6 ˙ 7 ˆ /* .0˝123 +( 8 /4 -)˘ -! ˘:/!&˘˚0˚ 4.!-*0˚ ˚.0-˘/>˚ 7:˚ 0 ... to their...

16
P olitical significance of Saurashtra-Kutch region in Gujarat is similar to that of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in national politics. In the upcom- ing Assembly polls, the politi- cally active coastal region hav- ing rich cultural heritage, is expected to decide the fate of new Government in Gandhinagar. Of four regions in the poll bound State, Saurashtra-Kutch sends largest number of 54 MLAs to the State Assembly. Geographically, the region forms two-third of Gujarat’s total area. Just like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, deep-toot- ed caste system still exists here. Here, the intensity of the ongo- ing pro-quota Patidar agitation is much higher than the other three regions - North, Central and South Gujarat. Under Narendra Modi as Gujarat Chief Minister, the BJP won three previous Assembly polls and in the process transformed Saurashtra-Kutch region. In the three polls, the BJP won around 40 seats from here and kept the Congress out of power. In the last two elections, the Congress tried hard to make a dent in the BJP vote-bank by field- ing BJP ‘rebels’ like former Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel and Patidar lead- ers. However, the oldest political party miserably failed. Even this time, the Opposition party has not left any stone unturned to improve its tally by raising issues of Dalit flogging in Una and sup- porting pro-quota agitation of Patidars. Spread across 12 districts out of 33 in the State, Patidars and Koli form around 40 per cent, the largest chunk of pop- ulation here. OBCs, Kshatriya and fishermen communities are also having decisive say over a few seats. Apart from caste factors, water, employment, prices of agriculture com- modities — cotton and groundnut are major issues here. Ever since the for- mation of Gujarat in 1960, Saurashtrians have complaint that the region has been ignored when it came to development. This discontent led to demand of separate statehood in the past. Tough condition for agri- culture in parts of Saurashtra and limited employment opportunities in the absence of major industrial development forced large number of Kathiawadis to migrate to big- ger cities like Surat, Ahmedabad and Vadodara. In the past one decade the process has slowed down with arrival of water to Narmada project and back-to- back good monsoons. Top leaders of both major parties BJP and Congress - Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi - held maximum rallies here in the past six months. The Congress vice-president visited all the major Hindu reli- gious places here — Dwarka, Somnath, Chotila to name a few. Unlike Modi, the Congress focused on smaller meetings in the Patidar-dominated areas during his visits. On the other hand, Modi is addressing huge rallies and asking for votes on development plank. “There has been tremen- dous industrial development after the devastating 2001 earthquake in Kutch. Arrival of Narmada water has solved drinking water problems of this parch district. Many Kutchis who migrated to dif- ferent places, in fact came back to their motherland,” says Himanshu Chothani, a busi- nessman and resident of Bhuj, headquarters of bordering Kutch district. The farmers here com- plain that even if they have bumper crop of cotton and groundnut, their plights do not change because prices of these items are always low. Kantibhai Ukani, a famer in Junagadh district, says that the State Government need- ed to intervene by increasing minimum support price (MSP). C iting worries over the rising trajectory of inflation in the coming days, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday left its key policy rates unchanged on Wednesday. The central bank raised the inflation projection to 4.7 per cent at the upper end by March, while retaining growth estimates at 6.7 per cent for the current fiscal. The 6-member Monetary Policy Committee, which in a 5:1 vote chose status quo on rates in an effort to keep retail inflation within the target of 4 per cent plus or minus 200 bps, while supporting the coun- try’s growth. The RBI has increased its inflation projection by 10 basis points to 4.3-4.7 per cent in the second and the fourth quarters, from 4.2-4.6 per cent estimat- ed in the October review. Detailed reports on P10 T aking cognisance on rising values of pollutants in city air, the Delhi Government on Wednesday assured the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that it will implement the next odd-even traffic rationing scheme with no exemptions to women and two wheelers which is as per the tri- bunal’s direction. Further, during the hear- ing, the NGT directed the Delhi Government and neigh- bouring States to clarify their action plans and how they would implement the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) given the severity of the air quality. Green court also sought clarifications from neighboring States over odd-even scheme. It may be noted that in November, when Delhi wit- nessed severe-plus or emer- gency air quality situation that calls for implementation of odd-even scheme under GRAP, the NGT directed the Delhi Government to implement the road rationing scheme without any exemptions for two-wheel- ers and women drivers. Continued on Page 2 T he rising cost of public transport including metro, and spurt in volume of vehicles and level of pollution have alarmed the Centre to think upon alternate transport sys- tem in the Delhi NCR area. Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has decided to roll out 10,000 air-conditioned elec- tric buses on the city roads. He said eco-friendly and cheap public transport will reduce dependence on private vehicles and bring down pol- lution and road accidents too. As per a study, Delhi needs 11,000 public transport buses to meet its demand. The pre- sent fleet run and operated by Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) is less than 4,000. “We want to encourage pub- lic transport on electricity. This is the only answer to cheap mode of comfortable public transport and keeping Delhi NCR in the safe hands of envi- ronment,” Gadkari said. He said the Centre was already in talks with the Delhi Government and was likely to involve neig- bouring States to work on intro- duction of electric buses with participation of private parties. Talking about his partner- ing with the London Transport system, Gadkari said the aim was to reduce cost and pollu- tion particularly in the metros where numbers of vehicles have been burgeoning. India has sought help from the United Kingdom to improve upon the Urban Transport Sector through cooperation in policy planning, technology transfer and institutional organisation. “The electric bus mode will be at least 25 per cent cheaper than any mode of road public transportation in Delhi and its region. We have already been planning for river trans- port, metrino and also ropeway in some localities,” Gadkari told The Pioneer. He added that the Government is also planning to introduce vehicles that would run on bio-fuels and a small unit for production of these will come up in Delhi soon. “We will aim to reduce pri- vate vehicles. The way the number of private vehicles is increasing, we will be forced to construct one lane every three years, which will require huge expenses.” We need to improve the public transport and dis- courage people from buying vehicles,” Gadkari added. Amid growing concerns over rising pollution levels and poor traffic conditions in the city, number of registered vehi- cles in the national Capital has crossed the one-crore mark. The biggest chunk of vehicles, approximately 67,00,000, are motorcycles and scooters, and about 32,00,000 are registered cars. Several reports suggest that vehicular pollution is one of the major contributors to air pollution in the Delhi NCR. Gadkari also said that dou- ble-decker luxury buses using alternative fuel will soon ply on Delhi-Mumbai, Delhi-Jaipur, and Delhi-Ludhiana routes. He also talked about the plan to construct a separate lane for running electric trucks and buses on Delhi-Mumbai corri- dor. “The greatest advantage is that bio fuels can be manufac- tured in the country,” said the Road Transport Minister. C ongress leader and lawyer Kapil Sibal’s plea for defer- ment of the Supreme Court’s hearing in the Ram Janma- bhoomi-Babri Masjid title dis- pute till after the 2019 general elections triggered a major controversy on Wednesday. First, Sunni Waqf Board dissociated itself from Sibal’s plea, prompting Prime Minister Narendra Modi to congratulate the Muslim body and castigat- ing Sibal. But soon the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) backed Sibal’s stand, forcing the Sunni Wakf board to fall in line. On his part, Sibal said he is not representing the Sunni board in the title dispute and appearing for other petitioners. In the morning, distancing itself from Sibal’s stand, Sunni Waqf Board member Haji Mehboob said the board was for a solution to the Ayodhya dispute at the earliest. “Yes Sibal is our lawyer but he is also related to a political party, his statement in SC yesterday was wrong, we want a solution to the issue at the earliest,” Mehboob was quoted by ANI. Modi was quick to use the Sunni leader’s reaction to tar- get Sibal and Congress. “The Sunni Waqf Board must be congratulated for their brave stand on the matter and disas- sociating themselves from the statement of Sibal,” the Prime Minister said. Then came AIMPLB def- erence of Sibal. “As the repre- sentative body, the Board endorses and confirms the said statement of the Counsels made in Court,” said AIMPLB general Secretary After this, Sunni Waqf leader and a petitioner in the dispute Haji Mehboob did an immediate flip flop. “If Jilani (Zafaryab Jilani, convener of the Babri Masjid Action Committee) is saying that what Sibal said yesterday was right, then I agree with him. Continued on Page 2 I gnorance might be bliss in many other cases as it is famously said on various occa- sions. But this ignorance of the Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board (JSPCB) that the air quality of capital city is no bet- ter than that of panicking NCR on PM2.5 level has dragged the city on the verge of disaster, which NCR has been suffering from. Average Particulate Matter 2.5 (PM2.5) in the air during week ended on Wednesday stood at 429 in Ranchi, indicat- ed India Spend Air Quality Index that analyzes air quality of more than a dozen city in coun- try including Delhi, Mumbai, Jaipur, Chandigarh and others on daily basis with air quality test- ing machines installed by the government or private players on various locations in those cities. The index clearly indicated that air quality of Ranchi is only bet- ter than NCR which recorded average PM2.5 at 450 during the week under consideration. Ironically, the air pollution testing machine installed in Hatia indicated PM2.5 level at 551 which is well ahead of many locations even in Delhi whose poor air quality left few Sri Lankan cricket players vomiting in the ground itself during last Cricket Test Match they played against India in Firoz Shah Kotla Ground in Delhi. Even on monthly level, PM2.5 level in Ranchi remained stable above 200 which is not very good keeping monthly PM2.5 level in Delhi air at 320 on same index. Continued on Page 2 T he District Legal Services Authority (DLSA), Ranchi has succeeded in achieving nine- ty per cent success in mediating the referred cases for the medi- ation this November. Incidentally, DLSA Ranchi has been awarded 'Best DLSA’ in the Eastern region during a commendation ceremony organised by National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) for third consecutive year on the occasion of Legal Services Day in New Delhi in November 2017. Out of a total of 286 referred cases in November, DLSA Ranchi has successfully mediat- ed 119 cases as compared to 13 out of 20 referred cases in October. “It all became possible under the guidance of Acting Chief Justice cum Executive Chairman of Jharkhand Legal Services Authority (JHALSA) DN Patel, who made it mandatory for the Referral Courts in Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Bokaro, Dhanbad, Hazaribagh and Deoghar to refer at least 7 cases in a month and four for other district courts,” said DLSA Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh. Each of the Referral Judges have also been imparted inten- sive training for identifying prob- able cases for mediation and con- vince the parties to go for medi- ation by explaining them the positive points of it, said Singh. “After imparting training to the Referral judges, more cases are being referred for mediation ultimately escalating its success rate,” said the Secretary. Maximum number of cases was referred for mediation by Judicial Commissioner, Ranchi, Navneet Kumar, he added. The DLSA Secretary said that as many as 89.47 per cent cases were successfully mediat- ed in Ranchi which is the high- est ever for any of the districts in Jharkhand. “Out of 286 cases referred for mediation, 119 cases were successfully mediated in November in November this year Continued on Page 2

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Page 1: 6 ˙ 7 ˆ /* .0˝123 +( 8 /4 -)˘ -! ˘:/!&˘˚0˚ 4.!-*0˚ ˚.0-˘/>˚ 7:˚ 0 ... to their motherland,” says Himanshu Chothani, a busi-nessman and resident of Bhuj, headquarters

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Political significance ofSaurashtra-Kutch region in

Gujarat is similar to that ofUttar Pradesh and Bihar innational politics. In the upcom-ing Assembly polls, the politi-cally active coastal region hav-ing rich cultural heritage, isexpected to decide the fate ofnew Government inGandhinagar.

Of four regions in the pollbound State, Saurashtra-Kutchsends largest number of 54MLAs to the State Assembly.Geographically, the regionforms two-third of Gujarat’stotal area. Just like UttarPradesh and Bihar, deep-toot-ed caste system still exists here.Here, the intensity of the ongo-ing pro-quota Patidar agitationis much higher than the other

three regions - North, Centraland South Gujarat.

Under Narendra Modi asGujarat Chief Minister, theBJP won three previousAssembly polls and in theprocess transformedSaurashtra-Kutch region. Inthe three polls, the BJP wonaround 40 seats from here andkept the Congress out of power.

In the last two elections,the Congress tried hard tomake a dent in the BJPvote-bank by field-ing BJP ‘rebels’ likeformer ChiefMinister KeshubhaiPatel and Patidar lead-ers. However, the oldestpolitical party miserablyfailed. Even this time, theOpposition party has not leftany stone unturned toimprove its tally by raising

issues of Dalitf logging in

Una and sup-

porting pro-quota agitation ofPatidars.

Spread across 12 districts

out of 33 in the State, Patidarsand Koli form around 40 percent, the largest chunk of pop-ulation here. OBCs, Kshatriyaand fishermen communitiesare also having decisive say over

a few seats. Apart from castefactors, water,employment, pricesof agriculture com-modities — cotton

and groundnut aremajor issues here.

Ever since the for-mation of Gujarat in 1960,Saurashtrians have complaintthat the region has been ignoredwhen it came to development.This discontent led to demandof separate statehood in thepast. Tough condition for agri-culture in parts of Saurashtraand limited employmentopportunities in the absence ofmajor industrial development

forced large number ofKathiawadis to migrate to big-ger cities like Surat, Ahmedabadand Vadodara. In the past onedecade the process has sloweddown with arrival of water toNarmada project and back-to-back good monsoons.

Top leaders of both majorparties BJP and Congress -Narendra Modi and RahulGandhi - held maximum rallieshere in the past six months.The Congress vice-presidentvisited all the major Hindu reli-gious places here — Dwarka,Somnath, Chotila to name afew. Unlike Modi, the Congressfocused on smaller meetings inthe Patidar-dominated areasduring his visits. On the otherhand, Modi is addressing hugerallies and asking for votes ondevelopment plank.

“There has been tremen-

dous industrial developmentafter the devastating 2001earthquake in Kutch. Arrival ofNarmada water has solveddrinking water problems ofthis parch district. ManyKutchis who migrated to dif-ferent places, in fact came backto their motherland,” saysHimanshu Chothani, a busi-nessman and resident of Bhuj,headquarters of borderingKutch district.

The farmers here com-plain that even if they havebumper crop of cotton andgroundnut, their plights donot change because prices ofthese items are always low.Kantibhai Ukani, a famer inJunagadh district, says thatthe State Government need-ed to intervene by increasingminimum support price(MSP).

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Citing worries over the risingtrajectory of inflation in

the coming days, Reserve Bankof India (RBI) on Wednesdayleft its key policy ratesunchanged on Wednesday. Thecentral bank raised the inflationprojection to 4.7 per cent at theupper end by March, whileretaining growth estimates at 6.7per cent for the current fiscal.

The 6-member MonetaryPolicy Committee, which in a5:1 vote chose status quo onrates in an effort to keep retailinflation within the target of 4per cent plus or minus 200 bps,while supporting the coun-try’s growth.

The RBI has increased itsinflation projection by 10 basispoints to 4.3-4.7 per cent in thesecond and the fourth quarters,from 4.2-4.6 per cent estimat-ed in the October review.

Detailed reports on P10

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Taking cognisance on risingvalues of pollutants in city

air, the Delhi Government onWednesday assured theNational Green Tribunal(NGT) that it will implementthe next odd-even trafficrationing scheme with noexemptions to women and twowheelers which is as per the tri-bunal’s direction.

Further, during the hear-ing, the NGT directed theDelhi Government and neigh-bouring States to clarify theiraction plans and how theywould implement the GradedResponse Action Plan (GRAP)given the severity of the airquality.

Green court also soughtclarifications from neighboringStates over odd-even scheme.

It may be noted that inNovember, when Delhi wit-nessed severe-plus or emer-gency air quality situation thatcalls for implementation ofodd-even scheme under GRAP,the NGT directed the DelhiGovernment to implement theroad rationing scheme withoutany exemptions for two-wheel-ers and women drivers.

Continued on Page 2

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The rising cost of publictransport including metro,

and spurt in volume of vehiclesand level of pollution havealarmed the Centre to thinkupon alternate transport sys-tem in the Delhi NCR area.Road Transport Minister NitinGadkari has decided to roll out10,000 air-conditioned elec-tric buses on the city roads.

He said eco-friendly andcheap public transport willreduce dependence on privatevehicles and bring down pol-lution and road accidents too.

As per a study, Delhi needs11,000 public transport busesto meet its demand. The pre-sent fleet run and operated by

Delhi Transport Corporation(DTC) is less than 4,000.

“We want to encourage pub-lic transport on electricity. Thisis the only answer to cheapmode of comfortable publictransport and keeping DelhiNCR in the safe hands of envi-ronment,” Gadkari said. He saidthe Centre was already in talkswith the Delhi Governmentand was likely to involve neig-bouring States to work on intro-duction of electric buses withparticipation of private parties.

Talking about his partner-ing with the London Transportsystem, Gadkari said the aimwas to reduce cost and pollu-tion particularly in the metroswhere numbers of vehicleshave been burgeoning. Indiahas sought help from the

United Kingdom to improveupon the Urban TransportSector through cooperation inpolicy planning, technologytransfer and institutionalorganisation.

“The electric bus modewill be at least 25 per centcheaper than any mode of roadpublic transportation in Delhiand its region. We have alreadybeen planning for river trans-port, metrino and also ropewayin some localities,” Gadkaritold The Pioneer.

He added that theGovernment is also planning tointroduce vehicles that wouldrun on bio-fuels and a smallunit for production of these willcome up in Delhi soon.

“We will aim to reduce pri-vate vehicles. The way thenumber of private vehicles isincreasing, we will be forced toconstruct one lane every threeyears, which will require hugeexpenses.” We need to improvethe public transport and dis-courage people from buying

vehicles,” Gadkari added. Amid growing concerns

over rising pollution levels andpoor traffic conditions in thecity, number of registered vehi-cles in the national Capital hascrossed the one-crore mark.

The biggest chunk of vehicles,approximately 67,00,000, aremotorcycles and scooters, andabout 32,00,000 are registeredcars. Several reports suggestthat vehicular pollution is oneof the major contributors to air

pollution in the Delhi NCR. Gadkari also said that dou-

ble-decker luxury buses usingalternative fuel will soon ply onDelhi-Mumbai, Delhi-Jaipur,and Delhi-Ludhiana routes.He also talked about the plan

to construct a separate lane forrunning electric trucks andbuses on Delhi-Mumbai corri-dor. “The greatest advantage isthat bio fuels can be manufac-tured in the country,” said theRoad Transport Minister.

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Congress leader and lawyerKapil Sibal’s plea for defer-

ment of the Supreme Court’shearing in the Ram Janma-bhoomi-Babri Masjid title dis-pute till after the 2019 generalelections triggered a majorcontroversy on Wednesday.

First, Sunni Waqf Boarddissociated itself from Sibal’splea, prompting Prime MinisterNarendra Modi to congratulatethe Muslim body and castigat-ing Sibal. But soon the All IndiaMuslim Personal Law Board(AIMPLB) backed Sibal’s stand,forcing the Sunni Wakf board tofall in line. On his part, Sibal saidhe is not representing the Sunniboard in the title dispute andappearing for other petitioners.

In the morning, distancingitself from Sibal’s stand, SunniWaqf Board member HajiMehboob said the board wasfor a solution to the Ayodhyadispute at the earliest.

“Yes Sibal is our lawyer buthe is also related to a politicalparty, his statement in SC yesterday was wrong, wewant a solution to the issue atthe earliest,” Mehboob wasquoted by ANI.

Modi was quick to use theSunni leader’s reaction to tar-get Sibal and Congress. “TheSunni Waqf Board must becongratulated for their bravestand on the matter and disas-sociating themselves from thestatement of Sibal,” the PrimeMinister said.

Then came AIMPLB def-erence of Sibal. “As the repre-sentative body, the Boardendorses and confirms the saidstatement of the Counselsmade in Court,” said AIMPLBgeneral Secretary

After this, Sunni Waqfleader and a petitioner in the

dispute Haji Mehboob did animmediate flip flop. “If Jilani(Zafaryab Jilani, convener ofthe Babri Masjid Action

Committee) is saying that whatSibal said yesterday was right,then I agree with him.

Continued on Page 2

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Ignorance might be bliss inmany other cases as it is

famously said on various occa-sions. But this ignorance of theJharkhand State PollutionControl Board (JSPCB) that theair quality of capital city is no bet-ter than that of panicking NCRon PM2.5 level has dragged thecity on the verge of disaster,which NCR has been sufferingfrom.

Average Particulate Matter2.5 (PM2.5) in the air duringweek ended on Wednesdaystood at 429 in Ranchi, indicat-ed India Spend Air QualityIndex that analyzes air quality ofmore than a dozen city in coun-try including Delhi, Mumbai,Jaipur, Chandigarh and others ondaily basis with air quality test-

ing machines installed by thegovernment or private players onvarious locations in those cities.The index clearly indicated thatair quality of Ranchi is only bet-ter than NCR which recordedaverage PM2.5 at 450 during theweek under consideration.

Ironically, the air pollutiontesting machine installed in

Hatia indicated PM2.5 level at551 which is well ahead of manylocations even in Delhi whosepoor air quality left few SriLankan cricket players vomitingin the ground itself during lastCricket Test Match they playedagainst India in Firoz Shah Kotla

Ground in Delhi.Even on monthly level,

PM2.5 level in Ranchi remainedstable above 200 which is notvery good keeping monthlyPM2.5 level in Delhi air at 320on same index.

Continued on Page 2

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The District Legal ServicesAuthority (DLSA), Ranchi

has succeeded in achieving nine-ty per cent success in mediatingthe referred cases for the medi-ation this November.Incidentally, DLSA Ranchi hasbeen awarded 'Best DLSA’ inthe Eastern region during acommendation ceremonyorganised by National LegalServices Authority (NALSA) forthird consecutive year on theoccasion of Legal Services Dayin New Delhi in November2017.

Out of a total of 286 referredcases in November, DLSARanchi has successfully mediat-ed 119 cases as compared to 13out of 20 referred cases inOctober.

“It all became possible underthe guidance of Acting ChiefJustice cum Executive Chairmanof Jharkhand Legal Services

Authority (JHALSA) DN Patel,who made it mandatory for theReferral Courts in Ranchi,Jamshedpur, Bokaro, Dhanbad,Hazaribagh and Deoghar torefer at least 7 cases in a monthand four for other district courts,”said DLSA Secretary Rajesh

Kumar Singh.Each of the Referral Judges

have also been imparted inten-sive training for identifying prob-able cases for mediation and con-vince the parties to go for medi-ation by explaining them thepositive points of it, said Singh.

“After imparting training tothe Referral judges, more casesare being referred for mediationultimately escalating its successrate,” said the Secretary.Maximum number of cases wasreferred for mediation by JudicialCommissioner, Ranchi, NavneetKumar, he added.

The DLSA Secretary saidthat as many as 89.47 per centcases were successfully mediat-ed in Ranchi which is the high-est ever for any of the districts inJharkhand. “Out of 286 casesreferred for mediation, 119 caseswere successfully mediated inNovember in November thisyear

Continued on Page 2

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Two months after the sensa-tional murder of four

women of Jindal family —Urmila Jindal (82), her daugh-ters Sangeeta Gupta (56), NupurJindal (48) and Anjali Jindal (38)— along with their securityguard in East Delhi’s MansorvarPark area on October 7, theDelhi Crime Branch onWednesday arrested five per-sons, including the wife and ason of the guard.

“The motive behind themurders was robbery. The planwas hatched by security guardRakesh in connivance with hisson Anuj and son-in-law Vikas.During sustained interrogation,Vikas confessed to his crime.Following which Rakesh’s wifeKrishna, son Anuj, and threeother accomplices, Sunny, Vickyand Deepak, were arrested.Rakesh was killed by his accom-plice as they feared he may spillthe beans,” said Alok Kumar,Joint Commissioner of Police(JCP), Crime.

However, contradicting theline of investigation taken by theCrime Branch, a senior policeofficer of the Shahdara, whichhad conducted the investigationin the case earlier, pointed outto The Pioneer about the loop-holes in the Crime Branchinvestigation. “The biggest ques-tion mark is on the reason

given for Rakesh’s murder by hisson-in-law. Second confusion isabout the whereabouts of theaccused on the night of thecrime as locations of the accusedpersons’ mobiles don’t matchwith their whereabouts,” hesaid, claiming that the CrimeBranch had made the arrest ina hurry without foolproof evi-dence.

“The Crime Branch madethe arrests without waiting forthe fingerprints report.

The Crime Branch claimedto have arrested the men on thesuspicion that they fled thecrime scene. But we found inour investigation that after thePCR call was made that day, theson and the son-in-law of guard

came to the crime scene onhearing about their Rakesh’sdeath,” he added.

However, the Crime Branchdefended its investigation in thecase. “The local police did nottake the statement of the Jindal’smaid, Rani, seriously. She hadinformed the local police thatshe had seen relatives of Rakeshloitering near the MS Park res-idence. Moreover, they did notverify about the criminal recordof Vikas and Anuj,” said the JCP.

Explaining about thesequence of events on the nightof the murder, he said, “InAugust, guard Rakesh had goneto his village in Baghpat wherehe told his family membersabout the wealth of the Jindal

family. Rakesh’s son and son-in-law Vikas roped in their friends,Neeraj, Deepak, another Vikasand Sunny. They did a recce onthe evening of September 25.Vikas, Anuj and Sunny metRakesh in Mansarovar Parkarea. On October 6, they allassembled at Loni, took twoautorickshaws till MansarovarPark. They reached the resi-dence at 1 am.”

The JCP said, “After enter-ing the house, they killed thefour women, ransacked thehouse, and broke lockers andalmirah. Anuj and Vikasthought that since Rakesh is aguard, he might spill the beans,so Vikas slit his throat and theyleft the premises.”

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From Page 1“It is only after we got

two of the air quality testingmachines instal led inRanchi, one at Hatia andanother at Albert EkkaChowk, that we came toknow about such bad con-dition of Ranchi as far asinvolvement of ParticulateMatter in air is concerned.

We used to believe thatJharkhand is a forest richState, hence other than fewintensive mining cites andcities, air quality must behealthy.

But situation is totallydifferent here,” said Centrefor Environment and EnergyDevelopment (CEED)Senior Programme Officer(Bihar-Jharkhand) AnkitaJyoti on Wednesday.Notably, CEED afterinstalling air quality testingmachines on those two loca-tions in Ranchi is in processof getting machines installedin at least all district head-quarters in State.

Ironically, JSPCB is com-pletely unaware with to-be-turned-disastrous air quali-ty of city and around. BoardMember Sanjay KumarSuman had nothing more tosay on the day than that theBoard was in process of get-ting air quality testingmachines installed throughNTPC which has been

assigned for the job. “NTPChas won the tender of instal-lation of air quality testingmachines.

