CAPSULE

BLOOD BANK INFECTSWOMAN WITH HIV IN TNVirudhunagar (TN): A 24-year-old pregnant woman from thisdistrict contracted HIV afterreceiving blood donated by aninfected man, prompting theTamil Nadu Government toreview the stocks in all bloodbanks of the State to ensure theywere free of the deadly virus.

RETIRE DEAD WOODEMPLOYEES: HP HC Shimla: The Himachal PradeshHigh Court has directed the StateGovernment to explore thepossibility of invoking its powersto retire employees prematurelywherever they have becomedead wood or liability on accountof doubtful integrity.

3 TEENAGE SIBLINGSFROM T DIE IN US FIREHyderabad: Three teenagers of afamily from Nalgonda district ofTelangana died in a fire accidentin Tennessee in the US, relativessaid on Wednesday.

INDIA RELEASES TWOPAKISTANI NATIONALSAmritsar: India on Wednesdaysent home two Pakistani nationals, including a 21-year-old who said he had crossedover in 2017 to meet actor ShahRukh Khan. Abdullah andMohammed Imran QureshiWarsi were repatriated through the Attari-Wagah border on thebasis of an emergency travelcertificate issued by Pakistan.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The National InvestigationAgency (NIA) on

Wednesday busted a new mod-ule of ISIS-styled internationalterror group Harkat-ul-Harb-e-Islam (warriors for Cause ofIslam) and arrested 10 suspect-ed fidayeen. They were sus-pected to be in an advancedstage of executing terror plotsthat included synchronised IEDhits at multiple targets like vitalinstallations, sensitive locationsand crowded places, besidesimportant political personalities.

The arrests came after raidsat 17 locations in Delhi andUttar Pradesh. Five personshave been nabbed from UP andfive from the national Capital.They were in touch throughinstant messaging apps likeWhatsApp and Telegram,sources said, adding they werehighly radicalised and trying toassemble remote-controlledIEDs and suicide vests.

The arrested accused arealso suspected to be in touchwith a handler abroad, thedetails of which are under thescrutiny of the security agen-cies. The module was formedthree-four months back and theNIA did not rule out the pos-sibility of attacks during theRepublic Day celebrations nextmonth.

The exposure of the mod-ule marks a major shift in theISIS strategy in the Indian hin-terland as the outfit has hith-erto tried to radicalise theyouth for carrying out the ter-ror group’s agenda in the WestAsia and not hitting targets in

India. In a multi-city early morn-

ing operation in the nationalCapital and Uttar Pradesh inassociation with the local

police, the NIA picked up 16suspects and placed 10 suspectsunder arrest, including themastermind MohammadSohail, a mufti from Amroha inUttar Pradesh. The agency also

seized a huge cache of explo-sives, weapons, materials forfabrication of IEDs and `7.5lakh cash from the suspects. Awoman suspect is also beingquestioned by the agency

sleuths and more arrests arelikely, officials said.

On receipt of credibleinformation that a group ofpro-ISIS individuals haveformed a terrorist gang andthey are preparing to carry outterrorist attacks targeting vitalinstallations, sensitive loca-tions and crowded places inand around Delhi/NCR, theagency registered a case onDecember 20 under varioussections of the Indian PenalCode, Explosive SubstancesAct and Unlawful ActivitiesPrevention Act against themodule mastermind MuftiMohmmad Suhail, aliasHazrath.

“The inputs were furtherdeveloped and field verifica-tions were done. It was ascer-tained that the Mufti and hisassociates have mobilised fundsand have procured weapons,ammunition and explosivematerial to prepare IEDs andbombs and they planned tocarry out explosions and fiday-een attacks at places of impor-tance in and around Delhi andalso target crowded places. Todisrupt and dismantle themodule, searches were carriedout today at six places inJafrabad, Seelampur, Delhi,and 11 places in UP, includingsix locations in Amroha, two inLucknow, two in Hapur andone in Meerut,” NIAspokesperson Alok Mittal said.

Huge quantities of explo-sive material, arms and ammu-nition and other incriminatingmaterial and documents wereseized, he said.

Continued on Page 7

PNS n NEW DELHI

Despite claims by TRSsources that party presi-

dent and Telangana ChiefMinister K Chandrasekhar Rao(KCR) would hold talks withBSP supremo Mayawati andSamajwadi Party chief AkhileshYadav on Wednesday about aproposed federal front, boththe Uttar Pradesh stalwartsdid not turn up for the meet-ing. However, Akhilesh onWednesday backed KCR’smove for the anti-BJP andanti-Congress federal front,and said he will meet the TRSchief in Hyderabad soon. Therewas no word from Mayawati asyet on the KCR’s move.

On his second day inDelhi, instead of meetingOpposition leaders, KCR metPrime Minister Narendra Modito discuss issues pertaining toTelangana.

Meanwhile, rebel SP leaderShivpal Yadav, who recentlyfloated the PragatisheelSamajwadi Party (Lohia), onWednesday said he is willing tojoin hands with the Congressto defeat the BJP in the com-ing Lok Sabha elections. Theestranged uncle of Akhileshstressed that all those talkingabout forming a front to defeatthe BJP should also talk to him.

Appreciating the efforts of

the Telangana CM to build analliance keeping in view to2019 Lok Sabha polls, Akhileshsaid that he would visitHyderabad next month onJanuary 6 and would definite-ly call on KCR.

The SP chief said he couldnot meet the TRS leader due tohis unavailability in Delhi thatcoincided with the schedule ofKCR. Sources said the meetingbetween Akhilesh and KCRwere planned at the residenceof SP patriarch Mulayam SinghYadav.

However, KRC received asetback when Mayawati, whodespite being in Delhi, did not

turn up for the proposed meet-ing. On Tuesday, sources closeto the TRS had claimed thatMayawati was scheduled tomeet the Telangana CM onWednesday at 11.30 am.

Pitching for a federal frontof regional parties, the TRSchief reached Delhi on Mondaynight and will stay put in thenational Capital till Thursday.While the BJP has dubbedKCR as the “B team” of theCongress, Congress chief RahulGandhi and TDP leader NChandrababu Naidu haveaccused Rao of being the “Bteam” of the BJP.

Continued on Page 7

PNS n NEW DELHI

BJP president Amit Shah onWednesday appointed

party’s incharges of 17 States tosteer the party’s campaign inthe Lok Sabha polls. The listincludes Union MinisterPrakash Javadekar forRajasthan, ThawarchandGehlot, another Minister, forUttarakhand; and Rajya Sabhamember Om Prakash Mathurfor Gujarat.

BJP general secretariesBhupender Yadav and AnilJain have been assigned Biharand Chhattisgarh respectively,according to a statement.

BJP general secretariesBhupender Yadav and AnilJain have been assigned Biharand Chhattisgarh, respectively,for the 2019 polls, according tothe statement.

Besides incharges, theparty has also named co-incharges for several States, aBJP statement said. GovardhanJhadapia, a Gujarat leader;Dushyant Gautam, a party vicepresident; and NarottamMishra, who is from MadhyaPradesh; have been given the

responsibility for UttarPradesh, a politically crucialstate, where the BJP is likely toface a tough challenge from aprospective alliance of the SPand the BSP.

Rajya Sabha member VMuraleedharan and party sec-retary Deodhar Rao will beincharge of Andhra Pradesh.

Mahendra Singh and OPMathur will be incharge ofAssam and Gujarat respective-ly, the statement said.

Former Bihar BJP presi-dent Mangal Pandey has beenmade incharge of Jharkhand.

The BJP has also appoint-ed incharges and coinchargesfor several other States, includ-ing Himachal Pradesh,Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh,Manipur, Nagaland, Punjab,Telangana and Sikkim amongothers. Manipur and Nagalandare to be handled by the party’sspokesperson Nalin Kohli andOdisha by general secretaryArun Singh.

Party sources said in-charges for more states such asWest Bengal, J&K, Kerala andTamil Nadu will be announcedin the coming days.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Senior BJP leader RamMadhav on Wednesday said

if the court judgment on Ramtemple is not concluded early,the BJP would explore “otheroptions”. The statment hascome a day after Union LawMinister Ravi Shankar Prasadurged the Supreme Court tofast-track the hearing in theAyodhya title suit.

The temple fire is receivingmore fuel as Lok Sabha pollsdraw closer and the apex courtis to decide on the hearing ofthe title suit on January 4 in the“Mandir-Majid” dispute.

Facing a tough electionfight in 2019 elections, theruling BJP, with a goodprompting from the RSS, iskeen to push the temple agen-da, particularly in UttarPradesh.

Madhav’s comment thathis party may go for “otheroptions” goes on to confirm theBJP’s pursuit of the Ram tem-ple issue and its determinationto make it a campaign plank.As a precursor, the Yogi-Government in UP has already

decided to rename Faizabad asShri Ayodhya district.

“Option of Ordinance hasalways been there. But matter isright now in the SC, and the SChas given a date of January 4 todecide about next Bench. Wehope the SC will take it in fast-track way and conclude it early.If that’s not going to happen, we’llexplore other options,” the BJPgeneral secretary said in a tweet.

Law Minister Ravi ShankarPrasad had on Wednesdayrequested the SC to resolve theRam Mandir issue at the earli-est and sought to cite its quickverdict on adultery andSabrimala.

Continued on Page 7

PTI n BAHRAICH (UP)

Ace golfer Jyoti Randhawawas arrested on

Wednesday on charges ofpoaching in Dudhwa TigerReserve’s protected area inUttar Pradesh and remanded in14-day judicial custody by acourt, an officer said.

Randhawa (46) was hunt-ing in the forest area near theMotipur range along with hisassociate Mahesh Virajdar andwas in possession of a loaded.22 bore rifle when both ofthem were arrested, field direc-tor of Dudhwa Tiger ReserveRamesh Pandey alleged.

A deer hide, equipmentused for hunting, the tele-scope-mounted .22 bore rifle,80 live cartridges and threeempty shells and some cashwere seized from the SUV inwhich the two were travelling,he said. The officer saidRandhawa was drunk.

Police slapped seriouscharges under the WildlifeProtection Act, 1972, and theIndian Forest Act, 1927 againstthe two. They were producedbefore magistrate who deniedthem bail and remanded themin judicial custody for 14 days.

Continued on Page 7

PNS n NEW DELHI/SHILLONG

As the war of words betweenthe BJP and the Congress

over trapped young miners inMeghalaya coal mine rages on,family members of the trappedworkers are hoping for miraclesfor their safe return.

Since December 13, aboutfifteen people have beentrapped in a flooded coal minein Meghalaya. Those missingare believed to be teenage boysused by illegal mining groupsto enter “rat hole” mines withsmall openings. Digging at themine was banned four yearsago, but illegal and unsafeactivity by private landownersand the local community is rife.

In the meantime, contest-ing Congress president RahulGandhi’s jibe on PrimeMinister Narendra Modi overdoing little to release trappedminers, the ruling NPP-BJPGovernment in Meghalaya onWednesday said the StateGovernment is making effortsto rescue the miners.

In a sharp attack againstModi, the Congress chief saidwhile trapped miners struggled

for air, Modi strutted onAssam’s Bogibeel Bridge. ThePM inaugurated the bridge onBrahmaputra river on Tuesday.

Union Minister KirenRijiju asked Rahul not to dopolitics over the “tragedy”. Heblamed the previous CongressGovernment in Meghalaya forthe “unsafe illegal mininingactivities” in the State.

Continued on Page 7

STAFF REPORTER n NEW DELHI

The national Capital record-ed minimum temperature

at 3.6 degrees which was thelowest of this winter, accordingto the Indian MeteorologicalDepartment (IMD).

“The minimum tempera-ture was recorded at 3.6 degreesCelsius, four notches belowthe season’s average. It is thelowest temperature recorded sofar this year,” it said. Delhi hasbeen reeling under a cold wavefor the past few days. OnDecember 23, the minimumtemperature was recorded at3.7 degrees Celsius. It is expect-ed to dip to 3.0 degrees Celsiusafter December, although theskies were clear throughout theday and the maximum tem-perature hovered around 20

degrees Celsius. The Met department said

humidity level recorded at 8.30am was 97 per cent. On

Tuesday, the minimum tem-perature had settled at 5.0degrees Celsius.

Skymet, a private weatherforecast agency, in north India,said dry and cold winds fromnorth-west are blowing overthe entire north-west India.

“There can be dry weath-er conditions to continue withfurther fall in day and nighttemperatures. Cold wave con-ditions will cover some moreparts of Punjab, Haryana, UttarPradesh, north Rajasthan,”mentioned weather forecastagency.

The weather forecastagency said drop in tempera-ture may lead to formation ofground frost in many parts ofnorth-west plains. “The mois-ture will decrease reduction inintensity of fog, but the pollu-

tion levels will continue toremain in very poor to severecategory in Delhi. Winter inDelhi may worsen as temper-atures are all set to fall further,”said a weather expert.

Meanwhile on Christmas,a total of 316 trains were affect-ed due to bad weather condi-tions, he said. The trains start-ing from Delhi, including theLucknow-New Delhi GomtiExpress, Lucknow Junction-Meerut city express andHowrah-Anand Vihar express,were cancelled on Wednesday,sources said.

Due to foggy weather con-ditions in north India, 11 trainswere cancelled, two trains werepartially cancelled and fre-quency of six trains reducedsaid an official of the NorthernRailway.

Terror bids foiled in nick of time

NIA busts ISIS-style module, arrests 10 fidayeen

Maya, Akhilesh give KCRfederal front meet a missBut SP chief backs

TRS president’s

move, to meet him

in Hyd on Jan 6

BJP picks team tolead party in LSpolls in 17 States

BJP will explore all

options if SC delays

temple call: Madhav

Golfer Randhawa

taken in custody

for poaching in

Dudhwa Reserve

Delhi shivers in dead of winter ahead of its prime

Prime Minister Narendra Modi being greeted by Telangana Chief Minister KChandrashekar Rao in New Delhi on Wednesday PTI

A tea-selling boy awaits customers during an early morning smog at India Gate in New Delhi on Wednesday AP

People bask in the warmth of a bonfire in front of Jama Masjid in New Delhi onWednesday PTI

Vehicles of the Delhi Police and the NIA parked in a locality during a search operation in connection with a probe into a newISIS-style module called “Harkat-ul-Harb-e-Islam”, at Jaffrabad in North-East district in Delhi on Wednesday PTI

A cache of arms and ammunition recovered by the NIA during its raids in NewDelhi on Wednesday PTI

NIA Inspector General Alok Mittaladdresses the media in New Delhi onWednesday PTI

Meghalaya miners’kin await miracle assurvival hopes fade

@TheDailyPioneer facebook.com/dailypioneerFollow us on:

www.dailypioneer.com

}

WORLD 11

PAK’S EX-LAWMAKER SHOT DEAD

OPINION 8

A CASE FOR LANDRECLAMATION

SPORT 16

INDIA GRAB ADVANTAGEIN BOXING DAY TEST

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Late City Vol. 154 Issue 347*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

Published From DELHI LUCKNOW BHOPAL

BHUBANESWAR RANCHI RAIPURCHANDIGARH DEHRADUN

Established 1864RNI No.2016/1957, REGD NO. SSP/LW/NP-34/2016-18

LUCKNOW, THURSDAY DECEMBER 27, 2018; PAGES 16 `3

SCRIPT

MATTERS:

SONU SOOD

14 VIVACITY

}

city 02LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 27, 2018

PNS n LUCKNOW

Lok Sabha Speaker SumitraMahajan on Wednesdaytermed lawyers as priests

in the temple of law and high-lighted their role in the free-dom struggle.

“The lawyers’ communityplayed a vital role in the free-dom struggle. What a priestdoes in the temple, the advo-cates do the same in the tem-ple of law,” asserted Mahajanwhile addressing the conclud-ing ceremony of the three-day

conference of Akhil BharatiyaAdhivakta Sangh in Lucknowon Wednesday.

Attacking the #Metoo cam-paign, Mahajan said that advo-cates should feel their respon-sibility towards the society andinstead highlight #Ytoo.

“Advocates at present areeyeing high packages by gettingengaged in the corporate worldinstead of practising in courtsand facilitating justice to thecommon man. Lawyers have tomaintain integrity and theyshould feel their responsibility

in building up high standard inthe society,” the Lok SabhaSpeakers said.

Claiming that even herhusband and she were advo-cates, Mahajan said that lawyersshould remain aware and facil-itate the government in imple-menting new laws enacted toforward justice to the last per-son of the society.

She also appealed to thelawyers’ association to comeforward not just in improvingthe system, but also with sug-gestions on how India’s judicial

system could be strengthenedfurther.

Speaking at the function,West Bengal Governor KeshariNath Tripathi said that theAdhivakta Parishad was anexample of showing the way tothe society and facilitating jus-tice to all. He added that advo-cates should not indulge in anyagitation or protest so that theHigh Court has to take cogni-sance and ban their unwantedstir and declare it unlawful.

Tripathi highlighted theimportance of Public InterestLitigation (PIL) claiming thatit had become a powerful toolto extend justice or checkunlawful activities of govern-ment or even expose corruptpractices. However, he cau-tioned that people should keepin mind that such tools shouldbe not misused.

The West Bengal Governorsaid that advocates should hon-our the judiciary as if theyindulged in any activity whichhits the pride then the peoplewould lose their faith in the sys-tem. Tripathi also highlightedhow some activists or organisa-tions were attacking Indiandemocracy and cited examples.

“Creating an atmosphere ofchaos or spreading rumoursthat democracy is in dangerafter a couple of incidents in thecountry is very damaging.Our’s is a huge country andcritics should give ample timeto law enforcers to probe beforedrawing a negative conclusion.One should act with responsi-bility, ensuring that people’sfaith in democracy should notbe affected,” Tripathi pointedout.

Lucknow (PNS): State Communist Party of India (Marxist)secretary Heeralal Yadav on Wednesday slammed the BharatiyaJanata Party government in UP for the deteriorating law and ordersituation. Yadav said there was a jungle raj in UP in the YogiAdityanath rule. “Criminals are killing innocent people, execut-ing crimes with impunity and are going scot free without anyfear,” he said. The CPI (M) leader asked the Chief Minister toimprove law and order to provide safety and security to the peo-ple of the state.

PNS n LUCKNOW

After the defeat of theBharatiya Janata Party in

three Central Indian states,dissent has become the flavourof the season for its allies in allstates, including Uttar Pradesh.

Trouble is brewing for theBJP in Uttar Pradesh with itstwo allies, Apna Dal andSuheldeo Bharatiya Samaj Party(SBSP), going public andexpressing frustration anddemanding “respectable num-ber” of seats for 2019 LokSabha elections.

Moreover, the proposedSamajwadi Party-BahujanSamaj Party alliance has sparkedoff possibilities of fresh politicalalignments in UP.

In the 2014 general elec-tions, the National DemocraticAlliance had won 73 Lok Sabhaseats and that holds the key for2019. Both Apna Dal and SBSPare flexing their muscles toextract maximum number ofseats from the BJP, as they haveassessed that the ruling party ison the back foot after the defeatsin Rajasthan, Madhya Pradeshand Chhattisgarh assembly elec-tions.

“In the present scenario in

UP, workers of NDA con-stituents are disappointed. Noone is paying heed to alliancepartners. The MLAs and min-isters too have the same anger.The BJP brass should rectify thissituation, otherwise the NDAwill suffer maximum losses inUP,” said Apna Dal (Sonelal)national working presidentAshish Patel on Wednesday.

Elected to UP LegislativeCouncil earlier this year, Patel ismarried to party MP fromMirzapur and Union Minister ofState for Health and FamilyWelfare, Anupriya Patel.

Patel asserted, “Sammanjanak seats milni chahiye. Is keneeche hum samjhauta nahinkarenge.” (We should get hon-ourable number of seats. Therewill be no compromise on fewerthan that).

In 2014, Apna Dal (Sonelal)in alliance with BJP had wontwo Lok Sabha seats in UP.

The other ally, SBSP, withthree MLAs in UP Assembly, is

miffed with the BJP for notbeing invited for the Ghazipurrally to be addressed by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi onDecember 29. The party isunhappy for being ignored bythe administration and also forthe delay in implementation ofsocial justice committee reportproviding for sub-quota for theMost Backward Classes (MBCs)within the 27 per cent quota forOther Backward Classes(OBCs).

Patel’s outburst came daysafter another junior partner ofthe BJP, Lok Janshakti Party inBihar, went public with similargrievances after the BJP lost theAssembly elections in threeCentral Indian states.

SBSP principal general sec-retary and UP organisation in-charge Arvind Rajbhar said,“Mantriji (SBSP chief OmPrakash Rajbhar) has not beeninvited to the Prime Minister’sprogramme on December 29,despite being an MLA from

Zahoorabad assembly seat ofthe district.”

Incidentally, on December29, the Prime Minister is sched-uled to release a postage stampof Raja Suheldeo, an icon ofSuheldeo Bharatiya Samaj Party.

Arvind Rajbhar furthersaid, “I have spoken to state BJPchief Mahendra Nath Pandeyover delay in announcing seatsharing. But no response hascome yet. We are in such astrong position in UP today thatif the BJP does not support, thenthere is the option of the SP-BSP.Options are open.”

He demanded for his partyfive Lok Sabha seats —Salempur, Ghosi, Machhlishahr,Chandauli andAmbedkarnagar— all are cur-rently represented by the BJP.

Meanwhile, reacting toPatel’s remarks, BJP spokesmanShalabh Mani Tripathi said:“BJP respects both Apna Dal (S)leader Anupriya Patel and partychief Ashish Patel. The BJPand Apna Dal (S) have cordialrelations. Even after this, if hehas any complaint or faces anyproblem on any issue, cogni-sance will be taken of the mat-ter and it will be resolved appro-priately.”

PNS n LUCKNOW

Apparently miffed over theexclusion of the lone

Samajwadi Party MLA in theCabinet of Congress-led gov-ernment in Madhya Pradesh,SP chief Akhilesh Yadav saidthat his party would go for analliance of non-Congress par-ties for the 2019 Lok Sabhaelections.

The SP chief slammed theCongress for not including thelone SP legislator in the MPCabinet saying, “He was exclud-ed even as my party extendedunconditional support to theKamal Nath government.”

“Samajwadi Party will con-test the 2019 Lok Sabha polls inalliance with non-Congress par-ties but will keep all optionsopen and decide about it in nearfuture,” said the former ChiefMinister of Uttar Pradesh.

“I want to thank both theCongress and the Bharatiya

Janata Party for removing allobstacles from my party’s wayand enabling it to charter anindependent course in politics,”Akhilesh said.

Without naming any party,the SP chief said, “I remembereach word said for theSamajwadi Party over its alliancewith other parties for 2019 LokSabha elections.”

Akhilesh lashed out at theBJP for making him realise thathe was from the backward caste.“I never thought about my casteand wanted to take along all sec-tions of society for developmentbut the BJP won the 2017 UPassembly poll by deceit andcheating the people.”

On attempts of TelanganaCM K Chandrasekhar Rao tofloat a third front comprisingnon-BJP and non-Congress par-ties, Akhilesh opined, “I amlooking forward to meeting theTelangana CM. We were sched-uled to meet either on

December 25 or 26 but hemeeting did not materialise forsome reason. I will soon seekappointment with KCR andmay go to Hyderabad to meethim.”

In an apparent dig at theYogi Adityanath governmentfor its decision to install the stat-ue of former Prime Minister AtalBihari Vajpayee at Lok Bhawan,the SP chief said, “The BJP gov-ernment has started a new tra-dition by putting up statues ofpolitical leaders in the building.We will follow them when ourparty comes to power.”

Targeting Governor RamNaik over law and order,Akhilesh said, “When I was theChief Minister, the Raj Bhawanwas hyperactive over law andorder situation. The Governor isnow maintaining a studiedsilence and those responsible fordeterioration of law and orderare being honoured in RajBhawan.”

PNS n LUCKNOW

The Uttar Pradesh unit ofBharatiya Janata Party has

decided to galvanise its frontaloutfits and cells by asking theiroffice-bearers to hold meetingsat booth level and apprise vil-lagers of the schemes launchedby the government for theirwelfare.

The focus of these meetingswill be ‘cow’ and how they wereillegally slaughtered during theprevious regime

This decision was takenafter all-round criticism that thegovernment faced for its failureto tame stray cattle. It is alsobelieved that Yogi Adityanathgovernment has failed to deliv-er as the benefits are not reach-ing the people.

“The need of the hour is todispel the opposition canard. Weneed to tell people that manywelfare schemes have beenlaunched by the governmentand their benefits are reaching

the people,” a senior BJP leadertold ‘The Pioneer’ onWednesday.

The BJP leader said thatfrontal outfits of the party hadbeen asked to hold meetings atbooth level to galvanise theyouths. “All frontal outfits likeBJP women’s wing, BharatiyaJanata Yuva Morcha and stu-dents wing Akhil BharatiyaVidhyarthi Parishad have beenasked to start preparations forthe Lok Sabha elections in theright earnest,” he said.

Besides, the party’s kisancell, doctors’ cell, retired armyofficers’ cell and advocates’ cellhave also been asked to appointbooth-level members, whowould hold meetings regularlyin villages and report to the partybrass. “The emphasis is also onenrolling new voters and iden-tifying beneficiaries of Centraland state government schemes.“One member should be intouch with five such beneficia-ries,” the leader said.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party(Lohia) chief Shivpal Singh

Yadav said that he was willingto join hands with the Congressto defeat the Bharatiya JanataParty in the 2019 Lok Sabhaelections.

To a question on the pos-sibility of a coalition for thecoming general election, Yadavsaid in Bareilly, “We have ourparty’s organisation in 75 dis-tricts of UP. The party hasdecided to contest all seatsagainst the BJP in the 2019 LokSabha elections. For defeatingthe BJP, we can also enter intoan alliance with the Congress.”

Shivpal stressed that allthose talking about forming amorcha to defeat the BJP shouldalso talk to his party as it wasready to deliberate on the issue.

On the controversy overLord Hanuman, the PSPL chiefsaid, “Lord Hanuman is a Godand those who are out to con-fine him to a particular castehave a very narrow mindset”.

Yadav also reiterated hisstand on the Ram temple atAyodhya, saying that the tem-ple should not be constructedon disputed land.

“There is no dearth of landand a lot of land is lying aroundthe Saryu river in Ayodhya. Ifthe temple is built there, I am

also ready to contribute to it.The Supreme Court’s verdict inthe matter should not bedefied,” he said

The Supreme Court isscheduled to take up a batch ofpetitions for hearing the RamJanmabhoomi-Babri Masjidtitle dispute case on January 4.

Since floating the PSPL,Shivpal has been desperatelyfighting the perception that heand his outfit are a proxy of theBJP and the PSPL was floatedwith the sole aim of cutting intovotes of Samajwadi Party there-by weakening the SamajwadiParty-Bahujan Samaj Partyalliance in the 2019 Lok Sabhaelections.

Lucknow (PNS): Head of Uttar Pradesh unitof Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Member ofParliament Sanjay Singh said that his partyworkers and leaders would take out a marchbetween Ayodhya and Varanasi in protest againstthe Yogi Adityanath government’s decision ondemolishing old temples in the two cities.

Singh was speaking to news persons inLucknow on Wednesday. He said the protestmarch — ‘BJP Bhagao, Bhagwan Bachao’ — wouldtake off from Ayodhya, the birthplace of LordRam, on January 12.

The AAP leader said his party leaders and

workers would protest at district headquartersacross UP over poor law and order on December27. Singh said that the BJP was demolishing oldtemples enlisted by Archaeological department.“The practice to demolish temple has been in forcefor the last one year. The BJP government servednotices on 176 temples for pulling them down.After this, the process of pulling down these tem-ples will start,” he said.

“On one hand, they say that they will constructtemple of Ram in Ayodhya and on other, the gov-ernment is getting temples demolished in Kashi,”he said.

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Mahajan lauds role of lawyers

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan addressing the concluding session of Akhil Bharatiya Adhivakta Sangh conference inLucknow on Wednesday Pioneer

BJP allies flexing muscles in UPThe proposed Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party alliance hassparked off possibilities of freshpolitical alignments in UP.

BJP to galvanise its frontal outfits in UP

LS election: Akhilesh to go

for non-Congress alliance

Shivpal ready to join hands with Cong

AAP protest march on January 12

CPIM flays law and order

Six policemen bookedon charges of ‘killing’ aDalit youth in Amroha

Amroha (PTI): Six police-men, including an inspector anda sub-inspector, were booked onWednesday on charges of“killing” a Dalit youth in theircustody in Amroha districthere, said a senior official.

The department has alreadysuspended 11 police officials ofDhanaura police station fortheir alleged involvement inthe custodial death, saidAmroha Superintendent ofPolice Brijesh Kumar Singh.

Singh identified the sixpolicemen, booked on chargesof “custodial killing” of 30-year-old Dalit youth Balkishanas Dhanaura police station in-charge, Inspector ArvindMohan Sharma, Sub-InspectorManoj Upadhyay, head consta-ble Ravindra Rana and consta-bles Vinit Chaudhary, Jitendraand Vivek. The SP said on acomplaint of the victim’s relativeJai Prakash, the six policemenwere also booked on variouscharges under the ScheduledCastes and Scheduled Tribes(Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The victim’s wife, Kunti,meanwhile, demanded dam-ages for the killing of her hus-band and a job for herself from

the government. The policeregistered the first informationreport against the six policemenafter hundreds of the victim’s co-villagers held a day-long protestat the nearby national highway,disrupting traffic.

As per the complaint lodgedwith the police in case,Balkishan, a resident of BasiSherpur of Mandi Dhanaura inAmroha, had been picked up bythe police on Sunday for ques-tioning in a case of the purchaseof stolen motorcycle and wasthrown behind bars.

On deterioration of hishealth on the night interveningTuesday and Wednesday,Balkishan was rushed to a hos-pital where he was pronounced“brought dead”. The victim’swife alleged her husband dieddue to thrashing by the policein custody. The police were alsodemanding money from her forhis release, she alleged.

On getting news ofBalkishan’s death in police cus-tody, hundreds of his co-vil-lagers descended on the adjoin-ing national highway onWednesday morning andblocked traffic, resulting inhuge traffic jam.

city 03THURSDAY | DECEMBER 27, 2018

Road safety activistsrue govt inactionPIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Road safety activists have called uponTransport and Highways Minister

Nitin Gadkari to take urgent steps toensure the listing and passage of theMotor Vehicles Amendment Bill 2017 inthe ongoing winter session of Parliament.While the Rajya Sabha, where the Bill ispending, has been largely non-functionaldue to disruptions by Opposition MPs,road safety activists have bemoaned theapathy of the government in trying to reachan agreement to make sure the bill istabled.

Consumer Guild founder chairmanAbhishek Srivastava said that the MotorVehicles Amendment Bill was seen as amuch-needed fix for the Motor VehiclesAct of 1988 whose outdated provisionswere failing to ensure strong enforcementand deterrence of egregious traffic viola-tions. “This road safety bill promised bythe Government is yet to see the light ofday. We are humbly requesting the govern-ment to pass the Motor VehicleAmendment Bill 2017 in this winter ses-sion of Parliament,” he said.

The road safety network, a nationalcoalition of road safety organisations, hasbeen in constant touch with officials of theministry as well as opposition MPs. “TheOpposition is concerned about some of theclauses in the bill but are in full supportof the provisions that will strengthenroad safety,” said Ranjit Gadgil of Parisar.

The bill has been passed in the LokSabha but is stalled in the Rajya Sabha. TheOpposition has demanded that thereshould be a clarification on many of thecontentious clauses that relate to the pri-vatisation of public transport and what areseen as dilution of state rights and a poten-tial revenue loss for the state exchequer.

PNS n LUCKNOW

UP Awas Vikas Parishad hasmade a few major changes in

its policy relating to residentialcolonies as the hitech urbanhousing plan aims to provide bet-ter amenities and facilities to buy-ers..

Housing commissioner AKChauhan said the change was amust to attract buyers as they werenot preferring to buy propertiesdeveloped by the Parishad.

The housing commissionersaid it would be for the first timethat private promoters and part-ners would be invited for their par-ticipation in designing their pro-posed housing and civil projects inconsultation with a group of

experts of civil engineering andarchitecture to salvage its reputa-tion.

It is said the Parishad author-ities came into existence in early60s to design and build shelters forall classes of the people, but it hadnot initiated any steps to upgradeits civil engineering technology asa result of which it became unpop-ular.

Now the authorities havedecided to design hi-tech lowcost shelters in consultation withprivate promoters to attractbuyers. Besides low cost flats,the focus will also be to develop

shelters to provide better accom-modation to the poor.

More than 100 housing unitswill be developed in an individualtowers.

The Parishad authorities havesigned a memorandum with aMumbai-based multi-nationalcompany to design housing tow-ers for its proposed project locat-ed at Brindavan housing schemeon Rae Bareli road.

The main thrust will be todesign the drainage system inconsultation with environmentengineers ensuring water stagna-tion-free premises..

Fire breaks out

at Hindi news

channel office

Lucknow (PNS): A fire broke out at theoffice of a Hindi news channel in GomtiNagar early Wednesday morning. No casu-alty was reported in the mishap. Police wereestimating the losses due to fire. As perreports, the fire broke out around 5.30 amon Wednesday at the office located in VishalKhand (2/310) in Gomti Nagar. The firetook a violent form soon after and itengulfed the entire building. The studio atthe office of the channel and furniture weregutted in the fire. “It was early in the morn-ing and employees of the news channel werenot present. By the time, the residents spot-ted fumes emanating from the office andalerted the police, the fire had engulfed theentire office. The fire teams reached thescene late and the rescue operation was thusdelayed,” the eyewitnesses told newsmenwho were at the spot. The police spokesmansaid fire tenders were sent to the place tocontain the fury of the fire. “The losses arebeing estimated. It seems that the fire brokeout due to short circuit and the firemen arefinding out the cause,” the police spokesmansaid.

Meanwhile, fire also engulfed a gymlocated close to the office of the news chan-nel. There were reports that the fire brokeout first at the gym and later it spread andengulfed the office of the news channel.Police said they were verifying the same.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Failed to get justice from the Gosainganjpolice in her son’s death case, a

woman attempted to immolate herself atgate number 3 of Vidhan Bhawan onWednesday afternoon. The police hadtermed death as an accident saying thewoman’s son had died when he was run-ning after a dog and fell down in a well.The body was recovered from a well onOctober 28.

As per reports, the woman, identifiedas Brijrani Rawat of Gosainganj, reachedgate number 3 after ducking the cops pre-sent there and doused herself withkerosene there.

But before she could lit the fire, thecops overpowered her and she was hand-ed over to the police.

In her statement before newsmen,Brijrani said that her son Santosh (25) waskilled on October 28. “One Rampher hadtaken loan from her some time back andwas not paying it back. To avoid pressure,Rampher and his family membersbefriended Santosh and gave him poiso-

nous substance. When Santosh diedafter consuming the food laced with poi-son, Rampher and his men threwSantosh’s body in a well in the village tostage it a case of accidental death,” shealleged.

She said after her son’s body wasrecovered and she lodged a complaintagainst the above named persons, but thepolice refused to take any action. “Policetermed the death of my son as an accidentsaying Santosh was running to catch hispet and fell down in the well in theprocess,” she alleged.

