ˆ ˆ ˇ* ˇ & ˇ ˙ $ˇ - Latest Today News in English · decision in the matter. The ... Earlier in the afternoon, Uddhav in a meeting with the newly elected Sena MLAs, who

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Close on the heels of the BJPexpressing its inability to

form a Government in theState, Governor Bhagat SinghKoshyari on Sunday nightinvited Sena’s Eknath Shinde,the leader of the second single-largest party, to indicate its“willingness and ability” toform the next Government inMaharashtra.

Talking to mediapersons,NCP’s State spokespersonNawab Malik said, “We havenot yet come to know of a for-mal decision by the Congress(on the Government formationissue). Our president SharadPawar has said the NCP andCongress will take a combineddecision in the matter. TheCongress MLAs will conveytheir mood to their party lead-ers who will in turn discusswith their Central party highcommand. Similarly there willbe discussions in our party. TheCentral leaders of the two par-ties will take a final decision inthe matter”.

NCP chief spokespersonNawab Malik told reporters onSunday evening, “Shiv Senaneeds to first exit from theNDA as it has one cabinet post(in the Narendra ModiGovernment). Unless it leavesthe NDA, we will wait andwatch the developments.”

As the things stand, thethree parties will prepareCommon MinimumProgramme (CMP) to run the

Government.Congress general secretary

Mallikarjun Kharge on Sundaymet the party’s newly electedMLAs from Maharashtra, whoare staying at a resort in Jaipur,to discuss the political situationin the State while NCP chiefSharad Pawar met some of hisparty leaders in Mumbai.

Later talking to reporters inJaipur, Kharge reiterated hisparty’s stand of sitting in theOpposition in Maharashtra,while Pawar said he wouldreact only to an official state-

ment from the Sonia Gandhi-led party.

In a day of dramatic devel-opments, the BJP leaders hadearlier in the evening called onthe Governor and conveyedtheir party’s inability to form aGovernment after the ShivSena refused to extend its sup-port to its senior ally over thecontentious issue of equal shar-ing of Chief Minister’s post.

Without wasting muchtime, the Governor sent out aninvite to attempt and form thenext Government in the State.

“On Saturday, DevendraFadnavis was called upon toexpress his willingness andability to form the Government.However, today, he has shownunwillingness. The Governorhas, therefore, asked the leaderof elected members of the sec-ond largest party, Shiv Sena,Eknath Shinde, to convey itswillingness and ability to formthe Government to him,” anews release put out by RajBhavan said.

Less than 24 hours after theGovernor asked it to convey its

“willingness and ability” toform the Government, theState BJP — in its capacity asthe single largest party — hadearlier backed out of theGovernment formation race,after its core group membersheld two rounds of discussionsand also confabulated withparty’s national president AmitShah on the party’s inability toform a Government withoutthe Shiv Sena’s support.

Shah, through video-con-ferencing from the nationalCapital, is understood to haveadvised the State BJP leadersagainst accepting the invite forforming a Government at atime when it is 25 MLAs shortof a simple majority of 145MLAs in the 288-member StateAssembly. The BJP’s experienceof Karnataka on May 19, 2018when BS Yeddyurappa resignedas the Chief Minister withoutfacing a trust vote must havebeen on Shah’s mind when heasked the State BJP party lead-ers not to have a go at the for-mation of a Government.

Earlier in the afternoon,Uddhav in a meeting with thenewly elected Sena MLAs, whohave been lodged at HotelRetreat at Madh Island in northMumbai, expressed confidencethat come what may, his partywould install its Government.He had also told his party leg-islators that the Sena would notcompromise with the BJP on itscore objective of installing itsman as the next Chief Ministerof Maharashtra.

Minutes after the BJP con-veyed its lack of inclination information of a Government inthe State, hectic activity anddeliberations were witnessed inthe camps of the Shiv Sena,NCP and Congress about theemerging political situationthat may lead to the formationof a Sena-led Government inthe State.

While Uddhav held meet-ings with senior party leaders,NCP chief Sharad Pawar con-fabulated with his party col-leagues at his “Silver Oak” res-idence all through the day. InJaipur where newly electedCongress MLAs are putting up,senior party leaders, includingMalikarjun Kharge, formerChief Ministers Sushil KumarShinde, Prithiviraj Chavan andAshok Chavan, deliberated onissues relating to the partyextending their support to theShiv Sena.

Now that the ball is in thecourt of the Shiv Sena, whichhas a strength of 56 MLAs andclaims that it enjoys the supportof another eight MLAs, to forma Government, it would have tomake all-out efforts to reach outto both NCP and Congress,which together have a strengthof 98 MLAs and claim to enjoysupport of at least another 10independent and smaller partyMLAs.

If they come together, thecombined strength of the ShivSena, NCP and Congress willhave a combined strength of172 MLAs.

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Nearly 90 people have beenarrested and action taken

against over 8,000 social mediaposts as authorities main-tained a tight vigil in the tem-ple town and elsewhere in thecountry in the wake of theAyodhya verdict, while Hinduand Muslim religious leadersexhorted people to maintaincommunal harmony after ameeting with NationalSecurity Adviser Ajit Doval onSunday.

Action has been takenagainst 8,275 posts, including4,563 posts on Sunday, UPpolice said, adding these hadbeen posted on Facebook,Twitter and YouTube.

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With swirling wind ram-ming at a speed of 135

km per hour, cyclone Bulbulwreaked havoc in three districtsof coastal Bengal killing at least10 people and affecting morethan 3 lakh on Sunday withPrime Minister Narendra Modiand Home Minister Amit Shahreviewing the situation andspoke to West Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee,assuring her all Central aid inthe wake of the nature fury.

“Reviewed the situation inthe wake of cyclone conditionsand heavy rain in parts ofEastern India. Assured all pos-sible assistance from theCentre. I pray for everyone’ssafety and well-being,” thePrime Minister wrote onTwitter. Making a landfall nearSagar Islands, about 120 kmfrom Kolkata at 9 pm onSaturday Bulbul took into itsvortex three districts of North24 Parganas, South 24 Parganasand East Midnapore smashingthousands of houses.

“We have information ofabout 7 deaths out of which fiveoccurred in North 24

Parganas,” said MinisterDisaster Management JavedKhan, adding at least 26,000houses have been partiallyaffected while about 4 thou-sand were fully damaged. “Weare running about 400 reliefcamps hosting 1.78 lakh evac-

uees,” the Minister maintained.Unofficial sources put the

death toll at 10 which could gofurther up as a trawler hadsunk near the mudflat atKakdwip. “We have recoveredone dead body. Some morepeople were there in the vessel

we are still not sure abouttheir fate,” said a local.

Out of the dead personsfive were from Basirhat, twowere from South 24 Parganasand one from East Midnapore,s o u r c e ssaid.

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Pollution levels in the nation-al Capital remained in the

“very poor” category onSunday with officials claimingthat acting on a slew of direc-tions from the Supreme Court,implementing agencies havetaken “major action” at 13 pol-lution hot spots, includingclosing 23 polluting industrialunits, over the last three days.

According to privateweather forecast agencySkymet, Delhi’s air qualityseems like plunging once againto the same poor level.Yesterday, Delhi’s air qualitycontinued to remain in “mod-erate” category with a slightimprovement since the daybefore.

After the apex court direct-ed a three-member MonitoringCommittee to oversee theimplementation of pollution-control measures, its chair-man Bhure Lal visited the hotspots of Wazirpur, AshokVihar, Punjabi Bagh, Dwarkaand RK Puram on November8 and Narela, Bawana,Jahangirpuri, and Mundka on

November 9, according to theofficials.

In view of the deficienciesobserved by the MonitoringCommittee, the municipal cor-porations have lifted 400 met-ric tonnes of construction anddemolition waste, 1,200 metrictonnes of garbage, 150 kg ofplastic waste, and mitigated 10incidents of garbage burning.

The Delhi PollutionControl Committee sealed 23units in various industrial areasfor violation of environmentalnorms, the officials said. Roadshave been paved, and pits and

potholes filled up at YojnaVihar, Surajmal Vihar,Mansarovar Park, SultanpurRoad, Mundka to Karala Road,Alipur Road among others.

The Traffic Police removedbottlenecks from Vikash Marg,Malka Ganj, Vivekanand Marg,RK Puram Sector-2 and others,and issued 52 challans to vio-lators.

At present, Delhi NCR isexperiencing air quality in“very poor” category. The sameair quality is likely to continuefor the next some days.

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Ayodhya buzzed with activ-ity on Sunday as devotees

flocked various temples tooffer prayers amid tight secu-rity arrangements, a day afterthe Supreme Court’s land-mark judgment over the cen-tury-old Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute.

The areas nearHanumangarhi and Naya Ghatwere busy from the morning,as people from different walksof life arrived here to payobeisance to Lord Ram and hisardent devotee Hanuman.

As the sun set, bhajans andkirtans echoed in the templetown. There was no let-up inthe security arrangements,with police personnel keepinga strict vigil.

Intensified patrolling,frisking and searches contin-

ued in full swing.Priest of Ram Lalla,

Acharya Satyendra Das saidLord Ram was adorned with anew set of clothes offered by adevotee to mark the day.

People in the Rikabganjarea of the city and otherparts could be seen goingthrough newspapers to under-stand the nuances of theSupreme Court judgment, andalso ascertain, what people inother parts of the country feelabout the Ayodhya verdict.

Sandeep Singh, whoworks as a manager at a hotelin Ayodhya, said, “ThisSunday holds special signifi-cance for us, as we woke up toa new and transformedSunday, with a feeling of reliefthat the lingering issue ofAyodhya dispute has beenresolved once and for all.”

Shops selling utensils, puja

items, idols and pictures ofgods and goddesses wereopen, as were the eateries.

Owners of a sweets shopin the vicinity ofHanumangarhi temple,Anoop Saini and Vaibhav

Gupta, were seen siftingthrough pages of newspapersand discussing the outcome ofSaturday’s judgment.

“After the judgment infavour of Ram Lalla, we knewthat we will fall short of gar-

lands, so we had orderedadditional garlands fromVaranasi and neighbouringcities,” Anoop Saini said.

He added that Ayodhyawill now grow in the rightdirection. “I am sure thatAyodhya will see its golden erain coming days. This is the bestexample of Satyamev Jayate,” hesaid.

Jaipur residents AwadheshSharma and Kajormal Sharmasaid they felt proud andblessed to have been inAyodhya when the SupremeCourt delivered its judgment.

Settling the fractious issuethat goes back more than acentury, the Supreme Courton Saturday backed the con-struction of a Ram temple bya Government trust at the dis-puted site in Ayodhya, andruled that an alternative five-acre plot must be found for a

mosque in the Hindu holytown.

Delivering a unanimousverdict on a case that has longpolarised the country andfrayed the secular tapestry ofIndian society, a five-judgeBench of the apex court head-ed by Chief Justice of IndiaRanjan Gogoi said the faith ofHindus that Lord Ram wasborn at the site was undis-puted, and he is symbolicallythe owner of the land.

Ganesh Tare, who alongwith a group of 55 tourists,arrived here from Bhiwandi(Maharashtra) on Sunday, saidthat he felt joyed by the ver-dict.

Rampujan and Ramvatiwere also “feeling happy” asthey arrived in Hanumangarhitemple area after ‘mundan’ oftheir son Jankaran.

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Soon after the five-judgeBench of the Supreme Court

led by Chief Justice ofIndia(CJI)) Ranjan Gogoidelivered an unanimous verdictin the highly sensitive Ayodhyaland dispute case on Saturday,the Centre has enhanced theirsecurity by deploying addi-tional troops, barricades andmobile escortteams.

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Underlining the need for aplanned development and

creating a healthy atmospherein urban areas of the State,Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghelon Sunday expressed concernover depleting ground water.

Baghel was interactingpeople through his monthlyradio talk programme‘Lokwani’ aired on Sunday.

Stressing on the need for

conservation of water and pro-viding potable water to eachand every urban citizen, Baghelsaid this was the basic need oftoday.

Asserting that nowadays,the urban areas have turnedinto a ‘jungle of concrete’,Baghel expressed his annoy-ance that the houses are con-structed in such a way todaythat it doesn’t allow rain waterto percolate intoground.

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Union Minister JitendraSingh on Sunday

described the northeasternregion as a land of unexploredpotential and unsaturatedavenues, which has somethingto offer to every start-up. Healso said there has been a con-stant effort by the NarendraModi Government in the lastfive years to bring the rest ofIndia closer to the northeasternregion so that all States get toknow what all the area has tooffer.

"The northeast is a land ofunexplored potentials andunsaturated avenues," theUnion Minister forDevelopment of the NorthEastern Region (DoNER) said.Singh said the importance of

the northeastern region is that,as of today, it has something tooffer to every young start-up.

On the sidelines of anevent which showcased theregion's art, culture, dress andcuisine, the Union Ministersaid the response to the three-day event has been good. Singhsaid he was keenly observing asto how many visitors to theevent are from among thosewho belong to Delhi or otherparts of India besides thenortheast.

The Minister said that hewas delighted to note that allstalls and sections at the venuewere thronged by crowds ofpeople, mostly youngsters,belonging to different parts ofIndia including Delhi, Gujarat,Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu andeven NRIs.

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In a move that might resolvethe stubble burning issue in

the National CapitalRegion(NCR) polluting Delhiair, the Centre has grantedclearance to the Indian OilCorporation Ltd (IOCL) to setup a �766-crore biomass-basedsecond generation ethanolplant in Haryana's Panipat dis-trict. IOC is the country'slargest fuel retailer.

The Government hopesthe project would help solvethe problem of stubble burningthat have polluted the air, leav-ing the national capital a gaschamber. Making theannouncement through a tweeton Sunday, UnionEnvironment Minister PrakashJavadekar said, "Happy toinform that EnvironmentClearance is given to IOCL toset up new 2G Ethanol plant inPanipat."

He also said that the pro-ject would help in achieving thegoal of doubling farmers'income. "This project not onlypromotes use of environmentfriendly fuel but also aids in ful-filment of government's goal ofdoubling farmers' income," hetweeted. The proposed plant

will utilise non-food biomass,mainly rice straw and otherligno-cellulosic feed stock,requiring around 473 tonne ofraw material every day.

Recently, the central gov-ernment had notified that noenvironmental clearance wouldbe required by sugar mills toproduce additional ethanolfrom sugarcane juice. "As theproposed project is for thebetterment of the environmentand is an effort towards reduc-tion of CO2 Emission in theatmosphere, in turn it willhave positive impact on the airin Delhi and NCR," said asenior official from theMinistry.

The project will also pro-

vide an opportunity to India toreduce its dependence on crudeoil Imports. It will also reducethe impact of crude oil pricevolatility seen quite often ininternational markets. It willalso help in reducing the sub-sidy burden of the Indian gov-ernment since ethanol (pro-duced locally from agricultur-al residue) displaces petrolfrom imported crude, headded.

"Ethanol produced will beused for blending in trans-portation fuel, the official said."According to various biomassassessment surveys, surpluscrop residue availability inIndia is in the range of 50-60million tonne annually.According to these reports, by2020, the available biomassresidue could in theory beconverted into 10-15 billionliters of second generationethanol annually, sufficient tomeet 20 per cent ethanol blend-ing mandate in India," IOC saidas part of its application.

India's national biofuel pol-icy released last year had set anindicative target of 20 per centblending of ethanol in petroland 5 per cent blending ofbiodiesel in diesel to beachieved by 2030.

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New Delhi: The judgement inthe vexatious Ayodhya caserefers to travelogues by severalpersons who had visited Indiafrom the 17th-19th century,with the Supreme Court sayingit has to make a balanced analy-sis of "loose fragments of for-gotten history" related to the site.

"Travelogues and gazetteerscontain loose fragments of for-gotten history. The evidentiaryvalue to be ascribed to their con-tents necessarily depends uponthe context and is subject to acareful evaluation of their con-tents," a five-judge constitutionbench headed by Chief JusticeRanjan Gogoi has said.

"Our analysis has includedin the balance, the need for cir-cumspection, as we read in theaccounts of travellers andgazetteers a colonial perspectiveon the contest at the disputedsite," the bench said.

The judgement refers totravelogues by JosephTiefenthaler, RobertMontgomery Martin, PCarnegy, Edward Thornton andWilliam Finch among others,which were considered asexhibits in arriving at a conclu-sion in the case.

As per the travelogues ofauthors and geographers, thetop court said, the oral and doc-umentary evidence showed thatdevotees of Lord Ram hold agenuine, long-standing and pro-found belief in the religiousmerit attained by offering prayerat the site they believe to be thebirthplace of the deity.

"We are looking into his-torical events knit around leg-ends, stories, traditions andaccounts written in a socialand cultural context differentfrom our own. There are dan-gers in interpreting historywithout the aid of historiogra-phy," the bench said.

"Application of legal prin-ciples to make deductions andinferences out of historical con-text is a perilous exercise. Onemust exercise caution beforeembarking on the inclination ofa legally trained mind to drawnegative inferences from thesilences of history. Silences aresometimes best left to wherethey belong -- the universe ofsilence," the bench observed.

One of the several authorswhose work was taken intoaccount was Joseph Tiefenthaler,a Jesuit missionary who hasmentioned in his book'Description HistoriqueetGeographique Del‘inde' abouthis travels to Ayodhya after1740, a little over three decadesafter the death of Mughal rulerAurangzeb.

Tieffenthaler refers to thealleged demolition of the tem-ple and the building of amosque on the site, which theHindus believe to be the birthplace of Lord Ram.

He specifically refers toHindu places of worship,including 'Sita rasoi', 'swargdwar'and the 'bedi' or cradle sym-bolising the birth of Lord Ramand also mentions religious fes-tivals during which Hindudevotees would throng for wor-ship. The account notes that inspite of the alleged demolitionof the structure on which theBabri mosque was built, therestill exists some superstitiouscult in some place or other thatcontinues to worship at thesite. The bench was also pre-sented with 'History,Antiquities, Topography andStatistics of Eastern India' writ-ten by Robert MontgomeryMartin, an Anglo-Irish authorwho has referred in his travelaccounts to the destruction oftemples and building ofmosques.

"Martin has also adverted tothe presence of pillars in themosque made up of blackstone," the court said. "Theaccount narrates that these havebeen taken from a Hindu build-ing which he infers from thetraces of the images observableon some of the pillars."

The bench took into con-sideration the book titled'Gazetteer of the territoriesunder the Government of EastIndia Company and the NativeStates on the Continent ofIndia', written by EdwardThornton who also refers to theextensive ruins, said to be thoseof the fort of Rama.

The bench took intoaccount 'Historical Sketch ofFaizabad With Old CapitalsAjodhia and Fyzabad', writtenby P Carnegy who was postedas the Faizabad officiating com-missioner and settlement officer.

In his book, Carnegy hasattributed the construction ofthe mosque to Babur in 1528and, in his opinion, many of thecolumns of an erstwhile templewere used in the construction ofthe Babri mosque.

Carnegy's account, whichwas published in 1870, hasadverted to the incident thattook place in 1855, involving aconflict between the Hindusand Muslims. He refers to theworship being offered by bothHindus and Muslims at the siteprior to the incident and to theconstruction of a railing there-after with a view to prevent dis-putes.

"Carnegy notes that therailing was put up so as to sep-arate the two communities, byallowing the Muslims to wor-ship within its precincts in themosque, while the Hindus hadoutside it, raised a platform tomake their offerings," thebench said. PTI

New Delhi: The incident ofplacing of idols inside the BabriMosque in 1949, which was fol-lowed by attachment of the dis-puted land by a magisterialcourt, led to the filing of thefirst of five suits in connectionwith the controversial site, theSupreme Court has said in itshistoric verdict on the Ayodhyaland dispute.

The apex court said thatthe run-up to the incident sawthe posting of a police picket atthe site on November 12, 1949due to communal tensions.

Thereafter, a letter was sentto Faizabad District MagistrateKK Nayar by theSuperintendent of Police rais-ing concerns that Hindus werelikely to force an entry into the

mosque to install idols there,the verdict said.

Subsequently, the Waqfinspector gave a report statingthat Muslims were beingharassed by Hindus when theysought to pray in the mosque,a five-judge Constitution benchheaded by Chief Justice RanjanGogoi recalled in its Saturday'sjudgement.

The bench noted thatNayar, who was also theDeputy Commissioner ofFaizabad, had, however, sent acommunication datedDecember 6, 1949 to the UttarPradesh Home Secretary stat-ing there was no need to givecredence to Muslims' appre-hensions over the mosque'ssafety. PTI

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New Delhi: A day after theSupreme Court delivered itsverdict on decades-old Ayodhyadispute, BJP working presidentJP Nadda on Sunday said thatseveral long-pending issues havereached their logical end underthe Modi Government.

Issues like Article 370, GST,triple talaq have reached "logi-cal conclusion" under PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, Naddatold reporters during a pressconference.

Nadda also said theAyodhya verdict has been wel-comed by all sections of the soci-ety. Every section of the societyhas been very positive, he said.

It may be noted that issueslike Ayodhya land dispute,scrapping of the Article 370 andtriple talaq have been settled infavour of the stand taken by theBJP and its Hindutva affiliates.

