ˇ˙*ˆ + 9:; 0!˘ ˘0 5 .0#1234 1ˆ ˛˘& 7’6+ *)2

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T he protest over the Citizenship Amendment Bill in Assam turned violent on Thursday claiming three lives in police firing in Guwahati as thousands of people defied curfew and took to the streets. An official of the Guwahati Medical College and Hospital said that one person was “brought dead” and another succumbed to injuries while undergoing treatment. The official said well- known RTI activist and peas- ant leader Akhil Gogoi was arrested in Jorhat district in a crackdown against those involved in stoking the protest. Police said they had to open fire in Lalung Gaon area in Guwahati after stones were hurled by protesters. The agi- tators claimed at least four persons were injured in the shooting. The protesters also attacked AGP headquarters in Guwahati’s Ambari area and vandalised the vehicles parked outside. The residence of a BJP MLA in the capital city was also set ablaze. Protests also intensified in Tripura, where the Army con- ducted peace marches and in Meghalaya’s capital Shillong that witnessed several shops being vandalised in the com- mercial centre and a number of vehicles were torched. Amid the continuing unrest in the North-East, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday appealed for calm. In a series of tweets, in both Assamese and English, the PM said he personally and the Central Government are “total- ly committed to constitution- ally safeguard the political, lin- guistic, cultural and land rights of the Assamese people as per the spirit of Clause 6.” Clause 6 of the Assam Accord guarantees safeguard- ing local rights, language and culture. “I want to assure my broth- ers and sisters of Assam that they have nothing to worry after the passing of #CAB (sic),” Modi tweeted. “No one can take away your rights, unique identity and beautiful culture. It will con- tinue to flourish and grow,” he said in his tweet. Internet services in 10 dis- tricts of Assam were suspend- ed for another 48 hours begin- ning 12 pm to prevent “misuse” of social media to disturb peace and tranquility, and to maintain law and order, officials said. Worsening law and order situation led the Railways to suspend all passenger train services in Tripura and Assam and short-terminate long dis- tance trains to the region at Guwahati following protests in the two States over the pas- sage of CAB. After a railway station in Dibrugarh’s Chabua, the home- town of Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, was set on fire late on Wednesday night besides the Panitola rail- way station in Tinsukia, 12 companies of the Railway Protection Special Force (RPSF) have been dispatched to the region, RPF chief Arun Kumar told an agency in Delhi. “Passengers are stranded and we are trying to help them as much as possible. We are mulling to run special trains to ferry these passengers, but are still weighing if the risk is worth it. An unspecified number of flights to the North-East, including Guwahati were rescheduled or cancelled. Amid the raging protests, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry issued an advisory to private satellite TV channels to be cautious about airing content that is like- ly to incite violence. The advisory was issued after some TV channels showed footage of violent protests. Heads rolled in the police establishment due to apparent failure in containing the inces- sant protests with the State Government removing Guwahati Police Commissioner Deepak Kumar and appointing Munna Prasad Gupta in his place. Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Mukesh Agarwal was also transferred and replaced with ADGP (CID) GP Singh. The streets of Guwahati and other cities reverberated with anti-Government slogans as thousands marched through the streets to attend a rally called by the All Assam Students Union (AASU) at Latashil ground. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal have betrayed the people of Assam by ensuring passage of the Bill,” AASU adviser Samujjal Bhattacharya told the crowd. Leaders of the AASU and the North East Students’ Organisation (NESO) said they will observe December 12 as ‘Black Day’ every year in protest against the passage of the Bill in Parliament. Continued on Page 3 I n more worrisome sign for the Indian economy, retail inflation has risen to over three-year high of 5.54 per cent in November amid clear sign that the commoners are going to be hit hard with two- pronged blow of declining growth and rising prices. The inflation has been pro- pelled mainly by a double digit rise in food prices items, which will directly impact the aam admi. At the same time industri- al production shrank further, and Nomura, a Japanese cred- it rating agency, cut down growth forecast for the next quarter to 4.3 per cent, rebut- ting prospect of any positive reversal in the economy any sooner. The inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 4.62 per cent in October, and 2.33 per cent in November 2018. Coupled with it, indus- trial production shrank for third consecutive month in October by 3.8 per cent, main- ly due to output fall in manu- facturing, mining and elec- tricity sectors, as per official data released on Thursday. As per the data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO), the inflation in the food rose to 10.01 per cent. This compares with 7.89 per cent October and (-) 2.61 per cent in the year ago-month. The previous high of CPI was 6.07 in July 2016. During the month, infla- tion in vegetables shot up to 35.99 per cent, as against 26.10 per cent in October. Likewise, the prices of cereals and eggs grew at a faster pace of 3.71 per cent. Prices of meat and fish rose by 9.38 per cent annually and of eggs by 6.2 per cent in November. Continued on Page 3 I n the distribution of portfo- lios carried out nearly a fort- night after assuming the office, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s party Shiv Sena on Thursday retained crucial portfolios of Home, Urban Development and rela- tively not so important Ministries of Industry and Higher and Technical Education. While Uddhav himself will not hold any portfolio, he allo- cated the portfolios of Home and Urban Development — as also other portfolios like Forests, Environment, Water Supply & Sanitation, Water Conservation, Tourism, PWD (Public work undertakings), Legislative Affairs and Welfare of retired Army men — to his party’s senior Minister Eknath Shinde. Sena’s another senior Minister Subhash Desai is the Industry, Higher and Technical Education Minister. He will also hold portfolios like sports and youth welfare, agriculture, transport, employment guar- antee, etc. NCP’s Jayant Patil is the new Finance Minister. He will also hold portfolios like hous- ing, public health, labour, minorities development. NCP’s another Minister Chhagan Bhujbal is the new rural development Minister. He will also hold portfolios like water resources, social justice, food and drugs, and other responsibilities. Congress’ Balasaheb Thorat is the new Revenue Minister. He will hold portfo- lios like the power, medical education, school education, animal husbandry, milk and fisheries, etc. His colleague Nitin Raut will head public works depart- ment (excluding public under- takings), tribal welfare, women and child development, textiles, relief & rehabilitation and all backward classes. Uddhav and six of his Ministers in the Shiv Sena- NCP-Congress front “Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVS) Government — Eknath Shinde, Subhash Desai (both from the Shiv Sena), Jayant Patil, Chhagan Bhujbal (both from the NCP), Balasaheb Thorat and Nitin Raut (both from the Congress) — were sworn into office on November 28. Thursday’s distribution of portfolios is a temporary arrangement pending the expansion of the State Cabinet likely to be undertaken either ahead of the Winter Session of the Maharashtra Legislature beginning in Nagpur from December 16 or after the Session. A s protests continue in the North-East, Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen and Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan cancelled their visit to India leading to speculation that Dhaka is upset with Home Minister Amit Shah’s comments on persecu- tion of minorities in Bangladesh during the debate on the Citizenship (Amendment) 2019 Bill in Parliament. Momen cancelled his three-day visit here beginning Thursday hours before his scheduled arrival, a day after he termed as “untrue” Amit Shah’s comments on persecution of religious minorities in Bangladesh. Khan was scheduled to arrive in Shillong on Friday on a three-day trip, primarily to attend an event relating to Bangladesh’s freedom strug- gle, but he cancelled the visit due to widespread protests against the Bill. While Bangladesh official- ly said their visit was called off due to pressing engagements at home, India said it never crit- icised the neighbour about persecution of minorities there. Making this clear, External Affairs Ministry (MEA) Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar cautioned against reading too much into Momen’s decision. “We know the visit has been cancelled... I understand the Foreign Minister has given an explanation. Our relations are strong, like our two leaders have said repeatedly, and I don’t think this cancellation will have any effect,” Raveesh said. The Bangladesh Minister in a statement said, “I had to cancel my trip to New Delhi as I have to participate in Buddijibi Debosh (Martyred Intellectuals Day — December 14) and Bijoy Debosh (Victory Day of Bangladesh December 16) and more so as our State Minister is out of the country in Madrid and our Foreign Secretary is in the Hague. Given increasing demand at home, I decided to cancel the trip.” Raveesh said the issue of the cancellation of the Bangladesh Foreign Minister’s visit and the passage of the CAB should not be linked. “We will have to go by the rea- son stated. As for his comments on CAB, there is some confu- sion. Religious persecution was in reference to military regime and past Governments,” Kumar said. Maintaining that the Bangladesh Minister conveyed to India about postponement of his visit from December 12-14 due to scheduling issues, Raveesh asserted Shah never said religious persecution took place in Bangladesh during the tenure of the current Government. However, diplomatic sources said Momen decided not to go ahead with the visit due to prevailing situation aris- ing out of passage of contro- versial Citizenship Amendment Bill in Parliament. Raveesh said any specula- tion that this development is connected with legislation adopted by Parliament on Wednesday regarding the Citizenship Amendment Bill is unwarranted,” he said, adding ties between the two countries were going through a “golden phase”. On Wednesday, Momen said the Citizenship Bill could weaken India’s historic charac- ter as a secular nation and rejected the allegations that the minorities faced religious persecution in his country. Continued on Page 3 A s she joined hands with senior party leader Eknath Khadse in seeking to build up a pressure group within her party, Maharashtra’s BJP leader and former Minister Pankaja Munde on Thursday announced her resignation from the party’s core group and said she would not leave the party, but it is for the party leadership to sack her from the party. Speaking at a rally organ- ised at Parli on the occasion of her late father and senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde’s 70th birth anniversary, Pankaja said, “After I wrote a Facebook post, there was speculation that I would rebel against the party and quit the party. I would not quit the party.” She gave indications of distancing herself from the party. “I will set up my office in Mumbai on January 26 and then I will undertake a day- long token fast at Aurangabad on January 27,” she said. Indirectly hitting out at former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for reports in media that she was aspiring to become the Chief Minister, Pankaja said, “I contributed my bit to bring the BJP man as the Chief Minister. On the last day of campaign, there were reports that Pankaja considers herself as the CM. Where do these reports come from?. Even if I said that I want to become CM, what is wrong in it?” Throwing weight behind Pankaja, senior BJP leader Eknath Khadse hit out at Fadnavis for being “ungrateful” towards late Gopinath Munde. Khadse said, “It was after Munde built the party that it came to be known as the bahu- jan samaj party. It is because of late Gopinathjrao’s contribution that the BJP has become a major party as it is today.” Khadse said, “I am unhap- py that Pankaja was defeated in the Assembly polls. Actually, her defeat was engineered by the partymen. Even effort was made to finish my career. When the same thing started with Pakaja, I extended my support to her.” T he Supreme Court appointed on Thursday a three-member enquiry commission head- ed by former apex court judge VS Sirpurkar to probe into the circumstances leading to the encounter killing of the four accused in the gang- rape and murder of a veterinarian in Telangana. The commission, which also included for- mer Bombay High Court judge Rekha Sondur Baldota and ex-CBI director DR Karthikeyan, will submit its report to the SC in six months. A bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde stayed proceedings pending in the Telangana High Court and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in the case and sought an SIT report into the case, saying no other authority shall enquire into the matter pending before the commission of enquiry till further orders. The Bench ordered that security to the three-member commission shall be provided by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). The top court said the six-month deadline for submission of the report by the commission shall start from the first day of hearing and it shall have all the power under the Commission of Inquiry Act for conducting the enquiry. T he Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a batch of petitions seeking review of its November 9 Ayodhya land dispute case verdict which cleared the way for construction of a Ram Temple at the disputed site. The SC, which took a total of 19 review pleas for consideration in-chamber, rejected them after finding no ground to entertain them. “Applications for listing of review petitions in open court are dismissed. We have carefully gone through the review petitions and the connect- ed papers filed therewith. We do not find any ground, whatsoever, to entertain the same. The review petitions are, accordingly, dismissed,” a five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde said while rejecting 10 out of 19 pleas filed by original litigants to the title dispute. The apex court, which also considered the nine petitions filed by “third parties” who were not part of the original litigation, denied them permission to file review petition in the matter. “In view of the denial of permission to file review petitions, applications for listing of review petitions in open court as well as review petitions are rejected,” said the Bench, also com- prising Justices DY Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan, SA Nazeer and Sanjeev Khanna, while rejecting the pleas filed by “third parties”.

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The protest over theCitizenship Amendment

Bill in Assam turned violent onThursday claiming three livesin police firing in Guwahati asthousands of people defiedcurfew and took to the streets.

An official of the GuwahatiMedical College and Hospitalsaid that one person was“brought dead” and anothersuccumbed to injuries whileundergoing treatment.

The official said well-known RTI activist and peas-ant leader Akhil Gogoi wasarrested in Jorhat district in acrackdown against thoseinvolved in stoking the protest.

Police said they had toopen fire in Lalung Gaon areain Guwahati after stones werehurled by protesters. The agi-tators claimed at least fourpersons were injured in theshooting.

The protesters alsoattacked AGP headquarters inGuwahati’s Ambari area andvandalised the vehicles parkedoutside. The residence of a BJPMLA in the capital city was alsoset ablaze.

Protests also intensified in

Tripura, where the Army con-ducted peace marches and inMeghalaya’s capital Shillongthat witnessed several shopsbeing vandalised in the com-mercial centre and a number ofvehicles were torched.

Amid the continuingunrest in the North-East, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi onThursday appealed for calm.

In a series of tweets, in both

Assamese and English, the PMsaid he personally and theCentral Government are “total-ly committed to constitution-ally safeguard the political, lin-guistic, cultural and land rightsof the Assamese people as perthe spirit of Clause 6.”

Clause 6 of the AssamAccord guarantees safeguard-ing local rights, language andculture.

“I want to assure my broth-ers and sisters of Assam thatthey have nothing to worryafter the passing of #CAB (sic),”Modi tweeted.

“No one can take awayyour rights, unique identity andbeautiful culture. It will con-tinue to flourish and grow,” hesaid in his tweet.

Internet services in 10 dis-tricts of Assam were suspend-

ed for another 48 hours begin-ning 12 pm to prevent “misuse”of social media to disturb peaceand tranquility, and to maintainlaw and order, officials said.

Worsening law and ordersituation led the Railways tosuspend all passenger trainservices in Tripura and Assamand short-terminate long dis-tance trains to the region atGuwahati following protestsin the two States over the pas-sage of CAB.

After a railway station inDibrugarh’s Chabua, the home-town of Assam Chief MinisterSarbananda Sonowal, was seton fire late on Wednesdaynight besides the Panitola rail-way station in Tinsukia, 12companies of the RailwayProtection Special Force(RPSF) have been dispatched tothe region, RPF chief ArunKumar told an agency in Delhi.

“Passengers are strandedand we are trying to help themas much as possible. We aremulling to run special trains toferry these passengers, but arestill weighing if the risk isworth it.

An unspecified number offlights to the North-East,including Guwahati wererescheduled or cancelled.

Amid the raging protests,the Information and

Broadcasting Ministry issuedan advisory to private satelliteTV channels to be cautiousabout airing content that is like-ly to incite violence.

The advisory was issuedafter some TV channelsshowed footage of violentprotests.

Heads rolled in the policeestablishment due to apparentfailure in containing the inces-sant protests with the StateGovernment removingGuwahati PoliceCommissioner Deepak Kumarand appointing Munna PrasadGupta in his place.

Additional DirectorGeneral of Police (Law andOrder) Mukesh Agarwal wasalso transferred and replacedwith ADGP (CID) GP Singh.

The streets of Guwahatiand other cities reverberatedwith anti-Government slogansas thousands marched throughthe streets to attend a rallycalled by the All AssamStudents Union (AASU) atLatashil ground.

“Prime Minister NarendraModi and Chief MinisterSarbananda Sonowal havebetrayed the people of Assamby ensuring passage of theBill,” AASU adviser SamujjalBhattacharya told the crowd.

Leaders of the AASU andthe North East Students’Organisation (NESO) said theywill observe December 12 as‘Black Day’ every year inprotest against the passage ofthe Bill in Parliament.

Continued on Page 3

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In more worrisome sign forthe Indian economy, retail

inflation has risen to overthree-year high of 5.54 per centin November amid clear signthat the commoners are goingto be hit hard with two-pronged blow of declininggrowth and rising prices.

The inflation has been pro-pelled mainly by a double digitrise in food prices items, whichwill directly impact the aamadmi.

At the same time industri-al production shrank further,and Nomura, a Japanese cred-it rating agency, cut downgrowth forecast for the nextquarter to 4.3 per cent, rebut-ting prospect of any positivereversal in the economy anysooner.

The inflation based onConsumer Price Index (CPI)was 4.62 per cent in October,and 2.33 per cent in November2018. Coupled with it, indus-trial production shrank forthird consecutive month inOctober by 3.8 per cent, main-ly due to output fall in manu-facturing, mining and elec-tricity sectors, as per officialdata released on Thursday.

As per the data released bythe National Statistical Office(NSO), the inflation in thefood rose to 10.01 per cent.This compares with 7.89 percent October and (-) 2.61 percent in the year ago-month.The previous high of CPI was6.07 in July 2016.

During the month, infla-tion in vegetables shot up to35.99 per cent, as against 26.10per cent in October. Likewise,the prices of cereals and eggsgrew at a faster pace of 3.71 percent. Prices of meat and fishrose by 9.38 per cent annuallyand of eggs by 6.2 per cent inNovember.

Continued on Page 3

���� -*-0,'

In the distribution of portfo-lios carried out nearly a fort-

night after assuming the office,Maharashtra Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray’s party ShivSena on Thursday retainedcrucial portfolios of Home,Urban Development and rela-tively not so importantMinistries of Industry andHigher and TechnicalEducation.

While Uddhav himself willnot hold any portfolio, he allo-cated the portfolios of Homeand Urban Development — asalso other portfolios likeForests, Environment, WaterSupply & Sanitation, WaterConservation, Tourism, PWD(Public work undertakings),Legislative Affairs and Welfareof retired Army men — to hisparty’s senior Minister EknathShinde.

Sena’s another seniorMinister Subhash Desai is theIndustry, Higher and TechnicalEducation Minister. He willalso hold portfolios like sportsand youth welfare, agriculture,transport, employment guar-antee, etc.

NCP’s Jayant Patil is thenew Finance Minister. He willalso hold portfolios like hous-ing, public health, labour,minorities development.

NCP’s another MinisterChhagan Bhujbal is the newrural development Minister.He will also hold portfolios likewater resources, social justice,food and drugs, and otherresponsibilities.

Congress’ BalasahebThorat is the new RevenueMinister. He will hold portfo-lios like the power, medical

education, school education,animal husbandry, milk andfisheries, etc.

His colleague Nitin Rautwill head public works depart-ment (excluding public under-takings), tribal welfare, womenand child development, textiles,relief & rehabilitation and allbackward classes.

Uddhav and six of hisMinisters in the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress front “MahaVikas Aghadi (MVS)Government — Eknath Shinde,Subhash Desai (both from the

Shiv Sena), Jayant Patil,Chhagan Bhujbal (both fromthe NCP), Balasaheb Thoratand Nitin Raut (both from theCongress) — were sworn intooffice on November 28.

Thursday’s distribution ofportfolios is a temporaryarrangement pending theexpansion of the State Cabinetlikely to be undertaken eitherahead of the Winter Session ofthe Maharashtra Legislaturebeginning in Nagpur fromDecember 16 or after theSession.

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As protests continue in theNorth-East, Bangladesh

Foreign Minister AK AbdulMomen and Home MinisterAsaduzzaman Khan cancelledtheir visit to India leading tospeculation that Dhaka is upsetwith Home Minister AmitShah’s comments on persecu-tion of minorities inBangladesh during the debateon the Citizenship(Amendment) 2019 Bill inParliament.

Momen cancelled histhree-day visit here beginningThursday hours before hisscheduled arrival, a day after hetermed as “untrue” Amit Shah’scomments on persecution ofreligious minorities inBangladesh.

Khan was scheduled toarrive in Shillong on Friday ona three-day trip, primarily toattend an event relating toBangladesh’s freedom strug-gle, but he cancelled the visitdue to widespread protestsagainst the Bill.

While Bangladesh official-

ly said their visit was called offdue to pressing engagements athome, India said it never crit-icised the neighbour aboutpersecution of minorities there.Making this clear, ExternalAffairs Ministry (MEA)Spokesperson Raveesh Kumarcautioned against reading toomuch into Momen’s decision.

“We know the visit hasbeen cancelled... I understandthe Foreign Minister has givenan explanation. Our relationsare strong, like our two leadershave said repeatedly, and Idon’t think this cancellationwill have any effect,” Raveeshsaid.

The Bangladesh Ministerin a statement said, “I had tocancel my trip to New Delhi asI have to participate inBuddijibi Debosh (MartyredIntellectuals Day — December14) and Bijoy Debosh (VictoryDay of Bangladesh —December 16) and more so asour State Minister is out of thecountry in Madrid and ourForeign Secretary is in theHague. Given increasingdemand at home, I decided to

cancel the trip.”Raveesh said the issue of

the cancellation of theBangladesh Foreign Minister’svisit and the passage of theCAB should not be linked.“We will have to go by the rea-son stated. As for his commentson CAB, there is some confu-sion. Religious persecution wasin reference to military regimeand past Governments,” Kumarsaid.

Maintaining that theBangladesh Minister conveyed

to India about postponement ofhis visit from December 12-14due to scheduling issues,Raveesh asserted Shah neversaid religious persecution tookplace in Bangladesh duringthe tenure of the currentGovernment.

However, diplomaticsources said Momen decidednot to go ahead with the visitdue to prevailing situation aris-ing out of passage of contro-versial CitizenshipAmendment Bill in Parliament.

Raveesh said any specula-tion that this development isconnected with legislationadopted by Parliament onWednesday regarding theCitizenship Amendment Bill isunwarranted,” he said, addingties between the two countrieswere going through a “goldenphase”.

On Wednesday, Momensaid the Citizenship Bill couldweaken India’s historic charac-ter as a secular nation andrejected the allegations thatthe minorities faced religiouspersecution in his country.

Continued on Page 3

�������� ��� -*-0,'

As she joined hands withsenior party leader Eknath

Khadse in seeking to build upa pressure group within herparty, Maharashtra’s BJP leaderand former Minister PankajaMunde on Thursdayannounced her resignation fromthe party’s core group and saidshe would not leave the party,but it is for the party leadershipto sack her from the party.

Speaking at a rally organ-ised at Parli on the occasion ofher late father and senior BJPleader Gopinath Munde’s 70thbirth anniversary, Pankaja said,“After I wrote a Facebook post,there was speculation that Iwould rebel against the partyand quit the party. I would notquit the party.”

She gave indications ofdistancing herself from theparty. “I will set up my officein Mumbai on January 26 andthen I will undertake a day-long token fast at Aurangabadon January 27,” she said.

Indirectly hitting out atformer Chief MinisterDevendra Fadnavis for reports

in media that she was aspiringto become the Chief Minister,Pankaja said, “I contributed mybit to bring the BJP man as theChief Minister. On the last dayof campaign, there were reportsthat Pankaja considers herselfas the CM. Where do thesereports come from?. Even if Isaid that I want to become CM,what is wrong in it?”

Throwing weight behindPankaja, senior BJP leaderEknath Khadse hit out atFadnavis for being “ungrateful”towards late Gopinath Munde.

Khadse said, “It was afterMunde built the party that itcame to be known as the bahu-jan samaj party. It is because oflate Gopinathjrao’s contributionthat the BJP has become amajor party as it is today.”

Khadse said, “I am unhap-py that Pankaja was defeated inthe Assembly polls. Actually,her defeat was engineered bythe partymen. Even effort wasmade to finish my career.When the same thing startedwith Pakaja, I extended mysupport to her.”

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The Supreme Court appointed on Thursdaya three-member enquiry commission head-

ed by former apex court judge VS Sirpurkar toprobe into the circumstances leading to theencounter killing of the four accused in the gang-rape and murder of a veterinarian in Telangana.

The commission, which also included for-mer Bombay High Court judge Rekha SondurBaldota and ex-CBI director DR Karthikeyan,will submit its report to the SC in six months.

A bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobdestayed proceedings pending in the TelanganaHigh Court and the National Human RightsCommission (NHRC) in the case and sought anSIT report into the case, saying no otherauthority shall enquire into the matter pendingbefore the commission of enquiry till furtherorders. The Bench ordered that security to thethree-member commission shall be provided bythe Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

The top court said the six-month deadlinefor submission of the report by the commissionshall start from the first day of hearing and itshall have all the power under the Commissionof Inquiry Act for conducting the enquiry.

