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VOL. 50 * NO. 226 *AHMEDABAD *

FRIDAY, 3/2/2017

Students'suicide a seriousmatter:Congress MP

New Delhi, Congress Rajya

Sabha member ViploveThakur on Thursdayraised the issue of sui-cide by students due topressure to excel incompetitive studies andurged the governmentto take note of the "seri-ous matter".

She said in the up-per house that studentswere pressured by pri-vate coaching centresto such an extent thatmany ended up takingtheir own lives."Privatecoaching centres acrossthe country put pres-sure on students. Par-ents are also involved,"she said, urging the gov-ernment to investigatethe matter.

Will soon fillvacancies ineducationalinstitutions:Centre

New Delhi, The central govern-

ment said on Thursdaysaid vacancies of teach-ers in educational insti-tutions across the coun-try will soon be filled.

Responding tomembers' concerns inthe Rajya Sabha, HumanResource DevelopmentMinister PrakashJavadekar said the gov-ernment was aware ofthe situation and theprocess was on to fill thevacant posts as early aspossible."We believethere should be no va-cancies. It's a govern-ment policy and wehave decided to fill upteachers' vacancies ac-cording to the rulessoon," the minister toldthe house.

Court toconsiderchargesheetagainst RajendraKumar

New Delhi, A court here on

Thursday set February18 to consider thechargesheet againstDelhi Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal's formerPrincipal SecretaryRajendra Kumar in a cor-ruption case.The Cen-tral Bureau of Investiga-tion (CBI) Special Judgelisted the matter forFebruary 18 after theprobe agency soughtmore time to file addi-tional documents in thecase.Rajendra Kumar, a1989 batch Indian Ad-ministrative Service of-ficer, was accused ofabusing his official posi-tion in awarding Delhigovernment contractstotalling Rs 9.5 crore toprivate firm EndeavourSystems Pvt Ltd.

Mentallychallenged sonkills parents inJammu andKashmir

Jammu, A mentally chal-

lenged youth allegedlykilled his parents onThursday and injuredthree other persons inthe hilly Doda district ofJammu and Kashmir.

Firdous Ahmed, 25,stabbed his father andmother to death and in-jured three other per-sons in the Thathri areaof Doda district ofJammu region onThursday morning, po-lice said."The accusedhas been arrested andinvestigations started inthis incident," policehere said.

New Delhi, India has signed a

$201.50 million financingagreement with the WorldBank to improve the qualityof technical education in thecountry.

"Financing agreementfor credit of $201.50 millionfor the 'Third Technical Edu-cation Quality ImprovementProgramme (TEQIP III)' wassigned with the World Bankhere on Tuesday," the Fi-nance Ministry said in a

India signs pact with WBto improve education

statement.The project aims at im-

proving quality and equityin engineering institutes inthe states and take initia-tives to strengthen sectorgovernance and perfor-mance, it said.

"The objective of theprogramme is to enhancequality and equity in par-ticipating engineering edu-cation institutes and im-prove the efficiency of theengineering education sys-

tems in Uttarakhand,Himachal Pradesh, Bihar,Uttar Pradesh, MadhyaPradesh, Chhattisgarh,Rajasthan, the eight north-eastern states andAndaman and Nicobar Is-lands," the statement said.

"The project has beendesigned as a disburse-ment-linked one, that is, theWorld Bank loan will be dis-bursed on achievement ofspecific outcomes," it added.--IANS

Aircel-Maxis case: Court discharges all accusedNew Delhi:

A Special court onThursday discharged all ac-cused in Aircel Maxis dealcases lodged by the CentralBureau of Investigation (CBI)and the Enforcement Direc-torate (ED) involving ex-telecom minister DayanidhiMaran and others.

Earlier, a consortium ofbanks led by the StateBank of India (SBI) movedthe Supreme Court on 24January seek ing to beheard before the court de-cides to cancel Aircel’s use

of the 2G licences it ac-quired in 2006. On 6 Janu-ary, the apex court had re-strained Aircel Ltd fromselling and trading 2Gspectrum allotted to it in2006 and said it wouldconsider cancellation ofthe licences if the MaxisGroup owner T. AnandaKrishnan failed to respondto the court ’s summons.Maxis Group has a 74%stake in Aircel.