While the court verdictresolved the Ayodhya issue infavour of Hindutva bodies,which had laid claim on the dis-puted site for building a Ramtemple — a demand backed bythe BJP since 1989 — the ModiGovernment has used its mas-sive majority in Lok Sabha tonullify Article 370 and crimi-nalise the practice of triple talaqby Muslim men.

Both issues, the scrapping ofArticle 370 and stopping thepractice of instant divorce, havebeen among the core planks ofthe BJP.

Article 370 had given theerstwhile state of Jammu &Kashmir, now a Union Territory,a special status.

The BJP-led NDAGovernment had rolled theGoods and Services Tax duringits first term. PTI

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After an uproar over the con-troversial editorial piece on

Ayodhya verdict, the NationalHerald on Sunday issued anapology saying it has no con-nection with the article. Thestatement comes after BJPdemanded an apology from theCongress interim presidentSonia Gandhi over the 'objec-tionable' article.

The statement from thenewspaper read, "The viewsexpressed in the article are thepersonal views of the author anddo not reflect the views of theNational Herald.'' The article has,however, been deleted from itswebsite.

The issue arose after theNational Herald published acontroversial cartoon, with a col-lage, having pictures of 1992Ayodhya and 2019 SupremeCourt, with text reading, 'Whosestick. His buffalo.' The collagepicture is accompanied by a cap-tion, 'Can God dwell in a tem-ple built with force, violence andbloodshed? Even if God decidesto reside there, can we ever prayin such a temple? '

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New Delhi: Vice President MVenkaiah Naidu on Sundaysaid the medium of teaching upto class X should be the moth-er tongue of the student andurged the Government to takesteps in this regard.

He said there is no problemif English is taught but thefoundation should be in themother tongue.

Naidu was addressing anevent organised by the RSS-linked Sanskrit Bharati here.

"We should all make it apoint to learn Sanskrit so thatwe maintain a living link withour rich past and truly under-stand what it means to be anIndian," he told the gathering.

The government and non-governmental organisationsshould join hands to preserve,promote and propagateSanskrit language and litera-ture, he said.

Sanskrit, Naidu said, hasbeen a vital link betweenIndian languages in terms ofvocabulary.

Most of the Indian lan-guages have originated fromSanskrit and it has been India'sunseen unifying force, he said,adding that "we cannot think ofIndia without thinking ofSanskrit".

Naidu also said thatSanskrit has a treasure trove onissues such as water shortage,health and environment. "Thatis why research takes place onSanskrit in several countries,"he said.

Before the advent of for-eign invasion in India, Sanskritwas the medium of education,he said, adding that universitiessuch as Nalanda andTakshashila were teachingalmost all the subjects, includ-ing economics (arthasasthram),astronomy (surya siddhatham),warfare (dhanur veda), andphysics (bouthikam) in thatlanguage. PTI

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As the role of alternative sys-tems of medicine is gain-

ing importance in the ModiGovernment's health care sys-tem, experts from the sectorcongregated at the recentlyheld mega science fest atKolkata to deliberate the role oftherapy and herbs in treatmentof serious ailments like ChronicKidney Diseases and metabol-ic disorders.

This is for the first time, thefifth edition of IndiaInternational Science Festival2019, jointly organised by theUnion Science and TechnologyMinistry and Vijnana Bharati,posit Ayush segment (Unani,Ayurveda, Yoga andPanchkarma among a few oth-ers) as a health science and

knowledge system.In one of the important top-

ics at the 'Wellness conclave', theexperts focused on importanceof herbs in treatment of lifestylediseases such as kidney ail-ments which is on increase inthe country as in the world.

"Substantial amount of evi-dence exist in Ayurvedic systemof medicine which suggests thatthere are some Indian herbs thatpossess a range of importanttherapeutic properties in pre-

venting progression of chronickidney diseases (CKDs)," saidSanchit Sharma, executive direc-tor of AIMIL Pharma, Delhi.

Sharma who was one of thespeakers at the session spoke indetail about the effect of scien-tifically validated herbal for-mulation of NEERI KFT intreating kidney diseases andthat how it also nullify the toxicelements that harms the impor-tant organ of the body.

He explained that NEERIKFT has herbs like Punernava(Boerhaavia diffusa Linn.)whose diuretic, anti-inflam-matory,anti-oxidant and pos-sible antibacterial and car-diotonic effect is well known.By virtue of such properties thisdrug initiates early recovery ofthe kidneys from different dis-eases and facilitates regenera-

tive repair, he added.A study published in The

Indo American Journal ofPharmaceutical research whichgauged the efficacy of Punernavaand other established kidneyprotective herbs in NEERI KFThas shown promising results inexperimental subjects as theherbal drug significantly pre-vented and reduced theincreased levels of kidney func-tion parameters such as serumcreatinine,uric acid and elec-trolytes. It also helped to main-tain histological parameter ofkidneys, as per the study.

The event also highlightedrole of yoga and naturopathy,panchkarma for wellness andthe secrets of Ayurveda method-ology for wellness and preven-tion of metabolic disorders toname a few.

Pitching for affordable andaccessible healthcare, the PrimeMinister at various platformshave been emphasizing Indianmedicine system as country'sstrength. " We have seen the ITrevolution in last 30 years. Now,time has come for a health rev-olution under the aegis ofAyurveda." Let's pledge tostrengthen, revive Ayurveda andtraditional medicines for'Wellness of all,' Modi had saidat an event recently.

"At present, many circum-stances including our lifestyle areleading us towards non-com-municable diseases. WellnessConclave was conceptualizedas an attempt to project howalternative systems of medicineare capable making our societydisease free," said an officialfrom Vijnana Bharati

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New Delhi: The SupremeCourt referred to books onsubjects as diverse as history,culture, archaeology and reli-gion in languages as varied asSanskrit, Hindi, Urdu, Persian,Turkish, French and English inits judgment on the political-ly and religiously sensitiveAyodhya land dispute, butexercised caution in makingdeductions saying there were"dangers" in interpreting his-tory.

The apex court bench,headed by Chief Justice RanjanGogoi and comprising JusticesSA Bobde, DY Chandrachud,Ashok Bhushan and SANazeer, perused 533 docu-mentary exhibits, includingreligious texts, travelogues,archaeological excavationreports, photographs of the siteprior to demolition of themosque and details of artifactsfound at the disputed site.

The exhibits also includedgazetteers and translations ofinscriptions on pillars.

On January 10, 2019, thetop court had directed itsRegistry to inspect the recordsand if required, engage officialtranslators.

It, however, exercised cau-tion in making deductionsout of historical context, say-ing interpreting history is an"exercise fraught with pitfalls".

"There are evident gaps inthe historical record, as wehave seen from theBaburnama (a memoir of thefounder of the Mughalempire). Translations vary andhave their limitations. Thecourt must be circumspect indrawing negative inferencesfrom what a historical textdoes not contain," the benchsaid in its 1,045-page judg-ment. It further said therewere dangers in interpreting

history without the aid of his-toriography.

"We are not construing astatute or a pleading. We arelooking into historical eventsknit around legends, stories,traditions and accounts writ-ten in a social and cultural

context different from ourown. There are dangers ininterpreting history withoutthe aid of historiography.

"Application of legal prin-ciples to make deductions andinferences out of historicalcontext is a perilous exercise.

One must exercise cautionbefore embarking on the incli-nation of a legally trainedmind to draw negative infer-ences from the silences of his-tory. Silences are sometimesbest left to where they belong— the universe of silence," theapex court said.

On February 7, 2002,counsel for the petitioners insuit number five filed a reportbefore the Allahabad HighCourt pertaining to theAyodhya Vishnu Hari templeinscription and under thecourt's orders, an e-stampagewas prepared and was deci-phered by an epigraphist, theapex court said.

It also referred to trans-lated versions of Ain-i-Akbari,which was completed in the16th century during Mughalemperor Akbar's regime.

"The Ain-i-Akbari waswork of Abul-Fazl Allami,

who was one of the ministersin Akbar's court. The Aini-Akbari was translated by HBlochmann from Persian toEnglish. By its order datedMarch 18, 2010, the high courtpermitted the text to be reliedon...," the bench said.

It said travelogues ofFather Joseph Tieffenthaler,which were translated fromLatin to French and then itsEnglish translations were filedbefore the high court, wereextensively relied on by coun-sels arguing in the title dispute.

The Supreme Court judgment on Saturday clearedthe way for construction of aRam temple at the disputedsite in Ayodhya and directedthe Centre to allot a five-acreplot to the Sunni Waqf Boardto build a mosque. In theprocess, it settled a fractiousissue that goes back morethan a century. PTI

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New Delhi: The VHP onSunday said the Centre shouldtake swift action on theSupreme Court judgmentpaving the way for a Ram tem-ple in Ayodhya and demandedthe structure be built as per thedesign prepared by architectChandrakant Sompura on itsrequest.

Renowned temple architectSompura was asked to preparethe design in 1989 by thenVHP chief Ashok Singhal andit was circulated among devo-tees across the country, theorganisation's working presi-dent Alok Kumar told PTI.

"We expect the new templeto be build accordingly," Kumaradded.

According to Vishva Hindu

Parishad (VHP) office-bearers,the work on carving stones andbuilding pillars for the templehas progressed a lot and theseshould be used in the con-struction.

In a special meeting ofVHP office-bearers here, itwas decided to urge upon thegovernment to take swift actionin building the temple, theysaid.

"In the implementation ofthis verdict, the roles of the cen-tral government and the stategovernment of Uttar Pradeshhave also been determined.While expressing confidencethat these governments arealert and active towards theirresponsibilities, they were alsorequested to take prompt

action," VHP spokespersonVinod Bansal said in a state-ment.

He said a resolution waspassed extending gratitude toall sants, historians, jurists,experts of ArchaeologicalSurvey of India whose untiringdiligence helped the court oflaw in arriving at this judge-ment.

Settling a fractious issuethat goes back more than a cen-tury, the Supreme Court in ahistoric verdict on Saturdaybacked the construction of aRam temple by a governmenttrust at the disputed site inAyodhya, and ruled that analternative five-acre plot mustbe found for a mosque in theHindu holy town. PTI

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RAIPUR | MONDAY | NOVEMBER 11, 2019chhattisgarh 03

A view of Sita Badi -the archaeological site, located besides famous Rajiv Lochan temple in Rajim. During excavations here archaeologists have foundremains dated back 2,000 years. It is considered as one of the most important archaeological sites in Chhattisgarh.

STAFF REPORTER nBALODA BAZAR

Chhattisgarh Chief MinisterBhupesh Baghel reiterated

on Sunday that he would defi-nitely procure paddy fromfarmers at the rate of ` 2500per quintal whether the cen-tral government is providingfinancial support or not.

``I reiterate my commit-ment that paddy procurementwill be carried out across thestate at the rate of ` 2500 perquintal, with or without sup-port of the central govern-ment,’’ Baghel remarked at acrowded function at villageBitkuli in Baloda-Bazar dis-trict while addressing anannual convention ofChhattisgarh Manwa KurmiChhatriya Samaj.

He said that his govern-ment would take care of farm-ers’ financial interests. Hebriefed the people at the func-tion about his government’splan to make the state as `themost developed state of the

country’. The function wasattended by the Congressleader and Rajya Sabha MPChhaya Verma and about adozen leading public figures ofthe Kurmi Samaj.

Earlier Baghel was sched-

uled to 'march' to Delhi onNovember 13 to protestagainst the Central govern-ment's "refusal" to buy paddyfrom his state at the rate paidby the state government to thefarmers.

Baghel, along with hisministers, other Congressleaders, workers and farmers,was supposed to begin thejourney towards Delhi onNovember 13 and reach thenational capital by road on

November 15, after passingthrough Maharashtra,Madhya Pradesh and UttarPradesh.

Enroute, he was scheduledto address roadside rallies tohighlight the farmers' distress.

The bone of contentionbetween the Chhattisgarh gov-ernment and the Union gov-ernment is the price of paddy.The state government is buy-ing paddy at ` 2,500 perquintal from farmers, but theUnion government has said itwill not give the incentive paidby the state.

The Union governmentwants to buy the paddy at theminimum support price(MSP) of ` 1,815 per quintal.The Congress party hasalleged that former ChiefMinister Raman Singh of theBJP is taking "revenge" onfarmers for his defeat, and itwas the reason for the Uniongovernment's unwillingness topay the incentive as was doneearlier during the BJP's rule inthe state.

‘Will definitely procure paddyat ` 2500 per quintal MSP’ STAFF REPORTER n

RAIPUR

Chhattisgarh’s StateElection Commissioner

Thakur Ram Singh said areview meeting has beencalled on November 14 at 4pm at Aranya Bhawan, AtalNagar, Nava Raipur as partof preparation for upcomingpolls for a civic bodies andthree-tier panchayat elec-tion.

Singh when contactedsaid all the district collectorsand superintendents ofpolice have been called toreview the preparation forthe civic bodies followed by athree-tier panchayat electionin state.

He added that after thereview meeting dates forannouncement of electionscheduled will be finalised.Chief Secretary R P Mandaland Director General of

Police D. M. Awasthi willalso be present in the meet-ing.

SEC said the main agen-da of the meeting is to reviewstatus of preparation and getfeedback from collectors onelection process till date andfrom SPs about the law andorder status.

It is to be noted that afterR P Mandal has taken over aschief secretary it would behis major meeting with allthe district collectors and

SPs of the state. He is likelyto also conduct administra-tive review of differentschemes of state governmentand seek the updates.

M e a n w h i l e ,Chhattisgarh’s assembly ses-sion is scheduled fromNovember 25 in which 10sittings of the assembly willbe held till December 6. Theelection programme for pollsfor civic bodies and pan-chayats are likely to beannounced after the session.

State Election Commissionconvenes review meet

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

Chief Minister BhupeshBaghel has appealed to

BJP Members of Parliament(MPs) and other BJP leadersof state to mount pressure onthe central government forprocuring rice from state incentral pool.

Baghel while talking toreporters before leaving forthe national capital onSunday evening, said the BJPleaders of state keeping inview of the larger interests ofstate and of state farmersshould urge the Centre forprocuring rice fromChhattisgarh.

“Earlier too I had triedto unite the state leaders tocome forward in interests offarmers but with an excuseof not getting invite in time,the BJP leaders stayed away

from the meeting called bythe state government”,Baghel said.

He further reiteratedthat with a cause which is ininterests of the state, the BJPleaders should jointly makeeffort and urge the PrimeMinister for relaxing therules and allow us to procurepaddy at higher supportprice.

Notably, The state hadset a target of procuring 85lakh metric ton of paddyfrom state farmers and

around half of it would beneeded by it for distributingin Public DistributionSystem. Congress govern-ment in state is actually ofthe view that if remaininghalf is purchased by Centreunder central pool it wouldbe a great help.

According to informa-tion it is expected that therewould be a financial burdenon the state exchequer of` 7500 crore in procuringpaddy from state farmers.

In such a case if Centreagrees to procure rice andpermits to deposit it in FoodCorporation of India’s (FCI)godown by relaxing its poli-cy as it was done previousyear then on one hand thestate would be relived frommaking arrangement of stor-age of surplus rice but wouldalso its financial burdenwould also be halved.

Baghel appeals MPs toexert pressure on CentreFor procuring paddy under central pool in state’s interests

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

Indian Medical Association(IMA) on Sunday slammed

the reported misbehavior withdoctors at Medical CollegeAmbikapur by districtadministration officials.

IMA President Dr AnilJain and General Secretary DrAsha Jain while criticizingmisbehavior with the medicalcollege’s Dean termed theincidents of misbehavior asone of reasons for hinderingthe development of medicaleducation in the area.

As per the IMA officebearers such incidents will

create problems in improvingthe academic environment ofthe college and will also dis-courage doctors from joiningthe institution.

Notably, ChhattisgarhMedical Teacher’s Association,Raipur had already con-demned the incident ofAmbikapur Collector’s misbe-havior with Dean of MedicalCollege, Ambikapur in anexecutive meeting convenedon Saturday to discuss theissue.

In the meeting it wasdecided to brief incident toChhattisgarh Governor, ChiefMinister and Health Minister

seeking action against the col-lector.

The association pointedout that the medical teachers’

have to carry out double work,along with academic works inMedical College, they have toundertake the responsibility ofhospital also.

The association in a state-ment said even after beingkept in higher grade and payscale, the lower cadre officersirresponsibly put pressure onmedical related works andeven misbehaves. The teacherswill not tolerate it, the bodysaid in a statement.

The meeting decided tohold a protest by wearingblack-band on November 11and hand over a representa-tion to health minister.

IMA slams collector for allegedmisbehave with Dean

Chhattisgarh MedicalTeacher’s Association,

Raipur had alreadycondemned the

incident of AmbikapurCollector’s

misbehavior withDean of Medical

College, Ambikapur inan executive meetingconvened on Saturday

BIJAPUR:A 35-year-old Naxal,wanted in connection with somekillings, has been arrested fromrestive Bijapur district, policesaid on Sunday.

Hapka Sannu was nabbedfrom his native village Cherkantion Saturday evening when ajoint team of security forces,comprising personnel of theCRPF's 85th battalion and localpolice, was out on an area dom-ination operation, a local policeofficial said.

When the security person-nel were near Cherkanti, theyreceived inputs about Sannu'spresence in the village followingwhich they encircled the area, hesaid.

"Sannu was wanted in con-nection with some incidents ofkilling in the area," the officialsaid, adding that he was beinginterrogated.

Dreaded Naxalarrested in Bijapur

STAFF REPORTER nBILASPUR

Sipat Super Thermal PowerStation of NTPC Limited

awarded the overall champion ofthe most coveted Swarn Shaktiaward for 2018-19.

The award presented toVinod Choudhary, RegionalExecutive Director, WesternRegion-II and PadmakumarRajasekharan, Chief GeneralManager (NTPC-Sipat) byUnion Minister of power andNew and Renewable Energy inthe 45th raising day celebrationsof NTPC limited held at Siri fortauditorium on November 9.

There were eight categories,among those Sipat stationreceived award for Productivityand Protection & Improvementof Environment.

Swarn Shakti award is the

most prestigious award of NTPCLimited.

The award is presented inthe area of Internal MOU,Productivity, Project

Management, Safety (O&Marea), Safety (Project area),Protection &Improvement ofenvironment, HR, CSR &Medical and Rajbhsha.

NTPC Sipat bags prestigiousSwarn Shakti award

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

Atwo-day expert consulta-tion on `Comprehensive

Mental Healthcare through-out Life Course’ will be heldin Raipur on November 13-14.

The basic aim of the con-sultation is to draw an actionplan for integration of mentalhealth into all healthschemes.

Global research hasshown, half of all mental ill-nesses begin before 14 yearsof age and up to 20% ofwomen develop a mentalhealth problem during preg-nancy or within a year of giv-

ing birth. However, 75% ofwomen do not get diagnosedand do not receive adequatetreatment and support thathas important consequencesfor the mother, baby, the fam-ily and the society in general.

Approximately 3.7 mil-lion people in India haveAlzheimer’s, according to a2010 report by WHO. Nearly,70 people out of 100,000 inIndia have Parkinson’s dis-ease, according to a 2013report published in theInternational Journal ofNutrition, Pharmacology,Neurological Diseases. Morethan 4 million people in Indiahave some form of dementia,

according to the WorldAlzheimer Report.

Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s,and dementia can coexistwith depression, anxiety, andother mental health issues,just as with other physicalhealth conditions such as dia-betes or hyper-tension.

The expert group consul-tation will discuss maternalmental health, child and ado-lescent mental health, geri-atric mental health, mentalhealth under AyushmanBharat/Health and WellnessCentres, and Mental Healthin Vulnerable Population.

Among those who will bepresent at the consultation

are Dr Atreyi Ganguli (WorldHealth Organisation); DrAlok Mathur, AdditionalDirector General, Ministry ofHealth and Family Welfare;Ms Niharika Barik Singh,Secretary, Department ofHealth and Family Welfare(Chhattisgarh), Mr NirajBansod, Director HealthServices (Chhattisgarh), andDr Priyanka Shukla, MD,National Health Mission(Chhattisgarh).

Mental health and neurosciences experts from all overIndia and State have beeninvited to develop the bestcontextual strategic plan forChhattisgarh.

Expert group consultation on mental health to meet in RaipurSTAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

Aliterary meet was held ata private hotel on

Saturday evening where thenoted novelist Manjul Bajaj’snew novel ‘In Search of Heer’was dedicated to the public.

“Young people willappreciate the book, becausein our hearts we are all rebels,before we start to conform"said Bajaj about her latestnovel, during the fourth ses-sion of The Write Circle abouquet event of the PrabhaKhaitan Foundation.

Bajaj, who has writtenfive other well-receivedbooks including two for chil-

dren, is also an environmen-talist and poet.

The session began withan introduction by AanchalGarcha, a member of theEhsaas Women of Raipur and

a welcome note by HarkaranSingh the general managerHyatt, Raipur. The conversa-tionalist for the evening wasReshalika Dawar, a passion-ate educationist and blogger

on the subject of parentingand education.

‘Looking for Heer’ is amodern version of the much-loved folklore Heer Ranjha.Manjul is fascinated by loveand all forms of it, be itromantic or parental or forthat matter even the love wemust feel towards our envi-ronment, hence the book hasperspectives from animalsthat are a part of the daily lifeof the protagonists in thenovel.

About the new novel,Bajaj said she has always hadtwo conflicting impulses oneto continue her work in thefield of rural developmentand the other to write.