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The Supreme Court on Thursday dismisseda batch of petitions seeking review of its

November 9 Ayodhya land dispute case verdictwhich cleared the way for construction of a RamTemple at the disputed site.

The SC, which took a total of 19 review pleasfor consideration in-chamber, rejected them afterfinding no ground to entertain them.“Applications for listing of review petitions inopen court are dismissed. We have carefully gonethrough the review petitions and the connect-ed papers filed therewith. We do not find anyground, whatsoever, to entertain the same. Thereview petitions are, accordingly, dismissed,” afive-judge bench headed by Chief Justice SABobde said while rejecting 10 out of 19 pleas filedby original litigants to the title dispute.

The apex court, which also considered thenine petitions filed by “third parties” who werenot part of the original litigation, denied thempermission to file review petition in the matter.

“In view of the denial of permission to filereview petitions, applications for listing ofreview petitions in open court as well as reviewpetitions are rejected,” said the Bench, also com-prising Justices DY Chandrachud, AshokBhushan, SA Nazeer and Sanjeev Khanna,while rejecting the pleas filed by “third parties”.

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The Self Defence Wing ofDelhi Police ‘Special Police

Unit for Women and Children’(SPUWAC) on Thursday con-cluded its 10 days self defencetraining programme in nation-al Capital. More than 1,000 girlstudents participated in theevent held at Kendriya Vidhyalain Delhi’s Gole Market area.

Nuzhat Hassan, SpecialCommissioner of Police,Women Safety and SPUWAC,was chief guest of the function.

According to Geeta Rani,the Deputy Commissioner ofPolice (DCP), SPUCWAC, inthis 10 days training programparticipants were made awareabout safety measures like howto act in any untoward situationand to prevent chain snatching,stalking, eve-teasing or phyical

assault by using self defencetechniques.

“Participants were alsoexplained about cyber stalking,safeguards while using socialmedia, gender sensitization andsalient feature of Himmat Plusapp. The exclusive feature was tospread awareness amongst par-ticipants about disadvantages ofsingle use plastic and to adoptalternatives of single use plastic,”said the DCP.

“Pamphlets containing allinformation and details ofhelpline numbers were also dis-tributed to the participants andNukkad Natak on “SwatchBharat Abhiyan” were also orga-nized. “On this occasion aPledge for keeping cleanlinesswere also taken by all girls stu-dent and certificate of partici-pation were also distributed tothe students,” the DCP added.

� �<<����� ��� �63��674'

Recalling the ‘horror’ back inPakistan, hundreds of

Hindu refugees who have beenliving in the national Capital’s‘Majnu Ka Tilla’ area welcomedthe amendment in CitizenshipBill, saying now they are feel-ing like ‘ghar wapsi’. ChantingModi-Modi slogan and danc-ing on patriotic songs, they saidthat Modi- Government hasfinally given them a reason tocelebrate.

Dharamvir Solanki, (49)who came here from Pakistan’sHyderabad in 2011, said “TheGovernment of India has pro-vided us great relief by makingprovision clearing way to grantcitizenship to us.”

Solanki further said thatHindus in Pakistan are sub-jected to face unusual wrath ofthe Government apathy. “Ourgirls and women were notsecured in that country. Manyof us have witnessed severalkidnapping and torture ofHindus. Now with the devel-opment, we are feeling verysecure,” he added.

Calling the decision a hugerelief, Dharam Ram, a 35-year-old person who came in Indiawith others in 2011, said thatthere will be no religious per-secution ‘anymore’ like we hadfaced in Pakistan. I still cannotforget the horrors we had facedback in Pakistan, he added.

“We were in constant pres-sure to convert our religion.Even our children were forcedto recite Kuran. We were forcedto work in very inhuman con-ditions with no pay sometimes.We were considered outsiders,”said, 20-years-old Gulab.

Talking about the ‘unfa-miliar’ treatment given toHindus, he said “It is difficultto explain the feelings after

being treated as second classcitizen.”

“The Modi-Governmenthas given us an opportunity tolive in our own country withrespect. Our ancestors werefrom India and we are happy tobecome part of the country,” hesaid.

Explaining the problem inPakistan, Madan, who sellsgrocery items at ‘Majnu KaTilla’ said that children espe-cially girls were picked up bysome Muslims who forcefullyconverted their religion later.“At several occasion, manyHindu family never able tomeet their loved ones,” headded.

However, many of themwere not aware of the provi-

sions of the Bill but still theywere hoping something goodhas been done for them.Brameshwar, a 59-year-oldman, who was sitting isolatedfrom the crowd and watchingthem to celebrate, said“Nothing could be better thanthis. I do not want to even recallthe problems we had been fac-ing for years there. Since, wecame here in India, life is veryeasy. We had been facing atroc-ities since we were minors andleft only option to return Indiawith a hope that we will live aprosperous and a happy lifewith family which was notpossible in Pakistan,” he said.

“Our children had to facecriticism in schools in Pakistanbecause they are ‘Hindu’. We

left everything there and cameempty handed from Pakistan tosecure our children’s future. Weare doing, mostly, labour workbut we are happy and livingtogether without any fear,” saidMeena, amother of two chil-dren.

The CitizenshipAmendment Bill-2019 whichwas passed by both the hous-es of the Parliament seeks togrant Indian citizenship tonon-Muslim refugees fromPakistan, Bangladesh andAfghanistan escaping religiouspersecution in those countries.The Bill states that from Hindu,Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Christianand Parsi faiths who came toIndia till December 31, 2014,eligible for citizenship.

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Raising slogans ‘weare ashamed that

your rapists are still aliveNirbhaya’, several mem-bers of Delhi Comm-ission for Women(DCW) on Thursdaytook out a protest marchin Delhi demandingcapital punishment forrapists. However, theywere stopped by DelhiPolice near ITO.

On Thursdaymorning, the membersof DCW started theirmarch from Rajghattowards the Parliamentbut when they reachednear ITO, they were stoppedby Delhi Police. The protestorsalleged that they were assault-ed by Police near ITO.However, police denied theirclaims.

“When protestors werestopped at ITO and theythrew bangles at police. Noone was assaulted by police.The police persuaded thempeacefully,” said a police offi-cial. According to police, they

had earlier said that the pro-testers will be stopped nearJantar Mantar and would notbe allowed to march ahead asthe Parliament session is goingon.

After the protestors werenot allowed beyond ITO, theyall moved back towardsRajghat, where the DCW chiefSwati Maliwal is sitting onindefinite hunger strike forlast 10 days demanding the

Central Government to makeregulation in which the rapeconvict should get the harshestpunishment within six months.

Meanwhile, the DCW chiefhad on Monday written a let-ter to Union Minister Smriti Irani demanding thatthe Government distributethousands of crores of rupeesaccumulated in the Nirbhayafund among the StateGovernments.

� �<<����� ��� �63��674'

A46-year-old head constable(HC) with Delhi Police

allegedly committed suicide byshooting himself with his ser-vice revolver in national Capital.Police said that the head con-stable was posted as the PersonalSecurity Officer (PSO) of BJP’sMember of Parliament (MP),Braj Bhushan Sharan Singh.

The head constable is iden-tified as Unish Kumar, a resi-dent of Narela and he was insecurity unit of Delhi Police.Police said no suicide note hasbeen recovered from Unish’spossession.

According to a seniorpolice official, on Thursdayevening around 4.25 pm infor-mation was received that UnishKumar, PSO to MP BrajBhushan shot himself with his

service revolver.“The Police Control

Room (PCR) and local policereached the spot and foundUnish lying on the floor in apool of blood. The bullet’sentry and exit wounds couldbe seen in his head. Thepolice team took him to near-by hospital where he wasdeclared brought dead,” saidthe senior police official.“Police suspects family disputebehind the Unish’s suicide.Further inquiry has been ini-tiated,” said a police official.

� �<<����� ��� �63��674'

Deputy Chief MinisterManish Sisodia met

Railways Minister Piyush GoyalThursday and said he has beenassured that trains will be madeavailable very soon for the DelhiGovernment’s ‘MukhyamantriTeerth Yatra Yojana’.

Pertinently, ruling AamAadmi party (AAP) hadannounced the temporarily sus-pension of the scheme due tonon - availability of train.

The scheme, under whichthe Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)

Government sends senior citi-zens on pilgrimage, has beentemporarily suspended due tonon-availability of trains.

The Northern Railways hadsaid on Wednesday that the

unavailability of rakes wasdue to the effect of fog on trainoperations and movement ofparamilitary personnel onelection duty to and fromKarnataka and Jharkhand, andfrom border areas.

“Met Railways MinisterPiyush Goyal over Mukh-yamantri Teerth Yatra. He hasassured me of providing trains

for the yatra very soon,” Sisodiatold reporters after the meeting.

The Deputy Chief Ministersaid the Delhi Governmentexpected to get more trains toenable pilgrimage of 30,000senior citizen, whose rail reser-vation were made under thescheme.

Under the scheme launchedin July this year, out of 63,435senior citizen who applied forpilgrimage, 32,828 have been toone of the 12 religious destina-tions in the country. The rest areyet to go on pilgrmage.

According to the scheduleplanned by the DelhiGovernment and IndianRailways Catering and TourismCorporation (IRCTC), 30 tripswere pending betweenDecember 10, 2019 and January28, 2020. The pending tripsinclude 12 to Rameshwaram andsix to Dwarkadhish.

� �<<����� ��� �63��674'

Air quality in Delhi hasturned severe with overall

Air Quality Index (AQI) recod-ed 418 on National AmbientAir Quality Index (NAAQI).

Values of SuspendedParticulate Matters (SPMs) alsorecorded very high.

Primary pollutants,Particulate Matters 10 and 2.5were recorded 408 μgm-3 and268 μgm-3on Air QualityIndex.

In its extended range airquality weather, System of AirQuality and WeatherForecasting And Research(SAFAR ) has predicted sig-nificant improvement throughincreased ventilation andwashout due to rainfall isexpecting by December 13.After the westerly disturbances,increased moisture will lead tofoggy condition on 14 -16 andthis will deteriorate AQI for thenext week. This is likely to dete-riorate AQI for the week start-ing 16th December.

� �<<����� ����63��674'

Lieutenant Governor AnilBaijal on Thursday

reviewed the status of fillingof vacancies in Delhi FireServices and Forensic ScienceLaboratory.

Director, Fire Servicesinformed that the process ofhiring 500 Firemen throughGeM has been finalised and25 Radio TelephoneOperators have already beenemployed through GeM to

cater to the emergent situationtill the regular vacancies arefilled.

Notably, 484 new Firemenhave already joined the force inthe last six months.

Wherever officials of ade-quate seniority as per RR’s arenot available for promotionalvacancies, steps are being takento fill them up on deputationbasis as per rules.

Director, FSL informedthat they are in the process ofsetting up of more specializedbranches like Mobile Tracking,

CCTVs, Chemical andBiological analysis to cater to the cases related to thesefields.

L-G directed that DPC’s should be held regular-ly and the process of filling reg-ular vacancies be expeditedwith agencies concerned likeUnion Public ServiceCommission (UPSC) andDSSSB as these services are ofemergency nature and suit-able follow-ups be made withagencies concerned to expeditethe same.

� �� �63��674'

JNU vice-chancellor MJagadesh Kumar on

Thursday held a meeting withhostel presidents to discusstheir issues and restore nor-malcy in the university, butthere was no headway as thestudents’ representatives saidnothing conclusive came outfrom the administration side.

The VC met 18 hostel pres-idents on a day he attended hisoffice first time since theadministration block was occu-pied by protesting students.The Delhi High Court haddirected the police onWednesday to provide ade-quate security to the V-C, reg-istrar and other officials whenthey enter the administrationblock on Thursday.

The V-C did not reply tothe demands for a completerollback of the fee hike and theneed to hold a fresh Inter-HallAdministration (IHA) meetingin a democratic manner, thestudents said.

Besides the VC, three rec-tors, the registrar, the Dean andthe Associate Deans of Studentswere present in the meeting,which the varsity adminstra-tion said was “a significantstep towards normalising thesituation in the university

through deeper dialogue withthe students’ leaders”.

During the meeting, the V-C informed the studentsabout the discussions he hadwith the HRD Minister, secre-tary and UGC chairman, andstressed the need to expedi-tiously restore normal acade-mic activities, including theconduct of the semester-endexams.

The V-C explained to thehostel presidents about therevised hostel manual and theissues related to the hostel util-ity and service charges.

The discussions covered awide range of issues includingthe extension of the currentsemester.

“It was a significant steptowards normalising the situ-ation in the university throughdeeper dialogue with the stu-dent leaders,” the varsityadministration said.

In a statement, however,the hostel presidents said the

administration officials triedto convince them that theservice and utility charges arejustified, but “we did notagree”.

“We said that studentswill not pay even a singlepaisa. The VC justified theIHA meeting and said thatthe meeting was legitimate.We did not agree to such jus-tifications,” they said in thestatement.

The VC wanted theYamuna hostel (fully priva-tised) model to be applied toall the hostels, they said.

“We rejected such pro-posals. They even justifiedthe 10 per cent annual hike.Nothing conclusive came outfrom the administration side.When the hostel presidentsstarted to ask the VC toughquestions, he concluded themeeting and ran away,” thestatement said.

A meeting with all deansof schools and chairpersonsof special centres has alsobeen scheduled to discussmatters related to holding ofend-semester examinations.

The administration hasalso called for a meetingwith the candidates who contested for the president’spost in the students’ unionelections.

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The Comptroller andAuditor General (CAG)

has found rampant misuse ofthe Pradhan Mantri UjjwalaYojna (PMUY) in terms oflow consumption, diversionsand considerable delays in sup-ply of cylinders.

The CAG noticed that dueto lack of input validationcheck in Indian OilCorporation Limited (IOCL)software, 1.88 lakh connec-tions were released againstAbridged Household ListTemporary IdentificationNumbers (AHL TINs) ofmales.

CAG has highlighted therisk of diversion of domesticcylinders for commercial use as1.98 lakh beneficiaries had anaverage annual consumption ofmore than 12 cylinders.

PMUY is an ambitiousscheme of the ModiGovernment to provide LPGconnections to women belong-ing to Below Poverty Line(BPL) families. CAG has said

that encouraging the sustainedusage of LPG remains a bigchallenge as the annual averagerefill consumption

of PMUY consumers hasdeclined. The annual averagerefill consumption of 1.93 crorePMUY consumers (who havecompleted more than one yearas on March 31, 2018) was only3.66 refills as worked out byaudit.

The CAG report, whichwas tabled in the Lok Sabha onWednesday, revealed that out of3.78 crore LPG connections,1.60 crore (42 per cent) con-nections were issued only onthe basis of beneficiaryAadhaar. Interestingly, the auditrevealed lack of input valida-tion in IOCL software allowedissue of 0.80 lakh connectionsto beneficiaries aged below 18years.

Similarly, data analysisrevealed that 8.59 lakh con-nections were released tominor beneficiaries. The audithighlighted highlighted variousdeficiencies like the issuance ofLPG connections by the LPG

distributors to unintended ben-eficiaries, deficiencies in theLPG software of the OilMarketing Companies (OMCs)in identification of intendedbeneficiaries and deficiencies inde-duplication process.

In a Performance AuditReport, the CAG said thatencouraging the sustainedusage of liquefied petroleumgas (LPG) remains a big chal-lenge as the annual averagerefill consumption of PMUYconsumers on 31 December2018 was only 3.21.

"Similar analysis for 3.18crore PMUY beneficiaries as on31 December 2018 revealedthat refill consumptiondeclined to 3.21 refills perannum. Also, low consumptionof refills by 0.92 crore con-sumers who had availed loans,hindered recovery of out-standing loan of �1234.71crore," the report said.

"Deficiencies in de-dupli-cation to restrict issuance ofduplicate connections werenoticed in 12465 cases. Further,lack of input validation check

allowed release of 42187 con-nections against invalid AHLTINs," the report said.

The CAG said that delay ofmore than 10 days (ranging upto 664 days) was noticed indelivery of 36.62 lakh LPGrefills against the stipulateddelivery period of seven days.

The Government, on itspart, claims that around 87%beneficiaries have returned forat least second refill, with thetotal number of refills includ-ing installation against PMUYconnections crossing morethan 40 crore.

While the clean fuel pro-tects the users from the hazardsof smoke inhalation, it alsohelps the poor from having togo to unsafe areas to collectfirewood.

As per audit report, 1.98lakh PMUY beneficiaries hadan average annual consump-tion of more than 12 cylinderswhich seems improbable inview of their BPL status.Similarly, 13.96 lakh benefi-ciaries consumed 3 to 41 refillsin a month.

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Narmada Bachao Andolanleader Medha Patkar, who

was censored by the SupremeCourt in 2011 for filing falseaffidavit, has been found guiltyof suppressing vital informa-tion in her passport application.The Regional Passport Office(RPO), Mumbai has impound-ed her passport on failing tomeet the deadline to prove thatno criminal cases are pendingagainst her.

In her passport applicationdated March 30, 2017 claimedthat no criminal cases arepending against her.

Earlier in June 2019, ajournalist filed a complaint toRPO (Mumbai) against Patkaralleging that she obtained pass-port by concealing and sup-pressing the facts of variouspending criminal cases againsther. The complainant also pro-vided the details of 9 criminalcases pending against her invarious districts of MadhyaPradesh.

Patkar conceded to 'sup-pressing of critical information'in her Passport applicationdated 30.03.2017, where in acolumn of pending criminal

cases, if any, she declared"None."

Based on the complaint,the RPO, Mumbai issued anotice on October 18, 2019 toPatkar stating that " Whileobtaining passport bearingnumber . dated 30.03.2017,you have not disclosed thefacts regarding pendency ofabove cases and obtained pass-port by suppression of mater-ial information".

The notice further said, "Inview of the same it is proposedto impound your passport andany other passport/s, if issued,subsequently of the PassportAct 1967. You are also request-ed to state why action shouldnot be taken under section12(1) of Passports Act 1967,Section 10(3)(e) and 12(1)(b)read with Section 10(3) whichstates that ̀ the passport author-ity may impound or cause to beimpounded or revoke a pass-port or travel document if pro-ceedings in respect of anoffence is found pendingagainst the holder."

Patkar surrendered thepassport on December 9 toPassport Officer, Mumbai. Thepassp[ort officer has nowimpounded her passport.

The National Council forCivil Liberties (NCCL)President VK Saxena, who iscurrently Chairman of Khadiand Village industriesCommission (KVIC), onNovember 11 had also lodgeda complaint to the RPOMumbai stating that two morecriminal cases are pendingagainst Patkar in the court ofMetropolitan Magistrate Delhi.Saxena had filed the cases in2001 and 2006 against her.

, "Patkar is a mistress of lies.She lied to the people ofNarmada, misinformed the USSenate Sub-Committee andrepresented untruthfully atSupreme Court. Now she con-ceals her cases of criminality inher passport application. Isshe planning to run away from

justice to a foreign land?"Saxena said.

The RPO Mumbai alsosought details of pending casesfrom the Director General ofPolice, Madhya Pradesh, whohas also confirmed RPO thatcharge-sheet has been filedagainst her in five cases.

The RPO is planning initi-ate action against her underSection 12(b) of the PassportAct which clearly says that"knowingly furnishes any falseinformation or suppresses anymaterial information with aview to obtaining a passport ortravel document under thisact 12(e) shall be punishablewith imprisonment for a termwhich may extend to two yearsor with fine which may extendto �5000 or with both."

���� �63��674'

BGR-34, an anti-diabetesherbal drug developed by

the Council of Scientific andIndustrial Research (CSIR) hasbeen found to have therapeu-tic efficacy for treating newlydiagnosed Type 2 diabetes.This has been shown by anindependent clinical trials con-ducted in Varanasi-basedBanaras Hindu University(BHU), Union Minister ofAyush, Shripad Naik saidrecently in Parliament.

"The CSIR through its labs-- Central Institute of Medicinaland Aromatic Plants (CIMAP)

and National BotanicalResearch Institute (NBRI), bothLucknow- based has developedscientifically validated herbalproduct NBRMAP-DB as anti-diabetic formulation," said theMinister adding that theknowhow for the product hasbeen licensed to AIMILPharma Ltd, Delhi which ismanufacturing and marketing itas BGR-34 across the country.

In a written reply to aquestion in Lok Sabha, he fur-ther said that the trial of theclinical study has been regis-tered in clinical trial registry ofIndia.

In fact, said the Minister, as

the diabetic population in thecountry is close to hitting thealarming number of 69.9 mil-lion by 2025, the Central ofResearch in Ayurveda Sciences(CCRAS), an autonomousbody under the Ministry isconducting research-orientedAyurveda based on integrativehealth care services for themanagement of Madhumehaor Diabetes Mellitus.

The CCRAS in collabora-tion with Directorate Generalof Health Services under theUnion Health Mministry hasimplemented a programmeintegrating Ayush (Ayurveda)component with NPCDCS.

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Cutting across party linesRajya Sabha members sup-

ported a Constitution amend-ment Bill to extend reservationto SCs and STs in Lok Sabhaand State Assemblies by anoth-er 10 years. The Opposition alsosought to extend the benefit tothe Anglo-Indian community.On Tuesday, the Lok Sabha hadunanimously passed the Billeven though the Oppositionhad slammed the Governmentfor not giving the benefit to theAnglo-Indian community.

Moving the bill in theUpper House for considerationand passage, Law Minister RaviShankar Prasad said that "allthose who don't come from theSC/ST communities have also

extended help for their welfare"."We have a large number ofSC/ST members," he said.Reservation for members ofScheduled Castes (SCs) andScheduled Tribes (STs), givenfor the past 70 years in LokSabha and State Assemblies, is

due to end on January 25,2020.

The bill, which saw heatedexchange between the trea-sury and opposition benches,was approved unanimously inRajya Sabha. The debate wit-nessed heated exchange

between Prasad and Leader ofOpposition Ghulam NabiAzad, after which Congressmembers staged a walkout.Congress members laterreturned to the House for thevoting process.

Lauding the efforts madefor the welfare of deprivedclasses, Prasad took the nameof BSP chief Mayawati and saidshe is working towards the wel-fare of these communities inher own way. He also remem-bered tribal freedom fighterand folk hero Birsa Munda.

On the Anglo-Indiancommunity issue, he told theHouse that there are 296 mem-bers of the community in India.Prasad said as per the 2011Census, the SC population was20.13 crore and ST population

10.45 crore which was 5.13crore and 1.91 crore at the timeof India's independence. Theminster urged the members topass the bill unanimously.

TMC MP Derek O'Briensupported the bill but as amember of the Anglo-Indiacommunity expressed dismayover its benefit not beingextended to his community.O'Brien asked theGovernment how is it nomi-nating an Anglo-Indian toLok Sabha when there areonly 296 members of the com-munity in the country.

He told the House that heis the only elected memberfrom the community and ithappened as TMC chiefMamata Banerjee does notbelieve in vote bank politics.

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India and Maldives willattempt to chart a new course

of deeper cooperation in ties ata high-level meeting betweenExternal Affairs Minister SJaishankar and his Maldiviancounterpart Abdulla Shahidon Friday.

A vast range of issues willbe discussed at the 6th JointCommission Meeting (JCM)which is taking place after a gapof over four years, ExternalAffairs Ministry SpokespersonRaveesh Kumar said. Shahidarrived here late Tuesday nighton a four-day visit.

"The JCM, which is takingplace after a gap of over fouryears will oversee and reviewthe entire gamut of our vast andexpanding bilateral relationshipwith Maldives and chart a wayforward for further deepeningour engagement," Kumar said.

Foreign Secretary VijayGokhale held "productive dis-cussions" with Shahid onWednesday focusing on further

deepening bilateral ties.Shahid is leading a 31-

member delegation whichcomprised senior officials of allmajor Ministries and depart-ments of the Maldivian Govt.

"This is reflective of thebreadth and scope of our part-nership with Maldives whichhas gained significant momen-tum over the past one yearunder the leadership ofPresident Ibrahim MohamedSolih," Kumar said.