She added that she sought help fromthe gram pradhan and was asked to payRs 2 lakh as a ‘favour’ money to help herin getting the case registered.

“How strange it is. My son died on theday of Karva Chauth. Since then I amdoing round of the Gosainganj police sta-tion.

Brijrani warned to take similar stepin future if her case was not registered andan action was not taken. “I am poor andunable to grease the palms of policemen.That was why my case was not registered,”she said.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Staff and officers of all government banks under the aegisof United Forum of Bank Unions struck work on

Wednesday joining the nationwide strike against the issueof the merger of banks.

In the city, the bank employees after holding a protestagainst their respective banks collected in front of theAllahabad Bank at Hazratganj.

United Forum of Bank Unions media spokespersonAnil Tewari said that because of the strike clearings of Rs950 crore in the state capital and Rs 12000 crore at the statelevel were impacted.

He said 10,500 employees from 730 branches went onstrike in the state capital. He added that majority of ATMsgot emptied because of the strike.

National Confederation of Bank Employees generalsecretary KK Singh, while addressing the gathering, said:“The government and the Reserve Bank of India pressuredthe banks to give loans to industrialists and now when theseindustrialists are not returning the loans, the governmentis neither making their name public nor is making any seri-ous effort in getting the money back from these industri-alists. The bank employees have been blamed for the NPAburden,” he said.

VK Singh from the All India Bank Employees’Association said that last year in September the propos-al was made for the merger of three national banks thatis the Bank of Baroda, Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank.Regional president from the United Forum of Bank UnionsYK Arora said that if those banks were merged then sev-eral branches would also be closed thus impacting the gen-eral public. The members of the union said that they wouldnot allow that to happen and would continue with theirstruggle.

PNS n LUCKNOW

ASWAT team nabbed a fraudster forpossessing fake currency in the

denominations of Rs 100 and Rs 200 fromSarojini Nagar. The accused was laterhanded over to the Sarojini Nagar policewhich registered a case against the accused.

The accused identified as ShivamChaudhary of Basti was nabbed fromunder the TP Nagar Metro station wherehe was waiting for the customer to handover the notes.

Incharge of the SWAT team SantoshAwasthi said the team was working on acase in which miscreants were circulatingfake currencies among the gullible inSarojini Nagar. We worked on the case andcollected details of the brain behind thefraud. “On Wednesday, an informer tippedus off about a man who was running theracket. “We laid a trap and nabbedShivam,” he said.

Awasthi said 13 fake notes each of thedenomination of Rs 200 and 359 fake noteseach in the denomination of Rs 100 wererecovered from Shivam. “We recovered atotal of Rs 38,500 from the accused,” hesaid.

Shivam owned up his crime and dis-closed that he used to hand over fake cur-rencies to small businessmen who used tocirculate it among labourers or small wagworkers in the locality. He admitted thathe was in the ‘business’ for a long time.

Meanwhile, the Naka police recovered2 kg ganja from a Bihar native near theCharbagh railway station on Tuesdaynight. The miscreant, identified as SunilKumar Dubey of Chapra in Bihar, was car-rying the ganja to hand it over to some per-son. Police said Sunil was asked to stopafter his activities looked suspecting. “Wechecked him and recovered the packet. Acash of Rs 850 was also recovered fromhim,” the police said.

CASE REGISTERED Avinash was booked by Lucknow

police on Wednesday for defaming UP CMYogi Adityanath on his micro-blogging siteTwitter. On December 24, Avinash Dashad tweeted an image of a Hindi newspa-per, reading: “Another irresponsible com-ment by Yogi Adityanath says our job isto save cows, not women.” He also cap-tioned the tweet: “Bolo, is aadmi ko jootepadne chahiye ya nahi?” Lucknow policeon Wednesday took note of his tweet and

registered an FIR against him.Hazratganj SHO Radha Raman Singh

confirmed the same and said Das had beenbooked for defamation, statements induc-ing to public mischief and Section 67 ofthe Information Technology(Amendment) Act, 2008.

KILLED A trader was killed while his compan-

ion suffered serious injuries in a roadmishap in PGI police station area onWednesday afternoon. Reports said thetrader, identified as Naveen Agarwal ofKrishna Nagar, along with his friendAmit, had gone to Ram Manohar LohiaHospital to consult a doctor. Naveen wasundergoing treatment at the RML Hospital.After taking the medicines, Naveen tookthe Shaheed Path to reach Krishna Nagarand their bike was hit by a speeding loaderfrom an opposite direction. Police saidNaveen died on the spot while his friendAmit suffered serious injuries. Amit hadbeen injured to Trauma Centre of KGMU.Police are investigating the case. Theloader driver fled the scene after abandon-ing the vehicle at the crime scene.

DROWNED Sixteen-year-old Mustqueem drowned

while his father had a providential escapewhen the cycle they were riding fell intoa canal. Reports said Mustqueem, alongwith his father Chutkanne of Barabanki,was going on the cycle and reached thebank of the canal to take the narrow roadto reach their destination. Mustqeem lostcontrol on the cycle and as a result of whichhe, along with the cycle, fell into the canalwhile Chutkanne fell on the banks of thecanal. Chutkanne cried for help and somevillagers reached the scene. Due to speedywater current, Mustaqeem was sweptaway by the time the help came. His bodywas later fished out of the canal.

Cold wave

to continue

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

There will be no change in theweather conditions prevailing cur-

rently at the state capital. Met officedirector JP Gupta said that northwest-erly winds would bring in the chill andthe skies would remain clear onThursday.

In the state, however there is awarning for dense fog at isolatedplaces over western Uttar Pradesh.Ground frost will also prevail at isolat-ed places over western Uttar Pradesh.Gupta said that cold wave conditionwere likely to prevail at some placesacross the state.

Muzaffarnagar was the coldest inthe state recording a minimum temper-ature of 1 degree Celsius. The other dis-tricts which recorded a low minimumincluded Bareilly at 4.9 degree Celsiusand Agra at 2.7 degree Celsius.

The local forecast for Lucknow isclear sky. Mist and shallow fog is like-ly in the morning. The maximum andminimum temperature will be around21 degree Celsius and 5 degree Celsiusrespectively.

Despite the chill, people flockedmarket areas and stepped out with thefestive season catching pace and the cel-ebrations of the New Year around thecorner.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Aworkshop was organised forthe Science faculty members of

Lucknow University at MalviyaHall on Wednesday. The workshopwas chaired by Vice-Chancellor SPSingh and anchored by director ofIPPR NK Pandey.

Three retired teachers havingvast experience in setting multiplechoice question papers for variouscompetitive examinations GNVerma, RC Srivastava, ChamanMehrotra, controller of examina-tions AK Sharma set the tone of themeeting by giving a power pointpresentation about the modalitiesto be followed in setting MCQs.

Vice-Chancellor Singh elabo-rated on the plan of setting MCQsand developing question bank bythe faculty members. He said thatsuch meetings would be held forother faculties shortly. “The facul-ty workshops will be followed bymeetings at departmental levelswhere in HoDs will invite teachers

of the university and colleges anddiscuss setting of MCQs” he said.

Lucknow University spokesper-son NK Pandey said that expertsexpressed their opinions by the inthe workshop. One of the expertssaid: “A teacher must read thechapter first, then frame the ques-tion and solve it himself or herselfand then decide the level of diffi-culty in the question involved. As

far as possible, paper setters shouldalso provide the source from wherethe material or idea for setting ques-tion has been taken. The Board ofStudies should ensure to send to thepaper setter a list of recommend-ed books in syllabus.”

The controller of examinationswill soon send the guidelines tohead of departments to be forward-ed to paper setters.

Better houses on the cardsIt would be for thefirst time thatprivate promotersand partners wouldbe invited for theirparticipation indesigning theirproposed housingand civil projectsin consultationwith a group ofexperts of civilengineering andarchitecture tosalvage itsreputation.

Bank employees’ strike impacts clearance

Hazratganj branch of State Bank of India wears a deserted look

Fraudster nabbed with fake currency

Ruckus at hospital

after death

Lucknow (PNS): The kin of a womancreated ruckus at a private hospital demandingaction against the hospital owner and the staffwhile accusing them of wrong treatmentclaiming her life in Bazaarkhala on Wednesdayafternoon. Police team was sent to the troubledarea to control the situation. An FIR is yet to beregistered in this connection. Police said thefamily did not give any complaint as yet and sono FIR was registered. As per reports,Priyanka Srivastava of Peeli Colony ofAishbagh was admitted to St Mary’s Hospitalafter she fell sick two days back. OnWednesday, her condition deterioratedfollowing which she was referred to TraumaCentre of KGMU. She, however, died therebefore her treatment could start. Priyanka’s kinwere told by Trauma Centre doctors she wasbrought in a critical state and so they could notdo much to save her life. The kin went to StMary’s hospital where they complained to thehospital staff. This ensued into a verbal spatand the staff panicked. The hospital staff calledthe police and a huge team reached the sceneto control the irate mob. After hectic efforts,the cops succeeded in mollifying the kin of thedeceased woman.

PNS n LUCKNOW

The Provincial Police ServicesAssociation’s attempt to cool down the

tempers of its members who have threat-ened to boycott the Police Week function,seems to have failed as the officers haverefused to bow down in the absence ofsome concrete outcome.

However, fearing a crackdown on theofficers of the cadre, no members of thePPSA is ready to come out before themedia to register their ire. Not only this,after PPSA president Ajay Mishra’s resig-nation last month, now the association’ssecretary Dinesh Yadav, senior vice-pres-ident Habibul Hassan, vice-presidentDinesh Singh and additional superinten-dent of police Sarvesh Mishra have alsoreportedly tendered to resign citing per-sonal reasons. Other office-bearers of thePPSA said that once the president hadresigned, the entire committee wasdeemed to be dissolved so they had nottendered their resignations.

Sources said that even after ChiefSecretary Anup Chandra Pandey inter-vened and tried to cool down the tempersof the PPS officers by assuring them to takeup their issues with the government forredressal, the officers refused to bow down.They are particularly agitated as DirectorGeneral of Police OP Singh, even afterpromising them to looking into their prob-lems during last year’s Police Week, has sofar not even heard their woes.

Sources said that on intervention ofPandey, the DGP office invited a PPS del-egation to meet IG (Administration) HRSharma and put up their demands, butnone of the officers reached to meet him,making it clear that the PPS officers would

stay away from this year’s Police Week. A PPS officer said that Police Week

was just an “IPS Week” in which the roleof PPS officers was confined to holdingtheir association’s meeting and ensuringpeaceful celebration of the Police Week.He said that last year, even the PrincipalSecretary (Home) kept away from thePPSA meeting.

It may be mentioned that the officersof PPS cadre are upset as they feel that notonly their demands are not addressed,even senior officers avoid giving them timeto listen to their woes. They point out thatall others, except for the PPS cadre, are get-ting timely promotion but their demandfor it has been ignored.

They claim that 2005 batch constableshave now become head constables, sub-inspectors of 2005 batch have been pro-moted as inspector, 2005 IPS officers havebecome DIGs, 2005 batch PCS officershave become ADMs but the PPS officersof 2001 batch are still working on deputysuperintendent of police-rank posts onwhich they joined the cadre.

The PPSA wants to highlight this step-motherly treatment meted out to them.For this the PPS officers feel it would bebetter to boycott the coming Police Weekby not organising the PPSA meeting thisyear.

PPS officers annoyed at

step-motherly treatment

Once the president hadresigned, the entirecommittee was deemedto be dissolved so theyhad not tendered theirresignations

Abortive immolation attempt by womanLU holds workshop on paper setting

CMS STUDENT EXCELS Srishti of City Montessori

School, RDSO Campusbrought laurels for the insti-tution by securing 99.98 per-centile in national levelAllen's TalentEncouragement Exam(Tallentex-2019). She hasbeen honoured with Medal,Certificate of Merit and acash prize of Rs. 10,000/- forher outstanding performance.Srishti has secured 18th AllIndia Rank in this prestigiousexam lifting bronze medal.Competition was organizednationally under the aegis ofAllen Career Institute, Kota,Rajasthan. Mr Sharma further stated that the students from allover the country participated in this prestigious competition.

CHRISTMAS CELEBRATED

city 04LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 27, 2018

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

It’s good news for consumers who want to find outwhether the food item which they have purchased

is adulterated or not because this service will nowbe provided by a food safety vehicle which will dothe rounds of the city from Thursday. Minister forFood Safety Atul Garg flagged off four of these mobilevans from the office of the Food Safety commission-er on Wednesday.

These vans have been provided by the Ministryof Health and Family Welfare and are equipped withhitech labs that will be used for testing adulterationin food items.

Designated FSDA officer TR Rawat said that twoof the vans would move in the city, one will be sentto Banda and one to Varanasi to participate in the

Swasthya Bharat Mela that reaches the state capitalon January 1.

“These mobile labs are equipped with the latestin technology and can tell whether samples of oil,milk, sweets, spices and other food items are adul-terated or not. The results will be given in one hour’stime and though they will be preliminary results yetthey will be fairly accurate,” he said. Rawat said thatin the city the vans would start moving in areas ofAliganj and Jankipuram on Thursday and then theywill be taken to the other areas of the city.

For those who want to approach these vans willhave to coordinate with the incharge of the bus. Nocharges will be made for the services taken from thefood safety vehicle. There will be four people man-ning the lab apart from the driver and one personwho will be incharge of the vehicle.

PNS n LUCKNOW

The Indian culture is sym-bolic of the unity in diver-

sity and it believes in VasudevKutumbh. These views wereexpressed by Governor RamNaik on the ocassion of a pro-gramme organised at St JosephCathedral on Wednesday. Hesaid truth was the path of allreligions and we should worktogether to bring peace andamity and that would truerespect and prayer to LordJesus.

Also present on the occa-sion were the deputy ChiefMinister Dinesh Sharma,Tourism Minister RitaBahuguna Joshi, former min-ister Ammar Rizvi and MahantDivya Giri.

Ram Naik said that Jesusserved leper patients whichwas a noble job since peoplekept away from lepers.

Deputy CM Dinesh

Sharma said that all the reli-gions gave directions to treadthe path of righteousness. He

said that Indian society was likea bouquet with flowers of dif-ferent religions. A prayer ser-

vice was also organised and dif-ferently-abled children pre-sented a dance on the occasion.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Agroup of 18 trainees IASofficers (2018 batch) from

Lal Bahadur Shastri NationalAcademy of Administration(LBSNA) on Wednesday visit-ed Lucknow Metro RailCorporation on their winterstudy tour. They were briefedand demonstrated about thesystems, functioning, safetyand precautions and the gener-al administration of the com-pany followed by an engagingsession with LMRC managingdirector Kumar Keshav.

The trainee officers visitedthe Transport Nagar Metrodepot and were accompaniedby senior officials where theysaw real time monitoring of allthe trains and stations.

From the Metro depot theyheaded straight to theTransport Nagar Metro stationfor a ride that every LMRC vis-itor takes to get a feel of theworld class Urban Mass RapidTransit System (MRTS). Theyexpressed their joy on theirexperience of not only thetrain ride but also the dedica-tion and commitment withwhich the Metro staff werecatering to the needs of passen-gers. What caught their special

attention was the carefullyincorporated safety featuresinside Metro trains and the spe-cial care taken for the conve-nience of the specially-abled.

Kumar Keshav shared hisexperience of 34 years of ser-vice with them who wouldsoon be taking charge of differ-ent public sectors. He said:“When I started the LucknowMetro project, with just a teamof three people, I knew the

challenges awaiting me wereextremely tough, but if you aredetermined to work andachieve a target, no one canstop you. With a team that’s mypride, we have become thefirst to complete the projectahead of the estimated time.”

Adding on the visionbehind making LucknowMetro safe and barrier-free, hesaid: “From the very beginning,I was clear about the fact that

Lucknow Metro would nothave separate women coachesbecause that’s not the solution,that’s not empowering them.Instead, I want women to useeach and every compartmentand yet feel safe instead of get-ting confined to a limited area.Our job is to provide safety fea-tures that ensure a safe and acomfortable ride for everyoneand let them decide wherethey want to sit.”

Lucknow (PNS): WoolFaborganised by the Ministry ofTextiles at the Paryatan audito-rium has attractive woollenwear showcased from acrossthe country by handicraftartistes who have brought innew designs and cuts inwoollen garments.

Suhail Sufi hailing fromSrinagar, while talking to “ThePioneer”, said that the stoles ofpashmina were the most pop-ular among women. “Thesestoles range from Rs 600-Rs5,000 and are attracting theattention of women buyers,” headded. Suhail said that “pon-chos” with synthetic fur wasalso an attractive item and forthose who wanted somethingvery warm could go in forshawls made from yak woolthat comes from Ladakh. Headmitted that they had workedon the designs so that new agecustomers. The stall also show-cases attractive coats forwomen costing Rs 12,000.

Khan Arif, who has comefrom Anantnag, said thatamongst the new items whichthey had brought was theKashmiri zari work on shawlsand garment cloths.

“This used to be popularearlier but over the years thework had stopped and nowagain it has revived. This workis being appreciated by women

and there are good buyers forthese. For those who want toget suits stitched with thisKashmiri zari work can alsobuy the cloth,” he said.

Kashmir Singh, who hascome from Himachal Pradesh,said that they had showcasedcoats which were made fromTweed cloth.

“This cloth is brought fromEngland and we stitch thecoats here. The jackets whichwe have made are also witness-ing decent sales at the cost ofRs 1,800-Rs 2,000. The woollencaps are seeing the best of thesales,” he said.

Mohammed Rafiq fromSrinagar said that they hadcome up with attractive stolesand shawls which were unisexand could be worn by bothmen and women. Despite thecold weather persisting, hesaid the sales were not verybrisk.

However Javed Khan, whohas come from Kashmir, saidthat they were witnessing goodsales in the designer salwarsuits in woollen. “The designsare also displayed with thecloth and the customer can getthe suit stitched as per thesedesigns. We have made reason-able sales of these suits,” he said.There are also woollen wearfrom Uttarakhand and Gujaraton display.

PNS n LUCKNOW

The Uttar Pradesh govern-ment came in for sharp

criticism in the Lokayukta bun-galow controversy with politi-cal parties and former admin-istrative officers attackingEstate department officials forundertaking unnecessaryactions to demean the office ofthe ombudsman.

They claimed that the gov-ernment attack on the HighCourt judgement amountedto contempt of court.

“Rajya Sampatti Adhikari(RSA) Yogesh Awasthi openlyquestioned the High Court’sverdict while citing that theyhad withdrawn their earlierorder of cancellation of bunga-low to the Lokayukta,” pointedout retired DG-rank officer BKBhalla while claiming that theEstate department must beaware that the High Courtdecision was already reserved

much in advance of withdraw-al of the cancellation order.

“The RSA objected to pressconference held by two officialsof Lokayukta office to highlightthe High Court judgement buthe seems to be unaware that hisown conduct of attacking thecourt judgement amounts toimmediate contempt proceed-ings,” Bhalla said, adding thatit would be better that the gov-ernment initiated actionagainst those responsible forcancelling the bungalow allot-ment instead of taking thefight out in the open.

The former DG also point-ed out that the Lokayukta hadpower to entrust any of his offi-cer to speak on his behalf to themedia. “After the mistake ofcancelling the bungalow allot-ment order, the Estate depart-ment made another blunder byopenly questioning and eventhreatening the officers ofLokayukta office for taking up

the matter with concernedauthorities to initiate discipli-nary action against them,” theformer senior police officersaid.

Meanwhile, UP Congressand Aap Aadmi Party leadersalso attacked the BharatiyaJanata Party government overthe issue.

“The BJP government hasalways tried to hush up theirown misconduct or involve-ment in corruption so theywere against any authority whocould expose their wrongdoings,” said UPCC generalsecretary Vinod Mishra.

“Every one knows thatNarendra Modi as GujaratChief Minister was againstappointing Lokayukta and nowin the near-five-year term asPrime Minister, he has so farnot appointed any Lokpal. TheModi government has been fil-ing distorted facts in the apexcourt to save the government

on large-scale irregularities inRafale fighter jet deal. TheYogi regime is only adoptingthe path shown by Modi andhence government officers arefreely attacking High Court andeven questioning the function-ing of Lokayukta,” he pointedout. Rajya Sabha MP and AAPParty leader Sanjay Singh saidthat in Gujarat, it was NarendraModi who went to the apexcourt over the non-appoint-ment of a Lokayukta in thestate and now in UP, Yogi hasbeen threatening the Lokayuktaoffice by saying it would go toSupreme Court over allotmentof a bungalow.

“The BJP regime in UPdoes not want Lokayukta officeto function freely, else corrup-tion of ministers and officerswill be exposed. But their moveto go to apex court wouldmeet the same fate which Moditasted in the Gujarat Lokayuktamatter,” Singh added.

UP govt faces criticism over Lokayukta bungalow row Guv gives peace, amity message

Governor Ram Naik being welcomed at the Christmas celebrations at Cathedral School on Wednesday Pioneer

WoolFab lends warmth in unrelenting winter chill

Trainee IAS officers visit LMRC

SCHOOLSCAN

Children performing at Christmas celebrations at SR Global School on Wednesday

ALLAHABAD (PNS): Thecleanliness of ‘Divya Kumbh’will be recorded in GuinnessBook of World Records. Thestate government’s spokesper-son and Health Minister,Sidharth Nath Singh, whileattending a programme heldhere on Tuesday said that1,22,500 state-of-the-art toiletswere being set up for such a bigevent for the first time in theworld. This was in fact anexample in itself. There was aplan to patent this system. Onthe lines of Times Square inNew York, Kumbh Squarewould be built in the city, headded. He said that this Kumbhwould be the grandest-everevent. “For the first time in mymemory such a massive devel-opment of works has takenplace in city in view of the megaevent”, he added. Prayagraj citywould continue to progressfurther. Giving the slogan‘Chalo Kumbh Chale’, SidharthNath Singh told the people inthe ceremony that every indi-vidual should visit the ‘NRICity’ being built in Arail. Itwould be a unique and enjoy-able experience for them, hepointed out. The minister further said thatthe door of Akshayvat andSaraswati Koop would notopen for Kumbh only butremain open forever.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n ALLAHABAD

The former BlockDevelopment Council

(BDO) member whose bodywas found in Lokapur villageunder the Mauaima police sta-tion on December 17 was killedby own cousin.

The Senior Superintendentof Police (SSP), Nitin Tiwari,told newspersons here saidthat the body of the victim,Gyanchandra Yadav (38), wasfound with his throat slit andface burnt with acid near theLokapur Guest house.Following an investigation bythe inspector, Arun KumarChaturvedi, it came to light thatthe killers were hiding inAmanganj Bazar from wherethe policemen managed toarrest two persons, includingDudhnath Yadav and victim’scousin, Rakesh Kumar Yadav.

The SSP further said dur-ing interrogation DudhnathYadav said he had a disputewith Gyanchandra over 1.5bighas of land. Fearing that hemight lose the case as well asthe plot, Rakesh hatched aconspiracy to killGyanchandra. He took helpfrom Gyanchand’s cousin,Rakesh, and promised to givehim `50,000, the SSP said.

As per the plan Rakeshmade Gyanchandra drinkliquor, took him to a secludedspot where he slit his throat.

Murderworked out

Cleanliness of

‘Divya Kumbh’

to be recorded in

Guinness Book

Food safety vehicles flagged off in city

Corporator Hema Sanwal being welcomed by cricket tournament organisers DuleepSingh and Bhawan Singh on Wednesday

LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 27, 2018 nation 05

IN SHORT

PREZ ISSUES ORDER FORSEPARATE HC IN ANDHRANew Delhi: President Ram NathKovind on Wednesday issued ordersfor the creation of a separate highcourt for Andhra Pradesh which willstart functioning from January 1, 2019from Amravati. After the creation ofTelangana, the high court of the twostates was functioning fromHyderabad. With the creation of thenew high court, the country will have25 high courts.

‘ENSURE REPRESENTATIONOF SC, ST IN JUDICIARY’New Delhi: BJP MP Udit Raj onWednesday demanded the setting upof the All India Judicial Service toensure adequate representation of theScheduled Castes (SC) and ScheduledTribes (ST) in the judiciary. Raj, whobelongs to the Dalit community, saidhe supported Union Law Minister RaviShankar Prasad’s proposal advocatingreservation for SCs and STs in thejudiciary, through the judicial serviceto help people from the deprivedsections.

PNS n NEW DELHI

As the country gears up forthe Lok Sabha polls next

year, a group of well-knowndoctors on Wednesday releasedthe “Ethical Doctors” manifestourging political parties to make‘health for all’ their poll agen-da, and regulate and reform theprivate sector on a priority basisto cut down the catastrophichealth expenditure that is tak-ing a toll on the common man.

“It’s time that theGovernment brings ‘health-care for all’ on top of its agen-da given that increasing out ofpocket expenditure on thehealth is pushing people belowthe poverty level. The com-mitment to bring in a system ofuniversal healthcare bystrengthening and expandingthe public health system willensure a rationale, humanehealth care system in India,”said Dr Arun Mitra, ENTSurgeon and member of theAlliance of Doctors for Ethical

Healthcare (ADEH).Gurinder Grewal, a physi-

cian in Ludhiana and formerpresident of the PunjabMedical Council, backed theproposal put forward by theNiti Ayog to cap the trade mar-gins to 30 per cent for allmedical devices. Last year, hehad sent to the PMO theGovernment pharmaceuticalindustry documents to showhow maximum retail prices of

medicines are fixed to help hos-pitals earn profits on eachtablet or injection sold.

“We want strict actionagainst such unethical practicesand other forms of corruptionin healthcare and medical edu-cation. We want the commonman to have faith and trust inthe medical profession which atpresent is depleting,” Grewalsaid while taking to reportershere.

The doctors also expressedtheir displeasure at the provi-sions enabled in the recentlylaunched National HealthProtection System as well as theprogramme for the provision ofComprehensive PrimaryHealth Care alleging that theywere based on “faulty founda-tion.”

“Apart from low budgetaryprovision, there is every possi-bility that the majority of the

Government’s expenditure onhealthcare will be diverted tothe high-end interventionalprocedures only available inmedium and big hospitals.

“In the absence of robustregulatory mechanism andmandatory standard treatmentguidelines, we fear that theschemes will be misused by thecorporate and big private hos-pitals,” said Dr Samiran Nundy,Delhi-based surgical gastroen-terologist.

The ADEH members havebeen actively voicing their con-cerns about malpractices in themedical profession, education,corporatisation of healthcareand other systemic issuesafflicting the medical sector atthe national level.

“We felt the need to releasethis manifesto since afford-able and quality healthcare,despite being a fundamentalright, never gets the attentionfrom political parties itdeserves,” said Arun Gadre, aPune-based gynecologist.

PNS n NEW DELHI

In a sharp attack againstPrime Minister Narendra

Modi, Congress chief RahulGandhi on Wednesday said 15labourers trapped in a coalmine in Meghalaya sinceDecember 13 struggled for airwhile he strutted about onAssam’s Bogibeel Bridge posingfor cameras.

Asking Modi to “pleasesave the miners”, Rahul allegedthe Government was notorganising high-pressurepumps needed for rescue oper-ations. The Congress presi-dent’s attack came a day afterPrime Minister inauguratedthe country’s longest rail-cum-road bridge over theBrahmaputra river at Bogibeelnear Dibrugarh in Meghalaya’sneighbouring State Assam.

Rahul appealed to thePrime Minister to save theminers, who were trapped inthe coal mine a fortnight ago.Search operations have beensuspended by the MeghalayaGovernment for want of high-powered pumps to flush outwater from the pit. “15 minershave been struggling for air ina flooded coal mine for twoweeks. Meanwhile, PM strutsabout on Bogibeel Bridge pos-ing for cameras. HisGovernment refuses to organ-ise high pressure pumps for therescue. PM please save theminers,” Rahul tweeted.

His remarks come amid

reports that the operation torescue the 15 miners is ham-pered by lack of equipment.The miners were trapped afterwater from the nearby Lyteinriver suddenly gushed into the pit.

A senior Meghalaya homedepartment official has said thepolice force in East JaintiaHills district, where the mine islocated, do not have adequatepersonnel to deal with theproblem. “It is very sad. 14 dayshave passed since theMeghalaya miners have beentrapped while State and Central

Governments are busyexchanging letters for rescueequipments. Why this lack-adaisical approach?” seniorCongress leader Ahmed Pateltweeted.

Earlier, Congress’ chiefspokesperson RandeepSurjewala said more than 13days on, as 15 miners are stuckat the difficult terrain in JaintiaHills, Meghalaya, and waterextraction should be swiftlyexpedited.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Union HRD MinisterPrakash Javadekar on

Wednesday assured studentsthat no ne of them will face anydifficulty in getting scholarshipamount on time.

Addressing a Press confer-ence, Javadekar said thatGovernment has thoroughlyreviewed the system and fromthe month of November theMinistry has started creditingeach scholarship beneficiaryaccount with the scholarshipamount by 30th of each month.

He stated that a Specialgrant of `250 crore has alsobeen sanctioned to completethe backlog of scholarshipamount and all backlog hasbeen cleared now. He furtherannounced that nearly 2.44lakh students get benefit of var-ious scholarships which arerun by MHRD, AICTE andUGC. “Government is spend-ing nearly `4,000 crore amounton these scholarship schemes,”said Javadekar.

He further named variousscholarship schemes which arerunning successfully underMHRD, AICTE and UGC.National Means-Cum MeritScholarship Scheme, CentralSector Scheme of Scholarshipfor College and UniversityStudents and SpecialScholarship Scheme for Jammuand Kashmir under MHRD,Scholarship for Girls (PRA-GATI), Scholarship forDifferently abled Studentsunder AICTE and “ISHANUDAY” Special ScholarshipScheme for North EasternRegion under UGC, JRF etc aresome of the noteworthy schol-arship schemes of HRDMinistry, he said.

The Union Minister alsoinformed that Study in Indiaprogramme has taken off welland nearly 2,000 students havegot admission in selected 100top Indian institutions for the

first season. He said that we areexpecting nearly 20,000 foreignstudents from 30 Asian,African, Middle East andCommonwealth ofIndependent States (CIS) coun-tries under this program innext 3 years.

The Minister also shareddetails about ambitious ‘Studyin India’ programme beingconducted by the Centre. Hetermed it to be an innovativeinitiative to attract studentsfrom 30 partner countries inSouth Asia, South-East Asia,Middle East and Africa tocome and experience the verybest of academic learning at thetop institutions in India. Hesaid the target about Study inIndia programme is to getabout 20,000 students duringthe next three academic yearsat the about 100 partners insti-tutes which includes the IITs,IIMs and other prestigiousacademic and technical institutes.

“The programme includessetting-up of a large portal, callcentre, social media campaign,branding, event managementand setting up of a facilitationcentre to attract more andmore foreign students towardsIndian Institutions,” said theHRD Minister.

PNS/AGENCIES nNEW DELHI/SHIMLA

Prime Minister NarendraModi will attend an event in

Dharamshala on Thursday tomark one year of the BJPGovernment in HimachalPradesh. He will release a doc-ument highlighting achieve-ments of the State Governmenton the occasion, said PMO ina statement.

The Prime Minister willreach Dharamshala at around11.30 am and address a publicrally. He will also interact withthe beneficiaries of variousgovernment schemes, the state-ment said. Himachal ChiefMinister Jai Ram Thakur,Union Health Minister JPNadda, BJP State in chargeMangal Pandey and BJP Statepresident Satpal Singh reachedDharamshala on Wednesdayand took stock of the prepara-tions at the rally site.

Thakur expressed his grat-itude towards the people of thestate for their cooperation in an“all-round and equitable devel-opment” of the state. He alsothanked Modi for providingfinancial assistance of crores of

rupees to the state for variousdevelopment works. He saidone year’s tenure of his gov-ernment has been “very suc-cessful and full of achieve-ments”.

In a statement, the Chiefminister said that his govern-ment has made best efforts tobenefit every section of thesociety by launching variousnew welfare schemes likeHimachal Grihini Suvidha

Yojana, Mukhya MantriSavavlamban Yojana andMukhya Mantri Chikitsa Kosh.“The Jan Manch programmeinitiated by the government hasproved a boon for the commonman in redressing their com-plaints and demands immedi-ately at their door-steps.

“Similarly, the decision ofthe state government to reduceage limit for getting old-agepension beyond any incomelimit from 80 to 70 years hasbenefitted more than one lakhpeople in the state,” Thakursaid.

He said he has covered 63assembly constituencies of thestate in this period, which hashelped him to interact direct-ly with the masses.

RAHUL’S JIBE AT MODI

‘Miners struggling for

air, PM for cameras’

15 miners havebeen struggling for

air in a floodedcoal mine

for two weeks. Meanwhile, PM struts

about on Bogibeel Bridgeposing for cameras. HisGovernment refuses toorganise high pressure

pumps for the rescue. PMplease save the miners.

RAHUL GANDHI TWEETED

New Delhi: Meghalaya ChiefMinister Conrad K Sangma,without mentioning Rahul’scomment, said there is noinaction and that the adminis-tration, made all efforts to res-cue miners and the NDRF hadreally worked hard to trace thethem. But, unfortunately, theoperation did not yield anyresult. So far, 12 lakh litres ofwater has been pumped out ofthe mine, but it seems thewhole river has gushed into thepit. Getting high-poweredpumps and transporting themto the site of the mishap is notan easy task, he told a privatenews, reported PTI fromShillong. PNS

Govt making allefforts to rescuetrapped miners:Meghalaya CM

Doctors seek medical manifesto for ’19 pollsWe want strict action

against such unethicalpractices and other formsof corruption in healthcare

and medical education.We want the common manto have faith and trust inthe medical profession

which at present isdepleting, says Gurinder

Grewal, a physician inLudhiana and former

president of the PunjabMedical Council

New Delhi: The Centre hasinstituted annual awards torecognise the excellent workdone by individuals and insti-tutions in the country in thefield of disaster management.Three eligible institutions andindividuals will be given the‘Subhash Chandra Bose AapdaPrabandhan Puraskaar’ everyyear with cash rewards rangingfrom `5 lakh to `51 lakh, astatement issued by theNational Disaster ManagementAuthority (NDMA) said.

If the awardee is an institu-tion, it will be given a certificateand a cash prize of ̀ 51 lakh andthe prize money will be utilisedfor disaster management-relat-ed activities only. If the awardeeis an individual, the person

shall receive a certificate and acash prize of ̀ 5 lakh, it said. Anapplication by an institutiondoes not debar any individualfrom that institution to apply forthe award in his individualcapacity. The statement saidthere is a need to recognise theefforts of individuals and organ-isations who have been workingassiduously to alleviate thehuman suffering caused by dis-asters. Only Indian nationalsand Indian institutions canapply for the award.

The last date for filing ofapplication for the year 2018shall be January 7, 2019, andthe award will be announcedon January 23, 2019, on thebirth anniversary of NetajiSubhash Chandra Bose. PNS

kNew Delhi: With the searchoperation launched by theCoast Guard to trace the miss-ing trawler ‘Suvarna Tribhuja’off Karnataka and Goa watersyielding little success, the mar-itime agency is now looking atuninhabited areas along thecoasts of these two States, asenior official said.

