The Pioneer · Abhibus.com were an all-expense paid trip to Goa, an iPhone or an e-bike. AbhiBus...

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Curfew was imposed inGuwahati and Assam Rifles

jawans were deployed inTripura as the North-EastStates plunged into chaos overthe hugely emotive Citizenship(Amendment) Bill, officialssaid. Three Army columnswere put on standby in Assamand Tripura.

Curfew was imposed inGuwahati from 6.15 pm onWednesday till 7 am onThursday. Internet serviceswere suspended in 10 districtsof Assam for 24 hours, begin-ning 7 pm on Wednesday,amid massive protests over theCitizenship (Amendment) Bill.

Amid the spiraling protestsin the North-East, the Centreis rushing 5,000 Central para-military personnel for law andorder duties in containing theprotests.

Tens of thousands of anti-CAB protesters thronged thestreets of Assam onWednesday, clashing withpolice and plunging the Stateinto chaos of a magnitude notseen since the violent six-yearmovement by students thatended with the signing of theAssam accord in August 1985.

The protests were sponta-neous and not organised underany banner. The police firedtear gas shells and baton-charged the protesters, whoalso sought to fight back.

According to unofficialaccounts, hundreds of protest-ers have been detained inGuwahati and other places likeDibrugarh and Jorhat.

A large number of agitat-ed students blocked the roadnear the Secretariat complexand pulled down the barricades

erected on the arterial GSRoad, provoking police action.

Police burst teargas shellsand baton-charged the pro-testers, who were seen lobbingback the shells at uniformedmen. They also damaged astage erected on the road forPrime Minister NarendraModi’s proposed summit meet-ing with his Japanese counter-part Shinzo Abe on Sunday.

They further pulled downhoardings and banners adver-

tising the Government’s welfareschemes and made a bonfire ofthose before the Secretariat.

Anti-CAB agitators alsoclashed with police inDibrugarh where rubber bul-lets and tear gas shells werefired to break up protests. Ajournalist was reported injuredin a stone throwing incident inDibrugarh.

Police shooed away agita-tors who blocked road and railtraffic near Chaulkhowa in

Dibrugarh district. Security personnel also

fired rubber bullets and baton-charged the protesters at Moranin Dibrugarh district.

Despite the absence of anybanner by a political or studentoutfit, spontaneous protestswere reported in Jorhat,Golaghat, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia,Sivasagar, Bongaigaon, Nagaon,Sonitpur and many other dis-tricts. A motorcycle rally wasorganised against the CAB in

Chief Minister SarbanandaSonowal’s hometown Chabua.

Gauhati University, CottonUniversity and DibrugarhUniversity postponed exami-nations scheduled forWednesday. Their campuseswere deserted with hardly anystudent around. Discardedtyres and wooden logs were seton fire by protesters as chaosprevailed on highways, dis-rupting vehicular movement.

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The controversial Citizenship(Amendment) Bill (CAB) is

just one step away from becom-ing an Act after the Rajya Sab-ha on Wednesday passed it125-105, bringing down thecurtain on a seven-hour pro-ceedings marked by sharp exc-hanges between the Oppositionand treasury Benches.

The Bill will now becomean Act after Presidential noti-fication, but it is bound to facejudicial challenge. Congressveterans Kapil Sibal and PChidambaram made it clearthat the next battler will befought in the Supreme Court toprevent the Government fromimplementing the divisive leg-islation.

The Bill seeks to grantIndian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan,Bangladesh and Afghanistanescaping religious persecutionthere. The Bill was passed inthe Lok Sabha on Monday.Home Minister Amit Shahrejected the Opposition chargeduring the debate that the Billis against Muslims and saidthey have nothing to fear.

The Bill was passed with125 votes in favour and 105against it. Besides BJP, its alliessuch as JD(U) and SAD, thelegislation was supported byAIADMK, BJD, TDP and YSR-Congress.

Earlier, the House rejectedmotions to send the Bill to aselect committee of the House

with 124 members votingagainst it as compared to 99 inits favour. Shiv Sena which hasvoted in favour of theGovernment in the Lok Sabhaboycotted the voting in UpperHouse after participating in thedebate.

While Shah rejected theOpposition’s charge that theCAB was anti-Muslim, sayingit did not take away the citi-zenship of any Indian Muslimand only seeks to give thesame to persecuted minoritiesof three neighbouring coun-tries, Congress leaders Sibaland Chidambaram tore theGovernment claims point bypoint on whether it violates thebasic features of IndianConstitution.

Congress president SoniaGandhi said the passage of theCitizenship Amendment Billmarks a “dark day” in consti-tutional history of India and a“victory of narrow mindedand bigoted forces” over thecountry’s pluralism. In a state-ment, she also reiteratedCongress’ determination to berelentless in its struggle againstwhat she alleged was the BJP’s“dangerously divisive andpolarising agenda”.

Replying to the debate onthe Bill in the Rajya Sabha,Shah said the need to bring thisBill would not have arisen hadPartition not taken place on thebasis of religion. “We haveincluded six religions. There isno appreciation. The only focusis on Muslims.... Are Muslims

in Pakistan, Bangladesh andAfghanistan minorities.... Isn’tit secularism?

“Will it be secularism onlyif Muslims are included? As peryour definition, only if Muslimscome, then it will be secular-ism,” said Shah, adding that inthe last five years, over 500Muslims have been accordedIndian citizenship.

Countering the Oppos-ition’s charge that the Bill isunconstitutional, Shah saidArticle 14 of the Constitutiondoes not prohibit Parliamentfrom making laws in thisregard if there is reasonableclassification. “There is a spe-cific class. We are taking allminorities,” Shah said.

Shah said the Bill seeks tocorrect the wrong done by thepartition of the country on reli-gious lines.

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The Delhi Government onWednesday suspended free

“Mukhyamantri Teerth Yatra”scheme for senior citizens ofthe city after it said the IndianRailway Catering and TourismCorporation (IRCTC) can-celled scheduled tripsDecember 10 onwards. ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal saidhe will talk to the Centre toprovide trains for the scheme.

Deputy Chief MinisterManish Sisodia said the schemehas been suspended for thetime being as the IRCTC con-veyed to the Delhi Governmentthat rakes were not available forthe scheme.

The IRCTC in a letter tothe Delhi Government hasconveyed that the proposedtrains under the scheme standcancelled from December 10onwards due to non availabil-

ity of rakes with the Railways,Sisodia said.

Following the develop-ment, Kejriwal tweeted inHindi, “The pilgrimage ofelderly should not stop. Theyare very happy because of pil-grimage. Those whose ticketswere booked must be very sadafter cancellation of the trains.But you need not be disheart-ened. I will definitely get it

resumed by talking to theCentre, although it may takesome time.”

“I will meet the RailwaysMinister Piyush Goyal andIRCTC officials and try toresolve the issue of non-avail-ability of the trains for thescheme,” Sisodia said.

Meanwhile, NorthernRailway said foggy weatherconditions prevailing in north

India adversely affected trainoperations and punctuality.Due to this, many mail/expressand passenger trains are run-ning late and delayed trains areaffecting availability of rakes forscheduled train. In order toensure the punctual running oftrains, extra rakes are beingutilised to run the scheduledtrains. A number of spare rakeshave also been pressed into service.

“The Assembly elections inJharkhand are underway fromNovember 30, 2019 toDecember 20, 2019. The rakesare being utilised for the move-ment of paramilitary from var-ious parts of the country toJharkhand to ensure conduct ofsafe and secure elections,” arailway official said.

“In addition, a number ofrakes are also being utilised forde-induction of the forces fromKarnataka after completion ofthe by-election. Rakes are alsobeing utilised for the annualchangeover of troops of BSFfrom Eastern frontier to We-stern frontier and vice-a-versa,”the official added.

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The Union Cabinet onWednesday approved revi-

sion in the funding pattern ofDelhi Metro’s three prioritycorridors of Phase-IV. As perthe revision in the funding pat-tern the Centre and the DelhiGovernment will share theland acquisition cost for MetroPhase-IV in the ratio of 50:50.

The approval is applicableto three priority corridors ofPhase-IV — Aerocity toTughlakabad, RK Ashram toJanakpuri (West), andMukundpur to Maujpur. Delhiwill be the first city where theCentre will be bearing the landcost with the State Governmentin a Metro project.

“This is in pursuance of theamendments to Metro RailPolicy 2017 applicable only forDelhi, in compliance to the

Supreme Court orderSeptember 6, 2019,” said offi-cials of the Ministry of Housingand Urban Affairs.

Top sources said the totalcost of land and resettlementwill be �2,447.19 crore for theMetro Phase IV.

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The Union Cabinet on We-dnesday gave its approval

to National HighwaysAuthority of India (NHAI) toset up infrastructure invest-ment trusts (InvITs) to mon-etise highway assets.

Detailed report on P5

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Three kg onions trumping afree trip to Goa, sounds

incredible but is true.With onion prices at all-

time high in most parts ofIndia, a leading online busticketing marketplace includedthe commodity in the list ofprizes for customers bookingthe ticket on its platform.

Other prizes onAbhibus.com were an all-expense paid trip to Goa, aniPhone or an e-bike.

AbhiBus was surprised tofind that more people were opt-ing for onions than a trip toGoa.

AbhiBus decided to makethis interesting offer, as theonion prices in some parts ofthe country crossed �200 a kgand social media went in over-drive with memes and jokes onsurging rates.

More than 54 per centopted for onions as their prizeever since the offer was madeon December 10. The Goaoption received 46 per centresponse.

“That customers are willingto place their bets on onionsover trip to Goa or other aspi-rational options, reflects howthe pod shaped their dailylives,” Abhibus said.

Before this, wheneverAbhiBus ran an offer that hadGoa trip as an option, it alwaystrumped all other prizes. But it’sthe first-time that consumershave relegated Goa to the sec-ond spot.

Every day AbhiBus willannounce 20 lucky winnersand deliver the ‘jackpot’ (3 kgonions) to their homes.

According to the company,anyone booking tickets onwww.abhibus.com tillDecember 15 can enter the

contest by selecting their pre-ferred option.

“AbhiBus is constantlyinnovating to provide cus-tomers with solutions andoffers that meet their ever-changing needs, includingmaking travel a fun and enjoy-able. Our priority is to keep the

customer in the centre to offerstrong customer support,” saidRohit Sharma, COO AbhiBus.

“The contest around onionis an example of the customer-centric approach and theresponse we are getting testifiesour ability to meet customerneeds,” he said.

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Non Banking FinanceCompanies (NBFC) and

Housing Finance Companies,who are beset with serious liq-uidity crunch, have somethingto cheer about. The UnionCabinet on Wednesdayapproved “Partial CreditGuarantee Scheme” fromPublic Sector Banks to provideloans or resolve their tempo-rary liquidity or cash flow mis-

match issues. The Cabinet meeting

chaired by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi also approvedamendments to Insolvency Actand infusing additional �5,300crore capital into IIFCLthrough recapitalisation Bonds.Another �10,000 crore will be infused in 2020-21, sources said.

The proposed GovernmentGuarantee support and resul-tant pool buyouts will helpaddress NBFCs/HFCs resolvetheir temporary liquidity orcash flow mismatch issues, andenable them to continue con-tributing to credit creation andproviding last mile lending toborrowers, thereby spurringeconomic growth.

Continued on Page 4

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The Inner Line Permit (ILP)regime has been extended

to Manipur with PresidentRam Nath Kovind signing theorder on Wednesday. The deci-sion comes two days afterUnion Home Minister AmitShah announced in the LokSabha that the ILP would beextended to Manipur to allayfears of the people of the N-EState about the Citizenship(Amendment) Bill, 2019.

To visit the ILP-regimeStates, outsiders, includingpeople from other States of thecountry, need to take permis-sion. There are also protectionfor the locals with regards tolands, jobs and other facilities.

Manipur is the fourth Stateafter Arunachal Pradesh,Nagaland and Mizoram wherethe ILP is applicable. The ILPregime is applicable under theBengal Eastern FrontierRegulation, 1873. In terms ofSection 2 of the Bengal EasternFrontier Regulations, 1873, cit-izens of other States require ILPfor visiting these three States.

The main objective of theILP system is to prevent set-tlement of outsiders in thethree States in order to protectthe indigenous population.There have been widespreadprotests in the N-E against theCitizenship Amendement Billfollowing which Shahannounced that the proposedlaw will not be applicable in ILPregime States and areas gov-erned under the Sixth Scheduleof the Constitution, underwhich autonomous councilsand districts were created incertain tribal areas in Assam,Meghalaya and Tripura.

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Universal Health CoverageDay is commemorated

each year on December 12.Universal health coverage ispromoted as an instrument tohelp advance the more broad-ly conceived human right tohealth, which is based upon anumber of international agree-ments, or widely affirmedinternational documents.

Under the United NationsSustainable DevelopmentGoals, all UN member stateshave agreed to try to achieveuniversal health coverage by2030. This includes financialrisk protection, access to qual-ity essential health-care servicesand access to safe, effective,quality and affordable essentialmedicines and vaccines for all.

The theme of WorldHealth Organisation for thisyear is universal health cover-age. Universal health coverageday is celebrated and is pro-moted by the World HealthOrganisation to provide afford-able, quality health care by allnations to their citizens.

Every person irrespectiveof caste, creed, race, region, andreligion needs health, educationand nutrition for growth.Indian scriptures mention thatall should be healthy and dis-ease free and none should suf-fer in any way.

A Chinese philosopheronce said that health is thebiggest right. According to anArabian proverb where there ishealth, there is hope and wherethere is hope, there is every-thing. The Romans believedthat prevention of illness wasmore important than cure of

illness. Hence, good healthshould be the highest priorityof all mankind.

Although progress is beingmade by countries in all regionsof the world, millions of peo-ple still have no access at all tohealth care. Health is not onlyan asset but a resource too. But,our experience shows thathealth need is being pushed toa secondary position on sever-al occasions especially in poorand developing countries likeIndia. It is said that a sensibleperson never kills the henwhich lays golden eggs.

But our society and theGovernment are killing it.What is HEN? H stands forHealth, E for Education and Nfor Nutrition. The troika ofhealth, education and nutritionis being driven in a haphazardand in an uncoordinated wayin our country.

It is important for govern-ment and individuals to lookafter the health of all people tomake them more stable andstrong to complete any task eas-ily and quickly. The WHO isfocusing on universal healthcoverage, so is our government.

It is not only my experiencebut I am sure it may be yourexperience as well that in Indiathe health needs of most of thepeople are competing with thebasic human needs like food,shelter and education. In India,we are still not realising theimportance of good health andthe government is still figuringout how to keep our fellowcountrymen healthy.

To achieve this goal theGovernment of India has

implemented AyushmanBharat Yojana. The main aim ofthis programme is to improvehealth care service for the poorpeople of whole country. Themoney will not be any problemfor these needy and poor peo-ple to obtain good health care,if the situation arises.

The WHO asserts, follow-ing countless studies, thatnations which invest in uni-versal health care make a soundinvestment in their humanresource. Access to affordablehealth care will not only trulyimprove someone’s health andlife expectancy, but will alsoreduce poverty, create jobs anddrive economic growth of thenation.

The UN has adopted 17sustainable development goalsfor eliminating poverty. One ofthe goals includes providinguniversal health coverage. Theglobal coalition of hundreds oforganisations in 116 countrieshas urged the governments tomake the policy changes ingovernance so that everyone,everywhere can access qualityhealth care without been forcedinto poverty.

Health, education andnutrition are the basic founda-tion stones of any individualand of the nation. The impor-tance of universal health cov-erage is been emphasised allover the world by many organ-isations to give affordablehealth care services to the allpeople.

The Government of Indiahas started Ayushman BharatYojana, Pradhan Mantri JanArogya Yojana or National

Health Protection Schemewhich will cover 10 crore poorfamilies or approximately 50crore beneficiaries providingcoverage up to Rs five lakh perfamily per year for secondaryand tertiary care hospitalisa-tion. This scheme providescashless benefits from any pub-lic or private empanelled hos-pitals across the country.

After implementation ofthis scheme, the cost of treat-ment which usually deprivesthe poor patients from access-ing good affordable health carewill not be a problem if the sit-

uation arises. If this scheme isimplemented honestly then itwill be a milestone in healthcare services of India.

This scheme is acceptedand being implemented allover the country accepts fourstates - Delhi, Odisha, WestBengal and Telangana. Millionsof people have been benefitedfrom this scheme till date.

However according tomany mass media reports, thewidespread misuse of thisscheme has been reported par-ticularly by the private doctorsand hospitals generating the

fake bills. Nearly 3000 fraudcases have been detected tillNovember 2019 underAyushman Bharat HealthInsurance Scheme according tonational mass media reports.

The bills have been gener-ated either doing the surgerieson ghost patients or doing themultiple surgeries in samepatient or showing the fakeICU (Intensive care unit)admissions and in many otherways. There had been at least697 fake cases under thisscheme from our stateUttarakhand alone, where fine

of more than Rs one crore hasbeen imposed on these fraud-ulent hospitals. The healthfacilities in our country are notvery well evenly spread allover the country. But in generalthe health facilities are moreconcentrated in urban and inplain areas. There are places inthe country especially in hillyand remote areas where onecannot get the average qualityhealth services.

If at all they are availablethen they are available at faraway and they are relativelyexpensive for these poor peo-

ples. All these three- health,education and nutrition areinterrelated. We need money toachieve them but money canonly be earned when person ishealthy. If you are not healthythen you have to spend allearned money to gain thehealth. In such a scenarioeverybody should be healthconscious.

In India health facilities arenot comparable to the anystandard of a developed nation.In India, 50-70 per cent of thehospital expenses are borne bythe patient even in governmentfunded hospitals and almost100 per cent from their pock-et in private hospitals.

It is not only in our coun-try that medical treatmentsare becoming expensivebecause in developed nations itis even more expensive. In ourcountry most of the people aregetting the treatment after sell-ing their assets like jewellery,land, vehicle, animal and house.

Once it is sold it is difficultto buy back especially if theperson is poor and unem-ployed. Ayushman BharatYojana is a step to improvehealth care services in Indiaparticularly for poor people.Considering the socio-eco-nomic conditions of the nation,all of us stakeholders shouldwork collectively to make theAyushman Bharat Yojana suc-cessful nationwide.

(The author is anorthopaedic and spine surgeon,and the founding president ofState Chapter of IndianOrthopaedic Association)

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In a major boost for treat-ment of cancer in state, a

state of the art HyperthermicI n t r a p e r i t o n e a lChemotherapy (HIPEC)machine would be installed inthe cancer surgery depart-ment of All India Institute ofMedical Sciences (AIIMS),Rishikesh.

This machine is used forinjecting the cancer drugsdirectly into the tumour of theabdomen and when installed,the AIIMS Rishikesh wouldbecome the only hospital inthe state to have this facility.The director of AIIMSRishikesh, Professor Ravi

Kant said that unlike in con-ventional cancer chemother-apy, HIPEC delivers largedoses of cancer drugs direct-ly to the tumour cells withouthaving many side effects.

He added that all theadvanced machines for cancertreatment are either availableor will be made availablesoon as AIIMS Rishikesh iscommitted to provide worldclass treatment facilities forcancer treatment to the peo-ple of Uttarakhand. TheDirector further said that allthe three core departmentsinvolved in the treatment ofcancer patients—cancersurgery, radiation oncology,and medical oncology, are

fully functional atAIIMS Rishikeshnow.

The head ofdepartment (HoD)of department ofR a d i a t i o nOncology, ManojGupta said that sec-ond radiationmachine; the LinearA c c e l e r a t o r(LINAC) will alsobe soon installed inthe hospita l . Itwould bring downthe waiting time forthe cancer patients

who require radiation as apart of their treatment, heclaimed.

Senior cancer surgeon atAIIMS Rishikesh, Dr PankajGar said that cancer is a fullycurable disease if it is detect-ed early and people mustcontact a cancer specialistimmediately if symptoms likepersistent sore, developmentof a swelling in any part of thebody, blood in vomiting orsputum, blood in the faeces,hoarseness of the voice, anychange in size or colour ofbirth mark, indigestion ordifficulty in swallowing arespotted.

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Domestic cattle found unat-tended on the roads will be

seized by the MunicipalCorporation of Dehradun(MCD), said the city’s munic-ipal commissioner VinayShankar Pandey onWednesday.

Pandey said, a fine will beimposed and fare will becharged from the owner fortransporting the cattle from theshelter to the owner’s place.

When asked about the newGau Sadan to be set up inSelaqui which has been underconstruction from a long timenow, the municipal commis-

sioner said that the construc-tion work in Gau Sadan isabout to conclude.

“Around 90 per cent of thework has been completed. Wehave constructed the tin sheds,arrangement of fodder for thecattle has been done, a borewellhas been installed for watersupply and attendants’ quartershave also been constructed. Afew things need to be put inplace which will be over anddone with in another five-sixdays,” he added.

The Gau Sadan will beinaugurated as per the ordersof the mayor of DehradunSunil Uniyal Gama. “Themayor will decide the date andtimings for the inauguration.After the inauguration the cat-tle in existing Kanji Housewill be shifted to the new GauSadan in Selaqui,” said Pandey.

The commissioner saidthat Kanji House inKedarpuram will then act as atransit station where any cattle

seized from the roads will betransported there. “We willwait for three days for theowner to show up and pay thefine to release the cattle. If noone comes forward then thecattle will be shifted to the Gau

Sadan in Selaqui,” said Pandey.The Kanji House inKedarpuram has a capacity toaccommodate only 70-75 cat-tle at a time. Considering this,no cattle will be kept in transitshelter for more than three

days. No more than 30-35 cat-tle will be accommodated here,said Pandey. “No stray cattlewill be seen on the streets androads after the inauguration ofthe new shelter in Selaqui,” headded.

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To protect the envi-ronment and biodi-

versity of the Himalayanstate, noted environ-mentalist and econo-mist BharatJhunjhunwala said thatthe Government shouldscrap the Singoli-Bhatwadi hydro-electricproject on Mandakiniriver and Vishnugad-Pipalkoti hydro electricproject on theAlaknanada river. The

U t t a r a k h a n dGovernment hadentered into agreementswith L&T Uttaranchal(LTU) and THDC IndiaLimited (THDCIL) tomake these two pro-jects.

According toJhunjhunwala, a study ofthese projects shows thatboth are in utter loss andthe nation will sufferheavy losses if they arenot scrapped as soon aspossible.

He said that the

LTU had offered theGovernment to sell theelectricity from theSingoli Bhatwadi pro-ject at �4.25 per unit.However, electricity isavailable at the IndiaEnergy Exchange at anaverage price of �3.62per unit for 2015-2019.

“ The SingoliBhatwadi project wassupposed to be com-missioned in 2014 buthas not been commis-sioned till date.

Thus, under the

agreement ,the StateGovernmenthas a choiceto buy outthe projectand will haveto pay only75 per centof the realis-able value ofassets to LTUand by doingthis theGovernmentwil l st i l lmake a prof-

it of �200 crore. If theGovernment discontin-ues the project the netsaving to Uttarakhandwill be �271 crore,” heinformed.

Talking aboutVishnugad-Pipalkotiproject, he informedthat this project was tobe completed in 2018 ata project cost of �2096crore.

“The electricity pro-duced must be at therate of �2.26 per unit butbecause of the change infactors since then likethe delay in time ofcommissioning the pro-ject f rom 2018 to

December 2022 and thereduction in designenergy the electricitywill now be produced at�5.76 per unit,” saidJhunjhunwala. He saidthat the two projectsseem even more harm-ful if the environmentalimpact is considered.“ The governmentshould make a properpolicy for development.

Instead focusing onprojects through whichthey will earn free roy-alty, they must put theirminds in other projectslike tourism and knowl-edge economy,” he said.

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Stalling the planned disinvestment ofIndian Medicines Pharmaceutical

Corporation Limited (IMPCL) at Mohanin Almora district for now, the High Courtof Uttarakhand has directed the UnionFinance ministry to address and resolve theobjections raised by the State Governmentand Ministry of AYUSH before taking afinal decision in this matter.

The division bench of chief justiceRamesh Ranganathan and justice AlokKumar Verma issued this direction whilehearing a public interest litigation filed byRamnagar resident Niraj Tiwari.The peti-tioner had stated that the IMPCL is a prof-it making enterprise which the Financeministry is planning to privatise.

The IMPCL factory manufacturesAyurvedic and Unani medicines andearns considerable profit every year. Whilethe Union Government ahs 98.11 per centshare, the State Government’s KumaonMandal Vikas Nigam has 1.89 per centshare in it.

As part of its proposed disinvestmentstrategy, the Government has invitedexpression of interest. This company pro-vides direct employment to 500 people inaddition to indirect employment to about5,000 farmers who cultivate the herbs usedin the factory to make medicines.

Stating that the medicines made hereare sold at cheap rates in GovernmentAyurvedic hospitals across the nation, thepetitioner said that privatisation would alsomake the medicines costlier which wouldbe a violation of the right to health.

Tiwari further contended that the

Chief Minister, MLAs, MPs and even theAYUSH ministry have opposed the dis-investment.

After hearing the contentions, the highcourt division bench directed the Financeministry to consider in detail the objec-tions raised by the Uttarakhand StateGovernment, the AYUSH ministry and thepetitioner before taking a final decision onthe privatisation of IMPCL.

The ministry will not take a final deci-sion before addressing the objectionsraised by the said stakeholders, it wasdirected.

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Chief Minister Trivendra SinghRawat has congratulated the

Prime Minister Narendra Modiand Union Home minister AmitShah for the Citizenship(Amendment) Bill being passed inthe Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, aday after it was passed in the LokSabha.

Rawat said that the manner inwhich the Modi government hastaken various corrective mea-sures during its current term is his-toric. “Whether it be an issuerelated to the nation’s internalsecurity or the persecution ofminorities in our neighbouringnations, this is an appreciablestep. During partition, Hinduswho comprised 10 per cent ofPakistan’s population have nowdwindled to two per cent of itspopulation.

This shows that they are beingforcibly converted or being forcedto leave the nation due to perse-cution. If the Government ofIndia provides shelter and citi-zenship to such persecuted people,it is a welcome step,” said Rawat.

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To register its protest onthe Citizenship

(Amendment) Bill, the stateunit of Congress organised aprotest on Wednesday. Theleaders and members of theparty tore the copies of thebill and consigned them toflames as mark of theirprotest.

The Congressmen alsotorched an effigy of theUnion government on theoccasion. Addressing theparty workers at the head-quarters of the stateCongress, Pradesh CongressCommittee (PCC) president

Pritam Singh said that bygetting the bill passed fromthe lower house on the basisof majority, the NarendraModi Government has hitthe basic character of theconstitution framed byAmbedkar.

Terming the BJPGovernment as fascist, hesaid that the Congress partywould protest the bill bothinside the parliament andoutside it.

He said that the biggeststrength of India is its prin-ciple of unity in diversity butthe Government is bent onpolluting this principle.Speaking on the occasion,

former minister Ram SinghSaini said Modi Governmentis spreading hatred in thename of religion to hide itsfailures. The Congress statevice president, Surya KantDhasmana said that the CABwould kill the basic charac-ter of the constitution whichgives right to every citizen topractice his religion.

He said that in Indianconstitution has no mentionof the words such as Hindu,Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Jainor Buddhist but the BJPunder a planned conspiracyis bent on putting a blot onthe secular character of theIndian constitution.

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Works under NamamiGange which are

remaining should be expedit-ed. Chief minister TrivendraSingh Rawat issued this direc-tion while chairing a meetregarding the first NationalGanga Council meet proposedto be held at Kanpur, UttarPradesh.

Rawat said that specialfocus should be laid on clean-liness of the Ganga and itstributaries, stressing that thepace of work should be

improved. Medicinal trees should be

accorded priority for planta-tion along the Ganga.Encroachments along thisriver should also be identified,he said. Officials informed

that 10 out of 21 NamamiGange projects have beencompleted. Further, 21 out of34 sewerage treatment plantshave been completed. Anaverage of 371 metric tonnesof garbage is being lifted every

day from 15 towns on thebanks of the Ganga. Chiefsecretary Utpal Kumar Singh,secretaries Bhupinder KaurAulakh, Arvind Singh Hyankiand other officials concernedwere also present in meeting.

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The Pradesh Congress Committee(PCC) president Pritam Singh has said

that the report on state finances tabled bythe Comptroller and Auditor General(CAG) of India in the state assembly onTuesday has proved that the financial man-agement of the state has failed.

Talking to the media persons at head-quarters of state Congress party onWednesday he said that CAG report hasshown that nothing is happening in gov-ernment departments and governancehas vanished from the State.