Last week, PM NarendraModi said that as a close friendand maritime neighbour, Indiais committed to partneringwith the Maldives for its devel-opment.Modi paid a two-dayvisit to the Maldives in June, hisfirst bilateral trip after hisreelection for a second term.

He also visited the Maldiveslast November to attendPresident Solih's swearing-inceremony. Relations betweenIndia and Maldives deteriorat-ed after the then PresidentAbdulla Yameen imposed emer-gency on February 5 last year.

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From Page 1Prices of pulses and relat-

ed products jumped 13.94 percent during the month. In thefuel and light category, pricesdropped by 1.93 per cent.

The Reserve Bank of Indiahas been mandated by theGovernment to contain infla-tion in the range of 4 per cent,with a margin of 2 per cent oneither side. In its last monetarypolice review meeting, the RBIdid not reduce the interestrate, apprehending a rise ininflation. The fear has cometrue.

Meanwhile, showing signsof economic slowdown,Industrial production shrankfor third consecutive month inOctober by 3.8 per cent, main-ly due to output fall in manu-facturing, mining and elec-tricity sectors, as per officialdata released on Thursday.

According to the NationalStatistical Office (NSO) data,the factory output declined by

4.3 per cent in September and1.4 per cent in August this year,while it grew at 4.9 per cent inJuly. Factory output, measuredin terms of Index of IndustrialProduction (IIP), had expand-ed by 8.4 per cent in October2018.

During April to October,the IIP growth remainedalmost flat at 0.5 per cent com-pared to 5.7 per cent in sameperiod previous fiscal. Themanufacturing growth ratedeclined by 2.1 per cent inOctober as compared to 8.2 percent a year ago. Power gener-ation growth slipped sharply by12.2 per cent in October, com-pared to 10.8 per cent in theyear-ago period.

Mining output too fell 8per cent in the month underreview as against 7.3 per centin the corresponding periodlast fiscal. Capital goods pro-duction, which is a barometerof investment, declined by 21.9per cent in October comparedto 16.9 per cent rise in the year-ago month.

Meanwhile, Japanesefinancial services Nomura onThursday said India’s economyis expected to grow at 4.3 per

cent in December quarter thisyear amid concerns over crisisin the NBFC sector. Nomuraalso believes that the first quar-ter of 2020 will see a “weak”uptick in GDP growth at 4.7per cent.

“Domestic credit condi-tions remain tight as marketconcerns in the shadow bank-ing (NBFC banking) have per-sisted too long,” Sonal Varma,Chief Economist, India andAsia, said on Thursday.

Contrary to the market’scurrent optimism that growthhas likely bottomed, Nomurabelieves it will slide further. Itexpects 4.9 per cent GDPgrowth in 2019, down from anearlier estimate of 5.3 per cent,and 5.5 per cent in 2020 againstan earlier projection of 6.3 percent.

In 2021, it sees India’s eco-nomic growth at 6.5 per cent.“On financial year basis, weexpect GDP growth of 4.7 percent in FY20, and 5.7 per centin FY21, suggesting a delayedrecovery and below-potentialgrowth through end 2020,”Varma told a media briefing inSingapore, news agency PTIsaid.

������������������ ��###

From Page 1Apart from Guwahati and

Dibrugarh, where an indefinitecurfew is in place, the pro-hibitory measure has beenimposed in Jorhat from 6 pmto 6 am to prevent vandalismat night, Deputy CommissionerRoshni Korati said.

Five columns of Army,comprising around 70 person-nel each, have been deployed inAssam and are conducting flagmarches in important cities likeGuwahati, Tinsukia, Jorhat andDibrugarh.

The MeghalayaGovernment also withdrewmobile Internet and messagingservices across the State for thenext 48 hours due to deterio-rating law and order situationfollowing protests over CAB.

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From Page 1

He also termed as “untrue”comments of Shah that minori-ties were persecuted in thatcountry. “Many importantdecisions of our country aretaken by persons belonging todifferent religions...we neverjudge anybody by their reli-gion,” the Bangladesh Ministerhad said, expecting the minor-ity community representativesin the country to echo hisremarks.

Raveesh said, duringdebate on the Bill in the RajyaSabha on Wednesday, Shahtalked about persecution ofreligious minorities inBangladesh during the Armyrule after the tenure of SheikhMujibur Rahman.

“As long as Sheikh MujiburRahman was leadingBangladesh, everything workedvery well. But once hisGovernment went, minoritiesbegan to be oppressed. I can tellyou that a large number ofBangladeshi Hindus had tocome here to seek refuge...,”

according to transcript of Shah’scomments shared by the MEA.

“The current Governmentin Bangladesh is also takingcare of religious minorities. Itis making arrangements alsofor religious minorities, butthere has been a long period inthe past in between, duringwhich people came to India onaccount of religious persecu-tion,” it said.

The Bangladesh ForeignMinister was scheduled toaddress a combined session ofDelhi Dialogue XI and IndiaOcean Dialogue VI in NewDelhi besides holding talkswith External Affairs MinisterS Jaishankar.

Protests in Assam havealso cast a shadow over PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’s pro-posed summit meeting with hisJapanese counterpart ShinzoAbe. The two leaders were tomeet in Guwahati and Imphalon Sunday and Monday.

The MEA spokespersondeclined to comment, “sayinghe had no update to share rightnow”.

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Kerala Chief MinisterPinarayi Vijayan on

Thursday said the Citizenship(Amendment) bill, passed byParliament, will not be imple-mented in the State, as hun-dreds of students of a local col-lege in north Kerala took out amarch and burnt the effigy ofHome Minister Amit Shah.

The Congress-led UnitedDemocratic Front (UDF) alsoheld a protest against the CABand various other issues, includ-ing price hike of essential com-modities, in front of the stateSecretariat, which was inaugu-rated by leader of the opposi-tion in the State AssemblyRamesh Chennithala.

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Three French cyclists, whotravelled through the

streets of Guwhati on theirbicycles on Thursday on way toShillong amidst the indefinitecurfew, said they did not faceany problem from the protest-ers or police.

The three — Cedric,Chummany and Mikael —

said they are on a cross conti-nent cycle trip from France toMyanmar.

The three said they hadentered India from Nepal aweek ago.

Asked by a PTI corre-spondent, who met the cyclistsin front of the State Secretariat,whether they had faced anyproblem due to the large scaleprotests against the Citizenship

Amendment Bill and the indef-inite curfew, Cedric said, “Noproblem”.

“In some places policestopped us and asked us whywe are cycling during protests.When we told them we are on

a cycling trip from France toMyanmar, they allowed us togo,” he said.

Cedric, who is in his 40s,said “Curfew is not new to us.We have seen such situations(curfew) in France too. We

have lot of protests against theGovernment in our country.”

Asked whether they arescared, he said “a little”. “Butlocal people have helped us alot by telling us which roads toavoid.” “We cycle during the

day and take rest in any lodgeor hotel at night,” Cedric said.

About the route the cyclistswill take, he said they will go toShillong from Guwahati andthen move to Silchar. FromSilchar they will cycle toManipur and then enterMyanmar through Moreh.

They travelled through thearterial Guwahati-ShillongRoad to reach the Meghalaya

capital which virtually turnedinto a war zone as protestorsvandalised shops and buildings,burnt tyres and clashed withsecurity forces.

An Indian guide is with thethree French nationals to helpthem pass safely throughGuwahati.

Thousands of peopledefied curfew in Guwahati onThursday and took to the

streets, prompting the police toopen fire even as protestsagainst the contentiousCitizenship (Amendment) Billintensified in Assam.

Police said they had toopen fire in Lalung Gaon areain Guwahati after stones werehurled by protestors. The agi-tators claimed that at least fourpersons were injured in theshooting.

Gangtok: Footballer turnedpolitician Bhaichung Bhutiaon Thursday said theCitizenship (Amendment) Billwas against the “interest” of theindigenous people of Sikkim aswell as article 371(F) of theConstitution which grants spe-cial status to the State.

Bhutia, who is the workingpresident of Hamro SikkimParty (HSP) asked the state’sruling Sikkim KrantikariMorcha (SKM) and the oppo-sition Sikkim DemocraticFront (SDF) to explain theiralliance with the BJP after thelatter rejected their concerns onthe Citizens Amendment Billpassed by Parliament. PTI

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����4�?�!��<��� �� �� � �New Delhi: The Citizenship(Amendment) Bill (CAB),which has been passed byParliament, continued to evokefiery exchanges in the LokSabha on Thursday with theGovernment accusing theCongress of instigating vio-lence in the northeast followingCongress allegation that themost of the North-East was onfire on account of the legislation.

Congress leader AdhirRanjan Chowdhury raised theissue of violence in parts of thenortheast region during theZero Hour, saying barring a fewplaces the entire region was in“flames”. He said Governmentcould pass the ill-conceived lawon account of its brute major-ity in the House.

“Internet services have beendiscontinued. We are witnessingthat Kashmir phenomenon hasbeen replicated in the northeastregion,” he said. Chowdhuryalso said both these border areasare of strategic importance andthe Government should take thedeteriorating situation seriously.

At this point ParliamentaryAffairs Minister Prahlad Joshistood up saying, “The Congresswas instigating violence in thenortheast region”. “I condemntheir attitude,” he said.

Following Joshi’s remarks,Congress members along withthat of DMK walked out of theHouse proceedings. Later duringthe Zero Hour, Saugata Roy ofthe Trinamool Congress tooraised the Assam and Tripura sit-uation demanded a statementfrom the Government on this.The TMC MPs too walked outof the House in protest. PNS

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In an apparent indication ofthe BJP losing its post-Lok

Sabha elections advantage tothe Trinamool Congress a largenumber of saffron cadres fromBirbhum and North 24Parganas who had left theBengal ruling outfit barely afew months ago have startedswitching over to MamataBanerjee’s side.

So much so that the StateBJP has decided to dispatchcadres in the interior areaswith booklets and other pub-licity materials to convince themasses about the CitizenshipAmendment Bill and NationalRegister for Citizens accordingto the TMC leadership havealready claimed more than adozen lives in panic.

According to sources soonafter the massive jolt the saffronoutfit suffered at the hands ofthe TMC losing all the threeseats in the just-concludedthree Assembly by-electionsof Kaliaganj in North Bengal,Karimpur in Nadia South andKharagpur in South-westernpart of the State hordes of BJPworkers — who had joined thatparty after it won 18 out of 42seats in the April May LokSabha election — have startedrejoining the ruling outfit.

“Today a few hundred BJPworkers have joined the TMC

in Birbhum and Naihati” inNorth 24 Parganas BengalMinister JP Mullick said adding“the people have finally under-stood that they are safe in thehands of Mamata Banerjee.”

Already the TMC hasregained four or five munici-palities it had lost to the BJPpost parliamentary electionswhen a bevy of civic represen-tatives had joined the BJP.

With the Chief Ministerquite deftly manipulating theNRC issue to use it against theBJP in the Assembly by-elec-tions ensuring a massive swingof votes in the TMC’s favourthe BJP has asked its cadres tohit the roads and move into thevillages “to educate the people about the CAB andthe NRC.”

The party has already pub-lished booklets to enable theparty workers to understandthe facts and then approach thevoters, a senior party func-tionary said adding the RSScadres would also be workingalongside the BJP workers inthe villagers.

Senior State leaderSayantan Basu said “we willkeep Hindu refugees as well asIndian Muslims, but willexclude Bangladeshi infiltra-tors. We will make all the rel-evant information available toour block-level workers, whowill reach every home to con-

vey the facts to common peo-ple.”

Another senior leader said,“We want the people to under-stand what Mamata Banerjee issaying is all false and the fearshe has generated among thepeople is in fact unfounded.”The party will soon start tak-ing classes to instruct the work-ers and also the interested peo-ple. Senior BJP and RSS lead-ers will address the classes,sources said.

The BJP which hasremoved Kailash Vijabargiya asthe party’s central observer forBengal post reverses suffered byit in the Assembly by-electionsis planning to change the Statecommittee too. Already sever-al changes have been made atMandal and district levels tostrengthen the party, sourcessaid.

Meanwhile, in a relevantdevelopment Congress and BJPworkers engaged in a streetfight in central Kolkata onThursday with the police hav-ing a hard time to contain thetwo sides pelting stones ateach other.

The BJP workers were cel-ebrating the passage of theCAB in Parliament while theCongress was opposing itdescending on the streets whenthe two sides clashed leading anumber of them to get minorinjuries, police said.

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5�� ���������������5=>?��������!��������/��Patna: Discontent brewed inBihar Chief Minister NitishKumars JD(U) on Thursday inthe wake of the partys supportto Citizenship (Amendment)Bill, passed by both Houses ofParliament. The JD(U) voted infavour of the Bill in the LokSabha as well in the RajyaSabha. The Legislation seeks togrant citizenship to non-Muslims fleeing adjacentIslamic republics because of“persecution”.

The partys national vice-president Prashant Kishordeclared that he was “not giv-ing up” his opposition to the

legislation while its MuslimMLAs and MLCs propose toseek an audience with theChief Minister who heads theparty and apprise him of theiranxieties.

“We are told that #CAB isbill to grant citizenship and notto take it from anyone. But thetruth is together with #NRC, itcould turn into a lethal comboin the hands of Government tosystematically discriminate andeven prosecute people based onreligion.#NotGivingUp”, Kishorwho has been lambasting hisown party over the issue tweet-ed. PTI

New Delhi: Airlines onThursday cancelled flights tovarious places in Assam in thewake of unrest in the State.IndiGo, Vistara, Air India,SpiceJet are among the carriersthat have cancelled their flights,while GoAir and AirAsia Indiaannounced waiving date changefee. The development comesamid widespread protests acrossthe State against the Citizenship(Amendment) Bill.

Against the backdrop ofthe unrest, a few Guwahati andDibrugarh-bound flights havebeen cancelled on Thursday, anIndiGo spokesperson said in astatement. PTI

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Following fresh escalationalong the Line of Control

(LoC), local commanders ofthe Indian Army in Rajouri andPoonch districts have beenconstantly monitoring theground situation to prevent any‘lethal’ strike by the BorderAction Team (BAT) of thePakistan Army.

Taking advantage of foggyweather conditions, undulatingterrain and thickly forestedareas, Pakistan Army is lookingfor an opportunity to push largenumber of heavily armed ter-rorists inside the Indian territo-ry to carry out surprise attacks.

After facing huge lossesduring strong Indian retaliationin the recent days, Pakistanarmy has already started tar-geting civilian areas deep insidethe Indian territory up to a dis-tance of 10-12 km from the LoCusing heavy calibre weapons.

The Pakistan Army is noteven sparing places of worshipas mortar shells are frequentlylanding in the close vicinitypreventing local residents fromfreely performing rituals.

In the wake of inclementweather conditions in theregion, the foot soldiers havebeen tasked to maintain utmostvigil to prevent any major infil-tration bid.

Due to continuousexchange of firing in the area,the local administration inPoonch Thursday decided toclose down the educationalinstitutions in the border areasto avoid any injury to students.

Local police authorities alsostopped vehicular movement onroads leading to forward areasas Pakistan army has enhancedrange of mortar shelling andregularly using artillery fire totarget Indian villages.

Meanwhile, two civilians,injured in the firing lateWednesday night in Shahpur

and Kirni sectors were shiftedto a district hospital fromwhere one of them was shiftedto Government Medical collegehospital in Jammu. Accordingto ground reports, severalhouses in the area also suffereddamages in heavy shelling bythe Pakistan Army.

The Pakistan Army resort-ed to shelling of mortars andsmall arms from across the Lineof Control (LOC) around 11.30am in Poonch on Thursday. Adefence spokesperson said theIndian Army was giving a befit-ting reply.

“Around 11.30 am, PakistanArmy initiated unprovokedceasefire violation by firing ofsmall arms and shelling withmortars along the Line ofControl in Shahpur, Kirni andQasba sectors of Poonch dis-trict,” Defence Spokesman LtCol Devender Anand said.According to official sources inPoonch, Mohmmad Saleem(24) and 13-yr-old TanvirAkhtar in Bandi Chichiya wereinjured in the overnight shelling.

The local officials claimed,“Pakistan army used artilleryguns, which covered long dis-tances to hit villages includingNuna Bandi, almost 12 kilo-meters from LoC, triggeringpanic and fear among thelocals. Several houses weredamaged in the shelling, offi-cials said.

Cross LoC firing was alsoreported in North Kashmir lateWednesday night. Accordingto official sources, “Pakistantroops resorted to heavyshelling on forward posts andvillages in Silikote andCharanda in Uri sector ofBaramulla district overnight.Firing was also reported alongthe International border inKathua district. Official sourcessaid, “Pakistan Rangers resort-ed to heavy shelling and firingalong the International Borderin Hiranagar sector overnight”.

���� �63��674'

Union Agriculture MinisterNarendra Singh Tomar

told Lok Sabha on Thursdaythat a shortfall in production byover 15.8 lakh tonnes has led tothe spike in onion price.

Replying to a discussion oncrop loss and its impact onfarmers, Tomar said States hadgiven an estimate of aboutproduction of over 69.9 lakhtonnes of onion by November30 in this season but the actu-al production is likely to be53.67 lakh tonnes.

“There is definitely a short-age of onions...The currentproblem (price rise) is due tothis. And this is natural. OurGovernment has taken sever-al measures, including banningits export and allowing import,”he said, adding the

Government is serious in deal-ing this issue. Reacting to TMCMP Kalyan Banerjee’s query,Tomar quipped he ate onions.

“You then belong to ourgroup,” said Banerjee amidlaughter in the House.

During a discussion in theHouse earlier, Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman had saidshe came from a family where onion and garlic are notconsumed.

Though her retort was inresponse to a barb from anOpposition member, her

response had trig-

gered some sarcastic and crit-ical response from Oppositionmembers later.

Speaking on other farmer-related issues, Tomar said theGovernment is working tomake the ‘Pradhan MantriFasal Bima Yojna’ more bene-ficial for farmers. He, howev-er, asserted that its outcome hasbeen “very satisfactory” andadded that over 80 per centclaims made under the schemehave been accepted. Speakingabout the SwaminathanCommittee report, he said ofthe 201 recommendations, 200have been accepted.

One of the recommenda-tions of commission was thatMSP should be at least 50 percent more than the weightedaverage cost of production.

Earlier, Adhir RanjanChowdhury of the Congressattacked the Government,alleging it works for traders,not farmers. He claimed thatpoverty has doubled underthe BJP-led NDAGovernment. India’s econo-

my will not change unless thesituation of farmers does,Chowdhury said.

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Rajya Sabha Chairman M VenkaiahNaidu on Thursday announced that

the informal group of MPs constituted tostudy issues related to pornographic con-tent on internet and social media plat-forms will be converted into an adhoccommittee. He also said the committee willsubmit a report on the matter within amonth.

The group, with Congress MP JairamRamesh as coordinator, was formed by thechairman on December 5.

“On the December 5, 2019, I hadannounced in the House the constitutionof an informal group... The group has heldseveral meetings... However, JairamRamesh, the coordinator of the informalgroup, met me and explained certain logis-tics problems being faced by the group being an informal one. I have considered the matter and decidedto form an adhoc committee with the samecomposition,” Naidu told the UpperHouse.

The group had 14 MPs from 10 par-ties and was studying issues related topornographic content on internet andsocial media platforms and its effect onchildren.

Naidu, however, clarified that theadhoc committee will submit its report in

a month’s time which is not going to beextended.

The committee will hold discussionson “the alarming issue of pornography andsocial media and its affect on children andsociety as a whole” with all the concerned,he said.

Ramesh will continue to be the chair-man of the adhoc committee and rules relating to the Select Committeeon Bill shall apply to this panel also, he said.

The members of the group includeAmar Patnaik, Amee Yajnik, Dola Sen,Jaya Bachchan, Kahkashan Perween,Rajeev Chandrashekar, MV Rajeev Gauda,Roopa Ganguly, Sanjay Singh, TiruchiSiva, Vandana Chavan, Vijila SathyanathandVinay P Shasrabuddhe.

The MPs will look into the issue ofregulating access of children to pornog-raphy on the Internet and it has decidedto hold deliberations with law enforcement agencies, TRAI and socialmedia giants such as WhatsApp andFacebook.

On November 28, Naidu had askedCongress MP Ramesh to form a com-mittee comprising lawmakers from acrossparty lines to suggest concrete steps tocurb pornography on social media andother Internet platforms which is adverse-ly affecting children.

� �� �'24,�

West Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee on

Thursday claimed that indus-trialists in the country arewary of paying “CBI taxes”, inaddition to the regular levies.

Banerjee went on to clari-fy that by “CBI tax”, she meantclearances from the centralinvestigating agency. Speakingat the concluding session of the‘Bengal Business Conclave’here, the Chief Minister alsourged businessmen to invest inthe State, where there is “nomental tension”.

“... I have learnt from myindustry friends that they facea host of problems; you have togive so many taxes... incometax, customs, CBI tax.Everybody is scared of doingbusiness,” she said.

“There is a lot of mentaltension. And if this continues,how will be they do business,”the CM added. Banerjeeassured corporates of com-plete cooperation from theState Government as far as easeof doing business in the state isconcerned.

“I want my farmers, the

industrialists and locals to livepeacefully... In Bengal, we canassure you that our attitude,hospitality and humanity willhelp you (in doing business),”she said.

The TMC boss had recent-ly claimed that businessmen inthe country feel intimidated bycentral agencies — the CBI, theIT department and the ED.

The State Government isyet to announce the totalinvestment pledged by com-panies at the two-day con-clave that ended on Thursday.

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The winner of the ninth edi-tion of the prestigious DSC

Prize for South Asian Literaturewill be announced at the IMENepal Literature Festival onDecember 16 at the picturesqueholiday retreat of Pokhara.

The six novels contendingfor the DSC Prize 2019 are:Half the Night is Gone byAmitabha Bagchi, 99 Nights inLogar by Jamil Jan Kochai,The Far Field by MadhuriVijay, There’s Gunpowder inthe Air by Manoranjan Byapari(translated from Bengali byArunava Sinha), The City andthe Sea by Raj Kamal Jha, and The Empty Room by Sadia Abbas.

The shortlist includes threedebut novelists, including twowomen writers, and a novelthat has been translated fromBengali.

There are four authors ofIndian origin and one authoreach of Pakistani and Afghan origin.

The DSC Prize, which wasconstituted by Surina Narulaand Manhad Narula back in2010, celebrates and showcas-es the writers engaged in cap-turing the life and time ofSouth Asian region.

In line with the increasingglobalisation of South Asianwriting, the prize does notpreclude author participationon the basis of nationality, andauthors from any country and

background are eligible as longas their writing is about SouthAsia or its people.

Apart from originalEnglish writing, the DSC Prizeencourages regional writing astranslations from any SouthAsian languages into Englishcan be entered for the prize.

“We are delighted toannounce the winner of theDSC Prize 2019 at the IMENepal Literature Festival inPokhara. There is a significantamount of writing emanatingfrom and about the SouthAsian region that needs to beshowcased and presented to alarger global readership.

Both the prize and thefestival share a commonvision to promote and highlight South Asian literature, and there isa rich literary landscape inNepal which I hope will ben-efit from this partnership,”Surina Narula said.

The jury adjudicated onthe 90 novels that were enteredfor the DSC Prize this year, andafter announcing a long list of16 in New Delhi and a short-list of six in London, they willmeet up in Nepal to announcethe eventual winner.

Along with the jury mem-bers, the shortlisted authorsand the prize founders will bepresent at the DSC Prize Award Ceremony that is takingplace at the IME NepalLiterature Festival onDecember 16.

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Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla hascalled for reviving village indus-

tries to fulfil the dream of Mahatma Gandhi.

The Speaker distributed 500 BeeBoxes, 500 Electric Pottery Wheelsand 200 Leather Tool Kits at a func-tion attended by Chairman KVIC VKSaxena and MLA Ashok Dogra atKota on December 8.

Complementing the efforts ofKVIC, the Speaker said, “Bapu hadalways dreamed of encouraging therural talents and providing livelihoodopportunities at their doorsteps.KVIC is fulfilling Bapu’s dream in its true sense. KVIC’s ini-tiative of reviving the bee keeping,pottery and leather industry would go a long way, in helping therural youth earn their respect and dignity.”

