ˆ -’...lived as he could resume office for just two days. Verma is ... Ajay Maken, who is known...

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The high-powered SelectionCommittee led by Prime

Minister Narendra Modi onThursday sacked CBI DirectorAlok Verma after two-and-a-half hours meeting. ChiefJustice of India’s nomineeJustice AK Sikri and Leader ofOpposition in the Lok SabhaMallikarjun Kharge were twoother members of the SelectionCommittee.

The panel decided to sackVerma with a 2-1 majority,wherein Mallikarjun Khargeopposed his removal. BothModi and Justice Sikri voted infavour of Verma’s removal. Thecommittee had met onWednesday but that meetingwas inconclusive.

Interestingly, Kharge hadfiled a dissent note againstVerma’s appointment as CBIchief during the SelectionCommittee meeting.

Verma was sacked on thebasis of a CVC report charginghim of corruption and derelic-tion of duty. The CVC reportindicted Verma with eightcounts of charges, includingforming a coterie of officials ofdoubtful integrity.

Verma’s joy of reinstate-ment by the SC as the CBI bossafter a gap of 77 days was short-lived as he could resume officefor just two days. Verma isretiring from service onJanuary 31.

The panel also decided toappoint a new CBI Director

within two weeks and removeall officials of doubtful integri-ty from the agency.

The panel decided to trans-fer Verma as DG, Fire Services,Civil Defence and HomeGuards. The SelectionCommittee also decided tomake CBI Additional DirectorM Nageshwara Rao as theinterim Director till the highpowered committee decideson a name for posting as thenew CBI Director. List of probables include UttarPradesh DGP OP Singh, NIADG YC Modi and CISF chiefRajesh Ranjan.

Verma had resumed dutyas CBI chief on Wednesday fol-lowing a Supreme Court orderreinstating him as the agencyboss. Verma along with hisdeputy Rakesh Asthana wereon October 23 sent on forcedleave following a bitter feudbetween the two. Both Vermaand Asthana leveled corruptionallegations against each other.Verma also booked Verma in agraft case on October 15despite express recommenda-tion by the CVC not to goahead with filing any FIRagainst Asthana.

Following this, the CentralVigilance Commission inter-

vened to restore the integrity ofthe CBI and recommendedtheir forced leave till an enquiryby the anti-corruption watch-dog was over. Based on theCVC recommendation, theGovernment sent them onforced leave and appointedthen Joint Director MNageshwara Rao as the in-charge CBI chief during thependency of the CVC probeagainst Verma.

Verma then moved theSupreme Court challengingthe Government decision tosend him on leave and divesthim of his powers, functionsand supervisory role in the CBI

saying the post enjoys a two-years fixed tenure. The SC onTuesday trashed theGovernment order to sendVerma on leave and reinstatedhim as CBI chief. The apex

court also directed the Centreto refer the issue of Verma’sremoval to the high-poweredSelection Committee.

Meanwhile, the Delhi HighCourt on Friday will decide ona plea of Asthana for quashingof the graft case registered atVerma’s behest.

While the SC order rein-stating Verma as the CBI chief,it specifically barred him fromtaking any major policy deci-sions, but he continued withthe spree to order transfers andposting in the agency. Vermahad on Wednesday throughtwo different orders rescindedtransfers and postings done byincharge Director Rao. Raohad transferred 13 officialsincluding the team probingthe case against Asthana.Verma revoked most of thetransfers and postings.

On Thursday too, Vermatransferred or changed postingsof seven officials, includingthe posting Superintendent ofPolice MK Gupta, to probe thebribery case against Asthana.

The CVC report alsoreferred about the controversialmeat exporter Moin Qureshi’scase and claimed that the CBIteam looking into the casewanted to make Hyderabad-

based businessman SathishBabu Sana an accused in thecase but Verma never gaveclearance. The probe in thiscase was led by Asthana.

The CVC report also con-tained intercepts from theResearch and Analysis Wing(RAW), in which “moneychanging hands with numberone in the CBI” is talked about,officials said.

Incidentally, Sana is thecomplainant for the briberycase against Asthana. Sana hasalso mentioned the name ofSamant Goel, the second-in-command of RAW, of beinginvolved in protecting the mid-dleman, Manoj Prasad. Theother case relates to aPreliminary Enquiry registeredby the CBI about acquisition ofland in Gurgaon. The CVC, inits report, alleged that Verma’sname had figured in the caseand at least �36 crore hadchanged hands. The CVC hadrecommended a thoroughprobe into the case.

The CVC, which has asuperintendence role over theCBI, had also alleged thatVerma tried to save an officer in the IRCTC caseinvolving former UnionMinister Lalu Prasad.

The Commission alsoalleged that Verma was tryingto bring in tainted officials intothe CBI. It claimed that effortsseeking cooperation from theCBI chief did not yield resultsas he continued to keep the filesaway from the CVC.

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Army chief General BipinRawat on Thursday

indicated that the SupremeCourt verdict on decrimi-nalisation of gay sex andadultery may not be imple-mented in the Army, citingthe “conservative” nature ofthe force.

Making this assertionhere in the annual news con-

ference ahead of the ArmyDay on January 15, he saidthough the Army is notabove law of the land, yetwhen a person joins thearmed forces some of therights enjoyed by the civiliancounterparts are taken away.He was responding to a ques-tion on the Army’s views onSection 377 of the IndianPenal Code (IPC) and adul-tery.

Continued on Page 4

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In a political development inthe national Capital ahead of

the Lok Sabha polls this year,former Delhi Chief MinisterSheila Dikshit was on Thursdayappointed as the chief of theDelhi Congress.

Her name was cleared bynone other than party chiefRahul Gandhi following abrainstorming meeting of StateCongress leaders on Thursday.

Dikshit is an old war horseand a favourite among the partyworkers for her experience ofbeing three-time Chief Ministerof Delhi. In view of her age andhealth concerns, the Congresshas appointed three workingpresidents to assist her.

Dikshit, 80, makes a come-back into Delhi politics aheadof the Lok Sabha elections. Thelongest serving Chief Ministerof Delhi — from 1998 to 2013-Dikshit has stayed away fromactive politics following theCongress’s defeat in Assemblyelections. Diskhit had repre-sented Gole Market con-stituency of New Delhi thriceand was one of the most suc-cessful Chief Ministers who iscredited for changing the faceof Delhi.

Interestingly, she replacesAjay Maken, who is known asher protégé-turned-bête noire.Maken had been appointedpresident of the Delhi Congressfollowing the party’s defeat inthe Assembly elections in 2014,when Dikshit was vanquishedby Aam Aadmi Party conven-er Arvind Kejriwal.

AICC in-charge of DelhiCongress, PC Chackoannounced Dikshit’s appoint-ment at a Press conference atthe party headquarters.

The three working presi-dents who will assist Dikshitare: . Devendra Yadav, a two-time MLA and AICC secretary,Rajesh Lilothia, also a two-timeMLA, AICC secretary andknown dalit leader and HaroonYusuf, who was a Minister inthe Dikshit Government.

Maken had earlier con-veyed to the party leadership,his inability to continue as theDPCC chief in view of the seri-ous health issues he is facing.He is suffering from a spinalailment, said sources close tothe Delhi leader.

Despite being perceived ashaving worked hard to revivethe party in Delhi, Maken metwith little success electorally.The party failed to win any of

the three municipalities inDelhi, and could not register avictory in the by-elections. .According to sources, he wasnot happy with a section ofparty leaders who want to forgean alliance with AAP in Delhi.

With just months to go forthe general elections, this isDikshit’s third major assign-ment from the party after rul-ing Delhi for 15 consecutive

years. She served as GovernorKerala and then Congress hadnamed her the Chief Ministerialcandidate during the UttarPradesh Assembly polls.

During her three terms, shebecame the face of developmentof Delhi but the rise of Kejriwaldue to corruption against the Congress led to herdownfall after 15 years in thesaddle.

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In a bid to give relief to small business-es ahead of Lok Sabha elections, the

Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council onThursday doled out benefits to mediumand small-scale enterprises (MSMEs) withregard to GST exemption and approved 6per cent composition scheme for the ser-vices sector.

The council has increased the GSTexemption limit to �20 lakh from �10 lakhfor the North-eastern States, and to �40lakh from �20 lakh for the rest of the coun-try. The council raised the higher turnovercap to �1.5 crore for availing compositionscheme of paying 1 per cent tax. It willcome into effect on April 1.

The council also decided to extend thecomposition scheme to traders from infor-mal sector rendering services or mixedsupplies with a turnover up to �50 lakh andcomposition rate for services sector hasbeen fixed at 6 per cent.

The council also approved recom-mendations pertaining to calamity cess inKerala. The State Government will nowlevy 1 per cent calamity cess for a periodof two years on products and services tofund rehabilitation in the State.

Under the composition scheme,traders and manufacturers can pay taxesat a concessional rate of 1 per cent, whilerestaurants pay 5 per cent GST. There areover 1.17 crore businesses which have reg-istered under the GST.

Detailed report on P10

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Fo r m e rChhattisgarh

Chief MinisterRaman Singhwas given a newresponsibility asBharatiya JanataParty's NationalVice Presidenton Thursday.

He is currently in New Delhi to par-ticipate in the party's two-day nationalcouncil meeting scheduled to beginfrom January 11 in the national Capital.

The meeting is part of the run-up tothe 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Talking to The Pioneer, Singh said,“The party has given me a new respon-sibility keeping in view the Lok Sabhaelection in the organisation at nationallevel. Will carry out the work with ded-ication.”

He gave a laugh when reminded thathe was earlier reluctant to join national pol-itics.

“I am in national capital to partici-pate in the BJP's two-day national coun-cil meet,” he added.

BJP national president Amit Shahhad also inducted former Chief Ministerof Rajasthan Vasundhara Raje Scindiaand Madhya Pradesh Chief MinisterShivraj Singh Chouhan as vice presidents.

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US President Donald Trumphas threatened to impose

a national emergency whichwill empower him to go aheadwith his plan to construct a bar-rier, concrete or steel, along thesouthern border with Mexicoto prevent flow of illegal immi-grants into the country.

Trump on Wednesday saidimposing a national emergencyis the last option and threat-ened to use it if the Democratsdo not allocate USD 5.7 billionfunding for his controversialUS-Mexico border wall plan.

Also, Trump walked out ofa meeting with top Democraticleaders, House Speaker NancyPelosi and Senate MinorityLeader Senator Chuck

Schumer over the border wallplan. He argued that the cur-rent situation, wherein peopleare entering the country ille-gally and there is a massivesmuggling of drugs, poses anational security threat.

“I have the absolute right toimpose national emergency ifI want,” Trump said.To a question why he did notdeclare this option during hisprime-time address to thenation on Tuesday night fromthe Oval Office, the Presidentsaid, “Because I think we mightwork a deal and, if we don’t, Imay go that (national emer-gency) route.”

A wall along the US-Mexico border was one ofTrump’s signature campaignpromises. Trump wants USD

5.7 billion to build the wall,even though he said repeated-ly during his campaign that hewould make Mexico pay for thestructure.

The Democrats are refus-ing to allocate the money, argu-ing that a wall would be cost-ly and ineffective. Mexico hasrejected Trump’s demand topay for the border wall. Thesharp differences between theTrump administration and theopposition Democrats overborder security has resulted ina partial Government shut-down, which entered its 19th day on Wednesday, mak-ing it the second-longest in his-tory after the 21-day shut-down in 1995-96.

“My threshold (for declar-ing a national emergency) will

be if I can’t make a deal withpeople that are unreasonable,”Trump said. Reiterating hisstand after a luncheon meetingwith Republican Congressionalleaders at the Capitol Hill, thePresident said, “I may do that(declare a national emergency).”

Trump is expected to meetDemocratic Congressionalleaders, House Speaker NancyPelosi and Senate MinorityLeader Senator ChuckSchumer soon. “If they don’tagree that crime and drugscome through southern bor-der... If they can’t get thatthrough and they don’t agreepolitically… It is a very badissue for the Democrats,” hetold reporters.

Trump alleged that theDemocrats are opposing hisproposal of a border wallbecause of political reasonsand with an eye on the 2020presidential elections.

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The inaugural session of the fifthChhattisgarh Assembly concluded

here on Thursday.Speaker Charandas Mahant

adjourned the Assembly Session tillFebruary 8. The Budget Session would becontinued from February 8 to March 8,he informed.

Notably, the inaugural session markedthe administration of oath to the newlyelected members as well as election of newSpeaker. The Assembly session had a totalof five sittings and was concluded a dayprior to scheduled sessions.

Pro-tem Speaker Rampukar Singhadministered oath to the members on thevery first day and on the same day and thenew legislators elected their new Speaker.

Address of Chhattisgarh GovernorAnandiben Patel was on January 7.Motion of Thanks to Governor’s addresswas moved by Congress legislator fromSitapur Amarjeet Bhagat.

Supplementary budget was tabled andpassed during the session on January 8while debate on Motion of Thanks toGovernor’s address was discussed onJanuary 9 and 10.

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Followed by quashing oforders of Central and the

State Government on force-ful retirement of Chhattisgarhcadre 2002 batch IPS officerKC Agrawal by the CentralAdministrative Tribunal(CAT), the ChhattisgarhGovernment through anorder has reinstated him.

After recommendationof the ChhattisgarhGovernment about forcefulretirement of the IPS officeron adverse ConfidentialReport (CR), the Ministry ofHome Affairs (MHA) ofCentral Government had ear-lier terminated his services.

Against the orders ofGovernment of forceful retire-

ment, Agrawal approachedCAT. It directed the StateGovernment to reinstateAgrawal's services. As per theorders of CAT, he was onWednesday reinstated by theState Government from thedate of the retirement given tohim. “His seniority has to bemaintained”, the CAT hasruled. Meanwhile, Agrawalhas assumed his duties andwas also present in theChhattisgarh State Assemblyon Thursday.

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As situation in strife tornJammu & Kashmir is slow-

ly improving over the past fewmonths, Pakistan will adoptnew tactics of sending in moreinfiltrators from across theLine of Control (LoC) to keepthe State “boiling”, Army ChiefGeneral Bipin Rawat said onThursday.

He also said while the newregime under Prime MinisterImran Khan is “vocally” talkingof peace with India, the situationon the LoC, hinterland and pro-paganda from across the borderfor radicalisation of youth in theState tells a different story.

Sounding this note of cau-tion, Rawat said the rate ofrecruitment of local youth inthe militant outfits had sloweddown in the last four to fivemonths with just three inDecember last year therebyindicating that the generalKashmiri populace was nowrealising the futility of violence.Given this fact, the Army Chief,said, however, with more than300 terrorists waiting across the

border to sneak in, the “west-ern” neighbour will try to sendinfiltrators even during thewinter months when snowblocks ingress routes.

When asked about hiscomments on IAS topper ShahFaesal of Kashmir quitting theservice on Wednesday, theArmy Chief said it has to beseen if the topper, who achievedall success in the present system,resigned to protest against thenumber of terrorist killed dur-ing encounters or number oflocal youth picking up gun forthe so-called cause. Rawat won-dered if Faesal will reach out tothe misguided youth to comeback into the mainstream andappeal to the youth not to fallprey to radicalisation.

Faesal was the firstKashmiri who topped the cov-eted IAS examination about tenyears back. He quit service toprotest against “unabatedkillings in Kashmir and mar-ginalisation of Indian Muslims.”He also wrote on his Facebook“I wish to remind the regimethat subversion of institutionslike the RBI, CBI and NIA hasthe potential to decimate the

constitutional edifice of thiscountry and it needs to bestopped.”

On present Kashmir situa-tion, the Army Chief said secu-rity forces and Governmenthad adopted twin strategy of“hard power and soft power.”Admitting that earlier even asmany terrorists were killed,there was no drop in the num-ber of new recruits, Rawat saidit was due to propaganda andfervour during the funeral ofthe slain terrorists.

In an effort to wean awaythe gullible minds from jump-ing the fence after attending

such funerals, the agenciesstarted restricting the numberof people attending such occa-sions and it was now bearingresults, he said. Moreover, theagencies were now approachingparents of those youth pickingup the gun so that they couldpressurise their wards to returnto the mainstream and this wasalso bearing some results,Rawat said. Giving an example,in December last year onlythree young men joined mili-tancy as against the earliertrend of ten to 15 per month,Rawat said the local populationwas realising once a youthpicks up gun he will be finallyneutralised.

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An estimated 12,000 dele-gates are expected to attend

the two-day National Councilof the BJP, beginning here onFriday that would showcase theModi-Government’s pro-poorprogrammes during its tenureand work out the election cam-paign agenda for the Lok Sabhapolls. It would be a two-dayopen session.

It would be one of thelargest BJP gatherings in therecent times and would beattended by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, party presi-dent Amit Shah, all the partyState heads, BJP ChiefMinisters, MPs, MLAs andother council delegates.Council is the highest policymaking body of the BJP.

The Narendra ModiGovernment’s outreach to dif-ferent sections of society is like-ly to be a key theme for thecouncil meeting which wouldcommence with the address ofShah on Friday and concludeon Saturday with the PrimeMinister’s speech. The LokSabha poll which is only fewmonths away and expected tobe a tough contest given BJP’selectoral reverses in MadhyaPradesh, Rajasthan andChhattisgarh, would be themain focus of the council meet.

The passage of the billproviding 10 per cent reserva-tion in jobs and education foreconomically weaker sectionsin the general category hasraised the upper caste reach ofthe BJP across the country. Themove may also push reverseconsolidation for the regionalcaste-based political parties,particularly in Uttar Pradeshand Bihar.

The BJP feels the bill,which will come into forceafter getting the President’snod — a mere formality — will

consolidate its core vote ofupper castes in the Hindi-speaking states and alsostrengthen its appeal amongpolitical significant communi-ties like Jats, Patidars andMarathas, among others.

A section of the partybelieves that anger amongupper castes played a role in itsloss in the recent State polls.

Party sources said theModi Government’s measures,like granting constitutional sta-tus to the OBC Commissionand strengthening the law onatrocities against Dalits andtribals, are likely to be high-lighted and projected as part ofits “social justice” project.