Singh said that no development pro-ject has been initiated by the StateGovernment. Launching assault on theChief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, the

PCC chief said that his only motive is keephis two bosses in Delhi in good humour.When asked by the media persons to namethese two bosses which he is mentioning,the Congress leaders said that everyoneknows who they are.

He said state Government has kept itseyes closed on the ever deteriorating lawand order condition in the State. Similarlythe Government is doing nothing to con-trol sagging economy, he added.

Questioning the government for beingon a loan taking spree, the PCC Presidentsaid that the taking loans for infrastruc-ture works and other development worksis understood but this Government is tak-ing loans to pay the salaries and pay inter-ests which is unfortunate. He said that inlast three years all developmental activi-

ties have come to a grinding halt and theGovernment has stopped the develop-mental works undertaken by the previousCongress Government. Singh accusedthat the Government is not functioningand courts have to intervene in everythingso much so that it appears that the courtis running the Government.

Singh said that the CAG report hashighlighted wide spread corruption in dif-ferent departments of the state and hasunderlined what the Congress has beensaying. He said that the BJP had claimedthat it would constitute the office ofLokayukt in the State within 100 days oftaking charge of the Government but noLokayukt is visible even after three years.Singh claimed that the Government is neckdeep in corruption.

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Heavy to very heavysnowfall is likely to

occur at a few places inUttarkashi, Chamoli,Rudraprayag, Bageshwarand Pithoragarh districtstoday and heavysnow/rainfall at isolatedplaces in Dehradun, Tehri,Nainital, Champawat andAlmora distr icts onThursday.

According to the statemeteorological centre,western disturbances arel ikely to af fectUttarakhand from thenight of December 11 toforenoon of December 14.

Under the influenceof these western distur-bances people inUttarakhand living in var-ious districts might wit-ness such heavyrain/snowfall.

The meteorologicalcentre has also forecastthat hail is likely to occurat few places in Dehradun,Haridwar, Pauri, Nainital,Champawat and Udham

Singh Nagar districts ofUttarakhand from todayevening/night toevening/night of Friday.

Light to moderaterain/snowfall too is likelyto occur at various placesin Uttarakhand onThursday and Friday.

As forecasted by thestate meteorological cen-tre, snowfall might occurin places at an altitude of2000 metres and above.

Very light to lightrain/snowfall activitiesmight occur at few placesin the state l ikeUttarkashi, Chamoli,Rudraprayag andPithoragarh districts onDecember 14.

Snowfall on Saturdayis likely to occur in high-er reaches at an altitude of2500 metres and above.People in the State’s pro-visional capital are likelyto witness rain/thundershowers today.

The sky will remaingenerally cloudy through-out the day. The maxi-mum and minimum tem-

perature is forecasted tobe around 18 degreesCelsius and 10 degreesCelsius respectively.

Meanwhile, the max-imum and minimum tem-peratures at various placesin the state on Wednesdaywere 22.2 degrees Celsiusand 7.9 degrees Celsiusrespectively in Dehradun,23.3 degrees Celsius and6.2 degrees Celsius inPantnagar, 12.9 degreesCelsius and 3.9 degreesCelsius in Mukteshwarand 14.6 degrees Celsiusand 5.6 degrees Celsiusrespectively in New Tehri.

With the meteorolog-ical centre issuing an alertof very heavy snowfallactivity in various placesin the state on December12 and 13, it has advisedthe government authori-ties to take necessaryactions for road clear-ance.

The commuters andtourists are also advised tobe cautious and coordi-nate closely with theauthorities.

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The protest against an abattoir beingapproved by the district administra-

tion in Manglaur has continued inHaridwar. The district magistrateDeependra Kumar Chaudhry had recent-ly approved the opening of an abattoir atManglaur.

Shortly after that, local BJP MLAsSanjay Gupta, Swami Yatishwaranand

and Suresh Rathore had objected to it anddemanded Chaudhry’s removal from thepost. On December 3, four ascetics-Mukesh Giri, Naresh Giri, Akhil Giri andRameshwar Giri undertook a protest fastunto death at Laksar against the abattoir.

Two of them have been admitted tothe district hospital.

The Akhil Bharatiya Akhada Parishadhas also comne out in support of theprotesting ascetics and objected to theopening of an abattoir in the district.

After meeting the chief ministerTrivendra Singh Rawat recently, theLaksar MLA Sanjay Gupta said that theCM had assured him that the abattoir willnot be opened.

Sri Ganga Sabha general secretaryTanmay Vashishth said that sinceHaridwar is a pilgrimage centre, anabattoir should not be opened in the dis-trict respecting public sentiments.

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To avert any risk of avianinfluenza H5NI virus in

Chandigarh, the UTAdministration on Wednesdaylaunched active surveillanceand monitoring programme atSukhna Lake and Dhanas Lake,where migratory birds havearrived for their annualsojourn.

“The team of officials ofAnimal HusbandryDepartment, Chandigarh col-lected 25 samples from migra-tory birds at Sukhna Lake andDhanas Lake. Apart from this,55 samples of backyard poul-try in the villages and 25 sam-ples of birds from commercialpoultry farms were collectedon Wednesday,” said DrKanwarjit Singh, JointDirector, Animal Husbandry,Chandigarh.

He said that the samples

have been sent to RDDLJalandhar for disease investi-gation, if any. The Departmenthas launched active surveil-lance and monitoring pro-gramme to combat any ingres-sion of disease in birds, headded

The samples of blood, fecalor throat swab of the birds arecollected for the disease inves-tigation. During the onset ofwinters, the migratory birdsfrom various parts of worldarrive in the city and its sur-rounding areas, which some-time is potent source of viralinfection which are alsozoonotic in nature, DrKanwarjit Singh said.

There have been sporadicreports of outbreak of avianrelated diseases like bird flu inthe past years, which can becommunicable to humanbeings. Thus, strict vigil againstthe outbreak of such diseases

is essential, he added. The2019 annual bird census inChandigarh held recently hasrecorded 620 birds, includingmigratory and water-depen-dent species. Last year, thenumber was 417.

This time, the number ofwater-dependent species hasincreased but other birdspecies, excluding the waterfowl, decreased.

The survey was conductedat Nagar Van, Sukhna Lakestarting from Lake Club toRegulatory End and in Sukhna

Forest area. As per the census,33 species of water fowl wereobserved this time as com-pared to 31 in 2018 and 98other bird species wereobserved in 2018 while 86were observed this time.

The migratory birds spot-ted in fair number in the cen-sus included Bar-headedGoose, Tufted Duck, RuddyShellduck, Common Pochard,White Wagtail, and BlueThroat, a small passerine bird.

Notably in December 2014,after getting positive reports ofsera samples of ducks in SukhnaLake, bird flu was declared byGovernment of India here.

After culling of nearly 90ducks at the lake following thedetection of flu, the UTAdministration had issuedorders putting ban on the entryof people to city’s prime touristspot- Sukhna Lake and sur-rounding areas for more than a

month’s time in December2014. Dr Kanwarjit said, “Withits proactive approach andeffective surveillance and mon-itoring at field level, the virusof H5N1 was controlled at itssource level by the AnimalHusbandry Department fromspreading further as perGovernment of India guide-lines in 2014.

Since then, theDepartment is carrying outregular surveillance of birdflu or diseases caused by birds.”Tejdeep Singh Saini, DirectorAnimal Husbandry informedthat the Centre has declaredIndia Free from bird flu inSeptember 2019.

The Department is con-tinuing the effective surveil-lance programme to maintainthe area of union territory ofChandigarh disease free fromsuch lethal infections which arezoonotic in nature, he said.

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Haryana Government hasdecided to open one

‘’Sanskriti Model School’’ ineach block of the State nextyear, Chief Minister ManoharLal Khattar said here onWednesday.

These schools will furtherimprove the quality of educa-tion in the State, he said.

At present, 22 such schoolsare operational in the state, onein each district, Khattar saidduring a meeting here.

In the meeting of ChiefMinister’s Good GovernanceAssociates (CMGGAs), whichKhattar presided, he wasapprised of the work done indifferent initiatives under theSaksham Haryana project. Heappreciated the work done inthe last 2 years on Sakshamghoshna and encouraged thedigital interventions (Service

books, Saksham adhyapak app,Chalklit). He also directed toget a survey conducted to findout the enrollment ratio ofstudents in science viz-a-vizother streams so as to ascertainthe interest of students. He alsodirected to fasten the approvalprocess for CM Saksham schol-arship initiative.

It was informed that 107blocks out of the total 119blocks have been declaredSaksham and 86 per cent stu-dents grade-level competent. Itwas also informed that recruit-ment to more than 1300 postsof Block Resource Persons(BRPs) and Assistant BlockResource Persons (ABRPs)have been made on contractu-al basis in the State. Working asmentors, the BRPs and ABRPsspent two-and-a-half hoursper day in schools and watchthe education being impartedto the students. Rigorous train-

ing of all new mentors was con-ducted to ensure that they pro-vide good support to teachers.

The Haryana CM was alsoinformed on the strategy forimproving the board resultsthis year for classes 10th & 12thand about the upcomingSaksham ghosna rounds inJanuary and February. He said

that the present StateGovernment has discontinuedthe system prevailing earlier ofgiving grace marks to the stu-dents of class 10th and 12th inorder to improve the results.But ever after this, the resultsof students has been improvedconsiderably.

Addressing the CMGGAs,

the Chief Minister said that thisis the fourth consecutive yearof this programme and everyyear it is getting better in per-formance indicators. He saidthat the State Government hastaken various initiatives in thefield of e-governance to providetransparent and graft-free gov-ernance to the people. It is also

a leading State in the countryin many spheres. Describingcorruption as a cancer, he saidthat it could be checkedthrough the effective use ofinformation technology.

Reviewing progress onAntyodaya Saral, he directed todo a diagnosis and finalise thelist of new kendra’s on the basisof demand and geography andappreciated the good per-forming districts and depart-ments on Antyodaya Saraldashboard. He also directed tomake more efficient systems totackle corruption and workon social audit and act uponthe feedback by the citizens ondifferent channels and call cen-tre.He also reviewed theprogress on other IT initiativeslike E-office and property taxand directed the team to workon them and use IT as a tool toimprove Governance in theState.

He also directed the asso-ciates to work on women’ssafety campaigns in the districtsand work on innovative strate-gies to make women’s safety amovement in Haryana byinvolving different local com-munities and civil societies.While referring to the BetiBachao Beti PadhaoProgramme, he said that in theyear 2014, the sex ratio ofHaryana was only 871. But asa result of efforts made by theState Government and supportof people and other socialorganizations, it has touched937. Today, Haryana is beingrecognized in the country andthe world for its efforts madetowards saving girl child, headded.

Khattar said that the stategovernment is actively workingon the topic of higher educa-tion and the present StateGovernment has opened 29

colleges for women in the lastfive years whereas in the past48 years only 31 such collegeswere opened. He said that itwas for the first time in theState that Haryana HigherEducation Council has been setup with an objective of guidingthe growth of higher educationin accordance with the socio-economic requirements of theState. He also directed theteam to focus extensively onsolving the quality of educationin these colleges through dif-ferent national assessmentsand accreditations.

The Chief Minister alsoreviewed Swach Survekshan,Good Governance scorecardand prevention of stubble burn-ing. He was apprised on thepreparedness for the upcomingSwachh survekshan and sys-temic solutions to get Haryanadistricts in Top 10 in thesurvekshan rankings.

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Punjab Congress onWednesday submitted a

memorandum to thePresident through PunjabGovernor VP Singh Badnoreurging him not to approve theCitizenship Amendment Bill(CAB) 2019.

“The Central Governmenthas totally failed on the eco-nomic front and the countryis badly hit by recession. Tohide its failure, the ModiGovernment wanted to shat-ter communal harmony byimplementing CitizenshipAmendment Bill, 2019, sothat people can be distracted

from the real issues of thecountr y,” said PradeshPradesh CongressCommittee president Sunil

Jakhar, who was leading aparty delegation comprising ofCabinet Ministers SukhjinderSingh Randhawa, Sadhu SinghDharmsot, Balbir Singh Sidhu,Aruna Chaudhary, besidesthe party MLAs.

Jakhar said that thousandsof martyrs had made India ademocratic nation by theirsupreme sacrifices. “We areproud of India being thelargest democracy in theworld. But the Modi

Government, for its vestedpolitical interest, is runningrampant schemes to makethe country a religion basednation,” he said.

“The countries l ikePakistan, which were estab-lished on the basis of reli-gion, are lagging behind onevery forum on the interna-tional platform, but still theNDA Government is pursu-ing its hidden agenda tomake India a religion-basednation,” he said.

PPCC president said thatthe task of dividing the soci-ety in the name of religionwas left unfulfilled by theBritish Government, “butnow, BJP wants to completeBritish rulers’ agenda. TheCentral Government is poi-soning the society by carry-ing the CitizenshipAmendment Bill”.

He said that religion-based citizenship was con-trary to the basic spirit of

secularism in ourConstitution. “If the minori-ties in the country survive ina climate of regret and fear,how will the India progress.The country not only runswith majority but to maintaincommunal harmony is equal-ly important,” he added.

Jakhar said that BJPGovernment’s real game planwas to divert the people’sattention from the actualissues by introducing this Billin such a hurry since theGovernment had completelyfailed to resolve the issuesrelated to the common people.

“Congress party has urgedthe President of India not toapprove the Bill to protect thefundamental secular struc-ture of the Constitution of thecountry,” said Jakhar reiterat-ing that the party will makeevery possible effort to protectsecularism and democracy inIndia and will never allow theModi Government’s tactics todivide the society.

AAP LASHES AT SADCornering the Badals for

extending support to theCitizenship (Amendment)Bill, 2019 passed by the LokSabha a day before, the AamAadmi Party (AAP) onWednesday said that the Badalfamily had tarnishedShiromani Akali Dal’s (SAD)image by using its office fortheir personal gains.

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From page 1 “Partial Credit Guarantee

Scheme, to be offered by theGovernment of India (Gol) toPublic Sector Banks (PSBs)for purchasing high-ratedpooled assets from financiallysound Non-Banking FinancialCompanies (NBFCs)/HousingFinance Companies (HFCs),with the amount of overallguarantee being limited to firstloss of up to 10% of fair valueof assets being purchased bythe banks under the scheme, or�10000 crore, whichever islower, as agreed by Departmentof Economic Affairs (DEA).

“The scheme would coverNBFCs/HFCs that may haveslipped into SMA-0 categoryduring the one year periodprior to 1 August 2018, andasset pools rated “BBB+” orhigher. The window for one-time partial credit guaranteeoffered by Gol will remainopen till 30 June 2020 or tillsuch date by which Rs 1,00,000

crore assets get purchased bythe banks, whichever is earlier.Power has been delegated tothe Finance Minister to extendthe validity of the scheme by upto three months taking intoaccount its progress,” said theGovernment in a statement.

This will provide liquidityto the NBFC/HFC concernedfor financing the credit demandof the economy, and also pro-tect the financial system of thecountry from any adverse con-tagion effect that may arise dueto the failure of suchNBFCs/HFCs.

The Cabinet approvedinfusing additional Rs 5,300crore capital into IIFCLthrough recapitalisation bondsin the current fiscal year.Another Rs 10,000 crore will beinfused in 2020-21. “This willbe done through regular bud-getary support and/or throughissuance of recapitalisationbonds,” an official statementsaid.

From page 1 Of them, the Centre and

the Delhi Government willhave to bear �1,223.59 croreeach. Earlier, the Centre hasasked the Delhi Governmentto bear the cost of land as perthe provisions of the MetroRail Policy 2017. At present,

the Centre and the DelhiGovernment share cost of

Metro projects in 50-50 ratio.Now land acquisition cost will

also be shared in the sameratio.The total cost of the pro-ject which is �24,948.65 croreremains unchanged. The con-

tribution from the Centreincreases from the existing

�4,154.20 crore to�4,643.638crore resulting in anet increase of �489.438 crore.The amount of external loan

from bilateral/multilateralagencies which Delhi Metrohas to repay increases from

the existing �11,462.60 croreto �12,930.914 crore with anet increase of �1,468.314

crore.On March 9, the Ministry of

Housing and Urban Affairs hadapproved the 61.66km, three pri-ority corridors - Aerocity toTughlakabad, RK Ashram toJanakpuri (West) andMukundpur to Maujpur - at acost of �24,948.65 crore.

From page 1 Under the scheme, the

Delhi Government providesfree pilgrimage facilities tosenior citizen on 12 religiouscircuits. The Government willexplore possibility of coveringshorter distance destinationsunder the scheme through

buses, Sisodia said. As per theschedule planned by the DelhiGovernment and IRCTC, 30trains are pending betweenDecember 10, 2019 and January28, 2020. The pending tripsinclude 12 to Rameshwaramand six to Dwarkadhish.“Mukhyamantri Tirth Yatra

Yojana has been going wellwith the cooperation of theIndian Railways. We hope thatthis unexpected difficulty willbe resolved soon,” he said. Thescheme was launched on July12, under which 32,828 elder-ly persons have gone on pil-grimage in 32 trips so far. The

most popular destination wasRameshwaram as 7,865 people(nearly 25 percent of the totalpilgrims) visited place, followedby Tirupati, Dwarkadhish,Vaishno Devi, Amritsar amongothers. The last train underscheme departed on December7 to Dwarkadhish.

From page 1 In Jorhat and Dibrugarh cities, all shops are closed and vehi-

cles off the roads. People have blocked roads and rail tracks atvarious places in the two districts.In Lakwa town of Sivasagar,a motorcycle rally was brought out.Some protesters tried to enterareas where oil wells are located in Lakwa, but their attempts werefoiled by police, officials said.In view of the protests, the NortheastFrontier Railway has cancelled many trains and rescheduled someothers that originate from the State.

At least 14 trains have either been cancelled, short terminatedor diverted anticipating “disruptions in train movement”, NFRailway Chief Public Relations Officer Subhanan Chanda saidin a statement. Internet will be suspended as “social media plat-forms like Facebook, Whatsapp, Twitter and You Tube etc arelikely to be used for spreading of rumours and also for trans-mission of information like pictures, videos and texts that havethe potential to inflame passions and does exacerbate the law andorder situation”, the notification issued by the Home and PoliticalDepartment said.

It further stated that there have been protests in different partsof the State and there are probabilities of intensifying such protestswhich may adversely affect the law and order situation.There arereports in the electronic media that protesters are involved invandalism which is likely to “spread serious law and order sit-uation” in the State, it added.

From page 1

He went on to attack theCongress for alleged doublespeak on the issue, saying theparty had during its rule givenIndian citizenship to 13,000Hindus and Sikhs fromPakistan without raising a wordabout the same for other com-munities.

He also said the Bill doesnot violate Article 14 of theConstitution as it does notprohibit laws based on reason-able classification. On whypersecuted minorities fromcountries such as Sri Lankawere not part of the legislation,Shah said Tamils from theisland country had been givenIndian citizenship in past andthe present law is to tackle aspecific problem

Asserting that neither theCitizenship Bill, nor the previ-ously passed legislation makingpractice of triple talaq punish-able and the scrapping Article370 are anti-Muslim, he saidthe present legislation is to givecitizenship and does not to takeaway citizenship of anyone.Indian Muslims are citizens ofthe country and will remain so,he said. “Citizenship of IndianMuslims is not being taken

away,” he said. Participating inthe debate on the Bill in theUpper House, two eminentlawyers -Sibal andChidambaram said the legisla-tion is not legally and morallytenable as it is against the basicprinciples of the IndianConstitution.

While Chidambaramtermed the Bill “a slap on theface of Parliament” and said theGovernment is “ramming”through with it in order toadvance its Hindutva agenda,Sibal accused the Governmentof giving a legal colour to the“two nation theory” and urgedit not to convert “Indian repub-lic into a jurassic republicwhere there are two dinosaurs”.

Raising objections to theBill, Sibal said, “First, it gives alegal colour to the two nationtheory.

Two, religion cannot be afactor in acquisition of citi-zenship that has been rejectedby the Constitution of India.”He said citizenship can beacquired if a person is born inIndia or parents are born inIndia or if s/he is an ordinaryresident in India. “There is nofourth concept on the basis ofwhich citizenship can be grant-ed,” he said.

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The Citizenship(Amendment) Bill, 2019

aims at protecting the minori-ties which are persecuted innations like Pakistan,Bangladesh and Afghanistan,BJP working president JPNadda asserted in the RajyaSabha on Wednesday whileparticipating in the debate onthe proposed legislation.

Defending the Bill, he saidmain essence of the Bill to pro-tect minorities of these countriesadding the issue has a histori-cal background after India waspartitioned on religious basis.The partition led to world’sbiggest migration and largescale bloodshed, Nadda said.

Referring to the Nehru-Liaquat Ali Khan pact to pro-tect minorities in Pakistan andIndia after partition, the BJPleader said, however, the real-ity is different.

While India looked after itsminorities, this was not the casein Pakistan, he said and quot-ed from an erstwhile Jan Sangh paper in 1970 whichhighlighted the plight ofminorities there.

He said in 1947, 23 per centminorities were there inPakistan and in 2017 the figurestood at 2.3 per cent adding theNehru-Khan pact was only onpaper. Comparing the figuresin India, he said in 1947 therewere 9.8 per cent minoritiesand the figure was now 14.23 per cent.

Reacting to the allegationsthat the Bill was discriminato-ry towards minorities, Naddasaid, “When they are perse-cuted on the basis of their reli-gion, then solution will bebased on religion only.”

Citing an old speech by former Prime MinisterManmohan Singh in the UpperHouse in 2003 over treatmentof refugees in India, Nadda saidhe had stated that minoritieswere persecuted in Bangladeshand had said to the thenDeputy Prime Minister LKAdvani that it was the country’smoral obligation to make theCitizens Act more liberal tohelp them.

Reiterating that the Billdoes not pose any threat toIndian Muslims asserting theyare citizens of the country,Nadda also said the proposedlegislation protects the interestsof people living in the North-East. The Bill protects the cul-tural identity of the North-Eastand urged the Opposition to rise above political consid-erations and back it in nation-al interest.

Backing the Bill, RamChandra Prasad Singh(JDU)questioned the debateover Indian Muslims and saidit had at least three Presidentsfrom that community.Moreover, many candidatesfrom Muslim community werenow part of the part of theadministrative services andthey came through on theirown merit as the country gavethem equal opportunity, Singhsaid. He also said in this back-ground the plight of minoritiesin the neighbouring countriesis self-evident.

Reacting to Derek O’Brien(TMC) appeal to the JD(U) tooppose the Bill on grounds of“morality,” Singh said his partyneed no lesson in morality.

He claimed that the NDAregime, now in power in Bihar for the last 14 years,has done much more for theminorities.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi on Wednesday assert-

ed that the Citizenship(Amendment) Bill (CAB),2019, will be written in “gold-en letters” in history andaccused Opposition of creating“myths” around it. He alsosought BJP MPs to accord astanding ovation to KarnatakaChief Minister BS Yediyurappaand his Ministers for putting the BJP Governmenton a firm footing by winning12 of the 15 Assembly bypollseats in the State.

Addressing the BJP parlia-mentary party meeting, Modisaid the Bill is as “historic” asthe Government’s decision tonullify Article 370,Parliamentary Affairs MinisterPralhad Joshi told newspersons.

People who fled religiouspersecution have long lived a lifeof “uncertainty” in India and

will get “permanent relief” oncethe proposed law comes intoeffect, the Prime Minister said.

Modi told BJP parliamen-tarians to bust the “myths”being spread about the bill. Heasked them to create awarenessamong people about the ‘goodintent’ of the Bill.

He said the Oppositionparties are speaking the lan-guage of Pakistan on the Bill,sources quoted Modi as saying.Opposition parties, includingCongress, TMC, SP and leftparties, have described CAB asdiscriminatory and against thebasic tenets of the Constitutionthat ensures ‘secular’ charac-ter of the country. Modi saidthe legislation would be writ-ten in “golden letters”.

Parliamentary affairsMinister also quoted Modi assaying that MPs should be giv-

ing a standing ovation to theparty’s big win in the Karnatakabypolls, noting that it hasbagged some Assembly seats itnever won earlier.

The BJP won 12 of the 15Assembly seats in Karnataka,pushing BJP’s strength wellahead of the half-way majorityrequired in the State Assemblywith 224 members. Fieldingmost of the `rebel MLAs` ofCongress and JDS in the bypollsin the face of some oppositionfrom the central leadership,Yediyurappa pulled off a happysurprise for the party.

Soon after the bypoll resultsModi had said the result was anevidence of peoples continuedtrust on the BJP. “ PM Modi isvery grateful to the people , hesaid there will be lot of devel-opment in the State”, saidParliamentary affairs Minister.

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Persons intentionally abusingtheir parents or senior cit-

izens under their care and pro-tection or abandoning themmay be sentenced to sixmonths’ imprisonment orslapped with a fine of �10,000or both, according to theMaintenance and Welfare ofParents and Senior Citizens(Amendment) Bill, 2019, intro-duced in the Lok Sabha onWednesday.

The legislation defines“abuse” as physical, verbal,emotional and economic abuse,neglect and abandonment,causing assault, injury, physicalor mental suffering. “Children”in relation to a parent or asenior citizen means son ordaughter, whether biological,adoptive or step-child, andincludes son-in-law, daughter-in-law, grandson, grand-daughter and legal guardians ofminor children.

Son-in-law and daughter-

in-law have also been broughtunder provision of the Billbesides son or daughter of thesenior citizens.

The Bill piloted by SocialJustice and EmpowermentMinister Thaawarchand Gehlotin the House also has provi-sions for the elderly to claimmaintenance and for manda-tory registration of senior cit-izens care homes and othersuch institutions which willhave to comply with prescribedminimum standards.

The Bill provides forestablishment of a tribunal forsenior citizens to file claims formaintenance and assistance andsuch applications from thoseabove 80 years of age should be

disposed of within 60 days.Only in exceptional cir-

cumstances and for reasons tobe recorded in writing, the tri-bunal may extend the periodonly once for a maximum of 30days. For other senior citizensor parents, their applicationswill have to be settled by the tri-bunal within 90 days.

According to the legisla-tion, there will be a nodal offi-cer at each police station, notbelow the rank of an assistantsub-inspector, to deal with theissues relating to parents andsenior citizens. Similarly, eachdistrict will have a special policeunit for senior citizens’ welfareand such a unit will have to beheaded by a police officer notbelow the rank of DSP.

The state government hasto appoint maintenance officerto ensure implementation ofthe order of maintenance andsuch officer shall be a point ofcontact for the parent or seniorcitizen to liaison and coordi-nate with them.

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Expressing strong reserva-tions against the Citizenship

(Amendment) Bill (CAB), 2019in the Rajya Sabha onWednesday, the Oppositionled by the Congress termed theproposed legislation an “assaulton values of constitution,” dis-crimination against refugees onthe basis of religion andclaimed it will not stand judi-cial scrutiny.

Questioning the haste inbringing the Bill to Parliament,the Opposition said the Billshould be sent to a parlia-mentary select committee andcharged the Government withbeing adamant on the issue.The bill was also compared tosimilar attempts during theNazi regime to persecute Jewsand others. The Lok Sabhapassed the Bill on Monday.

Initiating the debate on theBill after Home Minister AmitShah moved it, Anand Sharma(Congress) attacked the BJPsaying the manifesto of anypolitical party cannot be abovethe Constitution of India.

He made this claim afterShah, while moving the Bill,said the ruling BJP got the“mandate” earlier this yearduring the general elections onthe basis of its manifesto whichclearly talked about the amend-ments to the citizenship law.

Opposing the Bill, Sharmasaid the proposed legislation is“divisive,” “discriminatory” andagainst the fundamentals of theIndian Constitution. He alsosaid the Bill is an “assault” onthe values of the Constitutionand against its preamble.Sharma said though the Billwas part of the 2019 manifestoof the BJP, it cannot overridethe principles of the IndianConstitution.

The senior Congress leaderquestioned the need for hurryin bringing the Bill to parlia-ment and demanded that itshould be sent to parliamentselect committee for scrutiny.

He also said, “We areopposing it and the reason forthat is not political, but con-stitutional and moral. I amconvinced that the bill whichyou have brought is an assaulton the foundational values ofour Constitution.”

Kapil Sibal (Congress) saidthe Bill gives a legal colour tothe two-nation theory, pro-posed and propagated byHindutva ideologue and Sanghicon VD Savarkar. He said theCongress opposes the Bill asreligion cannot be the basis forthe acquisition of citizenship.

Countering Shah’s remarkthat the bill is historic, Sibalsaid the bill is historic as theGovernment is changing thebasic character of theConstitution. “You are makingattempt to change our history,”he charged.

