity Council meetingcalled by the United States pitbackers of President NicolasMaduro against the Trumpadministration and supportersof the country’s self-declaredinterim leader Juan Guaido.

US Secretary of State MikePompeo addressed the meetingahead of Venezuelan ForeignMinister Jorge Arreaza andother council members, whichinclude supporters of bothduelling presidents.

The session focusing onVenezuela’s crisis comes a dayafter Guaido vowed to remainon the streets until his countryhas a transitional government,while Maduro dug in andaccused his opponents oforchestrating a coup.

“They can cut a flower, butthey will never keep springfrom coming,” Guaido toldsupporters Friday, alluding toa similar phrase from theChilean poet Pablo Neruda.

In rival press conferences,Guaido urged his followers tostage another mass protest nextweek, while Maduro pushed hiscall for dialogue.

Each man appeared ready

to defend his claim to thepresidency no matter the cost,with Guaido telling supportersthat if he is arrested they should“stay the course” and peacefullyprotest But the standoff couldset the scene for more violenceand has plunged troubledVenezuela into a new chapterof political turmoil that rightsgroups say has already leftmore than two dozen dead asthousands take to the streetdemanding Maduro step down.

Guaido’s talk with reportersin a plaza in Caracas turnedinto a de facto rally as thou-sands gathered after hearing hewould speak in public for thefirst time since taking a symbolic oathWednesday proclaiming him-self the nation’s constitutionalleader on grounds thatMaduro’s re-election last yearwas fraudulent.

The government ofPresident Donald Trumpannounced it was recognisingthe 35-year-old leader of theopposition-controlled NationalAssembly quickly after hisoath, leading Maduro to saythat he was breaking all diplo-matic ties with the UnitedStates.

The leaders of France,Spain and Germany turned upthe pressure on Maduro

Saturday, saying they too wouldrecognise Guaido unlessVenezuela calls new presiden-tial elections within eight days.

Guaido’s move is the mostdirect challenge to Maduro’srule despite years of protests athome and international effortsto isolate the regime amid agrowing humanitarian crisisfuelled by falling oil pricesand Government mismanage-ment.

Maduro is accusing theopposition of working withthe US to overthrow him.Though over a dozen nationsas well as the Inter-AmericanDevelopment Bank are recog-nizing Guaido as president,Maduro still has the support ofthe military and powerful,longtime allies like Russia andChina and is vowing to defendhis socialist rule.

“This is nothing more thana coup d’etat, ordered, pro-moted, financed and support-ed by the government of theUnited States,” Maduro saidFriday. “They intend to put apuppet government inVenezuela, destroy the state andtake colonial control of thecountry.”

But he added that he wasstill willing to talk with theopposition even if he “had to gonaked.”

Both sides attempted dia-logue last year, but it fell apartas Maduro pushed forwardwith an early election that thecountry’s most popular oppo-sition leaders were barred fromrunning in.

Many in the internationalcommunity condemned thatvote and now consider theNational Assembly, whichMaduro has stripped of itspower, the only legitimate insti-tution.

Saturday’s Security Councilsession came despite Russia’sobjection to its focus onVenezuela, according to UNdiplomats.

It wanted the focuschanged to threats to interna-tional peace and securitybecause as Russian ForeignMinister Sergey Lavrov said, itsees US actions as an “obviouscall for a coup d’etat” — whichwould threaten peace, thediplomats said.

Venezuela’s UN Missionasked for foreign ministerArreaza to be put on the speak-ers list and well-informedcouncil diplomats say there islikely to be no objection.

Russia tried to block thediscussion with a proceduralvote, but the US received theminimum nine votes needed togo ahead.

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Rescuers in helicopter onSaturday searched for sur-

vivors in a huge area in south-eastern Brazil buried by mudfrom the collapse of dam hold-ing back mine waste, with atleast nine people dead and upto 300 missing.

Nearly a full day since thedisaster happened, findingmany more survivors was look-ing increasingly unlikely.

“Most likely, from now onwe are mostly going to berecovering bodies,” said RomeuZema, the governor of thestate of Minas Gerais.

Workers with Brazilianmining company Vale wereeating lunch Friday afternoonwhen the dam collapsed,unleashing a sea of reddish-brown mud that knocked overand buried several structures ofthe company and surroundingareas.

The status of the workersand others in the city ofBrumadinho was unknownSaturday, but the level of dev-astation quickly led PresidentJair Bolsonaro and other offi-cials to describe it as a “tragedy.”

Nine bodies had beenrecovered by Saturday, accord-ing to a statement from theMinas Gerais governor’s office.But the fear was that therewould be many more as rescueand recovery teams dugthrough feet of mud.

Vale CEO FabioSchvartsman said he did notknow what caused the col-lapse. About 300 employeeswere working when it hap-pened. About 100 had beenaccounted for, and rescueefforts were underway to deter-mine what had happened to theothers.

“The principal victimswere our own workers,”Schvartsman told a news con-

ference Friday evening, addingthat the restaurant where manyate “was buried by the mud atlunchtime.”

After the dam collapsed inthe afternoon, parts ofBrumadinho were evacuated,and firefighters rescued peopleby helicopter and ground vehi-cles. Local television channelTV Record showed a heli-copter hovering inches off theground as it pulled people cov-ered in mud out of the waste.

Photos showed rooftopspoking above an extensive fieldof the mud, which also cut offroads. The flow of wastereached the nearby communi-ty of Vila Ferteco and a Valeadministrative office, whereemployees were present.

“I’ve never seen anythinglike it,” Josiele Rosa SilvaTomas, president ofBrumadinho resident’s associ-ation, told The Associated Pressby phone Friday night. “It washorrible...the amount of mudthat took over.”

Silva Tomas said she wasawaiting news of her cousin,and many she knew were try-ing to get news of loved ones.

Another dam administeredby Vale and Australian miningcompany BHP Billiton col-lapsed in 2015 in the city ofMariana in Minas Gerais state,resulting in 19 deaths and forc-ing hundreds from theirhomes. Considered the worstenvironmental disaster inBrazilian history, it left 250,000people without drinking waterand killed thousands of fish. Anestimated 60 million cubicmeters of waste flooded riversand eventually flowed into theAtlantic Ocean.

Schvartsman said whathappened Friday was “a humantragedy much larger than thetragedy of Mariana, but prob-ably the environmental damagewill be less.”

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Former Pakistan prime min-ister Nawaz Sharif ’s lawyer

on Saturday filed a petition inthe high court here for sus-pension of his sentence andseeking bail on medicalgrounds for the incarceratedPML-N leader.

Sharif has been incarcerat-ed in the Kot Lakhpat jail inLahore after he was sentencedto seven years in jail by anaccountability court in the Al-Azizia steel mills case onDecember 24.

Sharif ’s counsel KhawajaHaris filed the petition in theIslamabad High Court (IHC),where petitions for suspen-sion of sentence and appealagainst conviction have beenalready filed. The court had seta hearing for February 18 tohear the earlier petition andappeal, but Sharif ’s legal teamwanted to persuade the courtfor early hearing. Sharif is aheart patent and his health hasdeteriorated as he needs urgentmedical attention in a hospital,according to his daughterMaryam Nawaz.

Berlin: German ChancellorAngela Merkel has called onevery single citizen to helpfight anti-Semitism ahead ofInternational HolocaustRemembrance Day. Merkelsaid Saturday in her weeklypodcast: “Today we are seeinga very different kind of anti-Semitism: there’s the hatred ofJews by our local people, butalso by Muslim migrants.” Inrecent years, Germany has seena rising number of often violentattacks against Jews which ledthe Government to appoint acommissioner against anti-Semitism. AP

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Iran has accused France ofbeing a destabilising force in

the region after its foreignminister threatened new sanc-tions against Tehran over itsmissile programme.

“The Islamic republic hasalways called for the strength-ening of peace and stability inthe region,” the Iranian foreignministry said in a statementreleased overnight Friday.

As such Iran “considersthe mass sales of sophisticatedand offensive weapons by...France as a factor in destabil-ising the balance of the region,”the statement said. It cameafter French Foreign MinisterJean-Yves Le Drian on Friday

said Paris was ready to imposenew sanctions on Tehran iftalks on its missile programmeand its regional influence fail tomake progress.

“We have begun a difficultdialogue with Iran... And unlessprogress is made we are readyto apply sanctions, firmly, andthey know it,” Le Drian said.

Le Drian also demandedthat Iran change its behaviourin the region, specificallyregarding its military presencein Syria. The Iranian foreignministry responded saying“Iran’s missile programme isnot negotiable” and warnedthat “any new sanction byEuropean countries will lead toa review of our relations withthem”.

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AUN human rights envoysaid that hundreds of thou-

sands of Rohingya Muslimrefugees won’t be able to returnto Myanmar soon because ofthreats to their safety in theBuddhist-majority nation.

Myanmar has been criti-cised by global rights groupsand many nations for state-sponsored violence against eth-nic minorities.

Yanghee Lee, the UN spe-cial rapporteur on humanrights in Myanmar, on Fridayalso criticised India and SaudiArabia for mistreatment of theRohingya in those countries.

Lee spent 10 days inThailand and Bangladesh,speaking to refugees living in

Bangladesh, authorities, UNagencies and internationalexperts. More than 700,000Rohingya refugees have fledinto Bangladesh since lateAugust 2017. “It is clear thatRohingya refugees inBangladesh cannot return toMyanmar in the near future,”she said.

She said violence againstthe Rohingya by the Myanmararmy in Rakhine state thatprompted them to flee toneighbouring Bangladesh “bearthe hallmarks of genocide”.Myanmar has repeatedlyturned down her request forallowing her to visit the coun-try.

Myanmar has rejected allthe allegations that any crimesagainst humanity and genocide

took place. Global rights groupshave called the country’s topmilitary officials to be tried fortheir alleged roles in the killingand rapes of Rohingya.

Lee said the violenceagainst other minority groupsmust also end in Myanmar.

“Its campaign of violenceagainst ethnic minorities,including the Rohingya, theKayin, the Kachin and theShan, must end,” she said.

She added: “There must beaccountability for the cam-paign of ethnic cleansing andpossible genocide against theRohingya, as well as the warcrimes and crimes againsthumanity perpetrated againstethnic minorities around thecountry.”

Lee told journalists she

was disturbed by reports of newviolence in Rakhine state andshe accused Myanmar of fail-ing to create a peaceful envi-ronment so the refugees couldreturn from Bangladesh.

“The campaign of violenceagainst the Rohingya contin-ues, with the security forcesslowly bleeding the remainingRohingya population and con-tinuing to force them to flee toBangladesh,” she said.

Lee said she was dismayedby Saudi Arabia’s recent depor-tation of 13 Rohingya toBangladesh, where they havebeen arrested and charged withforging the passports that theyused to travel to Saudi Arabia.

About 1,300 Rohingyahave recently arrived inBangladesh from India,

Bangladesh officials said earli-er this week. Another 61Rohingya, including many chil-dren, were arrested earlier thisweek by India in its northeast-ern states of Assam andTripura. India rejected repeat-ed U.N. Calls against a decisionby India to send at least 40,000Rohingya back to Myanmar.

Bangladesh attempted tostart repatriation in Novemberlast year under a deal withMyanmar despite reservationsby the UN and other globalhuman rights groups that con-ditions were not safe forRohingya in Myanmar, whichsaid it was ready to receivethem. Bangladesh subsequent-ly postponed the process.

The exodus of Rohingyabegan after Myanmar security

forces launched a brutal crack-down following attacks by aninsurgent group on guard postsin late August in 2017.

The scale, organisation andferocity of the crackdown ledthe U.N. And several govern-ments to accuse Myanmar ofethnic cleansing and genocide.Bangladesh’s Prime MinisterSheikh Hasina had orderedborder guards to open the bor-der allowing them to get in.

Most people in Myanmardo not accept that theRohingya Muslims are a nativeethnic group, calling them as“Bengalis” who entered fromBangladesh centuries ago.Nearly all have been denied cit-izenship since 1982, as well asaccess to education and hospitals.

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Dubai: A military base deepinside Saudi Arabia appears tobe testing and possibly manu-facturing ballistic missiles,experts and satellite imagessuggest, evidence of the type ofweapons program it has longcriticized its archrival Iran forpossessing.

Further raising the stakesfor any such program are com-ments by Saudi Arabia’s pow-erful Crown PrinceMohammed bin Salman, whosaid last year the kingdomwouldn’t hesitate to developnuclear weapons if Iran does.

AP

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Tracing his fingers over themetal fencing at a United

Nations protected site in SouthSudan’s capital, Nhial NyuotNhial hung his head as he con-templated going home afteryears of civil war. “At themoment it’s impossible forsomeone to leave,” he said.

The 33-year-old is amongtens of thousands of peoplewho are still sheltering in suchcamps across the country, thelegacy of an unprecedenteddecision by a U.N. peacekeep-ing mission to throw open itsdoors to people fleeing war.

Nhial has been in the Jubacamp since 2014, shortly afterthe country erupted in fighting.A fragile peace deal signedbetween President Salva Kiirand opposition leader RiekMachar in September hasbrought little comfort. Likemany in the camps, Nhial stillfears for his life and refuses toleave.

What began as a temporaryexperiment is looking more likea permanent refuge for morethan 190,000 people living insqualor in the six U.N. pro-tected sites. Now the U.N. haspushed for the camps to close,

amid warnings by the interna-tional community that rushingthe process could re-ignite vio-lence among ethnic groups.

“If or when the walls of theprotection sites come down,there will still be dangerousintercommunal tensions andmassive protection needs,” saidLauren Spink, senior researcheron peacekeeping for the Centerfor Civilians in Conflict, aninternational non-profit group.

An internal U.N. draftshared with aid agencies inSeptember and seen by TheAssociated Press detailed aplan for “all services to be per-manently relocated outside”Juba’s two U.N. sites by the endof January, according to thedocument.

The plan, which was nevermade public, has yet to beimplemented and U.N. missionchief David Shearer said therehas been no decision to closethe camps at any particulartime. “People moving back totheir homes have to make theirown decisions,” he told the AP.

Five years of fighting havekilled almost 400,000 peopleand left more than seven mil-lion, or two-thirds of the pop-ulation, in “dire need” ofhumanitarian assistance,

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The Executive Engineer, L.T.Valley Division, PWD(R&B),L.T.Valley, Dhalai District,Tripura, invites sealed tender(s)against PRESS NOTICE INVITING (E- TENDER) NO. 11/EE/LTV/PWD/MANU/2018-19,Dt. 16/01/2019.

For Proposed construction of 12(twelve) Nos. StaffQuarters building [ Type -I quarter - 04 units (one block- twin double storey ),Type-ll quarter - 04 units (one block- twin double storey ) and Type-Ill quarter - 04 units (oneblock - twin double storey ) ] at Chawmanu CommunityHealth Centre (CHC) under L.T.Valley Sub-division, DhalaiDistrict, Tripura/SH: Building portion including internalwater supply, Sanitary installation, Sewage and Drainageworks.

DNIT No: ACE/Project Unit/PWD(Buildings) /DNIT/50/2018-19

With Estimated cost: Rs. 2, 25, 17, 830.00

Earnest Money: Rs. 2, 25, 178.00

Time of Completion - 18(eighteen) Months.

Last Date of online bidding - 06/02/2019/Time 15.00 Hourson or before.

For details please visit:- https://tripuratenders.gov.in

Note:

*NO NEGOTIATION WILL BE CONDUCTED WITH THELOWEST BIDDER*

Sd/-(Er. P. Debbarma)

Executive EngineerLTV Division, PWD (R&B)

ICA/C-2320/19 Manu, Dhalai, Tripura

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With all the safety clear-ances, trials and tests in

place, the railways is all set tolaunch the indigenously-builtTrain-18 with fares that arelikely to be around 40-50 percent higher than the ShatabdiExpress, officials said.

Officials said they haveapproached Prime Minister’sOffice (PMO) seeking timefor the launch by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi,which is likely after the pre-sentation of the Budget. Thefirst train is slated to runbetween New Delhi andVaranasi, the Prime Minister’sLok Sabha constituency.

They said that the engine-less Train-18, whose tractionequipment is mounted belowthe bogies, got the final clear-ance of the Electrical Inspectorto the Government (EIG) onThursday and “thus we haveapproached the PMO seeking

time for the inaugural run ofthe train on the New Delhi-Varanasi route”.

Earlier this month, RailwayMinister Piyush Goyal hadsaid that the Train-18 will runbetween New Delhi andVaranasi and it will cover the755 km distance in eight hourswith stoppages at Kanpur andPrayagraj. It will be the fastesttrain on the route. The currentfastest train takes around 11-and-a-half-hours to completethe journey.

Hinting at the fare of thetrain, the officials said that itwill be almost 40-50 per centhigher than the Executive andChair Class fares of theShatabdi Express trains.

The Executive Class farewould be between �2,800 and�2,900 while that of the ChairCar would be between �1,600and 1,700.

The Train-18, built by theIntegral Coach Factory (ICF) inChennai, has undergone exten-

sive trials under the supervisionof Research Designs andStandards Organisation(RDSO), Lucknow. It has suc-cessfully completed trials up toa speed of 180 kmph. Thetrain is capable of touching amaximum speed of 200 kmph.

Train 18, which runs onelectric traction like Metrotrains, will start replacing theShatabdi Express fleet fromnext year, the officials said.

The new train has a num-ber of features to enhance pas-senger comfort which includeinter-connected fully-sealedgangways, automatic doorswith retractable footsteps,onboard Wi-Fi and infotain-ment, GPS-based passengerinformation system, modulartoilets with bio-vacuum sys-tems, rotational seats which canbe aligned in the direction oftravel (available only in theExecutive Class), roller blindsand diffused LED lighting anddisabled-friendly toilets.

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The income tax (I-T) depart-ment has attached some of

the shares held by VGSiddhartha and Coffee DayEnterprises Ltd in Mindtree, amove that may halt them fromselling their stake in the ITfirm.

The step by the I-T depart-ment has been taken to recov-er a tax demand from the two,Mindtree said in a regulatoryfiling without disclosing furtherdetails.

The development comes ata time when Siddhartha, whoowns about 21 per cent stake inMindtree through various enti-ties, is said to be in advanceddiscussions to sell his shares inMindtree.

In its BSE filing onSaturday, Mindtree informedthat the I-T department inBengaluru has issued a “provi-sional attachment u/s 281B ofIncome Tax or prohibitoryorders Act, 1961 for taxdemand likely to be raised bythe I-T Departmenton...Shareholders of the com-pany - Coffee Day EnterprisesLtd and V G Siddhartha”.

It added that the attach-ment also “prohibited for trans-fer or charge” of 22.2 lakh equi-ty shares of Coffee DayEnterprises Ltd, and 52.7 lakhshares held by Siddhartha.

The order would be applic-able for six months from thedate of the order on Friday(January 25, 2019), it said.

E-mails sent to Mindtreeseeking further details did notelicit any response.

At the end of theDecember 2018 quarter,Siddhartha held 54.69 lakh(3.3 per cent), while Coffee DayEnterprises Ltd had more than1.74 crore shares (10.63 percent). Another entity, CoffeeDay Trading Ltd holds over1.05 crore shares (6.45 percent).

Mindtree’s promoters,which include Subroto Bagchi,Krishnakumar Natarajan, N SParthasarathy, and RostowRavanan, together hold rough-ly 13 per cent stake in the com-pany.

According to reports,Siddhartha, who invested inMindtree way back in 1999, isin advanced talks with L&TInfotech (LTI) and private equi-ty firm KKR to sell his stake inthe mid-sized IT services com-pany. Also, there have alsobeen speculations that such asale by Siddhartha could trig-ger a hostile takeover at thecompany, even as the foundersare said to be making all-outefforts to counter any suchdevelopments.

Both Siddhartha andMindtree founders have notmade any specific commentson the issue so far.

During the Q3 earningscall recently, the managementskirted questions on the spec-ulations saying it remains com-mitted to delivering growth forthe company.

“...This is something that is

not in our control.Shareholders make their owndecisions on when they want tobuy, how much they want tobuy, when they want to sell, etc.It is outside our purview in thatsense,” Ravanan, who is also thechief executive officer andmanaging director, had said.

