English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today News in ......in Uttar Pradesh, party chief Rahul Gandhi has decided to ... Rahul will hold 13 rallies in 13 zones in Uttar Pradesh

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After the Congress was leftout of the BSP-SP alliance

in Uttar Pradesh, party chiefRahul Gandhi has decided tolaunch an aggressive campaignin the politically crucial State.Rahul will hold 13 rallies in 13zones in Uttar Pradesh inFebruary to sound the bugle forthe Lok Sabha campaign tomake it a three- cornered fightin the State.

AICC sources said in eachzone, six Lok Sabha seats willbe identified and the Gandhiscion will hold one rally in eachzone. Senior Congress leaderGhulam Nabi Azad and theparty’s Uttar Pradesh in-chargeand State Congress chief RajBabbar on Monday held meet-ing with State unit leaders tochalk out the election strategyand finalise the plans.

Sources said Rahul’s sisterPriyanka Vadra may accompa-ny him and also address fourrallies in the first leg of thecampaign. There are 80 LokSabha seats in the State and inthe present Lok Sabha BJP has72 MPs and Congress only two.

Rahul’s first rally will beheld in Lucknow in the firstweek of February. Later, onerally will be held in Varanasi,which is Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s parliamentaryconstituency. The details forremaining rallies will be decid-ed in due course before theparty makes the announce-ment.

Mayawati and AkhileshYadav have decided to contest38 seats each in Uttar Pradeshwhile alliance has left two seatsfor the Congress, the traditionalGandhi dynasty bastions of

Rae Bareli and Amethi.Terming the decision of the

SP and the BSP to keep theCongress out of their pre-pollalliance a ‘mistake’, top UPCongress functionaries believesthat the party will definitelyspring a surprise in the 2019general elections. “This timethere is no Modi wave as suchand a perception has beendeveloped that Rahul Gandhiis the only savior,” said a topAICC functionary.

Rahul too had stated thatSP-BSP have underestimatedthe Congress’s strength in UttarPradesh by keeping the grandold party out of their pre-pollalliance for the general elec-tions. “I could be wrong, butI think Mayawati and MulayamSingh may have underestimat-

ed the Congress. They haven’tfully appreciated the value ofthe Congress. Will see whathappens now,” Rahul had saidin an interview.

He said above all it was apolitical decision and thatrespects for BSP chief Mayawatiand SP chief Akhilesh willever remain. “But now even theCongress will have to do itswork and we will fight with fullzeal and vigour.

The Congress won’t backdown and will fight with all itsmight,” he had said.

Even as Ghulam Nabi Azadannounced to go solo, it hasalso kept the doors of a possi-ble alliance open presumingany secular and like-mindedparty ready to take on BJPwould be welcome in the fold.

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The Delhi Police on Mondayfiled 1,200 pages

chargesheet against formerJawaharlal Nehru UniversityStudents’ Union (JNUSU) pres-ident Kanhaiya Kumar andothers in a sedition case lodgedin 2016.

The February 2, 2016 casepertains to allegations thatanti-national slogans wereraised at an event organised byKanhaiya, Umar Khalid andAnirbhan Bhattacharya onJawaharlal Nehru University(JNU) campus to commemo-rate the hanging of Parliament-attack mastermind Afzal Guru.

The chargesheet has 10main accused people —Kanhaiya, Umar Khalid,Anirban Bhattacharya andseven Kashmiri students study-ing with Aligarh MuslimUniversity, Jamia Millia Islamiaand JNU and identified asAquib Hussain, MujeebHussain, Muneeb Hussain,Umar Gul, Rayeea Rasool,Bashir Bhat and Basharat.

As many as 36 others,including Communist Partyof India (CPI) leader D Raja’sdaughter Aprajita, ShehlaRashid (then vice-JNUSU pres-ident), Rama Naga, AshutoshKumar and Banojyotsna Lahiri,all former students of JNU,have been named in column 12of the charge sheet due toinsufficient evidence againstthem.

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Amid political uncertainty inKarnataka over claims by

Congress trouble-shooter DKShivakumar that three of hisparty MLAs had been whiskedaway by the BJP to Mumbaiand are now untraceable, ChiefMinister HD KumaraswamyMonday said there is no ques-tion of “instability” in theCongress-JD(S) dispensation.

While expressing confi-dence that no MLA of theJD(S)-Congress alliance willswitch side, Kumaraswamydid confirm that three of theCongress MLAs were inMumbai. On Water ResourceMinister DK Shivakumar’sclaim that three CongressMLAs were camping at a hotelin Mumbai in the “company ofsome BJP leaders”,Kumaraswamy said, “(TheCongress) MLAs have gone toMumbai after bringing it to mynotice; they are in constanttouch with me,” the ChiefMinister said.

Not revealing their names,he said, “They are my friends.Those MLAs in Mumbai or 104BJP MLAs who are in Delhi areall my people, so there is noquestion of instability to thisGovernment.” “I spoke to themat 7:30 am. They have gone forpersonal reasons, and there isno need to add politics to it,”Kumaraswamy said.

“...If my Government isfacing instability, is it possiblefor me to be at ease?” he asked.Shivakumar had on Sundaysaid the BJP’s ‘Operation Lotus’to topple the State’s coalitionGovernment was for real, alleg-ing that three Congress MLAswere camping in a Mumbaihotel. He said the ChiefMinister was being “lenient”towards the BJP, by not expos-ing it.

“I have noticed reports insections of the media (about‘Operation Lotus’). Today too Isaw a media report stating thaton January 17, President’s rulewill be imposed in the State. Idon’t know who is feeding such

reports to the media...I was sur-prised to see the report,”Kumaraswamy said.

“I don’t know who willbenefit from such reports, butin my opinion it will cause lossto the people of the State,” hetold reporters in Mysuru.

‘Operation Lotus’ is a ref-erence to the BJP allegedlyluring several OppositionMLAs to defect to ensure sta-bility of its then-Governmentheaded by B S Yeddyurappa in2008. Speculations are rife that

six to eight Congress MLAs areready to jump ship to the BJPside. There are also reports thata few of them have goneincommunicado.

In an indication that themove to topple theKumaraswamy-led allianceGovernment had the backingof the BJP Central leadership,the BJP is holding up all its 104MLAs, who had gone to Delhifor the party’s National Councilmeeting in the national capital.

“BJP members have gone

for their executive meetingand to plan a strategy for LokSabha polls to win more seats.What should I do if their meet-ing is being seen as a threat tothis government?” the ChiefMinister asked.

Kumaraswamy said heknew all about who the BJPwas contacting and what kindof offers it was using to lurethem. “When media friendsreport that 12 (MLAs) aregoing, 14 and 18 are going,without the BJP luring themwill you get the information?But none of our Congress andJD(S) MLAs will go, fallingprey to their allurements.There is no such situation,” hesaid.

Deputy chief ministerParameshwara also said theGovernment was stable.”Thereis no chance (of the govern-ment becoming unstable),” hesaid. Asked about the CongressMLAs camping in a Mumbaihotel, he said “Let thembe...Why they have gone,nobody knows. They might

have gone on holiday or to visittemples or meet leaders.”

Meanwhile, trashingreports about the BJP attempt-ing ‘to topple the coalitionGovernment in Karnataka,state party chief B SYeddyurappa Monday saidthere was no truth in it andalleged that the Congress-JD(S)combine was trying to lureopposition MLAs.

He also clarified that BJPMLAs were camping in NewDelhi to discuss the strategy forLok Sabha polls and the partywas not indulging in any“resort politics.”

“Despite having majority,the Congress-JD(S) combine istrying to lure our MLAs andindulging in horse-trading, BJPis not doing it.

New agency PTI said theBJP legislators in Delhi werelikely to be shifted to Gurgaon,to keep its numbers in tact,with the Congress and JD(S)allegedly planning to poachBJP MLAs as a retaliatory mea-sure to Operation lotus.

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The Bulandshahr districtadministration on Monday

invoked the National SecurityAct (NSA) against seven peo-ple arrested in connection withthe alleged cow slaughteringincident in Siyana tehsil lastmonth, officials said.

Cattle carcasses were foundstrewn in the fields outside vil-lage Mahaw in Siyana onDecember 3 after which a mob went on the rampage,attacking the localChingrawathi police post.

Inspector Subodh KumarSingh, 44, and civilian Sumit Kumar, 20, ofChingrawathi village werekilled of gunshot injuries in theensuing violence.

Two separate FIRs wereregistered — one for the vio-lence in which nearly 80 peo-ple including 27 named and theother for cow slaughter — atthe Siyana police station.

“Yes,” District MagistrateAnuj Jha said on whether thestringent NSA was invokedagainst those arrested in thecow slaughter case. PTI

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Amid raging protests inAssam and other parts of

North East over the Citizenship(Amendment) Bill, 2016, theCentre has decided to holdwide-ranging consultation todiffuse the situation. HomeMinister Rajnath Singh willsoon call a meeting of theNorth-East Chief Ministers todiscuss safeguards required toprotect the region’s culturaland linguistic identity.

Large-scale protests havebeen witnessed in Assam andsome other parts of the NorthEast seeking withdrawal of thecontroversial Bill, which seeksto grant nationality to non-Muslims who fled religiouspersecution from three neigh-bouring countries and enteredIndia before December 31,2014.

With Lok Sabha electionround the corner, the BJP isunder tremendous pressure todouse the flames of protest inNorth East, which elects 25MPs. The Bill has created mas-sive anti-BJP sentiments inseveral pockets across theNorth East. More than halfmembers of the Committee

appointed by the Centre tosuggest ways to accommodatekey provision of Assam Accordin view of the implication of theCitizenship (Amendment) Bill,2016, have resigned from thepanel.

The Bill which was passedby Lok Sabha last week is like-ly to be tabled in the RajyaSabha in the Budget Session.Several protesting leaders,including those from Assam’sregional parties, have said theState’s indigenous people willlose their linguistic and culturalidentity if the Citizenship Billis passed.

Protesters have also saidthe proposed legislation goesagainst the 1985 AssamAccord, which says anyone

having entered the State aftera cut-off date of March 24,1971 should be treated as anillegal migrant and should bedeported.

Singh’s proposed meetingwith the Chief Ministersassumes significance as therehave been concerns expressedby various stakeholders overnon-functioning of a Centre-nominated committee to assessthe implementation of Clause6 of the Assam Accord andother matters related to theNorth Eastern States.

Clause 6 of the AssamAccord states “constitutional,legislative and administrativesafeguards, as may be appro-priate, shall be provided to pro-tect, preserve and promote thecultural, social, linguistic iden-tity and heritage of theAssamese people”.

“Union Home Ministerwill soon be calling a meetingof Chief Ministers of the con-cerned States. They will furtherdiscuss about the safeguardsthat need to be provided forprotecting the interests of thesestates and protecting their cul-tural and linguistic identity,” theHome Ministry said in itsstatement.

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Kumbh Mela-2019 is all setfor its first Shahi Snan

(royal bathing) of MakarSankranti beginning in thewee hours on Tuesday. All the13 recognised akharas willreach the Sangam with fullgrandeur and fanfare fromtheir mela camps led by theNaga sadhus displaying skillswith their traditionalweapons.

The sun entered the Makarrashi on Monday itself butafter sunset due to which theMakar Sankranti bathing willtake place on Tuesday. Theakharas will start reaching theSangam, the confluence of thethree rivers -- Ganga, Yamuna,and Saraswati at 5.15 am. Thefirst to reach the Sangam forthe Shahi Snan will be theMaha Nirvani Akhara and the

Atal Akhara followed by theNiranjani, Anand, Juna,Awahan, Sri Panch Agni,Nirvani Ani, Digambar Ani,Nirmohi Ani, Naya Udaseen,Bada Udaseen and NirmalAkhara. The last akhara hasbeen given the time slot of 2:40pm. The other Shahi Snans willbe Mauni Amavasya onFebruary 4 and BasantPanchami on February 10besides important bathingoccasions of Poush Purnima onJanuary 21, Maghi Purnima onFebruary 19 and Mahashivratrion March 4. Kumbh happens tobe the biggest religious andspiritual congregation on earth.The Kumbh-2019 has a specialsignificance owing to the per-sonal interest taken by thePrime Minister and the ChiefMinister to convert it into anunforgettable event and theGovernment had opened its

coffers to beautify Allahabadcity and the Sangam areabesides providing better facil-ities to the devotees and thesaints. Besides pumping in Rs2,800 crore for the KumbhMela and the beautification ofAllahabad the State as well asthe Union Governments pre-sented some precious gifts tothis ancient Sangam City. Firstthe Government rechristenedAllahabad as Prayagraj to recallits existence in the Vedic peri-od. Opening the Akshayvatdarshan for all is the gift whichwas long pending. Now peoplewill go for the darshan of theoriginal Akshayvat situatedinside the fort after 450 years.The construction of a civil ter-minal by the Ministry of CivilAviation is another big achieve-ment which has increased thenumber of f lights fromAllahabad.

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Prayagraj (UP): A cooking gascylinder exploded in a tent atthe Digambar Ani Akhara atthe Kumbh Mela site here onMonday, triggering a massivefire, prompting Uttar PradeshChief Minister Yogi Adityanathto direct officials to compen-sate the loss immediately.

There was, however, noreport of any one beinginjured, Akhara police stationinspector Bhaskar Mishra said.

The Chief Minister alsodirected the fire department toinspect all the tents and takenecessary precautions, an offi-cial spokesperson said inLucknow.

According to officials, thefire broke out around 12.45pm. Soon after, six fire tendersand eight ambulances wererushed to the spot.

The fire-fighters, with thehelp of the mela administra-tion, fire brigade, NationalDisaster Response Force(NDRF) and State DisasterResponse Force (SDRF), tookabout 10 minutes to bring theblaze, which had engulfed themakeshift structure at thevenue, under control, thepolice said.

Two vehicles and somematerials kept at the site weredamaged, they added. PTI

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Lucknow : RJD leaderTejashwi Yadav on Mondaypromised full support to theBSP-SP alliance in UttarPradesh for the Lok Sabhapolls, asserting that the moveby the two regional parties tocome together to fight the BJPhas gone down well through-out the country.

Stating that the alliancewill be hailed in the future,Tejashwi also said Uttar Pradeshand Bihar will decide who willcome to power at the Centreafter the general elections.

“Our organisation in UttarPradesh will lend support tothe alliance,” he told newsper-sons in Lucknow after meeting

Samajwadi Party(SP) presidentAkhilesh Yadav. The RJDleader had met Bahujan SamajParty (BSP) supremo Mayawatiin Lucknow on Sunday night.

“It is not just UP but theentire country where the mes-sage of alliance hasgone...(now) the people of UPand Bihar will decide as to who

will come to power at theCentre.”

Akhilesh responded sayingTejashwi’s offer of support willfurther cement the alliance.

Both Tejashwi andAkhilesh also targeted the BJPclaiming that people will oustthe party from power.

Continued on Page 4

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The Centre has sought nom-inations from different

ministries to expeditiously fillthe vacant post of the Directorof Prosecution in the CBI,which is presently workingwithout a regular chief follow-ing the ouster of Alok Verma.

OP Verma, who served asthe Director of Prosecution,completed his term onDecember 23 and the post hassince been vacant.

The DoP is the senior mostprosecutor in the agency ren-dering legal opinion in all thecases probed by the agency. TheDoP reports to the CBI,Director. In a communicationto all the government depart-ments, the Personnel Ministryhas asked for names of eligibleand willing officers, not belowthe rank of Joint Secretary andeligible for appointment asSpecial Public Prosecutor, offi-cials said.

The Personnel Ministryhas asked the departments tosend the names by January 25so that “an expeditious decisioncan be taken for filling the post

of Director of Prosecution inCBI”. The selection of theDirector of Prosecution ismade on the recommendationof the Central VigilanceCommission. It is a rare coin-cidence that the CBI is work-ing without a regular chiefand the DoP.

A Parliamentary panel hadrecently expressed concernsover vacant posts in the CBIand asked the Government totake proactive steps to ensurethat it does not remain under-staffed.

“Shortage of personnel atvarious levels in CBI is a peren-nial problem. The committeehas expressed its concern onthis on several occasions.

Vacancy in any organisation, toa large extent, can be antici-pated well in advance andproactive efforts should be ini-tiated to complete necessaryprocedure to fill up the vacan-cies on time.

The CBI seems to havefailed in anticipating such a sit-uation,” the panel had said inits report tabled in Parliamentearlier this month.

The CBI is working underan interim Director MNageswar Rao, AdditionalDirector, after the agency’sboss Alok Verma was removedby a panel led by the PrimeMinister Narendra based on areport alleging dereliction ofduty and graft.

New Delhi: Young diplomatsfrom 27 countries are partici-pating in a fellowship pro-gramme here that aims atequipping them with theknowledge and perspectiveson various contemporary dis-armament, non-proliferation,arms control and internation-al security affairs.

United Nations UnderSecretary General and HighRepresentative forDisarmament IzumiNakamitsu and ForeignSecretary Vijay KeshavGokhale on Monday inaugu-rated the First AnnualDisarmament andInternational Security AffairsFellowship Programme organ-ised by the MEA.

The programme is beingheld at the Foreign ServicesInstitute from January 14-February 1. It covers a range ofissues relevant to disarmamentand international security suchas global security environment,weapons of mass destruction.

