English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today News in ......Government can ill afford to ... on Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 2.11 per cent in December 2018 and 5.54 per cent

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Retail inflation galloped to66-month high of 7.35 per

cent posing a new challenge tothe Modi Government ahead ofthe Union Budget. This is sec-ond time that the inflationrate has reared its head so highsince Narendra Modi took overas Prime Minister in July 2014.The previous high in retailinflation was witnessed at 7.39per cent in July 2014.

The sharp rise in inflationmeans your money parked inbank fix deposit will give younegative return in majority ofthe saving schemes. It will alsonarrow down theGovernment’s option to bringin fiscal stimulus in the Budgetto revive the sinking economy.

With fiscal deficit veeringaround 5.5 per cent — if theprovisions for food subsidyand scheme and highwaybuilding projects (both havebeen taken off the Budget andhanded over to FCI and NHAI)are taken in to account — therising inflation poses a newchallenge to the Government.Economists feel that if the fis-cal deficit of the States isincluded, India is staring at a 8per cent fiscal deficit scenario.

The rise in inflation alsoties the RBI down to makingany monetary policy interven-tion to stimulate the economy.

Under this scenario, theGovernment can ill afford tocut down personal income tax.While this will be a popularmeasure which will put more

money in the hands of thecommon man, it will alsonudge up inflation and add tothe fiscal deficit by impactingrevenue collection.

The rise in inflation can beattributed to sharp rise inprices of food and vegetableprices, including onion, andtomato. According to the datareleased by the NationalStatistical Office (NSO) onMonday, vegetables inflationrose to 60.5 per cent inDecember from 36 per cent in

November. Prices of vegetables shot up

60.5 per cent, with a 53.37 percent increase in urban areasand 75 per cent hike in ruralareas. Most of the vegetableswere sold between �40 and 80a kg since October last year.Onion prices also touched�200 a kg in some parts of thecountry last month.

Besides, prices of tomato,cabbage, carrot, green corian-der leaves, lady finger, andpotato are still high in the retail

markets. Prices of pulses, milkand other food products haveincreased in the recent months.

Prices of pulses and prod-ucts rose 15.44 per cent. In caseof “meat and fish” it was near-ly 10 per cent. The inflation ineggs was recorded 8.57 per centwhile in case of spices it wasnearly 6 per cent. Overall, theinflation rate of the food andbeverages category was 12.16 per cent.

As per the Governmentdata, the food inflation rose to

14.12 per cent in December asagainst (-) 2.65 per cent in thesame month of 2018. It was10.01 per cent in November2019. The retail inflation basedon Consumer Price Index(CPI) was 2.11 per cent inDecember 2018 and 5.54 percent in November 2019. In July2014, the CPI was 7.39 per cent,a tad higher than December2019’s number of 7.35 per cent.CPI was 2.11 per cent inDecember 2018. The inflationrate was recorded 4.62 percent in October, 2019.

As per the data, urban foodinflation increased to 16.12 percent compared to 12.3 per centthe previous month. Clothingand footwear inflation was at1.5 per cent in December com-pared to 1.3 per cent inNovember. Housing inflationstood at 4.3 per cent comparedto 4.5 per cent last month. Ruralfood inflation rose to 12.97 percent in December 2019 asagainst 8.8 per cent inNovember 2019. Not a singleitem showed decrease in pricesin December. Prices of fuel andlight increased the least, by just0.7 per cent.

The Central Governmenthas mandated the RBI to keepinflation in the range of 4 percent with a margin of 2 per centon the either side. The RBI isscheduled to announce its nextbi-monthly monetary policy onFebruary 6. In its Decemberpolicy, the central bank, whichhad been reducing rates, hadkept the repo rate unchangedciting inflationary concerns.

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At an Opposition meetingskipped by Bahujan Samaj

Party (BSP), Samajwadi Party(SP), Trinamool Congress(TMC), and allies DMK andShiv Sena, Congress presidentSonia Gandhi on Mondayslammed the NDAGovernment’s divisive policiesand described the nationalpopulation register (NPR) asthe first step to a “nationwideNational Register of Citizens(NRC).

Sonia, who criticised the“shockingly partisan and bru-

tal” crackdown by the police inDelhi and Uttar Pradesh, alsosaid though the CAA and theNRC were the immediate causeof the “nationwide sponta-neous protests”, these “reflectwidespread frustration andpent up anger, which is now outin the open”.

NCP supremo SharadPawar, Left leaders SitaramYechury and D Raja, JMMleader and Jharkhand ChiefMinister Hemant Soren, LJDchief Sharad Yadav, RashtriyaLok Samata Party leaderUpendra Kushwaha, RJDleader Manoj Jha, National

Conference leader HasnainMasoodi, besides Congressleaders Rahul Gandhi, GhulamNabi Azad, Ahmed Patel andformer Prime MinisterManmohan Singh were amongthose present at the meeting.

TMC supremo and WestBengal Chief Minister MamataBanerjee kept away from the meeting, angry overthe Congress and Left cadresunleashing violence in herState during a recent bandh call.

The DMK’s absence, how-ever, came as a surprise.

Sources said BSP’s reasonto keep away from theOpposition bandwagon wasdue to Congress’ poaching herparty’s legislators in Rajasthaneven though BSP had extend-ed outside support to theAshok Gehlot Government.

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BJP working president JPNadda is set to take charge

as the party president onJanuary 20, succeeding AmitShah. Nadda was appointedBJP’s working president in Julylast year, after Shah was pickedas the Home Minister in theModi Government.

In the run-up to the 2019Lok Sabha elections, Naddawas made incharge of BJP’selection campaign committeein Uttar Pradesh, where theparty convincingly defeatedthe formidable alliance of theSamajwadi Party (SP) and theBahujan Samaj Party (BSP) bywinning 62 of the 80 LokSabha seats.

Apart from handling cru-cial States for the BJP in thegeneral elections, Nadda was aCabinet Minister in the firsttenure of the ModiGovernment and has been amember of the ParliamentaryBoard, the BJP’s top decisionmaking body.

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The Uttar PradeshGovernment on Monday

said that senior IPS officerAlok Singh will be the firstpolice commissioner of Noida.The Government also namedSujit Pandey as the first policecommissioner of Lucknow.

While Alok Singh wasAdditional Director General ofPolice, Meerut, Sujit Pandeywas ADG in Prayagraj.

Soon after the UP Cabinetgave its approval for the com-missionerate system of policingin two cities, an officialspokesman said IGP attachedto DGP (HQ) Naveen Aroraand IG Provincial ArmedConstabulary (HQ) LucknowNilabja Chaudhary will be thetwo joint police commissionersof Lucknow.

DIG PAC (HQ) Lucknow,Akhilesh Kumar, and DIG JailAdministration SriparnaGanguli will be additionalpolice commissioners of Noida.

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The Supreme Court onMonday asked the

Enforcement Directorate (ED)to attach Indian properties of JPMorgan, which engaged in atransaction with the now-defunct Amrapali Group tosiphon off homebuyers’ moneyin violation of the ForeignExchange Management Act(FEMA) and FDI norms.

The ED said it had primafacie found violations of FEMAnorms by the US-based firmand that a complaint in thisregard was lodged.

The SC also allowed theED to take into custody thedefunct Amrapali Group’sCMD, Anil Kumar Sharma,and two other directors, ShivPriya and Ajay Kumar, who arebehind bars on the SC’s order,for interrogation in the money-laundering offences.

It said the Central agencycould take them into custodyimmediately and once theirinterrogation was over, they

could be sent back to a prisonhere. According to the sharesubscription agreement betweenJP Morgan and AmrapaliGroup, the US-based firm hadinvested �85 crore on October20, 2010, to have a preferentialclaim on profits in the ratio of75 per cent to JP Morgan and 25per cent to the promoters ofAmrapali Homes Project PrivateLimited and Ultra Home.

Later, the same number ofshares was bought back from JPMorgan for �140 crore by twocompanies — M/s Neelkanthand M/s Rudraksha — owned

by a peon and an office boy ofAmrapali’s statutory auditorAnil Mittal.

A Bench of justices ArunMishra and UU Lalit was toldby ED Joint Director RajeshwarSingh, who is supervising theprobe, that the MNC remittedthe money back to the US.

“They (JP Morgan) have alot of properties in India. Wewant you to attach their officeor corporate properties of a likeamount. Then they will comerunning to us and we will seeto it,” the SC said.

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With the normalcy yet toreturn on the Jamia

Millia Islamia campus evenafter 30 days of anti-CAA,NRC protests that saw thepolice crackdown and trig-gered boycott of exams bysome students, many parentsare in two minds over thesafety of their wards on thecampus, particularly in thehostels of the university.

What added to studentsand parents’ worry was thedevelopment on Monday inwhich Vice Chancellor NajmaAkhtar, buckling under theprotesting students’ pressure,announcing that the ongoingsemester exams stand can-celled until further notice.

The development has leftthe students and several parentsvexed as many studying in thefinal year of graduation andpostgraduation courses strong-ly feel that the delay in holdingexam will jeopardise their future.Several students expressed theirworries to The Pioneer.

Students said they want tostudy but they can’t oppose stu-

dents who have been protest-ing peacefully against the CAAand police crackdown.

“We have right to expressour points of view about theunprovoked police action insidethe campus, during the protest.It had left many studentsinjured and one of them hadlost his left eye”, said Hamid, apostgraduate student.

“My parents called me afterthe violence and first thing theysaid was to pack my bags andcome home. I tried to convincethem that I am fine but theysaid you are not secure as thecampus lacks security,” saidShazia, a girl student.

“Most of the students donot support the ongoingprotest. CAA is not students’issue and if we want to raisevoice against it, we can take outa march to Parliament and siton dharna for seven days butnot for 40 days,” said ShubhamRai, a research scholar atNelson Mandela Centre.

“Now exams were to startfrom January 9 but it has beenpostponed and the classes willstart from February 3,” said Rai.

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After Jamia Millia Islamiastudents gheraoed the VC

office on Monday demandingthe university to file an FIRagainst the Delhi Police for

December 15 crackdown,Jamia Vice Chancellor NajmaAkhtar said the varsity willexplore the possibility of mov-ing court for an FIR againstpolice “brutality” on campus.

While addressing the iratestudents outside her officetwice, the VC announced thatthe ongoing semester exami-nations will be cancelled tillfurther notice. New schedulewill be declared later, she said.

“A decision has also beentaken that the administrationwill also explore the possibili-ty of moving court for the reg-istration of FIR in theDecember 15, 2019 police bru-tality in university library at theearliest. The university hasalready followed all possiblesteps for the registration of FIR.It has given its complaint toSHO Jamia Nagar and its copyto Commissioner of Police(CP) Amulya Patnaik and DCPSouth East. University has alsowritten letters to Joint CPSouthern Range and DCPCrime for the registration ofFIR earlier,” said an official.

The National HumanRights Commission (NHRC)

has already begun the enquiryinto the police action againstthe students, she said.

A team has already visitedthe university and anotherteam is scheduled to come onTuesday to record the state-ment of the victim students,said the university.

The university has alreadyhanded over all the evidence tothe NHRC, an official said.

On December 15 last year,anti-CAA and NRC protestorganised by locals and stu-dents had turned violent withthe police entering the campusand beating up students anddamaging university property,including the library.

A pitched battle was foughtbetween locals and police witha few vehicles and buses alsoput ablaze by protesters.

The university accused thepolice of entering the campusand library without its per-mission. Also, police wereaccused of using tear gas on the students inside campusand the library. One studentstudying in the library attackedin the lathicharge lost vision inone of his eyes.

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In a clear rebuff to his ally theBJP and signalling his change

of heart over the contentiousCitizenship Amendment Act,Bihar Chief Minister NitishKumar on Monday said he isopen to discuss the Act in theState Assembly even as heemphasised thathere is no justifi-cation for a coun-try-wide NRC.

Speaking inthe StateAssembly, Kumarsaid the NRC wasan Assam-specificregulation arisingout of the Assamaccord signed bythe Rajiv Gandhifollowing agitationagainst influx offoreign nationals inthe State.

“A country-wide implementa-tion of NRC wasneedless and hadno justification,” hesaid, adding that even thePrime Minister has clarifiedthere is no move to enforce theNRC across the country.

At the same time, he saidhe is open for debate in theState Assembly on the CAA.“There should be a debate on

CAA. If people want, thenthere will be a discussion in thisHouse,” the Chief Minister toldthe House.

In the past, Nitish haddropped one-liner to suggestthe NRC would not be imple-mented in Bihar, but this timehe made his position official byarticulating it in the State

Assembly. Nitish’srejection of theNRC and his will-ingness to debatethe CAA in theAssembly is unlike-ly to please his ally.

With his num-ber two in theparty PrashantKishor targetingthe ModiG o v e r n m e n teveryday on theCAA and NRC,Nitish’s change ofstance is indicativeof his intention notto be seen as apiggy rider of theBJP’s Hindutavaagenda.

The Bihar CM further saidhis Government agreed inprinciple to NationalPopulation Register (NPR) asthey did likewise when such anexercise was last conducted 10years ago.

Continued on Page 4

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The Special InvestigationTeam (SIT) on Monday

visited the Jawaharlal NehruUniversity and questionedthree students, includingJNUSU president Aishe Ghoshin connection with the January5 violence on the campus.

According to police,Pankaj Mishra, Bhasker VijayMech and Ghosh were calledfor questioning after servingthem notices. Police saidAkshat Awasthi and RohitShah, who featured in a stingoperation conducted by a TVnews channel, have also beenserved notices to join the

investigation and were ques-tioned on Monday by the SIT.

Police have also identifiedthe masked woman, seen inthe purported videos of theviolence shared on socialmedia, as Komal Sharma, whowas wearing a check shirt,light blue scarf and carrying astick.

Sharma, who is a studentof Daulat Ram College, hasalso been served a notice tojoin the probe, said a policeofficial adding that her phonewas found to be switched offsince Saturday night.

The SIT, headed by Dr JoyTirkey, Deputy Commissionerof Police (DCP), CrimeBranch, is likely to seek infor-mation about who initiated theviolence, which occurred intwo separate incidents in thePeriyar and Sabarmati hostelon 5 January. Police said thatGhosh had been caught on

camera as part of the groupthat attacked the Periyar hos-tel.

Additionally, the SIT hasmade three sets of questionsregarding the incidents of van-dalism on January3 and 4.

Last Friday, police hadreleased nine pictures of sus-pects which also includedMishra, Bhasker and Ghoshnames, following the January5 violence in which 35 stu-dents and teachers sustainedinjuries.

Those identified are DolanSamanta, Priya Ranjan,Sucheta Talukdar, AisheGhosh, Bhaskar Vijay Mech,Chunchun Kumar ( all alum-ni), and Pankaj Mishra fromthe Left. The remaining twoare Vikas Patel and YogendraBharadwaj, both from theRSS-affiliated ABVP. However,no arrest or detention hasbeen made so far.

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Atotal of 94 people havebeen arrested by Delhi

Police from across the city forindulging in violence duringprotests against the CitizenshipAmendment Act (CAA) in thelast one month.

These incidents of vio-lence took place in Jamia MiliaIslamia University, Seemapuri,Jama Masjid, Jawaharlal NehruUniversity during protestsagainst the CAA, which wasenacted on December 11.

Meanwhile, AmulyaPatnaik, the Delhi PoliceCommissioner also met UnionHome Secretary Ajay Bhallaand is believed to have briefedhim about the prevailing situ-ation in the city, which con-tinues to witness protestsagainst the contentious legis-lation.

"So far, police have arrest-ed 94 people for indulging inviolence in different parts of

Delhi in the last one monthduring protests against theCAA, a Government officialsaid.

According to the CAA,members of Hindu, Sikh,Buddhist, Jain, Parsi andChristian communities whohave come from Pakistan,Bangladesh and Afghanistantill December 31, 2014 facingreligious persecution there willnot be treated as illegal immi-grants but given Indian citi-zenship.

The protesters are claimingthat the CAA is discriminato-ry as for the first time theIndian citizenship will be givenon the basis of religion, depriv-ing the Muslims from the ben-efits.

However, the governmenthas been maintaining that thenon-Muslim refugees have noother option but to come toIndia when they faced religiouspersecution in the Muslim-majority three neighbouringcountries.

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With overall Air qualityIndex (AQI) 347, Delhi's

air quality was recorded under'very poor category' on theNational Ambient Air QualityIndex (NAAQI) on Monday.

According to SAFAR(System of Air Quality andWeather Forecasting AndResearch), values of SuspendedParticulate Matters (SPMs)were recorded many folds high-er than their prescribed stan-dards.

SAFAR's pollution indexmarked Particulate Matter(PM) 10 at 306 μgm-3 and PM2.5 - 181 μgm-3.

"The overall Delhi AQI is inthe higher range of very poorcategory on 1 December 13thmorning, under the influence ofcurrent western disturbance(WD) increased wind speed,"SAFAR said.

"An improvement in AQI islikely by tonight. SAFAR modelsuggests on January 14th, AQIlikely to further improve to thepoor category and on 15thJanuary a marginal deteriora-tion in AQI and likely to stay inupper end of the poor to lowerend of the very poor category,"

it said further. "A fresh WD inquick succession is likely toinfluence the region by 16thand AQI is likely to stay in bet-ter condition."

As per the extended rangefor air quality forecast,Vinobapuri, Jahangirpuri andAdarsh Nagar are the placeswhere air quality will remainsevere.

Meanwhile, Delhi wit-nessed scattered rains and adrop in the maximum temper-

ature on Monday, the weatherdepartment said. The cityrecorded a low of 8 degreesCelsius, a notch above normal,and a maximum of 19.9 degreesCelsius, normal for this time ofyear, the India MeteorologicalDepartment said.

The maximum tempera-ture dropped by 3.5 degreesCelsius as against that record-ed on Sunday.

It is expected to be a part-ly cloudy day on Tuesday and

the maximum and minimumtemperatures will hover around18 and 9 degrees Celsius respec-tively.

Weather experts saidanother spell of rains is likely inDelhi on January 16 and 17 dueto a fresh Western Disturbance.Intense spells of rains are like-ly on January 16, they said. Inthe next four to five days, themaximum temperature maydrop to 15 degrees degreesCelsius.

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The students and the teach-ers of the Jawaharlal Nehru

University on Monday boy-cotted classes amid standoffwith the administration over thefee hike issue. Meanwhile, theJNU Teachers' Association hasalso given a call for 'non-coop-eration' in academic mattersover a range of issues, includingthat of fee hike and the January5 violence.

The classes were supposedto begin on Monday but couldnot start due to the collectiveboycott. According to Professor

Hari Ram Mishra of the Schoolof Sanskrit and Indic Studies,some students attended classes

but many of them are still notback in campus. "The classesshould commence in a proper

way in the next couple of days," he said.

Another professor request-ing anonymity, said, "The time-tables have not been prepareddue to the ongoing situation.The teachers have been asked bythe administration but theJNUTA has given a call for boy-cott."

Asihe Ghosh, President,JNUSU, said that they had givena call for 'Ensure Registration atOld Rates' and 'Not a PennyMore' in which students wereasked to pay their academictuition fees but not the hikedhostel fees.

"On Monday, the ViceChancellor first blocked the feepayment portal and thenblocked the payment of tuitionfees. It is clear that the ViceChancellor was lying throughthe teeth when he said studentswant to register but are notbeing allowed to by protestors.The truth is that it is the admin-istration which does not wantstudents to register and is block-ing their registration," Ghoshalleged.

Prashant Kumar, a PhDstudent at the JNU, said themasters and graduation stu-dents have decided to boycottclasses.

"The vice-chancellor haswritten to various centres toframe the time-table but therehas been no development. Theclasses did not start today butmight begin in a day or two,"Kumar said.

A student from the Schoolof Social Science, who did notwish to be named, said, "We firstwant the issues to be sorted,only then can we focus on ourstudies. Just to start a freshbeginning, we cannot forgetthe past".

The campus saw violenceon January 5 when a maskedmob attacked students andteachers.Teachers and studentshave been demanding the sack-ing of Vice-Chancellor MJagadesh Kumar.

In a meeting with HumanResource Development (HRD)officials, the JNUTA told offi-cials that they "do not feelsecure" on the campus and theatmosphere there was not con-ducive for academic activities.

"We do not feel secure onthe campus, atmosphere notconducive for academic activi-ties. Students who left campusafter violence scared to return,how can we resume teaching?"JNUTA President D K Lobiyaltold the ministry officials.

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The Akhil BharatiyaVidyarthi Parishad (ABVP)

on Monday accused the Left-leaning student organisationsand Congress' student-wingNSUI of being hand-in-glove inthe January 5 violence at theJNU campus, saying it was thefallout of their pre-plannedconspiracy.

The ABVP also releasedeight videos in support of itsclaims and demanded adetailed investigation into thematter. "ABVP has submittedall the raw video evidences tothe police and has demandedthe fair and detailed inquiry ofthe chain of the incidents start-ing from 28th October. ABVPhas categorically demandedstrict punishments for all thosewho are found guilty in the actof violence," said ABVP

spokesperson, Ashutosh Singh. Nidhi Tripathi, National

General Secretary, ABVP, saidthat the members of left orga-nizations are torturing the stu-dents and the teachers whowant to partake in academicactivities in the JNU campus.

"They are asking for theirsocial boycott through theirKangaroo courts, this clearlyshows the ideological un-touchability being practicedby such organisations. Thoseinvolved in such activities aretrying to destroy the academ-ic ethos of JNU and havemalign the institution's name,"said Tripathi.

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The Delhi Police on Mondayarrested a 27-year-old king-

pin of the inter-State drug car-tel for allegedly supplying nar-cotics substance in Delhi andits peripherals. Police have alsorecovered 10.5 kilogram (kg) ofheroin and trailer truck used incommission of crime, fromthe possession of the duo.

The accused has beenidentified as Saidul Seikh, aresident of Malda district inWest Bengal. Police said thata reward of �1 lakh was alsodeclared on information lead-ing to Seikh's arrest.

According to SanjeevKumar Yadav, DeputyCommissioner of Police

(DCP), Special Cell, last inSeptember, a police team hasarrested Baijlur Rehman (28)and Mohammad Abu BakkarSiddique (24), both residentsof Malda, with 10.5 kg ofheroin being transported in atrailer truck.

"Accordingly, a case undersection 21/29/61/85 NarcoticDrugs and PsychotropicSubstances Act (NDPS) atSpecial Cell police station andduring interrogation, BaijlurRehamn and Abu Bakar con-firmed that the consignmentof heroin was delivered tothem by Saidul Seikh atGuwahati (Assam) and thesame was to be delivered inDelhi," said the DCP.

"A police team was

camped in Malda andGuwahati for making all pos-sible efforts to apprehend thekingpin Saidul Seikh and tofurther establish the identity ofhis source of supply atManipur, but he abscondedfrom the town and could notbe apprehended," said theDCP.

"On January 9, afterreceiving specific inputs, Seikhwas apprehended by policeteam from Mujazzfarpur inBihar," said the DCP addingthat Seikh is being brought toDelhi on transit remand forsustained interrogation toreveal the complete narcoticsyndicate and to identify hisother associates who are still atlarge.

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Soon the staff crunches inGurugram's One-stop centre

(OSC), meant to help womenvictims of violence, will beresolved soon. Haryana HomeMinister Anil Vij, who was inthe city, told The Pioneer thatthe vacant posts in the OSC willsoon be filled.

As of now, the centre isrunning without Paramedics,Legal assistance, Counsellorsand other staff. "The matter hasnow come to my knowledgeand the issue of staff crunch atthe centres across Haryana willbe resolved soon. The centres inthe state will soon have a well-experienced staff to help dis-tressed women," Vij said. TheOSC comes under the womenand child development (WCD)

department.To provide integrated sup-

port and assistance to womenaffected by any kind of violence,the Central Government hadapproved setting up of six more"One Stop Centres" in Haryana.

At present, a "One-StopCenter" is functional at theCivil Lines near NehruStadium in Gurugram. In thelast four months, as many as45 cases including domesticviolence, child sexual abuse,sexual harassment, missing,kidnapping & abduction havebeen received at theGurugram centre.

"The women in distresscan dial 181 which is a centrehelpline number. Once awoman dials 181, a Durgashakti police patrolling vehiclefrom the closest location isdespatched along with a field

worker and a woman policeconstable to escort the victim,"said Pinki Malik, centre admin-istrative officer. "We closelyfollow-up the cases so that thevictims can get justice," sheadded.

The centre provides spe-cialized services to aggrievedwomen facing any kind of vio-lence due to attempted sexualharassment, sexual assault,domestic violence, trafficking,honour-related crimes, acidattacks or witch-hunting irre-spective of their age, class,caste, educational status, mar-ital status, race and culture.

Malik said that this helplineis exclusively designed to sup-port women in distress facingviolence or threat of violenceboth in private and publicspaces including in the family,community and workplace.

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The Delhi Police have filed21 FIRs and 3.76 lakh

hoardings, banners and postershave been removed fromacross the city, following theimposition of the 'model codeof conduct (MCC)' for theupcoming Delhi Assemblyelections scheduled inFebruary 8th. The results willbe declared on February 11.

"Out of the total 3,76,436illegal hoardings, banners andposters that were removed,1,387 were removed from NewDelhi Municipal Council(NDMC) area, 32,035 fromEast Delhi MunicipalCorporation, 8,321 from DelhiCantonment Board, 148864from South Delhi MunicipalCorporation, and 1,85,829from North Delhi MunicipalCorporation", officials at DelhiCEO said.

The Chief Electoral office(CEO), Delhi has received twocomplaints each from the AamAamdi Party (AAP) andBharatiya Janata Party (BJP).Premsagar Pal, advocate from

AAP has filed a complaintagainst the BJP saying theparty has made false allega-tions on Twitter to malign thename of Arvind Kejriwal andManish Sisodia.

While, the BJP has filed acomplaint claiming that theAAP has violated the MCC bydepicting underage minors andchildren in the election cam-paign and social media sites.

Further, a total of 25

entries have been lodged (21FIR's/4 Daily Data (DD)entry), out of which, 23 wereunder the head of others/non-political, one under the head ofindependents/other politicalparties and one againstCongress party.