Drawing similarities withthe Nazis, Derek O’Brien(TMC) too termed the Bill asunconstitutional, and warnedof people’s movement againstthe Bill. He also said it wouldbe challenged in the SupremeCourt adding West Bengalwill not implement it.

In a scathing attack on theruling combine, he said the

present bill has an ‘eerie simi-larity” with the Nazi efforts in1930s to have people of pureGerman blood and plans in1940 to deport Jews. The TMCleader appealed to the JD-Uand BJD to oppose the bill ongrounds of morality and “standup and be counted.”

Javed Ali Khan (SP) urgedthe Government to bring inamendments in the Bill likestriking off the names of threecountries and instead mentionneighbouring countries andsecondly giving citizenship toreligious minorities in thosecountries.

Congress leader and formerUnion Minister PChidambaram termed the Billas “a slap on the face ofParliament” as MPS were beingasked to do something uncon-stitutional and then the ‘baby ispassed on to the judiciary andin the judiciary, lawyers andjudges will decide what you havedone is constitutional or not.”

Charging the NDAGovernment with advancingits Hindutva agenda throughthis bill, the Congress leadersaid he was “absolutely confi-dent,” that this law will be bestruck down in the court.

He also sought to knowwhy the Bill excludes SriLankan Hindus and BhutaneseChristians. Intervening in thedebate, Leader of OppositionGhulam Nabi Azad asked thatif the entire country was happywith the proposed legislation,why protests were taking placein Assam, Tripura, ArunachalPradesh, Meghalaya andNagaland.

He also stressed thatMuslims too were persecutedin Afghanistan. Muslimwomen have been persecuteda lot in Afghanistan, he added.

The Shiv Sena, whichvoted in favour of controver-sial Citizenship (Amendment)Bill in Lok Sabha, opposed itin Rajya Sabha saying the draftlaw should have been debatedon the basis of “humanity notreligion”. The Sena does notneed to prove how “staunchHindu” and “patriotic” theparty is, its leader Sanjay Rautsaid while participating in thedebate. He also said there is adifference between intrudersand refugees,” said Raut.

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The CitizenshipAmendment Bill (CAB)

2019 has ushered in a new nar-ration to Tamil Nadu politics.The whole political class bar-ring the AIADMK and the BJPis worried about the future ofTamils from Sri Lanka whohave taken refuge in the Statesince the beginning of the civilwar in the island nation.While there are nearly 20,000Tamil refugees from Sri Lankaspread across the length andbreadth of Tamil Nadu, there isno explanation from the pow-ers that be why these people arenot given citizenship in India.

Though there are fourrefugee camps for LankanTamils in Tamil Nadu whichwere once overflowing withthose who came crossing thePalk Straits, situation has under-gone a major change with theelimination of the LiberationTigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)and its leader V Prabhakaran bythe Sri Lankan defence forces in2009. “As on date there may behardly 20,000 Tamil refugees inthe State staying in camps andoutside. Most of them havegone back to Sri Lanka after thecivil war which rocked thatnation for almost three decadescame to an end in 2009,” said a

former official of the Researchand Analysis Wing, specialisedin Sri Lankan affairs.

The crisis in Sri Lanka hasnothing to do with religion. “Allrefugees who crossed over toTamil Nadu where Hindus andChristians whose mother tongueis Tamil. They were forced tocome over to India because theLTTE and Prabhakaran hadmade life difficult for them. Alleconomic activities came to aahalt and educational institu-tions were shut down by theLTTE brigands. The Tamils innorthern Sri Lanka were leftwith no options other thanescaping to India,” said DrSubramanian Swamy, MP, whohad closely followed the crisis inthe island nation from day one.

The crisis in Sri Lankabegan in northern provinceswhere the Tamils revoltedagainst the Government’s moveto make Sinhala the nationallanguage. In a country where 70per cent of the population isBudhists and speak Sinhala, thegovernment could not beblamed for bringing such a rule.“The Tamils who had usurpedGovernment jobs because oftheir close ties with the Britishcolonial masters had succeed-ed in changing the names ofnearly 70 per cent of the placesto Tamil from Sinhala. Theentire trouble was confined to

northern provinces,” said theRAW officer on condition ofanonymity.

He too disclosed that it wasnot persecution of any kindwhich resulted in the exodus ofTamils to India. “The LTTE isto be blamed for that. Theywent on a killing spree andbutchered many prominentTamil politicians who hadcalled for restraint fromextreme measures. By early1980, the agitation took a newturn with the then PrimeMinister Indira Gandhi decid-ing to support the move for aseparate Tamil nation (Eelam).

This led to Indian securi-ty forces extending trainingfacilities for the LTTE terror-ists in places like Dehradunand in many places in TamilNadu,” said the RAW agent.

Many Tamils had come toIndia from the island nationeven before the commence-ment of the civil war. “One ofthe early refugees went on tobecome a senior politician in aDravidian party and ended upas a cabinet minister, pointedout the RAW man. TheGovernments at the centre andin Chennai had taken care ofthe refugees by setting apartseats for them in educationalinstitutions, forming an exclu-sive bank and a plantation inKerala,” he said.

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The world’s largest minerCoal India ltd (CIL) has

been caught on the wrongfooting with its various sub-sidiaries and arms violatinggreen norms with impunity.For instance, its arms CCL,BCCL and SECL continued touse ground water for theirmining operations withoutobtaining no objection certifi-cate from Central GroundWater Authority (CGWA).

The subsidiaries did notinstall sewage treatment plantat the residential colonies of thecollieries, thereby contaminat-ing the ground water.

The pollutants exceededthe limits prescribed by theBureau of Indian Standards(BIS) in eight mines acrossthree subsidiaries of CIL,according to a CAG report on‘Assessment of EnvironmentImpact due to MiningActivities and its Mitigation inCoal India Ltd and its

Subsidiaries’ tabled inParliament on Wednesday.

“The CIL amended itsoriginal CorporateEnvironment Policy (CEP) andformulated a comprehensiveEnvironment Policy only inMarch, 2012, followed by a revised policy inDecember 2018.

“However, six out sevencoal producing subsidiaries ofCIL did not formulate a poli-cy as mandated by the UnionEnvironment Ministry whichstipulated that a well laid down environment policy dulyapproved by the Board ofDirectors of the subsidiariesneeds to be in place,” the report said.

Further, guidelines con-

taining the responsibility anddelegation at different levels inenvironment discipline wereformulated by CIL, but thesame were not dovetailed intheir operating manual by thesubsidiaries, according to theCAG report.

CAG further said the pol-lutants exceeded the limits pre-scribed by the Bureau of IndianStandards (BIS) in eight minesacross three subsidiaries of CIL.

“Further during 2013-18,62 lakh kilo-litre (KL) ofuntreated water was dischargedto nearby water bodies byLakhanpur and Basundhara(W) mines of MCL therebycontaminating ground water,”it said.

“Due to absence of

mechanical brooming/indus-trial cleaner in Piparwar OCMof CCL, the spillage from over-loaded truck/dumpers accu-mulated along the sides of thebridge of Safi river, was notcleaned periodically,” it said.

These eventually drainedinto the river, thereby contam-inating the water. Further, therejects of Kathara washery ofCCL were found to be conta-minating the Damodar river.

The audit observed thatthere was no uniform strategyamong subsidiaries for bio-logical reclaimation of minedout area through plantationactivities. “We observed thatduring 2013-18, no plantationwas undertaken in three minesand the green cover inRajmahal constituted less thanone-third of mine area,” saidthe CAG which has recom-mended an environment poli-cy to be implemented at theearliest by the companies in thecoal sector as mandated by theEnvironment Ministry.

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Criticising the traffic man-agement in the national

capital, a ParliamentaryStanding Committee on HomeAffairs has noted that the Delhitraffic police is mainly focusingon regulating traffic at redlights and intersections andpaying little attention towardsviolation of rules on roads. Thecommittee also observed thatone of the major causes of traf-fic congestion at market andcommercial places is because ofdifficulties faced by commutersto park their vehicles due toshortage of parking space andlack of information on avail-ability of parking slots andknowledge of designated placefor the same, especially when

an unknown and new vehicleenters the market place.

In the report, titled ‘Themanagement of worsening traf-fic situation in Delhi’, tabled inRajya Sabha on Wednesday, thepanel said police “lay margin-al attention towards traffic vio-lations, including not driving inthe proper lane, changing laneswithout indication, overspeed-ing, dangerous driving, andenforcement of the varioustraffic rules at other places onroads of Delhi”.

The committee said theprime mandate of the DelhiTraffic Police is to ensure sus-tainable, safe and efficient flowof traffic on the roads of Delhithrough enforcement, regula-tion, creating awareness andsuggesting engineering

improvement in road infra-structure.

The Delhi Traffic Policealso assists other agencies inimplementation of various pro-jects/schemes, including imple-menting the scheme for pedes-trians and management ofstreet parking, the report said.

Special drives are launchedagainst speeding, drunken dri-ving, improper parking, publictransport vehicles, against e-rickshaws for unauthorisedplying and other traffic offencesas the Delhi Traffic Police isresponsible for enforcing direc-tions of the Supreme Court’scommittee on road safety, itsaid.

The committee recom-mended that the Delhi TrafficPolice should attach equalimportance to enforcement-related aspects on roads tooand not restrict itself only toregulation of traffic at trafficsignals. The Committee point-ed out that encroachment ofpedestrian spaces on marketroads by Hawkers/vendors is amajor reason for traffic chaos

and inquired from the con-cenred authorities about it.

The Committee noted thatthe Nehru Place locality hasinsufficient space for traffic dis-persal and all the open spaceshave been taken over by park-ing and therefore vehicularmovement in the area has beenseverely affected.

For Bikaji Cama Place, theCommittee noted that thelocality is highly congestedand due to on-street and at-grade parking, the vehicularmovement in the locality wasobstructed. The Committeeobserves that due to paucity ofland in the Connaught placearea, the addition of moreparking space by way of build-ing Multi-level Parking is lessprobable.

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The Congress onWednesday alleged that

the Government is not inter-ested in solving the problemsof citizens and is “busy withdivisive policies”.

Asserting that theDecember 14 Bharat BachaoRally in the national Capitalwill demonstrate the people’sanger over issues such as eco-nomic slowdown and farmers’distress, the grand old partyalso said it is fighting against

the “anti-people” policies ofthe Government and that its“massive and historic” rallyhighlight the real issues of thepeople.

Congress general secre-tary, organisation, KCVenugopal said that the partyhas made all preparations forthe rally against the anti-peo-ple policies of the Modi Govt.The Government is not inter-ested in solving problems ofthe common people of thecountry and is “busy withdivisive policies”, he said.

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The PSLV, often hailed as atrusted workhorse, touched

a new milestone of its 50th mis-sion on Wednesday when itplaced earth observation satel-lite RISAT-2BR1 and nineother foreign satellites in orbit,ISRO chairman K Sivan saidhere.

The space agency head,hailing the versatility andunbeatable performance of thePSLV for over the past twodecades, lauded its 50th mis-sion as “historical.”

“I am extremely happy todeclare the 50th PSLV vehicle,C48 successfully injectedRISAT-2BR1 and nine cus-tomer satellites precisely

into the 576 km orbit,” hesaid.

Tracing the journey ofPSLV, which has five variants,he said the payload capacity

was initially about 860 kg andit went up to 1.9 tonnes subse-quently.

It has lifted 52.7 tonnes tospace, of which 17 per cent cor-responded to customer satel-lites, he said.

This mission was specialfor another reason as well,since it marked another majormilestone which was “the 75thlaunch from spaceport ofIndia,” the Satish DhawanSpace Centre at Sriharikota, henoted.

Sivan recalled and laudedthe contributions of the pastand present leadership behindPSLV’s successful journey in itseventful history of 26 years.

Dubbing the PSLV a “won-derful vehicle,” he said DrSrinivasan conceptualised andconfigured it, while GMadhavan Nair made it oper-ational.

Also, there were a whole lot

of others, including R VPerumal,Ramakrishnan andGeorge Koshy,whose rich con-tributions propelled the PSLVto great heights, he said.

The ISRO chief saidRISAT-2BR1, though a veryadvanced and complex satellite,was built in a short time andcongratulated the team for itsgood work.

“Definitely, we have hadmany successes. At the sametime, we have a large numberof missions to do. I am sureteam ISRO as usual will rise tothe occasion and make everymission a grand success,” hesaid amid loud applause.

Sivan said PSLV has gone‘all over space’, placing satellitesin orbits, including polar andthe trusted vehicle was behindChandrayaan 1 and the MarsOrbiter Mission.

“Now we are going to senda satellite to the sun’s orbit”, he

said, adding that ISRO waslooking at more launches nextyear with PSLV.

“Next year we have a seriesof PSLV missions. We alsohave GSLV launches. Then wealso have the maiden missionof SSLV (Small Satellite Launchvehicle) next year. Like thatmany missions lined up fornext year”, the ISRO chief

said.Director, Vikram Sarabhai

Space Centre, S Somanathhailed the 50th mission, saying“PSLV has hit gold today.”

In commemoration of themilestone event, a book,“PSLV- 50,” chronicling thevarious missions, the satellitesand the leaders behind it wasreleased by Sivan.

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Drawing world’s attention toBengal’s investment cli-

mate Chief Minister MamataBanerjee on Wednesday citedcommunal harmony and socialcohesion as the corner stone ofthe its economic prosperitythat has made the State one ofthe most sought after trade des-tinations in the world.

Speaking at the yearly busi-ness conclave — held at thetourist town of Digha situatedon the coast of Bay of Bengal— attended by agalaxy of busi-ness magnets the ChiefMinister said “Unity in diver-sity is the soul of the State andwe don’t divide people on thebasis of caste, creed and religion.”

Her statement tended tobear a veiled reference to theheated debate in Parliament

over the CitizenshipAmendment Bill that had setalmost half of the North-Eastern States on fire. The billseeks to provide Indian citi-zenship to non-Muslims whohave migrated fromAfghanistan, Pakistan andBangladesh in the wake of reli-gious persecution.

This was a rare occasionwhen the State-sponsored busi-ness meet was taken out ofKolkata and particularly to thesleepy coastal tourist town ofDigha which the Chief Ministerwants to project as the Goa ofthe East.

In a packed house attend-ed by delegates from 28 coun-tries like England, Poland,USA, Australia, Bangladesh,Thailand, Russia, Italy, Bhutanand China Banerjee remindedhow Bengal believed in “stay-ing together. We are one fam-ily and no one staying here can

say that he is deprived.”Comparing Bengal’s eco-

nomic situation with rest ofIndia Banerjee said “econom-ic situation (of a place) is veryimportant (for investment).Look at the situation in ourcountry. Industrial productionand FDI growth rate is down inIndia. The unemployment ratehas also gone up, rate of pover-

ty is as low (compared to therest of the country). It is 6 per-cent meaning thereby that weare working.”

She said the situation inBengal is far better than whatit used to be during the Leftrule when the Gross DomesticProduct of the State was notappreciable. “Now things havelooked up and we are receiving

investment,” she said addingsoon the Tajpur sea port will gooperational.

She said macro-economicparameters like GDP growthrate, industrial growth, pover-ty eradication had put Bengalahead of many other Statesadding the State had earmarkedland bank which making avail-ability of land easy. “We alsohave the right land use policy,tourism policy, InformationTechnology policy and teatourism policy,” she saidreminding that the State’s prox-imity to the countries likeBangkok, Singapore and KualaLumpur made its claim all themore strong for investment.

Top industrialists likeSanjay Budhia, Harsh Neotia,YK Modi, Rudra Chatterjeeand Mayank Jalan, were presentat the conclave which will con-clude on Thursday.

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Amaravati: The AndhraPradesh Cabinet on Wednesdayapproved a draft legislationthat mandates disposal of casesof atrocities against womenwithin 21 days and handing outthe death penalty.

The legislation, an amend-ment to the AP Criminal Law,will be called the “AP DishaAct”, in memory of the veteri-nary doctor raped and mur-dered in neighbouringTelangana recently.

Another draft legislationhas also been approved, whichwill pave the way for estab-lishment of special courts to trycases of atrocities againstwomen and children.

The two Bills are expectedto be tabled in the ongoingwinter session of the stateLegislature, Government

sources said.Under the proposed AP

Disha Act, death penalty hasbeen prescribed for rape.

Where cognizable evidenceis established in such cases, theamended law prescribes com-pletion of investigation in sevendays and court trial in subse-quent 14 days so as to awardpunishment within 21 days.

The existing law permitstrial in such cases in fourmonths. The Cabinet, chairedby Chief Minister YS JaganMohan Reddy, also approvedthe draft ‘AP Special Court forSpecified Offences Against

Women and Children Act,2019.’

Under this act, specialcourts will be set up in each ofthe 13 districts to try cases ofatrocities against women andchildren like rape, sexualharassment, acid attacks andharassment through socialmedia.

Depending on the gravityof the offence, the punishmentwill range from 10 years to lifeimprisonment, including underthe POCSO Act.

Under the POCSO Act,the current punishment isimprisonment for 3-5 years.“These will be significant leg-islations and should act as adeterrent for crimes againstwomen and children, a CabinetMinister said after themeeting. PTI

Shahjahanpur (UP): The 23-year-old law student, arrestedfor allegedly trying to extort ��5 crore from the BJP leaderSwami Chinmayanand, whomshe had accused of sexuallyexploiting her, was releasedfrom the jail here onWednesday.

The law student wasreleased a week after securingbail from the Allahabad HighCourt in the extortion caselodged against her and her

three male friends.“The girl has been handed

over to her father after a releaseorder from Chief JudicialMagistrate Omveer reachedthe jail. She was granted bail bythe Allahabad High Court onDecember 4,” Jailor RajeshKumar Rai told PTIPTI. The 23-year-old woman and her threefriends were booked onChinmayanand’s complaintthat they had demanded � 5crore from him. PTI

Muzaffarnagar:A man wasarrested fora l l e g e d l yabducting andraping a minorgirl in thePurkazi areahere, police saidon Wednesday. Rajiv, 21, had adductedthe 14-year-old girl from her house andraped her on November 12, they said.Thegirl was rescued on December 8, policeadded.The medical examination of the girl hasconfirmed that she was sexually assault-ed by the accused, they said.A caseunder various sections of the IPC, includ-ing rape, and the Protection of Childrenfrom Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act wasregistered against Rajiv, police said.He wasarrested on Tuesday, they added. PTI

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Afive-year-old girl was alleged rapedby a teenager in Uttar Pradesh’s

Hamirpur district, police said onWednesday.

The incident took place at a villagein Muskara area on Tuesday night. The14-year-old boy took the girl, who wasplaying outside her house, to a secluded place and raped her,Additional Superintendent of Police,Santosh Kumar said.

An FIR has been registered in thisregard on the complaint of the girl’sfamily members and the accused hasbeen detained, he said.

The matter is being probed. Thevictim has been admitted to the hospi-tal for treatment and her medicalreport is awaited.

Bengaluru: Apparently inanticipation of Nationwide rollout of NRC (National Registerof Citizens), mosques inKarnataka have given a call toMuslims to keep their docu-ments up-to-date.

Imams and Moulvis havebeen appealing them to setright their documents if thereare any anomalies in them.

The Jamia Masjid inBengaluru even opened a‘Citizen Centre’ three monthsago to assist people to keeptheir documents ready andhelp in addressing the anom-

alies, if any. “It is essential forevery citizen of India to keeptheir documents up to date.

Keeping that in view, aneffort has been made throughthe Jamia Masjid where we areasking Muslims to properlymaintain their records,”Maqsood Imran, the Imam ofJamia Masjid in Bengaluru,told PTI on Wednesday.

“We have also set up in theJamia Masjid ‘CitizensCentrewhere we are asking people tokeep certain documents readyand ensure that they don’t bear

any mistakes,” he added.The Imam said sometimes

there are differences in thenames in Aadhaar, PAN Card,Election Photo Identity Card(EPIC) and other documents.

These anomalies shouldbe corrected to avoid any prob-lems in future, he added.

Imran, however, claimedthat this drive has nothing todo with NRC because, accord-ing to him, infiltration is not anissue in South India and hence,there is no need to get scaredof or worried about the NRC. PTI

Fatehpur (UP): A 16-year-old gang-rape victim here has complained tosenior police officers that she is beingthreatened by the accused with a“Unnao like” fate if she did not with-draw the case against them.

“The victim had met ASP onTuesday and claimed she was threat-ened with a ‘Unnao like’ fate if she didnot compromise with the accused,” saidJafarganj Circle Officer Shripal Yadav.

“We are probing the matter. If it isproved that the victim was threatened,a fresh case will be registered againstthe accused,” he added.

The teenaged girl was allegedlyabducted and raped by four men lastmonth in a village in Ghazipur nearhere. After registering the FIR at theGhazipur police station, police arrest-ed the main accused Pradeep, but threeothers are still absconding.

“We are trying to arrest the remain-ing three. Searches are on to nab them,”the circle officer added.

The gang-rape victim alleged that

all the four accused belong to her vil-lage and their family members arethreatening her.

A 23-year-old rape victim fromUnnao was allegedly set on fire on Dec5 by five men, including the two whowere accused of raping her, while shewas on her way to attend the courthearing.

The victim died the next day dur-ing treatment at Safdarjunj Hospital inNew Delhi. All five men, who set thevictim ablaze, were arrested soon afterthey committed the crime. PTI

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath onWednesday advocated for uni-form education system acrossthe country saying it will bringsocial equality.

“Education is the mosteffective tool for social equali-ty. This is possible only whenthere is uniform education foreveryone. If it is uniform, thechildren who will pursue it willalso be equal. Thus, uniformeducation is the biggest chal-lenge in the entire country

today,” he said.The CM was speaking at

the ‘School Summit’ pro-gramme organised here.

Stating that education is thebasic need, he said variousboards and institutions have toprepare uniform and quality courses in the interest of thesociety and the nation. “Itshould be uniform in the wholecountry. For this, meaningfulinitiative is needed to build con-sensus in all states,” the ChiefMinister stressed. PTI

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With Karnataka ChiefMinister BS Yediyurappa

indicating that Cabinet expan-sion would take place after theruling BJP swept the December5 bypolls that has given stabil-ity to his Government, lobby-ing has intensified for minis-terial berths, by both old guard and newentrants.

A day after the BJP won 12of the total of 15 seats in thebyelections, he said on Tuesdaythat he would soon hold dis-cussions with the party lead-ership on Cabinet expansion,and made it clear that 11 dis-qualified MLAs (of the total 13fielded by BJP) who success-fully contested the bypolls onparty tickets, will be madeMinisters.

With indication from theChief Minister that newly elect-ed legislators will get the lion’sshare during the expansion,several senior party MLAs haveintensified efforts to secure aberth in the cabinet along withthem.

In an apparent show ofstrength and unity, the dis-qualified legislators — bothwho have won and lost on BJPticket during the bypolls — onWednesday met Chief Ministertogether and held discussions.

Party sources said, duringthe meeting they thanked

Yediyurappa for the supportduring the bypolls and soughthis continued cooperation inboth the Government and theparty.

Speaking to reporters afterthe meeting with Yediyurappa,newly elected BJP MLA fromYeshwanthpura ST Somashekarsaid, “We had come together tothank him, as he had cam-paigned in each of our con-stituencies at least twice”.

He said, they have request-ed for addressing issues relat-ing to R R Nagara and Maski,represented by disqualifiedCongress legislatorsMunirathna and Pratap GowdaPatil respectively, where bypollscould not be held due to pend-ing litigation in the High Court,filed by their then opponents inthe BJP after 2018 Assemblypolls.

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2* �&��(��(��3��( Bengaluru: With the Congress Karnataka unit

president and CLP chief resigning after the deba-cle in the Assembly bypolls, a few senior lead-ers have started testing the waters on gettingappointed to the posts, even as veteran leaderVeerappa Moily indicated that the high com-mand was yet to accept the resignations.

Siddaramaiah and Dinesh Gundu Rao hadresigned as Congress Legislature party leader andState unit chief respectively owning moralresponsibility for the poor show of the partywhich managed to win only two of the 15 seatsthat went to the bypolls on December 5.

Asked if the resignations have been accept-ed by the party high command, senior leader andformer union minister Veerappa Moily told PTIthat right now everybody was busy with theParliament session.

“Nothing will happen till then (till the ses-sion gets over),” former Union Minister VeerappaMoily told PTI, indicating that the party highcommand was yet to accept their resignations.

AICC general secretary KC Venugopalrecently said the party’s national president willdecide on the next course of action.

On Wednesday, KH Muniyappa, a con-tender to the post of State congress chief, metformer Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda andhad a long discussion with him.

JD(S) sources said they discussed the futurecourse of action in the wake of the resignationby Siddaramaiah and Dinesh Gundu Rao.

Speaking to reporters later, Muniyappasaid he called on Gowda to inquire about hishealth. PTI

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The Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi(MVA) Government on Wednesday

decided to name the � 55,335 croreNagpur-Mumbai Samruddhi Mahamarg(Mumbai-Nagpur SuperCommunication Expressway) after lateSena chief Bal Thackeray.

Acting on a proposal to this effectmade by PWD Minister Eknath Shinde,the State Cabinet — at a State Cabinetmeeting presided over Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray, gave a formal nod tothe proposal.

The previous BJP-led saffron alliancegovernment had wanted to name

the Mumbai—Nagpur SuperCommunication Expressway (MNSCE)after late Prime Minister Atal BehariVajpayee. However, the Shiv Sena —which was earlier constituent of the rul-ing saffron alliance – had demanded thatthe Mumbai-Nagpur Expressway benamed after late its chief Bal Thackeray.Caught in a dilemma, then ChiefMinister Devendra Fadnavis had put thedecision on hold.

Now with the Shiv Sena at the prin-cipal party in the Sena-NCP-Congressfront's MVA Government, PWDMinister Eknath Shinde put up the pro-posal to name the Mumbai- NagpurSuper Communication Expresswaybefore the State Cabinet, which readilyapproved the proposal.

At Wednesday’s meeting, the StateCabinet decided to infuse additionalshare capital of � 3,500 crore for theMNSCE and waive stamp duty on

MoUs between agencies working on thisexpressway project.

According to the decision, the sharecapital of � 3,500 crore will be in addi-tion to the existing capital of � 27,335crore, which is in the form of � 3,500crore from Maharashtra State RoadRoad Corporation (MSRDC), � 5,500crore from state PSUs, waiver of royal-ty on minor minerals at � 2,414 crore,interest on loans during the constructionperiod at � 6,396 crore and the cost ofland at � 9,525 crore.

The Chief Minister’s office — in anofficial release — said that the additionalshare capital would reduce the debt bur-den of the project by � 2,500 crore. Itwould also remove the need to providea guarantee for a loan of � 16,500 crore.

The revised cost of the project is � 55,335 crore. A loan of ��24,500 crorewas approved for the special purposevehicle Nagpur Mumbai SuperCommunication Expressway.

The 701 km Mumbai-Nagpur Super

Communication Expressway, agreen project that being builtfrom scratch without removingany existing structure, will bringdown the Mumbai and Nagpurjourney time to 8 hours; Mumbaito Aurangabad to 4 hours andAurangabad to Nagpur to 4hours.

The proposed super com-munication expressway, which isexpected to be commissioned by2021, will pass through 10 dis-tricts -- Thane, Nashik,Ahmednagar, Jalna, Aurangabad,

Buldana, Washim, Amravati, Wardhaand Nagpur.

Apart from connecting Mumbaiand Nagpur, the super communicationexpressway will also provide direct con-nectivity to Jawaharlal Nehru Port, thecountry’s largest container port, in NaviMumbai and MIHAN in Nagpur. It willinclude a feeder network, connectingfourteen neighbouring districts to thishighway.

The proposed Mumbai-Nagpursuper communication expressway, whichis being implemented by the State-runMaharashtra State Road DevelopmentCorporation (MSRDC), aims at pro-viding an impetus to the overall devel-opment of the state’s rural areas byattracting domestic as well as foreigninvestments.

The expressway will include over 50flyovers, over 24 interchanges, more than5 tunnels, more than 400 vehicular andover 300 pedestrian underpasses atstrategic locations.

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In first of its kind communi-cation sent off to the Centre

after assuming the office latelast month, Maharashtra’s newChief Minister UddhavThackeray has sought theState’s “legitimate dues” of ��15,558 crore from the UnionGovernment by way of GSTcompensation and tax devolu-tion.

In a letter written to UnionFinance Minister NirmalaSitharaman, Uddhav made acase for “timely release” ofGST compensation and taxdevolution by the Centre.

“The State is awaiting legit-imate dues of � 15,558.05 crorefrom the Government ofIndia.... Timely release of GSTcompensation and tax devolu-tion amount will help my Stateto manage the finances effi-ciently, “ the chief ministerwrote in his letter.