We are getting theminstalled at three locations inRanchi out of five suggest-ed and two in Dhanbad,and entire work is beingtaken care by CentralPollution Control Board(CPCB) itself,” said Suman.

Though Suman admit-ted that burning garbage inopen was adding in deteri-oration of air quality, hethrew the ball in RMC’scourt.

“The civic body has tolook after this issue andthey are the once havinganswers related to the ques-tions regarding this,” saidSuman. Notably, burninggarbage in open has beendeclared a punishableoffence by National GreenTribunal (NGT).

Ranchi MunicipalCorporation (RMC) on theother hand said that thoughit could have been a case, theagency was waiting for for-mal complaint.

“We are not aware ofanyone burning garbage inopen. Until we receive aformal complaint, we can’ttake action against anyone,”said RMC Deputy MayorSanjeev Vijayvargeeya onthe day.

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From Page 1making a success rate to

89.47 per cent which is high-est ever in the State,” saidSingh. Expert mediatorscoming from different walksof life in the society alsoplayed a key role in increas-ing the success rate, addedthe DLSA Secretary.

“Remarkably, out of 286referred cases number offailed mediation remainedonly 14, while one or moreparties did not turn up in 102cases,” said Kumar.

Five advocate mediatorsand six subject specificexpert mediators were allot-ted cases during the month,he added. Singh said thatmost of the cases which gotsuccessfully mediatedthrough mediation wererelated to finance and fami-ly matters. The DLSASecretary said that the ActingChief Justice also suggestedmeasures to increase the suc-cess rate of mediation underwhich an intensive 100 dayintensive door to door cam-paign 'Connecting to Serve'(Vidhik Seva Aapke Dwar) isbeing conducted for creatinglegal awareness among thepeople at the ground level inall 303 panchayats coveringevery block in RanchiDistrict.

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From Page 1The Delhi Government

then filed a review plea statingthat it sought exemptions dueto inadequate numbers of pub-lic buses. However, later thecity Government demandedthat the odd-even scheme shallcome in entire NCR region andnot just Delhi.

“We will implement theodd-even scheme next time asdirected by the tribunal, whichis no exemptions,” the DelhiGovernment counsel TarunvirSingh Khehar said.

However, appreciating thecity Government, the Benchheaded by NGT chief JusticeSwatanter Kumar has soughtmore clarity.

“Odd-even will comewhen the air-quality is beyondsevere but what about otherdays? How would you imple-ment GRAP when air quality

is very poor... Sit with yourrespective chief secretaries andmake a plan,” Justice Kumardirected the DelhiGovernment and neighbour-ing States -- Haryana, Punjab,Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.

On November 24, theSupreme Court-appointedEnvironment PollutionControl Authority (EPCA)already made it clear that thenext odd-even vehiclerationing scheme will beapplied across the nationalcapital region (NCR), includ-ing Noida, Gurugram,Faridabad and not just Delhi,with minimum exemptions.

The EPCA had also askedthe respective concerned offi-cials of NCR for augmentationof the public transport forodd-even with minimumexemptions -- (ambulance andschool buses).

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From Page 1Don’t want to say anything

else,” he said. Sibal also tried to do the

damage control by saying he neverrepresented the Sunni board in thetitle dispute. “Our PM commentswithout knowing things some-times. Amit Shah and he said Irepresented Sunni Waqf Board. Iwas never a Sunni Waqf Boardlawyer,” he said.

He went on to add that, “JabBhagwan chahega, tabhi RamMandir banega. Na hi RamMandir Modi ji ke kehne se bane-ga. Maamla court mein hai.” Inattacking Sibal, Modi said he hadthe right to present his argumentquoting all facts and laws to saveBabri Masjid. “But you dare say

that the case should not be heardtill 2019 elections. You want to stopthe hearing of Ram temple (issue)in the name of elections,” Moditold a well attended election rallyhere in Ahmedabad district.

Modi said now he under-stands why the Congress keptmany issues unresolved, withoutelaborating but implying that it wasdone to derive political mileage.

“Does the Waqf Board fightelections? Are these thoughts ofdelaying the hearing for electionsthat of the Waqf Board? The elec-tions in the country are beingfought by the Congress party.You want to keep the issue unre-solved for political gain and loss-es in the elections?” Modi askedthe Congress.

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Chandigarh: A panel probingallegations of overchargingagainst a Gurgaon hospitalregarding a case in which a 7-year-old girl died of dengue hasfound “several irregularities” fol-lowing which the HaryanaGovernment is planning to lodgean FIR, State Health MinisterAnil Vij said on Wednesday.

“In simple words, it was nota death, it was a murder,” Vijalleged at crowded press con-ference in his office here.

There were many irregular-ities, unethical practices and theprotocol for diagnosis and med-ical duties was not followed, Vij,flanked by the committee mem-bers, alleged.

The Haryana health depart-ment will file an FIR against theprivate hospital while the licenseof its blood bank will also be can-celled, he said. Its land lease mayalso be looked into, he added.

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Battling for his life for a week,the premature born baby

among the twins, who was fondalive after being declared dead byMax hospital died on Wednesdayin Pitampura nursing home.

While the father refused totake the body, demanding arrestof the doctors involved and can-cellation of the Max’s license, hesaid, “I will not take my son’sbody until the two doctors arearrested. I will also not get mywife, who is still admitted at MaxHospital, discharged, until we getjustice.”

In November, AshishKumar’s wife gave birth to pre-mature twins at Max hospital inShalimar Bagh but both thebabies were declared stillborn.The hospital handed the twins to

the family in a polythene sac,however, the boy was found alivewhile the parents were on the wayto crematorium for performinglast rites. The family rushed theboy to a nearby nursing home inPitampura.

The enquiry committeeformed by the Delhi Governmentto look into the case submitted itspreliminary report on Tuesday inwhich it found Max Hospitalguilty of not following prescribedmedical norms in dealing withnewborn infants.

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Parliamentar y AffairsMinister Saryu Roy has

put his own Government inthe dock over their decisionto shorten Assembly Wintersession commencing fromDecember 12. Unhappy thatthe session will have only fourworking days including theopening ‘condolence’ day, theMinister said that his call in thisregard was disregarded at thetop level.

When contacted on theclamour by the Oppositionparties, the senior CabinetMinister said that he triedhis best to lengthen theduration of the session.

“What would theOpposition say? Even I alsofeel that the Assembly ses-sion should have beenlonger. I tried my best frommy side. The matter comesbefore the Cabinet and itwill not be proper for mecomment on its collectivedecision but I had demand-ed for longer session,” saidRoy on Wednesday.

He went on adding thatfinal authority to decidesuch things lies with theChief Minister and therewere several things “betweenthe lines”. “The Governmentshould see precedence inneighbouring Bihar, WestBengal and UP. I have beenadvocating that the Houseshould at least meet for 40-50 days in a year,” said he.

However, he was quickto show the disruptive atti-

tude of the Opposition butsuggested the parties to sitwith the Government anddemand for sufficientlylonger sessions. Nonethelessit is a curtailed session theparties are leaving no stoneunturned for making mostout of it.

Opposition collectivelyin the form of JMM,Congress and JVM hasdecided once again to goafter the Government withidentical but sentimentalissues of land acquisition,religious freedom, deathscausing because of hungerand diseases and of thealleged political vendettafrom the Government.

“First of all we opposethe move of the Governmentfor calling such a short ses-sion when the State is reel-ing under distresses relatedto farmers, tr ibal .Government is in a dock fornot providing medical andnutritional aid to poor. It isclear with their decisionthat the Government doesnot want to face potentquestions related to peopleand is only concerned about

meeting its f inancialrequirements through pass-ing supplementary demandsfor grants. We will stronglycondemn it and do our bestto embarrass theGovernment inside theHouse,” said JVM principalgeneral secretary and legis-

lator Pradeep Yadav.The Opposition is also

baffled since it would beperhaps the first session inwhich not a single ‘ChiefMinister Question Hour’ isscheduled to take place.“The Government is con-stantly degrading the rele-

vance of the Assembly. Howis it possible to bring issuesrelated to public from acrossthe State by 81 members injust three days? That meansmost of the questions aregoing to remain unansweredlike before and people andits representatives are goingto be duped,” said formerCongress State presidentand Lohardaga MLASukhdeo Bhagat.

Part ies in theOpposition want to raiseseries of malnutrition deathsreportedly taken place indifferent parts of the Statealong with of those whodied for want of medicinesand doctors in rural areas.Besides, land acquisitionsmade for mining and otherindustrial activities, non-payment of compensation toland losers, killing of pro-

testors in several police fir-ings are the other burningtopics in the hands of theleaders.

Moreover the ruling blocaltogether is in no mood toprovide much space to thecomplaints. “You have seenfate of the previous so manysessions when they(Opposition) went on arampage to disrupt pro-ceedings after proceedings.

The Opposition is not atall interested in healthy dis-cussions in parliamentarymanner and if they are seri-ous then even four days areenough,” said BJP chiefwhip R adha KrishnaKishore who also addedthat a meeting of all rulingparty MLAs have beencalled at the residence ofChief Minister RaghubarDas on December 13.

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The Jharkhand MuktiMorcha (JMM) making a

foray in Odisha politics suc-ceeds in getting its first MLAGeorge Tirkey of Birmitrapurin Sundergarh district ofOdisha. Tirkey along with his200-250 supporters rejoinedthe party in presence of JMMacting president Hemant Sorenin Ranchi.

“In the last 25 years of mypolitical career, I did not findany of the political partieswhich could protect ‘jal, jangaland zameen’ of the tribal peo-ple, except Jharkhand MuktiMorcha due to which I madeup a mind of homecoming intoits fold,” said George Tirkey.

With this, the political sce-nario of Odisha will com-pletely change and JMM willbag at least 20-22 assemblyseats during the comingAssembly elections, he added.

“None of the political par-ties succeeded in raising thevoice of the tribal people fol-lowing which respecting thepublic sentiments, I was com-pelled to join JMM again,”said Tirkey.

He said that he will makeall efforts to strengthen JMMin Odisha as he had a pene-tration in almost every district

of the State. “As the modusoperandi of the ruling partiesin Odisha, Chhattisgarh, WestBengal and Jharkhand for loot-ing of land of tribal peoplecompelling them to becomedisplaced on their own land issame, it is the need of the hourthat they should become unit-ed and vote for JharkhandMukti Morcha paving its wayto come into power in all thefour states,” Tirkey said.

Soren welcomed Tirkeywith open arms and said thatthe party has a large mass basein the districts like Sundergarh,Rourkela and other adjoiningdistricts of Odisha where theparty will expedite the partyactivities to ensure the assem-bly and parliamentary seatsearlier acquired by the party.

“We will try to re-inductthose former MPs and MLAsinto the party fold who had leftit for some reasons to strength-en the mass base in Odisha andcarry forward the battle beingfought for the poor, oppressed,destitute and tribal people bythe party,” said Soren.

The movement will bestrengthened by the party inthe coming days, he added.

Tirkey, who started hispolit ical career fromJharkhand Mukti Morcha inthe year 1995, remained twotimes MLA (1995-2000, 2000-2005) from the party ticketfollowing which he formedhis own party Samta KrantiDal against not includingsome of the districts inJharkhand.

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Dedicating the website ofJharkhand Home Guard

and Fire Brigade Service tothe people, Chief MinisterRaghubar Das today saidthat it will bring trans-parency in the system.Addressing people duringthe Foundation Day pro-gramme of Home Guardsand Fire Services, he saidthat the wages of HomeGuards will be increased toRs 500 from Rs 400.

Das said that apart fromBasukinathdham, f irebrigade unit will be openedat Chas, Bundu, Barhait,Chandil, Husainabad andKhunti. This has beendecided in the light of largenumber of tourists visitingthe place.

He emphasized andappealed home guards,

police and other securityforces on maintaining dis-ciplined, remain aware andagile. “Public have a sense ofrespect for army and for thesame respect, police andother security forces need tomaintain discipline and fit-ness. There should be disci-plined traffic system and

each individual should abideby law and order,” Das said.

He said that nation isabove individual and madean appeal to people to livefor the country and dedicateeverything for the country.It is the dream of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi tocreate a nation where every

individual feels secured andcontribute with honesty andallegiance for the creation ofNew India. Transparent andresponsible governance isour commitment.

The CM said that homeguard came into existence inthe year 1962 when Indianeeded extra force to fightChina during Indo-ChinaWar. “Today, they are givingservice in maximum statesof India with honesty, alle-giance and discipline,” hesaid and instructed to givetraining to newly appointed3000 jawans with keepingpresent challenges in mind.Home guards will give assis-tance in maintaining trafficsystem.

Chief Secretary RajbalaVerma, Principal Secretaryof Home Department S.K.GRahate, Director General ofPolice DK Pandey, DirectorGeneral of Home Guard BBPradhan, SK Meena, SeniorOff icers of PoliceDepartment and large num-ber of home guards werepresent in the program.

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The 17th BSNL All IndiaHockey Tournament

started on Wednesday atAstro-turf Hockey Stadiumin Morhabadi withKarnataka winning theopening match againstOdisha. Bharat SancharNigam Limited (BSNL)General Manager(Marketing) RamashrayaPrasad Singh said on the daythat the company was com-mitted to promote Hockeyas National Game.

Former Olympian(Hockey), MajorDhyanchand Award winnerlast year and Chief Guest onthe occasion SylvanusDungdung said that duringinaugural session of tour-nament on the day thatHockey was in the heart ofState. He said that thoughState government was doing

many things to promote thegame, it was falling wayshort in fulfilling its pur-poses.

“This is why I believethat efforts from otherstakeholders like BSNL andothers are extremely impor-tant so that the charm ofHockey remains at fore-front in the State whichremained producing inter-

national Hockey players inboth Men’s and Women’sHockey segments,” saidDungdung.

Four teams other thanhost Jharkhand will take ontheir competitors in respec-tive matches till December8 in knock-out roundsbefore the final match isbeing played on the sameday. Singh said that

Karnataka, Odisha, NTRand Jammu-Kashmir teamsof BSNL came to playmatches in Jharkhand afterseven years. “We sent invi-tations to many other teamsalso, but they couldn’t par-ticipate due to various rea-sons,” said Singh.

BSNL Head Office GM(Administration) SanjayKumar Sinha, JharkhandCircle Chief Genera lManager KK Thakur,S enior GM( A d m i n i s t r a t i o n )Dhananjay Kumar, HockeyJharkhand PresidentBholanath Singh and otherswere also present duringinaugural session to enjoythe matches and cheer play-ers.

Notably, Karnataka wonboth of its matches on firstday with defeating Odishawith 3-1 and Jammu-Kashmir with 3-0, whileJharkhand knocked NTR(Delhi) out with three goalswith opposite team makingnone. The S emi-Finalmatches will be played onThursday and Final onFriday. All the matches areopen for audience for free.

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Despite having well-definedrules that no vehicles can

be delivered to the customerswithout having a registrationnumber on it, vehicles arebeing sold out in Jharkhandwithout even getting a tem-porary registration numbers.

Sales executives of motorvehicle dealers in Ranchi saidthat it takes at least three daysto get the temporary numberfrom the District TransportOfficer (DTO) Office followingwhich it is provided to the vehi-

cle owners. “As per the rule under

Motor Vehicle Act, a dealercannot deliver unregisteredvehicles to the customers. Thedealer shall first get the vehi-cle registered in the name ofcustomer and then hand over

the vehicle to the customer,”said Ranchi DTO NagendraPaswan. If an un-registeredvehicle is found plying on theroad shall be liable to be pros-ecuted under MV Act, headded.

“As a request is made by

the dealer to the DTO officefor issuing temporary num-bers, it takes around 2 – 3 daysin processing,” said the DTO.It is valid only for a monthafter which there is a provi-sion of slapping a fine of Rs5000 if someone is found ply-

ing on the road with tempo-rary registration number, headded.

The dealer however, isissued a trade certificate by theTransport Department todrive the unregistered vehiclesup to the zonal office for reg-

istration purposes only, saidPaswan.

Sales executive of arenowned four wheeler show-room also asserted that at ittakes at least three days to geta temporary registration.

“Although we apply onlineon the same day for tempo-rary registration number, ittakes at least three days to getit from the DTO office fol-lowing it is provided to thevehicle owners,” said a thesales executive.

Meanwhile, the vehiclesply on the roads without num-bers on their vehicles posinga serious threat on the law andorder situation.

“It is really risky if we donot have a registration on itas it could be stolen andtaken away to some otherplace and sold out to anyother person or it could bemisused by anti social ele-ments,” said a new vehicleowner not willing not to benamed.

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Page 4: 6 ˙ 7 ˆ /* .0˝123 +( 8 /4 -)˘ -! ˘:/!&˘˚0˚ 4.!-*0˚ ˚.0-˘/>˚ 7:˚ 0 ... to their motherland,” says Himanshu Chothani, a busi-nessman and resident of Bhuj, headquarters

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At le as t 25 p e opleincluding seven cops

were injured when a clasherupted between the peopleof two communities duringthe ‘Shaurya Diwas’ pro-cession under Nirsa policestation in Dhanbad onWednesday evening.

Locals said that theclash lasted for more thanan hour The irked mobransacked dozens of police

vans including PCR van atUperkulli area near IndiraChowk. The police firedmore than 12 shots in theair to bring the situationunder control, said an eye-witness.

“Around 3 .50 pmBajrang Dal activists tookout a procession observing‘Shaurya Diwas’ (the 25thannivers ar y of B abr imosque demolition) underNirsa Police station.

Suddenly few unsocialelements from anothercommunity started peltingstone at the processionnear Indira Chowk andlater, people from bothcommunities clashed andstarted pelting stones ateach other,” he said.

Terming the situationas “tense but under con-t rol”, S enior

Superintendent of PoliceDhanbad, Manoj RatanChothe said, “The policeused force to quell themob. D C Dhanb adAnjaneyulu Dodde along-with senior police officials,magistrates and otherswere camping in the area.Enough police forces andpara-military forces weredeployed to manage thesituation.”

Forces were also keep-ing strict vigils at sensitiveareas, he said.

Meanwhile, the injuredpersons were rushed to thelocal hospitals where theconditions of eight per-sons are stated to be seri-ous, hospital sources said.“People who got minorinjuries were released afterproviding first aid,” addedthe sources.

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AGridih youth was killed ina road accident in Saudi

Arabia while returning homefrom his office on Tuesday, offi-cial sources said.

Birendra Kumar Mahto(27), son of Cheto Mahto, anative of Mundro Dumardeli vil-lage in Giridih district workedin Saudi Arabia. He wasknocked down by speedingvehicle and was killed on thespot while returning to his res-idence in Saudi Arabia.

The incident took place atunknown place on way back tohis private accommodation afternight duty. “We have receivedthe news about his death in aroad accident .The entire fami-ly is in deep shock “said ChetoMahto, father of BirendraKumar Mahto.

As Birendra’s family is poorthe Giridih administration aswell as Bagodar MLA, NagendraMahto requested the ConsulateGeneral of India, Saudi Arabiato bear the expenditure of send-ing the body to India (Giridih)atthe earliest. The Giridih admin-istration and local people aremaking efforts to get the bodyreleased for repatriation toBagodar in Giridih, it said.

Our deepest sympathiesand condolences to their fami-lies “the SDPO Deepak KumarSharma, Nagendra Mahto MLA,said in a statement.

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Hazaribagh police busteda gang of bike and car

thieves and arrested thealleged gang leader and threemembers of the gang onWednesday.

Police have also recov-ered nine stole motorcycles s,a Toyota Corola car and fourmobiles from the the allegedcriminals. Interrogation ofthe arrested criminals wasgoing on at the time of filingof this report and some morearrests are expected soon.

Sharing this informationwith newsmen, SP AnoopBirthare said that he had gotsome information regardingthe gang and its modusoperandi. He has formed a

team of police officials tobust the gang and onWednesday morning theteam members nabbed thegang leader Santosh Ramalias Bhola Ram, a resident ofDoomar village of sadarblock from Meru village mar-ket.

Later as per the informa-tion given by Santosh his twoallies were arrested from dif-ferent areas of Hazaribaghand nine stolen bikes and aToyota car was recovered.SP Birthare said that Santoshwas expert in lifting bikesand cars parked outsideoffices, markets etc. and withthe help of Md. Imteyaz andPintu Kumar of Mandai vil-lage of sadar block uses tosell the bikes and cars.

According to Birthare someready agreement papers werealso seized from the gangmembers which they use tosell the vehicle. After takingmoney and handing over thestolen vehicle they use to pre-pare fake papers also.

Birthare said that out ofnine recovered bikes threehave been identified so far.One was s tolen f romLohsigna area of the towntwo days ago and two fromVishnugarh some days ago.

The registration numberof the car indicates that it isregistered in West Bengal. Hesaid that through the enginenumber and chassis numberof the vehicles we will soonfind out the real owners ofthese recovered vehicles.

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The three-day-long summitof Vidya Vikas Committee

Gumla wing was concluded onWednesday in the auditoriumof Vidya Mandir Lohardaga.

In this summit as many as75 female and 209 male teach-ers participated from Gumla,Simdega and Lohardaga dis-trict. In the workshop discus-sions on quality education andnew teaching techniques wereorganised.

On the occasion, Dr OPAgarwal the state president ofSolo campaign Arogya foun-dation of India said, “Theplace of teachers in Indian cul-ture has always been high.Nowadays the honour ofteachers has been declined.But for this the teachers arealso responsible. The branch-es of Vidya Mandir in coun-try and outside the country

have been playing vital roles tokeep our culture alive.” Theoccasion was also addressedby Dr Ramesh Mani Pathak,Shashidhar Agarwal and exPrincipal Vimlesh Kumar.

On the occasion thepatron of the school KrishnaPrasad, Principal UttamMukherjee and the principal

of all schools were present. Onthe occasion, a quiz competi-tion was also organised inwhich the first rank wasreceived by Saraswati VidyaMandir Gumla, secondSaraswati Vidya MandirLohardaga and the third bySaraswati Shishu MandirGumla.

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During the second pre-Budget seminar organ-

ised at Garhwa onWednesday, CM RaghubarDas along with a team of topofficials took suggestionsfrom the representatives ofGarhwa, Latehar and Palamudistrict.

Students, farmers, busi-nessmen and women repre-sentatives gave their sugges-tions to the CM who assuredthem that the Budget for thefinancial year 2018-19 will beprepared keeping their viewsin mind. The CM instructedsecretaries of various depart-ments to make provisions inthe Budget in line with sug-gestions from the people’srepresentatives.

Das, on the occasion, saidthat earlier the Budget wasmade sitting inside AC roomsbut the incumbentGovernment has discussed itwith people living in remoteareas. “Budget is not just anaccount of income expendi-ture but fixes the direction ofdevelopment. We want tomake Budget according topeople's thinking and for thatpurpose the seminar on bud-get is being organised,” heemphasised. The CM saidthat looking at the droughtprone situation in Palamu

and Garhwa, the Governmenthas worked to deal with theissue by bringing the Soanriver water to that location.“The State will prosper onlywhen all the villages will bedeveloped and for that, well,pond, Dobha, check damsshould be made in every vil-lage,” he said adding theGovernment is giving funddirectly to farmer’s account byDBT and RTGS to eliminateintermediar y. TheGovernment has appointedvolunteers and coordinatorsto eliminate intermediary.”

Farmers’ representative ofGarhwa, Rishi Kumar Tiwari,suggested the CM to makearrangement for solar energyto the farmers for irrigation.Farmer from Latehar,Gandiru Oraon suggested tolabel the land of farmers,repair the dilapidated canals,etc. Similarly, the farmer rep-resentative of Palamu KumarIndal Singh suggested for

proper treatment of animalsat the block level and thearrangement of the VeterinaryLab and the Vetneri ambu-lancein addition to providefinancial assistance to encour-age farmers for flower pro-duction, lacquer productionetc. Garhwa's female repre-sentative Archana Devi sug-gested the Government towork for women's self-reliance. She suggested pro-viding market and support forproducts manufactured bywomen productive items.Latehar's woman representa-tive, Shabnam Khatoon, askedthe Governemnt to makeprovisions in the budget towork in a large scale forwomen's safety, economicrevival etc. Similarly, SheilaSrivastava, female represen-tative of Palamu, suggested toorganise a women hostel, setup a programme to womengroups for women's work,and to provide legal advice.

Professor of Garhwa, Prof.Bhagwat Ram Yadav suggest-ed the establishment of ModelCollege for the developmentof art and culture. In addition,advised to create VidyaMandal in all the districts.Other resources, includinglibrary, magazines, are avail-able. Palamu's educationistDr. RK Sinha raised the issueof not having the foundationstone of the administrativebuilding of NilamberPitamber University and therestoration of teachers. Onthis, the CM said that onDecember 26 the foundationstone of the said buildingwill be held. He advised Dr.Sinha to read the newspaper.

Student representative ofGarhwa Dheeraj Dubey andNeha Kumari during the sem-inar asked the Government tostart studies in the agricul-tural college of Garhwa, with-draw the deduction of OBC,ST and SC's scholarship, openGovernmental BEd andM.Ed. colleges, set minimumfees in private B.Ed. collegeEtc.

Addl CS Amit Khare,Sukhdeo Singh, PrincipalSecretary A P Singh, SecretaryAvinash Kumar, Nitin MadanKulkarni, Ajay Kr Singh,Aradhana Patnaik, PoojaSinghal, Kripanand Jha andSunil Kr Barnwal explainedthe priority of their respectivedepartment DGP DK Pandeyassured of a crime-free andnaxal free State. Palamu MPBD Ram and MLAs of threedistr icts a long with CSRajbala Verma were presenton this occasion.

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In a gesture to honour the gal-lantry medal winners of the

armed forces, the Governmenthas doubled their allowance,with the recipients to get thebenefit from August this year.The last such revision ofallowances took place in 2012.The armed forces had time andagain urged the Government toincrease the allowance.

The latest directive issuedearlier this week will now see thehighest gallantry medal winnerin war, Paramvir Chakra, getting�20,000 per month from thepresent slab of �10,000. Similarly,Ashok Chakra, the highestpeacetime gallantry medal, willnow be entitled �12,000 upfrom the current �6,000.

The second highest wartime medal Mahavir Chakrawill now carry a monetaryallowance of �10,000, up from�5,000, Kirti Chakra �9,000 asagainst existing �4,500, VirChakra �7,000 up from �3,500,and Shaurya Chakra �6,000up from �3,000. Similarly, gal-lantry medal for Army calledSena Medal will have anallowance of �2,000, up from�1,000 and similar slab forVayu Sena Medal (IAF) andNau Sena Medal (Navy), offi-cials said on Wednesday.