KVIC has been spearheading amass campaign for the revival of beekeeping, pottery and leather indus-try since last two years under Honey Mission, KumharSashaktikaran Mission and LeatherMission respectively.

The KVIC has distributed around1.15 Lakh Bee boxes, 13,000 ElectricPottery Wheel, 2,500 Leather Kitsacross India so far, thus generating alivelihood for 17,000 bee keepers,

52,000 potters and 2,500 Leather arti-sans so far.

“The objective of this event is toempower the rural artisans and helpthem gain confidence in bee keeping,pottery and leather artistry. Aligned with the vision of PrimeMinister, our endeavour is to providelivelihood opportunities as well asalternate source of income to therural farmers who otherwise adopt tomenial labor or migrate to big towns or cities for daily wage jobs,”Saxena said.

Recently, on the request of KVIC,the Railways made Kulhad and otherterracotta items compulsory in 400railway stations to supply food arti-cles in which 25 stations are fromRajasthan.

Commenting on the ready mar-ket available in Rajasthan, Saxenaadded, “KVIC is redefining the Indian Village Industries today.Where on one hand it is spreadingawareness and distributing modern tools and techniques, pro-viding advanced trainings, on the other it is working with theGovernment to provide marketingavenues at the doorsteps of the beneficiaries.”

The event witnessed a hugeturnout of artisans from Jhalawad,Kota and Boondi Districts ofRajasthan.

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India and US will review theentire range of strategic and

Defence relations during thesecond 2 plus 2 dialoguebetween the two countries inWashington on December 18.The two sides will also make acomprehensive review of cross-cutting foreign policy andDefence and security issues inbilateral ties.

The Indian side will be rep-resented by External AffairsMinister S Jaishankar andDefence Minister RajnathSingh and Ministry of ExternalAffairs spokesperson RaveeshKumar said on Thursday. The

US side will be represented bySecretary of State MikePompeo and Defence SecretaryMark Esper.

Besides taking stock of thegrowing bilateral relations andprovide strategic guidance fortheir further development, theleaders will also hold a “com-prehensive review of cross-cutting foreign policy andDefence and security issues inour relations”, he said. Bothsides will also exchange viewson salient regional and globalissues.

The India-US 2+2Ministerial Dialogue was initi-ated in September 2018 inorder to provide a positive, for-

ward-looking vision for theIndia-US strategic partnershipand to promote synergy inour diplomatic and securityefforts, Kumar said.

Since the inaugural editionof this Dialogue in September2018, relations between Indiaand the US have furtherexpanded, he said.

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The Ministry of Food andConsumer Affairs on

Thursday said it has contract-ed to import an additional12,660 tonnes of onions and theshipment will reach India fromDecember 27 onwards, a moveaimed at improving the domes-tic supply and check price rise.

With this, the total quan-tity of imports that have beencontracted so far reachedapproximately 30,000 tonnes,an official statement said.

For the second week in arow, onion prices are rulingabove the Rs 100 per kg mark,as government efforts to coolthe rates seem to be takingmore time than expected.

In a statement, theMinistry said it has directedstate-owned trading agencyMMTC to issue fresh tendersfor additional 15,000 tonnes ofonions (three new tenders of5,000 tonne each) on Thursday.

On Monday, the Centrefurther reduced the stock hold-ing limit for onion to 2 tonnesfrom 5 tonnes for retail traders.

Last week, the ministryhad reduced the stock holdinglimit on wholesalers to 25tonnes from 50 tonnes.

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Page 8: ˇ˙*ˆ + 9:; 0!˘ ˘0 5 .0#1234 1ˆ ˛˘& 7’6+ *)2

One of the most interestingphrases that I have comeacross in recent times is “theidea of India.” Popularised bya book with the same name

written by Sunil Khilnani, the expressionis inclusionary in nature. There is nostraightjacket answer as to what constitutesthis idea of India. It means differentthings to different people. My idea of Indiais the wonderful experiment we undertookwhen our country was born as aConstitutional democracy. An experimentwhere we, as Indians, promised ourselvesto abide by and stick to the principles ofdemocracy and secularism when the worldthought we could not.

When the British thought that India,with its diverse populace and terrain,could never blossom into a secular demo-cratic republic, we promised ourselves thatwe would not wilt before a majoritarian dic-tatorship. This past week, we saw a glim-mer of that very idea, if only for a fleetingmoment. The image of Indian-Americaneconomist Abhijit Banerjee and his French-American wife Esther Duflo in tradition-al Indian attire accepting the Nobel Prizefor Economics for their ground-breakingwork on how to tackle poverty, showed howno matter where you’re from, if you openyour heart to India and show a desire tomake the country better, it will open itselfto you, too.

This idea of India, however, largelytook a beating this past week. As I write thisarticle, both Houses of Parliament haveapproved the Citizenship AmendmentBill (CAB). While there’s still no clarity onwhat the idea of India exactly is, thereshould be little debate about what it is not.What India is not (or was not) is a coun-try where we treat our very own people assecond-class citizens, purely on the basisof religion. What it is not, is a countrywhere we segregate, discriminate and ter-rify sections of our populace. In a weekwhere the clampdown on the only Muslimmajority State in our country went into itsfourth month and where the Right-wingBJP Government decided to bulldoze oneof the most divisive legislations in recentmemory through Parliament, it appearsthat we have awoken to a different nationaltogether.

Amit Shah, the Home Minister of thecountry, while introducing the CAB,invoked memories of Partition whilespeaking about the Bill. Partition was oneof the bloodiest chapters in Indian histo-ry. Even since then arose two nations. Onethat decided to reject plurality and multi-plicity, which eventually took it down adark and tumultuous path. The other choseto embrace plurality and took the bravedecision to make strides towards a hope-ful future. However, acts in the past fiveyears have blurred the lines between thesetwo countries. For a party that attacks crit-

ics of its rule as sympathisers ofPakistan, it is actually the BJP’shateful and exclusionaryrhetoric that bears an eerieresemblance to the voices thatwere heard during the birth ofPakistan.

The CAB seeks to amendthe Citizenship Act, 1955, andmake it easier for non-Muslimimmigrants from India’s threeMuslim-majority neighboursto become citizens of India. Itdoes so by making it easier forillegal immigrants — Hindus,Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis,and Christians fromAfghanistan, Bangladesh andPakistan — eligible for citizen-ship of India. Under theCitizenship Act (as it current-ly stands), one of the require-ments is that the applicantmust have resided in India for11 of the past 14 years. TheCAB reduces this thresholdfrom 11 to six years for theapplicants from the above-mentioned religions andregions.

There are many issues withthe CAB. For one, if the objec-tive (as is stated) is to protectthose who have come to Indiaseeking refuge from religiouspersecution, then why doesthe Government only deal withAfghanistan, Pakistan andBangladesh? Why has it left outother countries where there iswidespread religious persecu-

tion? The other problem is thata large number of Muslims arepersecuted in these countries,too. For example, theAhmadiyyas in Pakistan. Whythen have these sects ofMuslims been excluded?

The reason is that the tone,action and agenda of thisGovernment are to divide thecountry along religious lines,where we start to identify our-selves less as Indians and morewith our religion. It was a tac-tic adopted by the British, too.Many legal luminaries havecogently argued that the CABviolates the right to equality asguaranteed under ourConstitution by making reli-gion the basis of citizenshipeven though the Constitutionexpressly bars such a distinc-tion. The CAB, therefore, vio-lates our Constitution, both inletter and in spirit.

If the problems ended here,it would have been one thing.But the CAB cannot be treat-ed separately from the NationalRegister of Citizens (NRC). Ifthe CAB tells you about the“what”, as in, what this Billseeks to do, the NRC answersthe “how.” The NRC is a regis-ter, which contains the namesof all Indian citizens. Theprocess to update the registerbegan in Assam, where thepeople of the State wererequired to prove that they

were Indian nationals prior toMarch 24, 1971. Even by con-servative estimates, the NRC inAssam has been a disaster.The reason for this is that itrequires citizens to prove theircitizenship by inter alia provid-ing documents such as refugeeregistration certificate, birthcertificate, LIC policy, landand tenancy records, citizen-ship certificate, passport,Government-issued licence orcertificate and bank/post officeaccounts among other things.

The people most affectedand least likely to be able toprovide these documents arethe poor. Most have no ideawhere these documents are.Some in Assam had to go totheir villages to try and obtainthem from the local authorities.There have been reports ofwidespread corruption, wherebribes are often taken to pro-vide these documents. And ifpeople have the right docu-ments, bribes are still to be paidto ensure that the officialsactually accept the documents.For anyone who has dealt witha public official in India, thiswill hardly be surprising.

Such discrimination is alsodue to inefficient implementa-tion. The people left reelingwith this awfully inept and hor-rendously organised processhave been the poor, Muslimsand Hindus alike. Writing for

a leading newspaper, ShrutiRajagopalan had talked aboutthe sheer magnitude of theerrors in the NRC if imple-mented all over the country.For example, if theGovernment executes the NRCall over India exceptionallywell and has an error rate of justfive per cent, 67.5 million peo-ple will face action, whichwould equal the human dis-placement caused by WorldWar II. What is frightening still,as Rajagopalan says, is that if weoutsource the execution to anorganisation with a very lowerror rate of one per cent (suchas that of Scandinavian coun-tries), 13.5 million Indianswould still be erroneouslyexcluded. This number wouldequal the human displacementcaused due to Partition. Itwould be an unmitigated andwholly intentional disaster.

The most frightening partof the CAB and the NRC ishow the BJP keeps lying to usthat everything is okay and thatthere will be no problems. Justlike how the Governmentrecently proclaimed that Indiawas open-defecation free. Imust have missed somethingbecause just this past week, theGovernment has openly defe-cated all over our idea of India.

(The writer is a former IPSofficer, a former MP and cur-rently a member of the AAP)

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Sir — It is true that the BJPGovernment should have avoid-ed impulsive reactions on theCitizenship (Amendment) Bill.But it was unfortunate that mostPakistani newspapers spewedvenom. One fails to understandhow does the internal matter ofbeing “secular” or not is a concernof a theocratic nation likePakistan?

Meghna ANew South Wales

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Sir — In an egregious display ofmoral policing, the USCommission on InternationalReligious Freedom threatenedUnion Home Minister Amit Shahwith sanctions. While Shah wasseeking approval for a Bill thatoffers citizenship to persecutedreligious minorities from cer-tain countries, Nobel Peace prizelaureate Aung San Suu Kyi wasbusy defending the MyanmarGovernment against allegations ofreligious persecution.

It seems that all Governments,past as well as present, grind their

own axe. The previous CongressGovernment turned a blind eye tothe influx of illegal Muslim immi-grants into the North-EasternStates. Most of these illegal refugeesnot only settled in India but also gotration cards and voting cards.

The Congress encouraged ille-gal immigrants because theyformed its vote bank. Now, the BJPhas passed the Citizenship Bill to

thwart the entrance of illegalMuslim immigrants because theydon’t vote for the party. The BJP andthe Congress want to cater to theirrespective vote banks in the immi-grant section. However, there is lit-tle or no clarity on how the illegalimmigrants would be deported orthe logistics of doing so.

P Arihanth Secunderabad

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Sir — As a lay man, I cannotunderstand why every one,including the media, Oppositionparties and intellectuals, is angrywith the Modi Government’spassage of the Citizenship(Amendment) Bill (CAB).Following Partition, as Pakistan(East and West) became the land

for Muslims, India has been thede facto and de jure land ofHindus. In fact, the majorityHindu community had and stillhas no qualms about Muslimschoosing to stay back.

What I construe is that theCAB ostensibly seeks to right awrong, by granting officialrecognition to those compelledto flee Islamic nations (whereIslam is recognised as the Statereligion and/or as its ideologicalbasis). The move is prima faciebased on humanitarian princi-ples. The exclusion of Muslimsis logical for they cannot claimreligious persecution as theground for quitting their nation.If Muslim countries don’t wantMuslim refugees, then there isno need for India, too, to acceptthem.

Every sovereign State istasked with the protection of itsborders and to this end, has theright to expel or accept illegalmigrants. May be the approach isnecessarily selective because Indiacannot be the “refugee capital ofthe world.”

J AkshayBengaluru

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The death of children — 10 according to afact-finding team of a Delhi-based NGO— in Sunday’s massive fire at Anaj Mandi

in the Capital’s central district has brought thespotlight back on the appalling conditions thatthey, especially those who are trafficked andbrought over to the megacity, are forced to workin. Besides being a near-reflection of the squalidand grubby environs of 19th century London —as depicted in Charles Dickens’ novel Oliver Twist— large swathes of Delhi’s underbelly, especial-ly on the city’s fringes, are populated by an invis-ible underclass, most of which has migrantlabourers and trafficked children below the ageof 18.

Coupled with this grim reality, which comesto the fore only in the aftermath of the tragic lossof human lives, especially of the poor and themarginalised, is the apathetic attitude of theGovernment and its many agencies and depart-ments. More often than not, these agencies failto perform their duty — collaborate and team-up with each other and child rights organisationsto effectively and decisively stem the tide of anunending flow of trafficked children or, in theleast, improve the conditions in which they areforced to work for a pittance. Despite being man-dated to end the evil of child labour, the police,the labour department and the city administra-tion often fail to do enough, making it appearto be a lost battle, especially in the face of a crudebut efficient network of traffickers and employ-ers.

The near-consistent regularity with whichBachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA), the 2014Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi’s flagship NGO,conducts most raid-and-rescue missions, alongwith Government agencies and the police, to freetrafficked children from hazardous and life-degrading working conditions across thousandsof basic and rudimentary factories reflect theenormity of the problem. Over the last two yearsalone, BBA’s efforts, jointly with the authorities,helped rescue 1,072 children below the age of 18.

While this number may appear seeminglysmall, some of BBA’s seasoned field staff say itis “a little misleading” because “street-smart” traf-fickers often arm the children with identity doc-uments that state their age to be above 14 years.Suffice it to say that well over 100,000 childrenare estimated to be working in illegal factories.

Second, the frequency of raid-and-rescueoperations has also gone up but that is not areflection of the alacrity of the administrationwhich acts only when push comes to shove.

The administration’s apathy or inabilityapart, what is, however, telling is that “three-fourth of the total bonded labourers rescued bythe BBA were children under the age of 14.” Inmany cases, the children from poor socio-eco-nomic backgrounds are forced to work in con-ditions not very different from servitude.

Statistics culled from BBA field studies andreports present a gloomy picture. According toa district-wise percentage distribution of childrenrescued from various establishments since 2005,North East Delhi stands at the top with 18 percent, followed by Central Delhi at 16 per cent andNorth Delhi at 15 per cent. The figures for therelatively affluent parts, such as New Delhi, SouthDelhi and South West Delhi, are two per cent,

four per cent and four per cent, respec-tively. Beyond the cold numbers is asordid tale of exploitation, poverty, lackof access to jobs in socio-economical-ly backward States such as Bihar,Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Assam,Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengaland the seemingly flourishing networkof child traffickers and their nexus withpotential employers in Delhi. Nepal,too, is an “origin” country for childlabourers. More revealing is the fact thatsince 2011, the BBA alone has rescued8,918 child labourers from illegal andunauthorised manufacturing/commer-cial units that operate on Delhi’s fringes.Over 50,000 illegal industrial unitsacross hundreds of residential areasfunction with impunity and with fullknowledge of the authorities.

While Delhi is the most prime des-tination where child labourers are traf-ficked to, the other dimension of thisorganised racket constitutes the sourceStates. There is little or no law enforce-ment vigilance that could potentially hitand cripple the networks that generatean unending supply of cheap childlabour. While it cannot be overempha-sised that national and State plans mustbe formulated to curb child traffickingand seal illegal manufacturing units, abigger challenge is regulation and vig-ilance over the latter that operate in andoutside Delhi with impunity.

The BBA’s experience has been thatwhile very few cases go up for prose-cution once these units are sealed (739have been sealed), the establishmentsare back in business in no time, whichis more a reflection of an ever-increas-ing demand for cheap labour (readchild labour) that unauthorised indus-trial units cater to. This is in blatant vio-lation of a 2014 Delhi High Court judg-ment in Save the Childhood

Foundation vs Union of India case,which directed the Delhi administra-tion to seal all factories that employchild labour.

A 2018 report says that when theDelhi State Industrial and InfrastructureDevelopment Corporation (DSIIDC)directed the authorities at Delhi’s threemunicipal corporations to crack downon illegal industrial units, it was metwith inaction. But the prevalence ofchild labour is not only limited to ille-gal industrial units. According to BBAdata, child labour is most prevalent inthe notified industrial areas in andaround the Capital.

Indeed, 94 per cent of children res-cued over the last eight years werefound to be working in small industriesin residential areas. A mere six per centof children were rescued from indus-tries in the notified areas. This shouldbe a wake-up call for the authoritieswho, instead of coordinating their actsto crack down on manufacturing units,often turn a blind eye to the twin prob-lem of thousands of hovels that churnout bags, plastic toys, footwear, bangles,packaging material, pocket purses,diaries, T-shirt printing and automobileparts and garages and the perennialsupply of child labour to them.

It is in the backdrop of thiswretchedness that the authorities couldstill salvage the situation by, first,implementing the 2009 Delhi ActionPlan on eliminating child labour.Second, the administration must, as amatter of urgency, conduct a compre-hensive door-to-door survey in residen-tial areas, especially on the city’s periph-ery, for identification of illegal commer-cial and industrial units. Third, theauthorities must resort to sealing suchestablishments immediately and takeimmediate stringent action against

errant officials, including the police andlabour department personnel and oth-ers concerned.

No less important is the need forthe police to file chargesheets in casesinvolving child labour (since 2011, nochargesheet has been filed in as manyas 509 cases), within 45 days of all raid-and-rescue operations and complete thetrial process within a time-bound peri-od of one year. On its part, the labourdepartment must take proactive stepsto get the back wages of rescued childlabourers within 45 days of raid-and-rescue missions and grant adequatemonetary compensation for the viola-tion of their human rights.

There is both qualitative and quan-titative evidence to suggest that theproblem of illegal industries operatingout of Delhi’s residential areas withoutmandatory approvals and clearanceshas a “fairly large dimension.” It would,therefore, not be an exaggeration toclaim that a deep nexus keeps the ille-gal units alive even as people, includ-ing children, perish or are adverselyimpacted economically. The AnajMandi fire brought to the fore not justinherent shortcomings in the admin-istrative system but also a political willto act — the reason being electoral.

The voters’ constituencies of somepolitical parties live and feed off theunauthorised industrial units across thecity’s many residential areas. It is,therefore, imperative that the city’spolitical leadership must look beyondshort-term electoral gains and focus onlong-term measures to mitigate themany problems and threats — social,economic and civic — those illegalindustrial units pose, especially to ourchildren.

(The writer is Director at BachpanBachao Andolan)

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Ageing is as much a psycholog-ical process as it is biological.How old or young a person

feels has a big influence on both theirhealth and how other people viewthem. There is a small but solid bodyof research to suggest that a person’spsychological perception of age canhave a significant effect on his/herphysical state as well.

Ellen Langer, a psychological sci-entist from Harvard, conducted anexperiment where she had men overthe age of 60 live in a retreat wherethe interiors were done up with aretro theme. They were asked to pre-tend that they were living in that year.It reconditioned their minds to think

that they were living in the past, asa result of which their vision andstrength improved.

In another interesting study byLanger, women were asked to cut anddye their hair at a salon and volun-teers were asked to look at thebefore and after photographs.Participants who believed that dyingtheir hair made them look youngerwere perceived as younger thantheir actual age by the volunteers.Those who did not believe so werenot seen as younger by the volun-teers.

Addressing ageism at homeand the workplace: The cultural per-ception around ageing is somethingthat needs to be addressed if we areto move forward as a society. Whilethere are cultures across the worldwhere the wisdom of elders is cele-brated and they are a vital part of thesociety and home, it is common torelegate them to hospitals and nurs-ing homes as they grow old.

For instance, while in India andother Asian countries, elders are tra-ditionally respected and cherished as

parents and grandparents, in theWest, they are relegated to the back-ground. More often than not, ageingis treated with distaste and senior cit-izens are treated as a burden morethan a gift, despite the years of expe-rience they bring with them.

Not surprisingly, ageism is verymuch a part of the work culture, evenin a country like India, whichrespects senior citizens at home butnot so much in the office. Hence, weneed to educate people in order todispel the archaic and unfoundedstereotypes about older workers,particularly as a number of seniorscontinue to work post retirementmostly due to economic constraintsand some because they just want tokeep themselves active and busy.

The fact that advancements inmedical care have ensured thatsenior citizens are much healthierand fitter than ever before has got alot to do with this trend.

According to a study by a jobsearch website, people over the ageof 60 have started to slowly grab abigger piece of the employment

cake. From engineering projects andmanufacturing, to consulting servicesand the power industry, a number ofretirees continue to contribute tosociety.

Thankfully, Governments acrossthe world have also started to recog-nise this in-depth knowledge andhave started to relax the retirementage cap, with some of them going asfar as to pass laws to outlaw age-based discrimination.

As a society, we should do every-thing we can to encourage and edu-cate senior citizens to stay healthy.With just a little bit of practice, theycan stay just as mentally and physi-cally sharp and supple as ever.

Keep the mind active: The ideathat seniors cannot learn new skillshas no basis in reality. People over theage of 60 are among the fastest-grow-ing group of internet users. Theirreadiness to learn new skills is a keyfactor to keeping the mind young.Doing this is easier today than it hasever been for older generationsbecause of the ubiquity of technol-ogy. All of us rely on computers,

smartphones, video chats, GlobalPositioning Systems and other new-age technology. It takes just a fewminutes to receive emergency care,download e-books, book tickets fortraveling and video chat with grand-children who stay continents away.

This willingness to spend timeand effort to learn new things is whatdifferentiates those who will remainmentally younger for a longer timefrom those who give up on enhanc-ing their skills. Learning new thingsand acquiring new knowledge iswhat keeps the mind from losing itsedge.

Stay fit for a long time:Resistance training is another way tomake sure that the body stays young.It helps maintain muscle mass andbody strength as people grow older.People over the age of 60, who wantto incorporate resistance training intheir daily exercise regimen, shouldfocus on the leg muscles more as theyare responsible for mobility, whichgets restricted as we age.

Taking frequent walks for atleast 150 minutes a week will ensure

that the heart stays healthy. It is alsovery important to get a good night’ssleep as we grow older. If a person’ssleep pattern is erratic, then he/shemust remove all distractions from inand around the sleeping area.

Those suffering from insomniawill benefit from following a restric-tive sleep regimen. Limiting bed timemakes a person sleepy and also pro-motes a sound and efficient night’srest.

Thankfully, in urban areas theemphasis on exercise and fitness cou-pled with good nutrition has result-ed in people remaining younger fora longer time. Challenging the mindand the body is the key to stayingyoung longer.

Surround yourself with peoplewho have the same youthful outlookto keep yourselves going. The moreyour personal hurdles, conquests andmilestones, the younger you will stayon the inside, and that is the onlynumber that counts.

(The writer is director and cre-ative strategist of an advertising andconsulting agency)

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The Government has decid-ed to sell its entire 100 per

cent stake in Air India underthe proposed disinvestmentprocess, Union ministerHardeep Singh Puri said onThursday. The national carri-er, which has a debt burden ofmore than �50,000 crore, hasbeen making loss for long andas part of revival efforts, thegovernment has decided ondisinvestment.

“After formation of thenew government, Air IndiaSpecific AlternativeMechanism (AISAM) has beenreconstituted and the re-initi-ation of the strategic disinvest-ment of Air India has beenapproved.

“AISAM has approved the100 per cent sale ofGovernment of India stake inAir India for the re-initiatedstrategic disinvestment of AirIndia,” the Minister of State forCivil Aviation said in a written

reply to the Lok Sabha.Air India’s net loss in 2018-

19 is provisionally estimated tobe �8,556.35 crore.

The Minister said variousmeasures, including enablingswift transition of Jet Airwaysaircraft to other airlines, havebeen taken to improve the avi-ation sector.

Full service carrier Jet

Airways shuttered operationsin April due to cash crunch.