The pending dues com-prise ��6,946.29 crore by way oftax devolution and � 8,611.76

crore towards GST compensa-tion up to November 2019.

“As per the Union budget2019-20, the tax devolution toMaharashtra was ��46,630.66crore which is 11.15 per centmore than �� 41,952.65 crorereceived by the state during2018-19. But, the State hasreceived only � 20,254.92 croretill October 2019 which is25.53 per cent less compared tothe budget estimate of 2019-20,” the Chief Minister wrote.

“So, instead of receiving theenhanced amount, the State hasreceived less than the budget-ed amount. With further slow-down of the economy duringthe second quarter, it's likelythat there will be further reduc-tion in tax devolution,” the let-ter said.

Uddhav said that owing tothe slowdown of the economy,there was a shortfall in the GSTcollections compared to thebenchmark growth of 14 percent.

“During the current finan-

cial year, we have received ��5,635 crore as GST compen-sation for the first four monthsonly. However, an amount of Rs8611.76 crore is due towardsthe GST compensation up toNovember 2019, “ the chiefminister stated.

According to Uddhav, theIntegrated GST (IGST) settle-ment was done during 2017-18based on tax devolution for-mula of the FinanceCommission, instead of the for-mula adopted for such settle-ment. “As per the latest CAGreport, for the year endedMarch 2018, theIGST settlement for manytransactions is not happen-ing,” he wrote.

“The State is awaiting legit-imate dues of � 15,558.05 crorefrom the Centre. The State isalso suffering due to the short-fall in tax devolution. Timelyrelease of GST compensationand tax devolution amountwill help my State to managefinances efficiently,” the letterstated.

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In an unprecedented move,Jammu & Kashmir High

Court (HC) on Wednesdayissued notice to Government tourgently deploy Central ArmedPolice Force(CAPF) in respectof the Jammu & Kashmir HighCourt and all district courts inJammu & Kashmir.

The High Court Coram ledby Chief Justice Geeta Mitaland Justice Rajesh Bindaldirected that all relevantCirculars of the Ministry ofHome Affairs of theGovernment of India as well asother relevantcircular(s)/order(s) of theGovernment of India or theGovernment of the erstwhileState of J&K and theGovernment of the UnionTerritory of Jammu & Kashmirto declare the High Court ofJammu & Kashmir and DistrictCourts as High Security ZonesTerritory of Jammu & Kashmirbe produced before it.

Notice was also issued tothe Government of India (GoI)to provide security to bothwings of the High CourtJammu & Kashmir as well asthe District Courts, in theUnion Territory of Jammu &Kashmir.

Besides, Jammu & KashmirHigh Court also issued show-cause notices to protestingmembers of Jammu Court BarAssociation for locking thedistrict courts and preventingthe litigants in civil cases,under trails and lawyers fromaccessing the courts.

Since November 1, mem-bers of the Jammu andKashmir High Court BarAssociation (JKHCBA) havebeen on an indefinite strikeagainst the decision to divestjudicial courts of powers to reg-ister documents related to

immovable properties.Judicial work in the High

court and its subordinate courtsin most parts of the Jammuregion remain hit sinceNovember 1.

Currently, the lawyers aresitting on an 'indefinite' hungerstrike to press their demands.

Meanwhile, the show-causenotices were issued to advo-cates: S. Baldev Singh, NitinBakshi, Azhar Usman Khanand Mahinder Singh Palli forcriminal contempt of court.

While issuing contemptnotices, the Bench observedthat conduct of these advocatesof locking the District Courtand preventing the litigants incivil cases, under trials andlawyers from accessing thecourts is a very serious matterand can’t be ignored.

The Coram led by ChiefJustice Gitta Mittal and JusticeRajesh Bindal observed that inview of the pronouncements ofthe Supreme Court that thevery decision to proceed onstrike; remaining absent fromcourt and boycott of judicialproceedings; locking the courts,preventing entry to those want-ing to enter are completely ille-gal rendering all personsresponsible for the same forappropriate action as mandat-ed by the apex court.

The bench observed thatthe conduct of the protestinglawyers is in blatant violation ofthe mandate of law and falls

under the seri-ous category ofcriminal con-tempt of court.

“We arer e a s o n a b l yhopeful thatgiven thereminder ofthe legal posi-tion hereby,

good sense and conscience ofthe members of the Bar would prevail and theywould conduct themselves inaccordance with law ensuringthe rights of the public guar-anteed under the Constitutionof India,” the bench led byChief Justice Gittal Mittalobserved.

The protesting lawyershave been asked to file responseas why they should not be pro-ceeded against under rules 10,11 of the Jammu & Kashmir Advocates(Regulation of Practice in theHigh Court and SubordinateCourts) Rules, 2003 as well asproceeded against for the actswhich are penal under theprovisions of the Indian PenalCode.

They have also been askedto file a response within twoweeks of the receipt of thenotices.

Registrar General HighCourt of J&K has been direct-ed to procure from theRegistrar Judicial, Jammu aswell also from the PrincipalDistrict & Sessions Judge,Jammu upto date reportsregarding the position withregard to obstructions to accessthe court as well as CCTVvideo coverage recorded andphotographs thereof.

Registrar IT has also beendirected to conduct an inquiryin the matter and submit areport in this regard to thecourt.

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The Nanavati Commissionhas given a clean chit to the

then Gujarat Chief MinisterNarendra Modi-led Governmentin the 2002 riots in the Statewhere over 1,000 people, most-ly of the minority community,were killed.

The commission's reportwas tabled in the GujaratAssembly by Minister of State forHome Pradeepsinh Jadeja onWednesday, five years after it wassubmitted to the thenGovernment and 17 years afterthe riots shook the state.

The panel, comprising for-mer Supreme Court Justice G TNanavati and former GujaratHigh Court Justice AkshayMehta, in its report observedthat police at some places wereineffective in controlling themob because of their inadequatenumbers or because they werenot properly armed.

“There is no evidence toshow that these attacks wereeither inspired or instigated orabated by any Minister of thestate,” the commission said in itsvoluminous report.

The commission wasappointed in 2002 by the thenState Chief Minister NarendraModi to probe the riots, thattook place after the burning oftwo coaches of SabarmatiExpress train near Godhra rail-

way station, in which 59 'karse-vaks' were killed.

“On an overall considerationof the entire material, the com-mission finds that the commu-nal riots which followed theGodhra incident were really byway of an aftermath of that inci-dents,” the report said.

It was because of the Godhraincident that large sections ofHindu community became veryangry and ultimately indulged inviolent attacks on Muslims andtheir properties,” it said.

The commission also saidthat it did not find any evidenceagainst “any religious or politi-cal party or organisations assuch” in connection with theriots.

“The only thing that can besaid with some certainty, on thebasis of evidence which hascome before the commission, isthat local members of the VHPand Bajrang Dal took part in theincidents which happened intheir localities,” it said.

The panel said the post-Godhra riots that spread out inthe state were “not a pre-planned

conspiracy or orchestrated vio-lence”.

There is no substance inallegations against State author-ities turning a blind eye to post-Godhra riots, it said.

The commission also ques-tioned the credibility of threeformer IPS officers — SanjivBhatt, Rahul Sharma and RBSreekumar — who had allegedthat there was role of the StateGovernment in the riots.

After close scrutiny of theevidence, it is not possible to saythat there was any negligence onthe part of police, it noted.

However, it is very muchnecessary the state has a disci-plined police force to ensure thatpeace and tranquility of thesociety is not disturbed, it added.

“While considering the evi-dence relating to the incidentswhich happened during thecommunal riots, we have noticedthat the absence of police or theirinadequate number embold-ened the mobs to indulge in vio-lence,” it said.

On some communal riotincidents in Ahmedabad city, thecommission said, “The policehad not shown their competenceand eagerness which was nec-essary.”

The report has recom-mended inquiries or action,which were halted after thecommission was formed, againstthe erring police officers.

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Gandhinagar: The NanavatiCommission report on the2002 Gujarat riots exposes the“conspiracy” by certain NGOsand the Congress to defamePrime Minister Narendra Modiglobally, state Home MinisterPradeepsinh Jadeja said onWednesday.

The commission's report,tabled in the Gujarat Assemblyon Wednesday by BJP leaderJadeja, gave a clean chit tothen chief minister NarendraModi-led state government forthe worst riots in the history ofthe state where over 1,000 peo-ple, mainly of minority com-munity, were killed.

The riots took place aftertwo coaches of SabarmatiExpress train were set on firenear Godhra railway station, inwhich 59 'karsevaks' returningfrom Ayodhya were killed.

“The commission's reportclarifies all doubts among peo-ple regarding the 2002 riots inthe state. It also exposes con-spiracy by certain NGOs andthe Congress to malign Modi'simage the world over,” Jadejatold reporters after tabling thereport in the House. PTI

Pune: “Blood and Hindutva” ofthe BJP and the Shiv Sena arecommon and they should cometogether again and form aGovernment, senior Mahara-shtra BJP leader ChandrakantPatil said here on Wednesday.

A day earlier, veteran Senaleader Manohar Joshi had saidhis party and the BJP whichparted ways days after theresults of the Maharashtraassembly poll were announced,can come together in nearfuture.

“The BJP and the ShivSena are natural allies for thelast 30 years. Their blood andHindutva are common..Theparties should come togetherand form a Government. Thegovernment (in Maharashtra)should have been formed joint-ly because the popular mandatewas in the favour of both theparties,” Patil told reporters

here. The senior BJP leader saidhe didn't have any idea aboutwhat Manohar Joshi had said.

“I do not have any ideaabout it but yes there is an opti-mism. This (demands for areunion between the Sena andthe BJP) is just an optimism. Ido not know if it (a re-alliance)will work or not,” Patil said.

When asked if doors arestill open for the discussionswith the Sena, which joinedhands with rivals Congressand NCP to form a coalitiongovernment last month aftersnapping ties with the BJP,Patil said “doors were open atthat time also”.

“We did not have any egothat time (after the results ofthe assembly elections wereannounced on October 24),and that is why we had takena lead but we were not allowed(to proceed),” he said. PTI

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Jammu: Fresh snowfall in thehigh altitude areas onWednesday forced closure of434-km strategic Srinagar-Lehnational highway and Mughalroad connecting the twin dis-tricts of Poonch and Rajouriwith south Kashmir's Shopiandistrict, officials said.

The roads linking the bor-der towns of Gurez in Bandiporadistrict and Karhnah andTangdhar in Kupwara districtwere also closed, while the traf-fic on Jammu-Srinagar nation-al highway was restricted to one-way and only Srinagar-boundvehicles were allowed on thishighway this morning, the traf-fic department officials said.

The upper reaches ofJammu and Kashmir andLadakh including the famous skiresort of Gulmarg, Pahalgamand Sonamarg experiencedsnowfall overnight under theinfluence of WesternDisturbance which hit the regionand is likely to remain active tillmorning of December14, bring moderate and heavy

snowfall and rain especially onThursday and Friday.

S r i n a g a r - L e hnational highway,Mughal Road,Bandipora-Gurez andKupwara-Tangdhar-Karnah roads wereclosed on Wednesdaymorning following freshsnowfall at variousplaces along these vitalroads, the officials said. PTI

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Democracies across the globe arefighting a battle of survival today.India, one of the largest democ-racies in the world, is facing anexistential threat from internal

forces motivated by vested interests and nar-row political gains. The ongoing attack ondemocracy and the resulting authoritarianregulations on people’s right to choose aGovernment of their choice, freedom ofexpression, Constitutional validity and sup-pression of liberal voice will take the coun-try back to the primitive times. Signs of sucha trend are already looming large on the hori-zon with secularism and pluralistic worldviewcoming under constant attack. An annualreport by Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem),published in 2018, titled, “Democracy FacingGlobal Challenges” said that “autocratisationis now manifesting in a number of countries,including Brazil, India, Russia, Turkey and theUS. Autocratisation affects one-third of theworld’s population, or some 2.5 billion peo-ple. This represents a massive reduction in theglobal protection of rights and freedoms.”

Democratic discussions and debateshave been greatly undermined in recent times,attacks on minority groups have seen a riseand religion has almost taken the centre-stagein all political discourses. Anti-democraticsymptoms, such as attacks on certain sectionsof society based on their food habits, curtail-ing of freedom of individuals and organisa-tion and interference with Governmentinstitutions for political gains, are challeng-ing Indian democracy. In his book,Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason,Science, Humanism, and Progress, StevenPinker said that “a good democraticGovernment allows people to pursue theirlives in safety, protected from the violence ofanarchy and in freedom, protected from theviolence of tyranny. For that reason alone,democracy is a major contributor to humanflourishing.”

Currently, there are 103 democracies inthe world with nearly 56 per cent of the glob-al populations residing in them. But recentdevelopments in the global political landscapeare giving rise to authoritarianism. The riseof an alternative form of democracy, liketheodicy in the Muslim world and authori-tarian capitalism in China, is the primary rea-son for the declining popularity of democra-cy. Stephen Pinker, however, says that “democ-racies themselves are blacklisting into author-itarianism with populist victories in Polandand Hungary and the power grabs by RecepErdogan in Turkey and Vladimir Putin inRussia.” It is true that democracies across theglobe have come under a major threat as elect-ed leaders at times refuse to vacate the officeand, thus, cripple the democratic functionsof the Government as mandated by the peo-ple. Similar trends are also being witnessedin the US and the UK. A Government, whichfunctions without heeding to the needs of thevery people that elected it, tends to becomeauthoritarian sooner or later. The trends indi-

cating a gradual but deliberateattempt to strangle and replacedemocracy are not only seen inIndia but across the globe.

The Varieties of Democracyreport further adds that “aspectsof democracy that make electionstruly meaningful are on thedecline. Media autonomy, free-dom of expression and alterna-tive sources of information andthe rule of law have undergonethe greatest decline amongdemocracy metrics in recentyears. This trend affects bothautocracies and democracies.”

Besides, the dramatic rise inprotectionist trends, deglobalisa-tion, hyper-nationalism and divi-sive politics will only worsen thecurrent state of affairs. This ismore evident during electioncampaigns, where propaganda isskillfully employed to spreadmisinformation and instill fear inthe minds of the people aboutpossible threats to their reli-gious, cultural and ethnic iden-tities from external forces.

Elections are, thus, wonand public opinion is held cap-tive in manners never thoughtpossible before. This not onlyhas a regressive impact on civil-isations that evolved andmatured over thousands ofyears, but also threatens theideals of unity, harmony andmutual tolerance. SamuelHuntington, noted Americanpolitical scientist, in his articletitled, “Clash of Civilisations”says that the “Great divisionsamong humankind and the

dominating source of conflictwill be cultural. Nation stateswill remain the most powerfulactors in world affairs but theprincipal conflicts of globalpolitics will occur betweennations and groups of differentcivilisations. The clash of civil-isations will dominate globalpolitics. The fault lines betweencivilisations will be the battlelines of the future.”

Authoritarian regimes havealways resorted to extreme mea-sures to silence public opinion,eliminate adversary groups andcreate an environment of fear.Democracy was an exceptionthat allowed and promoted freespeech, dissent and peacefulprotests. However, democracytoday is crackling under exces-sive pressure from politicians,Governments and individualswith vested interests. In thewords of Stephen Pinker, suchtrends were first witnessed in“the first decade of the 21st cen-tury with the rise of populistmovements that blatantly repu-diate the ideals of enlightenment— liberty, progress,Constitutional Government andfraternity. Today, they are trib-alist rather than cosmopolitan,authoritarian rather than demo-cratic, contemptuous of expertsrather than respectful of knowl-edge and nostalgic for an idyl-lic past rather than hopeful fora better future.”

What can save democracyfrom a premature death?Democracy, in the words of

Abraham Lincoln, is “AGovernment of the people, by thepeople and for the people.” Itsvery foundation, therefore, restson its people, their belief and thedesire to be ruled by a leader whois capable of ensuring their safe-ty and overall well-being.Huntington, in his book, TheThird Wave: Democratisation inthe Late Twentieth Century, talksabout three waves of democrati-sations, the challenges each ofthem faced and the democratictransitions that took place crossthe globe. However, today, weneed a fourth wave that wouldnot necessitate any democratictransitions but protect the exist-ing democracies. But this wouldrequire what Immanuel Kantcalls “enlightenment” or dare toknow (sapere aude).

Enlightenment, as Kantdescribes it, is man’s emergencefrom his self-imposed nonage.Nonage is the inability to use one’sown understanding withoutanother’s guidance. “This nonageis self-imposed if its cause lies notin the lack of understanding butin indecision and lack of courageto use one’s own mind withoutanother’s guidance.”

Enlightenment or the age ofreason, which began in the 14thcentury and ended in the 17thcentury, marked a new chapter inEuropean history that was previ-ously plagued by ignorance, blindfaith and supremacy of theChurch. It was, perhaps, theenlightened wisdom that laid thefoundation of modern Europe

with a different worldview guid-ed by reason and logic. A revis-it of the same would usher in anew era of positive change, char-acterised by greater reliance onreason, logic and human intelli-gence.

The enlightenment valuesare relevant even today, partic-ularly as the world remainshighly susceptible to religiousfundamentalism, strong ideo-logical adherence to divisivepolitics and increasing anti-democratic trends. Further, theanti-intellectual trends and sec-tarian politics unfolding todayin countries ruled by democra-tic Governments could poten-tially push the world into a bot-tomless pit of cultural and civil-isational decadence.

However, active participa-tion of people, unbiased report-ing by the media and a fair judi-cial system can play a crucialrole in upholding the sanctityand ensuring the long life ofdemocracy. New ideologies,innovative thinking and aboveall, criticism, should be wel-comed in the best interest of thecommon good and the well-being of the nation and its peo-ple. Like 14th century Europe,which experienced a revival inits thinking, political and intel-lectual views, enlightenmentcould trigger a new wave ofthinking and an awakening inus to guard our Constitutionalrights and a democratic life.

(The writer is a communica-tions professional) )�� (

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Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “Murder most foul”(December 10). From UphaarCinema to Hotel Arpit Palace,Karol Bagh, we never seem tolearn our lessons. One firetragedy after another happensdue to huge lapses, illegal enter-prises and our chronic tenden-cy to short-change the law.

The Anaj Mandi fire in a five-storey building, which houseddozens of illegal manufacturingunits and warehouses and hadhardly any safety measures, couldhave been averted had the roomsbeen ventilated and all fire-relat-ed safeguards put in place. Had afew brave-heart firefighters notput their own lives at stake to save25 people, the death count wouldhave crossed 60.

In the Karol Bagh incident,too, as in the Anaj Mandi case,exit doors were blocked, makingit tougher for people stuck in thebuilding to come out. After everysuch tragedy, there is an inquirycommittee set up, financial aid isannounced to the victims’ fami-lies and then we move on.

Such is the casual approachof our administration and

authorities that they allow thesecommercial establishments torun without any licence or no-objection certificate after pock-eting the bribe. When will theauthorities act as they should?

Bal GovindNoida

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Sir — That India inched just onespot up to 129th out of 189 coun-tries on the 2019 HumanDevelopment Index (HDI)released by the United Nations

Development Programme(UNDP) did not come as a sur-prise. Inequality and deprivationcontinue to be high in the coun-try. Both issues — which are by nomeans limited to our shores alone— have become a deeply-rootedfeature of the social and econom-

ic landscapes of nations across theworld. Inequality has many invid-ious consequences. This becauseit is one of the few issues thatspans both the micro and macrodimensions. Despite progress,group-based inequalities persist inIndia, especially affecting womenand girls. The index can be fur-ther brought down by imple-menting a uniform civil code,compulsory family planning andovercoming gender bias.

Srishti Mathur Ujjain

��

Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Shut out Russia” (December 11).In actual fact, WADA has not puta blanket ban on Russia, whichwill mean that it can still competein all events, albeit without its flagand anthem. It can also appeal atthe Court of Arbitration for Sport.Unless strict sanctions areimposed, which can make leadersaccountable, how can we be surethat the system will ever change?

Sweta SankrityanDelhi

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The present time is colloquially beingcalled the Asian Century for all the rightreasons. If the 19th century was Britain’s

Imperial century and the 20th was American,then the 21st century is apparently becoming theAsian century. By 2020, the economic growth(in purchasing power parity terms) of Asiangiants put together will surpass the rest of theworld and that is likely to be the future trendas well. The Indian Ocean Region (IOR) hasplayed and continues to play a vital role in boost-ing this Asian prosperity by being the “road ofdevelopment in the 21st century.”

The major source of development for mostof the Asian countries is oil, the supply of whichcomes from West Asia—the Gulf region—whilethe major consumers, India, Association ofSouth East Asian Nations (ASEAN), China,South Korea and Japan lie to the East.

Of late, some incidents impacting oil secu-rity have exposed the vulnerability of Asian pow-ers to events occurring in the Gulf. The mineattack, which blew off the hull of a Japanese oiltanker at a UAE port and 30 Indian sailors beingdetained by Iran, who were on board a Britishtanker flying a Panama flag, are cases in point.

However, of even greater concern is theattack which took place on Saudi oil facilitieson September 14, which has not received theattention it deserves. If oil facilities continue tobe targetted in the Gulf, the Asian century isunlikely to materialise any time soon as this oil,which fuels the engines of Asian growth, is trans-ported eastwards from the Gulf via the IndianOcean.

As a share of oil imports, the Gulf regionaccounted for 44 per cent for China, 63.6 percent for India, 86 per cent for Japan and 77.1per cent for South Korea, according to 2017 datacompiled by the Observatory of EconomicComplexity. The security of the production cen-tres as well as the oil’s transportation across thesea lanes are thus vital for Asia and any disrup-tion could put a huge question mark on theemergence of the 21st century as the Asian cen-tury. Oil thus is the most important governingfactor of geo-politics these days and owing toits criticality, the word “ge-oil-itics” needs to bebrought into common strategic parlance.

The first-of-its-kind stealthy air strike onSaudi oil facilities took place using drones andcruise missiles. The attack was claimed by theHouthi rebels in Yemen but evidently, there wereother powers behind it, using the Houthis as afront. The undetected strike, carried out withhigh precision left people speechless. When theHouthi rebels took responsibility for it, peopletermed it a “black swan” event.

However, if one studies the consistency inthe effort, one will find that such strikes werebeing practised since January 2018 and it wasthe 19th attempt, which was successful beyondimagination. So this was a “grey rhino” and nota “black swan” event. And if it could happen toone of the most heavily-guarded facilities in theworld, then India also needs to pay attention tothe security of its own refineries and othercoastal strategic assets, given the threat of State-sponsored terrorism in the vicinity.

Any strike on oil facilities will push up theprice of oil which in turn will adversely impact

India’s economy and dent GDP growthrate. For example, according toNomura, an increase in oil prices by$10 per barrel will lead to a drop inIndia’s GDP by 0.2 per cent points. Thiswould place in jeopardy, the nation’sdream of becoming a $5 trillion econ-omy by 2024.

Safety of the Gulf: At present, theUS has a strong naval presence in theGulf (and in IOR as well) and has tra-ditionally safeguarded its energy secu-rity, including Sea Lanes ofCommunication (SLOC). It hasensured the same for its allies orstrategic partners. However, its relativeenergy dependence on the countries ofthe region is diminishing with theexploitation of shale oil and gas at thehome front and it is less dependent onoil from the Gulf.

The US still continues to providea security umbrella over the region forthe sake of oil but in the last few years,discussions with the Trump adminis-tration have brought up the issue ofIndia and China being free ridersbanking upon American naval assetsto protect their access to energy sup-plies from the Gulf without makingany significant contribution them-selves. China has evidently increasedits naval presence in the IOR and iscontinuing to do so because Xi Jinpinghas understood that in the long-run,“ge-oil-itics” will control geo-politics.

Lessons for India: This attack bydrones and cruise missiles has broughtout the lethality and accuracy of airpower, while defeating another pillarof airpower which is air-defence(detection, identification, timely inter-ception and destruction). It also showsthat non-State or State-sponsorednon-State actors have acquired sophis-

ticated systems that can impact theglobal economy and cause collateraldamage of an unprecedented nature.The threat in the Indian context is realwith Pakistan sponsored non-Stateactors looking for opportunities tocause collateral damage withinKashmir and across India.

Attack drones can target high-value national leaders, critical infra-structure, power grids, oil refineries,military installations and populationcentres. Drones are highly versatile andcan deliver explosives, biological,chemical agents and also act as the eyesand ears of the terrorists.

This is not mere speculation,because recently drones from thePakistani side dropped weapons inPunjab. A large number of AK-47assault rifles and grenades dropped inAmritsar by heavy-lifting drones thatcame from across the border were forterrorists to create trouble in Jammu& Kashmir. The drones carried outeight sorties in 10 days in Septemberto drop the weapons, including satel-lite phones.

If one can see the similarities in thepattern of usage of drones by non-Stateactors against a State, it shall appear asthe beginning of a larger plot againstIndia. Indian security forces thus needto prepare to negate any such threats.This is a lesson which Indian policy-makers, strategists and tacticians mustlearn fast and evaluate the country’sairpower preparedness for this kind ofattack from land or maritime borders.The recent events in the Gulf, theunsettling situations in Iran, Iraq andthe Saudi kingdom and an ever-increasing Chinese footprint are awake-up call to India to review its rolein the IOR with a reduced American

presence. It is thus time to strengthenIndia’s defence and foreign policy forIOR while focussing on maritimesecurity along with IOR countries.Defence interactions focussing onstrengthening the air defence capabil-ity of the IOR countries, sharing the airpicture for better awareness and jointexercises between Indian Air Force(IAF) and other air forces or air wingsof the region will not only enhance thesecurity of the IOR but also deter theelements wanting to disrupt the peace-ful growth of the region.

India’s maritime borders areexposed from three sides and there aremany high-value assets located longthe Indian coastline.

Given the limited air power assetsand constraints of the defence Budget,conventional and non-conventionalaerial threats can only be tackledthrough a rejuvenated air-power phi-losophy focussed on better integrationof naval and air force assets.

It would not only give the nationinsurance of predicted economic risebut also give assurance to neighbour-ing IOR countries for mutual growthunder a secured environment.

Security And Growth for All in theRegion (SAGAR), which is India’svision for Indian Ocean (HindMahasagar) can become visionMAHASAGAR (Mutual, Aggregate,Homogeneous and Assured SecurityAnd Growth for All in the Region) ifIndia actively assumes the role of secu-rity-provider through invigorateddiplomatic and defence engagementswith IOR nations.

(The writer is Visiting Fellow atIndia Foundation and his area ofresearch is defence and strategic stud-ies)

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As the national Capital reelsunder the impact of an increas-ingly toxic air quality and once

again questions are being raised aboutthe measures taken to curb air pollu-tion in Delhi-NCR, one of the deci-sions taken by the National GreenTribunal (NGT) in April 2015 comesto mind. The tribunal passed anorder prohibiting 15-year-old petrolvehicles and 10-year-old diesel auto-mobiles from plying and asked forthem to be pulled off the roads withimmediate effect. The ban took thenation, particularly Delhiites, by sur-prise as the national Capital was oneof the first cities to be chosen for itsimplementation. The prohibition

impacted over 37 lakh of Delhi’s onecrore registered vehicles, much to thechagrin of owners who were sudden-ly faced with the prospect of havingto buy new cars while their old vehi-cles were fated to be impounded andscrapped, instead of being sold in thesecond-hand car market. Whateverhopes the citizens might have had ofgetting some relief from the SupremeCourt (SC) were also belied when theapex court ruled in favour of theNGT’s order in October 2018.

However, four years down the line,the implementation of the tribunal’s2015 order remains inconclusive, formany reasons. First, the DelhiScrappage Policy, 2018, provides forguidance on the procedure for scrap-ping of old vehicles (wherein automo-biles registered in Delhi shall be bro-ken up only by an authorised scrap-per) but the vehicle class-wise scrap-page charge is yet to be finalised.

Second, the administration, too,is yet to decide how to accommodatethe 37 lakh vehicles once they startimpounding them. Third, most of theregistration certificates (RC) of thevehicles affected by the NGT’s ban still

show fitness and registration validityfor at least two to three years more,making it difficult to pull them off theroads, as it would overturn the RCissued by the Regional TransportOffice. Understandably, the owners ofthe vehicles are peeved since they paidthe lifetime road tax for the automo-bile and now stand to suffer a loss onthat payment once the car is scrapped.

Another negative fallout of theban is the fact that the second handcar market has crashed and rates for

old vehicles have fallen like neverbefore. Even well-maintained vehicles,with a lot of good miles left in them,are available at throwaway prices.