Literary meet held to review ‘In Search of Heer’

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To mark the historic 550thPrakash Purb of Guru

Nanak Dev, Punjab ChiefMinister Capt AmarinderSingh on Sunday announcedthe State Government’s deci-sion to install a Chair in thename of the first Guru in 11universities, including onefrom Iran.

The Chief Minister madethe announcement at a func-tion at the Punjab TechnicalUniversity, in the presence of allthe 11 universities, of whichseven are in Punjab and threespread across India.

The Chair will be entrust-ed with the task of conductingresearch on the life and teach-ings of Guru, he said.

The event was held to hon-our and award 400 NanakNam Leva prominent Punjabisfrom around the world fortheir remarkable contributionin various fields.

The Chief Ministerexpressed happiness at seeingPunjabis making the state andthe country proud with theirachievements.

Capt Amarinder exhortedthe Punjabis to remember theirroots at all times and join hisgovernment in helping revivethe state and create opportu-nities for the progress of itsyouth, who had the power andthe inclination to work butlacked opportunities here atpresent. “Let us all join handsto give them those opportuni-ties,” he added.

Pointing out that it was theresponsibility of the presentgeneration to ensure the devel-opment of the next, the ChiefMinister urged the visitingPunjabis to do their bit by mak-

ing the youth aware of theirduty.

A real Sikh would alwayslisten to the ‘baani’ of theGuru, he said, calling upon thevisitors to spread the `baani’

among their children, whichev-er part of the world they live in.

Seeking their help inrebuilding Punjab, the ChiefMinister asked the prominentPunjabi personalities from

around the world to become apart of the campaign to worktogether to restore the state,which had suffered a doublepartition, to its pristine glory.

He pointed to the depletingground water table to warnthat, as per assessments, Punjabwas likely to turn into a desertin the next 25 years.

“We have to prevent thisfrom happening,” he stressed,adding that the real tribute toGuru Nanak Dev would be topreserve our natural resourcesfor future generations and tomake Punjab a clean, green andpollution-free State.

Cap Amarinder also tooknote of the problem of envi-ronmental pollution, resultingfrom stubble burning, andurged all to collectively spreadthe message of the first SikhGuru of `Pavan Guru, PaniPita, Maata Dharat’. The prac-tice of burning paddy straw wasaffecting the health of all peo-

ple, including the farmers, ofPunjab, he added.

Noting the historic impor-tance of the occasion whichthey were all part of, CaptAmarinder said that his gov-ernment had, in the past fewweeks, organised 72 pro-grammes to propagate the phi-losophy of Guru Nank Dev.

He himself had the oppor-tunity on Saturday to go toKartarpur Sahib, he recalled,adding that he would definite-ly try to visit the historicGurdwara again, especiallygiven his family’s old ties withthe shrine.

On the occasion, the ChiefMinister released a book ‘TheSikh Heritage Beyond Borders’,penned by Dalbir Singh Pannu,and a Persian book on the lifeand teachings of Sri GuruNanak Dev is written by anIranian author.

Earlier in his welcomeaddress, state Tourism andCultural Affairs Minister

Charanjit Singh Channi saidthat Punjab Government istaking great pride and honourin felicitating several eminentpersonalities from Punjab,India and abroad, who hadbrought laurels to the state indifferent areas through theirrare feats.

Giving details of the Chairsproposed by the StateGovernment, Channi said thatthese would be established inPunjabi University, Patiala, IKGujral PTU Jalandhar-Kapurthala, Maharaja RanjitSingh Punjab TechnicalUniversity, Bathinda, LovelyProfessional University,Phagwara, ChandigarhUniversity, Gharuan, ChitkaraUniversity Rajpura, AkalUniversity, Talwandi Sabobesides ITM UniversityGwalior, RDKF University,Bhopal, JIS University, WestBengal and University ofReligion, Iran on internation-al level.

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It was a sea of humanity thatwas witnessed at Dera Baba

Nanak on Sunday. With the'Dera Baba Nanak Utsav' enter-ing its penultimate day, the fes-tivities seem to be picking upthe pace.

The festivities on Sundayhad an added attractive featurein the form of a ‘Cavalcade ofUniversal Oneness’ which trav-elled from Dera Baba Nanak tothe international border withPakistan from where theCorridor has been constructedconnecting the historic town ofDera Baba Nanak withGurudwara Kartarpur Sahib inNarowal district, Pakistan.

A Spokesperson said thatthe cavalcade presented a truepicture of the communal har-mony and the participatingchildren of various schoolsseemed to have been imbuedwith the spirit of ‘unity indiversity’.

The State Cooperation andJails Minister Sukhjinder SinghRandhawa also welcomed thecavalcade on its way back andinteracted with the studentsdressed in colourful costumes.He called them the culturalambassadors of Punjab.

The highlight of the caval-cade was the ‘Malwai Giddha’which further added to thecolourful atmosphere.

The Minister expressedconfidence that the corridorwould spell economic boom forthe region and would be instru-mental in generating jobavenues for the youth. He alsoreiterated the need to createmore infrastructure in theregion as it would be necessaryto tap the potential of the area.

Meanwhile, the digitalmuseum, light and sound show,being held as a part of the DeraBaba Nanak Utsav on Sundayentered its second day.

The show, inaugurated bythe Minister Sukhjinder SinghRandhawa, is being held at theDana Mandi witnessed anunprecedented gathering ofthe people which thronged thevenue in droves. The ultra-

modern technology coupledwith laser systems furtheradded to the spiritual atmos-phere.

The people who came tosee the show said that the phi-losophy of Guru Nanak Dev,based on human values, wasaptly showcased through visu-al presentation and advancedlaser techniques by the creativesound track. Randhawa saidthat the show emphasizes phi-losophy of Guru Nanak Devbased on universal brother-hood, social equality and sav-ing environment.

Shah to pay obeisance atSultanpur Lodhi gurdwaraon Monday

Union Home MinisterAmit Shah will pay obeisanceat the historic Ber SahibGurdwara in Punjab'sSultanpur Lodhi town onMonday to mark the 500thbirth anniversary celebrationsof Guru Nanak Dev, onNovember 12.

Himachal Pradesh ChiefMinister Jai Ram Thakur willalso visit the shrine on Monday.

Shah's visit will followPrime Minister NarendraModi's visit to the GurdwaraBer Sahib in Sultanpur Lodhion Saturday. Modi after pray-ing at the Gurdwara headed forDera Baba Nanak to flag off thefirst lot of pilgrims to KartarpurSahib Gurdwara in Pakistan'sPunjab province.

It is in Sultanpur Lodhi thatGuru Nanak, the founder ofSikhism, gained enlightenmenttowards the end of the 15thcentury.

Ahead of the historic inau-guration of the Kartarpur Sahibcorridor, Shah had tweetedthat the "Kartarpur SahibCorridor is a historic achieve-ment that generations of devo-tees will remember and it willfind special mention in theannals of history".

Praising the Centre, Shahsaid it reflected the ModiGovernment's commitmenttowards preserving the rich heritage and universalisingthe teachings of Guru NanakDev.

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The directors of five shortfilms screened during the

film festival in the ongoingDera Baba Nanak Utsav, beingorganised on the eve of theopening of Sri Kartarpur Sahibcorridor and 550th birthanniversary of Guru NanakDev, were honoured with prizesworth �5 lakh, a shawl and amomento.

As a part of the film festival,short film competitions wereheld. A total of 28 films enteredout of which five were selectedwhich were shown during thefestival and which receivedapplause. The directors werehonoured by the StateCooperation and Jails MinisterSukhjinder Singh Randhawa

Randhawa said that thesociety has witnessed decline

owing to its deviation from theprinciples of ‘Kirt Karo, NaamJapo, Wand Chhako’.

“For the creation of ahealthy society, it is necessarythat awareness about ‘Gurbani’be spread and the principles inGurbani as laid down by GuruSahiban be followed in life,”added Randhawa.

The director of first positionwinning film ‘Langhaa’, HarjitSingh was honoured with Rs1.51 lakh prize money, directorof second position winner film‘Gurpurab’ Sahib Singh washonoured Rs 1.31 lakh, directorof third position winning film‘Kafir’ Varinder Pal Singh washonoured with �1.21 lakh, direc-tor of fourth position winnerfilm ‘Ek Onkar’ Sukhjit Sharmawas felicitated with �51,000 anddirector of fifth position winningfilm ‘Chanan’ Satnam Singhwas felicitated with �31,000.

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XLRI is gearing up forOperations and IT con-

clave Cygnus. It is a two-daysymposium jointly organisedby AXIOM — The OperationsClub and SOCRATES - The ITClub of XLRI. This edition ofCygnus wil l be held onNovember 16-17 under thetheme “Industry 4.0”. The con-clave will consist of variousevents with emphasis on tech-nologies like IoT, DataAnalytics and Blockchain andtheir implementation inOperations Management.

Variety of events such asWorkshop on Industrial IoTby Arup Chakrabort i-Founder, GreenwaveSolutions Pvt Ltd, Interactivesession on Industry 4.0 -Shailender Singh, DGM-Business Excellence, fromITC, Case Competition onoperations management inassociation with Swiggy, Use-case based interactive ses-sion/workshop with profes-sionals from ITC, GuestSessions on TATA Steel'sjourney in IoT, Guest sessionsby experts f rom IITKharagpur and unveilingXLRI's IoT lab during theconclave will help manage-ment students become accus-

tomed to new technologiesand promote innovation inbusinesses. Technology pro-motes innovation, makingbusinesses more efficient andcompetitive in the market.Cygnus aims to helping stu-dents staying ahead of thegame and help them makeinformed technology relateddecisions as future leaders.

Every manager must beadept in handling operationsto bring about cost savingsand creating efficient process-es is the norm of the day. Therole of Operations and SupplyManagement in achievingthis cannot be undermined.AXIOM is an initiative, start-ed in 2004 by the studentsand the faculty of XLRI tohelp the students gain aninsight to the intricacies ofindustrial and operationsmanagement.

It is an attempt of thissociety to extend the under-standing of the internationalbest practices and developinterest among students forthe same.

We endeavour to spreadawareness and understandingof managing productionprocesses and delivering ser-vices by organizing quizzes,simulations, guest lectures,

live projects and plant visits. We tr y to faci l itate

Certifications for the studentcommunity and help inEffective Knowledge Sharing.We further intend to con-tribute to the industry as abody of students and experi-enced faculty, by providing aplatform for industrialists toshare their thoughts.

We release the AXISnewsletter, a compendium oflatest developments in theindustry.

SOCRATES (The Society

for Rapid Assimilation ofTechnology and Systems) is afunctional committee createdto provide a thrust to theSystems academic area and toupgrade the IT infrastructurein XLRI. It was created withthe intention of bringingtechnology closer to the glob-al business leaders of tomor-row. The aim is to provide aplatform where future man-agers can gain experiencefrom real-life issues andproblems in Management ofInformation Systems.

Socrates overlooks the main-tenance and up gradation ofthe IT systems at XLRI.

This includes providingnecessary student inputs toAcademic InformationSystem (AIS). We have alsodeveloped, on our own ini-tiative, XL Dock- a mobileapplication for students toaccess academic content onthe Android Platform.

Socrates also provides keyinputs to administration onmaintenance of the networkinfrastructure.

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With the cases ofsnakebite deathsincreasing in the

union territory of Chandigarh,the UT Forest and WildlifeDepartment has collaboratedwith the Haffkine Institute forTraining, Research and Testingat Mumbai to develop anti-venom to counter snake bites.

The urban city ofChandigarh has recorded high-est number of deaths due tosnake bites last year among allunion territories in the coun-try. The city had recorded 829cases of snake bites and report-ed 14 deaths due to such casesin 2018 while 1294 cases ofsnake bites and nine deaths dueto this was recorded in 2017, asper the National Health Profile2019.

On the other hand, thenational capital-Delhi hadrecorded 168 snake bite casesand one death due to the samelast year.

In 2016, a total of 36snakebite deaths was report-ed from Chandigarh while in2014 and 2015, the number ofsuch deaths in the city were10 and 16, respectively.

The victims, who died inhospitals across the city, werebitten by venomous snakes inthe city.

Notably, maximum num-ber of complaints related tosnakes is reported in mon-soon season especially fromAugust to September everyyear in the city. Such com-plaints are reported on dedi-cated man-animal conflicthelpline launched by the UTForest and Wildli feDepartment last year.

This year also, severalcases of snake bites and fewdeaths have been reportedfrom various parts of the city.

Atleast three-four cases ofsnakes versus human con-f l ict are reported inChandigarh on daily basis.

In one such unfortunateincident, a six-year old girlchild had died after being bit-ten by Common Krait, abluish black slim snake inKaimbwala village here inthe month of August.

According to the wildlifeexperts, since the city has for-est areas in the vicinity, thereis always a high chance ofsnakebites.

Chandigarh, which is ajoint capital of two neighbor-ing states of Punjab andHaryana and also shares bor-ders with them, has a pro-tected area—Sukhna WildlifeSanctuary, spreading over anarea of 26 sq km of forest landspanning the plains at the footof the Shivalik Hills. Amongother forest areas in the cityinclude Lake Reserve Forestsand Patiala-Ki-Rao Forests.

Snakes species namelyCobra, Common Krait,Russell’s Viper, Indian Python,Rat snake, Wolf snake amongothers are found in the city’sforest areas.

Dr Abdul Qayum, DeputyConser vator of Forests ,Chandigarh while talking toThe Pioneer said, “The UTForest and Wildli feDepartment has joined handswith Mumbai’s HaffkineInstitute for Training,Research and Testing atMumbai to develop antidotefor snake bites. The Institute

will provide us antidote totreat cases of snake bites inthe city.”

“A team from HaffkineInstitute had few months backvisited Chandigarh and col-lected the samples of venomextracted from snakes caughtby the UT Forest and WildlifeDepartment. After extract-ing venom from snakes, werelease them in city’s forestarea. The team from HaffkineInstitute is scheduled to soonvisit the city again to collectthe samples,” the UT DeputyConservator of Forests said.

Haffkine Institute is alsoworking with various othercities to develop anti-snakevenom, he informed.

Dr Qayyum said, “As perthe researches, there are sep-arate antidotes for samespecies of snakes, living in dif-ferent parts of the country.For instance, the antidotedeveloped for the CommonKrait found in Chandigarhwould be different for thesame snake species living inthe forest areas of southernparts of the country.”

“This year, atleast threepeople have reportedly dieddue to snake bites inChandigarh. And every day,three-four cases of snakesversus human conflict arereported in the city. Suchcases have been reported fromManimajra, Hallomajra,Kaimbwala, Rock Garden,Maloya, Sectors 25, 18, 15, 38,49 and 28 in the recent past,”he added.

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Himachal Chief Minister JaiRam Thakur on Sunday

said that the family members ofthe martyrs would be exemptedfrom paying toll tax while enter-ing the state of HimachalPradesh as a mark of respect tothe martyrs.

He stated this while presid-ing over the 116th function ofShaheed Parivar Fund atJalandhar.

The Chief Minister saidthat it is the duty of each one ofus to ensure that the families ofthe martyrs lead a respectablelife.He also prayed to theAlmighty to give strength to thefamily members of the martyrs.

Thakur said that under theleadership of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, our nation isforging ahead on the path ofprogress and prosperity. Severalhistoric decisions have beentaken during the last few yearswhich include abrogation ofArticle 370 and 35 A, abolishingTriple Talaq etc. Now theKartarpur Corridor has beenopened for the Sikh devotees byPakistan, he added.

He further said that menaceof drugs is not less dangerousthan the demon of terrorism. Heurged the civil society to comeforward to eradicate this vice

from the society.He said that on his initiative,

the neighbouring states havenow decided to form uniformstrategy to check this menace.

He also announced contri-bution of Rs five lakh towardsthe Shaheed Parivar Fund.Onthe occasion, Deputy ChiefMinister of Haryana, DushyantChautala thanked the contribu-tors for helping the families ofmartyrs.

Former Deputy ChiefMinister of Jammu andKashmir, Kavinder Gupta saidthat terrorism is the biggestchallenge before our nation butit has emerged as a biggest chal-lenge for the world as well,which needed to be crushed byone and all.

Speaking on the occasion,President of Punjab PradeshCongress, Sunil Jakhar said thatthe decision of openingKartarpur corridor is indeedlaudable and would strengthenthe bound for brotherhood withthe neighbouring country.

He said that the nation isproud of its armed forces whichare ensuring that our borders aresafe and we could have a safe andsecure environment.

Member Shaheed ParivarFund Relief DistributionCommittee and FormerMinister of Punjab, Baldev Raj

Chawala informed that 539trucks have been flagged of tilldate to provide relief to theneedy.

Family members ofPulwama martyrs were provid-ed a cheque of rupees one lakheach by the Shaheed ParivarFund, he said.

Union Minister of State forCommerce and Industries SomPrakash, Major General R.K.Singh, Chief CommissionerIncome Tax Vinay Kumar Jha,former Minister of PunjabMaster Mohan Lal also sharedtheir views on the occasion.

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Punjab State Maa LakshmiDiwali Pooja Bumper-2019

illuminated the life of SanjeevKumar, resident of Chururuvillage in Una district ofHimachal Pradesh, as he wonthe first prize of �2.5 crore.

Sanjeev, who works as apainter, plumber and electri-cian, said that he bought twotickets from a lottery stall nearNangal bus stand while he wasreturning from PGIMER,Chandigarh, after getting hisson checked.

Father of a girl and a boy,Sanjeev said that he bought twolottery tickets and ticket no A-411577 hit the jackpot.

He is a sole bread winnerin his family and hopeful thatthe hefty prize would eliminatehis all financial problems.

Talking about future plans,the lucky winner said that hewould use the prize money forthe studies of his two children.

Sanjeev Kumar has sub-mitted the documents withPunjab State LotteriesDepartment to claim the prizemoney.

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Police fired tear gas and pro-testers broke windows at a

shopping mall on Sunday inanti-government demonstra-tions across Hong Kong amidanger over a student activist’sdeath and the arrest of pro-democracy lawmakers.HongKong is in the sixth month ofprotests that began in June overa proposed extradition law andhave expanded to includedemands for greater democra-cy and other grievances.Activists complain theGovernment is eroding theautonomy and Western-stylecivil liberties promised whenthis former British colonyreturned to China in 1997.

Police in green fatigueswith riot helmets and shieldsfired tear gas to clear streets inTsuen Wan in the northwestafter chasing protesters in thedistrict’s Citywalk shoppingmall. Officers walked up afour-lane thoroughfare shoul-der to shoulder firing volleys oftear gas ahead of them.

Protesters started a smallfire with debris in the street.The newspaper Apple Dailyreported four men and one

woman suspected of vandaliz-ing shops in Tsuen Wan weretaken away.

In Sha Tin in the north-east, authorities closed a sub-way station after protestersbroke windows and damageda ticket machine. Reporterssaw police arrest three men ata residential complex else-where in Sha Tin but the rea-

son wasn’t clear.In Tuen Mun in the north-

west, about three dozen peo-ple dressed in black, the sym-bolic color of the protests,stormed through a shoppingmall.

Most were peaceful butone used a club to smash win-dows while others overturnedtables in a restaurant.

Spectators on the street outsideshouted “Cockroaches!” atpolice.

Inside the Festival Walkshopping mall in KowloonTong, reporters saw a manlying on a public walkwaybeside a small pool of bloodwith police standing over him.His condition and the reasonfor possible injuries were

unclear.There were brief shoving

matches between police andshoppers, some of whom thrusttheir fists in the air in a gestureof defiance. Police releasedpepper spray inside the mall.

A Government statementsaid one person who wasarrested at Kowloon Tongescaped from police due toclamor caused by protesters.Activists are demanding theresignation of the semi-autonomous Chinese territory’sleader, Chief Executive CarrieLam.

The protests have added todownward pressure on HongKong’s economy. It already wasstruggling with declining glob-al economic growth and theUS-Chinese tariff war.

The territory of 7.5 millionpeople tumbled into its firstrecession since the globalfinancial crisis after economicactivity shrank 3.2% in thequarter ending in September.On Saturday, police announcedthe arrest of six lawmakers oncharges of obstructing the localassembly during a raucousMay 11 meeting over the extra-dition bill. All were freed onbail.

Washington: US PresidentDonald Trump has said that hewas likely to release the full tran-script of his April telephoneconversation with his Ukrainiancounterpart VolodymyrZelensky on Tuesday, a daybefore public impeachmenthearings were set to begin in theHouse.

“The witch hunt contin-ues,” Trump told reportersSaturday while departing theWhite House to attend theLouisiana State University Tigersvs. Alabama Crimson Tide foot-ball game.

“The Republicans havenever been so united, and I thinkthe people of our country havenever been so united,” he added.

Trump called Zelensky tocongratulate him in April afterhis victory in that country’spresidential election, and thenagain in July, reports Efe news.

A rough transcript of theJuly 25 call has already beenreleased by the White House.

Meanwhile, HouseRepublicans have asked to call onVice President Joe Biden’s son,Hunter Biden, as well as an

anonymous whistleblowerwhose initial complaint sparkedthe impeachment inquiry.

Representative DevinNunes, the top Republican onthe House IntelligenceCommittee, has submitted a listof eight individual witnessesthat he would like to testify aspart of this week’s public hearingsinto whether the President com-mitted an impeachment offencein his dealings with Ukraine.