“Airports Authority ofIndia (AAI) has embarkedupon a capital investment ofover �25,000 crore in next five years for develop-ment/ upgradation/ moderni-sation of various airports andair navigation infrastructure,”Puri said.

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Additional cuts by the pow-erful OPEC group of oil

producers and its allies may notbe enough to eliminate a glutof crude on the global market,the IEA warned on Thursday.

Meanwhile, energy con-sumption by China is bound-ing higher — a signal that thecountry’s economy may be inbetter shape than widelythought as its trade war withthe United States rumbles on.

Last Friday, OPEC and itsallies reached a deal to cut pro-duction by 5,00,000 barrelsper day in a bid to supportprices which have been underpressure from abundantreserves and weak global eco-nomic growth.

While Saudi Arabia,OPEC’s largest producer,agreed a further voluntaryreduction of 4,00,000 barrelsper day, the InternationalEnergy Agency said that mostof that cut had already beenimplemented already.

In its latest monthly report,the IEA estimated that the netimpact of the pledges would be

a reduction of 530,000 barrelsper day from November levels.

“Even if they adhere strict-ly to the cut, there is still like-ly to be a strong build ininventories during the firsthalf of next year,” said theParis-based organisation,which advises oil consumingnations.

Despite cutting its forecastfor growth in oil productionoutside of the OPEC oil cartel,the IEA said “there could stillbe a surplus of 0.7” million bar-rels per day (mbd) in the glob-al market in the first quarter ofnext year. Moreover, compli-ance with pledged cuts hasbeen mixed, with Saudi Arabiahaving made additional cuts tomake up shortfalls.

The IEA noted the mutedresponse of oil markets to thelatest OPEC+ deal, with theprice of the main internation-al contract, Brent crude, risingby just $1 to around $64 perbarrel.

At the same time, the IEAtrimmed its forecast for oildemand next year, by 0.1 mbdto 101.5 mbd. This is mostlydue to reductions made in

forecasts for demand fromindustrialised nations in thesecond half of next year, anddespite revisions higher fordemand in China.

“We see continuedmomentum in China,” said theIEA report. The country wasresponsible for nearly three-quarters of the 900,000 barrelyear-on-year increase in glob-al oil demand in the thirdquarter of this year, which was the biggest annualrise in a year.

“China’s oil demand con-tinued to surprise to the upsidein October, as it grew 710,000barrels per day year-on-year,even faster than the rate of585,000 barrels seen in thefirst nine months of the year,”said the report.

Much of the increaseddemand was for diesel used bythe ground transportation sec-tor, which the IEA suggestedmay be a sign that public sup-port for infrastructure may besupporting demand for thefuel, counterbalancing a slow-down in the manufacturingsector that is a heavy user oftransport services.

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Union Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman intro-

duced a Bill in the Lok Sabhaon Thursday to amend theInsolvency and BankruptcyCode amid protests from theOpposition that that the Billwas circulated to them very lateand demanding that the bill tobe referred to a standing com-mittee for scrutiny.

The Insolvency andBankruptcy Code (IBC), whichcame into force in 2016, hasalready been amended thrice.The latest changes pertain tovarious sections as well asintroduction of a new section.

Sitharaman said theamendment has been necessi-tated because there was lot ofdoubt in the mind of smallhome buyers and others.

“Some amendments wererequired in addition to what wedid in July. Therefore, we havecome back,” she said.

Acknowledging that a two-day mandatory notice had notbeen given in this case,Sitharaman said: “It is inresponse to development whichwe see in the economy.... Pleasedo helps us to respond to theeconomy as all of us are equallyconcerned.”

Opposing the introduc-tion of the bill without follow-

ing the mandatory two-daynotice, Congress leader AdhirChowdhury said one afteranother amendment wasbrought in the IBC and itimplied “inconsistency” of thegovernment in managing theeconomy.

He also pointed to the rulethat no Bill could be introduceduntil copies were made avail-able two days in advance.

The Bill was circulatedamong the members in themorning, Chowdhury said,adding, the objection was thatthe ministry had been takingthe entire Parliament for aride. He requested the Speakerto send the Bill to a parlia-mentary standing committee,which was supported bySaugata Roy of the TMC. Roysaid the bill was circulatedonly a day before and thusshould not be introduced now.

Amidst verbal exchanges,the Speaker intervened andsaid he had allowed the minis-ter to introduce the Bill due topaucity of time.

The IBC (SecondAmendment) Bill, 2019 wasapproved by the Union Cabineton Wednesday. The firstamendment was passed byParliament in July. Theamendments seek to removebottlenecks and streamline thecorporate insolvency resolution

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With states not being paidcompensation for loss of

revenue from implementationof GST since August, FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharamanon Thursday assured theCentre will honour its com-mitment but did not say by when the dues willbe cleared.

States — that surrenderedpowers to collect taxes ongoods and services after locallevies got subsumed into theGoods and Services Tax (GST)from July 1, 2017 — wasthrough legislation guaranteedto be paid for any loss of revenue in the firstfive years of GST implementa-tion.

This monthly compensa-tion was to be paid within twomonths but states haven’treceived any such amount sinceAugust 2019.

During the debate in theRajya Sabha on the bill seekingParliamentary nod for addi-tional or supplementary spend-ing in the current fiscal,Congress, Left and TMC raisedthe issue of non-payment of theGST compensation and sought to know when it will bepaid.

The Finance Minister saidthe Centre was committed todischarging its obligation andasserted that “no one shouldhave any doubt”.

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Domestic air passenger traf-fic has finally grown in

double-digits, clipping at 11.2percent in November to 12.94million after growing in single-digit till October, while Aprilsaw a degrowth, show the latestDGCA data released onThursday. The 12 domestic car-riers, including full-service car-riers Air India and Vistara andbudget carriers Indigo, Spicejet,Goair and AirAsia India togeth-er have flown 11.6 million pas-sengers in November.

The sectoral regulatorattributed the increase in thereporting month to the onset ofthe tourist season. The cumu-lative domestic passenger traf-fic in the January-Novemberperiod of 2019 stood at 131.11million up from 126.28 millionin 2018, registering a growth of3.86 percent, the DGCA said.

“The double-digits month-on-month growth in passengertraffic in November is a relieffor the industry which wasexperiencing a slow growthsince the past few months,” saidSabina Chopra of Yatra.Com.

Growth is coming on theback of very competitive air-fares, Chopra said, addinglower airfares have been due tothe seat capacity additions aswell as stable oil prices.

“The passenger load factorhas shown an increasing trendcompared to previous monthsprimarily due to the onset ofthe tourist season,” theDirectorate General of CivilAviation said.

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Niti Aayog Vice-ChairmanRajiv Kumar on Thursday

said there is a need to re-lookat public policies for small,medium and solo entrepre-neurs so that highest stan-dards of services reach themand they also get access tocheaper credit.

He also said women needto be given special attention onnutrition and education, asthese are important for them tobecome successful entrepre-neurs.

“I think there is a hugeneed for financial sectorreforms, re-calibration..There isa huge supply bottleneck ofcredit in the financial systemfor small, medium and soloenterprises,” Kumar said at anevent here.

He said that often, it hap-pens that these people borrowmoney at a high cost of 3 percent per month and there is aneed to see what can be done in this area usingtechnology.

“We need to see how tocreate the culture of bringingangel investors for these smallenterprises, how to bring tech-nology...We have to see whatcould be public policy steps toensure that the small, mediumand solo enterprises have accessto the highest and most-devel-oped forms of services that theyneed. We need to focus on ourpolicy,” Kumar said.

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Reversing its losing streak,Yes Bank shares on

Thursday settled with nearly 6per cent gain which analystsattributed to value-buying andshort-covering. On the BSE, thescrip opened on a positivenote and further climbed 12.5per cent to �48.15. It closedwith a gain of 5.96 per cent at�45.35. On NSE, shares closed5.84 per cent higher at �45.30.During the day, it had risen14.01 per cent to �48.80. Themarket capitalisation of thecompany stood at �11,566.39crore on the BSE.

In terms of volume, 241.64lakh units of Yes Bank changedhands on BSE, while 39.81crore scrips were traded on theNSE. The counter was underselling pressure in the previousfive trading sessions due touncertainty over its $2-billionfund raising plan.

“Yes Bank shares has beenconsistently witnessing sellingpressure amid high speculationof asset quality concerns and itsinability to raise funds.

New Delhi: Shares ofMahanagar Telephone NigamLtd (MTNL) on Thursdayappreciated nearly 5 per cent, aday after it said it will seek share-holders’ nod for monetisation ofland and buildings as well as forraising up to Rs 6,500 crorethrough non-convertible deben-tures. On the BSE, the scripjumped 4.88 per cent to hit itsupper circuit limit of Rs 7.95.

Its shares on the NationalStock Exchange closed at Rs7.90, up 4.64 per cent. In termsof equity volume, a total of over2.29 lakh shares were traded onbourses during the day.

The state-owned companyon Wednesday said its extra-ordinary general meeting willbe held on January 8, 2020, toseek shareholders’ nod formonetisation of land and build-ings as well as for raising up toRs 6,500 crore through NCDs.The company would seekshareholders’ approval for issueof non-convertible redeemablenon-cumulative preferenceshares on a private placementbasis to the governmenttowards payment of 4G spec-trum cost. PTI

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US-based Schall Law Firmhas said it will file a class

action lawsuit against InfosysLtd to recover losses suffered byinvestors in the wake of alle-gations of “unethical practices”at the Indian IT major.

In October, Infosys hadinformed the stock exchangesof having received anonymouswhistleblower complaints alleg-ing certain unethical practicesby the top management.

US market regulator SEChas also initiated a probe on the

matter, while Rosen Law Firmhad said it was preparing a classaction lawsuit to recover loss-es suffered by Infosys investorsin the US.

“The Schall Law Firm, anational shareholder rights lit-igation firm, announces the fil-ing of a class action lawsuitagainst Infosys Ltd for viola-tions of sections 10(b) and20(a) of the SecuritiesExchange Act of 1934 andRule 10b-5 promulgated there-under by the US Securities andExchange Commission,” astatement said.

Washington: Three topRepublican senators havetabled a legislation in the USSenate to prevent World Bankfrom lending to China on pro-jects that would be used againstreligious and ethnic minorities.

The move comes followingreports of a questionable $50million World Bank loan to aChinese associated with theforcible internment of minor-ity Chinese Uyghur Muslims.

Introduced by senatorsChuck Grassley, Marco Rubioand Tom Cotton on Wednesday,

the Senate Bill instructs the USrepresentatives at the WorldBank to vote against and usebest efforts to deny any loan orextension to countries that sig-nificantly exceed the graduationthresholds or that are designat-ed as a country of concern forreligious freedom.

Grassley and Cotton alsointroduced an additional mea-sure, S.3017, which is a com-panion to the Accountabilityfor World Bank Loans to ChinaAct introduced in the HouseRepresentatives. PTI

Mumbai: The domestic electricvehicle (EV) market is pro-jected to grow 36 percent annu-ally between 2019 and 2026 asthe market has gained tractionfollowing the implementationof the second phase of the EVincentives scheme inApril.Under the government’sambitious Fame II scheme topopularize electric and hybridvehicles. PTI

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South Korean consumer elec-tronics major Samsung is

embarking on an aggressiveexpansion in the air-condi-tioner market in India with aneye to become number oneplayer in the segment over thenext three years, according toa senior company official.

The company, which hasbeen selling only select invert-er air-conditioners (ACs) inIndia, is widening its productofferings with plans to enterwindow AC and re-enter non-inverter split AC segment aspart of the programme.

Currently, a distant fol-lower behind the likes of Voltas,LG, Hitachi, Blue Star andHaier, Samsung India has cre-ated a separate vertical for AC— heating, ventilation, andair-conditioning (HVAC) — byclubbing together residentialAC (RAC) and system AC(B2B) in order to achieve its2022 target. “Our objective is tobecome number one in theRAC segment. By 2022, we willachieve that by doubling oursales every year. Every year, weare targeting 100 per centgrowth in 2020 and 2021 toreach our objective of numberone by 2022,” said SamsungIndia senior vice-president(HVAC division), ConsumerElectronics Business, RajeevBhutani. He, however, did not

share the company’s currentvolume but as per an industryestimate, Samsung’s annual ACsales in India stand at aroundthree lakh units.

In order to achieve thetarget, he said, “We will belaunching new product cate-gories in the inverter segment.We will re-enter into the on-offsegment, which is a non-invert-er in the split AC category.Also, we will enter windowACs. That will complete ourproduct portfolio from a con-sumer perspective.”

Bhutani said after the cre-ation of the AC-focussed“organisation” in the secondhalf of this year betweenAugust and September, “wehave started to work towardsincreasing our productaddressability to 100 per cent”.

He further said the com-pany would also “increase ouraddressability in the massinverter segment with differentspecs” to add to Samsung’sexisting premium inverter ACs.

Besides, Samsung India isalso working to expand thereach of its ACs across thecountry by leveraging on thechannel for its consumer elec-tronics business and creatingnew exclusive outlets for theHVAC division. “We will alsocreate a new channel, which willbe HVAC exclusive channel inthe market. The target for 2020is to open up 300 new outlets

to provide right experience andoffer right cooling solutions toconsumers,” Bhutani said.

The company’s consumerelectronics goods are current-ly available across 30,000-35,000 retail outlets, he added.

“Currently, we (HVAC) areoperating with 9,000 retailersand with our retail strength, wewill be reaching to 14,000 retailoutlets as we start in the firstquarter of 2020. We will be hav-ing complete product line-up tomeet consumer and traderequirements across India,”Bhutani said.

Moreover, the companywill increase field force forinstallation, after sales serviceand branded service engineersby “almost 50 per cent andmajority of these will be in tier-I and II on account of highergrowth expected from thesecities”, he added.

Bullish on the Indian ACmarket, Bhutani said the RACsegment was currently a USD2.6 billion revenue business forthe industry and was currentlygrowing by 15 per cent. “Indiaprovides huge opportunity forthe room AC business onaccount of huge lower penetra-tion, which is currently at 5 percent. In the past four-five years,sales of AC have been growingon account of urbanisation,electrification of more homes,change in living standards andrising temperatures,” he said.

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Market benchmarkSensex on Thursdayrose by 169 points on

the back of gains in bankingand metal stocks amid positiveglobal trends after the USFederal Reserve signalled nochange in interest ratesthroughout next year.

After rallying over 300points in day trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 169.14points, or 0.42 per cent, high-er at 40,581.71 ahead of therelease of key macro data aftermarket close.

The broader NSE Niftysettled 61.65 points or 0.52 percent, higher at 11,971.80.

Tata Motors was the topgainer in the Sensex pack, ral-lying 7.17 per cent, followed byYes Bank 5.96 per cent, Vedanta3.68 per cent, Tata Steel 3.29per cent, SBI 2.91 per cent andKotak Bank 1.76 per cent.

HDFC Bank rose by 1.18per cent while Larsen & Toubroadvanced 1.23 per cent, help-ing the index extend gains fora second day.

Reliance Industries,IndusInd Bank, HeroMoto-Corp, PowerGrid, NTPC, SunPharma and Mahindra &Mahindra also advanced.

On the other hand, majorIT stocks dropped due to astrengthening rupee againstthe US dollar.

Infosys fell 2.63 per cent,HCL Tech 1.51 per cent, andTCS by 1.20 per cent. Amongothers, ONGC declined 1.68per cent and Bharti Airtel by0.95 per cent.

Vinod Nair, head ofresearch at Geojit FinancialServices, said, “FED’s dovish

stance on future rate trajecto-ry and strengthening rupeebrings cheer to investors.Global sentiment is likely toturn positive in expectation ofdelay in US tariff deadlinewhile expecting more positivedevelopments from US-Chinatrade talks.”

After its two-day meeting,the US Federal Reserve onWednesday night indicatedthat it may not change interestrates throughout next year.The central bank, which has cutthe lending rate three times thisyear, said that it would set itssights on low inflation and theglobal economy.

Hemang Kapasi, portfoliomanager (equity investmentproducts) at Sanctum WealthManagement, said, “With theUS Fed keeping the policy rateunchanged and likely to holdon with rates largely through-out next year led to uptick inglobal markets. India was noexception, all sectors ended ingreen led by Metals, PSU &Banking Indices while IT wasthe only sectoral indices end-ing in red largely led by INRappreciation by a percentagepoint over last one week.”

Sectorally, BSE metal,industrials, auto, bankex, cap-ital goods and power indicesrose up to 2.41 per cent, whileBSE IT, telecom and teckindices declined up to 1.53 percent.

Brent futures, the global oilbenchmark, rose 0.74 per centto USD 64.19 per barrel.

Bourses in Hong Kong,Seoul and Tokyo ended on apositive note, Shanghai slippedinto the red.

Stocks in Europe were alsotrading higher.

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<������������� �!������������3��!����� ���Mumbai, (PTI): The rupee pared most of its early gains and set-tled marginally up at 70.83 against the US currency onThursday due to forex outflows amid growth concerns and uncer-tainty over the imposition of higher US tariffs on Chinese goods.A spike in crude oil prices and fears of a further rise in retail infla-tion also capped the rupee gains.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupeeopened higher at 70.67 against the US dollar and later toucheda high of 70.56 largely on the back of losses in the US dollar fol-lowing the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep interest ratesunchanged. However, growing concerns over the nearing dead-line of December 15 for setting in of higher US tariffs on Chinesegoods eroded the rupee gains.

The rupee finally settled higher by just 2 paise at 70.83 againstthe American currency, extending its gaining streak for the sev-enth in a row. The local unit had closed at 70.85 against the USdollar on Wednesday.

Forex traders said market participants traded cautiously aheadof the December 15 deadline, when additional tariffs onChinese exports to the US are set to kick in. “The Indian rupeealong with other Asian currencies gained on Thursday follow-ing a weaker dollar,” said VK Sharma, head (PCG & CapitalMarket Strategy) at HDFC securities. According to Sharma, therupee is likely to show some weakness in coming days after gain-ing a percentage in the last seven sessions due to concerns overretail inflation and IIP data.

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Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL)on Thursday said its sub-

sidiary had picked up 85 percent stake in NowFloatsTechnologies for a cash con-sideration of �141.63 crore.

The stake purchase isaimed at strengthening thegroup’s digital and new com-merce initiatives.

“Reliance StrategicBusiness Ventures Ltd(RSBVL), a wholly-owned sub-sidiary of RIL, has acquiredequity shares of NowFloatsTechnologies for a cash con-sideration of �141,63,78,822.The said investment repre-sents 85 per cent holding in theequity share capital ofNowFloats,” RIL said in a BSEfiling.

The RSBVL proposes tomake a further investment ofup to �75 crore, subject toachieving agreed milestones,and is expected to be complet-ed by December 2020, it added.

Post the additional invest-ment, the shareholding ofRSBVL in NowFloats willincrease to 89.66 per cent.

“The investment will fur-ther enable the group’s digitaland new commerce initiatives,”the filing said.

Script Open High Low LTPINFY 720.80 720.80 695.00 701.85YESBANK 43.25 48.15 42.90 45.35RELIANCE 1567.00 1573.60 1557.25 1567.50IBULHSGFIN 272.90 295.50 265.05 291.55POWERGRID 183.10 188.30 181.20 184.40TATAMOTORS 163.55 174.95 162.70 173.35INFRATEL 259.90 259.90 248.80 252.15SBIN 315.00 322.80 313.80 321.80MARUTI 7030.80 7045.60 6975.00 6997.75TCS 2047.00 2083.35 1983.85 2016.75TATASTEEL 409.40 420.90 407.45 418.75ICICIBANK 535.00 536.95 529.75 535.05RBLBANK 328.00 337.40 322.30 334.50HDFCBANK 1254.00 1269.90 1252.00 1263.45UJJIVAN 344.00 351.40 324.35 328.60AMBUJACEM 193.00 194.35 191.20 193.15HDFCAMC 3076.00 3099.00 3035.00 3060.55HDFC 2322.00 2327.20 2302.95 2318.40ZEEL 283.35 286.60 277.30 284.10INDUSINDBK 1436.00 1450.20 1422.35 1442.65LT 1271.50 1282.60 1268.55 1279.20TATAGLOBAL 312.50 327.50 312.50 323.60JINDALSTEL 144.50 146.40 138.00 142.10BPCL 486.95 498.05 486.00 491.05LAXMIMACH 3250.00 3290.00 3198.00 3204.50KOTAKBANK 1689.00 1720.00 1682.80 1715.70DLF 226.00 227.90 222.55 224.90AXISBANK 717.55 725.35 715.20 721.60LAOPALA 133.80 135.75 131.95 134.05BAJFINANCE 4054.00 4064.85 4011.00 4056.15IDEA 6.85 7.02 6.70 6.77DMART 1743.85 1793.90 1738.20 1778.70BRITANNIA 3044.20 3079.95 3030.30 3071.75BHARTIARTL 445.00 445.00 436.30 438.30HINDUNILVR 2014.00 2034.45 2002.00 2006.45HEROMOTOCO 2322.00 2344.90 2308.15 2334.10ADANIENT 206.40 212.30 206.40 211.15GLAXO 1639.75 1650.00 1630.00 1645.75BIOCON 291.00 294.20 287.20 293.00PIDILITIND 1331.00 1340.00 1325.00 1330.40M&MFIN 335.00 339.50 328.90 338.35BANKBARODA 96.05 98.25 95.80 97.90SUNPHARMA 430.90 437.95 430.75 433.80GRAPHITE 309.55 322.30 304.45 314.05PNB 60.15 61.05 59.70 60.80TATAMTRDVR 67.00 71.55 65.80 70.45ASHOKLEY 77.00 78.85 76.35 78.50DISHTV 13.56 13.64 13.21 13.45ASIANPAINT 1743.00 1753.90 1728.05 1751.00VEDL 140.20 144.75 139.15 143.95MANAPPURAM 167.00 173.80 166.10 173.15HINDPETRO 264.70 268.05 264.00 265.85L&TFH 117.15 117.15 113.90 115.10SAIL 38.50 40.00 38.35 39.80TATAELXSI 835.05 855.00 826.60 848.05STRTECH 107.50 119.85 107.15 117.35ULTRACEMCO 4019.90 4028.00 3984.30 3991.00ADANIPORTS 374.00 376.30 371.40 372.30LICHSGFIN 441.00 441.00 429.00 433.55COALINDIA 188.90 190.75 186.25 190.35JSWSTEEL 250.80 257.65 250.40 255.70COLPAL 1482.00 1498.90 1472.05 1475.05PEL 1637.70 1666.60 1619.90 1657.25EICHERMOT 21609.05 22085.15 21609.00 21943.35MFSL 509.95 513.00 498.55 504.80ITC 238.55 240.05 237.70 238.65ACC 1434.00 1438.70 1417.05 1431.80MPHASIS 862.25 874.00 848.45 863.55HINDALCO 198.45 204.15 197.10 201.25MOTHERSUMI 133.75 137.30 131.95 135.45ICICIPRULI 491.00 499.90 491.00 494.55UPL 560.95 580.50 560.95 570.10GLENMARK 335.05 345.20 335.05 341.35HDFCLIFE 577.95 585.25 571.30 582.95PETRONET 271.00 283.15 270.10 271.40SRF 3261.95 3323.10 3260.00 3304.45BAJAJFINSV 9179.95 9181.85 9085.00 9168.05CIPLA 454.00 463.05 452.55 460.60IOC 126.70 128.30 125.40 128.15PAGEIND 21793.20 22076.90 21747.40 22019.90BHEL 44.50 45.85 44.05 45.20IGL 419.15 421.10 408.20 410.15HEG 1072.00 1113.00 1058.00 1089.15GODREJPROP 904.40 941.00 895.25 930.10EQUITAS 107.60 107.80 100.15 101.05ICICIGI 1343.00 1356.20 1323.10 1337.35MUTHOOTFIN 703.95 714.80 699.35 712.45NCC 51.60 52.80 50.50 52.35MCX 1107.75 1127.25 1100.55 1111.35JUSTDIAL 566.55 572.75 560.55 568.40RECLTD 133.35 135.80 132.40 135.05GAIL 117.45 120.05 117.00 118.95CANBK 214.00 218.85 213.25 217.95RNAM 346.80 350.00 342.30 348.60BAJAJ-AUTO 3280.00 3280.85 3255.70 3261.00M&M 514.40 514.40 508.30 511.75TITAN 1192.40 1192.40 1177.00 1187.75LTTS 1496.00 1507.15 1466.10 1500.75ESCORTS 602.00 603.50 592.15 597.75ONGC 128.00 128.40 125.45 125.85HEXAWARE 339.45 343.60 335.75 339.65JUBLFOOD 1585.00 1613.00 1578.00 1598.55AUROPHARMA 449.90 451.45 444.00 448.60PCJEWELLER 21.90 24.15 21.55 23.65LINDEINDIA 616.00 623.85 611.50 614.25ABCAPITAL 99.00 101.40 98.00 99.30APOLLOHOSP 1403.25 1403.80 1373.30 1385.85