The Coast Guard has alsoapproached the MaharashtraGovernment to check whetherthe ship had ventured in itswaters.

The ship, carrying sevencrew members, belonged toone Nityanand Kotian. Thelast contact established with theship was on December 16, theofficial said. The Coast Guardhad launched an operation totrace the fishing trawler onDecember 22 with its multipleships and aircraft.

“We have not been able totrace the ship despite the searchand rescue efforts over the lastfew days. The ship owner hadgiven a location off the Goa

coast, but there was no trace ofany ship at that location,” theofficial said.

He said there were chancesof engine failure of the trawlerand in such cases, they taketime to reach the coast.

“We are now looking atuninhabited areas along theKarnataka and Goa coasts. Weare also in touch with theMaharashtra fisheries depart-ment to check whether thetrawler had ventured into theirarea,” the official added. PTI

Central Govt institutes annualawards to recognise excellentwork in disaster management

PM to visit Himachal

to mark BJP Govt’s

one year today

HRD Ministry clearsbacklog of scholarshipsSpecial grant of

`250 crore also

sanctioned

Coast Guard to check uninhabited areasalong K'taka, Goa coast to find trawler

CVC examiningbanks, insurancecos for fraudsPTI n NEW DELHI

Probity watchdog CentralVigilance Commission

(CVC) has started examiningaudit reports of state-run banksand insurance companies tocheck incidents of fraud andsuggest corrective measures,officials said Wednesday.

The move assumes signifi-cance with banks reportinglarge scale fraud cases and thehigh number of bad loans ornon-performing assets, theysaid. Vigilance CommissionerTM Bhasin told PTI the CVC isgetting a review done of centralstatutory reports, concurrentauditors’ reports and other audi-tor reports through chief vigi-lance officers of all public sec-tor banks and insurance com-panies. “The same (auditreports) are analysed in theCommission and a correctiveaction plan is advised for time-bound implementation,” he said.Chief vigilance officers act as adistant arm of the CVC tocheck corruption and otherfraudulent activities in an organ-isation.

According to governmentdata, various banks have report-ed an increase in cases of fraudduring 2015-16 and 2017-18. Atotal of 8,802 frauds have beenreported by scheduled com-mercial banks and public sectorbanks in 2017-18 as against7,794 in 2016-17 and 7,482 in2015-16, according to a writtenreply given by the FinanceMinistry in the Lok Sabharecently. The Reserve Bank ofIndia (RBI) monitors fraudsreported by banks.

For management of fraudrisk and to direct the focus ofbanks to early detection of loanfrauds, prompt reporting toRBI and investigative agencies

and timely initiation of staffaccountability proceedings, RBIhas issued a framework fordealing with loan frauds andRed Flagged Accounts (RFA).Time lines have been given foraction incumbent on banks indealing with loan frauds of Rs50 crore and above, the ministrysaid. The red flagging is done onan information technology plat-form where all banks reportlarge exposure to entities/indi-viduals so other banks can beforewarned about fraud risk, itsaid.

In October, the CVC com-pleted a first-of-its-kind analy-sis of top 100 banking frauds,including those in the jewelleryand aviation sectors, and sharedits findings with the RBI, theEnforcement Directorate (ED)and the Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI) among oth-ers.

The analysis focussed onthe modus operandi, amountinvolved, type of lending (viz.consortium or individual),anomalies observed, loopholesthat facilitated perpetration ofthe fraud concerned and thesystemic improvementsrequired to plug the gaps in thesystem and procedures.

The frauds were classifiedand analysed for 13 sectors —gems and jewellery, manufac-turing and industry, agro,media, aviation, service andproject, discounting of cheques,trading, information technolo-gy, export business, fixeddeposits, demand loan and let-ter of comfort.

The modus operandi ofthese top 100 loans has beenthoroughly analysed and vari-ous loopholes or lapses havebeen identified, Bhasin hadsaid after releasing a report onthe matter.

LS to take up triple talaq

bill for discussion today

PTI n NEW DELHI

The politically sensitive billwhich seeks to make the

practice of instant triple talaqamong Muslim men a penaloffence will come up for dis-cussion in Lok Sabha onThursday.

The Lok Sabha had lastweek on Thursday decided totake up the bill on December27 after the Congress agreed toparticipate in the debate.

As the Muslim Women(Protection of Rights onMarriage) Bill, 2018, was takenup for consideration, Leader ofthe Congress in the House,Mallikarjun Kharge, had sug-gested it be taken up for dis-cussion next week.

Parliament is meeting onDecember 27 after a long week-end. Parlimentary AffairsMinister Narendra SinghTomar sought an assurancefrom the Opposition that itwould allow discussion on thebill without disruption.

“I request you to take the

bill on December 27. We are allgoing to participate. Our partyand other political parties areready to discuss (the bill),”Kharge had said in the LowerHouse. Lok Sabha has beenwitnessing disruptions over arange of issues, includingprotests by the Congress, whichis demanding a joint parlia-mentary committee probe onthe Rafale deal.

The fresh Bill to make thepractice of triple talaq amongMuslims a penal offence wasintroduced in Lok Sabha onDecember 17 to replace anordinance issued inSeptember.

Under the proposed law,giving instant triple talaq willbe illegal and void, and willattract a jail term of threeyears for the husband.

The fresh bill will super-sede an earlier bill passed in theLok Sabha and pending in theRajya Sabha.

The earlier bill wasapproved by the Lower House.

But amid opposition by

some parties in the upperhouse, the government hadthen cleared some amend-ments, including introductionof a provision of bail, to makeit more acceptable.

However, as the bill con-tinued to face resistance in theRajya Sabha, the governmentissued an ordinance inSeptember, incorporating theamendments.

An ordinance has a life ofsix months. But from the daya session begins, it has to bereplaced by a bill which shouldbe passed by Parliament with-in 42 days (six weeks), else itlapses.

The government is at lib-erty to re-promulgate the ordi-nance if the bill fails to getthrough Parliament.

Introducing the bill, LawMinister Ravi Shankar Prasadsaid despite the Supreme Courtstriking down the practice oftalaq-e-biddat (instant tripletalaq), terming it unconstitu-tional, divorces in this formwere taking place.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee offers prayers at Kapil Muni Temple at Sagar Island on Wednesda. Head priestMohanta Gyandas is also seen PTI

Guwahati (PTI): AIUDF chiefBadruddin Ajmal Wednesdayverbally abused a journalist whoquestioned him on next year’sgeneral elections and even threat-ened to break his head, while hissupporters forced the scribe toapologise publicly.

The incident happenedwhen Ajmal was talking toreporters after a function, wherehe felicitated the panchayat elec-tions winners of South Salmaradistrict. The journalist later fileda complaint with the policeagainst the Lok Sabha lawmak-er. The journalist from a local TVnews channel questioned Ajmalabout AIUDF’s alliance plans forthe upcoming Lok Sabha polls.He refused a direct reply and said,

“We are with Mahagathbandhan(opposition) in Delhi.”

The journalist then persist-ed and asked whether AIUDFwould change its position afterthe polls depending on whichparty won.

To this, Ajmal lost his tem-per and said, “How many crorewill you give? (abuse)... Is itjournalism? People like you aredemeaning journalism. This manis against us from earlier on.”

Ajmal then rained moreabuses, snatched the mike ofanother journalist and tried to hitthe scribe who had asked thequestion.

“He is asking for how muchmoney will I be sold to BJP? Hisfather will be sold. Go from here

or else I will break your head. Goand file a case againstme...(abuse)... I

have my men in court...youwill be finished. You have donethis earlier also,” the leader said.

An AIUDF leader sittingnext to Ajmal then asked thejournalist to apologise. The scribewas then heard saying “sorry”and “you have misunderstoodme”. The man then bowed hishead in front of Ajmal and apol-ogised, to which the AIUDFleader was seen touching hishead. The TV journalist latersaid, “People gathered there andI was about to be thrashed. I wasforced to apologise and I did it tosave my life. I have already filedan FIR.”

Badruddin Ajmal threatens scribe

LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 27, 2018 nation 06

SAUGAR SENGUPTA n KOLKATA

Triggering speculations overthe future chemistry

between the TrinamoolCongress and Congress, BengalChief Minister MamataBanerjee on Wednesdayexpressed reservations aboutthe blanket waiver of farmloans by “some States” (readCongress ruled states).

In tandem with lambastingthe BJP for claiming creditabout farmer insurance schemesthe Trinamool Congress chiefalso questioned the efficacy of“some States who are blindlywaiving farmers’ loans.”

Banerjee said during anadministrative meeting that shewas collecting informationregarding the benefit the farm-ers were getting from loan waiv-er schemes. “There are some(governments) who are waivingfarmers’ loans and I am gather-ing papers to find out whetherfarmers are actually benefited ornot,” Banerjee said without refer-ring to the Congress directly.

She said, “none other thanthe Trinamool Congress gov-ernment has given better ser-vices to the farmers. Here inBengal we have seen how theentire flock of the farming

population has benefited fromour pro-farmer policies.”

The Congress had waivedfarmers’ loans till `2 lakh aftercoming to power in Rajasthan,Madhya Pradesh andChhattisgarh. Banerjee’s twistyreference of the Congress ruledStates could give rise to specu-lations on whether she waskeen to ally with the tri-colourparty in immediate future,experts said drawing referenceto how the Chief Minister con-gratulated her Telangana coun-terpart K Chandrashekhar Raopersonally at his “marvelousvictory” in the recently con-cluded Assembly elections butdesisting from doing so in thecase of Congress.

The Chief Minister alsoattacked the BJP for trying to“claim entire credit” about thefarmer insurance schemes.“They (BJP) are telling the peo-ple that the Central Governmentis giving farmers’ insurancewhereas the truth is that theCentre is only contributing 20percent of the money. The restis being given by the State. Theyare trying to mislead the peopleby telling lies. I am telling this inpublic and dare them to slapdefamation charges against me,”Banerjee said.

The Bengal Governmentwould pay the entire insurancemoney to the farmers and thatit did not need Centre’s contri-bution, she said adding theBJP’s was an anti-farmerGovernment. “Look at the risingnumbers of farmers’ suicidesduring this regime. About12,000 farmers have committedsuicide during this regime, shesaid reminding how the farmersin Nasik and elsewhere werebeing forced to destroy their gar-lic and onions on the highways.

Reacting to her attacksenior BJP leader Rahul Sinhasaid “the BJP does not want toreact to statements made by aChief Minister who is worth-less and has lead Bengal to thepath of anarchy.”

State Congress presidentSomen Mitra on the other handwondered, “How does a ques-tion of alliance arise between theCongress and the TrinamoolCongress at a time when ourworkers are being attacked andtortured everyday by theTrinamool Congress and itspolice State. The Congress is tak-ing care of itself in Bengal,”adding he did not expect goodwords from the TMC chief asshe was “bound to feel frustrat-ed by the Congress’ success.”

KHURSHEED WANI nSRINAGAR

Entire Kashmir Valley is reel-ing under intense cold wave

as plummeting temperatureshave frozen parts of severalwater bodies and left majorityof residents to face plethora ofhardships. Most people choseto stay indoors as the cold wavetriggered several ailmentsmostly targeting children andold age people.

The cold wave is moreintense in Ladakh region wherelowest temperature in Leh dis-trict touched minus 17 degreesTuesday night, meteorologicaldepartment officials said.

The normal life is affectedin most parts of Kashmir dueto the intense cold wave thathas hampered water and elec-tricity supply. Despite heavyload shedding, the power sup-ply schedule has gone awry asmost residents complain thatthey have not received chargefor long hours.

The cold wave has frozenwater supply pipes in manyareas leaving the residents to gofor alternate means to fetch

water for domestic use.The summer capital

Srinagar recorded coldest nightin 11 years on Monday withtemperature slipping to minus6.8 degrees Celsius. Parts offamed Dal Lake were frozenespecially in the interiors. Thefamous resort of Pahalgam insouth Kashmir recorded 7.9degrees Celsius below freezingpoint.

The cold wave has equallyhit the north Kashmir regions

where Kupwara district head-quarters recorded 6.4 degreesCelsius.

Gulmarg, the famed skiresort in north Kashmir’sBaramulla district has wit-nessed a trickle of tourists oneve of Christmas and NewYear. The officials said thatGulmarg recorded tempera-ture of minus 9.4 degreesCelsius. With a thin layer ofsnow enveloping the famousresort, the cold wave has added

to the charm of the place. Thetourists are awaiting snowfallon eve of New Year to maketheir trip memorable, a hotelierfrom Gulmarg said on phone.

The cold wave began in theValley last week coincidingwith the onset of Chillai-Kalan- the 40-day period of harshwinter. It begins on December21 and lasts till the end ofJanuary. The authorities haveclosed all educational institu-tions for winter vacations.

People pay tributes to the victims of tsunami 2004 on the 14th anniversary of the calamity, at Foreshore Estate beach (Pattinapakkam beach) in Chennai, Wednesday PTI

MOHIT KANDHARI n JAMMU

Acivilian porter was killed infresh ceasefire violation

along the Line of Control (LoC)in Nowshera sector of Rajourion Wednesday. In response,Indian army too retaliated inequal measure.

Regular exchange of firingin the area has once againtriggered panic reaction fromthe local residents.

In the absence of start ofconstruction work of bunkersin the most vulnerable areaslarge number of people haveonce again appealed to theState administration to expe-dite construction work ofbunkers in the area.

Pakistan army had earlierviolated ceasefire agreementon Monday in Nowshera forc-

ing the local administration toshut down educational institu-tions in areas falling close to the

line of control to prevent schoolchildren from receivinginjuries.

According to reports, agroup of three porters, ferry-ing supplies to forward posts,received injuries after Pakistanarmy initiated ‘unprovoked’firing in Nowshera sector ofRajouri on Wednesday around12.00 p.m

Defecne PRO in Jammusaid, One civilian identified asBodhraj, aged 55 years wasevacuated for medical aid buthe succumbed to his fatalinjuries". He said the armyauthorities have promised allpossible assistance and help tothe family of the deceased.According to local reports thecondition of two others, injuredin the exchange of firing, wasstated to be stable.

Civilian killed in cross

firing along LoC

Pakistan army hadearlier violated

ceasefireagreement on

Monday inNowshera forcingthe local admin to

shut downeducational

institutions inareas falling close

to the line ofcontrol to prevent

school childrenfrom receiving

injuries

Kota: A 17-year-old IIT aspirantfrom Bihar was found hanging inhis hostel room in Rajasthan’sKota, the third suicide of a studentsince Saturday, police said.Jitesh Gupta of Bihar’s Siwandistrict was on Tuesday foundhanging from the ceiling fan of hishostel room in Kota’s MahavirNagar-II area, sub-inspectorRamswroop said Wednesday.Jitesh, who has completed hisschooling, was in Kota for the lastthree years to prepare for IIT-JEE,the entrance test for IndianInstitute of Technology (IITs). Hewas a student of a premiercoaching centre here, he added.Jitesh did not take calls from hisparents Tuesday morning,following which they informed hisfriends. When his friends went tohis room they found it locked frominside and after peeping throughthe window they found Jiteshhanging from the ceiling fan,police said. PTI

IIT ASPIRANT FROMBIHAR HANGS SELF INKOTA HOSTEL ROOM,THIRD SUICIDE SINCEDECEMBER 22

Kashmir reels under intense cold

Didi raises doubts over Congfarm loan waiver schemes

‘Thanka Anki’reachesSabarimala

KUMAR CHELLAPPAN n KOCHI

Ayyappa Jyothi, an offering by thedevotees of Lord Ayyappa, to the

authorities in Kerala not to shatter theage old customs and traditions at theHoly Shrine situated in the WesternGhats took the State by storm onWednesday evening.

The 795-km stretch betweenMangalore in Karnataka andKanyakumari, the land’s end in south-ern Tamil Nadu saw millions of devo-tees which included men, women andchildren holding lighted lamps andchanting Swamy Saranam and AyyappaSaranam with a prayer to the Lord tomake the authorities see reason andresist from their move to allow womenin the 10-50 age group inside the tem-

ple.The Ayyappa Dharma Samiti which

organised the Jyothi sprang a surpriseby ensuring the participation of someof the most venerated cultural leadersof Kerala in this unique event. Thosewho took part in the Jyothi led bySwamy Chidanandapuri included T PSenkumar, MGA Raman, former direc-tors general of police, Prof KSRadhakrishnan, former vice-chancellorof Sree Sankara Sanskrit University andnational award winning actress MenakaSuresh.

“It was an enlightening experi-ence. I feel this Jyothi will lead Keralato a world of light and peace,” saidSenkumar, an apolitical person who hadearned appreciation from all over theState for his 35 years of service as a

police officer.Govind Bharathan, senior lawyer of

Kerala High Court who had to fight hisway through the massive crowd to geta position in the Jyothi in front of theAdi Sankara Tower at Kaladi said theevent was a tremendous success. “Thisis the first time I am seeing an apoliti-cal rally like this in Kerala and I hopethe message will reach the authoritiesin the right perspective,” said Bharathan.

The 45 km stretch betweenAngamally in the National Highway andMuvattupuzha in the Main Cetral Roadleading to Sabarimala turned out to bean ocean of humanity, each personholding tray with lighted chirath madeof mud. Interestingly, many Christianswere seen taking part in the rally atPerumbavoor. Mazhuvencherry Jaison,a Christian businessman said he andmost other Christians were with the

devotees in their agitationto preserve the traditionsof Sabarimala.

Elsewhere in the State,there were reports fromKannur of attacks onwomen and children whowere on their way to takepart in the Jyothi alleged-ly by DYFI activists. Eightpersons including threechildren who were injuredin pelting of stones byunknown persons havebeen admitted to hospitals

in Kannur. The event saw unprece-dented participation of women, espe-cially housewives hitherto confined totheir homes. Geetha Rajagopal, AnithaPrakash and hundreds of housewiveslike them joined the Jyothi much to thejoy of the organisers.

Ayyappa Temple at Chennai’sMahalingapuram saw hundreds ofdevotees with lighted lamps joining theJyothi. “This is our silent message to theauthorities who are out to tamper withage old traditions in Sabarimala. If theyignore this Jyothi, the repercussions maybe very severe,” said Anita Pillai, aChennai housewife. While the AyyappaJyothi concluded peacefully, Kerala is infor another spectacle y the CPI-M spon-sored Women Wall to be organised onJanuary 1, 2019 which has beendescribed as the beginning of a renais-sance in the State.

Ayyappa Jyothi lights up 795 km in Kerala, K’taka, TN

Church holds key in many LS seats in TN

KUMAR CHELLAPPAN nCHENNAI

The news about the bishops andvicars of all Churches in Tamil

Nadu declaring their support tothe DMK in the upcoming LokSabha election has jolted the rul-ing AIADMK as well as the BJP.

Though the Church or theBishops Council of Tamil Naduhave not made any formal decla-ration about the support to theDMK, the deal was struck duringthe Christmas gala held atTiruchirappalli last Saturdaywhich was attended by party chiefMK Stalin and heads of all

Churches and “Ministries” in theState.

It may be noted that theBishops Council of Tamil Naduhad declared their support to theDMK-led alliance in the 2016assembly election. A signed state-ment by Antony Pappusamy,Archbishop of Madurai, was readout during congregations and wasreleased to the media in the runup to the assembly election.

The result of the 2016 assem-bly election was in the expectedlines. The AIADMK led byJayalalithaa won by a whisker. Butwhat stood out in the assemblyelection was the wash out sufferedby the AIADMK in the southerndistrict of Kanyakumari whereChristians constitute 46.9 percent of the population.

The DMK-Congress allianceswept the Kanyakumari district bywinning all the six assembly con-

stituencies with comfortable mar-gins. All the candidates who gotelected from the district belongedto Christian community.

These six constituencies con-stitute the Kanyakumari LokSabha constituency which ispresently represented by PonRadhakrishnan of the BJP who isalso the minister of state forfinance and surface transport.Radhakrishnan won the 2014election because there was noalliance between the DMK, theCongress and the Left parties. The2004 Lok Sabha election saw theRainbow Alliance led by the DMKand which had the blessings of theChurch obliterating theJayalalithaa-led AIADMK bysweeping all the 40 Lok Sabhaseats (39 from Tamil Nadu and thelone seat from Puducherry).

In the eventuality of the Leftstoo join the DMK-Congress band-

wagon, Radhakrishnan and theBJP are in for trouble, said a seniorBJP leader in Tamil Nadu. But theDMK-Congress alliance alonecould derail the chances ofRadhakrishnan making it to LokSabha in the 2019 election

A scientific paper publishedby Centre for Policy Studies, aChennai based independentthink-tank specialising in demo-graphic studies and which wasaccessed by The Pioneer pointsout that Christians constitute 6.12per cent of the total population of7.22 crore in Tamil Nadu.

"Tamil Nadu has a consider-able Christian population. Of thetotal 2.78 crore Christians count-ed in India in 2011, 44 lakh are inTamil Nadu, where they form 6.12percent of the population. Theirnumber and share in Tamil Naduis the highest of all major Statesexcept the adjoining Kerala. Tamil

Nadu and Kerala account formore than 1 crore of Christians inthe country," said the paperauthored by JK Bajaj, MD Srinivasand AP Joshi, all demographyexperts.

What stands out in the studyis the observation made by theauthors that despite their not sobig presence in the State, Christianpopulation is distributed in theState in such a way that they wieldbig influence. The three districtsof Thanjavur, Tiruchirappalli andDindigul have a total Christianpopulation of 5.5 lakh .WhileTiruchirappalli has 9 per centChristian population, Dindiguland Thanjavur closely follow with7.9 and 5.6 per cent respectively.No political parties in Tamil Naducan hope to win the electionwithout enlisting the support ofthe Christian community in theState.

BJP IN FOR MAJORTROUBLE

PTI n SABARIMALA

Amid high security, the ceremonial processioncarrying the sacred ‘Thanka Anki’ (golden

attire), to be worn by Lord Ayyappa, the presid-ing deity of the Sabarimala temple,reached hereWednesday evening.

The procession, which had set off four daysago from the Sree Parthasarthy temple atAranmula, reached the Lord Ayyappa temple byaround 6.30 PM, temple sources said.

Lord Ayyappa would adorn the sacred attiretomorrow for the ‘Mandala pooja’. After the‘Athazha pooja’ in the evening, the shrine will beclosed for two days, marking the culmination of the41-day pilgrimage season, the first phase of theannual festivities. The shrine will re-open onDecember 30 for the ‘Makaravillaku’ festival,which falls on Januaury 14.

Meanwhile, during this mandala puja season,32 lakh pilgrims have so far trekked to the hillshrine, A Padmakumar, president, TravancoreDevaswom Board (TDB), which manages thetemple, said.

During this pilgrim season, there has beena dip in the revenues compared to the previousyears, he said.

Last year, revenue collection at the templetouched Rs 160 crore, while this year it was rs105 crore so far.

LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 27, 2018 nation 07

MLA Jignesh Mevani and Student leader Kanhaiya Kumar during a rally to mark the 94th foundation day programme of Communist Party of India (CPI) in Kolkata onWednesda PTI

TN RAGHUNATHA n MUMBAI

Hours after the CentralBoard of Film

Certification (CBFC) three dia-logue cuts suggested in thefilms, the makers onWednesday went ahead andreleased the trailers of theMarathi and Hindi versions ofthe much-awaited biopic onlate Shiv Sena chief BalThackeray “Thackeray”.

Shiv Sena presidentUddhav Thackeray, who waspresent at the release of thetrailers of both Hindi andMarathi versions of“Thackeray” held at theCarnival IMAX theatre atWadala in north-centralMumbai, responded tersely tothe three dialogue cuts sug-gested by the CBFC. “Whateverhas happened has happened.But there is no point in hidingthings. If the CBFC does nottake immediate decision (inclearing the film), it is better ifit would be better if the imme-diate decision in Babri matter”.

Expected to be used by theShiv Sena as a vehicle for itscampaign in the run-up to the2019 Lok Sabha polls,“Thackeray” features actorsNawazuddin Siddiqui andAmrita Rao in the lead roles asBal Thackeray and his wifeMeenatai respectively.

Executive Editor of theSena mouth-piece “Saamana”and Sena spokesperson Sanjay

Raut has only written the scriptand screen play, but he has alsoproduced the film. Well-knownMarathi filmmaker AbhijitPanse has directed the film.

There is confusion aboutthe exact date of the release ofthe film. While the makershave said the film will releaseon January 25, 2019, Uddhavsaid that the film would hit thescreen across the country onJanuary 23, 2019 – the birthanniversary of late Thackeray.

Responding to the cutssuggested by the CBFC, Rautsaid: “When we talk of lateBalasabeh, who will decide asto what is right or wrong ?. Thefilm is true story of lateBalasaheb. Balasaheb’s life is nota fiction. Balasaheb’s life was anopen book, Not event relatingto Balasaheb’s life is hidden. Ittakes time CBFC to understandthis. For some people, it hastaken 50 years to understandfor what Balasaheb. Forinstance, Madhya Pradesh’snew chief minister Kamal Nathis now talking about preferenceto local people – a thing thatBalasaheb crusaded 50 yearsago”.

Of the three cuts suggest-ed by CBFC, two are remarks“ Utao Lungi bajao Pungi” and“Endu Gundu walle” that lateThackeray had made in refer-ence to south Indian migrantssettled in then Bombay in latesixties which witnessed attacksby the Shiv Sainks against the

migrants from south India.The third reference relates tothe Babri Masjid.

The two trai lers –Marathi and Hindi – have dif-ferent set of dialogues. TheMarathi trailer talks about thelack of jobs for local becauseof south Indian migrants,late Thackeray’s referencesabout them, Shiv Sena’sagainst Air India demandingjobs for locals, his utterancesagainst late Prime MinisterMorarji Desai, his famousdialogues “Aap Apne Desh kecricket bare me sochthe hainme cricket khelnewale desh ke

bare me sochta hun” and“Ramlalla Pakistan me PaidaHue the?”

The Hindi version trailercontains dialogues like “Bheekmangne acha hain, goondabanke apna hak china”, threathanded to then Union HomeMinister Morarji Desai (forearly resolution to the Belgaum(Karnataka-Maharashtra) bor-der dispute) that he will not beallowed to enter Maharashtra,agitations to force cinema own-ers in Mumbai to screenMarathi films, his explanationfor saying “Jai Hind, JaiMaharashtra” .

Bal Thackeray biopic trailer out

Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Shiv Sena chief Udhav Thackeray during the trailerlaunch of film in Mumbai PTI

TN RAGHUNATHA n MUMBAI

In an effort to ensure againsta repeat of the disturbances

witnessed at Bhima-Koregaonlast year, the Pune districtadministration has decided todeploy 11 drones in the eightkilometre radius of the villageto maintain vigilance duringthe 201st anniversary of the theJanuary 1, 1818 victory ofBritish troops over PeshwaBajirao II's army scheduledfor January 1, 2019.

Not wanting to take anychances, the Pune districtadministration has drawn upan elaborate plan to main lawand order at Bhima-Koregaonvillage where thousands willconverge on Tuesday next to

celebrate the 201st anniversaryof the the January 1, 1818, vic-tory of British troops overPeshwa Bajirao II's army

It may be recalled that thatduring the caste riots that brokeout on January 1, 2018, one per-son was killed and propertyworth Rs 9.54 crore wasdestroyed at Bhima-Koregaonin Pune district. After the riots,there were protests and violenceacross the state.

What followed were thearrest of 1o human rightsactivists for allegedly conspir-ing to kill Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and overthrowthe democratically elected gov-ernment in the country.

Talking to media personson Monday, Pune DistrictCollector Naval Kishor Ram

said: “We have made elaboratesecurity arrangements in andaround Bhima-Koregaon vil-lage. Apart from deployinghuge posse of police personnel,we will be keeping a continu-ous watch of happenings in thevillage during the celebrationson January 1”.

According to the Pune dis-trict collector, there was con-siderable apprehension amongthe people of Bhima-Koregaonvillage in the light of what hap-pened last year. “After the dis-turbances last year, we haveheld monthly meetings withthe villagers in an effort toremove their anxiety and buildconfidence in them. We havesucceeded in removing fearfrom their minds. We haveinvolved in the preparations for

this year’s celebrations forwhich people come from dif-ferent parts of the state”.

“Keeping in view the hugeturnout people for the cele-brations scheduled for Tuesdaynext, we will sending water tothe village in 300 tankers,deploying 150 buses to ferrypeople to the village and mak-ing parking arrangements at 15places. This year, the policedeployment will 15 times morethan the number of police per-sonnel we had deployed lastyear,” the collector said.

The collector requested thepeople to keep the districtmessage about mischievousmessages put on the socialmedia. “I also request peoplenot lend credence to rumours,”he said.

BHIMA-KOREGAON ANNIVERSARY

From Page 1Randhawa, ranked among

the top 100 of the OfficialWorld Golf Ranking severaltimes between 2004 and 2009,has a farm house in Dudhwa-Katarniaghat forest area andwas said to be staying there forthe past few days.

Pandey said the luxurySUV vehicle with registrationnumber HR-26 DN-4299 wasalso seized from the golferwhose full name is JyotinderSingh Randhawa.

Virajdar has served the

Indian Navy as a Captain, a postequivalent to Colonel in theIndian Army and GroupCaptain in the IAF. He was courtmartialled four years ago oncharges of financial irregularities.

Randhawa, who turnedprofessional in 1994, has beena well-known name in Indiangolf. He won 16 professionaltitles in all, eight of them on theAsian Tour. He also has aJapan Tour title to his creditand topped the Asian TourOrder of Merit in 2002.

He is a three-time winner

at the prestigious Indian Open.But his form had been on thewane and the last time he wona title was back in 2009 -- theThailand Open. Randhawawon seven titles on theProfessional Gold Tour of India(PGTI), making him a cele-brated name in the domesticcircuit.

The Delhi-based golfer wasmarried to actress ChitrangadaSingh for 13 years before theydivorced in 2014. They have ason, Zorawar, from the mar-riage.

The Katarniaghat WildlifeSanctuary, which is about 200km from state capital Lucknow,is a part of the Dudhwa TigerReserve.

It covers an area of 400.6 sqkm in Terai belt of Bahraichdistrict.

In 1987, it was broughtunder the purview of the'Project Tiger'. It providesstrategic connect ivitybetween tiger habitats ofDudhwa and Kishanpur inIndia and the Bardia NationalPark in Nepal.

From Page 1“I want to make an

appeal, not as a Law Ministerbut as a citizen. A lot of evi-dence is available and this isthe best part. People come tome and ask me when adulterycase can be heard in just sixmonths, the court can resolvethe Sabarimala issue in 6months, urban Maoist casecan be heard in two months…our Ram Lalla dispute ispending for the last 70 yearsand in the SC, the appeal ispending for the last 10 years,why there is no hearing?" hesaid.

On another political ques-tion, Madhav accepted thatthe Congress president scoredsome political victories butrefused to comment on themerit of his leadership.

"Rahul Gandhi is leader ofCongress. It's for them todecide if his leadership isbeneficial to them or not.How can we comment on hisleadership for Congress? Hetried his electoral mettle inrecent polls and brought somevictories to Congress, there'sno doubt about it," said theBJP leader.

Madhav further sought

to qualify his praise for Rahulby not seeing him as primeministerial candidate fromthe Opposition side.

"If Rahul Gandhi could'vebeen option for PM candidatebecause of recent victories,then there would've been noneed for mahagathbandhan.Even today, no one, exceptStalin, is ready to confirmname of the leader of maha-gathbandhan. There are sixpeople in queue to becomePM", he went on to say to sug-gest that Opposition is still indisarray in so far as the choiceof PM candidate is concerned.

From Page 1The seized items include 25

kg of explosive materials likePotassium Nitrate, AmmoniumNitrate, Sulphur, Sugar materi-al paste, 12 pistols, 150 roundsof live ammunition, one coun-try-made rocket launcher, 112alarm clocks, mobile phonecircuits, batteries, 51 pipes,remote control car triggeringswitch, wireless digital doorbellfor remote switch, steel con-tainers, electric wires, 91 mobilephones, 134 SIM cards, threelaptops, knife, sword, ISIS-relat-ed literature besides the cash.

The chief conspiratorSuhail, 29, was working as Muftiin a madrasa at Hakim MahtabUddin Hashmi Road, Amroha,UP. He was presently staying atJaffrabad in the national Capitaland had tasked other teammembers to procure arms,explosives and other accessoriesto prepare IED's and pipe-bombs. He had also given ademonstration on fabrication ofthe IEDs, Mittal said.

The other arrested accusedAnas Yunus, 24, is a resident ofJafrabad, Delhi and is pursuing

Civil Engineering course at aprivate University in Noida.The third year engineering stu-dent was instrumental inprocuring electrical items, alarmclocks and batteries in further-ance of the terror conspiracy.Zubair Malik, 20, of Jaffrabad,Delhi, is studying in third yearstudent of BA at a university inDelhi.

The fourth accused RashidZafar Raq alias Zafar, 23, is alsoa resident of Jafrabad and he isinto garments business. Thefourth accused Saeed aliasSayeed, 28, is a resident ofSaidapur Imma, Amroha andhas a welding shop there.

Other accused RaeesAhmad of Saidapur Imma,Amroha is also an owner ofwelding shop there.

The two brothers Saeedand Raees had procured hugequantity of explosive materi-al/gun powder (approximate-ly.25 kg) for preparing IED's andpipe bombs and were instru-mental in fabricating a rocketlauncher to carry out terroristattacks, the NIA said.

Zaid and Zubair, both

brother, were part of the terrorconspiracy and were instru-mental in procuring batteries,connectors, SIM cards on fakedocuments and mobilisingfunds for buying bomb-makingmaterials.

Saqib Iftekar, 26, ofSimbhaoli, Hapur, UttarPradesh was working as Imamin Jama Masjid, Baksar, UttarPradesh. He helped the mas-termind Suhail in procuringweapons.

Mohammad Irshad ofMohalla Qazi Zada, Amroha isan auto-rickshaw driver and washelping Suhail in arranging ahide-out for keeping the mate-rial for making IED's andbombs.

Mohammad Azam, 35, is aresident of Chauhan Bajar,Gashi Mendu, Delhi. He runs amedical shop in Seelampur,Shahdara and helped the mas-termind in arranging weapons.

Apart from these accused,some other suspects are beingexamined and more arrests maybe subsequently, Mittal said.

The arrested accused wouldbe produced before the NIA

Special Court on Thursday andthe agency is likely to seekpolice remand to unearth thelarger terror conspiracy.

Jaish-e-Mohammad chiefMaulana Masood Azhar hadon December 4 said that he waskeeping a watch on the politi-cal developments related toAyodhya and will strike backwhen needed. The busting ofthe module could also belinked to Al Qaeda affiliateJeM. JeM is a franchise of AlQaeda and Al Qaeda in Indiansubcontinent is operatingdirectly. Ansar Ghazwatul Hindis also a franchise of Al Qaedaand its operations are limited toJammu & Kashmir. The bust-ing of the module also hints atinsufficiency of the measurestaken by the UP police andDelhi Police against crime andcriminals as the inimical forcesnot only radicalized them-selves but were on an advancedlevel of planning for the seriesof attacks in Delhi and NorthIndia, sources in the securityagencies said adding counterradicalisation measures havealso not been up to the mark.