PTI

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The Housing and UrbanAffairs (HUA) Ministry is

using 14 housing technologiesto make affordable housingcost effective and quality con-struction in a sustainable man-ner and environment friendlyunder Pradhan Mantri AwasYojana-Urban (PMAY-U).

The Ministry on Mondaylaunched the ‘Global HousingTechnology Challenge’ toaddress issues related to hous-ing shortage in a time-boundmanner and focus on the needfor emerging, cost effectiveand speedy construction tech-nologies. Under the initiativelaunched by the PMAY(Urban), the Government willhold ‘grand expo-cum-confer-ence’ in March where stake-holders will showcase theirbest technologies to build hous-es. Builders can opt for identi-fied technologies for timelydelivery of their projects.

According to HUA offi-cials, the Ministry is usinghousing technologies thatinclude monolithic concreteconstruction system using plas-tic and aluminum framework,monolithic concrete construc-tion system using aluminumframework, using cellular lightweight concrete slab and pre-

cast column, expanded poly-styrene core panel system, lightgauge sheet framed structure,speed floor system, Glass fibrereinforced gypsum panel build-ing system, factory made fasttrack modular building systemthat are approved and beingused for PMAY (Urban).

Against the validateddemand of about one crorehousing units to be construct-ed by the year 2022, MoHUAhas so far sanctioned around 70lakh houses, out of whicharound 37 lakh have beengrounded and around 15 lakhcompleted and allotted to ben-eficiaries.

Speaking on the occasion,HUA minister Hardeep Singh

Puri said that GHT seeks todemonstrate and deliver readyto live-in houses in a shortertime, with lower cost and qual-ity construction in a sustainablemanner. It also seeks to pro-mote future technologies, tofoster an environment ofresearch and development inthe country. At the event, NITIAayog CEO Amitabh Kantsaid that the time frame forconstruction of houses in thecountry must be reduced tofour to five months.

“Global firms will be invit-ed to India to demonstrateconstruction techniques forhousing that are affordableand take minimum time - asless as three months instead ofthe conventional three years forconstruction,” HUA SecretaryDurga Shankar Mishra hastweeted.”Global HousingTechnology Challenge-Indiawill enable a paradigm shift inthe country’s construction sec-tor,” Mishra has tweeted.

The PMAY-U mission hasfour verticals — In-situ SlumRedevelopment (ISSR),Affordable Housing inPartnership (AHP),Beneficiary-led Individualhouse construction orEnhancement (BLC), andCredit-Linked Subsidy Scheme(CLSS).

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The constitutional provisionto provide 10 per cent

reservation in Governmentjobs and education to eco-nomically backward section in the general catego-ry has come into force onMonday, a Government notifi-cation said.

The Constitution (103Amendment) Act, 2019received the assent of thePresident on Saturday.

“In exercise of the powersconferred by sub-section (2) ofsection 1 of the Constitution(One Hundred and ThirdAmendment) Act, 2019, theCentral Government herebyappoints January 14 as thedate on which the provision ofthe said Act shall come intoforce,” a gazette notification bythe Ministry of Social Justiceand Empowerment read.

The Act amends Articles15 and 16 of the Constitution,by adding a clause which allowsstates to make “special provi-sion for the advancement ofany economically weaker sec-tions of citizens”.

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Aplea was filed in theSupreme Court on

Monday seeking a direction toquash the January 10 order ofthe Government appointingIPS officer M Nageswara Raoas an interim director of theCBI.

CBI’s Additional DirectorRao was given the charge ofCBI interim chief on Januarytill the appointment of a newdirector after a high-poweredcommittee headed by PrimeMinister Narendra Modiremoved Alok Kumar Verma asthe chief of the probe agency oncharges of corruption and dere-liction of duty.

The petition, filed by NGOCommon Cause and RTIactivist Anjali Bhardwaj, hassought laying down of specif-ic mechanisms to ensure trans-parency in the process ofappointment of CBI director.

It alleged that Rao’sappointment was not made onthe basis of recommendationsof the high-powered selection

committee, comprising theprime minister, the leader ofthe single largest oppositionparty and the chief justice ofIndia or a judge of the apexcourt nominated by him.

“In fact, it appears that thecommittee was completelybypassed and had no role in theappointment of NageswaraRao, thereby rendering theappointment illegal as it is inviolation of the procedure forappointment of Director, CBIlaid down in the DSPE (Delhi

Special Police Establishment)Act,” the plea, filed throughadvocate Prashant Bhushan,said.

It stated that the order ofOctober 23 last year appointingRao as the interim CBI direc-tor was quashed by the topcourt on January 8 but the gov-ernment has “acted in a com-pletely mala fide, arbitrary andillegal manner” to appoint himagain in “complete contraven-tion” of the DSPE Act.

The plea also sought adirection to the Centre toappoint a regular CBI directorforthwith by following the pro-cedure laid down in accordancewith the provision of DSPE Act,as amended by the Lokpal andLokayuktas Act, 2013.

Besides this, the petitionhas sought a direction to thegovernment to ensure that “allrecords of deliberations andrational criteria related toshort-listing and selection ofthe director, CBI, be properlyrecorded and made available tocitizens in consonance with theprovisions of the RTI Act”.

New Delhi: The SupremeCourt on Monday agreed toexamine in detail a plea seek-ing a court-monitored CBI orSIT probe into incidents ofalleged police encounters andkillings in Uttar Pradesh.

A bench headed by ChiefJustice Ranjan Gogoi andJustices Ashok Bhushan and SK Kaul perused the material onrecord and said issues raised inthe petition by the People’sUnion for Civil Liberties(PUCL) required “serious con-sideration” and fixed the hear-ing on February 12.

Senior advocate MukulRohatgi, appearing for theUttar Pradesh government,however, claimed all normsand procedures were followedby the state administration.

Earlier, the apex court hadsought response from the stategovernment on the PIL filed bythe NGO, alleging that therewere about 1,100 encounters in2017 in which 49 people werekilled and 370 injured. PTI

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Four automatic weather sta-tions and special weather

services app will work roundthe clock giving real timedetails on the prevailing weath-er conditions and forecasts fornext three days for the benefitof the people visiting the cityduring the much-toutedKumbh Mela in Prayagraj.

Union Earth SciencesMinister Dr Harsh Vardhan onMonday launched the specialweather service for the megaevent, which includes settingup of four automatic weather

stations (AWS) and a mobileapp.

The purpose of this serviceis to provide information of theprevailing weather and fore-casts for the next three days, DrHarsh Vardhan told reportershere after the launch of the appto be available on androidmobile phones.

“The real-time locationspecific weather informationwill not only be very helpful forthe local and state authoritiesin the efficient management ofthe entire event but also bene-fit the pilgrims by keepingthem abreast of the latest

weather information. It will dis-seminate the live weather infor-mation (temperature, humidi-ty, rainfall and winds) asobserved in all the above foursites,” said Dr. Harsh Vardhan.

The observation sites aredistributed in all four directionswithin the radius of 5-10 kilo-metres and are located at theAllahabad University, DelhiPublic School, GB PanthInstitute of Social Science andSam Higginbottom Universityof Agriculture, Technology andSciences (SHUATS).

The mobile app named‘KumbhMela Weather Service’

has also been developed to dis-seminate the live weather infor-mation on temperature,humidity, rainfall and winds. Inaddition, the app will also pro-vide weather forecasts andwarnings for Allahabad for thenext three days.

“The real time locationspecific weather informationwill be very helpful for the localand state authorities in theefficient management of theentire event,” the minister said.

The Kumbh starts fromTuesday and will continue untilMarch. The congregation isattended by lakhs of pilgrims.

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Citing Constitutional com-plexity, the Ministry of

Environment and Forests(MoEF) has rejected theDepartment of PersonnelTraining’s (DoPT) proposal torechristen the Indian ForestServices (IFS) as Indian Forestand Tribal Services (IFST).

The cadre controllingauthority of IFS, the MoEF’smove follows inter-ministerialconsultation note moved by theDoPT seeking renaming of theservice and also train its cadreto be more receptive towardstribals and forest dwellers. Therenaming of the IFS to IFTSwas suggested by the NationalCommission for ScheduledTribes (NCST) which seems tohave believed that including ‘T’in IFS acronym would ensurecordial relations between theIFS officials and tribals as bothwere in close contact witheachother.

However, turning downthe proposal, RK Singh, JointSecretary on behalf of theMoEF in a letter shot off recent-ly to the DoPT argued that“rechristening of IFS at thisjuncture would be a long drawnand complex process as it is anAll India Service constitutedunder article 321 of theConstitution of India and maynecessitate amendments of theConstitution and consultationwith the States.

“Moreover, the objective

flagged by the Commission(NCST) can be achieved byincorporating tribal welfare inthe mandate of the IFS. Perhapsthere is a need for strengthen-ing the linkages between theMoEF and the Ministry ofTribal Affairs (MoTA) to facil-itate discharge of functions asenvisaged by the commissionfor overall tribal welfare.”

However, the MoEFrefused to buy this argumentand instead suggested induct-ing IFS officials at senior levelin the Tribal Welfare Ministryfor better managementbetween tribal and forest relat-ed activities.

It said that officers (IFS)were entrusted with responsi-bilities towards not only man-agement of wildlife and forest,tribal welfare as well as sever-al fields such as RuralDevelopment, Pollution controlboth by the Central and StateGovernments.

Thus, in this regard, theMoEF suggested that “insteadof changing the name of thecadre, it will be worthwhile toinduct India Forest Serviceofficers in the Tribal Ministryas well as in the StateGovernments to look after theworks of the tribal depart-ment.”

“Moreover, it may be agood idea to have a post of DG(tribal affairs) in the tribalministry to be headed by a verysenior IFS officer,” said Singhin the letter.

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In an effort to give a fillip tocreate indigenous defence

industrial ecosystem in thecountry, Defence MinisterNirmala Sitharaman will for-mally launch the Tamil Nadudefence corridor atTiruchirappalli on January 20.It will be second such corridorafter the first one in UttarPradesh was inaugurated inAligarh in August last year.

Apart from major industryinteraction there will be threemain things. Announcement ofnew investments both byDefence Public SectorUndertakings (DPSU) and pri-vate sector, launch of some newdefence products and launch ofa defence innovation hub inCoimbatore, Secretary DefenceProduction Ajay Kumar toldthe media here on Monday.Two defence corridors -- one inTamil Nadu and the other inUttar Pradesh - was announcedin this year’s budget.

On the reasons for TamilNadu being chosen for thecorridor, Kumar said it isalready a major manufacturingstare in the country and has amajor auto component hub.Tamil Nadu will be very goodfor aero components due to itsauto expertise and proximity toBangalore, he said talking of thefuture scope of the corridorsand stating that there is a fairmomentum for export of aerocomponents from India andhas a huge scope for furthergrowth. Multinational consul-tancy firm Ernst & Young(E&Y) has been appointed as aconsultant to draw a roadmapon how the cluster is envisionedto grow.

The corridor like the one inUP will have six nodes aroundwhich investments are expect-ed to grow. They includeHosur, Salem, Coimbatore,Tiruchirappalli, Madurai andChennai. The nodes stand outas key areas growing industri-alisation, Kumar added.

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The Indian HighCommission in Islamabad

has strongly raised withPakistan alleged attempts tohack the social media accountof one of its diplomats and inci-dents of close tailing of theIndian envoy and his deputy,official sources said.

The Indian mission, in anote verbale, raised withPakistan Foreign Office theincident of the Indian High

Commissioner and his deputybeing put under an aggressivewatch by a Pakistani securityofficial during a weddingreception on December 4 inSerena Hotel in Islamabad.

The sources said attemptswere made to hack the socialmedia account of the secondsecretary and that the officialreceived an email fromFacebook administration thatrepeated attempts were madeby unknown people to log intohis Facebook account.

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The Supreme Court onMonday issued notice to

the Centre on a plea challeng-ing the notification authorising10 central agencies to intercept,monitor and decrypt any com-puter system and sought aresponse within six weeks.

The PIL challenging thegovernment’s December 20notification came up before abench headed by Chief JusticeRanjan Gogoi.

According to the notifica-tion, 10 central probe andsnoop agencies are empoweredunder the InformationTechnology (IT) Act for com-puter interception and analysis,Home Ministry officials said.

The 10 agencies notifiedunder the new order are theIntelligence Bureau, NarcoticsControl Bureau, EnforcementDirectorate, the Central Boardof Direct Taxes (for Income TaxDepartment), Directorate of

Revenue Intelligence, CentralBureau of Investigation,National Investigation Agency,the Research and AnalysisWing, Directorate of SignalIntelligence (in service areas ofJ-K, North East and Assam)and Delhi Police commission-er.

The plea, filed by advocateManohar Lal Sharma, termedthe notification “illegal, uncon-stitutional and ultra vires to thelaw”.

He also sought to prohib-it the agencies from initiatingany criminal proceedings,enquiry or investigation againstanybody under the provisionsof the IT Act based on the noti-fication.

The petition alleged thatthe notification gives the statethe right to access every com-munication, computer andmobile and “to use it to protectpolitical interest and object ofthe present executive politicalparty”.

New Delhi: The SupremeCourt on Monday refused toquash the Pune police’s FIRagainst civil rights activistAnand Teltumbde in connec-tion with the Elgar Parishad-Koregaon Bhima violence andfor his alleged Maoist links.

The apex court also refusedto interfere with the ongoinginvestigation in the case.

However, a Bench com-prising Chief Justice RanjanGogoi and justices AshokBhushan and SK Kaul extend-ed the interim protection fromarrest granted to Teltumbde bythe Bombay High Court byfour weeks. The apex court saidTeltumbde could seek regularbail from the competent trialcourt in the meantime.

“We do not think it is a fitcase for the grant of the reliefsought,” the bench said, addingthat it was not inclined to giveany further relief other thanextending the interim protec-tion from arrest as the investi-gation in the case was at anadvanced stage. PTI

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Chief Minister BhupeshBaghel on Monday said

that a study team will be dis-patched to the States whereprohibition is in force.

It may take a couple ofmonths or even a year to ful-fill our commitment of com-plete prohibition in the state”,he said.

The Chief Minister wasaddressing a programme on theoccasion of Makar Sankranti atPujari Park in the city.

He greeted the citizens ofthe State and wished them abright and prosperous futureahead.

The Chief Minister saidthat no hut will be demolishedin Birgaon and assured thegathering that clean drinkingwater will be supplied in all theareas and extra land will beallocated to the GovernmentCollege .

The Raipur DistrictCollector had been ordered toprovide the land as early as pos-sible.

The State Government hadbeen taking decisions keepingin mind interests of all sectionsof the society. The farmers’loans had been waived andMinimum Support Price

(MSP) for paddy had beenfixed at Rs 2,500 per quintal, hesaid.

The State Government willfulfill all the promises of peo-ple’s manifesto. Property Taxand electricity bill had beenreduced to half.

Baghel said that prohibi-tion will be imposed in phas-es. Liquor is a social evil. Thesociety should also come for-ward for banning alcohol.There is a need for creatingawareness among the masses.Opinion of all sections of thesociety will be taken.

He said that S.I.T. teamswill probe Jheeram valley mas-sacre incident and ‘PDS’ scam.Registration of five decimalplots had been started.

Dr Shiv Daharia said thatthe Government belonged tothe native Chhattisgarhias.The authorities will focus onall-round development. Largenumber of cit izens,Corporators and people’s rep-resentatives were also pre-sent.

He assured the investors inchit-fund companies that theirhard earned money duped bycompanies would be returnedby taking stern action againstthe Directors of chit fund com-panies which duped them.

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The StateGovernment

is committedtowards fulfillingpromises halvingproperty tax ratesand power tariffbut people shouldnot take undueadvantage of it bystopping theirpayment, saidChief MinisterBhupesh Baghelon Monday.

He was speaking at a pub-lic felicitation programme forthe legislators of Raipur.

Baghel said that the StateGovernment is committedtowards fulfilling each andevery promise made in the pollmanifesto.

He assured that soon prop-erty tax would be curtailed tohalf and the same would bedone for power tariff.

The Chief Minister furtherexpressed his annoyance that

people have stopped payingproperty tax and power billkeeping in view the pollpromise made.

Commenting of SITsformed for various cases he saidthat it was not an act ofvengeance but is for getting jus-tice. “Our party activists believethat the time is now for achange”, he said reacting to thecriticism by oppositionBharatiya Janata Party on set-ting up of SITs.

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The efforts of Anupama Tripathi,has been recorded in Bravo

International Book of WorldRecord, which recognizes the extra-ordinary feat achieved by ordinarypeople.

Record observer and Bravorepresentative Professor DineshGupta confirmed the record effortand handed over the certificate toAnupama.

She also released a book ‘MeriAnupam Kavitayen’ on the occa-sion.

According to information,Anupama Tripathi, having met witha road accident in year 2011 inwhich she was critically injuredleading to amputation of her one leg.She became physically handicappedwhich affected her mobility.

To fight over the disability, shedecided to take a 10 kilometres walkwith artificial foot on Monday.

She commenced her walk fromMahadev Ghat at 9.40 am andreached Raipur Marine drive at11.40 am, thus completing the totaldistance of 10 kilometres in twohours.