Ravanan had further stat-ed: “We can make sure thatthings go right at Mindtree, wetake care of people, customersand continue to deliver indus-try leading growth.

So, the stake sale is notsomething that we have a viewon or would like to make acomment”.

Mindtree, in the December2018 quarter, posted a 35.1 percent rise in consolidated netprofit to Rs 191.2 crore, and29.7 per cent jump in revenuesto Rs 1,787.2 crore over theyear-ago period. It also exud-ed confidence that its January-March numbers would be bet-ter than the just-concludedquarter.

Shares of Mindtree closedat Rs 885.95 apiece on Fridayon the BSE.

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Air India has started flyingwith the logo of Mahatma

Gandhi to commemorate his150th birth anniversary laterthis year.

Right now only two aircrafthave been painted with the logoof the Father of the Nation onthe left side of the fuselage andthe rest of its fleet of 163 air-craft would also sport his imagein due course.

“The logo to commemo-rate Mahatma Gandhi’s 150year birth anniversary wasembossed on Air India’s AirbusA319 and A320 aircraft lastweek. The two aircraft havesince been operating on bothdomestic as well as interna-tional routes.

“The plan is to have all 163

aircraft belonging to Air India,Alliance Air and Air IndiaExpress to be embossed withthe logo within the next 3-months. It takes about 5-hoursto get the logo embossed on anaircraft. After that it is thrustback into service,” the officialsaid.” a senior Air India officialtold IANS here.

“We will also unveil thelogo on one of the Airbus air-craft during the upcomingAero India Show to be held inFebruary in Bengaluru,” hesaid.

Currently, Air India has125 aircraft under its mainbrand which will be embossedwith the logo. Besides, the AirIndia Group has 23 aircraftwith its subsidiary Air IndiaExpress and 15 planes withAlliance Air.

The airline also plans toplay Gandhiji’s favourite bha-jans on its flights, apart fromplaying short videos on theMahatma on it internationalflights.

The government also plansto have Gandhiji’s pictures ontrains, metro rail, and Stateroadways buses.

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Google is set to expand itsservices for web users of its

popular video chat mobile appDuo in the coming weeks,9to5Google has reported.

“This development ulti-mately means a much widerreach of devices that can accessthe growing service. GoogleDuo has, up to now, only beenavailable in the form of an app from theGoogle Play Store or the iOSApp Store, and on its SmartDisplay platform,” the reportsaid quoting a source familiarwith the information.

The web version of GoogleDuo would also work in theGoogle Chrome browser aswell as other rival browsers likeMozilla Firefox and AppleSafari.

“It’s unclear as of now how

much of the current function-ality from the mobile version ofDuo will be available on theweb at launch, but it’s likely to,at the very least, include fun-damental Duo features such as‘knock knock’ and the ability toleave video messages,” thereport added.

The Internet giant has beenintroducing new features to thepopular video chat app fromtime to time with the latestbeing group calling, which issomething Apple’s FaceTimenow supports for up to 32 usersat once.

Google Duo’s group callingtool would only support up toseven people at a time.

Users need to first create agroup with the contacts theywish to video chat with on theplatform and then they canstart a call with all at the sametime.

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State-owned Oil and NaturalGas Corp (ONGC) is

mulling on a vision documentfor 2040 that will lay the strate-gic roadmap for the nation’slargest oil and gas producer forthe next two decades.

ONGC Chairman andManaging Director ShashiShanker, in his speech afterhoisting the national flag at thecompany headquarters atDehradun, said the vision doc-ument ‘Strategic Roadmap2040’ would craft the strategyfor the firm as an integratedenergy major with a long-termperspective.

“The document wouldreframe the vision and recastthe objectives of PerspectivePlan 2030,” he said.

The Perspective Plan 2030was ONGC’s earlier vision doc-ument that outlined strategicgoals for the growth of the

organisation and for the ener-gy security of the nation, acompany statement said.

“Our portfolio has seen ametamorphic change in the lastdecade. Today our businessportfolio includes E&P, refin-ing, petrochemicals, LNG,pipelines, retail, SEZInfrastructure, power etc.While these developmentsopen up new vistas and oppor-tunities for the company, theyalso add layers of complexity toour decision-making andstrategic framework,” he said.

Shanker said ONGC isconsidering many opportuni-ties for sustaining growth andfulfilling its vision of becominga global energy leader. Theexercise also envisages evalu-ating potential growth areas,both within and outside India,so that ONGC is able to pri-oritise suitable actions well inadvance. ?

Overall, FY18 was a solid

year for ONGC, he said. “Ourstandalone hydrocarbon pro-duction increased year on year;the uptick in gas output wasparticularly impressive. Crudeoil output increased marginal-ly from FY17 levels while gasoutput increased by over 6 percent to 23.5 BCM from 22.0BCM in FY17.”

Shanker also expressed sat-isfaction with the performanceof the company’s subsidiaries.Overseas production recordedanother strong year of growth.Oil plus oil equivalent gas out-put increased to over 14 milliontonnes in FY18 against 12.80million tonnes a year back.

Performance of domesticsubsidiaries and JVs was alsoimpressive. Mangalore Refineryand Petrochemicals Ltd(MRPL) recorded its highestever throughput of 16.31 mil-lion tonnes with a GrossRefinery Margin (GRM) ofUSD 7.54 per barrel.

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Dubai-based Lulu Groupwhich is owned by an

Indian business tycoon hasannounced its entry into main-land Europe after a new agree-ment with a Switzerland-basedreal estate company to developa new four-star hotel in theSwiss city of Zurich.

Twenty14 Holdings(T14H), the hospitality invest-ment arm of Abu Dhabi basedLuLu Group International, saidon Friday that it has enteredinto a forward purchase con-tract with Necron AG for theupcoming IntercityHotelZurich Airport in Rümlangmunicipality of Zurich.

The company said its newpurpose-built, 260-room hotel,set to open in 2020 and will belocated close to Rümlang sta-tion and offer good transportlinks, including access toZurich International Airport in10 minutes. “We are excited tomark our entry into mainlandEurope with our first propertyin Zurich. It is an important

milestone in our group’s port-folio as we work towardsbecoming a billion-dollarinvestment firm by 2020,” saidAdeeb Ahamed, ManagingDirector of T14H.

The latest hotel joins aportfolio of USD 750-millionworth of luxury property acrossthe UK, the Middle East, andIndia led by T14H, the hospi-tality investment arm of LuLuGroup, headed by Indian-ori-gin businessman Yusaffali MA.

In the UK, the group ownsthe Waldorf Astoria Edinburgh,The Caledonian in Scotlandand has struck a 110-millionpounds agreement with prop-erty developer Galliard Homesto create a luxurious five-starhotel at 1-5 Great ScotlandYard, the former headquartersof Metropolitan Police inLondon. The new Swiss prop-erty will include meeting andevent spaces, a restaurant, anindoor fitness centre, and spaarea as well as undergroundand outdoor parking facilities.

It will be operated byDeutsche Hospitality

(Steigenberger Hotels AG)under a 20-year lease contractand is the first of many devel-opment projects planned byNecron AG’s in cooperationwith Deutsche Hospitality.

“This is an exciting hoteldevelopment and we aredelighted to be working inpartnership with bothTwenty14 Holdings andDeutsche Hospitality. We verymuch hope this is the start ofa successful long-term part-nership with both,” said Gerardvan Liempt, CEO, Necron AG.

The companies involvedsaid the design of the proper-ty will be based on the newIntercity Hotels Matteo Thundesign standards, and keepingin mind business travellers andtourists, the property will fea-ture modern guestrooms andpublic spaces.

Thomas Willms, CEO,Deutsche Hospitality, added:“The IntercityHotel ZurichAirport launches our brand inSwitzerland and adds a highlyattractive location to the port-folio.

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Disappointing quarterlyresults, combined with for-

eign fund outflows and nega-tive global cues, pulled theIndian equity market lowerduring the week ended onFriday. Index-wise, the volatileweek saw the S&P BSE Sensexdecline by one per cent, whilethe NSE Nifty50 edged-lowerby 1.16 per cent.

“Domestic markets wit-nessed volatile trade trackinglacklustre global cues as polit-ical uncertainty in the US andworries about weakening glob-al economic growth weighedon investor sentiment,” SMCInvestments & Advisors CMDD.K. Aggarwal told IANS.

“Even some strength inthe rupee failed to give much

fillip to market. The Decemberquarter earnings have been amixed bag so far.” According toGeojit Financial Services’ Headof Research Vinod Nair: “Midand small caps continued tounderperform as mixed quar-ter earnings dragged investor’sfocus from riskier portfolios.”

“Additionally, apprehen-sion over governments’ abilityto meet the fiscal target of 3.3per cent of GDP in FY19 dueto lower tax revenue and high-er fiscal expenditure.”

Consequently, the BSESensex declined 1 per cent or361.07 points to close at36,025.54 points. The NSENifty50 closed at 10,780.55points, down 1.16 per cent or126.4 points lower on a week-on-week basis. On a stock-spe-cific basis, ITC and MarutiSuzuki stocks faced sell-offsdue to lower than expectedquarterly results, whereas SunPharma and Yes Bank sharesgained.

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The Indian IT sector facesglobal headwinds like

Brexit but developmentsaround Globalisation 4.0 and5G technology will bringgrowth for the industry thisyear, Tech Mahindra’s MD andCEO CP Gurnani said.

He also flagged currencyrisks, but added that thedomestic IT sector will benefitfrom investments in digital.

“Uncertainty and lack ofclarity around the US shut-down and Brexit are risks forthe IT industry. However, theIT sector is poised for futuregrowth, with technology beingthe key enabler forGlobalisation 4.0.

“Technology is at the coreof everything we do, be it solv-ing the skill problem or sus-tainability issues,” Gurnani toldPTI.

Meanwhile, US PresidentDonald Trump on Fridaybacked a deal to temporarilyend the record-breaking gov-ernment shutdown despite get-ting no funding for his con-

troversial plan to build a wallalong the US-Mexico border.

The deal resolved the crip-pling 35-day closure but not thefight over his proposed borderwall.

“While US accounts for 60per cent of the Indian IT spend,for Tech Mahindra, 45-46 percent business comes from US.We also have other currenciesto battle. Every currency has itsown equation with the US cur-rency and hence, it all balancesout in the end. The impact ofthe current geopolitical issues,if any, is likely to be two to threequarters away. I would wait andwatch before drawing any con-clusion,” he said.

Britain is set to exit the 28-member EU on March 29. Butwith just over two months to

go, Britain is still undecided ona roadmap, which has led touncertainties for businessesand the global economy as awhole.

Gurnani, who served aschairman of IT industry bodyNASSCOM in 2016-17, saidthe Indian IT sector is bettingbig on Globalisation 4.0 whereglobal trade will be shapedmainly by the use of technology.

“Despite global slowdown,India has witnessed robustgrowth and is poised to becomethe 5th largest economy in theworld. Together with Asia,India has a critical role to playin Globalization 4.0, and it isimportant for us to sustain themomentum,” he said.

According to Gartner esti-mates, India’s IT spending willgrow by 6.7 per cent in 2019 toUSD 89 billion. Increasingspending on three segments -- devices, enterprise softwareand IT services — will give amajor boost to IT spending lev-els in India in 2019, it said.

“2019 will be the year ofgrowth as the IT industry

invests aggressively in digital.The future is now, and it is allabout being agile and beingable to deliver better customerand citizen services.

“The economy is beingdriven by millennials that hasled to a huge demand in dataand data services. Using datafor personalization and cus-tomization of services will holdthe key,” Gurnani said.

He also said TechMahindra is betting big onemerging technologies like 5G,blockchain, artificial intelli-gence, deep machine learningand quantum computing andwill continue to focus on strate-gic acquisitions to scale faster.

“The future of innovationdepends on the successful roll-out and implementation of 5G.Networks are at the heart ofaccelerating digital transfor-mation and a fully functional5G network will deliverunprecedented productivitygains. After 18 months, 5G willtake the centrestage in the techworld and all our conversationswill be about digital and 5G,” hesaid.

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State-owned NLC India Ltdon Saturday said it has

signed an agreement withTamil Nadu to set up minesand power projects in the State.

The company alreadyoperates four lignite mines ofcapacity 30.6 million tonneper annum (MTPA) (in TamilNadu and Rajasthan) and fivethermal power stations ofcapacity 3,140 MW (in TamilNadu and Rajasthan), out ofwhich, 28.6 MTPA lignitemines and 2,890 MW thermalpower stations are located inTamil Nadu.

The envisaged investmentin the projects would generatedirect employment for about1,250 persons and indirectemployment for nearly 7,500persons, the company said in astatement.

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There are more than one billionfirearms in the world, out ofwhich 857 million (85 per cent)are in civilian hands, 133 million(13 per cent) in military arsenals

and 23 million (two per cent) owned bylaw enforcement agencies, according to areport published by the Small ArmsSurvey in June 2018, written by AaronKarp, senior lecturer at Old DominionUniversity, Virginia, US.

What is alarming is that India rankssecond with 71.1 million arms after the USwith an estimated 394 million. The glob-al stockpile has increased over the pastdecade, largely due to civilian holdings,which grew from 650 million in 2006 to857 million in 2017.

“India has a lot of firearms, but fromglobal perspective, it ranks at mid level interms of rate of ownership. Unlike the gunculture in the US, which gives its citizenthe right to own firearms, India, after inde-pendence, has been more successful incontrolling the ownership of firearms,which has worked well for the country. Thebiggest problem is the illegal firearms,”Karp says.

The latest National Crime RecordBureau’s report highlights that around3,775 people were murdered in India byfirearms out of which 3,453 deaths weredue to unlicensed firearms and only 322died from legally owned, registered arms.A total of 1,06,900 pieces of ammunitionand 56,516 firearms were seized across thecountry that year, out of which only37,116 arms were unlicensed/impro-vised/crude and country-made.

Only 53,929 cases were registeredunder the Arm Act, 1959, concentrated innorthern States. Uttar Pradesh has themaximum number with 27,189 armscases followed by Madhya Pradesh with8,019 and Rajasthan 5,757 arms cases.These arms include weapons AK 47/56rifles, pistols, carbine, revolver, guns andrifles.

Whether bought legally or illegally,licensed or unlicensed, for safety, sports orwrong reasons, with an increasing num-ber of people registering for guns and alsotaking the illegal route to own a katta, therising gun culture in India is having a hugefallout.

“When you own a gun, you are show-ing the world that you are more powerfulthan others. In Rajputs, it is a status sym-bol — if you own a gun, you are complete.But this status and power is misused.When you carry a gun, you feel you areindestructible and invincible. It is a way tokeep your shortcomings hidden. Gunmeans God, you take the life of anotherperson in your hand, bring him to hisknees, and convinces them to do anything.It is more powerful than money,” says

Anuja Trehan Kapur, criminal psycholo-gist and advocate who owns a .37 CaliberNirbheek, a light-weight weapon designedfor women.

Dr Ranjana Kumari, director ofCentre for Social Research, agrees. Morethan protection, owning a gun is a sta-tus symbol in India, she feels. “Gun sym-bolises power which is misused. Peopleget it in the name of protection but thefact is, very few people carry it withthemselves all the time for their safety.A lot of people from the minority andmiddle class groups are trying to get thegun legally or illegally and the momentyou start arming people, you are increas-ing the chances of them committing acrime. Crime has risen due to the illegalproduction, ownership and distributionof weapons. This has also led to the emer-gence of criminal gangs. The gun lobbyis a huge economic stint in the systemand it should be nabbed and controlledon time,” Kumar explains.

Just like crime evolves, the gun culturehas evolved too. The history of India's gunculture dates back to the British era whenmany Government-owned gun factorieswere operated in Bihar's Munger andMadhya Pradesh’s (MP) Khargone andDhar. These gun manufacturers supply thearms and ammunition to the armed forcesduring the First World War. The IndianGovernment after Independence grantedlicenses to 36 small-scale industries to pro-duce firearms. When the India-China warbroke out in 1962, the Munger GunFactory supplied samples of 410 boreMuscat to the Defence Ministry.

After the war got over, these factorieswere shut down four decades ago, leavinghundreds of workers unemployed whotook the illegal route to manufacturearms as they knew no other work. To earna living, they started an illegal business bymaking country made pistols — kattas ortamanchas.

Cut to 2019, the art of arms manu-facturing has been not only preserved bythis class of workers but also carried for-wards by their present generation. Theycan now even make duplicate copies ofmodern rifles like AK-47, you name it andthey can make it for you.

These illegal arms manufacturers havebuilt their factories either in forest area orresidential complexes where it is difficultto locate such activity. In Ardhana Villagenear Meerut, UP and Mewat, Haryana,there are many illegal arms manufactur-ing units.

After frequent raids of illegal firearmsrackets operated inter-State in these areas,a senior Delhi Police officer revealed thatmany illegal manufacturing units havehired skilled labourers from Munger tomake illegal weapons. They would procure

the raw material from Munger and assem-ble the country made weapons like singleshot firearms, sixers, pistols, single barrelgun, double barrel gun, semi-automaticrifles resembling INSAS and AK-47. Youname it and the manufacturers will makeit for you whichever type of firearm youwant.

From goons, Maoists, terrorists topetty thieves, snatchers and criminals,these illegal arms are much in demand andare known for its quality of craft. The priceof these weapons varies according totheir make, outer look and raw materialused. The country made single-shot pis-

tol, also known as katta, can be procuredin between �3,000 to �7,000 dependingupon the make and material (rod/barrel)used. While a pistol or a revolver costs inbetween �15,000 to �25,000.

Other weapons like semi-automaticrifles including the AK series can cost any-thing in between �30,000 to �50,000.People would demand illegal arms whichcontinue to be available for sale in bulk atmuch cheaper prices in Delhi-NCR,Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, UP andNepal as well.

The Capital has become a transit hubfor arms smuggling and criminals usingthem. The areas in Delhi, where the armshave majorly been supplied, are Alipur,Bawana, GT Karnal Road, Prashant Vihar,Rohini, Najafgarh, Jaitpur, Badarpur,Gazipur, Anand Vihar, Vivek Vihar,Seemapuri, Mangolpuri, Madangir, NandNagri and Jafrabad.

The sale of illegal weapon is going onblatantly as arms peddlers smuggle gunsand ammunition in scooters and bikesmaking it difficult for the Delhi police tonab the culprits and burst the racket.

The Delhi Police’s Annual report for2018 highlights that the problem of illic-it firearms and their use is becoming worsewith each passing year. The number ofcriminals arrested under Arms Act saw anincrease of 66.61 per cent, with 1901 casesin 2018 as compared to 1141 in 2017, and745 cases in 2016. The number of casesregistered with illegal firearms has seen a60.92 per cent rise with 1540 cases in 2018,as compared to 957 cases in 2017, and 658cases in 2016. The number of recovery ofillegal firearms in Delhi has increased to37.94 per cent with 1905 cases in 2018 ascompared to 1381 cases in 2017 and 902cases in 2016.

With such a large number of seizuresof illegal arm and ammunition, it is notonly helping the State police to bring downthe gun violence and insurgency but alsonab smuggling of arms across India.

Be it stringent licensing norms whichhas made the process difficult and timeconsuming or petty criminals and thoseseeking revenge, the illegal arms are inhuge demand because of these two reasons.

The license of the gun and ammuni-tion comes with greater accountability, lia-bility and responsibility. Thus the officialsnot only check your background for pre-vious criminal record and cases but alsoyour psychological traits.

“It is very important that the gun goesto the right person who is mentallytrained and has a strong personality. A guncan only be taken it in your own handswhen you have your hands are made forthat and your personality and mind is welltrained. From the psychological point ofview, owning a gun gives you a kick and

you find yourself above average. A weakpersonality who believes in doing good toothers will not carry or own a gun. Theywill even surrender the gun that they havein the family or fear that they might killthemselves out of depression or kill thefamily members or others for revenge. Aperson, who can take risks and considerthemselves above all will opt for owninga gun,” Kapur says.