The blanket ban on old vehiclesalso overlooked the provision of giv-ing a fair chance to owners to provetheir fitness before it was condemned,as no screening system was put inplace. The manner in which the pol-icy has taken shape and the lawpassed, basically ignores the efforts ofthose committed vehicle owners who

diligently tended to their automobilesand made sure that they were notadding to the pollution problems oftheir city. The ban also impacts all eco-nomic classes in one go. How is a mid-dle class family that invested a substan-tial amount in the purchase of a vehi-cle, suddenly expected to scrap it andraise funds for a new one? Also, whatabout those vehicles which were usedsparingly and have probably not donemore than 60,000 to 70,000 km andare in mint condition? Are they to bescrapped and the owner forced to buya new one? At a time when the coun-try is going through an economicslowdown, would people be willing toinvest in a new car? Needless to say,there is no one to answer such uncom-fortable questions.

Across the world, the end of lifepolicy for vehicles is very clear, logi-cal and driven by a very smooth pro-cedural system, unlike here. To under-stand the problem of vehicle ban fur-ther, let us take the example of thetransport sector. Assuming, that as perthe rule, once all the trucks that areover 10 years old are scrapped, a hugechunk of the freighter fleet will dis-

appear. This in turn will increasefreight costs and cause the prices ofessential commodities to rise. Will theGovernment then give a life extensionto old vehicles in order to keep infla-tion in check? This is the reason thateven today in spite of the ban on 10-year-old diesel vehicles, we see rick-ety trucks still plying because we havea rule that cannot be fully implement-ed as the nation is not ready for theconsequences. Environmentally-speaking, the vehicle ban was a longtime coming given the new heightspollution has scaled in Delhi-NCR andacross the country. The much-publi-cised IIT-Kanpur study that formedthe basis of the research eventually ledto the ban in Delhi-NCR.

The intention to protect the envi-ronment and health of the citizens isno doubt vital but important policydecisions should not be a knee-jerkreaction to long-standing problems. Itis high time that all stakeholders sitdown and chart out a course for pol-lution control that is sustainable inevery way for everyone.

(The writer is an environmentaljournalist)

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PNB Housing Finance Ltd(PNBHFL) on Wednesday

said its exposure to the Omaxegroup stood at over �456 croreat the end of September.

In a regulatory filing toexchanges, PNBHFL said theinformation about loan expo-sure to Omaxe group is “withreference to the informationfloating in the social mediaregarding PNB Housing's expo-sure to the Omaxe group”.

There were rumours thatthe real estate firm has default-ed on its loan repayment.

Giving a synopsis of itsexposure, including past andongoing facilities, to Omaxegroup, PNB Housing Financesaid it has sanctioned �650crore of term loan to the group.Out of that, �635 crore has beendisbursed and the principal out-standing as on September 30,2019, stood at �456 crore.

Giving an account of pastexposure to Omaxe duringMarch 2008 to June 2015, thehousing financier said it dis-bursed a total of 189.50 croreduring this period and the lasttranche of �100 crore loan wasrepaid in December 2018.

In a break-up of ongoing

loan facilities to Omaxe Group,PNBHFL said loan of �200crore was sanctioned and dis-bursed for the project 'TheLake Phase-1' in January 2016.

Outstanding amount as onSeptember 30 stood at �71.5crore and the project is part ofthe Omaxe City, developed atChandigarh Extension.

Principal repayment startedin May 2018. As on September2019, the account was in stage-1, the project is 85 per cent com-plete and 74 per cent sold.

Sales are little slow due tomarket conditions, it said addingthat a total of 540 units were soldtill June 2019, while 191 unitswere unsold. The security valueis Rs 141 crore providing secu-rity cover of 2.1 times.

Likewise, for the LakePhase-2 project, �250 crorewas disbursed in Mar 2018.The outstanding amount by theend of September stood at Rs206.6 crore and the principalrepayment started sinceDecember 2018.

“As on September 30, 2019,the account was in stage-1. Theproject is 75 per cent complet-ed and 37 per cent units sold.Sales are little slow due to themarket conditions,” PNBHousing said.

New Delhi: The US-basedNetflix has started testing longersubscription plans in the coun-try, as it looks to woo new usersin India where online videoconsumption has seen a massivegrowth in the past few years.

According to sources,Netflix has started testing mul-tiple months subscription plans(three, six and 12 months)that will be offered at a dis-counted price.

However, this will be avail-able only to some new users,and they may see differentoptions, they added.

The sources said the intentof the pilot is to see whethersubscribers will be open to pay-ing for several months, or ayear in advance.

Earlier this year, Netflixhad piloted and then launcheda mobile phone-only plan inthe Indian market — a first forthe company globally. The newlong-term plans being pilotedare also India-first.

When contacted, a Netflixspokesperson said, “We believethat our members may valuethe flexibility that comes frombeing able to pay for a fewmonths at once. As always, thisis a test and we will only intro-duce it more broadly if people

find it useful.”Currently, Netflix only

offers monthly subscriptionplans across three price slabs of�499, �649 and �799, respec-tively, apart from the �199mobile-only pack.

Its competitors likeAmazon Prime Videos, Hotstarand ZEE5 already offer annu-al subscription packs (�999)which is cheaper than theirmonthly plans (ranges between�99-299).

A premium player Netflixstarted its operations in Indiain 2016 and has introduced anumber of Indian shows on itsplatform.

Last week, Netflix founderand Chief Executive OfficerReed Hastings had said thecompany was focussed on cre-ating original Indian contentfor audiences not just in Indiabut also globally.

“This year and next year,we spend about Rs 3,000 croredeveloping content and youwill start to see a lot of stuff hitthe screens. We got about 100employees in Mumbai and acouple of thousand working ondifferent productions. So, weare trying to become moreIndian in content offering,”Hastings had said. PTI

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Markets regulator Sebi onWednesday said it gives

utmost importance to all com-plaints, including anonymousones, and takes necessary actionsafter verifying the contents.

However, it may not beable to handle complaints thatare not specific or substantiat-ed or verifiable, the regulatorsaid in a statement.

The clarification comesafter certain media reportssaid that the regulator willentertain complaints againstmarket participants only if thewhistleblower is reachable tosubstantiate allegations andprovide supporting documents.

The reports had also saidthat the complaints made toSebi must be from an identifiedsource.

Consequently, in a clarifi-cation, the regulator said it“gives utmost importance to allcomplaints either receivedanonymous or otherwise andtakes necessary action afterverifying the contents.However, Sebi may not be ableto handle complaints which areanonymous and not specific orsubstantiated or verifiable.

“Any complaint which hasverifiable or substantiated facts,even if it is anonymous, is con-sidered by Sebi for furthernecessary action,” it added.

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The Union Cabinet onWednesday approved

infusing additional Rs 5,300crore capital into IIFCLthrough recapitalisation bondsin the current fiscal year.

Another �10,000 crore willbe infused in 2020-21.

“This will be done throughregular budgetary supportand/or through issuance ofrecapitalization bonds,” an offi-cial statement said.

The timing, terms andconditions will be decided bythe Department of EconomicAffairs.

The cabinet has alsoapproved increasing the autho-rised capital of IndiaInfrastructure FinanceCompany Ltd (IIFCL) from�6,000 crore to �25,000 crore.

“This will enable IIFCL tocreate requisite headroom forborrowing, thus enabling it tofinance big ticket infrastructureprojects in line with govern-ment's target to invest �100lakh crore in infrastructuresector over the next five years,”the statement added.

IIFCL was set up in 2006for providing long-termfinance to viable infrastructureprojects across sectors.

Mumbai: Anand Mahindra,the chairman of the home-grown auto group Mahindra &Mahindra, on Wednesdayadmitted that entering thecommuter bike segment morethan a decade ago was a failureon the part of the group.

The group entered two-wheelers after buying outKinetic Motors in July 2008 andrelaunched the 'Freedom' bikesunder the label of 'Mojo' buthas not been able to make amark in the vastly entry-modeldriven two-wheeler space inthe country even after a decade.

The market is dominatedby Hero Motorcorp andJapanese major Honda whichtogether control close to two-thirds of the over 21-millionunits per annum market.

Of this, Mahindra sold apaltry 4,004 units in FY19,down 73 percent from FY18.The only player in an over adozen OEM market behindMahindra is Kawasaki Motorwhich sold 3,115 units in theyear, according to Siam data.

In the year to March 2019,according to the Saim data, thedomestic two-wheeler domes-tic market stood at 21.2 millionunits, up 4.86 percent from

FY18.Terming failure as “capital”,

just like financial and humancapital, Mahindra said thelearning from the commuterbike episode, which was a“product failure” led to thelearning and entry into the pre-mium two-wheeler segmentwhere he claimed the group hasbeen successful.

Mahindra said they enteredthe two-wheeler market withthe confidence to “win”, on theback of having a strong under-standing of the ecosystem, dis-tribution, R&D and also brandpositioning.

“We knew our dream welland we had the right things, buthow to win is where we wentwrong. We should have nevergone to the commuter bikeside,” Mahindra said, speakingat an event organised by Britishcarrier Virgin Atlantic on look-ing at 'business as an adventure'.

Sharing the stage with theVirgin group founder RichardBrandson, Mahindra said theybrought the premium Java brandto the country a year-ago andseemed to suggest that it hasbeen a success, stating that therecontinues to be a five-monthwait for the cult bikes. PTI

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The Government onWednesday approved a

social security agreementbetween India and Brazil,which would enable workers ofboth the nations to avoid mak-ing double social security con-tributions while their stay ineach other's territory.

India has been signingbilateral social security agree-ments (SSAs) with other coun-tries in order to protect theinterests of Indian profession-als/skilled workers workingabroad for short durations andenhance the competitiveness ofIndian companies.

“The Union Cabinet,chaired by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, has given itsapproval for signing the agree-ment on social securitybetween the Republic of Indiaand the Federative Republic ofBrazil,” an official statementsaid.

The SSA with Brazil willhelp in avoiding making ofdouble social security contri-butions by the workers (detach-ment); easy remittance of ben-efits (exportability); aggregat-ing the contribution periods (intwo countries) to prevent lossof benefits (totalisation).

The agreement will also

provide for disability insurancebenefits to Indian nationalsworking abroad.

As on date, India hassigned SSAs with 18 countries.The idea of inking such pactswith BRICS nations was dis-cussed at the bloc's ministeri-al level meetings in Geneva andNew Delhi in 2016.

The possibility of conclud-ing SSAs with BRICS countriesalso finds mention in the GoaDeclaration of the 8th BRICSLeaders' Summit. Taking for-ward the spirit of the GoaDeclaration, India and Brazilheld negotiations on SSA fromMarch 13-16, 2017 in Brasilia.

At the end of the negotia-tions, both sides initialled thefinalised text of the Agreementon Social Security.

The signed agreement willbe hosted on the websites oflabour ministry and the EPFOfor information of the stake-holders so that they can securecertificates of coverage to avoidmaking double social securitycontributions.

At present, about 1,000Brazilians are living in India,while about 4,700 Indians areliving in Brazil. Allposted/detached workers andself-employed persons will ben-efit from this proposal withoutany discrimination.

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Asian Development Bank(ADB) on Wednesday low-

ered India’s economic growthforecast for FY2019 to 5.1 percent on slowing job prospects,rural distress exacerbated bypoor harvest and credit crunch.The multilateral bank, howev-er, expects the growth to pickup to 6.5 per cent next year onsupportive government policies.

“In South Asia, India’sgrowth is now seen at a slow-er 5.1 per cent in fiscal year2019 as the foundering of amajor non-banking financialcompany in 2018 led to a risein risk aversion in the financialsector and a credit crunch.

“Also, consumption wasaffected by slow job growth andrural distress aggravated by apoor harvest. Growth shouldpick up to 6.5 per cent in fiscalyear 2020 with supportive poli-cies,” the ADB said in a supple-ment to the Asian DevelopmentOutlook 2019 Update.

Earlier in September, ithad trimmed India’s grossdomestic product (GDP)growth to 6.5 per cent from theearlier estimate of 7 per cent.For FY2020, it had projected aGDP growth of 7.2 per centwhich now has been cut to 6.5per cent.

The Reserve Bank of Indialast week in its bi-monthlymonetary policy review has cutIndia’s GDP forecast to 5 percent from 6.1 per cent citing

weak domestic and externaldemand.

While the InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF) slashedIndia’s GDP growth projec-tion to 6.1 per cent from 7 percent, the World Bank loweredits estimate to 6 per cent.

The GDP growth forecastfor South Asia for 2019 is alsocut to 5.1 per cent from 6.2 percent earlier and to 6.1 per centfrom 6.7 per cent next year(2020), the ADB said.

“These revisions reflectlowered growth projections forIndia at 5.1 per cent in fiscalyear 2019 (FY2019, ending 30March 2020) and 6.5 per centin FY2020 (fiscal ending inMarch 2021),” ADB said in thesupplement.

The ADB said India’sgrowth in the first half of thecurrent fiscal has slipped to4.8% as expansion in privateconsumption slowed to 4.1 percent and in investment to2.5per cent.

Having already slowed year

on year from 5.8 per cent in thefourth quarter of 2018-19 to 5per cent in the first quarter of2019-20, growth in India fellfurther to 4.5 per cent in thesecond quarter of FY2019-20,the lowest quarterly rate sincethe last quarter of 2012, itadded.

The ADB said the domes-tic demand has weakened sig-nificantly since late 2018.

Some tentative signs haveemerged that the Indian econ-omy is stabilising in the secondhalf of FY2019 (ending March2020), it said.

“Growth is expected tobenefit from government pol-icy measures in recent months,notably a corporate tax cut,divestment from some state-owned enterprises, capitalinjections into public banks,and policy rate reduction by atotal of 135 basis points, withfurther measures possible inthe coming months, said theADB update supplement.

Growth in FY2020 is like-

ly to recover thanks to this sup-port, low oil prices, and aweakening rupee, but risks tothe projections remain tilted tothe downside, it said on India.

In the rest of South Asia,economic growth is on track tomeet forecasts, it said.

The growth rate in Chinais now expected at 6.1 per centthis year and 5.8 per cent nextyear due to trade tensions andslowdown in global activitycoupled with weaker domesticdemand, with family walletsbeing hit by pork prices thathave doubled relative to a yearago, ADB said.

“Growth could accelerate,however, should the UnitedStates and the People’s Republicof China (PRC) come to anagreement on trade,” ADB saidon China. In September, ADBhad forecast GDP growth of 6.2per cent in 2019 and 6 per centin 2020.

‘While growth rates arestill solid in developing Asia,persistent trade tensions havetaken a toll on the region andare still the biggest risk to thelonger-term economic outlook.Domestic investment is alsoweakening in many countries,as business sentiment hasdeclined,” said ADB ChiefEconomist Yasuyuki Sawada.

Inflation, on the otherhand, is ticking up on the backof higher food prices, asAfrican swine fever has raisedpork prices significantly,Sawada said.

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New Delhi (PTI): With pressureon revenue collection, the goodsand services tax (GST) rates andslabs may be raised during theGST Council meeting nextweek. The all-powerful GSTCouncil, headed by FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharaman, isset to meet on December 18 inthe backdrop of lower-than-expected GST collection andpending compensation to manystates. As of now, there are fourslabs under the GST regime —5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent. Goodsand services under the 28 percent category also attract cessover and above the rate, whichranges between 1 and 25 percent.

A group of officers from theCentre and states, which met onTuesday to finalise recommen-dations for rate rationalisation,is said to have considered vari-ous options including raisingrates from 5 per cent to 8 percent and 12 per cent to 15 percent, sources said.

The GST Council meetingis also likely to deliberate on rais-ing cess on some products tomeet the growing need of com-pensation, among other issues.The Council can explore possi-bility of merger of slabs to bringdown the number of slabs tothree. It is likely to revisit exemp-tion list and explore whether cesscan be levied on some services,sources said.

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Equity benchmarksresumed their upwardmarch on Wednesday,

propelled by fag-end buying inbank, IT and auto stocks amidlacklustre global cues.

Overcoming a bout ofvolatility in late-afternoontrade, the BSE Sensex finished172.69 points or 0.43 per centhigher at 40,412.57.

Similarly, the broader NSENifty climbed 53.35 points or0.45 per cent to close at11,910.15.

NTPC was the top gainerin the Sensex pack, spurting2.77 per cent, followed byONGC, Tech Mahindra, KotakBank, TCS, Asian Paints,IndusInd Bank and TataMotors, which gained up to2.28 per cent.

On the other hand, YesBank topped the laggard’s listfor the second straight day,plunging 15.33 per cent amiduncertainty over its USD 2-bil-lion fund raising plan.

Vedanta, Hero MotoCorp,L&T, Bharti Airtel and HULalso tumbled up to 1.63 per cent.

“After a subdued trade dur-ing most part of the day, mar-ket witnessed a sharp turn-around due to short covering inindex heavyweights. Upcomingmacro indicators like CPI infla-

tion and IIP data are unlikelyto paint a rosy picture whichmay reduce upside potential inthe near term.

“On global front, FOMCmeeting, UK election and UStariff deadline remain keyevents,” said Vinod Nair, headof research at Geojit FinancialServices.

Sectorally, BSE Utilitieswas the biggest gainer with 1.52per cent jump, followed by oil& gas (1.13 per cent), power(1.12 per cent), IT (0.97 percent), realty (0.90 per cent) andfinance (0.58 per cent).

On the other hand, basicmaterials, capital goods, indus-trials, telecom, consumerdurables and metal declined upto 0.81 per cent.

Brent futures, the global oilbenchmark, slipped 0.40 percent to USD 64.08 per barrel.

Global sentiment was cau-tious ahead of the deadline fornew US tariffs on Chinesegoods.

In Asia, Tokyo andBangkok ended lower, whileHong Kong rose 0.79 per centand Shanghai added 0.2 percent. Seoul and Singapore alsofinished in the green.

In Europe, London FTSE100 fell 0.2 per cent, whileFrankfurt’s DAX and Paris’CAC 40 were trading in thepositive territory in early deals.

�� The rupee appreciated by

7 paise to settle at a fresh one-month high of 70.85 againstthe US dollar on Wednesdayon the back of firm domesticequities and easing crude oilprices, extending its winningrun for the sixth straight ses-sion.

Forex traders said thedomestic unit gained groundahead of the release of keymacro-economic numbers onThursday.

At the interbank foreignexchange market, the rupeeopened at 70.87 against the USdollar. During the day, thedomestic unit f luctuatedbetween a high of 70.74 and alow of 70.94.

The local unit finally set-tled the day at 70.85, up 7paise over its last close. Therupee had settled at 70.92against the US dollar onTuesday.

“Rupee continued to tradehigher against the US dollarahead of the important infla-tion and industrial productionnumber that will be releasedtomorrow. Expectation is thatthe number could disappointand could keep gains cappedfor the currency,” GaurangSomaiyaa, forex & bullionanalyst , Motilal OswalFinancial Services Private Ltd.

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Script Open High Low LTPYESBANK 49.30 49.30 40.70 42.80RELIANCE 1557.50 1575.15 1551.00 1562.60IBULHSGFIN 277.00 278.05 255.25 268.20SBIN 311.75 315.60 308.10 312.70HDFC 2300.00 2328.60 2292.90 2316.80TCS 2021.05 2047.00 2007.95 2041.20BPCL 485.80 491.60 476.40 482.70KOTAKBANK 1660.00 1690.55 1659.05 1686.05HDFCAMC 2911.00 3048.00 2892.40 3028.85ZEEL 272.80 285.40 269.35 283.35ITC 236.00 238.75 235.60 237.65RBLBANK 322.35 329.70 313.10 324.40ICICIBANK 529.80 535.15 527.25 533.60MCX 1119.00 1121.40 1090.55 1105.65DLF 218.10 227.40 217.50 222.90LT 1285.90 1288.00 1255.60 1263.60GSKCONS 8709.00 8709.00 8600.00 8648.60BAJFINANCE 4004.00 4054.00 3988.25 4034.95IDEA 6.61 7.08 6.59 6.69POWERGRID 182.35 182.80 178.45 181.95TATAMOTORS 160.80 162.90 157.45 161.75HEROMOTOCO 2345.00 2345.00 2263.25 2296.90MARUTI 6999.90 7034.20 6958.00 6991.55TATASTEEL 402.55 408.00 400.45 405.40INDUSINDBK 1415.00 1432.65 1395.85 1418.80INFY 715.50 722.75 713.40 720.80HINDPETRO 261.70 266.20 258.50 262.70NESTLEIND 14103.05 14155.00 14020.00 14068.15BIOCON 291.00 291.45 283.85 290.40HDFCBANK 1252.50 1254.00 1213.15 1248.70JSWSTEEL 251.10 254.50 246.95 250.00HINDUNILVR 2025.00 2025.00 1998.30 2009.60AXISBANK 711.95 722.25 709.30 716.45BATAINDIA 1690.00 1729.50 1690.00 1713.85GLAXO 1604.45 1644.55 1604.45 1632.00PNB 60.00 60.45 58.50 59.60JINDALSTEL 143.45 145.35 141.55 144.50BANKBARODA 96.00 96.50 94.20 95.65DABUR 459.00 459.00 448.60 451.30CADILAHC 260.00 265.00 258.00 262.25L&TFH 115.15 117.85 113.80 116.05INFRATEL 259.80 262.50 251.10 254.40TITAN 1185.00 1188.75 1176.05 1179.50ASIANPAINT 1705.15 1742.00 1705.15 1737.70DISHTV 13.68 14.15 13.08 13.33ULTRACEMCO 4060.00 4065.00 3970.00 4003.45DELTACORP 210.25 210.50 206.40 208.80SUPRAJIT 175.15 176.55 171.90 175.00APOLLOHOSP 1384.30 1407.00 1381.10 1392.55BEML 991.95 1008.45 976.70 983.50BHARTIARTL 446.00 448.65 440.40 442.50SUNPHARMA 434.70 434.70 425.50 429.40GAIL 111.30 117.60 110.65 117.25DIVISLAB 1810.00 1838.80 1805.40 1819.95PEL 1639.00 1648.25 1598.95 1634.45APOLLOTYRE 161.60 166.00 159.35 164.35LTTS 1480.00 1502.00 1471.05 1498.65ADANIENT 204.00 207.75 202.80 206.15JUSTDIAL 554.00 571.90 554.00 567.90NCC 50.75 52.20 49.55 50.90LICHSGFIN 429.00 439.60 428.00 437.95TATAELXSI 839.00 849.25 815.85 828.55UJJIVAN 344.00 347.60 336.20 340.45WIPRO 236.50 240.65 236.50 240.00BAJAJFINSV 8965.55 9115.25 8941.75 9078.20ADANITRANS 340.15 350.05 321.45 342.05SIEMENS 1466.30 1498.90 1453.20 1497.10BRITANNIA 3060.00 3060.00 3030.20 3039.50BHEL 44.75 45.20 43.50 44.20FEDERALBNK 84.00 84.90 83.30 84.15ASHOKLEY 76.30 77.75 75.25 76.55RNAM 330.60 346.50 328.95 343.75IOC 122.95 126.75 122.75 125.65COLPAL 1456.60 1481.30 1456.60 1475.15PVR 1742.45 1749.65 1724.00 1734.10BALKRISIND 900.10 923.85 900.10 914.65MANAPPURAM 157.10 166.35 157.10 165.85AUROPHARMA 432.55 453.15 431.50 449.30CANBK 212.00 213.95 208.50 212.70VEDL 141.50 142.00 136.60 138.60EQUITAS 111.70 111.70 102.50 106.20SAIL 38.35 38.80 37.50 38.20PNBHOUSING 437.00 445.60 417.05 430.85STRTECH 115.75 117.00 102.65 107.40PAGEIND 21963.65 22000.00 21312.25 21668.30HDFCLIFE 572.00 575.00 565.70 572.60PCJEWELLER 22.50 22.50 20.60 21.45ONGC 125.50 128.40 125.00 128.00PIDILITIND 1323.00 1334.95 1321.05 1330.80DMART 1734.00 1746.55 1701.00 1726.25MRF 62100.00 62199.95 61578.90 62014.65NIITTECH 1430.00 1496.25 1430.00 1487.80ESCORTS 592.00 598.15 585.85 595.60ADANIPORTS 369.20 370.75 365.40 370.05BLISSGVS 155.95 161.10 153.55 155.60ADANIGREEN 127.00 133.35 126.00 132.90MFSL 509.40 516.50 500.60 509.15SBILIFE 940.50 971.85 924.50 966.10BANDHANBNK 523.00 523.00 508.00 515.15TATAGLOBAL 312.45 315.50 309.50 314.60BEL 100.25 101.00 96.70 98.50M&M 510.00 511.20 502.70 507.65ACC 1437.45 1446.50 1401.85 1419.05GODREJCP 652.40 675.00 652.40 670.85MOTHERSUMI 131.90 133.75 130.35 132.85IGL 410.75 419.00 410.75 417.05GRAPHITE 296.50 309.25 295.95 307.50

ICICIPRULI 488.60 491.60 483.85 490.35TATAMTRDVR 66.75 66.75 63.85 65.70CUMMINSIND 527.00 530.95 498.05 524.30INDIGO 1339.00 1348.35 1326.25 1339.15COALINDIA 189.00 189.30 185.10 187.25IDFCFIRSTB 42.65 43.15 41.95 42.90WOCKPHARMA 238.00 248.90 235.00 239.10NBCC 32.50 33.60 32.20 33.35UNIONBANK 53.75 55.10 53.20 54.55EICHERMOT 21390.00 21616.00 21030.25 21547.95HINDALCO 199.70 199.95 194.75 196.65GRASIM 772.00 775.00 760.00 767.90RAJESHEXPO 681.00 688.00 676.60 677.55DRREDDY 2928.70 2928.70 2874.30 2887.35NTPC 110.90 113.95 110.35 113.00BAJAJ-AUTO 3237.30 3274.00 3221.00 3269.35ADANIPOWER 59.25 60.30 58.75 60.15M&MFIN 335.00 335.00 327.85 330.60OMAXE 154.10 156.00 151.40 153.25JUBLFOOD 1570.00 1589.35 1566.35 1584.85TECHM 743.45 759.95 743.45 758.05UPL 556.50 563.40 552.05 560.95HEG 1026.90 1075.00 1023.00 1062.55GMRINFRA 20.20 20.70 20.00 20.40POLYCAB 974.80 1015.00 972.60 995.80GODFRYPHLP 1296.70 1314.90 1230.05 1238.05HAVELLS 648.00 648.00 631.00 635.45STAR 368.25 369.70 355.30 359.65MARICO 340.75 341.25 331.20 333.45NMDC 110.50 112.20 110.10 111.65HCLTECH 544.30 549.90 539.90 543.85CIPLA 452.85 452.90 446.85 449.70PGHH 11250.00 11290.80 11140.00 11229.85RECLTD 130.35 133.95 130.10 133.60PFC 110.05 114.50 110.05 114.20HFCL 17.20 17.45 16.85 17.35VOLTAS 680.00 682.20 670.95 680.35IDBI 33.90 34.45 33.10 33.75TVSMOTOR 437.10 441.15 430.20 439.30MINDTREE 739.95 759.80 739.95 755.55ICICIGI 1348.65 1355.65 1316.85 1339.30SPICEJET 105.00 105.55 102.10 103.75LUPIN 752.00 754.85 738.00 743.95AMARAJABAT 732.25 741.15 717.00 730.00INDHOTEL 146.50 147.25 138.25 145.90TATAPOWER 51.50 53.10 51.25 52.80MUTHOOTFIN 695.00 699.00 686.75 697.65SPARC 171.00 171.00 160.35 162.95IPCALAB 1078.80 1151.50 1077.40 1140.55ADANIGAS 154.45 155.50 151.25 152.00NAUKRI 2503.50 2620.00 2489.90 2568.25SUNTV 468.00 468.60 455.40 460.45GUJGAS 229.00 231.50 216.45 222.40GODREJPROP 883.40 912.00 882.00 901.25ABCAPITAL 91.20 96.50 89.90 95.55GLENMARK 332.80 335.40 330.00 334.00CASTROLIND 130.95 131.00 127.05 127.80UBL 1201.00 1211.90 1187.00 1202.25INDIACEM 74.00 74.00 71.95 72.45AMBUJACEM 196.65 197.00 190.20 191.55IBVENTURES 155.50 160.90 152.00 154.80MAHINDCIE 148.00 161.15 146.40 157.35BERGEPAINT 497.50 501.30 496.00 499.35RAYMOND 672.95 676.10 660.00 667.80BANKINDIA 67.90 68.50 65.90 67.95LALPATHLAB 1542.00 1564.60 1509.95 1543.80EXIDEIND 178.05 180.85 178.05 180.15IRB 69.00 70.00 66.30 67.15SRTRANSFIN 1076.40 1085.50 1064.10 1078.00MGL 1025.00 1040.80 1024.25 1028.60SCI 56.20 57.40 56.15 56.90JAICORPLTD 86.95 87.90 85.50 86.90INFIBEAM 47.25 47.30 45.75 46.30TRIDENT 64.90 69.40 64.00 67.05PETRONET 271.40 276.70 270.40 275.10BOSCHLTD 15035.00 15121.40 14839.45 15013.80ASHOKA 94.00 95.90 91.30 94.60SUVEN 265.00 273.55 265.00 270.50NATIONALUM 43.35 43.35 41.50 42.45PIIND 1442.65 1502.50 1442.65 1485.55ERIS 473.75 478.25 461.75 468.20SRF 3230.00 3271.80 3230.00 3268.15RPOWER 3.38 3.40 3.22 3.22ABBOTINDIA 12598.90 12598.90 12350.00 12555.40