The notification also stat-ed that the widow of a medalwinner will get this allowancetill her death. In case, theaward was conferred posthu-mously to a bachelor, his moth-er or father will get theallowance. If the awardee wasa widower, his son will get theallowance till the age of 18 orunmarried daughter as thecase may be, they said.

Meanwhile, DefenceMinister Nirmala Sitharamanon Wednesday discussed withthe officials the issue of cap of�10,000 on educationalallowance for children of mar-tyrs. This cap promulgated asper the 7th Pay Commissionrecommendations came intoforce since July this year lead-ing to disquiet among theServices. Punjab Chief Minister

Captain Amarinder Singh andMinister of State for ExternalAffairs General (retired)General VK Singh also criticisedthe cap and urged the Gover-nment to remove the ceiling.

Prior to the July order, therewas no ceiling on theGovernment funding the edu-cation of children till their grad-uation including MBBS and BTech. The Government wasfooting the Education Bill since1971. Chairman Chiefs of StaffCommittee Admiral SunilLanba also wrote a letter to theDefence Ministry on Tuesdayurging the Government toremove the cap. Apprised of thesensitivities attached to the issue,Sitharaman sought more detailsabout the issue, officials added.

There are about 3,500 chil-

dren of martyrs entitled toGovernment funding and thetotal expenditure is not morethan �4 to 5 crore a year.Army Chief General Bipin

Rawat said there was a “mis-understanding” on the issueand the Defence Minister hadassured that addressing theproblem was a priority.

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Around 6,700-km road workis pending across the coun-

try for more than four yearswith strife-torn Jammu &Kashmir topping the list with1,431.44-km works yet to becompleted under the flagshiprural road programme,Pradhan Mantri Gramin SadakYojana (PMGSY). As per rules,the works under PMGSY arerequired to be completed with-in a year, one and a half yearsand a maximum two years asthe case may be.

Odisha has been sitting on786.68 km road constructionwork for the last four years fol-lowed by Bihar (580.78 km),Himachal Pradesh (510.66 km)and Assam (501.94 km). Otherlaggard States are Jharkhand(485.75 km), West Bengal(357.69 km), Madhya Pradesh(354.34 km), Nagaland ( 333.5km), Chhatisgarh (299.47 km),Arunachal Pradesh (285.8 km)and Uttarakhand (278.95 km),according to the latest dataavailable from the UnionMinistry of Rural Development.

Similarly, a total of morethan 6,000 km of road length isyet to be completed though theywere sanctioned more than twoyears ago. Manipur at 923.47 kmpending road jobs top the list,

followed by Arunachal Pradesh(891.84 km), Bihar (624.41 km),Uttarakhand (597.69 km),Odisha (520.91 km) andMaharashtra (483.69 km), as perthe data.

Since the inception of thescheme 16 years ago, so far5,20,000-km road length hasbeen completed in the country.

A senior official from theMinistry which is overseeingthe rural road scheme saidbesides problem in land acqui-sition and delay in release of

funds, in many cases States toohave been apathetic in ensur-ing completion of works.

He said we (the RDMinistry) has asked the States totake all necessary steps for earlycompletion of these pendingroad projects by December nextyear. For roads more than fouryears old, the Ministry has askedthe States to ensure completionof all works at the earliest.

Also, despite PMGSY beingin existence for several lastyears, States like Arunachal

Pradesh, Gujarat, Jammu andKashmir, Maharashtra,Telangana and Tripura are yetto notify the rural road main-tenance policy which aimseffective monitoring and man-agement of roads in the states.

However, the 22 Stateswhich have notified the policyare Andhra Pradesh, Assam,Bihar, Chhatisgarh, Haryana,Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand,Karnataka, Kerala, MadhyaPradesh, Manipur, Mizoram,Meghalaya, Odisha, Punjab,Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu,Uttar Pradesh, UttarakhandWest Bengal and Nagaland, asper the data.

The PMGSY envisagesconnecting all eligible uncon-nected habitations with a pop-ulation of 500 persons andabove as per 2001 census inplain areas and 250 persons andabove as per 2001 census inspecial category States, includ-ing Northeastern States and hillStates. Besides this, the habita-tions having population of 100and above, identified by HomeMinistry as crucial are also cov-ered under this scheme.

The Government has alsolaunched the second phase ofPMGSY-II, which envisagesconsolidation of the existingrural road network to improveits overall efficiency.

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Expressing concern overpoliticisation of the

armed forces, Army ChiefGeneral Bipin Rawat saidon Wednesday the militaryshould be kept away frompolitics. Reiterating thatthe military “should besomehow” kept away frompolitics, Rawat said thenorm in the “good olddays” was never to discusswomen and politics in theforces. However, these subjectswere gradually “inching” theirway into the discourse and thisshould be avoided, the ArmyChief added.

Maintaining that thearmed forces operate in a sec-ular environment, he also saidthe armed forces should stayaway from politics and not“meddle” in it.

Making this observation,the Army Chief said linking ofpolitical entities with militaryestablishment should be avoid-ed. “Whenever (any) issue (of)linking any military establish-

ment or military personnelwhere political entity comes inthen... That is best avoided,” hesaid while speaking in a semi-nar on “Media as a force mul-tiplier in national security.”

“The military should besomehow kept out of politics.Of late, we have been seeingthat politicisation of the mili-tary has been taking place. Ithink we operate in a very sec-ular environment. We have avery vibrant democracy wherethe military should stay faraway from the polity,” he said.

In this regard, he urged themedia to understand the issuesand help the armed forces keep-

ing away from such sit-uations.

His remarkscome in the backdropof criticism of thearmed forces whenthe Army was askedto build a foot overbridge in Mumbai.Moreover, eyebrowswere also raised whenthe Army constructeda temporary pontoon

bridge during an event organ-ised by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar atthe floodplains of river Yamunain New Delhi last year. PunjabChief Minister CaptainAmarinder Singh and someother political leaders hadquestioned the deployment ofthe Army for constructing thefoot over bridge in Mumbai.

When asked about theArmy’s involvement in buildingthe over bridge in Mumbai fol-lowing a stampede two monthsback, Rawat said there is a char-ter of aid to civilians underwhich the armed forces helpout in times of crises likefloods and earthquakes.

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Just as India is mulling toscrap provisions pertaining

to the regulation of sale ofdrugs through e-portal andimplement online pharmacy asproposed in the draft Drugs(Sale and Distribution) Rules,2017, a study by the WorldHealth Organisation (WHO)has asked the nations to be cau-tious as such ‘modern pur-chasing models’ can easily cir-cumvent regulatory oversight.

In the study titled ‘Publichealth and socioeconomicimpact of substandard and fal-sified medical products’ whichwas released recently, theWHO has estimated that “1 in10 medical products circulatingin low- and middle-incomecountries is either substan-dard or falsified.” That includespills, vaccines and diagnostickits.

“We have reports from allover the globe, from countriesrich and poor, and reports onall types of products, both

innovative or generic, expen-sive or not,” Suzanne Hill, whodirects WHO’s department ofessential medicines and healthproducts had said in a state-ment here.

The findings are based on100 peer-reviewed surveys onmedicine quality from 2007 to2016 spanning across 88 coun-tries. The studies examineduse of more than 48,000 drugsand found that 10.5 percent ofthe drugs sold in developingcountries were either fake or ofpoor quality.

The WHO study has alsohighlighted in detail on the‘internet gateway’ saying thatrisk-based surveillance, whichfocuses detection resources onthe products and supply chan-nels most at risk for falsifica-tion, indicates that in somehigh-income countries, med-ical products bought over theInternet from illegal or unau-thorized websites, social mediaplatforms or smartphone appli-cations frequently fail to meetquality standards.

“Buying from the Internetis increasingly popular in mid-dle-income countries, too.Besides being convenient, buy-ing medical products over theInternet provides anonymity;that is often attractive to peo-ple wanting products relating toimpotence or to treat stigma-tised conditions.

“The inexorable growth inonline sales provides criminalswith a relatively easy entrypoint into even the best regu-lated markets. Authoritiesaround the world are workingto tackle this new challenge, butit is universally recognized to bea difficult task,” the study said.

It said that more researchis needed to determine the pro-

portion and impact of sales ofsubstandard or falsified med-ical products. The WHO obser-vation has come at a timewhen the Health Ministry hasissued the Draft Drugs (Saleand Distribution) Rules, 2017that proposes to set up an e-portal wherein all manufac-turers, stockists and retailers arerequired to register themselvesand enter data relating to saleof drugs with batch number,quantity and expiry datethrough both online and byusing mobile phones.

However, the IndianPharmaceutical Association(IPA) has been opposing theproposed move saying that thecountry’s poor IT infrastruc-ture is a major roadblock to theimplementation of e-portal.“Even cities have poor internetconnectivity. Considering this,it will be difficult for most ofthe chemists to upload thedetails of the sale on the e-por-tal,” said Kaushik Desai, generalsecretary, IPA in a letter to theHealth Ministry recently.

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Against the backdrop of theLeft parties criticising his

decision to disqualify rebelJD(U) MPs Sharad Yadav andAli Anwar, Rajya SabhaChairman M Venkaiah Naiduon Thursday sought to reject thecriticism saying justice delayedis justice denied and such mat-ters should not be left pending.

Addressing the 12th annu-al convention of CentralInformation Commission(CIC), he asked the commis-sioners to also work in suchmanner and make “sincereefforts” towards speedy dispos-al of cases registered with them.

“Yesterday, I passed anorder on disqualification with-

in three months and then I gavethe strong opinion at the endsaying such decisions should bedecided in around threemonths because the disqualifi-cations (plea) itself that have

been filed, some of them arepending for years,” Naidu said.

He said he thought hisdecision would be welcomed bythe people across the country.

“Of course, people are wel-coming but some people areasking ‘why the chairman hasgiven the order just in threemonths’,” he added.

Stressing that “justicedelayed is (justice) denied”,Naidu asked the informationcommissioners to provide“timely and correct” informa-tion to the citizens.

On December 4, Naidu dis-qualified the two JD(U) rebelsfrom the Rajya Sabha on a pleafiled by the party on September2 for their disqualification afterthey revolted against party chief

Nitish Kumar’s decision to allywith the BJP.

In his order, Naidu had saidthat disqualification of a mem-ber of legislature should bedecided by the presiding officerin about three months to thwartpolitical defections. CPI(M)general secretary SitaramYechury had questioned whathe called the “mind-boggling”speed with which the plea wasdecided by Naidu.

Naidu had said that suchapplications were dragged witha view to save the membershipof the persons, who have oth-erwise incurred disqualificationor even to save the government,which enjoys majority onlybecause of such type of persons.

New Delhi: Foreign Ministersof Russia, India and China(RIC) will meet next week forthe 15th RIC ministerial con-ference where wide-rangingdiscussions on the current sit-uation in the region, includingAfghanistan, the Middle Eastand the Korean Peninsula, willtake place. Besides, ExternalAffairs Minister Sushma Swarajwill also hold bilateral talkswith her Russian counterpartSergey Lavrov and ChineseForeign Minister Wang Yi.

This will be the secondmeeting of these three FMs inlast 10 days. The trio had recent-ly met on December 1 in Sochiin Russia for the ShanghaiCooperation Organisation meet-ing. The RIC meeting comesdays after India-Japan-Australia-US held their first quadrilateraltalks in Philippines last monthfollowing which the IndianGovernment made it clear thatit is part of various pluri-lateral,multilateral meetings with like-minded people. RIC is one

among them.“The RIC meeting is

expected to review global andregional issues of mutual inter-est as well as discuss trilateralexchanges and activities,”Ministry of External Affairssaid in a statement. Lavrov andWang Yi will also hold bilater-al meetings with Swaraj whereseveral issues pertaining tobilateral relations will come up.

It is expected Swaraj mayraise the issue of India’s mem-bership in the Nuclear SuppliersGroup with Russia and China.Besides, during the talks on ter-rorism issue pertaining to sanc-tioning of Masood Azhar by theUnited Nations SecurityCouncil’s 1267 Committee isalso likely to be talked about.India is also expected to raiseconcerns over the release of for-mer Jaish-e-Mohammad chiefHafeez Saeed. The issue of con-nectivity in the larger context isalso likely to be discussed.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday,Foreign Secretary S Jaishankarand Deputy Foreign Minister ofRussia, Sergey Ryabkov, heldconsultations on disarmament,non-proliferation and importantinternational issues. PNS

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India and France-ledInternational Solar Alliance

(ISA) on Wednesday became alegal entity after 19 countriesratified this treaty-based inter-national Government organi-sation. Besides, 46 countrieshave signed the statute for theISA which is an alliance of 121countries.

“In terms of its FrameworkAgreement, with ratification byGuinea as the 15th country on6th November 2017, the ISAwill become a treaty-based

international inter-govern-mental organisation on 6thDecember 2017,” Ministry ofNew and Renewable Energysaid in a statement.

Apart from India andFrance, Australia, Bangladesh,Comoros, Cuba, Fiji, Guinea,Ghana, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius,Nauru, Niger, Peru, Seychelles,Somalia, South Sudan, andTuvalu are the other countriesthat have ratified the ISA.

This will be the first inter-national Government organi-sation whose headquarters willbe based in India. The ISA is an

Indian initiative, jointlylaunched by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and the thenPresident of France FrancoisHollande on November 30,2015, in Paris, on the sidelinesof COP-21, the United NationsClimate Conference. “Thealliance aims at addressingobstacles to deployment at scaleof solar energy through betterharmonisation and aggrega-tion of demand from solar richcountries lying fully or partial-ly between the Tropic of Cancerand Tropic of Capricorn,” theMinistry said.

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New Delhi: The SupremeCourt on Wednesday locked itsdecision on an issue concern-ing intense debate on whoholds control over the Capital’saffairs — Centre throughLieutenant Governor (L-G) orDelhi Government through itselected Chief Minister andCouncil of Ministers.

A five-judge Benchreserved the orders on a bunchof appeals filed by the DelhiGovernment questioning thevalidity of a Delhi High Courtdecision which vested the exec-utive control over Delhi in theL-G. The marathon argumentsin the case began on November2 and took almost a month withthe Constitution Bench sittingthree days every week.

A battery of senior advo-cates led by former SolicitorGeneral Gopal Subramanium,former Finance Minister PChidambaram, senior advocatesRajeev Dhavan, Indira Jaising

and Shekhar Naphade present-ed various facets of DelhiGovernment’s case to assertexecutive power over runningDelhi’s affairs. With the argu-ments centering around theinterpretation of Article 239AAthat deals specifically with Delhi,the counsels submitted thatDelhi has a special place underConstitution which has legisla-tive powers coupled with exec-utive power. Except for the sub-jects of law and order, police andland, the Delhi Governmentasserts full executive authority inrunning the affairs of Delhi.

For Centre, AdditionalSolicitor General (ASG)Maninder Singh argued thatthe Constitution Article 239when read as a whole with239AA gives exclusive execu-tive control with the Centre andwithout the nod of Centrethrough L-G, the DelhiGovernment cannot single-handedly take decisions. PNS

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In a major decision taken bythe Supreme Court to fill

judicial vacancies, the SupremeCourt collegium on Mondaycleared the names of 19 advo-cates for appointment as HighCourt judges in three HighCourts. In addition, the col-legium comprising ChiefJustice Dipak Misra and twosenior judges Justices JChelameswar and RanjanGogoi approved the names of25 additional judges to bemade permanent.

The decision of the col-legium which met onDecember 4 was made publicon the Supreme Court websiteon Wednesday showing thedeliberations made during themeeting. The highest lot ofadvocates selected for HighCourt judgeship came fromMadras where nine lawyersmade it to the bench followedby Calcutta and KarnatakaHCs with five each.

Senior advocateSubramonium Prasad, prac-ticing in the Supreme Court, isone of the nine namesapproved by the collegium forappointment to Madras HC.Two women lawyers also madeit in the list which includesShampa Sarkar for CalcuttaHigh Court and PT Asha forMadras High Court. If thisappointment goes through, theMadras High Court will have12 women judges, the Courtwith the highest number oflady judges.

The collegium also decid-ed not to clear the names of twolawyers — AV Radhakrishnanand B Pugalendhi for appoint-ment as Madras HC judges.

In the first case, the lawyer had crossed the maxi-mum age limit of 55 years andhence was rejected.

In the latter case, the col-legium received certain adverseinputs which could not be ver-ified and hence the appoint-ment was put on hold.

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An interesting turn of eventis expected next week in

the 1984 anti-Sikh riots caseswith the Supreme Courtexpected to deal with a reportprepared by two former apexcourt judges on the scope ofreopening 241 cases whereinvestigation was closed at theinstance of the SpecialInvestigation Team (SIT).

A Bench headed by ChiefJustice Dipak Misra onWednesday asked the counselfor the riot victims AmarjeetBedi and Additional SolicitorGeneral (ASG) Pinky Anandappearing for the Centre to bepresent in Court on December11 when the sealed cover reportof the Supervisory Committeecomprising Justice (Retd) JMPanchal and Justice (Retd) KSRadhakrishnan will be opened.The Court was hearing a PILfiled by riot victims.

The Bench, also compris-ing Justices AM Khanwilkarand DY Chandrachud, said,“It’s extremely important mat-ter and must be taken serious-

ly.” The bench said that if theSupervisory Committee rec-ommends reopening of anycase, it will direct the SIT to goby it.

“We will examine if theCommittee has found anymaterial on record to justifyreopening of investigation. Ifthey say there is something, wewill direct prosecution,” saidthe Bench.

The riot victims hadapproached the Court againstthe decision of SIT after 241cases were closed for want ofmaterial out of 250 cases. Thethree-member SIT is headed byPramod Asthana, an IPS officerof 1986 batch, along withRakesh Kapoor, a retired districtand sessions judge and KumarGyanesh, Additional DeputyCommissioner of Delhi Police.

On August 16 this year, theCourt appointed theCommittee to examine the 241cases and submit report inthree months. Nine cases arestill being investigated by theSIT while two cases are beingprobed by the Central Bureauof Investigation.

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Page 6: 6 ˙ 7 ˆ /* .0˝123 +( 8 /4 -)˘ -! ˘:/!&˘˚0˚ 4.!-*0˚ ˚.0-˘/>˚ 7:˚ 0 ... to their motherland,” says Himanshu Chothani, a busi-nessman and resident of Bhuj, headquarters

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In a bid to boost skill devel-opment in Karnataka, the

National Skill DevelopmentCorporation (NSDC) in asso-ciation with ApnaDesh, anNGO, has launched a 'Skill onWheels' programme.

'Skill on Wheels' would bethe first of its kind outreach tar-geting 5 lakh rural youth attaluka levels through a state-of-the-art hi-tech vehicle thatwould travel across Karnataka.

The event for the launch ofthe scheme in Mysuru wasmarked with the 'NationalYouth Conference' on skilldevelopment organised at JSSCollege of Arts, Science &Commerce and attended byamong others JagatguruShivrathri DeshikendraMahaswamiji, Ananth Kumar,Union Minister for

Parliamentary affairs,Anantkumar Hegde, Ministerof State for Skill Developmentand Entrepreneurship andPratap Simha, MP Mysuru.

Launching the programme,Kumar said, "I congratulateHegde and his Ministry for this

new idea — Ideapreneurs. Wehave heard entrepreneurs butIdeapreneurs is a new word.Idepreneurship will lead toentrepreneurship which will notonly empower the Ideapreneursbut also others as it will enablethem become employers. I am

confident that Hegde will takethis "Skill on Wheels" to 100places in Karnataka."

Motivating the youth dur-ing the launch, Hegde said, "Iadvise all of you to dream asdreaming about your goal willgive you the motivation toachieve. Today it's an irony towitness people with certainset of skills and qualificationsdoing something which is total-ly opposite their skill and inter-ests. Majority of people pick upright skills on the job instead ofbeing job ready. Mere schooland college certificate won'thelp you in achieving yourgoals. Therefore, I urge you allto become Ideapreneurs andour future Entrepreneurs."

Later in the day whileinteracting with industryexperts, institutional heads andsome young entrepreneurs, theMoS said, "We want to reachout to the last mile in ruralKarnataka and take this schemeto the ground. Possibility ofopening a skill university inKarnataka based on a PPPmodel can also be explored."

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The feud over whetherKerala was properly fore-

warned about Cyclone Ockhicontinued on Wednesday, evenmore than two days after thesevere storm left Kerala-TN-Lakshadweep coasts leavingbehind a trail of death anddestruction, with the StateGovernment and the IndiaMeteorological Department(IMD) making diametricallyopposite claims.

Stating that the CentralIMD had given specific infor-mation only after the low-pressure system, that had builtup southeast of Kanyakumari,had turned into a cyclone,Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayanclaimed on Wednesday. Hesaid that there was no lapse onthe part of his Government orits agencies in dealing with thesituation after getting it.

“The information receivedon November 29 from theIndian National Centre forOcean Information Serviceshad only said that fishermenshould not venture into the sea.The Government had relayedthis to all concerned and hadgiven it to the media for publi-cation also,” Pinarayi told news-men at Thiruvananthapuramafter a Cabinet meeting.

“At 8.30 am on November30, the IMD had sent a messagesaying that the low pressuresystem 170 km away fromKanyakumari had becomeintense. Even that message hadnot contained any cyclonewarning. The advisory with

that message was only thatfishermen should not ventureinto the sea,” Pinarayi said.

The Chief Minister claimedthat the Central IMD’s specificmessage on the transformationof the low pressure systemsoutheast of Kanyakumari intoCyclone Ockhi was receivedonly at 12.00 hours onNovember 30. The State

Disaster Management Authority(DMA) had relayed this to allconcerned within five minutesbut by then most of the fisher-men had gone to sea, he said.

The Central agencies hadspecific guidelines to follow asfar as issuing warning aboutcyclones but none of these hadbeen adhered to in the case ofCyclone Ockhi with respect to

Kerala, the Chief Ministerclaimed. “There was no lapseon the part of the Government.This has already been con-firmed by the Union Ministers(who visited Kerala onSunday),” he said.

Pinarayi claimed that theGovernment had lost no timein initiating the steps stipulat-ed in the Central DMA’s guide-lines for meeting the emer-gency. “Within an hour of get-ting the warning, theGovernment had contacted theArmy, Navy, Coast Guard andforces and other agencies andall of them had launched res-cue operations immediately,” hesaid.

However, reports fromDelhi quoting top IMD officialssaid that the weather monitor-

ing and forecasting agency hadpassed specific information tothe Kerala Government 24hours before Cyclone Ockhihad reached the State Coastand that the Chief Secretaryhad been informed of this overthe phone at that time itself.

“Kerala had been informedabout the impending cyclone24 hours before it hit theregion. There is no intention toput blame on anybody. Whathas happened in the case ofKerala is that it did not have thepreparedness to meet theemergency as it did not haveprior cyclone experience,” aDelhi report quoted a top IMDofficial as saying.

Stating that such a massiverescue operation had nevertaken place in the sea off theKerala coast till now, heclaimed, the Navy, CoastGuard, Air Force and otheragencies through their well-coordinated efforts had beenable to rescue 2,600 fishermenincluding 1,130 Keralites fromthe cyclone-churned ArabianSea. “The Government thanksthe Defence forces for that,” headded.

Pinarayi is still under firefrom fishermen across Keralaand Opposition parties over hisalleged failure and that of hisGovernment in taking appro-priate and prompt measures tomeet the cyclone emergencyeven after getting prior infor-mation. The ire against him hasbeen so intense that fishermenhad physically blocked himduring his visit to a fishinghamlet on Sunday.

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The Kerala Cabinet onWednesday decided to fix

the minimum age for purchas-ing and consuming liquor 23years instead of the present 21years. It decided to send a rec-ommendation to the Governorfor promulgating an Ordinancein this regard.

The Government’s deci-sion to revise the minimum agelimit for alcohol consumptionis based on the liquor policy ofthe CPI(M)-led ruling LDFwhich was announced severalmonths ago. The front hadendorsed the liquor policy at its

meeting held on June 8 last.The LDF meet had also

recommended measures topenalise those who sold liquorto those who were below theage of 23. The Cabinetapproved this proposal also.The LDF aims to control booz-ing by promoting the principleof abstinence unlike that of theCongress-led Opposition UDF,which believes in imposingProhibition through phases.

The Government will haveto make amendments to theKerala Abkari Act for raisingthe minimum boozing agefrom 21 to 23. It will also haveto make changes to the existing

rules concerning foreign liquorsales and consumption. TheGovernment is taking theOrdinance route as theAssembly is not conveningsoon.

The June8 LDF meethad alsodecided tor e o p e nbars at hotelswith classificationof three-star andabove and theGovernment startedimplementing it in Julyby permitting reopen-ing of 77 bars. Till

then, bars were allowed tooperate only at hotels withfive-star classification in accor-dance with the policy of theprevious UDF government.

Sources in the ExciseDepartment expected a 15-percent to 20-percent drop inalcohol sale in the State oncethe Ordinance raising theminimum age limit to 23years came into force but

anti-liquor crusaders said thedecision would not have cause

any change in the patternof liquor consumption.

“It is just an eyewash,” saidan anti-liquor crusader in

Thrissur.

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Hyderabad Metro, whichbecame operational only a

week ago, has become the tar-get of the “fake news” on thesocial media as a photo of a pil-lar went viral with a false claimthat it had developed cracksand may collapse anytime.

The mischief mongersclaimed that the photo was of aPillar on the “ISB route” andasked the people to be very alert.It has evoked a strong rebuttalfrom the Hyderabad Metro RailLtd managing director NVSReddy who clarified that the pil-lar in the photo was not ofHyderabad Metro but a flyoverin the Pakistani city of Peshawar.

To further expose the mis-chief, he pointed out that therewas no Metro line on the ISBor the Indian School ofBusiness route in the Hitec city.

Pointing out that there wasno similarity between the pil-lar in the photo and the Metropillars, Reddy said, “the pillarsof Hyderabad Metro can with-stand thousands of tons of

weight and 21 types of stress-es including earthquake”.

Reddy said that the photowas more than a year old and heand the Minister for IT K TarakaRama Rao had issued clarifica-tions many times. He describedthe posts on social media a “lastditch effort to malign HyderabadMetro” by elements who werejealous of its grand success.

Officials were of the viewthat the miscreants were tryingto create panic among the peo-ple regarding the HyderabadMetro which was smoothlyand successfully operating on30 kms long stretch fromMiyapur to Nagole since itwas launched by the PrimeMinister Narendar Modi onNovember 28.

Meanwhile as part of thebeautification drive in the city,the pillars of Hyderabad Metrowere also being decorated withthe portraits of the rulers ofGolkonda and Qutub Shahidynasty. One such portrait ofMohammed Quli Qutub Shah,the founder of Hyderabad cityhas become a major attraction.