Even those who have traits of rage,anxiety, depression or a narcissist wouldbe risk factor. “We all have a bit of narcissistand inferiority complex that comes withemotional instability, paranoia borderingon predatory. It is difficult to assess the psy-che of a person in a few rounds of inter-view and authorise them with the gunlicense. People also bribe and use thepower of politician and others easy wayout. But for the common man, the impor-tant thing is to build a strong personality.Being a woman, I have traits of emotion-al instability, but I had made my person-ality so strong that I got my gun license injust two hours. They kept on testing meand tried to create an ambush during myinterview but I kept a calm profile,” Kapurtells you.

It is easier for women to get licensewhich the men in the family take advan-tage of. “Women are also using guns butmostly people take licensed under thename of their wife or girlfriend becausewomen get license easily — for selfdefence. There was an incident that tookplace in Kanpur where women, who werehousewives and didn’t even know how tospeak properly, had applied for a gunlicense,” Kapur shares.

The psychology of men getting a gunwill be different from the psychology ofwomen. “With women, gun is connectedwith safety but for men, it is connectedwith violence. A man’s identity lies with thegun, take that away, their power to extractand extort, and commit crime goes awayas well. Women are victims more than theoffenders. There are exceptions like IndraniMukherjee. But only two per cent ofwomen would be owning a gun,” Kumarisays.

Kapur points out that the idea of own-ing a gun comes from two factors — genet-ic and environmental influence. “Some aregenetically driven and passed on to thechild by their fathers with the wrong role-model. Some are born in violent and crim-inal environment. When it comes to gunculture, there exists male patriarchy as boysfrom their childhood days are gifted guntoy to play with, which is later replaced bythe violent mobile games and then influ-enced by films and the environmentaround them. The urge to see and hold areal gun arises and they either get it legal-ly or illegally,” Kapur points out.

Karp points out that in India, due topoverty and legal restrictions, most civil-ian guns are katta which are not registered.“It is not uncommon that members of fam-ilies don't even know that there is a gunat home, they would not know how manyof them are lying in the store or cupboard.Another part of the problem is older andantique weapons, sometimes from WorldWar Two or earlier, and often are not reg-istered,” Karp says.

What can really help in this situationis door-to-door polling. Karp notes thatpublic polling on sensitive subjects likeguns, asking people how many arms theyhave, is neither easy or perfect.

“But experience in Africa, Europe andLatin America shows that polling is thebest way to figure how many guns are outthere, including unregistered guns,” he says.

Seeing the increasing cases of armssmuggling, the Ministry of Home Affairshas taken a big step to include the namesof all arms licence holders— new or old— in the national database and issue theowners a unique identification number(UIN) to keep a track of authorised pri-vate gun holders, many of whom are oftenfound involved in gun violence.

With effect from April 1, 2019, anyarms license without UIN shall be con-sidered invalid. The decision has beentaken by exercising powers under Section44 of the Arms Act, 1959 (54 of 1959) byamending the Arms Rules, 2016. Theserules will be called the Arms (SecondAmendment) Rules, 2018 which willmake more difficult for the citizens to owna gun. The amendments will decline armslicense to persons whose antecedents arenot bona fide.

Under the new rules, prospective gunowners will have to show they have beentrained, only carry firearms in holdersand secure them in a "knocked down"condition in gun lockers at home. Evenair guns will require an arms license.

Moreover, existing licensee havingmultiple licences shall have to file anapplication for the grant of a singlelicense in respect of all firearms held byhim or her under his or her UIN to theconcerned licensing authority. Forwomen’s safety, there are licensed elec-tronic disabling devices like taser gunsand lighter gun as well.

The police need to do more than justlaw enforcement, Karp says. “One of themost effective tools is a firearms amnesty,where people, without the fear of pros-ecution for holding an illegal gun, cancome forward and either surrender theirguns and ammunition or get them legal-ly registered. Simply shifting firearmsfrom the illegal pool legalised ownershipwill help greatly to reduce gun violence,”Karp advises.

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Japan's Naomi Osaka said she was "ina state of shock" on Saturday afterholding her nerve to battle past Petra

Kvitova to win the Australian Open ina three-set thriller that also delivered herthe world number one ranking.

The fourth seed and US Openchampion triumphed 7-6 (7/2), 5-7, 6-4 in a 2hr 27min epic over the Czecheighth seed to claim back-to-backGrand Slams and become the firstAsian, male or female, to hold the topspot.

The Japanese youngster fell to oneknee in celebration, head bowed, asMelbourne Park erupted in thunderouscheers.

"I felt like I was in a state of shockthrough the entire trophy presentation,"the 21-year-old said.

A rattled Osaka almost blew hertitle hopes with one hand on the tro-phy when she failed to convert threechampionship points leading 5-3 in thesecond set.

The never-say-die Kvitova forced adeciding set before Osaka finally edgedahead with a decisive break early in thethird.

"Of course I felt very disappointedand sad when I had three matchpoints," she said.

"I tried to tell myself there's noth-ing I can do about it. Told myself I'mplaying a final and need to keep fight-ing and couldn't act immature andneeded to keep fighting."

Her jubilation was a marked con-trast to Osaka's maiden Slam win lastyear, when she tearfully hid her face as

boos rang around Flushing Meadowsin the wake of losing finalist SerenaWilliams' tirade at the umpire.

This time, Osaka cried with joy andsmiled as she became the youngestwoman to win back-to-back majors

since Martina Hingis in 1998 and theyoungest number one since CarolineWozniacki in 2010.

Her gutsy performance confirmsher status as the leading light of tennis'new generation.

Kvitova can console herself with acareer-best performance at MelbournePark, where she did not drop a set onher way to the final.

It was her first Grand Slam decidersince a burglar slashed her racquet handin a 2016 knife attack and the Czech has

shown she is again a contender at themajors.

"Thank you for sticking with meeven when we didn't know if I wouldable to hold a racquet again," Kvitovatold her team, with her voice cracking.

"It's crazy. I can hardly believe thatI just played in a Grand Slam finalagain."

� �('��Predictions of a slugfest between

two of the game's biggest hitters provedaccurate as the pair went toe-to-toe inthe first set.

They had never met before andOsaka initially struggled to unlock thelanky left-hander's serve, while Kvitovaat times could not handle her oppo-nent's powerful returns.

The Czech mixed up her game withdrop shots and changes of pace but blewthree break chances in a crunch sixthgame in the first set.

Kvitova saved two set points toforce a tie-break but Osaka ran awaywith it 7-2, taking the first set the Czechhad conceded in the entire tournament.

Kvitova regrouped and kept herhopes alive with the first break of thematch, going up 2-0 in the second.

Osaka was frustrated but did notpanic, going back on level terms in thenext game after benefiting from aKvitova double fault and poorly hit dropshot.

The Japanese star broke again totake control as Kvitova's error rateclimbed, bringing up three champi-onship points. But the Czech saved allof them, forcing Osaka to serve for thetitle.

Nerves took hold as Osaka con-ceded a break to make it 5-5, smash-ing a ball into the ground and puttingher hands over her ears.

The Czech broke again to seizemomentum with her fourth straightgame, claiming the set as Osaka left thecourt with a towel draped over her head.

Osaka regained her cool andclipped a clean backhand winner to takea break point in the third game of thedecider, going on to see off a Kvitovabreak opportunity, her mental demonsput to bed.

Kvitova would not surrender, sav-ing three break points before again forc-ing Osaka to serve it out, but theJapanese champion managed it on thesecond attempt for a famous victory.

By winning a second Grand Slamand becoming world number one, shehas firmly established herself as at theforefront of the next generation ofwomen players. And with that comesall-consuming attention.

Soon after her Melbourne Parkwin, Japanese Prime Minister ShinzoAbe tweeted: "I'm so proud of the birthof the new world queen."

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Novak Djokovic and RafaelNadal will renew the "great-

est rivalry" in modern tenniswhen they collide in a mouth-watering 107th Australian Openfinal on Sunday.

The top two players in theworld have 31 Grand Slamtitles between them and eachcan claim another slice of his-tory with victory.

Djokovic, 31, will lift arecord seventh NormanBrookes Trophy with a winwhile Nadal, 32, will becomethe first man in the Open Erato win all four Grand Slamstwice if he adds to his 2009Melbourne Park crown.

Nadal's 18th Grand Slamtitle would see him close thegap on Federer's 20 at the topof the all-time list andDjokovic's 15th would givehim sole ownership of thirdplace ahead of Pete Sampras.

"These are the kind ofmatches that you live for:finals of Slams, playing thegreatest rivals at their best,"said Djokovic after disman-tling Lucas Pouille 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 in a lopsided 83 minutes inFriday's semi-final.

"What more can you askfor? This is where you want tobe."

It will be the 53rd meetingtwo giants of thegames and theireighth in the final ofa Grand Slam.

Djokovic is a whisker aheadwith 27 victories to Nadal's 25.But the Spaniard has the edge inGrand Slam finals 4-3 and haswon the last three.

In all Grand Slam meetings,Nadal has a clear advantage witha 9-5 win-loss record.

No two men have met moreoften in the Open Era, and nopair has pushed one anotherharder or further.

Their only previous final inAustralia, in 2012, developedinto a record-breaking 5hr53min slugfest.

It stands as the longest finalin Grand Slam history — somesay the greatest — and it left thepair barely able to stand at thetrophy ceremony after anexhausted Djokovic staggeredover the line 7-5 in the final set.

F��(��&� G"Nadal has historically

throughout my life and careerbeen the greatest rival that I everplayed against, on all the sur-faces," Djokovic said.

"I had some disappointingmoments where I lost to him. Ithink I've lost to him ninetimes so far in the Grand Slams.I lost some tough matches. Iwon also some great matches.

"Those kind of encountershave also made me the player Iam today." Both are back in thefinal after injury-plagued sea-sons in 2018.

Djokovic was hamperedby an elbow that neededsurgery after being bundledout of Melbourne in the last 16.

Nadal retiredinjured in bothAustralian andUS Opens and

had an operation on his anklein November.

The Spaniard, who had notplayed a competitive matchsince the US Open before arriv-ing in Melbourne, has ram-paged through the draw with-out losing a game on hisremodelled serve since the firstround. He has not dropped aset.

Nadal said his final prepa-ration would focus on his owngame, which so far in Australiahas been untouchable "I justhave to think my way. I have tokeep doing the things that I amdoing," he said.

"That's my feeling, just keepplaying the way that I am play-ing and, let's see, expect to haveone of those special days."

Djokovic was only com-petitive during the second halfof 2018, winning Wimbledonand the US Open on the way toreclaiming the number oneranking. He will retain topspot whatever Sunday's resultbut knows how much is ridingon the final.

"There's so much at stake,it's hard to pick one thing," hesaid.

"Nadal is across the net. I'mplaying a final of Grand Slamfor the record seventh titlehere.

"If you don't get motivatedby all these things, then some-thing is wrong."

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Indian ace Saina Nehwal grindedher way to first final of the season

with a combative win over China'sHe Bingjiao at the $ 350,000Indonesia Masters badminton tour-nament, here on Saturday.

The 28-year-old Indian, whowas a runner-up here last year,notched up 18-21, 21,-12 21-18win over sixth seed Bingjiao, aworld championship Bronze medal-list.

Eighth seed Saina will now faceSpain's three-time World Championand reigning Olympic championCarolina Marin who defeatedChina's Chen Yufei, seeded third 17-21, 21-11, 23-21 in the women's sin-gles summit clash of the World TourSuper 500 event.

In their first ever meeting ininternational circuit, Saina showedbetter court coverage and unleashedsome telling smashes to troublethe 21-year-old left-hander.

Saina lagged 0-2 initially butclawed back to 5-5 with a couple ofsmashes.

Anotherp o w e r f u ls t r a i g h tsmash left

the Chinese stranded as theIndian led 8-6. She then wentinto the break with a 11-7advantage.

The Hyderabadi continuedthe good run after the breatherto lead 16-11 but netted twice toallow Bingjiao narrow downthe equation to 15-16.

A brilliant cross courtsmash and a superb drop helpedthe Chinese keep the deficit to

a point till 17-18.Bingjiao then won a video

referral on a line call to make it18-18. She then unleashed asmash to grab a crucial 19-18advantage, before holding twogame points. The Chinese sealedit when Saina went wide.

In the second game, Sainapulled away doubling the lead at6-3 after an initial duel.

Easy mistakes started creep-ing in Bingjiao's game as shefound the net often, sent theshuttle long and wide to allowSaina enter the break with ahuge 11-3 lead.

After the interval, Bingjiaotook four straight points beforeSaina engaged her rival in ral-lies to make it 14-7.

A beautiful-looking crosscourt net return helped theIndian swell the lead to 17-9. Shethen produced two roaring crosscourt smashes to inch closer tothe game point, which shegrabbed once the Chinese wentwide.

Saina eventually took the

match to the decider with a crosscourt slice.

In the final game, Sainacontinued to go strong, taking a6-3 lead early on and thenextended it to 9-5. The Indianunleashed a straight smash toleave Bingjiao on the ground.

The Chinese, however, drewparity at 10-10 with a powerfulsmash which Saina could onlysent to the net. Another rallyensued which ended with anoth-er shot going to net as Bingjiaoled 11-10 at the break.

After the breather, Sainacaught up with the Chinese at13-13 after prevailing in a rally.The Indian tried to put theshuttle in difficult positions andkept it in play.

She earned the lead at 17-16with yet another smash to let outa scream. Bingjiao went to netagain and hit wide next as Sainacelebrated with fist pumps.

The Indian grabbed twomatch points after punishing herrival for a mistake and sealed itwith yet another precise return.

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Alexis Sanchez came back to haunt Arsenalas the Chilean opened the scoring in

Manchester United's 3-1 FA Cup fourth-round win to maintain Ole GunnarSolskjaer's 100 percent record as caretakermanager.

United's winning run under theNorwegian is now eight games in all com-petitions and his decision to make fivechanges was vindicated as bothSanchez and the returning RomeluLukaku had a huge impact.

Lukaku set up both Sanchez'sopener and Jesse Lingard's secondfor the visitors in a two-minutespell just after the half hour mark.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyangreduced Arsenal's arrears justbefore half-time and the Gunners had plen-ty of chances to force a replay, but weredenied by Sergio Romero as the restedDavid de Gea was not missed.

Substitute Anthony Martial then sealedUnited's place in the last 16 eight minutesfrom time.

Handed only a second start sinceSolskjaer took charge, Sanchez showed whyhe was once in such high demand as helatched onto Lukaku's pass before roundingCech and finishing from a narrow angle forjust his second goal of the season.

Solskjaer used Lingard in the middle of

a front three with Marcus Rashford andMartial on either side as threats at Tottenham.

A similar tactic with Lukaku and Sanchezthis time in the wider areas worked a treatfor United's second as Lukaku broke forwardbefore his low cross was expertly dispatched

by Lingard.Arsenal were also exploiting the space in

behind Lukaku at will, though, and finallymade United pay two minutes before thebreak.

Aaron Ramsey burrowed into the penal-ty area and his cross was eventually turnedhome by Aubameyang after AlexandreLacazette and Lucas Torreira failed to applya telling touch.

History is repeating itself for Arsenal withRamsey also set to leave in the summer afterfailing to reach an agreement over a new dealand the Welsh international again provedwhat a miss he will be as Romero made a bril-liant save from point-blank range to denyhim an equaliser early in the second period.

Arsenal's momentum in the search for anequaliser was disrupted by a lengthy delaywhen captain Laurent Koscielny suffered asuspected broken jaw from Lukaku's boot andhad to be replaced.

Having lost Sokratis Papastathopoulos toan early ankle injury, Emery had to patchtogether a makeshift defence for the final halfhour.

"There are two negative things today, theresult and the injuries," said Emery.

By contrast, Solskjaer had the luxury ofintroducing Rashford and Martial for thefinal 18 minutes and the latter delivered theknockout blow to Arsenal by smashinghome on the rebound after Cech could onlyparry Paul Pogba's shot.

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India dished out a dominating per-formance to crush New Zealand by90 runs with spinners Kuldeep

Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal yet againtormented the home batsmen after asuperlative batting show by the visitorsin the second ODI, here on Saturday.

India now lead the five-matchseries 2-0, inching closer to their firstbilateral ODI series win on NewZealand soil since 2009.

India had won 3-1 in 2009 but lost0-4 to the hosts when they toured in2014.

Opting to bat, India piled up a chal-lenging 324 for four, riding on RohitSharma (87) and Shikhar Dhawan(66)'s fluent half-centuries. There weresignificant contributions from captainVirat Kohli (43), Ambati Rayudu (47)and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (48 notout).

Kedar Jadhav contributed a quick-

fire 22 not out off just 10 balls as he andDhoni added 53 runs in last 4.2 oversfor the unconquered fifth wicket.

The bowlers then shot NewZealand out for 234 in 40.2 overs asIndia scored a comprehensive win tocelebrate country's 70th Republic Dayin style.

Kuldeep (4/45 in 10 overs) andChahal (2/52 in 9.2 overs) shared bulkof the spoils with New Zealand battersyet struggling to read or attack them.

Just like the opening encounter,Kuldeep again took four wickets whileChahal scalped two.

The home side batsmen offeredvery little resistance save DougBracewell, who top-scored with 57.

Kuldeep claimed consecutive wick-ets of Henry Nicholls and Ish Sodhi inthe 31st over, as he polished off the NewZealand innings in a burst of threeovers.

Chasing a stiff target of 325, NewZealand lost their top four batsmen,

including skipper Kane Williamson(20) and senior pro Ross Taylor (22),by the 18th over when they touched100-run mark.

The Kiwis were denied a strongstart with Bhuvaneshwar Kumar (2/42)and Mohammed Shami (1/43) bowlingwith a lot of discipline.

Opener Martin Guptill (15) was thefirst to go off Kumar after two luckyescapes but New Zealand were dealt aheavy blow when skipper Williamsonwas out in the eighth over after apromising start.

The Kiwi captain hit Shami for twoconsecutive sixes and a boundary in theeighth over before chopping the fourthdelivery onto his stumps.

Taylor, who has an impressiverecord against India, and opener ColinMunro dealt in singles for a few oversbut India got another breakthrough.Munro went for a switch-hit off aChahal (2/52) delivery only to miss itcompletely and was adjudged legbefore.

New Zealand was in deep troublewhen Taylor was dismissed via an excel-lent effort by veteran wicketkeeperDhoni, who whipped off the bails afterChahal beat the batsmen with hisdrift.

A run glut followed before Kuldeepwrapped up the New Zealand inningswith a four-wicket burst. First, he hadTom Latham (34) trapped leg before inthe 25th over and then had Colin deGrandhomme (3) two overs later toreduce New Zealand to 146 for 6.

Kuldeep returned in the 31st overto dismiss Nicholls (28) and Sodhi (0)off consecutive deliveries to end theNew Zealand innings.

Earlier, Rohit missed out on achance to hit his first one-day hundredin New Zealand but India managed astiff 324 for 4 with all the batsmen com-ing good.

Rohit and Dhawan gave India a fly-ing start with a 154-run opening standfrom 25.2 overs during which theNew Zealand bowlers were hit all overthe park.

Dhawan was out in the 26th overas he thick-edged a Trent Boult (2/61)delivery to Latham in the 26th over. Hehad nine boundaries in his 67-ballinnings.

Rohit, on the other hand, looked setfor a century as he was batting beauti-fully but in the end fell short of thethree-figure mark by 13 runs.

Paceman Lockie Ferguson (2/81),who was generating a lot of pace,removed the dashing Indian batsman,who failed to put down a pull shot offa slower ball, in the 30th over. Rohit hadnine boundaries and three sixes in his96-ball innings.

One-down Kohli and Rayudu didnot give any respite to the Kiwi bowlersas the duo stitched 64 runs for the thirdwicket from 9.4 overs.

Kohli was in his imperious touchas long as he was at the crease beforehe became Boult's second victim in the40th over. Dhoni and Jadhav added 86runs in the final 10 overs . Dhoni hitfive boundaries and one six in his 33-ball unbeaten knock.

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Scoring some quick runs in the middle overs is one area Indianeed to work on ahead of the World Cup, said skipper Virat

Kohli even as he lauded his side's "clinical" performance in the sec-ond ODI, on Saturday.