Shah has often assertedthat the BJP will win more seatsthan the 2014 polls, when ithad won its first ever majorityby bagging 282 of the 543 LokSabha seats.

But BJP’s rivals believe thatthe party is facing a resurgentCongress in several states whilethe expected alliance of theSamajwadi Party and the BSPwill dent its prospects in UttarPradesh, making the likeli-hood of its repeat of 2014 featchallenging.

New Delhi/Mumbai: MajorBollywood stars such asRanveer Singh, Ranbir Kapoor,Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawanlanded in the Capital onThursday for a meeting withPrime Minister Narendra Modi.

The meeting comes weeksafter the PM met Bollywoodproducers and discussed issuesfaced by the industry, which ledto the reduction in GST on filmtickets by the Government.

“There is a meeting hap-pening with PM today with

people from the film industry,including actors,” sources closeto the development told PTI.

The insider, however, didnot disclose the agenda of themeeting. The delegation, whichis a mix of directors and actors,has been organised by film-maker Karan Johar, the sourceadded. The line-up fromBollywood also includes direc-tors Rohit Shetty and AshwinyIyer Tiwari, producers EktaKapoor and Mahaveer Jain,actors Rajkummar Rao, Vicky

Kaushal, AyushmannKhurrana, Bhumi Pednekarand Sidharth Malhotra.

After December 19 meetingwith PM drew flak on socialmedia for not having any femalerepresentation on panel, inclu-sion of names such as Alia andBhumi is a step up. Actors-pro-ducers Ajay Devgn, AkshayKumar, Karan Johar, SidharthRoy Kapur, Ritesh Sidhwaniand others were censured byinternet users for not, includingany women in the panel. PTI

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After missing several dead-lines, much-awaited Rs

300-crore National Clean AirProgramme (NCAP) was final-ly unveiled on Thursday focus-ing on 102 cities beginningwith “modest target” of reduc-tion of 20 to 30 per cent in par-ticulate matter (PM) by 2024with 2017 as the base year.

The 102 cities underNCAP that includeChandigarh, nine cities fromPunjab, Delhi, seven fromHimachal Pradesh, two fromJammu & Kashmir and twofrom Uttarakhand are thosewhich did not meet the annu-al national standards of cleanair from 2011 to 2015.

Taking into account theavailable international experi-ences and national studies, thetentative national level target of20 per cent to 30 per centreduction of PM2.5 and PM10concentration by 2024 is pro-posed under the NCAP taking2017 as the base year for thecomparison of concentration,said Union EnvironmentMinister Dr Harsh Vardhanafter the release of the plan atan event here.

“Overall objective of the

NCAP is comprehensive miti-gation actions for prevention,control and abatement of airpollution besides augmentingthe air quality monitoring net-work across the country andstrengthening the awarenessand capacity building activi-ties,” the Minister added.

The NCAP, a nation-wide

pollution abatement step, willfocus on 102 polluted citieswith a budget of Rs 300 crorefor financial years 2018-19 and2019-20 — about Rs 2.9 croreper city.

Under the programme, theGovernment will set up anational inventory, issue guide-lines for indoor air pollution,

expand air quality monitoringnetwork in cities and in ruralareas and conduct air pollutionhealth impact studies.

CK Mishra, UnionEnvironment Secretary added,“Our plans to combat air pol-lution have been NCR-centricso far, but with launch of theNCAP we have tried to reach

out to different parts of thecountry.”

CEO NITI Aayog ,Amitabh Kant termed theNCAP as ‘a path breaking ini-tiative’ and one of the most crit-ical and most significant pro-gramme as it addresses one ofthe most alarming challenges ofurbanisation i.e. air pollution.

“Today cities occupy just 3per cent of the land, but con-tribute to 82 per cent of GDPand responsible for 78 per centof Carbon dioxide emissions;cities though are engines ofgrowth and equity but theyhave to be sustainable and it isin this context that NCAP beinga very inclusive program holdsspecial relevance,” Kant said.

However, green activistslike Sunil Dahiya, senior cam-paigner with Greenpeace Indiaexpressed doubt on its success,saying that the “NCAP is notbacked with a strong legalmandate and clear account-abilities, implementing it on the ground will be a bigchallenge”.

Nevertheless, the NGOadded that, considering thelevel of India’s air quality, thefact that our country now hasan action plan to combat airpollution is worth celebrating.

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Citing the passage of QuotaBill for the people from

economically weaker sectionsas “special achievement”,Parliamentary Affairs MinisterNarendra Singh Tomar said onThursday the productivity ofthe Lok Sabha was about 47 percent and Rajya Sabha 27 percent in the just-concludedWinter Session of Parliament.

According to data collatedby think-tank PRS LegislativeResearch, productivity ofParliament during the sessionwas the “third lowest” in the16th Lok Sabha. TheControversial Citizenship andtriple talaq (instant divorce)bills could not get passed in theRajya Sabha after approved by

the Lok Sabha. An ordinancecould again be pronounced bythe Government in reference tothe triple talaq.

“Special achievement of thissession of Parliament was thatboth houses passed the 124thConstitutional Amendment Billthat seeks to provide 10 per centreservation people from eco-nomic weaker sections.

“It has been a historicalachievement. This was an aspi-ration of crores of underprivi-leged Indian citizens,” he saidwhile addressing a press con-ference in Parliament.

As about the pending billsin Rajya Sabha, Minister ofState for Parliamentary AffairsVijay Goel said the governmentis committed to the passage ofthe triple talaq bill and the

Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. Goyal said the message of

the bills was clear thatGovernment wants “Sabka Saath,Sabka vikas.” The Lok Sabha,which provided 17 sittingsspread over a period of 29 days,was adjourned sine die onTuesday, while the RS, whichprovided 18 sittings over a peri-od of 30 days, was adjourned sinedie on Wednesday.

“The productivity of theLok Sabha was about 47 per centand that of the Rajya Sabha wasabout 27 per cent,” Tomar said.During the session, 17 bills —12 in Lok Sabha and five inRajya Sabha — were intro-duced. Five bills were passed byboth Houses of Parliament andfour pending bills were with-drawn in the Rajya Sabha.

� �� 1)2�()�3+

The Agriculture Ministry hasstarted inter-State mandi

(Agriculture Produce MarketCommittee (APMC) tradethrough the electronic NationalAgriculture Market (e-NAM) toboost farmers income and theirproduce. The very first inter-state transaction in tomatoeshas been carried out betweentrader of Bareilly e-NAMAPMC of Uttar Pradesh andfarmer of Haldwani e-NAMAPMC of Uttarakhand.

The inter -state transac-tions in potatoes, brinjal andcauliflower have been carriedout between the e-NAM man-dis of Uttarakhand and UttarPradesh. In all the cases, e-pay-ments have been made throughe-NAM portal. This will helpsfarmers get better marketaccess, more buyers and tradersto realise better prices for theirproduce. Farmers can access

the information on e-NAMeasily through their mobilephone from anywhere. Thisonline trading platform aims atreducing transaction costs,bridging information asym-metry and helps in expandingthe market access for farmers.Earlier trade used to happeneither within the APMC orbetween two APMCs situatedwithin same State.

The ministry has integrat-ed 585 wholesale regulatedmarkets/ (APMC) markets in16 States and 2 UnionTerritories (UTs), who havecarried out requisite reforms intheir State APMC. Currently,seven States - Uttar Pradesh,Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra,Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh,Telangana and Uttarakhand -are working on the modalitiesto establish interstate trade.

Trade in 585 mandis iscurrently happening on theelectronic network, which helps

discover price real time in atransparent manner. TheGovernment aims at integrating200 mandis this year and anoth-er 215 next year with the e-NAM platform. There are about2,700 APMC mandis and 4,000sub-market yards in India.

Founded in April 2016,eNAM is a virtual market-place with a physical market(mandi) at the backend, net-working the existingAPMC/mandis to create a uni-fied national market for agri-cultural commodities for pan-India electronic trading.Mandis handle huge volumes

of farm produce. eNAM pro-vides quick quality assayingsolutions (preferably within aminute/parameter) to promoteonline trading.

Amid thousands of farm-ers committing suicide everypassing year and with thenumbers increasing, self-suffi-ciency in agriculture has beenthe top priority for the Indianagriculture ministry. eNAM isseen as an important step totransform the existing informalagricultural infrastructure intoa more formal and transparentone. It is also viewed as a wayto create agripreneurs out offarmers who could also markettheir produce smartly.

India ranks second in theworld in farm output. However,despite the fact that over 55 percent of the Indian populationis dependent on farming, agri-culture and allied sectorsaccount for only 17.9 per centof the country’s GDP.

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In a move to maintain cam-paign silence during last 48

hours before the conclusion ofpolling in the light of theincreasing influence of digitaland social media, a high-levelcommittee set up by theElection Committee (EC) onThursday submitted report toit. The committee headed bydeputy election commissionerUmesh Sinha suggested mod-ifications and changes in theprovisions of the Section 126and other sections of theRepresentation of the PeopleAct 1951, provisions of ModelCode of Conduct.

Sources said the recom-mendations made by theCommittee, when implement-ed (after adoption by the ECwith necessary modification oradditions), will help in min-imising the possible interference

of activities which aim at indi-rectly influencing voters duringthe valuable silence period of 48hours provided to them.

The Committee haddetailed consultations with allmajor stakeholders includingvarious political parties, nomi-nees/ representatives of thePress Council of India (PCI), theNews Broadcasters Association(NBA), the Internet and MobileAssociation of India (IAMAI),the Ministry of Informationand Broadcasting, the Ministryof Electronics and InformationTechnology (MeitY) as well asrepresentatives of several inter-mediaries and technology com-panies including Facebook,WhatsApp, YouTube, Twitter,and Google. The Committeealso had several rounds of dis-cussions and consultations withthe legal and other divisionswithin the ECI.

The committee has exam-

ined the present provisions ofthe Section 126 and other relat-ed Sections of theRepresentation of the PeopleAct, 1951 and identify diffi-culties/critical gaps to regulatethe violation of the said provi-sions of the act, particularlyduring the prohibitory periodof 48 hours before the com-

pletion of the poll, mentionedin section 126 and suggestnecessary amendment/modifi-cation. The committee has alsoImpact of new media plat-forms and social media duringthe prohibitory period of 48hours before the close of polland its implication in view ofthe provisions of section 126.

New Delhi: Malaysia’s rul-ing party leader AnwarIbrahim on Thursday calledon Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and dis-cussed bilateral, regionaland global issues of mutu-al interest.

Anwar, a member ofthe Malaysian Parliamentand the leader of the PartiKeadilan Rakyar Party, is inthe national Capital to par-ticipate in the ‘RaisinaDialogue’, consideredIndia’s flagship annualgeopolitical and geo-strate-gic conference.

Anwar was accompaniedby two other members of theMalaysian Parliament —Kesavan Subramanian and

Santhara Kumar Ramanaidu,the Ministry of External Affairssaid in a statement.

Prime Minister Modi con-

gratulated Anwar on hisrecent election as presi-dent of the PKR Party.Modi fondly recalledtheir last meeting inMalaysia in May 2018and conveyed his regardsto Prime MinisterMahathir Mohamad.

The two leaders dis-cussed bilateral, regionaland global matters ofmutual interest, the state-ment said. Anwar servedas the Deputy PrimeMinister of Malaysia from1993-1998 and as theFinance Minister from

1991-1998 when he was amember of the UMNO, a majorparty in the ruling BarisanNasional coalition. PTI

$�� #45��(�!��)*+��!�� ,��New Delhi: Favouring talkswith the Taliban as India hasinterests in Afghanistan, theArmy Chief, however, ruled outapplying the same strategy inJammu & Kashmir.Several political parties hadsaid if the Indian Governmentwas willing to engage theTaliban then they should do sowith separatists and otherorganisations in Jammu &Kashmir to bring peace afterthe Army chief in a conclave onWednesday said India should talk with the Taliban asmany other countries werealso doing so.

Reiterating his opinion onThursday, Rawat said theIndian Government was willing to talk every section in Kashmir after theyshun violence.

However, it was not hap-pening, he said. Similarly,Kashmir is a issue betweenIndia and Pakistan and New

Delhi is willing to come to thenegotiation table but talks andterror cannot go together, theArmy Chief said.

On Afghanistan, Rawatsaid since India has intereststhere and since many countriesare already talking to theTaliban, “We cannot out of thebandwagon.”

He also said India has to beinvolved directly or indirectlyin talks though it should nottake the lead adding “we shouldnot be left out.”

“Unless you are not sittingon that table you will not knowwhat is discussed. Because a lotof this is discussed in closeddoors. That’s why we are say-ing sit on the high table, and seehow it suits you. We have our issues. I think we needto take our call on our ownterms but unless you are sittingon the high table how do you know what is happening,’”he said.

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New Delhi: The EC is holding a two-day meet of Chief ElectoralOfficers (CEOs) on January 11 and 12 to review preparedness forLok Sabha polls, due for later this year. During the conference,the commission will discuss key issues related to poll prepared-ness such as updating of electoral rolls, functioning of ERO Net,polling station arrangements and EVM-VVPAT, a statement said.Apart from reviewing poll preparedness, the commission will alsodiscuss the takeaways and learnings from the recent Assemblyelections in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthanand Telangana. During the conference, the CEOs will make theircomprehensive presentations of their poll preparedness on allimportant parameters.

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Chief Minister BhupeshBaghel on Thursday said

in the Chhattisgarh Assemblythat the Government will nottalk of 'vengeance' but talk of'justice'.

Be it Jheeram valley mas-sacre, PDS scam or theAntagarh episode or theAugusta Helicopter deal, allthe cases will be investigatedbut in a systematized manner,he said while participating ina debate on the motion ofthanks to Governor's address.

He said that theGovernment will act on thecomplaint made by formerHome Minister NankiramKanwar which was ignored bythe previous government.

The Opposition had beenraising issues on enforcementof prohibition. We will enforceprohibition in the 85 sched-uled Tehsil areas and aCommittee had been formed.We want to take a decision onprohibition within 20 days

and the decision would betaken after taking people ofthe State into confidence . We

have got five years from thepeople and liquor consump-tion is a social evil. The peo-

ple also should come forwardto end it, Baghel said.

The Naxal policy will also

be implemented after takingpeople of the State into con-fidence, the Chief Minister

said.He said that the govern-

ment will get back the money

of investors invested in chitfunds .

Farmers in Kawardha,

Mahasamund and Kanker hadcommitted suicide earlier andwe had visited their families.What is this issue about medi-um or short term loan? Whatwe told farmers they haveunderstood, he said.

The previous governmentwaived total of Rs 106 crorefarmer loans; we waived totalof Rs 6000 cr loan of farmers,Baghel said.

The previous governmentonly held closed door meetingon problem of Naxalism andkept paying tributes to thejawans. My government stat-ed-- we will talk to affectedfamilies, journalists andlawyers. Nowhere before loansof such a large number offarmers had been waived as inChhattisgarh by our govern-ment and the Opposition ishaving ifs and buts on farmloan waiver issue, he said.

In the last 15 years, theprevious government couldnot give Minimum SupportPrice of Rs 2100 per quintal ofpaddy to farmers, Baghel said.

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Leader of OppositionDharamlal Kaushik on

Thursday said in theChhattisgarh Assembly thatthe women in the State hadvoted Congress to power on thepromise of enforcing total pro-hibition but the Governmenthas decided to form aCommittee to discuss enforc-ing total prohibition.

The Government shouldnot backtrack on its promise,he said.

Kaushik said that liquorsale is not BJP's doing and itwas the Congress party whichpromised total prohibition togain power. On one side, theGovernment talks about pro-hibition and on the other, it isinviting quotations for sale ofliquor brands, he said.

There is an attempt torestart the liquor contract sys-tem which the BJP had ended,Kaushik said.

He said that the previousgovernment took stern mea-sures against chit fund com-panies to return money of

investors. The Congress gov-ernment had promised in itsmanifesto that it would help getthe money of investors back. Itwas expected that the movewould reflect in Governor'saddress but this did not hap-pen.

Kaushik said that thereshould be positive action to endNaxalism in the State.

He said that much noisewas made about loan waiver offarmers and every farmershould be made free of loansburden, Kaushik said.

There is no policy onpower tariff waiver on thehorizon and people havealready started not paying theirpower bills. This could bring ina situation of anarchy in theState, Kaushik said.

This Government hasclosed e-tenders of the valuebetween Rs 5 lakhs to Rs 20lakhs and now the tenderingprocess has commenced so theproblems which were encoun-tered before will reappear. Thedecision to close online ten-dering will encourage corrup-tion, he said.

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The Chief Medical andHealth Officer (CMHO)

in Kondagaon has issued analert in the district after receiv-ing news of bird flu outbreak in

Bihar.The officials of Food and

Drug AdministrationDepartment in the district havestarted inspection of all poul-try farms in the district and sofar have not found any causefor concern, officials informed.

However, the team hasissued an alert to all the poul-try farm owners in the districtas a precautionary measureand have asked them to burydead birds and not give themfor consumption to animalsand humans.

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As part of collusive bidding,detailed investigation from

Vigilance angle has been rec-ommended against the use of74 computers by at least onegovernment official of 17departments of state govern-ment with one or more biddersin respect of 1921 tenders val-ued at Rs 4601 crores; as theinbuilt business intelligencemodule was blocked andbypassed in e-procurement,said Bijay Kumar Mohanty,Chief Accountant General(Audit), Raipur, Chhattisgarhwhile releasing the threereports of Comptroller andAuditor General of India(CAG) on Thursday.

“The vendors also pos-sessed common e-mail IDsand 79 vendors/bidders hadtwo PANs. The e-procurementsystem was aimed at vendorregistration, tendering, awardof work for all tenders above Rs20 lakh which was lowered toRs 10 lakh in May 2016.

Chhattisgarh InfoTech &Biotech Promotion Society(CHiPS) was the nodal agencyfor the project,” he said.