In another related devel-opment, the Hyderabad MetroRail and Uber taxi service havereached an understanding tosolve the problem of last mileconnectivity to the passengers.Deepak Reddy, general man-ager, Uber, Telangana andAndhra Pradesh said that theUber service will be available tobring the passengers to theMetro station and also dropthem back at their homes fromthe nearest Metro station.Sharing cab facility will also beavailable to such passengers.

The passengers wishing totravel by Metro trains were fac-ing a problem because of thelack of feeder service to helpthem in reaching the station. Itwas a problem for them toreach the station in their owncars or two wheelers because ofthe lack of parking facilities atthe station.

As part of the understand-ing the Uber has set up a kioskat the Miyapur station andDeepak Reddy said that simi-lar kiosks will be set up at allthe 24 stations soon.

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Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee on

Wednesday launched a blister-ing attack on the BJP for its“failure to stop farmer deathsand bring back black money”stashed away in foreign banksand “success in driving awayindustrialists” post demoneti-sation and GST reforms.

Picking up from where shehad left on Tuesday whereinshe attacked the Centre for“depriving Bengal of our gen-uine financial claims,” the ChiefMinister on Wednesday told aTrinamool Youth Congressrally about how the BJPGovernment at the Centre has“failed on its pre-electionpromise to bring back blackmoney and deposit �15 lakheach in each citizen’s accounts.”

Banerjee was speaking atthe Babri demolition anniver-

sary that her party observes as“integration day.” Attacking thesaffron outfit for “dividing peo-ple in the name of language andreligion in order to rule,” shesaid, “instead of stopping farm-ers’ deaths and bringing backblack money they are drivingaway industrialists by pursuingdraconian financial laws.”

At least 75,000 industrial-ists had fled the country shesaid swearing by the “immi-gration” records adding “ifeach person has taken awayeven �50 crore with him thenimagine how much capital hasfled from our country.”

On the BJP’s sustainedelectoral successes Banerjeesaid “the media is writing abouttheir success in UP rural elec-tions but they are not raisingthe issue of how many votesthey have lost in Gujarat. Inthat State they have lost 13 percent vote share in the town

polls but that will not be report-ed by the national mediabecause they have been boughtby the BJP.”

The Chief Minister saidunlike the media in Bengal alarge section of it had been“arm-twisted into submissionand today they are beamingwhatever the Centre wantsthem to do.” “When media iswon over the country landsinto emergency-like situation.Today India is passing througha super emergency where rightto oppose and speak has beensnatched away,” she added.

Even during theEmergency period of IndiraGandhi common people werenot lynched on the roads andtheir food habits were not dic-tated as is being done today.“Even Indira Gandhi had tolose elections after emergency.So those who are perpetuatingthis fascist rule should be awarefrom now,” she warned.

Taking on the right wingforces for “criticising me ongrounds of minority appease-ment,” Banerjee said, “can Iignore the 31 per centMuslims.” She tagged withthem other linguistic and reli-gious minorities while saying “Ihave a responsibility towardsMuslims, dalits, Sikhs,Buddhists and even Biharisand UP wallahs who feel moresecured in Bengal than in theirown States. So how can I ignoretheir interests. And for that ifsome people call it appease-ment then so be it I will go ondoing my job.”

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In a major relief to two tabloideditors — Ravi Belagere and

Anil Raju — who are facingcontempt and a jail term sen-tenced by the KarnatakaAssembly has been stayed by theKarnataka High Court onWednesday.

The single Bench judgeJustice AS Bopanna directed theState Legislative Assembly notto pursue with the privilege pro-ceedings against the editors oftwo Kannada tabloids, who hadbeen sentenced to a one-year jailterm by the House, until furtherorders.

"Since it is a constitutionalmatter, it is for the court to hearboth the parties before arrivingat a decision or passing a judge-ment," Justice AS Bopanna said.

Karnataka LegislativeAssembly while convicting twojournalists in the winter sessionhad imposed a year sentenceand �10,000 fine for allegedbreach of privilege due to cer-tain articles published by thetwo.

Earlier in June, the Assemblyhad adopted the recommenda-tions of the a privileges com-mittee to imprison and fineRavi Belagere, editor of HiBengaluru, weekly and Anil Rajuof Yelahanka Voice. The com-mittee had examined the allegeddefamatory articles against threelegislators including KB Koliwad,(now Speaker) BM Nagaraj(both member of the Congress)and BJP MLA SR Vishwanath. Inthe last session, only three MLA'sargued in favour of reconsider-ing the sentence while all theother legislators had supportedthe conviction.

The High Court in its inter-im order asked the KarnatakaAssembly not to arrest themuntil further notice. The HCthen posted the case for hearingin four weeks’ time.

The journalists had earliermoved the High Court, con-tending that the resolution sen-tencing them to the jail termwas illegal and unconstitution-al and seeking that it bequashed.

The High Court had thenadvised the parties to solve thematter amicably and disposedoff the petitions after both thejournalists said they wouldappear before the Assemblyspeaker and seek a revision ofthe resolution. Accordingly, thetwo editors visited the speaker'soffice, seeking a review of theresolution and submitted theirarguments and representationsthrough their lawyers.

Editors Guild of India (EGI)had requested the Assembly towithdraw its resolution andcalled the move a “pernicious aswell as gross misuse of thepowers and privileges”. SeniorAdvocate Shankarappa arguedfor journalists.

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The much-hyped 25thanniversary of Babri

Mosque demolition passed offpeacefully with no untowardincident reported from any-where in Uttar Pradesh asVishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)celebrated the day as ShauryaDiwas while the Muslim organ-isations observed black day.

A report from Ayodhyasaid that several shops andbusiness establishmentsremained closed during theday. The Vishwa HinduParishad (VHP) held a pro-gramme at its headquarters,Karsevakpuram whereChairman of the RamJanmabhoomi Nyas NrityaGopal Das declared that con-struction of Ram Temple willstart from October 2018.

When told that the issue ispending in the court, he saidthat court should respect the

sentiment of the masses anddeliver a verdict so that thematter is resolved once and forall. “We respect the judiciary,and its verdict would berespected by all,” he said.

He said that a temple existsat the site, but the only issuewas construction of a grandstructure in accordance withthe demand of Hindu masses.“The Government should takethe initiative of bringing a leg-islation for allowing the con-struction of Ram temple,” theMahant said.

The VHP also organisedfunction at Madhavsabhagar inNiralanagar in Lucknow whereVHP volunteers across citycame to attend the function.“This is the last Shaurya Diwaswe are celebrating across theState. The next year we will cel-ebrate this day at RamJanmabhoomi where by thenthe construction of temple willstart,” VHP leader Devendra

Mishra said. Babri Masjid Action

Committee Chairman JaffaryabZilani said that it was a day ofsorrow for Muslims. InLucknow and FaizabadMuslims offered special prayersin Mosque. In some localitiesMuslims even closed theirshops as a mark of protest, hesaid.

Meanwhile, some Muslimshoisted a black flag atopBeniganj mosque to registeredtheir protest over the demoli-tion of the disputed structure.Meanwhile, a litigant in theAyodhya dispute, HajiMehboob, rejected Sunni WaqfBoard counsel’s stand in theSupreme Court on Tuesday.

“Kapil Sibal is our lawyerbut he is also related to a polit-ical party. His statement in theSupreme Court yesterday waswrong... we want a solution tothe issue at the earliest,” HajiMehboob said.

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The Election Commission ofIndia’s decision to reject the

nomination paper filed by filmactor Vishal for the RK Nagarby-election scheduled forDecember 21 has stirred ahornet’s nest in Tamil Nadupolitics.

Vishal’s nomination wasinitially rejected by the ElectionCommission on Tuesday dur-ing scrutiny following deposi-tions made by two personsfrom the group of10 which hadproposed the name of the actor.Deepan and Sumathy who hadproposed the name of Vishalmet the Returning Officer onTuesday and claimed that theirsignatures in the nominationpapers were forged as theyhad not signed for the actor.

But by 8.30 pm, the actorand his team had met the elec-toral officers and had an argu-ment with them. The candidatehimself tweeted after the meet-ing that his nomination paperwas accepted. “After muchstruggle, my nomination forthe RK Nagar election is final-ly accepted. Truth always tri-umphs,” tweeted Vishal.

But the statement releasedby Velusamy,the returning offi-cer late Tuesday night saidthat he was convinced thatDeepan and Sumathy had notsigned the nomination papersand the tape of the telephonicconversation submitted by

Vishal claiming that the duowere coerced to depose beforethe returning officer was notconvincing. “I conclude that thenomination of Vishal Krishnafiled in seral number 72 isrejected upon my summaryenquiry,” said Velusamy in hisrelease late Tuesday nght.

The decision of theElection Commission has beenwidely criticised by all partiesin the State barring theAIADMK and the BJP. TheDMK working president MKStalin demanded the immedi-ate removal of the returningofficer as well as the ChiefElectoral officer of Tamil Nadu.His close aide M SubramanianMLA charged that the decisionof the Election Commission toreject Vishal’s nomination wasakin to the murder of democ-racy.

The CPI(M), the CPI andthe VCK criticised the action ofthe Election Commission. “Itlooks like as if the authoritiesin New Delhi are deciding

who should contest and winelections in Tamil Nadu,” saidR Mutharasan, CPI secretary.

The rejection of Vishal’snomination papers assume sig-nificance in the backdrop ofobservation by a section of peo-ple that he was a decoy candi-date fielded by the Oppositionto split the Telugu speakingvotes in the constituency. BothVishal and Madhusudanan areTelugu speaking candidatesand the RK Nagar constituen-cy has a considerable Teluguspeaking population.

T S Venkatesh, columnistand political observer said thestance of the opposition wasstrange. “I wonder whetherthey would have criticised theElection Commission had itrejected the nomination paperfiled by Madhusudanan, theAIADMK candidate. We alsosaw the rejection of DeepaPatrick Madhavan’s nomina-tion on Tuesday. But no onechallenged that decision,” saidVenkatesh.

The rejection of Vishal’snomination will result in RKNagar witnessing a triangularcontest betweenMadhusudanan (AIADMK),Marutha Hanesh (DMK), andTTV Dinakaran (Independentwho is the nephew of the jailedVK Sasikala). Though the BJPtoo has a candidate, he is notexpected to make any impact inthe by-election. Thursday is thelast date for withdrawal ofnomination.

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With the Telangana andAndhra Pradesh

Governments committed toprovide or increase the reserva-tion quota for various sectionsof the people in the two States,the declaration of PrimeMinister Modi that the Statescannot overrule the 50 per centcap imposed by the SupremeCourt has come as a big damp-ener and was likely to snowballinto a major controversy.

While Telangana legisla-ture has passed a Bill increas-ing the reservation for Muslimminority to 12 per cent and forthe Scheduled Tribes to 10 percent, Andhra Pradesh has alsopassed a legislation to provide5 per cent quota to the Kapusand three other castes. While incase of Telangana the imple-mentation of the decision willincrease the total quota to 62per cent, in Andhra Pradesh itwill increase to 55 per cent.

Prime Minister’s remarks

made during the election cam-paign in Gujrat in context ofthe demand of Patels for reser-vation, have caused discomfi-ture to Telangana ChiefMinister K Chandrasekhar Raowho had claimed that thePrime Minister was favorabletowards increasing the reserva-tions for Muslims and the STs.

KCR has also made an ini-tiative to make a commoncause with many other Stateswho were facing demands forreservation form various quar-ters. He was demanding pari-ty with Tamil Nadu and manyother states in the countrywho have quota much largerthan the cap of 50 per cent. Healso demanded that theincreased quota should be pro-vided constitutional safeguardby increasing it in the 9thSchedule of the Constitution.

Prime Minister’s statementhas provided fresh ammunitionto the opposition Congressand the BJP in Telangana,While BJP has been refuting

KCR’s claim that PM Modi waspositive on Muslim reservation,the Congress has launchedfresh broadside against KCR.

“This has exposed the hal-lowness and evil design of theTRS govt and CM KCR fordeliberately and willfully mis-leading the innocent Muslimswith false assurances andwhich cannot be implementedat all”, said Mohammed AliShabbir, leader of opposition inTelangana Legislative Council.He demanded the ChiefMinisters of the two Telugustates of how they wouldredeem their commitments forhiking quotas for Muslims, STsin Telangana and Kapus inAndhra Pradesh.

Charging the ChiefMinisters of the two stateswith opportunism he demand-ed that CM KCR at least wakeup now and give clarity as tohow the 12 per cent quota willbe given to Muslim and 10 percent quota to STs from the nextacademic year.

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In a major crackdown onMaoists since 2013, the com-

mandos from the State Anti-Naxal Squad (ANS) of theMaharashtra Police onWednesday morning gunneddown seven Maoists, includingfive women, in an encounternear Jhinganur village inSironcha tehsil of Gadchirolidistrict in east Maharashtra.

Confirming the develop-ment, Special InspectorGeneral of Police (Anti-NaxalOperations) Sharad Shelar saidthat the bodies of all the sevenNaxals killed in the encounterhad been recovered. Thewomen cadres killed in theencounter belonged to theSironcha dalam.

The encounter place ataround 6 am in a forest adjoin-ing Kalled village, 15 km awayfrom near Jhinganur village inSironcha tehsil of Gadchirolidistrict, when the C-60 com-mandos were carrying outcombing operation on the basisof intelligence inputs.

Tuesday’s encounter camein the backdrop of skirmisheswitnessed between the police

and Maoists in various parts ofGadchiroli district during thepast 15 days. During the skir-mishes, the Maoists had killedseven persons – comprisingfive civilians and two policemen – and injured at least fiveothers.

After the encounter, thepolice recovered arms and nax-alite propaganda material fromthe Maoists killed in theencounter.

In terms of the number ofMaoists killed in the incident,Wednesday’s encounter is sim-ilar to the one witnessed onApril 4, 2013, when the ANScommandos had killed sevenMaoists and injured severalothers in an encounter in a jun-gle near Bhatpar village inGadchiroli district of easternMaharashtra, borderingChhatisgarh.

Sources said that the C-60commandos had intensifiedtheir anti-naxalite drive basedintelligence inputs that scoresof Maoists the naxalite-infest-ed areas of Chhatisgarh haddescended in Gadchiroli dis-trict ahead of the formationweek of the People’s LiberationGuerrilla Army.

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Eight Shiv Sena activistswere detained here on

Wednesday after the Jammuand Kashmir Police thwartedtheir bid to hoist the NationalFlag at Lal Chowk in the city,an official said.

The Shiv Sena activistsarrived at Ghanta Ghar in twovehicles and were taken inpreventive custody as soon asthey alighted, a police officialsaid.

While shouting slogansagainst National ConferencePresident Farooq Abdullah,the activists said: "If FarooqAbdullah wants to come topower in Jammu and Kashmirhe should shun speaking thelanguage of the separatists."

The detained activists weretaken to the Kothibagh PoliceStation where they werereleased after completing legalformalities, the official said.

The Jammu unit of theShiv Sena had sent a specialteam to hoist the tricolour inthe heart of city followingFarooq Abdullah's remarks onP a k i s t a n - a d m i n i s t e r e dKashmir last week.

"They (Centre and BJP) aretalking about raising the flag inPoK. I ask them to go and raisethe Tricolour at Lal Chowk inSrinagar. They cannot do eventhat and they are talking aboutPoK," Abdullah had said.

Deputy Chief MinisterNirmal Singh also warned theNational Conference Presidentto desist from issuing provoca-tive statements.

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BJP chief Amit Shah onWednesday accused the

Congress of “shameful postur-ing” on Ram temple issue andhaving a “hidden agenda” ofkeeping the matter pending, asthe ruling party stepped up itsattack over Kapil Sibal’s sub-mission in the Supreme Court.

"Now that Sunni WaqfBoard has said that they don'tagree with what Kapil Sibal saidin court, it is certain that Sibalspoke in his capacity as aCongress leader, with the bless-ings of their high command.

"Shameful posturing byCongress on Ram Templeissue!" Shah said on Twitter.

Sibal, a Congress MP andlawyer, is representing theSunni Waqf Board in the legaldispute in the Supreme Court.He had on Tuesday soughtdeferment of the case until afterthe 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

There are reports that theboard has said it did not agreewith Sibal's views. The board'sclarification has made it clearthat the Congress wants todelay the hearing on the issue,Shah said later in a statement.

"Keeping the Ram Templeissue pending (in court) is ahidden agenda of the Congress.It wants to exploit the matterpolitically. The double face ofthe Congress on the issue hasbeen exposed before the mass-es," Shah said.

The BJP chief claimed thatthe opposition party had oftenused Sibal to "mislead" people.

Locked in a keen contestwith the Congress in theGujarat polls, the BJP haslatched onto Sibal's submissionto target the Congress over theemotive issue.

Prime Minister NarendraModi also attacked the oppo-sition party on the issue in hispublic meetings on Wednesday.

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Senior BJP leader YashwantSinha on Wednesday sus-

pended his three-day-long agi-tation undertaken in support offarmers in Akola district ineastern Maharashtra, after theMaharashtra Governmentaccepted all his seven majordemands.

Talking to mediapersons atAkola’s police grounds wherehe had for the past three beenstaging an agitation along withfarmers to press for their var-ious demands, Sinha said:“Chief Minister DevendraFadnavis spoke to me. He hasaccepted all the demands of thefarmers. This should not beseen as victory or defeat of anyone. But, the developmentwould benefit farmers acrossthe Maharashtra. Since all theirdemands have been accepted

by the State Government, I amsuspending my agitation”.

Fadnavis had called Sinha at11 am and discussed at lengththe farmers’ demands with thelatter. “We had a good discus-sion. The Chief Minister assuredme that he would consider pos-itively all the demands”.

Sinha, who had beendetained along with 250 farm-ers outside the Akola districtcollectorate on Mondayevening, had received supportfor his agitation from variouspolitical parties, including theShiv Sena, Nationalist CongressParty, Congress and othersmaller State parties. In addi-tion, Delhi Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal and MamataBanerjee had also extendedhis support the former FinanceMinister’s agitation.

Tushar Gandhi, the greatgrandson of Mahatma

Gandhi, had personally metSinha at Akola on Tuesdayand extended his support tothe latter’s agitation.

The demands that thefarmers made included com-pensation to cotton farmers forlosses suffered by them becausepink bollworm attack on theircrops, action against seed com-panies manufacturing bogus Btseeds, bank officials andadministration should executeloan waivers by personallygoing to gram panchayats, 100per cent compensation for croplosses to moong, urad andsoyabean farmers, purchase ofall farm produce at minimumsupport price by NAFED, theuninterrupted power supplyto agricultural pump sets andremoval of unjust conditionsfrom the gold mortgage waiv-er scheme of the StateGovernment for farmers.

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Despite (or perhaps thanks to) itsrigid system of governance, atthe beginning of 2016, Chinahas undertaken in-depthreforms of its defence forces,

aiming at a far wider ‘integration’ and agreater jointness of the People’s LiberationArmy’s (PLA’s) different branches.

Instead of the three traditional services,China has now five ‘services’; added to thePLA’s Army, Navy and Air Force, are the PLARocket Force (formerly, the second artillery)and the Strategic Support Force (SSF), a gamechanger, according to all observers.

“While the Chinese PLA’s new SSF is acritical force for dominance in the space,cyber, and electromagnetic domains,” TheDiplomat noted a few months back, “theSSF’s function of ‘strategic support’, name-ly information support, will be equally vitalto the PLA’s capabilities to fight and winwars.” It is certainly the force to watch.

It, however, is not only about restruc-turing the commands and the militaryregions; President Xi Jinping wants also togive a boost to the Research andDevelopment (R&D) domain to catch upwith the United States in terms of newweaponry in the decades to come.

Last week, the Chinese CentralTelevision (CCTV) broadcast a TV docu-mentary in which the actual number of air-craft carriers planned by China was given.In a first stage, it will be six. The first twoski-jump takeoff mid-sized models havecome out of the dockyards. The next twoshould be conventionally-powered carri-ers with catapult take-off capabilities;probably an electromagnetic catapult.Jane’s Review reported that it will “be fit-ted onto the second of the country’sindigenously built aircraft carriers, com-monly referred to as the Type 002.” Jane’shad previously reported that the systemwas similar to the General AtomicsElectromagnetic Aircraft Launch System(EMALS) used by the United States.

The last two carriers will be nuclear-pow-ered comparable to the US Nimitz class. Inthe long-run (by 2050), China will buildanother four world-class carriers, thus giv-ing the PLA Navy 10 aircraft carriers.

On November 26, CCTV showed thefootage of a Dongfeng-41, or DF-41, Beijing’snext-generation intercontinental ballisticmissile, which could strike anywhere in theworld. It has a range of 7,500 miles and couldcarry up to 10 nuclear warheads. A Chinesemilitary expert claimed “the missile can hitevery corner of the earth” — ie the US. Thewarhead is set to be inducted in 2018.

A lot of money is also poured into theHypersonic Vehicle Technology Project;available data shows that China has starteddeveloping conceptual and experimentalhypersonic flight vehicle technologies suchas hypersonic cruise vehicles (HCV) capable

of maneuvering at Mach 5 speeds (6,150+km/h), flying in near-space altitudes. Itcould be another game changer.

Cutting-edge research, like in the field ofquantum communication (which will makecommunications un-hackable) is also under-taken by the Chinese scientists.

The Academy of Military Sciencesexplicitly asserted: “Space and cyberspaceincreasingly constitute important battle-fields. A new type of five-dimensional bat-tle-space of land, sea, air, space, andcyber is currently taking shape, which iswide in scope, hyper-dimensional, andcombines the tangible and intangible.” Thelist of new fields of research is long.

Take the long-range unmanned aerialvehicles. In 2015, media reported thedevelopment of the Shendiao (Sacred Eagleor Divine Eagle) as the PLA’s newest high-altitude, long-endurance UAV for a varietyof missions such as early warning, target-ing, Electronic Warfare (EW) and satellitecommunications. China is also working onan unmanned combat aerial vehicle namedthe ‘Black Sword’, which could one day com-pete with the best US drones.

Beijing has a medium and long-term pro-gramme which aims at transforming Chinainto an ‘innovation-oriented society’ by2020; the plan defines China’s leading-edgetechnologies. Last year, a US report explained:“China has identified certain industries andtechnology groups with the potential to pro-vide technological breakthroughs, to removetechnical obstacles across industries, and toimprove international competitiveness.”

There are other fields such as ‘intelligentperception technologies’ or ‘virtual reality

technologies’, but also ‘new materials’ such assmart materials and structures, high-temper-ature superconducting technologies, andhighly efficient energy materials technologies;and, of course, AI (Artificial Intelligence).

In a just released report, Elsa Kania at theCenter for a New American Security (CNAS)writes: “China is no longer in a position oftechnological inferiority relative to the UnitedStates but rather has become a true peer(competitor) that may have the capability toovertake the United States in AI,” she adds:“it could alter future economic and militarybalances of power.”

Beijing has also ‘megaprojects forassimilating and absorbing’ technology; animport substitution action plan in order tocreate indigenous innovations through ‘co-innovation’ and ‘re-innovation’ of foreigntechnologies. The megaprojects have anobjective of ‘assimilating and absorbing’ tohelp China to ‘develop a range of major equip-ment and key products that possess propri-etary intellectual property rights’

Xi Jinping has a Dream, the great reju-venation of Chinese nation: “It is an unstop-pable historical trend that won't be divertedby the will of any individual country or per-son,” asserts China Military Online.

Does Delhi even realise the trueobjective behind the Chinese Dream,which is to make of China a dominant, self-reliant superpower? India has ‘certainly’something to learn from the MiddleKingdom in terms of ‘dreaming’.

China has its own problems; one is therigidity of its bureaucracy functioning underthe Communist Party, but even if the presentChinese system is not congenial to innova-

tions, considering its structure and therestrictions imposed by the unique Party sys-tem, Beijing is going full steam with the most-advanced researches.

In India, the defence sector still dependsin a large measure on imports. One of the rea-sons is the lack of large-scale R&D. This is aserious problem. Take the example ofDassault Aviation; after the constructor of theRafale was selected in the Medium Multi-RoleCombat Aircraft (MMRCA) project, itexpressed some doubts about the capacity ofHindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) toabsorb French technology; without evenspeaking about ‘innovations’, HAL could not‘digest’ the French technology.

The Modi sarkar has tried to partial-ly solve the issue by introducing 50 per centoffsets that Dassault and its partners needto reinvest in India. Tremendous effortsneed to be made in the domain of‘research’, if India is serious about catch-ing up with China and the West in thedomain of ‘innovation’.

Will the Indian system able to be a top-class innovator is the real question? China,like India, suffers from bureaucratic defi-ciencies, but the leadership in Beijing hasa tremendous political will (and adequateeconomic means) to change this scenarioin the years to come; it does not seem thecase in India.

The Indian Dream has been partiallyformulated with the ‘Make in India’ scheme,but even if succeeds, it will not solve theR&D issue. It is a great pity, because theingredients (brains) are very much present.

(The writer is an expert on India-Chinarelations and an author)@

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Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Long live the king” (November 6).A record 89 sets of nominationswere filed, proposing the candida-ture of Rahul Gandhi, the scion ofthe Nehru-Gandhi family, for the topparty post. The anticipated willmost likely come to pass and RahulGandhi, in all possibility will beelected as the president of theIndian National Congress.

Whether it’s coronation or elec-tion, as Congress president, RahulGandhi will be responsible for boththe party’s successes and failures. Beit farce or comedy, the election is noteven a dress rehearsal for what liesahead. Hope Rahul Gandhi is final-ly prepared, shedding his reluctantpolitician skin. Like his mother,Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi willhave to show that he has the gravi-tas to accommodate the often con-flicting desires of party factions andshow himself to be an expert inmanaging inner party dynamics.

JS AcharyaHyderabad

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Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Long live the king” (December 6).Impartially speaking, it appearspremature to draw an analogybetween Sonia Gandhi as QueenVictoria and Rahul Gandhi asEdward as the latter has not formal-ly taken over as president of thegrand old party as yet, although itremains just a fait accompli now asthe Congress scion is the only can-didate in fray and the date for filingthe nominations for the Congresspresidency has expired.

It is true that Rahul Gandhi isentrusted with a Herculean task ofadopting a pragmatic strategy aheadof the 2019 election so that he mightprove himself worth the salt. Of late,he has succeeded in striking achord with the common people. Infact, States of Chhattisgarh,Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh andRajasthan, which are going to pollsearly next year, may come across asan electoral semi-final between theCongress, the allies and the BJP.With Rahul Gandhi at the helm,common men have pinned hopeson him. However, it is a long way togo as the saying goes Rome was notbuilt in a day.