From Page 1KCR had met his Odisha

counterpart Naveen Patnaikon Sunday and West BengalChief Minister MamataBanerjee on Monday.

In his first meeting with thePrime Minister after takingover as Chief Minister for thesecond time last week, KCRdiscussed a variety of issueswith Modi, including release offunds for 10 backward districts,setting up of a separate highcourt for Telangana, KendriyaVidyalayas in new district andan IIIT in Karimnagar district.

Golfer Randhawa taken in...

Maya, Akhileshgive KCR...

BJP will explore all...

From Page 1“No politics on tragedy

please @RahulGandhi ji. Wehave been helping the StateGovt with all possible means.But the unsafe illegal mininingactivities were due to the neg-ligence of the previousCongress govt (sic)," Rijijutweeted.

Meghalaya Chief MinisterConrad K Sangma, withoutmentioning Rahul's comment,said there is no inaction andthat the administration and theNDRF had really worked hardto trace the miners, but, unfor-tunately, the operation did notyield any result.

So far, 12 lakh litres ofwater has been pumped out ofthe mine, but it seems thewhole river has gushed into thepit. Getting high-poweredpumps and transporting themto the site of the mishap is notan easy task, he told a privatenews.

On if the rescue operationcould be called off under suchcircumstances, Sangma saidthere is no question of abort-

ing the rescue work. The ChiefMinister also hoped that thehigh-powered pumps would beavailable soon.

Sangma-led NPP's ally inthe State, the BJP, also said theMeghalaya Government isdoing its best under the ChiefMinister's leadership to bringthe victims out of the rat-holemine in East Jaintia Hills dis-trict. "The Government hasdone and is doing its bestunder Sangma. We have fullfaith in him. He has taken upthe matter with the centralGovernment to send biggerpumps," BJP Minister A L Hektold PTI.

The State Governmenttried its best but water at themine has not receded, he said.

The Chief Minister haswritten to Coal India request-ing for the high-poweredpumps, the BJP leader said.

East Jaintia Hills DeputyCommissioner F M Dopth saiddistrict authorities have takenup the matter with the StateGovernment and is awaiting aresponse.

The high-powered pumps,as advised by ace miningmishap expert Jaswant SinghGill, are not available in theentire North East region, as faras we are aware, Dopth toldPTI. Dopth, who ordered tem-porary suspension of rescueoperation last Saturday, saiduntil the bigger pumps aremade available, the operationscannot resume.

Congress spokesperson HM Shangpliang told PTI thatwith Rahul's intervention, "wehope the Centre will direct theState Government to change itsinsensitive attitude and dowhat is necessary to help savelives".

He said a special team ofthe Congress Legislature Party(CLP) will soon visit the site atLumthari village and will tryand meet the affected families.

However, a senior memberof the ruling National PeoplesParty (NPP) criticised theCongress, saying theOpposition party was creatinga "fuss" over the entireDecember 13 episode.

"The Congress has forgot-ten what happened in 2012when it abandoned the 14miners who were trapped whena mine collapsed in SouthGaro Hills. Then the UPA andthe Congress were in power.What have they done?" theNPP leader said, requestinganonymity.

"The Chief Minister is tak-ing special interest in this caseand is trying to retrieve theminers dead or alive," he said.

In the 2012 case,none of the victims could beretrieved out of the mine and"I do not remember compen-sation was paid to any of theaffected families by the thenCongress Government," theNPP leader said. NationalDisaster Response Force work-ers joined local authorities inthe rescue effort. In 2016, sixillegal miners died when a sec-tion of a closed mine collapsedin Burdwan district in WestBengal. The accident occurredwhen about 200 illegal minerswere extracting coal from themine.

Meghalaya miners’ kin await miracle as survival...

Terror bids...

11 drones to keep vigil

Union Minister for ExternalAffairs Sushma Swaraj’s state-ment in the Lok Sabha onWednesday, December 12,2018, undoubtedly makes for

a perfect politico-diplomatic posturing byIndia towards Pakistan. However, whatmade Swaraj’s statement stand out was itscarefully crafted semantics. Thus read thestated position of New Delhi over Jammu& Kashmir: “India’s ‘consistent and prin-cipled’ position is that the entire State ofJammu & Kashmir has been, is, and shallbe an integral part of India”.

Spot on the Minister was, as she con-tinued and concluded: “Pakistan hasbeen in an illegal occupation of approx-imately 78,000 square kilometre of theIndian territory in the State of Jammu &Kashmir…under the so-called ‘BoundaryAgreement’ signed between China andPakistan on March 2, 1963; Pakistan ille-gally ceded 5,180 square kilometre of theIndian territory in Pakistan-occupiedJammu & Kashmir to China.

“We have repeatedly and consistent-ly called upon Pakistan to immediatelyvacate all areas under its illegal occupa-tion, most recently on November 30,2018,” the Minister informed theParliament. Yet, the picture appears grimas “Pakistan continues to be in illegal andforcible occupation of a part of Jammu &Kashmir”, she asserted. What then doesthis mean to India? It’s simple, yet adverse,to say the least.

That the “illegal occupation of approx-imately 78,000 square kilometre of theIndian territory” by Pakistan does not fig-ure in Delhi-Islamabad bilateral anymore. Swaraj’s clarification to theParliament on Pakistan, however, did notmention that with the “so-called‘Boundary Agreement’ signed betweenChina and Pakistan on March 2, 1963”,and with the ceding of “5,180 square kilo-metre of the Indian territory in Pakistan-occupied Jammu & Kashmir”, Chinaautomatically emerged as a stake holderwith the very physical presence of itstroops and civilians. This amounts toChinese occupation of the Indian territo-ry. It’s the presence of foreign China as‘third party’ deep inside Jammu &Kashmir. It’s a live ‘dragon in the room’.

In other words, China has been ‘exist-ing’, though illegally, deep inside theIndian territory since more than 55 years.And there is no way that China is goingto withdraw voluntarily, or show somediplomatic niceties like Jawaharlal Nehruconsistently did throughout the 1950stowards China, or give up illegal occupa-tion of the Indian territory and retreatfrom there in the foreseeable future.

Especially, since (now) China’s Belt &Road Initiative (BRI) and the ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) aredeeply entrenched within, and pass through

the State of Jammu & Kashmir.For China, it’s a question

of geo-politics, geo-econom-ics and geo-strategy for itssuper power status-aspiration.It constitutes an hydra-head-ed future game-plan: Control,rather than visible physicaloccupation, of key land-lockedterritories, where the ‘greatgame’ was played by theempires of Russia and Britain.It’s also the terrain which wasdreamily aspired by Hanrulers from far off Hwang Hovalley and who saw recurringaggression by numerous hos-tile sultans, badshahs andprincipalities across the corri-dor connecting Istanbul withthe great alluvial soil of SouthAsia. The terrain of Jammu &Kashmir also connects themighty and lofty landmass ofEuro-Asia around the Pamirand the Karakorum withdeclining demography andpromising mineralogy witheasy access to warm waterports of the Indian Ocean(which the Romanovs andCzars of Russia always dreamtof, and yet always failed toturn it into reality).

Plain speaking, therefore,there doesn’t seem to be aneasy way out (especially in the21st century), to either alterthe possession of physicalgeography of Jammu &Kashmir by the menacing tri-flanking China-Pakistani axis,

or owing to the immenselycomplicated demography anddistribution thereof acrossSouth Asia.

India has been badly cor-nered for its own past inabil-ity to reclaim (and even retain)its own land from ‘illegaloccupation’ of Pakistan andChina. Unlike China, Indiahas shown a peculiar propen-sity to cede its own territory toforeign country, thereby dilut-ing its own professed stand atthe diplomatic table; tamelycapitulating even when theresimply did not exist any ‘causeof action’ to do so.

It may sound bizarre,unpleasant and harsh, butrecalling past reality of India’sconspicuous fai lure onJammu & Kashmir may be ofsome consolation and form alesson for the future. It shouldnot be repeated, else thingscan go worse than what it wasin the past.

Thus, when the Ministerof External Affairs was refer-ring to “illegal occupation ofJammu & Kashmir,” her wordspertained to the whole terri-tory thereof which legallyacceded to India on October26, 1947, following the sameprocedure and documenta-tion as done by 548 otherprincely States vis-à-vis NewDelhi (with 16 acceding toPakistan).

Logically and legally, it,

therefore, follows that whenany of the “illegal occupiedland of Jammu & Kashmir” isreclaimed by India, as wasdone by the valiant soldiers ofthe Indian Army (under theable military leadership ofZorawar Chand Bakshi andRanjit Singh Dayal) in HajiPeer Pass in the 1965 India-Pakistan war, was it not a caseof supreme folly to returnIndia’s own territory in thediplomatic table of Tashkent inJanuary 1966 by the galaxy ofIndian stars themselves?

All the more, as it hap-pened within 35 months of theChina-Pakistan illegal occupa-tion of Indian territory ofJammu & Kashmir? Had Indianot surrendered so tamely atTashkent, the China-Pakistanaxis would have been underconspicuous pressure pertain-ing to their illegal actions.

Hence, this one single actdamaged India till no end.Suddenly, India’s avowed legalposition on Jammu &Kashmir appeared fragile andillegal when our country sur-rendered its own territory toPakistan, thereby giving theworld an impression as if HajiPeer Pass was Pakistan’s bonafide possession and that Indiahad illegally usurped it duringthe course of the war in 1965.

Hence, New Delhi wasmorally, logically and diplo-matically bound to “return the

Jammu & Kashmir land toPakistanis”, thereby legitimis-ing their illegal act. What anirony! In one stroke, legalIndia became illegal! Andgrossly, illegal China-Pakistanoccupation of the Indian landcontinued, unchallenged,unharmed and unaffected,thereby transformingIslamabad-Beijing duo’s per-fidy and illegal act into anindisputably ‘legal act’!

Seen in this background,the bona fide statement inParliament by the ForeignMinister needs to be supple-mented with/by a sustainedteaching of the Constitution ofIndia to the members ofIndian legislature who act asexecutive and guardians of lawwhile protecting the territoryand sovereignty of India.

Article 1 (1) of theConstitution is explicit and cat-egorical: “India, that is Bharat,shall be a Union of States” andArticle 1 (2) stipulates “TheStates and the territories there-of shall be..” “(c) such other ter-ritories as may be acquired.”The point is loud and clear.India can ‘acquire territories’.India cannot surrender terri-tory, least of all, its own terri-tory. That is the crux, and theruling class of India has to fol-low the Constitution thereof,in letter and in spirit.

(The writer is an alumnus,National Defence College)

Residents of Delhi and its surround-

ing areas have become used to

the arrival of cold weather because

the air quality index goes for an utter

toss. And for several years different

strawmen have been found to bear the

brunt, first the burning of stubble by

farmers, then it was vehicular pollution

and of late firecrackers on Diwali.

However, this year’s extended period of

poor air quality must highlight the main

cause of the problem: The constantly

increasing human population in the cap-

ital and its surroundings and the resul-

tant activity. And the solution to the air

quality problem will require some brave political decisions that none of Delhi’s

politicians or those from surrounding States are willing to take, that is to

tackle population growth, immigration and the fallout from illegal colonies.

Some small measures can be taken though and those must be taken

soon, because the problem is only getting worse every passing day and it

affects the young and old particularly hard. Those from the economically

weaker backgrounds, who can’t afford protection, have little choice. More

and more evidence is emerging that poor air quality is cutting years off the

life expectancy of Delhi residents and cases of lung cancer even among

non-smokers is on the rise. If our politicians, many of who live in homes

with air purifiers, want to do something about this, they have to crack the

whip and invest in the future. And those investments include rapidly ramp-

ing up public transportation options and even vehicle rationing, but no half-

hearted measures to keep parts of the electorate happy.

At the rate that the air quality is deteriorating, it is only a matter of time

that poor air will become a year-round problem in Delhi and surrounding

cities. If urgent and strict measures are not taken today, the national cap-

ital will become unlivable sooner rather than later. This is a national crisis

and all our politicians should rise to the challenge. But as of today, they are

all, no matter what their political persuasion, failing us.

Back in May 2014, when Narendra

Modi was sworn in as the Prime

Minister, India looked forward to

five years of sensible policies and

growth. With his trusted lieutenant Amit

Shah corralling the Bharatiya Janata

Party (BJP) workers into an unstop-

pable force, Modi had an advantage that

had not been seen for three decades,

a majority in the Lok Sabha. And the

BJP’s electoral steamroller continued,

winning States like Assam, Haryana

and Maharashtra, both States where the

party had little of an organisation pre-

viously. It was not as if the BJP did not

suffer electoral reverses like in Bihar,

Punjab and Delhi, but those were viewed as minor blips. Modi had the elec-

torate and the media on his side. However, this year things seemed to have

unravelled for Modi and the BJP. The steamroller has broken down, the toll

of fighting a rearguard electoral win in Gujarat was followed by failure in

Karnataka and losing the three States in the Hindi heartland. Back in 2014-

16, the BJP made the promise of a ‘Congress-mukt Bharat’, their main plank,

and it seemed achievable with the Congress imploding. Political commen-

tators were already taking the 2019 elections for granted, and this was being

spoken about as only his ‘first-term’. BJP supporters were talking of ‘Mission

350’ and winning a dominating majority. But that talk has certainly disap-

peared with an angry electorate taking out their frustration at issues like

demonetisation and slow economic growth, among others. This, at the same

time when the Opposition has seemed to get its mojo back, taking on the

BJP and the ruling Government on issues both real and imagined.

And with constant issues with some of democratic India’s largest insti-

tutions, problems with the Supreme Court, the complete meltdown in the

Central Bureau of Investigation and the resignation of the Reserve Bank of

India Governor are evidence to some that the Modi Government has failed

in bringing people onside. While some in the BJP look to blame the entrenched

bureaucracy, that is the so-called ‘deep state’ and imaginary ‘anti-nation-

al’ interests of attacking them, there is little doubt that many in the Government

themselves have not helped the situation. Particularly, issues concerning

the acquisition of the Rafale fighter jet have been arrogant. Modi came to

power on the back of being a reformer and an economic visionary, but appears

to have played the same populist povertarian game that Indian politicians

love. Foreign investment into India has dried up. While the Indian stock mar-

kets have performed reasonably well, India, which could have been a ben-

eficiary of the US-China trade spat, has not managed to take advantage of

the situation. To be fair to Modi, he has boosted spending on major infra-

structure projects, cleared long-pending ones and has cultivated an image

of being seen as a go-getting hard worker. It will be a major problem for

the Opposition to paint him as a personally corrupt individual. Some mud

might stick on some of his Ministers and party leaders, but he has a teflon

skin to such allegations.

And that will remain his greatest asset heading into the 2019 elections,

which are now clearly in play, even if he, through a shared hatred of him,

is the bonding force of the Opposition. He will be the major issue in the

coming elections. Expect a lot more talk of failed policies towards agricul-

ture and missed opportunities for reforms. And then there will be demon-

etisation, an exercise that Modi’s first-term will undoubtedly always be remem-

bered by, a move that it is becoming increasingly clear with hindsight that

stalled the economy. But make no mistakes, Narendra Modi and the BJP

have been the dominant force in Indian politics, and no matter what the final

outcome of the elections in the coming months, he will remain the most

important politician in India for years to come. But it might still be a bridge

too far to prevent himself losing the Prime Ministership come May 2019.

Annus Horribilis

No more excuses

There are no culprits to pin the current levels of air pollutionin Delhi on; yet little action is being taken by the authorities

Height of hypocrisy

Sir — Prime Minister NarendraModi repeatedly insulted thefarmers from Tamil Nadu andother States, who demonstratedin Delhi for almost a year. Hesought relief by refusing to meetthem even once and also used thepolice force. One wonders howcould the Prime Minister declarein Odisha that his party’s focus ison the farm sector. Given theVyapam scam, Lalit Modi fiasco,and the multi-crore rice scam inChhattisgarh, all of which hap-pened during the BJP’s rule, it isan irony that Prime MinisterModi is calling the NaveenPatnaik Government corrupt. Itis not the Congress that is dup-ing the farmers but the BJP thathas gone back on its electionpromises to the poor farmers.

Shalini GeraldChennai

Rise above politics

Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Out in the cold” (December26). It is shameful that millions ofour very own people have to leada hell-resembling life out on the

streets, enduring scorching heat,biting cold and monsoon deluge.Far from remaining sympatheticto their woes, privileged Indiansand political masters scandalous-ly boast about ‘elitism’ in attain-ing Mars orbit and ‘might’ by per-forming mass Yoga on streets.

When the urgent need is touplift the poor and the downtrod-den by ensuring minimumhuman rights and dignity for

them, concerned authoritiessquander billions of money inspace missions, bullet trains, sky-kissing statues and lofty flags toreap electoral dividends. If Indiareally wants to attain trueprogress, then it must first ensurebasic human rights of food, attire,shelter, medicine, education andjustice for all.

Kajal Chatterjee Kolkata

Cautious decision

Sir — Retention of coalition part-ners within the NDA fold is animportant exercise for the BJP.This is why the party played itscard really well in parting with 17seats for the Janata Dal (United)and six for the Lok Janshakti Party.

For political opponents, thenew arrangement between the

three parties has become anobject of ridicule. They are nowlaughing at the plight of the BJPfor its climb-down.

But, it is a known, that in pol-itics, conditions do not alwaysremain the same. Seat-sharingratio depends upon prevailingconditions at the time of elections.Before JD(U) chief Nitish Kumarcame back to the NDA, when theBihar Assembly election was held,the performance of the BJP was nobetter than that of JD(U). Assuch, sharing equal number ofseats with the JD(U) is a respect-ful bargain. made by the BJP.

KV SeetharamaiahHassan

Help Indonesia

Sir — The massive tsunami thathit Indonesia’s coast and beachesrecently left more than 300 peo-ple dead. The world communitymust extend helping hand andhelp the country and its peoplecome up out of the difficult situation.

ShubhamVia email

P A P E R W I T H P A S S I O N

Send your feedback to:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

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op nionLUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 27, 2018

08

A case for land reclamation

ABHIJIT BHATTACHARYYA

Had India not surrendered so tamely at Tashkent, the China-Pakistan axis would

have been under conspicuous pressure pertaining to their illegal actions

The drama of dynasticpolitics staged by theCongress and their ‘ModiHatao’ movement is just an eyewash.

Union Minister—Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi

We do not have a politi-cal or religious agenda.We want to make a spiri-tual India... not HinduIndia or communal India.

Yoga guru— Baba Ramdev

S O U N D B I T E

L E T T E R S T O T H E E D I T O R

India’s integrity is unquestionable

This refers to the editorial, “Why Naseer?” (December24). Actor Naseeruddin Shah has been thrown intoa controversy after he voiced his opinion that India

was “unsafe” for its children. One does not knowwhether Shah was overcome by emotion or was keep-ing a cool head when he spoke about intolerance. Indiais a nation which prides on its Constitution. It cannotbe denied that our country has been a witness to theworst form of lynching in the last four years. Fringegroups running amok, and the police doing preciouslittle to bring them to book, have highlighted one aspectof lawlessness. In the same breath, many radical ele-ments have verbally gone berserk on India and its ethos.

The vital question is whether we should doubt ourdemocratic values because of the mindlessness of astray mob and over-the-board tendency of a few rad-ical elements? Shah is entitled to worry, but he, beinga senior artist, should instill confidence among his

brethren that they need not be worried by incidentsorchestrated by rogues who are hell-bent to create awedge in the society. The essence of this country liesin its capacity to rebound with elan even in the face ofworse disasters. India has done it in the past, post Delhiand post Gujarat, and it will again.

Ganapathi BhatAkola

Narendra Modi and his Government have nothad a great 2018 and the BJP’s election machinehas broken down. Can things look up in 2019?

We (TMC) have neverbeen influenced by polit-ical colour, if any, of therecipients and only wentby eligibility criteria.

West Bengal CM—Mamata Banerjee

Today’s society is goingdown the drains. We livein well-connected world,but we must strive torevive our value system.

Director—Tigmanshu Dhulia

The National DemocraticAlliance (NDA) Government’sefforts to drive the Swachh

Bharat Abhiyan, coupled with itssanitation drive, rested on ensuringthe building of more toilets inrecord time. It is to the credit of theGovernment that registered substan-tial improvements in the building oftoilets. The Government’s toilet-building drive spurred some not-for-profit institutions and individuals tobuild more toilets, making the entireeffort a truly national one. But didthe Government misread therequirement? This uncomfortablequestion does make us sit up becausetremendous amounts of money havebeen spent on the building of toiletsand their publicity.

The question whether theGovernment got it right or not wasfuelled by a recent World Bankreport that concluded that merebuilding of toilets won’t stop Indiansfrom defecating in the open as longas their attitude towards latrines donot change.

The research was conducted byVarun Gauri, Tasmia Rahman andIman Sen. The researchers surveyedfive villages in the Ghazipur districtof eastern Uttar Pradesh. The Statehas a high burden of open defeca-tion. The first round of the surveywas conducted at the householdlevel, across 204 households thatowned latrines, between Januaryand February 2017. The secondphase was conducted in March2017. The surveys threw up someinteresting findings.

Researchers measured four keyaspects of open defecation:Defecation practices, acceptabilityof open defecation, enforcement oftoilet use and notions of purityattached to toilet construction.

They found that around 40 per centof the people, who had toilets intheir house, did not use them.Many even associated toilets withgandagi (dirt).

Further, people’s beliefs wereclosely linked to their perception ofwhat others believed. This meansthat social norms have a big say onindividual attitudes and that moretoilets in more homes may not nec-essarily mean more cleanliness inthe environs outside.

The World Bank research hasgiven the authorities and the peo-ple of this country an opportunityto understand that proper planningis the need of hour before weembark on a nation-wide mission,like Swachh Bharat. This researchshould have been commissioned bythe Government before it embarkedon this mission that involved mil-lions of taxpayers’ money.

Designing of facilities withoutcreating awareness about it is akinto putting the horse before the cart.And this is what happened to

Swachh Bharat. Our policy-makersshould have given it a properthought before making efforts tobuild toilets. Desired change inbehaviour related to toilet useshould have been the first step.

Eliminating open defecationhas been a herculean task for India.Since 1970, many programmes havebeen initiated but all failed to bringthe desired result. However, thelessons learnt from the effortsundertaken till date is that reduc-tion of open defecation needs notjust access to improved sanitationfacilities, but also a serious effort tochange mindsets.

In 2014, India had almost 70per cent of the rural populationdefecating in the open. To curtailthis rampant problem, theGovernment claimed that around94 per cent of the rural householdshave been provided with toilets tilldate. But the question remains: Howmany of these toilets are actuallybeing used?

The Government can still turn

around the project and get the pop-ulation to actually use the built toi-lets. For change to happen, there hasto be initiation of sufficient deter-rents against open defecation — beit in the form of penalties or othermeasures of the similar kind.

Countries such as China, too,were grappled with the same prob-lem during the early 1990s but theambition to catapult itself to theworld stage as a developed nationforced the country to adopt toughmeasures to keep a check on opendefecation. Today, the country isalmost open defecation free. Chinais just one of the many examples.There are other countries, too, thatIndia can emulate.

Rural India needs to be opendefecation free as quickly as possi-ble due to other pressing problems.Apart from environmental con-cerns, the issue of open defecationis deeply connected with hygieneproblems — diseases and infections.Thanks to open defecation, a num-ber of diseases, that have been

expelled from other countries, haveraised their ugly heads once again.

Local water bodies and top-soilare the largest sufferers of opendefecation while the local popula-tion only experiences the resultanthealth problems. This aspect needsto be brought to the notice of thelocal villagers in order to increasegeneral awareness.

India can rein in open defeca-tion by launching a nationwideawareness campaign, which is con-nected with the ever-growing num-ber of new toilets. Strategy must bebased on self-respect. Only this canbring instant results. TheGovernment has set October 2,2019, as the deadline to make Indiaopen defecation free. However, ifthe World Bank reports results areanything to by, it will be clear thatthe Government needs to give anextra push to heighten awarenessamong the people about the bene-fit of using toilets.

(The writer is an environmentaljournalist)

An NCA for backlog-hit judiciary

LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 27, 2018

FORMATION OF A FEDERAL FRONT IS THE NEED OF

THE HOUR. OUR AIM IS TO DISMANTLE THE BJP GOVT

AND WE ARE COMMITTED TO DOING THAT.

—SAMAJWADI PARTY PRESIDENT

AKHILESH YADAV

AS ELECTIONS DRAW CLOSER, THE CONGRESS’

ISOLATION AND NON-ACCEPTANCE OF RAHUL

GANDHI'S LEADERSHIP IS BECOMING CLEAR.

—BJP SPOKESPERSON

GVL NARASIMHA RAO

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

The recent expeditious filling up ofjudicial vacancies, right from theposition of the judicial magistrate tothat of a Supreme Court judge,speaks volumes about the monu-

mental task undertaken by the Chief Justice ofIndia (CJI), Justice Ranjan Gogoi, to reducependency of cases at various Indian courts.

Justice Gogoi seems to be resolute in doingthe same as he has already held myriad col-legium meetings for the filling up of vacancies.Thereafter, he made appointments of judgesto different High Courts and the SupremeCourt. As far as the lower judiciary is con-cerned, Gogoi passed many orders, wherein heasked the High Courts to fill all vacancies ina time-bound manner.

However, the filling up of vacancies in thejudiciary may just be one way of managing thebewildering problem of pendency of cases. Thechorus for the establishment of the NationalCourt of Appeal (NCA) has once again gainedmomentum with several academicians mak-ing demands for its establishment. Theybelieve a Court of Appeal can stem the bur-geoning pendency of cases. Their argument isthat the NCA would not just help annihilatethe problem of pendency but would also helpresolve multiple issues that plague the coun-try’s legal system.

Initially, the Supreme Court of India wasentrusted upon the primary responsibility ofinterpreting ambiguities in various laws andthe Constitution that may arise from time totime. However, with the passage of time, thetop court skewed away from that responsibil-ity and shifted its focus on dealing with appealsarising from the decision of the High Courts.

The Law Commission of India, in its 125threport, highlighted that the disposal andestablishment of Constitutional Benches hasdeclined from 15.5 per cent in 1950-54 to 0.12per cent in 2005-2009. Thus, the growing needof finding an alternative to disposing theappeals was felt by the apex court so that thesanctity of the court as a Constitutional enti-ty could be restored.

The proposed NCA was supposed to be anadjudicating body that would deal with alltypes of matters, except those relating to theConstitution or public importance, whichwould ordinarily fall under the domain of theSupreme Court. The NCA will, thus, act as anintermediary between the High Courts and theSupreme Court with regional Benches inDelhi, Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata. TheNCA would also act as the last appellate courtfrom where no appeal would lie with theSupreme Court.

The idea of the establishment of the NCAin different parts of the country can be datedback to the time of the formulation of theConstitution when Jaspat Roy Kapoor suggest-ed the same. Despite being seconded by BRAmbedkar, the NCA could never find its wayinto the Constitution. Later, the 95th, 125thand the 229th report of the Law Commissionalso dealt with the issue of NCA but to no avail.Interestingly, the Supreme Court, too, has hadits fair share of comments about the NCA.

In the case of Bihar Legal Support Society

vs The Chief Justice of India, the court proposedthe formation of the NCA with four differentregional branches. In 2016, the apex courtordered for the formulation of a Constitutional Bench to decide on the viabil-ity of the NCA in view of the pendency of casesin the country.

People, who supported the establishmentof the NCA, attributed multiple reasons for thesame. Apart from the argument of pendencyand the recreation of the Supreme Court as theConstitutional court, a major block in the lit-igant’s path of seeking justice is the cost of lit-igation. From the commencement of the suitin the district court to its final disposal in theSupreme Court, the path that a litigant walkson, is filled with various applications, adjourn-ments, inter-court appeals, et al.

Added to this is the burden of travellingfrom one part of the country to the other. NickRobinson in his report, ‘Interpreting theConstitution: Supreme Court ConstitutionBenches since Independence’ showed thatappeals to the Supreme Court are made by lit-igants belonging to nearby areas. This issue canbe readily resolved by the setting up of fourregional NCAs in four corners of the nation.

Although the idea of NCA might appearto be very appealing, however, to guarantee itseffectiveness, several steps need to be taken.First, the very practice of filing frivolousappeals will have to be discouraged. This canbe accomplished if heavy penalties are imposedon the litigants, who waste the court’s time. Buthistory is a proof that this solution has not beensuccessful.

Despite the apex court laying down guide-lines for the filing of Public Interest Litigation(PIL) in State of Uttaranchal vs Balwant SinghChaufal, the practice of filing frivolous PILsis far from over yet. For the working of theNCA in the most efficient form, strict adher-ence to various guidelines will have to beensured, otherwise the body would act just as

another additional step before the SupremeCourt of India.

Another important aspect to be looked atbefore the formulation of the NCA will be therules surrounding the appointment of judges.The hierarchy of judges, their transfer and sub-sequent elevation are all questions that haveto be firmly resolved before the NCA can beset up. Attorney General KK Venugopal hadearlier suggested that for the smooth function-ing of the NCA, the age of the judges shouldbe increased from 65 years to 70 years. Thissuggestion must be taken seriously becauseusually, the years of experience of judges cometo a stop at the age of 62 or 65, without prop-er exhaustion of their mental faculties. For thisreason (in addition to that of transparency),in the US, there is no retirement age for thejudges. They hold their offices till their vol-untary retirement or death.

It has been reported that in India, one judgehandles over 1,800 cases. This not only resultsin the improper and untimely dispensation ofjustice, but also staggers the speed of develop-ment of the Constitutional jurisprudence in thecountry. The setting up of the NCA would allowample time for the adjudication of the rightsof disputing parties as well as for the develop-ment of law in the Supreme Court.

It is worthy to note that if the idea of NCAdoes conceptualise, India would not be the firstcountry in the world to have introduced it.Colombia, Australia, the United States, France,Germany, Iran, Italy, Russia, South Africa andmany other countries already have in placesuch an adjudicatory body. Thus, it can be opti-mistically presumed that the conception ofNCA will help reduce the problems which haveplagued our judicial system for centuries.

(Raghav Pandey is an Assistant Professor ofLaw at Maharashtra National Law University,Mumbai and Neelabh Bist is a Fourth Year stu-dent of Law at Maharashtra National LawUniversity, Mumbai)

Swachhta needs awareness, not toilets

Now that CJI Gogoi has undertaken the task of appointing judges to various courts, the next stepshould be the establishment of a Court of Appeal that can help reduce the judiciary’s problems

The Government has made sincere efforts in breaking records for toilet construction. But any such move can be successful

only when these facilities are actually used. India lags far behind in encouraging its citizens to use toilets

analysis 09

HIRANMAY KARLEKAR

KOTA SRIRAJ

The successful test-firing of Agni IV marks a greatleap forward for India to become a super power

RAGHAV

PANDEYNEELABH

BIST

F O R E I G N E Y E

Ranil Wickremasinghe’sburden is heavy; he cannotcomplain nor can he placethat on another. He and healone has to carry that.That is the burden ofleadership. He has to bothtreat that burden as hisprivilege and take it to itslogical end of goodgovernance. His otherchoice is brutal, unkindand terminal: continue inthe same mode and perish.He has won a battle; yet hecould still lose the war.

(Daily Mirror editorial)

DISENCHANTMENTWITH LEADERS

www.dailypioneer.com

The successful test-firing of the indigenously-developed, nuclear-

weapons-capable, surface-to-surface missile, Agni-IV, on

December 23, 2018, marks a significant leap forward towards

India becoming a super power. The goal is warranted not only by the

country’s size, potential and role in maintaining global peace, but the

uncertain conditions in the world and, particularly, the region around

the country. An India, that is a super power, will not only deter efforts

to push it around, but enable it to retaliate forcefully if some country

engages it in armed conflict.

The two countries that feature prominently in any discussion

concerning India’s security are Pakistan and China: India has fought

four wars with the former and one with the latter. Agni IV, which

has a striking range of 4,000 kilometres, is not needed against the

former, which can be hit by Agni I, II and III with striking ranges of

700, 2,000 and ,000 kilometres respectively. Agni IV would enable

India to strike some parts of China but not Beijing and its indus-

trial hubs on the eastern sea board. Agni V, which was last test-

fired on December 10, 2018, and is expected to be inducted for

use soon, would be able to do that and also hit parts of Asian and

European land mass. Further, Agni-V would carry concurrently-devel-

oped Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicles (MIRV)

payloads. This will help evade interception by China’s ballistic mis-

sile defence system. Indeed, India should also have Manoeuverable

Re-entry Vehicles (MARV), which can drastically change trajecto-

ry to evade interception in the terminal stage.

A word of caution. Though a reference to China is unavoidable

in any discussion pertaining to India’s security, it will be unwise to

be inflexible and remain frozen in a posture of hostility. While New

Delhi must do everything to neutralise any threat from China and any

strategically inimical economic penetration, it must also be engaged

in bridge-building with Beijing given vagaries of Donald Trump’s for-

eign and economic policies. This will not be easy given China’s close

alliance with Pakistan, attempts to hem India in with its presence in

adjoining countries, dominate the Indian Ocean and corner India in

most international fora — all of which stems from its refusal to coun-

tenance India’s rise to a position where it can be perceived as an equal.

All this is precisely why India should hasten with enhancing

its conventional and nuclear warfare capabilities while keeping all

avenues open for an improvement of relations with its northern

neighbour. The three key requirements of any nuclear warfare infra-

structure are an adequate number of nuclear warheads, a nuclear

doctrine and an effective delivery system. India has developed,

manufactured and deployed its own warheads. In 2003, it

announced a nuclear doctrine based on a “no-first use” princi-

ple. India will use nuclear weapons only in case of a nuclear attack

on its own soil or Indian forces anywhere. The doctrine also pro-

vides for the maintenance of a “credible minimum deterrent”, and

the possession or sufficient and survivable nuclear forces, to inflict

unacceptable damage on the enemy.

As for a delivery system, India can, at a pinch, use Mirage 2000

or Su 30 aircraft for dropping a nuclear warhead on a designated

target. Neither, however, can be a substitute for a missile delivery

system which can hit any target in an enemy’s territory. It is impor-

tant to remember this in the context of India’s adoption of the “no

first use” principle, which makes it mandatory for the country to

retain the capacity to launch a devastating retaliatory strike after

suffering a nuclear attack.

Underground silos may not be able to provide the kind of total

protection the missiles need as the enemy can get to know their loca-

tions and mount devastating strikes against them. The answer lies in

missiles that can be moved from one place to another, which, along

with the deployment of dummies, will keep the enemy guessing about

their location. Agni IV can be moved by road. Agni V is both road and

rail mobile, though roads and bridges will have to be strengthened in

many parts to carry its much greater weight.

Finally, India must not rest on its oars even after Agni V is

inducted. It requires missiles with ranges between 8,000 to 10,000

kilometres to become a truly global super power. Also, it needs

to vastly increase its ability to launch nuclear-tipped missiles from

the sea, which are more difficult for the enemy to detect than land-

based systems. It has the technical ability to do all this. Agni IV

is a highly sophisticated missile with compact and modern avion-

ics, a fifth-generation on-board computer and ability to follow the

correct path, guiding itself in the midst of in-flight disturbances

and hit its target with precision. Agni-V incorporated advanced tech-

nologies involving ring laser gyroscope and accelerometer for nav-

igation and guidance.