Till now, Delhi Police hasfield 84 FIR's have been regis-tered under Arms Act, inwhich 91 persons are arrestedand 109.30 Kg.

Narcotics/Drugs are seizedrespectively. As on date(12.01.2020), four cases arerecorded against the violationin other cases (misuse of vehi-cles, violation of loudspeakers,illegal meetings and gratifica-tion of electors, etc).

Besides, the ExciseDepartment has seized 47 bot-tles, 312 Half, 16,534 quartersof Indian Made Foreign Liquor(IMFL) and 324 bottles, 146Half, 57,588 quarters ofCountry liquor and 57 bottlestill date and a total number of220 FIR's have been registeredin Excise Act and 229 personsare arrested in Excise Act.

"About 97 numbers ofunlicensed arms, weaponsseized and 154 numbers of car-tridges, explosives, bombsseized. Whereas, 2,152 licensedarms deposited, 1,091 personshave been booked under var-ious sections of CRPC and24,687 persons booked underthe Delhi Police Act, as pre-ventive action measures andcash of �4,22,000/- has beenseized,' said the data shared bythe office of CEO, RanbirSingh.

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Congress leader and formerMLA from Badarpur Ram

Singh Netaji and Vinay KumarMishra, son of senior Congressleader and former Member ofParliament (MP) MahabalMishra, joined the Aam AadmiParty (AAP) in the presence ofChief Minister Arvind Kejriwalon Monday.

Speaking on the occasion,Kejriwal said "There used to beonly two major political partiesin Delhi, the BJP and theCongress. People were fed upwith the politics of both theseparties because they did notdeliver on promises made andhaving no other choice, votedthem alternatively.

But then five years ago, thepeople of Delhi initiated a newphase of self determination inpolitics and set an example for

the rest of India when a fledg-ling party, comprising commonpeople, offered hope and man-aged to win 67 out of the 70 seatsin the Delhi Assembly, almostreducing existing political pow-ers, to a naught, Kejriwal said.He said leap of faith has turnedout to be the best decision thatDelhi ever made.

"Whether it is a supporter ofthe BJP, the Congress or anyother party, AAP has gained aplace for itself in every heartbecause of its sincerity and good

intention. AAP has managed totouch and transform their liveswith the work it has done andthis time they will vote for AAP,irrespective of personal partyaffiliation," he said.

The Chief Minister said "Iam happy that all these leadersare joining us to work togetherto create a better future for Delhi.I am sure that the day is not farwhen all two Crore people ofDelhi will join AAP".

Deputy Chief MinsterManish Sisodia said, "Many

prominent political leaders arejoining AAP because they havewitnessed the commitment,integrity and innovation ofKejriwal and his team and theirfocus on delivering a more dig-nified life to the citizens ofDelhi," he said.

"The AAP has done spec-tacular work and transformedthe manner in which education;healthcare, water, transport;electricity and sanitation aredelivered to taxpayers in thecity. These leaders will strength-en the party and will help tospread the good work of theAAP," he said.

Netaji said he was impressedby the work done by the AAPgovernment and "that is the rea-son I decided to leave Congress"."I want to be a part of a systemthat delivers true and tangiblewelfare for the people of Delhithat is the reason I joined the

party," he said. He won from theBadarpur Assembly constituen-cy twice -- once as a BSP can-didate and second time as anIndependent.

Mishra, who unsuccessful-ly contested from the PalamAssembly seat said, "I have seenpeople from UP, Bihar andother states struggling to getmedical treatment, educationand other facilities in Delhi butsituation got improved afterAAP came to power," he added.

Councillor and social work-er Jai Bhagwan Upkar ji fromRohini ward of BawanaAssembly and Naveen DipuChaudhary, a social activistworking in the Gandhinagararea who has been associatedwith the Congress for a longtime, too joined the AAP.

Election to the 70-memberDelhi Assembly will be held onFebruary 8.

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Holding the Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP) Government

at the Centre and the AamAadmi Party (AAP)Government in Delhi respon-sible for the rise in the pricesof all essential commodities,Delhi Congress on Mondayalleged that both the parties areprotecting black-marketeersand hoarders.

Addressing the media,Congress Chief SpokespersonMukesh Sharma said that theKejriwal Government has failedto control prices of essentialcommodities including pulsesand vegetables in the last fiveyears. He said that despite the

prices of onions soaring to�250 per kg, neither any raidwas conducted on hoardersand black marketers nor anyaction was taken against thesepeople.

"In last five years, the pricesof pulses have doubled, cook-ing oil, bread, onions, potatoesand green vegetables have alsoseen incessant price rise, butthe Kejriwal and ModiGovernments were keepingquiet," he said.

Sharma said that cookinggas prices have gone up by �337per cylinder in the last five,while the prices of IGL pipedgas prices have also gone up by�67 which has broken the backbone of middle class people.

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The central leadership ofBJP wants to field eminent

poet and former member ofAap Aadmi Party (AAP)'sPolitical Affairs Committee(PAC) Kumar Vishwas againstChief Minister ArvindKejriwal from the high profileNew Delhi Assembly seat.Sources said Kumar's candi-dature was discussed duringthe meeting chaired by the BJPnational president Amit Shahon Monday.

Speaking to The Pioneer,party sources confirmed thatKumar is the most suitablecandidate against Kejriwal.When asked why Vishwas, aBJP leader explained that theparty needs a popular face tocontest Assembly elections

and party wants to cornerKejriwal in his own den.

Shah, along with UnionMinisters Prakash Javadekar,Nityanand Rai, and seniorparty leader Shaym Jaju andTarun Chugh, met and short-

listed 200 names for MLAs.The party has zeroed on 40names who may be given theparty ticket. BJP is activelyconsidering giving ticket tomunicipal councillors, said aBJP leader privy to candidate

selection process. BJP leadership is also hold-

ing parleys with Siromani AkaliDal (SAD) about seat sharing.The SAD was given four seatsin both 2013 and 2015 assem-bly polls. The party had wonthree seats in 2013 and lost allfour in 2015. This time partymay be given Rajouri Garden,currently held by SAD leaderManjinder Singh Sirsa. Theother three seats could beKalkaji, Shahdara and HariNagar, they said.

The party is also likely torepeat its three MLAs in theoutgoing Assembly, VijenderGupta from Rohini, OPSharma from Vishwas Nagarand Jagdish Pradhan fromMustafabad. Ashish Sood fromJankapuri and former DelhiBJP President Satish Upadhyay

are set to contest from MalviyaNagar seat as their nameshave been finalised, theyadded.

The nomination processfor 70 seats in Delhi Assemblyelections will begin onTuesday. The last date for offiling nomination papers isJanuary 21 and voting will beheld on February 8.Meanwhile hitting out at rul-ing regime AAP, Member ofParliament (MP) from NewDelhi constituency accusedKejriwal government for play-ing with the health of Delhipeople by supplying pollutedwater.

Meanwhile BJP MP fromNew Delhi Meenkashi Lekhisaid attacked Arvind Kejriwaland said that AAP has become'Akela' Aam Party from Aam

Aadmi Party (AAP). Citingthe example of AAP formerleaders - Admiral Ram Das,Yogender Yadav, PrashantBhushan, Aashutosh, AshishKhetan, Dr. Kumar Vishwash,Prof. Anand Kumar, Smt.Kiran Bedi, Anjali Damania,Shazia Ilmi, DevenderSehrawat, Kapil Mishra, AnilBajpai, Ashok Kumar, S.S.Dhir, Gugan Singh, VedPrakash, Ashwini Upadhyay,Lekhi said that AAP played thepolitics of falsehood andplayed with the sentiments ofpeople.

Lekhi said that they had animportant role in founding theparty but soon after Kejriwaltook over as the ChiefMinister, many of the leaderswere either left or wereexpelled from the party.

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The Delhi High Court onMonday agreed to hear on

Tuesday a PIL seeking to openKalindi Kunj-Shaheen Baghstretch which has been closedsince December 15, due toongoing protests against theCitizenship (Amendment) Act(CAA).

The plea was mentionedbefore a bench of Chief JusticeD N Patel and Justice C HariShankar which listed it forhearing on Tuesday.

The road closure is causinghuge inconvenience/ hardshipto lakhs of commuters everydayand they are compelled to takedifferent routes for last onemonth, it said.

The petition, filed by advo-cate and social activist AmitSahni, sought direction to theDelhi Police Commissioner towithdraw the closure of KalindiKunj-Shaheen Bagh Stretchand Okhla underpass, whichwere closed on December 15,2019 for ongoing protestsagainst CAA and NationalRegister of Citizen (NRC). Itwas a temporary measure but

has been extended from time totime.

The Kalindi Kunj stretch isquite crucial as it connectsDelhi, Faridabad (Haryana)and Noida (Uttar Pradesh) andcommuters who use these roadsare forced to take alternativeroutes Delhi-Noida-Delhi(DND) Expressway andAshram, which is causing hoursof traffic jams and wastage oftime and fuel, it said.

The plea said children, whotake that route, are compelledto leave home two hours priorto school timing.

It claimed that the author-ities have failed to take appro-priate action to give relief to theresidents of the locality andlakhs of commuters of Delhi,UP and Haryana.

Sahni said he has given rep-resentation to the authorities onJanuary 3 but no action has

been taken till date.Besides Delhi Police, the

plea has made the Centre andthe Delhi government as par-ties, seeking from them requi-site assistance to the police inaddressing the issue.

Due to the heavy traffic onalternative routes, it takes 15-20minutes for people to cross justone traffic signal at Ashram, itsaid.

Citing several news reports,

it said that on an average,Ashram Chowk is used byaround 30,000 vehicles everyday. With the Kalindi Kunjroad closure, an additional 1lakh vehicles are flowingthrough the intersection.

The high court, on January10, had refused to entertainanother plea seeking directionsfor removal of demonstratorsprotesting the CAA at ShaheenBagh here in order to clear roadblockages that are causing traf-fic congestions at the DNDroute.

In December, 2019, a pleawas filed in the high court byadvocate Bajrang Vats seekingto remove physically challengedprotesters from the periphery ofMandi House and direction toopen roads affected by theirdemonstrations for general traf-fic.

The court had directed thatthe petition be treated as rep-resentation by the authoritiesand to be decided in accordancewith law, keeping in mind thepermissions given by the policeto the protestors, effect on thetraffic and inconveniencecaused to the public at large.

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The Delhi ElectionCommission on Monday

took cognisance of the com-plaint made by the DelhiPradesh Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) and issued a notice to theAam Aadmi Party demandingan answer.

The Delhi BJP has allegedthat the Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) their theme song for theupcoming assembly electionshas used clippings of filmsand songs of Delhi BJP chiefManoj Tiwari without hispersmission.

Hitting hard on DelhiChief Minister and NationalConvenor of AAp, ArvindKejriwal, Tiwari said that it hasbeen proved that Kejriwal haspanicked about the due to thepossible adverse results of theAssembly elections and can goto any extent to tarnish myimage.

Tiwari said that the AAPhas given evidence of its lowgrade politics. "The leaders

and workers of the AAP arecompletely disappointed andfrustrated because they are notgetting the support of the peo-ple of Delhi and in such a sit-uation, the AAP is adoptinglow-level tactics to attract theattention of the people," saidTiwari.

"This video of AAP is also against the rules of ModelCode of Conduct, so the State BJP Law and LegislativeDepartment complained to the Election Commission,"Tiwari said. He alleged that theway the AAP is using childrenfor its election campaign, it isclear that AAP and its workersare insensitive and playingwith the heart of children to getapplaud.

Referring to Shaheen Baghprotesters, Tiwari said thatCitizenship Amendment Act(CAA) is for giving citizenshipto the refugees and not fordepriving any Indian from thecitizenship.

"Due to ongoing protest inShahin Bagh, the traffic on the

road connecting Noida andDelhi has stopped and com-muters have to suffer", Tiwarisaid .

"All the persons have the right to express their views, demonstrate peacefullybut it is not right to harass the people in the name of demonstration," TheOpposition parties are trying todisturb peace and harmony inthe party by instigating thepeople to stage demonstrationagainst the Government," headded.

Lauding Prime MinisterNarendra Modi's speech in Ramlila Maidan on CAA,the BJP leader said that PMModi has clarified that CAA isonly to give citizenship to peo-ple who have been persecutedon religious grounds inPakistan, Afghanistan andBangladesh." "Those peoplewho came to India beforeDecember 31, 2014 and livingas refugees will be given citi-zenship by the Government ofIndia."

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Aday after Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) leader Sanjay Singh

alleged that Delhi DevelopmentAuthority (DDA), which isunder Urban DevelopmentMinister Harderp Puri, hasbeen involved in scam in EWShousing scheme, DelhiDevelopment Authority (DDA)on Monday refuted the claimsand said 772 flats were con-structed by DLF and allotted toowners which means theyfound the prices of these flatsvery reasonable.

The DDA in a statementsaid "The DDA meeting inthis regard was also attended byrepresentatives of DelhiGovernment on December 21,2017. They had no problemwith the costing and it was notraised by them so far. Raisingthe issue at this time is notclear,"

"The people had to pay theregistry charges twice first toDLF and then to DDA. DDAsent a letter to DelhiGovernment on February 9,

2018 and subsequently on May25, 2018 requesting it to waiveoff one side of this registrationfee. However no call was takenby the Government on thismatter," it said.

However, Sanjay Singh saidthat the way the BJP leader,Union Minister Hardeep Puriand DDA officials reacted afterhis expose, it makes it clear thatthey all were involved with thisscam. He said that this is a hugescam and officials of the DDAand ministers are also involvedin this scam.

Addressing the media,Singh said, "The Minister saidthat he has no informationabout the 772 EWS-categoryflats dismissing the allegationsas baseless. But, I will prove that

the allegation is true and I amalso shocked to see that Puri, arespectable minister is speak-ing lies on this matter. "Thereis a legal notice that the allot-tees of EWS category have sentto a number of authorityincluding Lieutenant Governorof Delhi, Office of the PMO,Ministry of Housing andUrban Development andHardeep Puri."

Earlier on Sunday, Singhclaimed flats should have beenmade available for Rs 6.90 lakhand Rs 11 lakh in easy install-ments. "(But) after years ofstruggling, those beneficiariesare told to arrange Rs 19 lakhand Rs 24 lakh, which meansthree times more than theyclaimed and promised." "Myquestion is when you (DDA)put out advertisements of thescheme and claimed the flatsare ready, then why should any-one pay Rs 19 lakh, 20 lakh and15 lakh," he asked. "My otherquestion is why did beneficia-ries not get their flats for Rs 6.9lakh? What scam did you do,"Singh had asked.

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Putting up a new challengebefore the ruling AAP on

supply of subsidised water andelectricity, the Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP) MP Parvesh Vermaon Monday said his party willlevy a token charge of �1 forwater and power supply to thepoor people in the city if it winsthe upcoming Assembly polls.

Verma, the West DelhiMP said the token charge willbe to honour the self respectof the residents of the nation-al capital.

Verma said he has giventhis suggestion to the party'smanifesto committee and itcould be one of the pollpromises of the BJP for theassembly elections slated to beheld on February 8.

"People feel they have given

back to the Government ifsome token charge is taken.When our Government willcome, we will not go for zero(bill), we will take a tokencharge of �1 so that self-respectof the people is maintained," hesaid in reply to a question.

Verma also accused theDelhi government of "betray-ing" the residents of the nation-al capital on its promise ofinfrastructure development.

He cited 70 promises of the

Aam Aadmi Party before com-ing to power in 2015, saying theparty allegedly failed to fulfillits promises of coming up witha power plant, constructing 500schools and 20 colleges, build-ing primary health centres andwater augmentation measures,among others.

The BJP MP accused theKejriwal government of spend-ing more money on advertise-ments than the developmentprojects undertaken by it.

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New Delhi: Eighteen flightsdeparting from the Delhi air-port were cancelled on Mondaydue to inclement weather atother destinations, a senior air-port official said.

"Data regarding delays indepartures from Delhi airport isbeing collated," the Delhi airportofficial said.

"Eighteen departures fromDelhi airport were cancelled dueto bad weather at the destina-tions," the official added. PTI

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Patients suffering from anadvanced form of coronary

artery disease (CAD) havingangina or heart attack in whichthe blockage becomes very harddue to deposit of calcium neednot lose hope. They can nowbank upon ShockwaveCoronary Lithotripsy, a majoradvancement over the previoustechniques used for such hardblockages like ultra-high pres-sure balloons or rotatory drillswhich are difficult to use andcarry risk of rupturing theartery.

City-based Fortis EscortsHeart Institute (FEHI) onSunday claimed that their teamof doctors has performed India'sFirst Coronary ShockwaveLithotripsy wherein theyopened up a severely blockedartery in a 67-year-old patientwho recently had a heart attack.

"The patient had 90 per centblocked artery which could not

be opened by the standard tech-nique balloon angioplasty atextremely high pressures withballoon bursting and it becameimpossible to open the blockage.

"Then the novel shockwaveballoon was inserted inside theheart artery and sonic pulsesdelivered to break the calciumin the blockage. After that theblockage opened easily at evenlow pressures with subsequentstent implantation and a suc-cessful procedure," said DrAshok Seth, Chairman of theFortis Escorts Heart Institute(FEHI) who had led the oper-ation.

The treating doctors saidthat calcified heart arteries arebecoming commoner.

The Shockwave CoronaryLithotripsy is now seen as ahope for those suffering from anadvanced form of coronaryartery disease (CAD) havingangina or heart attack in whichthe blockage becomes very harddue to deposit of calcium.

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Srinagar: The nexus between adecorated Jammu & KashmirPolice officer and the terroristsis likely to ruffle many a feath-er as the past of the DeputySuperintendent of Police (DSP)Devinder Singh is going tohaunt the intelligence agenciesfor long.

Following his arrest onSaturday, the Jammu andKsahmir Police has apprised theMinistry of Home Affairs aboutthe arrest, and the HomeSecretary has been briefed onthe Kulgam encounter.

Singh, who had joined thecounter-insurgency SpecialOperations Group (SoG) ofJammu and Kashmir Police as asub-inspector and he rose quick-ly to the rank of a DSP in addi-tion to earning the prestigiouspolice medal for gallantry osten-sibly for his anti-militancyduties, will now be interrogatedby Intelligence Bureau, Researchand Analysis Wing and MilitaryIntelligence teams.

There are chances thatSingh will be stripped off of hisPresidents Gallantry Medalaward, sources said, adding thatthe process was under consid-eration.

Singh's name first appearedin the grey zone after Parliamentattack convict, Afzal Guru lev-elled serious allegation againsthim during his defence in thetrial court. But back then boththe state police and the intelli-gence agencies had dismissedthose allegations as a figment ofa terrorist's mind.

Guru had alleged in hisdefence that Singh tortured himand threatened to kill his fami-ly unless he carried out hisdirections.

Guru alleged in a writtenaffidavit and through statementscarried in the local media thatSingh had forced him to carry

the Parliament attack terroriststo Delhi, hire a flat there and alsobuy a second hand white ambas-sador car for the use of the ter-rorists.

It was this white ambassadorcar that the terrorists used dur-ing the Parliament attack in2001.

After his disgraceful arreston Saturday, while he was car-rying a dreaded terrorist NaveedBaba of Kashmir's Shopian dis-trict to Jammu in his private car,Singh has told interrogatorsthat he had harboured the ter-rorist in his Srinagar residencebefore the travel.

Naveed Baba was wanted bythe police for the murder of 11civilians, who included nonlocal labourers, truck drivers andfruit merchants, after the abro-gation of Article 370.

Police told IANS thatDevinder Singh had been har-bouring terrorists in his home inJammu and also in his ancestralhome in Tral town of Kashmir'sPulwama district.

The operation is being seenas a huge success for J&K Police,DGP Dilbagh Singh, IGP VijayKumar and DIG Atul KumarGoel. "For the heinous crime ofcarrying the terrorist to Jammu,he had taken Rs 12 lakh from theterrorist. He has been booked asa terrorist and he will be dealt assuch," Vijay Kumar, InspectorGeneral of Police (IGP) Kashmirzone told reporters on Sunday.

Davinder Singh was takingthe two militants — NaveedBabu alias Babar Azam, a resi-dent of Nazneenpora in SouthKashmir's Shopian district andhis associate Asif Ahmad — toChandigarh for providing themaccommodation there for a cou-ple of months.

Sources said that a civilianIrfan Ahmad Mir was drivingthe vehicle when they were

caught by the police at Al-Stopon National Highway in Kulgamdistrict yesterday.

"Mir has travelled toPakistan five times on passportand police is now investigatingwhether Singh and Mir werehelping the two militants in ex-filtration or planning an attacksomewhere in mainland,"sources said.

They said that besidesrecovery of one AK-47 rifle, twopistols and two grenades fromSingh's residence, lakhs of rupeeswere also recovered.

They said that militants hadstruck a deal of Rs 12 lakh withSingh for transportation, pro-viding them accommodationand other related issues.

Sources further said thatSingh was providing hideout tomilitants in Jammu during win-ters for last several years forwhich he was getting hand-some amount of money.

They said that police wastracking DSP Davinder Singhwhen he reached Shopian fewdays back to pick up Naveed andAsif. "The trio including Mirstayed at Singh's house inSrinagar for the night and policehad laid nakas at Airport andNH-44," sources said.

Given the high security sen-sitive nature of Devinder Singh'sactivities in mind, the NationalInvestigative Agency (NIA) hasdecided that after being inter-rogated by the state police andthe intelligence agencies, it willtake custody of both Singh andNaveed to find out their linkswith the terror funding casesbeing investigated by it.

For how long has DevinderSingh been hunting with thehound and running with thedeer? This is going to be themost embarrassing question forhis seniors in the Jammu &Kashmir Police. IANS

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From Page 1But he came with a rider

that the census should be caste-based and also expressed hiswillingness to have a discussionin the House with regard to“extra details” being sought aspart of the NPR.

He made the remarkswhile thanking the House forits unanimous support to theConstitution amendment forextending quotas for SCs andSTs in the Lok Sabha and StateAssemblies by another 10 yearsat a special day-long sessionconvened for the purpose.Deputy Chief Minister SushilKumar Modi was seated next tohim when Kumar was speak-ing.

The Chief Minister said atpresent he is preoccupied withthe Jal Jeevan Hariyali drive onenvironmental conservationand all aspects relating to theissues could be discussed in thenext session of the house andits sentiments conveyed to theCentre.

Earlier, Leader of theOpposition Tejashwi Yadav, inhis brief but impassioned state-ment, had remarked “thenation is on fire” on the issuesof CAA, NRC and NPR andsought to know whether theChief Minister “stands withLalan Singh or Pavan Varmaand Prashant Kishor”.

Rajiv Ranjan Singh aliasLalan Singh is the leader in LokSabha of the JD (U) headed byKumar. The party had voted infavour of the Citizenship(Amendment) Bill in both

houses of Parliament, to which Varma, a national general

secretary, and Kishor thenational vice president hadtaken strong exception.

In his address, Kumar said,“This session has been con-vened for a specific purpose.However, there is a lot of tur-moil over CAA, NRC andNPR. I agree with the Leaderof the Opposition that thereshould be a discussion onthese.

“But at present my mind isfocused on the Jal JeevanHariyali campaign as part ofwhich we are organizing astate- wide human chain nextSunday (January 19). If desired,we can discuss all these issuesin future”, he said.

“But I must say somethingabout NRC. How does thequestion of NRC arise? It arosein the context of Assam, as aconsequence of the accordsigned by the Rajiv Gandhi fol-lowing the Assam agitation(on the foreign national issue).We have no inkling that suchan exercise would be conduct-ed across the country.

“It would be needless (koizarurat hai nahin) and have nojustification (koi auchityanahin). And I think the PrimeMinister too has spoken clear-ly on this”, he said.

The Bihar Chief Ministerhad earlier also asserted thatNRC will not be implementedin the State.”Kaahe ka NRC?Bilkul laagu nahin hoga” (NRC,what for Will not at all beimplemented), Kumar had said

on December 20 last. Kumar isthe first CM from the NDAcamp to have said no to anyattempt to undertake an allIndia NRC exercise.

Kumar also responded toapprehensions expressed aboutdetails like parents places ofbirth and documents pertain-ing to the same being sought inthe NPR forms which havetriggered fears that NRC mayfollow the exercise.

“Our Government hasagreed in principle to NPRsince we did likewise whensuch an exercise was last con-ducted 10 years ago. At presentit is in the preliminary stageand census proper will startonly after three to four months.All issues relating to it, likeextra details (anya cheezein)being sought in NPR can bediscussed when the Housemeets again.

“On one thing, however, Iam certain that the censusshould once be caste-based. Atpresent census collects detailsof people following differentreligions and of ScheduledCastes and Scheduled Tribesand it should be extended to allother castes”, the CM said.

He said this referring to hisdeputy Sushil Kumar Modiand the leader of oppositionTejashwi Yadav having spokenin favour of a caste-based cen-sus in their respective speech-es. “I am ready to have thismatter discussed on the floor ofthe house from where a repre-sentation can also be sent to theCentre,” he added.

From Page 1Singh said the adjudication

process against the firm hadbegun in accordance with law.

On December 2 last year,the ED had informed the topcourt that it had prima faciefound evidence of violation ofFEMA by the multi-nationalfirm and recorded the state-ments of the country head ofthe company with regard todealings with the AmrapaliGroup.

It had said though theinvestigation was underway,prima facie it appeared thatthere were also violations of the

provisions of the Prevention ofMoney Laundering Act(PMLA) and that appropriateactions were being taken.

The apex court had thendirected the ED that the inves-tigation should be carried outimpartially, properly and expe-ditiously within a period ofthree months.

On July 23 last year, theSupreme Court had cracked itswhip on errant builders forbreaching the trust of homebuyers, ordered cancellation ofAmrapali Group’s registrationunder real estate law RERAand ousted it from its prime

properties in the NCR by nix-ing the land leases.