Three senior US diplomatswho worked on Ukraine issueswere scheduled to appear inopen hearings, all of whom havetestified behind closed doorsrecently that they were alarmedby the July call in which the pres-ident appeared to link defenceaide to the Ukraine with hisdemands that the country launchinvestigations into the HunterBiden’s work for an energy com-pany there.

“Americans see through thissham impeachment process,”Nunes wrote in a letter addressedto his Democratic counterpart,Adam Schiff, the chairman of theintelligence committee. Nunesoutlined his list of witnesses that

he hopes to call “to provide trans-parency to your otherwiseopaque and unfair process,” hewrote.

Democrats are unlikely toaccede to calling the anonymouswhistleblower, whomRepublicans are eager to hearfrom publicly, or the youngerBiden. Schiff said he was evalu-ating the Republican witnessrequests - but suggested that hewould not allow the hearings tobe used to launch an investiga-tion of Biden, who is running forthe Democratic presidentialnomination and could face offwith Trump in next year’s gen-eral election.

“This inquiry is not, and willnot serve, however, as a vehicleto undertake the same shaminvestigations into the Bidens or2016 that the President pressedUkraine to conduct for his per-sonal political benefit, or tofacilitate the President’s effort tothreaten, intimidate, and retali-ate against the whistleblowerwho courageously raised theinitial alarm,” Schiff said in aSaturday statement. IANS

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Spain voted Sunday in itsfourth general election in as

many years with heightenedtensions over Catalonia’s sepa-ratist push in the foreground,an issue that has fuelled asurge in support for upstart far-right party Vox.

The repeat polls werecalled after Prime MinisterPedro Sanchez failed to securesupport from other parties fol-lowing an inconclusive electionin April which saw his Socialistparty win the most votes, butno working majority in parlia-ment.

However opinion pollssuggest this new election willfail to break the deadlock.Neither the left nor the rightlook likely to win a rulingmajority in Spain’s 350-seatparliament.

The Socialists are on trackto finish top again, but withslightly fewer seats than the 123they picked up in April, whilethe main opposition conserv-

ative Popular Party (PP) maystrengthen its parliamentarypresence.

But the most strikingdevelopment could be the riseof the far-right Vox party,which could even jump tothird-largest in parliament,according to polling.

After casting his ballot inMadrid, Sanchez urgedSpaniards to head to the polls,saying “it is very important thatwe all participate to strength-en our democracy” and that thecountry “have the needed sta-bility to be able to form a gov-ernment”.

last election produced anear-record 76 percent turnout,which helped Sanchez whohad mobilised left-leaning vot-ers to oppose Vox.

But as of 2 pm (1300 GMT)turnout stood at 37.9 percent,3.5 percentage points lowerthan at the same time duringthe April race. Voting stationswill close at 8:00 pm, withresults expected a few hourslater.

Baghdad: Iraqi security forcesput up concrete barriers in cen-tral Baghdad Sunday, trying tohamper and block protesters’movements a day after forceful-ly clearing three flashpointbridges in a security operationthat killed six anti-governmentprotesters and left more than 100wounded.

Since the unrest began lastmonth, more than 260 protest-ers have been killed by securityforces who have used live ammu-nition, rubber bullets and tear gasin an effort to quell the protests.

Amnesty Internationalcalled it a “bloodbath” and saidIraqi authorities should imme-diately rein in security forces.

“The government of Iraq hasa duty to protect its people’s rightto life, as well as to gather andexpress their views. This blood-bath must stop now, and those

responsible for it must bebrought to justice,” said HebaMorayef, AmnestyInternational’s Middle East andNorth Africa Director.

The widening securitycrackdown reflects governmentintransigence and narrowingoptions for protesters who havebeen on the streets of Baghdadand the mainly Shiite south’scities for weeks. Authorities shutdown internet access andblocked social media sites severaltimes amid the demonstrations.

The leaderless, economical-ly driven protests are targetingIraq’s entire political class andcalling for the overhaul of thesectarian system established afterthe 2003 US-led invasion.

More immediately, they arecalling for the resignation ofPrime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi’s government, who has

held the post for just over a year.He has refused to step down.

“All government promisesof reforms or investigationsring hollow while securityforces continue to shoot andkill protesters,” Morayef added.

On Sunday, security forcesclosed roads near the KhilaniSquare with one-meter highconcrete barriers, trying toblock protesters from reachingBaghdad’s landmark TahrirSquare, the epicenter of theprotests, and the Sanak bridge.

In the southern city ofNasiriyah, security and med-ical officials said 31 peoplewere injured in confronta-tions outside the educationdirectorate as security forcestear-gassed protesters trying toblock employees from reach-ing the building in the citycenter. AP

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Opposition demonstratorsin Bolivia overran two

state-run media outlets andforced them off the air Saturdayand some police stoppedguarding the square wherePresident Evo Morales’ palaceis located, as tensions remainedhigh after a disputed election.

Demonstrators burst intothe offices of Bolivia TV andRadio Patria Nueva and forcedemployees to leave, accusingthem of serving the interests ofMorales, said the director of thelatter of the two, IvanMaldonado.

“We were evicted by forceafter receiving constant threatsfrom people gathered outside,”Maldonado told AFP.

Some 40 employees wereseen leaving the building thatthe two news organisationsshare in La Paz, walking handin hand as a crowd of some 300demonstrators yelled insults.Afterward, both outlets broad-cast only music.

It was the latest thrust ofa movement protest ingalleged vote-counting fraud inthe election last month thatgave Morales a fourth straight

term.Morales denounced the

seizure of the media outlets.“They say they defend democ-racy, but they behave as if theywere in a dictatorship,” hetweeted.

A radio station run by afarmers’ union was also seizedby protesters, Morales said. Hesaid opposition militants hadalso set fire to the home of hissister in the southern city ofOruro as part of what he calledan effort to overthrow him.

Footage on social mediashowed the home of his eldersister Esther partially in flames.The homes of the regionalgovernor and that ofChuquisaca province gover-nor were also set on fire.

Morales called earlier inthe day for urgent, open-endeddialogue with opposition par-ties holding seats in theNational Assembly, but hepointedly excluded the power-ful regional civic committeesopposing him.

London: A spending row hasbroken out after the UK’s rulingConservative Party publishedwhat it claimed would be the costof an opposition Labour gov-ernment over five years, ahead ofthe December 12 general elec-tion, it was reported on Sunday.

The report, compiled by theparty and not the Treasury, isbased on a number of commit-ments from Labour’s annualparty conference but not itsmanifesto, the BBC reported.

Chancellor Sajid Javid saidLabour’s proposals would leavethe UK “on the brink of bank-ruptcy”.

But shadow chancellor JohnMcDonnell condemned thereport as “fake news”.

The Conservatives haveclaimed that Labour’s policieswould cost 1.2 trillion poundsover the course of the next fiveyears, if the party wins nextmonth’s general election.

The figure is based on cost-ing Labour’s 2017 manifestoand other pledges it has madesince then.

But the Labour Party has yetto publish its 2019 election man-ifesto, detailing its policies andspending proposals.

Senior Labour figures willmeet next week to decide whichpolicies passed by the party’sannual conference will becomemanifesto proposals for gov-ernment, with some unlikely tomake the cut.

Labour’s economic planincludes doubling “investment”spending, a 150 billion pounds“social transformation fund”,and a 250 billion pounds “greentransformation fund”. IANS

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US President DonaldTrump will host NATO

chief Jens Stoltenberg inWashington at a time of severestrain within the Atlanticalliance, the White Houseannounced Saturday.

The two leaders will dis-cuss NATO allies’ “progress onincreasing defense spendingand ensuring more equitableburden-sharing,” the WhiteHouse statement said.

Trump has been a fre-quent critic of alliance mem-bers, notably Germany, com-plaining that many have notmet their goal of devoting twopercent of economic output todefense spending.

Trump and Stoltenberg,

who is Norwegian, will alsodiscuss counterterrorism,cyber-security and protectingcritical infrastructure.

The Thursday meetingwill come a week after NATOcame in for cutting criticismfrom French president

Emmanuel Macron, who toldThe Economist magazine that“what we are currently experi-encing is the brain death ofNATO.”

Macron cited a generallack of coordination betweenthe US and Europe and therecent unilateral incursion byTurkey, a key member of the70-year-old military alliance,into northern Syria.

“Strategically and politi-cally,” Macron said, “we needto recognize that we have aproblem.”

Macron was speakingahead of a NATO summitmeeting scheduled forDecember 3 and 4 in London.

But German ChancellorAngela Merkel, speakingalongside Stoltenberg in Berlin

after the Macron interviewcame out, defended NATO as“indispensable.” Macron “useddrastic words,” she said,adding, “that is not my view ofcooperation in NATO.”

In Washington, the NATOchief will also confer Thursdaywith Secretary of State MikePompeo and members ofCongress, the alliance said.

That same day, he willattend a ministerial-level meet-ing of a broad internationalcoalition against the IslamicState group.

This session was request-ed urgently by France afterTrump announced he waspulling US troops out of north-ern Syria, raising fears that thejihadist organization couldstage a comeback.

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The US Republican party onSaturday fought back against

an impeachment probe intoPresident Donald Trump bycalling for the son of his mainrival Joe Biden to be called as awitness.

Trump has accused theBidens of unspecified corruptiondue to Hunter Biden’s role as adirector of Ukraine energy com-pany Burisma when Joe Biden -- now a leading candidate tochallenge Trump in the 2020election -- was vice president.

Devin Nunes, the seniorRepublican on the HouseIntelligence Committee, which isholding impeachment hearings,said Burisma reportedly paidHunter Biden USD 50,000 amonth to sit on its board.

Hunter Biden’s “firsthandexperiences with Burisma canassist the American public inunderstanding the nature andextent of Ukraine’s pervasivecorruption,” Nunes wrote.

Trump has dismissed allallegations of misconduct afterhe pressed Ukraine President

Volodymyr Zelensky to open agraft investigation into theBidens. Nunes said testimonyfrom Hunter Biden would boosttransparency in an “opaque andunfair process.” He also called forthe whistleblower who reporteda July phone call between Trumpand Zelensky to be called as awitness.

Democrats, who control theHouse of Representatives, mustapprove witness requests sub-mitted by Republicans.

Democratic lawmakerAdam Schiff, who is leading theimpeachment probe, said theIntelligence Committee would“give due consideration to wit-nesses within the scope of theimpeachment inquiry.”

But he vowed the inquirywould not be “a vehicle to under-take the same sham investiga-tions into the Bidens... That thepresident pressed Ukraine toconduct for his personal politi-cal benefit.” The Democrats areaiming to make Trump only thethird president in US history tobe impeached, which would seehim go on trial for removal in theRepublican-dominated Senate.

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Berlin: German ChancellorAngela Merkel has warnedagainst taking democracy forgranted, at a ceremony markingthe 30th anniversary of theBerlin Wall’s fall.

“No wall that keeps peopleout and restricts freedom is sohigh... that it cannot be brokendown,” she said on Saturday, theBBC reported. The wall had sep-arated Soviet-controlled EastBerlin and capitalist West Berlinduring the Cold War.

Its fall in 1989 was seen as avictory for liberal democracy,and led to Germany’s reunifica-tion a year later.

However, Merkel warnedon Saturday that “the values onwhich Europe is founded - free-dom, democracy, equality, rule oflaw, human rights - they are any-thing but self-evident and theyhave to be revitalised anddefended time and time again”.

“We stand stripped of anyexcuses and are required to doour part of freedom and democ-racy,” she added in a ceremonyat the Berlin Wall memorial.

There has been a rise in thefar-right in many Europeancountries, while theGovernments of EU countriessuch as Poland and Hungaryhave been accused of under-mining the rule of law.

The Berlin Wall fell inEurope, in which several Soviet-imposed communist regimeswere toppled following protests.President Frank-WalterSteinmeier paid tribute toGermany’s neighbours, saying:“Without the courage of the willto freedom of the Poles andHungarians, the Czechs andSlovaks, the revolutions inEurope and Germany’s reunifi-cation would not have beenpossible.” IANS

London: Britain’s top militaryadviser accused Russia onSunday of “reckless” behaviourthat violated international normsand risked sparking a war.

Chief of Defence StaffGeneral Nick Carter saidMoscow was operating in a“grey zone” that weaponisedinformation and used unattrib-utable proxies in conflicts.

He pointed to covert oper-ations by the Wagner Group --a private army the Kremlindenies funding -- in Syria andAfrica as well as disinformationcampaigns as two types of newthreats. “Russia is much moreassertive than it was 10 years ago.It’s got some self-confidencenow as it reasserts itself as a glob-

al power,” Carter told BBC tele-vision.

“Cyber is part of that, whathappens in space is part of that,disinformation, subversion,manipulation, assassinations,and of course the use of merce-naries, which are very easilyundeclared and non-attribut-able,” he said.

“Reckless behaviour and thelack of respect for internationallaw relating to these new typesof ‘weapons’ risks escalation thatcould easily lead to inadvertentmiscalculation,” Carter sepa-rately wrote in The SundayTelegraph.

Russian President VladimirPutin flatly denies the Kremlin’sinvolvement in cyber and

ground operations that Westernintelligence agencies and analystspin on Moscow. But Carter saidthis “deniability” is a tactic nowbeing perfected by Britain’s mainfoes.

His media appearances aretimed to remind Britons of thechallenges they still face onRemembrance Sunday -- theday the country honours thosewho fought and died in WorldWar I and subsequent conflicts.

It also comes with USPresident Donald Trump waver-ing on Washington’s commit-ment to the NATO militaryalliance and French PresidentEmmanuel Macron promotingthe idea of a European army.

AFP

Jalalabad: The Islamic Stategroup’s Afghan branch has been“defeated” in one of the key east-ern provinces where it firstsought to establish a stronghold,a top Afghan security officialsaid Sunday.

The claim comes after thejihadists first burst intoAfghanistan’s conflict in 2015,when they overran large parts ofNangarhar and Kunar provinces,near the Pakistan border.

In the years since, they haveclaimed responsibility for astring of horrific bombingsacross Afghanistan, including ata wedding hall in Kabul, andhave been continually attackedby US, Afghan and even Talibanforces.

ISIS “were defeated inNangarhar, their centres weredestroyed”, acting interior min-ister Massoud Andarabi toldreporters in Jalalabad. AFP

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For more than 100 years, the ratio ofHindu population in the Indian sub-continent has been declining. The

dip, from 75.1 per cent in 1881 to 72.9 percent in 1901, in British India created a para-noid reaction that Muslims would outnum-ber Hindus. This myth has been repeatedafter every census ever since. The share ofHindus in free India continued to drop, from84.1 per cent in 1951 to 79.80 per cent in2011, and the paranoia is now being usedby Islamophobes to rile up Hindus for polit-ical reasons.

Of India’s 1.3 billion people, Muslimsconstitute only 15 per cent. Because of thestaggering gap in these numbers, it isabsurd to think that Indian Muslims wouldever exceed Hindus. It is, however, true thatIndia’s 200 million Muslims possess pendu-lum-swinging voting firepower, especially inminority-dominated areas.

Across India’s eastern borders, theHindu growth rate paints a surprisingly dif-ferent picture. Bangladesh is facing a reversemigration. Hindus have been moving backto Bangladesh from India since PrimeMinister Sheikh Hasina recaptured powerin 2009. Confirmation of this trend camefrom no less a person than Shahriar Kabir,a journalist and pro-India man who is wide-ly known as an anti-Islamist activist inBangladesh. “Over the past 10 years, 250,000Hindus have returned to Bangladesh. Therehas been no new migration to India. As aresult, the Hindu population has risen by 2.5per cent.” India’s previous External AffairsMinister Sushma Swaraj also acknowl-edged the trend. “About the demographicchanges in Bangladesh, as per statistics of theBangladesh Bureau [of Statistics, which com-piles demographic data] in 2011, there were8.4 per cent Hindus in the country, whichhas risen to 10.7 per cent in 2017,” she toldIndia’s Parliament.

Influx raises questions: This suddensurge in the Bangladeshi Hindu population,which had been on a free fall since BritishIndia’s Partition in 1947, has fuelled wildspeculation in Bangladesh: Pro-India Hasinahas imported Bengali-speaking Hindusfrom India to fill key administrative posi-tions in an attempt to tighten her grip on thenation. Hindus had been historically deniedtop government jobs since the Pakistan daysbecause they were suspected to be sympa-thetic to India. But now they seem to beubiquitous. They all too often appear on tele-vision and in newspapers as governmentspokesmen. This phenomenon has caughtpublic attention.

“The calculation of the percentage hereis not clear to me. How did the Hindu pop-ulation growth surpass that of the Muslimsin the last few years? Can we assume that agreat number of Hindus migrated toBangladesh from India over the last fewyears?”asked Masud Kamal, senior news edi-tor, Banglavision, a satellite TV channel inDhaka. The questions have merits. Research

shows the trend defies logic. Astudy, Hindu Population Growthin Bangladesh: A DemographicPuzzle, concluded that “Hindushave lower fertility, higher mor-tality and higher internationalout-migration rates thanMuslims.” Given the demo-graphic characteristics, the nat-ural Hindu growth rate trailsthat of the Muslim. Because ofthis anomaly, the rumour mill isin overdrive as to why theHindu population suddenlysoared in Bangladesh and howHindus so quickly captured somany top jobs. Sceptics dismissthe influx as a hoax, arguing theGovernment fabricated thenumbers to appease India. Butthey fail to explain the surge inHindu high officials, giving cre-dence to the Hindu import the-ory.

No official explanation hasbeen offered. This silence maybe too costly. In the event thehereditary frictions between thetwo communities again flare up,genuine Bangladeshi Hinduscould be targetted by Muslimmobs on suspicion that they are“imported Hindus.” The specu-lation surrounding the Hinduinflux reflects a deep-rootedsuspicion that marks Hindu-Muslim relations, a legacy ofIndia’s age-old caste system.Most of the Bengali Muslimsdescended from oppressed-and-

resentful-lower-caste Hinduswho converted to Islam,rebelling against their higher-caste Hindu oppressors. Thereis still bad blood between theupper and lower castes, orHindus and Muslims.

India’s paranoia: The para-noia towards Bangladesh and itsmajority Muslim populationruns high among some of theelite in India. Some Hindus,especially those in West Bengal,who share a common languageand a rich culture withBangladeshis, accuse theirneighbour of tacitly harboringanti-India terrorism. They alsosound a false alarm, saying ille-gal migration into India ischanging its religious demo-graphics.

This rant reflects the centu-ry-old fear that Muslims wouldsomehow outnumber Hindusand re-establish the Muslimempire in India. It is this fearthat drove Hindutva guru VDSavarkar to oppose a Muslimcountry next to Hindustan. Thenationalist BJP is using thisanxiety against neighbouringBangladesh to galvanise publicsupport.

Bangladesh, the land of 163million Bengalis, including 12per cent Hindus, is India’s mostfriendly neighbour. Still, it hasconcerns about several bilater-al matters, including a fiercely

contentious assertion by Delhithat there are 40 millionBangladeshis illegally living inIndia and that they must bepushed back. This issue spoiledthe talks in Delhi in Augustbetween Bangladesh’s HomeMinister Asaduzzaman Khanand his Indian counterpart AmitShah. The matter became soacrimonious that the two sidesfailed to issue a customary jointcommunique after the talks.

Delhi is going through a cit-izenship verification process todetect non-citizens and hasalready classified nearly twomillion of its long-term residentsas stateless. India’s ForeignMinister SubrahmanyamJaishankar has assured that thecitizenship verification drill isIndia’s internal matter; it will notaffect Bangladesh. Modi hasreassured his Bangladeshi coun-terpart Hasina twice, first at theUnited Nations in Septemberand then in Delhi in October.

What’s behind migrationpolitics? Why did Shah pushKhan for a treaty to deport ille-gal migrants? Why did not theHasina-Modi joint statementinclude the assurance? Therewas no mention of the migra-tion issue at all, a lapse that rais-es suspicions about India’s realintentions. One possible reasoncould be that the BJP nowunderstands the folly of

“Operation Pushback” but stillmust appease its militant saffronwarriors, who want a Muslim-free India. During his electioncampaign, Narendra Modi toldthe migrants in States borderingBangladesh to keep their “bagspacked,” ready to be sent home.But his administration waiteduntil his re-election in 2019 tobring up the deportation issuewith Bangladesh, the mostdensely populated nation onearth and less than five per centthe size of of its neighbour.

India’s anti-Bangladeshparanoia appeared so incendi-ary that it once caught theattention of an American diplo-mat. During a discussion inKolkata with visiting USEmbassy Dhaka’s political offi-cer Denise Rollins, Dilip Mitra,additional director-general ofthe state police for railways, list-ed a lengthy litany of complaints.He was convinced India’s archrival Pakistan had taken overBangladesh; that Pakistan’s mil-itary intelligence agency, backedby Islamic zealots, controlledBangladesh’s army and its spyagency, all of which were work-ing to make India “bleed from1,000 cuts.” On top of all this, hebelieved, illegal immigrationfrom Bangladesh across aporous border was sharplyincreasing the Muslim propor-tion of West Bengal’s population.He vowed to flee the Statebefore the demographic changeoccurred.