India has shown formidable resolve in pursuing its missile devel-

opment programme in the teeth of opposition from a number of coun-

tries and not just China. This speaks for itself and also suggests

that it will use nuclear weapons if forced to do so. That message

is central to the deterrence its nuclear arsenal is meant to convey.

(The writer is Consultant Editor, The Pioneer, and an author)

F I R S T C O L U M N

Importance of

the Agni series

IT HAS BEEN REPORTEDTHAT IN INDIA, ONE

JUDGE HANDLES OVER1,800 CASES. THIS NOTONLY RESULTS IN THE

IMPROPER ANDUNTIMELY DISPENSATION

OF JUSTICE, BUT ALSOSTAGGERS THE SPEED OF

DEVELOPMENT OF THECONSTITUTIONAL

JURISPRUDENCE IN THECOUNTRY

money 10LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 27, 2018

New Delhi (PTI): BloomHotels on Wednesday said it hadfurther raised `100 crore in afresh round of funding fromSamena Capital, taking the prin-cipal investment group’s stake inthe company to 45 per cent.Samena Capital had earlier, inApril this year, invested `100crore in a series B investmentround in Bloom Hotels for 35%stake in the company. With theadditional investment of `100crore, the stake of SamenaCapital in the company hasincreased to 45%, a BloomHotels spokesperson said.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Tightening norms for e-commerce firms likeFlipkart and Amazon,

the government on Wednesdaytook host of steps and barredthem from selling products ofthe companies in which theyhave stake.

The Commerce andIndustry Ministry also prohib-ited e-commerce companiesfrom entering into an agreementfor exclusive sale of products.

“An entity having equity

participation by e-commercemarketplace entity or its groupcompanies, or having control onits inventory by e-commercemarketplace entity or its groupcompanies, will not be permit-ted to sell its products on theplatform run by such market-place entity,” the ministry said.

Besides, the revised policyon foreign direct investment inonline retail firms says that ser-vices should be provided by e-commerce marketplace entityor other firms in which e-retailcompany has a direct or indi-

rect equity participation orcommon control to vendors onthe platform at arms length andin fair and non-discriminato-ry manner.

“Cash back provided by thegroup companies of market-place entity to buyers shall befair and non-discriminatory,”the ministry’s notification said.

It further said that thesecompanies would have to file acertificate along with a reportof statutory auditor to the RBI,confirming compliance withthe guidelines by September

30th of every year for the pre-ceding fiscal.

These changes will comeinto effect from February 1 thisyear.

The decision comes in thebackdrop of several complaintsbeing flagged by domestictraders on heavy discountsbeing given by e-commerceplayers to consumers.

As per the current policy,100 per cent FDI is permittedin marketplace e-commerceactivities. It is prohibited ininventory-based activities.

PTI n MUMBAI

After gyrating nearly 700points on Wednesday,

benchmark equity indicesreversed initial losses andended higher, driven by arebound in financial stocksamid firming trend in the USmarket.

The BSE Sensex broke itsthree-day falling streak by end-ing 179.79 points, or 0.51%,higher at 35,649.94. Intra-day,the index fell to a low of35,010.82. The broader NSENifty too recovered to reclaimthe 10,700 level, rising 66.35points, or 0.62%, to 10,729.85.

The 30-share index hadended the previous session271.92 points lower at35,470.15, while the Nifty hadlost 90.50 points.

The biggest gainers onboth bourses were BhartiAirtel, HDFC duo, L&T, BajajAuto, Kotak Bank, RelianceIndustries, Axis Bank, ICICIBank, SBI, ITC and BajajFinance, rising up to 4%.

On the other hand, SunPharma, Yes Bank, TCS,NTPC, Tata Motors, Infosysand ONGC fell up to 2%.

The rupee, meanwhile,gained against the US dollar,and was trading at 70.08 per

dollar.Brent crude, the interna-

tional benchmark, was up0.73% at USD 51.14 per barrel.

On a net basis, foreignportfolio investors (FPIs) soldshares worth `577.10 crore onMonday, while domestic insti-tutional investors (DIIs) werenet buyers to the tune of`186.14 crore, provisional dataavailable with BSE showed.

Elsewhere in Asia, Korea’sKospi ended 1.31% lower,Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell0.40% and ShanghaiComposite Index slipped 0.26%while, Japan’s Nikkei rose0.89%.

PTI n NEW DELHI

India is preparing a specificstrategy for exports to each

geography as part of plans tomake 2019 a year when out-ward shipments would startdriving the country’s overalleconomic growth, Commerceand Industry Minister SureshPrabhu has said.

The minister said India’sexports performance had been“extremely good” in the past 14months, but he was not fully sat-isfied as yet and the plans for2019 also included a specialfocus on boosting shipments tothe African continent and LatinAmerica given huge growthpotential there. He said theIndian exports were growing ata time when the global trade waswitnessing worst ever head-winds, countries were fighting atimport duty front and there wasincreasing protectionism andslowdown in demand.

“(But) I am not fully satis-fied. I want exports to driveIndia’s growth. To do that, thesituation is very challenging aseach country is trying to puttheir own borders,” Prabhu toldPTI in an interview.

Since 2011-12, India’sexports have been hovering ataround USD 300 billion. During2017-18, the shipments grew byabout 10 per cent to USD 303billion. Experts have cautionedthat growing trade tensions

between the US and Chinacould impact the global tradegrowth.

Imposition of high importduties by the US this year on cer-tain steel and aluminium prod-ucts have triggered a trade warkind of situation. The WorldTrade Organisation (WTO) toohas stated that escalating tradetensions and tighter credit mar-ket conditions in importantmarkets will slow trade growthin 2019.

“In 2019, we would like toensure that all measures that weinitiated earlier and the newmeasures get consolidated and2019 should be a new year forexports. So I am preparing astrategy. For each of the geo-graphies, we will prepare a spe-cific strategy,” Prabhu said.

Elaborating on his plans, theminister said African continentheld huge potential for domes-tic exporters and there was aneed to significantly boost ship-ments to that region. Prabhusaid his ministry was in processof creating a template for somekind of a free trade agreementwith Africa which would takeinto account the overall differ-ence of level of growth of thatcontinent and the country spe-cific profiles.

Similar plans are there forother regions as well, includingfor Latin America, he said,adding that Central America,South East Asia, Central Asia

and South Asia hold huge poten-tial for domestic exporters, but“our performance is at sub-optimal level” in these regions.

Emphasised on the need topromote value-added exports,Prabhu said his ministry wastrying to bring Japanese andKorean companies on board toincrease outbound shipments ofmarine products. He also hopedthat the recently announcedagri-export policy would helpboost exports from the sector toUSD 60 billion in the next fiveyears and USD 100 billion in thenext 10 years. “This is doablebecause we are the largest pro-ducers of milk and the secondlargest producer of fruits andvegetables,” he said.

The ministry would bedrawing a strategy to promoteshipments of five categories —plantation crops, meat, fish-eries, agriculture and horticul-ture, he added. For this, the min-ister will be meeting all planta-tion boards, farmers associationsand organisations and discussissues related to every segment.

“We are asking states forproduct-specific clusters. For

example, in Jalgaon(Maharashtra) we are promot-ing cluster for bananas, and forgrapes in Nashik,” he said.

The ministry is also prepar-ing an incentive package forlabour intensive sectors likeleather to address issues faced byexporters. “We are preparing apackage which will ensure thatexporters’ woes are addressedproperly. There have been chal-lenges for the export sectorover a period of time and one bigchallenge is credit,” he said. Theministry is also looking at qual-ity of goods being exported byIndia as foreign firms are keep-ing a special tab on this.

Further, Prabhu said asIndia was one of the majorexporter of services like IT andITeS, the ministry’s strategywould have elements to promoteservices exports also. The gov-ernment has approved an actionplan for 12 champion servicessectors, including IT, tourismand hospitality, for realisingtheir potential through estab-lishment of a `5,000 crore ded-icated fund.

Commenting on the growthprospects next year, exporterssaid the government needs tofocus on areas like timely refundof Goods and Services tax; ade-quate availability of affordablecredit; extending export dutybenefits to more areas like seeds;and interest subsidy to merchantexporters.

India’s exports performance ‘extremelygood’, but Prabhu not fully satisfied

Sensex rebounds 180 pts

Govt tightens norms for e-commerce

companies for sale of products

Samena Capitalinvests addl

`100 crin Bloom Hotels

Script Open High Low LTPRCOM 14.20 14.46 13.82 14.29YESBANK 182.20 182.60 174.25 179.45SUZLON 5.50 5.53 5.26 5.44JPASSOCIAT 7.20 7.20 6.83 7.14JETAIRWAYS 253.70 272.00 251.20 268.90IBULHSGFIN 818.80 836.00 790.05 831.00JUBLFOOD 1213.90 1236.50 1146.60 1230.10SPICEJET 85.75 88.00 84.70 87.50RELIANCE 1087.00 1100.65 1066.55 1096.95HEG 3650.00 3650.00 3485.05 3566.35DHFL 233.95 239.20 226.60 237.85GRAPHITE 750.00 775.05 708.55 753.35INFY 648.90 650.00 637.70 644.60SUNPHARMA 425.00 425.00 410.30 414.00BEML 875.00 905.00 853.15 900.00LT 1403.00 1429.65 1385.00 1422.50SBIN 293.00 294.80 287.20 293.95PCJEWELLER 82.80 82.80 79.25 81.10HINDUNILVR 1759.00 1798.60 1742.00 1791.15TATAMOTORS 172.00 172.15 167.70 170.90MARUTI 7512.00 7599.80 7406.00 7550.50BANDHANBNK 525.00 549.60 502.85 545.10BAJFINANCE 2555.00 2582.65 2504.90 2569.40TCS 1916.00 1917.95 1872.00 1889.50IOC 136.45 137.20 134.20 134.70RELCAPITAL 215.70 215.70 206.70 212.10BANKINDIA 100.70 101.60 97.05 100.80VEDL 196.90 197.70 193.05 196.60AXISBANK 613.00 622.95 603.55 616.85TATASTEEL 509.80 517.90 505.15 513.65ZEEL 437.00 455.90 431.35 453.65INFIBEAM 47.00 47.00 44.50 45.95ADANIPORTS 360.95 379.50 358.00 376.70JINDALSTEL 156.05 163.20 153.60 162.15HDFCBANK 2084.90 2128.00 2070.60 2120.20BHARTIARTL 310.95 323.95 303.00 321.20ICICIBANK 351.75 356.50 348.00 355.35SIEMENS 995.90 1047.00 981.10 1036.65BEL 87.50 89.40 85.35 88.75PNB 76.75 78.30 74.75 77.80L&TFH 151.75 155.95 149.55 154.55ASHOKLEY 104.30 104.30 102.05 103.85DMART 1537.70 1564.00 1504.50 1554.30CGPOWER 44.50 44.50 42.10 44.20BANKBARODA 115.50 118.80 113.00 118.10ASIANPAINT 1372.60 1373.60 1344.35 1359.00HINDPETRO 250.00 251.00 244.80 248.65BHEL 70.95 71.75 69.35 71.50ITC 276.00 278.45 274.75 276.70CEATLTD 1263.00 1271.00 1221.35 1269.15STRTECH 284.50 288.75 277.40 284.30RECLTD 113.45 116.00 110.90 115.45TITAN 879.00 900.00 869.00 889.15RELINFRA 307.45 308.35 300.40 303.70KOTAKBANK 1231.90 1253.35 1211.00 1249.65SRF 1975.00 1989.30 1906.00 1970.15DLF 178.55 179.35 172.20 177.50DABUR 426.80 429.55 414.45 423.15IDFCBANK 43.10 43.40 42.20 42.95BPCL 368.85 371.55 358.30 366.30BOMDYEING 109.50 112.40 104.40 110.05M&M 789.00 792.70 772.05 787.65NTPC 146.85 147.90 143.90 145.55AUROPHARMA 719.90 720.50 698.00 718.20INDIGO 1171.10 1175.00 1144.10 1158.20BAJAJ-AUTO 2724.00 2754.00 2669.40 2737.95ESCORTS 671.10 686.85 660.00 686.00UNIONBANK 83.80 84.00 80.05 83.60MUTHOOTFIN 494.00 504.80 481.50 498.80JAICORPLTD 106.40 107.70 102.55 106.50CHENNPETRO 281.80 287.05 273.55 281.10MOTHERSUMI 159.95 165.60 159.10 163.70JSWSTEEL 290.80 298.00 288.20 298.00IBREALEST 87.40 90.15 85.50 88.75UPL 735.95 754.00 728.30 751.40DRREDDY 2600.00 2629.25 2573.00 2613.00HINDALCO 215.45 220.00 213.15 218.35PFC 100.00 100.85 98.40 99.95INDUSINDBK 1560.10 1563.75 1521.60 1557.20BIOCON 610.95 618.75 601.95 616.50ONGC 148.40 149.25 145.75 146.75HAVELLS 664.00 681.25 654.20 678.45ADANIPOWER 50.50 51.75 49.55 50.75SUNTV 580.50 580.50 554.40 575.65COALINDIA 249.90 250.55 246.35 247.30ACC 1449.00 1484.00 1422.65 1478.45LUPIN 830.00 839.60 817.35 833.15CANFINHOME 276.55 291.60 267.80 289.20CIPLA 518.30 518.30 507.75 514.00WESTLIFE 377.90 377.90 361.15 374.80UJJIVAN 270.70 276.85 264.00 274.95HDFC 1908.00 1941.40 1884.75 1934.45AVANTI 379.00 382.25 367.50 377.50EDELWEISS 181.50 188.30 178.80 185.75SUNTECK 352.15 360.00 343.25 355.90BAJAJFINSV 6274.95 6482.00 6155.00 6447.50NBCC 53.90 55.10 52.40 54.50WOCKPHARMA 505.00 507.45 492.30 505.50NCC 83.55 84.30 80.50 84.15JUSTDIAL 482.95 492.70 464.90 487.60WIPRO 327.00 327.25 319.40 325.80INDIACEM 92.65 93.45 89.25 93.25FEDERALBNK 94.00 94.00 91.35 92.45GRUH 315.90 315.90 295.20 307.90CANBK 266.25 273.30 259.85 271.15GODFRYPHLP 846.00 864.00 762.90 864.00GAIL 347.70 354.00 341.90 352.00SAIL 51.85 52.80 50.60 52.55

TATAPOWER 76.70 77.15 74.95 75.95PIDILITIND 1110.00 1112.65 1087.90 1103.70CUMMINSIND 789.00 810.00 772.00 805.20CONCOR 646.65 657.40 635.65 653.40HEROMOTOCO 3165.00 3208.00 3134.65 3185.95RCF 63.30 63.95 62.65 63.50M&MFIN 473.00 479.00 460.10 473.65EICHERMOT 23187.40 23416.00 22500.00 23077.30PEL 2305.00 2323.00 2233.55 2315.10SRTRANSFIN 1202.45 1227.45 1178.20 1217.95VGUARD 232.80 232.85 221.40 226.00IDEA 37.25 37.45 36.35 37.25RPOWER 27.90 27.90 26.75 27.65NAVKARCORP 60.00 60.00 56.25 56.90ULTRACEMCO 3920.00 4005.95 3860.00 3998.50JISLJALEQS 67.65 67.65 65.20 66.70BHARATFORG 498.10 507.90 494.75 506.00DELTACORP 246.70 246.70 239.30 242.55IBVENTURES 378.75 379.35 361.00 372.50VIPIND 516.90 520.00 509.25 511.55IDFC 43.00 43.75 42.05 43.40GICRE 264.05 265.05 248.50 258.80ORIENTBANK 95.50 96.70 92.25 94.50HCLTECH 941.00 947.45 931.45 942.55GNFC 345.00 345.00 334.00 340.75TATAMTRDVR 93.80 93.95 91.70 93.10CHOLAFIN 1223.45 1230.00 1161.30 1219.05MPHASIS 1011.00 1036.80 1003.90 1005.20NATCOPHARM* 697.00 697.00 669.60 675.85DIVISLAB 1448.00 1458.90 1428.00 1455.00SPARC 201.00 203.30 198.50 199.75GRASIM 810.05 821.90 795.60 818.15ENGINERSIN 129.90 129.90 121.35 125.95ICICIGI 837.55 844.00 813.65 829.00RADICO 392.00 396.30 374.80 393.70HDFCLIFE 385.00 387.45 379.85 385.10MANAPPURAM 87.95 91.25 86.60 90.80

NATIONALUM 61.50 62.95 61.10 62.80TECHM 697.00 698.30 687.00 694.65PHILIPCARB 198.55 202.75 196.00 200.30FORCEMOT 1622.00 1628.90 1595.00 1607.95STAR 455.50 462.55 446.85 460.80COLPAL 1308.30 1314.30 1295.00 1302.20ITI 90.00 91.45 88.40 89.80ABCAPITAL 97.00 97.90 95.75 97.35BBTC 1277.00 1282.35 1232.00 1263.30BERGEPAINT 335.50 335.50 320.55 328.25GSFC 107.30 110.30 106.90 109.50AMBUJACEM 213.90 221.45 210.00 221.00LTI 1704.90 1705.00 1674.75 1675.50RAIN 133.00 134.80 128.30 131.35BRITANNIA 3100.00 3113.00 3040.55 3088.60JKTYRE 104.55 104.95 102.30 103.85LICHSGFIN 472.50 488.20 465.40 485.90ALBK 45.05 46.50 44.10 46.05INTELLECT 222.60 224.00 215.90 221.55ABFRL 206.85 209.95 201.50 206.00ABB 1310.00 1318.50 1286.85 1300.00MANPASAND 84.60 87.30 83.35 86.75BALKRISIND 918.70 918.70 891.00 908.85CENTURYTEX 891.00 906.50 873.65 897.75DEEPAKNI 211.70 211.70 204.60 207.75GODREJCP 803.00 803.40 781.40 800.00OIL 174.85 175.50 173.00 173.60FCONSUMER 46.70 46.85 45.50 46.35VENKYS 2399.00 2399.00 2330.00 2364.70UBL 1369.00 1369.00 1312.45 1360.50TATAELXSI 991.00 994.85 972.70 991.50TATAGLOBAL 219.95 219.95 212.60 218.70TVSMOTOR 558.50 567.15 553.55 557.85ADANITRANS 210.80 210.80 196.00 198.85EXIDEIND 256.90 263.00 250.50 262.00SOUTHBANK 15.50 15.50 14.90 15.20EQUITAS 123.25 126.35 120.30 125.65KTKBANK 107.80 111.40 105.50 109.60KEC 297.50 300.30 291.55 291.55APOLLOTYRE 228.80 234.80 225.90 233.20BATAINDIA 1106.00 1106.00 1075.55 1096.30FSL 47.75 47.75 46.00 47.60MRPL 73.80 76.00 71.90 75.25REPCOHOME 391.15 406.70 375.95 405.05IGL 264.70 264.70 258.55 262.90CAPF 594.00 594.95 580.25 590.65RBLBANK 557.35 566.10 549.15 559.00INDIANB 237.15 243.95 232.00 242.45MINDTREE 831.25 858.00 818.50 851.70LTTS 1679.00 1706.00 1655.00 1694.80FRETAIL 560.00 563.95 538.00 543.05NOCIL 165.50 165.50 160.00 162.30

RAYMOND 825.20 838.80 813.55 836.80VOLTAS 555.00 555.05 541.35 548.00JMFINANCIL 87.50 88.35 82.55 87.10INDHOTEL 145.80 148.75 144.70 147.20SYNDIBANK 37.60 38.10 36.60 37.95TATACHEM 708.95 709.00 687.35 697.55HFCL 21.40 21.40 20.65 21.25CASTROLIND 151.15 153.85 150.00 152.20BHARATFIN 980.00 998.70 958.95 995.65JUBILANT 706.40 716.75 701.00 711.55IRB 160.10 161.05 154.45 160.35SREINFRA 33.95 34.90 33.40 34.60MEGH 59.30 60.25 58.05 59.45JINDALSAW 84.00 84.00 80.90 82.85GMRINFRA 15.75 16.25 15.40 16.15NAUKRI 1545.00 1551.95 1507.90 1508.50PNBHOUSING 942.00 945.85 916.55 923.80KANSAINER 483.55 485.00 474.55 481.30IFCI 14.40 14.67 13.90 14.61PETRONET 222.40 224.25 220.20 222.45DCBBANK 163.85 163.85 158.60 163.65SHANKARA 535.30 537.00 520.50 525.05PTC 87.20 89.55 85.70 89.40HSCL 133.00 133.00 129.05 131.30MFSL 438.00 449.00 423.70 446.25CADILAHC 341.00 342.50 336.65 339.10PARAGMILK 257.50 257.50 248.00 252.10TORNTPHARM 1757.95 1768.65 1718.55 1747.15NIITTECH 1110.00 1128.80 1102.90 1122.05KPIT 216.00 218.00 214.30 216.50VINATIORGA 1560.00 1564.00 1465.15 1559.00JSLHISAR 84.10 86.45 83.05 85.65TATACOMM 518.75 519.00 506.60 510.55AJANTPHARM 1135.45 1138.10 1107.75 1132.00ADANIGREEN 42.70 42.70 40.05 41.65CENTURYPLY 174.25 174.25 170.00 171.15TORNTPOWER 257.85 259.60 252.80 256.30NMDC 94.60 95.50 93.05 94.60WELSPUNIND 59.05 59.65 57.90 58.60HEXAWARE 312.70 318.80 307.80 318.80GLENMARK 661.00 674.05 660.05 672.00KEI 358.05 361.40 350.00 358.05DISHTV 36.50 38.00 35.80 37.20WABAG 258.00 259.00 248.95 253.95IBULISL 389.95 391.90 364.70 377.90MAHINDCIE 243.20 247.25 236.60 246.00KSCL 576.25 576.45 555.35 565.55CENTRALBK 35.00 35.00 32.85 34.15NAVINFLUOR 706.00 706.30 690.20 694.50MARICO 370.00 370.00 361.00 367.45POWERGRID 193.50 196.55 191.25 195.30SUVEN 221.00 224.20 216.90 221.85AMARAJABAT 740.00 743.00 729.00 732.85PAGEIND 23815.90 23921.05 23232.15 23400.00JSWENERGY 68.45 68.45 66.65 67.75MCX 722.00 722.00 703.45 710.20ICICIPRULI 321.60 323.15 315.85 321.25GREAVESCOT 118.35 118.40 117.00 118.05QUESS 628.10 665.70 628.05 641.50BLISSGVS 139.20 141.40 135.00 137.60RAJESHEXPO 570.50 575.45 569.00 575.00TAKE 149.10 149.20 141.65 148.003MINDIA 21000.00 21000.00 19700.00 20760.25INDOSTAR 314.55 355.70 307.30 339.30LEMONTREE 68.30 69.75 67.90 68.15GRANULES 87.85 88.60 85.10 87.60TV18BRDCST 36.20 36.35 35.30 36.20PVR 1550.00 1558.90 1515.95 1550.20DBL 420.05 424.00 415.40 420.00SYMPHONY 1120.00 1120.00 1021.55 1076.00INFRATEL 266.00 266.00 258.55 262.60BAJAJHLDNG 2907.00 2909.95 2762.00 2860.00NIACL 184.50 184.80 173.05 178.35MMTC 29.00 29.55 28.60 29.40HINDCOPPER 50.00 50.00 49.10 49.70HUDCO 43.30 43.30 42.50 43.15CROMPTON 224.95 230.70 218.70 226.00SBILIFE 580.20 582.75 570.25 572.55JAMNAAUTO 63.10 64.10 62.35 63.90GODREJIND 515.80 523.50 505.50 523.50MOIL 173.85 173.85 167.30 168.70APOLLOHOSP 1280.00 1280.00 1239.10 1266.05NESTLEIND 10950.00 10975.50 10750.15 10764.30KAJARIACER 481.70 490.10 473.05 489.00EMAMILTD 401.00 408.20 395.10 405.75SUPREMEIND 1090.30 1149.90 1080.50 1126.50VIJAYABANK 48.55 49.40 47.35 49.10NHPC 26.00 26.15 25.85 26.05RAMCOCEM 641.00 647.00 609.00 621.70GET&D 262.00 289.80 261.65 284.30NBVENTURES 119.60 119.60 115.00 118.00MGL 875.00 885.00 865.80 873.25GLAXO 1449.00 1515.00 1402.40 1510.00MRF 66489.25 67428.15 65269.00 66980.75CARERATING 959.20 974.05 950.80 965.00HINDZINC 271.00 272.25 267.50 269.80ISEC 260.75 263.10 251.00 261.00AUBANK 601.00 601.00 583.00 591.05RALLIS 171.60 173.90 169.35 173.10GODREJPROP 677.00 679.90 667.85 676.00WELCORP 143.50 143.50 140.00 141.50GUJFLUORO 885.00 895.00 875.00 895.00MOTILALOFS 642.15 663.00 638.70 647.00MAXINDIA 81.95 81.95 78.25 79.45GSKCONS 7490.00 7512.75 7372.00 7495.00INOXLEISUR 245.00 247.50 238.20 244.30HSIL 225.35 228.90 219.20 223.05SJVN 25.15 26.00 25.05 25.35BALMLAWRIE 197.00 204.00 193.50 202.20

TATAMETALI 619.00 624.25 607.80 615.50GMDCLTD 88.10 88.70 86.45 87.10TEJASNET 201.10 208.70 197.50 205.50NLCINDIA 67.85 67.85 66.80 67.05DEEPAKFERT 146.00 146.00 142.50 144.75DCAL 230.55 230.55 226.00 228.15TIMKEN 547.55 562.45 531.00 542.50DCMSHRIRAM 336.35 349.00 330.00 345.50SWANENERGY 100.65 103.60 100.05 102.70TRIDENT 65.70 65.70 63.85 64.50MAHABANK 14.69 14.69 13.84 14.03TATAINVEST 884.90 884.90 868.00 876.50SCI 47.45 47.50 46.35 46.85KALPATPOWR 380.00 383.00 368.80 376.90BAJAJELEC 500.50 500.50 487.50 494.25CUB 187.30 187.90 182.50 184.05PERSISTENT 620.80 635.00 615.00 635.00COROMANDEL 443.95 453.00 427.00 447.00FORTIS 134.50 135.30 134.10 134.70WHIRLPOOL 1290.00 1324.00 1275.00 1320.80LINDEINDIA 694.70 694.70 677.80 684.00ZENSARTECH 235.85 236.25 230.00 236.00ASTRAL 1060.30 1099.80 1040.95 1076.45IDBI 61.30 61.40 60.95 61.10GUJALKALI 535.00 535.00 525.00 529.55DENABANK 16.65 16.70 16.30 16.65JKCEMENT 735.05 738.00 714.00 714.75ASHOKA 126.00 126.00 122.20 122.70OMAXE 213.10 216.50 213.05 215.55THERMAX 1104.00 1104.00 1070.20 1086.20GICHSGFIN 252.20 255.00 248.05 253.75CARBORUNIV 352.95 353.65 347.10 347.10BOSCHLTD 19482.40 19619.95 19051.10 19446.00OBEROIRLTY 444.15 454.65 437.70 446.85HIMATSEIDE 218.60 218.60 210.20 212.50AARTIIND 1405.00 1441.25 1400.00 1420.00EIDPARRY 202.95 208.70 200.00 208.40CYIENT 606.00 609.15 602.00 606.00FINCABLES 465.00 468.00 451.00 457.00VMART 2600.00 2624.50 2550.00 2550.00OFSS 3644.05 3644.05 3538.10 3560.65GODREJAGRO 500.80 500.80 494.40 497.00CORPBANK 28.20 28.85 27.35 28.25PRSMJOHNSN 86.00 89.00 85.15 88.20PFIZER 2804.95 2860.00 2740.00 2832.00ATUL 3340.05 3446.30 3320.50 3424.20RNAM 160.55 160.55 155.00 156.75IEX 166.15 168.00 165.30 166.50UCOBANK 20.25 20.25 19.40 19.85TATACOFFEE 95.60 96.10 94.15 95.20SUNDRMFAST 522.00 528.00 515.00 527.00NILKAMAL 1514.40 1515.25 1486.30 1505.50CHAMBLFERT 142.95 142.95 140.60 141.30SUDARSCHEM 337.90 349.90 329.35 339.90MINDACORP 140.70 141.90 137.00 141.90ALLCARGO 104.90 108.00 103.55 107.00AEGISLOG 187.00 195.00 184.00 194.05COCHINSHIP 380.00 380.65 375.50 376.00UFLEX 270.00 273.00 267.20 270.70ANDHRABANK 29.95 29.95 28.75 29.80FDC 174.50 174.70 171.00 172.65TIINDIA 348.00 348.00 323.00 328.25HERITGFOOD 515.60 544.25 513.00 540.00MERCK 2841.00 2941.50 2836.00 2941.50TRENT 355.00 355.00 339.95 343.15HEIDELBERG 145.05 152.50 145.05 150.95VBL 710.00 736.00 708.00 733.90SHREECEM 16645.60 17259.75 16350.00 17100.00MHRIL 198.20 198.20 193.05 193.10PHOENIXLTD 560.05 574.40 556.15 564.00TIMETECHNO 104.50 104.50 100.20 102.25SHARDACROP 310.75 312.85 302.65 303.45BASF 1565.45 1588.05 1548.15 1574.80MINDAIND 319.00 322.00 310.40 319.35CENTRUM 37.15 37.15 35.50 35.80GESHIP 315.00 321.25 308.00 321.25ENDURANCE 1153.90 1162.00 1142.50 1161.00KNRCON 199.20 207.90 198.55 205.40GSPL 174.85 175.65 174.05 174.40SOBHA 447.35 450.40 442.90 445.30GHCL 235.40 239.85 235.00 238.00JYOTHYLAB 198.80 200.00 194.00 198.00NETWORK18 37.55 38.35 37.35 37.50IPCALAB 790.00 793.15 783.05 784.25AIAENG 1602.05 1670.00 1584.05 1670.00EIHOTEL 190.50 198.90 189.50 194.30ELGIEQUIP 261.00 266.00 253.55 255.00TVTODAY 374.20 378.00 368.60 372.60SONATSOFTW 295.50 300.00 293.00 297.90APLLTD 572.05 575.10 562.00 566.45KRBL 280.50 284.80 278.50 282.00MAGMA 109.05 111.90 108.65 111.00J&KBANK 36.35 36.85 36.15 36.50PRESTIGE 201.00 207.75 199.90 204.75ITDC 302.00 307.00 296.00 301.30APLAPOLLO 1127.10 1127.10 1100.00 1100.10GPPL 101.05 104.40 100.75 103.05PNCINFRA 138.60 144.00 136.30 143.55IOB 14.83 14.95 14.55 14.85ALKEM 1852.05 1882.75 1840.00 1860.00ADVENZYMES 176.60 181.10 175.80 177.25JSL 32.15 32.60 31.85 32.35ASTERDM 148.40 150.70 146.50 150.00BDL 276.60 278.50 270.00 270.05LAKSHVILAS 86.30 87.00 85.95 86.80SOMANYCERA 313.55 334.75 310.00 328.00HAL 775.00 785.25 775.00 777.90THOMASCOOK 234.15 234.15 228.50 230.85LAXMIMACH* 5776.35 5800.00 5667.00 5720.00

SHOPERSTOP 506.00 514.00 497.70 514.00TRITURBINE 121.15 122.50 119.35 120.85FORBESCO 2350.05 2431.00 2300.00 2400.00ECLERX 1068.35 1085.95 1045.05 1065.10GULFOILLUB 825.00 825.00 813.10 819.90BIRLACORPN 595.05 618.75 594.40 618.75PIIND 841.05 850.60 834.85 841.05SYNGENE 557.10 563.65 549.95 563.00LALPATHLAB 936.90 938.15 918.00 925.00THYROCARE 540.00 550.00 534.00 545.00SCHNEIDER 99.30 101.45 98.80 100.15SUPRAJIT 215.00 219.00 210.00 219.00ABBOTINDIA 7452.90 7515.00 7375.00 7460.10BLUESTARCO 614.65 622.10 605.00 610.00APARINDS 636.50 669.00 634.00 669.00BAJAJCORP 358.10 363.00 355.10 360.00ASTRAZEN 1463.05 1490.05 1458.05 1458.05ISGEC 5076.95 5076.95 4960.00 5000.00GREENPLY 134.30 138.70 133.40 136.45DBCORP 169.35 171.00 166.00 170.50ERIS 669.95 671.60 655.00 669.00REDINGTON 86.45 87.20 85.95 87.15PGHH 9570.00 9731.70 9569.10 9709.00JKLAKSHMI 279.95 285.50 277.30 283.00TEAMLEASE 2848.00 2858.00 2820.35 2849.90FLFL 402.30 405.00 396.00 403.15MONSANTO 2590.00 2649.00 2546.00 2622.00IFBIND 847.35 859.95 836.00 845.00EVEREADY 188.00 188.35 183.25 187.95TTKPRESTIG 7229.35 7499.90 7229.35 7446.55SCHAEFFLER 5668.25 5668.25 5431.85 5502.75CRISIL 1580.30 1630.35 1552.05 1630.35SOLARINDS 1033.00 1056.10 1020.00 1055.00DHANUKA 461.55 470.00 458.00 470.00SADBHAV 200.00 207.60 197.25 206.20BLUEDART 3063.20 3211.30 3042.05 3151.05SHK 170.40 171.80 169.40 170.20ZYDUSWELL 1374.00 1380.60 1337.80 1373.90JAGRAN 114.25 115.65 113.70 115.25INOXWIND 77.65 78.50 76.40 77.20WABCOINDIA 6868.00 6868.00 6680.05 6836.15GUJGAS 671.00 672.00 661.05 672.00ESSELPRO 105.30 105.50 104.00 104.10TVSSRICHAK 2518.95 2519.00 2455.20 2483.35GDL 133.00 133.00 128.70 130.00MAHLIFE 394.85 394.85 377.05 378.00COFFEEDAY 267.65 272.25 266.40 272.25SANOFI 6076.65 6141.15 6019.40 6126.00FINOLEXIND 543.00 548.00 535.10 536.55JBCHEPHARM 295.60 298.00 293.00 294.70CAPPL 384.00 384.45 379.10 382.00RELAXO 714.75 735.70 711.40 720.00ITDCEM 108.55 112.95 107.95 112.95LAOPALA 222.30 225.05 220.50 220.60SHILPAMED 380.50 389.85 379.10 388.25NAVNETEDUL 104.30 106.65 104.30 105.05TNPL 253.05 256.80 253.00 254.35ORIENTCEM 80.95 81.95 78.90 81.15LAURUSLABS 379.25 384.05 370.65 382.00GALAXYSURF 1200.00 1203.70 1183.10 1185.05CERA 2366.20 2401.40 2353.75 2353.80AKZOINDIA 1604.00 1622.80 1590.00 1619.00VTL 1007.00 1030.00 1007.00 1025.00BAYERCROP 4194.75 4282.70 4169.00 4217.85LUXIND 1409.45 1414.00 1398.80 1398.80SUNCLAYLTD 3444.00 3444.00 3430.00 3443.00GRINDWELL 538.00 541.00 535.00 535.85HONAUT 21350.00 21602.00 21350.00 21520.00HATSUN 615.50 623.90 613.00 623.90MAHLOG 510.00 519.90 505.20 519.90TIFHL 500.35 508.00 495.75 500.05SUPPETRO 202.25 205.60 200.95 205.60SKFINDIA 1891.20 1908.30 1881.00 1887.00GILLETTE 6432.30 6500.00 6432.30 6461.25ASAHIINDIA 242.00 245.50 240.00 243.15KPRMILL 575.85 575.85 565.15 566.05NH 200.00 201.95 198.30 201.60KIOCL 145.10 149.90 143.70 149.50STARCEMENT 100.75 102.65 100.75 102.10GEPIL 834.40 834.40 825.00 825.00CCL 272.00 273.90 269.65 272.95SIS 742.00 744.85 741.00 741.65JCHAC 1838.00 1838.00 1760.00 1790.00RATNAMANI 892.00 925.00 888.05 925.00SHRIRAMCIT 1568.00 1569.95 1567.55 1569.95