Raipur West MLA VikasUpadhayay flagged off the walkwhile she was received at the end-ing point by former RaipurDevelopment Authority ChairmanSanjay Shrivastava, RaipurMunicipal Corporation ChairmanPrafulla Vishwakarma and others.

Anupama is also involved inmany social activities and trying tohelp people not to loose hope afterset-backs in life.

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Mohammed Akbar isappointed Chairman of

half-a-dozen corporations,boards and authorities-- thekey bodies being Atal NagarDevelopment Authority,Raipur Development Authorityand Chhattisgarh EnvironmentConservation Board.

He will also be Chairmanof Chhattisgarh Civil SuppliesCorporation and Chhattisgarh

Warehousing Corporation,Chhattisgarh ForestDevelopment Corporation andChhattisgarh State MedicinalPlant and Biodiversity Board.

The appointment ofChairman of various Boardsand Corporations is beingexpected after Lok Sabha pollsand till that time, In-chargeministers had been distrib-uted responsibilities for Boardsand Corporations.

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All the letters being receivedfrom State government and

proposals obtained from min-isters should be attended with-in the stipulated time frame,State Director General of Police(DGP) D M Awasthi directedsenior officers of hisDepartment on Monday.

He also directed officials toexpedite resolution of all thecomplaints received from allover the State by theDepartment by holding neces-sary probe.

The DGP was chairing ameeting of all the senior offi-cials of different departments atPolice Headquarters here.

Awasthi said that policevehicles should be purchasedwhile maintaining transparen-cy which also applies to pro-curement of materials by dif-ferent departments for PHQ byconstituting purchase and tech-nical committees.”

The DGP directed thedepartmental heads to ensurethat the appointment and pro-motion proposals are logical.

He said that promotionshould be based on the num-ber of cadre available.

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Chhattisgarh ForestDepartment by winning a

total of 161 medals including74 gold, 54 silver and 33 bronzemedal was declared overallChampions in the 24th AllIndia Forest Sports Meetingwhile Karnataka was placed insecond position.

Chhattisgarh has won thechampionship for the eighthtime out of the 18 years of itsformation.

The event was participatedby 25 states, four union terri-tories and 8th All India level Forest and Bio-Technology institutes having2404 players.

Panchayat and RuralDevelopment Minister T SSinghdeo gave away the prizesas chief guest.

He said, “Wining and los-ing are part of sports and par-ticipation in the event is thehighest achievement.

The forest officials andemployees have arrived toshowcase their different talentapart from protecting the for-est and wild animals in thecountry.”

Forest MinisterMohammed Akbar while pre-siding over the function, said, “The hard work anddedication is required to pro-

tect the forest and wild animals in the country like thesports.”

Special guest internationalcricketer Cheteshwar Pujarasaid, “Dedication, hard work

and discipline has importancein life and it helps to face anysituation in life.”

Satyaprakash Masih,Sudhir Tripathi and SanjeevSood got best player award.

Maniram Adile ofChhattisgarh and SudeshKumar Singh of UP were joint-

ly given best player prize in theMen's category while

Sangeeta Rajgopalan of

Chhattisgarh was given bestplayer prize in Women's cate-gory.

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Raigarh district has onceagain been awarded for the

third time for exemplary worksfor effective implementation of‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’scheme.

Union Ministry of Womenand Child Development wouldfelicitate the district to mark the‘National Girl Child Day’ inNew Delhi on January 24 thisyear.

Raigarh District CollectorYashwant Kumar will receivethe award.

Union Ministry of Womenand Child Development hasunder the drive for best andeffective implementation alongwith Raigarh had selected 25other districts in the country.This year the theme of‘National Girl Child Day’ is‘Empowering Girls for SecuredFuture’.

��&&�� 7 -*67

The State Government hasprocured more than 61.80

lakh tonnes of paddy onMinimum Support Price from12.63 lakh farmers this year,officials informed.

Paddy procurementwould be continued ti l lJanuary 31 this year. Thepaddy procurement is beingdone from 1,333 primary agri-cultural co-operative soci-eties' 1195 procurement cen-ters .

The maximum paddyhad been procured fromJanjgir-Champa district of

more than 6.15 lakh tonnes.In Mahasamund districtmore than 5.32 lakh tonnesof paddy was procured sim-ilary 4.88 lakh tonnes ofpaddy was procured fromRajnandgaon, Baloda-Bazar( 4 . 9 5 l a k h t on n e s ) ,D h amt ar i ( 3 . 6 7 l a k htonnes), Gariaband (2.32lakh tonnes), Raipur (4.17lakh tonnes), Kawardha (2.05 lakh tonnes), Durg (3.17 lakh tonnes), Bemetara( 3.67 lakh tonnes), Balod (4.21 lakh tonnes), Raigarh (3.74 lakh tonnes), Mungeli( 2.12 lakh tonnes) andBilaspur ( 3.19 lakh tonnes).

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From page1 “The people of the country

are today unhappy with the BJPand want to remove it,”Akhilesh said, adding thealliance in UP has beenreceived well.

“...From Delhi to Kolkata,people are against the BJP as allhave been deceived by them,”he said.

“I can assure the BJP thatwe samajwadis will not changeour language even if they try,”Akhilesh added.

To a question on theCongress being left out of thealliance in UP, Tejashwi, whoseparty is in alliance with theRahul Gandhi-led party inBihar, said, “The aim is same,to defeat the BJP... All saw howthe SP and BSP gave a sternreply to the BJP in the recentbypolls (in UP). The result isbefore everyone.”

Claiming that people arenot happy with the BJP,Tejashwi said they had alsocome to “cheat” Bihar, with the

Prime Minister promising spe-cial package.

He also referred to“CM chacha” (Nitesh Kumar)going with the BJP

after breaking the alliancewith Rashtriya Janata Dal(RJD).

“This step of theBSP and the SP is going to behailed in later stages,” he said,adding it will prevent the coun-try from falling into the “clutch-es” of the RashtriyaSwayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

Tejashwi said his visit tocongratulate the BSP and theSP was in fact realisation of thedream visualised by his fatherand RJD president LaluPrasad.

Claiming there is unde-clared Emergency in the coun-try, he said all constitutionalinstitutions are being dam-aged to serve personal interestsand there is also an effort toreplace the Constitution byMS Golwalkar’s (RSS leader)“Bunch of Thoughts” and the“Nagpuri law”.

Tejashwi also referred tothe CBI and the ED saying his

family and he himself, evenwhen he was 13 years old, hasbeen facing cases but stressedthere was no need to compro-mise and instead fight againstthem.

“There is a move to tarnishand sully the image by givingnegative publicity...After elec-tions all will come to know whois dishonest and how the‘chowkidar’ has tricked thepeople of the country and onlyindulged in jumlebaazi,”Tejashwi said targeting PrimeMinister Narendra Modi.

Tejaswhi hoped that thealliance formed in UttarPradesh will be extended to Bihar and that all parties will work together to defeat theBJP.

“In UP there are 80 seatswhile Bihar has 40 Lok Sabhaseats...Along with Jharkhandwhich has 14 seats a majorchunk of 134 seats are in theseStates.

The BJP has around 115seats of these...With alliance inthese States,” he said, predict-ing that the BJP will lose 100seats.

From page1 Police have alleged that Kanhaiya had

incited the mob to shout anti-India slogans.Metropolitan Magistrate Sumit Anand put upthe charge sheet for consideration before a com-petent court on Tuesday.

The accused have been charged withoffences under sections 124A (sedition), 323(punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 465(punishment for forgery), 471 (using as genuinea forged document or electronic record), 143(punishment for being a member of an unlaw-ful assembly), 149 (being a member of an unlaw-ful assembly), 147 (punishment for rioting) and120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian PenalCode (IPC).

In the charge sheet, police claimed that allthe footage were genuine and the presence of stu-dents belonging to Kashmir was also establishthrough mobile clips and videos.

It claimed that Kashmiri students hadmasks on during the procession, but did notcover their faces while returning. This showedtheir involvement, police said.

Ten accused people have been chargesheet-ed on the basis of electronic evidence, includ-ing CCTV footage and mobile footage, and doc-umentary evidence, which include statementsof students and security guards.

The final report claims that no permissionwas granted to organise the event and everymember was a part of an unlawful assembly.

When informed about the lack of permis-sion to hold the event, the accused started argu-ing and fighting, it said.

A case was registered on February 11, 2016under sections 124A and 120B of the IPC againstunidentified persons at the Vasant Kunj (North)police station, following complaints fromBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Maheish Girriand the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad(ABVP). The event in 2016 had taken placedespite the university administration cancellingthe permission, following a complaint from theABVP, which had termed it as “anti-national.

“Metropolitan Magistrate Sumit Anandhad put up the charge sheet for considerationbefore a court on Tuesday.

The police alleged that Kanhaiya was incit-ing, being part of the mob shouting anti-Indiaslogans.

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President Donald Trump hasthreatened to “devastate”

Turkey economically if theNATO-allied nation attacksUS-backed Kurdish forces inSyria following a pullout ofAmerican troops from the war-torn country, in a stern warn-ing rejected by Ankara sayingit will continue to fight the “ter-rorists”.

Last month, PresidentTrump surprised the world byannouncing that he is with-drawing 2000 American troopsfrom Syria. The pullout beganlast week.

The US troop withdrawalhas left America’s Kurdish alliesvulnerable to an attack from

Turkey. Ankara views theKurdish forces as terroristsaligned with insurgents insideTurkey.

“Starting the long overduepullout from Syria while hittingthe little remaining ISIS terri-torial caliphate hard, and frommany directions. Will attackagain from existing nearbybase if it reforms,” the presidentsaid in a tweet on Sunday.

“Will devastate Turkey eco-nomically if they hit Kurds.Create 20-mile safe zone....Likewise, do not want theKurds to provoke Turkey,”Trump said in a hard-hittingtweet on Sunday.

Trump’s tweet is a starkthreat toward an ally in theregion that has partnered with

the US in the fight against ISIS.In a sharp response,

Turkish President Recep TayyipErdogan’s spokesman IbrahimKalin said that there was “nodifference” between the IslamicState extremist group and theKurdish People’s ProtectionUnits (YPG) militia.

“Mr Donald Trump,Terrorists can’t be your partners& allies. Turkey expects the USto honour our strategic part-nership and doesn’t want it tobe shadowed by terrorist pro-paganda. There is no differencebetween DAESH, PKK, PYDand YPG. We will continue tofight against them all,” Kalinsaid in a tweet.

“Mr Donald Trump It is afatal mistake to equate SyrianKurds with the PKK, which ison the US terrorists list, and itsSyria branch PYD/YPG.Turkey fights against terrorists,not Kurds. We will protectKurds and other Syriansagainst all terrorist threats,” hesaid.

Trump also warned ISISthat America would hit themhard from nearby militarybases if it regains momentum.

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US Secretary of State MikePompeo said Monday that

talks were under way onWashington’s proposal to estab-lish a “safe zone” in flashpointborder areas of northeasternSyria, where tensions are risingbetween Turkey and Kurdishmilitia.

“We want to make sure thatthe folks who fought with us todown the (Islamic State group)have security... And also that ter-rorists acting out of Syria aren’table to attack Turkey,” Pompeosaid.

“We want a secure borderfor all the parties,” he said in theSaudi capital Riyadh, the latestleg of a whirlwind Middle Easttour.

Washington is holding talkswith all relevent sides about sucha “safe zone”, he added.

His comments came a dayafter US President DonaldTrump in a tweet pushed for thecreation of a 20-mile (30-kilo-metre) “safe zone”, without say-ing who would create, enforce or

pay for it.Trump also did not say

exactly where such a buffer areawould be set up. Turkish ForeignMinister Mevlut Cavusoglu onMonday said his country was“not against” a “security zone” inSyria.

Tensions have been highbetween the United States andTurkey over the fate ofWashington’s Syrian Kurdishallies in the fight against theIslamic State group.

Ankara has repeatedlythreatened a new cross-borderoperation against the KurdishPeople’s Protection Units (YPG),which have been working close-ly with the US in the war on ISjihadists. Turkey views the YPGas a “terrorist offshoot” of theoutlawed Kurdistan Workers’Party (PKK), which has beenwaging an insurgency againstthe Turkish state since 1984.

Turkish President RecepTayyip Erdogan’s spokesmanIbrahim Kalin on Monday saidAnkara would “continue to fightagainst them all”, referring to ISand the YPG.

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China on Monday firmlyopposed transferring tech-

nology to Taiwan to make sub-marines, saying countrieswhich have relations withBeijing should earnestly abideby the one China principle andstop any form of military linkswith Taipei.

Taiwan media last yearreported that the US StateDepartment had approved thetransfer of technology that willallow Taiwan to produce itsown submarines. There werereports that six foreign com-panies, including one fromIndia, have already submitteddesign proposals for the sub-marines.

Among the six companies,there are two from Europe, twofrom the US, as well as anIndian company and a Japanesefirm offering designs for thesubmarines, the Taiwan Newsreported in October last year.

According to the report,the designs would come up forapproval by Taiwanese gov-ernment in March this year.The report did not give detailsof the six companies fromthese countries.

Replying to a questionfrom the official Chinese mediahere on Monday, ForeignMinistry spokesperson HuaChunying told a media briefingthat China is firmly opposed toany country selling arms toTaiwan.

“China is firmly opposed toany country to have any mili-tary links with Taiwan. Chinais consistent and clear cut. TheUS and other countries fullyrecognise the sensitivity andthe danger of this issue,” shesaid.

China claims that Taiwanwhich broke away in 1949 is

part of Chinese mainland andis opposed to any country hav-ing diplomatic contacts withTaipei.

Hua said the countrieswhich have relations withChina should earnestly abideby the one China principle andnot to allow any enterprises toparticipate in the submarineprogramme of Taiwan and stop any form of military linkswith it. “They should prudent-ly and properly handle Taiwanrelated issues thus avoidingharming of bilateral relationsand peace stability across theTaiwan straits,” she said.

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Adecades-old IranianBoeing 707 military cargo

plane reportedly carrying meatfrom Kyrgyzstan crashed onMonday while trying to landwest of Iran’s capital, killing 15people on board and leaving asole survivor, authorities said.

The crash of the jetlinermarked just the latest aviationdisaster for Iran, which hopedto replace its aging fleet underterms of the 2015 nuclear dealwith world powers.

But instead, PresidentDonald Trump’s withdrawalfrom the accord in May scuttledbillions of dollars in plannedsales by Airbus and Boeing Co.To the Islamic Republic, onlyincreasing the danger for pas-sengers in Iran planes.

The aircraft, which borethe paint scheme of the Iranianair force’s Saha civilian airline,was making emergency landingaround 8.30 am Monday atFath Airport, an airfield con-trolled by Iran’s powerful para-military Revolutionary Guard.

The plane skidded off therunway, crashed through aperimeter fence and into a res-idential neighborhood.

Iranian state televisionaired images of smoke-charredhomes and the fuselage of theaircraft lying on the ground inthe neighborhood. Nearby wasone of its land gear, torn away.Small fires burned around it.

The plane was meant toland at the nearby PayamInternational Airport, about40 kilometers (25 miles) westof Tehran, the Iranian capital.

Authorities did not imme-diately offer a reason for thecrew’s decision to land insteadat Fath Airport. That airport issome 10 kilometers (6.2 miles)southwest of Payam.

Its runway is some 1,100-meters (3,600-feet) long, com-pared to Payam’s 3,600 meters(11,800 feet). In November, acommercial airline reportedlymistook Fath for Payam, butwas able to abort its landing.

Iran’s state-run IRNA newsagency later quoted an anony-mous aviation official sayingMonday’s doomed flight like-wise mistook Fath for Payam.

Pirhossein Koulivand, thehead of the country’s emergencymedical services, said that of the16 people on board the plane,only the flight engineer wasknown to have survived.

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British Prime MinisterTheresa May offered both a

promise on workers’ rights anda reassuring letter fromEuropean Union leaders onMonday as she implored British

lawmakers to support her floun-dering Brexit deal.

But the British leader hadfew concrete measures up hersleeve a day before a vote inParliament which looks likely tosee her Brexit deal rejected. Adefeat on Tuesday would throw

Brexit plans into disarray justweeks before the U.K. Is due toleave the bloc on March 29.

May warned that the onlyalternatives to her agreementwere an economically damag-ing, chaotic “no-deal” exit fromthe EU or a halt to Britain’s

departure that would defyBritish voters’ decision in 2016to leave the bloc.

In a speech Monday at aceramics factory in the centralEngland city of Stoke-on-Trent,May said “people’s faith in thedemocratic process and theirpoliticians would suffer cata-strophic harm” if her deal isrejected and Brexit was aban-doned.

Having Britain leave the EUwithout a deal “would cause tur-bulence for our economy, cre-ate barriers to security cooper-ation and disrupt people’s dailylives,” she said.

“The only deal on the tableis the one (members ofParliament) will vote on tomor-row night,” May said.

Britain and the EU reacheda hard-won divorce deal inNovember, but the agreementhas run aground in the UKParliament. May post-poned a vote on the deal inDecember to avoid a resound-ing defeat, and there are fewsigns the deal has picked up

much support since then.Several previously opposed

British legislators have swungbehind May’s agreement in thelast few days, but they remainoutnumbered by those deter-mined to vote against it.