Mohanty said: “48 PublicWorks Department divisionsand 18 Water ResourcesDepartment divisions betweenMay 2016 to June 2017 invited658 tenders worth Rs 108.35crore manually each valuedbetween Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20lakh despite directives of e-pro-curement.”

“Similarly, 133 tenders val-ued at Rs 225.15 crore had mul-

tiple bidders applying for thesame tender and mentionedsame partner’s e-mail ID forobtaining vendor ID. In fivetenders valued Rs 15.44 crore,Contractor was not eligible. Inother case in 11 tenders valuedat Rs 23.77 crore, Contractorwas favoured surpassing his bidcapacity,” he pointed out.

The Department hasclaimed that it has blockedmultiple bidders, common e-mail ID, common mobile num-bers and more than one PAN,Mohanty said.

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Pr a d e e pT a n d o n

has beenappointed asChairman ofF I C C IChhattisgarhState Council.

He isp r e s e n t l yworking asPresident atJindal Steel &Power Ltdlocated atRaipur in Chhattisgarh.Prior to this, he was Co-Chairman, UP Council ofPHD Chamber of

Commerce and was associ-ated with Bajaj Group asPresident, BusinessDevelopment.

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Budget Estimates approved byState Finance Department

was much higher than what wasproposed by departments result-ing in 5 to 25 per cent lessachievement under differentrevenue heads, said Bijay KumarMohanty, Chief AccountantGeneral (Audit), Raipur,Chhattisgarh while releasingthe three reports of Comptrollerand Auditor General of India(CAG) on Thursday.

He was speaking onRevenue sector for the yearended March 31, 2017.

“Total revenue receipts ofGovernment of Chhattisgarh foryear 2016-17 were Rs 53,685.25crore out of which revenue raisedwas Rs 24,614.46 crore andreceipts of Government of Indiawere Rs 29,070.79 crore. Thus

revenue raised was 46 percent ofthe total revenue of govern-ment,” he said.

“Revenue earning depart-ments failed to address auditobservations included in 2532Inspection Reports involvingpotential revenue of as much asRs 6868.16 crores. MineralResources Department causedloss as it did not levy cess andrecover differential stamp dutyand registration fees, whileTransport Department failed torecover outstanding tax, com-mercial tax (Excise) failed to fixnorm for yield of alcohol fromgrains and others,” he said.

On state public sector under-takings, Mohanty said, “Out oftotal 23 PSUs, 12 earned profit ofRs 142.38 crore while 7 PSUsincurred losses of Rs 544.84crore and remaining one PSUhad no profit no loss.”

“Against average cost ofborrowing of 8.17 per cent,government investment in statePSUs was 3.52 percent resultingin loss of Rs 324.21 crore to gov-ernment. Three non-workingPSUs related to coal had noactivity for last three years andhad an investment of Rs 333.17crore,” Mohanty said.

On performance audit ofChhattisgarh Rajya Been EvamKrishi Vikas Nigam Limited, hepointed out, “There was acuteshortage of manpower in com-pany. It incurred loss on accountof avoidable payment of IT of Rs4.27 crore due to non-deductionof TDS. Company finalised ninerate contracts (RC) with 27non-eligible suppliers and 11RCs with 29 suppliers indulgedin collusive bidding causingirregular purchase of Rs 52.96crore.”

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All India Congress Committee (AICC)President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday

formed various State-level committees forChhattisgarh for upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

The committees include Pradesh ElectionCommittee, Election Campaign Committee,Election Coordination Committee, MediaCoordination Committee, and Election PublicityCommittee.

As per official press communiqué issued byparty’s National General Secretary AshokGehlot, party heavy weights of the State includ-ing Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, veteranCongress leader Motilal Vora, State Minister T.S.Singhdeo, Tribal leader and former UnionMinister Arvind Netam, former CGPCC ChiefDhanendra Sahu, State Ministers RavindraChaubey, Md. Akbar, Shiv Daharia, senior leaderSatyanarayan Sharma, Dehuti Karma and all thestate chiefs of frontal organizations are membersof Pradesh Election Committee.

The Election Campaign Committee com-prises 35 senior state leaders, ElectionCoordination Committee comprises 20 leadersincluding Chhattisgarh In-charge of AICC forState P.L. Punia and Media CoordinationCommittee comprises 17 members includingState Chairman of Communication WingShailesh Nitin Trivedi and SpokespersonGyanesh Sharma.

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An amendment bill on Rajim Kumbh (Kalpa),a religious fair at confluence of rivers

Mahanadi, Sondhur and Pairi in Rajim waspassed in the Chhattisgarh Assembly onThursday after resistance from main OppositionBharatiya Janata Party members.

The Bill received 62 votes in favour whileonly 8 votes went against the bill.

The bill-- Chhattisgarh Rajim Kumbh(Kalpa) Mela (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was tabledin the House by Minister for Tourism Cultureand Religious Endowment, Tamradhwaj Sahu.

Sahu during the discussion said the bill hadbeen tabled in the House keeping in mind thereligious and cultural heritage of the State.

During discussion on the bill, BJP member

Ajay Chandrakar demanded in the House tosend the matter to a select Committee.

BJP member Brijmohan Agrawal whileopposing the bill said it was not moved by fol-lowing a set norms in the House. “Why the gov-ernment is moving the bill in haste, he said whilealso objecting that financial memorandum wasalso not tabled for the same.

Speaker Charandas Mahant, who was in thechair, ruled that he had given permission oftabling the bill while relaxing the rules and reg-ulation.

Replying to objection of BJP memberBrijmohan Agrawal, Legislative Affairs MinisterRavindra Chaubey said that financial memo-randum was not necessary to be tabled in theHouse as the amendment was only in the nameof the fair.

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First Information Report(FIR) has been lodged

against six principals of gov-ernment schools, 13 princi-pals/directors of private schoolsand one AssistantCommissioner of TribalDevelopment at Janjgir-Champa for fraudulent pay-ment of pre-matric scholarshipworth �1.40 crore to studentsof 21 non-functional privateschools, said Bijay KumarMohanty, Chief AccountantGeneral (Audit), Raipur,Chhattisgarh on Thursday.

Releasing three reports ofComptroller and AuditorGeneral of India on Thursdayat a press conference here,Mohanty said that it was for thefirst time impact of audit isbeing released.

Similarly, recovery of waterusage charges valued at Rs20.94 crore was made. PanditRavishankar Shukla University

also recovered the excess pay-ments of transport allowancefrom employees, he said.

Proposal for disciplinaryaction against the thenExecutive Engineer,Ramanujganj was made formaking fraudulent paymentof �17.24 lakh to a firm for sup-ply of solar lights, Mohantysaid.

“Investigation fromVigilance angle has also beenrecommended against non-production of records ofappointments and promotionsof staff of Chhattisgarh VidhanSabha Secretariat by the DeputySecretary (Accounts),” hepointed out.

On National Rural HealthMission implementation,Mohanty said, “Shortage ofstaff mainly specialist doctors,medical officers, staff nurses,paramedics had affected deliv-ery of health services byDistrict Hospitals, CommunityHealth Centres and Primary

Health Centres. If doctors are present, then

shortages of medical equip-ment, drugs and consumables,laboratory services were ham-pered. Cases were referred toMedical colleges.”

“20 CHCs, 88 PHCs and768 SHCs are running in pri-

vate buildings which lackedbasic infrastructure of hospitalleading to deficiencies in ser-vices. In last five years within48 hours of delivery, thewomen were being discharged,”Mohanty pointed out.

“Due to this, in last fiveyears there has been no signif-icant improvement in infantand maternal mortality ratesand were far short of theNRHM goals,” he said.

On performance audit ofimplementation of NationalFood Security Mission(NFSM), Mohanty stated thatChhattisgarh government inlast five years failed to imple-ment the scheme in 13 districtsand audit found that even after intervention, theproduction of farmers couldnot be raised and it was muchlower than when compared toother districts. Farmers couldnot purchase hybrid/high yieldvariety seeds due to higher cost,he said.

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The bypoll in Jind assemblyconstituency of Haryana

is heading for a high-pitchedthree-cornered electoral battlewith major political partiesstrategically fielding their most“popular faces” to ensure a vic-tory.

The much awaited bypollhas the ruling BJP, Congress,Jannayak Janta Party caught inan interesting contest after theCongress fielded sitting MLARandeep Singh Surjewala andJJP fielded debutant DigvijayChautala, great grandson offormer Deputy Prime MinisterDevi Lal, a day after BJP playeda masterstroke by fieldingKrishan Middha, son of lateINLD MLA Hari ChandMiddha from Jind.

The bye-election to Jindassembly seat was necessitatedfollowing the demise of HariChand Middha in August.INLD’s Hari Chand Middhahad represented the Jind seatfor two consecutive terms in2009 and 2014.

The INLD, which is facinga major challenge to retain itsseat, has fielded Umed SinghRedu, vice chairman, zila

parishad, Jind. Interestingly,Umed Singh had earlier filedhis nomination as an indepen-dent to contest Jind bypoll.

The candidates of BJP,Congress, JJP and INLD filedtheir nomination papers onThursday.

The voting is scheduled tobe held on January 28 in Jindassembly segment which hasmore than 1.7 lakh votersincluding over 1.07 lakh urbanvoters and nearly 62,500 livingin villages.

The results of bypoll will beannounced on January 31.

Winning the Jind bypollhas turned into a prestige issuefor all major political partieswith their strong contenders inthe fray, ahead of upcomingLok Sabha elections and assem-bly polls schedule later this yearin Haryana.

After the ruling BJP field-ed a Punjabi candidate KrishanMiddha hoping that support ofPunjab community and sym-pathy factor will work in party’sfavour, Congress made a sur-prising move by pickingRandeep Surjewala, consid-ered as party’s safest andstrongest choice for bypolls.

Former Haryana MinisterSurjewala, who is sitting MLA

from Kaithal had previouslycontested assembly electionsfrom Jind district’s Narwanaassembly constituency.Surjewala, a popular Jat leader,had earlier won on two occa-sions defeating former ChiefMinister Om Prakash Chautalafrom Narwana but had latershifted his base to Kaithal fol-lowing Narwana becoming areserved constituency.

Congress chief RahulGandhi’s closest aide RandeepSurjewala is also in-charge,communications of the party.

A favorable outcome forSurjewala would furthercement his place as a stalwartpolitician in Haryana andstrengthen his position asprobable Chief Ministerial can-didate for the assembly polls inthe state. Apart fromSurjewala, another strong con-tender in the electoral battlewill be Digvijay Chautala, greatgrandson of former DeputyPrime Minister Devi Lal andgrandson of former CM OPChautala.

Digvijay will contest as anindependent candidate, sup-ported by the Jannayak JantaParty, floated by his fatherAjay Chautala and elder broth-er Hissar MP Dushyant

Chautala.With fledging outfit JJP yet

to be registered by the ElectionCommission, Digvijay, who isnational chief of IndianNational Students Organisation(INSO), would be making hispolitical debut as an indepen-dent. The maiden electionwould be crucial for Digvijayand his party JJP for theirpolitical future.

Digvijay, a Jat himselfbelonging to an influentialChautala family is seen as astrong contender against thepolitical opponents fielded bythe BJP, Congress and INLD,the main opposition party inthe state. For the ruling BJP inHaryana, its victory in the Jindbypoll would further boost themorale of its workers ahead ofgeneral elections 2019 while adefeat would be a major blowto the party. On the otherhand, the Congress, withSurjewala’s candidature, hopesto win the bypoll to send acrossa message that it is on a path ofrevival in the state.

In 2014 assembly polls,INLD’s Hari Chand Middhahad won with 31,631 votesand defeated BJP candidateSurinder Barwala with a smallmargin 2,257 votes.

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Developing skill in such alarge number and through

it creating job is very good inthe country like India. Byskilling youths one can providejobs and in this line a bigopportunity is waiting, saidAmbassador Azerbaijan AshrafFarhad while addressing a tech-nical seminar on ‘ThoughtLeadership for Scale, Speedand Innovation for future skillsreadinesses’ organised on theoccasion of Global Skill Summit19 on Thursday.

It is very difficult in coun-try like India to run such a bigprogramme and providing skillenhancing programme for poorespecially for girls is very diffi-cult, he added. Suggesting someways to garners benefit of SkillIndia programme Farhad said,“The medium and small indus-try sector has high potential toprovide job as it is alreadyengaged a large numbers ofpeople but it still in the coun-try like there is huge big oppor-tunity to grow sector likeMSME.”

“If the government supporta youths in their family business

then it can provide jobs in largenumbers and it can also providechances to increase income ofthe government through taxes.The meaning of governmentsupport means legal support,electricity, purchasing or mar-keting of their produce, trans-port etc” he added.

The Ambassador wasdeeply impressed by the steptaken by the State governmentand the Chief MinisterRaghubar Das.

As the Global Skill Summit2019 a large numbers of jobssearching youths visited the

venue and also a numbers ofinstitutes have installed theirstall at the exhibition place ofthe venue to woo aspirant.

As time is changing withrapid pace a numbers of newjob providing institutes comeprovides by developing skills as Rubber Skill DevelopmentCorporation, Agriculture SkillCouncil of India, Skilling underRashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna,Jharkhand Skill DevelopmentSociety, Kalyan Gurukul,Furniture and Fitting SkillCouncil, Sports, PhysicalEducation, Fitness and Leisure

Skills Council, Nettur TechnicalTraining Foundation, Paint andCoating Skill Council etc.

A large number of jobsearching youths visited thestalls and enquire questionsregarding their prospectivecareer. While speaking to thepioneer Ramnath Munda fromBundu said, “As I belong to avery poor family and I have nomoney spent money to spendon private vocational trainingsbut the governments run SkillDevelopment Programme hasgiven me chance to learn aboutautomobile mechanism.

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The Supreme Court onThursday decided to con-

stitute afresh the five-judgeConstitution Bench to hear onJanuary 29 the politically-sen-sitive Ram Janmabhoomi-BabriMasjid land title dispute inAyodhya after a judge, JusticeUU Lalit, recused himself fromthe hearing.

Justice Lalit, who was part ofthe five-judge Constitutionbench headed by Chief JusticeRanjan Gogoi, “expressed hisdisinclination to participate inthe hearing any further” andopted himself out of the con-tentious matter. The apex courtsaid since Justice Lalit has optedout of the hearing in the matter,there was no option left but toadjourn the case “to fix a date ofhearing and to draw up a timeschedule for hearing of the case”.Senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan,appearing for a Muslim party,said Justice Lalit had appearedas a lawyer for former UP CMKalyan Singh in connected mat-ter “sometime in the year 1997”.

He said Singh, as then CM

of UP, had “failed in his promiseto maintain the status quo”over the disputed structure atAyodhya which was demol-ished on December 6, 1992. TheBench, also comprising JusticesSA Bobde, NV Ramana, andDY Chandrachud, which heardthe matter for 20 minutes, notedin its order that Dhavan has “noobjection to Justice UdayUmesh Lalit hearing the matter,the ultimate decision in thisregard is for the learned judgeto take”.

“The said facts being point-ed out, Justice Uday UmeshLalit has expressed his disin-clination to participate in thehearing any further. We, there-fore, have no option but toadjourn the case to anotherdate for the same purpose i.e.To fix a date of hearing and todraw up a time schedule forhearing of the case,” the Benchsaid.

Fourteen appeals havebeen filed in the apex courtagainst the 2010 AllahabadHigh Court judgement, deliv-ered in four civil suits, that the2.77-acre land be partitioned

equally among three parties --the Sunni Waqf Board, theNirmohi Akhara and RamLalla.

Dhavan, who was appear-ing for lead petitioner M Siddiq(since dead) and now repre-sented by his legal heirs, point-ed to the September 27, 2018judgement, by which the topcourt had refused to refer the1994 verdict in Ismail Faruquicase to a five-judge constitutionBench to examine the obser-vation that a mosque was notintegral to Islam.

He drew the court’s atten-tion to “certain speculationsprevailing as to why the mat-ter has now been fixed for hear-ing before a five-judges benchthough the three-judges bench”by its September 27, 2018 orderhad expressly directed that thematter be listed before a three-judges bench. Senior advocateHarish Salve, appearing for aHindu party, submitted, “Iunderstand that if a constitu-tional question has to be decid-ed, then it should not be decid-ed by a bench of less than five-judges”.

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The Bill to provide 10 per centreservation to general cate-

gory poor in jobs and educationwas on Thursday challenged inthe Supreme Court on thegrounds it breached the 50 percent ceiling on quotas, barely aday after the measure securedParliamentary approval.

A petition filed by an NGOYouth For Equality organisationand its president Dr KaushalKant Mishra said in the presentform the upper limit of quotagoes upto 60 per cent which vio-lated the decisions of the apexcourt.

The organisation sought astay and quashing of theConstitution (One Hundredand Twenty FourthAmendment) Bill, 2019 as it wasviolative of the basic structureof the Constitution and that theeconomic criterion cannot bethe sole basis for reservation.The Bill now goes to thePresident for approval.

It was contended that reser-vation on economic groundscannot be limited to the gener-al categories and that the 50 percent ceiling limit cannot bebreached.

Referring to the nine-judgebench decision of the apexcourt in the landmark 1992Indira Sawhney case, the peti-tion said the latest amendmentcompletely violated theConstitutional norm that eco-nomic criterion cannot be theonly basis of reservation.

“Such an amendment ishence vulnerable and ought tobe struck down as it merelynegates a binding judgement,” itsaid. It also said that the amend-ments fail to consider thatArticles 14 and 16 form thebasic feature of equality, and thatthey have been violated with thedoing away of the restraints thatwere imposed on the reserva-tion policy, i.e. The 50 per centceiling limit and the exclusionof economic status as a sole cri-terion.

“The Constitution amend-ment completely violates theConstitutional norm that eco-nomic criterion cannot be theonly basis of reservation as hasbeen laid down by the 9 judgesin Indira Sawhney, withoutremoving the basis of the judge-ment”, the petition said.

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From page 1A five-judge Constitution

Bench of the Supreme Court inSeptember last year unani-mously decriminalised part ofthe 158-year-old colonial lawunder Section 377 which crim-inalises consensual unnaturalsex, saying it violated the rightsto equality.