"Clinical performance again. We were really balanced with thebat. 325 was par. Not something you feel comfortable consider-ing New Zealand's batting. But it was good to put up a balancedperformance," Kohli said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

With Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan going great guns,a 350-plus score was a real possibility but the visitors couldn't scoreextra runs in the middle overs, partly due to the dismissal of Kohli(43).

"I made a conscious effort after the drinks break that I'm goingto go hard between 34-40 overs so we can get 340-350. Once I gotout, the new batsman had to take time. These are the things weneed to look into with the World Cup nearby," he said.

"We would like to score those 15-20 runs extra but at the sametime, good to see us chip our way to a balanced total."

Spinners Kuldeep Yadav (4/45) and Yuzvendra Chahal (2/52)once again shared six wickets between them and Kohli said theirmindset has been a key factor for India.

"They are always ready to bowl for you and pick wickets, whichis key. They are not content to go wicket-less for 40 runs in theirquota, they'd rather have more wickets for 60," he said.

"That mind-set is crucial for us and as is Rohit and Shikharat the top."

Rohit was adjudged Man of the Match for his 96-ball 87 whichwas studded with nine boundaries and three sixes.

"Good feeling (on his performance) but most importantly, wewon the game. We never knew how the pitch is going to play tostart with. But as the game went on, we understood what the parscore would be," he said.

"When New Zealand-Sri Lanka played here, it was a high-scor-ing game. 325 was par. But our bowlers delivered."

Rohit and Dhawan shared a 154-run opening partnership, their14th century stand, to lay the foundation for a big score.

"We know each other since long and have a good under-standing. Important for the team to get a good start and I havealways enjoyed batting with Shikhar. I am sure it's the same forhim too," Rohit said.

New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson was left frustrated aftertheir second straight defeat.

"A little bit frustrating. It's not so much the losing, it's the waywe've been losing," he said.

"We showed glimpses in the chase, we just didn't do it longenough. We pulled it back with the ball. Still a large total, but Ish(Sodhi) was outstanding."

Williamson said his team need to take small steps and learnfrom mistakes.

"There were some good steps forward. There's two games ina row now where we've not had control at any stage, but we needto take small steps,' he said.

"Some of the dismissals were a result of us going too hardmaybe. If you have wickets in hand, you never know. But we did-n't have wickets in hand. Those are the lessons that we need totake ahead."

�'�� F<2!F�+'

Australia thrashed a disap-pointing Sri Lanka by an

innings and 40 runs in the firstday-night Test in Brisbane onSaturday.

Led by a brilliant display offast bowling from PatCummins, the Australiansdominated a Sri Lankan out-fit that never came to termswith the pace and bounce ofthe Gabba wicket.

They made 144 in the firstinnings and just 139 in the sec-ond in reply to Australia'sfirst innings total of 323.

Cummins took a career-best 6-23 in the secondinnings and 10 for the matchto lead the Australians to awin inside three days.

He was well-supported bydebutant Jhye Richardson,who took 2-19 to go with the3-26 he claimed in the firstinnings.

After starting their secondinnings 179 runs behind, theSri Lankans never looked likemaking Australia bat a secondtime when they slumped to 19for three and 35 for four.

Cummins exploited theconditions to the full in asuperb seven over spell to startthe day's play.

The 25-year-old, whodismissed DimuthKarunaratne on the last ball ofthe day on Friday, took thefirst three Sri Lankan wicketsto fall in Saturday's openingsession.

��&��(��Cummins was in irre-

sistible form, bowling withgreat venom and immaculatecontrol.

He snared DineshChandimal for a duck with thesecond ball of his first over.Kusal Mendis (1) replaced hisskipper at the crease but last-

ed just seven deliveries beforehe launched an ambitiousdrive off Cummins, only toedge the ball to Joe Burns atsecond slip.

The Sri Lankans were inhuge trouble at 18 for threebut Roshan Silva dug in withopener Lahiru Thirimanne.

The pair took the score to35 before Silva lost concen-tration and fell in identicalfashion to Mendis, driving atCummins and edging the ballto Burns, who took a good lowcatch.

Thirimanne and newbatsman Dhananjaya de Silvawere far more comfortableagainst the other Australianbowlers and once Cumminswas replaced by a waywardMitchell Starc, the pressureeased.

But in the second last

over before the tea break,Richardson got a f ineinswinger to crash through deSilva's defences and take outthe off stump.

Cummins struck againsoon after the resumptionwhen Thirimanne (32) got thefaintest of edges to wicket-keeper Tim Paine.

Niroshan Dickwellascored an entertaining 24before he was caught spectac-ularly at backward square legby Marcus Harris, beforePatterson took an equallygood diving catch to snareDilruwan Perera at gully.

With the injured LahiruKumara unable to bat due toa hamstring injury, whenPaine stumped SurangaLakmal for a breezy 24,Australia had claimed anemphatic victory.

�'�� *'+� <2)+

Imam-ul-Haq hit a century — anddelivered a message to his critics — but

could not prevent South Africa from win-ning a rain-hit third one-day internationalat SuperSport Park on Friday.

Imam's 101 spurred Pakistan to animposing 317 for six but South Africawon by 13 runs according to theDuckworth Lewis method after rain twicestopped play during their reply.

When the second interruptionbrought the match to an end, SouthAfrica were 187 for two after 33 overs,ahead of the DLS par of 174, with ReezaHendricks and captain Faf du Plessisunbeaten on 83 and 40 respectively.

Imam had strong words for what he

said were his critics after making his fifthcentury in his 19th one-day international.As he took the single which took him tohis hundred he pointed to his mouth ashis lips moved vigorously, then put a fin-

ger to his lips. He was out two balls later,caught in the deep.

The left-handed Imam shared part-nerships of 132 for the second wicket withBabar Azam (69) and 84 for the third

wicket with Mohammad Hafeez(52). Imad Wasim finished theinnings with a flourish with anunbeaten 43 off 23 balls, puttingon 52 off 31 balls with ShoaibMalik (31) for the fifth wicket.

Quinton de Kock and HashimAmla gave South Africa a briskstart, putting on 53 for the firstwicket. With a thunderstormapproaching, both were dismissedbefore the first rain delay at 88 fortwo after 16.5 overs. Play resumedafter a 55-minute break with the

target remaining 318 in 50 overs.Hendricks and Du Plessis batted

aggressively before more rain started tofall and eventually caused the match tobe abandoned.

�'�� F<2��'�)3+

Amagnificent unbeatendouble-century by captain

Jason Holder and a calm, sup-porting century from ShaneDowrich put the West Indies intotal control after three days ofthe first Test against Englandat Kensington Oval on Friday.

Building on an alreadyconsiderable first innings leadof 212 after Holder chose notto enforce the follow-on on thesecond evening, the skipperhimself led the way with acommanding 202 not out,dominating an unbroken sev-enth-wicket partnership of 295with Dowrich, who was on 116when the second innings dec-laration came in the final ses-sion with the West Indies at415 for six.

Set the virtually impossibletask of getting 628 for victory,or less impossibly, batting a lit-tle more than two days to savethe match, England openersRory Burns and KeatonJennings negotiated 20 overs to

the close of play and thetourists were struggling at134/2 on day four.

Not one wicket fell onFriday despite 90 overs beingbowled. Although they wereagain hugely outnumbered bythe hordes of English sup-porters, this was a day of evenmore celebration for the locals,coming as it did a day afteranother Barbadian cricketinghero, fast bowler Kemar Roach,had led the demolition ofEngland's first innings with afive-wicket haul as they fold-ed for just 77.

Holder and Dowrichcoped comfortably with every-thing England's bowlers chal-lenged them with, includingthe second new ball which wastaken as soon as it becameavailable in mid-afternoon. Ifanything it assisted in acceler-ating the scoring as the hard-hitting captain tore into a tir-ing, dispirited attack.

He brought up his thirdTest century and secondagainst England with a straight

six off expensive leg-spinnerAdil Rashid after lunch. At theother end Dowrich, also inpursuit of a third Test hundred,played the patience game whileHolder tore into all bowlers.

By the time the diminutive

right-hander cut off-spinnerMoeen Ali for four to reach thecoveted landmark his partnerhad a first Test double-centu-ry well within his sights.

Timing the ball exquisite-ly and looking particularly

impressive driving on bothsides of the wicket, Holder didnot spurn opportunities to gothe aerial route.

He hoisted eight sixes inhis memorable innings but itwas his 23rd and final four offpart-time bowler KeatonJennings which carried him tothe double-centur y andprompted the declarationwhich brought to an endEngland's day of misery in thefield.

Holder's 202 not out occu-pied 284 minutes duringwhich he faced 229 balls whileDowrich batted 17 minutesshort of six hours in facing224 deliveries, stroking 11fours and one six. It was thesecond double-century part-nership in Tests between thefellow countrymen and long-time friends after they had puton 212 for the eighth wicket,both also completing hun-dreds, in the second of back-to-back Tests againstZimbabwe in Bulawayo inOctober, 2017.

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An RJ turned actor-Anuksha Arora, who hasbeen a part of films like

Fan and Ae Dil Hai Mushkil isa jack of all trades. She isknown for her excellent anchor-ing skills and interviewing someprominent personalities fromB-town. She has been there anddone that —from a VJ, RJ,voice-over artist, anchor andnow an actor. Arora relishes her11 years in the industry.

“It has been an amazingjourney. People say you have tostart from the bottom andclimb your way up, that is whathas been for me. When I start-ed as an RJ. I didn’t know thatI will be going to climb up soquickly. It was fun but chal-lenging as well. I have to workvery hard for this and as theysay, hard work does pay off,” shesays.

Arora took a real interest inlearning radio during her col-lege days and this is when shedecided to become an RJ.“While I was studying journal-ism in London College ofCommunication, we had radioas a subject. I took a liking toit. I started working for a lot of

community radios. I used to doa two-hour Bollywood show forlisteners were not familiar toBollywood and Hindi music.The community radio was easyand lenient about the kind ofshows you wanted to do and itbuilt a strong foundation for meto grow,” she says.

Her family was supportiveas well. They encouraged herto work towards her passion.

“When I started as an RJ inSunrise Radio (UK), I had to dograveyard shifts. It is a showwith few listeners but it honedmy skills. It was an early-break-fast show and I was doing itfrom four to six in the morn-ing. My office was an hour awayfrom my home. I had to get upat an odd hour and my parentswere a bit concerned. My sisterwould listen to my show for twohours,” she tells you and saysthat there were challenges.

“It was difficult. I was a vic-tim of bullying while I wasworking with BBC. I was theonly RJ who used to speakHindi there and the other RJssaw me as a big threat. Everyoneused to talk about me like ‘Yekaun hai, kaha se aagayi’. My

co-presenter used to tell me thatI was a bad presenter. I wasaway from my family and feltlonely. I lacked confidence,”she says.

But not all was bad. “Oneof the best moments is I did a24-hour radio marathon for acharity — ChildreachInternational. They do a lot ofcharity programmes in India,the UK and Africa to raisemoney for children’s educa-tion. The challenge was to be on

radio from 10 pm on a Saturdaynight till 10 pm on Sundaywithout breaks. Every hour Iused to have a telephonic inter-view with a celebrity andthrough that we were able toraise around £20 thousand forcharity,” she says and tells youthat she drew inspiration fromManiesh Paul

“He is an inspiration for meand he is a good friend as well.His tricks and the smallestthings he does while anchoring

has inspired me throughout mycareer,” she tells you that saysthat her wish is to work withRanveer Singh in the nearfuture. “I would like to workwith Ranveer Singh because heis so colourful, energetic andvery friendly. He gets along withanyone and everyone and he isthe younger version of ShahRukh Khan,” she says.

Working with Shah RukhKhan in Fan was great as well,even though she had workedwith him when he came toLondon for promotions ofChennai Express.

“I already had a rapportwith him. When Fan came, hewas friendly on the sets andhelped me whenever I needed.He is an amazing person. Wehad our ups and downs duringshoots. There was a scene wherehe had to shout at me for ask-ing an irrelevant question andafter a couple of retakes, hecame and apologised thinkingI might have got offended. Iknew it was nothing personal.We were professionals workingtowards getting the work doneat the end of the day,” Arorasays.

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�How did performing at 14 begin?I don’t come from a musical family. But I wanted to pursue

music since I was a kid, it was my passion. I would visit Indiawith my parents, we are from Ludhiana but I was born and raisedin the UK. During my visits here, I found a connect with Punjabimusic and its culture. I don’t have a formal training. I sing fromthe heart. I would sing songs written and sung by others. Myfriends would encourage me and push me to release a song ofmy own. I had lots of friends who were DJs, keyboard and gui-tarists. I was able to form a band and won a school competition.It was then that I decided that music would be my life. I didn’tpursue higher studies. My elder brother is highly qualified butnot me. I told my mother that I would earn more than him, Ijust wanted permission to follow my dream which she gave. �What was your parents’ reaction when you said you didn’twant to study more?

Like most parents, they wanted me to pursue higher stud-ies. But I was the younger one, they didn’t push me too much.Any which way, I never followed the conventional rules. Therewas a time when I had wanted a pair of Adidas, they were for50 pounds. My mother refused to buy them because they wereso expensive. I took to delivering newspapers, saved and boughtthe shoes. That impressed my parents and they let me follow mydream.�How was your collaboration with Ricky Martin andMadonna?

Yes, I have worked with them and many more artists likeBritney Spears. I did songs with them when I was 23-24. WhatI learnt from them was that one has to make good music. As longas your music is good, they are willing to work with you. Forthem, there are no big or small artists. All are at par as long asyou have good content.�What about your cameos in Bollywood?

Again, it stemmed from making good music. While Boomdidn’t do well, some of the tracks were well received, it had a songby me as well. Then came Hum Tum and Kya Kool Hain Hum.These created a big platform for us. My friend Rishi has beenin Bollywood for two-three years and the industry has been goodto us. That led our next big project — Mubarakan. So I am get-ting a lot of work because of him.�What are the changes happening in the UK as far as Punjabimusic is concerned?

No great changes, to be honest. Whatever good work thatis happening is already here in India. Even the Punjabi artistswho are there are from here and doing some great local Punjabisongs which people love like folk music with great beats. Thereare many UK artists who want to work here in India but thisindustry is very competitive and it is difficult to make space foryourself. �What makes artists in the UK want their work to come toIndia?

The industry is huge here. The production is huge, we havea billion-plus population who have varied interest. The musicindustry is booming here. Every day is marriage season, thereis no specific day when one has to hold a show. In the UK, it isonly weekends. Everybody wants to break this market.�What makes a song go viral?

A lot of promotion and marketing is the key. Two days beforethe song — Get Down — was to be released, I was in India anddid back to back interviews. Every radio station and TV chan-nel played our song. The team backing our song put in a lot ofeffort.�What next?

Now that this song is released, I am working on back to backsongs. I have kids now who want expensive things (laughs). Haveto earn for them. So yes, lots to do this year.

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�Tell us about your experience ofworking in Dear Molly?

I was a fantastic experience and agreat opportunity to start my careerwith. Working with National Award-winning filmmaker and scriptwriter

Gajendra Ahire has been a greatlearning experience.

This Indo-Swedishfilm, which has been shot

in English and Hindibecame more specialafter it got Oscars Juryscreening in LosAngeles, USA.

Dear Molly is avery different kind offilm, very away fromcommercial

Bollywood cinema, andyet it will entertain you

through its light heartedstory of father-daughter

relationship.

�How was your experience playingMolly?

Molly is a 20-year-old girl who isvery creative and steps out of her com-fort zone by flying to another country— Sweden to find her father through aletter which was written and had lastseen in when she was five-years-old.

I can completely relate to Molly alot because like her, I too came out ofmy comfort zone and shifted my baseto India and pursue my acting career.

I understand what she feels andthe void of not having her family withher. It is courageous to do somethinglike this.

�How did you get into acting?Just a year ago, I had completed

my graduation and trying out actingwhich was in my mind for a while. Icame to Mumbai with my father fromSeattle, Washington and joined threemonths of acting course at Anupam

Kher’s Actor Prepares. Luckily, I bagged Dear Molly and I

didn’t have to struggle much for mymovie break.

�How this movie is different fromother Bollywood movies?

Bollywood movies are growing byleaps and bounds. Some of the filmsare contributing to a change in per-spective of the people and reflect truehuman values and emotions.

Dear Molly falls into this kind ofcinema as any father-daughter will beable to relate to it.

Relationships are the most difficultthing to maintain in today’s time andrequire a lot of time, effort, persever-ance and patience.

This film reflects different per-spectives about the situation andthrows light on how important rela-tionships and family values are inmodern society.

�What was the biggest challenge?I had to unlearn a lot of things.

Like I like to plan and prepare for therole beforehand so that I don’t feel lost.I used to think a lot but in this filmbut then the director made me unlearnall of that and told me to go with theflow. He made me believe and explorethe natural instinct. To be in sync withthe vision of the director was challeng-ing.

�What is in the pipeline?We are waiting for the release of

Dear Molly which might happen inFebruary or March. It has been a step-ping stone for me and I have a longway to go.

I look forward to work with manyother Bollywood actors and directorsand fine tune my craft. There is a partof Bollywood in me which I would liketo explore next and continue workingas much as I can.

��

Though she didn’t have to struggle much to geta break in Bollywood for Dear Molly,

debutante Gurbani Gill feels that it is astepping stone and she has a long way to

go. She talks to Sangeeta Yadavabout working in this film

@$�� 3��5

Think of gambling and Vegaspops into the mind. A little clos-er to home, it is Macau. A little

more closer and Goa comes to mind.But did you know that there a place alittle more closer to home that onewould have thought where one canindulge in? Eight km into the other sideof Nepal’s border, a resort — TigerPalace Resort, a Silver Heritage Group— in the small city in Nepal —Bhairahawa, is attracting Indians likenever before to its casino. What is evenmore interesting is the profile of thepeople who visit it. They are mostlyfrom Gorakhpur and adjoining areas.Yes, you read that right. The mainclientele of this resort-casino is fromGorakhpur. The last place from whereone would expect people to throng toa casino. But believe it or not, everyweekend the casino is packed withIndians from this city in UP who comein with bags full to gamble away. Somuch so that December 31, 2018 wasthe busiest night for the resort.

The question that comes to mindis that if Nepal was the destination whynot Kathmandu which is the Capitaland has much more to offer when itcomes to entertainment. There aregreat eating joints, the PashupatinathTemple and a bustling market to shoptill you drop. This resort has a few tricksup its sleeve. First, it is only eight kminto Nepal. A drive of two-and-a-halfhours gets you here. Of course, youdon’t need a visa. Food is similar as isa landscape, it is the Terai region. Weall seek comfort in familiarity. The mostimportant thing is the language. Thepeople speak not just English but Hinditoo making it easy for people from thisof the border feel at home.

The 2,500 sq feet of the casino isdefinitely a gamblers delight. Besidesthe tables, there are slot machineswhich the uninitiated can try theirhand at. Don’t worry if you don’t knowanything about how to operate them.The staff at hand will literally hold yourhand and guide you through thesecomplicated machines. And if you hitjackpot, the trip is all the more worthit. But remember the most importantrule of a casino — You may win a fewhands but the House wins each hand.

The usual trip to this place involvesdriving down with the family or

friends and

gamble the night away. For the wiveswho don’t want to gamble or beadventurous enough to try the slotmachines. A visit to the Ostrich farmis interesting for several reasons. Onedoesn’t find these birds here in India,to see so many is an amazing experi-ence. If you are a non-vegetarian, onecan try the Ostrich meat. Interestingly,unlike the duck which has a gamesmell, this meat except for being a bitchewy is really fantastic. Ask the chefto make it spicy and he will whip it upfor you in minutes, a plate will cost youNepalese �300 with 10 small pieces.One can try the momos as well, 10pieces will cost Nepalese �250.

Then there is Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha. The ride is a bit

bumpy and takes around three hoursto reach but the place itself is worth vis-iting if you want to know and under-stand the significance this otherwisesleepy town. There are touristy attrac-tions as well like a boat ride along the1.6 km canal which divides the monas-tic zone into the two parts — TheSacred Garden — where Buddha wasborn and the rest of the monasteries ofcountries like Korea, Cambodia and SriLanka, in all 29. A day’s trip may notbe enough to soak in the culture andambience of this region but it does givea sneak peek into the History especiallyif you have a guide like Suhail Khanwho regales you with stories.