AUBANK 803.35 807.75 787.00 799.95HEXAWARE 333.30 339.35 332.80 338.35BOMDYEING 72.15 73.40 70.30 71.55BHARATFORG 440.05 443.15 434.05 439.35DBL 389.80 390.00 379.20 385.75CANFINHOME 414.90 416.25 407.75 411.90JBCHEPHARM 423.00 426.00 416.10 418.35IBREALEST 57.80 58.00 55.05 56.45PFIZER 4236.35 4275.00 4189.65 4244.10PHILIPCARB 110.00 112.50 109.90 111.75VGUARD 210.00 213.50 207.30 211.90GICRE 239.70 239.70 226.60 231.55TIMETECHNO 48.05 50.50 42.40 49.00ITI 83.50 86.25 83.25 84.30TCNSBRANDS 664.50 664.50 639.25 643.65NOCIL 96.85 96.85 94.70 95.40FORCEMOT 989.00 993.70 963.75 967.50EDELWEISS 112.00 112.70 109.15 111.70CONCOR 569.95 569.95 547.50 558.00ITDC 336.00 339.60 325.10 326.35INDIANB 116.15 118.45 114.70 117.65VENKYS 1665.00 1682.90 1649.15 1657.55INOXLEISUR 367.80 371.25 365.00 367.35SUNTECK 397.50 398.75 388.25 391.40AVANTI 499.15 503.50 491.00 494.00JINDALSAW 71.70 72.50 70.15 70.55TORNTPHARM 1838.00 1871.00 1828.10 1861.45WHIRLPOOL 2316.60 2316.60 2275.00 2301.40NIACL 141.30 141.40 132.00 135.10SWANENERGY 101.55 103.00 101.00 102.15ABFRL 225.45 226.10 221.50 225.15ORIENTBANK 52.85 53.40 51.10 52.10AAVAS 1816.20 1869.00 1807.90 1839.60JAMNAAUTO 41.80 42.00 40.00 40.15BALRAMCHIN 165.25 165.75 161.00 162.80JUBILANT 522.00 530.60 514.95 525.50PRESTIGE 315.70 316.10 308.00 311.65JKTYRE 74.85 74.85 70.50 70.75JSLHISAR 65.70 66.00 63.25 64.80CEATLTD 963.00 969.35 958.00 967.40PRSMJOHNSN 62.00 62.50 60.40 61.65RELCAPITAL 11.60 11.60 10.90 10.90RVNL 23.20 23.65 23.10 23.45RELINFRA 21.95 22.70 20.90 20.90ASTRAZEN 2678.60 2708.35 2670.00 2676.70TATACHEM 650.50 654.50 643.30 649.00RADICO 299.90 305.00 299.60 302.65TATACOFFEE 94.55 96.35 92.35 93.40RAIN 93.95 94.60 91.45 92.40ENGINERSIN 103.70 103.70 99.45 101.90BBTC 1038.80 1040.50 1015.95 1021.95HINDCOPPER 37.70 37.80 36.00 36.25LTI 1638.80 1641.60 1615.95 1634.00CHOLAFIN 304.60 306.00 300.75 302.90MOIL 133.10 135.00 126.05 133.80SUZLON 2.20 2.20 2.08 2.11WELCORP 132.85 137.15 132.85 136.35NLCINDIA 53.60 53.60 49.40 53.10RCF 45.90 46.25 44.05 44.60ATUL 4044.05 4044.05 3992.45 4009.90ISEC 356.00 361.00 353.10 356.75CROMPTON 241.35 247.30 241.30 243.00RELAXO 622.40 622.40 601.00 614.203MINDIA 21135.05 21236.50 20985.00 21195.90DCBBANK 176.20 176.20 172.05 174.40SOUTHBANK 10.58 10.62 10.20 10.41OIL 154.90 155.50 151.80 153.80PTC 53.05 53.90 52.80 53.30OBEROIRLTY 522.05 522.05 506.25 508.95FSL 37.90 37.90 36.85 37.15CUB 231.15 235.00 230.50 234.40SHREECEM 20166.85 20260.00 19843.65 19965.45EIDPARRY 200.00 201.60 194.70 196.30SJVN 24.50 24.85 24.45 24.55CREDITACC 796.90 806.00 794.00 804.05WABAG 179.00 183.40 172.10 173.75ADVENZYMES 156.00 156.80 152.00 153.40ASTRAL 1163.70 1187.50 1163.10 1179.35ALBK 20.50 20.50 19.15 19.30HONAUT 25468.00 25468.00 25105.15 25223.40GNFC 170.50 173.25 169.35 170.80HSCL 58.45 58.85 55.55 56.90MINDAIND 338.80 342.25 335.00 340.65KTKBANK 73.70 73.90 72.20 72.65GRANULES 124.50 125.90 123.00 125.20JSWENERGY 70.40 71.25 68.45 69.70SYMPHONY 1100.00 1103.15 1070.00 1080.40HINDZINC 207.30 208.60 204.80 205.45MASFIN 811.95 830.30 804.00 815.50DALBHARAT 829.00 830.00 812.00 826.80TORNTPOWER 273.25 275.35 269.70 270.60METROPOLIS 1266.00 1300.00 1266.00 1295.85DHFL 15.15 15.35 14.70 14.70GICHSGFIN 150.70 153.00 143.00 148.10BAJAJHLDNG 3385.00 3414.55 3308.15 3390.20GILLETTE 6574.40 6625.50 6525.00 6557.45LUXIND 1386.00 1425.00 1330.00 1400.00QUESS 457.10 467.00 456.40 459.65GSPL 216.35 217.00 208.15 210.75AJANTPHARM 981.60 987.00 971.00 975.45MEGH 50.75 50.75 47.10 47.45MOTILALOFS 738.00 750.00 732.00 742.75RITES 267.00 270.00 265.70 267.90SKFINDIA 2154.10 2168.55 2128.05 2129.20ECLERX 504.00 528.80 485.00 506.10INTELLECT 150.00 151.00 149.05 150.35LINDEINDIA 614.50 623.40 609.10 612.85TEJASNET 85.40 86.30 80.00 83.00

VINATIORGA 1962.00 1970.00 1940.00 1950.35NH 305.25 307.00 302.50 304.50ABB 1460.00 1469.40 1441.00 1459.85TV18BRDCST 21.45 21.50 20.80 21.00HUDCO 35.85 36.45 35.55 36.20KNRCON 228.75 228.75 220.25 225.85FORTIS 136.25 136.70 134.75 135.00IIFL 140.75 144.55 135.35 137.25COROMANDEL 493.00 510.95 484.50 508.60EIHOTEL 146.55 147.05 139.95 143.30INOXWIND 37.50 37.60 33.05 34.40SUDARSCHEM 391.50 393.00 387.00 389.00GAYAPROJ 73.40 77.00 72.20 75.50CAPPL 303.45 304.00 285.05 289.60UFLEX 191.85 196.75 191.30 195.40BALMLAWRIE 192.00 192.00 186.25 188.45AEGISLOG 190.00 193.75 188.60 190.00PNCINFRA 207.00 207.00 193.35 194.60THERMAX 989.60 1010.95 985.60 997.85JMFINANCIL 86.70 88.00 85.85 87.15JISLJALEQS 8.90 8.90 8.32 8.32VIPIND 426.20 431.90 423.15 424.40KPRMILL 660.00 666.00 657.75 660.70GALAXYSURF 1363.05 1414.00 1355.00 1387.65KANSAINER 517.80 527.85 516.05 525.35KEI 478.00 480.50 467.50 476.45MINDACORP 92.75 92.75 88.15 90.00KEC 277.00 278.00 274.00 277.25RALLIS 180.00 180.10 170.50 171.80VBL 691.05 701.75 682.05 692.05GSFC 66.90 67.60 65.95 67.25UCOBANK 15.60 15.60 14.90 15.05IDFC 33.60 33.60 32.80 33.05KALPATPOWR 424.90 428.80 403.65 410.25GODREJIND 423.70 423.85 407.00 409.35BIRLACORPN 613.00 632.75 607.00 630.80CORPBANK 24.00 24.25 23.00 23.35GEPIL 690.00 700.40 674.40 694.60REPCOHOME 300.00 302.35 295.75 297.65MPHASIS 861.00 867.85 852.00 855.30GESHIP 297.55 300.15 294.10 295.50DEEPAKNI 339.05 340.20 336.00 338.25IFCI 6.47 6.55 6.27 6.42TIMKEN 827.05 827.05 803.55 808.10GHCL 196.15 202.00 193.50 196.30J&KBANK 30.60 30.60 29.40 29.50COFFEEDAY 40.10 43.85 40.10 41.70CESC 719.45 722.85 715.00 721.15THYROCARE 540.00 544.90 527.00 532.25

LAXMIMACH 3245.00 3250.00 3196.00 3204.05NETWORK18 25.50 25.80 24.60 24.80RCOM 0.91 0.91 0.91 0.91MAHLOG 375.75 385.00 375.75 380.35RAMCOCEM 771.00 775.60 769.05 773.05KAJARIACER 527.25 533.25 525.80 529.10JPASSOCIAT 2.18 2.30 2.14 2.20HEIDELBERG 178.40 178.70 176.40 177.25IRCON 390.00 395.10 385.40 388.75DHANUKA 319.00 333.15 316.00 328.40NHPC 23.80 24.10 23.75 23.95SCHNEIDER 63.15 63.50 60.70 61.65FCONSUMER 24.45 24.55 23.60 23.75CHAMBLFERT 143.95 144.10 142.50 143.05SUNDRMFAST 453.25 461.00 438.10 449.95CHENNPETRO 110.50 112.20 106.00 108.65SYNDIBANK 26.70 26.80 26.10 26.25WELSPUNIND 49.50 49.65 48.30 48.60EMAMILTD 309.00 310.35 299.25 303.05DCMSHRIRAM 348.00 348.00 333.80 336.15CENTRALBK 18.20 19.00 18.10 18.25PERSISTENT 675.00 690.00 673.60 678.70FINEORG 1822.20 1842.80 1790.00 1796.95TEAMLEASE 2321.05 2330.90 2286.00 2296.30NESCO 614.00 630.00 611.95 621.50VSTIND 4017.15 4051.30 3906.00 4021.85IBULISL 82.40 82.40 77.00 78.95ORIENTELEC 185.95 192.40 185.00 188.30BAJAJELEC 327.65 329.10 321.15 327.50MMTC 17.40 17.90 17.40 17.50GODREJAGRO 491.55 500.40 491.55 497.05FINOLEXIND 547.20 557.55 541.00 553.35MRPL 45.35 46.40 44.60 45.00INDOSTAR 167.00 173.00 167.00 168.90SCHAEFFLER 4265.00 4389.00 4200.00 4323.35BDL 289.90 294.50 284.45 285.15TVTODAY 251.05 251.05 227.50 235.50TRENT 497.00 502.00 491.00 496.65CRISIL 1685.00 1695.60 1642.90 1661.00ASTERDM 152.95 152.95 146.05 147.95ENDURANCE 1059.95 1076.55 1042.20 1070.55EVEREADY 52.50 55.40 52.50 54.45SADBHAV 122.05 122.05 116.80 118.30

DCAL 123.00 123.90 116.50 119.95NAVINFLUOR 885.10 890.00 882.15 885.75IOB 9.90 10.07 9.82 9.85JAGRAN 60.00 60.00 55.35 56.05ALLCARGO 97.70 98.00 95.00 96.40ITDCEM 51.55 52.25 49.60 50.65FRETAIL 340.20 340.55 332.50 336.10JYOTHYLAB 153.55 154.30 147.60 151.40GREAVESCOT 125.00 127.15 123.45 125.70CERA 2462.25 2511.55 2458.15 2499.80NATCOPHARM 580.65 585.00 576.50 582.30FINCABLES 351.00 354.65 349.00 350.60PHOENIXLTD 765.70 773.60 760.00 762.85PARAGMILK 142.00 142.50 135.70 137.30DEEPAKFERT 89.45 90.40 89.00 89.25ESSELPRO 150.55 151.95 145.95 149.50CGPOWER 11.62 11.85 11.11 11.11COCHINSHIP 385.10 387.55 380.10 383.20PGHL 4211.15 4222.80 4120.00 4133.45JKLAKSHMI 271.15 272.30 263.00 265.65IEX 139.10 140.85 138.00 139.30BLUESTARCO 794.25 796.90 790.00 790.55ALKEM 2085.00 2094.10 2085.00 2090.00CHALET 325.00 327.65 321.00 324.65BAYERCROP 3544.00 3552.65 3483.00 3520.75LEMONTREE 59.45 60.35 58.05 58.70CYIENT 388.40 395.00 383.25 389.75SREINFRA 8.06 8.06 7.30 7.35SUPREMEIND 1110.50 1120.50 1093.05 1112.25GMDCLTD 55.70 55.70 54.40 55.10WESTLIFE 345.85 349.60 342.90 344.50SHANKARA 284.00 291.80 284.00 288.40IFBIND 600.45 652.55 590.00 644.00CCL 196.35 196.35 185.00 189.00SOBHA 391.10 394.15 388.50 390.40LAKSHVILAS 19.25 19.25 18.40 18.55APLLTD 553.50 560.15 551.00 553.75CARERATING 475.00 475.00 469.75 471.75JSL 37.75 38.00 37.25 37.85LAURUSLABS 335.00 335.15 330.00 334.15KRBL 205.50 210.00 203.85 209.45APLAPOLLO 1596.00 1619.05 1596.00 1601.65WABCOINDIA 6277.10 6300.00 6241.95 6256.10REDINGTON 109.10 109.85 108.15 108.80HIMATSEIDE 123.65 123.65 120.55 121.35JKCEMENT 1143.10 1154.45 1141.50 1145.85RATNAMANI 986.00 990.00 975.80 980.00MAHABANK 11.79 11.88 11.53 11.62DBCORP 136.15 136.55 130.00 133.10TTKPRESTIG 5625.65 5647.95 5556.10 5586.80APARINDS 405.80 405.80 386.25 390.40GUJALKALI 382.30 394.70 382.25 391.55CARBORUNIV 320.25 322.60 318.00 320.75STARCEMENT 88.00 88.00 84.00 85.55ANDHRABANK 17.30 17.80 17.00 17.10MAXINDIA 76.25 76.55 75.30 75.45JSWHL 2258.00 2260.20 2198.00 2212.60MAHSCOOTER 4442.90 4456.80 4373.05 4396.95BAJAJCON 234.25 237.00 232.70 233.65TIINDIA 486.00 486.00 469.20 479.00GPPL 83.00 83.40 81.40 82.45ZENSARTECH 180.60 180.60 175.00 175.90OFSS 2925.35 2927.60 2905.20 2917.85BLUEDART 2185.10 2200.00 2161.50 2177.45ZYDUSWELL 1443.00 1460.50 1402.00 1428.00SOMANYCERA 207.40 209.00 199.50 204.50HAL 754.75 764.00 754.05 757.85GULFOILLUB 799.85 814.65 799.85 810.00BASF 954.60 960.90 951.20 953.65SONATSOFTW 296.95 300.60 294.90 297.20HERITGFOOD 359.30 359.30 343.00 358.15CENTURYPLY 161.35 162.20 160.15 160.65SYNGENE 309.00 309.00 298.80 300.00TATAINVEST 806.20 809.00 802.95 808.15SANOFI 6996.10 6996.10 6950.00 6985.45FDC 206.80 211.00 201.15 201.80NILKAMAL 1275.50 1289.95 1275.50 1281.25CENTRUM 20.60 20.60 19.80 20.00TATAMETALI 574.25 577.45 570.50 576.80MAGMA 51.05 51.05 49.95 49.95TVSSRICHAK 1650.00 1650.00 1598.95 1598.95GET&D 145.00 145.75 141.10 141.95HATHWAY 20.00 20.10 19.85 19.95ORIENTCEM 69.90 70.00 66.80 68.10AKZOINDIA 1919.25 1930.55 1903.00 1915.15TAKE 93.80 94.90 93.65 94.50FLFL 398.30 403.15 393.80 396.25LAOPALA 135.00 136.00 131.50 135.15VARROC 415.55 420.60 409.55 410.90MHRIL 214.85 217.00 214.85 217.00AIAENG 1630.20 1636.95 1608.00 1618.05MAHLIFE 378.00 379.15 375.00 378.50NBVENTURES 70.15 71.85 69.60 69.80TNPL 172.50 172.50 170.95 171.10SIS 900.00 919.00 882.80 908.95SHILPAMED 288.50 292.90 288.50 292.70TRITURBINE 95.90 95.90 90.00 94.90GDL 96.00 96.70 95.50 96.50JCHAC 1924.00 1967.80 1896.00 1906.75SHRIRAMCIT 1397.10 1420.00 1393.50 1403.00GRINDWELL 575.00 575.00 568.10 570.80MAHSEAMLES 370.50 370.50 365.50 368.50SFL 1290.00 1290.10 1290.00 1290.05UNITEDBNK 8.41 8.51 8.29 8.41SHK 103.50 105.50 103.00 103.90SOLARINDS 1049.95 1049.95 1035.55 1043.75CHOLAHLDNG 491.30 491.30 488.90 489.00VTL 906.35 906.35 900.50 902.80

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 11867.35 11923.20 11832.30 11910.15 53.35GAIL 111.10 117.65 110.55 116.95 5.90ZEEL 272.50 285.80 269.15 284.10 13.15NTPC 110.50 113.80 110.10 113.15 3.15IOC 123.05 126.10 122.65 125.90 3.35ONGC 126.10 128.50 125.00 128.00 2.80TECHM 741.00 760.00 741.00 759.00 14.05BAJAJFINSV 8950.00 9100.00 8935.05 9095.00 167.80TATAMOTORS 160.40 163.00 157.40 162.40 2.70KOTAKBANK 1666.00 1690.85 1659.10 1685.70 23.30TCS 2025.40 2048.00 2006.75 2040.00 27.15ASIANPAINT 1718.00 1741.60 1713.25 1735.00 21.85EICHERMOT 21258.95 21624.45 21002.20 21528.90 269.70BAJFINANCE 4001.50 4055.00 3984.05 4037.00 50.15TATASTEEL 402.40 408.20 400.35 407.00 4.95INDUSINDBK 1418.70 1432.00 1396.15 1428.60 17.00HDFC 2302.00 2328.25 2292.70 2320.15 25.00BAJAJ-AUTO 3240.15 3274.85 3220.05 3267.65 35.15ITC 235.60 238.80 235.60 237.90 2.30ICICIBANK 530.60 535.20 527.20 533.65 4.95INFY 716.60 722.70 713.00 720.00 5.45ADANIPORTS 368.95 370.85 365.00 369.15 2.25WIPRO 237.65 240.80 236.35 239.50 1.35UPL 557.00 563.75 551.70 560.80 3.05SUNPHARMA 429.10 431.90 425.15 429.90 2.25M&M 507.65 511.40 502.65 507.50 1.75MARUTI 7000.00 7035.00 6955.20 6985.85 22.20COALINDIA 188.30 189.35 185.00 187.70 0.50INFRATEL 256.00 262.60 252.30 254.40 0.30TITAN 1178.10 1189.00 1175.75 1180.45 1.15HCLTECH 545.00 549.90 539.45 545.00 0.55HDFCBANK 1250.10 1254.00 1242.50 1250.55 1.05AXISBANK 711.50 722.40 709.05 715.80 0.10RELIANCE 1555.60 1574.50 1550.60 1561.00 -0.95NESTLEIND 14109.00 14156.00 14010.00 14068.00 -23.70GRASIM 770.20 774.60 759.50 768.20 -2.00JSWSTEEL 251.20 254.80 246.55 250.20 -0.80DRREDDY 2900.00 2915.80 2875.00 2886.00 -11.50POWERGRID 183.00 183.30 178.30 182.00 -0.75BPCL 485.00 491.85 476.20 484.20 -2.10SBIN 311.20 315.75 308.00 311.75 -1.65CIPLA 453.00 453.10 446.70 449.95 -3.10BRITANNIA 3052.10 3064.00 3030.30 3036.65 -22.70HINDUNILVR 2027.90 2030.00 1998.00 2007.55 -17.80LT 1282.95 1288.75 1255.00 1267.60 -11.40ULTRACEMCO 4051.00 4064.00 3970.00 4001.70 -36.95BHARTIARTL 444.50 449.05 440.60 441.35 -5.65HINDALCO 200.00 200.00 194.70 196.60 -2.50VEDL 141.65 142.15 136.55 139.05 -1.80HEROMOTOCO2337.00 2343.95 2263.00 2287.00 -43.00YESBANK 47.25 49.40 40.75 43.55 -7.00

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 27509.70 27629.10 27347.30 27594.25 130.60HDFCAMC 2920.00 3047.00 2895.05 3043.00 152.90DLF 217.20 227.40 217.00 226.70 9.90AUROPHARMA 431.90 452.00 430.15 448.95 16.40GODREJCP 649.80 675.00 649.80 668.55 22.25IDEA 6.70 7.10 6.55 6.75 0.20PFC 111.50 114.50 111.00 114.45 2.95BAJAJHLDNG 3316.40 3415.00 3305.80 3370.00 73.75SBILIFE 950.00 971.95 924.50 968.00 18.15SIEMENS 1467.50 1498.90 1453.65 1490.75 26.00PETRONET 270.00 276.95 269.40 276.00 4.40NMDC 110.00 112.20 110.00 111.45 1.45L&TFH 115.50 117.80 113.70 115.80 1.45COLPAL 1451.50 1481.40 1451.50 1472.20 17.75NHPC 23.75 24.05 23.75 24.00 0.25INDIGO 1330.00 1348.00 1325.00 1342.60 13.85MOTHERSUMI 131.60 133.95 130.25 133.00 1.30HINDPETRO 260.45 266.40 258.25 263.00 2.55PEL 1645.00 1647.80 1597.40 1627.00 15.40SRTRANSFIN 1070.00 1086.10 1063.75 1082.15 9.20PIDILITIND 1320.95 1333.00 1320.10 1330.00 10.45CONCOR 552.50 560.75 552.00 557.05 3.50OFSS 2907.50 2933.50 2905.05 2917.25 18.05BERGEPAINT 498.40 501.45 496.00 498.50 2.45BANKBARODA 95.75 96.50 94.20 96.00 0.40ICICIPRULI 490.10 491.85 483.60 490.45 2.00MCDOWELL-N 585.00 590.00 579.50 586.95 2.10DIVISLAB 1811.00 1838.40 1805.00 1819.60 5.95BIOCON 290.00 291.70 283.95 290.25 0.60HDFCLIFE 573.40 575.00 565.50 570.95 0.45BOSCHLTD 14999.00 15139.95 14805.10 14981.40 12.15DMART 1730.10 1747.00 1700.00 1737.50 0.90IBULHSGFIN 278.00 278.50 255.20 269.75 0.05UBL 1200.00 1212.80 1186.15 1201.05 0.00PGHH 11229.00 11350.00 11175.00 11229.00 -0.65CADILAHC 260.90 265.00 257.80 260.65 -0.30HINDZINC 207.60 208.85 204.50 205.95 -0.40ASHOKLEY 76.50 77.80 75.20 76.60 -0.25PNB 59.90 60.50 58.50 59.45 -0.20ICICIGI 1342.00 1354.90 1315.90 1338.00 -11.50LUPIN 750.45 755.00 737.25 744.90 -7.90SHREECEM 20167.10 20284.95 19838.20 19889.05 -217.55DABUR 458.50 459.15 448.40 451.40 -5.50ACC 1439.80 1446.50 1401.15 1417.00 -19.35BANDHANBNK 521.00 522.60 509.00 513.50 -7.55HAVELLS 645.00 645.00 631.10 637.10 -10.30PAGEIND 21999.30 22049.00 21290.35 21602.00 -400.90MARICO 340.00 341.45 331.20 333.35 -6.40AMBUJACEM 196.50 197.25 190.20 191.90 -3.95NIACL 140.05 141.60 132.15 135.60 -4.00GICRE 237.80 239.40 226.55 230.60 -7.05

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Qatar Investment Authorityhas agreed to buy a 25.1

per cent stake in AdaniElectricity Mumbai Ltd - thefirm that distributes power tothree million consumers inMumbai - for Rs 3,200 crore.

Adani Electricity MumbaiLtd is a part of AdaniTransmission Ltd, while QatarInvestment Authority (QIA)is the sovereign wealth fund ofthe Qatar.

"Adani TransmissionLimited (ATL), AdaniElectricity Mumbai Ltd(AEML) and a subsidiary ofQatar Investment Authority(QIA) have signed definitiveagreements for the sale of a 25.1per cent stake in AEML to QIAand for a shareholder subordi-nated debt investment by QIAin AEML.

"The total QIA investmentin AEML will be approximate-ly Rs 3,200 crore," a companystatement said.

AEML is the licensee for anintegrated power distribution,transmission and generationbusiness that currently servesmore than three million con-sumers across a license area ofabout 400 square kilometers inMumbai.

Its market share ofMumbai is close to 87 per centby license area, 67 per cent byconsumers served and 55 per

cent by electricity supplied."As part of the transaction,

ATL and QIA have agreeddefinitive plans to ensure thatover 30 per cent of the elec-tricity supplied by AEML issourced from solar and windpower plants by the year 2023,"the statement said.

"In addition, ATL and QIAhave agreed a number of othergreen initiatives to combat cli-mate change and facilitate thetransition to a sustainable, lowcarbon economy."

Adani Group ChairmanGautam Adani said his com-pany together with QatarInvestment Authority will worktowards improving the relia-bility of supply and consumersatisfaction.

"We believe this transac-tion is a significant step in thejourney of the Adani Group,marking the start of a long termpartnership with QIA," he said.

QIA Chief ExecutiveOfficer Mansoor Al-Mahmoudsaid: "We look forward to along term partnership withthe Adani Group, with whomwe share an inter-generational

perspective on investments anda common vision for the sus-tainable growth and continuedsuccess of AEML".

Adani Electricity MumbaiLimited said it serves overthree million consumers spreadacross 400 sq km in Mumbaiand its suburbs meeting closeto 2,000 MW of power demandwith 99.99 per cent reliability.

Adani Transmission Ltd isthe transmission and distribu-tion business arm of the AdaniGroup with a cumulativetransmission network ofaround 14,738 circut km, out ofwhich 11,477 ckt km is opera-tional and 3,261 ckt km is atvarious stages of construction.

Al-Mahmoud further said"this investment demonstratesour confidence in India, withwhom Qatar shares deep-root-ed ties and excellent relations."

The deal is expected tocomplete in early 2020 subjectto receipt of regulatoryapprovals and satisfaction ofcustomary conditions prece-dent.

SKN Advisors Ltd acted asfinancial advisor and CyrilAmarchand Mangaldas actedas legal advisor to ATL andAEML on the Transaction.

JP Morgan acted as finan-cial advisor and Cleary GottliebSteen amd Hamilton LLP andAZB and Partners acted aslegal advisors to QIA on thetransaction.

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National InvestmentPromotion and Felicitation

Agency (NIPFA) has laudedefforts of Himachal Pradeshgovernment for successfullyholding maiden HimachalRising Global Investors' Meet atDharamshala last month, anofficial spokesperson said onWednesday.

In a letter to the state gov-ernment, NIPFA ManagingDirector and Chief ExecutiveOfficer Deepak Bagla expressedhis commitment to facilitatethe investment journey of for-eign investors in the hill stateand, structuring a dedicatedinvestment promotion agency.

Bagla expressed hope thatthe growing ties betweenbetween UAE and India wouldgo a long way in attractinginvestment to HimachalPradesh.

NIPFA, a non-profit ven-ture under the Departmentfor Promotion of Industry andInternal Trade, focuses on sec-tor-specific investor targetingand development of new part-nerships to enable sustainableinvestments in India.

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The Pentagon announcedTuesday it was temporarily

suspending operational trainingfor Saudi military students inthe United States following ashooting rampage last week bya Saudi air force officer.