It had ordered a probe bythe ED into allegations ofmoney laundering and to lookinto the charge of FEMA vio-lation by JP Morgan. “Themoney of the home buyers hasbeen diverted. The directorsdiverted the money by thecreation of dummy companies,realising professional fees, cre-ating bogus bills, selling flats atan undervalued price, pay-ment of excessive brokerageetc. They obtained investmentfrom JP Morgan in violation ofFEMA and FDI norms,” the

top court had said.It had said the equity

shares of the group were pur-chased at an exorbitant price tosuit the requirements of JPMorgan and the AmrapaliZodiac Developers Pvt Ltdhad diverted home buyers’funds.

“The shares were overval-ued for making payments to JPMorgan. It was adopted as adevice for siphoning off themoney of the home buyers toforeign countries,” the topcourt had said as it acceptedthe reports of forensic auditors.

It had also noted that the

shares of Amrapali Zodiacfrom JP Morgan were ulti-mately purchased for �140crore by M/s Neelkanth andM/s Rudraksha, shell compa-nies owned by a peon and anoffice boy respectively. “Thetransactions of AmrapaliZodiac Developers Pvt Ltdwith JP Morgan were clearly inorder to avoid the provisions ofthe Companies Act,” it had said.

The Supreme Court hadsaid it was apparent that M/sRudraksha was created formoney laundering as its twodirectors and shareholders hadno income.

From Page 1Shiv Sena, the Congress’

new alliance partner inMaharashtra and AAP alsostayed away from the meeting.AAP Rajya Sabha memberSanjay Singh said his party wasnot invited. There was no word,however, on Shiv Sena’sabsence. The party had sup-ported CAA in the Lok Sabhabut abstained in the RajyaSabha but lately hurled allega-tions at NDA over the sameBill.

Sonia accused PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andHome Minister Amit Shah ofmisleading people on theamended Citizenship Act andthe NRC, and claimed thattheir Government stands total-ly exposed for its inability togovern and provide security topeople.

“The Prime Minister andthe Home Minister have mis-led people. They have contra-dicted their own statements ofonly weeks ago, and continuewith their provocative state-ments while remaining insen-sitive to the State suppressionand violence that is increasinglybecoming commonplace,” shesaid.

Asserting that there was“unprecedented turmoil” inthe country, the Congress chiefsaid the Government has letloose a reign of oppression,

spreading hatred and trying todivide people along sectarianlines.

“The nation has watched inhorror at the BJP-orchestratedassault on JNU coming sosoon after what happened inJamia (Millia Islamia), BHU(Banaras Hindu University),Allahabad University andAMU (Aligarh MuslimUniversity) and other institu-tions of higher learning inother parts of the country,” shesaid, addressing a meeting ofthe Opposition attended byleaders of 20 parties.

She urged the Oppositionparties to work together andthwart the designs of theGovernment. “The immedi-ate cause is the CAA and NRC,but they reflect widespreadfrustration and pent up anger,which is now out in the open.The response of the police inUP and Delhi has been shock-ingly partisan and brutal,” theCongress chief said.

The real issue facing Indiatoday is the collapse of eco-nomic activity and slowinggrowth and development,affecting all sections of society,especially the poor and the dis-advantaged, the Congress pres-ident said.

“The CAA, NPR and NRCare a package that is unconsti-tutional, which specifically tar-gets the poor, the downtrod-

den, the SC/STs and the lin-guistic and religious minori-ties,” the resolution adopted bythe parties said. “The NPR isthe basis for the NRC. Wedemand the withdrawal of theCAA and the immediate stop-page of the nationwideNRC/NPR,” it added.

Congress leader RahulGandhi said the Prime Ministershould have the courage tospeak to the students in uni-versities on why the economyof the country had become adisaster. “Modi was doing thebiggest disservice to the nationby dividing it and distractingthe attention of people, he toldreporters after a meeting of theOpposition that was attendedby the leaders of 20 parties,” hesaid.

“Modi should stand upand have the courage to speakto the youngsters of these uni-versities on why the economyhas become a disaster andwhy why unemployment inIndia is at its highest in 50years. Unfortunately, the PrimeMinister does not have the gutsto do this,” Rahul said.

“I challenge the PrimeMinister to go to any of the uni-versities, stand over there with-out his police, without hisinfrastructure and tell the peo-ple what is he going to do withthis country,” the Congressleader said.

From Page 1Known as part of the core

team of Modi, Nadda, who wasa minister in his home State ofHimachal Pradesh, made rapidrise since Modi took to the cen-tre-stage of the party in 2014. Hisname for the party’s top post,

replacing Shah, had cropped upearlier also but for certain organ-isational reasons, Shah contin-ued to head the BJP.

Nadda had played an activerole in the troubled Kashmirwhen then BJP president MurliManohar Joshi unfurled nation-al flag at ‘Lal Chowk’ on January26, 1992.

From Page 1“We do hope that it is

delayed further as that wouldharm the prospects of studentswho are in their finals year. Willthey not face difficulty whileapplying for another coursesince result may also come late,”said Rai who visibly lookedmorose.

“Just after the violence, mostof the students left Jamia hostelsas their parents got worriedabout the safety of their wards.Even parents who had sent theirward to study in this premierinstitute to make their futurebright now rues that it was bet-ter if they had got their childadmitted to a private universityfor education,” said ManojKataria, the Treasurer of theParents Association in city.

Though, Jamia administra-tion has postponed its exami-nations but the students havestarted to come.

Meanwhile, a section of stu-dents sitting on protest saidthat they will continue theirprotest till appropriate action istaken against the police inactionand till the CAA is revoked. “Weare demanding independent

enquiry that why did policeentered our campus withoutany permission. Even the VChad said that no permission wasgiven to police to enter thecampus,” said a protesting stu-dent. Saeed Fahad, a student, saidFIRs have been registered againstthose who were demandingtheir rights during protest. Thereal accused are still at large, hesaid referring to the police crack-down. It may be recalled, onDecember 15, violent sceneswere witnessed in and aroundJMI during a protest marchorganised by students against theCAA. The protest took a violentturn and many buses were set onfire. Instances of stone peltingwere also reported. The policeresorted to firing teargas shells.Students have alleged that policebarged into the university libraryand started beating them up.

Jamia Millia’s Vice-Chancellor too has said thepolice entered the universitycampus without any permission.Police said that most protesterswho took part in violence in andaround Delhi’s JMI on Sundaywere people who were not stu-dents.

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Vadodara: The Citizenship(Amendment) Act (CAA) andthe proposed National Registerof Citizens (NRC) exercise areaimed at "dividing" the countryon communal lines, formerUnion minister Yashwant Sinhasaid on Monday.

He claimed MahatmaGandhi, if he were alive today,would have led an agitationagainst Prime MinisterNarendra Modi for taking "com-munal" decisions.

Sinha, who was in the cityas part of his Gandhi ShantiYatra, demanded scrapping ofthe CAA, which aims to giveIndian citizenship to persecut-ed non-Muslim refugees fromPakistan, Bangladesh andAfghanistan.

"Several state governmentswant the CAA repealed and theNRC exercise dropped. TheCAA should be repealed as it isaimed at dividing the country oncommunal lines. We do notwant another division of thecountry," he said.

"We remained silent despitethe Modi government destroy-ing the cabinet system, orderingdemonetisation, introducing

GST hurriedly."But after the CAA and

NRC, there is need for theyouth to raise their anger onissues that will weaken thecountry," the former BJP leaderclaimed.

"If Mahatma Gandhi werealive today, he would have led anagitation against Modi becausethe government is taking deci-sionson communal lines," hesaid.

"Members of the Muslimcommunity are proud of hold-ing the tricolour in their hands.And it was BabasahebAmbedkar who drafted theConstitution and made India asecular country.

"We will not allow the hid-den agenda of Modi behind theCAA and NRC to succeed," thebureaucrat-turned-politicianasserted. Speaking on otherissues, Sinha questioned Modifor not inviting Union FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharamanfor a pre-budget meeting.

Former Lok Sabha MP andCongress leader ShatrughanSinha and ex-Gujarat chief min-ister Suresh Mehta were presenton the occasion. PTI

��$�#�&�$�� $2�$,��&��$ �� Guwahati: Assam Finance

Minister Himanta Biswa Sarmaon Monday speaking for theCitizenship Amendment Actand granting of the status toHindus from Bangladesh,Pakistan and Afghanistan toldthe Assembly that a personfrom the community "cannotbe a Jinnah as he never attacksanyone" and are secular.

He also supported granti-ng of citizenship to HinduBengalis, which is being vehe-mently protested against byvarious outfits.

Speaking in support ofgranting citizenship to Hindus,Sarma, who is also the chief ofNEDA, BJP'S version of theNDA in the north east, said "AHindu cannot be a Jinnah.Not a single Hindu king hasdestroyed a mosque or a tem-ple. A Hindu is always secularand does not attack anyone.Hindus are secular".

Former Chief MinisterTarun Gogoi had on January 6called Prime MinisterNarendra Modi India's "HinduJinnah" and accused him of fol-lowing the "two-nation theory"of the Pakistan founder todivide the nation on the basisof religion. PTI

��8��%�$�� !��9��8�� Chandigarh: The Punjab Water

Supply and SanitationDepartment will begin usingrobotic scavengers for cleaningsewers.

Water Supply and SanitationMinister Razia Sultana onMonday said the project will bestarted from Muktsar on the fes-tival of Maghi, which falls onTuesday. The minister said in thefirst phase, a hi-tech machine,'Bandicoot', designed by Kerala'sGenrobotics will start human-free sewerage cleaning in SriMuktsar Sahib. "It will saveemployees from dangers of graveproblems caused by manualcleaning of sewerage and expo-sure to toxic gases," she said ina release. "This advance practicewill also guard those involved inthe manual cleaning of sewerageagainst fatal infections," she said,adding that Punjab had becomethe seventh State in the countryto introduce the technique. PTI

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The Supreme Court onMonday made clear that it

was not hearing pleas seekingreview of a 2018 judgementallowing women and girls of allages to enter Kerala’sSabarimala temple and wouldrather deal with larger issues,including the extent to whichthe courts can intervene in“particular religious practices”.

A nine-judge Constitutionbench headed by Chief JusticeSA Bobde at the outset said thatit will only deal with the issuesreferred to it by a five-judge

bench on November 14 in theSabarimala case, and asked thelawyers to convene a meetingon January 17 to decide on “re-framing” or addingadditional issues to be deliber-ated upon by it.

“We are not hearing reviewpleas of Sabarimala case. We areconsidering issues referred to bya 5-judge bench earlier,” thebench said. It said that though itmay not decide them, but it willorder listing of petitions related

to entry of Muslim women intomosques, female genital mutila-tion in the Dawoodi BohraMuslim community and barringof Parsi women, married tonon-Parsi men, from the holyfire place at Agiary.

Besides the CJI, the benchcomprises Justices RBanumathi, Ashok Bhushan, LNageswara Rao, MMShantanagoudar, S AbdulNazeer, R Subhash Reddy, BRGavai and Surya Kant.

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The Supreme Court onMonday directed the

Kerala Government to removethe debris, including frombackwaters, of four apartmentcomplexes in Kochi’s Maraduarea that were demolished onthe apex court’s order for beingbuilt in violation of the coastalregulation zone (CRZ) norms.

“It is a painful job, a painfulduty,” said a Bench, comprisingJustices Arun Mishra and MRShah, after it was informed bythe State Government that thetop court’s order has beencomplied with and the build-ings demolished.

“We will not dispose of this(petition) now. You will have toremove the debris. There arereports that some portion of

debris has fallen in backwaters.You have to restore the area,”the Bench told the State’s coun-sel. One of the advocates rep-resenting some of the Maraduflat owners said that the apexcourt has ordered a “fine bal-ance” and has given interimcompensation of �25 lakh toeach of them.

The lawyer said the topcourt has also granted liberty toflat owners to approach civilcourt to initiate appropriateproceedings against the builder.

When the lawyer saidnothing was happening againstthe officials who had permittedthe illegality, the Bench said,“Something is happening inthis. Let us wait for that”.

The counsel said therewere some flat owners who hadmore the one flat in the demol-

ished buildings but the one-member committee, which wasset up pursuant to the order ofthe apex court to overseedemolition and assess totalcompensation payable to affect-ed buyers, has said that com-pensation would be paid forone flat only.

“You file a proper applica-tion about this,” the Benchsaid. Regarding other issues,

including setting up of onecourt to deal with pleas filed bybuyers to initiate appropriateproceedings against the builder,the court asked them to fileproper applications.

The Bench asked the StateGovernment to file reportbefore it with regard to removalof debris of the demolishedbuildings and posted the mat-ter for hearing on February 10.

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The high-level committee,set up by the Home

Ministry to suggest ways forproviding constitutional safe-guards to the indigenous peo-ple of Assam, on Monday metUnion Home Minister AmitShah and discussed with himissues related to its work. Afour-member delegation of thecommittee, headed by Justice(Retd) Biplab Kumar Sharma,met the Home Minister for anhour and briefed him about theprogress of its work.

“We have apprised theHome Minister about theprogress of our work. TheHome Minister has given a fewsuggestions. We hope to submitour final report within next 15days,” Sharma told reportershere. The committee with morethan a dozen members was setup as per the Clause 6 of the1985 Assam Accord.

Asked whether the panelcould finalise the “definition of

Assamese”, the retired judgesaid they were yet to take adecision on it and hope tocome to a conclusion soon. “Allmembers of the committeewill soon meet to finalise thereport and all remaining issuesto be resolved,” he said. Thecommittee is said to have com-pleted its deliberations anddiscussions with various stake-holders in Assam.

The meeting was heldamidst widespread protestsagainst the CitizenshipAmendment Act (CAA) inAssam. It bears significance asthere has been a growing feel-ing among the indigenous peo-ple of Assam that the newlyenacted legislation will hurttheir interests — both politically,culturally as well as socially.

The Assam Accord pro-vides for detection and depor-tation of all illegal immigrants,who have entered the country after 1971 and living inthe state, irrespective of theirreligion.

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Claiming that CitizenshipAmendment Act (CAA)

has provided a chance toexpose Islamabad’s “barbarictreatment” of minorities, Union Law Minister RaviShankar Prasad on Mondaysaid the Opposition’s resolutiondemanding withdrawal of the law must have madePakistan happy.

The Minister also said theOpposition ended up “unnec-essarily” attacking the ModiGovernment in the processand that their unity stood“exposed”.

“Opposition unity standsexposed as major parties like SP,BSP, TMC and AAP kept away

(from a meeting convened byCongress chief Sonia Gandhi).The resolution is neither innational interest nor in theinterest of security. It is also notin the interest of those minori-ties who fled neighbouringcountries to escape persecu-tion,” Prasad told reporters.

Congress president SoniaGandhi on Monday led the

Opposition in a blisteringattack on Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and HomeMinister Amit Shah, accusingthem of misleading people onthe amended CAA and theNRC, and claiming that theirGovernment stands totallyexposed for its inability to gov-ern and provide security topeople.

New Delhi: A parliamentarycommittee has started workingon legislative impact assess-ment, days after Rajya SabhaChairman M Venkaiah Naidupitched for it, official sourcessaid on Monday.

Legislative impact assess-ment is an informed law-mak-ing process under which social,economic, environmental andinstitutional impacts of leg-islative proposals are made.

It helps in realising the stat-ed objectives of various laws.Naidu is of the view thatinformed legislation will help inrealising the stated objects ofvarious laws.

It requires a detailedimpact assessment of legislationat the stages of both pre-legis-lation and post-legislation.

Now, the department-relat-ed parliamentary standingcommittee on law, justice andpersonnel, headed by BJP leaderBhupender Yadav, has startedworking on the issue and wouldcome out with a report on ways

to assess the impact of a law onpeople, society and economybefore and after it is framed, thesources said. A similar move tohave judicial impact assess-ment on laws could not take offin the past.

Based on the directions ofthe Supreme Court, a taskforce was set up in 2008 tostudy Judicial ImpactAssessment. But variousexperts had claimed that assess-ing judicial impact of a law wasnot practical.

Later, a committee ofexperts was constituted inSeptember, 2013 to examinethe issue of implementing themethodology of Judicial Impact Assessment and suggestfurther action.

The committee in its reportsubmitted on January 9, 2015,had concluded that JudicialImpact Assessment was neitherfeasible nor desirable as amethod of proper budgetaryplanning and allocation offunds for the judiciary. PTI

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More Army personnel andprivate persons have

come under the scanner of thesecurity agencies in connectionwith the case registered by thePunjab Police last week for useof drones for smuggling pur-poses in collusion withPakistani accomplices.

On Friday, an Army soldierand two others were arrested bythe Punjab Police for alleged-ly smuggling drugs andweapons from across the India-Pakistan border using GPS-fit-ted drones in collusion withtheir Pakistani accomplices,the Punjab Police had said.

The two seized droneswere purchased from aGhaziabad-based firm but were

delivered in Pune. The PunjabPolice has arrested IndianArmy Naik Rahul Chauhan.

“At least five other personsand a few army personnel areunder the radar of the securi-ty agencies and they may bearrested soon by the police,” anIntelligence official said.

Besides the drones, thePunjab Police had on Fridayseized 12 drone batteries, somecustom-made drone contain-ers, an INSAS rifle magazine,and two walkie-talkie sets,besides �6.22 lakh in cashfrom the arrested accused. Theseized cash is suspected to bethe proceeds from the sale ofsmuggled drugs. However,drugs was not seized from thepossession of the arrestedaccused.

“Now we have come acrossa module in which three peo-ple were arrested and wherethey were launching dronesfrom India to across the border

(Pakistan) and they were tobring back drugs payloads,”Director General of PunjabPolice Dinkar Gupta had said.

The arrests and seizure

came months after a largenumber of drones, includingwith the capability to droppayloads, were sighted onPunjab’s border on a daily basis

following abrogation ofArticle 370 and reorganiza-tion of the erstwhile State ofJammu & Kashmir into two

Union Territories on August 5. Meanwhile, the Aviation

Ministry on Mondayannounced a scheme providinga window up to January 31 forvoluntary registration of all drones and their opera-tors against the backdrop of killing of top Iranian GeneralQasem Soleimani in a USdrone attack.

Those who fail to registerwill face action under the IndianPenal Code and the Aircraft Act.In a notice, the Ministry said,“The presence of such drones aswell as drone operators hascome to the notice of theGovernment which do not

comply with the CAR (civil avi-ation requirements).”

“In order to facilitate theidentification of civil dronesand drone operators, a one-time opportunity for voluntarydisclosure of such drones anddrone operators is being pro-vided... All persons in posses-sion of drones are required tocomplete the process (of onlineregistration) by January 31,2020,” it added.

The number of illegaldrones in India is likely to bebetween 50,000 and 60,000, co-chair of a FICCI committee ondrones, Ankit Mehta, had saidon October 22 last year.

The Civil AviationMinistry’s move comes amidemerging threats from roguedrones.

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In a first, newly-inductedstealth attack helicopter

Apache and transport copterChinook will participate in theRepublic Day flypast. A modelof Rafale fighter jet will also beshowcased as part of the IndianAir Force (IAF)’s tableau onRepublic Day.

In October, DefenceMinister Rajnath Singh hadparticipated in the official han-dover ceremony in France forthe first Rafale combat jetacquired by the IAF.

During the parade, the IAFwill also showcase its might andglory, with its tableau depictingscaled-down models of fivesystems recently added to itsinventory — Rafale aircraft,indigenously developed LightCombat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas,Light Combat Helicopter(LCH), surface-to-air guidedweapon Aakash missile andAstra missiles.

Flt Lt Shrikant Sharma willlead the 144-strong IAF contin-gent on Rajpath for the secondtime in a row. While WarrantOfficer Ashok Kumar, anaccomplished Drum Major, willlead the IAF band, officials said.

“The Republic Day flypastwill comprise 41 aircraft of theIAF and four helicopters of theArmy’s aviation wing. The air-craft types include 16 fighters,10 transport aircraft and 19helicopters. The flypast will be

conducted in two phases,” asenior IAF official said.

Leading the ceremonialparade would be the ‘Ensign’formation comprising four Mi-17 V5 helicopters in an invert-ed ‘Y’ formation, also referredto as the ‘wineglass formation’.They will flypast the dais, troop-ing the national flag and theensigns of the three services.They will be followed by ‘Dhruv’formation, comprising fourAdvanced Light Helicopters(ALH) of the Army Aviation.

The second and the mainphase will commence after theend of the ceremonial parade.This will be led by ‘Rudra’ for-mation of three ALH Mk-IVWSI helicopters of the IAF, fly-ing in ‘vic’ formation, they said.

The ‘Chinook’ formationwill comprise three newly-inducted transport helicoptersin ‘vic’ formation. Following

the Chinooks will be the‘Apache’ formation consistingof the latest attack helicoptersof the IAF. The five attackhelicopters would be flying in‘arrowhead’ formation, the offi-cial said.

The Chinook, twin-engine,tandem rotor is a multi-role,vertical-lift platform, which isused for transporting troops,artillery, equipment and fuel.Equipped with night visiondevices, the helicopter can carryout military operations not onlyduring the day but also at night.

Four of the US-madeheavy-lift helicopters —Chinooks — were inductedinto the IAF in March last year.

Eight US-made Apachestealth attack helicopters wereinducted into the IAF inSeptember last year, signifi-cantly boosting the force’s fire-power capability at a time

when India faces complex secu-rity challenges, including cross-border terrorism.

Leading the fixed wing for-mations this year would beDornier formation consisting ofthree Dornier aircraft in ‘vic’formation. After this, the threeC-130J Super Hercules ac willfly in ‘vic’ formation. This willbe followed by the ‘Eye in theSky-Netra’ formation, compris-ing a single AEW&C flanked bytwo Su-30 MKIs, they said.

Thereafter, a formation ofthree C-17 Globemasters, in‘displaced trail vic’ formationcalled ‘Globe’ formation willflypast the dais, showcasing theIAF’s heavy lift capabilities.Following the Globe formation,fighter formation comprisingthe ‘Jaguars’, five MiG-29Upgrade aircraft nad Sukhoiwill display their maoeuvres,they added.

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Indian scientists have foundthat consuming antioxidant

foods like green tea, guavaleaves, apples, cherries, pears,black berries can minimisethe potential health risk due totoxic metal lead-inducedAlzheimer’s disease.

Toxic metal lead is foundin a number of commonlyused materials in homes suchas paints, cosmetics, batteries,glass and low grade toys amongmany others.

While studying that thereis possible link betweenAlzheimer’s disease and heavymetal lead, scientists from theICMR-National Institute ofNutrition (NIN) also foundthat therapeutic potential ofnatural compounds such ascatechins, especially, epigallo-catechin gallate (EGCG) pre-sent in foods like green tea,guava leaves, apples, cherries,pears, black berries is protec-tive against lead toxicity andcan effectively decrease neu-ronal cell death resulting in

neurodegenerative condition.These foods contain

antioxidant, anti-inflammato-ry and metal chelant properties,to effectively permeate brainand modify several cell sur-vivals, said ICMR- NIN’s seniorscientist Dr Suresh Challa.

Talking about anotherstudy, conducted by themwhich showed possible linkbetween the heavy metal andthe neurodegenerative disease,he said the molecular mecha-nism behind both lead andbeta amyloid peptide inducedtoxicity by investigating themolecular mechanism involvedin the development of leadinduced Alzheimer’s diseasethrough in vitro studies have

been unravelled.“In fact, alzheimer’s disease

has a complex pathophysiolo-gy which involves initially;formation of beta amyloidplaques and tangles in thebrain. In addition, oxidativestress and inflammation areknown to be involved in theprogression of the disease,with loss of memory and neu-ronal cell death. In this sce-nario, our study investigatedthe basic molecular mecha-nism behind the involvementof lead in Alzheimer’s dis-ease,” Dr Challa said.

He explained that they sim-ulated brain cells in vitro withbeta amyloid peptides like inAlzheimer’s disease and the

effect of lead exposure was thenstudied. “It showed increasedcell death and increased levels ofpro-apoptotic marker proteins.Further, the proteins involved inneurodevelopment and regen-eration have depleted. Sucheffects led to decreased expres-sion levels of synaptophysin,finally leading to loss of mem-ory as in Alzheimer’s disease,”the scientist added.

Dr R Hemalatha, Director,ICMR-NIN talked about thehealth hazards of Lead expo-sure to a woman during preg-nancy saying that it can causedevelopmental reprogrammingwhich can lead to higher riskand early onset of Alzheimer’sdisease in later life of the child.

“Since lead exposure is animportant public health con-cern, the current findingscould be another piece in solv-ing the puzzle towards under-standing the intracellularmechanism of Alzheimer’s dis-ease. Such findings may as wellhelp in developing preventiveand management strategies forelderly,” she said.

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Aizawl: Mizoram ChiefMinister Zoramthanga onMonday said that a quadripar-tite agreement between theCentre, his Government,Tripura and an apex body ofthe internally displaced Bruswould be signed on January 16to end the two-decade-oldimbroglio over Bru repatria-tion.

Addressing a function here,after inaugurating an office ofthe Mizo National Front(MNF), he said the UnionMinistry of Home Affairs hadinformed his Government thatthe agreement, one inked bythe stakeholders, would allowthe internally displaced Brus tosettle in Tripura permanently.

Zoramthanga also said thathe would be leaving for Delhion January 15.

The Mizoram BruDisplaced People’s Forum(MBDPF) — an apex body ofthe refugees — however, saidthat it was yet to receive anyintimation from the UnionGovernment.

Between November 2009

and November 2019, theCentre made at least nineattempts to repatriate Brus,who had been living in reliefcamps of Tripura, having fledMizoram in 1997 due to ethnicclashes.

Many of them have, how-ever, refused to return to theirhome state, citing security con-cerns and inadequate com-pensation package. Some havesought resettlement in theirarea of choice in Mizoram.

The Central Governmenthad last year asserted that itsninth attempt to repatriate theBrus would be the last one, fol-lowing which it would nolonger offer any rehabilitationpackage.

Of the 4,477 families iden-tified as bona fide residents forrepatriation during the lastround, only 289 families hadreturned during the last roundof the exercise.

The Bru community, alsocalled Reangs, is among the 21scheduled tribes in the country.They are scattered across Assam,Mizoram and Tripura. PTI

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Kolkata: With no State univer-sity vice chancellor turning upat Raj Bhavan, their proposedmeeting with Bengal GovernorJagdeep Dhankhar fell throughon Monday.