In a bid to win support,May sought reassurances fromEU leaders about the deal’smost contentious measure — aninsurance policy known as the“backstop” that would keepBritain in an EU customs unionto maintain an open borderbetween Northern Ireland andEU member Ireland after Brexit.

Pro-Brexit lawmakersworry that Britain could betrapped indefinitely in the back-stop, unable to strike new tradedeals around the world.

In a letter to May publishedMonday, European CouncilPresident Donald Tusk andEuropean CommissionPresident Jean-Claude Junckeroffered an assurance that thebackstop “would only be inplace for as long as strictly nec-essary.”

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In a relief to jailed formerPakistan Prime Minister

Nawaz Sharif, the SupremeCourt on Monday dismissed theanti-graft body’s appeal againstthe suspension of his jail sen-tence and that of his family inone of three corruption casesfaced by the embattled leader.

In July 2018, an account-ability court here handed Sharif10 years as jail time for owningassets beyond known incomeand 1 year for not cooperatingwith the National AccountabilityBureau (NAB).

A five-member bench led byChief Justice Saqib Nisar upheldthe Islamabad High Court’s ver-dict that ordered suspension ofprison sentences awarded toSharif, his daughter Maryam

Nawaz and son-in-law Captain(retd) Mohammad Safdar inthe Avenfield corruption caserelated to their purchase of fourluxury flats in London throughcorrupt practices.

The apex court, in its ruling,said that the NAB has failed toprovide the “ground for cancel-lation of bail” and that the IHChad not exceeded its authority ingranting bail to the convicts ofthe Avenfield case. The 69-year-old three-time formerprime minister and his familyhave denied any wrongdoing.Sharif is currently in jail after ananti-corruption court sentencedhim on December 24 to sevenyears in jail in the Al-Azizia SteelMills graft case while acquittinghim in the Flagship Investmentscorruption case in the PanamaPapers scandal.

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Ever since the Narendra ModiGovernment moved theCitizenship (Amendment) Bill,2016 in the Winter Session ofParliament to provide critical sup-

port to the adherents of Indic religions, whoface virtual extermination in neighbouringIslamic nations like Pakistan, Bangladesh andAfghanistan, the usual pseudo-secular sus-pects have crawled out of the woodwork andonce again raised the hackneyed argumentabout how ‘Secular India’ can make specialprovision for the persecuted Hindus, Sikhs,Buddhists and Jains in India’s neighbourhood.

The Bill, which has been passed by theLok Sabha, seeks to provide critical human-itarian support by way of citizenship to per-secuted religious minorities in India’s neigh-bourhood belonging to Indic religions, theParsis and the Christians. This ought to havebeen done soon after the creation of IslamicPakistan in August, 1947, because the newnation was inaugurated with bloody assaultson religious minorities. The Bill, which seeksto correct the Indian state’s seven-decade-longcriminal neglect of its primary responsibil-ity towards the oppressed minorities of Indicorigin, speeds up the process of grant ofIndian citizenship to those who are forced toseek refuge in India. It also seeks to releasethem from some of the rigours of theForeigners’ Act and the Passport Act.

The Bill seeks to address a congenitalmalady that the then Prime MinisterJawaharlal Nehru ignored. While Indiadeclared itself a secular state which guaran-teed equal rights to all citizens when it becameindependent, Pakistan became an Islamicstate and offered no such guarantees to its reli-gious minorities. Apart from the bloody riotsat the time of Partition, a systematic pogrombegan in Pakistan against the Hindus andother Indic communities. This campaignlargely promoted by the Pakistan statereached such proportions that the PrimeMinisters of the two countries met for sev-eral days in New Delhi in April, 1950, andeventually signed what is known as theNehru-Liaqat pact which “solemnly” assuredthat the two Governments would ensure“complete equality of citizenship, full senseof security, personal honour, freedom of cul-ture and worship” to all religious minorities.The pact also guaranteed equal rights forminorities to hold political office and saidboth nations would take steps to enforce themeffectively. However, while India incorporat-ed all these guarantees for minorities in itsConstitution, Pakistan did not do so. It justmade a mention of it in the objectives reso-lution adopted by its Constituent Assembly.Even as the Pakistan Prime Minister returnedto his country, the pact proved to be a sham.

This is a 70-year-old tragic tale that is stillbeing played out but at least now there is aGovernment in Delhi which has the gump-tion to stand up for the persecuted minori-ties of Pakistan.

Those opposing this humanitarian leg-

islation are claiming that specif-ic relief to adherents of Indicreligions threatens India’s “sec-ular fabric.” This is in line withthe moth-eaten anti-Hindupolicies devised by JawaharlalNehru and carried on by theCongress and its Marxist fellow-travellers all these years. Hereare some reasons why this pseu-do-secular policy framework,which is basically anti-Hinduand meant to deny Hindustheir natural right to live in orreturn to Bharat, which hasbeen their homeland for millen-nia, must be thrown out lock,stock and barrel: Ever since thecreation of the Islamic state ofPakistan in 1947, hostilitytowards the religious minoritieshas been rampant in that coun-try. How ruthless the Muslimsof Pakistan have been towardsthese minorities is evident fromthe following statistics.

In 1941, adherents of Indicreligions constituted 19.69 percent of the population ofPakistan. The Islamic statecame into being on August 14,1947, and within four years, thepopulation of Hindus, amongothers, had crashed to 1.59 percent. Four decades later, it hov-ered around the same figureand stood at 1.64 per cent andhas been thereabouts ever since.So, what happened to theHindus of Pakistan, who con-stituted one-fifth of the popu-lation of that nation when it wasborn? They were either slaugh-tered or converted, while somesections of them, who could nolonger bear the persecution,

crossed over to India. However,despite their pathetic plight, theCongress, completely underthe grip of Jawaharlal Nehru’spseudo-secular policies, refusedto speak up for them and raiseits voice against this appallingtragedy, because the Congress’brand of “secularism” prohib-ited it from speaking up forHindus et al even if they werebeing systematically extermi-nated. Also, Nehruvian “secu-larism” forbade the party andthe Union Government fromoffering succour to the Hinduswho came in as refugees. Thisgrossly inhuman approach tothe plight of the Hindus inPakistan continued during theIndira Gandhi and RajivGandhi regimes as well.

To begin with, Pakistancomprised west and eastPakistan but the eastern wingbroke away, leading to the cre-ation of the Bangladesh, whichhas Islam as its state religion, in1971. However, the vivisectionof Pakistan did not providemuch relief to the personsbelonging to Indic religions, ascan be seen in the figures givenbelow: In 1941, the adherents ofIndic religions constituted 29.61per cent of the population ofwhat is now Bangladesh. Thisdeclined to 22.79 per cent in1951 and had dropped precip-itously to 11.10 per cent in 1991.Recent estimates put the per-centage of these religiousminorities in Bangladesh tobelow eight per cent. Duringthese six decades since 1941, thepercentage of Muslims in

Bangladesh has risen from 70.26per cent to over 90 per cent.(Those who wish to learn moreabout the tragic plight of reli-gious minorities in the Islamicstates bordering India mustread Religious Demography inIndia, a comprehensive workthat will shake the people out oftheir pseudo-secular slumber,authored by AP Joshi, MDSrinivas and JK Bajaj of theCentre for Policy Studies,Chennai. The figures cited hereare from this work).

Meanwhile, as the Hindus,Sikhs, Buddhists and Jainsvanished from the demograph-ic charts of Pakistan andBangladesh, the Muslimsthrived in democratic India.They were around 35 millionat the time of independenceand constituted 10.43 per centof India’s population in 1951.In 2011, the Muslim popula-tion in India had crossed 14.20per cent and in real termsstood at 172 million. Yet, Indiashould not offer shelter to theHindus who are fleeing theIslamic states!

There are a dozen morereasons why the arguments ofthe Nehruvian and Marxistschools must be treated withthe contempt they deserve.The Citizenship AmendmentBill, 2016, introduced by theModi Government is, there-fore, a crucial piece of legisla-tion to correct a historic wrongperpetuated by Nehru and hisfollowers over the last 70 years.

(The writer is Chairman,Prasar Bharati)

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This refers to the editorial, “TheBua-bhatija dare” (January 14).There can be no second opinionthat alliance between theSamajwadi Party (SP) and theBahujan Samaj Party (BSP) hasgiven the BJP jitters. By agreeingto share the seats equally amongthemselves, the two parties havemade sure that no fissures shoulderupt between them in the future.

The seat-sharing formula setby the SP and BSP has also left theCongress high and dry. The grandold party, should, however, lendits support to the alliance becauseits goal, too, is the same — to takeon the BJP. Congress leaders,who went on record to say thatthey won’t mind compromisingwith other like-minded partiesand would even sacrifice theirinterests to defeat the BJP regime,should now walk the talk in thelarger interest of the country.

Tharcius S FernandoChennai

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Sir — This refers to the article,“Return of Dame Dikshit”

(January 12) by Rinku Ghosh. Ata time when Congress chief RahulGandhi has been harping on theyouth to helm the party at Statelevels, the appointment of veter-an war-horse Sheila Dikshit tohead the Delhi Congress isn’t sur-prising. It is but a decision takenin distress to rescue fortunes.

The political situation at theground level has changed withthe Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)

coming to power. Despite havingbeen the Chief Minister for threeconsecutive terms, vast experi-ence and sober nature, Dikshitmay find it hard to compete withthe young Kejriwal, who despitea mix of success and failures, isdeeply entrenched in the mindsof Delhiites as the ground-upperson who can deliver.

Though Dikshit won laurelsfor introducing the Delhi Metro

during her tenure, challengesfaced by her in countering corrup-tion in the 2010 CommonwealthGames and women’s safety, espe-cially the famous Nirbhaya inci-dent, still linger in our minds.

Further, having lost toKejriwal in 2013 and then againin 2014, the party had been far-ing very badly. The task ahead,therefore, is daunting for Dikshit.She is familiar with Delhi alright

but can she deliver with renewedpromises and no recent record ofaffirmative actions?

KR Srinivasan Secunderabad

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Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Sending right message”(January 14). Even people likeHardik Pandya and KL Rahul —who top the who’s who list of thecricket industry — shouldunderstand or face the conse-quences of reckless behaviour inpublic sphere.

While anchors of talk showsare always eager to put words inthe mouths of their guests, it isfor the latter to exercise prudenceand refrain from falling prey tosuch provocations. The Board ofControl for Cricket in India(BCCI), too, has intervened andbanned the two for the next ODIseries. It would take long beforeboth the cricketers can mend thedamage suffered due to irre-sponsible utterances.

N NagarajanVia email

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Our sexual and reproductiverights are realised only when thecountry’s laws and policies

reflect these in totality for everyone. OnDecember 19, 2018, the Lok Sabhapassed the Surrogacy (Regulation) Billbanning commercial surrogacy, whichhas been legal since 2002. The Bill isintended to regulate malpractices relat-ed to surrogacy and has managed tobecome restrictive and counterproduc-tive to the very principles it was tryingto uphold. Surrogacy is basically anarrangement between a woman and acouple or individual, often supportedby a legal agreement, whereby thewoman (surrogate mother — SM)agrees to become pregnant and givebirth for another person or persons(commissioning parent/s — CP).

Routinely, assisted reproductive tech-niques are used for pregnancy, mostoften using the intended parent’s eggsand sperms. In case that is not possi-ble, either a donor egg or sperm or bothare used. This has been possible due toadvancement in scientific technologyaround assisted reproduction. However,these variations and the lack of clarityaround legal status of this arrangementhave really been the reason for sometragic past incidents.

From 2002 until this Bill waspassed, commercial surrogacy waspossible and a real option for realis-ing reproductive rights of countlessindividuals and couples who couldnot conceive, women who were athigh risk of death and disability ifthey chose to be pregnant, singlepeople of any sexual orientationand so on. Unfortunately, whatqueered the pitch were several inci-dents of would-be parents abandon-ing the surrogate mothers with theirnew-borns and subjecting them toexploitative conditions and meagrecompensation. It was largely felt thatthe rights of surrogate mothers were

exploited and needed protection.The issue of surrogacy is primar-

ily linked to reproductive rights of indi-viduals. Besides, right to scientificprogress is a human right that must becentral to this debate. The rights to pro-create and enjoy the progress of scien-tific advancement are interlinked in thisdiscourse. However, the recent Bill willtranslate in suppressing these rights. Ithas defined conditions for commission-ing the surrogacy and promises to reg-ulate the process. However, what it doesis ban commercial surrogacy andmakes altruistic surrogacy by a ‘closerelative’ the only route possible. It alsoallows only married couples to be eli-gible for opting surrogacy, that too, ifthey don’t have any child and are infer-tile for five years.

These conditions are based onmultiple assumptions, which include,a close relative who would be willingand capable of undergoing surrogatemotherhood without any emotionalexploitation and future repercussion.Further, it also takes for granted thatthe couple unable to conceive wouldshare everything about their medical

conditions within the family and thatthe five-year wait is appropriate.Assuming these to be a blanket truthis dangerous.

The biggest assumption that theBill makes is that all surrogacy centreshave been exploiting surrogate moth-ers. It fails to take into account all thosecentres where the practice is regulat-ed and the rights of surrogate mothersare protected. These centres have a fixedremuneration, about which surrogatemothers are informed at the outset.They are given care and support alongwith nutrition and medication for ahealthy pregnancy. The counselling andlegal representation help in keeping ita fair and rights-based arrangement forall and the legality of parenthood isclear. There has been so many childrenborn of a surrogacy procedure andbeing raised in the last decade that suchpractices should have been examinedand strengthened instead of com-pletely being curbed.

Today, where marital relation-ships may or may not have societal andparental approvals due to caste and reli-gion, such couples now have no option

if they hope to have a surrogate babythrough an altruistic relative. Also, asthe demographics change from mul-tiple siblings and larger families to sin-gle or two child families, the availabil-ity of an altruistic relative would dwin-dle in times to come.

The Bill also violates the reproduc-tive rights of same sex couples, live-incouples, singles and transgenders.Ironically, other laws, like the Protectionof Women from Domestic ViolenceAct, 2005 and the recent repeal of somesections under the Indian Penal Code,Section 377 and the TransgenderPersons Bill 2018 (Transgender Persons(Protection of Rights) Bill, 2018),recognise the rights of cohabitation andsame sex relationships. Thus, the Billreally does not conflate coherently withexisting legislation around reproduc-tive rights and gender justice.

Historically, one consistent flawwith most of our policies and laws hasbeen the failure to constitute andmanage the processes necessary forcompliance. The district-level commit-tees responsible for registration ofclinics for carrying out medical termi-

nation of pregnancies (MTP) are non-existent in most districts. Under suchcircumstances, establishing nationalboard and other structures to defineand approve surrogacies seems a dis-tant reality for many people.

India is a country where multi-ple realities co-exist. Changing nar-ratives add to differences that arisein communities due to education,migration, influence of popularmedia and socio-cultural norms.These differences need to be under-stood and accounted for whiledrafting legal instruments, other-wise a blanket and superficial viewwould skew the purpose of theselaws. This Surrogacy (Regulation)Bill has failed in its promise touphold the reproductive rights ofmost Indians who desire to have aprogeny using the latest scientificadvances through fair means.

(Dr Kalpana Apte is theSecretary General (CEO) at FamilyPlanning Association of India. DrShamla Dupte is the Director forMedical at Family PlanningAssociation of India)

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The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) maybe the latest ally to desert theNational Democratic Alliance(NDA) on the Citizenship(Amendment) Bill, 2016, introduced

in the last session of the Lok Sabha recently, butby no stretch of the imagination can the partybe termed as a “political weather scientist.”Similarly, the tag should also not be passed onto the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), which part-ed ways with the NDA last year. Compulsionsof state politics and scouting for better oppor-tunities at the national level forced these tworegional parties to break away from the NDArather than their potential to gauge trade winds.

In that sense, the bellwether status shouldgo to Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan. Forlong, he has been described as the ‘mausamvagyanik’, who can assess which way the polit-ical wind is blowing or which party would reapthe electoral harvest and form the nextGovernment.

Many have even appreciated his ability ofbeing “accurate and correct” with his politicalmoves over a period spanning three decades.Both his admirers and critics believe that he hasgot so much of expertise in reading “people’smood and pulse” that he always supports thewinning cause — the coalition which rules thecountry.

Paswan has been a part of all national coali-tions. He was first elected as an MLA in Biharway back in 1969, though he has always pre-ferred to be in Central politics after theEmergency when he first won the Hajipur LokSabha seat by a record margin in 1977. Be it theRight (NDA led by the BJP) or the one in whichthe Left had a major role (Third Front led byVP Singh) or the Centrist party (Congress-ledUnited Progressive Alliance), one factor whichhas always been common is the 75-year-oldPaswan. No ideology is anathema to him aslong as it takes him to the treasury benches.

He was first inducted in Union Cabinet byVP Singh in 1989 and since then the Dalitleader has never looked back. Of course, he lostone election in 2009 to an old rival in Bihar —Ram Sundar Das — from his stronghold ofHajipur and had to remain out of power for fiveyears. His followers, however, term that peri-od as an “accident” and an “aberration.”