The apex court last yearalso struck down another colo-nial era anti-adultery law say-ing it was unconstitutional,dented the individuality ofwomen and treated them as“chattel of husbands”.

Rawat said the Army isconservative and we cannotallow it to perpetrate into the Army.

Explaining the rationalefor not implementing theSupreme Court verdict in thearmed forces, the Army chiefsaid the force is a huge familyand when an officer or jawan is posted on the front he

leaves behind his family inmilitary stations.

The families are lookedafter by the local military unit.In this context he referred toincidents of stealing the affec-tion of brother officer’s wife inthe force parlance, and said it“cannot be allowed to happen”.Section 63 of the Army Actcovers all such actions like gaysex and adultery and the guiltyare punished.

Elaborating on the twoissues of gay sex and adultery,the Army chief said when theArmy Act was framed manyyears back no one ever thoughtsuch matters will come up andsaid the issue of adultery is veryserious. An officer or jawan hasto be assured that his family issafe to enable him to given hisbest at the front, the chiefadded. Rawat also said itremains to be seen how thesociety reacts to decriminali-sation of gay sex and adultery.

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Four women held a toplessprotest in Sydney on

Thursday to support runawaySaudi woman RahafMohammed Alqunun, asAustralia began consideringher bid to settle in the countryas a refugee.

Alqunun was onWednesday deemed a refugeeby the UN High Commissionerfor Refugees, after beingdetained in Bangkok en routeto Australia.

The 18-year-old publicisedher case via social media afterbarricading herself in herBangkok hotel room, sayingshe feared for her safety if sentback to her family in SaudiArabia. In downtown Sydneyon Thursday morning, fourwomen, dressed only in jeansand calling themselves theSecret Sisterhood, protestedoutside the building housingthe Saudi Consulate, calling onAustralia to grant Alqununresidency.

With “Secret Sisterhood”

written on their backs, thewomen held placards withmessages including “Let her in,”‘’Rahaf Sisterhood Hero” and“All women free + safe.”

Secret Sisterhood founder Jacquie Love said theprotest was held to urge theAustralian government torecognise Alqunun’s plight, andthat of oppressed womeneverywhere.

“We are here to encouragethem to let her in,” Love said.

“She’s been recognised bythe UN as a refugee so webelieve the Australian govern-ment needs to step up, recog-

nise her plight and recognisewhat she’s gone through, andshe could be an icon for the restof the world that womenshouldn’t be oppressed andthey should be fleeing countriesthat they are oppressed in.”

“We decided to go toplessbecause we believe all womenshould be able to express them-selves freely and safely and wewanted to send a message toRahaf that we can actually dothat in Australia, that womencan actually be free and safe,”Love said.

Secret Sisterhood has alsoset up a GoFundMe account,which had raised USD 2,290dollars for Alqunun byThursday morning.

Alqunun’s case has high-lighted the cause of women’srights in Saudi Arabia. Several female Saudis fleeingabuse by their families havebeen caught trying to seekasylum abroad in recent yearsand returned home.

Human rights activists saymany more similar cases willhave gone unreported.

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North Korean leader KimJong Un expressed “con-

cern” about the deadlock indenuclearisation discussions inhis talks with Chinese PresidentXi Jinping, Pyongyang’s statemedia reported on Thursday.

Kim “raised concern aboutthe impasse created in theprocess of improving US-DPRKties and in denuclearisationtalks”, the official KCNA newsagency said.

Kim said Pyongyang’s“basic position of pursuing apeaceful resolution throughdialogue remains unchanged”, itadded.

China is the North’s maindiplomatic backer and key trade partner, whose forceswere instrumental in fighting for it during the 1950-53 Korean War.

According to KCNA,Beijing issued a ringingendorsement of the North’sposition.

“Xi Jinping said that thelegitimate issues raised by theDPRK are rightful demandsand that he fully agrees that theDPRK’s reasonable interestsshould be justly resolved,” it said.It added that Xi accepted aninvitation by Kim to visit theNorth “at a convenient time”and “informed him of relatedplans”.

It would be Xi’s first trip toPyongyang since he took powerin 2012. But it is not the firsttime Pyongyang has said Xi hasaccepted such an invitation -- itdid so in March last year afterKim went to Beijing for the firsttime as leader, but Xi has yet tomake a return journey.

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Aglobal rights group has demand-ed the international prosecution

of Sri Lanka's new Army ChiefMajor General Shavendra Silva overallegations of war crimes during thefinal military battle with the LTTEmilitant group in 2009.

The Johannesburg-basedInternational Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) said Silva wasnamed by a UN investigation for hispart in commanding the 58 Divisionof the army "which was the unitresponsible for repeated and deliberate attacks on hospitals, fooddistribution queues and displacement camps resulting intens of thousands of civilian deaths"towards the end of the three-decadecivil war when the LTTE was final-

ly crushed."Sri Lanka now has a chief of

army staff who risks arrest every timehe travels abroad, if any country isfoolish enough to give him a visa,"an ITJP release said.

The ITJP said that in 2011, a war

crimes lawsuit was filed againstSilva in New York but had failedbecause he enjoyed diplomaticimmunity at the time.

Silva was appointed as Armychief by President MaithripalaSirisena on Wednesday.

Considered an outstanding mil-itary officer, Silva was the youngestin the Sri Lankan Army to becomea major general.

The UN Human Rights Councilresolutions have called for account-ability over alleged war crimes in thefinal 2009 battle blamed on both theLTTE and the military. The militaryhas denied the allegations.

The war crimes accusationsinclude bombing of hospitals, block-ing humanitarian aid convoys,bombing civilians and murderingthose who had surrendered.

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Australia’s foreign ministerMarise Payne met her Thai

counterpart on Thursday, asher country appeared poised tooffer to asylum to a youngSaudi woman who fled herfamily to Thailand in a dramarelayed in real-time overTwitter.

Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun’s attempt to flee theultra-conservative kingdomhas become a cause celebre forrights groups since the 18-year-old landed in Bangkokfrom Kuwait over the weekend.

Thai authorities had threat-ened to deport her but with thehelp of activists, diplomats anda hastily opened Twitteraccount Qunun launched animpassioned campaign for asy-lum.

As global interest surged,Thai authorities backed downfrom the deportation threat,handing her into the care of theUN refugee agency (UNHCR)in Bangkok, which has urgedAustralia to offer resettlement.

Payne’s scheduled visitcomes after Canberra droppedstrong hints it would acceptQunun.

Australia on Wednesdaysaid the UNHCR had studiedher case and designated her asa legitimate refugee.

Qunun alleges abuse by herfamily, while rights groups alsosaid she had renounced Islam,risking prosecution in conser-vative Saudi Arabia.

Her father, who deniesmistreating her, will remain inBangkok “until he knowswhich country she is going to”,Thailand’s immigration policechief Surachate Hakparn toldreporters Thursday.

The Saudi embassy inBangkok has said it did notdemand the teenager’s depor-tation and that the case was afamily affair. Saudi Arabia hascome under fire since the mur-der of journalist JamalKhashoggi in the country’sconsulate in Istanbul last year.

In a statement ahead of hertrip, Payne did not mentionQunun’s case.

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Iran’s president says the coun-try will soon send two new

satellites into orbit using Iran-made rockets.

Hassan Rouhani said onThursday the launch will hap-pen “soon, in the comingweeks.”

Iran typically displaysachievements in its space pro-gram in February, during theanniversary of the 1979 IslamicRevolution.

Iran has sent several short-lived satellites into orbitover the past decade, and in2013 launched a monkey intospace.

The US and its allies worry the same satellite-launching technology couldbe used to develop long-rangemissiles.

The US has said Iran’splans for sending satellites intoorbit demonstrate its defianceof a UN Security Council resolution calling on Iran to undertake no activity relat-ed to ballistic missiles capableof delivering nuclear weapons.

Iran insists the launches donot violate the resolution.

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Arebel drone hit Yemen’s largest airbase on Thursday, killing six loyal-

ist soldiers during a military parade inan attack which threatens to hamperUN-led peace efforts.

At talks in Sweden last month, theUN brokered several agreementsbetween Huthi rebels and the Saudi-backed government seen as the bestchance of ending nearly four years ofdevastating conflict. The Shiite Huthirebels said they carried out the strike onAl-Anad air base, in government-heldLahij province some 60 kilometres northof Yemen’s second city Aden.

At least 12 people were wounded,

including top commanders, according tomedics at Ibn Khaldoun hospital in theprovincial capital Huta.

Footage of the attack showed a droneexploding over a podium around whichdozens of military personnel were stand-ing. Soldiers scrambled to carry wound-ed comrades to military vehicles, whilea man holding a camera bled on theground.

An AFP correspondent at the scenesaid journalists were among the wound-ed. Originally built by the then SovietUnion during the Cold War, Al-Anadserved as the headquarters for US troopsoverseeing a long-running drone waragainst Al-Qaeda until March 2014,when it was overrun by the Huthis.

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Officials say a wave of Taliban attacksin western and northern

Afghanistan the previous day has killed21 members of the country’s securityforces. Jamshed Shahabi, spokesmanfor the governor in western Badghisprovince, says the insurgents overran out-posts there, killing six policemen.

Council member Shamsul HaqBaeakzai in northern Baghlan provincesays seven members of the local police

force were killed there, also onWednesday.

And in northern Takhar province,council member Ruhollah Raufi sayseight policemen were gunned down.

The attacks left another 23 membersof the security forces wounded. TheTaliban have claimed responsibility forall the attacks. The insurgents carry outnear-daily attacks on Afghan troops,inflicting heavy loses. In response, theGovernment in Kabul no longer releas-es official casualty figures.

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The ‘Free Hugs Campaign’ is a socialmovement that involves individu-als who offer hugs to other peopleto showcase the power of a randomact of kindness. The movement is

motivated by the phrase ‘sometimes a hug isall you need’. Foreign policy is a broad termused to describe the approach/strategy of onecountry vis-à-vis the other or a union repre-senting countries, for example, the EuropeanUnion. The two statements mentioned abovemay seem incongruous but Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s practice of ‘hugplomacy’ withIndia’s neighbours and friends, while tacklingthe nuanced area of foreign policy, makes boththese statements relevant. Unfortunately,since foreign policy and the arena of interna-tional relations are serious matters, this is oneof those times where a hug may not be enough.In this week’s column, I will examine how thePrime Minister’s foreign policy has been a fail-ure and will talk in detail how the significantinvestments behind the Prime Minister’s jetsetting ways have not really borne any tangi-ble results.

The amount spent on Prime MinisterModi’s foreign trips is about �2,021 crore,which dwarfs the �1,346 crore spent on for-eign trips during former Prime MinisterManmohan Singh’s term from 2009-2014.Therefore, purely relying on numbers and thesheer amount spent on foreign trips, one canreasonably say that foreign policy appears tobe an area of focus of Prime Minister Modi.But let us evaluate what fruits this investmenthas borne. As stated above, while foreign pol-icy has no clear definition or boundary, thiscolumn, too, is limited by word constraint and,therefore, I will evaluate three heads: Economicprowess, strategic capability and how otherworld leaders view the Indian Government.

On the issue of economic prowess,reports are not encouraging. A popular met-ric to measure the economic success of aGovernment’s foreign policy is the amount offoreign direct investment (FDI) that a coun-try receives. In the financial year 2017-18, theincrease in FDI stood at a five year low of threeper cent and there is a growing concernamong foreign investors about India. Thebuck must surely fall with the Prime Minister.This concern among foreign investors isinspired by the overarching approach of thisGovernment to discard expertise in favour ofimage-management. Repeatedly, questionshave been raised about the manner in whichthe ruling Government has changed and howshould growth be measured, which hasflummoxed even the best statisticians andeconomists.

In order to encourage foreign investment,it is imperative that the Government providesaccurate numbers about the status of theIndian economy so that at the very least,investors understand what they are getting into.The moment doubts arise about the authen-ticity of the numbers published by aGovernment, it will inevitably lead to hesita-tion and trepidation among potential investors.

The Government’s colour-ful approach to numbers is notthe only cause for concern.The economic catastrophe, ie,demonetisation, is yet anotherexample that reflects the unre-liable, ill-thought out andunpredictable approach of theGovernment that has donegreat damage to India’s story.The past few years of thisGovernment were littered withexamples of an approach thataggressively countered expertisewith compliance. Just take theresignation of two Reserve Bankof India Governors in the pastfour years as an example or thenomination of mere yes-men topositions that demand integri-ty and expertise. All of theseinstances are only a few exam-ples as to why foreign investorsare hesitant about the Indianeconomy.

Another area of foreign pol-icy where Prime Minister Modihas missed a trick is strategicprowess. In this context, it will berelevant to note that there arecertain interesting developmentsin the world that India has failedto take advantage of. For exam-ple, the past few years has seena clear deterioration of the rela-tionship between China andthe United States, especially withrespect to trade. Since China isa manufacturing hub that ser-vices a number of requirementsof the American economy, thisdispute between the two coun-tries could have been a boon for

India where it had an opportu-nity to showcase its own prowessso as to fill the void that wouldexist due to the present stand-offbetween the US and China.

Instead, what we have seenis the US looking to other coun-tries to fulfill its requirementsand a deterioration of the rela-tionship between it and India.The clearest example of this hasbeen the postponement of the‘2+2 dialogue’ between the USand India for the third consec-utive time (the ‘2+2 dialogue’ isa mechanism where two coun-tries’ defence and external affairsministries discuss among otherthings the scope for strategicpartnerships).

Another way in which thesuccess of a Government’s for-eign policy is gauged is by themanner in which other worldleaders view our Government.The term ‘diplomacy’ impliesthat this determination can rarelybe made on the basis of explicitstatements or acts but rather haveto be inferred. While the BJP wasextremely proud to talk abouthaving a leader with a 56-inchchest, this arrogance has had totake a beating over the past fewyears. The most obvious exam-ple is that of the surgical strikes,where in order to win politicalpoints, the BJP created noise andcelebrated victory about a tacti-cal strike, despite the fact thatsuch strike acts have taken placea number of times in the pastwithout the same cries of victo-

ry or celebration. It was inevitable then that

the Prime Minister and thisGovernment has been a lotmore coy and sheepish while fac-ing uncomfortable questionsabout Chinese incursions inDoklam. Celebrating prematurevictories and appropriating thebrave acts of soldiers for winningpolitical points presents anopportunity to other countries topush back a Government that isalready on the back foot, domes-tically, because it has presenteda less than accurate picture of itsmight.

This coupled with the recentexamples of how PresidentTrump belittled the massivecontribution of India inAfghanistan and how our rela-tionship with our neighbours hassuffered due to the aggressive, ill-thought foreign policy of thisGovernment, shows that whenPlan A, ie an aggressive foreignpolicy fails, the Prime Ministerand his Government do not havea Plan B which involves tact ordiplomacy.

Richard Haass, a famousdiplomat, once said, “Success inforeign policy, as in carpentry,requires the right tools for thejob.” On the basis of the past fewyears, it appears that the PrimeMinister only has one tool in hispocket and it has not really donethe job.

(The writer is JharkhandPCC president, former MP andIPS officer. Views are personal)

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Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Quota politics” (January 9).Universally, communism hadbeen accused of being an ideolo-gy that was predicated on distrib-ution of poverty and not on thecreation of wealth. That Chinacould break out of this mould tocarve out an enviable economyshould be an enduring lesson forall. Despite this fact, our law-mak-ers have chosen to burn the mid-night oil on ‘quota-communism’and have passed the Bill withgreater alacrity than increasingtheir own remuneration. One onlywishes our leaders had all pooledtheir time and effort on the presentstate of persisting joblessness.

R Narayanan Navi Mumbai

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Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “Quota politics” (January 9).Since poverty is not the sole pre-serve of the ‘lower’ castes andbeing creamy is not the monop-oly of ‘upper’ castes only, in theprevailing caste-obsessed reali-ties, extension of reservation for

the economically-weaker sectionof the ‘upper’ castes is fairenough. However, if the con-cerned authorities, be it at theCentre or States, are seriousabout the welfare of citizens,they should have ensured theprovision of reservation beextended to only the financial-ly downtrodden, irrespective of

their demographic background.But ours is a country where peo-ple are not compassionatetowards the poor or the down-trodden. Things that sell like hotcake are religion, race, language,caste, sub-caste and tribe.Thanks to such laggard mindset,with every passing day, India isonly getting fragmented.

It is, therefore, not surpris-ing that instead of ensuringwelfare of the citizens, our polit-ical class as well as Governmentsact as a messiah for select demo-graphic groups even as somezealous leaders immerse incheap parochial quota politics.

Kajal Chatterjee Kolkata

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Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Lameduck CBI” (January 10).The Supreme Court’s judgmentreinstating CBI Director AlokVerma is a reminder to the highestand the powerful that blatant inter-ference with the institutions creat-ed by the legislature or theConstitution will not be tolerated.The court dismissed the superflu-ous arguments advanced by thelearned Attorney General andwarned him that he should notalways toe the line of theGovernment without any reason.This judgement is a slap on the faceof both the Central VigilanceCommission and the ModiGovernment’s autocratic midnightcoup. Even then, the silver line ofthis CBI versus CBI fight is that thecountry and its investigative bodyremains lucky that it will not beheaded by the corrupt. This may bethe last golden opportunity for theModi Government to bring backlost credibility, public trust and insti-tutional autonomy into governance.

Bidyut Kumar ChatterjeeFaridabad

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In December, the Reserve Bank ofIndia (RBI) came up with a notifi-cation requiring banks to manda-

torily convert at least 40 per cent of thesanctioned amount for accounts hav-ing fund-based working capital limitsof �150 crore or more to a working cap-ital loan, with effect from April 1, 2019.As per this, the loan limit will be revisedto 60 per cent. It was introduced witha view to instill greater credit disciplineamong borrowers.