Despite all the railingagainst Bangladesh, its peoplestill keep close ties with WestBengal. Nahida RahmanShumona, counsellor at theDeputy High Commission forBangladesh in Kolkata, esti-mated roughly 30 per cent ofBengalis have roots inBangladesh and wish to seetheir neighbour prosper. ManyBangladeshis come to Kolkatafor medical care and go shop-ping in the city’s vibrant marketsand name-brand stores.

The mistrust of someHindus towards Bangladesh isdisturbing. It can only harm theoften-testy relations betweenthe two countries. If the migra-tion issue festers, business com-munities on both sides will gointo hibernation. An economicnosedive will destabiliseBangladesh and India will facean influx of refugees. Keepinglines of communication open isessential to successfully manag-ing the bilateral relationship.

( Khasru is author ofBangladesh Liberation War:

How India, US, China and theUSSR Shaped the Outcome.

His new book, One ElevenMinus Two, Prime Minister

Sheikh Hasina’s War on Yunusan America, will be published

shortly.)

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�� Sir — The verdict by the SupremeCourt on the Ram temple issue,stating that a temple must be con-structed at the disputed site and theMuslims must be compensatedwith five acres of land at a promi-nent place in Ayodhya, is goodnews. The court also asked theCentral Government to formulatea scheme within three months toimplement this ruling, in order tobring the curtains down on a dis-pute that had been hanging fire forseven decades. Hopefully, all stake-holders will abide by the judgmentof the five-judge Bench in thehugely sensitive case, revolvingaround the dispute over 2.77 acresof land in Ayodhya, that has dom-inated political discourse sincethe 1980s. Hindu groups wantedcontrol of the land, saying a tem-ple existed there, but Muslimgroups claimed there was no proofthat a temple existed there. Now,hopefully this ruling will put to restall communal tensions that havebeen simmering in the countryand peace will prevail in India.

R DavidNoida

�� Sir — No well-meaning Indian

can find fault with the SupremeCourt’s ruling on the vexedAyodhya issue.

The court, in one stroke, has set-tled the matter and all parties

must respect the verdict andabide by it.

The temple-mosque issue hasheld the development of the coun-try to ransom for long as politi-

cians of all hues have been play-ing divisive politics on the issue.Now, hopefully the NarendraModi-led Government at theCentre will focus on the develop-

ment of the nation, peace in thecountry, preventing the degrada-tion of the environment andrestoring the sinking economy.

Kapil SharmaGhaziabad

�� Sir — Now that the much-await-ed decision by the Supreme Courton the Ayodhya dispute is out, onecan only pray that all sides willabide by the ruling. I agree withwhat the Prime Minister said thatthis “verdict shouldn’t be seen asa win or loss for anybody. Be itRam bhakti or Rahim bhakti, it isimperative that we strengthen thespirit of Rashtra bhakti.”

I am glad that almost all polit-ical parties across the countryhave hailed the verdict with onevoice. Even the NationalCommission for Minorities chair-person Ghayorul Hasan Rizvi saidthat the Muslims are happy withthe ruling and slammed the SunniWaqf Board for wanting a review.It’s time the Board shows maturi-ty and accepts the ruling.

Arif MohammadHyderabad

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I’ve lived in Berlin for 30 years —but have never gone near theWall or what’s left of it. I spent

so long trying to escape over it thatI can’t bear to be near it. Like mostWest Berliners on that night inNovember 1989, I sat at homealone watching East Germans floodthrough the gates at BornholmerStraße on TV.

I found that moment bitter-sweet: Having finally managed toescape the East in 1985, abandon-ing my family and friends, it fell justfour years later, producing revela-tions about my life as an EastBerliner just four years earlier alongwith the rubble.

I had grown up in EastGermany near Karl-Marx-Stadt(now Chemnitz), but at the age of28 I was granted permission to leave;East Germany had signed up to theHelsinki Accords, which made ittheoretically possible for citizens toapply to emigrate to the West. Inreality, though, the process wastortuous and opaque: You had toapply in person every year and usu-ally your application would be

declined without explanation.The first time you applied,

you were immediately blacklisted bythe SED (the East GermanCommunist Party), making it dif-ficult to get things like jobs and flats.If, years later, your permission didfinally come it came without warn-ing and you were given just fourweeks to settle your affairs and go.

So on December 6, 1985 myparents drove me and my then-hus-band to Friedrichstraße Station,which straddled the Berlin Wall,with platforms in both the East andthe West. My parents were verypolitical, both members of the SED.My father was a head teacher andmy mother worked as a typist for theparty’s Agricultural Department.They were dedicated to EastGermany and couldn’t comprehendwhy I was leaving. It really broketheir hearts. They left us at the cav-ernous glass departures hall atFriedrichstraße station, which wecalled the “Tränenpalast” (the Palaceof Tears). In a very narrow corridor,the GDR authorities stripped me ofall my papers, making me official-

ly stateless, and I wasfree to go.

As artists in theEast, my ex-husbandand I couldn’t exhibitor publish our work,we weren’t allowed tostudy and we wereunder constant sur-veillance. We knewnothing about WestBerlin. All informa-tion about the westernhalf of the city wassuppressed: on ourmaps, West Berlin wasjust a blank whitespace in the middle ofEast Germany. Whenwe arrived we drovethrough the city — it was Christmasand the bright lights made me sodizzy that, on my first night, I did-n’t sleep a wink. For months after-wards I had a recurring nightmarethat I was visiting my parents inKarl-Marx-Stadt, and when I wentto get the train back to the West thedoor of the station was locked.There was, of course, joy at having

left, particularly having the freedomto paint and draw and the fact I hadaccess to proper artists’ materials forthe first time, rather than having topaint on old sheets stretched over abed frame. But there were things Istruggled with in the West.

People seemed so uptight tome. Because almost no one in theEast had their own phone, if you

wanted to talk tosomeone you justturned up at their flat.Sometimes friendswould knock on thedoor at three in themorning and youwould pull on yourclothes and head outwith them for a drink.I had also never expe-rienced sexism beforeI left East Germany.When I had my firstjob interview in WestBerlin as a windowdresser, they said theyliked me but I was 28so would probably getpregnant soon, and

gave the job to a man. It took memonths to find work. Although wewere free, the Stasi continued towatch us. I later discovered that theyhad tapped my phone calls backhome to my family; one time an oldfriend from Karl-Marx-Stadt turnedup at my door saying that he hadbeen given permission to visit theState Library in West Berlin and

could he borrow 10 marks. It turnedout he was also working for the Stasiand wanted to check on me and myhusband’s whereabouts. Not that wehad done anything particularlyseditious — we just wanted the free-dom to do our work. But in EastGermany you didn’t need to domuch wrong to attract the attentionof the secret police.

The biggest change for mewhen the Wall fell was that I couldsee my family again. My sister-in-law came over and visited me inWest Berlin and was disappointedby how modestly I lived — I was awindow dresser and an artist andearned very little. Where was myvideo recorder, she wanted to know.Where were my fitted wardrobes?

I went straight over to our townnear Chemnitz to visit my motherand father, although my mother wasvery sick by then. They were still sadthat I’d left, but we talked everythingthrough and the best point wecould reach was to begrudginglyagree that neither the East nor theWest were perfect.

The fall of the Wall meant that

the Stasi files were opened up andI was able to apply to the new StasiRecords Agency to view all of thefiles that had been kept on me.

I’d been part of a large artists’circle in the East and my first soloshow at a local youth club was a sellout. My files, though, revealed thatthe Stasi had paid the director of theclub to buy the drawings to keep myartists’ circle together so they couldkeep spying on us all, hoping, I sup-pose, that our subversive meetingsand publications would lead to oneof us doing something really trea-sonous. I was devastated. But whatreally broke my heart was theamount of fellow artists and friendswho had informed on me. I cut outanyone that had betrayed us.

Thirty years on, Berlin is stillchanging so fast that I sometimeswonder how long I’ll have a placehere. But I’ve been in the Westlonger than I ever lived in the Eastand I don’t see myself as EastGerman anymore. I suppose, final-ly, I feel like a West Berliner.

(Courtesy: The DailyTelegraph)

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Abig hue and cry has been raised byCongressmen over the withdrawal of SPG(Special Protection Group) security cover

for Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and PriyankaGandhi Vadra, alleging that it is an act of polit-ical vendetta. One wonders what the brouha-ha is all about, because they will still get Z plussecurity, which means that they will have com-mandos from the CRPF in close proximity,besides guards at their homes and where everthey travel in the country. Officials of the UnionHome Ministry say the decision to downgradetheir security was taken only after getting reportsfrom multiple Intelligence agencies that therewas no security threat to the family.

And even if it is “political vendetta” as isbeing claimed by the red-faced Congressmen,the question which needs to be considered iswhether public figures really need such highsecurity at all?

It is my belief, that if public figures do notindulge in misdeeds, they will hardly face anydanger from anyone and will not need securi-ty. That is my personal experience. When I wasa Judge of the Allahabad High Court (1991-2004) I would almost daily go for morning walksfor several miles on public roads without anysecurity guard (I only carried a cane to ward offstray dogs). I never received any threat from any-one, though I sometimes even confirmed deathsentences. I would go daily from my residenceto the High Court and back in a car without anysecurity. When I was appointed Acting ChiefJustice of Allahabad High Court in August 2004,on leaving my residence in my car, I saw a police-man on a motorcycle in front and a Gypsy vehi-cle with half-a-dozen policemen with automat-ic rifles behind my car. I asked my secretary, whowas travelling with me, who these people were.He said they were there to provide me securi-ty cover. I said I didn’t need any security andasked them to leave. My secretary replied thatunder the police regulations a Chief Justice orActing Chief Justice must have security. So I hadno choice in the matter, as the police, and I too,were bound by the rules.

Shortly after I became Chief Justice ofMadras High Court in November 2004, I wentby train from Chennai (the principal seat of theHigh Court) to Madurai, where a new Bench ofthe High Court had been set up. A huge con-tingent of policemen was at the Madurai rail-way station to receive me. From the station, Itravelled to the Madurai High Court Benchpremises by car. I saw policemen posted every100 or 200 yards throughout this 10 mile route,saluting me. In the evening I called theInspector-General of Police (Southern Range)and told him that he should not have postedthese policemen at the railway station and enroute to the High Court premises. I told him thatthe police force was for the protection of the cit-izens of the country. Making half the police forceof Madurai stand throughout the 10 mileroute, saluting me, meant that it had giventhieves, cut-throats and other anti-social ele-ments a field day as the common man was leftunprotected. I said I had no ego problems withnot being accorded that kind of importance andsecurity and requested the officer not to do thisagain.

The first Prime Minister of India, PanditJawaharlal Nehru, used to jump into the jostlingcrowd without security and yet there was neverany threat to him. The famous Chief Ministerof Tamil Nadu, K Kamaraj, always refused anysecurity cover and so did Bidhan Chandra Roy,the famous physician-Chief Minister of WestBengal. This was because at that time mostpoliticians were upright. The need for securityarose only thereafter when politicians startedindulging in misdeeds like corruption. Allegedly,it is widely perceived that the Congress party istotally corrupt and looted hundreds, if not thou-sands, of crores of rupees and took them to for-eign banks or other secret havens abroad.Though technically Manmohan Singh, as thePrime Minister, was the head of the UPAGovernment, it is well known that he was onlya figurehead and the real ruler was SoniaGandhi.

In fact, Manmohan admitted this himself,first when I attended a reception given to himby the then Cabinet Secretary BK Chaturvedi,and second when I went to him to seek pardonfor Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar, a chemical engi-neering professor who was a convict in the 1993Delhi bomb blast case, who I thought had beenwrongly convicted (the exact words used byManmohan were, “Justice Katju, I am not a freeman”).

Scam followed scam during the UPA rule,not of just crores but of lakhs of crores of rupees.Though there may not be direct evidence, thereis overwhelming circumstantial evidence thatSonia was the main beneficiary of this loot. Sheand Rahul were the be-all and end-all in theCongress Party and all other Congressmen werenon-entities. Sonia had evidently been taughtby her mother-in-law Indira Gandhi that theNehru-Gandhi family were the royals who hadthe divine right to rule India.

Everyone in the Congress party had toblindly accept their leadership and they treat-

ed other Congressmen with disdain. One proofof this contempt for other Congressmen waswhen the Assamese Congress leader HimantaBiswa Sarma (who later joined the BJP in viewof his ill-treatment by the top leadership of thegrand old party) went to meet Rahul. He couldget an audience only after a long wait, and then,too, only for a few minutes, during which theGandhi scion was feeding his dog.

Indira Gandhi, and thereafter her descen-dants, treated Indians as gullible fools, whowould accept the rule of the “royal” family, nomatter what misdeed they committed. Whyshould the Gandhi family then get any securi-ty, far less SPG security? What is so great aboutSonia, Rahul and Priyanka that their lives mustbe protected even at a huge cost to the exche-quer? Except for the arrogance that they belongto a royal family, what do they contribute to thecountry?

They have no ideas about solving the prob-lems of massive poverty, unemployment, farm-ers distress, child malnourishment, lack ofhealthcare and so on which India faces. And isIndia a feudal despotism in which only one fam-ily must rule, like the Stuarts, Bourbons and theRomanovs ?

Congressmen say that the Nehru-Gandhifamily is indispensable because it is the only gluewhich can keep the party together. This itselfindicates the ideological bankruptcy of the party.Apart from its oft-touted profession of secular-ism, which really means its desire to get the votebank it cultivates consciously, what does theCongress stand for? Nothing. And its deeds showthat its rule was tainted by corruption.

And if they have done no misdeed, theyshould openly say so. They should refuse heavysecurity, like upright Congress leaders in theearly years after Independence such as PanditNehru, Kamaraj and BC Roy did.

(The writer is a former judge of the SupremeCourt of India.)

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The Karnataka Congresschief Dinesh Gundu Rao

on Sunday said the second listof candidates for Assemblybyelections would beannounced on November 13after the Supreme Court verdict on the disqualifiedMLAs.

The Congress had releasedthe first list of eight candidateson October 31. The decisionon the second list of seven can-didates was taken at a partymeeting here.

We have had a detailed dis-cussion on the selection ofcandidates for the rest of theplaces. There is another meet-ing of the senior leaders onMonday, where we will take afinal decision, Rao toldreporters after the meeting.

He added, We willannounce the names of ourcandidates on November 13after the court verdict, which islikely to come on November 13.By the evening of that day, we

will announce the names of therest of the candidates.”

The State Congress chiefexpressed his confidence aboutthe partys victory in all the 15places where the byelectionswould take place on December5.

Giving reasons for the par-tys good show, Rao said theBJPs popularity graph hasdeclined due to the policies ofthe Centre and the State.

Rao added that the scopefor winning in all the 15 con-stituencies is high becausethere is unity in the party.

In its first list released onOctober 31, the partyannounced that BhimannaNaik would contest fromYellapur, B H Bannikod(Hirekerur) K B Koliwad(Ranebennur) M Anjanappa(Chikkaballapura), MNarayanaswamy (K R Puram),M Shivaraj (MahalakshmiLayout) Padmavathi Suresh(Hosakote) and H P Manjunathwould seek election fromHunsur.

�� 2,?��0/0

Alleging that there was complete breakdownof constitutional machinery in Karnataka,

Senior Congress leader K Siddaramaiah has writ-ten to President Ram Nath Kovind, seeking an appointment to apprise him of the sit-uation.

In his November 8 letter, Siddaramaiahreferred to a recent leaked audio clip of ChiefMinister B S Yediyurappa purportedly express-ing anguish against his party leaders at a recentparty meeting in Hubballi over their oppositionto giving tickets to the disqualified Congress-JD(S) MLAs for the December 5 Assemblybypolls in 15 constituencies.

The former Chief Minister said, “The BJP hasused dubious and illegal methods like misusingCBI, Income Tax and Enforcement Directorateto induce and coerce the legislators, which is evi-dent from Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa’sspeech in Hubballi.”

The formation of the present Government isagainst the mandate of the people of Karnatakaand the provisions of the Constitution of India,Siddaramaiah said in his letter.

Alleging that there was a complete breakdownof constitutional machinery in the state,Siddaramaiah said for the sake of power the BJPdefied the established precedents of democraticprinciples.

�� 2,?��0/0

Ahead of the model code of conductcoming into effect from Monday in

the 15 Assembly constituencies wherebypolls are scheduled, Chief ElectoralOfficer Sanjiv Kumar said the prepa-rations were afoot for the smooth con-duct of elections on December 5.

The model code of conduct shallcome into force from November 11 inthe district or districts in which thewhole or any part of the assembly con-stituency going for byelection is includ-ed, Kumar told reporters on Sunday.

He said the code of conduct wouldbe applicable to the candidates, polit-ical parties, State Government and theUnion government for the districtsconcerned.

According to the amended schedule for the byelections, the datefor filing nominations starts fromMonday and the last date of nomina-tions is November 18.

The date of scrutiny of nominationsis November 19 and the last date forthe withdrawal of candidates isNovember 21 and the byelectionswould take place on December 5 from7 am to 6 pm.

The counting of votes would takeplace on December 9.

The byelections would take place in

Athani, Kagwad, Gokak, Yellapura,Hirekerur, Ranebennur, Vijayanagara,Chikkaballapura, KR Pura,Yashwanthapura, Mahalakshmi Layout,Shivajinagar, Hoskote, KR Pete andHunsur.

The constituencies have 37.5 lakhvoters, who would exercise their fran-chise at 4,185 polling stations.

We have enough number of EVM-VVPATs for the 4,185 polling stations.We have 200 per cent BU, CU (ballotunits and control units) and VVPATs.They have been kept safely, Kumar toldreporters.

There would be a deployment of22,598 poll personnel.

The Election Commission has setup an integrated complaint monitoringand media monitoring centre at theoffice of the CEO at Khanija Bhavanhere. Besides receiving complaintsthrough letters, emails and nationalgrievances redressal system web portal,people can use the eVIGIL mobileapplication.

Kumar said training has been heldfor the all the officers involved at var-ious levels and another level of train-ing would be organised.

Another important feature of thebyelection is the usage of M3 EVMs,which have advanced features, on alarge- scale in Karnataka.

�� 4&31

With the Supreme Courtsettling the Ayodhya land

dispute case, it was time to bringcurtains down on such “politi-cally motivated” issues andfocus on uplifting millions in thecountry from hunger andpoverty, prominent Muslimleader of Kerala SayyidMunavvar AliShihab Thangal on Sunday said.

The court verdict alsorespected the sentiments of theminorities and no anarchy pre-vailed in the country, the seniorIndian Union Muslim League(IUML) leader said, urging allsections not to fall victims tothe “controversies” being cre-ated by ‘exploiting’ emotiveissues.

“Now the verdict is out. No

one should use Ayodhya issuefor political gains anymore,”Thangal, a senior member ofKerala’s influential Thangalfamily which controls theIUML, told PTI.

He was reacting to theunanimous verdict of the five-member Constitution benchwhich on Saturday cleared theway for the construction of aRam temple at the disputed siteat Ayodhya and directed allot-ment of a five acre plot to theSunni Waqf Board for buildinga mosque.

Thangal said the demolitionof Babri Masjid in Ayodhya in1992 was a blot on secular India.“We respect the verdict. Becauseit was delivered by the apex courtof the country. Emotions of theminorities are also respected inthe verdict.

Hyderabad: AIMIM chiefAsaduddin Owaisi has soughtto know if Babri Masjid wasillegal why were L K Advaniand others being tried in connection with its demolition.

Addressing a public meet-ing here on Saturday night, theAIMIM president said, “IfBabri Masjid was legal thenwhy was it (land) handed overto those who demolished it. Ifit was illegal then why the caseis going on and withdraw thecase against Advani. And if itis legal then give it to me.” “It’sa basic question... We are notsatisfied with this judgement.Babri Masjid is my legal right.

I am fighting for the Masjidand not the land,” Owaisi saidreacting to the Supreme Court’sverdict on Saturday paving theway for construction of a Ramtemple in Ayodhya.

On Sunday, Owaisi tweet-ed “Then what does a Muslimsee today? That there stood amosque, for so many years,which has been demolished.

Now the court is allowinga building to come up on thatsite, on an alleged finding thatthe land belonged to RamLalla.”

“We are being insulted bygiving (alternate) land. Don’ttreat us like us beggars... Weare respectable citizens of India.The fight is for legal right,” hesaid in another tweet.

“... We asked for justice, not

charity. If your house is demol-ished and you go to an arbi-trator, whether the houseshould be given to you or not.Should it be given to thedemolisher?,” he asked whilereiterating that he was not sat-isfied with the judgement.

Claiming that even todayBJP and RSS have a list of sev-eral mosques which they wantto “transform,” Owaisi saidthey (muslims) should fight forthe Masjid.

He also questioned partiesincluding, Samajwadi Party,BSP, Nationalist CongressParty on their “silence” over theapex court judgement.

Asserting that he wouldinform the coming genera-tions of the Babri Masjiddemolition, Owaisi urged theyoungsters of the communityto take part in politics and sup-port his party. PTI

�� 7�*,�

Hindustani Awam Morcha(Secular) National

President Jitan Ram Manjhi onSunday asserted that he neversaid his party would pull outof the five-party GrandAlliance in Bihar.

The former Bihar chiefminister, however, said that acoordination committee shouldbe formed for taking decisionsregarding the Grand Allianceand for better coordinationamong its partners RJD,Congress, RLSP, HAM(S) andVikassheel Insan Party (VIP).