Then there is the Chitwan NationalPark which is three-and-a-half hours

away from Bhairahawa by car or onecan even go up to Pokhra which is atwo-three hour drive, the highway isunder construction but once done, itwill be a smooth ride.

But if one is strapped for time, onecan lounge around the resort itselfwhich has a list of entertainment. Forthe kids, there is a movie theatre anda place area. For the ladies, there is thespa and an almost wrap around swim-ming pool. In fact, some rooms openinto the pool. Get into your suit andslip in the cool water which also takesyou to the bar. One can make a quickstop and have a cocktail — The MadMary is a twisted version of BloodyMary. Instead of using just fresh toma-to juice, they use juice of a roasted

tomato to give a slightly smokeyflavour. Bar Manager of Tiger PalaceResort, Suraj Pandey tells you how theycame to this name. “There was this cus-tomer who had come to us when I wasworking in another hotel. He told meto make him a Bloody Mary but to usethe ingredients he wanted. His list wasso long that it made us crazy — as inmad. The name stuck,” Pandeyrecounts. If the sweet cocktail is yourvice, go for Home Made ExpressoMartini. More so, if you love coffee.

Chef de cuisine, Abhishek Biswaswho will practically whip up anythingthat your heart desires, as long as hiskitchen stocks the ingredients tells youthat glocal being the new mantra, a lotof produce is locally purchased. “Thisboosts the economy of the place. Weencourage farmers to grow producethat we want. While, this does changethe cropping pattern, the objective isto ensure that the entire region pros-pers,” Biswas tells you who had to doa lot of research before he came up witha menu that would suit all palates.

A few must try’s are the chickensekuwa, a popular Nepalese appetiserand or the locally procured saag andcheese momo. Chicken bara is a greatdish to order as well. But if you are avegetarian, try the paneer doodhiya oralu chilman. But if you want to try thelocal cuisine go for the Nepalese thalion offer at the Ramro Chowk whichopens with buffet breakfast at 6:30 amand closes at 11:30 pm.

But what if you get hungry whenyou are sitting in the casino? Well, thereis a buffet there as well. Also, from timeto time, there are offers that areannounced. If Lady Luck is with you,at the table, you may even end up witha free drink or a snack right where yousit.

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Would things have beenbetter from the start togo in for economicweakness as the onlybasis for reservation

without reference to caste or creed? Wehave had it in schools and housingsocieties in given States for a while,with the Economically Weaker Sections

(EWS) reserva-tions. On the faceof it, it looks likea reasonable idea,but is probablybetter suited to ahomogenisedpopulation withtiny minoritiesand distinct

groups. Where thepopulation speaks

the same language and professes thesame religion, for example.

India, by contrast, has always beena sub-continent and one size never didfit all. Caste-based reservations, in fact,predate Independence and both theBritish and some of the Princely Stateshad reserved quotas for underprivi-leged castes and sections. But reserva-tions, whatever their demerits, in alltheir complexity and political potency,are a ground reality that cannot bereversed now. Instead, they can, andare, being used as a device to increasecapacity in order to give content to thepercentages announced. This is whatwent awry in the years of socialistinadequacy. Today, there are resourcesto give the whole matter teeth.

So no, 10 per cent economicreservation for the poor amongst thehigher castes is not zero of zero, asthe critics would have it. It is amodest beginning, long

in the gestation and put on the shelffor 10 years by the UPA. It is a lawnow, backed by almost all parties inParliament and rapidly being imple-mented in the States. It has a solidintent to provide at least 10 per centof all future opportunities in educa-tion and jobs to the economically dis-advantaged amongst the upper castesas the economy grows.

The Other Backward Castes(OBCs), Scheduled Castes (SCs), theTribes, have been addressed, at least intheory, multiple times over the past 70years, starting in 1954 and picking upspeed in the late Seventies. TheMandal Commission recommenda-tions for the bottom of the pyramidexcluding its “creamy layer” wereimplemented in the 1990s, despiteupper caste protests. Reservationsstand at near about the 50 per centmark or more in some of the Statesunder State legislation, despite aSupreme Court ruling to hold them atthe halfway mark in the service ofequity for the “general category,”meaning everyone else not covered.

But the back-office of primary,secondary and higher educationalopportunities, still suffering fromchronic shortages, are being addressedas well now, at last on an acceleratedbasis. New universities, medical col-leges and so on are being establishedall over the country. After all, nobodycan make a meal of percentages alone— they must represent seats and jobs,both in the public and private sectors,as well as in educational institutionsand vocationaltraining

centres. If there are ample opportuni-ties and seats to go around there is noshortage economy, and reservationsbecome meaningless.

The greatest guarantee that thiscan succeed is by expanding the econ-omy so that there is more money. Thiswill automatically throw up new, oftenunregulated, opportunities. But han-kering after permanent tenureGovernment jobs must go. In an erawhere technology is increasingly lead-ing to automation and digitisation, theneed for people is shrinking.Bureaucracy, therefore, will notemploy or absorb very many of themillions of new job seekers in future.They will have to look at the ‘unor-ganised’, the small and medium sec-tors, as well as the formal private sec-tor. These, given a benevolent capital-ist system, will grow through entre-preneurship. In the medium term,they are expected to grow much big-ger than the ailing PSUs. And, in allprobability, pay much better as well.Permanent tenure, however, may haveto go even in Government jobs.

Is there a positive momentum inthe economy today? The answer is yes,and mainly due to the pent updemand from therestricted

andlicensed

socialistyears. It cer-

tainly needs apush and the

untangling ofknots as they

appear by the political leader-ship, but the inherent demand

exists. The foundations of the econo-my and higher education laid down inthe early statist years have now taken

on a life of their own.China may be suffering from

over-building today, but Indiahas a lead of at least 30 years

before its domestic demandscenario is slaked. China

has already had 10 percent plus growth for 30years, starting fromthe Eighties, and isnow looking out-wards and abroad tokeep its giant

appetites, resources, and machineryoccupied as best as it can.

Does this roadmap then essentiallyreduce reservations into a politicalfootball, particularly at election time?Besides, look at the trend — if every-one has reserved seats, where is theroom for protest, except, of course, forrelative percentages and quotas withinquotas? How are those people meantto survive who cannot secure the lim-ited amount of private sector jobs orlack entrepreneurial skills? Well, a uni-versal dole is on its way along withcash grants to farmers and interest freeloans too. As is universal health insur-ance, already under implementation.

Will reservations themselves growout-of-date too? Perhaps they arebeginning to already. But certainly,when we become the second largesteconomy in the world after China ona PPP basis by 2030, reservations willmake little sense. Having a purchasepower parity greater than that ofAmerica, that followed up Civil Warwith the massive Civil RightsMovement of the 1960s towards itsown form of setting things to rightsand justice, is perhaps hard to imag-ine. But then, let us remember thatIndia was once completely dependenton humanitarian aid to survive andfeed itself. It has been some yearssince that it is no longer so.

Still it has been a long and wind-ing road with a number of twists andturns. Illustrative allegories some-times make it easier to sympathisewith how it has been for us. There isan iconic coming-of-age film from1967, just over 50 years ago, calledThe Graduate, in which a cougarishMrs Robinson seduces a 21-year-oldBenjamin, who has come home afterfinishing his undergraduate studies.Benjamin’s father and Mrs Robinson’shusband are partners in a prosperouslaw firm. The sexual conquest of theyoung college man by his experi-enced seducer should have set himon a path, presumably, of greaterrealism. Though like many youngpeople, the lust he feels for MrsRobinson does not dent his romanti-cism. He next falls for MrsRobinson’s daughter, Elaine.

This sets off a tug-of-war betweenthe mother and daughter with

Benjamin as the beneficiary. Andwhen Benjamin does turn decisive, itis only to rescue Elaine from the altarwhen she is about to marry anotherman, prompted by her mother.

A half a century on, the much-awarded movie seems more like aparable than urgent social commen-tary. The tug-of-war could well standin for the fandango between capitalismwith a human face, and socialism thatis eternally confused but, like an oldflame, exerts great emotional pull still.

The Graduate was bold stuff formainstream cinema of the time, withits hint of student rebellion and feck-lessness. Benjamin doesn’t have a one-night stand with Mrs Robinson. Heturns the dalliance into a longish, sur-reptitious affair with many nights at ahotel. And then there is the need forvalidation, however clumsy, from theolder woman. Nobody wins the laurelwreath for the moral high ground,and there is no redemption on offer.Unless, that is, Benjamin running offwith Elaine in her bridal dress, grin-ning from the back seat of a bus inthe final scene, is it.

The seduction of Fabian Socialismwith Soviet overtones was the sirencall of the early years. This was theMrs Robinson of our economic vision,looking for post-colonial validation. Itleft the nation (read Benjamin) yearn-ing for equality and justice. It pro-voked caste-based affirmative action,without the Viagra and wherewithal tofulfill such desires. Growth rates weretruly paltry, at no more than 2 percent. The whole caboodle couldn’tsustain itself, massive five-year Sovietstyle plans notwithstanding.

Of course, Socialism, evenCommunism was the fashionable‘ism’ of the Forties, probably in reac-tion against imperial and colonialexploitation that this country andothers just emerging into indepen-dence experienced. The burning zealin leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, andlater his daughter, Indira Gandhi —who both ruled for lengths of time inour formative years — was to re-engineer economics to suit notions ofsocial and economic equality.

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Unfortunately, they did notpay much attention to theincome side of the ledger,

even expecting it to take care ofitself with deficit financing. Butinternational credit ratings wereinvariably low. India was lookedat as a poverty stricken third-world country with potential, butmasses of intractable problems toovercome first. Borrowed money,therefore, was not easy to comeby, not even from the multilaterallending agencies, such as theWorld Bank or the IMF, and camealmost always, when it did, tiedup in multiple strings. The cavalryto the rescue in the early years,and to an extent even now, was/isthe Soviet Union/Russia. It wasand is keen on exercising its hege-mony over a strategically placedcountry in South Asia. So theUSSR and Russia as its successornegotiated barter deals, deferredpayments, and traded with us inrupees and roubles as opposed toUS dollars. Iran, in difficultieswith the US sanctions today, sells

us oil in rupees as well. Socialism implicitly and

explicitly abhors notions of profitand prescribes redistribution ofwealth, without however, address-ing how to hold up the centralpole of the circus tent. So, ineffect, it snatched away the assetsand privileges of the rich and eco-nomically viable, without anyknowledge about how to makeand keep them productive. Thisended up killing the golden goose.And Nehruvian socialism onlymanaged to redistribute degreesof poverty. Elsewhere,Communism collapsed altogether,to be replaced by a state-run capi-talist system or an oligarchy withall its inequities accepted.

Britain, Nehru’s early modelfor Fabian Socialism derived fromit, has not only declined steadilyover the years since WWII, but isnow on the point of disintegrationas a consequence of its ill thoughtout backlash with Brexit.

To compound issues, the pro-gramme of caste-based quotas in

India, particularly by reservingquantities of Government jobs, inthe absence of much of a privatesector, created further strains forthe economy. The idea was touplift the most downtrodden in ahighly pluralistic society. Over theyears, the sub-castes wanted theirpound of flesh, and so did thereligions, and the sects withinthem. India, the sub-continent,also contains many languages.That they too were clamouringfor distinctions and advantagedassistance is another story. Onethat led to a number of new Statesbeing formed to give vent to lin-guistic, cultural, and sometimesreligious aspirations.

This, in turn, gave birth to —prematurely and probably withoutmeaning — both vote-bank poli-tics and pseudo-secularism. Andprobably, in a round-about way, tothe rise of Hindu nationalism thathas grown into the chief alterna-tive in national and State politics.But for the young Benjamin thatIndia was, when it graduated into

Independence, it would undoubt-edly have been much better, wecan see in hindsight, to have pur-sued strategies of high economicgrowth under the banner of abenevolent capitalism.

A getting it on with Elaineand a happily ever after perhaps.

That might indeed have broughtforward the high growth ratesfrom the mid-Eighties. The econ-omy, which was only trulyunshackled in 1991, still tooksome years to shake off its chains.What if it had received a no-non-sense boost in 1947 itself? For aLeft-wing Nehru languishing inBritish jails for long years even asthe arch capitalist princely classescolluded with the British, it was acourse he probably wasn’t evenwilling to consider.

With the model beingAmerican “individualism” andits risks of boom and bust, wouldwe have forged ahead withoutexcessive state interference? As a free market, Indian ingenu-ity and initiative, much appreci-ated today around the world,would have flowered. We maywell have become the power-house of Asia, given our superiorgeography and natural resourcesin comparison to China.

If only the early IndianGovernments had stuck to secur-

ing our best interests amongstthe comity of nations instead oftrying to change the world orderto suit the have-nots. It mighthave been the hard-nosed Patelwhat-if, instead of the Gandhi-Nehru rose-tinted what is.

But this is going into therealm of what might have beenthen, and might be again, giventhe proclivities and the gradualcoming of age advantages thisnation enjoys in 2019. An econo-my on the way to becoming a $5 trillion one before long, hasmany options, and reservationsare the least of them.

As we have grown more pop-ulous, we also seem to havebecome more prosperous. Wewere a very poor and ravagedcountry at Independence, with apopulation of some 350 millionpeople, with low life expectanciesto boot. Today, we are more than1.3 billion strong, enjoy food sur-pluses, and have recently doubledour per capita income. This isalongside being the fastest grow-

ing major economy in the worldwith an average growth of 7.3 percent in GDP per annum. Our lifeexpectancy — despite massivechallenges yet in health, sanita-tion, and environmental issues —has more than caught up withthat of developed nations.

Of course, in a successfuland thriving democracy such asIndia, there may be populiststeps taken that will retard ourforward momentum from timeto time. This even acts as a cor-rective towards the inclusion ofthose who might feel ignored orleft behind. Our socialist pastcannot be expected to exit thestage without a few attempts tosurvive after all. But, overall, theinexorable logic of greater pros-perity is a human desire to con-solidate it and prepare for fur-ther growth. There is, therefore,no reason to fear that Benjaminwill refuse to grow up and securehis own pot of gold.

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In a nutshell, the story of the twinforts of Palamu is the story of a trib-al kingdom that was once powerfulenough to have the Mughal empireand the East India Company threat-

ened by its military might. It is intertwinedwith an incredible saga of bravery and sac-rifice for the sake of one’s dignity. But sadly,it is also a pathetic example of how we havefailed as a society in protecting our her-itage. Today, these once celebrated forts arein a pitiable state which is in stark contrastwith the glorious chapter of Indian histo-ry that they are a part of. The massivestructure with a unique design is gradu-ally being reduced to rubble. And what’sworse is that no serious efforts have beenmade to prevent that from happening.

Even the very name Palamu comeswith a whole bag full of complex theoriesand ideas. According to one school ofthinkers, it is a distortion of the Dravidianword ‘pall-aam-u’ which means ‘tooth ofwater’. The fact that the forts are close toAuranga River goes in favour of this the-ory. Moreover, when flooded, the rockysurface of river bed looks like jagged teeth.According to another group of people, thename of these forts has been derived fromthe Hindi word ‘Palana’ which can refer toeither the act of fleeing or a place of refuge.Yet another group argues that Palamucomes from combining the words ‘Pala’which means frost and ‘Mu’ which meansdeath. So, Palamu stands for death by frost.

Today, Palamu is known for twothings. One is its famous tiger reserve andthe other is that the twin forts are 500 yearsold. Out of the two forts, the older one issituated in plains while the newer one issituated on a hill stop. Though there is noreliable evidence to know with certaintywhen the old forts were established, it isbelieved that they were built by Rajput kingRaksel in 1562 and were invaded by theMughals in the year 1574.

But when Akbar died, Mughals start-ed to lose their grip over the area. In theyear 1613, Anata Rai, who was a tribal chiefof the Chero community, conquered thefort. That was the beginning of a new era.Around the year 1619, the kingdom cameunder Medini Rai, who was considered asthe greatest Chero ruler. At this time, thefortification got several additional featureand was under military vigilance.

The old fort was built over an area ofthree square kilometres. It has three gates,each of them seven feet in width. The forthas been constructed with lime and surkhimortar. The external boundary walls of thefort have been built with flat and longbricks. The central gate is the largest ofthree gates and is known as Singh Dwar.

On the south-western part of the fort,which is surrounded by hills on three sides,there is a small stream called the KamadahJheel which was used by the women of theroyal family for their daily ablutions.Between this stream and the fort there aretwo watch towers (dom kilas) located onthe hill top which were used to track anyenemy intrusions. Of these two towers, onetower houses a small temple of a goddesscalled Devi Mandir.

It is believed that even after gettingdefeated by the Mughals, Chero kingMedini Rai did not give up in spirit. Thisis evident from the fact that in 1673, justtwo years before his death, he had start-ed building an even bigger fort for his sonPratap Rai. The new fort was built at anenviable location which covered allaspects of a well protected citadel insidea jungle. It was an ideal hub for a tribalkingdom. However, the fort, popularlyknown as the new fort of Palamu, isbelieved to have been left incomplete.

The greatest attraction of this fort isthat its massive royal gate, known asNagpuri Darwaza, has been built in white

and yellow sand stones. This special doorwas meant for the entry of royals into thefort. It has been built in typical Mughalstyle. The gates, in particular, remind oneof the designs popular in the period ofJahangir. There is an ‘Islamic arch’ at thisfort which boasts of various kinds of flo-ral designs. The craftsmanship of thosedesigns is so perfect and well executed thatits measurement and presentation seemsfabulous. The upper and middle surfaceof the arch and the borders running allacross the gate have also been decoratedwith floral designs. The crown of the gatedepicts two elephant figures which hangslike an extended part of the gate. Thesefigures have been embellished with exot-ic floral design. The gate is a unique blendof Indo-Islamic architecture.

The next gate is made of stone and is

smaller in size. This gate has been partlydestroyed over time. On the slate-colouredpillars, one can find writings in Persian andSanskrit. While some of these are still leg-ible, some have been badly defaced in someplaces. The edict clearly mentions name ofone Banamali Mishra, the court poet ofRaja Medini Rai. It also declares that thisfort was built by Medini Rai in 1673.ThePersian inscription was recently damagedby some vandals. This gate is the biggestarchaeological attraction of this fort.

The fort is believed to have had sev-eral other stone gates and inscriptions.Today, all that remains is a plethora of bro-ken pieces. The fort also has remains ofwhat must have been several big and smallchambers. It gives some idea about howsoldiers must have been placed in eachchamber to protect the fort. In the South-

West side of the of the fort lies a bathingplace named Kamal Jheel. The area alsohouses the remains of a small temple. Thisfort has several open and secret exits. Manyof those are still accessible but are in badshape. A shadow of human negligence pre-vails in all parts of this massive structure

Coming back to the history of Palamu,its story did not end in the Mughal era. Itremained a significant point of conflict evenwhen the East India Company was tryingto gain control over India. The glory of theChero kingdom started fading with thedeath of Medini Rai. Pratap Rai did notenjoy the old Chero dominance. AfterPratap Rai, kings like Rudra Rai, Dikpal Rai,Shaeb Rai, Ranjit Rai, Devi Bateh and JaiKisan Rai attempted to regain complete con-trol, but sadly, they failed. In year 1770, kingChiranjit Rai tried to make the situation bet-

ter. But his cousin Gopal Rai tried to nego-tiate with the East India Company and over-take Palamu fort. In 1771, the PatnaCouncil of the British East India companyissued a summon to the Chero king to han-dover the forts on account of misrule.

A 10-day ultimatum was issued tothem. When that was not honoured, agory war took place on January 28,1771. Under the leadership of ColonelCamac, a member of British council ofthe East India Company of Patna, thefort was attacked. The Chero put a bravefight before the East India Company.Due to water scarcity at the new fort,all of them had moved to old fort. Thisgave Captain Camac a chance to capturethe new fort almost unopposed and itsgeographical positioning gave theBritish an edge against the tribals.