CEATLTD 974.50 979.75 966.80 969.95BANDHANBNK 519.60 531.75 512.45 515.65FEDERALBNK 84.50 85.70 84.45 85.30MAHINDCIE 161.50 167.50 155.10 166.35WIPRO 240.05 241.20 238.60 239.40RAJESHEXPO 680.90 686.00 664.00 668.50BERGEPAINT 500.05 503.10 495.95 498.40HCLTECH 546.00 547.20 535.00 536.30CHOLAFIN 303.80 315.00 301.60 312.90BHARATFORG 442.00 450.95 437.80 448.35UNIONBANK 54.65 56.40 54.55 55.80RAYMOND 670.00 686.55 660.80 677.50DEEPAKNI 341.05 360.00 341.05 355.45DIVISLAB 1826.25 1840.20 1813.45 1829.80ADANIGREEN 134.45 135.25 129.60 131.55LTI 1665.00 1665.00 1625.00 1631.25IDFCFIRSTB 43.00 43.50 42.85 43.15BEL 98.55 99.35 97.70 98.80SPARC 163.90 165.90 161.35 163.00IDBI 34.10 37.35 33.60 36.90ADANIPOWER 60.30 61.00 60.05 60.35INDIGO 1341.00 1359.15 1331.75 1338.00STAR 362.50 369.90 359.00 367.45NTPC 113.70 115.00 113.20 114.45GRASIM 779.90 779.90 769.80 774.35NBCC 33.50 34.60 32.90 34.40TECHM 760.50 765.95 753.00 755.95AVANTI 496.20 512.95 490.75 500.15UBL 1204.00 1213.70 1184.85 1211.25WOCKPHARMA 238.10 243.80 238.10 240.55PFC 114.50 115.75 113.30 115.50PFIZER 4250.00 4345.00 4185.35 4281.55CADILAHC 264.00 267.50 262.70 263.85VOLTAS 680.00 695.60 680.00 692.60PNBHOUSING 434.80 435.45 418.55 426.55VENKYS 1670.20 1732.65 1665.60 1698.60ADANITRANS 348.00 348.00 327.00 335.80HAVELLS 641.30 653.55 638.25 652.50IBVENTURES 154.00 160.80 153.50 158.80SUNTV 462.40 465.35 454.50 463.40BATAINDIA 1721.50 1721.50 1702.30 1710.90DRREDDY 2899.90 2918.90 2895.75 2905.50EXIDEIND 181.70 185.00 181.15 184.75BEML 990.55 998.50 982.60 985.70OFSS 2875.00 2945.00 2482.00 2918.90DELTACORP 209.40 213.05 208.80 210.80SPICEJET 103.95 104.50 102.30 102.50AAVAS 1865.35 1949.05 1864.40 1909.65LUPIN 748.30 751.85 741.15 748.55TATAPOWER 53.10 53.75 52.60 53.40SIEMENS 1496.00 1506.00 1475.00 1486.70SCI 56.60 60.30 56.60 59.25NMDC 111.65 114.00 111.40 113.80RPOWER 3.18 3.20 3.06 3.06MINDTREE 763.00 764.95 744.00 752.00MGL 1031.85 1046.00 1031.25 1039.90BLISSGVS 156.50 156.50 149.00 150.50NIITTECH 1480.10 1492.85 1471.45 1484.10NAUKRI 2575.00 2580.05 2508.00 2524.50GODREJCP 671.00 677.05 659.35 666.35NESTLEIND 14114.10 14220.05 14081.95 14169.60APOLLOTYRE 164.95 166.50 163.65 165.60BALKRISIND 922.00 926.50 917.20 922.55HSCL 57.00 57.00 54.10 55.00SBILIFE 969.20 970.60 955.80 959.65IBREALEST 57.00 60.40 56.60 59.20TATACHEM 655.60 660.75 652.75 659.55TVSMOTOR 444.00 447.65 439.90 444.50ADANIGAS 153.90 154.55 151.40 151.80SRTRANSFIN 1089.90 1109.00 1087.15 1099.75CONCOR 558.55 565.30 558.55 561.45ITI 84.50 90.15 84.20 88.65TIMKEN 814.90 880.00 814.90 877.15AMARAJABAT 734.90 746.05 732.55 736.05GUJGAS 223.05 230.00 218.10 227.60MARICO 335.15 335.20 330.55 331.25BANKINDIA 68.95 69.20 68.15 68.75GMRINFRA 20.35 21.10 20.35 20.85JAICORPLTD 87.70 88.75 86.10 87.40BOSCHLTD 15053.60 15210.00 14872.90 14975.45CUMMINSIND 525.25 539.45 525.15 538.55PHILIPCARB 113.70 114.60 110.25 112.15CASTROLIND 128.40 130.30 128.15 129.75DABUR 452.50 460.35 452.00 457.30INDIACEM 73.05 73.40 71.50 71.80GODFRYPHLP 1235.00 1272.00 1235.00 1245.65

GRANULES 124.40 129.90 124.40 129.45IIFL 142.00 152.00 141.65 149.35GNFC 173.00 175.00 171.50 173.30ERIS 472.70 475.65 460.25 462.30SUNTECK 394.35 398.45 390.00 391.40MOTILALOFS 746.85 788.55 746.85 764.65IPCALAB 1143.00 1159.35 1118.55 1124.15SWANENERGY 102.85 102.90 101.00 101.60LALPATHLAB 1549.00 1549.00 1500.15 1509.00LUXIND 1442.00 1466.00 1347.50 1358.35NOCIL 96.80 97.80 94.90 97.45TORNTPHARM 1862.00 1878.00 1845.65 1858.25BBTC 1029.60 1037.25 1009.00 1018.90NATIONALUM 42.60 43.55 42.45 43.20BOMDYEING 72.10 73.60 71.85 72.70ABB 1461.55 1491.00 1446.35 1484.25PIIND 1483.55 1492.80 1456.00 1460.15SHREECEM 20000.00 20209.10 19952.05 20026.00IDFC 33.25 33.30 32.75 32.95TRENT 497.00 514.60 497.00 508.80ORIENTBANK 52.25 53.15 52.00 52.35GICRE 234.00 236.00 228.15 229.10INFIBEAM 46.35 47.20 46.05 46.50RELINFRA 20.90 21.20 19.90 20.15DBL 385.10 385.10 375.35 377.15FRETAIL 335.40 335.40 329.00 331.80AUBANK 803.75 806.30 795.30 799.30BALRAMCHIN 163.85 164.70 163.00 163.55TRIDENT 67.40 68.25 66.45 66.75NAVINFLUOR 888.00 915.95 888.00 907.95SUZLON 2.11 2.11 2.00 2.08RCF 44.75 45.30 44.45 45.00JSWENERGY 70.30 71.40 69.00 69.95HFCL 17.25 17.60 17.05 17.15POLYCAB 1001.70 1005.00 985.95 989.45ITDC 328.20 329.35 316.05 318.15INDHOTEL 146.25 147.00 140.80 143.45TORNTPOWER 271.80 273.60 271.35 272.55GODREJIND 413.00 415.30 402.00 413.85SUVEN 271.80 274.50 269.00 272.15INDIANB 118.25 119.60 116.00 117.75JSLHISAR 65.15 68.00 64.00 65.05RVNL 23.50 23.60 23.20 23.30FSL 37.20 37.85 36.55 37.30TV18BRDCST 21.05 21.60 20.60 21.20KEI 478.50 482.20 457.90 459.45QUESS 464.35 480.90 464.35 473.30KEC 281.25 287.40 281.00 285.35RELCAPITAL 10.50 10.75 10.40 10.40JISLJALEQS 7.96 8.50 7.91 7.91WHIRLPOOL 2329.95 2342.20 2282.15 2289.45IRB 67.80 67.80 65.15 66.30JUBILANT 525.00 532.00 523.00 529.20RAIN 92.95 95.60 92.30 94.65SUDARSCHEM 394.00 398.80 392.50 394.35EDELWEISS 114.90 114.90 112.50 113.75HONAUT 25840.00 26349.50 25840.00 26323.85RADICO 306.00 307.00 300.90 303.40ASHOKA 95.00 95.30 92.55 94.50ASTRAZEN 2661.30 2774.40 2661.30 2757.05PVR 1735.00 1740.40 1725.00 1732.00JAMNAAUTO 41.05 41.65 40.00 40.10COCHINSHIP 383.85 391.55 383.85 388.15ALBK 19.30 20.10 19.05 19.15APLAPOLLO 1605.75 1660.30 1599.50 1616.75JKTYRE 71.85 72.45 71.10 71.55JBCHEPHARM 418.70 422.50 413.75 414.55VIPIND 427.00 428.90 424.95 426.90BAJAJHLDNG 3418.80 3424.80 3306.00 3361.40FORCEMOT 979.80 985.00 951.00 971.15PTC 53.45 53.90 53.20 53.35METROPOLIS 1288.00 1310.00 1270.00 1288.40CHENNPETRO 112.45 116.65 111.10 114.55ABBOTINDIA 12613.80 12915.85 12582.75 12821.70ISEC 355.30 359.55 352.80 355.20OMAXE 154.00 154.00 152.70 153.25MRF 62179.95 62799.00 62166.30 62668.70NIACL 136.55 137.85 133.65 135.50OBEROIRLTY 512.30 515.90 505.90 508.40KNRCON 227.05 242.00 225.90 240.35CREDITACC 815.00 821.60 807.40 811.00PRESTIGE 316.70 318.30 307.85 309.20VGUARD 212.05 213.80 211.00 212.85OIL 154.00 156.70 153.50 155.35GILLETTE 6593.40 6675.00 6561.15 6659.30DCBBANK 175.00 175.30 171.85 173.95HINDZINC 207.35 208.80 205.25 205.55EIDPARRY 197.40 198.15 193.15 195.40KTKBANK 72.00 73.70 72.00 72.35ENGINERSIN 102.70 105.25 102.60 104.80SYMPHONY 1079.00 1100.00 1079.00 1093.90ALKEM 2095.00 2101.50 2081.05 2083.30WABAG 175.95 182.40 174.50 177.70RITES 269.80 270.00 265.65 267.55FORTIS 135.25 137.70 134.90 136.95CCL 189.00 191.25 184.60 185.15LAKSHVILAS 18.55 19.40 18.45 18.90ABFRL 225.20 225.50 224.00 224.80CHAMBLFERT 144.00 147.60 142.90 146.10CANFINHOME 413.35 413.35 408.25 411.20WELSPUNIND 49.15 49.90 48.80 49.75KAJARIACER 529.00 537.75 527.65 535.15JINDALSAW 70.85 73.85 70.85 73.20MEGH 48.00 48.75 47.30 48.60ATUL 4036.00 4042.95 3998.00 4001.85HEIDELBERG 177.00 177.00 172.65 175.05TATAMETALI 579.50 609.10 579.50 589.30CORPBANK 23.95 24.35 23.50 23.75

BIRLACORPN 632.20 646.35 632.00 639.30MASFIN 813.50 840.00 808.60 816.95ASTRAL 1184.15 1184.15 1151.70 1165.55EMAMILTD 304.00 313.50 302.00 310.453MINDIA 21287.80 21350.00 20680.00 20703.85HINDCOPPER 36.95 37.70 36.80 37.40HAL 762.15 772.00 740.10 759.10GSKCONS 8601.00 8720.00 8551.00 8632.00WELCORP 136.55 137.20 134.85 136.35RCOM 0.87 0.87 0.87 0.87PGHL 4153.80 4186.95 4129.40 4132.95AJANTPHARM 984.50 985.55 975.00 977.10GSPL 210.00 216.85 210.00 216.05CRISIL 1679.00 1727.55 1678.60 1704.45FINEORG 1803.20 1857.85 1789.95 1796.10CESC 725.50 730.50 722.00 726.55RAMCOCEM 775.45 780.85 769.65 773.90JPASSOCIAT 2.20 2.31 2.12 2.31SJVN 24.60 24.95 24.55 24.85REDINGTON 108.90 115.65 108.90 114.85IRCON 393.75 396.00 390.50 391.65ORIENTELEC 192.35 194.45 186.80 188.45GALAXYSURF 1396.50 1420.00 1382.35 1405.90BDL 285.80 290.00 283.05 288.05TEJASNET 82.05 84.40 78.50 80.15GHCL 196.00 200.85 195.00 198.95GUJALKALI 392.50 393.90 382.80 383.55CROMPTON 243.90 246.25 242.70 243.10TATACOFFEE 93.65 95.40 93.50 93.80PERSISTENT 668.45 678.60 668.40 670.75GESHIP 295.00 298.80 290.60 296.30PARAGMILK 139.95 140.80 137.75 138.85COROMANDEL 514.20 515.00 505.00 510.05FLFL 394.00 396.95 391.30 393.50KRBL 213.10 215.75 210.70 213.25KALPATPOWR 414.85 430.90 411.60 428.70GULFOILLUB 814.15 816.70 812.00 813.35INOXLEISUR 368.50 368.50 365.00 365.10CGPOWER 10.61 11.65 10.61 11.57SOUTHBANK 10.52 10.60 10.50 10.52CAPPL 290.00 299.00 280.50 296.90RALLIS 172.00 174.70 168.00 174.35WESTLIFE 349.10 352.30 347.50 351.90CENTRALBK 19.00 19.00 18.30 18.45REPCOHOME 298.00 306.80 297.15 304.85TIMETECHNO 49.30 52.30 48.35 49.80BAJAJCON 234.00 235.25 228.25 229.40JMFINANCIL 87.50 87.50 86.30 86.60

UCOBANK 15.50 15.75 15.00 15.20GREAVESCOT 126.15 127.00 124.55 126.50BAJAJELEC 336.00 336.00 325.85 327.95BALMLAWRIE 192.90 192.90 188.30 189.65RELAXO 621.45 621.45 611.00 613.25VINATIORGA 1950.30 1965.20 1948.20 1954.75IFCI 6.47 6.60 6.30 6.50CUB 235.00 235.10 229.70 233.05GODREJAGRO 496.95 503.90 494.80 502.55DEEPAKFERT 89.60 91.95 89.60 91.45ADVENZYMES 154.30 156.85 154.30 156.05NATCOPHARM 584.30 586.50 573.95 577.55JKCEMENT 1141.60 1149.80 1140.00 1143.40AIAENG 1645.50 1647.25 1609.05 1613.90ITDCEM 51.80 53.15 49.80 51.80VBL 697.00 701.95 694.00 697.40FCONSUMER 23.95 24.15 23.85 24.00INTELLECT 150.20 151.25 149.10 150.25SCHNEIDER 61.35 63.00 61.25 62.35DCMSHRIRAM 339.40 342.95 333.70 337.60VSTIND 4089.85 4185.85 3925.00 3979.75HUDCO 36.85 36.85 35.70 35.85GICHSGFIN 149.50 150.00 147.85 148.55DALBHARAT 825.30 826.20 812.00 814.20LEMONTREE 59.40 60.05 58.45 59.85MOIL 134.60 136.70 134.20 136.25BASF 960.95 972.50 960.00 965.25SYNDIBANK 26.80 27.30 26.30 26.95IBULISL 80.60 81.20 78.00 79.75J&KBANK 30.00 30.15 29.65 29.75PNCINFRA 194.20 194.35 190.00 193.30ASTERDM 149.35 153.75 148.50 151.70IOB 9.98 10.24 9.94 10.05GSFC 67.40 68.55 67.30 67.85NESCO 622.20 630.00 619.00 627.00INOXWIND 34.95 35.30 33.75 34.05CERA 2490.00 2554.50 2490.00 2551.65PGHH 11198.30 11308.50 11198.30 11252.35MRPL 45.35 45.75 44.75 44.80JSL 37.90 38.05 37.55 37.60CARBORUNIV 319.75 324.25 319.75 322.00DCAL 120.55 122.50 119.80 121.40ALLCARGO 93.50 97.10 93.50 95.50ECLERX 512.00 515.35 500.70 511.90

COFFEEDAY 42.85 42.85 40.50 40.75SHANKARA 290.85 301.45 290.80 293.80ANDHRABANK 17.00 17.40 17.00 17.25ZENSARTECH 177.80 178.15 171.35 173.05MAHLOG 379.05 380.40 371.40 374.05BAYERCROP 3537.30 3552.00 3480.00 3500.60PRSMJOHNSN 62.45 62.45 60.85 61.15ENDURANCE 1061.40 1066.15 1038.75 1057.05GAYAPROJ 76.50 79.25 75.00 79.15TEAMLEASE 2318.90 2398.00 2318.90 2376.70THYROCARE 548.95 548.95 532.85 539.75CARERATING 474.00 480.85 470.75 478.15THERMAX 1004.45 1011.15 1003.05 1007.15EIHOTEL 143.90 144.05 142.50 143.30NHPC 23.95 23.95 23.75 23.80CYIENT 388.95 389.00 384.90 388.05KANSAINER 527.75 529.30 518.15 523.65CENTURYPLY 162.15 162.50 160.35 161.95NLCINDIA 53.55 53.90 53.10 53.60NETWORK18 24.80 25.75 24.35 24.80MMTC 17.70 18.05 17.65 17.80SUPREMEIND 1122.10 1130.00 1118.80 1121.50SUNDRMFAST 452.00 454.80 441.10 447.65MINDACORP 90.80 95.00 90.80 94.00MAHSCOOTER 4419.85 4472.65 4381.25 4451.40GDL 96.50 96.80 95.10 95.70AKZOINDIA 1949.30 1949.30 1907.00 1924.00JAGRAN 57.00 57.00 55.60 55.75GPPL 82.80 83.65 81.90 82.65TTKPRESTIG 5616.15 5695.25 5610.05 5680.30ESSELPRO 150.10 150.50 147.70 149.00SOMANYCERA 207.50 216.05 204.00 209.85SREINFRA 7.51 8.08 7.51 8.06ZYDUSWELL 1460.00 1466.10 1450.00 1452.75NILKAMAL 1287.20 1287.20 1255.00 1281.30SOBHA 391.30 393.35 389.55 390.05DHFL 14.00 14.25 14.00 14.00CENTRUM 20.00 20.90 19.00 19.40HIMATSEIDE 123.25 124.20 122.00 123.60MAHLIFE 375.50 394.00 375.00 388.75SANOFI 6954.75 6954.75 6898.75 6910.35BLUEDART 2220.20 2220.20 2176.10 2200.25AEGISLOG 190.30 191.90 184.00 185.80FDC 204.35 205.70 203.25 204.30INDOSTAR 168.35 174.50 167.20 169.00APARINDS 392.00 397.65 392.00 394.00JSWHL 2275.05 2280.15 2188.70 2279.00NH 305.00 309.00 305.00 305.45MAGMA 51.45 52.40 51.25 52.40MINDAIND 340.00 340.00 336.55 337.65BLUESTARCO 791.00 805.00 790.05 790.90JKLAKSHMI 265.00 269.05 265.00 266.65TATAINVEST 820.50 821.90 808.00 811.30IFBIND 644.00 644.00 625.65 626.80DHANUKA 334.10 338.20 328.95 334.30SYNGENE 301.50 301.75 298.25 298.90JYOTHYLAB 151.50 151.65 149.30 150.05RATNAMANI 993.80 994.90 990.55 992.00IEX 139.45 140.90 138.00 140.30PHOENIXLTD 764.15 771.40 751.65 754.70MAXINDIA 76.15 76.15 75.45 75.65TAKE 94.85 98.15 94.30 95.60APLLTD 554.00 554.00 549.15 551.10LAURUSLABS 333.65 342.90 333.60 338.25SONATSOFTW 296.50 299.00 294.85 295.35TIINDIA 478.05 483.75 471.95 475.35FINOLEXIND 555.00 555.00 548.00 550.55SOLARINDS 1043.85 1060.55 1043.85 1049.45FINCABLES 352.70 354.30 350.20 352.50GRINDWELL 569.00 571.00 564.00 570.05SADBHAV 125.00 125.00 117.15 117.55STARCEMENT 86.00 86.70 85.40 86.20WABCOINDIA 6269.00 6272.15 6250.00 6264.55CHOLAHLDNG 489.10 489.10 480.00 481.00KPRMILL 657.50 661.30 653.50 657.90HATHWAY 20.00 20.00 19.65 19.80DBCORP 132.50 135.55 132.50 134.20TNPL 171.00 171.95 169.60 171.10GEPIL 701.65 725.00 691.65 715.80SCHAEFFLER 4302.00 4375.00 4264.30 4331.20SUPRAJIT 172.30 178.00 172.30 174.05NBVENTURES 70.30 71.70 68.45 70.50JCHAC 1953.00 1953.00 1857.05 1875.25UNITEDBNK 8.89 8.89 8.39 8.41UFLEX 199.80 199.80 193.60 197.00TVTODAY 237.50 240.75 236.85 238.95SKFINDIA 2151.90 2151.90 2114.05 2135.15SHOPERSTOP 348.30 349.15 344.50 345.00HERITGFOOD 354.45 358.85 344.90 348.55VMART 1723.00 1723.00 1689.80 1700.30MAHABANK 11.76 11.85 11.54 11.63ORIENTCEM 69.65 70.90 69.35 70.45CHALET 325.00 336.80 322.00 333.05GET&D 145.10 150.00 145.10 148.05TCNSBRANDS 645.00 645.35 635.00 636.65VARROC 411.00 419.00 411.00 416.85SHILPAMED 289.45 295.90 289.45 295.60EVEREADY 55.00 55.70 54.20 54.40SIS 901.55 926.85 901.00 925.75GMDCLTD 55.75 55.95 55.45 55.70TVSSRICHAK 1602.25 1633.20 1602.00 1609.25MAHSEAMLES 368.95 370.35 368.95 370.00MHRIL 216.95 216.95 215.00 215.75TRITURBINE 92.05 93.35 92.00 93.05SHK 104.70 104.70 104.00 104.05SFL 1290.00 1299.55 1274.05 1283.95SHRIRAMCIT 1402.00 1402.00 1402.00 1402.00VTL 901.10 901.10 901.10 901.10