One of the VCs, who wasscheduled to attend the meeting,said he had other commitments.

"I had received a letter fromthe governor, who is also thechancellor of state universities,but could not attend the meet-ing due to other commitments.To my knowledge, no VCattended the meeting, convenedat 11 am today," he said.

Higher Education MinisterPartha Chatterjee could not becontacted for his comment, but

sources said there were around20 state-run universities inBengal, but none of the VCsturned up for the meeting.

An office-bearer of theJadavpur University TeachersAssociation (JUTA) said proce-dural difficulties, following thepassage of the West BengalUniversities and College(Administration andRegulation) Act 2017, does notallow a vice chancellor to attenda meeting, without getting a nodfrom the higher educationdepartment.

The Act, passed in earlyDecember, specified that "everycommunication proposed to bemade by the Chancellor to any

state-aided university shall berouted through the (higher edu-cation) department and the VCshave to intimate the departmentbefore taking any importantdecision."

It was quite clear that theproposed meeting will fallthrough, the JU office-bearersaid.

Dhankhar, after beingstopped from attending theannual convocation of JadavpurUniversity last month, had said"there is a policy paralysis.Universities are in captivity andcaged by the state government".

He had convened a meetingof vice chancellors on January 13following the incident. PTI

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Lucknow : The StateGovernment has started theprocess to identify refugees forthe implementation of theCitizenship Amendment Act,said UP Minister ShrikantSharma here on Monday.

"The notification for theCAA (by the Centre) has beenissued and all district magis-trates in UP have been askedto collect data," Sharma toldPTI.

In the first list, over 32,000refugees have been identifiedin 21 districts of the state andthe exercise is going on in theentire state as per informationI have from the state HomeDepartment, Sharma added.

There are 75 districts in thestate.

When asked about thecountries they belong to,Sharma said,"They are fromAfghanistan, Pakistan andBangladesh."

The districts from wherethe first list has arrived includ-ed Sahranpur, Gorakhpur,Aligarh, Rampur, Pratapgarh,Pilibhit, Lucknow, Varnaasi,Bahraich, Lakhimpur, Rampur,

Meerut, Agra.Sources said Pilibhit has

the maximum number ofrefugees. However, the exactnumber is yet to be disclosedby the State Government.

"The exercise is going onand as the data comes, we willupdate figures," Sharma said.

An NGO, Nagrik AdhikarManch, has also prepared a116-page report, "UttarPradesh Mein Aaye Pakistan,Afghanistan Evam Bangladeshke Sharnarthiyon ki Aapbeeti(Unke Utpeedan ki Kahani)"and sent it to the state and theCentre.

The State Government hasnot confirmed whether it wastaking the report into accountor not.

"We have got the report ofthe Nagrik Adhikar Manch," asenior Home Department offi-cial said, who refused to elab-orate.

The Centre last week hadissued a gazette notificationannouncing that the CAA hascome into effect from January10, 2020.

The Act grants citizenship

to persecuted non-Muslimminorities from Pakistan,Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

"In exercise of the powersconferred by sub-section (2) ofsection 1 of the Citizenship(Amendment) Act, 2019 (47 of2019), the Central govern-ment hereby appoints the 10thday of January, 2020, as thedate on which the provisions ofthe said Act shall come intoforce," the notification said.

The CAA was passed byParliament on December 11.

According to the legisla-tion, members of Hindu, Sikh,Buddhist, Jain, Parsi andChristian communities whohave come from Pakistan,Bangladesh and Afghanistantill December 31, 2014 due toreligious persecution will notbe treated as illegal immi-grants but given Indian citi-zenship.

There have been wide-spread protests against the Actin different parts of the coun-try.

In UP, at least 19 personswere killed in anti-CAAprotests. PTI

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Aligarh: BJP leader Raghuraj Singh has saidpeople raising slogans against Prime MinsterNarendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath will be buriedalive.

Singh made the statement on Sundaywhile addressing a rally in Aligarh to cre-ate awareness about the CitizenshipAmendment Act.

Warning "these handful of people, oneper cent criminal and corrupt people”against saying “murdabad” to PrimeMinister Modi and Chief MinsterAdityanath, he said, “I will bury you alive."

"Yogi and Modi are not the ones whowill get perturbed. Yogi-Modi will run thecountry and run it like this only," Singh said.

"Those taking money from DawoodIbrahim and troubling our officers, andMuslims will be beaten up badly," he said.

Singh, who hails from Aligarh, wasapparently referring to protests held by stu-dents of Aligarh Muslim University againstthe CAA recently.

The BJP immediately distanced itselffrom Singh’s controversial remarks, withparty spokesperson Chandramohan saying"Raghuraj Singh is neither a minister nor anMLA."

Labour Welfare Council chairman SunilBharala said Raghuraj Singh is an advisorin a unit of Labour Department. PTI

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Asansol (WB): A BJP office was gutted inWest Bengal’s Paschim Burdwan district,following which the saffron party activistsaccused the TMC of being behind the inci-dent.

A party office of the BJP at Salanpur areain Asansol was reduced to ashes in a blaze onSunday night and an investigation is on toascertain the cause of the fire, a senior policeofficer said.

The BJP has put the blame on TMC,which the ruling party in West Bengal hasdenied, terming the incident a result of a brawlbetween "goons" of the saffron party.

"As part of an initiative by union minis-ter and local MP Babul Supriyo, BJP workersdistributed blankets to tribals in the area onSunday morning, following which TMCactivists set fire to our party office.

"Several other BJP offices in the area havebeen set ablaze in the past by the TMC. Asthe popularity of our party is on the rise, TMCis using these tactics to terrorise the people,"BJP leader Abhijit Roy said.

Dismissing the allegations, Salanpur’sTMC MLA Bidhan Upadhyay said the inci-dent was a result of a brawl between "goons"of the BJP.

"Lottery tickets used to be sold at theentrance of the BJP party office and goonsaffiliated to the saffron party used to consumeliquor there. This incident is a result of a brawlbetween them," he said. PTI

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Surendranagar: Four undertrials accused of crimes rang-ing from murder to abetment of suicide escaped from ajail in Surendranagar in Gujarat on Sunday night, policesaid.

The jailbreak took place in Limbdi Sub-Jail, DeputySuperintendent of Police (Limbdi) DB Basiya said onMonday.

"Dinesh Shukla, Vijay Karapada, Mayursinh Jadejaand Ramesh Karu broke the lock of the cell and scaledthe boundary wall with the help of a rope thrown fromoutside," he said.

Shukla is a murder accused, Karapada has anattempt to murder case against his name, while Jadejaand Karu have charges of abetment of suicide, the DySPinformed.

A case has been registered and police teams have beenformed to nab the escapees, the official said. PTI

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Jammu: Braving inclementweather conditions, a jointteam of security forces onMonday eliminated a top rank-ing Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist Adil Gulzar inBehrampura area of Budgamdistrict.

Adil was active in the areasince January 2019 and wasplanning to target senior policeofficers and politicians fromKashmir valley. He had listedat least five individuals includ-ing two SP rank officers in thehit list.

Official sources claimed,Adil was in regular touch withhis handler and had evenattended a meeting with him inthe month of December 2019

in the same district.Local police was tracking

him for a long time to preventtargeted killing of Kashmirbased politicians and seniorpolice officers.

The joint team of securityforces had launched the oper-ation after receiving a pinpointed input about the pres-ence of a local terrorist in thearea.

Police spokesman said,"during the search operation,the hiding terrorist fired on thesearch party. The fire was retal-iated leading to an encounter.In the ensuing encounter, 01terrorist was killed and thebody was retrieved from thesite of encounter". PNS

Unnao (Uttar Pradesh): The doc-tor who treated the father of theUnnao rape victim has died inmysterious circumstances hereon Monday.

Prashant Upadhyaya hadtreated the Unnao rape victim’sfather in April 2018 after he hadbeen brutally thrashed in policecustody. The doctor was posted inthe emergency ward of the districthospital. He had discharged therape victim’s father after first aidand the latter died in custody a fewhours later.

Upadhaya was later suspend-ed during the CBI inquiry into thematter. He had later been rein-stated and was presently posted inFatehpur.

The case related to the mur-der of the rape victim’s father isscheduled to come up in court onTuesday.

According to his family mem-bers, Upadhaya complained of dif-ficulty in breathing on Mondaymorning but refused to go to thehospital. Later when he was takento the hospital, the doctorsdeclared him brought dead. The

family members said that he wasa diabetic patient.

The body has been sent forpost-mortem.

Expelled BJP MLA KuldeepSengar, who has been convictedfor the rape of the Unnao victim,is serving a life sentence in Tiharjail while his brother Atul Sengaris also in jail for the murder of thegirl’s father. PTI

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Apparently giving a causefor the Trinamool

Congress to rejoice the intra-house feud in the BJP’s Bengalunit came out in the openwhen State party presidentDilip Ghosh on Monday reit-erated his stand on shootingthe hooligans like dogs if theywould vandalise public prop-erty and said it was the partypresident Amit Shah whowould decide on the policymatters and not Babul Supriyowho objected to him makingsuch statements.

He was referring to atweet from Union MinisterBabul Supriyo who rejectedGhosh’s fiery statement as hispersonal one adding as a partyBJP never believed in politicsof bayonet and so did theGovernments in Uttar Pradeshand other states that were runby it.

The immediate trigger forthe open spat between the twosenior leaders was a publicspeech by Ghosh who told anaudience at Nadia late onSunday evening that Bengalhad 2 crore infiltrators who

held the state to ransom afterthe Citizenship AmendmentAct was passed by destroyingpublic property worth crores.

“They have torched prop-erty worth crores. Whoseproperty is this? Is it theirpaternal property? This is mymoney. This is your money...they went on a rampage andstill, not a lathi was chargednot one bullet was fired. NoFIR was registered. Not evenan arrest was made,” he saidadding in States like Assamand Uttar Pradesh, “ourGovernment has shot theseprotestors like dogs. Theywere arrested and cases werealso filed against them.”

Ghosh was referring to thelast month’s violent protestspost enactment of the CAAthat saw violent mobs torch-ing trains and damaging othercentral government propertiesworth crores at Murshidabad,Malda, Howrah, North 24Parganas and elsewhere.

While oppositionTrinamool Congress immedi-ately lapped up the issue BabulSupriyo intervened to controldamage saying whateverGhosh had said was his per-sonal opinion and the party

had nothing to do with it.“BJP, as a party has noth-

ing to do with what DilipGhosh may have said. It is afigment of his imaginationand the BJP Governments inUP, Assam have NEVEREVER resorted to shootingpeople for whatever reasonwhatsoever. Very irresponsibleof Dilip Da to have said whathe said,” the Union Ministersaid.

Supriyo’s tweet notwith-standing the Bengal BJP chiefon Monday stuck to his standsaying “I still stick to what Ihave said,” before wondering“who is the party president?Who will decide on the party’sinternal matters? Amit Shahjior him Babul Supriyo)? Ibelieve you got the answer.”Later clarifying his stance hesaid his statement was Bengalspecific and he only wanted tohammer home the point thatBJP was strict in its policies. “Itis unfortunate” he said refer-ring to the Minister’s criticismadding “all I would like to sayis that in Assam, UP andKarnataka, the state govern-ments punished those whodamaged properties and tooklaw in their hands.

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Many of former UttarPradesh police chiefs of

Monday hailed the state gov-ernment’s decision to imple-ment commissionerate systemof policing in Lucknow andNoida, terming it as a "revolu-tionary and bold" step, reflect-ing Chief Minister YogiAdityanath’s "strong willpower".They also said the decision has broken a myth thatit cannot be implemented inUP.

"A myth has been brokenthat the commissionerate sys-tem of policing can never beimplemented in Uttar Pradesh.This system is already in forcein 71 metro cities of the coun-try," former DGP Brijlal said,while congratulating the CMon behalf of the people of thestate, bureaucracy and police officers for the decision.

"This decision reflects thestrong willpower of the CM. Inthis new system, the police havegot direct powers for ensuringlaw and order and controllingcrimes. It will be able to providerelief to people by

facilitating police to take quickdecisions," said Brijlal.

"The law and order of thestate is already very good, it willimprove further and the peo-ple of the state will benefit fromit," he added.

Former UP DGP A K Jainalso praised the Yogi govern-ment for implementing thecommissionerate system ofpolicing.

"We are moving towardssmart policing and this is agood move for a change inpolicing beyond the scope ofthe Police Act, 1861," Jain said.

"CM Adityanath has takena strong political step. Overdecades, many governmentstook initial steps in this direc-tion but pulled back because oflobbying. This system will notonly improve law and order butwill also prevent crime againstwomen," he added.

Another former DGPVikram Singh said the imple-mentation of commissioneratesystem in Lucknow and Noidais no less than "a revolutionarystep". He said entire state andpolice department would be"very grateful to Yogi ji" for tak-ing this initiative. PTI

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Jammu & Kashmir LtGovernor G C Murmu on

Monday said his administra-tion is taking several initiativesto promote the tourism sectorin the Union Territory, accord-ing to a spokesperson of the RajBhavan.

Murmu made the remarkduring an interaction with themanaging director of a promi-nent hotel group in Kashmir, Asif Iqbal Burza, whocalled on him at the Raj Bhavan here, the spokespersonsaid. He said Burza apprisedthe Lt Governor about a rangeof issues pertaining to thehotel industry of the Kashmirregion and suggested measures for promotion anddevelopment of the tourismsector.

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Anita Sumanth, a judge of theMadras High Court has agreed to

step aside from hearing a case involving Karti Chidambaram, MPwho is the son of Congress strongmanP Chidambaram. The decision ofJustice Anita Sumanth, who was one ofthe leading lawyers in tax relatedissues before her elevation to theMadras High Court comes in responseto a request made by the lawyer representing the Income TaxDepartment in the case.

The Income Tax Department hadfiled a petition in the Madras HighCourt against Karti Chidambaram, hiswife Srinidhi and mother NaliniChidambaram for non-disclosure of � 1.35 crore which he had received aspayment for selling a plot of land at thescenic Muttukadu near Chennai.

The case was filed based on doc-umentary evidences seized from theresidence of Karti and office AdvantageStrategic Consulting Pvt Ltd in whichit is alleged that he has stakes.

The advocate appearing for theIncome Tax department told JusticeSumanth that she had representedAdvantage Strategic Consulting Pvt Ltdas a lawyer before her elevation to theBench. He also asked the judge totransfer the case to the bench ofanother judge.

Anita Sumanth immediatelyagreed to ask the chief justice to allo-cate the case to anotherbench.Interestingly, Dr Sumant Raman,spouse of Anita is one of the mostsought after panellists in discussions inTV channels and he is known for hissupport to the Chidambarams.

Last Tuesday, a special court inChennai had dismissed the petitionfiled by Karti asking for quashing of thetax evasion case against him since hehad filed all relevant tax returns and hewas not a member of the Lok Sabha atthe time. The Special Court is the onewhich hears cases related top MLAs,MPs and other public servants.

The court had also asked theIncome Tax Department to framecharges against Karti and his wife andhad also asked them to be present inthe court on January 21.

The Deputy Director of IncomeTax (Investigation) Chennai had fileda complaint against the duo inSeptember 2018 before the AdditionalChief Metropolitan Magistrate Court(Economic Offences) under sections276(c)1 and 277 of the Income Tax Act.The case was later transferred to thespecial court for trail of MLAs andMPs. During the hearing, the IncomeTax Department told the court thatKarti received Rs 6.38 crore in cashwhile his wife received Rs 1.35 core incash for the same of the land. It was alsoalleged that Nalini Chidambaram

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Strange things are happening in TamilNadu politics as the traditional rivals,

the AIADMK and the DMK came togeth-er to defeat the BJP candidate in the pres-idential election in RajakkamangalamPanchayath Union in KanyakumariDistrict.

The BJP had emerged as the largestparty by winning six seats in the unionwhere 15 wards were at stake. TheAIADMK and the DMK finished with fourand three seats respectively. Interestingly,there was no pre-poll alliance between theBJP and the AIADMK. The presidentialelection saw the DMK extending supportto the AIADMK candidate who went onto win the election with the support ofothers.

‘“This is an interesting developmentand we may have to give a lot of attentionto this trend,’” said Maalan, Tamil Nadu’spolitics commentator while speaking of thepoll prospects of the AIIADMK and theDMK in the assembly election which isexpected to take place in early 2021. ‘“It isnot easy to forecast what is in store for the2021 assembly election based on the localbody election held in December 27 and 30,2019,’” said Maalan.

Though it was believed that the DMKmay make a clean sweep in the local bodypoll in 27 districts based on its perfor-mance in the Lok Sabha election, it was notto be as the honours were shared evenlyby the traditional rivals.

The DMK and the AIADMK won 13districts each while the Shivaganga dis-trict panchayath election threw out a hung

house with no clear winners.What has happened in the panchay-

ath unions was that though the DMK wonmore number of councillors, the electionto the posts of president and vice-presi-dents held in indirect manner saw theAIADMK making some inroads. ‘“Thiscould be due to horse trading, cross -vot-ing or even poaching. There were someinstances of Congress and the DMK fight-ing it out in the open,’” said Maalan. Healso forecast that an interesting bout wasin store during the 2021 election.

According to Maalan, there are noclear winners as on date. ‘“But I feel DMKholds a slight edge due to the anti-incum-bency factor. The AIADMK has been inpower since 2011 and it is natural that theanti-incumbency factor would set in. TheAIADMK has to work hard and Ill notwrite them off,’” said Maalan whodescribed as the scenario in Tamil Naduas a football match in which both the con-tenders are equally poised to win.

But Kolahala Srenivaas, veteran polit-ical commentator is of the view that vot-ers in Tamil Nadu are a confused lot.‘“Previously, local body election was heldimmediately after the Assembly election .But the DMK managed to get the electiondelayed by filing cases after cases in theMadras High Court as well as SupremeCourt.

The trend in Tamil Nadu was that peo-ple would vote for the party in power atChennai to ensure speedy developmentworks.

But this time, the local body electionwas held towards the end of the AIADMK’stenure and this has resulted in the split ver-dict which we see.

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Guwahati: The AssamAssembly on Monday unan-imously ratified theConstitution (126th)Amendment Bill, extendingquota to SCs/STs in Lok Sabhaand State legislatures byanother 10 years.

A special one-day sessionof the assembly was held topass a resolution ratifyingthe bill cleared by bothHouses of Parliament.

After receiving approvalof the Lok Sabha and RajyaSabha, the bill needs to beendorsed by 50 per cent of the

assemblies before it comesinto force.

Moving the proposal inthe assembly, Chief MinisterSarbananda Sonowal soughtthe support of all the legisla-

tors, as he said, the constitu-tional amendment wouldensure socio- economic upliftof the Scheduled Castes andScheduled Tribes.

He also spoke about var-ious schemes undertaken byhis government for the wel-fare of SC/ST students. Leaderof the opposition in theAssembly, Debabrata Saikia ofthe Congress, Asom GanaParishad’s Bhaben Bharali,Bodo People’s Front’s KamalSingh Narzary and AIUDF’sHafiz Bashir spoke supportingthe resolution. PTI

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Salem (TN): Considered a goodomen by locals, a particularbreed of foxes are pulled out ofjungles for use in a ‘“jallikattu’”type event in this district ofTamil Nadu during Pongal fes-tivities, prompting Forest offi-cials to step in to stop the ille-gal practice and save them fromcruelty.

The ‘“Wanga’” breed of foxesare tied using ropes and chasedacross the streets by the villagerson ‘Kaanum Pongal’, the last dayof the annual harvest festival, onthe lines of the popular bull tam-ing sport jallikattu, according toa forest official.

The villagers in parts of thedistrict, including inChinnamaikenpalayam andVadukathampatty, observe thispractice as they believe theWanga foxes bring good for-tunes and copious rains. The

foxes are sent back to the forestlater.

‘“Kannum pongal’” this yearfalls on Friday.

In a bid to prevent harass-ment of the animal, the forestdepartment here has launchedan awareness campaign againstthe practice and warned the vil-lagers that those causing harmto the foxes could face punish-ment. ‘“We have issued adver-tisements across the districtasking people not to engage insuch sport. We have warnedthem that it is punishable offenceand the foxes come underWildlife (Protection) Act’”, theforest official said. During thecoming days, the campaignwould be stepped up, the officialadded. Another forest officialsaid the ‘“wanga’” foxes are a rarebreed and found in dense forestareas in the district. PTI

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Jaipur: Eleven Rajasthan dis-tricts are facing the worst locustattack after 26 years with con-trol measures being taken on3.70 lakh hectare affected landand an official urging interna-tional cooperation to deal withthe menace.

The last locust outbreakwas reported in 1993 when theState’s Agriculture Departmenthad carried out preventive mea-sures on 3,10,482 lakh hectaresaffected land, whereas controlmeasures on 3.70 lakh hectareland have been done till January12 so far, he said.

‘“It is one of the worstlocust attack that Rajasthan isfacing this time. Locust attackstarted this year from May 21and is still continuing. So far,control measures have beendone on 3.70 lakh hectare affect-ed land by spraying 2.60 lakhlitre melathion. This is a prob-lem which requires immediateinternational cooperation,’”Suwa Lal Jat, Joint Director(Plant Protection), said.

He said that locust attackgenerally starts in June-July andlasts till October end orNovember-mid but it has beeneight months from now that itis still continuing, adding that

the presence of locust popula-tion has been seen on the inter-national border with Pakistan,which still poses danger.

The Locust WarningOrganisation (LWO), head-quartered in Jodhpur, said locustattack is the biggest and longestrunning phenomenon.

‘“It is the biggest locustattack in the last four or fivedecades. Last big attack was seenin 1993 and the affected areaspan has already surpassed it thistime. It is a challenge for thecoming months as well becausethe presence of locusts in theGulf countries, including Iranand Pakistan, is alarming andsummer breeding of locusts isalso approaching,’” LWO DeputyDirector K L Gurjar said. The11 affected districts where con-trol measures have been takeninclude Jaisalmer 2 lakh hectare,Barmer 80,000 hectare, Bikaner80,000 hectare, Sriganganagar5,000 hectare, Jalore 1,500hectare, Hanumangarh 800hectare, Nagaur-Churu 500hectare each, Pali-Sirohi 400hectare each and Dungarpur 50hectare.

Rajasthan Chief MinisterAshok Gehlot had written a let-ter to Union Agriculture

Minister Narendra SinghTomar, seeking the Centre’sassistance on the matter.

On December 30, Gehlothad announced to conduct gir-dawari (survey) for the assess-ment of loss caused to crops dueto locust attack in WesternRajasthan.

On Saturday, the chief min-ister had asked officials to startdistribution of compensation tofarmers on loss to crops due tolocust attack. Jat said the unusu-al phenomenon is being inves-tigated by the scientists of fiveagriculture universities of thestates who are taking samples inthe affected areas.

‘“The teams of scientists aretaking samples in the affectedareas to study locust habitats.They are examining whether thereason is climate change orglobal warming or anythingelse,’” he said.

He said that 54 teams of theAgriculture Department aresurveying and monitoring thesituation, 450 tractors withmounted sprayers are beingpressed into service to controlthe menace, besides an addi-tional fleet of 500-700 tractorsreceived per day with the sup-port of people. PTI

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Rajasthan Local SelfGovernment Minister

Shanti Kumar Dhariwal onMonday directed officialsto construct separate out patient department (OPD)blocks for JK Lon Hospital andMaharao Bhimsingh Hospitalin Kota district to ensurepatients do not faceproblems.

This comes in the back-drop of more than 100 infantdeaths at JK Lon Hospital lastmonth that led to widespreadcriticism.

Dhariwal chaired a meet-ing with officials at MBSHospital on Sunday andinstructed them to make anassessment by discussing therequirement of necessaryequipment and building expan-sion for facilities in both thehospitals, according to an offi-cial statement.

He also instructed the offi-cials to change the facade of themain building in JK LonHospital and include necessaryfacilities in the new OPD blockincluding adequate space forparking vehicles. PTI

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Bengaluru: Right wing organ-isations on Monday held amassive protest at Kanakapuranear here against the proposed114-foot statue of Jesus Christ,allegedly at a Government land,sponsored by local legislatorand senior Congress leaderDK Shivakumar.

The protesters said thedemonstration was also againstthe larger issue of allegedreligious conversion that wastaking place in the region.

Hundreds of people cladwith saffron scarf took part in‘Kanakapura chalo’, organisedby ‘Hindu Jagaran Vedike’,holding saffron flags in theirhand marched from Aiyappaswamy temple at Kanakapurato

Tahsildar office, shoutingslogans ‘“Bharat Mata ki Jai’”and ‘“Jai Sri Ram.’”

Protesters accusedShivakumar of trying to turn‘“Kapalibetta’” or ‘“Muneshwarabetta’”, the hill on which theproposed statue is to come up,into ‘“Yesu betta.’”

BJP leader and formerMinister CP Yogeshwar, whotook part in the protest,accused Shivakumar of trying

to instigate communal vio-lence for his ‘“politics.’”

He said, this fight is againstthe ‘“oppressive politics’” ofShivakumar and his brother-Bengaluru Rural MP DKSuresh in the region.

Hindutva ideologue andRSS functionary KalladkaPrabhakar Bhat, who addressedthe gathering, said their agita-tion was not against JesusChrist, but against the religious conversion in hisname.

Questioning Shivakumar,whether he was doing it for thesake of vote and thereby to gainnotes, he said ‘“...What is yourintention? You want to sellthis country to foreigners onceagain; Hindu community iswarning you...This is also an actof treason.’”

He further declared that‘“Muneshwara betta willremain Muneshwara betta...’”

Later responding toreporters questions, Bhat said‘“if they are still adamant ongoing ahead with the statue, wewill show the strength of Hinducommunity, we will fightagainst any activity againstHindu community.’” PTI

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Under severe flak from var-ious political quarters, an

embarrassed BJP on Mondaydistanced itself from a contro-versial book “Aaj ke Shivaji:Narendra Modi”, penned by theparty’s Jai Bhagwan Goyal,likening the current PrimeMinister with Maratha warriorChhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

On a day whenMaharashtra Congress threat-ened to launch a statewideagitation against the contro-versial book, BJP’s NationalMedia co-head Sanjay Mayukhsaid through a video state-ment: “Whatever that beenwritten in the book is theauthor’s personal point of view.It is neither our party publica-tion nor are we connected with it in any man-ner”

“The writer has clarifiedthat it is his personal writing.He has also said that if the bookhas hurt anybody’s emotions,he is withdrawing the book. Wewould like to clarify again thatit is not a party publication,”Mayukh said.