NIFTY 50

SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 10635.45 10747.50 10534.55 10729.85 66.35ZEEL 435.85 457.00 431.30 455.30 18.55ADANIPORTS 360.20 378.50 357.50 376.00 14.90BHARTIARTL 308.20 323.00 302.60 321.50 12.40BAJAJFINSV 6272.00 6465.00 6150.00 6465.00 190.55HDFCBANK 2077.00 2127.00 2069.00 2124.80 44.15ULTRACEMCO 3891.10 4008.00 3857.05 3993.65 76.50HDFC 1896.00 1944.70 1883.20 1938.00 35.85UPL 737.00 751.90 728.00 750.25 13.80GAIL 346.40 354.40 342.00 353.85 6.15GRASIM 808.00 822.25 795.10 822.25 14.10JSWSTEEL 290.55 297.00 288.10 297.00 4.80IBULHSGFIN 818.95 835.90 790.00 832.50 13.25LT 1398.80 1432.00 1384.30 1422.65 17.85ICICIBANK 350.65 356.90 348.15 356.45 3.70TITAN 879.00 900.00 868.20 889.00 9.15DRREDDY 2598.00 2628.00 2575.20 2626.00 26.20KOTAKBANK 1234.50 1250.80 1210.50 1250.80 12.30RELIANCE 1085.80 1100.00 1065.65 1099.70 10.55HINDALCO 213.85 219.80 212.90 219.75 1.90POWERGRID 193.60 196.30 191.35 195.40 1.45HINDPETRO 250.30 250.85 244.80 248.10 1.80BAJAJ-AUTO 2713.70 2749.80 2670.00 2744.35 19.70AXISBANK 611.00 623.65 603.45 618.95 3.95BPCL 368.80 371.30 358.20 367.20 2.25SBIN 292.85 295.00 287.15 294.55 1.50HEROMOTOCO 3160.00 3212.00 3136.05 3184.15 15.75HCLTECH 938.00 947.70 931.00 941.95 4.10BAJFINANCE 2560.00 2582.95 2503.70 2575.00 10.10ITC 276.35 278.80 274.80 276.95 0.95MARUTI 7488.00 7600.00 7402.00 7552.50 23.35HINDUNILVR 1760.00 1798.65 1741.25 1790.00 5.35ASIANPAINT 1367.95 1374.90 1347.40 1360.05 3.00VEDL 195.95 197.65 193.05 196.75 0.35INFRATEL 259.95 265.00 258.25 262.90 0.35INDUSINDBK 1559.70 1564.95 1520.30 1563.95 1.60M&M 785.65 793.50 772.00 789.00 0.35TATASTEEL 509.00 517.30 504.40 513.45 -0.25NTPC 146.20 148.35 144.25 146.00 -0.40IOC 136.30 137.20 134.30 134.60 -0.45TECHM 695.90 697.90 686.00 695.50 -2.40WIPRO 325.70 327.30 319.35 325.55 -1.15COALINDIA 248.30 250.40 246.00 247.30 -1.00TATAMOTORS 171.45 172.20 167.60 171.40 -1.10ONGC 148.10 149.45 145.75 146.85 -1.05CIPLA 515.60 519.00 507.30 515.00 -3.80EICHERMOT 23100.00 23450.00 22700.00 23038.00 -172.70INFY 647.00 647.00 637.35 643.90 -5.10TCS 1921.80 1921.80 1870.25 1892.00 -26.50YESBANK 182.50 182.65 174.25 179.50 -2.80SUNPHARMA 423.45 423.45 410.00 414.95 -9.40

SE 500B

NIFTY NEXT 50

SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 27531.95 27799.15 27137.90 27725.65 105.05BANDHANBNK 523.00 551.85 507.25 548.00 23.75SIEMENS 996.90 1045.00 980.60 1039.90 44.00AMBUJACEM 212.65 222.00 209.90 221.10 7.85LICHSGFIN 470.00 488.35 465.20 486.50 14.35BANKBARODA 115.00 118.90 112.90 118.50 3.10ACC 1442.30 1486.00 1421.10 1482.00 34.35SHREECEM 16630.00 17279.00 16355.60 17100.00 345.40SRTRANSFIN 1199.00 1229.00 1178.70 1222.95 23.25MCDOWELL-N 607.00 623.30 588.60 619.60 10.95MOTHERSUMI 159.80 165.80 158.85 163.80 2.25SAIL 51.85 52.75 50.55 52.65 0.70MRF 66200.00 67503.00 65105.25 67000.00 882.35HAVELLS 665.40 679.25 655.00 676.25 8.35BEL 87.75 89.50 85.25 88.75 0.80BIOCON 609.80 617.00 601.00 615.95 5.20L&TFH 152.30 155.90 149.45 154.00 1.15BOSCHLTD 19450.00 19640.00 19170.75 19524.95 109.45DMART 1534.70 1562.90 1501.30 1554.00 8.25AUROPHARMA 715.95 720.75 697.10 718.80 3.40NHPC 25.90 26.25 25.85 26.05 0.10BHEL 70.70 71.85 69.25 71.50 0.25PEL 2285.00 2324.00 2234.00 2307.00 5.65HDFCLIFE 383.00 386.05 379.55 386.00 0.90HINDZINC 271.50 272.25 267.20 270.25 0.20CONCOR 652.00 656.75 636.10 650.00 -0.05ABCAPITAL 96.80 97.75 95.65 97.00 -0.05PGHH 9715.40 9787.10 9575.10 9705.00 -10.40ABB 1301.20 1318.00 1285.00 1300.00 -2.15NMDC 94.55 95.60 92.90 94.50 -0.20SUNTV 578.70 580.00 554.00 575.60 -1.35BRITANNIA 3086.40 3114.00 3041.00 3092.50 -8.05PETRONET 222.85 224.80 220.10 222.30 -0.65INDIGO 1174.00 1174.00 1142.55 1156.40 -5.00DLF 179.00 179.75 171.80 177.30 -0.80OIL 175.00 175.60 173.00 173.45 -0.90IDEA 37.10 37.50 36.35 37.15 -0.20GODREJCP 802.00 803.25 780.80 798.20 -4.35LUPIN 828.00 840.40 817.05 832.60 -5.65ASHOKLEY 104.00 104.30 102.00 103.90 -0.70MARICO 369.00 370.10 360.65 367.50 -3.00CADILAHC 342.00 342.35 336.20 338.85 -2.80ICICIPRULI 323.50 323.75 315.50 321.55 -2.85COLPAL 1305.15 1315.95 1293.05 1302.00 -13.30DABUR 424.90 429.80 414.20 421.25 -4.60ICICIGI 838.00 842.70 811.35 828.00 -10.75SBILIFE 576.00 584.00 570.15 572.00 -7.45PIDILITIND 1105.00 1114.00 1087.05 1103.55 -15.35GICRE 263.15 264.00 247.10 257.55 -6.00OFSS 3632.50 3651.90 3531.90 3567.85 -93.45NIACL 183.15 184.95 171.20 176.50 -7.40

world 11LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 27, 2018

Priyanka, Nick get their Simpsons caricatures

Los Angeles: “The Simpsons” illustrators Stefano Monda andRino Russo seemed to have given a gift to the newly-weddedcouple Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas who now have theirown caricatures from the world of the fictitious town ofSpringfield. The “Quantico” star took to Instagram to share thetwo cartoons that were a play on their twin wedding in Indiancity of Jodhpur where they were dressed in traditional whiteand red colours to honour the roots of the couple. Priyankaand Nick exchanged wedding vows on December 1 at the majes-tic Umaid Bhawan Palace in a Catholic ceremony officiated bythe groom’s father Kevin Jonas Sr. It was followed by an equal-ly grand wedding as per Hindu traditions on December 2. Inthe first artwork, a scene from the Christian nuptials, here offi-ciated by Homer Simpson, Priyanka and Nick can be seen stand-ing in an embrace showing off their rings. A board titled, “FirstChurch of Springfield - Wedding Day: Priyanka and Nick”, isalso visible in the cartoon. The actor captioned the photo: “Love#simpsons.”In the cartoon from the Hindu wedding, the cou-ple can be seen holding hands, as the Simpsons family - Homer,Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie - watches from the side. She cap-tioned the picture: “#simpsons”, with a heart emoji.However,Priyanka’s skin tone in the red wedding cartoon appears to havegone from yellow, as it was during the white ceremony, to a lighter brown.Recently, the animatedsitcom came under fire for the stereotypical representation of the South Asians through its char-acter, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon.

Spacey’s bizarre video rakes up 4.5 mn views

Los Angeles: Actor Kevin Spacey’s bizarre ‘House of Cards’ inspired video, which he posted on the sameday it was revealed that he will be charged of felony sexual assault in Massachusetts, has raked up 4.5 mil-lion views online in just 24 hours.The actor, in the video titled ‘Let Me Be Frank’ and posted on Monday,defends himself against the #MeToo allegations against him but in his ‘House of Cards’ character, schem-ing politician Frank Underwood.The poorly-timed video was posted as news broke that Spacey will bearraigned on a charge of indecent assault and battery at Nantucket District Court in Massachusetts on January7. The alleged assault on a teenage male victim took place at a Nantucket bar in July 2016, according to theHollywood Reporter. Spacey was the leading star on the Netflix show but after allegations of sexual harass-ment surfaced against him, he was written out of the story with Robin Wright taking the charge.

GLOBE TROTTING

Pak’s ex-lawmaker shot dead

PTI n KARACHI

Pakistan’s former lawmakerSyed Ali Raza Abidi was

shot dead by unidentified gun-men outside his home inKarachi, the latest in a series ofattacks targeting political lead-ers in the southern port city.Two armed men on a motor-bike opened fire on the formerMuttahida Qaumi Movement(MQM) lawmaker’s car outsidehis house in Khayaban-e-Ghazineighbourhood in KarachiTuesday night, Dawn newspa-per reported.The 46-year-oldentrepreneur-turned-politicianwas shot at point-blank range,the paper said.

Abidi was alone in his carat the time of the attack. He wasrushed to a nearby hospital,where he succumbed to hisinjuries. According to the post-mortem examination, Abidisustained four bullet wounds— two in his chest and oneeach in his neck and arm, thepaper said. Counter-TerrorismDepartment officer-in-chargeof the Transnational TerrorismIntelligence Group (TTIG) RajaUmer Khattab said that theattackers appeared to be expertat target killings as they had tar-geted Abidi within a span ofjust 10 seconds, the paper

reported.His funeral prayers were

offered on Wednesday at theImambargah Yasrab andattended by relatives, friends,and political and social figures,including MQM leadersFarooq Sattar, Khawaja IzharulHassan and Khalid MaqboolSiddiqui.

Prime Minister ImranKhan, President Arif Alvi andsenior political others con-demned Abidi’s murder. Hewas considered as one ofMQM’s brightest faces.

Abidi’s bodyguard, Qadeer,has been arrested, SeniorSuperintendent of Police (SSP)Pir Muhammad Shah said.

“The guard instead of imme-diately retaliating to the fire,went inside the house andasked Abidi’s father for aweapon to respond to the sus-pects’ firing,” Shah said.

Abidi was elected to theNational Assembly in the 2013general elections from Karachi’sNA-251 constituency on anMQM ticket.

In November 2017, Abidihad opposed Sattar and PakSarzameen Party (PSP)Chairman Mustafa Kamal’sshort-lived alliance, and evenannounced that he was resign-ing from his NA seat as “this isnot what I believed in andstood for”. He contested the July

25 elections from Karachi’sNA-243 constituency, but wasdefeated by Prime MinisterKhan. Abidi was one of theleaders who had stood withformer convener Sattar in thebuildup to the 2018 electionswhen the MQM was subject toan internal power battle, thepaper said.

In September this year,Abidi tendered in his resigna-tion from the MQM’s “basicmembership” citing “personalreasons”. Abidi was latelyinvolved in efforts to reconcilethe dispersed factions of theMQM.

The MQM, Karachi’sbiggest political party, emergedas a largely ethnic party in the1980s. It has political domi-nance in the southern Sindhprovinces urban areas - notablyin Karachi, Hyderabad,Mirpurkhas and Sukkur wherea large number of urdu-speak-ing people who migrated fromIndia during partition reside.Abidi’s assassination comesdays after two workers of thePak Sarzameen Party (PSP)were killed in the city’sUsmania Society. Earlier thismonth, six people were injuredwhen a blast hit a Milad organ-ised by the MQM in Karachi.

Qureshi discusses Afghan peace process with LavrovPTI n MOSCOW/ISLAMABAD

Pakistan’s Foreign MinisterShah Mahmood Qureshi

met his Russian counterpartSergey Lavrov on Wednesdayin Moscow and the two lead-ers discussed the progress onAfghan peace process and therecent developments in theregion.

Qureshi, who arrived hereearly wednesday on the last legof his four-nation tour, alsotalked about the bilateral andregional situation. “On thefinal leg of his tour to region-al countries, FM ShahMahmood Qureshi held dis-cussions with his Russian coun-terpart Sergey Lavrov,” ForeignOffice SpokespersonMohammad Faisal tweeted.

He said that bilateral andregional situation especiallyprogress on Afghan peace andreconciliation discussed. Russialast month hosted Afghanpeace talks that were attendedby delegations of the Taliban,the Afghan government andglobal stakeholders. A Pakistanidelegation had also attendedthe peace talks. So far Qureshihas visited Kabul, Tehran and

Beijing, where he met his coun-terparts and other high-rank-ing officials. In Kabul, he metAfghan President Ashraf Ghaniand Foreign MinisterSalahuddin Rabbani onMonday and later dashed toIran to meet his counterpartJavad Zarif.

During his meetings inAfghanistan, Qureshi stressedthe importance of peace in thewar-torn nation for regionalstability and renewed Pakistan’scommitment to assist in theprocess.

With Zarif on his trip toTehran on the same day, theforeign minister discussedbilateral relations and region-

al situation. Both officialsagreed on the importance ofimproved bilateral relationsbetween the two countries.

On Tuesday, Qureshi wasin Beijing and met ChineseState Councillor and ForeignMinister Wang Yi and dis-cussed the latest situation inAfghanistan. China’s ForeignMinistry spokesperson HuaChunying told a media briefingin Beijing on Tuesday thatboth sides reiterated theirdetermination to adopt a jointcourse of action for regionalpeace and stability, to promoteconnectivity and work forAfghan-led and Afghan-ownedpeace process.

Iran held talks with Afghan

Taliban amid peace push

AFP n MUMBAI

Iran has met with the AfghanTaliban, a top Iranian secu-

rity official said Wednesdayaccording to the Tasnim newsagency, just days after the mil-itants attended reconciliationtalks in the UAE. AliShamkhani, secretary of Iran’sSupreme National SecurityCouncil, made the announce-ment while on a visit to theAfghan capital Kabul, severalIranian agencies reported.

“The Afghan governmenthas been informed of thecommunications and talks car-ried out with the Taliban, andthis process will continue,” hesaid, quoted by Tasnim.

No details on where thetalks took place were given bythe news agency, which is con-sidered close to Iran’sRevolutionary Guards.

“The Islamic Republic hasalways been one of the prima-ry pillars of stability in theregion and cooperationbetween the two countries willcertainly help in fixingAfghanistan’s security issuesof today,” Shamkhani said.

Abas Aslani, a reporter forTasnim, tweeted that it was thefirst time talks had been con-firmed between Iran and theTaliban. The announcementfollows reconciliation talks lastweek between the United Statesand Taliban officials in theUnited Arab Emirates.

The Taliban said they alsoheld meetings with officialsfrom the UAE, Pakistan andSaudi Arabia, but the militantsrefused to meet a delegationfrom Afghanistan. Therenewed diplomatic effortscome as Washington seeks away out of the 17-year conflict.

An American official toldAFP last week that President

Donald Trump had decided topull out “roughly half ” of the14,000 US forces, but the WhiteHouse has yet to confirm thewidely-publicised move.

Iran and Afghanistan sharea nearly 600-mile border, andhave a had a complex relation-ship in recent years. Tehran haslong supported its co-religion-ists in Afghanistan, the ShiaHazara minority, who wereviolently persecuted by theTaliban during its rule in the1990s.

Iran worked alongside theUnited States and Westernpowers to help drive out theTaliban after the US-led inva-sion in 2001.

But there have been alle-gations, from Western andAfghan sources, that Iran’sRevolutionary Guards have inrecent years established tieswith the Taliban aimed at dri-ving out US forces fromAfghanistan.

Iran hosted PakistaniForeign Minister ShahMehmood Qureshi on Mondayin Tehran. No details were

given of the discussions. Tehranwelcomed Trump’s announce-ment that he was withdrawingall US forces from Syria lastweek, but has not commentedon the reduction inAfghanistan.

“The presence of Americanforces was from the very start,in principle, a wrong and illog-ical move and a primary causeof instability and insecurity inthe region,” foreign ministryspokesman Bahram Ghasemisaid on Saturday.

Hawks in Washington havecriticised Trump’s move, sayingit will cede significant influencein the region to Iran.TheTaliban, meanwhile, has madesignificant territorial gains thisyear as its fighters inflict recordcasualties on governmentforces.

Afghanistan’s largest mili-tant group carried out anhours-long gun and bombattack on a Kabul governmentcompound on Monday thatkilled at least 43 people, one ofthe deadliest assaults on thecapital this year.

Koreas broke ground on rlys but sanctions block projectAP n SEOUL

North and South Koreabroke ground Wednesday

on an ambitious project tomodernise North Korean rail-ways and roads and connectthem with the South, but with-out progress in nuclear nego-tiations, trains won’t be cross-ing the border anytime soon.

The ceremony at theNorth Korean border town ofKaesong came weeks after theKoreas conducted a joint sur-vey on the northern railwaysections they hope to somedaylink with the South. It’s one ofseveral peace gestures agreedbetween North Korean leaderKim Jong Un and liberal SouthKorean President Moon Jae-inas they push ahead withengagement amid a stalematein larger nuclear negotiationsbetween Washington andPyongyang.

But beyond on-site reviewsand ceremonies, the Koreascannot move much furtheralong without the removal of

US-led sanctions against theNorth. A South Korean traincarrying about 100 people —including government officials,lawmakers and aging relativesseparated by the 1950-53Korean War — rolled into theNorth Korean border town ofKaesong, where they weregreeted by North Koreansincluding Ri Son Gwon, whoheads an agency dealing withinter-Korean affairs. North andSouth Korean officials signed a

wooden railroad tie, unveiled anew signboard and observed aceremonial connecting ofnorthern and southern tracksat Kaesong’s Panmun Station,according to South Korea’sUnification Ministry.Officials from China andRussia were also invited towitness the symbolic start of anambitious project Seoul hopeswill one day link South Koreawith the Trans-China andTrans-Siberian railways.

Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana,executive secretary of theUnited Nations Economic andSocial Commission for Asiaand the Pacific, also attended,according to the South Koreanministry. The Seoul govern-ment plans to conduct furthersurveys on North Korean rail-ways and roads before drawingup a detailed blueprint for theproject. Actual constructionwill proceed depending on theprogress in the North’s denu-clearisation and the state ofsanctions against the country,the ministry said.

“We plan to hold detailednegotiations with the North tocoordinate on the specific lev-els we want to achieve in themodernisation of railways androads and how to carry out theproject,” said Eugene Lee, theministry’s spokeswoman.

Even if the North takesconcrete steps toward denu-clearisation and gains sanctionsrelief, some experts say updat-ing North Korean rail network

could take decades and massiveinvestment.

Seoul said it received anexemption to sanctions fromthe U.N. Security Council toproceed with Wednesday’s cer-emony as it involved SouthKorean transport vehicles andgoods. The Koreas’ joint surveyof North Korean railways inNovember, which also requiredUN approval, marked the firsttime a South Korean traintraveled on North Koreantracks.

The Koreas in December2007 began freight servicesbetween South Korea’s MunsanStation in Paju and the North’sPanmun Station to supportoperations at a now-shutteredjoint factory park inKaesong.The South used thetrains to move constructionmaterials north, while clothingand shoes made at the factorypark were sent south. The linewas cut in November 2008 dueto tensions over North Korea’snuclear ambitions.

13 Nigeriantroops killedin BokoHaram attackKano (AFP): Boko Haramjihadists ambushed a militaryconvoy in northeastern Nigeria,killing 13 soldiers and a police-man, the army said Wednesday.But an officer, speaking oncondition of anonymity, said themilitants had overrun an armybase, and put the death toll at 18.An army statement said theattackers ambushed a militaryconvoy late Monday on a high-way linking Maiduguri, thecapital of Borno state, withDamaturu in neighbouringYobe state. “Sadly, 13 militaryand a police personnel... paidthe supreme price while extri-cating themselves from theambush,” said the statement,signed by local militaryspokesman Colonel OnyemaNwachukwu.

The attack followed anattempted raid on a nearbymilitary base along the highwayin Kukareta village, 20 kilome-tres (12 miles) from Damaturu,Nwachukwu said.That attackwas “repelled” by troops who“engaged and overpowered theterrorists, killing several ofthem”, Nwachukwu said, addingthat a soldier was injured.

Other security sources saidfighters travelling in eight trucksfitted with anti-aircraft guns hadoverrun the base.

“The terrorists killed 17soldiers in the attack, which last-ed for more than an hour,” anofficer told AFP on condition ofanonymity. “They took overthe military base after over-powering troops and burnt itdown. A policeman was killedwhen their vehicle which washeading to Damaturu ran intocrossfire but the driver escapedunhurt,” the military sourcesaid. The assailants were fromthe IS-affiliated Islamic StateWest Africa Province (ISWAP),the sources said. A medic inDamaturu hospital said 18 bod-ies were taken to the morguelate Monday.

PTI n TORONTO

Immigrants with anglicisednames are more likely to get

help from other in crucial life-threatening situations, accord-ing to a study which showedthat people are inherentlybiased against ethnic soundingnames. Many immigrants vol-untarily adopt a name similarto fit in with the new commu-nity, rather than keeping anoriginal name.

According to a study, pub-lished in the journal SocialPsychological and PersonalityScience, anglicising ethnicnames may reduce bias towardsimmigrants, especially wheresuch names are typical.“Wedo not suggest immigrants toAnglicise their ethnic names inorder to avoid discrimination,”said Xian Zhao, fromUniversity of Toronto inCanada.

“This certainly puts theonus on immigrants to pro-mote equity and our previousstudies also suggest thatAnglicising names may havenegative implications for one’sself-concept,” said Zhao, leadauthor on the study

To detect bias, theresearchers ran a trilogy ofhypothetical transportationaccidents: trolley, plane dilem-

ma, and lifeboat. In each vari-ation of these moral dilemmas,participants were asked toimagine that men’s lives were atrisk.

The men that could besaved or sacrificed might bewhite with a name like “Dan”or “Alex,” an immigrant withthe name “Mark” or “Adam,” oran immigrant with a nameassociated with China or theMiddle East, such as “Qiu,”“Jiang,” or “Ahmed.”Theresearchers focused most oftheir effort on using whiteparticipants, to more clearlydelineate ingroups and out-groups in their research.In thetrolley scenario, people tendedto sacrifice the one to save themany, which is a common

finding. However, white par-ticipants were more likely tosacrifice an immigrant withtheir original name than some-one white or an immigrantwith an anglicised name.

Their second studyinvolved a plane crash scenarioand possibly leaving someonebehind with a broken leg. Thewhite men continued to showsimilar bias patterns, but thewomen did not.In the final sce-nario, throwing a life preserv-er to a man namedMuhammad and risking thelives of everyone on board alifeboat, brought similar results.However, for participants whoscored as favourable towardsmulticultural groups, being animmigrant named “John” actu-

Immigrants with anglicisednames face less bias: Study

IS-claimed attack on Libyaforeign ministry kills threeTripoli (AFP): Suicide attack-ers stormed the Libyan foreignministry in the capital Tripolion Tuesday, killing at leastthree people including a seniorcivil servant in an attackclaimed by the Islamic Statejihadist group. Twenty-oneother people were wounded inthe attack, authorities said.

A car bomb exploded nearthe ministry, prompting secu-rity forces to rush to the scene,said special forces spokesmanTarak al-Dawass. A suicidebomber then blew himself upon the second floor of thebuilding while a second attack-er died when a suitcase he wascarrying exploded, he said.

A third assailant, who wasunarmed and wearing a bul-letproof vest, was killed bysecurity forces outside, Dawassadded. At least three peoplewere killed and 21 wounded,according to the health min-istry. Foreign Minister TaharSiala said one of the dead wassenior diplomat Ibrahim al-Shaibi who headed a depart-ment in his ministry.Plumes ofsmoke were seen rising fromthe building as ambulances,paramedics and security forcesgathered outside. IS claimed theattack in a statement distrib-uted on social media, saying

that it was carried out by three“soldiers of the caliphate” whowere armed with suicide beltsand automatic weapons.Interior Minister Fathi BashAgha admitted during a newsconference that “securitychaos” reigned in Libya andwas “out of our control”.

He said this was creating a“fertile ground” for IS to oper-ate in the North African coun-try. Torn apart by power strug-gles and undermined by chron-ic insecurity, Libya has becomea haven for jihadists since theouster and killing of MoamerKadhafi in 2011. Two compet-ing administrations, rival mili-tias, tribes and jihadists havebeen vying for control of terri-tory and the country’s vast oilwealth. IS took advantage of thechaos to gain a foothold in thecoastal city of Sirte in 2015.

Forces loyal to the UN-backed Government ofNational Accord (GNA)regained control of Sirte inDecember 2016 after eightmonths of deadly fighting.Since then, some jihadists havereturned to the desert in anattempt to regroup and reor-ganise. The interior ministersaid his department lacked theequipment necessary to restorelaw and order in Libya.

Britain's Meghan, Duchess of Sussex meets members of the crowd after attending the Christmas day service at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham in Norfolk,England, Tuesday. AP

world 12LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 27, 2018

B’desh opp demands

CEC’s resignation

PTI n DHAKA

Bangladesh’s main opposi-tion alliance has demand-

ed the resignation of the chiefelection commissioner, ques-tioning his neutrality, daysahead of the December 30general elections, a senior offi-cial has said. Members ofBangladesh’s opposition BNP-NUF alliance on Tuesdaywalked out of an ElectionCommission meeting, alleg-ing that the behaviour of ChiefElection Commissioner (CEC)Nurul Huda was “inappropri-ate” and he was not taking theirviews into consideration dur-ing the talks.

The opposition delegationled by National Unity Front(NUF) convenor and eminentjurist Kamal Hossain met Hudato discuss the alleged arrests ofthe coalition’s supporters inpolice crackdown ahead of thegeneral elections this week.The NUF has demandedHuda’s resignation accusinghim of bias ahead of the polls,a senior BNP leader said lastevening.

BNP secretary generalMirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgirsaid they demanded the CEC’sresignation as they fear a freeand fair election cannot beexpected under Huda’s leader-ship.“It is impossible to get neu-tral behaviour let alone expect-ing a free, fair and neutral elec-tion under him,” he toldreporters.

Alamgir said they haveurged Bangladesh’s figureheadPresident Abdul Hamid toappoint a neutral person as thecommission’s chief.The seniorBNP said his party wanted tocontest the polls and expectedthe commission’s attitude to

change. He said Huda paid noheed to the alliance leaders asthey noted instances of attackssince the start of campaigningon December 10.

At least six people havebeen killed and several hun-dred injured in election-relat-ed violence since December 10.Both opposition and the AulingAwami League blame eachother for the attacks.

The media reports suggestthat most attacks were carriedout by the ruling party activistswho were often backed by thepolice.

Election CommissionerMahbub Talukdar, a member ofthe four-men commission, hasasked the police and othermembers of the law enforce-ment agencies not to “humili-ate your uniform” while dis-charging their duties.

The alliance decided tomeet the CEC as it wasdebarred from holding itswrapping up election rally inthe capital. The NUF leadersaccused the police of playing a“biased role” to hinder oppo-sition candidates’ poll cam-paign on the ground.

The opposition allege that

police have arrested some10,500 of their activists in acrackdown ahead of electionswith an intention to create a“climate of fear”.The police,however, said no one has beenarrested without specific chargeand warrant.

BNP spokesman RizviAhmed called the charges “fic-titious”, noting that they wereframed to favour the rulingparty, which leads a grandalliance and aims to win a thirdconsecutive term.The BNP is indisarray as its chairperson andex-premier Khaleda Zia is serv-ing a five-year prison term intwo graft charges while her sonand acting BNP chief TariqueRahman is staying in Londonapparently to evade a life termimprisonment.

A Dhaka court earlier thisyear sentenced Rahman to lifeimprisonment for master-minding a 2004 grenade attackthat killed 24 Awami Leagueleaders and activists, whilethen opposition leader Hasinanarrowly escaped the assault.

Prime Minister Hasina andZia have been political foessince the introduction ofdemocracy in 1991.

Rescuers scramble to reach tsunami-struck townsAFP n CARITO (INDONESIA)

Indonesian search and rescueteams Wednesday plucked

stranded residents from remoteislands and pushed into isolat-ed communities still desperatefor aid in the aftermath of a vol-cano-triggered tsunami thatkilled more than 400.Medicalworkers have warned that cleanwater and medicine supplieswere running low — stokingfears of a public health crisis —as thousands of displaced sur-vivors cram shelters and hos-pitals. Many were left homelessby the killer wave.

The disaster agency said ithas dispatched helicopters todrop supplies into a handful ofhard-to-reach communitiesalong the shattered coastlines ofwestern Java and southSumatra.

Hundreds of residents stillstranded on tiny islands in theSunda Strait, which separatesJava and Sumatra, will be air-lifted or taken by boat to shel-ters, the agency said.Snifferdogs are being used to findthose still missing as grief-stricken relatives lined up atidentification centres, buthopes of finding any survivorsbeneath the rubble have dwin-dled.

“We’re starting to access themost isolated places hit by thetsunami,” said senior disasteragency official DodyRuswandi.“The devastationthere is pretty massive, but wehad not been able to get inthere in the first couple of days.”Some roads and bridges nearisolated communities had beendamaged, making road accessmore difficult, he added.

The powerful tsunamistruck Saturday night withoutwarning, sweeping over popu-lar beaches and inundatingtourist hotels and coastal com-munities, leaving a trail of

death and destruction in itswake. The latest death tollstood at 429, with 1,485 peopleinjured and another 154 stillmissing.

An eruption of the rum-bling Anak Krakatoa volcano,which sits in the middle of theStrait separating Java andSumatra, caused a section ofthe crater to collapse and slideinto the ocean, triggering thetsunami, officials havesaid.Anak Krakatoa is an islandthat emerged in the crater leftby Krakatoa, whose massive1883 eruption killed at least36,000 people.

Experts have warned thatvolcanic activity at the siteremains high and more dead-ly waves could slam the strick-en region now covered bymountains of overturned cars,boats, furniture and other

debris. Many evacuees are tooafraid to go home. TheIndonesian Red Cross saidmore than 400 staff and vol-unteers are delivering cleanwater, blanket, tarpaulins andother supplies, while it dis-patched mobile medical units.

“Our teams are seeingmany broken bones and brokenhomes, and people who arevery shaken,” said Arifin Hadi,head of disaster management atthe Indonesian Red Cross.“Indonesians have withstood astring of disasters this year andwith them, so much loss andmisery.”

Jakarta has so far rebuffedoffers of international aid, say-ing the disaster-prone countrycould handle the crisis. Thetsunami was Indonesia’s thirdmajor natural disaster in sixmonths, following a series of

powerful earthquakes on theisland of Lombok in July andAugust and a quake-tsunami inSeptember that killed around2,200 people in Palu onSulawesi island, with thou-sands more missing and pre-sumed dead.

On Wednesday, thousandswere expected to pray for lovedones at mass graves andmosques Wednesday to markthe 14th anniversary of the2004 Boxing Day tsunami.

It was one of the deadliestdisasters in history, killingsome 220,000 people in coun-tries around the Indian Ocean,including some 168,000Indonesians, most in Aceh atthe northern tip of Sumatra.Indonesia, a vast SoutheastAsian archipelago, is one of themost disaster-hit nations onEarth due to its position strad-

dling the so-called Pacific Ringof Fire, where tectonic platescollide.Indonesia prays on anniv of2004 Boxing Day tsunami

Thousands prayed at massgraves Wednesday to mark the14th anniversary of the 2004Boxing Day tsunami, one of theworst natural disasters in his-tory, even as aid workers racedto help victims of the latestkiller wave to hit Indonesia.

The annual memorialcame after the long-buriedremains of dozens of BoxingDay tsunami victims werefound last week in Acehprovince, which was devastat-ed by the 9.1-magnitude“megathrust” earthquake.

Nearly 170,000 people diedin disaster-prone Indonesiawhen the quake struck Aceh, apredominantly Muslimprovince in the northern tip ofSumatra island, sparking mas-sive waves that also slammedinto coastal areas as far away asSomalia.The disaster killedabout 50,000 people in othercountries around the IndianOcean, bringing total deaths toabout 220,000.

The commemorations arethis year particularly poignantafter a volcano-triggeredtsunami struck another part ofthe country without warningon Saturday, sweeping overpopular beaches and inundat-ing tourist hotels and coastalcommunities, killing over 400.Thousands paid tribute to the2004 tsunami victims at a massgrave in Aceh Besar regencywhere nearly 47,000 are buriedunder a grassy field dottedwith black rocks meant tosymbolise a tomb. “None of myfamily members have beenfound, but I believe they’reburied here,” said mournerDewina, who carried flowersand incense sticks to burn.

A man walks near debris at a tsunami-ravaged area in Carita Indonesia on Wednesday. AP

2018 will be remembered for worst

political crisis in Lanka’s history

PTI n COLOMBO

The year 2018 would beetched in Sri Lanka’s histo-

ry as the most turbulent onepolitically as the cash-strappedcountry saw an unprecedentedpower struggle between thepresident and the prime min-ister, causing much concern inmajor world capitals, includingin New Delhi. PresidentMaithripala Sirisena’s dramat-ic move to sack Prime MinisterRanil Wickremesinghe andinstall former strongmanMahinda Rajapaksa in his placefollowing differences over pol-icy issues, left the countrywithout a functioning govern-ment for nearly two months.