Azhar A KhanRampur

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Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Long live the king” (November 6).With Rahul Gandhi set to take overas president of the Congress, therehas been a rising chorus within theparty. But what will change when hetakes over? It will mean no morewhimsical sabbaticals from the bat-tle ground, no more indulgence ofreal or imagined dislike of power.Politics is the pursuit of power, medi-ating between the State and the peo-ple while seeking to achieve largergoals for State, society and thenation. With great power comesresponsibility and by becoming theleader of the national Opposition,Rahul Gandhi gets his hands deepand dirty in the clay with which thenation’s history is shaped.

KS PadmanabhanChennai

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Page 9: 6 ˙ 7 ˆ /* .0˝123 +( 8 /4 -)˘ -! ˘:/!&˘˚0˚ 4.!-*0˚ ˚.0-˘/>˚ 7:˚ 0 ... to their motherland,” says Himanshu Chothani, a busi-nessman and resident of Bhuj, headquarters

Activities in the coastal areas,such as fishing, aquacultureand agriculture, on which

tremendous number of peopledepend for their livelihoods, needto be reinvented in order to effec-tively tackle the ecological chal-lenges facing the coastal areas,besides the larger threat posed byclimate change.

According to findings by a newreport, the Marine Advantage,empowering coastal communities,safeguarding marine ecosystemsfrom the International Fund forAgricultural Development (IFAD)coastal communities and marineecosystems can benefit a lot fromclimate-smart agriculture and fish-ing practices. The IFAD report

shows that climate-smart agriculturecan also have knock-on benefits formarine ecosystems. Sustainabledevelopment in agriculture andallied sectors, including aquaculture,can reduce human pressures onmarine ecosystems, which are vul-nerable to overfishing, ocean acid-ification and coral bleaching.

Thanks to rapid climatechange, agriculture and fisheries,the backbone of food security andnutrition for coastal communities,not only in India but globally too,are under threat. Climate changeand environmental degradation incoastal areas are already affectingthe natural resource base onwhich fishing community andcoastal farmers depend for foodsecurity and livelihoods.

Future projections outline anincreasingly urgent need to helpcommunities adapt to thesechanges and protect these fragileresources. The global communityhas been working overtime tomake meaningful progress in thebattle against climate change in

order to safeguard the naturalmarine resources and this isrepresented mainly by the effortsof the United Nations.

In June this year, the UnitedNations Ocean Conference in NewYork focussed on SustainableDevelopment Goal 14 (SDG 14):Conserve and sustainably use theoceans, seas and marine resourcesfor sustainable development. Butthe achievement of SDG goal 14also depends on empoweringcoastal and island communitiesthrough environment-friendlyland-based agriculture.

The call for action is urgent andencompasses more support forsmall-scale and artisanal fisher-men in developing countries toenhance their access to marineresources and markets to improvethe socio-economic situation ofthe fishing community within thecontext of sustainable fisheriesmanagement.

The problem is manifestingitself in the unsustainable use ofnatural resources on land, which in

turn exacerbates climate threatsand results in the degradation ofmarine and coastal ecosystems.

As people struggle to cope withclimate change and exclusion fromaccess to land and critical produc-tion factors, they resort to surviv-ing on what they can access —including using means that harmthe environment. Ultimately, envi-ronmental degradation of marineand coastal resources makes it evenharder for people to access criticalecosystems services.

For instance, unsustainablefishing practices destroy corals anddeplete fish stocks, and the cuttingdown of mangroves for their woodor for land reclamation purposesmean that they are less able tobuffer impacts of cyclones andother extreme events such as sea-level rise, wave action andcoastal erosion.

What happens on land directlyimpacts what happens in oceans,and the inappropriate use ofharmful substances to fertilise andprotect crops on land results in

harmful chemical run-off intocoastal waters. Unsustainableland-based agriculture, therefore,undermines peoples’ options todiversify their livelihoods andprotect marine resources.

For small holders, thisultimately translates into evengreater food insecurity and ever-more fragile livelihoods. Giventhese challenges, the Governmentmust increase climate resilience ofcoastal farming and fishingcommunity. This can be done byreducing overfishing and byimplementing integratedecosystems approach to fisheriesand aquaculture. Theestablishment of natural resourceco-management regimes,involving community groups,fishers and fish farmers’associations can aid this initiative.

Additionally, efforts must bemade to strengthen the knowledgebase and climate change advisorycapacity of fishery andaquaculture extension workers.This will in turn help in increasing

awareness levels. Authorities mustalso invest in research to identifynew commercially viable strainsof aquaculture species tolerant oflow water quality, hightemperatures and disease.

Moreover, access to friendlyfinancial services and insurancemechanisms must be encouragedso that communities can be secureabout the future and invest inmore fuel-efficient boats andstatic fishing gear instead ofdamaging gear such as trawls.

The livelihood options incoastal areas in their forms can con-tribute to national climate commit-ments mitigation efforts and sus-tainable development. However,without appropriate measures andsuitable innovation to counter eco-logical challenges, especially climatechange, the traditional livelihoodpractices can not only damage del-icate marine ecosystems but also fallshort of the objectives to slowdown climate change.

(The writer is an environmentaljournalist)

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With work on the UnionBudget 2018 to startsoon, the defence ser-vices are prioritisingtheir allocations.

Despite the lion’s share of the annualdefence allocation amongst the threeservices, the Army is the most hard-pressed to rationalise its funds.

Given its increased or ratherbloated manpower, the changednature of warfare and annual finan-cial obligations on account of acquiredcapabilities, the Army is left with pit-tance to balance between its immedi-ate weapons’ requirement and indige-nous support systems (force multipli-ers) like the Battlefield ManagementSystem (BMS). Consequently, theBMS, though an asset for tactical oper-ations, has, to the disappointment ofthe indigenous defence industry, beenrejected by the Army brass.

At today’s prices, the BMS for theentire Army, to be provided by 2025, isto cost upwards of �50,000 crore. Beingdeveloped by two consortia — TataPower (Strategic Engineering Division)and Larsen & Toubro and BharatElectronic Limited and Rolta India —the total cost for their prototype each(meant for final selection) built underthe high-priority ‘Make’ category is�5,000 core. The Army, according toreports, was required to pay back �1,000crore over five years as development costof this project from its kitty. With theArmy having excluded the BMS from itsacquisitions list, the final decision restswith the Defence Acquisition Councilheaded by the Defence Minister.

The BMS is an excellent systemmeant to network or connect thefrontline soldiers with the comman-ders enabling both to see the devel-oping war picture in real-time. Thiswould make decision-making fasterallowing own forces to retaliate quick-er than the enemy.

It would, however, be grossly unfairto assess this development as the ModiGovernment’s spurious commitment to‘Make in India’ policy. Two issues,instead, are worth considering why theArmy felt compelled to take this dras-tic decision. For one, these are develop-ment prototypes. Once approved, thewinner BMS would enter mass produc-tion with uncertainty over final cost andtime-lines. This is not all. Since technol-ogy has a short life, the BMS would needregular upgrades to stay ahead in therace. Moreover, considering the BMS isless about hardware and more about soft-ware which gets dated, the project,expected to be completed only in 2025,would be a massive drain on the Army’sdefence allocations.

For another, since Indian companiesspend minimal on Research andDevelopment (R&D), most BMS soft-ware technologies would have been pro-cured from abroad. Procurements from

aboard always come with a price: Nocountry gives away its best technologies,and price escalation depends upon crit-icality of the requirement. To understandwhy overall indigenisation in Indiawould have a limited success, one hasonly to look at China. “According toUNESCO data, China is the secondlargest spender of absolute amounts onR&D and accounts for 20 per cent of theworld expenditure on R&D, second onlyto the US share of 30 per cent,” writeseconomist Amita Batra. This cannot besaid for India where defence manufac-tures seek early profits.

Moreover, the optimal use of theBMS would be in two tactical war sce-narios which are no longer relevant.One, when own forces are operatingin foreign lands where soldiers are vul-nerable from everywhere — the front,rear, sideways and the air. Here it iscritical that frontline combat troopsand commanders (of tanks, mecha-nised infantry and special forces) stayconnected in real time to optimise warresults. This scenario is not applicableto India since its Army operates onlyfor United Nations’ mandated peace-keeping operations.

And two, the BMS would be a crit-ical force-multiplier if the Indian Armyis able to make deep ingress insideenemy territory, namely Pakistan. Chinais a different ballgame; it has vast non-contact war capabilities in cyber, elec-tronic warfare, unmanned combat aer-ial systems and missiles. Given the high-altitude battlefield in the Himalayas, itis difficult to conceive Indian Army mak-ing deep ingress into Tibet. Thus, theBMS is essentially against Pakistan.

The BMS was conceived by the

Army a decade ago (it was approved as‘Make’ project in December 2011) whenthe war scenario with Pakistan was dif-ferent. Today, it has changed dramatical-ly with Pakistan’s acquisition of tacticalnuclear weapons and its increased inter-operability (ability to fight together) withChinese forces. It would be nigh impos-sible for the Indian Army to make deepingress inside Pakistan across the international border.

Moreover, the political leadership,conscious of the nuclear red liners,would disallow any adventurism bythe Armed Forces. In military terms,the Indian Army would adopt ‘strate-gic defence with tactical level offence’posture against Pakistan. In this case,the BMS would have minimal oper-ational utility. The Army would ratherspend its scares funds on buying long-range firepower, strengthening its airdefence network, and importantly,providing self defence weapons andprotection for soldiers.

The operational scenario in themountains and high altitude areas,where major battles are expected to befought, would have its own limitations.The war here would be restricted tobattle for each post by small Army for-mations. Major tactical battles for cap-ture of Haji Pir pass and so on, giventhe inter operability between Pakistaniand Chinese militaries, are no longerachievable. Even as the probability ofPakistan using nukes on the Line ofControl is zero, the difficult terrainand defence deployments on bothsides would rule out deep ingress.Thus, the BMS will have little opera-tional benefit here too.

Coming to the BMS prototypes,

questions have been raised about thecredibility of the ‘Make in India’ pol-icy if the project is suddenly scrapped.For all its worth, ‘Make in India’ ismeant to create jobs by absorption ofengineering skills by Indian enterpris-es. This aspect was succulentlyexplained to me by two senior exec-utives of foreign companies.

According to Abhay Paranjape ofLockheed Martin, “each company has itspropriety technologies on which yearsof research and money have been spent.It will be difficult for any company topart with such technologies withoutappropriate protection agreements.Beyond this, the company could giveIndia what could become its sovereigncapabilities. In this, India would be freeto upgrade, maintain and modify theplatform on their own.”

What if India wants state-of-art orbest technologies now and for futureupgrades? This, according to the chiefexecutive, MDBA missile systems,Antoine Bouvier, “is not possible with-out investing in R&D” — something fora variety of reasons in not done in India.

Given all this, while it would beimprudent to push the Army to re-consider the BMS, the question is whopays �5,000 crore development costincurred by the consortia. Since 80 percent cost of development projectsunder the ‘Make’ category is to beborne by the Defence Ministry (theremainder by the developer), this mat-ter ought to be resolved to restore con-fidence of the private defence indus-try. The Defence Minister shouldintervene in this matter.

(The writer is Editor, Force news magazine)

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The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) on Wednesday leftthe key policy rate

unchanged as it raised the infla-tion projection marginally upto4.7 per cent at the upper end byMarch, while retaining growthestimates at 6.7 per cent for thecurrent fiscal.

The 6-member MonetaryPolicy Committee (MPC),which in a 5:1 vote chose status-quo on rates and kept a neutralstance, reiterated its commit-ment to keep retail inflationwithin the target of 4 per centplus or minus 200 bps, whilesupporting growth.

The RBI has increased itsinflation projection by 10 basispoints (bps) to 4.3-4.7 per centin the second and the fourthquarters, from 4.2-4.6 per cent

estimated in the October review.“The change in our inflationstance is very small. It is 10 bpscompared to the October poli-cy,” RBI Governor Urjit Patel,who heads the MPC, toldreporters after the policy reviewmeeting in Mumbai.

“In arriving at the decision,the MPC took note of the upsidepressures from food and fuelprices on the cost of living con-dition and inflation expecta-tions. Our surveys indicate thatcorporates are also strugglingwith rising input costs and high-er risks of pass-through to retailprices in the near-term,” he said.

“The MPC also expressedconcerns about the implicationsfor its inflation outlook arisingfrom a possible fiscal slippageand global financial instabilityheightening asset price volatili-ty,” he added.

The panel, however, expectsthe usual seasonal moderationin food prices and recent low-ering of tax rates by the GSTCouncil to mitigate some pres-sures, Patel said.

With the RBI’s move, thestock markets suffered for thesecond straight session onWednesday after it kept interestrates on hold but raised the infla-tion forecast, dashing mediumterm rate cut hopes and spark-ing a sell-off in banking stocks.

Benchmark Sensex slumped205 points to end at 32,597.18,while the broader Nifty finishedat 10,044.10, down 74.15 points.

On the other hand, India Incexpressed disappointment overRBI’s decision, while bankershave welcomed it, terming theRBI policy pragmatic, and say-ing the policy stance reflects theground reality well as it balances

out the higher likely growthwith a marginal uptick in infla-tion as well.

The decision to leave therepo rate unchanged at 6 per centwas supported by five MPCmembers, with governmentnominee Ravindra H Dholakiavoting for a 25 bps rate cut. Patelsaid the MPC continued with itsneutral stance and will watch theincoming data on inflation andgrowth carefully. “The neutralpolicy stance is there for a rea-

son that the whole possibilitiesare on the table and we wouldlook carefully look at both theinflation and growth data thatwill come in the comingmonths,” he said.

The RBI retained its eco-nomic growth outlook at 6.7 percent as announced in theOctober policy. Patel said theMPC decision was also condi-tioned by the recent develop-ments that augur well for growthprospects going forward. He

added that in the primary capi-tal market, resource mobilisationhas increased significantly whichwill add to the demand in theshort-run and boost the growthpotential over the medium-term.

Patel, however, said the hec-tic activity in the primary shareissuances, recent reform mea-sures by the Government, aclimb-up in the ease of doingbusiness ranking by the WorldBank, recapitalisation of state-run banks and efforts to resolvethe issue of bad assets under theprovisions of the insolvencycode bode well for the economyin the short to medium-term.

“A healthy IPO marketwill add to demand for creditin the short-run and boost thegrowth potential in the medi-um-term, ease of doing busi-ness rankings will help attractforeign direct investment and

bank recapitalisation will helpenhance allocative efficiency ofresources,” he said.

“In the view of MPC, allthese factors should help tocreate conducive financial con-ditions for nurturing highergrowth,” Patel added.

Pegging a 6.7 per centgrowth on a gross value-addedbasis, with risks evenly bal-anced, RBI Executive DirectorMichael Patra said, “It is goingto be 7 and 7.8 per cent in thethird and fourth quarters,respectively. So, we are on anuptick from now.”

Patel said the latest bankcredit data suggests that thereis already an uptick. “As theeconomy picks up, thedemand for credit will go up.There is enough supply toensure that lack of credit is noton the way in supporting

higher growth,” he said.RBI Deputy Governor Viral

Acharya said liquidity condi-tions have continued to nor-malise gradually during theyear. “The overhang of liquidi-ty surplus in the system after thenote-ban last November, whichhad touched a peak of close to�7.96 trillion (�7.96 lakh crore)at the beginning of the year, hassince come down,” he said.

Banking system liquidityhas been moving towards neu-trality as the currency in circu-lation has expanded by � 7.6 tril-lion during January 6 toNovember 24, 2017. “It isexpected that the liquidity con-dition would be marginally stillin surplus by March 2018. Giventhe trends in currency in circu-lation, it is expected that liquiditymay reach neutrality in the firsthalf of 2018," Acharya said.

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Equities suffered for the secondstraight session on

Wednesday after the ReserveBank kept interest rates on holdbut raised the inflation forecast,dashing medium term rate cuthopes and sparking a sell-off inbanking stocks.

Benchmark Sensex slumped205 points to end at 32,597.18,while the broader Nifty finishedat 10,044.10, down 74.15 points.

The six-member MonetaryPolicy Committee (MPC),headed by Reserve BankGovernor Urjit Patel, kept thepolicy rate unchanged at 6 percent on expected lines butraised the inflation forecast forthe remainder of the fiscal to4.3-4.7 per cent.

The central bank kept theeconomic growth forecastunchanged at 6.7 per cent for thefiscal ending March 31.

The 30-share index declinedby 205.26 points, or 0.63 percent, to 32,597.18 after hitting alow of 32,565.16 soon after thecentral bank announced its pol-icy decision.

The wider Nifty hit a low of10,033.35 before finishing at10,044.10, down 74.15 points or0.73 per cent. It had touched ahigh of 10,104.20 in early trade.

Interest rate-sensitivestocks took a beating, draggingthe BSE banking index downby 1.23 per cent. SBI, ICICIBank, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank,Bank of Baroda, PunjabNational Bank and Yes Bankfell by up to 2.27 per cent.

“Given that interest ratesare unlikely to reduce at least inthe near to medium term, ratesensitive stocks slid due to ris-ing oil price and concern overfiscal slippage,” said Vinod Nair,Head of Research, GeojitFinancial Services.

In sync with overall trend,the rupee too weakened to quoteat 64.55 against the dollar intra-day. Sun Pharma emerged as theworst performer among Sensexconstituents by falling 2.31 percent, while Bajaj Auto declined1.65 per cent.

MUMBAI: In order to promotedigital payments, the ReserveBank on Wednesday came outwith differentiated merchantdiscount rates (MDR) for debitcard transactions, prescribingseparate caps for small andlarge traders.

MDR is the rate charged toa merchant by a bank for pro-viding debit and credit card ser-vices. As per the latest notifi-cation, MDR charges for smallmerchants with an annualturnover of up to �20 lakh hasbeen fixed at 0.40 per cent witha cap of �200 per transaction bydebit cards through Point ofSale (PoS) machines or onlinetransactions.

For accepting paymentsvia QR (quick response) codebased transactions, the chargewill be 0.30 per cent subject toa cap of �200 per transaction.

In case the annual turnoverof a merchant is over �20 lakh,the MDR charges would be0.90 per cent with a cap of�1,000 per transaction.

If transaction is throughQR code, the charges will be0.80 per cent with a similar cap.

These directions will comeinto effect from January 1, RBIsaid, adding it would be the dutyof the banks to ensure the MDRlevied on the merchant does notexceed the prescribed cap.

RBI said rationalisation ofthe charges is being undertak-

en with a view to achieve thetwin objectives of promotingdebit card acceptance by awider set of merchants, espe-cially small traders, and ensur-ing sustainability of the busi-ness for the entities involved.

Following demonetisation,the RBI had in December lastyear capped the MDR chargesat 0.25 per cent for transactionsup to �1,000.

For transactions above�1,000 and up to �2,000, it wascapped at 0.5 per cent of thetransaction value.

Before that, the MDR wascapped 0.75 per cent for trans-action up to �2,000 and notexceeding 1 per cent for pay-ments above �2,000.

Commenting on RBI'smove, Ashwani Kumar,Chairman and ManagingDirector of Dena Bank, saidintroduction of differentiatedMDR and a cap on the absoluteamount is expected to increaseacceptance of debit card usageand “will also bring down thecost of transactions for smallmerchants”. PTI

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Corporate India onWednesday sought lower

tax and more incentives forinvestments while exporterscalled for quicker GST refundsat a meeting with FinanceMinister Arun Jaitley in the run-up to the last full-year Budget ofthe NDA government before2019 general elections.

The industry bodies sug-gested lowering the corporate taxto 18-25 per cent, from up to 30per cent at present. Theexporters, who are grapplingwith blockage of working capi-tal, pressed for exemption fromtax on export income or lowerlevies on forex earnings andfaster clearance of GST refunds.

“The Finance Minister haspromised 25 per cent corporatetax rate long back and weexpect that the FinanceMinister will fulfil his promisein this Budget,” Ficci PresidentPankaj Patel said.

The industry body alsosought support for innovation,employment generationthrough investment in theMSME and startup sector andspecific incentives for newinvestments, highlighting theneed to establish an exportzone with manufacturing facil-

ities but without any taxes orregulations.

“We have asked to reducethe corporate taxes. Across theworld, people are reducing cor-porate taxes and India is amongthe highest. We do need to cre-ate more demand and capacitiesfor private investment and if yousee today, GST has increased thetax rates,” CII President ShobanaKamineni said.

CII suggested that the roadmap for corporate tax rate forIndia should include reducing itto 18 per cent (all inclusive) atthe earliest and withdrawal ofsurcharges and cesses.

“The implementation (ofGST) and refund delays are acause of concern, so we havesuggested that if they can give usthe IGST refund also, along withthe drawback. In the US, thereis a differential tax rate for

export earnings, so we havesought a lower rate of tax onexport earnings than the normalcorporate rates,” EEPC IndiaWorking Committee MemberPK Shah said.

According to Shah, refundsof exporters to the tune of at least�60,000-70,000 crore are stuckpost GST rollout in July.

“We have asked the FinanceMinister to take the corporatetax to 25 per cent comparingwith developed and industri-alised nations. This would helpin investment and which, inturn, would increase employ-ment opportunities. Dividenddistribution tax, which is around20 per cent, should also be less-er,” said Assocham PresidentSandeep Jajodia.

“We would urge the gov-ernment to provide fiscal sup-port to units that provide addi-tional employment in the exportsector. Such a scheme will alsohelp the workers move frominformal employment to formalemployment, which is a prior-ity of the government.Incentives may be providedbased on twin criteria of growthin exports and growth in work-ers so that while export isincreased, the employmentintensive units also get a boost,”exporters’ body FIEO said.

BENGALURU: Tech giantWipro Limited is going toexpand its operations in Londonby setting up its third office inthe UK capital.

Announcing this at a pressconference on Wednesday,organised by London &Partners (L&P), Rajan Kohli,Senior Vice-President andGlobal Head of Wipro Digital,said “Our latest Wipro Digitalpod in London is a significantmilestone in our continuedgrowth journey, helping attractgreat design and engineering tal-ent to serve clients in the UnitedKingdom and Europe.”

Kohli said the additionalpresence in London would allowthe company to serve the digitalclients better.

David Slater, Director ofInternational Trade andInvestment at L&P, said Wipro isamong a host of Indian tech firmsto make significant investmentsin London.

He said the Indian tech busi-nesses are expected to create over400 new jobs in London this year.He also announced that London& Partners would set up anoffice here to explore the businesspotential for London as well asBengaluru. PTI

NEW DELHI: Infosys onWednesday said it hasapproached Sebi with an appli-cation to settle the issues arisingout of alleged disclosure lapses onthe severance package paid to itsformer CFO, Rajiv Bansal.

India's second-largest ITfirm, in a regulatory filing, saidthe settlement application madeto Sebi was neither admission ofguilt nor a denial. It, however, didnot disclose what it had proposedin the settlement application.

“The settlement applicationprocess is based on an undertak-ing that the applicant will neitheradmit nor deny the finding of factor conclusion of law,” said Infosysin the regulatory filing to the BSE.Infosys will provide an updateupon the conclusion of the con-fidential settlement process.

Settlement applications forviolation of disclosure norms typ-ically involve payment of a finan-cial penalty to avoid punishmentin case allegations were provedright at a later stage.

Infosys, under newChairman Nandan Nilekani,moved the application as part ofits attempt to settle the issues thathad cropped up during thetenure of former CEO Vishal

Sikka. The move comes withindays of Infosys naming formerCapgemini top executive SalilParekh as its new CEO.

The company said it wantsto resolve allegations around it ofnot seeking prior and separateapproval of the Nomination andRemuneration Committee andthe Audit Committee in relationto Bansal's settlement process.

The application also relatesto disclosures pertaining to theseverance agreement, cessationof payments and initiation ofarbitration under the severancepact, it added.

Infosys had agreed to payBansal a severance amount of�17.38 crore or 24 months ofsalary, but the company sus-pended payments after he got�5 crore as co-founder NRNarayana Murthy and othersobjected to the package asexcessive. PTI

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India on Wednesday invitedNorwegian collaboration in

transforming India’s logisticssector and help develop themassive infrastructure togreen the Indian transporta-tion system.

A senior Indian officialinvited investment in buildingenvironment-friendly trans-port network from Norway,which has globally becomethe largest market for electricvehicles (EVs) and hasembarked on the world’sbiggest ‘Green CoastalShipping Programme’.

“India is keen to workwith Norway to create envi-ronment-friendly maritimeclusters which are the next bigthing in this area,” ShippingMinistry Deputy SecretaryAbhishek Chandra said at aseminar here organised by theNorwegian embassy on ‘Howto Develop Green Transportin India".

“Not many companies

from India have come for-ward in the tendering that wehave already done for ourshipping infrastructure,”Chandra said, referring tothe Government’s ambitiousSagarmala project for devel-opment of ports and watertransportation and also anenvironment-friendly modeof mobility.

He said an amount of $20billion had been spent in therecent development of India’sshipping infrastructure.Addressing the seminar, the

Norwegian Ambassador toIndia, Nils Ragnar Kamsvag,said that over one third of allnew cars sold in Norway wereelectric vehicles.

“Valuable lessons forIndia and Indian companiesmay be drawn from under-standing customer behaviourin such a market,” he said.

“We also have state of theart technology in green ship-ping with the world's first bat-tery-driven ferry in operationand the world's largest fleet ofLNG ships,” he added.

Nor way’s NationalTransportation Programmeenvisages that all new vehiclesafter 2025 will be electricity-driven.

India’s National ElectricMobil ity Mission Planlaunched in 2013 aims atgradually ensuring a vehiclepopulation of about 6-7 mil-lion electric and hybrid vehi-cles in India by 2020. Thevision enunciated two yearsago is for India to have 100per cent EVs by 2030.

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Indosolar is seeking share-holders’ nod for doubling

authorised share capital to�1,000 crore at an extraordinarygeneral meeting on December30 for converting outstandingloans into equity under one-time settlement.

The board of directors, at itsmeeting on November 25, hadapproved the increase in theauthorised share capital of thecompany to �1,000 crore, from�500 crore, the company said ina notice for the meeting.

The authorised share capi-tal will be �1,000 crore dividedinto 50 crore shares of �10 eachand 50 crore preference shares of�10 each. The firm said negoti-ations are on with its lenders forresolution of outstanding loansand it has got approval for theproposal of one-time settlementwith Union Bank of India.

Pursuant to the scheme,the company added that itneeds to issue shares to thelenders by way of conversion ofits outstanding loans andhence, the need to increaseauthorised share capital. PTI

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India’s largest telecom oper-ator Bhar t i Air te l on

Wednesday said it has part-nered Intex to offer a lowcost bundled 4G smartphoneat an ‘effective price’ of�1,649 in a bid to counterJioPhone.