The book “Aajke Shivaji:Narendra Modi” has been crit-icised by the leaders of all thenon-BJP parties — especiallythe ruling constituents of ShivSena-led Maha Vilas Aghadi(MVA) in the State, ever sinceit was released at an even heldat the BJP’s headquarters inNew Delhi amid fanfare in NewDelhi on Sunday.

Maharashtra PradeshCongress Committee presi-dent and senior State MinisterBalasaheb Thorat announced

that his party would launch astate-wide protest against theBJP “cheap” attempts to com-pare Modi with ChhatrapatiShivaji.

“Prime Minister NarendraModi cannot be compared toShivaji Maharaj at all. Modi'sdivisive politics and communalpolicies like CAA and NRC, hisautocratic nature of runningthe Government stands nocomparison with the secularapproach through whichSwarajya was established by theChhatrapati Maharaj,” Thoratsaid.

“The BJP should morallynot even take the name ofShivaji Maharaj after the largescale corruption in the ShivajiMemorial project in its gov-ernment,” he said.

The Congress is organisingthe first protest against the BJPsponsored controversial bookon Tuesday morning at TilakBhavan at Dadar in north-central Mumbai.

Shiv Sena MP andspokesperson Sanjay Raut, whowas to ignite a controversy overthe book drawing comparisonsbetween Modi and Shivaji,demanded to know from thedescendents of the Marathiwarriors – most of whom arewith the BJP—to come out withtheir stand on the book and resign from the prin-cipal ruling party at the Centre.

Talking to media personsin Mumbai, Raut said: “Werespect Chhatrapati Shivaji’sdescendents like Udyan Rajeand Shivendra Raje from Sataradyanasty, Chhatrpati SambhajiRaje from Kolhapur. Theyshould also speak out on the

book”. “Chhatrapati Shivaj isrevered by us all. He cannot becompared with anyone.Narendra Modi is our PrimeMinister. We respect him. Butcomparing Modi withChhatrapati Shivaji is totallywrong,” Raut said.

Meanwhile, Rajya Sabhamember and descendent ofShivaji from Kolhapur YuvrajShamburaje Chhatrpati urgedBJP President Amit Shah toensure that the controversialbook does not hit the marketfor sale.

Shamburaje, who is a pres-idential nominee in the UpperHouse of Parliament, said: “ Ihave respect for Modi. He hascontributed hugely to the coun-try. But, that does not meanthat he should be comparedwith Chhatrapati Shivaji. Noone can be compared withChhatrapati Shivaji. The BJP’spresident should ensure thatthe book does not hit themarket for sale”.

Hitting out at the BJP toliken Modi with Shivaji, NCPstate President and WaterResources Minister Jayant Patilsaid: “Tall and vast as theSahyadri mountain ranges, myking (Chhatrapati Shivaji) can-not be compared with anybody.Keep this in mind, or else…You have to face (music fromacross) Maharashtra”.

NCP’s Housing MinisterJitendra Awhad wondered if theBJP had lost its mind?”. On hispart, Congress GeneralSecretary Sanjay Dutt demand-ed to know as why the BJP orits Leader of OppositionDevendra Fadnavis have not yetcondemned the developmentand were keeping silent.

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Independent India’s first few years sawa unique kinship among politicalleaders and the people. The formerhad an aura of sacrifice behind them.This is why people adored them and

had high expectations from them. MahatmaGandhi was the cult figure, who wasremembered with respect and affection inevery home. In schools and colleges, youngpeople animatedly talked about NetajiSubhas Chandra Bose, Chandra ShekharAzad, Bhagat Singh, Khudiram Bose, VeerSavarkar, Jayaprakash Narayan, JawaharlalNehru and Sardar Patel among others. Evenin remote villages and towns, people wereaware of the Azad Hind Fauj and were con-vinced that Netaji would return.

One could say it from personal expe-rience that in spite of the tragic Partition,life had returned to normalcy in the villagesof Uttar Pradesh and Bihar as also else-where. There were no visible traces ofHindu-Muslim discord and children wit-nessed bonhomie in social, religious andcultural events as they grew up in a multi-religious society. They were learning to livetogether naturally, not under any plannedinitiative or project. Isolated instances ofcommunal skirmishes were there but theydid not impact the thread of social cohe-sion as people trusted and had faith in theleadership of the day.

However, gradually, things began tochange. Those who tasted power and perksthat also came associated with pelf, beganto shed the values the Mahatma had per-sistently preached. They started ignoring hisgreat words: “My Life is My Message.” Socialscientists and other learned scholars hadtheir own interpretations about the changethat began with the infusion of debilitatingelements inherent in democratic procedures,practices and parties. Gradually, peoplerealised the fallacy of the promises made byleaders. They also began to comprehend themachinations involved to garner votes onthe basis of caste, creed, religion and othersuch factors that would create divisionsamong them. Social equations and equanim-ity began to change and that, too, swiftly.Worse, it deliberately created distrust amongcommunities.

The new generation of leaders thatgradually emerged a couple of decades afterindependence realised how lucrative itcould be to be at the seat of power throughpolitics and elections. Hence, they decid-ed to focus on winning polls. Icons of thefreedom struggle were no more; secularismwas swiftly being converted into a mightypolitical weapon; and no wily politician wasconcerned about how disastrous even asmall dent in social cohesion and religiousamity could indeed be. They ignored thepossible damage to the hallowed traditionof equal respect for all religions that was inpractice for ages and for which the coun-try was admired globally.

Such developments were not unex-

pected. The rise of caste-basedparties contributed significant-ly to the erosion of pre-indepen-dent values that had the strengthto sustain social and religiouscohesion. Gandhi was indeedprophetic when he mentioned ina letter written in April 1922 thatSwaraj or self-rule would notbring happiness to our people asfour things would weigh heavi-ly on them and they would beginto say that the earlier (colonial)system was better. The fourthings included defects in theelection system, injustice,administrative burden andtreachery of the rich.

Today, systematic defects inthe way elections are conduct-ed appear to be beyond control.For all that matters is moneyand nothing else. News reportsin the last week of May 2019 thatout of 539 winning Lok SabhaMPs, 233 had declared criminalcases against them did not sur-prise anybody. The way elec-tions are won at every level hasled to serious aberrations in theway public affairs in our coun-try is conducted. It would berare exception if someone witha pure record of selfless servicewins a panchayat-level elec-tion. Social kinship stands shat-tered because elections are nowbeing politicised.

Can anyone think of anyelection that has been fought andwon within the limits on candi-

date expenditure as set by theElection Commission of India?So, now our leaders need moneyand more of it to be and remainin politics. A ray of hope didappear under the leadership ofJayaprakash Narayan during the1977 elections when severalcandidates won without anyresource, purely on the basis oftheir clean image and contribu-tions made to the public. But allof it disappeared after 1980.

People have witnessed notonly the rise of caste-based par-ties but more than that, they haveseen how assets of some leadershave galloped at an unprecedent-ed pace within years. Obviously,in such a scenario, there is littlespace for value-based politics.And when there are no com-punctions about values andprinciples, why care aboutmeans? Gandhian values in pol-itics were slowly and silentlyerased by those who inheritedpower. Loudly and unashamed-ly, they declared themselves asthe only political heirs of theMahatma. People trusted themand this continued for decades.

To ensure “permanency”in power, they quietly created aminority (read Muslim) vote-bank, gave them false assurancesand convinced them that every-one else was against them. Theygave their own interpretation ofsecularism, divided Hindus andMuslims up to the level of vil-

lage panchayats unhesitatinglyand during election time, gavetickets to candidates based pure-ly on caste and communal con-siderations. It did not matter ifthe aspirant was suitable, mer-itorious or deserving. Did hereally serve the people with hon-esty, sincerity and commit-ment? Leaders even preferredbahubalis (strongmen) withoutwinking an eyelid.

The imposition of theEmergency in June 1975 and itscontinuance till March 1977made the people realise how theywere being taken for a ride bythose very people they had trust-ed. By this time, the roots of socialcohesion and religious amitywere considerably weakened.

Consequently, the trustbetween two major communi-ties came under serious stress.For electoral gains, the history ofIndia, including the freedomstruggle, was politicised. Thewriting of history textbooks andresearch was totally entrusted tothe Leftists, who are known fortheir dislike for all that wasIndian. The great JawaharlalNehru University (JNU) wasbuilt in a closed citadel of Lefthegemony. It even refused entryto all “those who did not thinkalike” in their campus. Had thatnot been the case, today’s out-burst would not have happened.

What we are witnessingtoday is the culmination of

deliberate politicisation of age-old Indian traditions of accep-tance of diversity, which have adeep philosophical basis. This isthe only prophetic vision thatcan save the very existence ofplanet Earth. Think of the tur-moil being faced in Europe inthe wake of rapid demographic,social and cultural changes tak-ing place there whether theEuropeans like it or not. Whyshould it not be appreciated thatit was the impact of ancientIndian culture that while Hinduspaid jazia to their rulers, theynever disrespected the religiousplaces of Muslims.

Even after Partition, Indiacould have restored its age-oldreligious amity had our leadersshown maturity, futuristic visionand the urgency to bring bothcommunities together. This wasthe core requirement for march-ing ahead on the path of growth,progress and development asJayaprakash Narayan realised.For him, everyone was accept-able if willing to come togeth-er for the nation’s cause. Themerger of the then Jan Sangh inthe Janata Party was the culmi-nation of the efforts of a greatvisionary, who thought only ofIndia, the welfare of its peopleand their future.

The violence that hasoccurred in a couple of univer-sities and some other placesmust not be viewed in isolation.In fact, it must be seen in con-text with the seeds that havebeen sown in post-independentIndia by vested interests andthose for whom self-interest isthe only interest. Their numbersare few but institutions areinvariably taken to ransom byelements who have no academ-ic interest and are prone toprodding from unethical andanti-social elements. For thosewho are interested in findingsolutions, one would like tosubmit the following from a let-ter Albert Einstein wrote toGandhi and which was quotedby APJ Abdul Kalam in one hisbooks: “You have shownthrough your works that it ispossible to succeed without vio-lence even with those who havenot discarded the method of vio-lence.” Was JNU not expected tostrengthen this philosophy? It’sdepressing that JNU, with all ofits much-publicised achieve-ments, never seriously tried tolisten to those who did notthink alike. It has an obligationto the nation to encourage,nourish and nurture the greatdialogical tradition of the coun-try. It must become a place ofintellectual interaction. Indianeeds leadership institutionsthat promote social cohesion andreligious amity.

(The writer works in educa-tion and social cohesion)

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Sir — Apart from being a harvestfestival, Makar Sankranti alsomarks the beginning of an auspi-cious phase in Indian culture.What is most significant about thisday is that every State celebrates itindigenously. In Haryana andPunjab, it is popularly called“Lohri”, in South India it is called“Pongal”, in Bihar it is known as“Khichdi” and “Bihu” in Assam. InGujarat, families celebrate thisfestival through kite-flying com-petitions.

The importance of this day haseven been signified in ancientepics like the Mahabharata. So,apart from socio-geographicalimportance, this day also holds ahistorical and religious signifi-cance. It is the festival of the SunGod and he is regarded as the sym-bol divinity and wisdom. This iswhy the festival holds eternalmeaning, too. Sankranti repre-sents a period of illumination,peace, affluence and happiness.Many melas (fairs) are held onthis day, the most famous amongthem being the Kumbh, which isheld once in every 12 years.

Jubel D’CruzMumbai

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Sir — We ought to have realisedby now that an inclusive ethos istoo deeply ingrained in Indianminds. The CitizenshipAmendment Act (CAA) is beingseen in the perspective of theNational Population Register(NPR) and the National Registerof Citizens (NRC). There’s not

much fault with this mindset. Thecommon man is apprehensive. Offar greater impact than this wasthe fiasco of demonetisation thattouched almost every citizen.And yet, the reaction was more in“hopeful anguish” than “fear.”After all, the void created by cur-rency was not meant to differen-tiate between people. That thispolicy formulation could notdeliver well is another matter.

However, this policy-troika(CAA, NPR and NRC) that isnow under way appears to delin-eate differences where noneshould exist. It is precisely thisthat has fuelled people’s anger.The Government is yet to initiatea dialogue. The state of the econ-omy and employment has onlyadded fuel to the fire.

R NarayananNavi Mumbai

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Sir — The Maradu flat demolitionin Kochi, as per the orders of theSupreme Court — as these werebuilt in violation of the coastalregulation zone rules — is an eyeopener. It is also a warning to thelocal administration, the Statemachinery and various stake-holders, who ignore the law ofnature and believe that politicalinfluence, power and money canget them anywhere. What theyforgot was that law and justice isabove everything. This is a lessonmeant for all cities, States, nationsand mankind in general.

The lesson is to not violaterules and regulations. It was anoverwhelming sight to watch hugeskyscrapers — that rose to the skywith so much of human energyand labour, time and wealth — tobe razed to the ground within seconds. However, the entireepisode will be complete onlywhen corrupt officials, politicians,builders and others are broughtunder the law and punished.

M Pradyu Kannur

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In the backdrop of the collection under theGoods and Services Tax (GST) not coming upto the expected level and the consequential

inability of the Central Government to meet itsobligations towards compensation to the States ascommitted under the GST Compensation Act,2017 (it provides for compensation for five yearsi.e. till 2021-22 to be calculated as the differencebetween actual collection and the revenue it wouldhave got with growth at four per cent over the 2015-16 level), the GST Council is undertaking a com-prehensive review of the existing rate structure andthe implementation mechanism.

Meanwhile, a contentious issue that mandarinsin the GST Council will need to urgently look atrelates to the treatment of the accumulated inputtax credit which does not get automatically set offagainst output tax liability. At the core of the GSTarchitecture is a feature that allows a producer/sup-plier to claim credit for the tax paid on inputs acrossthe value chain. This helps in eliminating the cas-cading effect of tax-on-tax, thereby reducing thecost of products to the consumer (the erstwhile dis-pensation of central excise, value added tax[VAT] and a host of local duties that were afflict-ed by the cascading effect).

An anomalous situation may arise if the pro-ducer/supplier does not have corresponding out-put tax liability to provide for setting off accumu-lated credit on input purchase. Indeed, this anom-alous situation is currently faced by telecom com-panies. They have made heavy investment in aug-menting the infrastructure (needed to providespeed and quality services) even as there has beena steep drop in their revenue; courtesy tariff plum-meting to record lows due to the intense compe-tition after the entry of Reliance Jio in 2016.

This increased accumulated credit on theirinput purchases and reduced their GST paymentsto the Government (primarily due to low tariff/saleprice), thereby reducing and eliminating thepotential for automatic offsetting of dues. They areunable to claim refund of the taxes paid on inputsas the GST law mandates corresponding outputtax liability which is insufficient. The unabsorbedinput tax credit works out to a whopping �36,000crore. The situation in fertilisers is broadly simi-lar. Given the critical role of fertilisers in ensur-ing food security, the Government controls theirmaximum retail price (MRP) at a low level, unre-lated to the cost of production and distribution andreimburses the excess as subsidy to the manufac-turers. In case of urea, the MRP is 25 per cent to50 per cent of the cost whereas in the case of non-urea fertilisers, the price is 70 per cent to 75 percent. The balance amount is given to farmers assubsidy.

Coming to the tax structure, fertilisers attractfive per cent GST, even as the tax on raw materi-als and intermediates used in their manufactureis much higher. Natural gas (it accounts for about90 per cent of urea production) is at present “zerorated” under GST implying that it continues toattract excise duty (ED) and VAT as in the past.Even as ED on gas is “nil”, VAT varies from Stateto State with a low five per cent in Rajasthan and21 per cent in Uttar Pradesh. Besides, some Statesimpose local levies. For example, the “purchase tax”in Gujarat applies to that portion of inputs usedfor making urea that is sold outside the State.Nearly, one-third of gas consumption by fertilis-

er plants is imported as LNG (liquefiednatural gas) attracts customs duty (CD)at 2.5 per cent. Imports of ammonia,phosphoric acid and sulphur — rawmaterials and intermediates used inmanufacture of non-urea or phosphateand potash fertilisers — attract CD at fiveper cent (on rock phosphate, it is 2.5 percent). On the other hand, ammonia andphosphoric acid attract GST at 18 percent and 12 per cent respectively (initial-ly, GST on phosphoric acid was 18 percent but was brought down to 12 per centin January 2018).

The process of fertiliser manufactureis power-intensive. Electricity generationand distribution is also excluded from theambit of the GST. However, it is exemptfrom levy of Central VAT (CENVAT)and VAT. Further, under theConstitution, entry 53 in the State list ofthe Seventh Schedule empowers Statesto impose tax (or electricity duty) on saleand consumption of electricity, exceptwhen consumed by the UnionGovernment or the Railways.

Let us now look at the implicationsof the above tax structure for input taxcredit. First, gas being virtually outsideGST, gas companies viz. Oil and NaturalGas Corporation (ONGC), Oil IndiaLimited (OIL) and so on, can’t claimcredit for the taxes paid on their purchaseof inputs, consumables and equipmentleading to higher price. The price of gasto fertiliser producers (delivered at fac-tory gate) further increases due to VAT(which in some states such as UP is 21per cent) besides a host of local levieswherever applicable.

In case of electricity — it being out-side GST and exempt from levy of CEN-VAT and VAT — this results in a situa-tion whereby power companies don’t getany credit for taxes paid on inputs viz.equipment, stores and so on, used in itsgeneration and distribution. This resultsin higher cost of electricity, that is fur-

ther exacerbated by electricity dutyimposed by States for which no offset isavailable. We thus have an anomalous sit-uation, whereby on one hand taxes paidon inputs (primarily gas and electricity)used in the manufacture of urea are highwith a built-in cascading effect. On theother hand, the tax liability on the out-put (urea) is low not just because of muchlower GST at five per cent but also dueto lower MRP. Likewise, tax paid on rawmaterials and intermediates (mainlyammonia and phosphoric acid) used inthe making of non-urea fertilisers is higheven as tax on output is low for the samereason. This inevitably results in unab-sorbed input tax credit as output tax fallsfar short of input tax.

Considering the adverse effect ofreimbursing the unabsorbed input taxcredit on tax collection, particularly at thecurrent juncture when the exchequer isfacing a huge shortfall, the Governmentmay not be inclined to sanction it (in caseof telecom service providers) or delay asfor fertiliser manufacturers. But, theadverse impact of rejection/delayedrelease on service providers/manufactur-ers can’t be brushed aside either. Whatthen is the way forward?

Ideally, the Government shouldmaintain tax on the final product at thesame rate (or higher) than the rate on rawmaterials/intermediates so that there issufficient tax liability on the former toenable automatic neutralisation of the taxpaid on the latter.

Accordingly, it should levy GST ongas (by removing the current zero ratestatus) and bring electricity under GSTand tax both at five per cent, i.e. the sameas on fertilisers. GST on ammonia andphosphoric acid should also be broughtdown from the existing 18 per cent and12 per cent respectively to five per centon each. While making these changesmay take some time (particularly in viewof resistance from States), in the mean-

while, the Government should takesteps to promptly release pending un-availed input tax credit to fertilisermanufacturers. The position in case oftelecom service providers, however, is dif-ferent.

Here, the output tax liability isinsufficient to fully offset the input taxmainly because of the rock bottom tar-iff due to “unhealthy” and “destructive”competition (this was not mandatedunder any law or Government regula-tion) unlike fertilisers where as matter ofconscious policy, the selling price is con-trolled at a low level to make them afford-able to farmers. Nevertheless, it can’t bedenied that service providers haveincurred excess input tax credit and notrefunding the same will go against thevery spirit of GST.

The pending excess input tax cred-it of �36,000 crore may be refunded tothe telecom service providers. With tar-iff being increased by all service providersand even the sector regulator TelecomRegulatory Authority of India (TRAI)contemplating a floor tariff (to bring asemblance of discipline to the market)hopefully, such a situation may notunfold in the future.

In fertilisers with the changes in taxstructure — as proposed — and movetowards direct benefit transfer (DBT) offertiliser subsidy which will lift theMRP, the output tax liability will be insync with tax paid on inputs.

Notwithstanding the above, situa-tions of mismatch can’t entirely be ruledout. To address these, the Governmentshould consider amending GST law toallow refund of excess input tax creditand eventually match the output tax lia-bility. Meanwhile, it should intensifyefforts (including use of data analytics)to identify and crack down on fake claimsof input tax credit to shore up its revenue.

(The writer is a New Delhi-based pol-icy analyst.)

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Investing in adolescent health isessential to realising multiple sus-tainable development goals set by

the UN, to be achieved by 2030. Giventhat India houses more than 253 mil-lion adolescents, it is pertinent torealise that neglecting their health mayhave enormous implications for theuniversal healthcare agenda. A recentObserver Research Foundation andMinistry of Health and Family Welfareworkshop discussed the possibility ofscaling up best practices to addressissues of adolescent sexual and repro-ductive health amidst the continuedchallenges of early marriage, teenagepregnancies and high incidences ofmaternal mortality. It is understoodthat an adolescent’s health status will

be carried forward into their adult-hood. Therefore, the World HealthOrganisation’s (WHO’s) global strat-egy for investing in their health aimsto operate on three targets: Survive,Thrive and Transform. These targetsof putting an end to preventabledeaths, ensuring health and well-being and expanding an enablingenvironment, although tangible,require a concerted effort on behalf ofboth the Government as well as civilsociety.

Challenges concerning adoles-cent health in India are ever-mount-ing and have been progressing at analarming rate. Currently, it is amongthe top ten countries with the largestburden of teenage pregnancies, withnearly 27 per cent girls reported get-ting married before the age of 18 and31 per cent giving birth by 18. Teenagepregnancies at the current rate havebecome a national emergency thatneeds to be addressed as a priority.Issues of inequality, lack of choices,interpersonal and sexual violence andchild marriages are all underlying fac-tors that have contributed towardsteenage pregnancies and incidents of

maternal mortality. In this scenario, itbecomes important for us to under-stand the extent to which teenage preg-nancies can impact the health andnutrition of our future children, asmultiple studies have associated themto child undernutrition. The possibil-ity of teenage mothers being anaemic,underweight and having lesser accessto healthcare services is also largelyreported.

In order to address the concernsof adolescents, it is important that theyare represented in the dialogue. Allstakeholders must engage in educat-ing the population about the subjectof sexual and reproductive healtheducation and highlight the multi-sec-toral approach that will be necessaryfor improving adolescent health andbreaking inter-generational cycles ofdisease. Although there is a significantchange in the nutritional status interms of being overweight and obesebetween NFHS 3 and 4, with a rela-tive change of 75 per cent among girlsand 182 per cent among boys, we stillneed to echo its importance. In termsof teenage pregnancies, only 57 percent adolescents get registered during

the first trimester and only four percent receive ante-natal check-ups;showing that not only is there a pat-tern of early pregnancies but there isa setback in access to necessary ser-vices. There are situations where only11 per cent boys and three per centgirls aged between 15 to 24 report pre-marital sex.

An early intervention at the incep-tion of adolescence, that would steerthe progress of their health, should becarried forward to when they conceive,subsequently to when they bear a childat an age that is physically and emo-tionally mature. The high incidencesof substance abuse, deaths due to Non-Communicable Diseases and compli-cations during pregnancies and child-birth, are all reasons for us to re-eval-uate our approach.

Investing in adolescent healthhas to be taken up with a multi-sec-toral and multi-dimensional approach.The notion of the policymakers, exe-cutioners and civil society working insilos and their comfort zones needs tobe trumped as it nullifies the processand progress that comes out of shar-ing knowledge and communicating,

and makes the working of the compre-hensive plans redundant.

Schemes like the Rashtriya BalSwasthya Karyakram, that envisionschild health screening and early inter-vention services, will only prove fruit-ful when there is a convergenceamongst schools, social welfare depart-ments, State health departments andIntegrated Child DevelopmentServices to ensure that children con-tinue to receive their benefits even afterleaving school.

On the other hand, RashtriyaKishor Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK),has made huge strides in workingtowards adolescent health as it hasexpanded its scope by reaching out toboys and girls, both married andunmarried, in rural as well as urbanareas, and those who drop out ofschool and belong to marginalisedgroups. The programme also incorpo-rates nutrition, violence, substanceabuse/misuse, mental health and non-communicable diseases. The preven-tive, curative and routine check-ups atthe primary level and general care atsecondary and tertiary levels, are pro-vided under the scheme. Realising the

importance of family care and com-munity-based interventions, RKSKhas been driven with involvement ofcounselling, outreach programmes,and adolescent-friendly health centres.

There must be an acceptanceabout the naivete and the challengesof physical, cognitive, emotional andsocietal change adolescents face whilegrowing up. Family care plays a hugepart in easing the process of growthand streamlining the strides that needto be made towards their educationand health. Furthermore, the longergirls stay in schools, the lesser thechances of early marriages andunplanned pregnancies. This will havea positive impact on the female labourforce and the economy in the long run.There is an urgency with which wemust combat the deeply-entrenchedevils of child marriage, the conflict ofmedical termination of pregnanciesand the haste to prove fertility.

Putting in place a system thatmanages knowledge about menstru-ation, substance misuse, while equal-ly reaching out to boy and girls, withfamily and community-based inter-ventions has now become an absolute

necessity. A collaborative structureamong the stakeholders that allowscustomisation for a localised approachto region-specific problems, needs tobe adopted for better service delivery.

It is not just a technical reform thatis required but a societal and politicalone as well, as the issues are not justlimited to structure of the policy butto the structure of the institutions for-mulating and implementing them aswell.

Recently, Madhya Pradesh andUttar Pradesh launched the Saathi andSuper Saathi programmes, which seekto empower rural women and com-munities through increased access todigital resources that help in generat-ing awareness about health, educationand sanitation. By this measure, ourfocus needs to be on curtailing the cur-rent trends of teenage pregnancies,revamping schemes like RKSK toallow suitable customisation in orderto resolve ground-level region-specif-ic problems and make adolescenthealth services accessible outside med-ical centres.