Speaking to reporters afterHAM(S) youth wing meetingconvened at his residence here,Manjhi said, “I never said myparty will come out of theGrand Alliance... I will remainin it... Though, I firmly spokeabout the formation of a coor-

dination committee for taking decisions of thealliance.”

Manjhi had on November7 announced at the nationalexecutive meeting of HAM(S)that his party would go it alonein the upcoming JharkhandAssembly elections, where ithas not contested any poll sofar.

He also announced that hisparty will field candidates in allthe 243 Assembly segments ofBihar during Vidhan Sabhaelections next year, giving riseto speculations that the Dalitleader may quit the GrandAlliance.

“I had joined the GrandAlliance on the condition thatthere will be a coordinationcommittee and every decisionof alliance will be takenthrough the committee alone,” he told reporters onSunday.

�� &32,,�1

The main opposition DMKon Sunday condemned the

Centre for what it called “turn-ing Jammu & Kashmir regioninto a huge prison’ anddemanded the release of allthose arrested, including for-mer Chief Minister FarooqAbdullah.

The M K Stalin-led party,which has all along been crit-ical of the Centre’s action onthe Jammu & Kashmir issuehere, demanded that theCentre “respect the sensitivitiesof the people.”

A resolution adopted at itsgeneral council meet here con-demned the Centre for abro-gation of Article 370 and bifur-cation of the region into twounion territories sans the nodof the Jammu & KashmirAssembly and without elicitingthe views of the people there.

Also, it said”...This generalcouncil (meet) condemns turn-ing the region into a hugeprison and betraying the peo-ple; for arrest of leaders likeFarooq Abdullah and placingthem under house arrest whostrove for democracy.”

The party, in its meetchaired by Stalin, urged theCentre to “immediately free allthose arrested and respecthuman rights, the sensitivitiesof the Kashmiri people anddemocratic ethos.”

Most top level and secondrung separatist politicians havebeen taken into preventive cus-tody, while mainstream leaders,including two former ChiefMinisters — Omar Abdullahand Mehbooba Mufti — havebeen either detained or placedunder house arrest.

The Government detainedformer Chief Minister and sit-ting Lok Sabha MP from

Srinagar Farooq Abdullahunder the Public Safety act.

The DMK also soughtwithdrawal of the DraftNational Education Policy(DNEP) 2019 from the Centre,alleging that it was an attemptto impose Hindi and Sanskrit.

The party also wanted edu-cation in the State list from theconcurrent list of theConstitution.

In July, a delegation ofDMK MPs led by Kanimozhihad called on HumanResource DevelopmentMinister Ramesh Pokhriyaland urged withdrawal of thedraft policy.

Many suggestions of theDNEP were against the spirit ofthe Constitution, principles offederalism and social justice,and it had “hidden agendas” todeprive oppressed communi-ties from accessing education,the party had said.

�� 0&�,4+

The Sunni Central Waqf Board on Sundaysaid a decision on whether to accept a

5-acre land for building a mosque inAyodhya will be taken at its meeting likelyon November 26.

In a unanimous verdict, the SupremeCourt on Saturday paved the way for theconstruction of a Ram Temple at the disputed site at Ayodhya, while directing the Centre to allot a 5-acre plot tothe Sunni Waqf Board for building amosque.

UP Sunni Central Waqf BoardChairman, Zufar Farooqui told PTI that hewas getting diverse views on whether to takethe land.

“Board’s general body meeting is expect-ed on November 26 in which it will be decided whether to take 5-acre land as direct-ed by the Supreme Court or not,” he said.

“The meeting was earlier scheduled onNov 13 but it was postponed and is nowexpected on Nov 26. I am getting diverse

views on taking the land but I personally feelnegativity can be won only with positivity,”Farooqui said.

He said some persons are advising thatland should not be taken for the Babrimosque but “I think it will increase nega-tivity.”

Noting that he had advocated for medi-ation to resolve Ayodhya issue, Farooquisaid, “Though mediation did not succeed myviews are clear.”

“Some persons are also advising that theland should be taken by Waqf board and aneducational institution, with a mosqueestablished in its premises,” he said.

He said as far as land is concerned, gov-ernment has to follow the Supreme Courtverdict.

“We will decide whether we will take itor not. If the Board decides to take land inits meeting, we will decide how it is to betaken and what will be its condition,” headded. “We welcome the Supreme Court ver-dict in the case. The Board has no plans tochallenge it.”

�� 4��*�

On the back foot since theNRC in Assam left out

over 12 lakh Hindus, mostlyBengalis, the Supreme Courtverdict on Ayodhya land dis-pute has provided the BJP inWest Bengal fresh ammunitionto polarise the State’s elec-torate ahead of the crucial2021 Assembly polls.

The apex court on Saturdaycleared the way for construc-tion of a Ram temple at the dis-puted site in Ayodhya, anddirected the Centre to allot a5-acre plot to Sunni WaqfBoard for building a mosque.

The BJP which stormedinto Mamata Banerjee’s fortressearlier this year by bagging 18of the 42 Lok Sabha seats —riding on issues of TMC’salleged partisan approach and

the promise to filter out ille-gal immigrants — facedimmense flak when the finalNRC in Assam left out BengaliHindus in large numbers.

Shortly after, panic grippedpeople in Bengal, with theBanerjee-led TrinamoolCongress (TMC) employingthe “anti-Bengali” rhetoricagainst the BJP and tilting thescales in its favour to an extent.

At least 11 people report-edly died or committed suicidein the state due to fear of exclu-sion from the National Registerof Citizens (NRC) — a docu-ment containing names of gen-uine Indians.

With Saturday’s apex courtverdict, however, the BengalBJP hopes to consolidateHindu votes before the 2021Assembly elections.

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Nearly 90 people have beenarrested and action taken

against over 8,000 social mediaposts as authorities maintaineda tight vigil in the temple townand elsewhere in the country inthe wake of the Ayodhya verdict, while Hindu andMuslim religious leadersexhorted people to maintaincommunal harmony after ameeting with National SecurityAdvisor Ajit Doval on Sunday.

There has been no reportof any untoward incident fromanywhere in the country, offi-cials said, adding HomeMinister Amit Shah has tele-phoned several chief ministersover the last two days to ensurepeace in run up to and after theSupreme Court judgement in

the Ram Janmabhoomi-BabriMasjid land dispute case.

Security of the five judges,including Chief Justice of IndiaRanjan Gogoi, who deliveredthe verdict on Saturday hasbeen enhanced with thedeployment of additionaltroops, barricades and mobileescort teams, officials said.

Since Saturday, the UttarPradesh police has arrested 77people, including 40 on Sunday,for allegedly trying to vitiate the

atmosphere throughsocial media posts,according to a policestatement.

Action has beentaken against 8,275 postsincluding 4,563 posts onSunday, it said, addingthese had been posted onFacebook, Twitter and

YouTube.In Madhya Pradesh, eight

people were arrested in Seoniand two in Gwalior for postingobjectionable messages onsocial media and burstingcrackers after the SupremeCourt verdict, police said.Gwalior jail warden MaheshAwad was suspended for burst-ing crackers in Chhaoni areadespite a ban on such post-ver-dict activities by district author-ities.

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Achurning process hasbegun in Tamil Nadu with

exodus of many leaders andcadre from Amma MakkalMunnetra Kazhakam(AMMK) led by TTVDhinakaran and the MakkalNeethi Maiam launched byfilm actor Kamal Haassan postthe results of the bypolls to theAssembly constituencies ofVikravandi and Naguneri.

Both results went in favorof the ruling AIADMK, whichwrested the seats from theDMK and the Congress muchagainst the expectations ofpolitical commentators whohad predicted a cake walk winfor the DMK-led front.

As the State Government isgetting ready to declare theschedule of the local bodyelections (which were due in2016 November and were heldup due to litigations) , formerminister and AMMK leader K

T Pachai Ammal with hun-dreds of cadre rejoined theAIADMK. Pughazhendi, aclose confidante of AMMKleader TTV Dhinakaran hadrebelled against the latter anddeclared his intentions to re-join the AIADMK, his parentorganization.

The AIADMK, which wasobliterated in the April 2019Lok Sabha election by theDMK and was facing uncertainty is limping back tonormalcy with these develop-ments. It is widely believed thatChief Minister EdappadiPalaniswamy is consolidatinghis hold over the party and thegovernment in a slow butsteady pace.

Film actor-turned-politi-cian Kamal Haassan, who cel-ebrated his 65th anniversarylast week got a jolt as three ofthe MNM party leaders whohad contested the Lok Sabhaelections switched over to theBJP. Srikarunya Subramanian,N Rajendran and T Ravi, the

MNM leaders who had unsuc-cessfully contested the April2019 election, said some moresenior leaders of the partywould shift to the BJP in com-ing weeks.

The AIADMK regaining itsconfidence has put theOpposition DMK in an embar-rassing situation. The charge byDr S Ramadoss, founder of thePMK, that the DMK was inpossession of acres and acres ofPanchami land in the State has

added to the woes of the DMK.Though DMK chief M K Stalincategoriaccly denied thecharges by Ramadoss, theNational Commission ofScheduled Caste has summoned the Chief Secretaryof the State with relevant doc-uments as a follow up to therepresentation received by theConstitutional body.

Panchami land is theassigned land which was dis-tributed to people belonging to

the during the British rule in1892. It can neither be sold norreclassified. More than 12 lakhacres of land had been allocat-ed to the SC in Tamil Nadualone. Ramadoss alleged thatthe DMK had built the partyheadquarters and Murasolioffice building in Chennai onPanchami land.

It was TholThirumavalavan, leader of theVCK who came out in supportof the DMK while the Congressand other alliance partners areyet to say something support-ing the Dravidian major in thisregard. “Thirumavalavan hasbecome a burden for the DMKand the party leaders want theVCK out of the front. But hedoes not have anywhere to goand that is the reason behindhis enthusiasm in pleasingStalin,” said a senior DMKleader.

Outfits like the VCK, theCPI(M), the CPI and Islamicgroups in the DMK front wereplanning for a big bargain dur-

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The Congress inMaharashtra on

Sunday said it didn’t wantPresident’s Rule in theState which is in the midstof a political crisis in viewof the BJP’s announce-ment that it would notform Government.

Senior Congress leaderAshok Chavan said newly-elected MLAs of the party willseek advice from the partyhigh-command over its futurepolitical stand in the state.

“We are in Jaipur. We willdiscuss the issue here and will

seek advice for the future polit-ical stand.

The party doesn’t wantpresident’s rule in the state,” hetold reporters.

Chavan said he was infavour of forming a stableGovernment in Maharashtra.

�� '0'��1

Reacting to the BJP’s announce-ment that it would not form gov-

ernment in Maharashtra, senior ShivSena leader Sanjay Raut on Sundaysaid the party would install its ChiefMinister at any cost.

“Maharashtra will have Sena’sChief Minister at any cost. UddhavThackeray on Sunday informed theparty MLAs that Sena will have itschief minister,” Raut told reporters.

The BJP on Sunday announcedthat it would not form Governmentin Maharashtra in view of the allyShiv Sena’s stand to not join them inthe efforts. “How will BJP have itschief minister when they are not stak-ing a claim to form Government,”Raut said.

�� '0'��1

Congress general secretaryMallikarjun Kharge on

Sunday met the party’s newlyelected MLAs fromMaharashtra, who are stayingat a resort in Jaipur, to discussthe political situation in theState while NCP chief SharadPawar met some of his partyleaders in Mumbai.

Later talking to reporters inJaipur, Kharge reiterated hisparty’s stand of sitting in theopposition in Maharashtra,while Pawar said he wouldreact only to an official state-ment from the Sonia Gandhi-led party.

Former Mumbai Congresschief Sanjay Nirupam here said“it seems the BJP-Shiv Senaalliance has broken”, and that hewould urge his party leader-ship not to encourage

Government formation withthe Sena’s help as it will “notbe a stable Government” andboth the Congress and NCPwill suffer.

“We have not changed ourstand from day one. We havealways maintained that we willsit in the opposition andrespect the mandate,” Khargesaid after meeting theMaharashtra Congress MLAsin Jaipur.

Earlier, senior Congressleader Manikrao Thakare toldPTI that Kharge met theMLAs informally to ascertaintheir views on what stand theparty should take overGovernment formation inMaharashtra.

“Kharge will then conveythe sentiments of the legislatorsto the party leadership,”Thakare said.

All 44 newly elected

Maharashtra Congress MLAs,including senior leaders likeAshok Chavan, PrithvirajChavan and Balasaheb Thorat,were staying at a resort in theCongress-ruled Rajasthan amidfear of ‘poaching’ in view of thestalemate over Governmentformation.

A senior Congress leader,on condition of anonymity,said the All India CongressCommittee (AICC) has deput-ed two observers to hold dis-cussions with the MLAsinJaipur on what stand theparty should take in view of

the impasse on Governmentformation.

“The Congress has todecide if it wants to stop theBJP in Maharashtra or whetherit doesn’t care if the BJP is ableto form a Government. Analternative Government canbe formed only with Congress’support,” he said.

He also said that Khargeheld informal talks with theMaharashtra Congress MLAsin Jaipur in the morning.

He also brushed aside sug-gestions that the Governorcould invite the Congress-NCP

for Government formation asthe ‘second largest’ alliance,claiming no such provisionexisted in the SarkaraiaCommission’s recommenda-tions.

In another development,NCP chief Sharad Pawar alsoheld a meeting with some ofhis party leaders in Mumbai. Refusing to speakon a “non-BJP alliance”, Pawarsaid he would react only toCongress’ official statement.

“I cannot go by newsreports about the decision ofthe Congress. I will react onlywhen the Congress officiallyinforms me about its decision,”Pawar told reporters.

Meanwhile, formerMumbai Congress presidentSanjay Nirupam reiterated hisparty’s stand of not being infavour of entering into analliance with the Shiv Sena.

�� '0'��1

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Rauton Sunday hit out at

Maharashtra’s caretaker ChiefMinister Devendra Fadnavisand accused him of playingpolitics of fear, while making areference to German dictatorAdolf Hitler in the backdop oflogjam over Government for-mation in the State.

Without naming Fadnavis,Raut, in a fresh attack on theBJP leader amid the ongoingwar of words between the saf-fron allies, said, “When waysof threatening and seekingpolitical support don’t work, itis time to accept that Hitler isdead and the looming clouds ofslavery have disappeared.”

In his column ‘Rokhthok’

in Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’,he said Fadnavis, despite beingblessed by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi to becomeChief Minister for the secondtime, has not been able toassume the top post inMaharashtra.

“He could not take oathbecause BJP chief Amit Shahhas remained aloof from devel-opments in the State,” Rautsaid. In the October 21 polls,the BJP won 105 seats while allySena won 56 seats. The major-ity mark in the 288-memberstate Assembly is 145.

However, since the pollresults were announced onOctober 24, both the partieshave been bickering over thechief minister’s post, resultingin a stalemate over

Government formation.Raut said even 15 days

after the results wereannounced, Fadnavis couldnot take oath as the ChiefMinister.

“The BJP’s biggest ally ShivSena not ready to speak to theoutgoing Chief Minister is thebiggest defeat (of the BJP).This time, Sena presidentUddhav Thackeray will decidethe next Chief Minister ofMaharashtra,” he said.

NCP president SharadPawar and many Congressleaders have communicatedto their party chief SoniaGandhi that their priority is tohave a “non-BJP” ChiefMinister in the state, the RajyaSabha member said in theMarathi publication.

�� '0'��1

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut onSunday said his party would

declare its next strategy once no oneelse is able to form Government inMaharashtra, and asserted thatpolitics was not a trade for his party.

Without taking name of anyindividual or party, he said the bubble of being “invincible” hasburst and the arrogance of “buying”a politician to form Governmentwill no longer work in the state.

The Shiv Sena “will step in” ifnoone forms Government, Raut toldreporters here.

He also welcomed the decisionof Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyarito invite the BJP to formGovernment in the State.

“I welcome the governor’s deci-sion to invite the BJP. The singlelargest party had to be called. Wefail to understand why the BJP didnot stake claim in 24 hours (after

results) if it was confident that ithad the majority,” the Rajya Sabhamember said.

“I don’t think the BJP hasenough strength to stake claim forGovernment formation...I am toldthe governor has asked the BJP toinform him about its decision by8 pm on November 11,” he said.

On the Sena’s future course ofaction, he said, “Let the picture beclear on the first step by governor.The Shiv Sena will declare its strat-egy if no one else is able to form theGovernment.”

He said Sena president UddhavThackeray will be meeting theparty MLAs at 12.30 pm on

Sunday.“He is meeting as a routine. We

will see how the day progresses,”said the Rajya Sabha member.

The BJP won 105 seats in theOctober 21 elections, while themajority mark in the 288-memberAssembly is 145. Its ally Shiv Senawon 56 seats, but the two parties arebickering over the Chief Minister’spost.

Asked if the Shiv Sena hasentered into a ‘deal’ with theCongress and NCP, Raut said, “Weare not traders to make deals.Politics is not a trade for the ShivSena. ‘Profit’ and ‘loss’ (words) arenot in our dictionary.”

He also dismissed the possibility of legislators switchingsides. “I don’t think MLAs of anyparty would defect. If anyone triesto split another party forGovernment formation, I don’tthink it will work this time,” hesaid.

�� A4%370/

Rajasthan Congress presi-dent Sachin Pilot said on

Sunday said the BJP has dis-honoured the mandate of thepeople of Maharashtra by itsfailure to form Government inthe State even after 15 days ofthe elections result.

Pilot, who visited Jodhpuron Sunday, said the BJP had notbeen given the mandate forpoliticking.

“Despite a pre-poll alliancewith the Shiv Sena, the BJP hasnot been able to form theGovernment in Maharashtraand by doing so, the party hasdishonoured the mandate ofthe people of the State,” he said.

The Rajasthan DeputyChief Minister also said the BJPparty has been accordingimportance to its personalambitions over the service tothe people and has “engaged inleg-pulling”. Referring to polit-ical postings in various boardsand corporations, Pilot said the

process of listing workers fromvarious districts has alreadystarted and would be complet-ed by December 30.

“Once this process is com-pleted, we would beginappointment in boards andcorporations,” he said, addinghe personally believes thatthese posts should be filled atthe earliest so that develop-mental work could be under-taken in right earnest.

“But it is an elaborate exer-cise and we want to give oppor-tunity to our young workers,who have sweated it out tobring us to the present posi-tion, where we could serve thestate,” he said.

Pilot also hailed theSupreme Court verdict onAyodhya, saying a long-pend-ing, complex issues has finallybeen resolved. “We shouldrespect and welcome this deci-sion and now look forward toleading the country on thepath of development andprogress,” he said.

�� '0'��1

The Shiv Sena would have to break awayfrom the BJP-led NDA before the NCP can

think of lending support to the UddhavThackeray-led party for Government forma-tion, the Opposition party’s chief spokesper-son Nawab Malik said on Sunday.

The development came hours after the BJP,which emerged the largest party with 105 seatsin the Assembly polls, stated that it would notstake claim to form the Government as it didnot have the supporting numbers in the 288-member House.

“Shiv Sena needs to first exit from the NDAas it has one cabinet post (in the NarendraModi Government). Unless it leaves the NDA,we will wait and watch the developments,” NCPchief spokesperson Nawab Malik told reporterson Sunday evening. South Mumbai Sena LokSabha MP Arvind Sawant is a Union Minister.

Speaking on the Government formationimpasse, Mailk said, “We do not have enoughnumbers but we also do not want President’srule in Maharashtra.”

��

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Security forces killed a ter-rorist in a village in

Bandipora district of northKashmir during an operationon Sunday, officials said.

A gunfight between secu-rity forces and terrorists wasstill under way in Lawdara vil-lage, about 55 km fromSrinagar.

The encounter startedwhen security forces launcheda search operation followingspecific information about thepresence of some terrorists, theofficials said.

They said the terroristsopened fire on the security per-sonnel, who retaliated, and inthe ensuing gunfight, a terror-ist was killed.

The identity and groupaffiliation of the terrorist killedis yet to be ascertained, theofficials said.More details are

�� 36%2/��%

The 37-day-old indefinite strike by thetransport employees in Telangana press-

ing various demands would be intensifiedfrom November 11, the unions announcedon Sunday.

TSRTC-Joint Action Committee leaderEAshwathamaReddy said the agitatingemployees would hold protests in front ofthe residences of MPs, MLCs and MLAs ofthe ruling TRS across the State onNovember 11 and on November 12 threeunion leaders would launch an indefinitefast here.

On November 13, they would lodge acomplaint with the National HumanRights Commission and NationalCommission for Women in Delhi, overalleged repression of the employees sincethe launch of strike.

He said they would organise roadblockades across the state on November 18.

The union leader urged the StateGovernment to respect the TelanganaHigh Court directive and invite the RTCworkers for talks.

Nearly 48,000 employees of the cor-poration have been on an indefinite strikefrom October 5 across Telangana, demand-ing merger of RTC with the governmenttransport department, pay revision, amongothers.

Taking a tough stand on the strike,Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao hadsaid under no circumstances would theRTC be merged with the Government.

Terming the stir as “illegal,” he had saidit caused immense inconvenience to thepublic.