Realising the degree of efficiency of thecommon Chero warriors and the superbfortification of the structure, CaptainCamac was forced to call for more supportfrom Patna. It was answered with supplyof more powerful canons like 12 poundcanons and ammunition. Powered bysuch additional infrastructure and equip-ment, the East India Company finally van-quished the Chero king and conqueredboth the forts on March 19, 1771. OnMarch 21, 1771 after destroying all circlesof resistance, the East India Companyfinally entered the old fort and with thatan era came to an end in that part of thecountry. In April 1772, during the time ofgreat mutiny in 1857, these forts were cap-tured by local rebellions and it became acentre of strategy. However, as soon ascolonial rulers took over charge and ruth-lessly crushed every single man who hadparticipated in the mutiny, these two fortswere also targeted and vandalised.

Today a big signboard of JharkhandTourism is planted near the entry gate ofthe Betla National Park. It directs the vis-itors towards Palamu Fort. However,reaching the fort is nothing less than achallenge. Although the roads are wide andwell maintained, a zigzag stream runninginside the forest is both tempting and dan-gerous. In several places, the signboardsplanted by forest department remind youthat you are navigating in an elephant cor-ridor and an encounter with a herd of wildelephants is likely. This is not a notice toignore while going to Palamu Fort. Afterall, the dilapidated fort inside a jungle isoften frequented by wild animals.

But if one manages to brave throughall of these hurdles and reach the fort, eventhe remains of what Palamu once musthave been are enough to leave one mes-merised. It shows what modern-dayJharkhand has been through in our glo-rious, collective past.

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Atypical middle class Hinduupbringing of a child of the pastcentury necessarily included

generous helpings of mythology andinstructive tales in everyday lives.Television amply complemented themandatory temple visits, the satsangkathas and the elaborate festivities onehad to be engaged with alongside one’selders. Naturally, the more creativeones would find several charactersfrom mythology lurking in theirminds as they stepped into adulthood,and found themselves unmistakablydrawn to the numerous re-workings ofthe Mahabharata and the Ramayana,as well as those of Krishna leelas inboth print and visual media. GunjanPorwal professes to be an engineer byday and writer by night, who belongsto this tribe of young Indians fascinat-ed by Indian epic tales. Ashwatthama’sRedemption: The Rise of Dandak is hisdebut novel of what promises to be anengaging series on giving a fresh leaseof life to the much-maligned characterof Ashwatthama.

The tale, packaged between a capti-vating cover depicting a swashbucklingwarrior of the age gone by, done in var-ious tones of emerald green, is a pacyread. In twenty-four short chapters,Porwal weaves a thrilling tale windingthrough both the Mahabharata and theRamayana, his professed twin inspira-tions. His brief author’s note invokesthe prominent paragons of martialprowess in the Mahabharata likeArjuna, Karna, Abhimanyu andlaments the lack of space and honourto the valiant son of Dronacharya,Ashwatthama. EmphasisingAshwatthama’s demi-god status ofbeing part-incarnation of Lord Shiva,and one of the most powerful warriors,Porwal tries to make a case for howand why, despite being cursed into eter-nal, death-less damnation by Krishna,Ashwatthama deserves “redemption”through second chances.

The story picks up from the timeof a hundred years after theKurukshetra War, where the scion ofthe state of Avanti, Rana is haunted byill omens and strange visions. He is an

unconventional prince himself with atroubled past and burns constantlywith the desire to prove himself to hisfather, the king. He is joined by a fel-low king, Vikram and together withAshwatthama, and an unlikely womancompanion, a beautiful and intelligentprincess of Indraprastha namedUrmila, they embark upon a quest toretrieve an ancient, but supremelypowerful weapon from the treacherousHimavant ranges, to prevent the rise ofone of the deadliest of asuras ordemons, Dandak.

The narrative intertwines theMahabharata landscape with the possi-ble threats from the Ramayana narra-tive: The heroes here belong to theMahabharata, while the villains andthe solution is delivered from theRamayana. All the usual elements of

an Arthurian quest are in place: Thereis a threat that needs to be addressed,there is a hero who needs to fight hisinner demons and realise the truemeaning of his life and his potential,there is a treasure/magic to be foundthrough a perilous journey, there is anancient code to be broken en route thequest to change the game, there arevisions, ambushes and unlikely allies,help is found when there is no hope,there is bloodshed and there are fights,there is treachery and connivance,there is victory and defeat, and ofcourse, a sweet, bubbling romanceencased within all of this.

The explanations provided forAshwatthama’s fate are several andmany also seem logical. His constantstruggle to keep his sanity and regainstrength is appealing. The connected

stories of Janmejaya, Abhimanyu,Jayadrath, Ghatotkacha, Barbarik andLord Krishna would surely add morelayers to the story for those unfamiliarwith them, but at times, some of theretelling lacks the nuance and depth tomake it more realistic. The reins of thestory stay firmly in Porwal’s handsthroughout, which is a good thing for adebut novel. The psychological strug-gles of the lead character is also handledwith a degree of sensitivity, withoutmaking it melodramatic or sensational.There is a constant reference to the“master plan” or cosmic plan, cuttingacross all yugas, the one where everybeing is factored in with a definite pur-pose. However, the urban reader cannothelp but spot “inspirations” drawn fromAvatar: The Last Airbender series thatdrew upon East Asian Art and

Mythology (here, Guru Apasmitra canbend water), and other popular questventures like The Hobbit by JRR Tolkein(the hazardous travel in the snow cladmountains) to name a few.

The Yetis too require better delin-eation in terms of their constructionand function in furthering the story.The chapter titles are interesting (TheRecluse, The Accidental Traveller etc.)and contain the flow of the narrativeeffectively from becoming too long.There are a few minor hiccups on thelanguage front, uniformity of registersfor a story set in the bygone era is atricky facet, but equally crucial for thelarger framework to work cohesively.The romance narrowly borders onbeing cheesy, though dealt with a greatdegree of restraint and suggestiveness.The end of this novel is unforeseenand comes too quickly, requiringgreater attention in terms of definingthe plot and a sustained build-up to itwhich again is a hallmark of a quest-mythological-thriller to be effective.Considering all aspects, Ashwatthama’sRedemption is a promising series, andThe Rise of Dandak is a thought-pro-voking, quick read for those who enjoymythologies and thrillers.

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The thing about labels is thatthey try to do the impossi-ble — they create neat clas-sifications and build defini-tive boundaries and

restricted identities/meanings. In real-ity, this stratification often fails tostick. Another problem is that times,labels derive meaning and respectabil-ity only when they are used to lam-poon or attack the ‘Other’ ideology.

The codification in politics is fas-cinating. The protagonists changefrom time to time. Left, right, liberaland fundamentalist are some of thecommon terms that are thrownaround in the political spectrum.These are loaded, rigid and absolutewords and tend to act as self-appoint-ed gatekeepers. Each arrogates itsown wisdom and methods assupreme, as compared to the other, toachieve their lofty goals. No counternarrative is permissible or tolerated.

Interestingly, one thing that iscommon in all camps is their undeni-able hollowness when it comes todelivering the promises to the com-

mon man. Isn’t each camp drum-ming up hysteria against the otherto favour its own ideology? Do thesecamps really matter? Does the manon the street view the world accord-ing to such neatly dissected framesof references? Or is the commonman making deft choices that befitthe immediate reality and context?

India’s social and politicalecosystem is a perpetual tug of war.Issues related to caste and religioncontinue to plague its evolution.Sagarika Ghose’s recent book Why IAm a Liberal: A Manifesto forIndians Who Believe in IndividualFreedom does a good job at dis-cussing these factors.

It is a voluminous book thatshows why a society as a whole can’tbe viewed through the lens of the‘right wing’ or the ‘left wing’. It alsohighlights the danger in the tenden-cy of individuals buying into theidea that the Government shouldhave a paternalistic role to play.

As for the writing style of thebook, one finds the narrative shift-

ing gears, often abruptly as it goesfrom quoting the past to chroniclingthe present and then going back againto the past, to reinforce the centralargument. So at times, the ride mightseem to be somewhat bumpy. But it isstill a good read for the argumentsthat it makes. The central idea that itrevolves around is: Respect for dis-agreement is an extremely importantliberal premise. One can’t help butwonder that if individual freedom iswhat is being championed then whyat an aggregate level, when deliveredin the form of electoral verdicts, itremains an unpalatable idea to a sec-tion of the intelligentsia when theresults challenge their advocated nar-rative? Why we do not view the elec-toral verdicts and the freedom exer-cised by other individuals withrespect and humility?

The book talks about “muscularnationalism” becoming the norm.Why has it emerged in the first place?Is it a manifestation of geo-politicalevents or of certain perceived weak-nesses left unaddressed from the past?

It also states that “It is also a time tobe inclusive, to listen to counter argu-ments and learn from them andrecognise that the term ‘liberal’ hasbeen distorted and corrupted by itsown guardians”. That is remarkably acandid admission.

The book devotes a lot of space to the deep liberal traditions in Indiaand shows how the founding fathers’vision of the country was a thorough-ly liberal one. In that case, the peopleof the nation should have beenallowed to exercise their own politicalbeliefs, even if they do not fit the liberal camp or other ideologicalcamps. The liberalism at the core ofthe country is stronger than the forces of aggression, accession andaversions around it.

This is definitely a well-researched book. It works both forand against the author that in a singlepage, the reader gets to travel throughspace and time. He/she gets to look atevents and personalities from a freshperspective in this process. The bookpassionately advocates that individual

freedom is above all else. Individuals,however, often have to navigatethrough the intricately woven fabricof said and unsaid rules in a society.Caste, class, and religion-relatedissues often form the bedrock ofpolitical decision making.

Also, individuals in a societyoften have to carry the burden of the decisions that have been made for them in the past. We don’t alwaysget to choose our realities. In India,groups of individuals have oftenrejected any kind of ideological excess and have been able to seethrough hollow promises.

To some readers, it might seemlike this is one of those books that arefull of ideological gobbledygook,unconnected to the man on the street.But, I would still suggest that you pickit up as it helps one understand socio-political forces and shows that liberal-ism should not be limited to takingseemingly liberal stands while partici-pating in a living room discussion.

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In May 2004, the ragtag band ofcoalition led by the Congress

pipped the Atal Bihari VajpayeeGovernment to the post as the lat-ter failed to weave a dominant nar-rative of India Shining, despite theBJP regime being the boldestGovernment to earn India the“nuclear state” tag. Five years laterin 2009, the UPA pulled throughanti-incumbency with its overridingstories of higher economic growth— the fact that the foundation waslaid by the previous BJPGovernment was consigned tooblivion — and higher job genera-tion rate, albeit for daily wagers viaits f lagship MGNREGA. InDecember 2013 Delhi Assemblyelection, the BJP missed the major-ity mark but the Aam Aadmi Party(AAP), in the name of anti-cor-ruption crusade, trounced the 15years rule of Sheila Dikshit, whobore the brunt of voters’ ire as bythen the Opposition had success-fully constructed the narrative of theCongress-led UPA heading theGovernment of scams. Next year,the Modi wave, coupled with thestories of vibrant Gujarat under hisleadership, did the UPA in.

One thing was common in allthese election results, except in the2014 LS polls: Perception wasstronger than reality on voters’minds. The India Shining “success”and the poll slogan proved an abjectfailure. MGNREGA that was hailedas a universal job scheme and hadtremendous contribution in givingUPA-I another chance in power

could not withstand the narrative ofseries of scams under the UPA-IIGovernment. And in Delhi, theAAP cashed in on the civic societymovement for anti-graft ombuds-man Lokpal, only to eschew thecause after gaining power.

In the present scenario, thebuzz doing the rounds in theOpposition camps is that theCongress’ good show in the recent-ly concluded Assembly elections isa sign of voters growing weary ofBJP’s Achchhe Din promise. Theassumption underlies the efforts tocobble together coalitions in theunanimous hope that people areyearning for a change at the Centre.However, there is a wide divergenceof opinion on who can lead thesedisparate coalitions and who can

take on the mantle of the primeministerial candidate.

There is a parallel but smallerbuzz, a murmur of agreement thatno single party in the Oppositioncamps is in position to take on theformidable Narendra Modi suc-cessfully. While the perception thatthe Modi Government is on its lastlegs is gaining ground, the fact thatthe formation of alliances out ofexpediency to save Opposition par-ties from the existential threat in theevent of Modi returning to powerhas not come out well in the pub-lic sphere. Therefore, despite seriousmisgivings about the PM-like lead-ership potential of Congress presi-dent Rahul Gandhi, or for that mat-ter any other leader in theOpposition camps, partners are

straining every nerve to projectcamaraderie. But everything is notso smooth. To project a united faceagainst Modi, the “united”Opposition should have a singlecommon big national party aroundwhich the coalition can stick togeth-er. That common single big nation-al party should naturally have beenthe Congress. But till now theOpposition groups have not giventhat slot to the Congress. For exam-ple, in biggest State UP with 80 LokSabha seats, the SP-BSP alliance hasleft just two seats for the Congress.In Andhra Pradesh also, the TDP islikely to go solo. Despite the grandOpposition unity extravaganza inKolkata, Mamata’s TMC is unlike-ly to accommodate the Congress aslong as she can hope to win allies to

support her ambition of becomingPrime Minister. The perception isthat a strong Central party weakensthe potential of regional players, andtherefore a weak Congress willserve their interests in case the coali-tion comes to power.

However, nobody knows howvoters will react to the unspokenconcept of a weak Central party inthe coalition. In fact, the multi-dimensional process of constructionof public perception is very com-plex. According to a psychologicaltheory, everybody always try tothink they are right. And therefore,naïve or rather neutral voters arecarried away by the wave, real orfabricated, lest their votes go towaste. It is not with the voters alone,even a section of the media falls into

that trap. In order to prove the newsreport are facts, they often performgreat mental gymnastics by rein-forcing a supportive narrative under the guise of disseminatinginformation.

Therefore, measures like TripleTalaq Ordinance, SC/ST Preventionof Atrocities Act, ten per cent reser-vation for economic weaker sectionamong general category, etc, alwayscome with competing narratives,one by the Government and theother by the anti-establishment.Whose narrative gains prominencedepends on the understanding andinterests of force multipliers, likemedia and civic society groups.Studies have proved that people gen-erally consider media perceptions astruth and accordingly react to thereports. It is also because it is aHerculean task for them to verifythe media reports. However, media’scredibility and trust hinge on pre-existing notions developed in thecourse of news/views consump-tion. Similarly, there are areas peo-ple mistrust media and media per-sons if their known political alle-giance and economic interests standin stark contrast to theirs.

But the most intriguing is themedia behaviour. The commonrefrain is that the media is dividedin two camps: Pro-Modi, anti-Modi. Views are openly woven innews stories. The perception is thatthe Modi Government has beenagainst the media, particularly printand electronic. One reason of thisstrong perception may be the Modi

Government breaking the culture ofmedia persons’ strategic framing ofpolitics and bureaucracy by keeping decision-making processconfined to the persons concerned.The crackdown on the tradition oftop journalists’ trading secret information may have ruffled a fewfeathers.

It may have helped theOpposition camps beat the BJP inthe war of perception, by settingthemselves at the ideal position byway of keeping the attack, infor-mation, and arguments consistent.A tinge of “facts” can further rein-force their narrative. And so werethe results in Chhattisgarh and MPAssembly polls. Despite all welfaremeasure by the State Governments,the perception of farmers’ distresssprung the Congress back in powerthere. The BJP has failed to weavethe narrative of post-poll scenarioin these two States: A farmer in MPgot meagre �13 loan waiver insteadof the promised �24,000, but that isnot “big” news.

It is tragic that we are movingaway from objective truth towardsthe culture of perception. A politi-cal party or an expedient coalitionmay pin hopes on favoured cover-age in the media to sail through thecoming general elections, but it willbe travesty of the Indian democra-cy if imagined truths, rather thanactual promises, influence voters’decision at polling booths.

(The writer is Associate Editor &News Editor, The Pioneer)

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Brexit or no-Brexit — eachseems to be an uncharted

territory for British PrimeMinister Theresa May. It iseven worse for the people ofBritain. Britain is tired ofBrexit. It is more of an equiv-ocal issue today that demandsserious consideration of thegrievances of both the“Remainers” and the “LeaveCampaigners”. Much beyondthis, the politicians of all huesin Britain must realise thatinstead of mudslinging, they allneed to bring the Brexit debateto an end.

Today, many of the chat-bots are airing the public angerthat is strongly noticeable acrossmany parts of Britain. Brexit isnot as murky as many of usthink and interpret. Initially, aconsiderable section of theacademia, journalists, politi-cal pundits and commonersveered around the view that itis beneficial for the EU, the UK,and the Commonwealth ifBritain remains within. Thiswas the centre point of manydebates and dialogues that pre-ceded the historic referendumon June 23, 2016.

Indeed, a concatenation ofissues that are questioning thevery existence of the EU systemfinally led to this referendumvote. Also people are bringinghome the message that theirexisting political system has lessand less to do with the lives ofthe ordinary folks.

On that fateful day ofBrexit referendum, the exitcamp prevailed over theRemainers, but not by a sig-nificant majority. The LeaveCampaigners received 51.9 percent votes, whereas theRemainers got 48.1 per cent.The turnout in the referendum

was 71.8 per cent, with morethan 30 million people votingat that moment. Though themargin of votes between thetwo groups was thin, theprotest registered by the leavecampaigners was very signifi-cant. When the historic votetook place almost three yearsback, it clearly showed the dif-ferences among the peopleacross the country. Englandvoted for Brexit by 53.4 percent to 46.6 per cent and for theWales region it was 52.5 percent to 47.5 per cent. However,both the Northern Ireland andScotland backed their demandsof remaining in the EU. TheScottish voters backed theremain vote by 62 per cent to38 per cent, whereas 55.8 percent in Northern Ireland votedin favour of the Remainers and44.2 per cent supported theLeave Campaigners.

Many of the people whosupported the Remainers campnow feel that they have mis-judged the depth of commonpublic anger and their seriousdisenchantment with the EU.Writing on the wall is clear:Britain can no longer remain inthe EU the way it used to bebefore the Brexit deal. It isinteresting to note why the cur-rent imbroglio continuesaround Brexit. It is in publicdomain today that UK has toleave the EU by March 29 thisyear. For the UK to formallyleave the EU, the former had toinvoke Article 50 of the LisbonTreaty that offers two yearstime to both the parties todecide the terms and condi-tions of separation. PrimeMinister May initiated thisformal process two years backon March 29, 2017, meaningthe UK is leaving the EU in

coming March 29. However,the EU court ruled that the UKcan decide to stop the formalsplit. Again, the entire processcan be extended if all 28 mem-bers of the union agree for thesame.

Now the problem aroundthe Brexit deal is that May hasmade separation process a law.Hence preventing the Brexitwith the EU would immedi-ately require a drastic change inthis law in the UK. OnDecember 10, 2018, theEuropean Court of Justice

ruled that the UK could cancelArticle 50 even without thepermission of the rest of the 27members and remain withinthe Union as per the existingstatutes, provided the decisionfollows a democratic process.But the question is that howthat democratic process willfollow, looking at the currentsplits within the rank and fileof the Conservative Party andthe Labour Party. Worse isthat there is a marked differ-ence and confusion among theMPs of all the political parties.

What is shocking is that noplan by any modern BritishGovernment has been so humil-iatingly rejected the way theBrexit deal was by Parliamenton January 15. After five days ofcontinued debate, it was reject-ed by 432 MPs while only 202stood by it. Sadly, her ownConservative Party back-benchers voted against theagreement by three to one.

For May, it was a humili-ating defeat and for theBrexiteers it would be really dif-ficult to look for a fresh with-

drawal agreement in the nearfuture. The deal was the ful-crum of May’s career as thePrime Minister as she took overnearly two years ago whilehammering it out with theuber bureaucrats in Brussels.

The way the Brexit impasseappears today is because ofMay’s ways and means in try-ing to force her lawmakers tovote for it. Before the vote, shewarned the Conservative MPssaying voting against the dealwould lead her Government to“no Brexit at all”. Her dogged-

ness led to what the interna-tional community witnessed onJanuary 15.