The Aircel-Maxis caserelates to irregularities in al-lotment of 2G spectrum li-

cences during the Con-gress-led United Progres-sive Alliance rule.

Maxis had acquired the74% stake in 2006 fromAircel owner C.Sivasankaran. The CBI hasalleged that Sivasankaransold the stake under duressfrom the then telecom min-ister Dayanidhi Maran, whostalled approvals it needed,and that Maxis, in return, in-vested in his brotherKalanithi Maran’s Sun Direct,the direct-to-home TV armof his Sun TV Network Ltd.

Bharatiya Janata Party national general secre-tary Bhupendra Yadav addressing a press confer-ence in Lucknow .

Varun Gandhi included inBJP's UP star campaigners' list

Lucknow, After initially dropping

Varun Gandhi from the listof "star campaigners" inUttar Pradesh, the BJP onThursday included his namefor the third and fourthphases of polling in thestate, a party official said.

The parliamentarianfrom Sultanpur was namedas the 39th star campaignerin a list of 40.

Initially presented as afirebrand youth leader,Varun Gandhi, son of thelate Sanjay Gandhi and

Union Minister ManekaGandhi, was sidelined byAmit Shah after he took overthe reins of the party.

The star campaignerslist for Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP) includes PrimeMinister Narendra Modi,party President Amit Shah,Kanpur MP and veteranparty leader Murli ManoharJoshi.Also included areUnion ministers RajnathSingh, Uma Bharati, ArunJaitley, M. Venkiah Naidu,Smriti Irani, Piyush Goel, V.K.Singh, Mukhtaar Abbas

Naqvi and Nitin Gadkari.Senior party functionar-

ies Om Mathur, Vinay Katiyar,Swamy Prasad Maurya, andothers would campaign forparty candidates in the thirdand fourth phase also, theparty leader said.

Veteran actress and poli-tician Hema Malini, DelhiBJP chief Manoj Tiwari, co-median Raju Srivastav,Rajasthan Chief MinisterVasundhara Raje Scindiaand Madhya Pradesh ChiefMinister Shivraj SinghChauhan will also pitch in.

BJP ups ante on poor UP lawand order, slams SP regime

Lucknow, The Bharatiya Janata

Party (BJP) on Thursdayupped the ante on law andorder situation in UttarPradesh and charged theAkhilesh Yadav governmentfor "completely failing toprotect its people".

Addressing a press con-ference here, BJP NationalGeneral SecretaryBhupendra Yadav saidcrimes against women havegone through the roof dur-ing the Samajwadi Party(SP) regime and in mostcases no FIRs are registeredby the police.

"In the past five years,over a thousand attackshave taken place on police-

men, and criminals, landmafias, boot loggers andgoons rule the roost," hesaid and promised a com-plete reversal of the situa-tion if the BJP came topower in the state post as-sembly elections.

Referring to the under-construction apartmentbuilding crash in Kanpur onWednesday, which killedseven persons, Yadav saidthis is a proof how illegalpractices are being pro-moted by the ruling partyleaders and the officials con-cerned are forced to lookthe other way.

In the last one year, morethan 25,000 cases havebeen lodged under the

Arms Act and 1,400 robber-ies and dacoities have takenplace, the BJP leader said cit-ing police statistics.

"Under the watch of thepresent Samajwadi Partygovernment, senior policeofficials have been killed,mafias are having a free runand women are beingvictimised," Yadav added.

Even journalists, headded, are not safe in the SPregime and exhorted thepeople to stand up againstthe government and ensurethat the BJP came to powerafter the state assemblypolls.Uttar Pradesh goes topolls spread over sevenphases between February11 and March 8.

Mayawati rubbishes pollsurveys, calls them sponsored

Bulandshahr, Bahujan Samaj Party

(BSP) supremo Mayawati onThursday trashed the sur-veys ahead of the UttarPradesh assembly polls andsaid these are "sponsored"and hence not to be takenseriously.