Saudi Arabian military stu-dents in the United States willcontinue classroom instruc-tion but operational training ishalted pending a securityreview, senior DefenseDepartment officials said.

Mohammed Alshamrani, a21-year-old lieutenant in theSaudi Royal Air Force, openedfire in a classroom at PensacolaNaval Air Station in Florida onFriday, killing three Americansailors and wounding eightother people before being shotdead by police.

Deputy Secretary of DefenseDavid Norquist ordered a reviewto be completed, within 10 days,

of policies for screening foreignstudents.

The suspension of opera-tional training applies to allmembers of the Saudi militarycurrently undergoing trainingin the United States.

"The ones that are pilotswill be grounded," an officialsaid.

Pentagon officials said thesecurity study was being donewith the cooperation of theSaudi government.

The policy review willapply to all international mili-tary students but the suspen-sion of operational trainingonly applies to Saudi students,they said.

Pentagon officials did notprovide a figure for the num-ber of Saudis currently under-going military training in theUS but they said the overallnumber of international mili-tary students is between 5,000and 5,100.

Washington: US President Donald Trump haswarned Russia against any attempt to interferein the 2020 presidential polls and also urgedMoscow to resolve its conflict with Ukraine, theWhite House has said.

The warning by Trump, who met RussianForeign Minister Sergey Lavrov at his Oval officeon Tuesday, came a day after the JusticeDepartment's watchdog said the Federal Bureauof Investigation (FBI) was justified in openingits investigation into ties between the Trumppresidential campaign and Russia.

Trump has long slammed the investigationas a witch hunt and says the FBI never shouldhave started it.

"President Trump 'warned Russia against anyattempts to interfere in the US elections andurged Russia to resolve the conflict withUkraine," the WH said in a statement after themeeting between the two leaders.

However, Lavrov said that they did not dis-cuss the US elections during the meeting.This was the second meeting between Trumpand Lavrov.

Lavrov last visited the US in May 2017 whenTrump had just fired the then Federal Bureauof Investigation (FBI) director James Comey,who was probing Russia's meddling in the USpolls at the time.

During the meeting, Trump also empha-sised his support for an effective global arms con-trol treaty that includes not only Russia but alsoChina.

He welcomed the continued engagement toaddress the areas of mutual concern, includinghow the US and Russia can take positive stepswith respect to the detained citizens. PTI

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US and Chinese officials areworking on a deal to post-

pone tariffs set to hit Chineseimports in five days, accordingto a media report on Tuesday.

Delaying the new duties,which cover about $160 billionin imports from China, includ-ing consumer favorites likemobile phones, could helpreassure markets the two sidesare making progress towardsending their trade war.

Officials in Washingtonand Beijing say they nowexpect to continue talkingbeyond December 15, whenthe tariffs are due to kick in,according to The Wall StreetJournal. US officials have reit-erated that any final decisionon the tariffs belongs toPresident Donald Trump.

At a Wall Street Journalconference on Tuesday, topWhite House economic aide

Larry Kudlow maintained that"those tariffs are still on thetable," the newspaper reported.

Kudlow had said Friday adeal was "still close." For twomonths, the two sides havestruggled to finalize a partialdeal that Trump announced inOctober. Statements by USofficials have run hot and coldin recent days, with marketsswooning last week afterTrump said a deal could waituntil after next year's elec-

tions. Trump launched histrade war in March 2018,demanding that China endpractices widely seen as unfair-- such as forced transfer ofAmerican technology from UScompanies, and massive subsi-dies given to Chinese firms.

But observers say Beijing ishighly unlikely to make thekind of profound changes tothe structure of its economysought by Washington, whichcould politically underminethe Communist Party.

Trump also has soughtpledges from Beijing to makeenormous purchases of USfarm exports that experts saymay exceed demand in China,and the capacity of US farmers.

Should the December 15tariffs take effect, the last in aseries punitive duties, virtual-ly all the merchandise theUnited States imports annual-ly from China will be coveredby punitive tariffs.

Washington: The United Stateson Tuesday stiffened sanctionsagainst Myanmar's army chiefover the mass killings ofRohingya, as his countrydefended itself against genocidecharges before the top UN court.

The US in July banned mil-itary chief Min Aung Hlaingfrom visiting, but Tuesday's movegoes further by freezing any USassets and criminalizing financialtransactions with him by anyonein the US. The TreasuryDepartment imposed the samesanctions on three other seniorMyanmar commanders, as wellas 14 individuals from othercountries, to observeInternational Human Rights Day.

"The United States will nottolerate torture, kidnapping,sexual violence, murder orbrutality against innocent civil-ians," Treasury Secretary StevenMnuchin said in a statement.

"America is the world leaderin combatting human rightsabuse and we will hold perpe-trators and enablers accountablewherever they operate."Myanmar's military is accused ofleading a brutal campaign in2017 in Rakhine state against theRohingya, a mostly Muslimminority whom the Buddhist-dominated nation does not con-sider citizens. AFP

Washington: A powerful USCongressional committee will begin onWednesday debate on the two articlesof impeachment charged againstPresident Donald Trump.

The Democrats on Tuesday chargedPresident Trump with two articles ofimpeachment, abuse of power andobstruction of Congress by pressing hisUkraine counterpart for help in attack-ing his rivals in the 2020 election.

The impeachment process waslaunched after an anonymous whistle-blower complained to Congress inSeptember about a July phone call byTrump to Volodymyr Zelensky, the pres-ident of Ukraine.

House Judiciary CommitteeChairman Jerry Nadler alleged thatTrump, a Republican, was trying toundermine the 2020 election for his own

benefit.The Congressional committee on

Judiciary would hold public hearing onthe two articles of impeachment onWednesday and Thursday.

While no timeline has been set fora vote on the articles of impeachment,a final vote by the House, wherein theDemocrats enjoy a majority, could betaken up as early as next week.

Earlier, Nadler told reporters thatUS President holds the ultimate publictrust.

"When he betrays that trust and putshimself before country, he endangers theConstitution, he endangers our democ-racy and he endangers our nationalsecurity. The framers prescribed a clearremedy for Presidents who violate theiroath of Office. That is the power ofimpeachment," he said. PTI

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Iran’s telecommunicationsminister announced on

Wednesday that the countryhas defused a massive cyber-attack on unspecified “elec-tronic infrastructure" but pro-vided no specifics on the pur-ported attack.

According to the officialIRNA news agency,Mohammad Javad AzariJahromi said the “securityattack was very large” and thatauthorities were investigatingits exact dimensions.

He said he cannot revealany further details beyond say-ing that the “attack has beenidentified and defused.” It wasnot clear if the reported attackcaused any damage or disrup-tions in Iran's computer andinternet systems, and whetherit was the latest chapter in theU.S. And Iran's ongoing cyberoperations targeting the other.

“I cannot give details butyes, we were targeted by avery organized and govern-mental cyber attack," he said.“We are looking into theattack's different dimensionsand will release a report on it.It was a massive attack.”

On Tuesday, the ministerdismissed reports of hackingoperations targeting Iranianbanks, including local mediareports that accounts of mil-lions of customers of Iranianbanks were hacked.

“Banks were not hacked,"he said, adding that the rumorsevolved from a blackmailingcase by a former contractorwho had managed to “accesscomplex information."

This is not the first timeIran says it has defused acyberattack, though it has dis-connected much of its infra-structure from the internetafter the Stuxnet computervirus, widely believed to be ajoint U.S.-Israeli creation, dis-rupted thousands of Iraniancentrifuges in the country'snuclear sites in the late 2000s.

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The UN has been unable toconfirm Iranian involve-

ment in a dramatic attack on oilfacilities in Saudi Arabia earli-er this year, secretary-generalAntonio Guterres said.

Drones and cruise mis-siles were used in theSeptember bombardment,which knocked out half of thekingdom's crude productionand fueled a record surge inprices. Saudi officials, theUnited States and severalEuropean countries accusedIran of responsibility for theattack, which Tehran hasdenied.

UN investigators had beengiven access to debris of theweapons used in the attack,Guterres said in a six-month-ly report to the SecurityCouncil on Iran's nuclear pro-gram, seen by AFP on Tuesday.

But the investigation wasnot able to "independently cor-roborate that the cruise missilesand unmanned aerial vehiclesused in these attacks are ofIranian origin," the report said.

An investigation into theattack is continuing and will besubmitted to the SecurityCouncil when finished,Guterres said.

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�You have a diverse repertoire. How didit develop and change over the years?

Initially, we performed the classicalrepertoire although our own musicaltastes have always been quite eclectic. Thisis thanks to our parents who exposed usto all sorts of musical styles and cultures.Over the years, these diverse influenceshave found their way in to our repertoireand the projects we choose to do eitheras a duo or in collaboration with othermusicians.

�When performing in different coun-tries, the audience varies, how do youdecide the set that you will play?

Sometimes the presenter or festivalwhich has engaged us asks for a partic-ular repertoire. If this is not the case thenwe generally choose an eclectic selectionof pieces reflecting our influences. Wehave found that the audience reallyappreciate this diversity and it really does-n’t matter where we are performing.

�Is the set pre decided or do you tapinto the mood of the audience?

Generally, we decide what we areplaying beforehand, although this caneven happen just before we go live. Onceon stage, we stick to this. However, we caneasily vary the set list according to themood.

�During your growing up years, didyou think that this what you would bedoing professionally?

Music was such an integral part ofour lives while growing up that wenever really though about what we’d bedoing when we ‘grew up’. It was more acase of we always played music and all ofa sudden we were earning a living fromdoing what we loved.

�Of the genres that you play, which isthe one that you enjoy the most andwhy?

We do not have a ‘most enjoyable’genre. We just love playing well writtenmusic regardless of its provenance.

�What is the advice that you would giveto artists/children who want to take upprofessional music?

Be prepared to commit to regular and

rigorous practice and above all have fun.

�You’ve done a lot of collaborations,what does it add to your music?

The collaboration we have with eachother is our favourite but like many thingsin life, variety is essential in maintainingenthusiasm and discovering new possi-bilities

�Bollywood is a large part of themusic culture in India. Have you heardthe kind of music that it does?

While we are not aficionados ofBollywood we know that some of thescores are quite brilliant. As in all genresof music, there is great music and not-so-great music.

�You are brothers who perform togeth-er. What does the intertwining of thetwo add to your professional and per-sonal life?

We have been performing and tour-ing together for more than 20 years.Fortunately, we get on extremely well andhave similar musical tastes. So, in manyways this is the ideal situation — work-ing with someone you like and can relateto musically. So both professionally andpersonally, it is extremely satisfying.

�Do discussions about music carry overto family dinners for instance or doesdiscussion about the personal enter thestudios?

Dinner discussions are wide andvaried and may include music but notas a rule. We live in different cities(Lenny in Sydney and Slava in Adelaide).

Both of us have partners and young chil-dren so when we do get together discus-sions are more likely to be normal mun-dane topics any family would have.When in the studio we are very focussedon achieving the best result possible andwe can gladly say that in 20 years wehave never had a serious argument orbeen in the position where middleground could not be met regardingmusical interpretation.

�Any must-dos while you are touringthe country?

Eat and drink local produce. Walkaround as much as possible to get evena small feel for the voice of the city weare visiting.

�Most people see music as leisure?What do you do for leisure?

Now that both of us have young chil-dren, personal leisure time is mainlyfocussed on them and also letting ourwonderful partners have a break as weare on tour so much. I (Slava) love cook-ing. At home we have a large vegetablegarden and pretty much eat fresh fromthere so I love nothing more thanbeing inspired by what looks ready to gofrom the garden then fashioning a mealbased on this. Unfortunately my tour-ing schedule and position (as artisticdirector of the Adelaide Guitar Festival)does not give a great deal of opportuni-ty to indulge in this passion. I (Leonard)used to play a lot of table tennis how-ever these days when not spending timewith my partner and 22 month old son,I do enjoy composing.

Love, Actually is all around this year inBritain’s pre-Christmas election. The

2003 romantic comedy about the lovelives of assorted Londoners over the hol-iday season has played a surprisingly largerole in the campaign for Thursday’s gen-eral election. It has inspired political adsfrom both Labour and the Conservatives,and Love, Actually star Hugh Grant hasbeen out on the campaign trail urging vot-ers to oust Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Johnson’s Conservatives floodedsocial media Tuesday with an ad parody-ing the Love, Actually scene in whichMark (Andrew Lincoln) stands at thedoor of secret crush Juliet (KeiraKnightley), professing his love on aseries of cue cards while her new husbandsits obliviously inside.

In the political ad, Johnson stands onthe threshold of a voter’s home, promis-ing that if she votes Conservative “by thistime next year, we’ll have Brexit done…and we can move on.” The ad ends withan entreaty to “Vote Conservative actu-ally.”

Johnson says he will lead Britain outof the European Union by the scheduledJanuary 31 deadline if he wins Thursday’selection. Opposition Labour candidateRosena Allin-Khan accused theConservatives of ripping off her own sim-ilar Love, Actually spoof, posted severalweeks ago, in which she persuades aConservative voter to change his mind.

The Conservative ad also sparked aflood of parodies, with rival parties andsocial media users replacing the writingon Johnson’s cards with less flattering slo-gans. Party campaigners probably won’tmind: The Conservative’s digital strate-gy throughout the campaign has been to

get supporters and detractors alike talk-ing about the party.

Former Justice Secretary DavidGauke, who was expelled by Johnson foropposing his Brexit plan and is runningThursday as an independent, tweeted aphoto of himself holding a card with thewords “Brexit won’t get done, actually.”

For many Britons, Love, Actually hasbecome a holiday season TV staple anda guilty pleasure. Some film fans cringeat its saccharine elements, like theadorable child, played by Thomas Brodie-Sangster, who is helped by stepdad LiamNeeson to woo a classmate. But just asmany cherish the scene in which Grant,as a boyish British prime minister, beratesa boorish US president played by BillyBob Thornton.

That role helped make Grant a liber-al heartthrob, and he has become increas-ingly political in real life, campaigningagainst press intrusion and the hackingof celebrities.

In this election, Grant has gone outon the campaign trail with non-Conservative candidates, urging electorsto vote tactically to kick Johnson’s partyout of office.

Grant conceded that the Conservativead was “quite well done, very high pro-duction values.”

“But I did notice that one of the cardsfrom the original film that he (Johnson)didn’t hold up is the one where AndrewLincoln held up a card saying ‘because ofChristmas you tell the truth,’“ Grant toldthe BBC. “And I just wonder if the spindoctors in the Tory party thought that wasa card that wouldn’t look too great inBoris Johnson’s hands.”

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From breaking news, entertainment,sports to politics and everydayinterests, Twitter is a platform where

people get to know what’s happeningaround the globe and join in conversa-tions on trending topics. Multiply by hun-dreds of millions of people globally, youget diverse opinions of the world — fromfunny personal moments to seriousglobal events, from sensible tips to zanyreactions, from pop culture to massmovements and everything in between.That is why its end-of-year reflection canzip you through the events in the past.Right from the #loksabhaelections2019 to#chandrayaan2 and #cwc19, this year,Twitter in India was abuzz with conver-sation and participation.

As 2019 draws to a close, here aresome of the most talked about topics andpeople that emerged on the medium.

%(',-�(�%%.//%/0&��&%� �� #loksabhaelections2019: The world’slargest democracy voted to determine itspolitical future and Indians took toTwitter to voice their opinions resultingin #loksabhaelections2019 topping thelist.� #chandrayaan2: ISRO’s ground-break-ing mission to land the world’s firstrobotic rover on the moon’s south polewas followed closely, not only by millions

of Indians but people all across the world.The one from NASA (@NASA) com-mending ISRO featured as 10 mostretweeted tweets this year.� #cwc19: With the Cricket World Cupon during the summer, it was not sur-prising that the sport, which is followedalmost like a religion in the country,trended and how. Despite India losing toNew Zealand in the semi-finals, Indiancricket fans owned the platform, talkingabout winning moments, shockingupsets, classic catches and more.� #pulwama: The news of the death of40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)personnel in an attack on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway resulted inpeople sharing their reactions.� #article370: In August, the Ministerof Home Affairs revoked Article 370 ofthe Indian Constitution that gave specialstatus to Jammu and Kashmir, raisingopposition and support.� #bigil: Like every year, the Tamil andTelugu entertainment industries domi-nated entertainment conversations. Fansretweeted every update about the block-buster Bigil. � #diwali: This festival of lights sparkedjoy as the five days of celebration lit uppeople’s timelines. � #avengersendgame: Like much ofthe world, Indians took to Twitter to dis-

cuss fan-theories and what to expect inthe anticipated finale of the franchise,making #avengersendgame making itclinch one of the top 10 posts.� #ayodhyaverdict: The Ayodhya dis-pute has been a political, historical andsocio-religious milestone. As the finaljudgement in the Ayodhya dispute wasdeclared by the Supreme Court of India,people tweeted their reactions.� #eidmubarak: The 10th most tweet-ed hashtag were greetings on Eid.

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The following accounts were themost mentioned across topics like enter-tainment, politics and sports.

Entertainment (Male)� Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan)� Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar)� Salman Khan (@BeingSalmanKhan)� Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) � Vijay (@actorvijay)� AR Rahman (@arrahman)� Ranveer Singh (@RanveerOfficial)� Ajay Devgn (@ajaydevgn) � Mahesh Babu (@urstrulyMahesh)� Atlee (@Atlee_dir)

Entertainment (Female)� Sonakshi Sinha (@sonakshisinha)

� Anushka Sharma (@AnushkaSharma)� Lata Mangeshkar (@mangeshkarlata)� Archana Kalpathi (@archanakalpathi)� Priyanka Chopra Jonas (@priyanka-chopra)� Alia Bhatt (@aliaa08)� Kajal Aggarwal (@MsKajalAggarwal)� Sunny Leone (@SunnyLeone)� Madhuri Dixit Nene(@MadhuriDixit)� Rakul Singh (@Rakulpreet)

Sports (Male)� Virat Kohli (@imVkohli)� Mahendra Singh Dhoni (@msdhoni)� Rohit Sharma (@ImRo45)� Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt)� Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag)� Harbhajan Singh (@harbhajan_singh)� Yuvraj Singh (@YUVSTRONG12)� Hardik Pandya (@hardikpandya7)� Ravindrasinh Jadeja (@imjadeja)� Jasprit Bumrah (@Jaspritbumrah93)

Sports (Female)� PV Sindhu (@Pvsindhu1)� Hima Das (@HimaDas8)� Sania Mirza (@MirzaSania)� SainaNehwal (@NSaina)� Mithali Raj (@M_Raj03)� Mary Kom (@MangteC)� Smriti Mandhana (@mandhana_smriti)� Dutee Chand (@DuteeChand)

� Manasi Joshi (@joshimanasi11)� Rani Rampal (@imranirampal)

Politics (Male)� Narendra Modi (@narendramodi)� Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi)� Amit Shah (@AmitShah)� Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal)� Yogi Adityanath (@myyogiadityanath)� Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal)� Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh)� Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh)� Gautam Gambhir(@GautamGambhir)� Nitin Gadkari (@nitin_gadkari)

Politics (Female)� Smriti Irani (@smritiirani)� Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyanka-gandhi)� Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj)� Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman)� Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial)� Priyanka Chaturvedi (@priyankac19)� Alka Lamba (@LambaAlka)� Mayawati (@Mayawati)� Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti)� Atishi (@AtishiAAP)

PM Narendra Modi celebrating hisparty’s victory in Lok Sabha elections2019 emerged as the Golden Tweet inIndia which means that it was the mostretweeted and liked tweets of the year.

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The global Kalinga Fellowship2019 has begun from Mondayand will go on till December 13

at the Vishwa Yuva Kendra in NewDelhi. The fellowship, organised inpartnership with the NationalCommission for Women (NCW),Government of India, is designed tocreate breakthrough solutions to stoptrafficking of women and childrenglobally. It hopes to advance target 5.2of the sustainable development goalsand aims to eliminate all forms of vio-lence against all women and girls inpublic and private spheres, includingtrafficking, sexual and other types ofexploitation.

The fellowship is a tri-sector glob-al programme of business leaders, gov-ernment officials and civil societyleaders, designed to take a concretestep towards establishing a commonand shared vision and a living exam-ple of converting the SDG blueprint togo “from the world we have to theworld we want to have.” In addition toSDG5, there are two other globalgoals — SDG8 (decent work and eco-nomic growth) and SDG16 (peace, jus-tice and strong institutions) — whichseeks to put in place mechanisms to

eradicate trafficking of women andchildren. The fellowship is an attemptto make this issue a greater priority forcountries and citizens around theworld.

Founded by three partner organ-isations — Kalinga Institute of SocialSciences, FXB India Suraksha and theBridge Institute — the first fellowshipwas convened in April 2017 in Odisha.In 2018, the fellowship moved toTelengana. Sewa International andUN Women have joined as partnersthis year and have helped support theorganisation in the capital.

The fellows are participating in animmersive, facilitated, five-day strat-egy event where they are learning themost contemporary leadership meth-ods, collaborating with each other andcollectively pushing their solutions andstrategies forward. In addition, everybusiness, government and civil societyleader will be matched with a profes-sional leadership coach, for one year.

Dr Achyuta Samanta, member ofparliament and founder, KalingaInstitute of Social Sciences (KISS), said,“Empowerment of women in Indiashould be ingrained at every level oforganisations across government, busi-

ness and social sectors. Only then wewill move forward as a country and aneconomy. No household, society, stateor country has ever moved forwardwithout empowering women. Myhome state, Odisha, is moving forwardwith great momentum to ensure thatour mothers and daughters participatefully in the highest decision makingbodies in state and country. Genderequality is at the core of the philoso-phy at KIIT and KISS.”

Shyam Parande, secretary, SewaInternational, said, “The organisationis committed to gender equalitythrough upliftment of women bycommunity-led livelihood initiatives,spreading awareness on women’s rightsand creating an environment for girls’education by providing clean andusable toilets. We firmly believe thatonly by providing equal opportunitiesof learning and employment towomen, along with gender sensitisa-tion across all age-groups, can we curbthe menace of human trafficking,which exploits the most vulnerable sec-tions of our population by takingadvantage of their poverty and help-lessness. We plan to engage activelywith our partners and effective grass-

root organisations nation-wide to fighthuman trafficking in all its forms andbring dignity to all humans.”

Mamta Borgoyary, CEO of FXBIndia Suraksha, said “The fellowship2019 will set forth a solution-basedroad map to combat human traffick-ing, developed and owned by leadersacross civil society, corporate and thegovernment. We are proud to be partof this much-needed collaborativeeffort to help the children and womenof India lead a life of dignity in a safe,secured and protected environment.”

Jane Sassienie, founding directorof Bridge Institute said, “To solve theglobal challenges of our time takes anew type of leadership — with skillsin empathy, understanding complex-ity, working across boundaries, vision-ary activism and many other leader-ship capacities. Our mission is toequip the people, who want to changethe world, with the right leadershipskills.”

Simon McKenzie (Mac), directorand co-founder of the Bridge Institutesaid, “Our purpose is to bring extra-ordinary people together to solve theworld’s seemingly impossible prob-lems. The fellowship is bringing var-

ious business leaders, IBM’s special-ist anti-trafficking expertise, transna-tional agencies such as UN Women,CEOs of not-for-profit dedicated tocombating trafficking and media,together.”

The fellowship’s three top objec-tives are as follows:

- To build a set of recommendedstrategies to end sexual violenceagainst women and children with spe-cial focus on sex trafficking

- To provide each participantwith the most contemporary andprogressive leadership techniques,skills and methods to enable them tolead for the agenda

- To create a cohesive gover-nance team, which will work togeth-er to drive these strategies through,focussing on action and impact

The Fellowship is being attendedby over 80 participants of diversebackgrounds, from senior police andgovernment officials to civil societyand corporate leaders from acrossIndia and the world. About 20 stu-dents from different states of Indiaand several survivors of trafficking arealso part of the fellowship.

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Vedas throw light on both worldly andspiritual matters. They says that a king

should rule over a country to protect thepeople and enable them to spend a longand happy life without any fear. They alsoadd that if we pray to God to protect usthen He surely gives protection. (Samvedmantra 1458 refers).

Yajurved emphasises that it is not justlaw alone but the fear of rulers who imple-ment it that should strike fear in the heartsof criminals. Yajurved and Atharvavedstrictly state that if the public doesn’t getjustice then the king and his governmentare directly responsible and are sinners.Until the rulers inflict destructive violence

on the sinners, crimes like rape, dacoity,thefts and other sinful acts can’t bedestroyed from the root, say Vedas.

Moreover, Atharvaved stresses thatsuch sinners should be beheaded. Since lawand order are not living entities, they can-not punish the sinner who is not afraid ofthem. On the other hand, rulers who strict-ly enforce law can make sinners fearful. Butpresent laws and rulers have failed in doingso, as a result of which rape cases havespiked.

In this regard, I quote an incident fromRajasthan related by my respected Guruji.Once a king toured his domain to knowabout the well-being of his subjects. He

stayed in a village and asked a gatheringof people if anyone had any complaint. Ayoung man stood up and told the king thata lady had killed his relative and habitu-ally threatened him by stating that no onecould harm her.

The king asked his soldiers to arrestthe lady and hang her from a tree. The manwas given justice and the people learnt alesson to not violate laws.

In present times, the failure of lawenforcement agencies and rulers havemeant that criminals have been encour-aged to violate the honour and respect ofwomen time and again. According toRamayana and Mahabharata, the adversestate of women is due to the lack of strongand effective laws and leaders.

According to Vedic culture, it isimperative upon leaders to ensure men-tal and physical security of their subjects.In fact, Vedas direct the political leadersto treat the public as their own children andbe sensitive to their problems.

The current law says that juvenileoffenders have to be sent to reformatoryhomes. An Atharvaveda mantra 10/5/22,says that the punishment for such lustfuloffences can be meted out to anyone whois older than three years.

To counter and control rape it is alsoessential that we should unite to face theculprits and awaken the government sothat it takes appropriate action.

If the public understands Vedas, theywill acquire the ability to control their sens-es and refrain from vices like sensuality,anger and more.

(The author is the Chief Editor of VedIshvareeya vani, a bi-annual magazine.)

The Greater Noida authorityhas decided to celebrate the

city’s 29th foundation day with afour-day long carnival that willoffer race competitions, musicshows, youth festivals and othercultural functions by college stu-dents.

The event will begin fromJanuary 25 and will go on tillJanuary 28 at the City Park. “Wehave invited institutions such as theGautam Buddha University, ShivNadar University, GalgotiasUniversity, and various engineer-ing colleges and schools to organ-ise youth festivals to celebrate thefoundation day,” said Narendra

Bhooshan, chief executive officer ofthe Greater Noida authority.

The authority will organise apoetry recitation event. There willbe folk songs by folk and sufisingers and events for college-goers.

The city, spread across 38,000hectares acquired from 124 villages,has been developed into 26.83 percent area recreational green areawith an aim to maintain a healthyenvironment for residents. Theresidential area is spread on 25.81per cent. The industrial area isdeveloped on 31.46 per cent areaand the remaining land is used byinstitutional commercial purposes.

India is investing massively in the infra-structure sector as is evident with finance

minister’s announcement, which said thatan investment of �100 lakh crore to the sec-tor will be made over the next five years. Amajor part of the expenditure goes to thetransport sector — National Highways,Railways, Metro Rails, Airports and thedevelopment of Multimodal Logistics Hubs.As a fast developing nation, it is essential toprovide seamless connectivity to states,towns, cities, villages and people. In tryingto keep pace with the growing demand forconnectivity and its significantly positiveimpact on the economy of India, India hita highway building average of 27 km/day in2017-18 in addition to the development ofvarious urban and regional connectivity pro-jects.

As urban centres become growthengines, the inward migration increases andso does the pressure on the urban infrastruc-ture, particularly on transport. A classicexample of this phenomenon is currentlybeing witnessed by the national capital. Delhihas now sprawled into NCR which includesfar flung areas including Meerut in UttarPradesh and Alwar in Rajasthan. Thishighlights the need to not just focus onUrban Transit projects but also on increas-ing regional connectivity. The Delhi-Meerut

Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS),which is being developed by the NationalCapital Region Transport Corporation(NCRTC) aims to connect Delhi-Meerut bya high speed regional rail which runsabove the national highway. As per a NITIAayog report, the corridor, which willreduce the travel time from 3.5 hours onroad to 55 minutes in high speed, air-con-ditioned trains will take almost one lakhvehicles off the road and provide a boost toeconomic development along its route.The development of such innovative andtransformational projects is certainly apositive indicator that India is moving onthe right track. However, the focus shouldnot just be limited to developing such pro-jects but also on making them operational-ly, and more importantly, financially sustain-able. As per the Global InfrastructureOutlook, India will need approximately $4.5trillion by 2040 for the development of infra-structure. However, we are likely to face adeficit of $0.6 trillion.