Two other smartphones -Aqua A4 and Aqua S3 - willalso be available at effectiveprices of �1,999 and �4,379,respectively as part of thepartnership. Airtel, whichhas similar partnerships withhandset makers Celkon andKarbonn, has expanded its‘Mera Pehla Smartphone’ ini-tiative in collaboration withIntex, a statement said.

Mukesh Ambani- ledReliance Jio is offering anInternet- enabled featurephone for a refundabledeposit of �1,500. Incumbentoperators are also lining uptheir own bundled offers tocounter the offensive.

Vodafone India , forexample, has tied up withmobi le handset f i rmMicromax to launch a 4Gsmartphone at an 'effectiveprice’ of �999.

In its statement, Airtelsaid the Intex Aqua LIONSN1 handset (market price of�3,799) has a 4-inch screen,1GB RAM, 8GB internalstorage (expandable up to128GB) and 2MP rear andVGA front camera .Customers will need to makea down payment of �3,149for the handset, followed by36 monthly recharges of�169.

After 18 months, the cus-tomer will get a cash refundof �500 and another �1,000af ter complet ion of 36months, taking the total cashbenefit to �1,500, it added. Incase the customer does notwish to opt for the �169bundled plan, he can pur-chase any other rechargeplan.

However, to claim the

cash refund benefit, cus-tomers would need rechargesworth �3,000 within the first18 months to claim the firstrefund (�500) and another�3,000 over the next 18months for the secondrefund of �1,000.

“We are really pleased tosee the continued positiveresponse to our ‘Mera PehlaSmartphone’ initiative fromcustomers as well as smart-phone manufacturers,” BhartiAir te l Chief Operat ingOfficer (India and SouthAsia) Ajai Puri said.

The Intex Aqua A4 -which will come at an effec-tive price of �1,999 (com-pared to market price of�4,999), features 1.3 GHzquad-core processor, 1GBRAM and an 8GB internalstorage (expandable up to64GB), 5MP rear and a 2MPfront camera.

Aqua S3 will be availableat an effective price of �4,379(compared to market price of�6,649). It features 5- inchdisplay, 1 .3GHz quad-processor, 2GB RAM, 16GBinternal storage (expandableup to 64GB), 8MP rear and5MP front camera, and 2,450mAh battery.

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Shares of RelianceCommunications (RCom)

on Wednesday settled down 5per cent on the bourses aftercredit rating agency Fitch said ithas withdrawn ratings of thedebt-ridden company for com-mercial reasons. During the day,RCom stock opened at �11.10and slumped 5.64 per cent totouch an intra-day low of �10.70on the BSE. At the end ofWednesday’s trading session thestock was quoted at �10.78,down 4.94 per cent.

Similar movement was seenon the NSE as well, where thestock opened at �11.35, then fell5.72 per cent to touch an intra-daylow of �10.60 and finally closed the

day at �10.75, down 5.29 per cent.“Fitch has chosen to with-

draw the ratings on RCom forcommercial reasons.Accordingly, Fitch will no longerprovide ratings or analytical

coverage for RCom,” it said in astatement on Tuesday.

RCom also informed stockexchanges that Fitch ‘has with-drawn ‘C’ rating of the compa-ny’s Long-Term Foreign andLocal Currency Issuer DefaultRatings and Bonds listed inSingapore Stock Exchange dueto commercial reasons’.

RCom said it has alreadyinformed all the stakeholders thatthe lenders of the company haveinvoked strategic debt restructur-ing (SDR) scheme as per RBIguidelines. RCom is estimated tobe in debt of around �45,000 crore.Various entities, including ChinaDevelopment Bank and publici-ty consultant Fortuna PublicRelations have filed insolvencycase against RCom.

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NEW DELHI: State-ownedUnited Bank of India (UBI) willraise �1,190 crore throughissuance of Basel III compliantadditional tier I bonds. Thedecision was taken at the boardof directors meeting held onWednesday.

“The board of directors ofthe bank at its meeting...approved issue and allotment ofBasel III compliant additionaltier I bonds up to �1,190 crore,”United Bank said in a regula-tory filing. Banks globally haveto comply with the Basel IIInorms so as to improve andstrengthen their capital plan-ning processes.

These norms are beingimplemented to mitigate con-cerns on potential stresses onasset quality and consequentialimpact on performance andprofitability of banks post theglobal sub-prime crisis of 2008that hit the banking industryhard. Indian banking systemhas been implementing Basel IIIstandards in phases since April1, 2013. The banks are expect-ed to fully implement thesenorms by March 2019. PNS

NEW DELHI: Indian firmsmobilised nearly �44,000 croreby issuing shares to institutionalinvestors during the April-October period of the currentfiscal, over 10-fold rise from theyear-ago period. In comparison,they had mopped-up �4,318crore in the first seven monthof the 2016-17 fiscal.

As per the latest data avail-able with the Securities andExchange Board of India, thecapital garnered by the listedcompanies through theQualified InstitutionalPlacement (QIP) route stood at�43,934 crore in the first sevenmonths of 2017-18. It was alsomore than five times the totalamount raised in the entire2016-17 -�8,464 crore. PNS

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Investments in the Indian cap-ital market through partici-

patory notes (P-notes) climbedto �1.31 lakh crore at October-end after hitting an over eight-year low in the precedingmonth. P-notes are issued byregistered foreign portfolioinvestors to overseas playerswho wish to be part of theIndian stock market withoutregistering themselves directly.They, however, need to gothrough due diligence.

The total value of P-notesinvestment in Indian markets -equity, debt and derivatives -rose to �1,31,006 crore atOctober-end from �1,22,684crore at the end of September,according to the Sebi data. P-note investments were on adecline since June and hit overeight-year low in September.

This was in view of strin-gent norms put in place by theSecurities and Exchange Board

of India (Sebi). Of the totalinvestments in October, P-noteholdings in equities were at�90,161 crore and the remain-ing in debt and derivativesmarkets. Besides, the quantumof FPI investments via P-notesremains unchanged at 4.1 percent.

Over the past few months,Sebi has taken several measuresto stop the misuse of the con-troversy-ridden participatorynotes. In July, the markets reg-ulator notified stricter P- notesnorms stipulating a fee of $1,000that would be levied on eachinstrument to check any misusefor channelising black money.

Also, Sebi prohibited FPIsfrom issuing such notes wherethe underlying asset is a deriv-ative, except those which areused for hedging purposes. Themove was a follow-through ofSebi’s board approval of a rele-vant proposal in June. Thesemeasures were an outcome of aslew of other steps taken by theregulator in the recent past.

�9�����'������ �����4*D4+9�����-������ NEW DELHI: Data analytics

businesses are the fastest grow-ing in India in 2017, followedby software and hardware prod-uct start-ups, a new report saidon Wednesday.

According to the ‘DeloitteTechnologyFast50 India’ report,Noida-based data analytics firmPolestar Solutions and ServicesIndia LLP has been rankednumber one, with its revenuegrowing nine times in the finan-cial year 2017 compared to2015. Other winners that offerniche analytics services includeBridgei2i, Tiger Analytics andLatentView.

“Over the 13 years ofTechnology Fast50 India, wehave seen the composition ofour winners shift from genericsoftware services provider todiverse activities, inclusive ofhighly-capable analytics offer-ings, digital marketing, tech-nology-enabled educationproducts and services, etc,”Rajiv Sundar, Partner andProgramme Director-Technology Fast50 India 2017,

Deloitte India, said in a state-ment. Software product com-panies are making an impact onthe Fast 50 rankings. This year'swinners include EvoluteSystems, Mobisy Technologies,Stellapps Technologies,Marketxpander Services andRobotic Wares, among others.

“These companies are cre-ating global products and com-peting with the best in theworld,” the Deloitte report said.Evolute Systems Pvt Ltd, thesecond-ranked company thisyear, saw their revenue for thefinancial year 2017 jump morethan eight times over the 2015revenue. This year, the top 10companies recorded an averagethree-year growth rate of justover 500 per cent. Bengalurucontinues to dominate the top50 winners list with 19 winners,the report said. IANS

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NEW DELHI: Concerned overa sharp drop in domestic pepperprices, the Centre on Wednesdayimposed a minimum importprice on the commodity at �500per kg to shield domestic grow-ers. The prices have crashed to�300 per kg from �730 in thewake of cheaper imports fromneighbouring countries.

In an official statement, thecommerce ministry said it has setthe minimum import price(MIP) on pepper at �500 per kgas proposed by the Spices Boardto protect the interest of domes-tic cultivators.

“Fixing of MIP will help inimproving the domestic price,particularly when the harvestingseason of pepper is fast approach-ing,” the ministry said. In recenttimes, the price softness has

been a major concern amongpepper growers. “Pepper priceshave gone down by nearly 35per cent in one year and result-ed in a lot of hardships for pep-per growers,” the ministry said.

Since most of the pepper-producing countries are inthe ASEAN region, there havealso been apprehensions ofpepper from these countriesbeing routed through SriLanka taking advantage oflower duty under SAFTA(South Asian Free Trade Area)and ISLFTA (India-Sri LankaFTA) for availing concession-al import duty, it said.

Farmers’ associations havedemanded tougher steps,including fixing of MIP forpepper, to prevent such in-bound shipments. PNS

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The city-based two and threewheeler manufacturer TVS

Motor on Wednesday launchedits Apache RR310 motorcycle,marking its foray into the super-premium segment. The compa-ny had tied up with BMWMotorrad in April 2013 to pro-duce motorcycles under the sub-500cc segment.

According to TVS MotorCompany, President and ChiefExecutive Officer, KNRadhakrishnan, the new motor-cycle shares a ‘common platform’between the two companies.

“This shares the commonplatform (between TVS Motorand BMW Motorrad).. The pro-ject (cost) for the development ofthis would be around �400 crore,”he told reporters here. In April2013, TVS Motor announced astrategic partnership with BMWMotorrad to manufacture sub-500cc bikes for domestic andglobal markets. TVS Motorinvested about 20 million eurosin the alliance. Radhakrishnansaid, the premium bike segment

was around 14 per cent (bikes inthe 150cc to 500cc) of the totalmotorcycle category in the coun-try and this particular segmentwas growing at 10 per cent everyyear. After launching the ApacheRR310 motorcycle, here, thecompany's Joint ManagingDirector, Sudarshan Venu saidthey would look at selling 10,000units in the next one year.

“It will happen in a phasedmanner,” he said to a query onwhether the company wouldlook at shipping the bike to over-seas markets. The motorcycleequipped with twin projector

head lamps is the first fully fairedmotorcycle offered by TVSMotor. The bike is priced at �2.05 lakh(ex-showroom), Radhakrishnansaid, adding the pricing wouldvary from ‘State to State.’

The motorcycle would behit the road by end of thismonth, he said. To anotherquery, Venu said the companyhas enough capacity to producethe motorcycle at its facility inHosur, Tamil Nadu. The com-pany would also be launching anupgraded variant of the existingApache 160cc ‘very soon’, Venusaid, but declined to elaborate.

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NEW DELHI: Tata Motors onWednesday rolled out the firstbatch of the Tigor electric vehicle(EV) from its Sanand facility inGujarat. The vehicles are part ofthe tender floated by the EnergyEfficiency Services Ltd (EESL) for10,000 EVs.

“This occasion is a significantmilestone for Tata Motors and aproud moment for the entireteam,” Tata Group Chairman NChandrasekaran said in a state-ment. He further added: “As wework together to build the futureof e-mobility in India, I am con-fident that our customers willrespond very favourably to thiselectric model.”

Tata Motors CEO & MDGuenter Butschek said with TigorEV, the company has begun itsjourney in boosting e-mobility andoffering a full range of electric vehi-cles to the Indian customers. “Thistender (EESL) has effectively pavedway for connecting our aspirations

in the e-mobility space with thevision of the Government,” headded. In September, Tata Motorshad emerged as the lowest bidderfor 10,000 electric cars tenderissued by EESL. For phase one,Tata Motors is required to deliver250 Tigor EVs to EESL. PTI

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MUMBAI: Non-life insuranceprovider HDFC ERGO GeneralInsurance Company onWednesday announced thelaunch of the solar energy short-fall insurance policy to accountfor non-traditional and non-physical damage related risksthat solar projects regularly face.

The policy will cover utility-scale solar farms, green fieldsacross India, portfolios of rooftopinstallations for commercial andresidential builds, among others,the company said in a statement.Under the policy the companywill cover risks related to non-physical damage, such as insuf-ficient amount of sunshine andits impact on the performance ofthe project.

The cover also protectsagainst a system being installedincorrectly in a way that was notintended in the design phase andthe impact that has on the rev-enue models. Additionally, thepolicy covers errors in the calcu-lations of the projected yields thatwere created for projects beforethey turned operational. PTI

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Prime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu Wednesday

refrained from commentingon US President DonaldTrump's intention to recogniseJerusalem as Israel's capital inhis first speech since the planwas confirmed.

Netanyahu, speaking at adiplomatic conference organ-ised by The Jerusalem Postnewspaper, instead focused onIsrael's security and economicties with countries globally dur-ing his 20-minutespeech.Trump's plan, to beannounced later today, has setoff alarm bells around the world.

Other Israeli ministerscommented on the plan, hail-ing it as a historic move.”I callupon other countries to followthe United States and recog-nise Jerusalem as the Jewishand undivided capital,”Education Minister NaftaliBennett, head of the far-rightJewish Home party, said at theconference.

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The expected US move torecognise Jerusalem as the

capital of Israel risks igniting a“fire” in the Middle East andwill prove a “great disaster”, theTurkish Government saidWednesday.

The recognition will“throw the region and theworld into a fire and it's notknown when it will end”,Deputy Prime Minister andgovernment spokesman BekirBozdag wrote on Twitter.

He warned that the movewas a “great disaster for every-one” that would lead the way to“turmoil, chaos and clashes”and could produce “unpleasantthings that we have notforseen”.

The recognition of the cityas Israel's capital and the mov-ing of the US embassy from TelAviv to Jerusalem -- expectedto be announced by PresidentDonald Trump later today --showed “great intolerance andmindlessness”, Bozdag said.

Bozdag added that therecognition would “destroy thepeace process”, saying that theissue of Jerusalem was the keyto peace in the Middle East andthe world.

Turkish Foreign MinisterMevlut Cavusoglu toldreporters in Brussels ahead ofmeeting US counterpart RexTillerson that the move is a“mistake” that “will not bringstability and peace but ratherchaos and instability.”

Asked whether he wouldbring the issue up withTillerson, the minister said: “Ihave already told him and I willtell him again.”

President Recep TayyipErdogan had warned Tuesdaythat the status of Jerusalem isa “red line” for Muslims andcould even prompt Turkey tocut ties with Israel.Erdogan --who regards himself as a cham-pion of the Palestinian cause --is due to hold talks later inAnkara with Jordanian KingAbdullah II who is also a strongopponent of the move.

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Police in Dallas have sharednew details about the mys-

terious death of Indian toddlerSherin Mathews, alleging thather Indian-American fosterfather bundled her “stiff andcold” body in the back of hiscar with a bag of trash and hidher corpse in a culvert.

Three-year-old Sherin wasfound dead in the culvert about1 km from her home in sub-urban Dallas on October 22 bya cadaver dog during a massivesearch for the missing toddler.

Wesley Mathews, the adop-tive father initially told policethat Sherin disappearedovernight after he ordered herto stand outside their home atabout 3 am on October 7 fornot drinking her milk. Whenhe returned to the spot, Wesleysaid she had disappeared.

After Sherin's body wasdiscovered after a search thatlasted over two weeks, hechanged his story and toldpolice that she died after chok-ing while he was forcing her todrink her milk.

Authorities in Dallas arestill waiting on scientific testingto come back, including theautopsy.New details surround-ing Sherin's death emerged

yesterday during the custodyhearing of Wesley and SiniMathews' 3- year-old biologicaldaughter, who was taken awayby US Child Protection Servicesafter Sherin's disappearance.

Richardson police detectiveJules Farmer testified thatWesley, 37, told them thatSherin died choking on milkthat he forced her to drink.

Farmer said that Wesleywas forcing her to drink milkfrom a bottle while she was inthe garage and he said that shewas standing up when shechoked.

The detective said he ques-tioned Wesley how she couldchoke while standing up.Wesley then told the detectivethat Sherin stopped breathing,but he never called emergencynumber 911 or summoned hiswife Sini, who is a nurse, forhelp.He admitted to movingher body from the home.

He reportedly turned offthe location tracking on hisphone when he is believed tohave taken Sherin's body to theculvert.

Farmer also said Sherin'sbody was “stiff and cold” whenWesley decided to dispose ofthe body.”He put Sherin in theback of the car with a sack oftrash and went to a shoppingcenter nearby,” Farmer said.

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The US House ofRepresentatives has con-

demned the “ethnic cleansing”of Rohingya Muslims andcalled on Myanmar's leadershipto end attacks on minorities inthe Rakhine state, in the stiffestcongressional criticism of thegovernment in the Buddhist-majority country.

The House passed a reso-lution yesterday, urging imme-diate restoration of humani-tarian access to the Rakhine

state where unrest has forcedover 600,000 RohingyaMuslims to flee to Bangladesh.

“This slaughter must end,and our resolution ought to senda strong message to Burmeseleaders that their commitmentto restoring democracy will bejudged by their respect for theindividual rights and freedomsof all people living withinBurma's borders, no mattertheir faith or ethnicity,” HouseDemocratic Whip Steny HHoyer said in a statement.Introduced by Congressmen

Joe Crowley and Eliot Engel, theresolution condemns the “hor-rific actions” of the military andsecurity forces and calls for animmediate cessation of vio-lence.

The resolution also urges therestoration of humanitarianaccess to the restive Rakhine state.”It also calls for Aung San SuuKyi (Myanmar's de facto leader)to exercise moral leadership,something that's needed nowmore than ever,” Engel said in hisremarks on the House flooryesterday.

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The foster parents of SherinMathews, the 3-year-old

Indian girl who was founddead under suspicious cir-cumstances in a culvert inDallas, have been denied accessto their biological daughter.

Sherin, reported missingon October 7, was found deadin the culvert about 1 km fromher home in suburban Dallason October 22 by a cadaver dogduring a massive search for themissing toddler.

She was adopted by theIndian-American couple,Wesley and Sini Mathews, froman orphanage in India lastyear. Her adoptive parents hadlost custody of their 3-year-oldbiological child after Sherinwent missing. Yesterday,a judge denied Wesley andSini access to their biologicaldaughter. The ruling resulteddue to an expert testimonyindicating that Sherin mayhave suffered abuse at thehands of her parents prior toher death.

The next hearing would bea trial that could serve to stripthe Mathews' parental rights. Adate has not yet been set.Wesley, 37 and Sini, 35, whowere attempting to keep the

visitation rights for theirdaughter, will now have towait until a former civil trialtakes place.

The state convinced thejudge that Sini and Wesleywere not fit to be parents dueto what happened to Sherinand shouldn't be able to visittheir biological daughter. Theirbiological daughter is current-ly staying with relatives.

Child Protective Services(CPS) does not have to provideservices to Wesley and Sini thatwould help them reunite withtheir biological daughter, thejudge ruled.

The couple has not lostparental rights, but they willnot receive help from the stateto regain custody of theirdaughter, the judge said.

A hearing to determine apermanent cutoff of parentalrights will likely take place in2018.

Police arrested Sini oncharges of child endangermentafter the death of Sherin.According to investigators, Sinileft Sherin home alone whileshe, her husband and their bio-logical daughter went out fordinner. The next day, Wesleyreported Sherin was missing.Her body was later found in aculvert near the family's home.

Wesley is facing more seri-ous charges of inflicting injuryto a child.

On October 7, Wesleycalled police and reportedSherin missing. He had initial-ly told police that Sherin dis-appeared overnight after heordered her to stand outside atabout 3 am for not drinking hermilk. When he returned,Wesley said she had disap-peared and that her locationwas unknown.

Wesley Mathews laterchanged his tune, saying Sherinchoked to death after he “phys-ically assisted” her as she drankher milk.

Both Sini and Wesley whoremain in detention in DallasCounty jail attended yesterday'shearing.

Last week, during the firstday of the custodial hearing,Dr Suzanne Dakil testifiedshe was worried Sherin hadbeen injured by her parentsand reported her concerns toCPS.

Dakil yesterday told thecourt that she did see the cou-ple's biological daughter onone occasion, during a physi-cal examination before sheentered foster care, and did notsee any sign of neglect orabuse.

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Iranian President HassanRouhani blasted his US coun-

terpart Donald Trump's plan torecognise Jerusalem as theIsraeli capital Wednesday, say-ing it would not be tolerated.

Rouhani also spoke withTurkish President Recep TayyipErdogan by phone, describingTrump's announcement as“wrong, illegitimate, provocativeand very dangerous”, accordingto an account posted on theIranian government's website.

He also agreed to attend aspecial summit of theOrganisation of IslamicCooperation, the main pan-Islamic body, on December13, which Erdogan called todiscuss the issue.Rouhani hadearlier been speaking at aninternational conference inTehran promoting Islamicunity and marking the anniver-sary of the birth of Islam's

Prophet Mohammed.Iran “willnot tolerate a violation ofIslamic sanctities,” he said inreference to Trump's Jerusalemannouncement.”Muslims muststand united against this majorplot.”Iran's supreme leaderAyatollah Ali Khamenei alsospoke at the event, saying theUS move was the result of“paralysis and incompe-tence”.”The Islamic world willundoubtedly stand against thisplot and the Zionists willreceive a big blow from thisaction and dear Palestine willbe liberated,” Khamenei said.

Since the 1979 Islamicrevolution, Iran's opposition toIsrael and support for thePalestinian cause has beencentral to its foreign policy.

The issue has again come tothe fore in recent weeks amidrumours that regional rival SaudiArabia has sought to build tieswith Israel in order to better facedown Iran's growing influence.

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Disregarding warnings fromleaders of the Muslim

world and the wider interna-tional community, PresidentDonald Trump was set toannounce on Wednesday thatthe United States recognizesJerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Trump, who had made acampaign promise on the sub-ject, was slated to make theannouncement at 1 p.m. ET(11.30 p.m. IST) and direct theState Department to initiatesteps to relocate the USEmbassy from Tel Aviv toJerusalem – a process that isexpected to take at least threeor four years.

“The President would saythat the US government recog-nises that Jerusalem is the cap-ital of Israel. He views this as arecognition of historic reality,”a senior administration officialtold reporters on Tuesdayevening.

That Jerusalem has beenthe capital of the Jewish peoplesince ancient times is bothhistoric reality and modernreality, the official said, point-ing out that the city has beenthe seat of nearly all of theIsraeli government, its min-istries, legislature and theSupreme Court since 1948.

Ahead of the projectedannouncement, Trump heldseparate telephone conversa-tions on Tuesday with IsraeliPrime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu, PalestinianAuthority President MahmoudAbbas, Jordan’s King Abdullah,Egyptian President AbdelFattah Al Sisi and Saudi KingSalman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

Barring Netanyahu, theother leaders who received thephone calls have “joined amounting chorus of voiceswarning that unilateral USsteps on Jerusalem would deraila fledgling US-led peace effortand unleash turmoil in theregion,” Reuters reported, whilenoting that Israel, however,welcomes Trump’s decision.

A White House readout ofthe calls made just a passingmention on Jerusalem. In hisconversations, Trump “reaf-firmed his commitment toadvancing Israeli-Palestinianpeace talks”, and “underscoredthe importance of bilateral coop-eration with each partner toadvance peace efforts through-out the region”, the readout said,before adding in a single sen-tence: “The leaders also dis-cussed potential decisionsregarding Jerusalem.”

Amid the warnings fromseveral countries that Trump’smove would inflame passions

and kill all hopes for peace inWest Asia, the StateDepartment is “warningembassies around the world tobe alert for violence” in thewake of the announcement,media reports said.

Apart from leaders ofMuslim nations around Israel,US’s partners in Europe,including Britain, France andGermany, have all voiced theirstrong reservations overTrump’s unilateral move.

US officials, however,sought to quell fears over themove triggering a setback topeace efforts. “President Trumpremains committed to achiev-ing a lasting peace agreementbetween the Palestinians andIsrael, and is optimistic thatpeace can be achieved,” said theadministration official whilebriefing reporters.

In any event, not recognis-ing Jerusalem as capital of Israelhas done nothing to achievepeace for more than twodecades, the official suggested,adding that Trump believes adeal can still be achieved.

On the question of bound-aries, the official said that Trumprecognises that the boundariesof Israeli sovereignty are subjectto final status negotiations, not-ing: “This announcement doesnot change US policy over thesespecific borders.”

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� ���'���� � ����&���(���� ����!� �����( ���:�'%� �������������'����(�������(�����&�##��(�"� !���!��� ��!�)�0�@��� ����� %�(�� "�� !���!���� ����� !�(" ������! ������&:�������(�����(�)F=��0���3���0�?��0 We have heard about protest

music alright. But haveyou heard of guerrilla jazz? Well,it’s another form of free expres-sion through rhythm and beatsand venting sentiments in anopen space. And music, as theysay, is beyond territoriality.“Guerrilla jazz lets us voice ourpolitical statements. We preachfreedom of movement in termsof cultures, traditions, radicalideas and creative liberty asmusicians. We don’t believe inborders and nationalism,”emphasised Kefaya band mem-ber Al Macsween.

All co-musicians of thisLondon-based group are immi-grants with a spirit of interna-tionalism. Their music isinspired by protest movements,ranging from theIsraeli–Palestinian conflict tothe anti-austerity movement inSpain, and many more. They callthemselves Kefaya, which inArabic means “enough.” Havinghad enough of world politics,they are currently in the coun-try, having performed at thePiano Man’s jazz festival a dayago.

Interestingly, the groupreleased a song in India last year,which was titled Nirbhaya(inspired by the 2012 Delhi gangrape case), and its proceeds wentto Kranti, a women’s rightsorganisation in Mumbai. AddedMacsween, “Music can lend sup-port to progressive movementsby influencing a large group ofpeople. If we look at the past, wecan’t say that musical move-ments have changed the world.However, they have contributedto the transformation of politi-cal identities. Thus, artistes’ rolecan’t be neglected.” They gavethem anthems, songs and helpedactivists and peaceniks spreadthe message across.

Composing tracks inspiredby movements comes with itsown set of challenges. BandmateGuliano Moderelli agreed: “Thebiggest challenge is to do justiceto it while moulding the themeaccording to our musical style.We don’t want to be pastiche, sowe work towards finding a common language of music. Itbegins with having a deep under-standing of the cause that leadsto an organic way of mixingstyles. Then, adapting the notesto key musical elements of thediverse genres we work in, wefigure out the meeting points ofstyles that may seem disconnect-ed.”