Addressing an electionrally here, the Dalit leadersaid these poll surveys wereconducted at the behest ofpolitical parties and warnedher supporters not to beswayed. "When the electionresults are out, all these pollsand projections will fall flaton their face," she said.

She slammed the stategovernment and said lawand order was at its worstunder Chief MinisterAkhilesh Yadav and prom-ised to bring back normalcy

if her party was voted backto power.

The four-time Chief Min-ister tore into the BharatiyaJanata Party and said itsclaims of bringing back therule of law in Uttar Pradeshwere an eyewash. "When-ever the BJP has come topower (in the state), there issimilar anarchy," she saidwhile accusing the BJP oftrying to end reservationand also harbouring ill-willtowards the Muslims.

Taking on Prime Minis-ter Narendra Modi, she ac-cused him of not fulfillingpromises made during the2014 Lok Sabha polls.

"Nothing has been donefor the poor and this (cen-tral) government does ev-erything for the rich and theindustrialists," she claimed.A team of archaeolists busy in fixing the atatue of Lord Ganesha on the

Dholkal hilltop in Dantewada district in Bastar devision in Chhattisgarh.(WITH VARTA STORY).

Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting, Col. Rajyavardhan SinghRathore visiting the exhibition, at the “BES Expo 2017” - 23rd International Con-ference & Exhibition on Terrestrial& Satellite Broadcasting, organised by theBroadcast Engineering Society (India), in Delhi o.

Congress movesEC, demandsstern actionagainst BJP

New Delhi, The Congress on Thurs-

day moved the ElectionCommission (EC) allegingthat BJP leaders KeshavPrasad Maurya andSubramanian Swamy hadmade remarks amountingto soliciting votes in thename of religion and de-manded "stern action"against the party.

In a complaint to thepoll panel K.C. Mittal, Secre-tary, Legal and HumanRights Department of Con-gress, said that UttarPradesh BJP chief KeshavPrasad Maurya and BJP MPSubraminan Swamy hadviolated the model code ofconduct ahead of electionsin the five states.

The party alleged thatMaurya raked up the "con-tentious issue" of Ramtemple last month andtalked about its construc-tion after assembly elec-tions in Uttar Pradesh. It saidthat after Maurya's remarks,BJP MP SubramanianSwamy had made remarks"welcoming the statementof Shri Maurya".

"The statements madeby Shri Maurya as well as Dr.Subramanian Swamy are inutter defiance of the instruc-tions issued by the Commis-sion and amount to solicit-ing votes in the name of re-ligion," the party said.

It said the statementswere also in violation of theobservations made by theSupreme Court and the BJPor its leaders cannot placeany reliance on its 2014manifesto "nor under thegarb of manifesto rake upreligious card to solicit votesin the name of religion".

'Budget failed to addresstransparency of political parties'

New Delhi, The Association for

Democratic Reforms (ADR)on Thursday said the unionbudget failed to address theissues of transparency, dis-closure and penalties of po-litical parties.

It also claimed the pro-posals on political fundingreforms fell short of the rec-ommendations by the Elec-tion Commission and theLaw Commission.

Commenting on thebudget presented by Fi-nance Minister Arun Jaitley,the ADR also found flaws inthe proposal of lowering thelimit for anonymous cashdonations from Rs 20,000 toRs 2,000.

"The budget, whilepromising transparencyand accountability in politi-cal funding, does not an-swer questions on how itwould be implemented atthe ground level nor has itpromised implementationof related reforms proposedby the Election Commissionand the Law Commission ofIndia," said the ADR.

"While this is the firstunion budget to raise theissue of transparency in po-litical funding, it is unfortu-nate to note that completetransparency in the financesof political parties has stillnot been adopted in thebudget of 2017-18 and theproposed reforms are in-consequential as the politi-cal funding will continue toremain opaque," it said.