Meanwhile, the protesting employeestook out rallies at different places andraised slogans against the TRS Government.

Condemning Saturday’s police actionon the employees and others who took partin the ‘Chalo Tank Bund’ protest across thestate, he said there was no maoist partic-ipation as alleged.

“RTC workers and members of differ-ent political parties voluntarily took partin the agitation. There were no Maoists. Itwas unfortunate and sad that such allega-tions were made,” he said.

He also denounced the detention andhouse arrest of leaders of different politi-cal parties ahead of the ‘Chalo Tank Bund’protest.

The police had taken thousands of pro-testers into preventive custody in the cityand other parts of the state ahead of theprotest march on Saturday.

According to police, TSRTC employ-ees’ unions, who were supported by somefrontal organisations of Maoists and theirfriendly organisations and oppositionpolitical parties hurled stones at the policeand injured seven personnel.

�� 4��*�

West Bengal Governor JagdeepDhankhar on Sunday hailed

the “directional” efforts of the stategovernment and other centralagencies to minimise the impact ofcyclone ‘Bulbul’.

Dhankhar also lauded the IndiaMeteorological Department (IMD)for its timely forecast of the severecyclonic storm, which barrelledthrough the coastal districts of WestBengal on Saturday evening.

“The directional efforts of thestate government, its agencies asalso central outfits National DisasterResponse Force, National DisasterManagement Authority, CoastGuard, Navy and others have min-imised the damage due to ‘Bulbul’...”the governor was quoted as sayingin a Raj Bhavan release.

“I would seek to connect withthe Hon’ble’ Chief Minister (MamataBanerjee), who has been keeping adiligent watch, after she made aer-ial survey of the affected areasaround Namkhana and Bakkhali asprojected in media,” it added.

Banerjee had said in a tweet that

she would conduct an aerial surveyof the two affected coastal areas inSouth 24 Parganas on Tuesday.

Appreciating the efforts of theweatherman that contributed tothe preparedness of the agencies,Dhankhar said the “accurate andtimely prediction by IMD is indica-tive of the scientific skills the nationnow possesses”.

The governor also urged NGOsto come forward and assist in therelief and rehabilitation measures.

In a an earlier tweet, Dhankharsaid while in all the coastal districts,the Indian Navy, West Bengal Policeand Coast Guard have been moni-toring the situation and the state hastaken measures, “there has been suf-fering”.

Cyclone ‘Bulbul’ has claimed atleast seven lives in different parts ofWest Bengal, official reports said onSunday. The cyclonic storm madelandfall late on Saturday betweenSagar Island of West Bengal andKhepupara in Bangladesh, andmoved northwestwards into theneighbouring country over theSunderban delta.

�� A�170/

Ra j a s t h a nCongress has

postponed Statewide protestsagainst the eco-nomic policies ofthe centralG o v e r n m e n tscheduled forMonday in viewof prohibitoryorders imposed under section 144 of the CrPC inall the districts.

Congress’ planned demonstration against theCentre in the districts on November 11 and in thecapital on November 13 has been postponed till fur-ther orders, Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee(PCC) General Secretary Mahesh Sharma said.

The section 144 of the Code of CriminalProcedure prevents assembly of five or more peo-ple at one spot.

“Since section 144 of the CrPC is in force in allthe districts in view of the Supreme Court verdicton Ayodhya case, the party has postponed the plan,”he said.

In a unanimous verdict, the Supreme Court onSaturday paved the way for the construction of a RamTemple at the disputed site at Ayodhya, whiledirecting the Centre to allot a 5-acre plot to the SunniWaqf Board for building a mosque.

�� ,13��5A�''0

Thousands of commuterswere stranded as the

Jammu-Srinagar Nationalhighway was again blocked bya massive landslide in Rambandistrict on Sunday afternoon,only hours after trafficresumed on the route.

Traffic on the highway, theonly all-weather road linkingKashmir with rest of the coun-try, resumed around 3 am onSunday after remaining sus-pended for over 13 hours fol-lowing a massive landslide nearMahar -- two kms short ofRamban town.

Road clearing agenciesworked hard to ensure earlyopening of the road, but thefresh landslide, coveringaround 100 metres of the roadwith debris, played spoilsport,officials said.

The landslide struck nearDigdole and at least 12 hoursare needed to make the arter-ial road traffic-worthy. Menand machines have beenpressed into service to clear thedebris, they said.

According to the officials,

hundreds of passenger vehiclesand trucks carrying essentialcommodities to the Valleycrossed the Jawahar Tunnel -- the gateway to Kashmir --since this morning.

However, the fresh land-slide left over 1,300 vehiclesstranded on the highway, theysaid.

Traffic on the highwayremained suspended onThursday and Friday afterKashmir Valley and high alti-tude areas of Jammu region,including Jawahar Tunnel,experienced first major snow-

fall.Heavy rains, which lashed

the highway from Banihal toJammu, was causing frequentlandslides, the officials said.

Meanwhile, the MughalRoad, which connects the bor-der districts of Poonch andRajouri in Jammu region withsouth Kashmir’s Shopian dis-trict, remained closed for the fifth day on Sunday,they said.

The road was closed fortraffic on Wednesday afterheavy snowfall between Pir KiGali and Shopian stretch.

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Muslim devotees throngedmosques to celebrate

Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi with reli-gious fervour as authorities onSunday eased out restrictionsin most parts of Jammu regionbut did not allow any majorprocession due to prohibitoryorders, officials said.

Barring border district ofPoonch and some sensitivepockets, the people wereallowed free movement withpolice and paramilitary per-sonnel removing the blockadesand barbed wire from the roadsearly this morning, they said.

Curfew-like restrictionswere witnessed in most partsafter the authorities imposedprohibitory orders underSection 144 of the CrPC acrossJammu & Kashmir on Fridaymidnight as a precautionarymeasure to maintain law andorder ahead of Supreme Courtverdict in the Ayodhya case.

With the day passing off

peacefully, the curbs on themovement of the people waslifted late Saturday, the officialssaid.

They said the prohibitoryorders which ban assembly offour or more persons are alsolikely to be withdrawn from theentire Jammu region afterfresh review of the security sit-uation by senior officers laterin the day.

The officials said strictrestrictions, however, remainedin force in Poonch district forthe second day on Sunday withheavy deployment of policeand paramilitary personnel.

The roads in some sensi-tive pockets in Jammu,Kishtwar and Ramban districtswere also blocked by securityforces, they said. A hugeMillad procession was allowedin Rajouri district town but noother major religious proces-sions, including ‘nagar kirtan’by Sikhs, were permitted by theauthorities anywhere else, theofficials said.

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West Bengal Chief Minister MamataBanerjee on Sunday claimed that

almost hundred per cent children in thestate have been “completely immunised”.

On World Immunisation Day, Banerjeestressed the importance of immunisationagainst vaccine-preventable diseases andsaid it is essential for a healthy life.

“Today is World Immunisation Day.Immunisation against vaccine-preventablediseases is essential for a healthy life. Youwill be happy to know that almost 100 percent of the children in #Bengal have beencompletely immunised,” Banerjee tweeted.

World Immunisation Day is celebrat-ed every year on this day to raise the aware-ness level of the people about the impor-tance of getting timely vaccinations againstvaccine preventable diseases.

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Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman on Sunday

unveiled a book on globalfinance, and said it suggestssolution for challenges thatthe world and Indian economyis currently facing.

Launching the book titled‘The Rise of Finance: Causes,Consequences and Cure’, shesaid it will help “understand thecurrent economic situation fac-ing both the world and Indianeconomy”.

The book is co-authored byV Anantha Nageswaran andGulzar Natarajan.

Nageswaran is dean ofIFMR Graduate School ofBusiness at Krea University.Natarajan is senior managingdirector at Global InnovationFund.

“As a textbook, I am sure itwill become very popular andmore importantly, this will bea book that is very relevant tothose of us, sitting on the pol-icy making table. Secondly, itsrelevance and the timing of thelaunch of the book in India. We

are currently facing a chal-lenging time,” the ministersaid. She said it has come at atime when questions are beingasked about the nature of theslowdown, which is affectingthe global economy and bog-ging it down and indeed ques-tioning if India is actually in aslowdown.

“...The book examines therise of financialisation global-ly. I really commend the pre-scriptive and descriptive nar-

rative that supports the topic offinancialisation and the solu-tions that have been prescribedfor situations that the worldand Indian economy is cur-rently facing,” Sitharaman said.

India’s economic growthslumped to an over six-year lowof 5 per cent in the first quar-ter ended June this fiscal due toslower consumer demand andprivate investment amid dete-riorating global environment.

This has prompted manyglobal agencies to cut India’sGDP growth by various degreesfor 2019-20.

The RBI, in October mon-etary policy review, had cutsharply its economic growthprojection for the country forthis fiscal to 6.1 per cent from6.9 per cent earlier, expressinghope it will recover in the sec-ond half of 2019-20.

The government hasrecently announced a slew ofmeasures, including cut in cor-porate tax rate, capital infusioninto public sector banks, settingup a �25,000 crore fund toboost realty sector, among oth-ers, to boost the economy.

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Iran has discovered a massivenew oil field, President

Hassan Rouhani said Sunday, afind that would boost itsproven reserves by about athird in a rare piece of “goodnews” for an economy batteredby US sanctions.

In a speech aired on stateTV, Rouhani said the country’seconomy had stabilised despitepunishing US measures againstits senior leaders, banking andfinance sectors. The vast fieldin the southwestern province ofKhuzestan holds an estimated53 billion barrels of crude, hesaid. The 80-metre deep reser-voir stretches nearly 200 kilo-metres from Khuzestan’s bor-der with Iraq to the city ofOmidiyeh.

“This is a small gift by thegovernment to the people ofIran,” he said in a speech fromthe central city of Yazd.

“We announce to Americatoday that we are a rich nation,and despite your enmity andcruel sanctions, Iranian oilindustry workers and engi-neers discovered this great oil

field.” The find would addaround 34 per cent to theOPEC member’s currentproven reserves, estimated byenergy giant BP at 155.6 billionbarrels.

Iran, a founding memberof the Organization of thePetroleum ExportingCountries, sits on what werealready the world’s fourth-biggest oil reserves.

The new reserves, ifproven, would lift it to thirdplace, just before regional arch-rival Saudi Arabia.

But it remains to be seenhow much the country canbenefit from the new field.

Iran has struggled to sell itsoil since US President DonaldTrump withdrew from a land-mark 2015 nuclear deal lastyear and reimposed unilateralsanctions. In May, Washingtonended temporary sanctionswaivers it had granted to theeight main buyers of Iranianoil, ratcheting up the pressureon holdouts China, India andTurkey to find other suppliers.

Tehran does not reportexact figures, but says somecrude is still exported via

“unconventional” means.It has hit back at the US

with a series of countermea-sures, stepping up its nuclearactivities and threatening to gofurther unless the deal’spromised economic benefitsmaterialise. It insists its movesare transparent and easilyreversible, calling on the deal’sother parties to honour theircommitments. The remainingparties to the 2015 accord —Britain, China, France,Germany and Russia — havebeen working on measures tohelp it avoid US sanctions, butwith few results so far.

Since the US withdrawal,tensions have cranked up in theGulf with a series of mysteriousattacks on tankers and Saudi oilinstallations, with Tehran andWashington narrowly avoidingan armed confrontation afterthe downing of a US drone overIranian territory.

Iran has experienced asharp economic downturn thisyear, fuelled in part by US sanc-tions, with a plummeting cur-rency sending inflation sky-rocketing and hiking the pricesof imports.

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Key macroeconomic num-bers are likely to drive

stock in a holiday-shortenedweek ahead as quarterly earn-ings season is almost coming toan end and the Ayodhya verdictunlikely to have any majorimpact on overall investor sen-timents, according to analysts.

Equity markets will beclosed on Tuesday for“Gurunanak Jayanti”.

Industrial production dataon Monday, inflation rate onTuesday and WPI inflation onThursday would be keenlywatched by market partici-pants amid economic slow-down concerns.

Coal India Ltd, HindalcoIndustries and NMDC areamong the major companiesset to announce their earningsthis week.

Santosh Meena, SeniorAnalyst at TradingBells, saidAyodhya verdict would nothave any impact on equitymarket until any social unrestarise in the country.

“It could have sentimentalpositive impact for incumbent

BJP government. Otherwise, itwon’t have any major impact onthe political front as well.

“Market is in bullishmomentum where thismomentum will continue,”Meena added.

In one of the most impor-tant and much-awaited judge-ments in India’s history, a five-judge bench of the SupremeCourt headed by Chief JusticeRanjan Gogoi put an end toover a century-old dispute thathas torn the social fabric of thenation.

The apex court said themosque should be built at a“prominent site”, allotted eitherby the Centre or the UttarPradesh government, and atrust should be set up withinthree months to build the tem-ple at the site that, manyHindus believe, Lord Ram wasborn.

“Equity markets which aretrading near all-time highs willbe facing two important datathis week which can act as acatalyst for an upside breakoutor further pressure,” MustafaNadeem, CEO of Epic Researchsaid.

Developments related toUS-China trade negotiationswill also be tracked byinvestors, analysts said.

Besides, trend in rupee-dollar, crude oil and investmentpattern by overseas investorswill also be crucial for markets,they added.

Equity benchmark BSESensex tumbled 330 points onFriday after Moody’s Investors

Service cut the country’s cred-it rating outlook to negative.

During the last week, theSensex advanced 158.58 pointsor 0.39 per cent.

“While the lowering of rat-ing outlook is negative, webelieve that the government has

been trying to stimulategrowth... Government hastaken various measures includ-ing one of the boldest reformsin the form of corporate taxcut,” Siddhartha Khemka, Headof Retail Research at MotilalOswal Financial Services

Private Ltd, said.He noted that these mea-

sures would take time to workon the ground and that the nearterm concern is on the fiscalfront, with lower tax incomesand higher spending leading toa ballooning deficit.

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Services Export PromotionCouncil has urged the

Commerce Ministry to widenscope of incentive scheme SEISby bringing more servicesunder it to promote the sectorin overseas markets, a seniorofficial has said.

The foreign trade policyprovides tax incentives underService Exports from IndiaScheme (SEIS) to several ser-vices sector. Depending on thenature of services, the govern-ment gives duty credit scrips orcertificates. The scheme offersreward at 5 per cent or 7 percent of net foreign exchangeearned and covers serviceproviders located in India.

“We have asked the com-merce ministry to widen thescope of SEIS by includingmore services in the list like

animation and VFX underaudio visual services,” ServicesExport Promotion Council(SEPC) Director GeneralSangeeta Godbole has said.

She said the council isworking with the CommerceMinistry on the matter.

Currently, nine broad cat-egories of services are there inthe list, including professional,communication, construction,educational, environmental,tourism and transport.

“In each of these cate-gories, we would like to addmore services by broadeningthe list,” she added.

Incentives to servicesexporters under the schemeduring the 2018-19 stood at Rs4,262.8 crore with a total of6,376 number of SEIS scripsissued. This incentive toexporters to offset infrastruc-tural inefficiencies and associ-

ated costs involved to increaseservices export. Scrips or cer-tificates provided under thescheme can be used for paymentof basic and additional customsduties on goods imported.These are freely transferable. Ifan exporter is not in a positionto use the scrip, they can sold inopen market.

Godbole said the counciltogether with the ministry isworking on several steps toboost the exports. They areorganising a three-day GlobalExhibition on Services (GES) inBengaluru from November 26.

“The idea of this exhibitionis to create a vibrant servicesmarket in India,” she said,adding this time the council isorganising e-sports nationscup and an international moot-ing competition for young lawprofessionals on intellectualproperty rights (IPRs).

�� ,2+%2�31

The Government mayextend existing anti-dump-

ing duty on imports of clearfloat glass as the commerceministry has recommendedfor continuation of the levy.

Continuation of the dutywas recommended by the min-istry’s investigation armDirectorate General of TradeRemedies (DGTR) after con-cluding a probe into it.

The directorate has saidthere is a likelihood of dumpingand injury to the domestic indus-try, if the existing anti-dumpingduties are allowed to cease.

Due to this, the authorityis of the view that continuationof duty is required againstPakistan, Saudi Arabia andUnited Arab Emirates.

“The authority considers itnecessary to recommend con-tinuation of definitive anti-dumping duty as modified onall imports of the goods fromthese countries,” DGTR said ina notification. The existingduty will expire in December.

Before expiry of the saidduty, domestic producers con-stituting Saint-Gobain India,Sisecam Flat Glass India Ltdand Gold Plus Glass IndustryLtd had filed an application inMarch 2019 before the author-ity, on behalf of the domesticindustry, alleging likelihoodof continuation or recurrenceof dumping of the glass fromthese countries.

They have requested for areview of the same for contin-uation and enhancement of theanti-dumping duties.

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Tiny Singapore hadembraced electric scooters

in a big way, but deaths andfires linked to the two-wheel-ers have prompted authoritiesto introduce tough rules thatcould put a brake on their run-away success.

The contraptions havepopped up in cities worldwidebut pedestrians in many placeshave come to see the silentmachines as menaces, andauthorities have been scram-bling to regulate them.

Tens of thousands floodedSingapore, becoming particu-larly popular among com-muters and workers deliveringfood, but apartment fires

blamed on charging devicesand the death of an elderlycyclist after a September colli-sion stoked public anger.

Last week, officialsannounced a ban on the trendytwo-wheelers on all footpaths.To start with, most riderscaught breaking the rule will begiven a warning but fromJanuary, offenders face beingjailed for up to three monthsand fined. The move surprisedobservers after a panel advisingthe government had recom-mended weaker measures, suchas a mandatory theory test --and angered some who havecome to rely on the scooters.

“It is definitely over-regu-lation,” Venkata Goruganthu,who rode his e-scooter to his

office in the business districtevery day, told AFP.

“There are car accidentsand people are dying, are wegoing to ban cars on the streetsnow?” The 41-year-old techni-cian will now have to commuteby public transport, which willtake him 45 minutes — twiceas long as a scooter ride.

But many others approvedof the effort to rein in the scoot-ers, which now number about1,00,000 in the space-starvedcountry of 5.7 million.

“People are not responsible,they are reckless,” VasukieMayandi, a 51-year-old bankworker, told AFP.

“They feel they want tomove somewhere fast, butthey’re not considering others

who are using the same path-way.” E-scooters were alreadybanned from Singapore’s roadsbut they are now prohibited onall pavements and other foot-paths, and can only be used oncycle paths and a network ofroutes connecting parks.

It drastically reduces thearea where people can ride thecontraptions — Singapore hasabout 440 kilometres (275miles) of cycle paths comparedwith 5,500 kilometres of foot-paths. Officials, however, saycycle paths will be extended tocover 750 kilometres by 2025.

Following the announce-ment, regional ride-sharinggiant Grab said it was sus-pending its scooter-sharingset-up in Singapore while the

government said it would rejectapplications by other firmshoping to start such services.

Singapore is just the latestcountry trying to get control ofthe scooters.

Last week, the French gov-ernment issued new rules,including a ban on using themon pavements — unless a citypermits them in certain areas— and a 25 kilometre perhour speed limit.

Germany does not allowthem on pavements whileLondon has taken the mostextreme approach of majorEuropean cities, prohibitingthe two-wheelers entirelyunless a rider has a drivinglicence, insurance, road tax, ahelmet and a number plate.

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No claimants have come for-ward for about a dozen

dormant Swiss bank accountslinked to Indians, leaving thefunds lying in these accounts atthe risk of getting transferred tothe Switzerland Government.

The Swiss Governmentbegan making details of dor-mant accounts public in 2015to allow their claimants submitnecessary proof to get access tothose funds, which included atleast 10 accounts linked toIndians.

These included someaccounts linked to Indian resi-dents and nationals from theBritish rule era, but ironically nota single dormant account linkedto an Indian has been success-fully claimed in the last sixyears, as per the records availablewith the Swiss authorities.

The claim period for someof these accounts would expirenext month, while a few otherscan still be claimed till the endof 2020. Incidentally, some of

the accounts linked to Pakistanresidents have have beenclaimed since then, as is thecase with several otheraccounts linked to residentsfrom other countries includingSwitzerland itself.

The list included close to2,600 dormant accounts whenit was first made public inDecember 2015, which hadaround 45 million Swiss francs(over �300 crore) lyingunclaimed since at least 1955.There were also nearly 80 safe-ty unclaimed deposit boxeswhen the list was first madepublic for claims from the realowners or their heirs.

More accounts are beingadded every year since thenafter they become dormantunder the Swiss banking lawsand the list now includes near-ly 3,500 accounts.

While Swiss bank accountshave been a matter of heatedpolitical debate for many yearsin India due to suspicion thatthey were being used to hoardalleged black money.

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The Government has givenapproval for setting up four

medical device parks with aview to support Make in Indiainitiative and provide world-class products at affordableprice for treatment.

The four parks will be setup in Andhra Pradesh,Telangana, Tamil Nadu andKerala, sources said, addingthat Uttarakhand and Gujarathave also approached theCentre for a go-ahead for suchparks. These parks will providenecessary infrastructure, wherecompanies can easily plug andplay, sources said.

This will not only cutimport bill but will also help ineasy access to standard testingfacilities and reduce cost of pro-duction, they said. The projectof Andhra Pradesh Medtech

Zone for creation of CommonFacility Centre (CFC) forSuperconducting MagneticCoil Testing and Research wasgiven in-principle approvalrecently.