As per RBI data, by the end of June2018, the number of accounts havingcredit limits exceeding �100 crorestood at around 12,000. The totalamount of credit outstanding betweenthem was around �26 trillion, indicat-ing an average amount outstanding ofover �200 crore per account. It is impor-tant to understand the problem the RBI

is trying to solve through this regula-tion. Firms can seek working capitallimits far exceeding their require-ments, thereby shifting their liquidityrisk to the lending banks. Cash creditlines involve a commitment of cash ondemand on the bank and allow firmsto dip into this bucket as needed. Banks,therefore, are forced to invest much ofthese committed funds into liquidassets at low interest rates and incur anopportunity cost. Besides, since inter-est is charged on actual use rather thanthe committed amount, this facilityallows firms to hedge their cost of bor-rowing as well.

Another problem that can arisewhen banks sanction limits that exceedfirms’ genuine requirements is the pos-sibility of diversion of working capitalfunds to finance long-term assets ortowards completely non-business uses.This increases the probability of defaultand these disbursements turning intoNPAs. So the problems that the RBI isseeking to address are genuine and seri-ous. But can this regulation reallyaddress the issue or is the RBI barkingup a wrong tree?

RBI data show that 83 per cent of

the accounts having more than �100crore of working capital limits are in thesub-12 per cent interest rate range andaccount for 85 per cent of the total out-standing credit of this category, indi-cating that majority of large accountsare good credits. Of course, thisassumes reliable credit ratings by theCRAs and interest rates on workingcapital facilities to be good indicatorsof financial health.

Second, the average utilisationrate of cash credit limits across thebanking sector is 66 per cent with the6-12 per cent interest rate accounts util-ising anywhere between 65-75 per centof their limits. This is based on aver-age of balances as at the end of fivequarters — June 2017 to June 2018.Utilisation of less than 40 per cent isseen among the riskier accounts attract-ing higher than 17 per cent rate of inter-est with varying pattern across bankcategories. This simply means that theintersection between large accounts andthose with low utilisation is close to neg-ligible. So how will mandating largeaccounts having limits of �150 croreand higher to convert at least 40 percent of their limits to a working capi-

tal loan solve the problem of low util-isation? For most of the accounts, it willsimply convert the existing cash cred-it utilisation to a working capital loan,at probably the same rate of interest.

Accounts with low utilisation ofless than 40 per cent constitute less thanone per cent of the total number of allPSBs’ fund-based working capitalaccounts as well as limits sanctionedand belong to the 17 per cent plusinterest rate categories. In the case ofPSBs, such accounts comprise close to50 per cent of all accounts and aboutseven per cent of the limits andbelong to the 20 per cent plus rate ofinterest category. Nearly 80 per centaccounts of foreign banks holding 16per cent of limits sanctioned show poorutilisation and belong to the 17 per centplus groups.

These accounts are ripe cases formis-utilisation of funds and futureNPAs. As they comprise a very smallpercentage of the total limits sanctionedacross the banking system, they do notpose a systemic risk but default in theseaccounts might have significant impactfor the individual banks.

While PSBs seem to have been

more prudent with their overall limitsportfolio, they run a concentration risk— the sanctioned limit per account ishighest in the 16-18 per cent interestrate category, besides the sub six percent category. The private sector andforeign banks though, have awardedlargest limits to their better clients,attracting sub 10 per cent interest rates.This increases the impact of a proba-ble default in these PSB accountswhile the diversified portfolio of privatesector and foreign banks in the riskycategory might be a saviour except inan economy-wide crisis.

Nearly all the 17 per cent plusinterest rate accounts belong to the �10lakh and below categories, ie MSMEs.These accounts comprise 76 per centof all working capital credit outstand-ing. The greater than �100 croreaccounts are negligible in this interestrate bracket — they are less than 250in number with an average exposure of�75 crore. Their total amount outstand-ing accounts for nine per cent of thebanking system’s, definitely not aninsignificant proportion from a defaultrisk perspective. So is the RBI regula-tion meant for these 250 to 300

accounts? Shouldn’t there be a morepractical and probably effective solu-tion for individual banks to simplyidentify these accounts and disciplinethem? Besides, this regulation will donothing to rein in the smaller accountsdiscussed earlier that are also culpritsin this problem.

Another risk of implementing thisregulation is adverse selection leadingto the possibility of misuse of funds tobecome a reality. Good accounts areeither already utilising more than 60 percent of their limits or will not mindreducing their fund limits as they areconfident of getting them enhancedwhen the need arises. It is the riskieraccounts that would not like to let goof a sanctioned limit in hand and if 40per cent of it has to be mandatorilydrawn down, these funds are very like-ly to make their way into long-termassets funding, risky financial assets, orworse, completely diverted out of thebusiness. By using a cannon to kill a fewflies, albeit poisonous ones, the regu-lation may just encourage the type ofbehaviour it is trying to prevent.

(The writer is Assistant Professor,Accounting & Finance, MDI, Gurgaon)

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Aperusal of the official web-site of Kumbh Mela, 2019— hosted by the PrayagrajMela Pradhikaran, UttarPradesh — reveals why

this is not a kumbh at all. It mentionedtwo celestial alignments under whichKumbh can be held in Prayagraj(Allahabad). These are: a) When Jupiterenters the Aries constellation and theSun and the Moon are in Capricornconstellation, the Kumbh festival is heldat Prayagraj on the new moon day andb) When the Sun is in Capricorn andJupiter moves in to Taurus, the Kumbhfestival is held at Prayagraj.

Jupiter is nowhere close to eitherAries, let alone Taurus at present. Thebulky planet is residing in Scorpio(vrischik raashi) since October 11,2018, and will move into Sagittarius(dhanu raashi) on March 30, 2019,seven-and-a-half months ahead of itsusual residency period of 13 monthsin one sign. Throughout the year, itwill travel back and forth betweenScorpio and Sagittarius several times— an uncommon though not impos-sible phenomenon when a planet’smotion along its orbit is observedfrom the Earth against the backdropof constellations.

Critics were quick to point outthat the Kumbh Mela was organisedin erstwhile Allahabad (Prayagraj) asrecently as 2013. That was the timewhen Jupiter was residing in Taurus.The 2019 mela should, thus, becalled Ardha Kumbh. But the YogiAdityanath Government in UttarPradesh, in an image-building exer-cise, went overboard to describe it asKumbh. Exhibitory Hinduism is notwithout its drawback. Ardh Kumbhno doubt is as conventional asKumbh itself. However, on a theoret-ical premise, it militates against theconcept of Kumbha Yoga. Either aplanetary position exists, or it doesnot. Jupiter in Scorpio is Jupiter inScorpio. It cannot be expressed interms of half or one-fourth of Jupiterin Taurus or Aries.

The Kumbh Mela is held at fourdifferent locations in India viz,Haridwar, Prayagraj (Allahabad), Ujjainand Nasik, under four different kindsof planetary combinations. Their timeis determined mostly by the position ofplanet Jupiter and Sun in different con-stellations. The name Kumbh is derivedfrom the sign of Aquarius (kumbharaashi). But against popular misconcep-tion, no planet needs to be positionedin that sign for the mela to take place,except in the case of Haridwar.

The beginning of Kumbh or ArdhaKumbh 2019 coincides with MakarSankranti. It refers to transition of theSun into the sign of Capricorn (makar

raashi). The event recurs annuallysince the Sun transits across the entirezodiac band once every year, residingin one sign for a month. MakarSankranti is celebrated with fervouracross India, marked by holy dip inrivers, including the Ganga and waterbodies. Since the solar calendars inIndia are actually sidereal rather thantropical, the month’s beginning ismarked by the entry of the Sun in a newzodiac sign. The transit point from oneto the other is called Sankranti.

Traditional calendars used in east-ern and southern parts of India aremostly solar. Those used in northernand western parts are mostly luni-solarie lunar calendar with provision for anintercalary month (adhi-masa) tobring it at par with solar year. A luni-solar calendar like Vikram Samvattreats the months as sacrosanct but theyear length as incidental. The monthsare coeval with lunation — fromShukla Pratipada to Amavasya. In side-real solar calendars, months are asimportant as the year. The monthchanges as the Sun goes over each ofthe 12 divisions of the zodiac.

The Gregorian calendar, by con-trast, is tropical by nature. The extentof the natural year, in a diagrammat-ic representation, is coeval with great-est limits of the Sun’s declination in theNorth and the South. These areTropic of Cancer (230 26’12.5”N) inthe North and the Tropic of Capricorn(230 26’12.5”S) in the South where theSun is directly overhead on June 21and December 22, respectively. For thenorthern hemisphere, the date June 21is summer solstice, signifying thelongest day and December 22 is win-ter solstice, signifying the shortest day.They are reversed, like the seasonalcycle itself, in the southern hemi-

sphere. The days and nights are equal(Equinox) on March 21 andSeptember 21 when the Sun is over-head at noon on the Equator. TheGregorian calendar functions withoutany reference to zodiacal backgroundor phases of the moon. The two sol-stices and two equinoxes — all ofthem astronomical events — form thefour pillars of the calendar. The proofof the calendar being in order is thatthese events should correspond todates specified for them.

The Julian calendar (estd, 45 BC)had to be corrected by Pope GregoryXIII in 1582 AD by — dropping 10 days— because the Spring Equinox hadgradually crawled up to March 11(same with two Solstices) over a mil-lennium and a half. The Pope broughtin corrective rules of leap year to replacethe ones formulated by Julius Caesar.The leap years were dropped from thebeginning of the century (00 year)unless the year was perfectly divisibleby four. Under the new rules, theGregorian calendar can go wrong byone day maximum in 5,000 years, a flawthat can be rectified by further drop-ping of leap years once in 1,000 years.

The names of Tropic of Cancer andTropic of Capricorn, however, arereminiscent of the times when the Westtried to interpret a solar event by zodi-acal background. This was sometimebefore the beginning of the Christianera. The Tropic of Capricorn was sonamed because the Sun used to be inCapricorn constellation when it cameoverhead that line of latitude (23026’12.5”S). But now due to the axial pre-cession of earth (sometimes referred toas precession of equinoxes) the Sundoes not reside in the constellation ofCapricorn on Winter Solstice(December 22). It is still in the constel-

lation of Aquarius. The story follows asimilar script for Tropic of Cancer.

This forms the point of departureof the Western (now called Gregorian)calendar from the Indian solar calen-dars. The Hindus have chosen to pre-serve the (reference to) constellation,whereas the West civilisation the ref-erence to tropics. The entry of the Sunin the constellation of Capricorn(makar raashi) is celebrated as MakarSankranti which occasions annualMagh Mela and at pre-determinedintervals the Kumbh Mela. But whatis the significance of Makar Sankranti,that we celebrate it out of 12 possibleSankrantis during a year? This isbecause it is observed as Uttarayan,when the Sun begins its (half-yearly)northward journey. It is the beginningof the day of gods.

But in reality, the Sun is overhead(at noon) at the southernmost pointof tropic on December 22. It beginsits northward journey on its apparentpath soon afterwards.

It seems plausible that Uttarayan,which is a tropical phenomenon, andMakar Sankranti, which is a sidereal(related to stars or constellation) phe-nomenon, coincided in time more than2,000 years ago. It was acceptable todescribe them as being synonymous.But gradually, due to axial precessionof the earth, they diverged. Thus,today, coinciding Uttarayan and MakarSankranti implies the calendar is goingwrong. This means that the seasons areshifting as per the Indian solar calen-dar. Restructuring is called for on thelines suggested by Calendar ReformsCommittee, 1952.

(The writer is an independentresearcher based in New Delhi. The views expressed herein are his per-sonal)

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At least two Indian soldiers,including a senior Army

officer received injuries in freshincident of ceasefire violationalong the Line of Control inManjakote sector of Rajouri onThursday.

In response, the IndianArmy retaliated strongly andgave a befitting reply to thePakistan Army.

Defence spokesman inJammu confirmed, anotherincident of ceasefire violationwas reported in the forwardareas of Manjakote in Rajourion Thursday.

Official sources claimed,two soldiers, injured in thecross border firing were safelyevacuated to a nearby hospitalwhere they are undergoingtreatment. “Their conditionwas stated to be stable till thetime of filing the report", offi-cial sources said.

For last couple of daysPakistan army is indulging inblatant ceasefire violations inthe region and provokingstrong retaliation.

Large number of borderresidents in frontier districts ofRajouri and Poonch, living inthe direct line of enemy fire,have been adversely affected bythe random incidents of firing.

The border residents havebeen regularly pleading beforethe Governors' administrationto expedite construction ofbunkers in the forward villagesto ensure their safety.

Issue of absence of ambu-lances in the worst affectedareas has been raised by thelocal residents but so far ade-quate measures have not been

taken in some of the forwardareas witnessing heavyexchange of cross bordershelling.

Local reports claimed,Pakistan army on the other sideof the line of control has beeninitiating ceasefire violations

with a view to facilitate infil-trators to cross and give themcover to cross across the line ofcontrol.

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Chennai: A GovernmentAIDS control body in TamilNadu will propose that allfuture blood donors in theState record their biometricdetails so that issues related tofake credentials are addressedand timely medical care couldbe provided if they test HIVpositive during the screeningprocess.

The proposal by theTamil Nadu State AIDSControl Society (TANSACS)comes close on the heels ofa pregnant woman beingtransfused with HIV infect-ed blood donated by a youthin Sivakasi Governmentblood bank, which led to anoutrage and raised questionsover the present screeningprocess.

The move is also aimed atensuring timely initiation ofantiretroviral therapy todonors who test positive forHIV when the blood is

screened after donation atbanks.

As many as 23 donorstested positive for HIV dur-ing 2015-18 but could not beinformed of their status for avariety of reasons.

"We are going to proposeto the Government to have aprogramme to capture thebiometrics of blood donors,"Project Director, TANSACS,Dr K Senthil Raj told PTI.

Of the 23 donors, somewere untraceable, a section ofthem did not cooperate andothers had provided fakeidentity and false contactdetails, he said.

"In such cases, biomet-rics will help identify andbring them into the systemby doing a test to confirmthe presence of the virusthrough informed consent,"he said.

After the test, if theresults were positive again,

counselling and later ARTcould be initiated. "Timelyinitiation of ART and strictadherence to the regimen iskey to tackling HIV.Biometrics will not only helpinitiation of ART at the righttime but will offer addition-al help to avoid transfusion ofinfected blood," he pointedout.

Some infected mendonate blood under peerpressure just to avoid disclo-sure of their HIV+ statusand hence provide falsedetails during blood dona-tion, he pointed out. "Whilesome of them later inform usdiscreetly to not use theirblood, others don't."

"HIV is only an infectionand there is nothing to beashamed of it. Unfortunately,since a section of society stillcling to the stigma some tendto hide their positive status,"he said. PTI

Srinagar: The Army has a rangeof options to exercise against thecontinued infiltration fromacross the Line of Control (LoC)in Jammu & Kashmir to give abefitting reply to Pakistan, a topArmy commander said onThursday.

"It (infiltration) has car-ried on… We have a range ofoptions that are available to theIndian Army and depending onthe situation and depending onwhat is the effect that we desire,we decide on whatever optionhas to be exercised," Armycommander, NorthernCommand, Lt Gen Ranbir

Singh told reporters at Gulmarg— 55 kms from here.

Lt Gen Singh was talking tothe media after inaugurating theGulmarg Winter Youth Festivalat the famous ski-resort innorth Kashmir's Baramulla dis-trict.

He said ceasefire violationson the LoC was a ploy by thePakistani army to push theinfiltrators into Indian territo-ry. "As far as the ceasefire vio-lations are concerned, they havecontinued on the LoC, but it isessentially the adversary, thePakistani army, on the other sideof the LoC initiating ceasefire

violations with a view to facili-tate the infiltrators and givethem cover to cross over theIndian side," he said.

The Army commander,however, said the Pakistaniarmy is given a befittingresponse whenever a ceasefireviolation takes place. "Our strat-egy is very clear. Whenever anyceasefire violations are carriedout by the Pakistan army, theyare given a befitting responseand it is to the credit of all thetroops deployed on the LoC thatwe have been able to keep theenemy under tremendous pres-sure," he said. PTI

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Chennai: Prime MinisterNarendra Modi said onThursday that the BJP is opento alliances and cherished itsold friends, in a hint that it waslooking to strengthen the NDAin Tamil Nadu ahead the LokSabha elections.

Slamming Congress for its"arrogance" and slightingregional parties, Modi saidthat the party was haughtyenough to say that they wouldspring a "surprise" despite hav-ing none to rub shoulders within Uttar Pradesh.

In an interaction with partybooth-level workers from fivedistricts in Tamil Nadu throughvideo conferencing, he recalledthe "successful coalition poli-tics" ushered in by formerPrime Minister, the late AtalBihari Vajpayee in the 1990s

and said the BJP's doors were"always open".

"...20 years ago the vision-ary leader Atal ji brought in anew culture in Indian politics,that of successful coalition pol-itics.

He gave utmost impor-tance to regional aspirations...BJP has followed the way Atalji has shown us," Modi said.

The Prime Minister, in thefourth interaction with partyworkers in the state, wasresponding to questions froma worker on whether the BJPwould ally with AIADMK,DMK or Tamil superstarRajinikanth, who is yet to formhis political party.

The BJP had fought the2014 Lok Sabha elections inTamil Nadu leading a six-partyalliance comprising smaller

parties, including the DMDK,the PMK and Vaiko-ledMDMK, and won two of the 39seats — one each by the saffronparty and PMK.

However, all five partiessnapped ties with the BJP later.The Prime Minister said astrong NDA was "an article offaith for us".

"It is not a compulsion.Even when the BJP won astrong majority on its own, wepreferred to run the govern-ment with our allies. We cher-ish our old friends and ourdoors are always open for par-ties," Modi said.

However, Congress had"ill-treated" regional parties, hesaid, adding "What Atal ji didwas in direct contrast to theCongress which has never caredfor regional aspirations. PTI

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Chennai: In a stinging counter-attack on the Rafale issue, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi onThursday accused the Congressof stalling defence procurementif there was “no deal” for it.

He also said the allegedmiddleman Christian Michelwas close to the Congress firstfamily and the people deservedto know the role played by himin the 10-year delay over theRafale deal during UPA regime.