It said the proposal tolimit cash donations to Rs2,000 was flawed on threecounts of accountability, dis-closure and political will.

"Unless scrutiny of ac-counts of political parties istaken up by a body ap-proved by Comptroller andAuditor General or the Elec-tion Commission, the par-ties' declared income is un-likely to reflect their true in-come," the ADR said, point-ing to the budget not prom-ising scrutiny of income de-clared by political partiesfrom various sources.

"The budget does notpropose that the details ofall donors who donate

above Rs 2,000 be madeavailable to the Income Taxdepartment and/or an ex-ternal body auditing the ac-counts of political parties," itsaid.

"Unless complete infor-mation is available for auditscrutiny, the sources of do-nations below Rs 20,000 topolitical parties will con-tinue to stay hidden," it con-tended.

Referring to the budgetproposals of political partiesentitled to receive dona-tions in cheque or digitalmode as also the mandateto file their return of incomewithin the prescribed time,the ADR said legal provisionto the effect, were already inplace. "The legal provisionswere already in place, re-it-erating an already existingrule of law does not addanything new to the pro-posed electoral reforms.

"This only shows a lackof political will," said theorganisation which aims atbringing transparency andaccountability in Indianpolitics.

Jairam Ramesh expresses shockover water seepage question in RS

New Delhi, Congress leader Jairam

Ramesh was "amazed" tohear a question in the RajyaSabha relating to waterseepage in an MP's officialresidence on Thursday.

The former union minis-ter, after hearing Anil KumarSahani of Janata Dal-United,who raised the issue of wa-ter seepage in his govern-ment accommodation dur-ing the Question Hour, ex-pressed shock and said:

"How can such a questionbe asked in the RajyaSabha?"

Sahani said that his gov-ernment accommodationhas a problem of waterseepage.Rao Inderjit Singh,Minister of State (Indepen-dent Charge) Planning, Ur-ban Development Housingand Urban Poverty Allevia-tion, then informed theHouse that problem is dueto collection of tree leavesand it has been fixed.

'Sarpanch' publicly beatsup woman in Andhra

Vijayawada, In a shocking incident, a

'sarpanch' or village headpublicly thrashed a womanin Andhra Pradesh.The as-sault took place in Jallipallivillage in Anantapur districtthree days ago but came tolight after its video footagesurfaced on Thursday.

The video footageshows Nagaraju publiclybeating up the woman,Sudha, and repeatedly kick-ing her. He was angry after

she raised an objection toconstruction of a water tankin front of her house.

Sudha, a widow, had re-quested the village head tobuild the water tank atsome other place. As hewent ahead with the work,there was an argument.Nagaraju, belonging to rul-ing Telugu Desam Party(TDP), thrashed the womanand continued kicking hereven after she fell to theground.

Mamata raises concernsover H-1B visas

Kolkata, West Bengal Chief Min-

ister Mamata Banerjee onThursday raised concernsover the issue of H-1B US vi-sas and called for a protec-tion to IT companies andprofessionals.

"News about H-1B visasis concerning. We must pro-tect our IT companies andprofessionals and give themfull support," she tweeted.

Banerjee also said "Indiais proud of the world-classtalent of its IT techies. It isour duty to secure their in-terests."

The central governmenthad already conveyed itsconcern to the US over a billbeing introduced in the USCongress to change rules onH-1B visas which is likely toimpact the Indian IT indus-try and Indian techies work-ing in the US.

The High-Skilled Integ-rity and Fairness Act of 2017,introduced in House of Rep-resentatives by CaliforniaCongressman Zoe Lofgren,proposes for doubling theminimum salary of H-1B visaholders to $130,000 fromthe current minimum wageof $60,000 - a move thatcould impact Indian techies.

The bill would make itdifficult for companies to

use the programme to re-place American employeeswith foreign workers, in-cluding from India, withlower wages.

"India's interests andconcerns have been con-veyed both to the US ad-ministration and the USCongress at senior levels,"External Affairs Ministryspokesperson Vikas Swaruphad said.