The band’s improvisation on

stage was a sheer treat for theaudience, which was witnessed atthe third edition of the celebrat-ed Giants of Jazz festival at ThePiano Man Jazz Club. The arenaresonated with awe-inspiringpowerful notes of protest music.Macsween divulged details, say-ing, “There are certain parts ofthe set that we compose andarrange. Namely, there is a start-ing and an end point but some-times we don’t necessarily knowhow we will reach from one tothe other. It’s exciting for us as aband to keep on experimentingin whichever way possible. Andwe like to keep an element of sur-prise for our audience.” Thismakes for spontaneity as theyinteract and exchange vibes withthe crowd.

So how did they manage toherd together? It all started whenAl Macsween, Guliano Moderelliand Joost Hendrickx met atLeeds College of music, London.What started as an avocationduring college soon turned intoa colossal dream with a name.The lineup kept on changingwith time. However, the current

lineup — Al Macsween (keys),Guliano Moderelli (acoustic gui-tar), Joost Hendrickx (drums)and Domenico Angarano (bassguitar) is five years old. Theirinclination towards protest musicbrought them together. The bandis influenced by the works of adiverse range of artists like MilesDavis, John Coltrane, NusratFateh Ali Khan, Zakir Hussain

and Aphex Twin.Kefaya’s versatility and exten-

sive knowledge of musical tradi-tions led to collaborations withinternationally acclaimedartistes, including Italian saxo-phonist Daniele Sepe, Britishvocalist Nicki Wells, Cuban jazzviolinist Omar Puente, Afghansinger Elaha Soroor, Italian folksinger Alessia Tondo, flamenco

singer Chico Perez and manyothers.

Asked how do collabora-tions like these enrich theircraft, Moderelli noted, “I thinkit exposes us to varied styles anddifferent approaches to music,which ultimately leads to a cre-ative exchange. We learn differ-ent artforms and genres alongthe way. There is a limit to what

one can learn from records butworking with accomplished aswell as new artistes opens up newdoors. It’s inspiring to see peo-ple work at that level of musical-ity.”

Macsween and Moderellihave collaborated with our ownmaestro Shankar Mahadevan onvarious projects. Sharing theirexperience, Macsween said, “He’sa phenomenal musician, greatimproviser and a powerful vocal-ist.” The London-based bandwill be travelling to Kolkata tocollaborate with vocalistDebashish Bhattacharya.

Moderelli is deeply influ-enced by Indian classical and folkmusic around the globe. He wasintroduced to music throughblues as an eight-year-old andwas deeply affected by jazz piano.Being jazz artists, they are notrestricted to only this particularform of art as they got exposedto an array of genres such as fla-menco, reggae, free jazz, Arabicmusic, Cuban music et al.

When asked how jazzchanged their lives, Moderelliwas quick to respond, “It openeddoors to improvisations and different styles of music such asfolk traditions which incorporateit. It got me inquisitive aboutother performance genres aswell. Jazz was the first genre Icame across musically and I feelthat it allows one to express oneself in a certain way. It pro-vides and creates music on thespot.”

Angarano’s father broughthim an album by John Coldreywhen he was a teen and it was,in his words, mind-blasting. “Itgot me hooked to jazz. It taughtme to raise a political voice andsupport the causes I believe in asan artist. Especially as an instru-mental musician. Consider amusician like John Coldrey, whowas deeply political throughouthis career without really compos-ing lyrics. He still found ways asan instrumentalist to expressnon-musical beliefs.”

Said Hendrickx, “I found acommunity with whom I sharea similar ideology with the helpof Guerrilla jazz. This genreallows creative freedom throughexperimentation and improvisa-tion on stage.” Macsween concluded, “Once you do jazz,you can’t go back.” Their impactwas closely felt as the audiencetapped feet to a plethora of instrumentalist songs —Terrhal, Indignados, Intifada,Raag Mala, Malestani, Passportand so on.

India’s Taj Mahal and the grandChola temples have made it tothe top ten of UNESCO

world heritage sites, according toa survey conducted by a leadingtravel website.

In fact, Shah Jahan’s memor-ial to his wife Mumtaz ranks onlysecond to Angkor Wat,Cambodia, which was crowned asthe most sought after heritagesite. Both Angkor and Tajretained their top two positionson the world list as well. Otherpopular heritage sites on the sur-vey include the Great Wall ofChina built by Xu Da of NorthernQi Dynasty in 1368 AD andSouth America’s Incan citadelMachu Picchu in Peru.

The survey, conducted byonline travel portal TripAdvisor,lists the heritage sites which arebest rated by travellers around theglobe. “You can find hundreds oftours and experiences to visit thismesmerising site, from a privatetour with guide and visit at sunset or sunrise, to a visit including a home-cooked meal ata local home in Agra,” was howthe travel portal described the Taj.

The Taj Mahal was designat-ed as a UNESCO world heritagesite in 1983. It is described as “thejewel of Islamic art in India and

one of the universally admiredmasterpieces of the world’s heritage.” The monument receiveseight mill ion visitors per year.

Government statistics, how-ever, show that every fourth foreign visitor to the country visits the Taj but there has beena decline in the number foreigntourists to the white marble mausoleum, widely consideredone of the world’s seven wonders.

The Great Living Chola tem-ples ranked 10th on the Asia list.They were built by kings of theChola Empire, which stretchedover all of south India. Theseinclude three great 11th and 12thcentury temples of Brihadisvaraat Thanjavur, the Brihadisvara atGangaikondacholisvaram and theAiravatesvara at Darasuram. Allof them, with their soaring sanc-tum towers or vimanas, intricaterecessed reliefs and colonnadedcomplexes testify to the brilliantachievements of the Cholas inarchitecture, sculpture, paintingand bronze casting. The traditionof temple worship and ritualsestablished and practised over a

thousand years ago, based on stillolder Agamic texts, continuesdaily, weekly and annually, as aninseparable part of the life of peo-ple. The survey takes particularnote of this continuity.

Similarly, the survey recom-mends that the best views ofAngkor Wat, a temple complexand the largest religious monu-

ment in the world, are at dawn ordusk. “When the crowds havegone and the lighting reveals itstrue majesty. One can even takea helicopter tour over this famedsite, discovering the ancient con-structions from above, and whichincludes a dinner and tradition-al dancer performance,” detailedthe survey.

Machu Picchu in Peru inSouth America has bagged thefourth spot with a five-day hikeof the Inca trail, the 15th centu-ry Inca citadel and much more onoffer.

Iguazu National Park inBrazil, Italy’s Sassi of Matera,Auschwitz Birkenau and historicKrakow in Poland, the old city ofJerusalem in Israel and the his-toric areas of Istanbul in Turkeyhave also made it to the list. Andwhile the focus is on Jerusalemnow, the survey recommends anunderground tour of the ancientpart of the city, which is filledwith shrines and attractions holyto Jews, Christians and Muslims,including the Western Wall,Temple Mount and the Church ofthe Holy Sepulchre.

As travellers, we can con-tribute our share by visiting theselocales which are a true legacyfrom the past and help to preserveand protect them.

The Silence Breakers —those who have shared

their stories about sexualassault and harassment —have been named Time mag-azine’s Person of the Year.

Numerous women havespoken out since Octoberabout sexual misconduct bydozens of high-profile men inentertainment, media, busi-ness and sports. The magazinepraised those who have given“voice to open secrets, formoving whisper networksonto social networks, forpushing us all to stop accept-ing the unacceptable.” Themagazine’s cover featuresAshley Judd, Taylor Swift andothers who say they had beenharassed.

The announcement wasmade Wednesday on NBC’sToday show, where longtimehost Matt Lauer was firedlast week amid harassmentallegations. Today hostSavannah Guthrie acknowl-edged Wednesday that thisyear’s winner hits “close tohome” and mentioned Lauerby name.

Women who spoke out,initially against Hollywoodmogul Harvey Weinstein andthen others, helped to spawnthe #MeToo movement, withmillions of people telling sto-ries of sexual misconduct onsocial media. The tweets,Instagram and Facebook postsbegan after actress-activistAlyssa Milano followed on asuggestion from a friend of afriend on Facebook and tweet-ed: “If you’ve been sexuallyharassed or assaulted write‘me too’ as a reply to thistweet.” The hashtag was tweet-ed nearly a million times in 48hours. #MeToo was actuallyfounded by activist TaranaBurke a decade ago to raiseawareness about sexual vio-lence. Milano has said shewasn’t aware of Burke’s contri-butions when she made herinitial tweet and has sincepublicly credited her.

Milano and Burkeappeared together Wednesdayon the Today show. “This isjust the start. I’ve been sayingfrom the beginning it’s not justa moment, it’s a movement,”

Burke said. “Now the workreally begins.”

“As women, we have tosupport each other and standtogether and say, ‘That’s it.We’re done. No more,’” Milanosaid. “It’s vital to me that wereally set in some actionablethings that we can do to con-tinue this momentum.”

The two runners-up wereChinese President Xi Jinpingand President Donald Trump,himself accused of sexual mis-conduct by numerous women.He has denied any wrongdo-ing. Trump, Person of theYear in 2016, had tweetedrecently that the magazinehad told him he “probably”would be honoured again if heagreed to an interview andphoto shoot. Trump addedthat he “took a pass.”

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Tata Power Delhi DistributionLimited (Tata Power-DDL),

India’s leading power distributioncompany and Confederation ofIndian Industry (CII) signed aMemorandum of Understanding(MoU) to jointly work towardsdesigning innovative energy effi-ciency solutions for the Indianindustrial sector.

The purpose of the MoU wasto pave the way for knowledgetransfer, information and experi-ence sharing, technical coopera-tion between the parties in thefield of Energy Efficiency andDemand Side Management. Oneof the major scope of work is topool up the expertise to implement energy efficiencyenhancement program for variouskind of industries on pan Indiabasis and work jointly on the pro-jects.

The MoU was signed betweenPraveer Sinha, CEO and MD, TataPower-DDL and ShreekantSomany, Chairman, CII Centre ofExcellence for Competitivenessfor SMEs, CII during the CIINational Competitiveness andCluster Summit.

On signing of the MoU,

Praveer Sinha, CEO and MD, TataPower-DDL said, “The collabora-tion with CII will provide us thenecessary impetus towards devel-oping innovative energy efficiency solutions for the IndianIndustries. The deployment ofprojects wil l lead to cost optimisation, operational effi-ciency and overall businessgrowth across the industrial spec-trum.”

Tata Power-DDL, the onlyPower Distribution company inIndia, is empanelled as Grade - 1ESCO with Bureau of EnergyEfficiency (BEE). The companyhas been conferred with theCertif icate of Merit in theElectricity DistributionCompanies (DISCOM) Sector byBEE at the National EnergyConservation Award – 2016. TataPower-DDL has also been award-ed numerous accolades for imple-menting energy-eff iciencyimprovement projects, includingthe Innovative Financing andESCO Model at National EnergyEfficiency Circle Competition2017 organised by theConfederation of Indian Industry(CII)

The institute of CompanySecretaries of India (ICSI),

a pioneer in taking various ini-tiatives towards nation build-ing has announced a 100 percent fees refund scheme formeritorious and economical-ly weaker students registeringin CS course in December2017, in its Foundation andExecutive programme.

This initiative of the ICSIduring its golden jubilee yearis to bring the meritorious stu-dents as well as economicallyweaker students who cannotafford higher education, to themainstream, by providing freeregistration to pursue highereducation course like the pres-tigious CompanySecretaryship (CS) course,

The fee refund schemewill be open for all students forthe month of December andwill be applicable for the mer-itorious students who haveattained 70 per cent marks in12th class examinations forfoundation stage and similarrefund if they attain 60 percent in Graduation for exec-utive stage and for economi-cally weaker students who

have attained 55 per centmarks in 10+2 examinationsfor foundation stage and sim-ilar refund if they attain 50 percent in Graduation for exec-utive stage. This refund shallbe through ICSI’s SEFT (Students Education FundTrust) and all subsequent ben-efits for conditional fee refundthereafter shall be given tosuch students.

This is a major step takenby the institute in promotingexcellence in CorporateGovernance including vari-ous other path breaking ini-tiatives taken by the institutefor the inclusive growth ofyouth .

CS (Dr) Shyam Agrawal,President, ICSI said thatthrough this upbeat move, theinstitute is expecting toempower the meritorious stu-dents who are economicallyweaker. He also urged themembers of the institute topropagate this initiativeamongst the prospective stu-dents to reach out to themeritorious and economical-ly deprived sections of thesociety.

After a gap of nearly 10 years KhadiManthan, a two-day workshop was

held for the Chairmen/CEOs of stateKhadi and Village Industries Boards andstate directors of Khadi and VillageIndustries Commission (KVIC).Initiating the workshop, the Minister ofState (I/C) for Micro, Small and MediumEnterprises, Giriraj Singh, laid stress ontechnological intervention for the com-prehensive growth of Khadi. “EvenMahatma Gandhi was not against it. Ifthe traditional form of Charkha can bringfreedom for the nation some eightdecades ago, the solar and eight-spindledCharkha can certainly bring out econom-ic transformation at present,” he said,adding, “It is really a matter of concernthat we don't have proper mapping forour goal for Khadi.”

Advocating for villages with completeemployment through Khadi ReformDevelopment Programme of Charkhaand Production, the minister said that thetime has come to give up the septuage-narian model of government aids system.“We need to develop the self sustainablemodel, oriented to the growth of theentrepreneurs,” he added.

The KVIC Chairman, Vinai KumarSaxena, in his welcome address, said thatwith the push given by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, Khadi has taken a leapfrom fashion to economic transformationin the recent past. Appealing the partic-ipants to pull up their socks to ensuretangential growth of Khadi, Saxena saidthat much more can be done to attractthe corporate houses with latest designintervention. “We are committed for theeconomic independence of our arti-sans. For that, we need to enhance thewages for these jewels of India. And, onlyextensive and comprehensive marketingcan ensure their economic sustenance,”he said, adding, “We are already on thejob to develop one-spindle Charkha tosix and eight-spindle, for finer and del-icate signature fabric.”

Saxena also said that taking seriousnotes of Prime Minister’s appeal for SweetRevolution, KVIC had set a target of dis-tribution of at least one lakh bee-boxesacross the country till March 2018. “Itwill not ensure better job opportunitiesfor rural folk, rather it will also increasethe yield of different crops in the sur-rounding areas,” he said.

In this two-day symposium, theChairmen/CEOs of state Khadi andVillage Industries Boards and state direc-tors of Khadi and Village IndustriesCommission (KVIC) would share theirviews about the growth of Khadi andVillage Industries, besides discussing theproblems of this sector. They would alsocome up with the Vision 2022 documentsseparately for Khadi and VillageIndustries.

The Airports Authority of India is construct-ing a new state-of -the-art terminal build-

ing with passenger handling capacity of 4.5 mil-lion at the cost of �800 crores in order to meetthe ever increasing passenger traffic at Patna air-port. The airport was originally designed forhandling 0.7 million passengers. With thetremendous growth in aviation in the past fewyears, the airport has handled 2.11 million pas-sengers in the year 2016-17. I

The construction work for the new termi-nal building will start from April, 2018. Thisnew terminal building at Patna Airport willtake care of 2250 passengers during peak hour.

In addition to this, a new terminal build-ing at Bihita with a passenger handlingcapacity of 5 million is also planned at the totalcost of �800 crores. The work for construc-tion will commence from September, 2018.

Meanwhile, Airport Director, Patna, hastaken various steps to ease the congestion interminal building and Security Hold Area(SHA). A temporary structure with seatingcapacity of 300 passengers has been erectedoutside the terminal building. Additionalfrisking booth has been added in securitycheck which is operational during peakhours. The work for the expansion of SHA onthe first floor will be completed by March2018. It will also include an additional board-ing gate which will be operational fromFebruary 2018.

Charitable entities, in theirvaried forms and formats,

being governed by a variety oflegislations have played a keyrole in the growth and devel-opment of the nation.However, the recent allega-tions and revelations in termsof the misuse of these entitieshave been eye-openers.

The Institute of CompanySecretaries of India while real-ising the gap in governanceand understanding the needfor transparency and full dis-closure in such form of organ-isations has with the help of adedicated core group, devel-oped a code titled, the Code forCharity Governance. Theintent behind formulation ofsuch a code comprising prin-ciples, covering almost allareas of governance of suchentities is to, while strengthen-ing accountability and internalcontrol systems in such enti-ties, support the higher goalsof national governance.

The Code for CharityGovernance was recentlyreleased during the GoldenJubilee Year – 45th National

Convention of CompanySecretaries by Sadhguru,founder Isha foundation. Itcomprises a total of nine guid-ing principles. Each principleincludes a set of guidelineswhich shall support theachievement of the core prin-ciple.

CS (Dr) Shyam Agrawal,President, of the Institute ofCompany Secretaries of India(ICSI) while entrusting signif-

icance upon the role of vari-ous organisations in nationalgovernance stated that, “AtICSI, our efforts have alwaysbeen to redefine the way ourcorporate practices are under-taken, specifically with stresson improving corporate gov-ernance norms. The expecta-tions of the Prime MinisterNarendra Modi include ICSIplaying a significant role inestablishing an honest busi-

ness culture in the country by2022. Developing Code forCharity Governance is a stepahead in this regard. Thoughvoluntary in nature, theInstitute shall propagate theadoption of the code by send-ing it to all the charitable enti-ties across the nation.

While being applicableto all registered entities receiv-ing grants and donations forcarrying out charitable activ-ities for the benefit of the pub-lic at large, the objectives offorming the code include thefollowing:

�To provide for a set ofguiding principles and stan-dards for the entities estab-lished for charitable purposesirrespective of their format ofestablishment.

�To provide a set of prin-ciples to streamline the exist-ing systems and procedures inplace thereby bringing aboutdiscipline in the functioning ofcharitable entities.

�To strengthen trans-parency, accountability andthe internal control systems inthese entities.

The Soil Health Card (SHC)scheme was launched inIndia in February 2015 in

Rajasthan with the objective toprovide information on soilhealth to all 120 million farmholdings in the country. In thefirst phase (2015-2017), 100 mil-lion SHC have been distributed tofarmers so far. SHC app waslaunched for the convenience ofthe farmers. This app will bene-fit field-level workers. CelebratingWorld Soil Day, Agriculture andFarmers Welfare Minister, RadhaMohan Singh said that the objec-tive of SHC is to provide informa-tion about the soil health to 120million farm holdings in thecountry.

The Minister said that SoilHealth Card mobile app hasbeen launched to help the farm-ers. The app will benefit field-levelworkers as it will automaticallycapture GIS coordinates whileregistering details at the time ofsample collection in the field andindicate the location from wherethe sample has been collected.

This app works like otherGeo-tagging apps developed forthe Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana.The app contains farmers’ detailsincluding name, Aadhaar cardnumber, mobile number, gender,address, crop details and manymore.

The Minister added that SHCinforms farmers about nutrientsstatus of the soils along with therecommendation on appropriatedosage of nutrients to improvesoil health and fertility. A farmwill get the soil card once in everytwo years so that nutrients defi-ciency can be regularly detectedand improved. And the extensiveuse of fertilisers damages the

fields and reduces production. Heinformed that in the first phase(2015-17) 100 million SHCs havebeen distributed so far. The aimof the Ministry is to provide SHCto all 120 million farm holdingsby December, 2017. The secondphase began on May 1, 2017, andwill continue for the year 2017 to2019.

Agriculture Minister saidthat the key features of SoilHealth Card include a uniformapproach to collect samples andtest them in the laboratory, cov-ering all the land in the countryand renew SHC every two years.This scheme is being implement-

ed in collaboration with State gov-ernments. GPS based soil samplecollection has been made com-pulsory to monitor the changes insoil and to prepare a systematicdatabase to compare them withthe past years’. The Minister fur-ther said the online registrationof samples and test results areuploaded on the National Portalof the SHC. Based on the testresults, the system automaticallycalculates the recommendations.

He said that Soil Health Cardis prepared in 14 local languagesand distributed to the farmers. Heexpressed happiness over thepreparation of SHC in the local

dialect. Now the SHC can be pre-pared in local dialects such asKumaoni, Garhwali, Khasi, andGaro. He said that farmers shoulduse nutrients on their farms as perthe recommendations in the card.This will reduce the cost of pro-duction and increase the outputand income of the farmers.

He informed that the SHCportal has been linked to theIntegrated Fertiliser ManagementSystem (IFMS) and distributionof fertilizers has started in 16 dis-tricts on the basis Soil HealthCard recommendation as a pilotscheme.

On the occasion of World

Soil Day, programmes are beingorganised in all the districts at thestate level to generate awarenessabout soil health. Talking aboutthe progress of SHC distributionin Haryana, the Ministerinformed that in the first phase,the aim was to distribute SHCto 43.6 lakh farmers and so far28.92 lakh farmers have beenprovided SHC. The remainingare being distributed. To pro-mote SHC, various initiativesare being organized by stategovernments and ICAR, itsinstitutions and Krishi VigyanKendras to promote Soil HealthCard scheme.

Coming down heavily onthose officials found

indulging in corrupt prac-tices, a Railway ProtectionForce constable who wasposted at New Delhi railwaystation was placed byNorthern Railway authoritiesunder suspension and adepartmental inquiry wasinitiated against him after hewas found in possession ofexcess cash vis-à-vis theamount that he had declaredwhile reporting for duty ashis personal money. Ministerof Railways has been reiter-ating the need to upholdhonesty in all facets of rail-way working.

General Manager,Vishwesh Chaube has beenrepeatedly emphasising theneed to bring about trans-parency in the working ofNorthern Railway and hasissued directives to deal withthose indulging in malprac-tices in a very strict manner.To drive home his point, herecently conducted a sur-prise inspection of cateringarrangements in the pantry

car and reservation status ofpassengers travelling byDibrugarh Rajdhani andrandomly checked the qual-ity of food that was to beserved to passengers of thistrain.

Reacting swiftly to atweet by a rail passengerwho had complained about‘seat cornering’ by RPF, GRPand others in general coach-es of Vaishali Express atNew Delhi Railway Station,AN Mishra, Additional ChiefSecurity Commissioner/RPF/NR himself conducteda surprise check at PF num-ber 8 at the departure time ofVaishali Express. He reachedthe platform incognito so asto catch the alleged perpetra-tors of the crime red-hand-ed. CCTV footage of bothDecember 2 and 3 werescanned very closely by theabove senior officer himself.The behaviour of said con-stable whose was found to besuspicious and while he wasstill on duty at the stationwas summoned by the officer.

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With the sun finally shiningbrightly at the Feroz ShahKotla stadium for the final

day of the third Test between India andSri Lanka, the visitors produced anoth-er solid batting performance to draw thegame and thereby keep India's victorymargin in the series to 1-0. As a resultthe home team collected its ninth suc-cessive series victory on Wednesday.

Chasing a target of 410, theLankans lost only two wickets in theentire day and had reached a score of299/5 after battling for 103 overs in theirsecond innings when the two teamsdecided to bring curtains down on thegame and the series.

The star of the day for the visitorswas Dhananjaya de Silva (119 retiredhurt) with his brilliant hundred.Debutant Roshan Silva (74*) alsoplayed a major role in taking his teamto safety.

It was clear right from the begin-ning of the game that Indian bowlerswill have to work really hard to get theremaining seven wickets for victory.The pitch had hardly deteriorated andthe ball was coming on to the bat nice-ly, both against seamers and spinners.

Overnight batsmen de Silva andAngelo Matthews set out on the task ofrescuing their team after they suffereda mini-collapse towards the end of Day4. India got the early breakthrough theywanted with Jadeja getting a delivery tospin and bounce sharply, a rare occur-rence on this wicket, and picking up theprized scalp of Matthews in the 22ndover. At 35/4, the Lankan fans musthave feared another humiliation at thehands of the Indians but their captain,fresh off a career-best score in the firstinnings, brought calmness to the wick-et. Chandimal was looking in fine formagain and was dealing with both seamand spin bowlers without much diffi-culty.

De Silva, who got to his fifty in 92balls, gave his skipper good companyand the two put up a 50-run partner-ship in 89 balls.

Ravichandran Ashwin was bowlinga bit short allowing the batsmen to playhim off the back-foot most of the time.

Something special was needed tobreak this flow and it came in the formof a magnificent delivery from Jadeja

which turned sharply to beatChandimal's outside edge and clip theoff stump. Alas, it turned out to be a no-ball!

But the Indian spinners did causesome difficulty which the batsmencountered by stepping out often. Theysurvived and took their team to lunchat the score of 119/4.

After lunch, the pair used their pos-itive footwork to keep the Indianbowlers at bay until Ashwin bowled aregulation off break to whichChandimal charged and allowed theball to spin through the gap between hisbat and pad to hit the stumps.

The Lankan captain departed for36 off 90 balls after putting up a part-nership of 112 for the fifth wicket.

The wicket was achieved off a deliv-ery bowled outside the off stump — thetraditional off spinners' line — but forsome strange reason, instead of bowl-ing this, he kept bowling a straight line.

He then went round the wicket tode Silva and tried to tie him up for runs.The plan succeeded to some extent asthe batsman tried to break free andcharged down the wicket and smashedthe ball back at him where the tweak-er couldn't hold on to the difficult catch.

Apart from this half-chance, thespinners weren't causing much troubleas only the odd ball was turning.Ashwin was even going for runs.

Debutant Roshen Silva, coming in

to bat after Chandimal's wicket gavevaluable support to de Silva and the twoprevented India from making furtherinroads for a substantial time.

With the slower bowlers lookingineffective and the new ball not too far

away, Kohli decided to experiment bybringing himself and Murali Vijayinto the attack.

At this crucial juncture, Lankareceived a big blow with the centurionde Silva, who was in some physical dis-comfort and receiving treatment for it,was forced to leave the field due to mus-cle strain.

Kohli sensed an opening andbrought Ashwin and Jadeja back to cap-italize on the opportunity.

But Niroshan Dickwella, the newbatsman, and Silva remained positiveand blunted the Indian spinners attackonce again.

Therefore, Kohli had no hesitationin taking the new ball as soon as it wasavailable. The Lankans entered the finalsession with the score at 226/5 and abatsman down with injury. The spellsof Ishant and Shami with the new ballassumed great importance.

Dickwella, not able to curb hisattacking instincts, played an expansivedrive against Ishant which resulted inan edge that flew past the slip cordon.Another nick from him went throughthe gap between third slip and gully.

But Silva was looking assured at theother end and Dickwella was gettingbetter also. The Indian seamers, on theirpart, were bowling a bit wide and withthere being no great movement forthem, the Lankan batsmen seemed tobe in no great trouble.