When it comes to the mainOpposition party, the Labour, itsleader Jeremy Corbyn is equal-ly confused and frustrated aboutwhat is really happening inParliament and outside. Justbefore the vote on the Brexit dealagreement in Parliament,Corbyn made it clear that hisparty will vote against it. But hefailed to offer a plausible courseof action on his party’s behalf.Experts call it the abdication ofLabour’s responsibility as a cred-ible Opposition which directlymakes it complicit in the currentcrisis. Sadly, his indecisivenessdemonstrates his hollowness ofthe promise that he is in favourof handing over power to hisMPs to voice over crucial issuesthat Britain is facing today.What irritates many of his MPsis that he is time and againignoring their call for a secondreferendum on the Brexit deal.He argues that the separationterms from the EU must providethe same benefits to Britain asit would to any other existingmember country of the singlemarket and should allow hiscountry to manage the issuesrelated to migration on its own.The EU would never ever agreeto it even if Corbyn comes topower in future. His ferventattempt is to try for a fresh elec-tion wherein he hopes his partywill form the next Government.But he is not supporting anoth-er referendum. He appears toaccept that any referendum musthave an option to remain in theEU. Even after making suchremarks, he confuses people bysaying “we can’t stop Brexit”. Hisshock doctrines may simplydrive Britain to more catastrophe

and finally to his unique style ofdisaster socialism of sort.

Best course of action is todelay the exit date. This willsimply allow the Britons todecide whether to remain with-in the EU or not. But the EUshows no interest in renegoti-ating the Brexit deal. Hence theonly way to sort out the crisisis to ask the EU for some moretime. With more time, may bea new deal could be negotiat-ed wherein both UKParliament and the EU maycome to an agreement eitherfor a permanent customs unionor a Norwegian style model.Succinctly, both of themdemand compromises on thepart of the EU and BritishParliament. What brings homecontrast is that the modernBritish political history is wit-nessing a clash between directdemocracy and indirectdemocracy. When the offer ofreferendum was given to peo-ple they voiced their concerns,but their representatives arenow struggling in Parliament toeither say yes, or no on whatthe people voted for.

Hope the exit deal does notremain elusive as it appearstoday. The British MPs mayrestrict themselves from haringoff in all directions, irrespectiveof their party affiliations. Forthe Prime Minister to stay oncourse, while venturing out tohammer ‘must’ from her col-leagues, it is better to considerand ponder over what ‘May’happen in the coming days.Her short premiership shouldnot be so evanescent that sheis remembered only as a moth-er of all messes.

(The writer is an expert oninternational affairs)

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Brussels is ready to entirely“rework” the EuropeanUnion’s future relationship

with the UK as Michel Barniersuggests that Parliament couldforce Theresa May to abandonher red lines. The EU’s chiefnegotiator claimed there is a“readiness” in London to pushthe Government into accepting asofter Brexit, which could see acustoms union or a closer rela-tionship with the single marketform part of the political declara-tion. Barnier suggested thatthings could move quickly asMPs lay amendments this weekseeking to seize control of theBrexit process in the Commons.

One cross-party amendment,tabled by Labour’s Yvette Cooper,would extend the Article 50negotiation period and give MPsthe chance to come with an alter-native plan if a no deal Brexit isimminent. “We are ready to bemore ambitious if the Britishdecide to shift their red lines, forexample by remaining in a cus-toms union, or participating inthe single market. I believe thereis a readiness in London for that,”Barnier said in an interview withseveral European newspapers.

His comments will be widelyinterpreted as a show of supportfor those fighting for a closerrelationship with Brussels afterBrexit. But membership of theSingle Market will require manyof the prime minister’s red linesto be shelved, such as endingfreedom of movement and thejurisdiction of the EuropeanCourt of Justice.

EU sources said that Brusselswould be prepared to entirely“rework”, rather than just renego-

tiate the political declaration,which is a non-binding docu-ment setting out the limits of thefuture UK-EU trade negotiations.

However, the withdrawalagreement, which contains theIrish border backstop, is not upfor renegotiation. Even if MPsdid successfully call for a closerfuture relationship with the EU,the backstop would be needed, ifnot necessarily triggered, untilnegotiations on the relationshipwere successfully concluded.

Barnier said that the contro-versial issue of the Irish borderbackstop was not the reason forthe deadlock in Westminster,which will lead to accusationsfrom Brexiteers that RemainerMPs have weakened May’s nego-tiating hand by calling on her torule out no deal.

“Looking at it objectively, Ihave the impression that thebackstop is not the central issue,”he added. “Ultimately, the debatein Britain is about what thefuture of the UK will look like. Ibelieve that we can overcome thecurrent difficulties when we dis-cuss that issue together.”

George Osborne has suggest-ed that the UK will not leave theEuropean Union on March 29amid efforts by MPs to seize con-trol of Brexit and take no deal offthe table. The former chancellorclaimed that “delay looks like themost likely option” as TheresaMay appears incapable of break-ing the Parliamentary deadlock.

Speaking to the BBC inDavos, the international businessforum taking place inSwitzerland, Osborne said thatextending Article 50 would giveMPs the “space to explorewhether there’s an alternativedeal on the table”.

It comes amid growing sup-port for a draft bill put forwardby former Tory minister NickBoles and Labour’s Yvette Cooperwhich, if approved by MPs next

week, would compel theGovernment to delay the UK’sexit if it cannot ratify the with-drawal agreement beforeFebruary 26. Osborne, who hasrepeatedly attacked Theresa Maysince his appointment as Editorof the Evening Standard, addedthat his successor PhilipHammond was right to tell busi-ness leaders that no deal wouldbe ruled out by MPs. He alsoaccused the Prime Minister of

holding a “gun” to the “economy’shead” by refusing to rule outleaving without a deal, adding:“Russian Roulette is a game youshould never play because thereis a one-in-six chance of shootingyourself in the head.” Meanwhile,optimism among Remain-sup-porting MPs is growing afterJohn McDonnell indicated thatLabour will back Boles andCooper’s proposals.

Speaking on Newsnight on

Tuesday evening, the shadowchancellor said it was “highlylikely” that the party would sup-port the plan to delay the UK’sexit, describing it as “sensible”.

“It says to the Governmentyou’ve run down the clock somuch, it looks as though if youcan’t get a deal by February 26...the Government will then have tobring forward proposals to extendthat,” he added. “So I think it’sincreasingly likely already thatwe’ll have to take that optionbecause the Government has runthe clock down.”

McDonnell also suggestedthat if MPs succeeded in seizingcontrol from the Governmentand a second referendum wascalled, it should be a straightchoice between the most popularform of deal among MPs andremaining in the EU. WhilstLabour hoped the choice wouldbe between its alternative Brexitdeal and Theresa May’s,McDonnell said that if that was“not carried then of course thestatus quote remains — andRemain is the status quo”.

However, Liam Fox, theInternational Trade Secretary hitout against the proposals thismorning, warning that the effortsof rebel MPs to rule out no dealthreatened a constitutional crisis.“What is being suggested is thatthe House of Commons passesthe legislation and scrutinises it,which is a huge change to ourconstitution,” he said in Davos.

“The real danger here is thatyou change our constitutionalconventions here, but it has hugeconsequences elsewhere.” Foxclaimed that many calling forBrexit to be delayed actuallywanted “no Brexit at all”, addingthat the prospect of reversing thereferendum result would be the“most calamitous outcome”.

Overturning the referendumresult would be politically“calamitous” and worse than a nodeal Brexit, Liam Fox hasclaimed. Six years ago, DavidCameron left 10 Downing Streetbound for the City headquartersof the American market newsservice Bloomberg, writes PhilipJohnston. There he was to delivera speech that would shake Britishpolitics to their very foundations.This was the occasion when heconfirmed his intention to offeran in/out referendum on EUmembership should theConservatives win the next elec-tion. Of course, at the time henever imagined he would have todeliver. He was in a coalitionwith the Liberal Democrats thatprovided a majority of more than70 and stable Government. Thisrelationship obviated the need todo anything dramatically conser-vative, in keeping with his owncentrist instincts, yet ensured theTories held the whip hand.

Few thought that the nextelection in 2015 would throwup a markedly different result;pluralistic politics were here tostay. Sir James, one of the coun-try’s most high-profileBrexiteers, insisted the movewas a commercial decisionunconnected to Brexit.

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Atradition is followed whenthe Interim Budget and Voteon Account are presented inthe election year. TheGovernment seeks permis-

sion for expenditure for the months fromApril to July and doesn’t make anyannouncement over policy related mat-ters. But this time, it is likely that the tra-dition will be broken as the Governmenthas given many indications in this direc-tion. Agriculture Minister Radha MohanSingh has asked the farmers’ associationsto wait, adding that this time, theGovernment will announce somethingbig in the Budget. There is speculationthat the Government might give directbenefit of subsidy per acre of land andup to �2 lakh interest free loans to farm-ers. The Government is also mulling overthe demand of pension for farmers.

The Government has also hinted thattax relaxation could be announced in theInterim Budget itself. At present, the taxrelaxation limit is up to �2.5 lakh; theGovernment might increase it. It is note-worthy that the Government has recentlymade a law to ensure 10 per cent reserva-tion for the poor among forward classes.To benefit from this reservation, one’sincome should not be more than �8 lakhper annum. That means if your income isup to �8 lakh per annum and you are froma forward caste, you and your family canavail the benefits of reservation. But youwill have to pay tax if your income is �2.5lakh, and at the same time, you will beconsidered poor if your income is �8 lakh.

The third big decision might be overthe minimum income. The Governmentis gearing up to execute the policy of uni-versal basic income. Under this policy, theGovernment will transfer some amount tothe accounts of the poor. So, the Budgetmay be interim, wherein permission willbe taken for the expenses of three months,but three big policy related announce-ments for farmers, middle class, and thepoor might be made. The Opposition willcertainly create ruckus, but it’s highlyunlikely the Government will stop.

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It seems that drama in Karnataka is overand the Congress MLAs are not joining

the BJP, at least for now. On January 18,the Congress held a CLP meeting whereall MLAs were present, barring four. Later,all BJP MLAs also returned from theresort and BS Yeddyurappa said he wouldnever try to destabilise the Congress-JDSGovernment. Though there is no immedi-ate danger, new suspense has crept in. It isbeing said that the four Congress MLAswill join the BJP after resigning from theHouse. The BJP is thinking about the pos-

sibility of President’s rule and fresh elec-tions after the resignation of some moreMLAs from the Government side. Thereis speculation that mid-term electionsmight be held in Karnataka before thepresent Government celebrates itsanniversary. The BJP leaders are of theview that if the Assembly Elections arebeing held along with the Lok Sabhapolls, then the Congress would not gointo an alliance with the JDS. If thatdoesn’t happen, both parties will gotogether in the Lok Sabha polls.

Suspense is also building up vis-a-visHaryana, where the Assembly Electionsare scheduled in October this year.However, the BJP is gearing up for elec-tions along with the Lok Sabha. The partyhas its eyes set on Jind byelections sched-uled for January 28. If it fares well, thenthe party can think of elections beforeschedule. It must be noted that Jind elec-tions have become high profile as theCongress has roped in its media in-charge and MLA from Kaithal, Randeep

Surjewala. At the same time, DigvijayChautala, grandson of OP Chautala, isalso in the race as an Independent candi-date. The election is being considered bigfrom the Jat vote bank point of view.

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Maharashtra and Jharkhand are set togo to the polls at the end of this

year. But the BJP has managed to buildsuspense in both States, where it is gear-ing up for elections before schedule. TheBJP thinks that the Congress, JMM,JVM, Left, and RJD will go together inthe Lok Sabha polls but will fight sepa-rately if the Assembly Elections are heldsimultaneously. Recently, Jharkhand CMRaghubar Das told party leaders to gearup for the Assembly polls along with LokSabha Elections. And that is why theOpposition parties are on edge.

On the other hand, the BJP is tryingits best to go into an alliance with the ShivSena, which is in the mood for hard bar-gaining. The Sena either wants the old

formula or wants half the seats in theAssembly Elections along with the CMpost. In this scenario, if the AssemblyElections are held along with the LokSabha polls, then alliance with the ShivSena will become more difficult. That iswhy the BJP is preparing another strategyfor Maharashtra. However, there is oneproblem in holding simultaneous elec-tions in Karnataka, Haryana, andJharkhand. Elections in five States —Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, J&K, ArunachalPradesh, and Sikkim — are already sched-uled with the General Elections. If two orthree States are added, the ElectionCommission will need more EVMs,which is not possible right now.

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In Goa, the BJP alliance is facing hur-dles, as two partners are said to be

unhappy. The MaharashtrawadiGomantak Party (MGP) has announcedthat it would field its own candidate forthe byelections for two seats. The BJP

will also fight on these seats. The byelec-tion is crucial for the BJP as it wants tomove ahead of the Congress to endinstability in the State. After the resigna-tion of two Congress MLAs, both partieshave 13 MLAs. The Congress had earlierwon 16 seats. When Vishwajeet Rane leftthe party, the Congress came down to 15MLAs. Some time ago, two more MLAsfrom the Congress tendered their resig-nation. Now, byelections will be held on those two seats. The MGP leaderDeepak Dhavlikar, who is supporting theGovernment, has announced that he willfight the byelections. Deepak’s brother,Sudhin Dhavlikar, is demanding the CMpost for himself. So, this is certain that ifthe MGP goes into the byelection, theBJP’s equation will go haywire. If theCongress wins the two seats, the StateGovernment will become unstable. Thereis already uncertainty over CM ManoharParrikar’s health, and Subhash Welingkar— who was the RSS chief in the State —has also demanded his resignation.

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Hugh Grant has appealed forhelp tracking down personalitems stolen from his car,

including a script. The actor tweetedon Sunday night about the theft, writ-ing: “In the unlikely chance that any-one knows who broke into my cartonight and stole my bag, please tryand persuade them to at least returnmy script. Many weeks’ worth of notesand ideas. And perhaps [also return]my children’s medical cards.”

Grant, who reportedly put hishouse in Notting Hill, west London,up for rent in October last year, didnot say where the theft took place.He asked for the items to be returnedto Coach Films in Ealing, westLondon. The cricketer KevinPietersen tweeted in reply: “Ourstreet being invaded by scumbags?”

Also responding to Grant, thecomedian David Baddiel wrote: “I’msorry. I’ve had very bad writer’s block.”Grant last appeared on screen in theBBC drama A Very English Scandal,playing the late Liberal party leaderJeremy Thorpe, for which he was

nominated for several awards.He did not say which production

the script in the car was for. Grant iscurrently working on Toff Guys, a GuyRitchie film about a British drug lord,and the HBO series The Undoing,which also features Nicole Kidman andDonald Sutherland. Grant made hisname in the 1994 film Four Weddingsand a Funeral and went on to appearin a number of romantic comedies.

Scenes of rape and other forms ofsexual violence will no longer beallowed in films classified for

under-15s in a shake-up of the Britishratings system. The British Board ofFilm Classification (BBFC) will onThursday publish new classificationguidelines explaining in detail whyfilms get the ratings they are given,from U up to R18. By far the biggestchange is around films that includesexual violence and pornography. Theboard said the changes were a resultof a shift in public opinion over thelast five years.

Under the new guidelines no filmthat contains depictions of rape orstrong sexual violence will be alloweda rating below a 15. An example of afilm that would probably fall foul ofthe new system is the 2008 KeiraKnightley period drama The Duchess.It was given a 12A rating but wouldnow most likely get a 15 because of ascene where a woman is held down bya man on a bed and it is implied he isabout to rape her.

“The feedback we have had from

the public during the current consul-tation is that they don’t think there isany place for depictions of sexual vio-lence at 12A at all,” said Craig Lapper,the head of compliance at the BBFC.

The guidelines also say depictionsof sexual violence in 15-rated filmsmust not be “detailed or prolonged”.That would mean the 2017 TaylorSheridan thriller Wind River, whichstarred Elizabeth Olsen as an FBIagent, would get an 18 rating.

ABanksy artwork that appearedon a nondescript garage in aWelsh town has been sold to a

dealer for a six-figure sum. Thegarage’s owner, Ian Lewis, has sold thepiece, Seasons Greetings, to theEssex-based Banksy expert JohnBrandler but it will stay in PortTalbot, at least for the time being.Lewis, a steelworker, who has found ithard to sleep after unexpectedlybecoming the owner of a preciouspiece of art, is said to be hugelyrelieved. An estimated 20,000 peopleare thought to have visited his garagesince it appeared just beforeChristmas and round-the-clock secu-rity has had to be introduced to pro-

tect the artwork. It created a cottageindustry in souvenirs — mugs, coast-ers, keyrings — carrying the image ofthe work. Brandler said Season’sGreetings would stay in Port Talbotfor a minimum of two to three yearsbut might be moved into the towncentre. He said Lewis had turneddown higher offers to keep the workin the town. The Banksy appearedjust before Christmas in Taibach,close to the Tata steelworks. From oneangle, it shows a child in a bobble hatwith a sled, apparently enjoying asnow shower and trying to catch theflakes on their tongue. But fromanother, it becomes clear that what isfalling on the child is a shower of ash.

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Afghan singer Abdul Salam Maftoon’sstriking resemblance to Canadian

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hasturned him into an unlikely celebrity inthe war-torn country since his debut ona talent show. The 28-year-old firstcaught the attention of fans when hetraveled to the capital, Kabul, toappear on “Afghan Star”, a tele-vised musical competition thatdraws contestants from aroundthe South Asian nation.

“People are calling me theJustin Trudeau of Afghanistan...Since I came to Kabul, Ihave become very popularand people are grabbingphotos with me,” he toldReuters at the studio.The singer’s similarityto Canada’s 47-year-old primeministercould eventip thecompetitionin his favor,according to

one of the show’s judges, Qais Ulfat.“There is a big chance of him winningthe show because ... he is the only con-testant that has got so much exposure,”he said. Maftoon, who began his singingcareer seven years ago performing atweddings, has even bigger ambitions.“My only wish is that Prime Minister(Trudeau) takes me to Canada and I canhold a concert there to sing Afghan

songs and that the prime ministerhimself will be at my concert,” he said.

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Police in northern Texas say awoman has been banned

from a local Walmart after shespent several hours driving anelectric shopping cart aroundthe store’s parking lot while

drinking wine from aPringles can. Police tell

the Times RecordNews that officers

responded to a reportof a suspicious personaround 9 am Friday at

a Walmart in Wichita

Falls. The city is about 200 kilometersnorthwest of Dallas, near the Oklahomaborder. Wichita Falls police spokesmanJeff Hughes says the woman hadreportedly been riding the electric cartaround the parking lot for about threehours. Hughes says police eventuallyfound the woman in a nearby restaurantand told her not to return to the store.Police say the woman wasn’t arrestedand her name was not released.

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Administrators at a New York middleschool are begging students to leave

their winter hats made by Italian apparelcompany Moncler at home because thepricy tops keep getting lost. The NewYork Post reports that administrators atGreat Neck North Middle School onLong Island wrote a letter to parents ask-ing them to “try and redirect your mid-dle schooler from wearing these hats toschool.” Moncler’s knit hats with fur pompoms cost $350, though kids’ sizes areavailable for less. The Great Neck Northadministrators said time spent lookingfor lost Moncler hats has been “disrup-

tive to the students’ focus andtime.” Parent Elissa Siony saidthe letter was “silly.” She toldthe Post, “If they lose it andfreak out, they freak out.”

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Dogs, cats and birds were blessed at achurch in Madrid on Thursday on

the feast day of St. Anthony, the patronsaint of animals, with many of the own-ers making an annual pilgrimage fortheir pets. St Anthony the Abbot’schurch priest Angel Garcia expected upto 15,000 pets to be brought in for thisyear’s ceremony. “St. Anthony cared agreat deal about dogs and abandonedanimals, healing and feeding them.That’s where the tradition comes from,”said the priest, who blesses each animal.