It is concerning that in order to fundnew projects, a lot of money is being raisedthrough increasing borrowings from mul-tilateral institutions, which have a rippleeffect on the macro-economic indicators. Atthe same time, the planning and implement-ing agencies of projects do not seem to be

exploring the massive potential for gener-ating non-fare revenues. It needs to beunderstood that making transport projectsfinancially sustainable is extremely impor-tant for three reasons — first, the debt needsto be serviced; second, the governmentneeds to raise adequate revenue to fund theextensions of the existing project as well asfund the development of new projects; third,adequate revenue should be made availablefor the Operation and Maintenance (O&M)of such projects. However, fare can only beincreased to a certain degree without neg-atively impacting ridership as such limitedincrease in fare does not ensure financial sus-tainability of projects. In the absence of rev-enue, the transport agencies are forced topass on the expenditure incurred on theseprojects in the form of increased fares to pas-sengers, something which is against the veryidea of public transport systems since it dis-courages ridership. Thus, there is a need toactively explore innovative funding models,pursue and maximise sources of non-farerevenues and monetise projects by tappinginto the value of assets.

A number of tools and techniques areavailable to achieve this purpose, the mostprominent being Value Capture Finance(VCF), a technique which enables the pro-ject implementing agencies and the govern-ment to generate funds by tapping into theappreciated value of assets. Such apprecia-tion occurs as a result of the developmentof transport infrastructure in the peripheryof the asset. VCF broadly includes tools suchas land pooling, joint development, trans-

fer of development rights, special assessmenttax, vacant land tax and transit orienteddevelopment (TOD) besides others. Ofthese, TOD is particularly important, whereplanned infrastructure development occursin the region around the projects, which areoften a mix of commercial, residential, andinstitutional aspects. The development ofsuch infrastructure normally occurs in aradius of between one to three kilometresaround the projects and includes the devel-opment of parking bays, walkways, cycletracks, office spaces, shopping complexes,education centres, etc. The presence of suchinfrastructure not only boosts the local econ-omy but also enhances the ridership sincepeople now have a developed centre cater-ing to their needs in the immediate vicini-ty of a mode of transport. For instance, ametro rail. The rents and revenues thus gen-erated can be used to subsidise fares, chan-nel funds into developing extensions of theproject or invest in the development of infra-structure elsewhere in the city. The acqui-sition of land remains a key hindrance in amajority of infrastructure developmentprojects in India. The owners are often notwilling to give up their land and prolongedcourt battles often ensue. On the other hand,agencies often have to dole out huge com-pensation to the land-owners, often a resultof the appreciation in land value due to thespeculative effect of their forthcoming pro-ject. This can be solved by joint develop-ment, a process which allows a mutual agree-ment between the developers and the land-owners with the latter handing their land

over to the developers. The project devel-opers then use a part of this land to buildthe infrastructure required for the projectand the rest of the plot is developed andreturned back to the owner. The land-ownerretains ownership and now has a developedpiece of land which will witness increasedfootfall due to the development of the pro-ject. He may choose to undertake a com-mercial activity which is likely to do well.The development agencies, on the otherhand, do not have to pay a compensationnor do they have to engage in a protractedlegal battle. The net result being that bothare now better off, which is a win-win sit-uation eventually.

The need for transport planners tobroaden their horizons is equally important.A lot of such techniques are currently lim-ited to urban transit projects (such as metrorails) despite there being enough scope fortheir application to railways, highways andcivil aviation. Further, there is a need to pushfor the application of such tools to not justthe development of greenfield projects butalso on brownfield projects — infrastruc-ture which already exists. For instance, theavailability of abundant space in Indian rail-way stations can be utilised for TOD in theform of vertical development. Such verticaldevelopment can include house parkingspots, bus stations, shops and even budgethotels. A prime example such developmentis the Shinjuku Railway station in Japan.

There is also a need to reduce or dis-tribute the upfront expenditure incurred onprojects. Railways and various metro cor-

porations should adopt the concept of leas-ing versus excessive spending in procure-ment of goods and services. In UK andmany other countries, for instance, traincoaches are not procured but leased.Similarly, Infrastructure Investment Trust,which enables individuals and institutionsto invest collectively in transport projectsand earn a return, can be used as a fund-ing tool in projects which are capital inten-sive. National Highways Authority of India(NHAI) plans to raise around �75,000 crorefrom the market in this way.

Such techniques have been highly suc-cessful in the global context and have led tothe development of transformational trans-portation systems. In the context of India,the potential is yet to be utilised and chal-lenges do exist. These include but are notlimited to multiplicity of implementationagencies, misalignment of incentives ofstakeholders, lack of capacity building at themunicipal level and the absence of a unify-ing policy framework, something whichNITI Aayog is working to correct.

Transport projects form the backboneof the economic development of a countryby virtue of them connecting people andinfrastructure. Moving towards the devel-opment of innovative, holistic, inclusive,financially sustainable and transformation-al projects in the sector will bring us clos-er towards achieving our $5 trillion econ-omy target.

(The author is a young professional withthe infrastructure connectivity vertical of NITIAayog. Views expressed are strictly personal.)

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One of the first player to bring recog-nition for doubles badminton in

India, two-time Olympian and formerWorld Championship Bronze medallistJwala Gutta is disappointed with thepoor state of doubles badminton in thecountry and feels that the current set upneed a complete revamp as nothing isgoing right in it and she would like to bethe one responsible for bringing thechange.

Speaking on the launch of JwalaGutta Academy of Excellence on Tuesday,2010 Commonwealth Games Gold medal-list in women’s doubles, Jwala was askedif she will be seen as a player on court inher academy in Hyderabad, the senior prowho still hasn’t announced her retirementyet but is out of the national scheme ofthing for past couple of years said that sheis ready to represent India even but thereis no one to be paired up with.

“I can’t think of even one doubles play-er who I want to play with today. I am inthe selection panel, I see the list and haveseen them (doubles players) play. We needa complete revamp in doubles,” she said.

“There is a need for a completely dif-ferent ecosystem for doubles and that’s only

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Holders Liverpool safely nego-tiated Tuesday’s trip toSalzburg to take their place in

the last 16 of this season’s UEFAChampions League while Chelsea arealso through, but Ajax suffered a

shock group-stage exit.Six clubs secured spots in the

draw for the first knockout round intheir final group games, with Ajaxand Inter Milan the big names tomiss out.

Jurgen Klopp’s side just neededto draw in Austria to keep alive their

bid to retain the European Cup, andthey duly beat Salzburg 2-0 thanksto two goals in two second-half min-utes, by Naby Keita and Mohamed

Salah.Keita headed in Sadio

Mane’s cross against his for-mer club to put Liverpoolahead in the 57th minute,and Salah then roundedgoalkeeper Cican Stankovicto score from an improba-bly tight angle.

The result al lowedLiverpool to progress as Group Ewinners, with Napoli going throughin second place, while Salzburg areout and drop into the Europa Leagueinstead.

“What a team,” Klopp told BTSport. “What an effort. It was a toughgame.”

“We scored two wonderful goals.We could have scored six or sevenwhich is crazy. We won the group, wewon the game, all good.”

NAPOLI SACKANCELOTTI

N a p o l imade sure oftheir progressby trouncingGenk 4-0 inItaly withA r k a d i s u zMilik scoring afirst-half hat-trick, the thirdgoal coming fromthe penalty spot.

Dries Mertens convert-ed another spot-kick in thesecond half to seal the win,but the Italian side stillsacked coach CarloAncelotti in the wake of thegame.

There was high dramain Group H as Valenciabeat Ajax 1-0 inAmsterdam, RodrigoMoreno’s strike taking theSpaniards through to thelast 16 at the expense of last

season’s semi-finalists, and leavingtheir hosts stunned.

Ajax had again been impressivethis season but were left to rue theirinability to win either of their twomatches against Chelsea, as FrankLampard's team progressed in sec-ond place, a point ahead of the Dutchgiants, thanks to a 2-1 victory againstLille.

Tammy Abraham and CesarAzpilicueta netted first-half goals forChelsea, who held on after LoicRemy pulled one back for Lille.

Chelsea, the 2012 ChampionsLeague winners, finish level onpoints with Valencia but come sec-ond due to their inferior head-to-head record.

“The Champions League iswhere Chelsea belong. We knew itwas a tough group. We had to fightand recover after losing againstValencia at home in our first game,”Azpilicueta told BT Sport.

DORTMUND THROUGHBorussia Dortmund needed

to better Inter’s result and theydid so, beating Slavia Prague 2-1 to progress in second.

Julian Brandt got theirwinner after Jadon Sancho’s

opener was cancelled outby Tomas Soucek, with

Dortmund holdingon after Julian Weiglwas sent off.

M e a n w h i l e ,Lyon went through in

dramatic fashion inGroup G, coming from

behind to draw 2-2 with RBLeipzig.

The Germans were twogoals ahead at half-timethanks to two penalties, onescored by Emil Forsberg andthe other by Timo Werner.

However, HoussemAouar’s curler gave Lyonhope just after the breakand Memphis Depay lev-elled matters with eightminutes left.

Leipzig win the group, while thedraw proved enough for Lyon to fin-ish second because Zenit SaintPetersburg lost 3-0 to Benfica inLisbon.

Franco Cervi gave Benfica the leadbefore a Pizzi penalty and a SardarAzmoun own goal, as the Portugueseside finish third.

� �� Teenage prodigy AnsuFati became the youngest play-er to score a Champions Leaguegoal as a second-stringBarcelona side beat Inter Milan2-1 to send the Italians crashingout of the competition onTuesday.

The 17-year-old Guinea-Bissau-born attacker picked upa Luis Suarez cross to fire homefour minutes from time tobecome the youngest scorer.

Barcelona were alreadythrough to the knockout stagesas Group F winners and they leftsix-time Ballon d’Or winnerLionel Messi at home.

But Serie A leaders Interneeded a win over the La Ligaleaders or to match BorussiaDortmund’s result at home toSlavia Prague to qualify on theirsuperior head-to-head record.

Instead the Germans madeit through to the knockoutrounds ahead of third-placedInter, who go into the EuropaLeague.

“Seeing replays of Fati’s goalhurt,” said Inter coach AntonioConte.

“It’s a goal that cut our legs

from under us and killed usfrom all points of view.

“We lacked that pinch ofcynicism and precision to finishoff. I have little to reproach myplayers, they have given every-thing.”

Debutant Carles Perez hadput the Spaniards ahead after 23minutes at the San Siro, butRomelu Lukaku drilled in aequaliser just before the break tokeep the hosts in the tie.

Inter’s forward pair ofLukaku and Lautaro Martinezhad three goals ruled offsidebetween them.

“There was a lot of newnessbecause we also changed oursystem,” said Barcelona coachErnesto Valverde.

“We had a few problems atthe beginning because they putus under pressure, but little bylittle we managed to come outbetter.

“The scorers were youngplayers, even very young forAnsu, who is a born scorer.

“It’s a matter of pride that it’sa player who is from our team.We want to win the ChampionsLeague, like the others.”

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Chelsea manager Frank Lampardhinted he could dip into the

transfer market next month tostrengthen his attacking optionsafter they secured their place in theChampions League last 16.

The club’s FIFA-imposed trans-fer ban was last week reduced onappeal by the Court of Arbitrationfor Sport, meaning they are free tosign players again.

Jadon Sancho and WilfriedZaha have been linked with movesto Stamford Bridge in recent weeks

and Lampard said he was consid-ering his options.

“I will look at all areas of theteam but I think it was quite clearin the summer that you lose EdenHazard, who was a huge part ofscoring or creating our goals lastseason and the season before that,”he said.

“I think we’ve found ways as ateam where we can still be compet-itive. We’ve shown that in theleague and now the ChampionsLeague.

“But going forward if we’relooking at if we can get even bet-ter. Can we get better in forwardareas to help competition to helpthe idea of being more clinical, thenI think we’ll always look at that.”

Lampard said he was “calm”about the transfer window despiterecent poor results.

“We are improving and eventhe little bumps during the last twoweeks are part of the process and wedon’t see so much in January thatyou can do great business,” he said.

“If it is there to be done and itfeels like it is right for the club thatis a conversation for me andupstairs, but I am very calm withJanuary.”

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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer onWednesday said that he

wants Manchester Unitedto learn how to be consistentas his in-form team preparefor their Europa Leagueclash with AZ Alkmaar.

Group L leaders Unitedhave already qualified for theknockout stages of the com-petition going into today’smatch at Old Trafford, andthey are up to fifth place inthe Premier League after arun of five matches withoutdefeat that included successive wins over TottenhamHotspur and Manchester City.

“Consistency is vital in football. If we want to wintrophies this young team needs to learn how to put per-formances in when they don’t feel great,” said Solskjaer.“It doesn’t happen that you feel great every time you walkonto the pitch. “We have had some games this year wherewe have not been able to perform as well as we wouldlike but that is a learning curve.

“The young boys will improve that as well in the nextfew years and hopefully the rest of the year. We are look-ing brighter now.”

Solskjaer’s side are one point ahead of surprise Dutchoutfit Alkmaar and need a draw from their final groupmatch to ensure top spot.

“Results are the proof in the end. Inside we havealways believed in what we are doing,” the Norwegianadded.

“I see these boys in training every single day. I seetheir skills and attitude so I’m not worried.”

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Formidable Gujarat Giants, spurredby a stunning win for Chirag in

the opening bout, adopted a business-like approach and stormed to the topof the league table with a 5-2 victo-ry over the MC Mary Kom-ledPunjab Panthers in the Big BoutIndian Boxing League at the IndiraGandhi Indoor Stadium Complex onTuesday.

Though the legend Mary Komherself and evergreen birthday boyManoj Kumar helped PunjabPanthers stay afloat after GujaratGiants opened with wins in the firstthree bouts, the Amit Pangal-led out-fit sealed a morale-boosting victorywhen veteran Sarita Devi upstaged azestful Manisha in the women’s 60kgbout.

Skipper Mary Kom believed shehad done Punjab Panthers a favourby blocking the 91kg bout, thusdenying Gujarat Giants the chance topick up a point through Britishchampion Scott Forrest. But she wasin for a shock when her team-mateAbdulmalik Khalakov was out-thought and beaten on points by

Gujarat Giants’Chirag in the 57kgbout.

After eight of the 15 leaguematches, Gujarat Giants (14 pointsfrom three) leapfrogged to the top ofthe table. Punjab Panthers slid to thesecond spot with 12 points from threematches. Odisha Warriors (10 fromthree), Bombay Bullets (7 from two),NE Rhinos (7 from two) andBengaluru Brawlers (6 from three)follow the leaders.

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when it will come up, otherwise it’sgoing to be the same,” she added.

Though Satwiksairaj Renkireddyand Chirag Shetty have done well con-sistently this year in men’s doubles,women’s and mixed doubles perfor-mance is very disappointing.

“When I stopped playing, youtried to put me down. So I was notthere last two years, so what have youdone?

“So don’t you think I was right allthis while? Don’t you think I have thecredential to lead and head the dou-bles today but certain people don’twant me.”

The 36-year old even asked, “Areyou sure about women’s or mixed dou-bles qualifying for Olympics?”

Further discussing it, she said ifgiven a chance she would like to headdoubles game in India because thewhole system is wrong at the moment.

“I would like to see myself head-ing doubles but doubles don’t needcoach right now. It needs correction inadministration. The whole system iswrong right now,” she said.

On being asked to list the ‘wrong’,she went on to add and said, “Peopleare not educated about how important

double is. The doubles need to be pro-moted by the association and the play-ers need to be highlighted when theywin.”

“There is so little space (in news-papers) for them (for doubles players)compared to the singles and thatneeds to stop.”

She went to add that “It’s the play-ers that need to speak for themselvesbut they are scared of saying sobecause if they do, they won’t be con-sidered for the national team.”

The 36-year old also stressedupon the need to produce moreIndian coaches.

“It’s high time that we create a pro-gram where we can make our Indiancoaches as capable as the foreignones which we are not doing at all. Wearen’t paying attention to them.”

“I have learnt from my experiencethat one person can’t hand too manypeople. So we need more such.”

“If we want to beat China, followthe part of their system, they respectcoaches and they are on a highpedestal. Over here (in India) playersget everything after winning.”

“The government has to step upand make a system to make coaches

first. ‘The better the coaches, the betterthe players,’” she added.

Jwala also said it is important toprobe the conflict of interest of theChief national coach PullelaGopichand.

“He is chief coach, chief selector,owns his academy, District AssociationPresident, secretary of TelanganaAssociation, part of Khelo India, partof PBL, part of Gosports — it is all onpapers, it is not my imagination. So ifthere is a conflict of interest, ask ques-tions,” she said.

She also questioned the logic ofholding the national camp only at theGopichand academy.

“Before I have attended camps atmany places such as Bangalore,Jalandhar, and after 2006, it has onlybeen happening at the Gopichandacademy in Hyderabad. I had no prob-lems since I live there, but it is not fair.Why camps only in Hyderabad?

“Tell me how many Telugu play-ers are there in the Indian team? Areyou trying to tell me that in the last 10years India couldn’t produce a non-Telugu player to play for the country,Even people who are non-Telugu, theyare playing for Telangana state.”

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Staying true to his word, PrithviShaw on Wednesday appeared in his

‘2.0’ avatar and blazed his way intonational reckoning with a double hun-dred for Mumbai against Baroda.

Continuing his purple patch afterreturning to competitive cricket froman eight-month doping ban, Shawsmashed 202 off 179 balls to putMumbai on the road to victory in theirGroup B encounter at the RelainceStadium.

Shaw had recently assured that itwill be ‘Prithvi Shaw 2.0 going forward’,and he lived up to that by hitting 19fours and seven sixes.

Mumbai, who had made 431 intheir first essay, got the crucial first-innings lead after bundling out Barodafor 307, who could add only six runs totheir overnight total.

For Baroda, opener Kedar Devdharremained unbeaten on 160.

Courtesy Shaw’s double ton andskipper Suryakumar Yadav’s quick-fireunbeaten 102, Mumbai declared theirsecond innings at 409/4, setting Barodaa mammoth target of 534.

Mumbai’s second innings was allabout Shaw, who was playing his firstfirst-class game after the suspension,and the pint-sized opener made opti-

mum use of the opportunity.Shaw, who could be in contention

for the third opener’s slot in Tests, tooka listless Baroda attack to the cleaners.He will also be on the plane for IndiaA team’s tour of New Zealand.

The right-handed batsman had allshots in the book as he raced to his 100in just 84 balls and then converted itinto a memorable double ton.

Shaw and Jay Bista (68) laid thefoundation of the mammoth total byconjuring a 190-run stand for the firstwicket.

The youngster from Virar thenfound an able ally in Surya, who racedhis way to 102 not out in 70 balls, with12 fours and five sixes.

The two stitched a 78-run stand forthe fourth wicket to take the game awayfrom Baroda.

Baroda, needing 534 runs for a win,finished the third day at 74/3 withMumbai left-arm spinner Shams

Mulani taking two wickets.

DELHI FACE INNINGS DEFEAT�� Off-spinner Jalaj Saxenashowed his Delhi counterparts how tobowl on an unresponsive track with asix-wicket haul, raising visions of aninnings victory for Kerala.

On a track where Delhi’s ShivamSharma, Vikas Mishra and Tejas Barokadisappointed, domestic warhorseSaxena scalped 6 for 63 in 24 overs toskittle out Delhi for 142 in their firstinnings. This was after Kerala posted amassive 525 for nine declared.

With 383 runs in arrears, Keralacaptain Sachin Baby rightly asked Delhito follow-on and their openers AnujRawat (87 off 103 balls) and KunalChandela (51 off 103 balls) added 130for the opening stand.

At stumps, Delhi were 142 for onein their second innings and still need-ing 241 to avoid what could be a humil-

iating innings defeat.

HARYANA EDGE MAHA�� Haryana seized the upperhand against Maharashtra on the thirdday of Group C encounter, havingreduced their opponents to 61 for fivein the second innings.

Skipper Harshal Patel did the starturn for Haryana, taking four wicketsin the first innings, as Maharashtra wereall out for 247. And then in the secondinnings, Maharashtra were rocked earlyby Patel, who got SM Gugale (0) and CGKhurana (0) with the team score onzero.

The in-form Ruturaj Gaikwad (7, 26balls) and Shaik added 41 runs for thethird wicket before Kundu dismissedthe former.

K’TAKA GAIN LEAD� �� Karnataka gained the all-important first innings lead againstTamil Nadu in Group B encounter,despite a superb ton by the experiencedDinesh Karthik (113).

Off-spinner Krishnappa Gowthamwas the star performer for Karnataka,picking up six wickets for 110 runs.

Karnataka recovered from 23 for 3in the second innings to end the day at89 for 5, a lead of 118 runs with a day’splay remaining.

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�� Test cricket made itslong-awaited return to Pakistan aftera deadly attack in 2009, with thehome team led by fast bowler NaseemShah dominating Sri Lanka onWednesday.

Naseem, who is just 16, grabbed2-51 on the opening day of the firstTest which marked a momentousoccasion in Pakistan cricket atRawalpindi stadium.

Sri Lanka won the toss and bat-ted and closed the day at a precari-ous 202-5 after bad light stopped play20.5 overs early.

At close Dhananjaya de Silva wasunbeaten on 38 and NiroshanDickwella not out 11 as Sri Lanka

spoiled a good 96-run start given byskipper Dimuth Karunaratne (59)and Oshada Fernando (40).

Pakistan struggled for wickets inthe first session as Sri Lanka reached89-0 at lunch.

Shaheen Shah Afridi trappedKarunaratne leg-before soon afterlunch to trigger a collapse which sawthe visitors lose four wickets withinjust 31 runs in the post lunch session.

Naseem then had Fernandocaught at slip for 40, an innings lacedwith six boundaries and a six.

He also had Angelo Mathewscaught in the slips for 31. Mathewsadded 62 runs for the fifth wicketwith De Silva.

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Opener Mayank Agawal wason Wednesday named as

Shikhar Dhawan’s replacementin India’s ODI squad for thethree-match series against theWest Indies as the southpaw hasnot yet recovered from his kneeinjury.

Dhawan had suffered a deepcut on his left knee during a SyedMushtaq Ali Trophy gameagainst Maharashtra in Suratand was subsequently ruled outof the ongoing T20 series.

“The BCCI Medical Teamfeels that while Dhawan’s stitch-es are off and his wound is heal-ing gradually, he still needs

some more time before heregains full match fitness,” theBCCI said in a statement.

“The All-India SeniorSelection Committee has namedMayank Agarwal as replace-ment for the injured ShikharDhawan in India’s squad for theupcoming series against WestIndies,” it added.

India will play three ODIsagainst the West Indies inChennai (December 15),Visakhapatnam (December 18)and Cuttack (December 22).

Agarwal, who is currentlyplaying Ranji Trophy matchagainst Tamil Nadu in Dindigul,will join the national team inChennai before the first game.

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Australia will field the same teamfor the third Test in a row when

they face New Zealand in sauna-likeconditions under lights at Perth – afirst under Tim Paine’s captaincy.

Coach Justin Langer has beenworking hard to mould a steady XIand after thrashing Pakistan in tworecent Tests sees no reason to chopand change for a tougher day-nightassignment against the Black Caps.

“We’ve been playing some real-ly good cricket, happy with the wayit’s going so we’re trying to get a con-sistent team together,” Paine toldreporters on Wednesday.

“And as I touched on afterAdelaide (second Test againstPakistan), the great thing is we’ve gotguys that are performing reallywell.

“That’s what we wanted sowe’re going to go with the sameteam.”

That means Mitchell Starc, PatCummins and Josh Hazlewoodagain lead the attack, with JamesPattinson and Michael Neser miss-ing out.

Paine suggested that mightchange for the next two Tests inMelbourne and Sydney, which arecloser together.

“But at the moment the threebig fellas are fit and firing,” he said.

Australia have momentumgoing into today’s game. They have

never lost at the new Perth Stadiumand have won all six day-night Teststhey have played.

That includes at Adelaide ear-lier this month. In contrast, NewZealand last played a day-night Test

nearly two years ago againstEngland in Auckland and haveonly won three of 31 Tests inAustralia and have not claimed aseries on the other side of theTasman since 1985-86.

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The AfghanistanCricket Board re-

appointed former cap-tain Asghar Afghan asthe skipper across allformats of the game onWednesday.

The decision takenby the ACB’s top management officials, comes sevenmonths after Asghar was stripped from captaincy acrossformats.

Afghanistan’s poor show in a ‘home series’ against WestIndies where they lost all in three formats may haveprompted the authorities to call back Afghan.

“As per the decision by ACB Top management, seniorplayer Asghar Afghan is reappointed as team Afghanistan’scaptain across formats,” ACB wrote on its official Twitterhandle on Wednesday.

In April, two months before the ODI World Cup, ACBhad named Rahmat Shah, Gulbadin Naib and Rashid Khanas replacements of Asghar in the Test, ODI and T20 teamsrespectively.

However, after the World Cup after a disappointingshow in England, where Afghanistan lost all its nine match-es, all-rounder Rashid was named skipper across all for-mats.

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KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma andskipper Virat Kohli struckexplosive half centuries to

power India to a mammoth 240 for3 in series-deciding third T20against West Indies here atWankhede Stadium onWednesday.

West Indies decision to bowlfirst backfired as Indian openersKL Rahul (91 off 56 balls; 9x4, 4x6)and local boy Rohit Sharma (71 off34 balls; 6x4; 5x6) conjured 135runs for first wicket in 11.4 overs.

They took a listless oppositionattack to cleaners and smashed 72runs in first six powerplay overs.While Rohit completed his 50 off23 balls, Rahul did it in 29 deliv-eries.

And later in the innings, Kolhi(70 off 29 balls; 4x4; 7x6) showedhis class as he and Rahul put up a95-run-stand off 45 balls for thirdwicket to propel the hosts to thehighest total at WankhedeStadium.

Rohit began with a coverdrive boundary off pacer

Sheldon Cottrell. In sec-ond over off Jason

Holder, Rahul hitback-to-back bound-aries at the third man

region, the first comingfrom a thick outside edge.

Rohit then stamped his classas he pulled Cottrell for a six andfollowed by a four towards mid-off region. It was Rohit’s 400th sixin international cricket to becomethe first Indian to achieve the featand third after Chris Gayle andShahid Afridi.

Rahul then struck a four fol-lowed by a six over third manfence as India amassed 14 runs off4th over by Jason Holder.

Left-arm spinner Khary Pierre

was introduced into the attack, butRohit welcomed him with a tow-ering six over long-on. The nextball, Evin Lewis, almost pulled offa one-handed blinder, but couldnot complete the catch. Rahulinflicted more agony on KesrickWilliams as he hit two fours anda six in the sixth over.

Then Rohit hit two consecu-tive sixes and a four off Pierre asIndia raced to 102/0 after 8 overs.

This was third 100-run standbetween the two in T20s. At thehalf-way mark, India were 116/0.

However, West Indies pegged backIndia by removing Rohit and one-down Rishabh Pant (0) quickly.

Then Kohli joined Rahul asthe two continued the onslaught.Kohli was brutal on Holder, as hehit two fours and a six in the 15thover, as India scored 22 runs offit.

The last five overs belonged toKohli, who hammered fours andsixes at will as West Indies paidheavy price for indiscipline bowl-ing. Fittingly Kohli finished theinnings with a straight six.

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Pakistan’s Aleem Dar will breakSteve Bucknor’s record of most

Test matches as an umpire in the firstTest today.

The 51-year-old, who took upumpiring after a decade of playingfirst-class cricket in Pakistan, will bestanding in his 129th Test match ason-field umpire after making hisdebut in Dhaka in 2003 duringEngland’s tour of Bangladesh.

Starting his international careerin 2000 during Pakistan’s homeODI series against Sri Lanka, Darhas officiated in 207 ODIs and isonly two matches shy of the recordof 209 matches in that format heldby Rudi Koertzen of South Africa.Dar has also officiated in 46 T20Internationals.

“This is one milestoneI had never thought ofwhen I began myumpiring career. It isa truly amazing

feeling and a high point of my lifewhen I take the field here inAustralia; thousands of miles fromwhere I started my internationalcareer at home in Gujranwala,” saidDar in an ICC statement.

“Steve Bucknor was my idoland it is only sinking in now thatI will have officiated in more Testmatches than him. In the nearlytwo decades of my internationalcareer, I have had the good fortuneof watching some memorablematches and achievements likeBrian Lara’s Test knock of 400 notout and South Africa’s epic chase ofAustralia’s score of 434 in an ODIin Johannesburg in 2006,” he added.

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