Rajapaksa’s return to powerdrew concern in India thatChina would tighten its grip onthe country. The veteran leader,who is credited for ending thebrutal civil war with the LTTEin 2009, is under intense crit-icism for his decade-longauthoritarian rule.

However, a Supreme courtverdict forced PresidentSirisena to reinstate UnitedNational Party (UNP) leaderWickremesinghe on December16, ending Rajapaksa briefregime. During the political cri-sis, New Delhi sought to main-tain a hands-off approach notwanting to be seen as takingsides. India chose to stay non-committal when Rajapaksasucceeded Wickremesinghe,who is seen as pro-India.Following Wickremesinghe’s re-appointment, India welcomedthe resolution of the political cri-sis and exuded confidence that

relations between the twocountries will continue to moveon in an upward trajectory.

The US, the EuropeanUnion, Australia and Norwayalso welcomed the peacefulresolution of the political cri-sis in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka camecloser to China underRajapaksa’s decade-long tenureas the president, with Beijingpumping millions of dollars inthe country’s infrastructuresince the end of the civil war.

However, some of the pro-jects had been reversed underthe Sirisena-Wickremesinghegovernment as Chinese debt hitthe country’s economy. Chinasees Lanka as crucial in itsambitious plan to expand traderoutes, while India is con-cerned about growing Chinese

influence in the Indian Ocean.Despite India’s concerns

over China’s forays in SriLanka, including its acquisitionof the strategic port ofHambantota, New Delhi andColombo kept their relation-ship warm in 2018 with high-level exchanges and signing ofpacts. Prime MinisterWickremesinghe visited Indiain October and held talks withhis Indian counterpartNarendra Modi on ways todeepen the bilateral ties.

During the talks, Modiand Wickremesinghe reviewedthe progress in implementationof various decisions taken dur-ing the high-level exchanges inthe recent past, includingModi’s visit to Sri Lanka in May2017. They also discussed the

progress of India-assisteddevelopment projects in theisland nation. The two coun-tries signed an agreement forconstruction of 1,200 housesthrough 50 model villages,using Indian grant assistance of60 crore Srilankan rupees.

The long-standing issue offishermen, however, remainedunresolved as India and SriLanka could not find a com-mon ground.Both sides haveagreed to set up StandardOperating Procedures (SOPs)to expedite the release andhanding over of fishermen ineach other’s custody on com-pletion of respective legal andprocedural formalities.

During the year, theLankan economy grew at aslower than expected.

‘Marginal’ Santa believer putsout cookies after Trump chat AP n WASHINGTON

A7-year-old girl who talkedto President Donald

Trump on Christmas Eve stillleft out milk and cookies forSanta despite the presidenttelling her it was “marginal”for a child of her age to stillbelieve. Then again, CollmanLloyd of Lexington, SouthCarolina, says she had neverheard the word “marginal”before.

Collman had called theNORAD Tracks Santa pro-gram Monday night to checkon Santa’s journey deliveringtoys. In an interview with thePost and Courier ofCharleston, she said the sci-entist who answered theNORAD phone asked her ifshe would like to speak to thepresident. Six minutes later,Trump was on the line. “Areyou still a believer in Santa?”Trump asked. When sheresponded, “Yes, sir,” the pres-ident added, “Because at 7,that’s marginal, r ight?”Collman didn’t know what“marginal” meant and simplyanswered, “Yes, sir.”

Trump closed by saying,“Well, you just enjoy yourself.”Trump’s chat with Collmanwas initially reported as beingwith a boy named Coleman.Only Trump’s end of the con-versation could be heard byreporters, but Collman’s fam-ily later posted video of the callon YouTube.

Collman told the Post andCourier that she and her 10-year-old sister and 5-year-oldbrother left iced sugar cookies

and chocolate milk for Santa.She reported that Christmasmorning, the food was goneand presents were under thetree.

In addition to theNORAD Tracks Santa pro-gram and church servicesChristmas Eve, Trump partic-ipated in another holiday tra-dition, wishing US troops sta-tioned around the countryand the globe a merryChristmas. He spoke Tuesdayby video conference to mem-bers of all five branches of theUS military.

“I know it’s a great sacri-fice for you to be away fromyour families, but I want you

to know that every Americanfamily is eternally grateful toyou, and we’re holding youclose in our hearts, thoughtsand prayers,” Trump said. “Welove what you do and loveyour work.

Amazing people.” Thepresident spent a rareChristmas in Washingtonbecause of a stalemate withCongress over governmentfunding that left severaldepartments and agenciesshuttered since the weekend,affecting the livelihoods ofsome 800,000 federal employ-ees.

Trump usually celebratesChristmas at his Florida estate.

He scrapped plans to travel toPalm Beach because of theshutdown.

“I thought it would bewrong for me to be with myfamily,” he told reporters in theOval Office after the give andtake with members of theArmy, Navy, Air Force,Marines and Coast Guardfrom their stations in Guam,Bahrain, Qatar and Alaska.

“My family is in Florida,Palm Beach, and I just didn’twant to go down and be therewhen other people are hurt-ing,” Trump said.

He didn’t say which fam-ily members were at the Mar-a-Lago estate.

AFP n HOUSTON

US Customs and BorderProtection ordered medical

checks on every child in its cus-tody Tuesday after an 8-year-oldboy from Guatemala died, mark-ing the second death of an immi-grant child in the agency’s care thismonth.The death came during anongoing dispute over border secu-rity and with a partial governmentshutdown underway overPresident Donald Trump’s requestfor border wall funding.

The boy, identified byGuatemalan authorities as FelipeGómez Alonzo, had been inCBP’s custody with his father,Agustin Gomez, since December18. CBP said in a statement lateTuesday that an agent first noticedthe boy had a cough and “glossyeyes” at about 9 am Monday.

He was eventually hospital-

ized twice and died just beforemidnight, the agency said. CBPearlier said that the boy died justafter midnight. CBP said in thestatement it needs the help of other

government agencies to providehealth care. The agency “is con-sidering options for surge medicalassistance” from the Coast Guardand may request help from the US

Department of Health andHuman Services, the Departmentof Defense, and the FederalEmergency Management Agency.

A CBP spokesman could notimmediately answer how manychildren are currently in theagency’s custody. But with bordercrossings surging, CBP processesthousands of children — bothalone and with their parents —every month. Immigration advo-cates and human rights groupssharply criticised CBP in thewake of Felipe’s death. The bodyof 7-year-old Jakelin Caal , whodied earlier this month, wasreturned this week to her villagein Guatemala for burial. MargaretHuang, executive director ofAmnesty International USA, saidthe Trump administration’s “poli-cies of cruelty toward migrantsand asylum-seekers at the bordermust cease immediately before

any more children are harmed.”The White House referred ques-tions about the latest case to theUS Department of HomelandSecurity, CBP’s parent agency.CBP officers and the BorderPatrol remain on the job despitethe shutdown. CBPCommissioner Kevin McAleenansaid in a statement that the child’sdeath was a “tragic loss.” Theagency said it has notified theDHS inspector general.

CBP issued a timeline ofwhat it said happened beforeFelipe’s death. Felipe was takenwith his father to a hospital inAlamogordo, New Mexico, wherehe was diagnosed with a commoncold, according to the timeline.

The boy was released justbefore 3 pm, about 90 minutesafter he had been found to havea fever of 103 degrees Fahrenheit(39.4 Celsius), CBP said.

3 Indian teenaged siblingsamong 4 dead in fire in USPTI n WASHINGTON

Three Indian teenaged sib-lings were among four peo-

ple killed in a fire duringChristmas celebrations at ahouse in the US state ofTennessee, according to mediareports. The fire killed awoman and three Indian teensfrom Telangana who were stay-ing with her family through theholidays in a suburb ofMemphis, Tennessee, the USAToday reported.

“Kari Coudriet - ofCollierville, Tennessee - as wellas Sharron, 17, Joy, 15, andAaron, 14 - teen siblings of theNaik family from India - alldied in the fire,” the paperreported, citing a statementissued by the Coudriet’s church,

Collierville Bible Church.“Afire started around 11 o’clockpm at the Coudriet home (onDecember 23). The Coudrietfamily was hosting, housing,and celebrating Christmas withthree teenagers attending anAcademy here in the States.The Naik family are mission-aries in India that our churchsupports,” the church said. TheCoudriets were hosting theNaik family for the holidays.

Kari’s husband Danny andtheir son Cole were able tomake it out of the home. Bothare expected to survive, thepaper said. “At this time, we areasking for privacy and discre-tion regarding the Missionarychildren. The family is in routefrom India and many of the

details of the events are stillbeing communicated to thefamily, the church said.

The Indian teens werestudying at the French CampAcademy in Mississippi.Theacademy said it was “deeplysaddened by the tragic event”in Collierville. “We are fer-vently praying for the familiesinvolved,” it added.

Keith Potts, who hasknown the Coudriet familyfor about four years, said theNaik teens were attendingschool in Mississippi. When theschool closed for winter break,the students could not go hometo India so the Coudriets invit-ed them to stay in their home.Collierville Mayor Stan Joynersaid the tragedy is still under

CBP orders medical checks after 2nd child’s death

In this Jan. 25, 2017, file photo, an agent from the border patrol, observes near theMexico-US border fence, on the Mexican side, separating the towns of Anapra,Mexico and Sunland Park, N.M. An 8-year-old boy from Guatemala died ingovernment custody early Tuesda, U.S. immigration authorities said.

President Donald Trump greets members of the five branches of the military by video conference on Christmas Day, Tuesday, inthe Oval Office of the White House. The military members were stationed in Guam, Qatar, Alaska, and two groups in Bahrain. AP

In this Sunday, Dec. 16, 2018, file photo, Sri Lanka's reinstated Prime Minister Ranil Wickeremesinghe, center, surrounded byhis loyal lawmakers and supporters speaks after assuming duties in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka's president has reappointedRanil Wickremesinghe as prime minister, nearly two months after firing him and setting off weeks of political stalemate. AP

LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 27, 2018usp 13

The president of the WorldCongress of Poets (WCP)and the founder of the

Kalinga Institute of IndustrialTechnology (KIIT) and the KalingaInstitute of Social Sciences (KISS),Prof Achyuta Samanta, informedthat the World Academy of Artsand Culture (WAAC) and the twoinstitutes—KIIT and KISS, willjointly organise the next WCP inOdisha. This announcement wasmade in the presence of the exec-utive board member of the WCPand WAAC, Jacob Isaac and thesenior advisors at KIIT and KISS,Dr RK Das and Dr BN Nanda, ata press meet in New Delhi.

Dr Samanta informed that theevent is expected to be attended bymore than 500 poets from around100 countries. He further addedthat besides the poets, 2,000 writ-ers and poets from India andanother 2,000 delegates fromOdisha are expected to join the con-gress.

“On the request of KIIT andKISS, the decision to organise thisprestigious event at KIIT and KISSwas taken by the executive boardmembers of WAAC, the presidentof WAAC, Dr Maurus Young,senior vice president, Prof ErnestoKahan and the general secretary DrMaria Eugenia Soberanis, duringthe 38th WCP, which was hosted inSuiyang County of China’s Guizhouprovince,” said Dr Samanta.

WAAC, a UNESCO-affiliatedbody, auspices the World Congressof Poets (WCP). The WAAC wasfounded in 1969 and its GoldenJubilee will be celebrated along withthe 39th WCP in 2019. ThoughWAAC is a 50-year old institution,it has so far conducted 38 WCPs.For the third time, the WorldCongress of Poets is going to beheld in India.

Dr Samata elaborated that in apreliminary meeting, it was tenta-tively decided to hold the forthcom-ing World Congress of Poets fromOctober 2-6, 2019. The inauguralceremony will be held on October2, which also coincides with the

150th birth anniversary ofMahatma Gandhi. “It has beenplanned to hold a session ontourism poetry at Konark and a ses-sion on spiritual poetry in Puri, topromote tourism and culture ofOdisha, in particular, and of India,in general,” said Dr Samanta.

The Kalinga Institute ofIndustrial Technology (KIIT)Deemed to be University, and theKalinga Institute of Social Sciences(KISS) Deemed to be University, aretwo prominent academic institutesin India. The former is exclusivelyfor the professional education, hav-ing more that 30,000 student fromacross India and 50 countries.Despite being a very young univer-sity, KIIT has secured an impressiveposition of 1001+ in the global uni-versity ranking of the Times HigherEducation World UniversityRanking 2019.

On the other hand, KISS is thehuman face of KIIT. It is a home for50,000 tribal students—27,500existing students, and 12,500 well-placed alumni along with morethan 10,000 students in its varioussatellite centers. The institute pro-vides quality education fromkindergarten to post-graduation ina fully-free, fully-residential setting.KISS holds the distinction of being

the only university, exclusively fortribal students in India and global-ly. With the backing of huge infra-structure and other world-classfacilities at KIIT and KISS, the uni-versities have proved their mettle byorganising hundreds of very promi-nent, national and internationalseminars, workshops and confer-ences for the last 10 years.

KIIT has hosted the prestigiousnational and international meets likethe 99th Indian Science Congress in2012, attended by 20,000 academi-cians from across India and abroad.Similarly, KISS had organised theCommonwealth Big Lunch in 2018,where the High Commissionersfrom 50 Commonwealth countriesinteracted with 27,000 tribal stu-dents over lunch.

Dr Samanta also added that theCongress will see a good academ-ic exchange as poets and writersfrom across the globe will cometogether. “I feel it will definitely givea very good boost to poets and writ-ers in the state of Odisha and inIndia as well. The Odisha state gov-ernment has extended its cooper-ation to make the 39th WCP agrand success and we are seekingthe support from the Ministry ofCulture, Government of India aswell,” said Dr Samanta.

A POETIC AFFAIR IN ODISHA

C O R P O R A T E B R I E F S

The 39th World Congress of Poets (WCP) will be held at the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology andthe Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), in Bhubaneswar, in October 2019

ACCORHOTELS ANNOUNCES 20TH NOVOTEL IN INDIAAccorHotels has opened its 227room Novotel Vijayawada Varunwhich is the first internationalhotel to open in Andhra Pradesh’scommercial centre and is the20th Novotel to open in India.Strategically located in the heartof the city, this property is only a45-minute ride from theVijayawada International Airportand a 20-minute ride from theVijayawada railway station.

68TH ANNUAL CELEBRATIONS OF SANGEET NIKETANThe Sangeet Niketan organised its 68th Annual Celebrations at the LTG Auditoriumrecently. According to the principal of the institution Chakarvarthy Ram Mohan Rai,the staff and students of all three branches (East Delhi, Old Delhi and South Delhi)presented many colourful cultural programmes based on classical dance andmusic. Renowned personalities of the classical dance music field like MeenakshiChand, Mamata Chaturvedi, Medha Bhargava and Ashok Rai graced the occasion.

INDIAN TOURISTSCAN ENJOY MAMMAMIA! MUSICAL INSRI LANKACinnamon Life ispresenting one of theworld's most lovedmusicals, Mamma Mia! forthe very first time inColombo, Sri Lanka thisDecember. With a nine dayrun from December 22 to30, London's West Endstage production willpresent the play at the Nelum Pokuna Mahinda Rajapakse Theatre in Colombo aspart of their international tour. Mamma Mia is expected to play a crucial role inbecoming one of the biggest holiday season attractions in Colombo this yearallowing people from South Asia to experience globally acclaimed talent, techniqueand technical prowess to present a theatrical masterpiece.

The former minister of Tamil Nadu,Panrutti S Ramachandran believes

that the chancellor of the Vellore Instituteof Technology, Dr G Viswanathan, shouldtake the lead in uniting the Tamilsthroughout the world to protect the inter-ests and cause of the Tamils living in dif-ferent countries. He was speaking at the80th birthday celebration of DrViswanathan, organised by a committeeof well-wishers, recently.

The former minister said, “DrViswanathan had the privilege of havingcarved a niche in the heart of the formerChief Minister and Dravida MunnetraKazhagam founder late C N Annadurai(popularly known as Anna). DrViswanathan was the right person tounite the Tamils of the world, transcend-

ing religious, caste and other barriers.”The VIT Chancellor-80th Birthday

Celebration Committee informed that asum of `15 lakh was collected by thewell-wishers in connection with thebirthday celebration and this will bedonated to the Universal HigherEducation Trust (UHET), founded by DrViswanathan to provide financial assis-tance to poor students to pursue highereducation.

The Tamil Nadu Minister forCommercial Taxes and Registration K CVeeramani, released a book—‘ViyarvaiyinVetri’. The former minister,Ramachandran, released the book—‘Starsand Saplings’, while the book tiled—‘Vendhar 80’ was released by another for-mer minister, C Ponnaiyan.]

To offer easier travel toIndians to Italy, Air

Italy has launched it firsttriple weekly direct opera-tions from Delhi andMumbai each to Milan.India is the fourth interna-tional addition to Air Italy’sexpanding network, follow-ing the successful com-mencement of its opera-tions to New York (JFK),Miami (MIA) and Bangkok(BKK) earlier this year. Thethree-times weekly non-stop flight from New Delhiwill be served on an AirbusA330-200, offering 24fully-reclining flatbed seatsin the Business Class and228 seats in the EconomyClass.

The chief operatingofficer of Air Italy, RossenDimitrov, said “The launchof our India-Italy sectorrepresents another majorstep forward for Air Italyand reinforces our commit-ment to our networkexpansion plans in Asia.Our average load factor onboth routes for the firstmonth is already at around70 per cent which is wellwithin our business planexpectations and will onlycontinue to grow now that

operations have com-menced.”

He informed that Italyis the second Europeandestination for Indianstravelling to Europe interms of tourism, comparedto other countries, and thisroute has been a long-standing request from localauthorities, leisure trav-ellers and various tradeorganisations. “India is afascinating and dynamicdestination and is a signifi-cant base for business andtourism. We are delightedto welcome Delhi as a partof our global network and

look forward to providingmore flexibility of travelchoices to our customers,contributing to this ongo-ing growth.”

From Milan Malpensa,Air Italy will providedomestic connecting flightsto Rome, Catania, Palermo,Naples and Lamezia Terme,as well as convenient con-nections to its US-boundflights to New York andMiami. Commencing inApril 2019, there will alsobe connectivity to LosAngeles and San Franciscowith the launch of thosetwo new destinations.

Dimitrov further elabo-rated that the exclusiveBusiness Class cabin of AirItaly allows maximumcomfort on fully recliningseats, an Italian and Indianmenu accompanied by aselection of fine Italianwines and champagne, Wi-Fi service, extensive in-flight entertainment andpersonalised attention fromthe on-board staff. TheEconomy Class cabin offersthe guests a comfortableflight, a highly personalisedservice, Wi-Fi and a widechoice of on-board enter-tainment.

Italy non-stop fromDelhi & Mumbai

To promote more value-for-money holiday packages to

Malaysia for the Indian tourists,Tourism Malaysia has launchedthe ‘Malaysia Fantastic Deals’package. For this initiative,Tourism Malaysia is offering fivepackages, designed specifically forthe India market. The packagescan be purchased through selectIndian travel agents based inChennai, Delhi, Mumbai andKolkata from December 15 toJanuary 15, 2019 for travel toMalaysia between February 1,2019 to July 31, 2019. For this,Malindo Air is also offering a 10per cent discount on air faresfrom Chennai, Delhi, Mumbaiand Kolkata. Meanwhile, industrypartners like the Sunway Hoteland Resorts, MeritusPelangiBeach Resort and Spa Langkawi,Lexis Hotel and Group andAtmosphere 360 RevolvingRestaurant KL Tower, have cometogether to offer deals for destina-tions like Kuala Lumpur, PortDickson, Langkawi and Penang inMalaysia.

The director of package devel-opment division of TourismMalaysia Tuan Syed Yahya SyedOthman, said, “We are proud ofthis partnership with some of thekey names in Malaysia’s tourismindustry, and believe that touristsfrom India will enjoy better valueand have a memorable experienceof Malaysia. These packages bringtogether the best of Malaysia’sislands and beaches, city, gastron-omy and family-friendly experi-ences, and will provide a broaderexperience of Malaysia.” Malaysiais also promoting the concept of‘experiential shopping’ at the des-tination.

Malindo Air’s CEO ChandranRama Muthy, added, “Our flightsoffer spacious legroom, in-flightentertainment, meals, baggageallowance as well as BusinessClass option. In 2019, we are tar-geting a 12 per cent incrementalof passenger’s load from Indiacompared to this year. We believethis partnership will contribute inachieving our goal and boost thenumber of visitors to Malaysia.”

Orient Electric Limited,part of the diversified

CK Birla Group, haslaunched a new range oflifestyle portable fans, featur-ing distinctive designs.

With the launch of thisseries, Orient Electric aimsto reinstate its thought lead-ership in the category whilemeeting aspirational needs ofthe consumers. The companyis targeting to not only growthis category exponentially,but also build a dominantshare in the next one year.

The senior vice presidentand Business head of fans forthe company, Atul Jain,believes that with the chang-ing climatic conditions andprolonged summers, increas-ing dust and air pollution,shrinking spaces and needfor more personalised cool-ing solutions, there arises aneed for solutions beyondthe traditional ceiling andtable fans. Jain commented,“The need for safer portable

fans for kids, need for betterair circulation in air-condi-tioned rooms, far more per-sonal need for air in con-fined spaces like puja rooms,were some of the insights

which inspired us to thinkand find solutions for theconsumers, beyond tradi-tional ones. Each of ourlifestyle range of fansaddresses the unique con-

sumer insights and latentrequirements. Designed tobring alive exclusivity, thesefans exude sheer elegance.”

The company haslaunched four fans in itslifestyle series. The OrientBladeless fan uses acombination of physics andaerodynamics, flaunting adistinctive design. Thecurvaceous fan has no bladesand comes with a remotecontrol, in-built moodlighting with four colouroptions and 7.5 hours ofstandby timer. The OrientMonroe tower fan beingcompact, can fit easily intoany space big or small, likethe kitchen top, shop oroffice workstation. The fancomes with three speedsettings, in-built timer and aremote control for ease ofuse. The Orient Auctor, is fitwith the 3-D auto-oscillationfeature which helps the air tocirculate to every nook andcorner of the room. Stylish

and compact, the OrientAuctor has a touch screencontrol, in-built timerfunction and a remote-controlled operation forultimate convenience. TheOrient Proteus is a luxurybox fan with compact design,super silent motor, verticaladjustment feature and threespeed settings along with atimer control.

Jain further added thatwith rising incomes andaspirations, along withincreased exposure to digitaland the global lifestyle andtechnologies, individualisa-tion trend is catching up fastin consumer durables space.He explained, “Consumerstoday want to have individu-alised solutions that makelife simpler and experiencesbetter. Our luxurious breedof mobile lifestyle fans is sureto interest the modern aspi-rational consumers and adda glam quotient to theirhome and office interiors.”

In order to give a momentum to the Digital India programme, the Housing and UrbanDevelopment Corporation (HUDCO) has inked a pact for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

DESPITE BEING AVERY YOUNG

UNIVERSITY, KIITHAS SECURED

AN IMPRESSIVEPOSITION OF1001+ IN THE

TIMES HIGHEREDUCATION

WORLDUNIVERSITY

RANKING 2019

The three-timesweekly flight

from New Delhiwill be servedon an Airbus

A330-200,offering 24 fully-reclining flatbed

seats in theBusiness Classand 228 seats

in the EconomyClass

Orient reinvents fans with new launches

VIT chancellor felicitated

on his 80th birthday

MALAYSIA’S ‘FANTASTIC

DEALS’ FOR INDIA

LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 27, 2018

Filmmaker KARAN JOHAR feelsthat actress Alia Bhatt hasdone a wonderful job inforthcoming period dramaKalank, says he got emo-tional after seeing herperformance.“I was so moved bywhat Alia has done inKalank,” Karan said.“When I see Alia, I feellike I’m seeing mydaughter perform.And because I havethat emotion for her, Ijust started crying inthe end. I’m goingthrough something inter-nally which I’m not awareof and just got teary. I rangher up and said, well done,”he added. Karan talked aboutAlia while he was at NoFilter Neha season 3.

‘I feelthat peo-ple whoare notsayinggoodthings

about me or my film(Manikarnika) willhave to shut theirmouths after watch-ing it and those whoare saying goodthings, their mouthscan’t be shut by any-one. We just can’twait to present thefilm to the audience.’—Kangana Ranaut

Singer KATHERINE JENKINS saysthat retired football legend David

Beckham still hasn’t apologisedafter slamming her for ‘singing atthe rugby and taking coke’ inleaked emails.The 38-year-old singer said shewas “disappointed” to see thecomments allegedly madeby the footballer in leakedemails published in2017, despite his teamvehemently denyingall accusations.This came after itwas alleged thatBeckham slammedJenkins for receiv-ing an OBE in anemail to his PR man-ager, as he alsolamented not receivinga knighthood.Speaking about thecomments Beckhammade towards her,the singer admittedshe has no reasonto feel anythingbut proud of herachievements.

KJo gets emotionalwith Alia’s Kalank

David hasn’tapologised yet

vivacity 14

To celebrate Christmas, actressBHUMI PEDNEKAR decided tospend some time with childrenfrom a local orphanage inMumbai.The actress paid a heartwarmingvisit to the St. Catherine’s Homefor orphans in Andheri thisChristmas to spend some timewith the children. She entertainedthe children by dancing andsinging with them. She alsoclicked loads of pictures with thekids. Bhumi will be seen next in SonChiriya coming early in 2019 fol-lowed by Bala and Dolly Kitty AurWoh Chamakte Sitare. The filmalso stars Amol Parashar oppositeactress Konkana Sen Sharma.

Years tick by, filmscome and go, so doesthe ebb and flow inthe film industry.C i n e - o m n i v o r e s

crank out the countdown listsevery December, but whatmakes a film truly unforget-table, no one knows.

2018 seemed to be a goodyear for Bollywood as com-pared to the past two years.Not only did some actors got

their first 100-crore marks,many small budget, low star

cast and good content films out-performed the biggies at the boxoffice. Many films worked unex-pectedly and also witnessedmany young and debutant film-makers making their mark.Starring Ranbir Kapoor, Sanjuruled the roost reaching `300-crore mark, followed by DeepikaPadukone’s Padmaavat.Following were Race 3, BadhaaiHo, Stree, Raazi, Sonu Ke Titu KiSweety, Raid, Gold, SatyamevJayate, Padman, Veere DiWedding, Sui Dhaaga, Dhadak,Parmanu, Andhadun, 2.0 andothers. Many content-drivenfilms registered `100 crore at thebox office.

Actor Rajkummar Rao’sStree turned out to be one of thebiggest surprise hits grossingover `100 crore in just twoweeks. Whereas, Sonu Ke Titu KiSweety turned out be a smashinghit. Ayushmann Khurrana’sBadhaai Ho earned more thanBaahubali 2 in its sixth weekend.There were four films from theSouth Indian cinema, Sarkar,Rangasthalam, Bharat Ane Nenuand 2.0, each of which grossedmore than `150 crore globally.

Apart from Bollywood,Hollywood also had a great yearin 2018. Avengers Infinity Wargarnered over $43,594,456 fol-lowed with Black Panther col-lecting $10,458,639 andIncredibles 2 over $7,641,308 inIndia. These films were releasedin English and many otherIndian languages. In fact,

Incredibles 2 collected `22.3crore within just five days of itsrelease here, becoming the high-est grossing animation Englishfilm ever released in India.Interestingly, The Stolen Princessbecame the first English anima-tion film from Ukraine to releasein India in English, Hindi andTamil and found favour with theaudience.

Another interesting trendseen this year was the acute trac-tion that OTT platforms gar-nered. Netflix India becameprofitable in its first year of oper-ations clocking a net profit of`20.2 lakh. Series like SacredGames, Lust Stories, Mirzapurand many others which werestreamed on various OTT plat-forms had the audience hookedfor more unconventional con-tent. The combination of mobilephone penetration and cost-effective data prices have madeit easy for the consumers towatch it as per their conve-nience and schedule. On the lastcount, there are roughly around

30 OTTs active in India current-ly, including Amazon Prime,Hotstar, Alt Balaji, Eros Now,Zee 5 and others.

Over and above China,newer non-traditional, nonIndian diaspora global marketslike Russia, Turkey, Taiwan,South Korea, Germany, Poland,

Portugal, Latin America andFrance are opening up to theIndian cinema. Over and abovetheatrical release, their televisionand digital platforms also arebeing explored to make ourfilms get an access to their audi-ence. In this year, Indian filmcontent has been customised forthe mainstream audience’s lan-guages and sensibilities. RaniMukerji-starring Hichki has sofar been released in Russia,Kazakhstan,Taiwan, Hong Kongand China. It extended the fron-tiers that Bajrangi Bhaijaan hadstarted to chart out with itsrelease in China and Turkey thisyear.

The year also witnessed arevolution in the acousticsdepartment. For the first time inIndia, the 4D SLR sound systemtechnology was introduced withthe release of the film 2.0. In thistechnology over and above thespeakers placed on both thesides and above the watcher,there would be speakers belowthe seats to provide the audiencewith sound from the closestsource, hence elevating theirfilm watching experience.

Keeping in mind the dismalscreen count in India, the yearalso witnessed existing multiplexchains expanding their foot-prints into small towns and

cities to capitalise on the poten-tial that these have to offer.This was done keeping in mindthe substantial appetite of film-goers who do not have enoughspace or platforms to see thefilms. According to the FICCIFrames Report 2018, India has9,530 cinema screens comparedto over 44,000 in China and over40,393 in the United States.Despite producing the largestnumber of films in the world peryear, India still remains one ofthe most under-penetrated mar-kets with an average of eightscreens per million people. Thisis primarily due to lack ofscreens in Tier II, Tier III andTier IV cities, hence leaving alarge section of the populationwith limited screen access. Thebiggest films in India reach onlyabout 30-35 per cent of thepopulation. The country hasthe capacity of at least 23,000more screens to be implement-ed in the next 10 years

Sensing this opportunity,new players have entered theexhibition business while strong-ly concentrating on the Tier II toTier IV markets in MP, UP,Rajasthan and other places.Actor Ajay Devgn under hisbrand name NY Cinemasalready has 17 operationalscreens and is expanding inmore geographical areas.

With the recent slash inGST on film tickets from 18 percent to 12 per cent and from 28per cent to 18 per cent, both theexhibition infrastructure andcreative development will get astrong impetus and attract sub-stantial investments.

Indeed the year has provento be a disruptive one for theentire film industry’s ecosystemand the end consumer. Withmajor films releasing in 2019,one can look forward to morepositive and interesting disrup-tions to follow in 2019 too.

(The author is the CEO ofUltra Media and EntertainmentGroup.)

Theatre has been so much a part ofIndian culture that it is where some

of the renowned Bollywood names havecut their teeth. However, it is strugglingto keep its identity alive in the present-day, tech-driven frenzy, promptingsome of the veterans to suggest it begiven a cinematic and digital touch tomake it more relatable and reachable.

Film and theatre actress SonaliKulkarni felt that theatre is an impor-tant part of “our culture and it is ourresponsibility to pass on the legacy tothe future generations.”

She said, “Today’s generation isimpatient, wants the best quality service,doesn’t want to be stuck in a theatre, feel-ing deprived that they couldn’t sit in thefront row — televising a play is the bestopportunity for everyone to feel thatthey are at the centre of the first row.”

She also feels that drama is one ofthe most original forms of art. “I real-ly like this culture of entertaining eachother by storytelling. There are stories

— mythical, political, social, storiesabout our livelihood, society, romanti-cism and poetry — and everything canbe conveyed through a play.

“I believe this basic form of story-telling should be preserved. Today’saudience is always racing against time.They need convenient options of enter-tainment. Hence, it is important to maketheatre easily available to them,” she said.

Joy Sengupta, another theatre vet-eran, echoed this and also pointed to thelimitation of theatre. “Performing art isexperienced live and by several peopleat one given time and venue. But a par-ticular performance cannot reach every-where. That is the limitation of theatreas opposed to cinema, which can beshowcased, or a serial which can be tele-

cast in multiple mediums or places at thesame time.

“Millions of people can experiencea film or serial at the same time, but nottheatre,” said Sengupta.

So, is the emergence of new ageBollywood stories taking away theessence of watching a play? “I don’t thinkso,” said Sengupta, adding, “I thinkBollywood has actually benefitted fromtheatre. The best of actors, writers anddirectors have actually come from the-atre. It serves as a base for introspectionof life, psychology, emotions, society,politics, everything. So theatre, in thatsense, is probably the best vehicle forcommunicating human truth and themagic of theatre will never go out offashion.”

He disagreed that theatre is in anykind of crisis. “Youngsters in India rightnow are definitely turning towardstheatre as an outlet for their expressionand are benefitting from it. More andmore youngsters are experiencing the-atre right from their college time, postcollege, into group theatre, into profes-sional theatre. Theatre is benefittingfrom it, the youth is benefiting from it.I don’t think theatre is in any kind of cri-sis,” he said.

Mita Vashisht, whose oeuvre spanstheatre, TV and films, pointed out thatthe cinematic format will give theatre anew boost.

“When it comes to educating theyouth about the significance of theatre,exposing them to the exemplary perfor-mances of theatre stalwarts and reviv-ing its glory, the cinematic format of the-atre is the way to go,” said Vashisht.

She also felt it’s vital to increase the-atre’s social and cultural space in soci-ety. “It reflects the rich cultural heritage

of our country and teaches society aboutitself, bringing to light the mindsets ofcurrent society and educating themabout their conditions,” she said.

Aiming to preserve the art ofdrama and emotions of theatre, increaseits reach beyond a few privileged citiesand take it to the audience short of time,Tata Sky has recently launched a theatreportal — a 24-hour dedicated platformto provide an ad-free theatre-watchingexperience on digital devices.

The content is curated with the bestplays and performances from the finesttheatre groups, bringing multiple gen-res of plays under one platform to beaccessible from the comfort and conve-nience of one’s home.

“We believed that, theatre, which isone of the oldest and the most appre-ciated entertainment art forms of India,should also be given a new stage andreach. That’s when we planned this con-cept of ‘archiving’ and ‘televising’ pop-ular plays,” said Pallavi Puri, chief com-mercial officer, Tata Sky.

So is televising theatre the next bigstep on the small screen? “Televisionviewership is only growing stronger witheach passing day and televising India’smost cherished art form is an interest-ing phase for the small screen.

“The plays have been recreated tosuit the sensibilities of today’s viewersand is shot using different techniquesand technology. The result gives view-ers a refreshing experience of watchingexcellent content and enjoyingacclaimed theatre performances fromthe comfort and convenience of yourhome and across devices such as mobile,tablet, laptop and desktops,” Puriexplained.

—IANS

For actor Sonu Sood, 2019 promises to bea good year. He is waiting for the release

of Simmba which will be only three days oldwhen the New Year kicks in. He plays Durga,the most powerful guy in Goa who is a foilto Ranveer (Singh). “I have not played acharacter which is similar before. Despite itbeing a negative one, there’s a positive sideto it as well. The kind of layering that RohitShetty has done is quite commendable,” hesays.