Interacting with booth levelBJP workers of Tamil Naduthrough video-conferencing, hesaid many people think that thebiggest failure of Congress wasmismanagement of the econo-my and corruption.

"But they did deep damageto our armed forces. Not manyknow how much damageCongress culture did to ourdefence sector for decades. Theyhad made the defence sector aden of Bofors and brokers andmiddlemen.

"In their government, pro-curement would only happen ifthere was a deal. If there was nodeal their approach was to sim-ply stop buying anything for thearmed forces," Modi said inresponse to a question.

Recalling Defence MinisterNirmala Sitharaman's statementduring the debate in Lok Sabhaover the Rafale issue, Modisaid when India's neighbours

were strengthening their forceswith fourth and fifth generationfighters, the then CongressGovernment stalled defenceprocurement.

Recently, between 2004-15,one of India's neighbours added400 aircraft while another dou-bled the air force fleet strengthwith many of these being fourthand fifth generation fighters, hesaid.

"What was the CongressGovernment doing at that time?It stalled Defence procurementfor want of its deal while ourneighbours increased capacity.Congress actually decreasedours. Such huge damage to thedefence forces, all for the sakeof a deal," Modi alleged.

Referring to negotiations topurchase 126 Rafale fighter jetsduring the UPA regime, Modiclaimed Michel, being probedover the AugustaWestlandchopper deal, had access toinside information like the tim-ing of a Cabinet meet on secu-rity and a Government file ona related matter. PTI

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Guwahati: After making theissue of illegal infiltration amajor poll plank in the 2014 LokSabha and 2016 Assembly elec-tions in Assam, the ruling BJPon Thursday claimed noBangladeshi national has illegallyentered into India in the last 10years.

BJP spokespersons claimedat a press conference here thatthe controversial Citizenship(Amendment) Bill will not bringin any new foreigner into India.

"No infiltration is happen-ing at this moment. Illegal migration happenedonly earlier.

"We can say that in the last10 years, no infiltration tookplace from Bangladesh," BJP spokesperson SwapnanilBarua said.

Bangladeshis are notmigrating to India because ofeconomic reasons as they nowgo to Europe, Gulf or otherdeveloped regions, he said.

"In Europe or Gulf, they geta minimum wage of around�3,000 per day. In India, theycan earn a maximum of �1,000.So, why should they comehere," he asked.

Another spokespersonMominul Awal said that theCitizenship (Amendment) Bill,if passed, will not bring any newHindu Bangladeshi into India.

PTI

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An internal survey of theBharatiya Janata Party has

shown that majority of partyMPs from Uttar Pradesh havefailed to live up to the expec-tations of the people and atleast 57 of them may be deniedticket in the coming Lok Sabhaelections.

This has been categorical-ly conveyed to the party lead-ers of UP by BJP national pres-ident Amit Shah in a meetingheld in New Delhi onWednesday. The meeting wascalled to evaluate party’s posi-tion in UP.

The internal survey wascarried out by a private US-based research institute whichinterviewed people in 822blocks spread over 8,135 nyayapanchayats.

“The bottom line of thesurvey is that majority of theMPs have failed to deliver andthey might be denied ticket inthe coming Lok Sabha elec-tions,” a senior BJP leader told‘The Pioneer’ here on Thursday.

It is believed that axe mightfall n 57 sitting MPs.

BJP had won 71 Lok Sabhaseats out of 80 in UP on its ownin the 2014 parliamentary elec-tions but it lost three seats inthe Lok Sabha bye-elections,including Gorakhpur andPhulpur. Chief Minister YogiAdityanath and his deputyKeshav Prasad Maurya hadwon from Gorakhpur andPhulpur, respectively, in 2014and had vacated the seats afterthey joined the UP Cabinet.

A senior BJP leader saidthat the survey was holistic andincluded “voices” from over97,000 villages across the state.

“The basic finding of thisstudy was that majority of theMPs have failed to connectwith the masses. Selection ofbeneficiaries of various welfareschemes was left to adminis-tration and these MPs nevertried to meet the people andmake an attempt to tell themthat whatever benefits theywere getting was because ofPrime Minister Narendra Modiand Chief Minister YogiAdityanath,” the leader said.

The BJP has launched aseries of campaigns to educatepeople about the welfareschemes that the Governmenthas launched. It has repeat-edly asked its leaders andelected representatives tomeet the beneficiaries of theseschemes.

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Bengal will not be a part ofCentral initiatives like

Ayushman Bharat as they werebeing used as propaganda toolby the BJP, State Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee on Thursdaysaid.

Coming down heavily onPrime Minister Narendra Modifor doing “dirty politics”,Mamata said her State would“not contribute 40 per cent ofthe funds for the AyushmanBharat. I withdraw from it.From now, they will have to paythe full amount and run thescheme.”

Addressing a huge audi-ence at Nadia, Mamata asked,“Why should we contribute tothe (Ayushman Bharat) schemeif the Prime Minister’s imageaffixed is on the letterheadalong with the picture of lotus(the BJP’s party symbol) insteadof India’s national insignia,”alleging the CentralGovernment was running theBJP’s campaign with the peo-ple’s money and the money sentin by the federal States.

“We withdraw from theAyushman Bharat. Let themnow fund the scheme andcarry it forward. We have ourown similar schemes and han-dle that in more successfulmanner,” Banerjee said addingBengal had a better option inArogyashri.

Incidentally, the BengalGovernment had alreadyearned international accoladesfor bringing social welfareschemes like Kanyashree,Rupashree, Sabuj Saathi allbrain child of the ChiefMinister.

Bengal was also likely towithdraw from crop insurance,Prime Minister rural roadschemes etc, sources later said.

Referring to the Centralhealth insurance and otherschemes Banerjee said, “theyare claiming to be implement-ing programmes out of theCentre’s but in fact they aredoing so with the fund gener-ated by the States. This is afraud done on the people ofIndia.”

Wondering why the Centrewould take away income taxcollected from the people shedemanded “our own share ofincome tax that you take awayfrom the people of this State.”

Attacking the PrimeMinister further for “mislead-ing the people” by implement-ing the 10 percent job quota forthe economically backwardpeople from the upper castesegment of the society, Banerjeesaid they not only misled thepeople but also “ruined thefuture of the farmers’ andworkers’ children,” adding“Prime Minister is doing dirtypolitics over this and I con-demn it.

Elsewhere, senior TMCleader and MP AbhishekBanerjee attacked the BJP.

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Lucknow: PSP(L) founderShivpal Yadav on Thursdayexpressed confidence that thenext Government at the Centrecannot be formed without sup-port from the party andstressed there was “no chance”of a merger with the SP, thoughhe was open for an alliance.

The PragatisheelSamajwadi Party(Lohia)(PSP)(L) chief told PTIin an interview that after theparty’s formation he had tra-versed the State, coveringalmost all the districts, and theresponse was tremendous. “Weare ready to contest on all 80Lok Sabha seats, if an alliancedoes not materialise,” he said.

“Next Government at theCentre cannot be formed with-out support of our party. Ourparty has become a force toreckon with in past threemonths after its constitution.Our organisation in all the 75districts is ready and people areacknowledging us as a force,”Shivpal Yadav said.

Asked about the recentstatement of senior Samajwadi

Party leader Azam Khan thatparty chief Akhilesh Yadavand his feuding uncle willunite again once the conditionsturn favourable, he said therewas “no chance” of this.

“There is no chance ofmerger of my party with the SPor going back to it. I am openfor an alliance with like-mind-ed parties to keep the commu-nal BJP at bay and that too if myparty is offered a respectablenumber of seats,” he said.

On being asked about anSP-BSP alliance for the LokSabha polls, Shivpal Yadavasked, “Are they (SP and BSP)of the same ideology? Can it(BSP) be trusted. There is notrust when it will join or leavethe alliance (with SP).”

On whether he has bless-ings of his elder brother and SPfounder Mulayam Singh Yadav,Shivpal Yadav said, “This is notthe question now. I have takena step forward. Now the ques-tion is of the state and thecountry and how we cancounter and stop the commu-nal forces.” PTI

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Kolkata: A 32-year-oldwoman approached theCalcutta High Court onThursday seeking permissionto terminate her 24-week foe-tus owing to an anomaly in itsformation.

The petitioner claimedbefore the court of JusticeTapabrata Chakraborty thatthe tests done during variousstages of her pregnancyshowed that the brain of thefoetus is underdeveloped.

The reports also showedthat the condition of the foe-tus was deteriorating, herlawyer Amitabha Ghosh sub-mitted before the court, seek-ing permission to terminatethe pregnancy.

According to theTermination of Pregnancy Act1971, the permission of courtis required for undergoingabortion if the foetus is morethan 20 weeks old, Ghoshsaid. PTI

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Meerut (UP): The UttarPradesh Police on Thursdayarrested a local BJP youth wingleader accused of instigatingmob violence in Bulandshahrthat killed a police inspectorand a civilian last month.

Shikhar Agarwal aliasShekhar (25) had been on therun for nearly 40 days but washeld at 7.20 am near a flyoverin adjoining Hapur district bythe Bulandshahr police, asenior official said.

“He was arrested thismorning,” AdditionalSuperintendent of Police(Bulandhshahr city) AtulKumar Srivastava told PTI.

Agarwal was interrogatedby police before being pro-duced in a local court, whichsent him to 14-day judicial cus-tody, he said.

With his arrest, the num-ber of accused held for theDecember 3 violence hasreached 36, Srivastava said.

On December 3, 2018,mob violence had broken outin Siyana tehsil of Bulandshahrafter cattle carcasses were foundstrewn in the fields outsideMahaw village.

Police Inspector SubodhKumar Singh (44) and SumitKumar, (20) were shot deadduring the violence, after whichan FIR was registered at theSiyana police station in whicharound 80 people were accused.

Around six months ago,Agarwal was appointed thehead of the newly-formedSiyana unit of the BharatiyaJanata Yuva Morcha (BJYM),the youth wing of the BJP,another police official said.

While he was in hiding, apurported video of Agarwalhad surfaced on social media inwhich he claimed innocenceand also accused the slaininspector of “corruption” and“siding with the Muslim com-munity to get our mother(referring to cows) attacked”.

Agarwal, who claimed to bepursuing a Bachelor ofAyurvedic Medicine andSurgery (BAMS) from Aligarh,said in the video that he had “fullfaith in the Yogi (Adityanath)Government” in the state and hewas ready for any probe.

He also claimed that theinspector was reluctant to getan FIR filed for cow slaughter

and had threatened to shoothim for insisting on taking thecarcasses to the police station.

In the video from an undis-closed location, he had allegedthat police were “wrongly” say-ing that Singh was informedabout the incident over phone,claiming the entire episodeunfolded in his presence at thespot.

Twenty-seven people,including Agarwal, werenamed in the FIR, while 50 to60 unidentified people werebooked under IPC sections436 (mischief by fire or explo-sive substance with intent todestroy house, etc), 307(attempt to murder), 302 (mur-der), 124A (sedition), 147, 148,149 (related to rioting), 332, 33,353 (related to voluntary assaulton public servant to obstructthem from performing theirduty), 336 (act endangering lifeor personal safety of others).

They were also booked fordestroying public property,among others.

On January 3, police hadarrested local Bajrang Dalleader Yogesh Raj, also a keysuspect in the case. PTI

Guwahati: The BJPGovernment has gone “mad”and is attempting to create an“emergency-like” situation inAssam, noted RTI activistAkhil Gogoi said after police onThursday registered a seditioncase against for making com-ments on the citizenship bill.

However, the BJP accusedGogoi of having links withMaoists, being a “professional”agitator and working to fulfilthe political agenda of others.

Besides Gogoi, seditioncases were also registeredagainst Sahitya Akademiawardee Assamese litterateurHiren Gohain and senior jour-nalist Manjit Mahanta for theircomments on the Citizenship(Amendment) Bill, a policeofficial said.

“The BJP Government hasgone mad and is trying to cre-ate an emergency-like situationto suppress a spontaneousmovement by the people ofAssam against the Citizenship(Amendment) Bill,” Gogoi,who is also Krishak MuktiSangram Samiti (KMSS) chief,told reporters here.

The KMSS along with its70 partner organisations is onthe forefront of protests againstthe bill in Assam.

“It is unfortunate that alearned person like Gohain sirhas been targeted by the gov-ernment. I am used to caseupon case being filed on me

and going to jail has become alifestyle for me,” Gogoi said.

Prime Minister NarendraModi, Chief MinisterSarbananda Sonowal and stateFinance Minister HimantaBiswa Sarma “have failed toprotect the interest of theAssamese”, the KMSS leaderalleged.

“I consider it as a matter ofhonour to be called a deshdrohifor trying to protect the inter-est of the Assamese,” Gogoisaid.

Shortly after the seditioncases were registered, a panel ofBJP spokespersons addressed apress conference claiming thatGogoi has Maoist links and is“terrorising” people with a“false issue” by campaigningagainst the bill.

“Akhil Gogoi is relatedwith Maoists and other Leftlinked persons.

He is a professional agita-tor. He is working to fulfilsomeone else’s political agenda,”BJP spokesperson MominulAwal said.

Like an elephant, Gogoialso has two sets of teeth, hesaid.

“He shows people the outerteeth on the Hindu Bangladeshiissue, while he chews with theinner teeth sitting with MuslimBangladeshis,” the BJP leadersaid, adding that Gogoi was“terrorising people with a falseissue”. PTI

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Mumbai: A 53-year-old guardof Defence Security Corps(DSC) allegedly committedsuicide by shooting himselfwith his service rifle while onduty at Naval Armament Depot(NAD) in suburban Trombayon Thursday, police said.

The deceased, Kesar Singh,was deployed for a sentry dutyon the watch tower at NAD,they said. “Singh allegedlyended his life by shooting him-self with his service rifle ataround 11.30 am,” a police offi-cial said. No suicide note wasfound from near his body andhe might have ended his lifeover some family issue, he said.

Singh’s body was sent forpost-mortem, the official saidadding that Trombay policehave registered a case of acci-dental death and further inves-tigation was on. PTI

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Shillong: Multi-agencies per-sonnel used high-poweredpumps to drain out 28 lakh litresof water from the main shaft,where 15 miners got trapped,but Navy divers Thursday foundno change in the water level inthe rat-hole mine to resumesearch operation, officials said.

Rescuers using pumps fromCoal India Ltd, KirloskarBrothers Ltd and the Odisha

Fire Service have managed topump out 2.1 crore litres ofwater fromthe mines,including themain shaftand the abandoned ones in thenearby which might be inter-connected to it, till Thursday,they said.

But, still there has been nosignificant drop in the water

level in these mines, leaving res-cuers clueless where and how to

look for thed i g g e r s ,they said.

Kirloskar Brothers Ltdpumps, which was operationalfrom 7 pm Wednesday eveningand continued to run for 11hours, have pumped out 28 lakhlitres from the main shaft, the

official said.Operation spokesperson R

Susngi said the Navy has con-ducted searches in at least sixmines, including in the mainshaft, for the trapped diggers,but there has been no success.

According to the Navy, thewater level in the entire area wastotally raptured and search willcontinue in the adjacent mines,Susngi said. PTI

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In a “massive relief ” to smallbusinesses, the GST Council

on Thursday doubled the limitfor exemption from paymentof goods and services tax(GST) to �40 lakh andannounced that the higherturnover cap of �1.5 crore foravailing composition schemeof paying 1 per cent tax will beeffective from April 1.

The Council also allowedKerala to levy a 1 per centcalamity cess on intra-statesale of goods and services fora period of up to two years tomobilise revenues to meet thecost of rehabilitating parts ofstates that were ravaged byfloods last year.

Finance Minister ArunJaitley said the taxpayers withan aggregate turnover of Rs 40lakh would now be exemptedfrom the GST. For the northeastern states, the exemptionwould now be �20 lakh.Currently, businesses with aturnover of up to �20 lakh isexempt from GST registration,while the limit for hilly andnorth eastern states is �10lakh.

Sources said the annualrevenue loss on account ofdoubling exemption limit to�40 lakh, considering that allstates implement it, is �5,200crore.

Jait ley said the GST

Composition Scheme, underwhich small traders and busi-nesses pay a 1 per cent taxbased on turnover, can beavailed by businesses with aturnover of �1.5 crore, againstthe earlier �1 crore, with effectfrom April 1.

Also, service providersand suppliers of both goodsand services up to a turnoverof �50 lakh would be eligibleto opt for the GST composi-tion scheme and pay a tax of6 per cent.

The twin decision underthe composition schemewould have an annual revenueimpact of about �3,000 crore.

“The GST Council in its32nd meeting today accordedmassive relief for MSME sec-tor,” Jaitley tweeted.

On GST rate for realestate, the council has decid-ed for form a seven-membergroup of ministers after dif-ferences of opinion emerged atthe meeting, he said, addingthere were diverse views onlottery. A ministerial panelwill look into it as well.

Businesses opting for thecomposition scheme wouldhave to file just one tax returnannually but pay taxes onceevery quarter. Also freeaccounting and billing soft-ware will be made available tosmall assessees up to �1.5crore turnover.

Jaitley said: “A very large

part of GST comes from for-mal sector and large compa-nies. Each one of these deci-sions is intended to help theSMEs. You have given themvarious options. If they are inservices sector, they can get 6per cent compounding, if theyare in manufacturing and trad-ing up to �1.5 crore they canget 1 per cent compounding.They can make use of exemp-tion of up to �40 lakh”.

The finance minister saidthere would be two thresholds— �40 lakh and �20 lakh —for exemption from registra-tion and payment of the GSTfor the suppliers of goods,with the facility that one can‘opt up or opt down’ depend-ing on revenue.

“Few states had a viewthat if the turnover thresholdis hiked to �40 lakh, theirassessee base gets eroded. Soif they inform the Secretariatwithin a week then theywould be given the option toopt down. Puducherry haskept this option... This is aone time exception and doesnot affect businesses withinter-state supplies,” Jaitleytold reporters.