When he decided to stick to the NDA inBihar for the 2019 polls, successfully bargain-ing a healthy six seats for his Lok JanshaktiParty (LJP) and one Rajya Sabha seat for him-self, many in his home state wondered if he hadlost his ability to predict the political climatewith the same perfection and astuteness.

Many in Paswan’s home state say thatUpendra Kushwaha, the former junior HRDminister in Narendra Modi’s Government andthe first one to jump ship in Bihar from NDAto UPA, has now developed the knack whichPaswan possessed at one point of time.Kushwaha, as president of the Rashtriya LokSamata Party (RLSP) and a Koeri himself,joined the grand alliance (mahagatbandhan) ofthe Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal(RJD) in the Hindi heartland, hoping to havea role in the next Union Government.

Kushwaha knows for sure that hisutility in NDA ended the momentNitish Kumar and his Janata DalUnited (JDU) joined hands with theBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to retainpower in the State and oust the RJDwith which JDU had fought theAssembly elections in the first place.Kushwaha and Kumar share a similarcaste support base and he realised hewould be more useful to the mahagathbandhan in Bihar than theNDA. So Kushwaha’s ouster was aforegone conclusion. In fact, it helpedPaswan get a better deal with the NDAin seat-sharing as whatever incremen-tal votes his party gets in Bihar helpsthe latter’s cause in its bid to do wellin the State.

Bihar will be an important battle-field in the 2019 general election with40 seats, a State where both the UPAand NDA are firmly entrenched.Hence, this is one State where the bat-tle is largely between the two and notthe constituent parties as such.

Besides RJD, the Congress andnow the RLSP, the grand alliance inBihar also has former Chief MinisterJitan Ram Manjhi’s party, HindustaniAwam Morcha (HAM) and LoktantrikJanata Dal (LJD) founded by SharadYadav, who broke away from theJDU. Then there is Mukesh Sahni,who had floated his political outfitVikasshil Insaan Party (VIP) andjoined the grand alliance, aiming toget votes from his Nishad communi-ty spread across the State. In addition,there is a possibility of even the Left

parties becoming a part of the grandalliance, which could leave a couple ofseats for them to show it is an umbrel-la alliance of all castes, groups and ide-ology.

On paper, the alliance looks real-ly ‘grand’ given the various caste com-binations it carries with it, but onground it is difficult to visualise howcompeting castes, parties and groupswould jell, and whether one commu-nity would be able to transfer its voteto the other. Also, the sharing of seatsis still a mystery and several conflicts,claims and counterclaims couldemerge.

Ironically, it is in Bihar where theBJP had to concede to its allies in a bigway, which many see as the end of theroad for its expansion in the State. Itwon 22 seats in the 2014 Lok Sabhapoll, and along with its allies LJP (6)and RLSP (3), the NDA won 32 seatseven though the combinedOpposition then on paper was quitestrong — RJD and JDU. The BJPwould be contesting only 17 seats,forcing it to part ways with five seatswhich it won last time, clearly a set-back for the party cadres who werehoping for expansion and some dayform the State Government on theparty’s own strength like it did inMaharashtra, breaking from the ShivSena and contesting Assembly pollsalone.

As of now, Bihar is the only Statewhere the battle lines have beendrawn and demarcated firmly withalliances in place. Many see this as a

microcosm of India — emergence ofa two-alliance formation where theBJP would head one polarity and theCongress the other with regional par-ties siding with one or the otherdepending on their state politics,perceptions at a given point of timeand crass opportunism, of course.

It is now gradually becomingclear that it will be the regional par-ties which would become the newweather scientist of the Indian politics—switching sides at the slightest pos-sibility of better electoral outing andreviewing their decision every nowand then according to their conve-nience and smell of opportunity.Bihar is a perfect example where youdo not find any permanent politicalfriend or enemy.

Every single regional party of theState has a history of deserting eitherthe NDA or the UPA in the past several years ever since the days ofMandal and Mandir politics whichpeaked in the late 1980s and early1990s.

Both Paswan and Nitish Kumarare sailing in the same boat — chang-ing sides seamlessly, that too repeat-edly, without the baggage of ideologyor any other factor. Paswan may be theexpert on this but others are quicklyplaying catch-up. Kumar has almostcaught up with Paswan, changingfrom one extreme to the other — firstNDA to UPA and then back to NDA— without batting an eyelid.

(The writer is Senior Editor, ThePioneer, Chandigarh)

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Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee has vehe-

mently criticised the NarendraModi Government’s “vendettapolitics” after the Income TaxDepartment started issuingsummons to the organisers ofvarious Durga Puja committeesof Kolkata.

A fuming Banerjee saidthat the people from all seg-ments and all walks of life irre-spective of their caste andcreed take part in Durga Pujamaking it a mass event. Butnow “they (CentralGovernment) is sendingnotices to the Durga Puja com-mittees seeking report on theirexpenditure. The Puja com-

mittees are being asked to payincome tax and show TDScertificates. But these are non-profit organisations. Why willthey have to pay income tax?”

Banerjee personally goeson to inaugurate most of theimportant Durga Pujas inKolkata for a number of daysapparently making them bigtourist attractions. In fact herGovernment gives a yearlygrant of Rs 10,000 to all the bigbudget Durga Puja committeesto enable them perform in abetter manner.

Notices were served by theIT Department under Section133(6) of the IT Act to theDurga Puja committees askingthem to explain their incomeand expenditure.

A livid Chief Minister whohas taken personal initiative topromote the festivities as aworld class carnival wonderedwhether the Modi Governmentwas “trying to stop Durga Pujain Bengal? I urge the DurgaPuja committees to unite andrefrain from going to the IT

Department because BJP istrying to stop the most impor-tant cultural activity of Bengaland we will not allow them todo that.”

The Centre was allowingthe champion fraudsters todecamp with thousands ofcrores of people’s money butwas harassing the small DurgaPuja committees of Bengal,Banerjee said.

The Chief Minister whoalso criticised the transfer ofCBI Director Alok Verma as an“act of vendetta” and an “unfor-tunate moment for the coun-try” said all the institutions andpolitical parties that were ques-tioning the acts done by theBJP were being attacked andvictimised by the Government.

��%�� 40'' -

The political skyline of Tamil Nadu is getting readyfor the battle of ballots which may happen any-

time in the months of April or May. Tuesday marksthe beginning of the Tamil month of Thai which ush-ers in the season of harvesting, Pongal festivities andrural sporting events. Thai is rated as the most aus-picious month and even rationalist Dravidian politi-cians go by the proverb “Thai Piranthal VazhiPirakkum” (Tamil for Thai will show the way).

O Panneerselvam, Deputy CM, who also headsthe coordination committee of the AIADMK, gaveenough hints on Monday about the developments thatare going to take place in Tamil Nadu politics in thecoming days. Speaking to reporters at Madurai wherehe has come to inaugurate the traditional rural sportof Jallikkattu (bull taming), Panneerselvam said hisparty would forge a mega alliance with like-mindedparties to face the upcoming Lok Sabha election. Hedid not disclose the names of the parties which wouldbe the constituents of the mega alliance.

This was followed by a disclosure by TamilisaiSounderarajan, president, State BJP, who said thatunion minister for power Piyush Goyal wouldreach Chennai on January 18 for discussions with var-ious friendly parties as part of the BJP’s attempt tofinalise a winnable alliance for the parliament elec-tion. “There are many political parties in Tamil Naduwhich have expressed their desire to join hands withthe BJP,” said Sounderarajan. She did not disclose thenames of the parties.

But sources in Tamil Nadu BJP told The Pioneerthat Goyal would definitely meet leaders of theAIADMK, PMK, Puthiya Tamizhagam led by DrKrishnasamy and the DMDK of Vijayakant. “Goyalhas fine rapport with AIADMK leaders as he wasinteracting with them on a one-to-one basis to sortout the issues faced by Tamil Nadu, whether it bemaking available coal for the thermal power stationsin the State and to address the shortfall in power,”said the BJP leader.

Port Blair: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman onMonday watched a joint amphibious exercise, par-ticipated by the three armed forces, off the CampbellBay coast, the southernmost island of the nation.

Andaman and Nicobar is an Integrated ServicesCommand. Sitharaman also reviewed the operationalreadiness of the command. The exercise, conduct-ed near Campbell Bay, included 10 ships, six aircraftand 700 troops of the Command, a defence ministrystatement said.

The Marine Commando (MARCO) unit of theIndian Navy and specialist platoon (GHATAK) of theIndian Army displayed their operational capabilitiesby carrying out helocasting and beach assault.

While returning from Campbell Bay, Sitharamanvisited the southernmost part of India, the IndiraPoint, the statement added. The Defence Minister wasgiven a demonstration on jungle survival skills atMilitary Station, Birchgunj. Later, she inaugurated thephase II of Married Accommodation Project (MAP)that includes 868 dwelling units for the troops ofAndaman Nicobar Command. PTI

Lucknow: Contradictionsbetween Opposition partieswon’t be allowed to hamper thefight against the saffron party inthe Lok Sabha elections as “theaim is same, to remove the BJP”,RJD leader Tejashwi Yadavstressed on Monday, seeking todownplay the Congress’ exclu-sion from the BSP-SP alliancein Uttar Pradesh.

The Samajwadi Party andthe Bahujan Samaj Party onSaturday announced theiralliance in Uttar Pradesh, shar-ing 38 seats each and leaving twoseats for smaller parties. Theyalso left Rae Bareli and Amethiseats for UPA chairperson SoniaGandhi and Congress chiefRahul Gandhi respectively.

To a question on theCongress being left out of thealliance in UP, the RJD leader,whose party is in alliance withthe grand old party in Bihar,said, “The aim is same, todefeat the BJP... All saw how theSP and BSP gave a stern replyto the BJP in the recent bypolls

(in UP). The result is beforeeveryone.”

Sharing the dias withSamajwadi Party chief AkhileshYadav, the RJD leader toldreporters, “You must also haveseen the statement of RahulGandhi that whether he isthere or not, BJP will not getseats and this is enough.”

“We are not different...They win here, we win there, itis the same thing,” TejashwiYadav, who also met Mayawation Sunday, said.

Asked who will campaignfor whom during the pollshustings, Tejashwi Yadav saidwhoever is required will go out

for campaigning in UttarPradesh and Bihar, which areboth big States.

While announcing thealliance on Saturday, Mayawatihad said,”In the past I have seenthat our votes get transferred tothe Congress, but not vice-versa. We do not gain from analliance with the Congress,whereas the vote transfer is per-fect in an SP-BSP tie-up.”

Drawing a parallel betweenthe BJP and the Congress, theBSP chief had also said theCongress had imposedEmergency while the BJP isresponsible for an undeclaredEmergency. PTI

Lakhimpur Kheri/Bahraich:Kashmir is still a challenge due todestabilising activities by Pakistan,Union Home Minister RajnathSingh said here on Monday.

He was talking to mediaper-sons after inaugurating the admin-istrative building, residential blockand officers’ mess at the SSB sec-tor headquarters in Lakhimpur.

“Kashmir is still a challenge dueto destabilising activities by neigh-bouring Pakistan. However, theArmy, the CRPF, the J&K Police andintelligence bureau men are actingin better coordination,” he said.

Speaking about Naxal inci-dents, the Home Minister saidthey had dropped by 50 per centduring the last four years.

Extremist violence in north-

eastern areas saw a decline of 80 percent, Singh said.

Lauding improvements madeon the internal security front, hesaid, “No major terrorist incidenthad taken place in India during thelast four-and-a-half years (of theNarendra Modi Government).”Singh said the country’s economytoday was counted as the world’sfastest growing.

“By 2030, the Indian economywould rank among top threeeconomies of the world,” he said.

“The Modi Government haslaunched the world’s largest uni-versal health care schemeAyushmaan Bharat which has ben-efitted 7.5 lakh people so far,”Singh said.

The Union Minister also visit-

ed Bahraich, where he laid thefoundation stone of the State’s firstIntegrated Check Post (ICP) at theIndo-Nepal border in Rupaidehaarea. The ICP was constructed ata cost of Rs 200 crore.

Singh said the security forceswere tackling well the terroristspushed into India by Pakistan.

“Pakistan sends terrorist toseparate Jammu & Kashmir fromIndia, but the security forces aredealing well with the anti-nation-al elements and terrorists,” he said.

Responding to a questionabout the alliance between theSamajwadi Party and the BahujanSamaj Party in Uttar Pradesh,Singh said the BJP would win notless than 72 seats in the upcomingLok Sabha elections. PTI

New Delhi: An SP-BSP alliance inUttar Pradesh without the Congresswas exactly what the BJP wanted initially and the two region-al parties have fallen into the rul-ing party’s design, the Congresssaid on Monday.

Spokesperson RPN Singh saidthe BJP wanted the secular partiesto remain divided in the political-ly crucial Uttar Pradesh before the

2019 Lok Sabha election and con-test independently so that theirvotes could be split. Its attemptshave proved successful, he added.

On Sunday, the Congress saidit would contest on all 80 Lok Sabhaseats in Uttar Pradesh in the gen-eral election, expected in April-May. That the party was left out ofthe SP-BSP alliance would notaffect its prospects and the

Congress would contest with “fullforce”, it had said.

On Monday, Singh tried to raisedoubts over the longevity of thealliance, wondering whether it wouldlast till the UP Assembly election. Healso asked whether now BSP chiefMayawati and SP leader AkhileshYadav would attack Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on “corruption” inthe Rafale jet deal. PTI

Patna: No case of humans get-ting infected with the bird fluvirus has been detected inBihar so far, a senior StateGovernment official said.

“Among the reported casesof suspected or confirmed birdflu, we have not come acrosswith any such incident (ofhumans getting infected withthe virus) so far,” Health depart-ment Principal Secretary SanjayKumar told reporters here.

The first incident of sus-pected avian influenza wasreported from six villages ofAsarganj block of Munger dis-trict in December. The Statehas, so far, found samples pos-itive for bird flu from fourplaces - two places in Mungerand one each in Banka and inthe zoo in Patna.

“There are chances that theanimal husbandry departmentemployees may get affected(with bird flu) as they come incontact with dead birds, but nosuch incidents have come toour notice,” he said.

The officer said it is theresponsibility of health depart-ment to get one “affected” per-

son tested to ensure whether heor she actually infected withbird flu.

The medicine ‘Tamiflu’,used for the treatment of theperson infected with bird flu, isavailable in sufficient quantityand the Central Governmenthas also dispatched more med-icines after the incident, Kumarsaid. Asked whether thedepartment has issued anyguideline for consumption ofeggs and chickens, Kumar said,“We have asked people to takeprecautions.” Earlier onSaturday, Animal and FishResources Department hadsaid people can consume eggsand chickens after cookingthem above 70 degrees Celsiustemperature as the virus getdestroyed on this temperature.

“It is safe to consume eggsand chicken because normallythey are cooked at very hightemperature (beyond 70degrees) in our households. Sothere is no need to be panicky,”Animal and Fish ResourcesDepartment’s Secretary NVijayalakshmi had said.

PTI

�� 40'' -

Upping the ante on the 2017Kodanad estate heist video

clip, DMK on Monday urgedGovernor Banwarilal Purohitto direct Chief Minister KPalaniswami to resign from hispost to ensure a free and fairprobe into the matter.

The main Opposition partydemanded probe by a SpecialInvestigation Team, comprisingofficers of the rank of InspectorGeneral of Police and furtherinvestigation into the “myste-rious death” of alleged key con-spirator Kanagaraj. The relatedcase is before the District andSessions Judge, Nilgiris.

�� 6�, -

Veteran Congress leader andformer chairman of the

Maharashtra LegislativeCouncil Shivajirao Deshmukhdied on Monday in hospital here due to prolonged illness.

He was 84. Deshmukh hadbeen facing several healthissues since the last fewmonths, following which hewas admitted in BombayHospital for treatment, where

he breathed his last thisevening, the hospital authori-ties said.

He was on dialysis for thelast couple of years, a source inhis family said.

Deshmukh, who hadserved as revenue minister inthe Vasantsada PatilGovernment in 1976-85, hailedfrom Shirala tehsil in Sanglidistrict of westernMaharashtra.

His last rites will be per-formed at Shirala on Tuesday.

Jaipur: Senior BJP MLA GulabChand Kataria took oath as the protem speaker of the RajasthanAssembly on Monday. The pro temspeaker will conduct the first meet-ing of the 15th Legislative Assemblywhich is beginning Tuesday, andaccording to the state government’sproposal, election of the new speak-er will be held on January 16.

Governor Kalyan Singh admin-istered Kataria oath at a ceremony atthe Raj Bhawan here. Chief MinisterAshok Gehlot, his deputy SachinPilot, members of the council of min-isters, BJP MLA Rajendra Rathoreand others attended the event.

Outgoing speaker KailashMeghwal, however, skipped the func-

tion. Meghwal had recently accusedthe state government of not adheringto parliamentary rules and traditionsin summoning the first Session,which is beginning from Tuesday.

He had alleged that neither thechief minister nor the StateParliamentary Affairs Minister heldformal discussion with him beforerecommending to the Governor forsummoning the Session, which hesaid, is mandatory.

Once a new Speaker is elected,Kataria, who was the home ministerin the previous government, will bethe leader of opposition whileRajendra Rathore will be his Deputy (Leader of Opposition) in the Assembly. PTI

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala hasbeen at the receiving end after thefloods and lost around 18 per centof the tourists the State used toreceive earlier, Minister of State(independent charge) for TourismAlphons Kannanthanam said on Monday.