The scheme proposes toprovide Rs 25 crore or 70 percent of the project cost of set-ting up of CFCs, whichever isless, for creation of commonfacilities in any upcoming park.

According to estimates, themedical devices retail market inthe country is of around Rs70,000 crore. The domesticmedical devices industry is verysmall even though India is thefourth largest market in Asia.

India is largely an importerof medical devices, withdomestic industry accountingfor about 2 per cent of the glob-al industry which stands at$250 billion, as per the estimates.

�� ,2+%2�31

German luxury carmakerAudi will bring its flagship

SUV Q8 in India in January nextyear as part of its strategy tostrengthen presence in the coun-try by 2025. The company hasalready started taking orders forthe vehicle from the weekend asit looks to re-enter the top endof the luxury vehicles segment.

“In the last couple ofmonths we have been devising‘Strategy 2025’ for the country.Q8 becomes a very criticalpart of it,” Audi India HeadBalbir Singh Dhillon told PTI.

“One of the pillars for us indefining Strategy 2025 is also Cand D segments push. This(Q8) obviously makes a verybig contribution in the D seg-ment, where we will be presentagain,” he added.

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With the current VRS planexpected to cut BSNL’s

staff by almost half, the DoThas instructed the corporationto put in place measures toensure business continuity andsmooth transition, particular-ly for manning telephoneexchanges in rural areas.

At present, various optionsare being discussed for thetransition period.

A source in Department ofTelecom (DoT) told PTI saidthe matter requires urgentfocus, and meetings are on tofind a solution to ensure thereis no impact on day-to-daymanning of exchanges andother operations, once the VRS

plan concludes.On Friday evening, barely

four days after the scheme wasrolled out, the number of BSNLemployees opting for VRS hadswelled to 57,000, and the fig-ures when combined withthose of state-owned MTNL

had exceed 60,000. In all, nearly one lakh

BSNL employees are eligible forthe VRS out of its total staffstrength of about 1.50 lakh.BSNL’s internal target for VRSis pegged at 77,000 employees,which essentially means that ifthe VRS reaches full target, thestaff strength will come downby half. The effective date ofvoluntary retirement under thepresent scheme is January 31,2020.

When contacted, BSNLChairman and MD P K Purwarconfirmed that discussionshave been initiated on the issueand said the corporation isplanning business re-engi-neering and business continuity.

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India bagged an unprecedented 15Olympic quotas in shooting after

Angad Vir Singh Bajwa and MairajAhmad Khan’s 1-2 finish in skeetand teenager Aishwary Pratap SinghTomar’s Bronze at the AsianChampionship here on Sunday.

There was a shoot-off for themen’s skeet Gold medal and Bajwaprevailed 6-5 against his compatri-ot after both were tied on 56 at theLusail Shooting Complex.

This is India’s best-ever Olympicquota haul, easily surpassing the 12at the 2016 Rio Games and 11 inLondon in 2012.

Speaking after his final, Mairajsaid, “It was not easy, particularly in

the qualifying shoot-off but I wasvery confident and had preparedwell for this competition. So hadAngad and I was very confident ofhim as well. Before the competitionI had told everyone that both Angadand me would win quotas and I amhappy that it came true.”

Earlier in the day, 18-year-oldTomar secured the country’s 13thquota with a bronze in men’s 50mrifle 3 positions.

Continuing India’s impressive

performance at the prestigiouschampionship, the duo of ManuBhaker and Abhishek Verma got thebetter of compatriots SaurabhChaudhary and Yashaswini SinghDeswal 16-10 to win the gold medalin the 10m air pistol mixed teamevent.

Bhaker and Verma shot 577 and387 in the two qualifications, whileChaudhary and Deswal managed576 and 387.

Before India’s exploits in themixed event, Tomar shot 449.1 inthe eight-man final to finish thirdon the podium.

“15 quotas and a very special 1st& 2nd in Skeet. Angad and Mairaj— Bravo boys super proud of youtwo. Way to go team India you

exceeded my estimate by an addi-tional quota!” National RifleAssociation of India (NRAI) pres-ident Raninder Singh tweeted.

Tomar is the second Indian,after veteran Sanjeev Rajput, tohave got a quota place in the 3 posi-tion event.

He also won the team Bronze inthe event, combining with ChainSingh (1155) and Parul Kumar(1154). Individually, Singh finished17th in the qualifications, whileParul Kumar was 20th.

The junior air pistol mixedteam of Esha Singh and SarabjotSingh recorded a facile 16-10 victo-ry over the Korean pair of MinseoKim and Yunho Sung in the Goldmedal match.

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Arsenal manager UnaiEmery pleaded for calm

and patience after his side lost2-0 at Leicester on Saturday tofall eight points behind thePremier League’s top four.

Jamie Vardy and JamesMaddison were the architectsof another fine victory for theFoxes, who moved intosecond, as the English duostruck in the space ofseven second-half min-utes.

A return to theChampions League nextseason was Emery’s tar-get after a summer ofheavy investment in reshap-ing his squad.

“We are very ambitious inour target, but we know weneed time and patience,” saidEmery, who faces an anxiouswait to see if his wish will begranted by the Arsenal boardwith a two-week internationalbreak coming up.

After early signs of promiseat the start of the Spaniard’sreign last season, Arsenal havenow taken fewer points inEmery’s first 50 Premier

League games in charge thanthe final 50 of Arsene Wenger’s22-year tenure.

Arsenal were the first toput the ball in the net whenAubameyang supplied a char-acteristically clinical finish butwas rightly flagged offside.

Vardy has an excellentrecord against Arsenal and

when his chance came, thePremier League’s top scor-er was ruthless with a lowfinish past Bernd Lenofrom Youri Tielemans’spass.

“It was a brilliantgoal and from there Ithought we took con-

trol of the game,” saidLeicester manager Brendan

Rodgers.Vardy turned provider for

Leicester’s second as he laid theball back into the path ofMaddison to drill a low shot infrom outside the box.

“People say they enjoywatching us but we enjoy play-ing so much. It’s a great feeling,”said Maddison.

Arsenal offered preciouslittle after going behind andhave now won just two oftheir last 10 league games.

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Mauro Icardi came off the bench toscore a late winner as Paris Saint-

Germain extended their Ligue 1 lead tonine points despite another unconvincingperformance in a 2-1 victory at Brest onSaturday.

The reigning French champions, whowere beaten by then-bottom club Dijon lastweek before scraping past Club Brugge inthe Champions League, needed Icardi’sninth goal in eight games to secure thethree points.

“We can’t score four goals each time,”said PSG coach Thomas Tuchel.

“I’m very happy. It’s five wins in sixgames. I didn’t expect us to have our bestmatch, but we had to be calm and fight.”

Brest, promoted from the second tierlast season, caused PSG problems through-out and had levelled with 18 minutes

remaining through Samuel Grandsir.Second-placed Angers missed the

chance to cut the gap to seven points asthey were held to a goalless draw at Reims.

The visitors claimed a 39th-minutelead as Angel Di Maria raced clear before

clipping a chipped finish over Brest goal-keeper Gautier Larsonneur to score hiseighth goal of the campaign.

His effort survived a VAR review foroffside to send PSG into the interval ahead.

Cavani wasted two clear-cut chancesin the space of three minutes just after thehour mark, and Brest made him pay.

Substitute Grandsir collected the ballinside the area and fired a low effortthrough goalkeeper Sergio Rico, makinghis Parisian debut after signing on-loanfrom Sevilla.

But the Spaniard redeemed himselfshortly afterwards, keeping out HarisBelkebla’s long-range strike.

On-loan Inter Milan striker Icardi hadthe final say, though, pouncing inside thesix-yard box in the 85th minute to scram-ble the ball over the line after Eric MaximChoupo-Moting’s cross was only partial-ly cleared.

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Nicolo Barella sealed a 2-1win over Verona to send

Inter Milan top of Serie A onSaturday as Napoli were jeeredby their fans after being held toa goalless draw at home byGenoa.

Former Cagliari midfield-er Barella scored his first goalfor Inter with a stunning curl-ing strike seven minutes fromtime, allowing Inter to overtakedefending champions Juventus.

Inter sit two points aheadof Juve, who host 13th-placed

AC Milan in Turin.But Serie A runners-

up Napoli saw their winlessleague run extended tofour games, and are stuckin seventh position, 12 pointsbehind Inter.

Inter coach Antonio Contehad also been furious after hisside threw away a two-goal leadto fall to a 3-2 ChampionsLeague defeat at BorussiaDortmund in midweek.

But the former Juventusand Chelsea boss was happywith the way his team hit back.

Inter had got off to the

worst possible start whenValerio Verre put Veronaahead from the spot on 19minutes after Inter goal-keeper Samir Handanovic

tripped Mattia Zaccagni.Goalkeeper Marco

Silvestri and the Veronadefence held off Inter at theSan Siro before Matias Vecinobroke through, heading homea Valentino Lazaro cross on 65minutes.

Barella completed thecomeback late on, whipping offhis jersey as he celebratedwildly with his teammates.

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Managerless BayernMunich thrashed

Borussia Dortmund 4-0 in‘Der Klassiker’ on Saturday asRobert Lewandowski contin-ued his phenomenal scoringrun with two goals at theAllianz Arena.

Lewandowski’s first-halfheader and 76th-minute tap-inmean he has scored in all ofBayern’s Bundesliga andChampions League games thisseason for a tally of 23 goals.

“We were very focused, weknew we had to give 100 per-cent and improve,” saidLewandowski after the reign-ing Bundesliga championsbounced back emphaticallyfrom last weekend’s 5-1 drub-bing at Eintracht Frankfurt.

Serge Gnabry claimedBayern’s second, while visitingcaptain Mats Hummels scoreda late own goal for his formerclub as Dortmund suf-fered another heavydefeat in Munich after a5-0 rout in April.

“After 10 minutes,we made it clear that wewanted to win,” saidBayern forwardThomas Mueller. “The alibishad all been used up.”

Bayern moved up to third,level on points with second-placed RB Leipzig and fourbehind leaders BorussiaMoenchengladbach, who beatWerder Bremen 3-1 on Sunday.

Interim coach Hansi Flickenjoyed his second win incharge since Niko Kovac wassacked last Sunday.

“It’s not been easy for the

team, we didn’t havethat many training ses-sions,” said Flick.

“They knew theyhad a duty to improveand they did.”

Afterwards, clubchairman Karl-HeinzRummenigge said Flick willstay in charge for Bayern’snext game on November 23 atFortuna Duesseldorf.

Despite their off-field trou-bles, Bayern dominated asLewandowski opened the scor-ing with a superb header froma Benjamin Pavard cross on 17minutes.

Dortmund winger JadonSancho was taken off on 36

minutes after failing to makean impact on proceedings.

Gnabry had a goal ruledout for offside as Bayern wentin 1-0 up at the break, but the

Germany winger struck twominutes into the second half.

When Lewandowski stum-bled with the goal at his mercy,Gnabry fired home.

With an hour gone and hisside 2-0 down, Dortmundcoach Lucien Favre brought onforwards Marco Reus and PacoAlcacer, who have only justrecovered from foot and calfinjuries respectively.

Alcacer had his head in hishands after failing to connectwith an Achraf Hakimi crosswith 20 minutes left asDortmund’s best chance wentbegging.

Bayern’s third came asLewandowski finished anoth-er counter-attack by the hosts,just before Hummels’ owngoal.

“That was a huge disap-pointment, a lot of our playersdidn’t play well. Bayern werebetter,” admitted Dortmundcoach Lucien Favre.

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Lionel Messi delivered an incred-ible dead-ball hat-trick onSaturday to steer Barcelona to a

4-1 victory over Celta Vigo and easethe pressure on his coach ErnestoValverde.

Messi scored with a penalty andthen a pair of sumptuous free-kickseither side of half-time after LucasOlaza had briefly pulled Celta levelwith a free-kick of his own at CampNou. Sergio Busquets drove home tomake sure of the win late on.

A 34th treble in La Liga puts Messiequal with Cristiano Ronaldo, while amuch-needed win sends Barca above

Real Madrid on goal difference andback to the top of the table at the endof a testing week.

“It is impossible not to depend onMessi, he illuminates everything,” saidValverde. “We depend on him like anyteam would depend on him. Heunlocked the game.”

Madrid had briefly claimed firstplace after continuing their own goal-surge by hammering Eibar 4-0, a gamein which Karim Benzema scoredtwice and Eden Hazard exploded intolife.

But while Madrid appear to be hit-ting their stride, Barcelona’s momen-tum had stalled. After losing toLevante and failing to break down

Slavia Prague in theChampions League, scrutinyhad again turned on Valverdeand his future as Barcelonacoach.

Barcelona’s disgruntledfans had whistled their teamagainst Slavia in midweek and whenOlaza equalised for Celta, that tensionand restlessness threatened to return.

Instead, Messi took command, thishat-trick taking his tally to nine goalsin seven games, 612 in total for hisclub.

“Obviously when it’s tight wehave the advantage of having the bestplayer in the world and the best free-kick taker in the world,” said Busquets.

Yet his precision from free-kicksis a skill the 32-year-old has workedon and improved in recent years, hisconversion rate currently at four goalsfrom his last seven attempts in theleague.

The last time a player scored a hat-trick from set-pieces in La Liga waswhen Messi himself achieved thesame feat in 2012 against Espanyol,albeit with two penalties and one free-

kick.There was good news for

Barcelona too in the return ofLuis Suarez, who came off thebench after recovering from acalf strain.

Messi scored his penalty inthe 23rd minute after Joseph

Aidoo had blocked Nelson Semedo’scross with his hand.

It was Messi that conceded the foulfor Olaza’s curling free-kick that waswell-hit enough to beat Marc-Andreter Stegen, even if the goalkeeper mighthave been disappointed not to be ableto get across.

There was little Celta keeperRuben Blanco could do about Messi’sefforts, the first in stoppage time

before the interval and the secondthree minutes after the restart.

They were almost carbon copiesof each other, bending over the walland nestling in the top right-hand cor-ner.

Celta, under their new coachOscar Garcia, never looked likemounting a comeback and Busquetsput the result beyond doubt with a lowshot five minutes from the finish.

Real’s players might have beenwatching on their way home fromIpurua, where they went three upinside 29 minutes, Sergio Ramos scor-ing a penalty between two Benzemastrikes, the second also a spot-kickafter Ramos delegated to his teammate.Fede Valverde added a fourth in thesecond half.

Benzema’s double takes him to 157goals for Real Madrid, above FerencPuskas into sixth in the club’s all-timelist, but his excellent display wastrumped by a creative masterclass fromHazard.

“His first half was very impressive,”said coach Zinedine Zidane. “We arehappy and he will be a huge player forMadrid, for sure.”

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Shreyas Iyer and K L Rahulsmashed sublime half-centuries to propel India

to 174 for five in the series-deciding third and final T20International againstBangladesh here on Sunday.

It was a maiden T20 half-century for Iyer (62 off 33)and the sixth one for Rahul(52 off 35). Iyer's entertainingknock came after he wasdropped on 0.

Bangladesh skipperMahmudullah followed thetemplate set in the series bywinning the toss and opting tofield.

India made an unexpect-ed call by dropping a bowlerin Krunal Pandya for middle-order batsman ManishPandey.

The hosts were dealt abody blow in the second overwhen pacer Shafiul Islamremoved their skipper RohitSharma (2), who had made asublime 85 in the series-level-

ling win in Rajkot. Rohit triedto whip a length ball but onlymanaged to get an inside edgeon to the stumps.

Rahul joined ShikharDhawan (19 off 16) in themiddle and with both thebatsmen under pressure hav-ing not made an impact in thefirst two games, the situationprovided them an ideal plat-form to deliver.

Dhawan, who has found ittough to accelerate of late, gotgoing with successive bound-aries off Al-Amin Hossain.Rahul too began his innings insimilar fashion, going for theaerial straight drive beforepunching Islam throughpoint.

However, Dhawan couldnot last long after hitting fourboundaries, mistiming a slogto be caught in the deep byMahmudullah.

India once again could notget to a good start batting first,struggling to 41 for two in sixovers. It would have beenthree down at that stage if

Aminul Islam had notdropped a regulation catch offincoming batsman Iyer atbackward point.

Rahul and Iyer gave amuch needed boost to theIndian innings with a 59-runstand.

Rahul in full f low isalways a treat to the eye andthat is what the Nagpur crowdwitnessed. He completed hisfifty off 33 balls before gettingcaught at mid-off two ballslater, leaving India at 94 forthree in the 13th over.

Iyer, who made a sedate

start to his innings, went bal-listic after Rahul's departure.He was especially brutalagainst the spinners and hitthree sixes over long-on offAfif Hossain.

Iyer, who raced to his 50off 27 balls, ended up ham-mering five sixes and threeboundaries.

Rishabh Pant (6), whohas copped a lot of criticismof late both for his batting andwicket-keeping, disappoint-ed once again when the teamneeded him to provide the bighits. He struggled in his nineball stay and was eventuallybowled after being deceivedby a slower one from mediumpacer Soumya Sarkar.

Pandey (22 not out off13), playing his first game ofthe series, came up with wel-come boundaries in the deathovers to take the total beyond170.

With 149 being the aver-age first innings score here,Bangladesh will have to batreally well to chase down 175.

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Opening duo of Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana ham-mered scintillating half-centuries as the Indian women’s team

notched up a comfortable 84-run win over hosts West Indies inthe first T20I.

The 15-year-old Shafali and Mandhana shared a record 143-run opening partnership as India posted 185 for 4 in their stip-ulated 20 overs at the Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium.

The visitors then returned to restrict West Indies for 101 for9 to complete the win on Saturday.

Pacer Shikha Pandey (2/22), spin duo of Radha Yadav (2/10)and Poonam Yadav (2/24) claimed two wickets each, while bothDeepti Sharma (1/15) and Pooja Vastrakar (1/21) accounted forone wicket.

Put into bat, Shafali, playing only her fifth T20I, smashedsix boundaries and four sixes to notch up her maiden interna-tional half-century.

Fifteen-year-old Shafali Verma also became the youngestIndian cricketer to score a half-century in international crick-et, surpassing Sachin Tendulkar’s 30-year-old record.

Shafali achieved the feat at 15 years and 285 days, surpass-ing batting legend Tendulkar, who had notched up his maidenTest fifty at 16 years and 214 days.

Mandhana too matched her younger partner, smashing 11fours in her 46-ball innings as India cruised to 102 for no lossin 10 overs.

The duo recorded the highest partnership for any wicket byan Indian pair in T20Is, bettering the 130 amassed by ThirushKamini and Punam Raut against Bangladesh in 2013.

Shafali was the first to go when she was dismissed by ShakeraSelman in the 16th over.

Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur then produced a 13-ball 21, whileVeda Krishnamurthy provided the late charge with a 7-ball 15to take India to a challenging score.

For the hosts, Selman and Anisa Mohammad snared twowickets each, while Hayley Mathews conceded 39 runs from herfour overs and Chinelle Henry bled 26 from the only over shebowled.

Chasing 186 to win, West Indies struggled to stitch partner-ships with Shermaine Campbelle top-scoring with a 34-ball 33.

West Indies kept losing wickets on the other end. Campbelletoo couldn’t push the pace as her 34-ball innings had just twofours and a six.

The lower-order then crumbled under pressure as India tooka 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

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England snatched theTwenty20 series against

New Zealand in dramatic fash-ion in Auckland on Sunday,with a super over required tobreak the deadlock in scenesreminiscent of the World Cupfinal four months ago.

A Chris Jordan boundaryon the last ball of the Englandinnings brought the touristslevel with New Zealand’s 146pushing the rain-shortenedmatch into a tiebreaking superover.

Jonny Bairstow, whosethumping man-of-the-match47 enabled England to catchNew Zealand after they lostthree early wickets, partneredEoin Morgan in a 17-runstand in the match and series-deciding over.

But unlike the World Cupfinal, when even the superover was tied, this time NewZealand finished nine runsshort to give England the winand take the series 3-2.

Somewhat surprisingly,Tim Seifert opened their superover and was out of six afterfour balls while the hard-hit-ting Martin Guptill stoodunemployed at the non-strik-er’s end.

In a match reduced to 11overs per side because of rain,Guptill and Colin Munro gave

New Zealand a flying startafter they lost the toss andwere sent into bat.

Guptill peppered the shortEden Park boundaries withfive sixes and three fours andneeded only 19 deliveries toreach his 50 before beingremoved by Adil Rashid oneball later.

Munro had four sixes andtwo fours in his 46 off 21 balls.

England were rocked earlyin reply with Trent Boultremoving Tom Banton (seven)and Eoin Morgan (17), whileTim Southee accounted forJames Vince (1) to have thetourists at 39 for three afterthree overs.

Sam Curran pulledEngland back into the gamewith 20 runs off ScottKuggeleijn's sole over andBairstow belted three sixes offIsh Sodhi in the next over.

The pair put on 61 in 24balls before they fell on con-secutive deliveries withBairstow caught behind on thelast ball of a Jimmy Neeshamover and Curran (24) stumpedon the first ball of MitchellSantner’s next over.

In the final over of regu-lar play, England needed 13from the last three balls byNeesham when Jordan went tothe middle and belted six,two, and four to set up thetiebreaker.

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