Revenue Secretary AjayBhushan Pandey said eventhough currently the exemp-tion limit is �20 lakh, but stillthere are about 10.93 lakhtaxpayers who are below �20lakh but are paying taxes.

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Lending major YesBank on

Thursday submittedthe names of thepotential candidatesfor its ManagingDirector and ChiefExecutive post to theReserve Bank ofIndia (RBI).

According to the bank, theBoard has submitted an appli-cation to the RBI to seek itsapproval for the names of theselected candidates.

The bank in a regulatoryfiling after its Board meeting onWednesday said it has finalisedthe names which it will discloseonly after the RBI’s approval.

According to the bank, thecandidates were finalised onthe basis of recommendationsmade by the Search andSelection Committee (SSC)and the Nomination andRemuneration Committee(NRC).

“As mandated under theextant RBI norms, the Bank’sBoard will submit an applica-tion to the RBI on January 10,2019, seeking approval for theappointment of the new MDand CEO of Yes Bank,” thelender said in a regulatory fil-ing to the BSE.

“On receipt of the RBIapproval, the bank shall dulymake the requisite disclosures

to the stock exchanges, interms of ‘Regulation 30 of theListing Regulations’.”

There has been widespreadspeculation on Rajat Monga,Senior Group President —Financial Markets, Yes Bank andformer MD and CEO of MaxLife Insurance Rajesh Sud asbeing the front-runners for thepost.

An IANS story onWednesday had incorrectlyreferred to Rajat Monga as theExecutive Director of Yes Bank.

The SSC was set up to finda successor to the company’sMD and CEO Rana Kapoor. Ithad been mandated to evaluateboth internal and external can-didates and make suitable rec-ommendations to the Board ofDirectors within stipulatedtimelines for the RBI’s finalapproval.

In October 2018, the RBIhad reaffirmed that a successorto Yes Bank’s MD and CEOKapoor should be appointed byFebruary 1, 2019.

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Union Minister NitinGadkari on Wednesday

said public sector undertakingsshould remove the deadwoodand give an extension to achiev-ers, and that the government’sapproach has been to shutdown ailing state-run firms.

Speaking at the 62ndFoundation Day of the NationalProjects ConstructionCorporation (NPCC), once aloss-making company underthe Ministry of WaterResources, Gadkari said he“saved” the PSU with a lot ofefforts and the company shouldnot get carried away by the“meagre” profit it has registered.

To be in the race, the com-pany needs to execute projectsfaster and take decisions in atime-bound manner.

“This �1000 crore turnoverand �30 crore is like primaryeducation. The stakeholders haveto think about this,” he said.

“Retire the deadwood andgive them money to leave.Those who do good workshould be given an extension,”Gadkari said.

“I should not tell you this,but the Government’s policyabout loss making (PSUs)….Theprime minister keeps askingme and (Finance Minister Arun)Jaitley ji how many companieshave been shut down. He doesnot want the loss-making andunder-performing…they shouldbe shut down. I have saved (thePSU) with a lot of efforts.”

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Waterways transport in India is all set for a revolution andhas potential to bring down logistics cost by 4 per cent that

will propel exports by 30 per cent, Union Minister Nitin Gadkarisaid on Thursday kicking off PSU Concor’s maiden containersvoyage through coastal shipping.

The shipping and road transport minister said many firstsin the country were lined up as massive works were underwayon projects for turning 11 rivers into waterways besides pilot runof aeroboats on Ganga on January 26.

Launching Container Corporation of India’s (Concor) first-ever container transport through coastal shipping from Kandlato Tuticorin port via Mangalore and Cochin through video con-ferencing here, Gadkari recalled how people used to laugh at hisdream of developing waterways and running cargo ships on theriver Ganga.

“Now we have paved the way for exports to Bangladesh andMyanmar through Varanasi...If we reduce our logistics cost byjust 4 per cent then our exports will boost by 25-30 per cent...Weare one of the fastest growing economies and we have the poten-tial to do it,” Gadkari, who is also the Water Resources Minister,said.

“The share of coastal shipping (in movement of cargo) inChina is 24 per cent, Germany 11 per cent and in USA it is 9per cent but in India it is barely 4.5 to 5 per cent....Massive worksare underway to develop waterways which many thought was adream only. Of the 111 rivers to be converted into waterways,projects are underway on 11,” Gadkari said.

He said 80 lakh tonne of cargo was transported through theGanga this year which was going to swell to 280 lakh tonne asa draft of 3 metre has been maintained on Varanasi to Haldiastretch of 1,680 km.

On the request of the UP Government, the Centre is main-taining 1 metre draft from Allahabad to Varanasi and barges aredesigned with such techniques that they can carry 3,500 tonneof cargo each in place of 2,000 tonne at present.

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The Railways have alwaysbeen in the forefront of

Nation building by creatingbetter Travel and Tourismopportunities in a region.Northern Railway has effec-tively contributed towardsPrime Minister’s “Digital India”initiative under the visionaryleadership of Minister ofRailways of turning many

Railway stations over the zoneinto platforms for Digital inclu-sion by providing free Wi-Fiservice. In this regard 15 sta-tions on the Kalka-Shimla HillRailways, a UNESCO WorldHeritage Site have been turnedinto free Wi-Fi zones.

Earlier this facility wasavailable only at 03 stations,Kalka, Shimla and Solan in thesection. Now the Wi-Fi facil-ity is available at all the stations

coming under this Hill Railwaywhich include Barog,Dharampur Himachal,Gumman, Koti, KumarhattiDagshai, Sonwara, Taksal,Kandaghat, Salogra, Knoh,Kathleghat, Shoghi, Tara Devi,Jutogh and Summerhill.

The Broadband InternetConnectivity has been madelive with ‘RailWire’ Wi-Fi byRailTel, which is a Mini RatnaCPSU under the Ministry ofRailways.

RailTel has successfullyprovided high speed Wi-Fi(Wireless Fidelity) at 746 sta-tions across India catering to

more than 08 million users permonth. The PSU provides oneof the largest and fastest pub-lic Wi-Fi networks of the world.Designed to offer users the bestInternet experience, RailWireWi-Fi is available to any userwho has a smartphone withworking mobile connectionfor KYC considerations.

Explaining the modalitiesof how to use the free RailWireWi-Fi facility at the stations,Puneet Chawla, CMD/RailTelsaid that the users have toswitch on the Wi-Fi mode inthe smartphone and select theRailWire Wi-Fi network.

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The Reserve Bank onThursday deferred the

implementation of the lasttranche of CapitalConservation Buffer (CCB) bya year, a move that wouldleave about estimated �37,000crore capital in the hands ofbanks.

This would help banksincrease lending by over �3.5lakh crore by leveraging tentimes of the capital.

“It has been decided todefer the implementation of thelast tranche of 0.625 per cent ofCCB from March 31, 2019 toMarch 31, 2020,” the RBI saidin a notification.

Accordingly, minimum

capital conservation ratios of2.5 per cent would be applica-ble from on March 31, 2020.

Currently, the CCB ofbanks stands at 1.875 per centof the core capital. The CCB isthe capital buffer that bankshave to accumulate in normaltimes to be used for offsettinglosses during periods of stress.

It was introduced after the2008 global financial crisis toimprove the ability of banks towithstand adverse economicconditions.

Further, it said, the pre-specified trigger for lossabsorption through conver-sion or write-down of addi-tional tier 1 instruments willremain at 5.5 per cent of risk-weighted asset (RWA) and willrise to 6.125 per cent of RWAson March 31, 2020.

The decision to defer CCBwas taken in November 19 cru-cial meeting of central board ofdirectors.

The Board, however, decid-ed to retain the capital ade-quacy ratio or CRAR at 9 percent.

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An initiative to bring IndianIT companies and Chinese

enterprises closer on a singleartificial intelligence-enabledplatform — SIDCOP — waslaunched on Thursday, theCommerce Ministry said.

The Sino-Indian DigitalCollaboration Plaza (SIDCOP)is a partnership between theNational Association ofSoftware & ServicesCompanies (Nasscom) andmunicipal Governments ofGuiyang and Dalian in China.

A joint venture, comprisingan Indian and a Chinese com-pany, has been tasked with run-ning the platform, the ministrysaid in a statement Thursday.

It said domestic IT enter-prises are renowned for theirexpertise in business transfor-mation and operational opti-misation by using IT tools incomplex business environ-ments.

“SIDCOP, which is aboundary-less marketplace,offers this opportunity forChinese enterprises in order toassist them in operational opti-misation and adopting indus-try best practices in businesssolutions,” it said.

This platform could beuseful to connect with topproviders from India and helpChinese enterprises source theright solution providers fortheir projects, it added.

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Union minister RaviShankar Prasad on

Thursday said every spec-trum was allocated throughauction during his tenure asTelecom Minister and willlook into the anomalies point-ed out by the CAG in spec-trum allocation of 2015.

“Every spectrum was allo-cated through auction,”Prasad said on sidelines on anNIC event when asked aboutthe shortcomings found byCAG in 2015 spectrum allo-cation.

When specifically askedthat issue raised by theComptroller and the AuditorGeneral (CAG) pertains tomicrowave access spectrum,Prasad said “I will look intoit”.

Microwave access (MWA)spectrum is allocated to tele-com operators for short dis-tances to provide mobile ser-vices.

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World number ones Novak Djokovic andSimona Halep were named top seeds onThursday for next week's Australian Open,

with 23-time major winner Serena Williams lurkingat 16 on the women's side.

Djokovic heads long-time rival Rafael Nadal anddefending champion Roger Federer, with young-gunAlexander Zverev seeded four as he targets a maid-en Grand Slam title.

The Serbian world number one is aiming to makehistory by claiming a record seventh Australian Opencrown when the tournament starts at Melbourne Parkon Monday, as is Swiss legend Federer.

The pair faces a stern challenge from Zverev, thetorch-bearer for the next generation who has so farfailed to get beyond the quarter-finals at any major.

With world number five Juan Martin del Potromissing through injury, South Africa's KevinAnderson is elevated to fifth seed with last year's beat-en finalist Marin Cilic at six.

Halep takes the top seeding among the womencourtesy of her world number one ranking, but sheenters the tournament with only one match in fourmonths under her belt after an injury lay off.

The Romanian, the beaten finalist last year, isreturning from a herniated disc and was bundled outof the Sydney International at the first hurdle.

Denmark's defending champion CarolineWozniacki, is seeded three, one behind Germany'sAngelique Kerber. US Open champion NaomiOsaka is at four while Sloane Stephens, who alsoslumped out of Sydney early, is at five.

Overshadowing them all is the mighty Williams,who last played the tournament in 2017 when shewon while eight weeks pregnant.

The 37-year-old enters the tournament seeded16, but is the hot favourite to claim a record-equalling24th Grand Slam.

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In-form Prajnesh Gunneswaraninched closer to his maiden Grand

Slam appearance with anotherstraight-set win but Ankita Rainaand Ramkumar Ramanathan wereousted from the Australian OpenQualifiers after suffering narrowdefeats, here on Thursday.

Prajnesh, seeded sixth, got thebetter of Spain's Enrique LopezPerez 6-3, 6-3 in the men's singlessecond round.

"I played a better match thanyesterday and remained solidthroughout. I did the right things,attacked when I got chances.Looking forward to the final roundtomorrow," he added.

The world number 112 will nexttake on Japan's Yosuke Watanaki,

ranked 192 in the world.If Prajnesh wins Friday's match,

it will be his first main draw com-petition at a Grand Slam. InjuredYuki Bhambri had played in all fourGrand Slam main draws in 2018.

Placed 132 in the world rank-ings, Ramkumar played a very closematch before losing 7-5 5-7 6-7(6)to Germany's Rudolf Molleker,ranked 207.

In the women's singles, AsianGames Bronze medallist Ankitaalso had a one-set advantage butwent down 6-4 2-6 4-6 to Spain's29th seed Paula Badosa Gibert,world number 142.

Meanwhile in the practicematch, Novak Djokovic exposedAndy Murray's frailties in a practicematch with the Scot calling it a daywhile losing 6-1, 4-1.

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Petra Kvitova sent defendingchampion Angelique Kerber

packing from the rain-affectedSydney International onThursday to book a semi-finalspot and get an edge over herrival heading into the AustralianOpen next week.

It was always going to be atight match with the pair tied 6-6 in 12 previous meetings.

Kvitova kept the pressure onand got a crucial break in gamefour of the second set and therewas no way back for Kerber whomeekly surrendered 6-4, 6-1.

Her reward is a clash withBelarusian qualifier AliaksandraSasnovich, who beatSwitzerland's Timea Bacsinszky— on the comeback trail after a14-month winless spell — 6-3, 6-3.

Australia's Ashleigh Bartyfollowed up her giant-killingwins over world number oneSimona Halep and formerFrench Open champion JelenaOstapenko by easily accountingfor 10th seeded Belgian Elise

Mertens 6-3, 6-3.The 22-year-old is now on

a six-match win streak, datingback to her career's biggest titleat the WTA Elite Trophy inZhuhai.

She will play seventh seedKiki Bertens who blasted pastYulia Putintseva 6-2, 6-2 for aplace in the final.

In the men's draw, veteranAndreas Seppi derailed top seedStefanos Tsitsipas' title hopes.

Seppi, 14 years older than

his 20-year-old Greek oppo-nent battled back for a gutsy 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 win.

Seppi will now play thirdseeded Argentine DiegoSchwartzman, who needed tofight hard to beat YoshihitoNishioka 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7/1)

In other quarter-final action,fifth seeded teenager Alex DeMinaur continued his strongstart to the season with a 7-6(7/4), 6-3 victory over fellowAustralian Jordan Thompson.

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Last year's Australian Openfinalist Marin Cilic round-

ed off his preparations for thisyear's edition in style onThursday, winning his secondmatch in as many days at theKooyong Classic.

With the first Grand Slamof the season starting onMonday, every opportunity isimportant for the Croatian,who went down in a battle toRoger Federer in theMelbourne Park decider in2018.

The world number sevenbeat Spain's Fernando Verdasco6-4, 6-4, backing up his three-set victory a day before overworld No 6 Kevin Anderson.

Earlier, American Jack Socklost to fast-rising Canadianteenager Denis Shapovalov 6-2, 3-6, 10-7 after a final setplayed as a 10-point tiebreak —the format which will be usedat the Australian Open fromMonday.

Under the rules, the firstplayer to win at least 10 pointsby a two-point margin takes the

match.Ahead of the Australian

Open last year, Sock was at acareer-high eighth in the worldrankings, but after a horror sea-son he has plunged outside thetop 100 and is desperate to turnit around.

His form slump has beendramatic. He played 31 singlesmatches in 2018, winning amere nine.

Shapovalov, 19, made upfor lost time after losing in thefirst round at Auckland thisweek and then crossing theTasman to squeeze into theKooyong draw as a late entry.

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Vinicius Junior starred and RealMadrid steadied the ship as a 3-

0 win over Leganes put them on thebrink of the Copa del Rey quarter-finals.

Vinicius, the 18-year-old Brazilian signed byMadrid last summer, capped an electric display atthe Santiago Bernabeu with a stunning volley, histhird goal for the club and the team's third of thenight.

By then, Sergio Ramos had converted a first-halfpenalty and Lucas Vazquez doubled the advantageto set Madrid on their way to a much-needed firstvictory of 2019.

It will take a seismic comeback for Leganes tooverturn the deficit in next week's second leg butmore important to coach Santiago Solari was therhythm regained, following two La Liga games with-out a victory.

Vinicius was the shining light, however. Thestriker was alive to every ball in the final third andhis finish, a sweet shot with his body off balance, wasa triumph for technical talent.

Madrid was the beneficiaries of a marginal deci-sion of penalty this time as Alvaro Odriozola tum-bled out of a tussle with Gerard Gumbau and Ramosmade no mistake.

Madrid doubled their lead in the second halfwhen Karim Benzema latched onto an underhit back-pass from Bustinza and teed up Vinicius. He slid inVazquez to finish.

Vinicius then got the goal his performancedeserved as Odriozola floated a cross to the back post.Back-pedalling, the teenager adjusted his feet beforeswivelling into an acrobatic shot, the ball flying intoleft-hand corner.

Earlier, Antoine Griezmann helped AtleticoMadrid edge towards the last eight as they took avaluable away goal from a 1-1 draw with Girona.

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Holders Manchester City canlook forward to defending

the League Cup in next month'sfinal at Wembley as GabrielJesus struck four goals in a 9-0thrashing of Burton Albion intheir semi-final, first leg.

Kevin de Bruyne,Oleksandr Zinchenko, PhilFoden, Kyle Walker and RiyadMahrez were also on targetagainst Nigel Clough's LeagueOne side as City ensured theirvisit to the Pirelli Stadium onJanuary 23 is a mere formality.

After also thrashingRotherham 7-0 in the FA Cupwith a much-changed side, Pep

Guardiola was able to againhand a rest to a number of hiskey players but named a strongside with De Bruyne continuinghis comeback from injury.

And the Belgian set the tonefor the evening by heading Cityinto a fifth-minute lead as hetimed his run into the box per-fectly to head home DavidSilva's cross.

It took City until the halfhour mark to double theiradvantage, but a glut of threegoals in seven minutes followedto put the tie to bed before thebreak.

Jesus headed home his firstfrom close range after BradleyCollins had denied Leroy Sane

before the Brazilian slottedhome Silva's cushioned pass viathe inside of the post. City did-n't need any luck, but still got

some whenZ i n c h e n k o ' sintended cross thenlooped over Collinsto make it 4-0.

Other sidesmay have slacked

off in the second period, butwith competitions for places sofierce among Guardiola's side,the hosts were ruthless to matchthe Catalan's biggest ever win asa coach.

Jesus powered home aheader to complete his secondhat-trick of the season.

De Bruyne was thenreplaced by home favouriteFoden, who was surprisingly leftout the stating XI, just before thehour mark.

It took just four minutesfor the 18-year-old to score histhird City goal as he profitedfrom the rebound after Collinsdid well to parry Jesus's firsteffort.

Jesus did soon have hisfourth with a delicate finishfrom Sane's cross and City'sdominance was summed upwhen right-back Kyle Walkerstrode forward to fire home hisside's eighth of the evening.