He told reporters here that asa Minister and a Keralite, he wasnot happy with ranking of the statein the tourism sector of the coun-try. Kannathanam said PrimeMinister Narendra Modi would onJanuary 15 inaugurate a tourismproject related to thePadmanabhaswami temple here,

under the spiritual circuit themeof the swadesh darshan project.

The project of the Centre wasto develop the basic facilities inand around the religious institu-tions across the country. Swadeshdarshan links at least three majortourists destinations of the coun-try. There are 77 such projects andover Rs 6,300 crore has beensanctioned, he said.

Kannathanam also said 60 percent of Indian tourists were attract-ed towards spiritual tourism. “That’swhy we are developing the regionsaround the religious institutions.Under this scheme we have sanc-

tioned 75.88 crore forPadmanabhaswami temple andover 95 per cent work has beencompleted,” the Minister said.

He also said the state was setto receive tourists and the indus-try was ready after the August del-uge. “I heard that according to pre-liminary reports, Kerala has beenreceiving 18 per cent less touristsafter the floods. This is even as weare ready to receive them after thefloods. People outside still thinkthat we are yet to get ready,” hesaid. The minister also said hisministry was concentrating onattracting tourists from large mar-

kets across the globe.“We are concentrating on cap-

turing the large markets across theglobe - like China. Last year, 144million people from China went outof that country. We got only twolakh of that crowd. We need to re-route at least 10 per cent of Chinesetourists to our country in the nextfew years,” he said. Kannathanamrubbished the earlier claim of stateministers that only Rs 18 crore wassacntioned by the Centre for thedevelopment of Sabarimala andsaid the rest would be given onlyafter receiving the utilisation reportof the first installment. PTI

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Kolkata: The Congress and the BSP are yet to con-firm their participation in the mega Opposition rallyproposed by the TMC on January 19 ahead of thegeneral elections. Leaders of various other Oppositionparties have already confirmed their participation,TMC sources said.

West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremoMamata Banerjee had earlier in the day said that she had a telephonic conversation with SP chiefAkhilesh Yadav and that he had assured his presenceat the rally.

“Such a major meeting of Opposition parties hasnot happened in recent times,” she told reporters atthe state secretariat. PTI

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Animal rights activists acrossKolkata on Monday erupt-

ed in anger demanding strictestpolice action against the accusedafter 17 puppies, including theirplausible mother were literallybludgeoned to death by twomost unlikely persons — nurs-ing interns in one of city’s lead-ingmedical colleges.

Video clippings apparent-ly taken from inside an adjacentdental medical college hostel atSealdah in North Kolkatashowed two nursing internsruthlessly clubbing the puppi-esthat whined helplessly.

The footages showed theperpetrators of the crime jam-ming the escape route beforerepeatedly attacking the haplesscanines with sticks and block-

ing their ways whenever theytried to retire to safety.

After each assassinationthe accused examined thembefore slipping them insideplastic carry-packs and throw-ing them away.

Postmortem reports citedinternal injuries as the cause ofdeaths of the poor dogs mostof which were found with bro-ken limbs and fractured skull,

sources said. Initial suspicionsof the litters being poisonedbeing poisoned was also ruledout by the autopsy report,sources said.

“We were on the thirdfourth of our building andwere yelling relentlessly fromour side asking the ladies tostop the act. But as we couldnot go to their side of the cam-pus we decided to take video

shots for the benefit of someNGOs,” said one of the dentalcollege students.

Another of his colleaguessaid “After there was no replyfrom the NGOs we uploaded itin Facebook and saw it goingviral within hours.”

Meanwhile, Jayanti Ghoshan animal rights activist and alawyer demanded strictest pos-sible action against the perpe-

trators of the crime even asKolkata’s civil society eruptedin great anger demandingexemplary action.

Surojit, a Bangla playbacksinger, said, “I cannot see ithappening even on the Net.Such a ghastly act. If they hadproblems with the puppiesthen they could have reportedit to the authorities or even theCorporation. Why murderthem and that too so merci-lessly.” Cases have been regis-tered under various sections ofthe Indian Penal Code andPrevention of Corruption Actand “those found guilty wouldbe strongly dealt with,” policesources said while the NRSMCauthorities said the internswould be rusticated if the alle-gations brought against themwere found to be true.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi will don the pen for

the readers of Thuglak, thepopular Tamil magazinefounded by Cho Ramaswamy.Modi, who had been a regularparticipant in the previousanniversary meetings of themagazine, a major event inTamil Nadu’s cultural calendar,told the readers of Thuglak thatthey were welcome to send himquestions which he wouldanswer in the next issue of thepublication.

Rich tributes were paid by Modi to Cho Ramaswamy,founder editor of Thuglakon Monday in connection with 49th anniversary of itspublication.

“Greetings to the readers ofThuglak as the magazine marksits 49th anniversary. I also paymy tributes to the fearless andphenomenal Cho Ramaswamy,who nurtured Thuglak andtook it to new heights,” the Prime Minister said in aTwitter message.

“I have often been a part of

the anniversary celebrationsof Thuglak but unfortunately,this time I have not been ableto. However, I request the read-ers to send me their questions,which I would be glad toanswer in the next issue,” thePrime Minister tweeted. Hismessages were read out by S Gurumurthy, the currenteditor and publisher of themagazine.

What marked the anniver-sary celebrations was the ques-tion posed by reader of Thuglalwhich were answered byGurumurthy. To a question byone of the readers about thepossible winner in the Lok sabha election from TamilNadu, Gurumurthy said the DMK has a slight edge overthe AIADMK.

“This is because the DMKhas a leader while theAIADMK is handicapped bythe absence of a strong leader.But that does not mean that itis going to be easy for theDMK,” he said.

Gurunurthy ruled out thepossibility of Rahul Gandhibecoming the next PrimeMinister of the country. “The

Congress, his own party, is notconfident about it. PChidambaram, described asthe strongman of the party hasalso made it celar that RahulGandhi would not be the PrimeMinister,” said Gurumurthy.

When asked about the pos-sibility of Narendra Modi get-ting re-elected as the PrimeMinister, he said it would bedecided by the electorate.“People always favour a strongleader. In 1971, when I was anordinary worker of theCongress which was led by thelegendary Kamaraj, I have seenIndira Gandhi winning theelection because all wereagainst her. The situation issimilar to that now. The election has turned out toa Modi versus Rest bout,” saidthe chartered accountant-turned columnist.

The anniversary meeting ofThuglak is an indication to theway electorate of Tamil Nadu isthinking and ChoRamaswamy used to enthraland electrify the audience withhis witty and sharp observa-tions about the political scenesgetting unfolded in the State.

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Police in Goa have prose-cuted around 7.74 lakh traf-

fic violators in 2018, whichamounts to more than half ofthe State’s population of 1.5million, according to statisticsreleased by Director General ofPolice Muktesh Chander.

Addressing a Press confer-ence on Monday in Panaji, thesenior officer also said that itwas “absurd” to attribute adrop in tourism footfalls to Goadue to harassment of tourists bytraffic police personnel.

“There has been a signifi-cant increase of 48 per cent inprosecution of traffic offendersas compared to the corre-sponding year. Notably, theGoa Police prosecuted 7,74,578traffic violators and collectedfines amounting to Rs 9.19crore (in 2018),” a statementreleased by the DGP said.

State’s population accord-ing to the 2011 official censusis 14.59 lakh. Calling accusa-tions from the travel andtourism industry stakeholdersthat tourism footfalls in Goahave dropped because of

harassment of tourists by traf-fic police as “absurd”, Chandersaid the Motor Vehicles Actmakes no distinction betweentourists and local residents.

“There is nothing whichsays that foreigners are exempt-ed from the Motor Vehicles Actin India. Is there a law by theTourism Department anywherethat (says) they are exempted?So there is nothing like that.Everybody has to follow trafficlaws,” he told the media.

“And if a traffic officer isprosecuting a traffic offender,it does not matter whether heis a foreigner or whether he isa tourist or whether he is a localGoan. So there is no question

of harassment. “People should obey traffic

rules. That is all. Nobody willharass them,” Chander said,adding that if there were specificcomplaints of harassment, thenthe police would be willing tolook into them. The Oppositionin the past has also accused traf-fic policemen of harassingtourists, especially those drivingself-driven vehicles hired inGoa or travelling in vehicleswith outstation number plates.

Goa is one of the top beachand nightlife tourism destina-tions in the country and lastyear attracted more than sevenmillion tourists, out of whichhalf a million were foreigners.

Patna: Leaders of the rulingNDA in Bihar on Mondaysought to project an image ofbonhomie as they treatedthemselves to sumptuous help-ings of dahi-chura (curd andflattened rice) as part of MakarSankranti festivities.

Chief Minister NitishKumar, his deputy Sushil KumarModi and Union Minister RamVilas Paswan moved from onevenue to another to join the feast hosted by leaders of thethree NDA constituents in a dis-play of unity.

The BJP, the JD(U) and theLJP have already announcedseat-sharing among them forthe coming Lok Sabha elections.

At the Lok Janshakti Party stateheadquarters, its founding pres-ident Ram Vilas Paswanaccorded a warm welcome toGovernor Lalji Tandon, ChiefMinister Kumar and DeputyChief Minister Modi.

Paswan was joined by hisson and LJP parliamentaryboard chief Chirag Paswan andbrothers Ram Chandra Paswanand Pashupati Kumar Paras,MP and Minister in BiharGovernment respectively, inwelcoming the guests, whowere also treated to other del-icacies prepared with jaggeryand til (sesame), consumptionof which is believed to be aus-picious on this day. PTI

Guwahati: Black flags werewaved at Assam Chief MinisterSarbananda Sonowal in hisconstituency Majuli onMonday and RTI activist AkhilGogoi went on a 24-hourhunger strike on the first day ofAssamese Magh or BhogaliBihu festivities as agitationagainst the Citizenship(Amendment) Bill continued.

Sonowal was shown black

flags for the second consecutiveday by members of AsomJatiyatabadi Yuva ChatraParishad, Krishak MuktiSangram Samiti and severalother local organisations inMajuli, when he arrived thereby helicopter to participate inan official function.

The protestors shouted slo-gans against the Chief Minister,the Centre and State

Governments and demandedwithdrawal of the controversialBill. Police took several pro-testors into custody and dis-persed the others. On Sundaytoo, Sonowal was shown blackflags by the AJYCP and theKrishak Mukti Sangram Samiti(KMSS) protestors outside theKaziranga University where hehad gone to participate in itsconvocation. PTI

Ahmedabad: Three persons,including a child, were killedafter their throats got slit by kitestrings during Uttarayan fes-tivities in Gujarat, police saidon Monday. Several otherswere injured in separate inci-dents across the State afterfalling off rooftops while flyingkites, an official added.

A Mehsana police officialsaid eight-year-old TehjeebKhan died at the local civil hos-pital after suffering a severeneck injury due to a kite string.

“Tehjeeb was riding a bicy-cle when a kite string slit histhroat,” he said. Ashok Panchal(45), who was riding a motor-cycle, was similarly killed instant-ly near Dholka in Ahmedabaddistrict, an official said. PTI

Sabarimala: Thousands ofLord Ayyappa devotees onMonday witnessed the auspi-cious ‘makaravilakku’, the rit-ualistic ‘deeparadhana’ (aarthi)held at Ponnambalamedu, thehill facing the shrine, as part ofthe annual festivities.

Braving heavy rush, the pil-grims queued up for hours tohave a glimpse of LordAyyappa, carrying the ‘irumu-di kettu’ (the traditional bun-dle a devotee brings to theshrine) over their heads. The‘sannidhanam’, the temple com-plex, reverberated with LordAyyappa hymns as the portalsof the sanctum sanctorum wasthrown open for the ‘deeparad-hana’ in the evening, which wasperformed to the idol of thedeity, adorned with holy jew-els ‘thiruvabharanam’. PTI

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The BJP on Monday held a meeting of its senior functionar-ies from Kashmir and asked them to work on the ground to

connect with the masses and counter “misleading propaganda”of rival parties ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. The meeting chairedby BJP state secretary Ashok Kaul was held at party headquar-ters here and was attended by senior leaders from Kashmir, includ-ing Altaf Thakur and Arif Raja besides state general secretariesNarinder Singh and Sunil Sharma, a BJP spokesman said.

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The logistics sector in India wit-nessed a new high recently,when the Kolkata-Varanasi and

the Kolkata-Patna container cargoroute was made operational by IWAI.After this successful endeavour, IWAIis now also assisting with passengertransportation during the largest socialcongregation, at the Kumbh Mela inPrayagraj. PRAVIR PANDEY, sharesthe plans in place for a safe and effec-tive mode of transport for pilgrims andelaborates on the big plans towardsmaking the cost-effective and envi-ronment friendly, inland waterways aflourishing new transport modalchoice in India. Edited excerpts fromthe interview:

● Every year, the Kumbh Melareceives a large influx of pilgrims toVaranasi. What practical interven-tions have been made by IWAI totransport the passengers throughwaterways?In the past, IWAI provided the ferryservices and channel markings duringthe Ganga Sagar mela at West Bengaland during the Prakash Parv at Patna.At the Kumbh Mela at Prayagraj,IWAI has set up four floating termi-nals, one each at Kilaghat, SaraswatiGhat, Naini Bridge and Sujawan Ghat.Further, we have placed two vessels—CL Kasturba and SL Kamla, for pil-grim’s movement. These vessels havea carrying capacity of 150-200 pas-sengers and they are equipped with allnecessary safety measures. In addition,navigational aids will be maintainedbetween Prayagraj and Varanasi withthe targeted least available depth(LAD) of one meter. Five temporaryjetties at Chatnag, Sirsa, Sitamarhi,Vindhyachal and Chunar have alsobeen set up for the embarkment anddisembarkment of the passengers.The services will run from January 15to March 15. From Kilaghat, the pil-grims will be taken in a merry-go-round on small vessels for the sacredbath. This service will be scaled up dur-ing the days of the ‘Shahi Snan’. Webelieve that this service will not onlyreduce the stress on the cities duringtheKumbh Mela, but also offer ascenic and a convenient option to thedevotees to enjoy the sacred fair.

●Under the Jal Marg Vikas Project,one of the three multi-modal inlandwaterway terminals at Varanasi was

recently inaugurated by the PM.What is the proposed operatingmodel of these terminals?It has been planned to give these ter-minals to the private players on a PPPmode. Yes, the Varanasi terminal isready and inaugurated and we havealready done the RFQ and are nowgoing to issue the RPF after theapproval from the competent author-ity. At the RFQ stage, we received inter-est from four big players—Dubai-basedDP World, Singapore-based Portek ina joint-venture with India’s ACTL, andtwo other Indian companies—JMBaxi Group and IL&FS. These com-panies, after proving their technicalqualification, will be given the task ofOperation and Management (O&M)of the terminals. Keeping the base ofthe Model Concession Agreement ofthe Government of India, we will offerthe terminals to private players for 30years on royalty per ton of cargo onrevenue sharing basis. Also, though wehave completed the Phase-I of all theseprojects, the rest of the expansion of theterminals will be done by the privateplayers. So, for the full capacity utili-sation of the Varanasi terminal, thereis still a need of investments worth�350 crore, which will be borne by theprivate operators. This would result insaving the cost on behalf of the gov-ernment.

●Along the above multi-modal ter-minal at Varanasi, a Freight Village

has also been planned. What are thereasons for choosing Varanasi for thisproject and what is expected from it?A major challenge in the logisticsindustry is that of last-mile connec-tivity. Though the operating cost onwaterways is much cheaper than othermodes of transportation, the cost ofloading and unloading of cargo is sub-stantial. We are trying to address thisissue with a Freight Village at Varanasiwhich will serve as a cargo hub and acentre for cargo aggregation and valueaddition. It will also supplement thedevelopment of a professional logisticsindustry in the city, which will be cru-cial for the full capacity utilisation ofthe multi-modal terminal on riverGanga. This logistic hub will be devel-oped over 100 acres of land and willbecome a designated area where facil-ities for various modes of transporta-tion, distribution of goods and otherlogistics are available in a synchronisedmanner on a large scale. We will devel-op the necessary infrastructure atmore locations for the private playersto operate. We have assessed a directemployment generation of 200,000people and the indirect employmentcan reach up to 10 lakh persons as theprivate players will operate it later on.Varanasi proved to be ideal for such aproject since it is strategically locatedas a focal point in the logistics chainof the Eastern Transport Corridor ofthe country where the NationalWaterways-1, the Eastern Dedicated

Freight Corridor (EDFC), the NationalHighway-7 and the National Highway-2 pass through.