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 11944.30 12005.50 11934.00 11971.80 61.65TATAMOTORS 163.45 174.90 162.50 172.90 11.10YESBANK 43.15 48.80 42.80 45.30 2.50VEDL 140.00 144.80 139.00 143.65 5.15TATASTEEL 408.30 420.90 406.80 417.85 12.30SBIN 314.00 322.95 313.55 321.45 8.65HINDALCO 197.30 204.25 197.30 201.20 4.60JSWSTEEL 252.00 257.65 250.20 255.55 5.60CIPLA 452.20 463.10 452.20 460.00 10.05IOC 126.50 128.40 125.30 128.30 2.75EICHERMOT 21581.70 22101.00 21581.70 21950.00 408.20BPCL 486.75 498.30 486.00 491.65 9.00COALINDIA 188.30 190.85 186.25 190.45 3.30KOTAKBANK 1690.20 1720.00 1682.00 1715.00 28.45HEROMOTOCO2312.00 2344.40 2307.35 2333.00 36.70NTPC 113.55 114.95 113.20 114.80 1.80POWERGRID 182.75 188.35 181.05 184.55 2.80UPL 562.55 581.00 561.10 569.65 8.60INDUSINDBK 1424.25 1451.00 1421.20 1440.80 20.15LT 1270.00 1282.85 1268.20 1282.10 17.80HDFCBANK 1253.00 1269.45 1253.00 1265.80 17.05BRITANNIA 3048.60 3080.00 3030.20 3079.65 38.65GAIL 117.40 120.15 116.90 118.75 1.45GRASIM 772.10 779.00 769.55 776.00 8.60NESTLEIND 14077.10 14232.70 14077.10 14208.00 142.00BAJAJFINSV 9100.00 9184.00 9081.20 9170.00 90.90SUNPHARMA 430.90 437.90 430.25 433.05 3.25TITAN 1182.10 1192.00 1177.50 1188.00 8.45M&M 511.00 514.25 508.20 511.30 3.55ADANIPORTS 371.45 376.50 370.90 372.30 2.60DRREDDY 2900.00 2918.80 2890.00 2905.00 17.20AXISBANK 719.00 725.30 715.15 720.75 4.20RELIANCE 1570.25 1573.85 1556.65 1571.10 8.70ASIANPAINT 1740.35 1754.00 1728.10 1747.00 8.80ITC 238.05 240.20 237.60 238.70 1.10ICICIBANK 534.85 537.10 529.80 535.50 1.95BAJFINANCE 4050.00 4065.00 4010.05 4048.00 11.20MARUTI 7030.40 7045.95 6975.50 7000.00 6.80ZEEL 283.45 286.75 277.20 283.00 -0.45HINDUNILVR 2010.00 2034.50 2002.00 2007.00 -3.45HDFC 2320.80 2327.00 2303.00 2317.25 -4.40WIPRO 240.35 241.25 238.70 239.50 -0.55ULTRACEMCO 4012.20 4033.85 3983.30 3991.40 -9.75BAJAJ-AUTO 3276.30 3283.30 3256.60 3258.00 -10.65TECHM 761.00 766.00 752.50 753.15 -4.80INFRATEL 256.10 259.50 248.60 252.00 -2.60BHARTIARTL 442.90 443.85 436.50 438.00 -4.75HCLTECH 547.30 547.80 535.05 536.00 -7.80ONGC 128.10 128.30 125.35 126.00 -2.00TCS 2051.10 2083.65 1984.00 2003.00 -38.90INFY 718.50 720.70 699.55 702.10 -18.95

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 27734.3 27880 27675.25 27793.8 199.55IBULHSGFIN 273 295.55 265.1 292 23.65DMART 1740 1794.95 1737.2 1784.35 60.35HAVELLS 640.1 653.5 637.75 652.15 16.7ASHOKLEY 77.1 78.95 76.35 78.35 1.85PNB 59.95 61.05 59.65 60.8 1.25NMDC 111.45 114 111.45 114 2.35HDFCLIFE 576.75 585.65 571.05 584 11.5SRTRANSFIN 1084.45 1110 1082 1099.3 21.4MOTHERSUMI 133.8 137.5 131.9 135.35 2.5BANKBARODA 96.3 98.3 95.75 97.5 1.8DABUR 453.1 460.35 451.7 458.75 7.35IDEA 6.85 7 6.7 6.8 0.1PEL 1639.9 1666.95 1618.3 1655.95 21.15PFC 114.25 115.8 113.3 115.5 1.3HINDPETRO 265.25 268.1 264 265.65 3ACC 1423.3 1438 1416.5 1434.8 15.95PAGEIND 21700.4 22060 21666.05 21890 230.7AMBUJACEM 192.5 194.35 191.05 193.5 2HDFCAMC 3084 3099 3032.4 3056.7 29.85MCDOWELL-N 589.6 594 585.2 591.7 4.8LUPIN 748.5 751.95 741.25 750 5.8BIOCON 290.1 294.25 287.2 292.65 2.25UBL 1209 1215 1185 1210 8.05SHREECEM 19987 20200 19902.2 20100 130.4ICICIPRULI 494 499.9 491.45 493 2.9DLF 226.7 228 222.55 224.55 1.2BANDHANBNK 518 531.7 512.1 516.95 1.95CADILAHC 263.7 267.5 262.55 263.3 0.9CONCOR 558 564.75 558 560.4 1.65DIVISLAB 1824.7 1840 1813.1 1826 4.2HINDZINC 207 209 205.3 205.8 0.35PGHH 11230 11330 11200 11251 18.45PIDILITIND 1330 1340 1323.65 1331.1 0.75COLPAL 1486.6 1499.65 1471 1473.7 0.15BERGEPAINT 500.35 502.9 495.7 498.35 -1NHPC 23.9 23.95 23.75 23.8 -0.05OFSS 2920 2950 2336.2 2913 -7.25AUROPHARMA 448.1 451.5 444 448 -1.25SIEMENS 1499 1506.9 1473.35 1487.9 -5.1INDIGO 1348.9 1359.8 1331.5 1333.9 -5.05NIACL 137.55 137.9 133.2 134.4 -0.85MARICO 335 335.55 330.5 331.2 -2.15GODREJCP 671 676.5 659 666 -4.55ICICIGI 1345 1356.5 1322.4 1329.9 -9.55BOSCHLTD 15029.75 15200 14872.95 14915 -107.3SBILIFE 971 971 955.65 959.25 -7.3GICRE 233.9 236.8 228 230 -1.8PETRONET 278 283.25 270.45 272.9 -2.35L&TFH 116.95 117 113.8 115 -1.05BAJAJHLDNG 3386.5 3432.95 3304.95 3331 -50.25

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New York: The top US airtransport regulator onWednesday doused Boeing’shopes that its 737 MAX willreturn to the skies this yearwhile lawmakers probed whythe agency did not ground theplane after the first of twocrashes.

In an interview just aheadof a congressional hearing onthe crashes, Federal AviationAdministration chief SteveDickson told CNBC the aircraftwill not be cleared to fly before2020.

The process for approvingthe MAX’s return to the skiesstill has 10 or 11 milestones leftto complete, including a certi-fication flight and a publiccomment period on pilot train-ing requirements, he said.

“If you just do the math, it’sgoing to extend into 2020,” hesaid.

The MAX has beengrounded since March follow-ing the second of two crashes

that killed a total of 346 people.Boeing has been aiming to

win regulatory approval thismonth, with flights projected toresume in January.

But Dickson said, “I’vemade it very clear Boeing’s planis not the FAA’s plan.” “We’regoing to keep our heads downand support the team in gettingthis report done right.”

Many of the questions atthe subsequent hearing in theHouse TransportationCommittee focused on why theFAA did not move moreaggressively after the first crash.

Boeing and the FAA havebeen under intense scrutinyfollowing the crashes for theirresponse to issues with the air-craft, including the flight-han-dling system involved in bothaccidents, the ManeuveringCharacteristics AugmentationSystem, or MCAS. Rather thangrounding the plane after theOctober 2018 Lion Air crash,the FAA determined AFP

Niamey: Jihadists attacked aNiger military camp near theborder with Mali with artilleryand mortars, killing more than60 people, a security source saidon Wednesday.

Tuesday’s attack in Inates inthe western Tillaberi region wasthe deadliest on Niger’s militarysince the armed forces beganfighting Islamist militants in2015.

“The attack killed more than60,” the source said. “The ter-rorists bombarded the campwith shelling and mortars. Theexplosions from ammunitionand fuel were the cause of theheavy toll.” The source did notsay which group was responsi-ble for the deadly assault.

Niger forces are fightingagainst Boko Haram militants inthe southeast border with

Nigeria and jihadists allied withthe Islamic State in the west nearMali and Libya.

Three soldiers and 14 mili-tants were also killed on Mondayin an attack on another armypost in Agando in westernTahoua region, the defence min-istry said. Heavily armed “ter-rorists” in a dozen 4x4 vehiclesled the attack early Mondaymorning on the military post inTahoua, the ministry statementsaid. Niger is part of a five-nationanti-jihadist task force known asthe G5, set up in 2014 withBurkina Faso, Mali, Mauritaniaand Chad.

Thousands of civilians andsoldiers have died in violenceacross the vast region, known asthe Sahel, which began whenarmed Islamists revolted innorthern Mali in 2012. AFP

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The United States onWednesday warned North

Korea of consequences if itmakes good on threats of aspectacular weapons test inthe New Year, while offeringflexibility if it stays in talks.

Frustrated by the lack ofsanctions relief after three sum-mits with President DonaldTrump, North Korea has vowedan ominous “Christmas gift” if

the US does not come up withconcessions by the end of the year.

At the UN SecurityCouncil, the US ambassador,Kelly Craft, voiced concernthat North Korea was indicat-ing it would test interconti-nental ballistic missiles “whichare designed to attack the con-tinental United States withnuclear weapons.

“Missile and nuclear testingwill not bring the DPRK greater

security,” Craft said, referring tothe North by its official name,the Democratic People’sRepublic of Korea.

“We trust that the DPRKwil turn away from further hos-tility and threats, and insteadmake a bold decision to engagewith us,” she said.

Hinting at further sanc-tions, Craft said: “If eventsprove otherwise, we, thisSecurity Council, must all beprepared to act accordingly.”

She called North Korea’spersistent shorter-range tests“deeply counterproductive”and, in an unusually direct con-demnation by the UnitedStates, said they violated UNSecurity Council resolutions.

Craft appeared to rule outmeeting North Korea’sdemands for an offer in theyear’s final weeks, saying: “Letme be clear: The United Statesand the Security Council havea goal — not a deadline.”

Washington: The HouseJudiciary Committee was tak-ing the first steps Wednesdayevening toward voting on arti-cles of impeachment againstPresident Donald Trump,beginning a marathon two-daysession to consider the historiccharges.

The Judiciary meeting is tomark up, or amend, the twoarticles of impeachment thatDemocrats introducedTuesday.

Those articles chargeTrump with abuse of powerand obstruction of Congressrelated to his dealings withUkraine. Republicans, unifiedagainst Trump’s impeachment,are expected to propose revi-sions to the articles, whichspan only nine pages. ButDemocrats are unlikely to

accept them.Democrats have already

agreed to the language, whichsays Trump acted “corruptly”and “betrayed the nation” whenhe asked Ukraine to investigateJoe Biden and the 2016 USelection.

Hamstrung in the minor-ity, Republicans won’t have thevotes to make changes withoutsupport from at least someDemocrats.

The Wednesday eveningsession of the 41-member panelis expected to last several hours,with opening statements fromlawmakers on both sides of theaisle. Votes won’t come untilThursday, when the committeewill consider amendments andlikely hold a final vote to sendthe articles to the House floor.

AP

Hong Kong: Police were hunt-ing for six suspects after petrolbombs were hurled at a HongKong metro station onThursday, forcing the rail oper-ator to immediately evacuatethe area and close the site.

The incident came justhours after police arrested a 29-year-old man and twoteenagers in separate incidents,reports the South ChinaMorning Post newspaper.

The Mass Transit Railway(MTR) Corporation said black-clad “rioters” hurled petrolbombs at two escalators and ashop at the Ngau Tau Kok sta-tion in Kowloon at around 1a.m. They also vandalised tick-et machines and other facilitieson the concourse.

The suspects fled beforepolice arrived, no one wasinjured, and rail servicesresumed later in the day. IANS

Baghdad: With border guards,clean-up crews and hospitals,Iraqi protesters have created amini-state in Baghdad’s TahrirSquare, offering the kinds of ser-vices they say their Governmenthas failed to provide.

“We’ve done more in twomonths than the state has donein 16 years,” said Haydar Chaker,a construction worker fromBabylon province, south of the capital.

Everyone has their role,from cooking bread to paintingmurals, with a division of labourand scheduled shifts.

Chaker came to Baghdadwith his friends after the annu-al Arbaeen pilgrimage to theShiite holy city Karbala, his pil-grim’s tent and cooking equip-ment equally useful at a protestencampment.

Installed in the iconic squarewhose name means “liberation”,he provides three meals a day tohundreds of protesters, cookingwith donated foods. AFP

London: Voters across the UKheaded to the polls onThursday to vote in one of thecountry’s most “historic” gen-eral election, which has beendeemed crucial for the nation’sfuture in the European Union(EU) if the rulingConservatives were elected topower again.

Thursday’s polls are theUK’s third in less than five yearsand also the first winter electionto take place in Decembersince 1923, the BBC reported.

Polling stations in 650 con-stituencies across England,Wales, Scotland and NorthernIreland opened at 7 a.m. (localtime).

After the polls close at 10

p.m., counting will beginstraight away. Most results aredue to be announced in theearly hours of Friday morning.

If a party wins in 326 con-stituencies it will have gaineda majority.

A total of 650 MPs will bechosen under the first-past-the-post system used for generalelections, in which the candi-date who secures the mostvotes in each individual con-stituency is elected.

Anyone aged 18 or over iseligible to vote, as long as theyare a British citizen or qualify-ing citizen of theCommonwealth or Republic ofIreland and have registered tovote.

The two main contenders,Prime Minister Boris Johnsonand opposition Labour Partyleader Jeremy Corbyn, madetheir last election pledges onWednesday.

In interviews with theBBC, Johnson repeated hismain pledges, saying: “Only ifyou get Brexit done (can you)move the country forward.”

The Prime Minister saidthat he thought the electionresult would be “very close”,and that “every vote counts”.

Meanwhile, Corbyn saidthat there was a “greater under-standing” from the public thatthe country “cannot go onwith underfunded public ser-vices”. IANS

Cox’s Bazar (Bangladesh):Rohingya refugees accused for-mer Myanmar pro-democracyicon Aung San Suu Kyi of lyingto the International Court ofJustice in testimony onWednesday in which she deniedthat her country’s armed forceswere guilty of genocide againstthe Muslim minority group.

Suu Kyi, who is nowMyanmar’s leader, told thecourt that the exodus of hun-

dreds of thousands of RohingyaMuslims to neighboringBangladesh was the unfortunateresult of a battle with insurgents.

She denied that the armyhad killed civilians, rapedwomen and torched houses in2017. Critics describe theactions by the army as a delib-erate campaign of ethnic cleans-ing and genocide that forcedmore than 700,000 Rohingya toflee. AP

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London: Millions of votersflocked to polling stations acrossthe UK on Thursday for thecountry’s first December electionin nearly a century, with BritishPM Boris Johnson andOpposition Leader JeremyCorbyn among the first to casttheir ballots in London. Pollingstations across all constituenciesof the United Kingdom –England, Wales, Scotland andNorthern Ireland – opened at07:00 GMT where a total of 3,322candidates are standing for elec-tion to 650 seats in the House ofCommons. PTI

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On December 2, 16 ofIndia’s top automotive

journalists gathered at theBudhh International Circuitto drive some cars. But thiswas not your average trackday where folks were rock-eting down the straight andunleashing Italian orTeutonic stallions (well,there were some Germancars). Mainly, on that day the16 men were driving all themajor vehicles launched inIndia during 2019. All sortsof cars were there, which insize ranged from the TataHarrier and MG Hector tothe compact Maruti-SuzukiS-Presso and the RenaultTriber. There were also oneslike the third-generationWagonR, the new Kia Seltosand its cousins fromHyundai, the Venue and i10Nios as well as the HondaCivic and Nissan Kicks. AndI was one of those 16 men,after the steering committeeof the Indian Car Of TheYear (ICOTY) accepted myapplication to join them,for which I’m very grateful.

But I’d like to use thiscolumn to clarify somedoubts and the questionsthat people have had aboutthe awards. One most com-monly asked one is why theracetrack as after all, none ofthe contenders were devel-oped for it? That is true, butyou do not need me to tellyou that most Indian roadsare utterly chaotic and withunpredictable traffic condi-tions. Some of the testing wedo involves high speeds,heavy braking and sharpturns and frankly, the BIC is,by far, the safest place inIndia to drive like that. Plus,on the track no one willengage in questions aboutthe legality of driving at180 kmph. Driving on thetrack also reminds us of thepositives and negatives ofthe cars and in some casesshows up some newer prob-lems. I discovered that acouple of vehicles were veryskittish under extreme brak-ing. And there was one carwhose handling on the trackwas so surprisingly good

that it forced me to re-eval-uate that vehicle.

And nobody is beingtimed (at least I hope not)and the award isn’t handedout to the fastest car of theyear. Also, almost every sin-gle one of us had driven eachof these cars over significantdistances over the year. I, forone, had spent time withmost (if not all) cars inDelhi for at least a week. AsI wrote last week, you mightthink it is a great job switch-ing cars every few days, butnot when you have to devel-op a feel for every car andremember what you felteight-nine months downthe line. Keep in mind thatthe ICOTY is not necessar-ily the ‘best’ driving car ofthe year. The jury membersof most COTY awardsacross the world considerhow appropriate a vehicle isfor a market and this hasbeen reflected in the awardsover the years. Last year’swinner, the Maruti-SuzukiSwift, was a deserving carnot just because it is a fun

car to drive but because itwas felt that it was the bestvehicle launched last year.

One can argue, and Ihave heard this online, thatwhy can’t the judges begiven an envelope with avoting form and mail thatin. And I would answerthat by saying that it doesnot work like that for a cou-ple of reasons. First, becauseyou really do need to haveall the contenders side byside, because voting, andyou see this in Hollywoodwhere movies are releasedjust for ‘Oscar Season’, tendsto be biased towards thevehicles that you have dri-ven more recently. Second,and personally, I find this ofimportance, I like to discussvehicles with my fellowmotoring journalists. It isusually stuff like the steer-ing and braking. It is aboutasking, “Did you feel thattoo?” Because you want toknow whether it was thevehicle’s fault or was it youwho made a mistake andbelieve me, quite often it isthe latter.

Being together alsokeeps the sanctity of the vot-ing process, keeping itdemocratic where each jurymember’s vote has the samesignificance. While I am anew member of the jury thisyear, I can tell you with allearnestness that there is no‘stitch-up’, there is no fix, myvote has the same weight asthat of the people who havebeen members for over a

decade. Yes, there were afew very credible con-tenders but that is becausethose were very good vehi-cles. It was to answer suchallegations of fixing — thinkof this like the ‘EVM’s areevil’ by someone who losesin the elections — that thisyear the ICOTY Jury invit-ed Grant-Thorton to collatethe scores of the jury mem-bers and be a validator.

There was also a votefor ‘Premium Indian Car OfThe Year’ with severalGerman luxury cars in theshootout. After taking some90 horsepower cars ontrack, I think we all wantedto have some fun with the250 horsepower plus vehi-cles and not feel scared atthe end of the straight. Thisis a new category for thisyear and an important onebecause while the ICOTYcelebrates appropriatenessfor the Indian market, thePremium ICOTY also looksat sheer performance andfun, as well as consideringa degree of appropriatenessfor the market.

Frankly, I have no cluewho won. I can guess, basedon how I voted, but I couldbe wrong just like I wasabout the 2019 GeneralElections. The 16 jury mem-bers can have very differentopinions on cars and youhave to respect that. None ofus copy and pastebrochures, we try and do anearnest job and that is whywe do what we do, so whenthe award for the ICOTY2020 is announced on theevening of December 18, itmight be a massive surprisefor everyone. So keep tunedto Twitter updates and atwww.icoty.org

For many, the Indian pop culturenever really existed. And theyblame it on the Bollywood

swamp. Jatin Varma, founder, ComicCon India, was one of them. “Formost of my younger days, Indian popculture was completely dominated byBollywood or cricket but during thepast 10 years or so, there has been alot of ballooning of content from out-side as well as local. Just like gam-ing, Indian local comics have comeup in a big way. It’s no longer justabout Amar Chitra Katha (ACK) orRaj Comics or Chacha Chaudharyanymore.”

It was this change that made himconceptualise a comic festival thatwould bounce up our own creed ofsuperheroes. With its ninth editionround the corner, he says, “You getto experience all of this at this festi-val and connect with these creatorsand characters.” The festival was firstcurated to celebrate pop culture andincluded films, gaming and TV. Itnow includes web shows and any-thing that is “trending.”

India hasn’t had a dominantcomic culture as the West. As a resulteven for us, DC and Marvel are syn-onymous with ‘comics’ simplybecause they have evolved in con-temporary times while characters

like Supandi, Champak, ChachaChaudhary and others are stuck ina time warp. Jatin believes that a lotof comic characters have beenabsorbed by the Indian youthbecause they have been revived infilms. He says, “In the initial yearsof the festival, I never looked atthe larger picture, which wasabout how the world evolves. ButI feel that in one way or another,comics are still alive because how weare consuming those stories haschanged. It might not be the sameway as the 90s’ kids did. A lot of peo-ple who have grown up in the past10 years have consumed these storiesand characters, especially, throughfilms.”

The festival has come a long wayand has also seen investment fromLance Fensterman as it realised thepotential of a burgeoning communi-ty of fans in India. Moreover, it washelping the pop culture industry inthe country to grow besides givingcompanies an entry into the marketto interact directly with fans.

The emergence of multi-mediahas helped flesh out flat-plane char-acter. “There are many more ways ofprojecting the same story” as earli-er people only read it rather thanwatching it on TV or in films.

“There’s a lot more to storytelling thanjust the physical feel of a comic booktoday,” he says.

Jatin draws a reference fromsocial media. “Don’t we consumenews mostly through our phonestoday? Some of our featured guests atComic Con, who have web comics,are popular among the Indian audi-ence not because of their website butbecause they have a super famousInstagram account. It’s the same for-mat but just a new delivery system,”he says.

As per Jatin, Indians, unfortu-nately, do not prefer reading books ingeneral except the educational ones.The whole idea of constantly gettingupdates on the phone works best forthem because that is convenient. But

he says, “It’s not a dying art form. Itcan never die. It will always have aniche segment. Yes, we are evolv-ing but in a manner that a million

physical copies of the books aremore expensive than five thousandmillion copies of the web comics.”

It’s all about how you structureyour business and how you want toconvey your stories, he tells us. Jatinadds that he has met many creatorsand directors who say they will makea web series based on their comicbooks because the market is bigger.

“We are finding different things to dobecause the only way to reach out toconsumers is to go beyond just theprinted format nowadays,” says thefounder.

This year, the popular internation-al artists marking their presenceinclude Melbourne-based digital artistKode Abdo, better known as#Bosslogic, illustrator Chad Hardinwho works for DC Comics and HarleyQuinn series and Asian-Americanartist and designer Bernard Chang,who has illustrated books for Marveland DC Comics, including X-Men,New Mutants, Cable, Deadpool,Superman, Supergirl, and WonderWoman. Joining them will be the lead-ing Indian comic book publishers,illustrators and writers like AbhijeetKini (Abhijeet Kini Studios), GauravBasu (Acid Toad), Vivek Goel (HolyCow Entertainment), Rahil Mohsin,Shubham Khurana (CorporatComics), Ravi Ahuja (Bullseye Press),Saumin Patel and creators of popularIndian webcomics like SaileshGopalan (Brown Paperbag Comics),Bhagya Mathew (Awkwerrrd) andSumit Kumar (Bakaramax).

(The festival will be held fromDecember 20 to 22 between 11 am and8 pm at NSIC Exhibition Ground,Okhla.)

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Nothing says “celebration”like a ridiculously expen-

sive piece of meat. Well, that’snot really true, but this is thetime of year for splurging, indollars and eating.

And with apologies to thevegetarians, few things are asimpressive an anchor to a festivemeal than an extravagant cut ofmeat.

But the prices can increasethere, especially now that manyconsumers are trying to eatmore responsibly by buyingmeat that is grass-fed, pasture-raised and ethically handled. Arecent jaunt around some mar-kets in New York City revealed100 per cent grass-fed, local beefChateaubriand roast for $59.99per pound; pasture-raised, localFrenched rack of lamb for$39.99 per pound; and on thewebsite of a price club, an A5Kobe beef sirloin roast sells for$2,000 for an 8-pound piece ofmeat.

Even if you’re buying amore traditionally producedpiece of meat, you might be pay-ing $29.99 per pound for a filetmignon beef roast or $18 perpound for a standing rib roast.So you do not want to mess thisup. It can be nerve-wrackingcooking a piece of meat onwhich you spent a small fortune.Some tips from the experts:

����� ���!� ���For expensive, large cuts of

meat, roasting is usually theanswer. The dry heat methodcaramelises the exterior andallows for even cookingthroughout. “We use classicroasting techniques, i.e. nosous vide or other new agemethods,” says MichaelLomonaco, who knows hisway around pricey cuts of meatas chef and partner of PorterHouse Bar and Grill in NewYork.

Don’t complicate thingsduring the holidays, he adds.He opts for a timeless prime rib.