(The writer is Junior Fellow withORF’s Health Initiative)

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New Delhi: World's largestretailer Walmart Inc onMonday said it has sacked 56of its executives in India,including eight from seniormanagement level, as it restructures its business in thecountry.

In a statement, WalmartIndia President and CEO KrishIyer said the company "remainscommitted" to growing itswholesale retail business inIndia.

Most of the sacking was inWalmart's real estate divisionthat is responsible for storeexpansion, implying the firmwas facing challenges inexpanding its wholesale busi-

ness.Walmart operates 28

wholesale stores in India, sell-ing goods to small shopkeep-ers but not to retail consumersbecause of government rulesaimed at protecting Kiranastores do not allow such sales.

"We are also looking forways to operate more effi-ciently, which requires us toreview our corporate structureto ensure that we are organizedin the right way. As part of thisreview, we have let go of 56 ofour associates across levels atthe corporate office," Iyer saidin the statement.

All of the 56 impactedassociates, eight in the seniormanagement and 48 in themiddle as well as lower man-agement, have been offeredenhanced severance benefitsand outplacement services tosupport their transition, headded.

He, however, deniedreports of a second round ofjob cuts in April as part of anoverall plan to shut down its

physical presence in the coun-try after struggling to return aprofit.

The 56 executives laid offmake up for 1 per cent ofWalmart's overall workforcein India.

The job cuts come amidrising competition. US e-com-merce giant Amazon Inc haspartnered with India's leadingretailer, Future Retail Ltd (FRL)to expand in the country, whilerichest Indian Mukesh Ambani

recently launched an onlineretailer Jio Mart, offering freehome delivery for thousands ofgrocery products.

Iyer, however, ruled out asecond round of layoffs,terming the speculation asbaseless and incorrect.

He said the companyremains committed to growingits B2B cash and carry businessin India.

Walmart opened six newbest price modern wholesale

stores, one fulfillment center,and the company's sales grew22 per cent in 2019, he added.

"We have recently madesignificant investments to serveour members better and willcontinue to do so. This includesinvestments in our brick andmortar stores as well as e-commerce.

"Our members are increas-ingly becoming omni-channelshoppers. We are thus invest-ing heavily in technology andhave a healthy pipeline of bestprice stores. This will provideour members with a trulyomni-channel and convenientshopping experience in thefuture," Iyer noted.

Layoffs at Walmart's brickand mortar business beganafter it bought a majority stakein e-commerce retailer Flipkartin 2018 in an around USD 16billion deal.

Walmart, as per its strate-gy to strengthen presence in theIndian market and also com-pete head-on with global rivalAmazon, had announced a

mega-deal in 2018 to pick up77 per cent stake in Flipkart.

Walmart had started B2Be-commerce in July 2014 fromits Lucknow and Hyderabad'Best Price Store' and was laterextended to other stores.

It was among one of thefirst companies in India, whichhad adopted the omni-channelretail system by integratingonline and offline formats here.

Amazon's partnership withFuture Retail will make the USe-commerce giant the officialonline channel for the Indianfirm's more than 1,500 storesacross 400 Indian cities. As partof the deal, Amazon will addFuture Retail's grocery prod-ucts on its two-hour PrimeNow delivery programme inIndia.

Ambani on the other handalready owns India's biggestretail chain, Reliance Retail,and has made no secret of hisgoal of building an e-com-merce platform to rivalAmazon and Walmart.

PTI

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Mumbai: Market benchmarksSensex and Nifty ended at freshlifetime highs on Monday, pro-pelled by gains in Infosys amidpositive domestic and global cues.

After rallying nearly 300points to its record intra-dayhigh of 41,899.63, the 30-shareBSE index settled at a new clos-ing peak of 41,859.69, up 259.97points, or 0.62 per cent.

Likewise, the broader Niftyscaled its lifetime (intra-day)high of 12,337.75, before endingat 72.75 points, or 0.59 percent, higher at 12,329.55 — itsnew closing peak.

Both indices were driven byInfosys, that rallied 4.76 per cent,after the IT services major onFriday reported a 23.7 per centrise in consolidated net profit at�4,466 crore for the Decemberquarter.

IndusInd Bank, BhartiAirtel, HUL, M&M, Tata Steel,PowerGrid and Tech Mahindratoo ended with gains on the BSE.

On the other hand, TCS,SBI, Bajaj Auto, ICICI Bank,RIL, Axis Bank and Nestle Indiafinished in the red.

According to traders,besides positive quarterly num-bers from Infosys, positivedomestic macro data and firmglobal cues boosted marketmood here.

After contracting for threemonths in a row, the Index ofIndustrial Production (IIP)recorded a growth of 1.8 per centin November, mainly on accountof improvement in the manu-facturing sector, as per govern-ment data released after market

hours on Friday.Further, Indian markets

opened the week on a positivenote following upbeat trendAsian markets as the the long-awaited phase one trade dealbetween the US and China is setto be signed this week, expertssaid.

Bourses in Shanghai, HongKong and Seoul ended signifi-cantly higher, while Europeanmarkets started on a positivenote. Brent crude oil futures rose0.37 per cent to $65.22 per bar-rel. The rupee appreciated 12paise to 70.82 per US dollar(intra-day). PTI

New Delhi: Markets regulatorSebi has deferred by two yearsto April 2022 its directive forlisted companies to split theroles of chairman and manag-ing director in view of demandfrom corporates, and to keepcompliance burden lower in thewake of the current economicscenario.

Under the Sebi norms, thetop 500 listed entities by mar-ket capitalisation were mandat-ed to comply with the require-ment of separation of the rolesof chairperson and managingdirector (MD) or chief executiveofficer (CEO) with effect fromApril 1, 2020.

The norms were aimed atimproving corporate gover-nance structure of listed com-panies. Now, the date of imple-mentation of the regulatoryprovision has been deferred toApril 1, 2022, according to agazette notification datedJanuary 10.

While the notice did notspecify any reason for the move,sources said that the decision todefer the implementation hasbeen taken in view of demandfrom corporates and also to easethe compliance burden amid aslowing economic growth rate.

Securities and ExchangeBoard of India (Sebi) has beenreceiving various representa-tions with respect to the regu-latory requirements includingfrom industry bodies like Ficciand CII. The representations

highlighted the present levels ofunpreparedness of listed entitiesto comply with the directive.

Data from stock exchangesreveal that presently, onlyaround 50 per cent of the top500 listed entities are in com-pliance with the regulatory pro-vision.

Currently, many compa-nies have merged the two postsas CMD (chairman-cum-man-aging director), leading to someoverlapping of the board andmanagement, which could leadto conflict of interest and con-sequently the regulator in May2018 came out with its norms tosplit the post.

The norms were part of theseries of recommendationsgiven by the Sebi-appointedKotak committee on corporategovernance.

A large number of big com-panies including RelianceIndustries, BPCL, ONGC, CoalIndia, Wipro andHeroMotoCorp have a singleperson holding the twin post ofchairman and managing direc-tor. Industry body Ficci has wel-comed Sebi's decision to extendits deadline for splittingChairman and MD posts by twoyears to April 2022.

"This was part of multiplerepresentations made by Ficciand we appreciate that Sebi hasextended the deadline, theindustry body's PresidentSangita Reddy said.

PTI

Mumbai: The ICICI bank hasapproached the Bombay HighCourt seeking effect to "termi-nation of appointment" ofChanda Kochhar as itsManaging Director and CEO,and also sought recovery of var-ious amounts from her.

In a monetary suit filed onJanuary 10, the bank sought dis-missal of Kochhar's petition andstated that the issue can bedecided in a commercial suit.

"ICICI has filed a suit seek-ing recovery of amounts towardsthe claw back of bonuses givento the petitioner (Kochhar) fromApril 2006 to March 2018 pur-suant to the termination of thepetitioner's services," the banksaid in its affidavit.

A clawback is a provision inwhich incentive-based pay, likea bonus, is taken back from anemployee by an employer fol-lowing misconduct or decliningprofits. The affidavit was sub-mitted in response to a petitionfiled by Kochhar challenging hersacking, months after she vol-untarily left the second largest

private sector lender."On December 8, 2016,

Kochhar executed a claw backagreement with the bank pur-suant to which ICICI is entitledto a return of the previously paidvariable pay or deferred variablepay from the petitioner in theevent of a determination of agross negligence or an integritybreach by Kochhar.

"The petitioner's conducthas caused substantial embar-rassment to the bank and all thestake-holders, and has led toirreparable reputational loss tothe bank," it stated. The bankstated that Kochhar flagrantlyviolated the ICICI Group Codeof Business Conduct and Ethics.

"The petitioner (Kochhar)deliberately committed viola-tion with a malafide intent toobtain illegal benefits," it stated.The affidavit further said thatKochhar's petition challengingher sacking by the bank claim-ing violation of RBI rules is an"malafide attempt" to securevaluable stock options of thebank. PTI

New Delhi: Fair trade regula-tor CCI on Monday ordered aprobe against Flipkart andAmazon for alleged malprac-tices, including deep discount-ing and tie-ups with preferredsellers.

The order follows a com-plaint filed by Delhi VyaparMahasangh, whose memberscomprise many traders.

"The Commission observesthat the exclusive arrangementsbetween smartphone/mobilephone brands and e-commerceplatform/select sellers sellingexclusively on either of the plat-forms, as demonstrated in the

information, coupled with theallegation of linkages betweenthese preferred sellers and OPs(opposite parties) alleged by theInformant merits an investiga-tion," the CompetitionCommission of India (CCI)said in an order.

It needs to be investigatedwhether the alleged exclusivearrangements, deep discount-ing and preferential listing bythe OPs are being used as anexclusionary tactic to foreclosecompetition and are resultingin an appreciable adverse effecton competition, it added.

PTI

Beijing: China's auto sales fellfor a second year in 2019, anindustry group reportedMonday, as a trade war withWashington and an economicslowdown fueled consumeranxiety and demand for electricvehicles weakened.

The downturn is squeezingglobal and Chinese automakersthat are spending billions ofdollars to meet governmentmandates to sell electric vehi-cles. Sales in the industry'sbiggest global market declined9.6% from 2018 levels to 21.4million sedans, SUVs andminivans, according to theChina Association ofAutomobile Manufacturers.

After two decades of explo-sive growth, Chinese auto salesfell 4.1% in 2018 as unease overthe tariff war with PresidentDonald Trump and slowingeconomic growth promptedconsumers to put off big pur-chases. AP

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Mumbai: Even as there was marginal improvement in financialperformance during the first half of 2019-20, profit margins forbulk tea players are likely to remain under pressure due to tepidtea price movement in the current financial year, according toa report. "The marginal increase in overall tea prices togetherwith muted growth in tea production for the large bulk tea play-ers are likely to constrain any improvement in the operating prof-itability of bulk tea producers in 2019-20," Icra Vice-Presidentand Sector Head (Corporate Sector Ratings) Kaushik Das said.

This is despite the fact that labour cost is unlikely to witnessany material increase in the current financial year, he added.

"However, organised players with a high proportion of ortho-dox tea volumes could be an exception and are likely to see someimprovement driven by significant increase in orthodox teaprices," he added. PTI

New Delhi: State-owned IndianOil Corp (IOC) has developeda special class diesel conform-ing to NATO grade for use inships and vessels of IndianNavy.

Vice Admiral G S Pabbylaunched the Upgraded HighFlash High-Speed Diesel(HFHSD- IN 512) in presenceof IOC Director (R&D) SSVRamakumar and IOC Director(Refineries) S M Vaidya, a com-pany statement said here.

"IOC has always endeav-oured to supply world-classfuels to Indian Defence Forces.Moving ahead in this directionIOC has developed and upgrad-ed the specifications of HFHSD-IN 512 fuel required for IndianNaval ships, it said. PTI

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New Delhi: The Securities andAppellate Tribunal (SAT) onTuesday will hear the NSE's co-location case, wherein brokersare alleged to have receivedpreferential access to the trad-ing systems of the bourse.

The tribunal will hear thematters, involving the Sebiorder in the NSE case, its for-mer MD Ravi Narain and ex-CEO Chitra Ramakrishna andother executives -- DeviprasadSingh and Nagendra Kumar, asper the tribunal's cause list.

Also, the SAT will hear caseinvolving brokers OPGSecurities, GKN Securities andWay2Wealth, it added.

In September, the tribunalhad asked NSE officials, includ-ing Ramakrishna, to file rejoin-

ders within four weeks in theirpleas against Sebi penalisingthem in the co-location case.

After an extensive probe,the Sebi in five separate ordersrunning into 400 pages, had onApril 30, last year, asked theNSE to disgorge Rs 1,000 crore,including 12 per cent interestfor its alleged culpability in thecase.

The order has scuttled theIPO plans of the bourse as itwas banned from accessingthe markets for six months orlaunching any new derivativeproducts. The ban ended onOctober 31.

Sebi also askedRamakrishna, Narain and twoothers to pay back 25 per centof their salaries from June

2010 to March 2014. The scamcame to light in 2015.

Following this, the nation'slargest bourse and the peoplepenalised for the case hadchallenged the order in the SATin May 2019, seeking interimrelief and full relief, sayingthat the Sebi orders not madea case that any trading membergot any advantage because ofpreferential access.

The co-location case datesback to 2015, when a whistle-blower wrote to Sebi allegingNSE was giving a few high-fre-quency traders/brokers prefer-ential access to its servers byallowing them to place theirservers in the NSE premisesthat benefitted both the partiesat the cost of others. PTI

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Patients are often surprised to realise that they are atincreased risk of various bone disorders if they are Diabetic.

Given the increasing prevalence of Diabetes Mellitus (Type 1 andType 2) in India, patients should be better informed about theproper protocols to manage diabetes while ensuring that bonehealth is taken care of. It is a multi-pronged approach:Prevention of avoidable falls and fractures, lifestyle changes suchas improved diet and weight-bearing exercises and caution inthe use of certain medications.

CAUSESType 1 or Type 2, is associated with increased fracture risk.

According to the World Journal of Diabetes: “Diabetes-relatedcomplications and certain antidiabetic drugs appear to furtherincrease fracture risk, both directly and indirectly. The preven-tion and management of bone fragility in diabetes includes iden-tification of patients at risk, correction of modifiable risk fac-tors including appropriate choice of antidiabetic drugs and useof antifracture drugs with proven efficacy.”

Studies published by the US National Institutes of Health sug-gest that Type 1 Diabetes causes reduction in Bone Mineral

Density (BMD) while Type 2Diabetes may cause an increasein BMD. BMD is related to bonedensity and thus a reductionmay lead to osteoporosis, a dis-order that makes bones weakand more prone to fracture. Onthe other hand, increased BMDdue to Type 2 Diabetes, while itmay appear benign, is possiblydue to lower rates of boneturnover (ie. creation andresorption) and increased poros-ity, and these could also lead toincreased risk of breakage.

Skeletal fragility is nowrecognised as a complication ofType 1 and Type 2 Diabetes.Hence a focus on detectingDiabetic bone disease is impor-tant along with other Diabeticcomplications. With Diabetesnegatively affecting bone healthand creating other clinical prob-lems, and treatment optionspotentially exacerbating theseeffects, doctors need to consid-

er the use of anti-osteoporotic drugs to supplement standard anti-diabetes medications in patients suffering with Diabetic bone loss.

PREVENTIONSome of the complications of Diabetes like nerve damage,

muscle weakness, episodes of low blood sugar, and vision prob-lems, increase the risk of falls and may cause fractures. Hencefall prophylaxis is essential and thus detecting hypoglycaemia,orthostatic hypotension and other factors that increase the riskof falls is important. Fracture history and risk factors should beassessed in older patients with Diabetes. Proper management ofblood glucose is desirable.

TREATMENTUnfortunately some treatment options that are useful in treat-

ing insulin resistance have negative side effects that compoundthe health issues seen with diabetic bone. Antidiabetic drugs likeTZD (glitazones) which have negative effects on bone healthshould be avoided. All SGLT2 inhibitors should be avoided indiabetics with bone fragility.

Medications with a neutral or favourable effect on bonemetabolism such as metformin and incretin based treatmentsshould be the preferred treatment. Insulin is of course a majorpillar in Diabetes management. For Type 1, there is little evidenceof any impact on bone health. However, for Type 2, some stud-ies suggest a non-trivial (40 to 100%) increase in the risk of bonefracture with insulin as compared to Metformin treatment.

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��: This ancient grainis rich in fiber and proteinandmany important micronutri-ents. It is a good source of man-ganese, magnesium, phospho-rus and iron. The grain is alsopacked with manganese,exceeding the daily nutrientneeds in just one serving.

Manganeseis especiallyimportant forbrain function andbelieved to protectagainst certain neuro-logical conditions. It ishigh in phosphorus, a miner-al that is important forbone health.

Amaranth isespecially high inphenolic acids,which are plant com-pounds that act as anti-

oxidants. Several studies havefound that amaranth couldhave an anti-inflammatoryeffect in the body. If one islooking to lose a few extrapounds, you may want to con-sider adding amaranth to your

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Loneliness rivalssmoking and obesity

in its impact on shorten-ing longevity and hasbecome a public health con-cern, especially for the older adults, sayresearchers.

With older adults increasingly mov-ing into senior living or retirement com-munities, researchers at University ofCalifornia San Diego School of Medicinesought to identify the common character-istics of residents who feel lonely in theseenvironments.

The new study, published in thejournal 'Aging and Mental Health', foundthat people's experience of living withloneliness is shaped by a number of per-sonal and environmental factors.

Age-associated losses and inadequatesocial skills were considered primary riskfactors for loneliness.

“Some residents talked about theloss of spouses, siblings and friends as thecause of their loneliness. Others men-tioned how making new friends in asenior community cannot replacedeceased friends they grew up with,” saidAlejandra Paredes, a research fellow in theDepartment of Psychiatry at University ofCalifornia San Diego School of Medicine.

The feeling of loneliness was frequent-ly associated with a lack of purpose in life.

Others expressed a sense of “not beingattached, not having very much meaningand not feeling very hopeful” or “beinglost and not having control.”

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There is a lot of dos and don’ts when it comesto skin and hair care during the winters. But

this doesn’t mean that one should let the chillingtemperatures get in the way of great skin, hair andscalp. Following are some small silly mistakes thatwe do repeatedly and all we need to do is to avoidthem.Oil your hair: Please do not over oil your hair inwinters. Oil attracts a lot of dust and eventuallythe settled dust weighs down the hair, leading todandruff and hair breakage. Remember with oil-ing excess is bad. Oiling once in a week is goodenough.Isn’t hot water bath tempting: The same does-n’t apply to skin and scalp. Always use luke warmwater to take bath and never forget to apply a con-ditioner every time you shampoo. A five minutesself-body massage before getting into the show-er works wonders. First, the oil on our body does-n’t let water get in touch with our skin directly asit slips away and second it is definitely moistur-ising.Don’t leave sunscreen behind: We love the sunmost in winters and love being outdoors, goingout for open brunches and flea markets so apply-ing a physical sunscreen that uses minerals tita-nium dioxide is essential at all times. Never leavehome without applying a good sunscreen andapply repeatedly.Make-up tip that’s cool: During winters go withfoundations-cum-moisturiser with an SPF. Doavoid using matt make-up. Matt make-up prod-ucts have more binders and lack oils and emulsi-fiers and therefore leave our skin dry and flaky.Forget supplements: Another common mistakewe all make is not taking supplements during win-ters. Taking health supplements that increase ourbody’s immunity to fight diseases is utmost essen-tial.Care of face & lips: Not using facial oils, facial oilsare for everyone above 25 years of age and takingcare of lips is also very important. Carry a goodlip balm and use it every time the lips feel dry. Ournails also get dry during winters so it’s best not toignore them and apply nail cuticle oil once in aweek.Avoid exfoliators: Please do not exfoliate a lot inwinters. These exfoliators are usually harsh andleave skin dry and open pores. Every time youexfoliate remember to moisturise to close pores.Body butters are for all skin types: Body buttersare for everyone, sometimes people carry anassumption that people with oily skin do not needbody butter. We all need body butters and thereare butters available for all skin types. Mango but-ter is rich source of Vitamin C and is very goodfor oily skin. In terms with emollient content but-ter go like this first being lightest mango butter,avocado butter, almond butter, olive butter, sheabutter and lastly argan butter.Keep hydrated: Last, not drinking enough wateris common mistake we all do. Our body requiressame amount of water minimally as in summersso remind yourself to drink enough water everyday.

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Osteoarthritis is the second mostcommon rheumatologic problemand is the most frequent joint dis-

ease with a prevalence of around 40% inIndia. It is the form of arthritis which fea-tures the breakdown and eventual loss ofcartilage of one or more joints. Cartilageis protein like substance which acts as cush-ion in between the joints. Althoughosteoarthritis can affect any joint, this dis-order commonly affects hands, knees,hips and spine.

It’s a condition that give rise to jointinflammation, it happens when the wearand tear of cartilage, the tissue which pro-tects from the ends of both bones andjoints. It’s most common type of arthritisand is degenerative and it gets worsen withage. It causes damage to your joints,including: Hand and fingers, knees, hips,lower back and neck. It can also lead toproblems with anxiety and depression.

The disease is associated with modifi-able and non-modifiable risk factors such

as obesity, lack of exercise, bone density,occupational injury. The physical abilityarising from pain and loss of functionalcapacity reduces the quality of life andincreases the risk of further morbidity. Thiscondition is three times more prevalent inwomen as compared to men, which ulti-mately leads to joint replacements.

Incidences of joint replacement surg-eries have seen an upsurge in the past 5years. According to the recent data provid-ed by Joint registry (ISHKS), over 35,000total knee replacements (TKR) and over3500 total hip replacement surgeries (THR)have been performed in India in the last 5years. It is evident from the data that morethan 75% of the TKR were performed onwomen ranging in the age bracket of 45-70 years. More than 33000 cases (over 97per cent) of TKR were attributed toosteoarthritis, and more than 60% ofwomen above the age of 60 years sufferingfrom osteoarthritis have undergone totalhip replacement surgeries.

If the condition is detected in the earlier stages (stage0 to stage 2), no specific treatment module is need-ed. The condition can be controlled through exer-

cise and physical therapy to relieve pain and discom-fort. Such therapies are non-pharmacologic (do notrequire any medication).

Medication: While the pain doesn’t subside withexercise the next option is to reduce the discomfortthrough medicines. If you experience a predispositionto Osteoarthritis (OA) or are at an increased risk, yourdoctor may recommend you take supplements, and doc-tors may prescribe for OTC pain killers and pain relieftherapies. Usually the stage 3 condition can be controlledthrough medications.

Surgical intervention: In stage 4, if you experiencesevere OA of the knee, the last resort is surgical inter-vention. In most of the cases only the medial or later-al compartment is affected, unlike arthritis where itaffects all the three of them.

If diagnosed at early stage, it can be treated withmedications, but when the symptoms have crossed theextreme stage, surgery is the only option left. Full kneereplacement has been the most common and the con-ventional method for treating arthritic knee. This is use-ful and necessary only when all the three compartmentsare involved, and can prove to be a disadvantage in caseof unicompartmental arthritis. This is where unicom-partmental knee surgeries are helpful.

Minimally invasive total knee replacement: Timelydetection and advancements made in the field of totalknee replacements with minimally invasive techniquesmaking use of computer assistance has been providingan enhanced pathway for better recovery and improv-ing the quality of life. Surgeries are now performed underhighly specialised and advanced environment, ensuringshorter discharge time and negligible pain. This alsoenables a shorter hospital stay, speedy recovery andgreater patient satisfaction.

Partial knee replacement: The latest techniques likepartial knee replacement and new alloy implants areproving much better than previous ones, ensuring a long-lasting positive effect on knees. Earlier knee replacementwas considered a necessity for the elderly suffering fromthe persistent keen pain. But today with improvedimplant technology and technique, the young genera-tion is positive towards opting for surgery at an earlierage. The main advantage of the partial knee replacementis that it preserves the ACL which is a crucial ligamentfor movement and knee stability unlike in the case oftotal knee replacement where it is sacrificed. As this fol-lows the minimal incision approach, a faster recovery,rehabilitation and quick return to full fledged activitiesis seen in all patients. Because the ligaments are keptintact, the patient feels the replaced portion of the kneeas a natural part itself.-��$��F��.F��E�>��/�

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The most commonSymptoms of

Osteoarthritis (OA)includes pain, tenderness,and stiffness in joints, lossof flexibility, bone spurs,grating and cracking sensa-tion of bones rubbingtogether, swelling aroundthe joint that graduallydegrades the joint causingseveral complications.

The progressive degen-erative nature has been clas-sified into five categories.Therefore there is need totake precautions before itreach stage 4.

Stage 0: Normal: Atthis stage the knee joints donot show any signs of jointimpairment or damage.

Stage 1: Minor: In thisstage minor wear and tearand bone spur growth canbe seen. At this stage youwon’t experience any kindof pain or discomfort.

Stage 2: Mild:

Diagnosis through X-rays ofthe knee joint will revealincreased bone spur growth,with healthy cartilage size.At this stage many peoplestart experiencing thesymptoms like pain after along day of walking or run-ning and tenderness.

Stage 3: Moderate: Inthis stage, the cartilagebetween bones shows obvi-

ous damage, and the spacebetween the bones begins tonarrow. People with stage 3OA are likely to experiencefrequent pain when walk-ing, running, bending, orkneeling. They also mayexperience joint stiffnessafter sitting for long periodsof time or when waking upin the morning. Jointswelling may be presentafter extended periods ofmotion, as well.

Stage 4: Severe: Peoplein stage 4 OA experiencegreat pain and discomfortwhen they walk or move thejoint. That’s because thejoint space between bones isdramatically reduced—thecartilage is almost com-pletely gone, leaving thejoint stiff and possiblyimmobile. The synovialfluid is decreased dramati-cally, and it no longer helpsreduce the friction amongthe moving parts of a joint.

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The birthday of SwamiVivekanand (January

12) is also observed as India’sNational Youth Day. With acentral theme of channelis-ing youth power for nationbuilding, the day signifiesthe power of investing in theyoung.