Mahrez made it nine sevenminutes from time.

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Paris Saint-Germain saw their 43-match winning run in domestic cup

competitions come to an end as ThomasTuchel's men suffered a shock 2-1 homedefeat by Ligue 1 bottom club Guingampin the French League Cup quarter-finals.

The visitors were awardedthree penalties at the Parc desPrinces in a dramatic secondhalf, as PSG failed in their bidfor a sixth straight League Cuptitle.

It was only a second defeat in all com-petitions this season for the capital club,after a 3-2 loss to Liverpool at Anfield inthe Champions League last September.Guingamp, who have won just two leaguegames all season, join Monaco, Strasbourgand Bordeaux in the semi-finals.

Neymar broke the deadlock in the63rd minute after Thuram missed fromthe spot, but Guingamp rallied, withThuram's successful injury-time penaltysnatching victory with a shootout loom-ing.

"We played with too much confidence,we were not hungry enough to finish thematch," admitted PSG coach ThomasTuchel. "It's very hard to lose with threepenalties. I was angry with the second one,I can see the VAR 100 times, it's not apenalty."

Earlier on Wednesday, Monaco goal-keeper Loic Badiashile scored the winningpenalty in a marathon shootout againstRennes.

Monaco, runners-up in the past twoseasons, salvaged a 1-1

draw after normal timethanks to Rony Lopes'

second-half equalis-er, beforeBadiashile's heroicsas he also saved

three spot-kicks.T h i e r r y

Henry's young teamare floundering inLigue 1, sitting sec-ond-bottom andfive points fromsafety, but man-

aged to keeptheir coach'shopes of a firsttrophy alive atthe StadeLouis II.

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Serena Williams hasbeen handed a chal-

lenging draw in her questfor a record-equalling24th Grand Slam title atthe Australian Open,starting with Germany'sTatjana Maria in the firstround.

The American, seed-ed 16, is gunning tomatch Margaret Court'srecord of singles majorsand claim an eighthAustralian Open crown.

The 37-year-oldenters the tournamentseeded 16, but has provedin the past that suchnumbers mean little toher.

But Williams is in atough half of the draw

and could meet worldnumber one SimonaHalep in round four, andif she gets through thatKarolina Pliskova in thelast eight.

Before thosepotential ties,either Chinesewildcard PengShui orCanadian EugenieBouchard would awaitWilliams in the secondround.

Halep, who entersthe tournament havingplayed just one game infour months after a backinjury, was handed achance to avengeEstonia's Kaia Kanepi,who beat her in the firstround of the US Open inAugust.

If she comes throughthat dangerous openingshowdown, she couldmeet Venus Williams inround three.

Defendingchampion andthird seedC a r o l i n eWozniacki startsagainst Alison

Van Uytvanck of Belgiumand could meet 2008champion MariaSharapova in round three.

"Coming back asdefending champion, it'ssomething I alwaysdreamed of. I feel at homehere. These courts aresuited for me. I'm enjoy-ing every minute," saidthe Dane at Thursday'sdraw, while paying tributeto Williams.

"Serena is the great-est player to have playedthe game. Her experi-ences have been alearning experiencefor me. It's be funthough as well. She hasa baby now! It's amazingbeing back on tour sosoon."

The 2016 winnerAngelique Kerber, seededtwo, begins her drawagainst Slovenia's PolonaHercog and could meetfifth seed Wozniacki inthe semis.

Japan's NaomiOsaka, the US Openchampion, kicks off hertournament againstPoland's Magda Linetteand is in line to meetAustralia's DariaGavrilova round two.

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World number one NovakDjokovic will start his bid to

win a record seventh AustralianOpen title next week against aqualifier following Thursday'sdraw.

The Serb had a magnificent2018, making an astonishingclimb back from outside theworld's top 20 in June, winning

Wimbledon and the US Open onthe way to reclaiming the numberone ranking in November.

He will start his drive to makehistory against a yet-to-be-decid-ed qualifier and could meetFrance's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in thesecond round.

Champion Roger Federer,seeded three and also gunning fora seventh Melbourne title, starts histitle defence against world number99 Denis Istomin and could meet

Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals."He (Djokovic) continues to

challenge me. I played him in hisprime when he was virtuallyunbeatable. It was important not toget frustrated by it. I always enjoymy matches against him," 20-timeGrand Slam winner Federer said at

the draw."We are both natural attacking

players. We are aggressive. He is upthere with Nadal and Hewitt theymake me rethink my game. I liketo play attacking tennis, so I'vecome full circle."

Second seeded Nadal beginsagainst Australian JamesDuckworth, fourth seed AlexanderZverev faces Slovenian AljazBedene while last year's runner-upMarin Cilic has a tricky encounterwith Australian Bernard Tomic.

A highlight first round clashwill see Australia's unseeded NickKyrgios up against Canada's big-serving 16th seed Milos Raonic,with the winner facing either StanWawrinka or Ernests Gulbis.

Three-time Grand Slam win-ner Andy Murray has a tough clashwith 22nd-seeded SpaniardRoberto Bautista Agut as hereturns from a hip injury.

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Australia all-rounder MitchellMarsh has been ruled of the

first ODI against India due to ill-ness and the home team hasdrafted uncapped AshtonTurner as his cover.

Marsh has gastritis and hasspent the past two days in hos-pital.

Coach Justin Langer saidMarsh will not play in the firstODI against India here onSaturday and will monitor theall-rounder's progress ahead ofthe final two matches inAdelaide (January 15) andMelbourne (January 18).

Langer said the PerthScorchers player Turner's abili-

ty to finish off an innings withthe bat and his ability to createpressure with his lightning run-ning between the wickets werewhat got him the nod.

"That might sound like thedumbest thing you've everheard but you watch AshtonTurner, the way he runsbetween wickets is unbeliev-able. He's such a great athlete,it puts so much pressure (on theopposition)," he was quoted assaying by Cricket Australiaofficial website'cricket.Com.Au'.

The 25-year-old Turner,who has played in three T20International matches in 2017,has been in good form in BigBash League.

�� 1)2�()�3+�

Bengaluru will host the first match of Australia's limited overstour of India with a T20 International on February 24, the BCCI

announced on Thursday.The second T20I will be played in Visakhapatnam on

February 27, followed by five ODIs.The first ODI will be held in Hyderabad on March 2, followed

by matches in Nagpur (March 5), Ranchi (March 8), Mohali (March10) and New Delhi (March 13).

Both T20Is will be night matches starting at 7pm, and all fiveODIs will be day-night affairs, starting at 1:30 pm, according to aBCCI release.

For Australia, this tour is set to be their last international assign-ment before the World Cup which starts on May 30 in England.

For India, this series will be followed by a home assignmentagainst Zimbabwe, before the players head into the IPL ahead ofthe World Cup.

�� 1)2�()�3+�

The celebrated M C Mary Kom'sunprecedented sixth world title

triumph has propelled her to thenumber one position in theInternational Boxing Association's(AIBA) latest world rankings.

The diminutive Manipuribecame the most successful boxerin world championships' history

when she claimed the 48kg categorytop honours in November last yearin Delhi.

In the updated rankings put outby AIBA, Mary Kom is placed topof the charts in the weight divisionwith 1700 points.

The 36-year-old will have tojump to 51kg in pursuit of her 2020Olympic dream as 48kg is not yetincluded in the Games roster.

The mother-of-three enjoyed astellar 2018, picking up Goldmedals at the CommonwealthGames and a tournament in Poland.She also won Silver at the presti-gious Strandja Memorial inBulgaria.

Among other Indians, PinkiJangra is placed eighth in the 51kgcategory list.

Asian Silver-medallist Manisha

Maun holds the same position inthe 54kg category.

Former world Silver-medallistSonia Lather was placed at the sec-ond spot in the 57kg divisiondespite enduring a disappointing2018, during which she finishedmedal-less at the Asian Games.

World Bronze-medallistSimranjit Kaur (64kg), who wascrowned the national champion a

few days back, took the fourth posi-tion in her weight category.Following her was former worldchampion L Sarita Devi at the 16thspot.

India Open Gold-medallist andworld Bronze-winner LovlinaBorgohain took the fifth position inthe 69kg category.

The men's rankings have notbeen updated as yet.

��-��+�

Rishabh Pant might have created a new recordfor an Indian wicket keeper by

taking 11 catches in a Test inAustralia, but former stumperFarokh Engineer says the Delhiyoungster has a lot of technical prob-lems in his primary job, while prais-ing the left hander's batting heroics.

Engineer said Pant remindshim of his young days.

"His approach is same as M SDhoni's. But don't praise him sky-high at the moment. Encourage him.(But) He's technically so incorrect,"said the one-time flamboyant wick-et keeper batsman.

Pant had also scored a blazing hundred, thefirst by an Indian wicket keeper in Australia, inthe drawn final Test at Sydney to top his recordnumber of catches behind the stumps in the firstmatch of the series at Adelaide.

Pant's flamboyant batting exploits, however,have impressed Engineer so much that he won-dered how the Indian selectors can afford to leavehim out in favour of the seasoned Dhoni for this

year's World Cup in England."Question is, for the World Cup will you pick

Dhoni? How can you drop Pant? He has done sowell. These are the questions for theselectors —the three selectors whobetween them must have played oneand a half Tests," he said, before he wascorrected that there was a five-manselection panel now with two moreadditions to the list.

"I don't want to sound harsh. Givehim time. He (Pant) will improve. Iwish I could have a couple of timeswith him to make him a good wick-et keeper," said Engineer.

Explaining further, Engineer saidPant snatches the ball, gets up too earlyand does not move his feet.

"A good wicket keeper moves his feet, goesto the ball and does not dive all the time; uses hisfeet all the time," the Mumbai-born stumper ofthe 1960s and 1970s said.

"He's young he will learn from mistakes.Wicket- keeping is not taught, it's a natural thing.He has to iron out certain elementary things. I lovehis approach. He's such a good, natural player. Iam sure his wicket keeping will improve," he said.

�� 1)2�()�3+�

The Committee ofAdministrators chief

Vinod Rai on Thursday rec-ommended a two-ODI ban onIndia players Hardik Pandyaand KL Rahul for their con-troversial comments onwomen in a TV show but fel-low COA member DianaEdulji referred the matter tothe BCCI's legal cell.

If the ban is imposed, theduo could miss the first twomatches of a three-ODI seriesagainst Australia startingSaturday in Sydney.

"I am not convinced withHardik's explanation and Ihave recommended a two-match ban for both players.However the final decisionwill be taken once Diana givesher go ahead," Rai said.

Pandya's comments on'Koffee with Karan ' were

slammed as misogynistic andsexist, prompting the CoA toissue a show cause notice onWednesday. The all-rounder,in response, said he was sin-cerely regretful and would notrepeat the behaviour.

"Diana has sought legalopinion whether the duo canbe banned. So, obviously adecision will be taken once shegives her nod. As far as I am

concerned, the comments werecrass, in bad taste and unac-ceptable," Rai said.

Edulji also sought theopinion of BCCI acting pres-ident CK Khanna, acting sec-retary Amitabh Chaudharyand treasurer AnirudhChaudhry on the issue.

Responding to her query,Anirudh recommended a sus-pension for the two and a gen-der sensitisation programmefor them.

"The players must beimmediately suspended pend-ing a proper inquiry and mustbe allowed to join the team (ifselected) only once they havegone through a proper sensi-tisation in addition to servinga ban, if imposed upon them,"he said.

Anirudh said there shouldalso be an investigation intohow the two players appearedon an entertainment show.

�� '(1)'�

Australia coach Justin Langeron Thursday said he has

never seen a batsman concen-trate as hard as CheteshwarPujara, who beats even the greatSachin Tendulkar in that aspect.

Speaking for the first timesince the visiting team's maidenTest triumph on Australian soil,Langer said Pujara's concentra-tion was a challenge for hisbowlers.

"...I have never seen a bats-man watch the ball as closely ashe (Pujara) does, and thatincludes Sachin Tendulkar andRahul Dravid. His concentrationwas a challenge. And we have tokeep getting better just like him,all our batsmen and bowlers,"Langer said.

Langer said his bowlerswere stretched to the limit in theTest series, especially inMelbourne and Sydney.

"The guys are working veryhard and they are going okay.The first innings in Melbourneand Sydney, honestly, sucked thelife out of us because when youare in the field for two days, withonly one spin bowler, that takesenergy out of the group," he saidahead of ODI series.

"We have the best spinnerand three outstanding pacebowlers, against the outstandingPujara and Kohli. So it takessome mental and physical ener-gy out. "There are new playersand new staff for these threegames, so that brings new ener-gy to the group...," he added.

�� 1)2�()�3+�

Overwhelmed by the comparisons withVirender Sehwag after his 'dream debut' in

Australia, Mayank Agarwal says he will be happyif he could do even half of what the former Indiaopener achieved in his illustrious career.

Former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar andhis personal coach Irfan Sait are among those whofeel that "there is a little bit of Sehwag" in Agarwal,who drew the flattering comparison with hisaggressive style of play.

Drafted into the squad in the middle of a well-poised series, the 27-year-old rose to the occasionwith a 77, 76 and 42 in Melbourne and Sydney,playing a crucial hand in India's maiden Test seriestriumph Down Under.

"Honestly, I am not a fan of comparisons buthe is one of the greats of Indian cricket. I just liketo go in the middle, give my best and see whatcomes out of it. Having said that, if I could do evenhalf of what he (Sehwag) did, I will be happy," theKarnataka batsman said after returning home.

Agarwal had replaced the injured Prithvi Shawin the squad and facing the likes of JoshHazlewood, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc wasas tough a challenge as he could face in his debutinnings on Boxing Day.

"Definitely, it was (special), to make my debutat the MCG and most importantly, to win the Test

series in Australia. We became the first team fromthe sub-continent to win a series in Australia.There can't be a better start than this," saidAgarwal, who finally got his opportunity afterbeing on the fringes for a long time.

Agarwal saw off the new ball with HanumaVihari on day one of the third Test before end-ing with an impressive 76 off 161 balls.

Asked about his mind-set going into theMelbourne game, Agarwal said, "I was very excit-ed that I have been called to represent India inAustralia in a well poised series. My thought wasI want to be a part of the action than sit out. WhenI got the call from the selectors, I was very excit-ed. It is a big moment for any cricketer, more soif you do that in MCG on Boxing Day."

�� '(1)'�

Veteran wicketkeeper-batsmanMahendra Singh Dhoni'sindifferent form has come

under the scanner in recent times butIndia Vice-captain Rohit Sharma onThursday backed him to the hilt, say-ing he will play a pivotal role in theWorld Cup later this year.

Rohit said besides his finishingabilities, Dhoni's mere presence lendscalmness to the team, especiallyyoungsters, and that would be crucialin a big tournament like the WorldCup, which starts May 30 in England.

"Over the years we have seenwhat sort of presence he (Dhoni) hasin the dressing room and on the field.With him being around, there is asense of calmness in the group,which is very important, and also abit of help to the captain because hestands behind the stumps," Rohit saidahead of the first ODI againstAustralia on Saturday.

"He has captained India for somany years and been successful. Sohe being around with the team alwaysis helpful. He is like a guiding lightaround the group," he said.

Dhoni's much-vaunted finishingskills are under scrutiny but Rohitsaid the former captain has it in himto continue being useful with the bat.

"...Batting down the order, gettingus through the line, his finishingtouch is very important and he hasfinished so many games for us. Hiscalmness and advice, what he thinksabout the game and what we should

do right now is very important."His presence around the group

is a massive factor for us," said the 31-year-old right handed batsman.

Rohit said young bowlers likeYuzvendra Chahal and KuldeepYadav can benefit from Dhoni's pres-ence behind the stumps.

"Chahal and Kuldeep are bothdoing really well so somebody likeDhoni standing behind the stumpsand helping those guys about whatthe batsman is trying to do, it makesa huge difference I think.

"These guys started playing for

India in 2017 and since then theyhave done really well in and outsideIndia. And one of the reasons for thatis MS and how he has guided thesetwo guys in the middle about how tokeep things tight and field place-ments.

"He has played a massive role eversince the time he has left captaincy,"he added.

(��%&��Vice-captain Rohit Sharma on

Thursday said India's World Cupsquad is more or less settled but

nobody should take his place forgranted as poor form could lead toomissions.

Rohit said there could be one ortwo changes in the squad, which willtake on Australia and New Zealandin upcoming ODI series, dependingon poor form and injury in the com-ing months.

"The squad that plays these 13ODIs is more or less the same squadthat will go to the World Cup. Therewill be one or two changes, keepingin mind the form and injury con-cerns over the next few months,"

Rohit said ahead of India's first ODIagainst Australia.

"We played a lot of cricketthroughout the year, so injuries arebound to happen. And there will besome concerns about form and fit-ness. I don't see there will be anydrastic changes to the squad," headded.

Talking about the slots in theplaying eleven, he said, "...More orless, the slots are pretty much takenby individuals but having said that,I feel everything will depend on theform of each player. Nobody is guar-anteed that flight to England as yet.

"I would not say every individ-ual that is going to be part of the nextfew series would be playing theWorld Cup. You have got to perform.But there won't be drastic changes,"said the stylish top-order batsman.

India last played ODIs inAustralia in 2016, and lost the five-match series 1-4. Their top-ordercomprising Rohit, Shikhar Dhawanand Virat Kohli had excelled backthen too, but the middle order didnot support them enough.

Rohit was confident that thoseshortcomings have been overcomeespecially in preparation for theWorld Cup.

"It's not about one or two indi-viduals, it's about 11 of us con-tributing, including the 7 or 8 bat-ters that will be playing. Individualsmay win one or two games but towin the championship, the battingunit needs to come together and atsome stage put their hands up andsay 'I'm going to take that challengeand make the team get through thefinishing line.

"There will be times when yourtop-order fails and the middle-orderhas to take the responsibility andthey know that. I think they havedone that in the last series we haveplayed, in the Asia Cup, and alsoagainst the West Indies in India," headded.

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