Fat is your friend when itcomes to splurgey cuts of meat.That’s why Antimo DiMeo,executive chef of Bardea Foodand Drink in Wilmington,Delaware, also likes prime ribfor the holidays. “It provides alot of great fat marbling thatresponds well to slow roasting,’’he says.

Lomonaco suggests placingthe roast fat side up so the fatbastes the meat as it cooks. Picka cut with a generous amountof fat, and ask your butcher tohelp you pick the choicest one.

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That way the outer partwon’t cook too quickly whilethe inside is still losing its chill.

��� ��� �!���� ���Some people sear the meat

first, some cook it slow andsteady, some switch from highto low heat during roasting.Find a recipe from a reliablesource and follow it precisely.And make sure the oven is fullypreheated before you put themeat in.

Here are two importantpoints: Firstly, use a meat ther-mometer. It’s the only way tomake sure you’re removingyour meat from the oven at theright moment. Insert the inter-nal thermometer into themeat’s thickest point, makingsure it’s not touching any bone.There are a variety of internalthermometers available, fromones you can check remotely toinstant-read versions.

Secondly, allow for carry-over cooking. Almost all foodscontinue to cook after theyhave been removed from directheat and the internal temper-ature will continue to rise. Ifyou want your roast, whetherbeef or lamb, to be rare ormedium rare, which would bean internal temperature of 125to 130 degrees F, then take itout of the oven when theinternal temperature reaches120 degrees F. This is also truefor other cuts such as steaksand rack of lamb.

Lomonaco like to roasthis prime rib at 350 degrees F.DiMeo sears his first in a veryhot (500 degrees F) oven togive it a nicely browned crust,

and then lowers the heat to 350and cooks it low and slow for2 to 3 hours (depending onsize), basting often to keep itmoist and tender. Both chefspull the meat from the ovenwhen its internal temperaturereaches 120 degrees F.

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There are two reasons tolet the meat sit after cooking.First, for carryover cooking.Second, because the fibers ofthe protein change while themeat is cooking, and need torelax post-cooking in order toreabsorb the juices. If you’veever cut open a leg of lamb ora steak to see perfectly rosymeat and lovely juices, only tohave the meat turn tough andgrayer a bit later, that’s becauseyou cut into it too early. Thejuices ran out of the meatonto the cutting board. So bepatient.

For a prime rib, for exam-ple, Lomonaco says it’s crucialto let it rest for 30 minutesbefore carving. Smaller cuts ofmeat don’t need to sit as long— maybe 10 minutes for a oneand a half inch thick steak.Legs of lamb should also sit for20 to 30 minutes.

So, while paying for theholiday table’s meat mightmake you gasp, you shouldbreathe easily when serving itup, perfectly cooked, to admir-ing family and friends.

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�You have received the hon-our of World’s First HawkerMichelin-starred Meal. Whathas your journey been like?

My culinary journey beganwith the preparation of myfamily’s meal. The early expo-sure to cooking developed mypassion for it. The foundationwas strongly based on thebelief that good food should bemade simple and affordable.

Hawker food is quite afavourite in Singapore, not justwith the locals but with thetourists too. This has motivat-ed me to work harder.

From being awardedMichelin Guide Singapore toone Michelin Star in July 2016gave me great pride. It wasbeyond my imagination thatmy soya sauce recipe would berecognised by the most presti-gious guide and I would beawarded the titles “The WorldFirst Hawker Michelin-starredMeal” and “The CheapestMichelin-starred Meal in TheWorld.”

The chicken dish was get-ting popular. So I realised theneed for a partnership toaccommodate with theincreased demand and businessexpansion. And that is when Idecided to partner withHersing Culinary to transformmy original hawker food stallinto a quick service conceptrestaurant. It also helped me inexpanding my brand locallyand overseas.

�What are some of the chal-lenges of being a hawker intoday’s cafe-oriented envi-ronment?

Managing a hawker stallrequires long hours of hardwork to prepare dishes formany people and that too,within a short period of time.

�How did you come up withyour signature recipe — soyasauce chicken?

At 15, I left school and myhometown for Singapore insearch of work. During theseinitial years of my apprentice-ship under a Hong Kong chef,I learnt and developed thisrecipe. In 2009, I started LiaoFan Soya Sauce Chicken Rice& Noodle in ChinatownComplex Food Centre.

�What is your take on Indiancuisine? Have you explored it

extensively yet? Indian cuisine is one of the

world’s most diverse cuisines,characterised by its sophisti-cated and subtle use of the var-ious spices, vegetables andgrains grown across the coun-try. The varied cultures acrossthe country have played aninfluential role in the evolutionof the cuisine.

It has also influencedcuisines across the world,especially those of South EastAsia. I have always beenintrigued by the variety of

flavours that the countryoffers. I am excited as I will geta chance to taste or ratherexperience some of it duringmy visit.

�What’s in store for the Indianaudience at the Zomaland?Have you developed somespecial recipes keeping theIndian cuisine in mind?

Since my signature dish ismy strength and I would likemore and more people to tasteit. So I decided that instead ofoffering a new dish I would

rather prepare Soya SauceChicken Rice for the guests.

�Any Indian spices or dishthat may have caught yourfancy?

Flavours catch my attentioninstantly. So the curry spicescaught my fancy as they arespicy, flavourful and delicious.

�How has your cookingevolved over the years? Also,being a hawker, where are thelatest trends headed to?

During the initial years,when I established my stall, Icooked for less people withminimal support. But after theMichelin-star status, I had toattend to more people andhence my quick service restau-rant came up along with thefranchise. But one thing whichhas been consistent from dayone is the focus on the qualityof food that I serve to my cus-tomers.

Hawker cuisine will be vis-ible on the global scene aseveryone can enjoy the streetfood in its simplicity alongwith good quality and anauthentic touch.

�How do you think food fes-tivals help chefs in establish-ing their expertise and explor-ing other cuisines?

Such festivals do not do justthat but but also give chefs aplatform to showcase their cre-ations and signature dishes topeople across the world. Forinstance, I travel to differentcountries to showcase my SoyaSauce Chicken Rice.

(The chef will be at the“Singapore Experience Zone”hosted by Singapore TourismBoard at Zomaland Season 2 inthe JLN Stadium from December13 to 15.)

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Atletico Madrid claimed the finalspot in the last 16 on Wednesdaywith a 2-0 win over Lokomotiv

Moscow, after Atalanta completed animpressive comeback in Group C toqualify.

Bayern Munich sealedconsecutive victories overTottenham with a 3-1 successat the Allianz Arena, whileReal Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus alsofinished their group cam-paigns on winning notes.

Diego Simeone’s Atleticowent into their game knowing defeat, cou-pled with a Bayer Leverkusen win againstJuve, would see them dumped out.

Kieran Tripper had a second-minutepenalty brilliantly saved by Lokomotivgoalkeeper Anton Kochenkov at theWanda Metropolitano, but Joao Felixmade no mistake from the spot a quarterof an hour later.

Atletico wasted a string of chances andAlvaro Morata had a goal ruled out byVAR for offside.

But their place in the knockoutrounds was secured when centre-backFelipe volleyed home Koke’s cross after ashort corner routine.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his secondChampions League goal of the season asJuve, who were already sure of top spot,saw off Leverkusen 2-0 in Germany in theother Group D game.

Substitute Paulo Dybala was the cre-ator of the 75th-minute opener, crossinglow for Ronaldo to tap in a record-extend-ing 128th goal in the competition, beforeGonzalo Higuain’s injury-time clincher.

“Ronaldo and Higuain led by exam-ple, they were always the first to work hardfor the team,” Juve ‘keeper GianluigiBuffon told uefa.com.

Champions League debutants Atalantaclaimed a famous 3-0 triumph at ShakhtarDonetsk to qualify with Manchester Citydespite having lost their first three games.

The Italian outfit, who finished thirdin Serie A last season, conceded 11 goalsin their opening three matches, but drewwith City at the San Siro before beatingDinamo Zagreb to keep their hopes alive.

Timothy Castagne stabbed in thecrucial first goal in the 66th minute, beforeMario Pasalic found the net shortly afterShakhtar full-back Dodo was controver-sially sent off in Kharkiv.

Robin Gosens grabbed an injury-timethird as Shakhtar tired, sparking wildAtalanta celebrations in front of the vis-iting fans.

“It will remain in the history of foot-ball and of this club. I think it’ll also staylong in the memory of everyone who wasin the stadium,” captain Alejandro Gomeztold Sky Sport Italia.

Atalanta’s win ensured that all 16 ofthe sides in the knockout stage are fromEurope’s ‘big five’ leagues of England,Spain, Italy, Germany and France for thefirst time.

Dinamo needed to beat English cham-pions City to progress, but despite takingan early lead through Dani Olmo, were

sent packing by a Gabriel Jesus hat-trickbefore teenage midfielder Phil Fodenwrapped a 4-1 win for Pep Guardiola’s side.

PSG RUN RIOTJose Mourinho’s Tottenham failed to

exact revenge on Bayern Munich for their7-2 humbling in London in the reverseGroup B fixture.

Kingsley Coman put Bayern ahead asthey looked to bounce back from succes-sive Bundesliga defeats, although RyanSessegnon marked his first Spurs start witha goal to equalise.

But Thomas Mueller, on as a substi-tute for the injured Coman, and PhilippeCoutinho ensured the Bavarian giants

became the first German side to win allsix group games.

Kingsley Coman tore the joint capsulein his left knee, an injury not as bad asfeared, his club confirmed on Thursday.

Coman had to be helped off midwaythrough the first half after badly twistinghis knee.

It was feared he had torn the cruciateligament, but tests showed the injury is notas serious although Bayern have given noindication how long he will be sidelinedfor.

"The knee will be immobilised for awhile by a splint," said a statement on theclub's website.

Youseff El Arabi’s late penalty saw

Olympiakos edge past Red Star Belgrade1-0 and pip their opponents to a place inthe Europa League last 32.

Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, Mauro Icardiand Edinson Cavani all scored as PSGthrashed Galatasaray 5-0 at the Parc desPrinces.

Thomas Tuchel’s French championshad already wrapped up top spot in GroupA ahead of Real Madrid, but ran riot inthe capital.

Icardi and Pablo Sarabia put PSG incontrol at the break, before Neymar andMbappe teed each other up for second-half strikes and Cavani came off the benchto score a penalty.

Real Madrid also rounded off thegroup stage in style by beating a spiritedClub Brugge 3-1 with goals from Rodrygo,Vinicius Junior and Luka Modric.

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I, Poornima Pathak W/o LtCol Prem Ballabh PathakR/o-251, Ganga Appartment(Near AVI) Sector-29, NoidaGautam Buddha Nagar, U.P201301, hereby declare thatPurnima Pathak andPoornima Pathak is one andthe same person and mycorrect Date of Birth is18/10/1955 Henceforth I shallbe known as PoornimaPathak for all future purpos-es.

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Heavy rain andbad light hit the

second day of thehistoric Test betweenPakistan and SriLanka in Rawalpindi on Thursday.

Sri Lanka, resuming at 220-5, hadprogressed to 225-5 in 7.5 overs whenheavy rain in the morning forced theteams to have early lunch.

Play was stopped for two hours and43 minutes but when it resumed only10 overs were possible with Sri Lankalosing Niroshan Dickwella for 33 beforebad light accompanied by rain forced anearly call-off at 3:30 pm (10:30 GMT).

At the close Sri Lanka were 263-6with Dhananjaya de Silva unbeaten on72 and Dilruwan Perera not out on two.

The stop-start play left both teamsfrustrated as well as 2,000 fans who hadcome to watch the revival of Test crick-et in Pakistan.

When play resumed after lunch

Pakistan took the second new ball andwith it lanky pacer Shaheen Shah Afridiremoved Dickwella, caught at gully byBabar Azam.

Dickwella, who hit four boundaries,

added 67 for the sixth wicket with deSilva, thwarting Pakistan’s attempts forearly wickets.

De Silva has so far hit 11 boundariesin his 131-ball stay.

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Defending champion P V Sindhu wasknocked out of the year-ending BWF

World Tour Final after losing to China’sChen Yufei, her second defeat in two days,here on Thursday.

Sindhu lost 22-20, 16-21, 12-21.Just like in her campaign opener

against Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi onWednesday, Sindhu squandered a gameadvantage to lose yet again in a one hourand 12 minute match.

Akane Yamaguchi’s win over Bing JiaoHe confirmed Sindhu’s ouster from theprestigious tournament, which she hadwon last year.

With two wins from as many outings,both Yamaguchi and Chen Yu Fei havequalified for the semifinals from Group A.

Trailing 17-20, Sindhu staged a dra-matic turnaround to score five straightpoints and claim the first game.

However, the Chinese rallied to winthe second game after a strong start.

Chen Yufei, who has been in rampag-ing form this season having won all six ofher finals, including the All EnglandChampionships, carried the momentuminto the decider and left Sindhu stunnedwith her wide repertoire of shots.

Coming into the match with a strong6-3 head-to-head record, Sindhu struggledto match Chen Yufei initially, as theChinese used her smashes to good effectand grabbed an 8-4 lead and then extend-ed it to 16-12.

But the the reigning world championturned it around superbly and clinched theopening game in 24 minutes when she sentthe shuttle beyond Chen Yufei’s reach.

The second game started on an evenkeel but from 7-7, Chen Yufei went intothe lead and then managed a handsomeseven-point cushion with the score read-ing 19-12 in favour of the Chinese.

With a drop shot, the word numbertwo claimed the second game and restoredparity.

The second game also lasted 24 min-utes.

A confident Chen Yufei was in her ele-ment in the decider and rarely gave theworld number six Sindhu an opportuni-ty to come back into the Group A matchthat lasted one hour and 12 minutes in all.

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Emerging Australian batsman MarnusLabuschagne on Thursday posted his

third successive Test century to frustrate aresilient New Zealand attack on the open-ing day of the first Test in Perth.

After Australia won a potentially pivotaltoss in scorching heat and elected to bat inthe first ever day-night Test in Perth, thehome team was 248 for four at stumps afterfacing some challenging bowling from thedisciplined Kiwi bowlers.

Having toiled without much success in40 C heat, the Kiwis fought back late in theday by removing Steve Smith (43) andMatthew Wade (12).

However, Labuschagne was the rock ofthe Australian innings and was unbeaten on110, with Travis Head on 20.

The leading runscorer in Test cricket thisyear, the 25-year-old passed the 1,000 runmark in the five-day format en route to triplefigures.

Called up from outside the Ashes squadfor the Test series in England after Smith wasinjured, Labuschagne had posted his first twoTest centuries in his previous two outingsagainst Pakistan.

He reached this hundred against NewZealand in style, lofting spinner MitchellSantner straight down the ground for six tomove from 95 to 101.

It was just the second six of his Testcareer and he reached the milestone in 166balls.

By contrast, star batsman Smith reallystruggled during his innings against somedisciplined bowling, taking 164 balls to make43 before falling to a leg side trap from thebowling of Neil Wagner (2-52).

Earlier, David Warner had looked set tocontinue his golden summer until a sharpreturn catch by Wagner removed him for 43.

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India opener KL Rahul admits it is dif-ficult to be at peace when one’s placein the national team is uncertain but

says he has learnt to find happiness in hisbatting rather than worry about a spotin the side.

Rahul blasted his second half-centu-ry of the series, hitting a blazing 91 in thethird T20.

The 27-year-old was not the first-choice opener and was handed the slotafter regular opener Shikhar Dhawansustained an injury and was ruled out ofthe entire series.

“I won’t say I don’t feel it (pressure)at all. Obviously, going in and out of theteam is never easy on any player, you takea little bit of time to get used to the inter-national pressure and oppositions andthere are no opposition where you canjust walk in and score runs, so it’salways difficult,” Rahul told reporters.

“You can only hope (for being in theteam). For me what’s in my control is tokeep putting up these performanceswhenever I get the opportunity and I amnot at that stage where I worry aboutwhether I’ll find myself playing thenext tournament or anything (like that).

“Whenever I get the opportunity Iwant to win games for my team and beout there in the middle and enjoy my bat-ting. That’s the place that I get most hap-piness right now being in the middle andhitting the ball from the middle of thebat, so whenever that opportunity comes,I’ll like to grab and enjoy it,” he added.

Asked how he dealt with the disap-pointment when he was dropped fromthe team, Rahul said he didn’t complicatehis thoughts and just kept working on hisgame.

“I mean you can only complicate it(if ) your thoughts are wrong, mythoughts are very simple. I prepare ashard as I can, put in the hours in the nets.When I get first class cricket, I go backand play and try to improve my skill, bat-ting and get some time in the middle,”he said.

“I know people feel it is easier saidthan done, it is as easy you make it. Lifeis (all about) what you put in your head,”he said.

He stressed on the need to keep play-ing and be ready so that one can use theopportunities.

“It’s so important for a batsman or a

bowler (or) for anybody for that matterto be in good rhythm, being out there inthe middle, no matter how much youtrain or how much hours you put in at

the nets, when you go out in middle itis completely different,” he said.

“It is important that we keep playingcricket and be in the middle, that’s helped

me and I have always felt that’s what helpsa batsman to stay in good rhythm, notputting hours in the net, I’d rather be inthe middle playing games.”

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Opener Kunal Chandela andNitish Rana salvaged a com-

mendable draw for Delhi withgritty centuries after following-onagainst Kerala.

Resuming day four at 142 forone, Delhi were staring at aninnings defeat, but Chandela (125off 219) and Rana (114 off 164)ensured their team got one pointout of the Group A game.

The duo added 118 runs for thefourth wicket to frustrate the oppo-sition.

Jonty Sindhu (30 not out) andLalit Yadav (13 not out) were in themiddle when the match ended.

In Jaipur, Punjab wrappedup the game by 10 wicketsby bowling Rajasthan outfor 168 in their secondinnings.

Needing just 68 forwin, Sanvir Singh (26 off42) and Shubman Gill (36off 28) completed the jobin 11.4 overs.

In Hyderabad, Gujarat pockedsix points with an eight-wicket winover the hosts. Gujarat dismissedHyderabad for 266 in their secondinnings. Set a 187-run target,Gujarat got the job done in 36.4overs with the loss of two wickets.Priyank Panchal scored 90 andBhargav Meria an unbeaten 69.

HARYANA BEAT MAHARASHTRA��� � Haryana skipper Harshal

Patel led from the front witha five-wicket haul to set up

an innings and 68 runsvictory in Group Copener againstMaharashtra.

Resuming atovernight 61 for 5, the

visitors’ second inningslasted only 10 more overs as

Patel (5/12) hastened the end withsome incisive bowling.

Maharashtra were bundled outfor 86 in their second innings aftermaking 247 in their first knock.

MUMBAI WIN BY 309 RUNS�������� Domestic giantsMumbai began their 2019-2020season on a winning note, as theythrashed Baroda by 309 runs inElite Group B game.

Baroda set a stiff target of 533runs and needed another 460runs to win.

The hosts were teetering at74/3 when play resumed andneeded to play out the whole dayto settle for a draw and avoid anoutright defeat.

But Shams Mulani, who hadshone with the bat in the firstessay and also picked a fifer, ranthrough the Baroda line up, as theside was bundled out for 224.

Mulani ended with the figuresof 4-72, as the 41-time domesticchampions went for the kill.

The left-arm spinner was ablysupported by off-spinnerShashank Attarde (2-61) andmedium pacer Akash Parkar (2-16), as Mumbai fetched six pointsfrom the lung-opener.

For the hosts, Deepak Hooda(61; 8x4 and 1x6) and two-downAbimanyu Rajput (53; 7x4) triedto delay the inevitable by playingdefiant knocks.

GOWTHAM SCALPS 8 WKTS�������� Off-spinner KGowtham’s eight-wicket haulhelped Karnataka beat TamilNadu by 26 runs in Group Bthriller.

Requiring 181 to post a winafter conceding the first innings

lead, the home team was all outfor 154 in the second innings.

Tamil Nadu lost its final wick-et when Gowtham trapped KVignesh leg-before for 4 sparkingjubilation in the Karnataka camp.

It was a brilliant performanceby the off-spinning all-rounderafter Test star RavichandranAshwin (4/46) had brought TamilNadu back into contention bypicking up four wickets to help theteam bowl out Karnataka for 151in the second innings.

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West Indies skipper Kieron Pollardsaid failing to execute their plans

has been the story of his team as it wentdown by 67 runs in the third T20I tolose the series.

“They scored 240. I thought we did-n’t execute as we wanted. Yes they gotoff to a good start but we got a coupleof wickets where we got back into thegame. But when we came back in thatscenario we didn’t execute properly. Thathas been the story this series in termsof where we need to improve,” Pollardtold reporters.

“We chased big totals before. Wechased 230 against South Africa, wechased a big total here in 2016, 220 hasbeen chased at this ground so it was notimpossible. But then to lose Evin(Lewis) didn’t help our cause. Everyoneelse had to go in and put in that extraeffort but we faltered at the end,” he said.

Despite losing the series, Pollardlooked to pick up the positives.

“I thought as a batting unit through-out the series, we have been consistent.Again scores of 200, 170, 170-odd, hasbeen a must for us as a team in the last12-18 months or so. Again positive stepin right direction,” he said.

“The guys showed positive intentand we didn’t get over the line tonight,but it was a big step for us throughoutthe series.”

The skipper praised medium pacerKesrick Williams and spinner HaydenWalsh Jr for their performance.

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�� �� Veteran medium-pacerVinay Kumar has joined an eliteclub of bowlers taking 400 wick-ets. He achieved the feat duringPuducherry’s 10-wicket win overBihar at the Moin-ul-HaqStadium.

Vinay took four wickets for57 runs in the second innings totake his overall wickets tally to401.

The 34-year-old is now thejoint-10th highest-ever wicket-taker of the tournament, sittingalongside former Bengal andIndia left-arm spinner UtpalChatterjee.

“400 Ranji Trophy wickets.397 for Karnataka and 3 forPondicherry. Thanks to everyonewho have been a part of this won-derful journey,” Kumar tweetedafter achieving the feat.

Former left-arm spinnerRajinder Goel holds the distinc-tion of being the highest wicket-taker in history. He took 637wickets in his stellar career. PTI

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Day four proceedings of theRanji game between Assam

and the Services Sports ControlBoard (SSCB) in Guwahati onThursday was suspended due tothe curfew imposed in the cityfollowing protests over theCitizenship (Amendment) Bill.

The hosts were in the mid-dle of their series-opener againstthe Services Sports ControlBoard (SSCB). However, afterstating that the game in Tripura— between the hosts andJharkhand — was also suspend-ed, the BCCI clarified that thismatch was going ahead as sched-uled despite the protests inAgartala.

“The match in Guwahatistops at where it ended on Day3,” BCCI GM Cricket OperationsSaba Karim said, indicating thatthe game would be considered adraw in case there is no rematch.

“We have been advised bythe state association not to goahead with the game. Playersand match officials have beenadvised to remain in the hotel.At this stage, the safety of theplayers and match officials isparamount,” he said. Karim isdirectly in charge of domesticand women’s cricket operationsin the country.

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Formidable Gujarat Giants, spurred by astunning win for Chirag in the opening

bout, adopted a business-like approach andstormed to the top of the league table witha 5-2 victory over the MC Mary Kom-ledPunjab Panthers in the Big Bout IndianBoxing League at the Indira Gandhi IndoorStadium Complex on Tuesday.

Though the legend Mary Kom herselfand evergreen birthday boy Manoj Kumarhelped Punjab Panthers stay afloat afterGujarat Giants opened with wins in the firstthree bouts, the Amit Pangal-led outfitsealed a morale-boosting victory when vet-eran Sarita Devi upstaged a zestful Manishain the women’s 60kg bout.

Skipper Mary Kom believed she haddone Punjab Panthers a favour by blockingthe 91kg bout, thus denying Gujarat Giantsthe chance to pick up a point through Britishchampion Scott Forrest. But she was in fora shock when her team-mate AbdulmalikKhalakov was out-thought and beaten onpoints by Gujarat Giants’Chirag in the 57kgbout.

After eight of the 15 league matches,Gujarat Giants (14 points from three)leapfrogged to the top of the table. PunjabPanthers slid to the second spot with 12points from three matches. Odisha Warriors(10 from three), Bombay Bullets (7 fromtwo), NE Rhinos (7 from two) and BengaluruBrawlers (6 from three) follow the leaders.

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