Young people havecome into their own, andthis decade is truly theirs.They are at the forefront inevery sector. India has thelargest youth population inthe world — above 30 percent are young.

By 2020, the averageage of an Indian is expectedto be 29 years, the youngestaverage age in the world. Theinfluence the young arewielding today, and willwield in the days to come,makes it imperative that weimmediately address issuesrelated to their well-being. Itis only when we includetheir needs and concerns inpolicy making and practicethat we can be assured ofchannelise youth power fornation building.

The last three decadeshave seen a mind-numbingacceleration of changes in

lifestyles and environments.Without a precedent to lookto for guidance, youthhealth, well-being and safe-ty are all under assault froma variety of internal andexternal factors.

Mental health prob-lems,including depression,stress and anxiety are emerg-ing as a serious threat. Thereasons can be manifold:Increased isolation andincreased internet penetra-tion leading to addictivebehaviours and sedentarylifestyles.

C y b e r - b u l l y i n g ,unheard of a generation ago,

is now a real threat.Substance abuse is a wide-spread phenomenon thatcuts across the class and edu-cational divides. Socio-eco-nomic situation, with grad-ually toughening job mar-kets the political environ-ment and family conflict —all have an impact on theyoung.

The US-based NationalCentre for BiotechnologyInformation says that about20% of India’s young are suf-fering from various com-mon mental disorders.Consider the disastrous phe-nomenon of suicides. TheWorld Health Organizationreports that one personcommits suicide every 40seconds in the world. India’scontribution to global sui-cide deaths increased from25·3% in 1990 to 36.6% in2016 among women, andfrom 18·7% to 24.3% amongmen (Lancet, 2018). 75,000students committed suicidesbetween 2007-2016.

One thing that clearlystood out was the urgentneed of investing in mentalhealth, especially in endingstigma on mental health.

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Indians tend to ignore teethproblem. This has a downside. A study says that 53

per cent suffer common toothproblem like bleeding gums,bad breath, sensitive teeth,receding gums anddecayed teeth, 77per cent peoplesaid they hadnot visited adentist in thelast one year(2017), says anat ion-widestudy by AC

Nielsen.This means

that there is a possibili-ty that in the old ageyou may end up withno natural teeth.

However, there are a fewhome remedies that can

help keep your teeth healthy.�Drink a lot of water.

Not only is it good for the body,water washes away the foodand bacteria left in and aroundthe mouth after a meal. It alsoneutralises the acidity thaterodes the enamel.

� Eating meat,fruits, vegetables,

and dairy productsprovides thenutrients teethneed like calci-um.

�Eat sesameseed. It acts like a

dental scrub. It willalso remove plaque

and tartar. �Take your time to brush

your teeth. There was a reasonwhy our elders insisted webrush our teeth after everymeal. Brush in circular, up anddown, side by side, and diag-onal motions. This will helpyou cover all the areas.

Most of us forget that keeping ourteeth healthy is just as importantas keeping the rest of the body fit.

But by following a few simplethings, one can ensure healthy

teeth for life, says ROSHANI DEVI

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EDMONTON, Alberta: Canadian Prime Minister JustinTrudeau said Sunday it’s been gut-wrenching to listen to sto-ries from relatives of 57 Canadians who perished in the down-ing of a Ukrainian jetliner in Iran last week as he attendedone of several memorials across the country.

Speaking at a memorial with a capacity crowd of 2,300in Edmonton, Alberta, Trudeau said he has learned many ofthe victims came to Canada in search of new opportunitiesfor their families, but those families are now consumed bygrief and outrage. The plane was shot down by an Iranianmissile moments after taking off from Tehran on Wednesday.All 176 on board were killed, including 138 who were head-ed for Canada.Iran has admitted the plane was mistaken fora hostile target amid soaring tensions with the United States.

Trudeau called it a Canadian tragedy. AP

Lahore: In a major relief for Pakistan’s self-exiled former military dictator, a top courthere on Monday quashed Pervez Musharraf ’s death sentence andtermed as “unconstitutional” the formationof a special tribunal that tried him for hightreason.

The special court of Islamabad onDecember 17 last handed down the deathpenalty to 74-year-old Musharraf after sixyears of hearing the high-profile treason caseagainst him. The case was filed by thePakistan Muslim League-NawazGovernment in 2013.

A three-member full bench of theLahore High Court comprising JusticesSyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, MohammadAmeer Bhatti and Chaudhry MasoodJahangir unanimously declared the forma-tion of the special court against Musharrafas “unconstitutional”.

The court also ruled that the treason caseagainst Musharraf was not prepared inaccordance with the law.

After Monday’s ruling, the special court’sverdict stands void, Dawn reported, quotingboth the Government and Musharraf ’slawyers as saying. PTI

Talisay City (Philippines): Lava andbroad columns of ash illuminated by light-ning spewed from a volcano south of thePhilippine capital on Monday, groundinghundreds of flights as authorities warnedof a possible “explosive eruption”.

Fine grit weighed down trees andturned roads into muddy messes acrossthe region surrounding the Taal volcano,which burst to life Sunday and has forcedover 20,000 people to seek refuge inevacuation centres, a provincial gover-

nor said.Geologists said the volcano remained

active, spurting red-hot lava some 500metres (1,600 feet) into the air from new

cracks that have opened in its northernflank, as accompanying earthquakes rat-tled the area.

“We are really scared of what mighthappen to us... That our house might col-lapse in a strong earthquake and that we’llall be killed by falling debris,” saidBienvenido Musa, aged 56.

“Who wouldn’t be scared? That’swhy I decided to send my family to anevacuation centre.” Taal is a tourist attrac-tion that sits in a picturesque lake, yet isalso one of the most active volcanoes ina nation where earthquakes and eruptionsare a frightening and destructive part oflife. AFP

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Iran’s Government on Mondaydenied a “cover-up” after it took

days for the Armed forces toadmit a Ukrainian airliner wasshot down by mistake lastweek.

The comments came after asecond night of demonstrationsin Tehran against the authoritiesover the air disaster, according tovideos shared on social media.

The Ukraine InternationalAirlines Boeing 737 was shotdown shortly after it took offfrom Tehran before dawn onWednesday, killing all 176 passengers and crew on board.

The Kiev-bound airliner was

brought down hours after Iranhad launched a wave of missilesat US troops stationed at Iraqibases in retaliation for the killingof a top Iranian general.

The Islamic republic initial-ly denied Western claims basedon US intelligence that the pas-senger plane had been struck bya missile before admitting it onSaturday.

“In these sorrowful days,many criticisms were directed atrelevant officials and authorities,”said Government spokesman AliRabiei.

“Some officials were evenaccused of lying and a cover-upbut, in all honesty, that was notthe case,” he said in remarks airedon State television.

Hong Kong: Hong Kong’s topjudge on Monday delivered apassionate defence of the city’slegal system as it struggleswith a backlog of protester trials and accusations of biasfrom all sides.

The semi-autonomous cityhas an independent, British-style judiciary — viewed as oneof the bedrocks of the financialhub’s identity and a key factordifferentiating it from main-land China.

Its courts have been over-loaded during seven months ofsometimes violent democracyprotests that have seen morethan 6,500 people arrested, of whom around athousand are undergoing orhave completed legal proceed-ings.

Since the protests began,“many commentaries havebeen given as to the work of thecourts and many views havebeen expressed regarding ourjudges”, Chief Justice GeoffreyMa said.

“A lot of these have beenfair, but unfortunately, somehave proceeded on miscon-ceptions and misunderstand-ings,” he added in a speech tomark the opening of the legalyear. AFP

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China on Monday defendedbarring the head of Human

Rights Watch from enteringHong Kong, saying non-gov-ernmental organisations were responsible for political unrest in the city andshould “pay the proper price”.

Kenneth Roth was sup-posed to give a press confer-ence in Hong Kong this weekto unveil the New York-basedrights group’s latest global survey, which accusesChina of prosecuting “an inten-sive attack” on international human rightsagencies.

The long-time executivedirector said on Sunday that hewas turned back by authoritiesat the city’s airport.

China last monthannounced sanctions onAmerican NGOs, includingHRW, in retaliation for the pas-sage of a US bill backing HongKong’s pro-democracy move-ment.

“Allowing or not allowingsomeone’s entry is China’s sov-ereign right,” foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a regular pressbriefing.

Dubai: Iranian police and security forces fired both liveammunition and tear gas to disperse demonstrators protest-ing against the Islamic Republic’s initial denial that it shotdown a Ukrainian jetliner, online videos purported to showMonday.

There was no immediate report in Iranian State-runmedia on the incident near Azadi, or Freedom, Square inTehran on Sunday night after a call went up for protests there.However, international rights groups already have called onIran to allow people to protest peacefully as allowed by thecountry’s constitution.

“After successive national traumas in a short time peri-od, people should be allowed to safely grieve and demandaccountability,” said Hadi Ghaemi, the executive director ofthe New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran. AP

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Washington: PresidentDonald Trump says the Senateshould simply dismiss theimpeachment case against him,an extraordinary suggestionas the House prepares to trans-mit the charges to the chamberfor the historic trial.

The president is givingmixed messages ahead of theHouse’s landmark vote thatwill launch the Senate pro-ceedings in a matter of days,only the third presidentialimpeachment trial in Americanhistory.

Trump faces charges thathe abused power by pushingUkraine to investigateDemocratic rival Joe Bidenand then obstructed Congress.

First Trump was suggestinghis own ideas for trial witness-es, then he said almost the exactopposite Sunday by tweetingthat the trial shouldn’t happenat all. “Many believe that by theSenate giving credence to atrial” over charges he calls ahoax, Trump tweeted, “ratherthan an outright dismissal, itgives the partisan DemocratWitch Hunt credibility that itotherwise does not have. Iagree!” The idea of dismissingthe charges against Trump is asunusual as it is unlikely. AP

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The Italian National FashionChamber is promoting a

diversity agenda amongMilan’s major fashion houses,a year after several top Italianbrands faced criticism fordesigns and remarks seen asculturally and racially insen-sitive.

Its manifesto backed bymajor Italian fashion brandsaims to increase racial andgender diversity in key roles inMilan’s fashion houses, whichfashion chamber presidentCarlo Capasa acknowledgedwas lagging. “We have beenspeaking for many yearsagainst discrimination basedon gender, religion, skincolour and physical ability. Butwe must acknowledge thatthis has not been truly imple-mented. We looked at ourindustry and saw there is dis-parity. We saw that a dispari-ty of gender persists, thatthere are conditions notfavourable to women in theworkplace and in some casesthere is discrimination,’’Capasa said.

While Capasa resistedframing the manifesto as adirect reaction to the scandalsinvolving blackface designsby Gucci and Prada, and aChinese backlash that forcedfashion houseDolce&Gabbana to cancel amajor Shanghai show, the inci-dents show the cultural blindspots that can arise when afashion house is too homoge-neous.

Capasa said the Milanfashion world must workharder to attract people ofcolour. “If global companieswant to represent the worldthey are targeting, they mustwelcome diversity and lookbeyond their own borders,’’ hesaid, citing the relative homo-geneity of Italian society.

Milan has lagged the othermain fashion cities of Paris,New York and London inracial diversity on the runway,according to season diversityreporting by the Fashion Spot.Capasa said the stories thatfashion houses want to tell areoften linked to their Italianroots, and that runway choic-es are linked to model agen-cies’ offerings since not allmodels come to Milan.

While many Milan fashionhouses take their creativedirection from women —including Miuccia Prada,Donatella Versace, SilviaVenturini Fendi and AngelaMissoni — and more womenthan men work in the fashionindustry, Capasa said effortsare needed to get more womeninto decision-making roles.

“If we look at the boards,at the CEOs, at other keyroles, there might be an advan-tage for men,’’ Capasa said.“But we don’t want to intro-duce quotas obligating compa-nies to promote women. We

want to create the conditionsso that women can have thesame chances.’’ The chamber’smanifesto does not includehard commitments. Instead, itpresents concepts that “willserve as a model for a radicalreform in terms of diversityand inclusion.’’

They were adopted by thechamber’s more than 100members, which include mostmajor Milan fashion houseswith the notable exception ofDolce&Gabbana, and will bemonitored every year forprogress. They call for chang-ing representations of the stan-dards of beauty on runwaysand in magazine campaigns,acknowledging that “canons ofphysical beauty and harmfulpsychological models havespread throughout the indus-try.’’ They also present inclu-sion as a business opportuni-ty that can boost financialresults while improving trustwith clients.

Gucci and Prada haveindependently made effortsto address the scandals. Gucci’sefforts include launching ascholarship programme toreach students who have beenunderrepresented in the fash-ion industry, while Pradaannounced a diversity councilheaded by two Americans,artist Theaster Gates and filmdirector Ava DuVernay.

Capasa put the fashionchamber’s initiatives in thecontext of an ever more glob-alised industry where 2.5 bil-lion people follow the fashionworld on social mediaaccounts and can, with a sin-gle post, shift a fashion com-pany’s fortunes.

Meanwhile the centre offashion’s commercial gravityhas shifted to Asia, withChinese consumers accountingfor 90 per cent of luxury salesgrowth last year, according toa study by the consultancyBain & Co.

“The push to speak aboutdiversity of inclusion comesdirectly from the fact thatglobalisation made us under-stand that you cannot speak inthe same way that you spokebefore,” Capasa said. “Theaudience has become muchbigger.’’ D%�

Michelin star chef Vikas Khanna wasrecently at the receiving end of mass

trolling on social media after he appearedon an episode of BiggBoss 13 for a cook-ing task where all the contestants partic-ipated. In the end, the chef treated themto some of his signature Michelin dish-es. He prepared a lavish spread of deli-cacies for the winning team.

After all the contestants were servedthe food and they were preparing to eat,Riaz, a model who has been part of theshow, decided to feed the chef a piece ofthe cake. A delighted Khanna shared theimage of the same on his Instagram story.

However, what Khanna wasn’texpecting was the sea of trolling that wasin store for him after the post. As he post-ed the image, many questioned his faithconsidering he ate from the hands of Riaz.Incidentally, the model is from Kashmir.

Responding to the trolls, Khannawrote, “When I posted this humble ges-ture on Insta Story, I got a lot of hate filledrude messages and questions. Even ques-tioning my faith. I’m an Indian and that’smy faith.” He added that he was “happy”to watch the contestants eat and that hehad only shared Riaz’s story because hewas moved by his gesture.

He even shared the same picture onInstagram and explained, “Dear all. I wasin the Bigg Boss house a few days back.We had spent hours and hours to create

Michelin Style plates for the winningteam.......when everyone started eating, Iwas so happy to see them eat. They areliving in isolation without any luxury formonths, it was a satisfying moment forme to see them savour my food. Exceptfor Asim, who served me a bite with hishands first. It was a genuine moment tothank me. When I posted this humblegesture on Insta Story, I got a lot of hate-filled rude messages and questions. Evenquestioning my faith. I’m an Indian andthat’s my faith. I have slept many days

without food during my journey inAmerica, I admire people with courageand big hearts even when they are at thereceiving end. Humanity and humilityshine even when they are silent and small.”

The chef’s response to the trolling hasimpressed many on social media. His poston Twitter has over 25,000 likes while thenumber of over 85,000 on Instagram.Many lauded him for standing up againstcommunal trolling and taking a stand indefence of secularism and harmony.

—With inputs from agencies

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If you tell a story that canmake an impact and forcepeople to think, it will make

the world a better place and youwould have made a difference,”says director Adeeb Rais, who iskeen on making a short film onthe current political scenario ofthe country. He says, “Right now,I feel very strongly about what’shappening in the country. If Imake a film on that, I would havea side to it unlike my recent one,Baatein. I usually hate takingsides. It’s always good to showboth sides of the story. Forinstance, if a child is bullyinganother, there is a problem withthe bully. So we should try to getto the root of the problem. That’swhat the film talks about.”

The short film, set in Palghar,Maharashtra, is about startingconversations in today’s worldwhere people find it hard toexpress themselves. It follows ayoung documentary filmmaker,Jeet, played by Adeeb who visits awidowed science professor, MrsDeshpande, (played by SupriyaPilgaonkar). On his arrival, he isintroduced to her niece, Tulika(played by Shivani Raghuvanshi).The two become friends. MrsDeshpande, who is struggling tocope with the grief over losing heryoung son, Milind to suicide, toobecomes a part of the group. Theunlikely trio spend the day togeth-er and a bond develops. Theybegin to share a few personal sto-ries and express some of theirdeepest fears, feelings andthoughts with each other. A fewunexpected conversations takeplace, which change their outlooktowards life.

So what inspired Adeeb to cre-ate this film? “Everyone is awareof the fact that the youth are goingthrough a lot of pressure and men-tal health problems.Unfortunately, mental depressionhas become a very common issue,which often goes unrecognised.Most of us go through traumaticexperiences at some phase in ourlife but we don’t know how toexpress ourselves properly,” sayshe. This made Adeeb realise thathe needs to tell a story thataddresses this issue, without beingpreachy and which could makepeople to stop and think.

In the film, Supriya’s son hadcommitted suicide because hewas bullied by other kids, out ofwhich, one was jailed. Jeet meetsthat boy in the jail and putsacross his perspective in the film.He finds out that the boy who wasguilty of bullying people alsowanted to commit suicide. Thefilm explores some grey areas by

putting across the criminal’s per-spective. “Both are right in theirown ways — people who agreewith the story and even the oneswho don’t. I just wanted to put thisacross that if a person does some-thing bad, we need to understandwhy he did that. I am not tryingto justify what he did, but maybe,as a society, we need to look intothe reasons why kids are choosingthe wrong path. Our elders needto give it a thought. The film istrying to make parents thinkabout the importance of commu-nication with their children,whether they are focussingenough on the right and wrongaspects of actions. And I want toshow that talking and hearing thechild out is of utmost importance,”says he.

The film is based on MargaretWheatly’s quote — “Be braveenough to start a conversation thatmatters”. As Adeeb feels that wehave a lot of issues to look intobecause of the way the world isheading. “There is a need to con-front issues and find a solution. Ibelieve that filmmakers have aresponsibility to address them.There might be a time when myfilms wouldn’t have something tosay in depth but majority of times,I would choose to entertain theaudience through a message.”

The beauty of the short film isits reach. People don’t mindinvesting a short span of timewhich gives this format an upperhand as compared to mainstreamcinema and series that demandcommitment for a longer timeperiod. Adeeb believes, “It fits inaptly in the little time gaps thatone gets during the day. It alsooffers a lot of variety to the audi-ence. They get a plethora of contentto pick from. Moreover, it works fora lot of young film actors and direc-tors too who can channelise theircreativity. When one has a timelimit, it restricts you as a filmmak-er to not become over-indulgentand preachy on any topic,” he says.

It is often noticed that suchthought-provoking issues don’tmake it to the mainstream cinema.But the recent release, Chhapaakseems to have challenged thisnotion, believes Adeeb. “WithChhapaak, one can see that film-makers are bringing importantissues to the forefront. But withmainstream cinema, another chal-lenge is also that the actors take thecentrestage. It’s not just the actualcontent that matters but the face onthe film’s poster too. Well, thisdilutes the essence of the issue, too,sometimes,” he adds.

(The film is streaming onYouTube.)

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The portrait of a MeghubanRabari spinner from

Vemora village is one of themany images that strike achord when you look atKhamir Kutch’s presentation,Desi Oon. The four-day exhibi-tion at Bikaner House cele-brates the indigenous wool ofKutch and is a summation ofmany odysseys in the languageof regional symbolism.

#��Khamir is a platform for

preserving and facilitating thecrafts, heritage and culturalecology of the Kutch orKachchh region of Gujarat. Itwas instituted in the aftermathof the 2001 earthquake with theobjective of engagement anddevelopment of Kutch’s rich,creative industries. In moreways than one, its very founda-tion is built on the dynamics ofreclamation and recreation ofindigenous identities in craftand heritage.

Desi Oon, Khamir’s exhibi-tion of shawls, dhurries, shoesand handbags becomes a reper-toire that translates traditioninto modernity as it echoes theessence of an extraordinarilyintriguing journey seeking tofamiliarise us with the localcraft of spinning, weaving anddyeing wool. A rare opportu-nity is the presence of some ofKutch’s most respected artisansand herders, sharing secretsabout the intricacies of woolcraft and herding.

Khamir collaborated withweavers, spinners, dyers, feltersand designers to organise thisexhibition. This is a first step ina series of events planned by

the organisation to put thespotlight on the utility ofindigenous wool to urban con-sumer markets.

�� The exhibition is an

immersive experience with filmvisuals, images and exquisite-ly crafted textiles, which nar-rates the story of the indige-nous wool of Kutch.Workshops are conducted onDesi Retiya (Charkha) alongwith a Takli/Dhera (Spindle)-spinning demo. Besides, a felt-ing demo and workshop, aKutchchi embroidery work-shop with wool, the demon-strations of Tangaliya-weav-ing and Tabariya bag-craft arelessons for life.

“We are grateful to theCentre for Pastoralism (CfP),Asian Heritage Foundationand HT Parekh Foundation, formaking this exhibition possible.All exhibited products under-go value addition and wooltreatment facilitated byKhamir. It is hopeful that the

story of wool and sensitivelydesigned woollen products willhelp sway consumer prefer-ences in favour of indigenouswoollen items in householdsand closets,” says PareshMangaliya, deputy director,Khamir.

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The success of the venturelay in the weaving in of textur-al and textile-based thinkingand practices that celebratedthe regional realities and pos-sibilities for textile crafts andwool strategies. The sight of theshawls and the images of differ-ent yarns drying in the sunbrings forth many memories inhistory such as that of activedecolonising initiatives andthe richness of unearthingoverlooked bodies of knowl-edge that go back to 5,000 yearsof the Indus Valley Civilisation.

The exhibition also bringshome the truth of the econom-ic model that needs to studied.The integrity of craft value

chains is dependent on localavailability of raw materials.Sheep herding systems are ofspecial importance for woolcraft. Such systems are also spe-cial because of their low carbonfootprints. They are invaluablein arid regions such as Kutch.They are also a source of food,raw materials for crafters andfertilisers for farmers and con-tinue to conserve complexecosystems.

��

One of the roles of institu-tions, like Khamir is to engagewith the current issues and tobe a mirror to society inreclaiming heritage practices intextiles in villages that havedeep historic roots. In grapplingwith these issues, it is integralto have deeper knowledgeabout the state of our societies,our collective futures, the lan-guage of textiles and creativejourneys. The beauty of thecontemporary and traditionalmeld in design dynamics in the

dhurries and shawls. It ignite thebeauty of thought and thestructural threads of thoughtthat can rule our yearning to bepartakers of the process of util-ity and economic interdepen-dence.

Exhibitions like Desi Oonrelate to an urban rural connec-tivity. It helps us to articulatethrough art the complexities ofour realities. Textiles have aunique power of affirming theintrinsic power of artistic work,to become a keystone in every-day practices.

Remembering the earth-quake and its aftermath in2001 brings us to the need forsensitivity. The ability of ourinterventions to flourish artis-tically in fraught and dire sit-uations, to create new journeysthat progress over time, speakof the true power of society.When rural and urban com-munities come together toempower and encourageindigenous crafts and heritagepractices, it becomes a lessonfor humanity.

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There are swirling vortexes,ascetic figures and tigersthat consume the walls of

exhibition of French artist and Zenpractitioner Guyseika’s works at theAlliance Francaise. The diverse ele-ments have a common thread ofAsian influence which lend theexhibition its title of Threadsthrough Asia.

Inspired from the traditionalBuddhist art of several Asian coun-tries, mixed with imagery frompopular culture and his own inter-pretation, Guyseika weaves togeth-er elements of Asian culture andabstract expressionism. Deeplymeditative, his Buddhism-influ-enced works are a unique renditionof the Orient and Occident.

The show gives a glimpse intothe 22 years of Guyseika’s Zenpractice and artistic exploration.He threads together traditionalZen and Taoist painting of Chinaand Japan, shamanism, mandalasand folk rituals of India withTibetan thangkas. It features over50 contemplative works in variousmedia.

Guyseika said he found Asiafascinating since childhood as hisgrandmother hailed from Vietnam.

Having travelled extensively acrossthe East Asian countries, Guyseikafinally started practicing Zen witha Japanese master. He later voyaged

across India and by the time hereturned to Paris, his works werestrongly dominated by his experi-ences. He earlier said, “I had also

been fascinated with the spiritualand geometric forms of yantras andmandalas and the ritual use of pig-ments, which one can find in

abundance in India.” Being a multi-dimensional artist, he has writtenseveral novels and poetry compi-lations and also plays electronicmusic in underground concerts.

Jaya Jaitly, president, DastkariHaat Samiti, said, “In the midst ofall the pandemonium around us,Guyseika offers beauty, calm andgentleness through his intenselythoughtful works. I believe we allneed to internalise such feelings tomaintain our balance in today’s

fast-paced world.”Writer Sameer Abraham

Thomas said, “Guyseika immersedhimself in the ancient art of theZen monks and Taoist sages,shamanic visions, Tibetanthangkas, Hindu mythology andfolk art so much that he expressedthese cultures through his wordsand images as though they were hisown. He never quite turned hisback on the world of abstractexpressionism, street art and punk

rock.”With bold, colourful strokes,

Guyseika’s works in acrylic oncanvas represent fluid, dreamlikeforms and visualise his affinity forthe mountains — where much ofhis Zen practice took place. Hisworks imagine Buddhist visualsmixed with manga, tattoo, streetart and surfing culture. Other tra-ditional series are of Zen inks,which are reminiscent of Asian cal-ligraphy. The artist has also cap-tured the fleeting present momentthrough shades of blue, red, pur-ple and black on white handmadepaper. Rooted in Buddhist philos-ophy, his works often illustrate ashort poem which present thesimple yet profound teachings ofTao (the path). Some of hisJapanese influences have beenpoems by Han Shan, Ryokan andIkkyu and Basho.

So what was Guyseika’s aim?He said, “It was to confront and mixdifferent cosmogonies in order tocreate a mythical world neigh-bouring and questioning our ordi-nary reality.”