Thus after seven overs from seam-ers, Kohli went back to Jadeja and fourovers later brought Ashwin on as well.This was the last roll of the dice for theIndians.

Ashwin looked as innocuous asbefore but Jadeja created some oppor-tunities. Twice, Wriddhiman Sahamissed a stumping opportunity offeredby Dickwella off his bowling.

Dickwella seemed to develop astrange obsession with sweeping thespinners in spite of constantly failing inthe process. Apart from this, the bats-men looked safe and with just over half-an-hour remaining in the game, Kohlidecided to settle for a draw.

India won the series but the 1-0score line is probably not what theyexpected. Virat Kohli was, unsurpris-ingly, both the man of the match andman of the series.

The biggest disappointment forIndia was the performance of the twospinners. While Jadeja (38-13-81-3) wasdoing his usual job of bowling a tightline and length and even got the oddball to turn and bounce, Ashwin (35-3-126-1) was unable to build any pres-sure. His persistence with bowlingstump to stump and also, has been hisproblem in the past, excessive experi-mentation made him quite ineffective.

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India's prolific No 3Cheteshwar Pujara defended

his bowlers and said it was thenature of the Kotla pitch thatwas responsible for the team notachieving victory.

"Overall we have bowledreally well, especially in this Testmatch considering the wicket.We were expecting this pitch todeteriorate a little more on dayfour and five but, maybe becauseof the weather, it remained a flatwicket. There wasn't much helpfor the spinners in the last twodays," Pujara told mediapersonsin the post-match conference.

He further expanded on theissue and described the lack ofsharpness from spin bowlers asa one-off occurrence.

"If you look at the numberof wickets they have taken, it'sremarkable. In this home season,they have been the most difficultspinners for any opposition.This is one-odd game wherethere wasn't much assistance. InIndia, on any other pitch on Dayfive, there will be a lot more helpfor them," the Saurashtra bats-man asserted.

India were very generouswith their slip-catching in theKotla Test. Pujara accepted theflaw but also revealed what theteam is doing about it.

"We are having a chat aboutthe slip fielding issue. There aresome players who will be therethroughout the away tours. We'llprepare those few players for thetask. We'll also discuss the issuewhen we get there. But we havealready started talking about it,"the 29-year old explained.

Looking ahead to the toughoverseas tour of South Africa onwhich the Indian team embarksin the near future, the centuri-on from the first game thought

that the experience of havingplayed in the country beforewould be useful for him andother players. "We have enoughexperience of being in SouthAfrica. I have been there a cou-ple of times. Many of the play-ers in this team were on the 2013tour. So that experience will def-initely help us. Also, our fastbowling unit is much better nowand I think fast bowlers will dothe damage," Pujara stated con-fidently.

He also took a dig at theProteas' batting line-up.

"The South African battingis not what it used to be at onetime. That will give us someadvantage."

Pujara, who was droppedfrom the Test team last year inWest Indies, seemingly becauseof his batting style, refuted theclaim that he has been asked tobat differently.

"I was always allowed to batthe way I want. The ultimategoal of any team is to win a Testmatch and when we play for theIndian team, its always aboutscoring runs and when it comesto test cricket we take it very seri-ously and we always try to winas many matches as we possiblycan. We will look to win theseries in South Africa," a smil-ing Pujara concluded by saying.

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The Indian Premier League'sGoverning Council on

Wednesday cleared the decks for MS Dhoni's return to Chennai SuperKings by allowing teams to buy backa maximum of five players at the auc-tion next year. Effectively, the IPLGoverning Council has enabled CSKand Rajasthan Royals, the two fran-chises which will make a comebackto the league in the 2018 edition afterserving a two-year suspension foralleged spot-fixing and betting, toretain the players which were on their

2015 roster.Dhoni had played for the Rising

Pune Supergiants (RPS) in the lasttwo editions but now can go back toCSK with the decision taken by theIPL Governing Council here. He wasCSK's captain at the time of its sus-pension.

"An IPL Franchise is eligible tosecure up to five players by virtue ofa combination of Player Retention(Pre Player Auction) and Right toMatch (RTM) (During the PlayerAuction)," BCCI Acting SecretaryAmitabh Choudhary said.

"The player pool available for

CSK and RR for retention/RTM willbe the players' who played for themrespectively in IPL 2015 and whowere part of RPS and Gujarat Lionssquads in IPL 2017," he added.

RTM refers to a franchise's rightto match the highest bidder for a play-er it is interested in.

CSK and Rajasthan Royals weresuspended owing to the 2013 spot-fixing scandal, which shook theleague to its core and allegedlyinvolved not just players but alsosome top officials of the two fran-chises. The IPL Governing Councilalso hiked the salary budget of the

franchises from �66 crore to �80 crorefor the next year's auction, tentative-ly set for February. For 2019 and 2020,the cap will be increased to Rs 82 and�85 crore respectively.

Regarding the the rules on retain-ing players, a total of �33 crore fromthe �80 crore purse will be deductedif three players are retained by thefranchise before the auction.

To further explain the math, thefirst player to be retained pre-auctionwill get �15 crore, the second play-er will get �11 crore and and third �seven crore. Therefore, the team thatretains all three players will go into

the auction with a reduced purse of�47 crore.

Top players such as Virat Kohli,who turned up for Royal ChallengersBangalore till this season, will mostlikely come in the �15 crore brack-et as they will be the most soughtafter by their old teams.

"The minimum spend will be 75per cent of the salary cap for each sea-son," the BCCI stated.

The minimum auction reserveprice of uncapped players has alsobeen raised with the upper limitincreased to �40 lakh from �30lakh. For the capped players, who

were earlier bracketed in the �30 lakhand �50 lakh category, the new baseprice will be �50 lakh and �75 lakhrespectively.

IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla saidall decisions were taken after reach-ing a consensus with the teams.

"Almost six out of eight teamswanted about 6 to 8 retentions. In away, we have found a middle path(with the possibility of buying backfive players through retention orRTM)," said Shukla.

He further said that auctionwill be held in the last week ofJanuary or early February.

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Pacemen Mitchell Starc andJosh Hazlewood spearheaded

Australia to a crushing 120-runwin over England to open up a 2-0 lead in the five-Test Ashes seriesin Adelaide on Wednesday.

Hazlewood snuffed outEngland's outside hopes of acome-from-behind victory whenhe dismissed captain Joe Root inthe third over of the final day ofthe first-ever day-night AshesTest.

Starc mopped up the tail tofinish with five for 88.

Holders England now facethe prospect of losing the series innext week's third Test at Perth's

WACA Ground where they havenot won a Test since 1978.

"We always had the faith in theteam and the belief," Australiaskipper Steve Smith said.

"We thought if we could comeout and bowl well this morning,hit our lengths and get one or twowickets then things can happenquickly."

While Root was battingEngland's hopes lingered of bring-ing off a record run chase of 345at Adelaide Oval.

But Hazlewood enticed a bot-tom edge and wicketkeeper TimPaine did the rest to the unre-strained glee of the Australianteam.

Root left the field on his

overnight score of 67 and with himEngland's hopes vanished.

"Disappointing. I don't thinkwe did ourselves justice," Rootsaid. "We're still massively in theseries. We showed that from theway we played yesterday.

"That has to be the benchmarkhow we approach the rest of theseries."

Nightwatchman ChrisWoakes was out to the second ballof the day, caught behind offHazlewood for five.

Woakes sought a review andwhile the 'Hot Spot' infrared imag-ing system could not find any-thing, the 'Snicko' sound-videotechnology detected an edge andthe umpire's decision was upheld.

Nathan Lyon got the wicket offellow off-spinner Moeen Ali forthe fourth time in the series, legbefore wicket as he attempted tosweep when on two.

That left England lurchingtowards defeat on 188 for sevenafter 45 minutes of play on thefinal day.

Craig Overton stayed aroundfor 39 minutes before he fell lbwto a Starc inswinger for seven withthe first delivery of the second newball. Starc had Stuart Broad caughtbehind for eight and finished offthe Test just before tea bowlingJonny Bairstow for 36.

England entered the final day178 runs from victory with sixwickets in hand after a dramatic

momentum switch on Tuesday.Australia dismissed England

for 227 on Monday but decidedagainst sending them back in tobat despite holding a 215-runfirst innings lead.

The tourists subsequently skit-tled out the Australians for 138,leaving them with a chance ofchasing down a record 354-runvictory target in the final five ses-sions of play.

Skipper Root led a spiritedEnglish fightback and relishedthe challenge of a record run chasewith a fighting unbeaten half-cen-tury. The highest winning fourthinnings at the Adelaide Ovalremains 315 for six by Australiaagainst England in 1902.

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Hosts India produced a spir-ited performance to stun

Olympic silver medallistBelgium in the shoot-out andprogress to the semifinals of theHockey World League (HWL)final after both the teams werelocked at 3-3 at the end of reg-ulation time, here onWednesday.

Warming the bench formost part of the match, goal-keeper Akash Chikte dishedout a superb performance tohand India their first win of thetournament, a win that willerase all their wrongdoing of thepool stages.

It was a great exhibition ofattacking hockey from boththe sides as the regulationtime yielded as many as sixgoals, three each from eitherside.

While Gurjant Singh (31stminute), Harmanpreet Singh(35th) and Rupinderpal Singh(46th) were the goal scorersfor India, Belgium's goalscame from the sticks of LoickLuypaert (39th, 46th) andAmaury Keusters (53rd).

But Chikte, who wasbrought into action in the47th minute, produced fourbrilliant saves in the shoot-outthat went to sudden death toseal the famous win for India.

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After playing three successivedraws, debutant Jamshedpur

FC won their first Indian SuperLeague match, defeating home teamDelhi Dynamos 1-0 at the JawaharlalNehru Stadium, here on Friday.

A solitary goal by NigerianAzuka Izu in 60th minute wasenough to seal the faith of the matchas home side never made any threat-ening claims to score.

After a dull first half where bothteams struggled to entertain thecrowd with slow football, things tooka turn for the good in the second halfafter Delhi's Pratik Choudharyfouled striker Azuka inside the box.However, the glorious chance toscore the first goal of the season forhis club was agonisingly wasted bydefender Andre Bikey. Shot-stopper

Albino Gomes make a dive to hisright to save a weak shot by theCameroonian.

But the disappointment soonturned into joy for the travelling side

as Azu Izuka headed in the first goalfrom close range. The goal resultedfrom a pin-point indirect free-kicktaken by Mehtab Hussain to theNigerian, who calmly lobbed it overthe goalkeeper.

Jamshedpur's substituteSameegh Doutie had a gloriouschance to score another goal for histeam after he ran free from the cen-tre towards Delhi's goalpost with justsubstitute goalkeeper Sukhadev Patilto beat but a delay in decision mak-ing allowed centre-back GabrielCichero to track back and blockDoutie's shot.

Earlier, Dynamos keeping mostof the ball possession (66 percent)and Jamshedpur defending deep innumbers, the first half turned out tobe a dull affair. Aware of the threatthat Delhi is capable of creating fromthe flanks, Coppell set up a defensive

4-4-2 formation which blocked thespaces for the Dynamos' wingers.

Chhangte, back in starting line-up after the last game, won a lot offree-kicks for his side as he wasfouled often. Delhi looked threat-ening from those opportunities asPaulinho delivered some accuratefree-kicks inside the box. But goodgoalkeeping by Subrata Paul and adisallowed goal because of offsidecame to Jamshedpur's rescue early inthe match.

Jamshedpur, who came into thematch looking for their first goal ofthe season, looked threatening fromthe counter-attacks they created.The best chance for them arrived in22nd minute after Memo won theball from Chhangte in the midfieldand played Bikas Jairu free on left.His cross was shot inches wide off thepost by striker Azuka Izu.

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Page 16: 6 ˙ 7 ˆ /* .0˝123 +( 8 /4 -)˘ -! ˘:/!&˘˚0˚ 4.!-*0˚ ˚.0-˘/>˚ 7:˚ 0 ... to their motherland,” says Himanshu Chothani, a busi-nessman and resident of Bhuj, headquarters

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Manchester United and Juventus wereamong the sides to clinch a place in thelast 16 of the Champions League on

Tuesday, while Bayern Munich gained a measureof revenge over Paris Saint-Germain.

United, Juventus, Roma and Basel all wentthrough with victories in their final groupgames, but Atletico Madrid, beaten finalists in2014 and 2016 were eliminated.

Jose Mourinho's United side came frombehind to beat CSKA Moscow 2-1 at OldTrafford as they reach the knockout rounds forthe first time since 2013-14.

Only a heavy defeat could have eliminatedUnited in Group A, but Romelu Lukaku andMarcus Rashford scored two minutes apart in thesecond half to seal victory at Old Trafford, wherethey are unbeaten in 40 games in all competitionsnow.

CSKA had taken the lead with a contentiousgoal on the stroke of half-time, a shot from theBrazilian Vitinho going in off the back of AlanDzagoev.

At first glance Dzagoev appeared offside, butreplays showed he had been played on by DaleyBlind, who had just slid off the pitch. The goalwas credited to Vitinho.

CSKA drop into the Europa League, whileBasel reached the last 16 for the third time thisdecade, the Swiss champions beating Benfica 2-0 in Lisbon with goals from MohamedElyounoussi and Dimitri Oberlin.

Last season's beaten finalists Juventus pro-gressed from Group D thanks to their 2-0 winaway to Olympiakos in Greece, Juan Cuadradoopening the scoring early on before FedericoBernardeschi completed the victory late on.

The Italian champions go through behindBarcelona, who rounded off their group phase byeasing to a 2-0 win at home against SportingLisbon.

Lionel Messi was left on the bench at a sparse-ly populated Camp Nou as Paco Alcacer head-ed the hosts in front on the hour and JeremyMathieu then scored a late own goal against hisold side. Sporting drop into the Europa League.

������#������� �"#Roma knew they would go

through from Group C with a win,which they got, although they couldonly edge out Qarabag of Azerbaijan1-0 at the Stadio Olimpico with aDiego Perotti effort early in the sec-ond half.

That turned out to be enough forRoma to win the section ahead ofChelsea, who had to come frombehind to draw 1-1 at home toAtletico.

Saul Niguez headed Atletico infront on 56 minutes at StamfordBridge, but Eden Hazard's ball acrossgoal was turned into his own net byStefan Savic to restore parity.

Diego Simeone's Atletico, whohave only been knocked out by RealMadrid in each of the last fouryears, reaching at least the quarter-finals every time, must now accept aspot in the Europa League. They wonthat trophy in 2010 and 2012.

�������#��4�� ��4�$��"Bayern and PSG had already

secured qualification from Group Bbut met at the Allianz Arena withfirst place still up for grabs.

Having lost 3-0 in Paris inSeptember, Bayern needed to win byfour goals to leapfrog Neymar and co.

They gave themselves a chance,with Robert Lewandowski andCorentin Tolisso both heading homein the first half.

Kylian Mbappe got one back justafter the break, leaving Bayern withtoo much to do, although Tolisso didscore again to make it 3-1.

PSG will be the happier side atwinning the group, although possi-ble last-16 opponents for them areChelsea, Juventus and Real Madrid.

Celtic, who lost 7-1 at PSG lasttime out, lost 1-0 at home toAnderlecht after Jozo Simunovicput through his own net in the sec-ond half. Despite a fifth loss in sixgroup games, they limp into theEuropa League in the new year.

Liverpool are among the sideshoping to secure a place in the last16 on Wednesday, with more fourmore berths still up for grabs for nextMonday's draw.

����"�����#�������Manchester United manager Jose

Mourinho suggested rival coach PepGuardiola isn't telling the truth inmaking David Silva a doubt forManchester City ahead of the derby.

Guardiola said Silva was injuredagainst West Ham on Sunday andthat "I don't know if he is able toplay on Sunday" against United.

Mourinho is wary of believingGuardiola, given that Arsenal man-ager Arsene Wenger ruledAlexandre Lacazette out of lastweekend's match against Unitedonly to start the striker.

"Our opponents have all theseissues. They have a big issue but, inthe end, everybody is ready toplay," Mourinho said after United's2-1 win over CSKA Moscow in theChampions League. "They havephenomenal organizations. We area bit more humble.

"When we have a problem, wehave a problem. When players areinjured, they are injured. I tell youthe truth."

Moments later, Mourinho toldreporters Eric Bailly would miss thederby through injury, that PhilJones, Marouane Fellaini and ZlatanIbrahimovic could return, and thatNemanja Matic "is injured but willplay for sure. I am telling thetruth."

"No stories of Lacazette, DavidSilva," Mourinho added as hewalked out of the room. "All thetruth."

Speaking earlier Tuesday inUkraine ahead of City's ChampionsLeague match against ShakhtarDonetsk, Guardiola was asked forfurther clarification on the natureof Silva's injury but was unwillingto elaborate. "Hopefully he can befit for Sunday," Guardiola said,"but it was too risky to play him (onWednesday)."

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It won't go down as the best goal ofRomelu Lukaku's first season atManchester United. It might prove

to be one of the most significant.When Lukaku stuck out his left foot

and prodded in a close-range volley forthe equalizer against CSKA Moscow inthe Champions League on Tuesday, asense of relief swept through OldTrafford.

Aside from scoring the final goal inUnited's 4-1 win against an over-whelmed Newcastle on Nov. 18, Lukakuhadn't found the net for his new clubsince the end of September. That runof one goal in 12 games hardly com-pared favorably to his fast start at United- 11 goals in his opening 10 matches.

Why Lukaku started to struggle isa matter of some debate. Was it the factit coincided with a two-month injuryabsence of midfielder Paul Pogba,Lukaku's close friend and the drivingforce in United's midfield? Was it theschedule, given that there were toughgames against Liverpool, Tottenhamand Chelsea early in his barren run?Was it just a natural come-down fromthe high he was on upon joiningUnited?

Maybe defenders were simplylearning how to play him better.

Whatever the reason, Lukaku's

confidence in front of goal seemed todesert him and it wasn't helped that heappeared isolated at times because ofUnited manager Jose Mourinho's tac-tics in some games. The slump in formof playmaker Henrikh Mkhitaryanprobably didn't help in that respect,either.

When Zlatan Ibrahimovic made anearlier-than-expected return last monthfrom a long-term knee injury, therewere suddenly doubts about whetherLukaku was assured to be Mourinho'sfirst-choice striker going forward.

Yet the coach who once oversaw thedeparture of Lukaku from Chelsea in2014 - later saying the striker's"approach was not highly motivated tocome to a competitive situation" atStamford Bridge - has never lost faithin the same, but more mature, player hebrought to United for at least 75 mil-lion pounds (then $97 million) in July.

Having tried not to get too excitedby Lukaku's early-season goal spree,Mourinho was always measured whendiscussing Lukaku's run without scor-ing, repeatedly saying he valued theBelgian's work rate and unselfishnessjust as much. In late October, Mourinhosaid Lukaku should be "untouchable"from criticism from United's fans.

Lukaku is a player oozing in self-belief anyway, but he will have beencomforted by Mourinho's continued

backing, especially given what hap-pened at Chelsea.

So the goal against CSKA, whichwas followed by another 66 secondslater by Marcus Rashford that com-

pleted a come-from behind 2-1 win andsealed first place for United in its group,was important to show that he is stillthe striker Mourinho can rely on. Thetiming of the goal was key, too, com-

ing five days before the derby againstunbeaten leader Manchester City in thePremier League.

"I am always happy with Romelubecause the way he plays for the teamis absolutely amazing," Mourinho said."If he can score that goal and feel thathappiness that strikers only get whenthey score goals, then great. But hiswork for the team is amazing. To scorea goal in the Champions League makesme feel happy not for me but for him."

There was a telling moment in thefirst half against CSKA when Lukakusent a disappointing ball across the faceof the box, with two teammates indecent positions. Mourinho strode for-ward in his technical area and applaud-ed Lukaku, a clear and public show ofsupport.

Considering he already has 13goals by early December, this has to beregarded as a successful start to life atUnited by Lukaku. He also recentlybecame Belgium's all-time leadingscorer with 31 goals.

He is only 24, remember.Critics point to his sometimes-

heavy first touch and his past failure toregularly score goals in big games. Butthere's so much more to come fromLukaku.

Starting, United fans will hope, withthe team's biggest game of the seasonon Sunday.

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Steve Smith was so worried about acaptain's call that backfired that he

needed a sleeping pill to get some restduring the inaugural day-night Ashestest.

His Australian team was complete-ly in control when Smith made the deci-sion not to enforce a follow-on againstEngland on the third day, a choice thatwas heavily criticized when England ral-lied quickly to give themselves an out-side chance of an historic come-from-behind win.

He also dropped a catch, wastedAustralia's two referrals to the TVumpire and didn't refer an umpiringdecision that in hindsight he should have.

But just as quickly as the threatemerged, it evaporated Wednesday whenpacemen Josh Hazlewood and MitchellStarc took five of the six wickets need-ed to usher Australia to a 120-run winin Adelaide and a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five test series.

"I had to have a sleeping pill lastnight. It has been a pretty tough 24 hoursif I'm being honest," Smith said afterAustralia completed the win with twosessions to spare. "It's all part of beingcaptain of your country. You have tomake difficult decisions and sometimesyou're going to make the wrong decision.

"I'll think back and reflect over thenext day or so and think what I couldhave perhaps done differently and couldhave done better, and areas that I cancontinue to improve in my leadership."

Smith didn't consult his fast bowlers

on Monday night before decided they'dbe better served resting while theAustralian batsmen went out and triedto build a big lead.

It was anything but a restful time forSmith, though, as he was one of the fourtop-order batsmen who failed asAustralia slipped to 53-4 by stumps onthe middle day. Jimmy Anderson, whotook two wickets in the night session,added another three on day four andAustralia was out for 138, leavingEngland five sessions to score 354 runsfor victory.

Australia's bowling coach DavidSaker said at the time that it may havebeen better to just to stay on the attack.

"Maybe we got it wrong," he said. "Atthe end of the test match we will reviewthat."

Smith later explained that runningthe England bowlers ragged, if possible,was just as important in a long series aspreserving his own attack.

He'll no doubt sleep more easily afterthe win, which followed Australia's 10-wicket victory in the series opener lastweek in Brisbane and gives his team achance to regain the old urn in the thirdtest starting next week in Perth.

"Fortunately, we're able to hang inthere and get the result we were after,"Smith said of his follow-on decision. "Itdoesn't make any difference anymore."

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Captain Joe Root says England are"still massively" in the Ashes series

after a second heavy Test defeat toAustralia today left his side facing a laststand in the third Test.

The Australians sealed a 120-runvictory in the second Adelaide Test aftera crushing 10-wicket triumph in theBrisbane opener, putting England'shopes of retaining the Ashes on the linein Perth next week.

Compounding England's task is thefact that the tourists have not beatenAustralia at Perth's WACA Groundsince 1978. But Root put on a bold faceafter defeat today and said there wasbelief in the England camp that they canturn things around in the five-Testseries and not head in the same direc-tion as the 5-0 whitewash on the lasttour to Australia in 2013-14.

"The way we batted in that secondinnings proved to everyone we are stillmassively in this series, simple as that,"Root told reporters. "We've shownthroughout the two Tests in periods wecan out-perform Australia, but just notover five days. If we can perform to ourability for longer periods of time we'llwin games. The belief in dressingroom is definitely there."

Root said he "strongly disagreed"with the notion that his team are head-ing for the same fate as Alastair Cook'stourists four years ago.

"I don't think we're in the same sit-uation (as last tour), we're much bet-ter than that. We're in a much betterplace," he said. "In big series senior play-ers have to step up and lead from thefront and I tried to do that last night,but unfortunately this morning I could-n't carry that on," he lamented.

"That's really disappointing assomeone who wants to lead from thefront and show the guys to lead the way.That hurts me a lot personally."

Root said there was no point com-plaining about of a series of "strange"decision reviews in his side's Adelaideloss.

"There were a number of decisionsoverturned, it was strange," he said.

"A few where we were out in themiddle in the field and we thought thatit's just regulation ... Out.

"It's easy to criticise the umpires andit's easy to make excuses but it's a verydifficult job. And just like players, youhave good and bad days."

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National badminton coach, Pullela Gopichand, onWednesday expressed happiness at the perfor-

mance this year of Indian shuttlers and termedKidambi Srikanth's feat of winning four Super Seriestitles as "phenomenal".

"It's been a great year. I think all the players havedone well. At the beginning of the year if you hadsaid this is what you would get this year, I would havetaken it very happily," said Gopichand here.

"In the big events - World Championships orSuper Series events, we have done well. Also variedpeople have done well. Last year was, may be, (P V)Sindhu's year. This year men's singles has come off(well). Three of them winning Super Series titles,winning GP gold level - (HS) Prannoy and Sameer(Verma) winning. Overall it has been a good year.Now hoping for a good finish in Dubai (Super Seriesfinals) to what has been a great year already," heremarked.

"We have a pretty cramped calendar in the worldlevel. Considering that, what we have been able tomanage has been good. It's a good stepping stone forthe next year as well," he noted.

"To win four Super Series titles and becomingrunner-up at one and, at the end of the year, reach-ing a ranking of world no. 2 is phenomenal. Not manyplayers in world badminton (have achieved that). The

only players whohave achievedwhat he hasachieved - we callthem legends ofthe sport acrosstime," saidGopichand onSrikanth's bril-liant run this year.

Srikanth hadstarted his bril-liant title-run byclinching themen's singles titlein the IndonesianSuper Series andfollowed it up bywinning the sin-gles Super Series

crowns in Australia, Denmark and France.In between, the Hyderabad shuttler also finished

runner-up to compatriot B Sai Praneeth in theSingapore SS and was a losing quarter finalist in theWorld Championships.

"He's 24 and has many more years to compete.(With) Lee Chong Wei at 34 and Lin Dan at 33 (stillplaying), we can expect that he has 8-10 years ofbadminton left in him. What he has achieved is phe-nomenal. What he can achieve, considering hispotential, is unbelievable," Gopichand gushed.

On Sindhu, silver medal winner in women's sin-gles at last year's Rio Olympics, Gopichand said itwas a fine display by the lanky shuttler to maintainsuch high levels the year after the sports spectaclein Brazil.

"Sindhu has been good - Super Series wins in theIndia Open and Korea and finals of the Super Seriesin Hong Kong and the World Championship (silver)medal. To come back after an Olympic year and, inthe next year, perform like that and finish off as worldno. 2 is good.

"She had problems with (Spain's Olympic cham-pion) Carolina (Marin), she beat her; with (Japan'sAkane), Yamaguchi, she beat her. She is improvingas a player. I believe, the next year could be even bet-ter. She is just 22, young and has a lot of potential."

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