●The Government has laid a lot ofemphasis on connectivity for thenorth eastern region. There is talk ofdeveloping floating terminals inArunachal Pradesh. What are yourplans for this region?We are currently operating vessels onriver Brahamputra (NationalWaterways-2) from Dhubri to Sadiya.We already have a multi-modal ter-minal at the Pandu Port. Currently, inassociation with the World Bank, weare trying to explore the possibility ofa return cargo from the North East onNW-2 to make it more viable. Anotherimportant aspect of developing thenorth eastern region is the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route. We are fac-ing some draft issues on the Meghnariver and to address that, a jointdredging operation will be executedthere in cooperation with Bangladesh.We can transport cargo from Varanasito Sadia in Assam, opening access to4,000 km of waterways. We are alsoexploring an alternate route to theNorth East via the Sittwe Port inMyanmar. This is the KaladanMultimodal Transit Transport Project,which is being developed at a cost of�1,900 crore. It includes a sea port atSittwe, development of 158 km of theKaladan river going north, and aninland waterway terminal at Paletwa.It also includes development of 109 kmof road to connect with Zorinpui inMizoram. Once operational, whichshould be very soon, this crucial routewill give ease access to the north east-ern part of the country.

●You mentioned that using thewaterways as a means of transportcan help reduce the carbon footprintof the cargo industry, significantly.On these lines, IWAI had recentlyannounced a pilot project to demon-strate methanol as a maritime fuel.What is the update on this?Crucial steps have been taken toencourage research on using methanolas a maritime fuel and for riverine ves-sels. We have given three of our workboats to retrofit engines and six lowdraft cargo vessels of 1,000-2,000tonnes capacity to the Cochin Shipyardthat will use methanol as fuel with tech-nology from Sweden. Methanol can be

a game changer as the cost of the fuelis just �26 a litre. The roadmap for thisproject is being spearheaded by theUnion Minister for Shipping, NitinGadkari, who is really passionateabout making shipping on the nation-al waterways an economically cheap-er and an environment friendly trans-port option. Under his guidance, we areworking on fuel bunkering facilities atintervals of about 500 km on the entire1,600 km Haldia-Varanasi stretch forships running on methanol.

●IWAI aims to increase the cargotransportation through IWT onNational Waterways in the countryfrom 55 million tonnes currently to150 million tonnes by 2023, but dowe have enough vessels to meet thistarget? What are the plans in place toadd more vessels, if any?We believe that this target is achievable.Yes, the fact is that currently, we havevery few vessels to transport cargo onall the rivers. At the moment, IWAI has15 operating vessels, which carryitems like fly ash, coal, fertilisers andso on. We believe that 1,200-2,400tonnnes vessels will be required to meetthe target by 2023. Though our pri-mary job is to make the waterways nav-igable and equipped for vessels to sail,we have taken a big step towards build-ing confidence in the key players to usewaterways as their choice for trans-portation. Through the World Bankprocurement process, we engagedDST Germany, to design ideal ships forthe river Ganga. DST Germany hascome up with 13 class of ships, ideal-ly suited for the river Ganga whichinclude bulk cargo ships, barge, con-tainer ships and car carriers. Theserequire a low draft but have a carryingcapacity ranging from 600 to 2,450tonnes of cargo. After due diligencewith IIT Kharagpur, we have displayedthese General Arrangement designs,free of cost on our website, so that anyship builder can refer to them. To giveyou an estimate, an investment of �30-50 lakh is needed to design a new ship.That is a direct saving that wouldaccrue to the private sector, whowould use the DST Germany designsto manufacture riverine vessels.Though IWAI will also procure around15-20 vessels, I strongly believe that itis the private sector, which will have totake lead to make this sector morelucrative.

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The rupee Monday plungedby 43 paise to close at

nearly one-month low of 70.92against the US dollar amidweak industrial output growthdata, fall in domestic equitymarkets ands u s t a i n e dforeign fundoutflows.

A weakUS dollara g a i n s tmajor globalcurrenciesand fall incrude oilprices, how-ever, cappedlosses of thed o m e s t i ccurrency.

At the Interbank ForeignExchange (forex), the rupeeopened on a firm note at 70.50and touched a high of 70.44 perUS dollar in early trade.

But it pared early gainslater and fell to an intra-day lowof 70.95 against the US dollar.

The domestic currency,however, recovered some lostground and finally settled forthe day at 70.92 per dollar,down 43 paise over its previousclosing. This is the lowest clos-ing level since December 17when the rupee closed at 71.56per dollar.

On Friday, the rupee hadweakened by 8 paise to close at70.49 against the US dollar.

HDFC Securities HeadPCG & Capital MarketsStrategy VK Sharma said weak-er economic data, fall indomestic equity and foreign

fund outflow weighed on therupee sentiment.

Industrial output growthdropped to a 17-month low of0.5 per cent in November onaccount of contraction in themanufacturing sector, particu-larly consumer and capital

goods.Meanwhile, the dollar

index, which gauges the green-back's strength against a basketof six currencies, dipped 0.11per cent to 95.56 in late after-noon trade.

Brent crude, the globalbenchmark, was trading at$59.63 per barrel, lower by 1.41per cent.

Meanwhile, foreign fundssold shares worth �687.20 croreon a net basis Friday, whiledomestic institutional investorsbought equities to the tune of�123.17 crore, provisional datashowed.

The Financial BenchmarkIndia Private Ltd (FBIL) set thereference rate for the rupee/dol-lar at 70.8244 and for rupee/euroat 81.2469. The reference rate forrupee/British pound was fixed at90.9640 and for rupee/100Japanese yen at 65.50.

��%&�� !�� 6�� '01

2034-

In a bid to alignwith the best

corporate prac-tices, theF i n a n c eMinistry hasasked the publicsector banks togradually bringdown the gov-ernment's equityto 52 per cent, atop official said.

"The gov-ernment isessentially amajor share-holder. So, thisneed to bealigned to the best corporatepractices. The shareholdingneeds to come down to at least52 per cent in the first phase.As and when market conditionallows, banks will take step inthat direction. They have all thepermission in hand," FinancialServices Secretary Rajiv Kumarsaid.

Dilution of Governmentstake will help banks to meet 25per cent public float norms ofmarket regulator Sebi. Some ofthe public sector banks haveGovernment's holding beyond75 per cent.

Besides, it will encouragethe banks to follow the pru-dential lending norms.

The country's largestlender State Bank of India(SBI) has already initiated stepfor Rs 20,000 crore share salethrough qualified institutionalplacement (QIP). Post QIP,the Government stake will bediluted from the existing 58.53per cent.

Last month, shareholders

of the bank approved sale ofshares to fund the businessgrowth.

Many other banks are plan-ning to raise capital throughsome means or other, depend-ing on the market condition.

Some of the lenders likeSyndicate Bank, Union Bank ofIndia, Punjab National Bank,and Oriental Bank ofCommerce among others havealready issued or in process ofissuing Employee SharePurchase Scheme (ESPS).

He further said theGovernment has also initiatedthe process for consolidation ofRegional Rural Banks (RRBs)to better serve the needs of therural India.

Recently, the Centre hasamalgamated three RRBs —Punjab Gramin Bank, MalwaGramin Bank and SutlejGramin Bank — into a singleRRB with effect from January1.

The central Government,after consulting the sponsor

banks of the three RRBs, feltthat in the interest of the banksand the areas served by them,they should be amalgamatedinto a single RRB.

Besides, Punjab GraminBank (PNB), and Uttar BiharGramin Bank (UCO Bank)has been amalgamated withMadhya Bihar Gramin Bank(PNB).

While the consolidatedRRB in Punjab is called PunjabGramin Bank, with headquar-ters at Kapurthala, the one inBihar has been rechristened asDakshin Bihar Gramin (basedin Patna).

These banks were formedunder the RRB Act, 1976 withan objective to provide creditand other facilities to smallfarmers, agricultural labourersand artisans in rural areas.

Currently, the Centre holds50 per cent in RRBs, while 35per cent and 15 per cent arewith the concerned sponsorbanks and State Governments,respectively.

�&�� 8)<8

The wife of ex-Nissan chiefCarlos Ghosn has alleged

her husband is being held in"harsh" conditions and sub-jected to round-the-clockinterrogations intended toextract a confession.

In a letter to Human RightsWatch, Carole Ghosn urged thegroup to highlight the case ofher husband, who has been indetention in Japan since hisshock arrest on November 19and faces three charges offinancial misconduct.

The nine-page letter saysthe former high-flying execu-tive is held in cell that is lit evenat night, and is denied his dailymedication.

"For hours each day, theprosecutors interrogate him,browbeat him, lecture him,and berate him, outside thepresence of his layers, in aneffort to extract a confession,"the letter says.

It claims prosecutors havepressed Ghosn to sign docu-ments in Japanese, which hedoes not understand, provid-ing only an oral translation,and without his lawyer present.

"I urge Human RightsWatch to highlight his case... Topress the Government toreform its draconian system ofpretrial detention and interro-gation," the letter adds.

Ghosn's ongoing deten-tion has prompted some inter-national criticism of Japan'slegal system, which permitsprosecutors to hold suspectswhile they investigate an alle-gation, and also allows lengthypre-trial detention oncecharges have been filed.

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�� '01�2034-

Bharat Heavy ElectricalsLimited (BHEL) has won

an order for setting up 129 MWSolar Photovoltaic (SPV) powerplants in Telangana fromSingareni Collieries CompanyLimited.

Significantly, valued atRs.565 Crore, this is the largestSPV power plant order won byBHEL till date.

The plants are to be set upat four locations in Telangana- Ramagundam (50 MW),Yellandu (39 MW), Manuguru(30 MW) and Pegadapally (10MW), on Engineering,Procurement and Construction(EPC) basis. With this order,BHEL’s solar portfolio has risento more than 710 MW.

BHEL has more than threedecades of expertise in solarphotovoltaic products and ser-vices backed by a dedicatedR&D setup. BHEL is one of thevery few companies in India,having established capability in

major segments of the PVvalue chain viz., solar cells, PVmodules and power condi-tioning units and systems.

BHEL has significantlycontributed to the ‘Make inIndia’ initiative of GoI andvarious initiatives for develop-ing and promoting renewableenergy based products andservices on a sustained basis.The company has alsoenhanced its state-of-the-artmanufacturing lines of solarcells and solar modules. Inaddition to this, BHEL isassembling space-grade solarpanels using high-efficiencycells at its Electronic SystemsDivision, Bengaluru.

In addition to solar pho-tovoltaic products, BHELoffers complete EPC solu-tions from concept to com-missioning for both off-gridand grid-interactive SPVpower plants in various partsof the country includingLakshadweep and Andaman& Nicobar Islands.

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�� '01�2034-

Market regulator Sebi imposed a fine totalling Rs 34 lakh on10 entities for indulging in fraudulent trading in the shares

of Mindvision Capital.The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) had con-

ducted an investigation in the trading activities of the compa-ny between June 2009 and February 2010.

The probe found that the entities were connected to eachother and executed circular trading in the scrip of Mindvision,which resulted in creation of artificial volume.

The total volume that was contributed by the circular trad-ing was 94,745 shares which is 12.5 per cent of the total marketvolume, Sebi noted.

"The scheme, plan, device and artifice employed by thenoticees in this case of circular trading, tantamount to fraud onthe securities market in as much as it involves manipulative trans-actions in securities and misuse of the securities market.

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Abattling Andy Murray bowed out ofthe Australian Open at the first hur-dle on Monday, but it was business

as usual for ruthless Roger Federer andRafael Nadal who joined CarolineWozniacki in round two.

The Scottish five-time Melbourne Parkfinalist gave it everything he had andshowed glimpses of the form that won himthree Grand Slams, but his ailing body lethim down during a gutsy 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5/7),6-7 (4/7) defeat to 22nd seed RobertoBautista Agut.

Murray tearfully revealed before thetournament that he was in constant agonyfrom a hip injury and planned to retire thisyear.

The 31-year-old hopes to end his careerat Wimbledon, but has admitted theAustralian Open could be his last event,unless he has a late change of heart.

"Amazing. That was incredible, thankyou so, so much to everyone that came outtonight," he said after being given a rap-turous send-off.

While his tournament ended in despair,Swiss master Federer, six years older thanMurray, continued his march towards arecord seventh Australian Open title.

He swept past Uzbek Denis Istomin 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 said he was in "disbelief " that hewas the double defending champion at hisage and vowed to give his all to make it threein a row.

"I'm going to try everything possible (towin again) and leave it all on the court," saidthe world number three.

His long-time rival Nadal, who cut shorthis 2018 season to have surgery on a footinjury, showed no mercy to Australian wild-card James Duckworth in his openinground clash.

The 17-time Grand Slam winner cruisedthrough 6-4, 6-3, 7-5 and said it was animportant victory.

"Not easy to come back after a lot ofmonths, especially against a player playingsuper aggressive on every point," said the2009 Australian champion, who showed nosign of any injury worries. "The energy I feelin this place is fantastic."

The second seed is bidding to becomethe first man in the Open era, and only thethird in history along with Roy Emerson andRod Laver, to win each Grand Slam on twoor more occasions.

Fifth seed Kevin Anderson progressed,as did NextGen Finals champion StefanosTsitsipas. But ninth seed John Isner becamethe first top seed to crash out.

World number three Wozniacki, whomade her Grand Slam breakthrough inMelbourne last year, opened her defencewith a convincing 6-3, 6-4 win overBelgium's Alison van Uytvanck.

It was an emotional win for the Danewho is struggling with rheumatoid arthri-tis and she was in tears afterwards.

"Last year I had some special memoriesand just to be able to be back out here onRod Laver Arena is something extremelyspecial and emotional," she said.

��Second seed and 2016 champion

Angelique Kerber was also impressive,breezing past Slovenia's Polona Hercog 6-

2, 6-2.Maria Sharapova, a winner at

Melbourne in 2008, signalled her intent witha rare 6-0, 6-0 double bagel demolition ofBritain's Harriet Dart.

Playing in her 15th Australian Open, thethree-time finalist said she was pleased togo through so easily as she battles back frominjuries.

"I'm still working through some painfuldays. But, you know, I felt like I did all theright things today in order to get throughthat match," said the Russian.

Fifth seeded Sloane Stephens, the 2017US Open champion who struggled in herwarm-up tournaments in Brisbane andSydney, got back to business with an easytwo-set win against fellow American TaylorTownsend.

Eleventh seed Aryna Sabalenka, wide-ly tipped as a potential future champion, alsosafely negotiated round one on a hot day. ButGermany's 14th seed Julia Goerges wasknocked out, as was former French Openchampion Jelena Ostapenko.

Britain's Katie Boulter, meanwhile, cre-ated a slice of history by becoming the firstwoman to win in a third set tiebreak -- a newrule introduced to the Open this year, beat-ing Russia's Ekaterina Makarova 6-0, 4-6, 7-6 (10/6).

�� )6 3 �36�*67

Top Indian shuttlersKidambi Srikanth and

Saina Nehwal will begin theseason with renewed verve atthe Malaysian Open WorldTour Super 500 tournamentwhich gets underway with thequalifiers here on Tuesday.

World No 8 Srikanthendured a below-par seasonwhere he topped the BWFranking for a brief period andalso claimed theCommonwealth Games Silverbut failed to win a single title,following an unprecedentedhigh of 2017.

Though he couldn't pro-duce the goods in the inter-national circuit, Srikanth man-aged to keep a clean slate in thejust-concluded PremierBadminton League (PBL)where he anchored his team toa title win on Sunday.

The 25-year-old fromGuntur will hope to continuehis unbeaten run when hetakes on Hong Kong's Ng KaLong Angus in his season-opener on Wednesday.

Saina, on the other hand,has been one of the top achiev-ers in 2018, claiming a second

Gold in the CWG and secur-ing a Bronze at the AsianGames and AsianChampionship.

She also reached the finalsat Indonesia Masters,Denmark Open and SyedModi International.

The 28-year-old fromHyderabad, who recently mar-ried fellow shuttler P Kashyap,will also face a Hong Kongplayer in Deng Joy Xuan in herwomen's singles first round.

B Sai Praneeth, mean-while, has decided to give thetournament a miss after fea-turing in the PBL forBengaluru Raptors.

Commonwealth Gamessilver medallists SatwiksairajRankireddy and Chirag Shettywill look for a positive starttoo when they face China's OuXuanyi and Ren Xiangyu.

In women's doubles,CWG Bronze medall istsAshwini Ponnappa and NSikki Reddy will meet HongKong's Ng Tsz Yau and YuenSin Ying, while the mixeddoubles pair of SatwiksairajRankireddy and AshwiniPonnappa square off againstEnglish pair of Ben Lane andJessica Pugh.

�� )83) �

Asian Cup Gold medallist Shakil Amedhas added one more feather to his cap

when he set up a world record in indoorrowing by completing 1,00,000 (onelakh) metres in above-40 years categoryhere on Sunday.

A FISA level one coach, Shakil beganhis record-setting indoor rowing feat in

Salt Lake stadium complex at 8 am onSunday morning and achieved the mile-stone of covering 1,00,000 metres of sim-ulated distance in 10 hours.

Secretary of West Bengal RowingAssociation (WBRA) Souvik Ghosh andcommittee member AniruddhaMukherjee said they would now certifythe feat to the authorities of LimcaBook of Records for entering the achieve-

ment in their record book.Shakeel also has the record of com-

pleting 50,000 metres of simulated row-ing in four hours and 13 minutes whichis already in the Limca Record Book.

Rowing Federation of India GeneralSecretary Girish Phadnis congratulatedShakil for the unique feat.

"It is indeed a big achievement,” itsaid.