Following this, he will be heading backto the South to complete his Kannada filmand two other releases which are lined upfor later next year. “My production house hasgot the rights of a film on PV Sandhu so thattoo needs to be worked upon,” says he.

For Sood, there are some things whichare essential while signing up for a film. Ontop of the list is the script. “There might bebig production houses but when it comes tothe script, it might not always be somethingthat you want to do. It’s a tough call to takebut I always believe that if the script and therole is not as per your taste, there’s no pointlanding it,” he says. Whenever he choosesa role, in the order, he looks at the script first,then the director and then the producer.

For the actor, the decision is often takenin the first five minutes when he first hearsthe script. “When I sat for the narration ofSimmba, I was hoping for it to be the kindof role I was waiting for since the last fewyears. When the narration begun, I knewthat Durga is me and that this is a role thatI’ll enjoy playing. I felt that the role was chal-lenging. I have done films in various lan-guages including Kannada, Telugu andTamil but have never played a Marathi char-acter in a Hindi film.”

However, despite carefully choosingfilms, there is no surety of it being a hit onbox office, as he believes. Sood says, “I wishthere was a formula to choose the right scriptwhich would say, ‘do this and you’ll succeed.’Most of the actors just follow their instinct.”

He believes that going by the trends thisyear focus on the content has certainlyincreased. Sood says, “The change was longoverdue. There was a phase when content-driven work was not being noticed, whichgave leverage to filmmakers who took theaudience for granted. We have to make goodcinema to pull the people to the theatres. I’mglad that this year was a learning process fora lot of filmmakers and actors. It is becauseof the audience that there is this emphasison good scripts.”

Many feel that the change andimprovement in the content of Hindi filmshas come about due to digital platforms,which have practically exploded withfresh storylines, new content and actorsextending their oeuvre further. The actorsays, “It has challenged actors and film-makers because people now have easy

access to good performances and content.So you have to make something goodwhich can be compared to those high-in-content web shows.”

It has helped in other ways as well. “Ithas provided a lot of job opportunities to dif-ferent actors. If you are good, you are boundto get busy. It’s challenging to stay there. Iwould say the competition has become verytough. But the opportunities have increased.”

Sood is not just known on account ofhis work in the Hindi film industry but hasacted in many movies down South. So howeasy or difficult is it to mouth dialogues ina language that one is not familiar with? Heanswers, “You never actually get too com-fortable with the language. Moreover, youhave to take care that the expressions andthe timing are right. I derived this formulawhere I make the assistant director say theline before me,” says Sood who has donealmost 65-70 films and believes he is a pro-fessional now. And in the process, he hasstarted understanding the languages quitea bit, “I don’t know these languages com-pletely but I do understand them now.”

Another leap of faith that he had takenwas turning into a producer when helaunched Shakti Sagar Productions, whichis named after his father, in 2016. He says,“As a producer, I would know how actorsfunction. And as an actor, I know what doesa producer want. It’s good to experience boththe sides. It helps you develop on an indi-vidual level too. I’m glad I have stood at boththe sides,” he says as he signs off.

Photo: Munna S.

DISRUPTIVE REELSThis year has been a mysterious magical pot for the Indian cinema, says SUSHILKUMAR AGRAWAL

KEEPING IN MINDTHE DISMAL

SCREEN COUNT ININDIA, THIS YEARALSO WITNESSED

EXISTINGMULTIPLEX

CHAINSEXPANDING THEIRFOOTPRINTS INTO

SMALL TOWNSAND CITIES TOCAPITALISE ON

THEIR POTENTIAL

Actor SONU SOOD extends his oeuvre withhis character in Simmba. By TEAM VIVA

‘Script matters’

Drama connoisseurs believe that televising India’s most

cherished art form will extend its reach

Is theatre in crisis?

LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 27, 2018 sport 15

AFP n ATLANTA

Cristiano Ronaldo came off thebench to score a late equaliser as10-man Juventus salvaged a 2-2

draw at Atalanta on Wednesday tomove nine points clear of Napoli at thetop of Serie A.

Carlo Ancelotti's Napoli visit third-placed Inter Milan later in the day,though, with the chance to cut the gapto the reigning champions.

Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegridecided to rest Ronaldo as the formerReal Madrid man did not start a leaguegame for the first time since moving toItaly, but the 33-year-old was needed tolevel in the 78th minute after DuvanZapata's double had put the hosts infront following Berat Djimsiti's own goal.

Ronaldo's efforts keep Juventusunbeaten in Serie A, ahead of the finalgame before the winter break againstSampdoria on Saturday.

Everything appeared to be going toplan for Juve when they grabbed the leadin only the second minute when Atalantacentre-back Djimsiti completely mis-kicked Alex Sandro's deflected cross intohis own net.

But Zapata put a spanner in the Juveworks with a fantastic individual goalmidway through the first half, spinningcentre-back Leonardo Bonucci withease before drilling a left-footed strikeinto the far corner.

Douglas Costa fired wide just afterthe half-hour mark as the visitors lookedto restore their advantage, but the Turingiants were reduced to 10 men eightminutes after half-time when RodrigoBentancur was shown a second yellowcard for a poor tackle on TimothyCastagne.

Colombian striker Zapata wasted lit-tle time in making Bentancur pay,bundling in from almost on the goallineto put Atalanta ahead and score his ninthleague goal of the season.

Allegri sent on Ronaldo with 25minutes remaining, and less than 60 sec-onds after Robin Gosens wasted a gold-en opportunity to seal victory forAtalanta, the Portuguese star pounced tonod home from close range.

MILAN FAIL TO SCORE AGAINMILAN: AC Milan's push for a top-fourfinish in Serie A took a hit on Wednesdayas Gennaro Gattuso's side were held toan uneventful 0-0 draw at struggling

Frosinone.The seven-time European champi-

ons have now failed to score in four con-secutive league games for the first timesince 1984, managing three goallessstalemates in the process.

Milan remain fifth, behind fourth-placed Lazio on goal difference in therace for Champions League qualification.

Milan have said they will appeal tothe Court of Arbitration for Sport afterUEFA threatened to ban them from

European competition for a season ifthey do not break even by June 2021.

The club won a previous appeal toCAS earlier this year, following aEuropa League ban for breachingFinancial Fair Play regulations.

But their efforts to secure Europeanfootball for next season suffered a set-back against a resolute Frosinone out-fit who almost snatched a dramatic93rd-minute winner when CamilloCiano was denied by visiting goalkeeperGianluigi Donnarumma.

Ciano had already seen a goalruled out by VAR for a foul eight min-utes before half-time.

Frosinone remain second-bottomabove only winless Chievo, havingmanaged just one victory all season.

Later on Wednesday, reigningchampions Juventus travel to Atalantalooking to extend their eight-pointlead at the top of the table, before sec-ond-placed Napoli face third-placedInter Milan.

PTI n ABU DHABI

Not willing to reveal their tactics,India and Oman will play behind

closed doors their final internationalfriendly before the AFC Asian Cup, hereon Thursday.

A day prior to the match at theBaniyas Stadium, India's head coachStephen Constantine stressed they"haven't come here expecting to playeasy games".

The match is part of Blue Tigers'preparation for the forthcoming AsianCup. Both the head coaches have decid-ed on playing behind closed doors, theresult of which there won't be any tele-cast of the match and the crowd andmedia will be missing from the stands.

India begin their campaign in theAsian Cup against Thailand on January6.

Commenting on the match againstOman, Constantine stated: "It's going tobe extremely hard. We have come hereto play the big boys of Asia. We playedagainst the likes of Jordan, China. Weneed to play these sort of games to pre-pare in the best possible fashion."

Oman are currently ranked 82 inthe FIFA rankings, while India are at 97.India last played Oman in the FIFAWorld Cup Russia 2018 qualifiers twice,with Oman winning on both occasions.

"We were very unlucky to lose thefirst leg in Bengaluru," Constantinereflected. "That was our first group stagegame in the qualifiers. But we are amuch improved side now, and much

younger."Central midfielder Pronay Halder,

who wasn't part of the squad in the first-leg in Bengaluru complemented hiscoach, saying "we are a much maturedside now".

"We have matured a lot since then.Our organisation on the field is muchbetter compared to what we were in2015," he opined.

India have been the first team toland in Abu Dhabi for the Asian Cup.

"The facilities have been superb andit has been going on according to theplan so far. We have done our home-work as well," Constantine insisted.

In the continental showpiece, Indiaare looking to improve on their show-ing from the last time they took part inthe tournament, in the 2011 edition,when they suffered three heavy defeatsfor a group stage-exit.

India's 13-match unbeaten rununder Constantine has given themhope of a better outing this timearound, coming into the event not longafter scaling their second-best rankingin the FIFA chart.

PTI n KOLKATA

Gujarat Fortunuegiants saw off a spirited fightfrom defending champions Patna Pirates to

secure a 37-29 win in an Inter-Zone WildcardPro-Kabaddi League fixture here on Wednesday.

The loss meant the holders were on the brinkof elimination, giving a lifeline to UP Yoddha,who will face Bengal Warriors Thursday to decidethe third team from Zone B.

Gujarat's defence proved to be the differenceas they prevailed over Patna's star-studdedattacking lineup featuring the season six's lead-ing raider Pradip Narwal.

Captain Sunil Kumar, with five tackle points,was Gujarat's mainstay in the defence as he gota fine support from Iran's Asian Games Goldmedallist Hadi Oshtorak.

Leading by a slender three-point margin withthree minutes left on the clock, the duo effect-ed a super tackle to pin down Narwal to give thema decisive 32-28 point advantage.

Narwal finished with 10 raid points but it wasnot enough with the Fortunegiants putting up afine show in defence with their captain leadingthe way.

Gujarat scored some crucial raids throughAjay Kumar (8) and Rohit Gulia (10) to extendtheir lead by three points with less than 10 min-utes.

Season six's leading raider Narwal spear-headed Patna's attack as he made early inroadsto give the defending champions a 6-2 lead.

But the Fortunegiants, who are the most con-sistent team of the season, ensured that they keptPatna's lead in check with Gulia leading theirattack.

HEENA EQUALS QUALIFICATION WORLD RECORDNew Delhi: Former world number one Heena Sidhuequalled the women's 10m air pistol qualification worldrecord at the national selection trials 1 and 2 whileYouth Olympics champion Manu Bhaker finishedsecond here on Wednesday. The trials are being held atthe Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range. Heena shot aqualification score of 587 in trial 1 to top the 319 strongfield. Her score equalled the world record held byreigning Olympic and world champion Anna Korakaki ofGreece. Youth Olympic Games winner Bhaker came insecond with a score of 579. In other key results of theday, Divyansh Singh Panwar of Rajasthan and Hema KC of Gujarat caused quite a flutter. Divyansh won all the10m air rifle events including the senior men's, youthmen's and junior men's events. Hema K C upset WorldChampionship Silver medallist Anjum Moudgil in thewomen's 50m rifle 3 positions event 457.3-454.

REAL MADRID LEADS UEFA RANKINGSMadrid: Real Madrid heads the rankings of the UEFAclub coefficients at the end of 2018, while Spain's LaLiga led the UEFA association club standings byfootball's governing body. The Spanish club, winner ofthe last three UEFA Champions League editions,surpassed second-placed Bayern Munich and third-placed Barcelona in the five-year coefficient used for theseeding which was released on Tuesday, reports Efe.Real Madrid, which also won the FIFA Club World Cupon Saturday, topped the rankings of the 10-yearcoefficient, used for the distribution of revenue, comingin ahead of Barcelona and Bayern, respectively. AtleticoMadrid came in fourth in both the five-year and 10-yearcoefficient rankings.

CELTA'S LAGO ASPAS OUT WITH INJURYVigo: Celta Vigo and Spain striker Iago Aspas is set tobe sidelined for about four weeks due to a muscle injuryon his right leg, his club announced on Wednesday. The31-year-old forward, who is the top Spanish scorer inLa Liga this season with 10 goals, sustained the injuryduring Celta's last match in 2018 against Barcelona onSaturday, reports Efe. "The player suffers a probablemuscle tear in the internal calf of his right leg," the clubsaid. "He will undergo an ultrasound scan in the nextfew days to find out the exact extent of the injury."Celta's statement added: "If the existence of brokenmuscle fibres is confirmed, the period of absence willbe around four weeks, according to the medicalservices of the club."

ASIER GARITANO FIRED FROM REAL SOCIEDADSan Sebastian: Spain's Real Sociedad on Wednesdayannounced that it has parted company with its firstteam's head coach Asier Garitano as well as his staffmember Miguel Perez. Sociedad currently lies in the15th spot in the La Liga standings with 19 points,having collected eight defeats and four ties, in additionto five wins, reports Efe. "Real Sociedad has made thedecision to terminate Asier Garitano's contract as thefirst team's coach," the club said in a statement. "MiguelPerez, member of the first team's coaching staff, alsoceases to belong to the club." La Real thanked bothGaritano and Perez for their work and dedication,wishing them luck in the future. In another statement,the side announced that its team B manager, ImanolAlguacil, will be replacing Garitano until the end of the2018-2019 season.

Agencies

SINGLES

PTI n NEW DELHI

Dronacharya awardee C A Kuttappa hastaken over as India's chief boxing coach

at the ongoing national camp from whichstar pugilist Vikas Krishan (75kg) was leftout following his professional plunge.

The 39-year-old Kuttappa, credited withshaping some of the country's most suc-cessful boxers such as Vijender Singh, MSuranjoy Singh and Shiva Thapa amongothers, took over from veteran coach S RSingh at the beginning of the camp whichstarted December 10. Singh has nowretired.

"It's such a huge responsibility but I amtrying to do my best. I have a few plans andhopefully, I will be able to execute them,"Kuttappa, who was an assistant coach, hesaid.

The Army man said his elevation wasHigh Performance Director Santiago

Nieva's idea."He asked me if I was interested. I

sought some time because I needed to thinkit over. I am not most senior is terms of ageand that was playing on my mind. I told thisto Santiago and he told me I shouldn't bebothered about it," the former National

Games gold-medallist from Karnatakasaid.

His first major assignment would be thesecond edition of the India Open scheduledin January in Guwahati.

"Earlier it used to be more aboutpumping up my boys but now I am goingto be directly responsible for their perfor-mance. So, I know the pressure is going tobe huge but I hope I can deliver," he said.

Kuttappa is just one of the two coach-es from the Services Sports Control Board(SSCB), the reigning national champions,in the camp and the line-up is dominatedby coaches from the Railways SportsPromotion Board (RSPB).

As for the boxers in the camp, Vikas,a Commonwealth Games Gold-medallistand Asian Games Bronze-winner this year,is the most notable omission following hisdecision to sign up with American pro-moter Bob Arum.

IANS n RIO DE JANEIRO

Barcelona midfielderArthur Melo has expressed

the hope that Brazil teammateNeymar will return to theCatalan club, less than 18months after his world-recordtransfer to Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).

Neymar has scored 44goals in 49 matches for theFrench side but there hasbeen speculation that the 26-year-old is unhappy and

angling for a return to theCamp Nou.

"Personally, I'm prayingthat he comes because he is agreat player," Arthur wasquoted as saying by Brazil'sUol news portal on Tuesday,reports Xinhua news agency.

"That's unquestionable.The more top qualify playerswe have, the better [forBarcelona]. But only heknows. I don't how if there arenegotiations and possibilitiesof him coming back. He is a

personal friend and a foot-baller who I admire a lot. I'dbe really happy if he cameback," he added.

Neymar won two La Ligatitles, a Champions Leaguetitle, three Spanish Cups, aSpanish Super Cup and theFIFA Club World Cup in afour-year spell at Barcelona.

He became the mostexpensive footballer in histo-ry when he joined Paris Saint-Germain for 222 million eurosin August 2017.

IANS n HYDERABAD

The North Eastern Warriors (NEW)will look to turn their fortunes around

when skipper Saina Nehwal takes thecourt for the first time in the 4thVodafone Premier Badminton League(PBL) against Mumbai Rockets here onThursday.

With a close 2-3 win-loss record outof the five ties in their last fixture, theWarriors, led by India's first woman towin an Olympic Bronze Saina Nehwal,will be looking to unleash their firepow-er when they take on the MumbaiRockets, the second placed on the leader-board with five points.

If she provides the start that NEWwants, it will be a great inspiration to theplayers following her.

"It wasn't the start that we wereexpecting, but we drew satisfaction fromthe success of Rituparna when she beatKirsty Gilmore, a top 50 ranked playerand Tian backing with a brilliant game.We are confident of a fresh start as theteam has regrouped and we aim to havethe first win tomorrow," a confident Sainasaid.

"I had not played the last match, butI am practising and moving well on thecourt, so will do whatever is best possi-ble for the team's success," she added.

Without a doubt, Saina will wantChinese Tian Houwei, the winner ofChina Masters Open who made hisdebut last year against Delhi Dashers, todo his part as well as he did the othernight in Mumbai. His value addition ofthis veteran will definitely add to the fire-power in men singles.

Tanongsak Sansomboonsuk, the firstThai shuttler to win a Superseries, hasloads of experience and credentials —seven SEA Games medals and the 2010Asian Games Bronze medal in his

swelling kitty — to do a thorough job insingles.

NEW also has a good mix of doublesplayers in Kim Ha Na - she won her firsttitle in India Open in 20112. The Silvermedal winner at the Incheon Games in2014 is a tricky customer and possessesthe strokes and guile of a mixed doublespair to outdo the best in business. Afterhaving had a quiet year, she will look toprove her worth.

South Korean stalwart Yoo Yeon Seongwas a vital cog in the title-winning effortsof Hyderabad Hunters last season. He bringsin not only the experience but also a bigboost to Warriors' doubles lineup and thePBL veteran will look to make his experi-ence count along with Liao Min Chun, the2014 Games bronze winner. The Taiwanese,a star attraction in the lineup, with his expe-rience can provide the edge that NE

Warriors needs. But Mumbai Rockets do have a solid

attack to counter the Warriors with the likesof Le Yong Dae and Sameer Verma in dou-bles and singles respectively will look fortheir second win.

In addition, they have proved them-selves to be a tough team, having been therunners-up in Season 1 and 2. The only dis-advantage could be that they will be play-ing the Saina-led New Warriors for the firsttime as they didn't meet them in Season 3.

The momentum is certainly withMumbai Rockets and Sameer Verma agreesthat they will look to keep it going till theend of the season.

"We had a good start and it will be crit-ical that we get a good start here too againstthe North East. It will be important that wecontinue the winning momentum," Vermasaid.

JUVE HOLD ATALANTA 2-2 Ronaldo’s 78th minute goal helps The Old Lady to continue its winning streak; Milan ties 0-0 with Frosinone

Cristiano Ronaldo, third from left, scores his side's second goal during the Serie A match; (downside) Samuel Castillejo, center, in action with Paolo Ghiglione during the Serie A match AP

KUTTAPPA APPOINTEDCHIEF BOXING COACH

India gear up to play Omanbehind closed doors

Fortunegiantsbeat Patna Pirates37-29 in PKL

ARTHUR PRAYING FORNEYMAR'S BARCELONA RETURN

NORTH EASTERN WARRIORS SEEK

TO IMPROVE PBL FORTUNES

Ronaldo's efforts keepJuventus unbeaten inSerie A, ahead of the

final gamebefore the

winter breakagainst

Sampdoria

LUCKNOW | THURSDAY | DECEMBER 27, 2018 sport 16

PTI ■ MELBOURNE

Debutant Mayank Agarwal pro-vided the base with a confidenthalf-century before Virat Kohli

and Cheteshwar Pujara steered India toa solid 215 for two on day one of thethird Test against Australia, here onWednesday.

Agarwal, thrusted into the squadfollowing failure of KL Rahul andMurali Vijay, responded with a 76-runknock off 161 balls, sorting out India'sopening woes to some extent.

The conditions, though, were com-pletely different from what Rahul andVijay had countered in bowler-friend-ly Adelaide and Perth.

The MCG pitch turned out to bedocile, ideal for someone making hisTest debut as the Australian pacers hadto bend their back to get theKookaburra ball to rise sharply.

Make-shift opener Hanuma Viharidid not make many runs, getting just8 off 66 balls in his 40-run stand withAgarwal but they batted out 18.5 overs,India's longest opening stand in termsof balls faced in Test cricket acrossAustralia, New Zealand, England andSouth Africa since December 2010.

Virender Sehwag and GautamGambhir had batted out 29.3 oversagainst the Proteas at Centurion in thatyear.

The combination of Agarwal andVihari was India's sixth opening pair-ing in 2018, and fifth in 11 overseasTests this year.

Agarwal missed out on scoring ahundred on Test debut but grabbed theopportunity with both hands. His 76came off 161 balls with eight shots tothe fence and one over it.

During his knock, he became onlythe second Indian to make a 50-plusscore on debut on Australian soil afterDattu Phadkar (51) at SCG inDecember, 1947.

Overall, he became the seventhIndian batsman to score a half-centu-ry on Test debut. He fell at stroke of tea,caught down the leg side to be the sec-ond victim of paceman Pat Cummins,the only successful bowler for thehosts today.

Skipper Kohli and Pujara then tookcontrol over the proceedings denying

the hosts any more success in the finalsession. However, Kohli survived a hos-tile Mitchell Starc over towards the endto stay unbeaten on 47.

Tim Paine grassed a caught behindchance when Kohli chased one fromStarc in that over.

Kohli and Pujara, who is batting on68, have stitched together a 92-runstand for the third wicket.

The Indian captain had walked outto bat to a mixture of cheers and boos,but soon impressed the capacity crowdat the MCG with his repertoire ofstrokes. He sped off the blocks and atone stage was scoring at strike-rate 70-plus before Australia reined things inwith some tight bowling.

It soon reflected in India's overallrun-rate as well which didn't cross2.5/over all day.

At the other end, Pujara continuedin his usual manner and brought up his21st Test half-century off 152 balls.

Australia tried their best to etch outa breakthrough and in desperation alsowasted a DRS review for lbw offNathan Lyon (0/59).

They took the second new ball inthe 83rd over, and the big momentcame in the 87th over when Tim Painedropped Kohli (on 47) off Starc (0/32).

Earlier, Agarwal kept the score-board ticking after a watchful initialperiod, reaching his maiden Test half-century off 95 balls. .

It was only the second instance in11 overseas Tests this year that Virat

Kohli was yet to arrive at the crease with100-plus runs on the scoreboard. Thefirst instance was in Nottingham dur-ing the second innings against England.

To their credit Australia createdchances in the latter half of this sec-ond session. In the 52nd over offMitchell Marsh, a delivery looped uptowards gully off Pujara but fell justshort of a diving Usman Khawaja.

Then, three overs later, Agarwaledged Cummins through the vacantthird slip. The pacer picked himself upthough and three balls later he hadAgarwal as Australia got a boostgoing into tea.

It showed in how Lyon came onto bowl as early as the eighth over, onlythe second time in his Test career thathe had done so.

Vihari took 25 balls and 33 min-utes to score his first run as he battedwith patience.

He was hit on the helmet in the13th over off Cummins as Australiastarted bowling short and attacking thebatsmen more. The makeshift-open-er shrugged it off and went on to face66 balls, the second highest for anIndian opener in five innings thisseries.

Cummins got him off a sharp ris-ing delivery in the 19th over, as Viharitook his eyes off the ball and glovedit to Aaron Finch in the slip region.The Australian pacers continued to testthe Indian batsmen with sharp bounc-ers at every opportunity possible.

PTI ■ MELBOURNE

Mayank Agarwal hadbeen waiting for his

India debut for the past oneyear but when dream turnedinto a reality, there was sucha surge of emotions that theKarnataka batsman found itdifficult to focus on the jobat hand.

"It was a tremendousfeeling to get the India Testcap. I had a lot of emotions(running through mind)when I got the cap. I willcherish it for the rest of mylife. The first thought was295 (his India cap number),"Agarwal said after hisimpressive 76 at the iconicMelbourne Cricket Ground.

But the occasion doesget better at times, especial-ly when someone scoresmountain of runs and is keptwaiting for that elusive Indiacap.

"It wasn't easy to gethold of those emotions andfocus there, but it needed tobe done. I just stuck to myplans and just kept tellingmyself, "there is a plan thatI have to go through and Iam just going to stick tothat". Even though it wasoverwhelming, it was goodand I am happy with the wayI started," Agarwal added.

Agarwal felt good thatthe seniors came up andegged him to leave a markon his debut.

"It's a big stage, and a bigopportunity, and I had theseniors walk up to me,

telling that bigger the day,bigger the opportunity toleave a mark," said Agarwal.

Agarwal feels blessedthat he made his debut at theMCG and also crossed everystep towards internationalcricket with flying colours.

"I just want to say thatwhatever happened andwhatever kept happening, Ifeel very, very special. I amvery lucky because I mademy debut at MCG. Everyplayer has to go throughscoring runs in Ranji Trophyand doing what he has to do.

"I did that and I am veryhappy about that. And Ilearnt a lot as well. Whenyou play Ranji Trophy forfive years and play in allparts of India, you learn a lotfrom that. You face differentsituations, and it's always agreat learning," he added.

When asked about aflat pitch at the MCG,which showed some vari-able bounce as the day pro-gressed, Agarwal replied,"Iwon't complain about thepitch. I thought it was goodto bat on. It did do a bitearly on and it was slow.And as the day progressedand when we batted afterlunch, it got a little quick-er."

"Obviously, I didn'tthink too much about thewicket. I just wanted tostay blank and take it as itcomes. I thought while I amat the wicket, let me assessthe wicket and see how togo about this."

PTI ■ MELBOURNE

Australia were disappointed tomiss out on the prized wicket

of Virat Kohli on a tough openingday of the third Test, said TravisHead, stressing on the need to makethe still-hard Kookaburra ball countin the second morning.

Kohli was dropped on 47 byAustralian skipper Tim Paine dur-ing Mitchell Starc's brilliant overtowards the end of the innings.

"... The best over today wasfrom Starc. Beating Kohli inside andoutside, that new ball hopefully cancome out and do that tomorrowagain. It was disappointing to leavethat chance but it happens," Headsaid on Wednesday.

Australian bowlers had to toilhard as India finished at 215-2 withKohli (47) and Cheteshwar Pujara(68) remaining unbeaten at stumps,following Mayank Agarwal's 161-ball 76 on debut early in the day.

"We would have liked to have4-5 wickets tonight, but it is a mas-sive morning and if we can still getthem down two wickets in themorning, it will be good while theball is still reasonably hard and acouple left handers coming lateron," he said.

"Hopefully as the game goes on

we will get more spin, but we havebeen able to restrict a lot of runstoday even though we didn't get thewickets we would have liked. Itmakes for an exciting morningand momentum can change."

Head said the bowling unit did

well to restrict the flow of runs ona grinding day and hoped they cancontinue in the same vein Thursday.

"Yeah it was a tough day. Agrinding day of Test cricket andthey batted well. We created pres-sure and we have seen for the whole

series there hasn't been high runrate for the day," said Head.

"Sometimes that's Test cricket.It is not always going to be clear sail-ing and good wickets, and todaywas a case when we had to grind itout.

"It makes for another massivemorning tomorrow to create pres-sure and make sure we bowl tomor-row the day we did today. I thoughtwe restricted India in trying con-ditions," he added.

Head also lauded Pat Cumminsfor his two-wicket haul on theopening day.

"Cummins led from the frontand got two wickets for us. Hebowled hard and aggressive, usedhis bouncer well, and extractedsomething from the wicket. And heput pressure on Indian batsmen allday," he said.

The pitch at MCG came underscrutiny once again for a lack ofgeneral aid to the bowlers and Headsaid they need to wait and watchhow it goes through the next fourdays.

"I thought it would offer a lit-tle bit more than it did in the firstcouple hours. We thought it wouldoffer more life leading into it. If youhit the wicket the pacers were ableto get some pace off it but in otherparts they weren't able to," he said

PTI ■ MELBOURNE

Former Australia captain RickyPonting was Wednesday formally

inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall ofFame.

To mark the occasion, Pontingreceived his commemorative capfrom compatriot ICC Cricket Hall ofFamer Glenn McGrath during the teabreak on the opening day of the thirdTest against India at the MCG.

Ponting was named in the ICCCricket Hall of Fame along with for-mer India captain Rahul Dravid andEngland woman wicketkeeper-batterClaire Taylor during the ICC AnnualConference in Dublin in July, whichPonting could not attend.

Ponting, after receiving the cap,said: "It's an incredible feeling, Ithink for it to happen here at the MCGis what makes the whole thing a lit-tle bit more special. I found outtoday I am one of 25 Australians to beinducted.

"When you play one Test forAustralia, you join a very elite groupof players but now to part of the ICCHall of Fame, you join an even moreelite group of cricketers, so it's a pret-ty special day today," Ponting said.

Ponting spoke fondly about hisassociation with McGrath.

"I have lots of great memories withGlenn. I went to the cricket academywith Glenn in about 1990, so I haveknown Glenn for a long time.

"It's a really cool thing that theydo to have a fellow inductee actuallyhand over your cap and induct you in,so to have someone like Glenn do it,with whom I am working with nowand have played with for 10 or 12years, makes the whole thing a littlebit better," Ponting said.

"It's great recognition. I thank theICC for what they have done in mak-ing this possible. To be here in theMCG with 75,000 people, it makes itan awesome day," the formerAustralian captain added.

Ponting, a three-time ICC CricketWorld Cup winner including twotimes as captain, is the 25th Australiacricketer to be formally inductedinto the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.

The 44-year-old retired frominternational cricket in 2012 afterscoring 13,378 runs in 168 Tests with41 centuries, 13,704 runs in 375ODIs with 30 centuries and 401 runsin 17 T20Is with two half-centuries.

Ponting was named the ICCPlayer of the Year in 2006 and 2007while also being named the ICC TestPlayer of the Year in 2006.

PTI ■ MELBOURNE

Banned Australian cricketerCameron Bancroft on

Wednesday revealed that itwas David Warner, whoencouraged him to tamperwith the ball in the ill-fatedCape Town Test, and he did itsince he wanted to "fit in" andfeel "valued" in the team.

Bancroft was handed anine-month ban while Warnerand then skipper Steve Smithwere handed one-year bans byCricket Australia in exemplarypunishment for their role inball-tampering scandal inMarch this year.

"Dave (Warner) suggestedto me to carry the action out onthe ball given the situation wewere in the game and I didn'tknow any better," Bancroft said

in an interview, conducted byformer cricketer AdamGilchrist for Fox Cricket. "I did-n't know any better because Ijust wanted to fit in and feel val-ued really. As simple as that,"Bancroft who is days awayfrom completing his ban, said.

However, he also admittedthat he was guided by his own

distorted values in making thehorrendous decision.

"The decision was basedaround my values, what I val-ued at the time and I valued fit-ting in… you hope that fittingin earns you respect and withthat, I guess, there came apretty big cost for the mistake."

However, while intro-specting what would have hap-pened if he had refusedWarner's suggestion, the 26-year-old Bancroft said he mayhave buried himself under thedoubt that probably he did notput team's interest before him.

"I would have gone to bedand I would have felt like I hadlet everybody down. I wouldhave felt like I had let the teamdown. I would have left like Ihad hurt our chances to win thegame of cricket."

AFP ■ CHRISTCHURCH

Suranga Lakmal and Tim Southee viedfor early honours as 14 wickets fell to

leave the deciding second Test betweenNew Zealand and Sri Lanka evenlypoised on day one in Christchurch onWednesday.

"The first session (on Thursday) willbe important for both teams," Southee saidat the end of a day in which he top-scoredfor New Zealand with 68 and then tookthree quick Sri Lankan wickets.

After Sri Lanka won the toss andopted to bowl, Lakmal produced a career-best five for 54 as New Zealand crumbledand were all out for 178 in 50 overs.

At stumps, Sri Lanka were 88 for fourin reply with Angelo Mathews not out 27and Roshen Silva on 15 while Southee hadthree for 29.

"I'd say it's evenly poised," Sri Lankanbowling coach Rumesh Ratnayake said,as he praised Lakmal's vital contribution.

While during the start if the day’splay New Zealand knew they were in fora tough time when they lost the toss,

with Southee feeling their fortunesimproved after he took 14 off oneLakmal over to put the star Sri Lankanperformer out of the attack.

In a marathon opening session,Lakmal bowled unchanged for 16 oversas he tore New Zealand apart with figuresat one stage of four for 11. He returnedlate in the innings to remove Neil Wagnerto eclipse his previous best of five for 63against South Africa two years ago.

Southee and BJ Watling (46) offeredspirited resistance for New Zealand with

a 108-run stand for the seventh wicketwhile Ross Taylor (27) was the only otherhome batsman to score more than 10.

SL are pushing to end a run of six con-secutive Tests against NZ without a win.

There were catches by the wicket-keeper, second slip and mid-off as well asa bowled as he sent Jeet Raval, Latham,Kane Williamson and Henry Nichollsback to the pavilion in his opening spell.Lahiru Kumara joined the wicket spreewith two dismissals, including the fortu-nate run out of Taylor.

AFP ■ CENTURION

Duanne Olivier claimed a maid-en Test five-wicket haul as

Pakistan were bowled out for 181on the first day of the first Testagainst South Africa at SuperSportPark on Wednesday.

Olivier, effectively SouthAfrica's fifth-choice fast bowler,took six for 37 to steal the limelighton a day when Dale Steyn becameSouth Africa's leading all-timewicket-taker.

Babar Azam made a defiant 71off 79 balls to give the Pakistaninnings some respectability aftertheir batsmen were subjected to anonslaught of fast, short-pitchedbowling.

Steyn took the second wicketof the day to claim the SouthAfrican record but had no furthersuccess. He was punished for 40runs in four overs in his third spellof the day as Azam went on theattack while batting with the tail.Azam hit ten of his 15 fours offSteyn, who finished with one for66.

Olivier, who gained his sixthTest cap following injuries to

Vernon Philander and LungiNgidi, was consistently hostile,especially in a seven-over spell afterlunch when he ripped throughPakistan's middle order, takingthree for 17.

He returned to take the lastwicket shortly before the scheduledtea break.

Steyn claimed his 422nd Testwicket, going past previous record-holder Shaun Pollock, whenFakhar Zaman edged him to thirdslip for 12, sparking exuberant cel-ebrations from his team-mates.

Rabada lifted his new-ballpartner onto his shoulders asother players rushed in to con-gratulate him.

Mayank’s 76, Virat-Pujara’s unbeaten score put India in driver’s seat

INDIA GRAB ADVANTAGE

IN BOXING DAY TEST

Cheteshwar Pujara, right is congratulated by teammate Virat Kohli, left after scoring 50 runs AP

Travis Head walks off the field after getting dismissed in the second Test at Perth AP

AGARWAL, THRUSTED INTO THE SQUAD FOLLOWING

FAILURE OF KL RAHUL AND MURALI VIJAY, RESPONDED

WITH A 76-RUN KNOCK OFF 161 BALLS, SORTING OUT

INDIA'S OPENING WOES TO SOME EXTENT.

‘It wasn't easy to check

emotions and focus’

Ponting formally

inducted into ICC

‘Hall of Fame'

Olivier claims maiden

five-wicket haul

Disappointed to miss Kohli's wicket: Head

Warner encouraged me to

tamper with ball: Bancroft

Southee, Lakmal leave NZ-SL Test evenly poised