Thomas added, “Guyseika’sBuddhist inspirations are amplyevident in his work, though theyare also illuminated by a penchantfor quirky captions in French andEnglish.”

His works like Kat and DragonPosture make layered psychedelicicons redolent of punk and comicbook art with their simplicity andfantastic imagery.

Thomas pointed out,“Guyseika’s use of stamps, whichresemble the Japanese hankos lenda sense of authenticity to the series.”

Mountains return in Guyseika’sseries of mandala drawings madeon textured handmade paper innatural pigments and crayons fromthe Avani-Kumaon cooperative,whose vegetable dyes and pig-ments Guyseika has a fondness for.In the mandalas, the mountainmotif is distilled into the geomet-ric shapes of circles and triangles.

(The show is on till January 16.)

Curated by AmarrassRecords, AmarrassNights, a mesmerising

musical evening took place atBagh-e-Azeem, at the capital’sSunder Nursery. The perfor-mances by Rajasthani folkartists Ghewar and FirozeKhan, and Qawwali groupRehmat-e-Nusrat fromUttarakhand took the musicenthusiasts back to their roots.Amarrass records other thanhosting these two excitingnew groups also highlightedthe endangered folk instru-ment “Kamaicha” in the musicperformances leaving theDilliwallah spellbound. It aimsto showcase lesser known folkand traditional artists. It’srecords are poised to hostmonthly series of music con-certs at Sunder Nursery,Nizamuddin which serves asa platform to curate forthcom-ing folk and traditional artistsfrom India and introducesnew collaborations and artistexchanges.

The night embarked withthe performance of brother

duo Ghewar & Firoze Khanfrom Rajasthan. The Khanbrothers with their“Kamaicha” and the “Dholak”gave a range of their musicalrepertoire, Ghewar openedthe concert by playing thesound of moving train onKamaicha, then the duo sangsongs in Raag Khamaji, fol-lowed by a bhajan — “BholaShambu kya pooch jaathamari” — dedicated to LordShiva. They sang folkloreinspired by bird and LordKrishna and Radha. The rus-tic notes from Ghewarji’sKamaicha proved that it’sgreat legacy is still alive andneeds to be preserved. Theirperformance depicted the rawbeauty of Rajasthan’s land-scape.

After the tunes of thedeserts of Rajasthan, it wastime for the Sufiana Qawwalisto take the stage at the SunderNursery, Qawwali groupRehmat-e-Nusrat fromUttarakhand, gave beauteoustribute to Nusrat Fateh AliKhan with their performance.

They performed SufianaKalams of the great AmirKhusrao and Ustad NusratFateh Ali Khan. They sang,Chhaap Tilak, Nit KhairManga, Yeh jo halka halkasuroor hai…The Group con-sisted of six people withSarvjeet Tamta leading theband on vocals andHarmonium, Sanjay Kumaron Tabla, Dhruv Pandey onGuitar and chorus, Sahil Arya,Bhanu Pratap Arya andAvinash Kumar on clap andchorus. Talking about hisgroup lead vocalist, SarvjeetTamta said, “People always tryto preserve and protect thethings that are on the verge ofgetting extinct, traditionalQawwali form is one of thosethings and there are very fewgroups in India who performthe traditional Qawwali. Sincethe inception of our group wehave always tried to preservethe traditional Qawwali.Rehmat-e-Nusrat recited thetimeless musical tradition withqawwalis leaving the audi-ence craving for more.

An ode totraditions

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Thibaut Courtois proved the heroon Sunday as Real Madrid beatcity rivals Atletico Madrid in a

penalty shoot-out in Saudi Arabia towin their 11th Spanish Super Cup.

Courtois and Jan Oblak were bothimperious during a goalless final butthe Belgian came up trumps, savingThomas Partey’s penalty after SaulNiguez had already hit the post.

Sergio Ramos tucked away thewinning spot-kick to ensure RealMadrid clinched their first trophy of theseason, with La Liga and theChampions League next in their sights.

“I went through their takers on thebench,” said Courtois. “Saul’s surprisedme but Thomas’ I read, and he’s got avery hard shot.”

Atletico might have won it in extra-time when Alvaro Morata went throughone-on-one but Real’s FedericoValverde took a red card in exchangefor cynically fouling the striker frombehind.

“It was something you shouldn’t doand I apologised to Alvaro but it wasthe only option I had left,” saidValverde.

“It was the most important momentof the match,” added Atletico coachDiego Simeone.

“If he had gone through it was a goalbut I told him that anyone would havedone the same in his position.”

Victory maintains Zinedine Zidane’sspotless record as a coach in finals.

He has now led Madrid to successthree times in the Champions League,and two each in the Club World Cup,UEFA Super Cup and now SpanishSuper Cup.

“I have won many things as a play-er and now as a coach,” said Zidane.“But I congratulate the players. You canachieve anything if you work hardenough.”

And although the final lacked goalsand quality finishing, there was dramauntil the end and joy on the faces of RealMadrid’s players as Ramos hoistedanother trophy under the fireworks.

Both teams had good chances towin it late on, with Luka Jovic’s deflect-ed cross finding Valverde free fiveyards out but the midfielder’s header hithis own knee before drifting harmless-ly over.

Then Atletico might have nicked itas Kieran Trippier clipped an excellent

pass over the top for Morata,who opted for accuracy ratherthan power and Courtois wasable to push away.

Into extra-time and, with105 minutes on the clock,Courtois did well to flash outa leg and block Morata’s acro-batic effort while Oblak twice

denied Real, first a curling shot fromLuka Modric and then a follow-up fromMariano Diaz.

Yet the most dramatic momentwas still to come as Saul sent Morataclean through, with only Courtois tobeat, before the chasing Valverdescythed him down from behind.

The red card was inevitable butAtletico only had a free-kick and, forfour minutes, a one-man advantage.Trippier hit the free-kick into the walland Real held on for penalties.

Carvajal found the corner but Saulstruck the post, despite sendingCourtois the wrong way. Rodrygo cool-ly put Real two ahead and Thomasmissed, this time Courtois diving rightand palming clear.

Modric swept into the corner beforeTrippier did the same. It was left toRamos to hit the winning shot.

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Cristiano Ronaldo stretched hisgoal-scoring streak to six con-

secutive league games as Juventustook top spot in Serie A on Sundaywith a 2-1 win at Roma, whose defeat was madeworse by the cruciate ligament injury of rising starNicolo Zaniolo.

Juventus move two points ahead of InterMilan, who were held 1-1 by Atalanta, after goingtwo goals up in just 10 minutes in Rome.

“We were very good for 60 minutes. Then, ifyou play against Roma, it is almost inevitable tosuffer in the end,” said Juventus coach MaurizioSarri.

Turkish defender Merih Demiral found a waythrough after three minutes when he connectedwith a Paulo Dybala free-kick.

Minutes later Argentine Dybala was hauleddown in the box, and Ronaldo stepped up to con-vert from the spot to make it nine goals in sixleague games.

“It’s tough playing against a team like Juventusand we gave away two early goals,” said Romacoach Paulo Fonseca.

“We put in a good performance after that,against a great side. But once you go two goalsdown, it’s difficult.”

Both sides had casualties in the first half withDemiral limping off with a knee injury not longafter scoring his first Juventus goal.

And Zaniolo was stretchered off in tears eightminutes before the break after falling victim towhat Roma later confirmed was a ruptured ante-rior cruciate ligament in his right knee while try-ing to dribble past Matthijs De Ligt and AdrienRabiot.

Zaniolo, who is considered one of Italy’s mostexciting young talents and was a rare bright pointfor Roma in a torrid first half, underwent surgeryon Monday.

“I swear to you ... I’ll be stronger than before,”the 20-year-old later wrote on Instagram.

Roma had their chances with Edin Dzeko hit-ting the post and Wojciech Szczesny denyingCengiz Under from point-blank range.

Diego Perotti pulled a goal back for the hostsfrom the penalty spot on 68 minutes after an AlexSandro handball.

However, the capital side drop to fifth, out-side the Champions League places, level on 35points with fourth-placed Atalanta and sevenbehind local rivals Lazio.

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Neymar scored twice andcreated another goal but

leaders Paris Saint-Germain were held to anentertaining 3-3 draw athome on Sunday by aMonaco side playingtheir first Ligue 1 gameunder new coach RobertMoreno.

The Brazilian gave PSGthe lead after just two minutesat the Parc des Princes butMonaco scored two quickgoals through Gelson Martinsand Wissam Ben Yedder tomove 2-1 ahead inside quarterof an hour.

A Fode Ballo-Toure owngoal brought PSG level andNeymar restored their advan-tage from the penalty spotbefore half-time after a foul onKylian Mbappe.

But Monaco, who also hostPSG tomorrow in a rearrangedfixture, earned a point whenIslam Slimani’s goal was con-troversially awarded after itwas initially ruled out for off-side.

“We didn’t put in our bestperformance but we tried. Itwas a good test. Monaco havea good team but we are supe-rior and we must show it onthe pitch,” Neymar toldCanal+.

“If we had played at ourbest we would have taken thethree points.

“I think on the third goal,the fact our defender touchedthe ball wasn’t intentional butthe decision falls to the refer-ee. They have VAR for that, wecan’t complain. We weren’tperfect tonight either.”

The draw represented apositive start for former Spaincoach Moreno, who replacedLeonardo Jardim at the end ofDecember.

“We should be very happy.I’m very pleased with my play-ers and I want to congratulatethem for a great match,” saidMoreno.

“We played to ourstrengths on the counter-attack. We think we can beatany team and that’s what I tellmy players. That’s our philos-ophy.”

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Sergio Aguero, fresh from breakingtwo more goalscoring records

in Sunday’s 6-1 thrashing ofAston Villa, will “die scoringgoals”, according to proudManchester City manager PepGuardiola.

The 31-year-oldArgentine internationalbroke the recordfor the numberof goals by an o n - E n g l i s hplayer, previous-ly held byThierry Henry,and hat-tricks(breaking Alan Shearer’smark) in the PremierLeague with his 12th trebleto take his tally to 177 goalssince he made his PremierLeague debut in 2011.

“It’s an honour to behere the day he achieved

that, hopefully he can score more. Hewill die scoring goals,” purredGuardiola.

“Sergio is one of the best, nodoubt. The best is Messi, but therest? Sergio is absolutely one ofthem.

“All the players in the lockerroom congratulated him. To break

this record of an incred-ible legend like

Thierry Henry, itmeans it’s notjust for a shortperiod, it’s manyyears.

“To be theforeign player with

the most goals andhat-tricks speaks for

itself.“There are players

through the incredible his-tory of English football andhe is one of them, he helpsto make the Premier League

and English football better.”

#�� Badmintonworld number one KentoMomota was injured and his dri-ver was killed in a crash nearKuala Lumpur on Monday justhours after he won the MalaysiaMasters.

Police said the Japanese star,25, suffered a broken nose andcuts to his face when the van car-rying him to the city’s airportcrashed early in the morning, ina blow to his preparations for thisyear’s Tokyo Olympics.

The driver was killed at thescene after the vehicle collidedwith a slow-moving lorry on ahighway. An assistant coach,physiotherapist, and badmintonofficial also suffered minorinjuries.

The accident came after thedominant Japanese star beganhis 2020 season in style Sundaywith victory over Denmark’sViktor Axelsen in Kuala Lumpur.

“It’s truly tragic, especiallyinvolving a badminton icon likeMomota,” Malaysian sports min-ister Syed Saddiq told reporters,after visiting the injured in hos-pital south of the capital.

But he added those hurtwere “recovering well, (and) allfour are also in stable condition”.

The others hurt sufferedfacial, leg, hand and head

injuries, according to police.Badminton Association of

Malaysia said in a statementthey were “saddened” by thecrash.

The accident happenedaround 4:40 am (20:40 GMTSunday), and 10 firefightersrushed to the scene, senior fireand rescue department officialNorazam Khamis said.

The injured “were able towalk out of the van by them-selves with some scratches”, headded. Pictures showed thefront of the van crushed againsta lorry but the back section

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appeared intact.Momota enjoyed a stellar

2019, winning a record 11titles including the WorldChampionships, AsiaChampionships and AllEngland Open. AFP

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Adisciplined bowling efforthelped Mumbai reduce

Tamil Nadu to 249 for 7 intheir first innings to takecontrol of their Ranji TrophyGroup B match on Monday.

Tamil Nadu now trail by239 runs at stumps on thethird and penultimate day.Mumbai had earlier scored488 in first innings.

Shams Mulani (2/59),Tushar Deshpande (2/47) andRoyston Dias (2/34) took twowickets each for the visitors.

A middle-order collapsewhich saw the home sidelose three wickets without arun being scored reducedthem to 178 for 5 and subse-quently to 195 for 7 before theexperienced R Ashwin (32batting, 96 balls, 2 fours) andR Sai Kishore (17 batting)came up with a rearguardaction.

The two added 54 runsand played out the final ses-sion, frustrating Mumbai andmaking skipper Aditya Taretry out several bowlers.

JALAJ STARS IN KERALA WIN�� All-rounder Jalaj Saxena picked upseven wickets for 51 runs withhis off-spin to guide Kerala to a21-run win over Punjab in alow-scoring Group A match.

Chasing a meagre 146 runsfor win, Punjab lost wickets atregular intervals with Saxenaturning out to the star forKerala on the third and penul-

timate day of the four-daymatch.

Besides Saxena, left-armorthodox bowlers SijomonJoseph (2/37) and M DNidheesh (1/18) were the otherwicket takers as Kerala shot outPunjab for 124 in 46.1 overs intheir second innings.

Lower-order batsmenMayank Markande (23) andSiddharth Kaul (22) were the

top-scorers for Punjab even asskipper Mandeep Singh (10),Sanvir Singh (18) and GurkeeratSingh (18) failed miserably inwhat should have been an easychase.

Earlier, resuming at theovernight score of 88 for five,Kerala were bundled out for 136in 39.5 overs in their secondinnings, setting a gettable targetof 146 for Punjab.

Akshay Chandran top-scored with 31, while Kaul(5/39) and Gurkeerat (4/4/45)shone with the ball for Punjab.

Kerala pocketed six pointsby virtue of the outright win.

In Ongole, Andhra needseven more wickets on the finalday to register an innings winover Hyderabad.

At stumps, Hyderabad arestill trailing Andhra by 219runs with seven wickets inhand.

In Jaipur, Rajasthan made327 for seven in their firstinnings in reply to Gujarat’s 325.

HARYANA THREE WICKETS��#�� Odisha needed 32runs while Haryana requiredthree wickets, leaving theirGroup C clash tantalisinglypoised.

As many as 12 wicketstumbled at the ChaudharyBansi Lal Cricket Stadium inLahli with Odisha mediumpacer Suryakant Pradhanclaiming 5/86 and also effectinga run-out to help Odisha seizecontrol in the first hour.

Folded for 90 in their firstinnings, Haryana staged a fight-back to see through the secondday on 218 for five.

But Pradhan’s stupendousbowling ensured that they lostthe remaining five wickets for30 runs inside the first hour, set-ting a paltry target of 179.

It was time for Haryanamedium pacer Ajit Chahal tograb the limelight with his 6/65as Odisha made a mockery ofthe chase to find themselvesreeling at 147/7 at close of play.

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With skipper Virat Kohli step-ping in to resolve India’s

opening puzzle, the formidablehosts will look to ensure that theirenviable home run remains intactagainst a full-strength Australiawhen the two teams clash in anODI series starting at Wankhedestadium today.

Kohli said he has no hesitationcoming down the order to ensurethat KL Rahul’s consistency andShikhar Dhawan’s experience areboth accommodated in the Indianplaying XI.

“...Big possibility. I would bevery happy to do so. Look I am notpossessive about where I play. I amnot insecure about where I bat,”Kohli said.

At a time when bilateral ODIseries are fast losing relevance, thethree-match rubber between twotop teams could give a fresh leaseof life to the format.

The high-voltage rivalries thatfans enjoy will be back as RohitSharma’s elegance will be pittedagainst enforcer David Warnerwhile the Virat Kohli vs SteveSmith duel will resume in earnest.

India’s hungry-for-wickets paceattack led by Jasprit Bumrah,Mohammed Shami and NavdeepSaini is ready to test the Australianswith subtle variations.

On the other hand, IPL’s costli-est foreign recruit Pat Cummins,the crafty Kane Richardson and theever-dependable Mitchell Starcwill leave no stoneunturned to make lifeuncomfortable for Kohliand his men.

Alex Carey’s gutsybatting and faultless glove-workwill face the challenge of RishabhPant's flair.

The young MarnusLabuschagne, easily the most excit-ing talent spreading his wings onthe international cricket map withsome stellar performances in theTest arena, would like to replicatehis form in the shorter formats.

On current form, Rahul wasmiles ahead to partner RohitSharma at the top of the order butDhawan has had a phenomenalrecord in white ball cricket againstthe Aussies.

In fact, in their last meeting inthe ODI World Cup, it wasDhawan’s superb hundred thatpaved the way for an easy victoryfor the Indians.

But that was a good sevenmonths back and Dhawan, sincethen, endured a spate of injuries.He also lost form only to regain abit of it by scoring a half-centuryin the final T20 against Sri Lanka.

During World Cup, t i l lDhawan was around, KL Rahulbatted at No 4 as a stop-gap solu-tion but Shreyas Iyer has made theslot his own with a string of goodscores.

The Wankhede track is usual-

ly a belter and India will certainlynot go with two wrist spinners con-sidering the fate they met duringthe last home series in March,which India lost 2-3.

Kuldeep Yadav, who has a hat-trick against Australia, is likely tobe preferred over YuzvendraChahal.

There is a strong possibilitythat this will be Kedar Jadhav’s lastODI series for India unless thepint-sized Pune right-hander doessomething extra special.

With buzz being about hisreluctance to bowl off-breaks inorder to enhance his IPL career, afew good scores will be required tokeep Ajinkya Rahane andSuryakumar Yadav out of equationwhen the Indian team for the ODIseries in New Zealand isannounced on January 19.

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��$��Ricky Ponting feels India will be eagerto redeem themselves but a confident Australiawill upstage Virat Kohli’s men 2-1 in the three-match ODI series.

The Aaron Finch-led side is brimmingwith confidence after an unprecedented homesummer that saw Australia register comprehen-sive series victories over Pakistan and NewZealand.

India, on the other hand, will look to

avenge their 2-3 loss to Australia at home inMarch last year.

Ponting, a former World Cup-winningAustralia skipper, responded to a variety ofquestions during an interactive session with hisfans on Twitter.

When a user asked him to predict the resultof the ODI series, Ponting backed his homecountry to emerge victorious.

“Australia will be full of confidence afteran excellent World Cup and a great summerof Test cricket but India will be keen to redeemthemselves from the last ODI series loss againstAustralia. Prediction: 2-1 Australia,” Pontingtweeted.

When asked about the debutant MarnusLabuschagne, who enjoyed a remarkable Testsummer, he said the youngster is an “overallpackage” and will carry his form in the limit-ed-overs format.

“I think he’ll do a great job for Australiain the middle-order. He’s a very good playerof spin, a very good runner between the wick-ets, gun in the field and can bowl some handyleg-spin, so the overall package is very appeal-ing.” PTI

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Virat Kohli is a “far,far better” batsman

than Steve Smith as far aswhite-ball cricket is con-cerned, feels formerIndia opener GautamGambhir.

Kohli, with 11,000plus runs and 43 hun-dreds in ODIs, is wayahead of Smith who isclosing in on 4000 runswith eight three-figurescores.

“Virat Kohli is far farbetter than Steve Smithin white-ball cricket.There’s no comparison. Iwould not compareKohli to Smith in white-ball cricket. I wouldactually want to see what

spot Smith bats on,”Gambhir told hostbroadcaster Star Sports.

“Are they’re going topush him at No 4 orwould have him bat at 3and send Labuschagne atNo 4,” he added.

On the bowlingfront, Gambhir feels thatJasprit Bumrah andMohammed Shami cantrouble Aussie batsmenwith sheer pace.

“I’m really excited tosee how these two guysbowl against some of thetop batters like DavidWarner or Aaron Finchin that kind of form inwhite-ball cricket on flatwickets.

“But the best part isthat they have got pace.

They can actually getwickets with that sheerpace and the quicknessin the air as well,”Gambhir opined.

The former openerbelieves Shami is waymore effective on placidtracks like the one onoffer at the Wankhede.

“I’ve always believedthat when you’re playingon flacid wickets andsmaller grounds like theWankhede or Bangalore,your bowlers need tostep up. The kind ofform Shami is in, it’s a bigplus for India that he hasdone really well in white-ball cricket.

“Jasprit Bumrah iscoming back from injurybut he’s a quality bowler.”

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“Afish out of water is a dead fish” — This ishow Virender Sehwag described the

ICC’s plan to revamp Test cricket by shorten-ing it to four days, asserting that innovationshould not mean tinkering with the soul of theformat.

Delivering the ‘MAK Pataudi MemorialLecture’ at the annual BCCI awards on Sundaynight, Sehwag relied on some classic Hindiidioms to drive home the point that innovationin the longest form should stop at day/nightmatches.

“Chaar din ki chandni hoti hai, Test matchnahi...Jal ki machli jal main hi acchi hai, baharnikaloge toh mar jaegi,” he said in his inimitablestyle.

“...Test cricket ko chanda mama ke pass lejaa sakte hai. We can have Day-Night Test crick-et. If there is a day-night Test, maybe people willcome to watch game after office. Innovationsshould happen but within the five days. It shouldnot be shortened” he asserted.

The ICC will consider the proposal to makeTest cricket four-dayers during its cricket com-mittee meeting in March.

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Months after Tim Paine’scheeky dig at him, Indian

captain Virat Kohli asserted thatthey are ready to play day/nightTest at any venue in Australialater this year.

“We’re ready and up for thechallenge — whether it’s Gabba,Perth... It doesn’t matter to us. It’sbecome a very exciting feature ofany Test series and we’re open toplaying day-night Tests,” Kohlisaid.

India played their maidenday/night Test againstBangladesh last November, win-ning the match with plenty oftime to spare at the EdenGardens.

“We played the day-nightTest here, we were pretty happywith how it went. We have theskill-sets as a team now to com-pete against anyone in the world,anywhere, in any format of thegame, whether it’s white ball, redball or pink ball, we’re ready toplay anything,” Kohli asserted.

Last year, when asked aboutit, Paine had sarcasticallyremarked that his Australianteam would need to ask Kohli ifhe was willing to play day/nightTest Down Under.

We'll certainly try and we'llhave to run that by Virat (Kohli).We'll get an answer from him at

some stage I’m sure. As I saidwe’ll ask Virat and see if we canget his permission to play hereand maybe even get a Pink-ballTest if he’s in a good mood. Painehad said.

FIVE-MATCH TEST SERIES��$��Spin legend ShaneWarne called for a five-matchTest series, including a day/nightgame between India andAustralia next season, after ViratKohli asserted that his side iswilling to play with the pink ballDown Under later this year.

India are scheduled to tourAustralia starting in Novemberwhich will include four Tests,three ODIs and as many T20s aspart of the calender cycle thatends in 2021.

Kohli’s statement promptedWarne to ask the BCCI andCricket Australia to schedule afive-match Test series instead offour between the two countriesin the next calender cycle begin-ning in 2023.

“I’ve said this before-but howgood would a 5 Test match seriesbetween Aust & India be nextseason. Bris Perth Adelaide D/NMelb & Syd. I hope both theBCCI & CA make it happen.Scheduling is not an excuse@BCCI @cricketcomau@imVkohli @tdpaine36@SGanguly99,” Warne tweeted.

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Jasprit Bumrah doesn’t shy awayfrom targeting the batsmen’s head

or ribs in the nets, India skipper ViratKohli says about his lead pacer,whose intensity knows no boundseven at practice sessions.

“According to me he’s (Bumrah)the most skilful bowler in the worldin any format of the game. To playagainst him, he brings match inten-sity in the nets. He’s not shy of hittingus on the head or targeting our ribsevery now and then,” Kohli said.

Indian skipper shared the expe-rience of facing the top bowler in thenets, on the eve first ODI againstAustralia.

“He’s a proper, proper bowler andit’s always nice to play against the bestin the nets. I challenge myself to playwell against him, not every day doyou get to hit boundaries off Jaspritin the nets,” Kohli said.

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All-rounder Hardik Pandya,who is on road to recovery,

took part in a practice session withthe Indian team at the WankhedeStadium on Monday.

Pandya was pulled out of theIndia A squad touring NewZealand at the last minute as he isyet recover fully from backsurgery.

He was first seen doing targetpractice of hitting the stumpsalong with skipper Virat Kohli andpace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah.

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Evin Lewis smashed a dazzling century as WestIndies defeated Ireland by five wickets on

Sunday to complete a 3-0 sweep of the one-dayinternational series.

Opener Lewis hit his third one-day ton off96 balls with six boundaries and five huge sixesat the National Stadium as West Indies reachedtheir rain-revised target of 197 with 64 balls tospare.

The 28-year-old, left-handed Lewis hadmade an unbeaten 99 in the first game.

“All the hard work I’ve done in the nets haspaid off,” Trinidadian Lewis said at the trophy pre-sentation.

“This was an opportunity for my first hun-dred in the Caribbean, and it’s great to get a serieswin. I’ve been hungry for runs.”

He reached his century with a midwicketflourish off medium-pacer Craig Young beforefalling next ball trying for a big drive.

Earlier, leg-spinner Hayden Walsh took fourwickets as Ireland were dismissed for 203.

Walsh, who starred with the bat with an unde-feated 46 in Thursday’s nail-biting one-wicket winin Barbados, finished with figures of 4-36.

DJ BACK FOR T20SDwayne Bravo was recalled to the West Indies

squad, more than three years after his lastappearance as the Caribbean side build up to thedefence of their World Twenty20 title.

The 36-year-old all-rounder, a two-timeWorld T20 winner, was named in a 13-man squadfor a three-match series against Ireland.

“Dwayne Bravo was recalled with the specif-ic intention of bolstering our ‘death’ bowling whichwas identified as an area that really needsimproving,” said chief selector Roger Harper.

“His record in this department speaks foritself. He will also be able to act as a mentor tothe other ‘death’ bowlers and lend his experiencewherever needed.”

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