�&�� 27-2

Lionel Messi scored his 400thLa Liga goal, a total his

coach Ernesto Valverde called"monstrous", as Barcelona ter-rorised Eibar to reclaim theirfive-point cushion at the top ofthe table.

Messi drove the ball intothe bottom corner after beingteed up by Luis Suarez, whoadded two goals to his own tallyeither side of the Argentinianmarking another historic recordat the Camp Nou on Sunday.

"It's monstrous," saidValverde, after the 3-0 victory."It's easy to say but you have toscore them one after the other,it's a long-term job.

"His numbers are stratos-pheric, incredible. He is fromanother galaxy." Victory sawValverde's side restore theiradvantage over Atletico Madrid,who had briefly cut the gap totwo points after beating Levanteearlier in the day.

"There is a lot of time left,"Valverde said.

"It is a good cushion butnothing is done yet."

Real Madrid won too, beat-ing Real Betis, to ensure Spain's

big three all prevailed in thesame round for only the fourthtime this season. Real remain 10points adrift of Barcelona.

Messi, meanwhile, extendshis own hefty lead as the divi-sion's all-time top scorer, whichcurrently stands at 89 goals,ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ronaldo, now at Juventusin Italy, owns a better goals-to-game ratio, with his 311 strikescoming in 292 matches. Messi'squadruple century arrived inhis 435th.

In fact, it was one of Messi'squieter nights in terms of per-formance and in another team

it might have been Suarez orPhilippe Coutinho picking upthe plaudits.

Suarez assisted Messi,applied a classy finish and wason the end of a scintillatingteam move for Barca's first.

- Sparkling Coutinho dis-play -

==============================

Coutinho was the providerfor that one and delivered asparkling display to appeasethose doubting his future at theclub.

The Brazilian has endureda spell out of Valverde's pre-ferred starting line-up but heconverted a penalty againstLevante in the Copa del Rey onWednesday, and was arguablyman of the match here.

He alone supplied threepasses in the build-up toSuarez's opener. Arthur Melostarted it, playing a one-twowith Coutinho and then intothe feet of Sergio Busquets.

Busquets pinged the ballleft to Coutinho, who twiceexchanged with Suarez beforethe Uruguayan, off balance,found the far corner.

Messi's moment came inthe 53rd minute and it wasSuarez who started it, stealingback possession after a heavytouch from Anaitz Arbilla. Hebounced it off Coutinho andfound Messi, who touched andrifled in.

Barca were enjoying them-selves as Coutinho flicked theball over one opponent's headand Suarez did the samethrough another's legs.

The third goal was simple,however, Sergi Roberto takinga quick throw and freeing thescuttling Suarez. With the goal-keeper out, he looked up andchipped the ball into the net.

�� 38'28'

There were too many saves forManchester United goalkeeper David

de Gea to even remember.Everyone else was certainly counting:

Eleven. The most by any goalkeeper in aPremier League match this season. Andthey were all in the second half to thwarta Tottenham comeback.

The Spaniard's virtuoso goalkeepingperformance protected a 1-0 victory in thePremier League on Sunday after MarcusRashford's first-half strike, giving Uniteda sixth successive victory in all competi-tions since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer replacedJose Mourinho.

"I said to David at halftime, 'You mighthave to make a save here, you have to keepyour concentration,'" Solskjaer said.

"He didn't have to keep his concen-tration because he was never allowed torelax. He is a fantastic goalkeeper. I thinkhe's the best in the world."

Few would dispute that on Sunday asDe Gea was masterful with his hands andfeet - particularly frustrating efforts byHarry Kane and Dele Alli to equalize.

"I don't even remember some ofthem," De Gea said, when asked for hisfavorite save.

Rashford helped out his teammate."The near-post save from the corner

was the best one," the striker said, along-side De Gea.

That was in the 70th minute whenChristian Eriksen's corner was turned inat the near post by Toby Alderweireld andDe Gea's instinctive reaction saw the ballcleared with his left foot.

"De Gea was unbelievable, and allcredit to him," Tottenham managerMauricio Pochettino said.

"We weren't clinical. And sometimeswith less opportunities you score, butthere's no complaints."

The only goal came in the 44th

minute at Wembley Stadium afterTottenham defender Kieran Trippier gavethe ball away. Paul Pogba sent a long, highdiagonal pass to Rashford who con-trolled the ball with one touch and thensent it low beyond goalkeeper HugoLloris.

By passing his first significant test,Solskjaer strengthened his bid to keep themanager's job into next season.

In particular, he got the better ofPochettino, who has been considered thefavorite to be hired as Mourinho's per-manent successor. Although still third inthe standings, Tottenham has now lostback-to-back league home games and top-scorer Harry Kane limped off at the end.

United is yet to rise from sixth underSolskjaer but the record 20-time Englishchampion is now only behind Arsenal ongoal difference and six points adrift ofChelsea in the fourth and final ChampionsLeague place.

And the mood has been transformedat United since Mourinho was fired andformer fans' favorite Solskjaer was broughtin on loan from Norwegian side Molde.

"The manager brought some happi-ness, the players are playing well and theteam is very strong now," De Gea said."This is the real Manchester United."

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�� 03,867'0

Prajnesh Gunneswaran's maid-en Grand Slam appearance

ended in disappointment afterAmerican Frances Tiafoe defeat-ed the Indian in straight sets inthe opening round of theAustralian Open on Monday.

Tiafoe defeated Gunneswaran7-6 (9-7) 6-3 6-3 to set up a sec-ond round clash with big SouthAfrican Kevin Anderson.

World No 39 American beatthe Indian qualifier in a matchthat lasted an hour and 52 min-utes.

Guuneswaran fought hard inthe first set which went into thetie-breaker after both playersheld their serve till the 12thgame.

In the tie-breaker, Tiafoe gota mini-break and then closed theset at 9-7 in the tie-breaker.

Once he won the first set, theAmerican completely dominatedthe 106th ranked Indian in thesecond and third sets respective-ly.

Prajnesh's first serve let himdown in the second set and hissuccess rate was 43 percent com-pared to 72 per cent of theAmerican.

Tiafoe converted two breakpoints in the third and sixthgame of the second set to take it6-3.

In the final set, Tiafoe got animportant break of serve againstthe left-handed Gunneswaran inthe eighth game and then closedthe match in the ninth game toend India's lone challenge in thesingles event.

In the women's event, AnkitaRaina and Karman Kaur Thandifailed to cross the early hurdle los-ing in the second and first roundrespectively in the qualifiers.

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�� 203 -20

Mahendra Singh Dhoni's inabil-ity to set the pace duringmiddle overs will remain a

major cause of concern when India takeon Australia in a do-or-die second ODIon Tuesday in their bid to keep thethree-match series alive.

Hardik Pandya's sudden suspen-sion on disciplinary grounds has badlyaffected the balance of the batting order,which was apparent during team's 34-run defeat in the opening match despitevice-captain Rohit Sharma's 22nd hun-dred in 50-over format.

Dhoni's 51 off 96 balls and failingto rotate the strike has brought to focusthe rejigging that skipper Virat Kohliand coach Ravi Shastri will have to fretupon.

With Dhoni being slotted at No 5even though vice-captain Rohit wantsthe veteran to bat a notch higher butcues from India's training sessionmade it clear that the team is unlikelyto tinker with the batting order.

India's batting order did comeunder the spotlight at the SydneyCricket Ground. The top three (Rohit,Shikhar Dhawan and Kohli) haveenjoyed a fairly consistent run since2016.

But it was a rare occasion whenDhoni had to come out in the fourthover of the innings.

Dhoni averages 52.95 while battingat number four, which is higher thanhis current career-average of 50.11 over333 games.

It is even higher than his favouredbatting positions of number five (50.70)and six (46.33) but batting lower downthe order, strike-rate becomes para-mount.

Yet, Dhoni's career strike-rate atnumber four is 94.21 is higher than hisoverall career strike-rate of 87.60, or atnumber five (86.08) and number six(83.23).

When India last played ODIs inAustralia in January 2016, Dhoni bat-ted at number four in two matches butonly scored 18 runs.

In fact, since that series, Dhoni hasbatted at number four in only eightODIs, with the last instance in the 2018Asia Cup.

He averages 24.75 in this interim,with a strike-rate of 77.34 and a high-est of 80 against New Zealand inOctober 2016.

This presents a quandary, whichthe Indian team management might notbe in a mood to sort out at present.

Rayudu did well enough in the AsiaCup and in the home series againstWest Indies, and both batsmen merita longer run in their respective positionsto help settle this batting line-up in therun-up to the English summer.

No pre-match short-list has beenannounced for this second ODI, andall-rounder Vijay Shankaronly arrived late Mondayafternoon in Adelaide,thus might not be avail-able for selection.

In Hardik's continued absence,any forthcoming changes will be to finda better balance between bat and ball.

While India coped in the Asia Cupand against West Indies when he wasout injured, playing three spinners insub-continental conditions helped. Inoverseas conditions, Pandya's absencerestricts the team's capability withboth bat and ball.

Despite his suspect action, Rayuduis free to continue bowling in interna-tional cricket, but it remains to be seen

if the team managementwould want him to.

Kedar Jadhav providesan alternative option in

that light, and he could come into theplaying eleven at Dinesh Karthik'sexpense.

There is every chance that the samebowling composition as in the first ODIwill be retained, despite Khaleel Ahmedbeing off-colour. He batted in the netsalong side Yuzvendra Chahal onMonday.

Out of the three fast bowlers,Mohammed Shami was most impres-sive in the first match and given the del-icate situation of this series, he will cer-

tainly not be left out.The team management also banks

on Ravindra Jadeja's all-round skills,and as such Chahal's chances of animmediate return to the side looksdoubtful.

Mohammed Siraj had a long bowl-ing stint though, under the watchfuleyes of coach Ravi Shastri, and he couldbe in contention for Ahmed's place.

However, onus will be on the topthree batsmen to come good once againand deflect any undue pressure on themiddle order for a second game run-ning. Kohli averages 73.44 at theAdelaide Oval across all formats, whilein ODIs alone, he still averages an

impressive 46.66.While he would definitely strive to

score runs again at his favourite venue,Dhawan's form will be in limelight.

Along with Dhoni and Rayudu, heis the third batsman in the top six whodidn't play any domestic cricket whilethe Border-Gavaskar Trophy was beingcontested.

�H��India: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit

Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, AmbatiRayudu, Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav,MS Dhoni (wk), Kuldeep Yadav,Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravindra Jadeja,Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed,Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj,Vijay Shankar.

Australia: Aron Finch (c), JasonBehrendorff, Alex Carey (wk), PeterHandscomb, Usman Khawaja, NathanLyon, Mitch Marsh, Shaun Marsh,Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, PeterSiddle, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis,Ashton Turner, Adam Zampa.

�� 203 -20

Not playing a single inter-national match for a con-

siderable amount of time canimpact any bowler's matchrhythm and pacerBhuvneshwar Kumar learnt itthe hard way after being hitfor 66 runs in the first ODIagainst Australia at Sydney.

Bhuvneshwar, who was apart of the Test squad, wasn'tpicked in the playing XI dur-ing the four-match series anddid look rusty during the slogovers of the opening ODI.

Asked if being out ofcompetitive cricket for amonth have an impact, hereplied: "It (not playing regu-larly) did impact (myrhythm). Match rhythm istotally different when it comesto bowling. I was trying every-thing to be in rhythm in thenets.

"But it can't be a 100 percent when you compare to amatch (situation). It wasn'tgreat in the last match (inSydney) but it wasn't bad aswell. It can improve, as thematches will go on," he added.

During the past onemonth, Bhuvneshwar wastraining hard to get into matchrhythm.

"I was trying everything tobe in rhythm. In the nets, Iwasn't planning or preparingto bowl in the ODIs. I waspreparing like I have to play inany of the Tests. I was prepar-ing in that manner. Therewasn't anything specific that Icould do.

"But it was just normalbowling and increasing thenumber of overs. If I wasbowling 4 overs (to start with),then go to 6, then 8, then 10.The key thing for me is to beniggle-free and be in bowlingrhythm," the UP seamer said.

Bhuvneshwar revealedthat he wasn't 100 percent fitduring the series but current-

ly is niggle free."See, I was fit but I could-

n't say that I was a 100 percent. Because in Test match-es, it's a five-day game, so Ireally didn't know I would beable to go through that thing.What was good was we hadbowlers who could play at thattime and I got time to be 100per cent fit again. I wasn't real-ly sure that time," he said.

Bhuvneshwar claimed thathe has been able to regain hisusual pace and will be bowl-ing at 130-135 kmph.

"I was going through nig-gles at that time (in England)and when you have a niggleyou can't be a 100 per cent, sothat was during that period.Since then and now, I havetrained a lot, especially duringthe one month of the Testseries. I trained a lot. That isthe reason I am back to 130-135 (pace). The main thing isI am niggle-free right now.That's the main thing for me,"he said.

Kumar outlined that theteam management is not wor-ried about Ambati Rayudu'saction being deemed suspectby the ICC.

�� 203 -20

Australia vice-captain Alex Carey onMonday said that an ODI series

win against a top team like India "willmean a lot" considering the hosts'struggles over the last 12 months.

The home took a 1-0 lead in thethree-match series with a 34-run winin Sydney, and the second ODI will beplayed in Adelaide on Tuesday.

Pakistan were the last side to losean ODI series to Australia, 4-1 inJanuary 2017, and thereafter after atumultuous 2018, wherein they wononly 2 out of 18 ODIs, the hosts havestarted 2019 on a winning note.

"It would mean a lot, it has been awhile. I want to see Australia win andbeing part of it means so much to usevery game we play. But to continue toget better every game is probably ourbiggest process at the moment leadinginto that World Cup," said Carey.

"Against India, they're a really goodside so they're going to look to bounceback pretty quickly, so it's going to bea great opportunity to stand up tomor-row night, to puff our chests outagain and hopefully put another real-ly good performance," he said.

Carey insisted that Australia arenot seeing the ongoing contest as arevenge series after the loss in Tests

against India."I think the performance the other

night is a really good step in the rightdirection. If you take a look at our bat-ting performance, we all played well,we all played our role, and then withthe ball having them three down earlywas pretty early.

"But having to break that big part-nership between MS Dhoni and RohitSharma and get over the line was, as aplayer, was a really amazing feeling outthere."

Carey also talked about rollingthings into the World Cup and con-tinuing the winning form.

"I think the other night was a real-ly big step forward and we canimprove from that, definitely.Obviously the three quicks that playedthe Test series and played last seriesaren't in this series so it is a really goodopportunity for Jason Behrendorff,Jhye Richardson and Peter Siddle whoall played really well the other night.

"It was a great opportunity for metoo at the top of the order and PeterHandscomb coming back in. If youlook across the list, there are so manyopportunities for guys to put theirhand up and really make a spot theirown."

�� )83) �

Australian umpiring great Simon Taufelon Monday backed under-fire crick-

eters Hardik Pandya and Lokesh Rahul,calling for the issue to be handled with careas everyone makes mistakes and it isimportant to learn from them.

Chastised from every corner for theiralleged "misogynistic" comments aboutwomen on a television show, the taintedpair have been suspended by the BCCI andhave returned home midway from the tourof Australia to explain themselves.

In the city as the special guest for a localcricket league -- the Silver Oak EstateCricket League — Taufel was asked abouthis opinion on the issue that has taken thenation by storm.

"I knew this question was going tocome up. Look what I would say in everyteam and in every business and every sport,is that good people make a good team. Andthat we all make mistakes from time totime. We all learn as we go," Taufel, 47, toldreporters at the Press Club.

"Although, I didn't see the show, I haveread little bit of press about some of thecomplaints. I have made plenty of mistakesin my career and I have learnt along theway.

"These players may have made somemistakes with some of the things that theyhave said. But they too will learn and allthe other players and all the other people

that have seen this event will also learn,"he added.

Considering the duo's career ahead,Taufel cautioned that the issue should behandled carefully and hoped that theywould learn from their mistakes andbecome better persons.

"So I think we really need to be care-ful about being overly critical. People domake mistakes but if we learn from thoseand we are genuine about wanting to dobetter, and commit to doing better thenthat's a good thing," he said.

�&�� (84 ''0�,675

Duanne Olivier sparked a Pakistan col-lapse as South Africa completed a

series clean sweep with a 107-run win onthe fourth day of the third and final Testat the Wanderers Stadium on Monday.

Starting the day on 153 for three,Pakistan lost their remaining sevenwickets for 120 runs to be bowled out for273.

Olivier effectively ended Pak's hopeswhen he took two wickets off successiveballs in the third over of the morning.

Babar Azam received a fast, liftingball angled in towards his throat, whichhe gloved to wicketkeeper Quinton deKock. Azam (22) had helped AsadShafiq add 58 for the fourth wicket.

Pak captain Sarfraz Ahmed wasbowled first ball. Seemingly expecting

another short-pitched delivery fromOlivier, he was deep in his crease whenhe had his off stump knocked back by afast, full delivery. With V Philander gain-ing unpredictable bounce from a goodlength just outside off stump, Shafiqadvanced down the pitch and was caughtat second slip off a ball which seamed

away from him.Olivier, who got his chance to play

in the series because Philander wasinjured, was the leading wicket-taker with24 at an average of 14.71. He was namedman of the series. Kock, who made 129for SA in the 2nd innings, was man ofthe match.

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