“We come here every year since Ihave her and we come together, rightRita?” Madrid resident Maria Diaz saidto her dog as she was hugging it. “St.Anthony is going to bless you. Do nottremble!” Diana Castillo, another dogowner, said she was keeping up a familytradition, started by her grandparents

who would bring their pets to the cere-mony, first celebrated 35 years ago. “Icome here since we adopted her sevenyears ago and we come every year.”

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Former White House press secretarySean Spicer has bought a house in

Rhode Island, and his new neighbour isa familiar face from their days togeth-er in the Trump administration: for-mer national security adviser MichaelFlynn. The Newport Daily News, cit-ing public records, reported that thesale closed Jan. 2, and Spicer paid$795,000 for the 1,800-square-footMiddletown home, which has fourbedrooms and three bathrooms.Representatives for Spicer did notimmediately return messages seekingcomment. The house is across the streetand three doors down from Flynn’shome, in a neighborhood that’s a shortwalk to the beach. Flynn is awaitingsentencing on his guilty plea to lying tothe FBI about his Russian contacts.Spicer grew up in nearby Barrington.

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An Oklahoma woman looking forlove got more than she bargained

for when she unwittingly shared herexhilaration about illegally shooting a“bigo buck” on a dating app with a

state game warden. OklahomaGame Warden Cannon Harrisonsays he uncovered the poaching

in a conversation onBumble with a McIntoshCounty woman. Shetalked about using aspotlight to shoot thedeer at night, outsidethe rifle season. Thewoman only harvestedthe head and back-strap meat — and she

sent Harrison pictures asproof. The woman has

pleaded guilty tocharges of improperpossession of an ille-gally taken animaland taking game out-

of-season. She and anaccomplice face $2,400 fines.

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AnantU — as we fondly callit — is India’s first designuniversity in the makinglocated on the outskirts ofAhmedabad. The campus,

these days, is a mega construction site,save a spanking new and trendy acade-mic complex. The students are around,building prototypes of homes, greencities, furniture, fashion accessories,cars, in the studio classrooms, labs, andoutdoors on campus. They are encour-aged — by faculty and practitionersfrom India and abroad — to be rootedin indigenous techniques and aesthet-ics, yet informed by the world.

I am on the AnantU campus for afew days every month all round theyear. Spearheaded by the inimitablepower-packed trio of Ajay Piramal,Abhishek Lodha, and Pramath Sinha, Ihave been asked to set up a ‘do-tank’here that publishes research, imple-ments projects, creates coursework,and transform the campus intobecoming environmentally, socially,and culturally responsible.

On a typical day, classes on ethnog-raphy, design in craft, stories of clayacross civilisations, coincides with atravelling exhibition of built environ-ment in Japan. Trips to train in tradi-tional craft in Hunnarshala in Bhuj arepaired with education grants to studysustainable development in Prague. Thefaculty is a mix — there are designers,such as Gunjan Gupta, who are reviv-ing Indian craft skills as much as pro-fessors from abroad.

AnantU rides a new revivalist wavein our aesthetics in India. The oldcrafts of India are being brought backto the mainstream. The traditional sariis once again in the limelight, with arenewed conviction that the saribelongs to the loom. Indian classicalmusic is being revived and, at times, re-imagined. Materials, such as copper orearth, is again popular for storing

water. The ancient science (or not) ofVaastu is being deployed for designingmodern built habitats. It is not uncom-mon these days to see furnitureinspired from our heritage — a chairdesigned like a throne or a door etchedin wood similar to ancient templeentrances. The list is long.

The list is also ‘work in progress’ —for example, we do not yet connectwith the tribal population on theirtaste in design, nor do we trust themfor the quality and manufacturingtechnique of their product. There stillis a disconnect in taste towards thosein India who are denigrated by politi-cal and social oppression. We are stillat the ebb of the revival of our aesthet-ic heritage, but it already affects howwe live, what we wear, the products weuse, the words we choose, the tune wehum, the food we eat, how we eat.

The role of institutions likeAnantU is, therefore, paramount notjust in equipping our next generationwith the skills and knowledge to buildbuildings and products that marryheritage with modernity, but also tosoothe attitudes and mindsets to notnecessarily choose between traditionand modernity, India and the West,traditional and organic, and so on.These pairs are not ‘differences’. Theyare not polar opposites to each other.Institutions like this teach that we canindeed straddle both or several, anddo this in our own unique way.

Aesthetics is an ever-shifting sensi-bility. It flows and changes its courselike a river. It is shaped over time bysocial, financial, geographical, andother constraints we face and our per-ception of the environment around us,at times subsumed by culturallydefined ideas of appropriateness. It isonly momentarily influenced by ourimmediate situation. Instead, ourobservations, deductions, and experi-ences that each of us accumulate in

our heads over a lifetime shape ouridea of what beauty or great designmeans to us personally which couldthus be either evolutionarily path-breaking or mere plagiarism.

I also think taste is defined byeach one’s personal circles of interac-tion and influence over extended peri-ods of time. Within community andfamily networks there are always the‘influencers’ and the ‘influenced’.These roles are fluid and mutable,each one influencing the other, suchthat taste operates like a meme.

Great design to me is one that isinspired from the world and givesback a sensibility that is completelyauthentic to the world. But we oftenhave a cop-and-thief relationship withmodernity in India. On one hand,some feel that only our ancestors had agenetic in-built propensity for appreci-ating and creating beauty, and thatmodernity has now chased that out ofour reach. There is, some times, a feel-ing that we have come away too farand too soon, perhaps because wehave lost much of our ancient knowl-edge in the sciences and mathematicsor that many of us do not know anymore how to read Sanskrit, the lan-guage in which most of the treasuresof our ancient wisdom is written out.On the other hand, modernity, with allits new technologies and global con-nectivity, has also boosted the creativeindustry. Yet change is not a bad thing,nor is sticking with traditions.

We live in a symbiotic environ-ment, and in India, a lot has come toIndian traditional aesthetics withinthis environment despite and becauseof various constraints of transferabili-ty between modernity and tradition.Our design revolution may beginwith this acceptance.

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Let me add time and place to the cir-cumstances. We are too small todecide anything. This is the stark

reality. Consider these instances: Brazilhad reached the final of the World Cup.However, their star player was nursingan injury. They had to decide whether toget him to play or not. They chose toinclude him and lost the final; he waswell below his prime. Where did they gowrong? They did not go with the cir-cumstances. An injured star player is nomatch for a fit replacement. America wasnot keen to join the Allied side. They didnot wish to get involved in a bloody war.But when the Japanese attacked the PearlHarbor base in Hawaii, Americansjoined the Allied side. Circumstanceshad forced them to do so.

Two colleagues decided to get mar-ried to each other. After marriage, theymoved into a rented flat. Earlier, theywere living with their respective par-ents. Life was vastly different from thecarefree existence in their parents’homes. They had to make lots of adjust-ments in their routines. Circumstanceshad forced it upon them.

Technologies keep on changing — theadvent of internet, cell phones, etc. Canwe continue to use old technology with-out putting ourselves at a disadvantage?We have to gradually switch to the mod-ern ways of communicating. One has fin-

ished his education. Time has come tomake the important change of becomingself-sufficient by earning for oneself. Thisis not an option but a necessity. Childrengrow up. Can they be treated as they werewhen they were toddlers? No, their par-ents must begin to deal with them asfriends; trying to force them can onlymake them more rebellious.

Old age has come. There must bechanges in the nature of activities.Similarly, one has retired. No longer isone going to a workplace. There must bea different routine. Most importantly,God must become a very important partof life. Earlier, one could almost managebut not in the changed circumstances.Without an active link with God, peoplebecome despondent having suffered somesetback or other. I have heard people saysomething to this effect, “Ham toh gaye.”Translated into English, one has lost hope.This consciousness is not conducive for

the balance one needs in life.Circumstances demand change; one hasno choice. Same is true in case of diseaseslike diabetes; one must make changes.

In all these instances, circumstancesdecide. Our intelligence is in seeing it this

way, noting more. What will be mosthelpful in this regard? Good knowledgeabout what dharma is. This word isdefined as truth or law which affects thewhole universe. A more accurate under-standing will be: Rules which should

guide human behaviour. God promotes it.He goes to the extent of incarnatingHimself when dharma is under threat, iewhen there is decline in it, and there isascendency of immorality. (Gita)Therefore, it is crucial for us to know itsdetails. Most scriptures like The Gita haveplenty of information about it.

Once we are familiar with it, we willknow what proper behaviour is. We willunderstand that cooperation with othersis the bedrock of creation. We will alsoknow that making sacrifices brings enor-mous benefits. Dharma teaches us truth-fulness, morality, love, compassion, etc. Italerts us about the dangers of lust, greed,anger, ego, jealously, etc. Once we haveworking knowledge of dharma, we willaccept the fact that circumstances decide;we don’t. We should become wise toassess the circumstances well.

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We will be celebrating the 150th birth anniver-sary of Mahatma Gandhi this year. Gandhi’scontribution to the nation is certainly worth a

grand commemoration and the Government of India iskeen to do it as our grateful nation prepares for theevent. In a few days from now, we will observe his mar-tyrdom as he was assassinated on January 30, 1948. Buteven 70 years after his death, Gandhi lives on. The rele-vance of his ideas in today’s world is widely discussedand debated. And the very fact that his ideas still getpeople to think and argue makes him rather extraordi-nary. This, perhaps, was the reason as to why a personlike Einstein had said that generations to come mightfind it hard to believe that someone like Gandhi walkedon this earth in flesh and blood. But Gandhi had hisshare of critics, too. And they were just as vociferous ashis admirers. Gandhi was a man of conviction andwould not budge an inch from the values he upheld.The approaching anniversary of his death will be anappropriate occasion to recapitulate what all he stood forand truly understand what made him the Mahatma.This is all the more important for the young nationwhere an overwhelmingly large section of the popula-tion is hooked to the social media and considers theinternet to be the most authentic source of knowledge.They must know about Gandhi and try to understandthe values and principles that were dear to his heart. Wemust remember that Gandhi’s greatest strength wascomplete congruence in what he practised and what hepreached. In an era in which commerce rules and ideol-ogy is a vanishing commodity, Gandhi’s qualities are likea whiff of fresh air. It is important to realise the impor-tance of his ideas. First and foremost is his completeunderstanding of the dichotomy between right andwrong. He always maintained that ends did not justifythe means. Rather, means and ends were a continuum.For him, change had to begin from the self. His philoso-phy was simple and got one to understand the impor-tance of truth and non-violence. In fact, he was a trueadvocate of the golden lesson on education given in theSikshavalli of Taittiriya Upanishad that is Satyam Vada,Dharmam Chara. In other words, adhere to the truthand follow the path of righteousness. Today, we find ourworld in turmoil driven by violence. Gandhi’s solutionwas simple — tread the path of non-violence. His poli-tics was politics based on ethics and he had classified theseven deadly sins as wealth without work, pleasure with-out conscience, knowledge without character, commercewithout morality, science without humanity, religionwithout sacrifice and politics without principles. As welook around today, we find these deadly sins abound. Isit not evident that the problems of the present timeshave compounded because of these sins? From corpo-rate trusteeship, to sustainability principles, to frugaleconomics, Gandhi’s ideals could really help one in pre-sent times where we find management theorists, envi-ronmentalists, and economists struggling alike to cometo grips with the challenges that the modern times arethrowing at the individuals. He had said that wheneveryou are in doubt, recall the face of the poorest and theweakest man and ask yourself if your step will be of anyuse to him. This will lead to real Swaraj. In Gandhi’swisdom lies the answer to the woes of the present times.

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On January 19, 1990,Osho left his body at hisPune ashram and arushed cremation wascarried out after the

public announcement of his death.His body was brought out for tenminutes after which it was hurried tothe burning ghats where it wascremated within a few hours. Whenthe news of his death spread out tohis disciples and lovers around theworld, his body had already beencremated in Pune. At that time, Iwas in Nepal. When the newsflashed on the television screen, Icouldn’t believe it.

Almost three decades have passedsince that day, but the mysteryaround Osho’s death still remainsdense. Abhay Vaidya’s recent booktitled Who Killed Osho? has raisedlogical questions about the possibilityof foul play in Osho’s death. I amreminded of the time when I hadtalked to Osho about his death whenhe was in Nepal.

It was the month of January in1986 and I was sitting in front of himin room number 514 of the SoalteeOberoi Hotel in Kathmandu. It hadbeen a few days since Osho hadarrived in Nepal. Being his organiserand the ‘center leader’ in Nepal, I hadthe opportunity to closely observe theactivities of the people around him.From the beginning days of hismovement, Osho was always sur-rounded by people who were verydevoted to him and his cause andloved him. But being constantly sur-rounded still seemed dangerous.

It was a cold January morningand Osho was sitting on the sofa inhis room while I was sitting down onthe carpeted floor. There was nobodyelse in the room so I could easilypour out my heart to him. I told himthat I was concerned about his lifeand suspected that he would be mur-dered. He listened to me very intentlybut there was no reaction on his face.It was as if he already knew of it andhad already accepted his fate. Afterhearing my concern with the samegrace and calmness, he asked me,“What can you do against it?”

I immediately replied,“We couldtake you into police protection andyou can stay in Nepal forever.” Osholooked at me and said, “No enlight-

ened master has ever lived underpolice protection. My work will sufferthat way.” Soon, there was a loudknock on the door and I had to closethe conversation and leave the room.After four years, we were to knowthrough a news channel that Oshohad died in Pune.

Osho lived a short but eventfullife of 58 years. He was not only anenlightened master but also one ofthe greatest intellectual giants of ourtimes. Essentially an iconoclast whoopposed all generally accepted beliefs,pre-conceived notions and traditions,Osho’s oppositions were based on hisdeep study and observations of allreligions and beliefs. He had a deepunderstanding of practically everyknown religion of the world. His dis-courses cover every aspect of humanconsciousness and spirituality andexpress his thoughts in clear, every-day terms. In his books created fromhis extemporaneous talks, Osho cov-ers every issue of human life. Theyrange from petty relationship prob-lems to the ultimate seeking ofenlightenment and from ancient wis-dom of the Upanishads to the latestinventions of science. If it wasn’t forOsho, we would have never knownabout the 70 and more great enlight-ened mystics of the spiritual worldthat he has spoken about in his booksand lectures. Osho brought them outof the oblivion. His teachings werenever static or academic. Theysprouted from enlightened wisdom.

Today, there are more than 700books to his name which are spiritualbestsellers and have been translatedinto all major languages of the world.The fact that twenty nine years afterhis death, his speeches, both inrecordings and in print, are still indemand, bears testimony to the factthat Osho remains one of the greatestspiritual leaders of our times.

Humanity is yet to evaluate andacknowledge Osho’s enormous con-tribution to this world. After attain-ing his enlightenment, Osho’s soleintention was to help uplift thehuman consciousness and freehumanity of its own bondage. Whenasked about why he read so muchwhen he was already enlightened,Osho gave a very touching answerthat reflects the intensity of his effortsto help humanity.

He replied, “My hunger forknowledge has been utterly sated. Butif I am to help the people, I need tospeak to them in the language theyunderstand, to trace the history oftheir thought process and the sur-roundings that shape their thoughts.Therefore, if I am to help them, Ihave to be one among them. It is tor-ture for me to read all this intellectualnonsense. Once you know yourself,there is nothing worth knowing. But Iwant to reach out to as many peopleas possible, and I must be moreinformed than they are if I have toconvince them to listen to me.”

Osho has left a legacy of wisdombut his contributions are not limitedonly to the intellectual arena. Osho’scontribution in bringing a new revo-lution in the world of spirituality andreligion is unparalleled. It will takecenturies for mankind to rightly com-prehend how much it has benefittedfrom it. Before Osho, religion hadalways been a serious affair and reli-giousness and seriousness werealmost synonymous. Osho created arevolution by introducing celebrationinto meditation; no one had everimagined that spiritual seeking couldalso be a joyful affair and that therewas nothing sinful in being happy.

Osho developed more than sixhundred meditation techniques. Itwas Osho who saw the relevance ofwestern psychotherapy to the processof meditation. Perhaps Osho’sgreatest contribution to humanitywas the incorporation of catharsisinto meditation. This made the veryactivity unique in contemporaryspiritual practice. Catharsis is abreakthrough in human psychologyand is proving as a great release forcontemporary mankind to express itssuppressed emotions such asviolence, anger, sex, fear etc.

In today’s world where theinstitution of family is slowlydisintegrating and the concept ofprivate property and isolated egoisticlifestyle has created a selfishmankind that is insensitive towardsthe world around it, Osho’s conceptof commune living has come up asthe perfect alternative. Osho was notjust an individual entity; hecontinues to be a force that helpspeople live a more conscious,balanced and meditative life.

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During my recent travel, a passen-ger seated next to me, havinglearnt that I am an astrologer,

raked up an old age debate. “It is saidthat man proposes and God disposes.Fate or freewill, what drives a humanbeing’s life?” he asked. “For the answer,you need to know your own self — thesystem driving a human being. Thatincludes being aware of how to effi-ciently use one’s working tools — par-ticularly the mind with all its functionalcoordinates which actually drives abeing in real terms.” I responded.

To put things simply, I shared apopular story on the above subject.Someone engaged in the above conflictsought the guidance of a Godman.The Godman asked him to raise one ofhis legs and stand on the other. Theperson followed suit. The Godmanthen asked that person to raise hisother leg. “With one leg already in theair, how can I raise the other?” the gen-tleman retorted.

This is the difference between fateand freewill. So long as you had notraised your leg, you had a choice. Youcould have raised either the left or theright leg. But once you have made achoice and raised one leg, you are stuck.

That is how it happens in our life as well.Remember, unlike other species

that are bound by their predeterminednature and with no scope to make anexception, human beings could guidetheir actions by choice and discrimina-tion. But whenever there is a choice inhand, it carries equal probability of useor misuse. And there is nothing like afree lunch in this world. You have toown up and bear the consequences ofthe choices you make. In this schemeof things, the goings on at this momentare the culmination of doings in thepast. And how we negotiate thismoment sets the terms for how thefuture is expected to unfold. This ishow we usually get trapped into avicious cycle of cause-effect chain,which keeps running in succession.This is the premise on which the theo-ry of Karma stands.

“Why does the theory of Karmaapply only to human beings and not tothe animal world?” asked the co-pas-senger. Well, animals work on theirinstinct primarily guided by food andsecurity concerns. They can’t judgewhether their actions are right orwrong. They can’t plan and make awillful choice to their asking. So, good

or bad, their actions don’t have anycarryover effect. On the contrary, allhuman actions are willful and areintent driven. They, therefore, can’tescape the travails of their own doing.The character, content, and intent, ofthe choices made defines the pleasuresand pains of life that we become duefor in the emerging times.

It, however, needs to be appreciatedthat if there is a choice in hand, it alsocarries the prospect of conscientiouslychanging the Karmic track. For, we alsoenjoy the exclusive privilege of beingarmed with the faculty of discriminateintelligence. Applying this prerogative,we could dispassionately weigh theoptions in hand, filter off the undesir-ables, pick up the right lead, and sensi-bly work out the action plan. You canbring down your raised leg and thenplan out your move afresh.

It is, however, easier said thandone, especially when it pertains to anywillful act on our part having mentaland emotional implications, eitherinvolving the doer himself or thosearound. All your doings and the expe-riences good or bad you go through,make an inedible imprint on yourmind. That, in turn, preconditionsyour thought process one way or the

other, and that finds reflection in ourday-to-day conduct. They set the termsof your desire trends, likes and dislikes,prejudices and obsessions, virtues andattributes, habits and attitudes. Andhabit dies hard. Caught up in the usualmills of life, we get going in lifeprompted by our mental tendencies,and thus remain stuck to the ongoingcause-effect chain. So, in our usual runwe remain stuck to consequences ofour own doing, which unless otherwiseconscientiously modified keep goingon almost in an auto-pilot mode.There is no scope for any externalagency engaged in judging our karmato define our destiny. We are, in fact,beneficiary or victim of our own doing.

To sum up, fate is the outcome ofour freewill (choices we make). Butthen, conscientiously applying thesame choice option, human beings areequally empowered to reshape one’scourse of destiny. How? It will be takenup in the next issue.

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H`^V_ deVR] dY`h Re C 5Rj aRcRUV - Daily Pioneer

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