Aircel-Maxis: Courtdischarges Maranbrothers, others

New Delhi, A court here on Thurs-

day discharged all accusedin the Aircel-Maxis deal case,including former Communi-cations Minister DayanidhiMaran.Special Judge O.P.Saini discharged Maran, hisbrother Kalanithi Maran,Kalanithi's wife KaveryKalanithi, South Asia FM Ltd(SAFL) Managing Director K.Shanmugam and two com-panies -- SAFL and Sun Di-rect TV Pvt Ltd (SDTPL) intwo different cases. Thecourt was hearing two dif-ferent matters related toAircel-Maxis deal lodged bythe Central Bureau of Inves-tigation (CBI) and the En-forcement Directorate (ED).

Ahmedabad, Page 2

Editorial2FromEditor’sDesk.......

College students taking selfie in fornt of the Commerce College on the oc-casion of Saraswati puja in Guwahati.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has announced in his budget speech toinstall Bio- Toilets for all Train coaches by 2019 and Rail safety fund with corpusof Rupees 100,000 Crore, in New Delhi.

Rant of the discreditedIt is ironical that Manmohan S ingh and P

Chidambaram, the two politicians primarilyresponsible for the near destruction of the country’seconomy during their concurrent tenures as PrimeMinister and Minister for Finance respectively, shouldbe alleging that the economy is on a downturn sincethe Modi-led Government assumed power. It requiresa certain amount of brazen shamelessness to do so,but they have done it! On Monday, ahead of thepresentation of the Economic Survey of India, theCongress stalwarts released a nearly 80-pagedocument to contend that the Union Governmentwas “hiding” behind numbers and that employmentcreation was abysmally low. Singh cited theInternational Monetary Fund’s (IMF) projection of 6.6per cent GDP growth in the current fiscal, as againstthe Government’s claim of 7.6 percent. The formerPrime Minister has been saying it earlier too that thedemonetization decision had set back GDP growth.The Government has had no problem in acceptingthat growth will temporarily slide but said it wouldpick up again -- and with renewed vigour -- once theside effects of demonetization get addressed overthe next few months. Singh and his colleagues mustremember that international agencies such as theIMF have also welcomed the demonetization movefor its intent and expressed hope that the falloutswould be effectively addressed by the Government.Indeed, several experts across the world haveinterpreted the decision as bold and necessary stepby prime Minister Modi, but obviously neitherManmohan Singh nor his then Finance Ministerwould want to refer to those statements. In any case,the Economic Survey has said that GDP growth for thenext fiscal will be in the range of 6.75 per cent to 7.5per cent. If this holds true -- and there’s no reason todoubt the numbers -- then clearly grounds for arebound are being laid. The Economic Survey 2016-17 does admit that GDP growth in the current fiscalwill be 6.5 per cent, something again that the ModiGovernment need not f˚ret over. It is strange thatChidambaram should be rate the Centre for beingdazzled by GDP growth figures, given that ManmohanSingh has been relying on this very parameter tocondemn the Modi Government.

Chidambaram has posed two questions: Whereare the jobs? Where is the new capital investment?There are no straight answers to them, and the formerFinance Minister knows well that employmentgeneration and capital investment take time to realize,particularly after the economy has gone through anightmarish phase. The two Congress veterans mustanswer why they allowed the situation to spiral out ofcontrol to such an extent that it has become sochallenging today to reverse the sentiment.

Despite demonetization (which the EconomicSurvey says will impact GDP growth by 0.25 per centto 0.5 per cent in the sort term), the survey is confidentthat the farm sector will grow robustly (to 4.1 per cent,up to 1.2 per last year). This is contrary to the phobiathe Congress has been spreading over the last threemonths or so of demonetization. Besides, the positiveimpact of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime,once it is rolled out, will happen too.

WESTERN TIMES AHMEDABADFRIDAY, 3/2/2017

Pakistan snubs India's'credible crackdown' demand

Trump's SC pick Neil Gorsuch, an echo of Scalia in philosophy and style

Islamabad, Pakistan on Wednesday

snubbed India's demand fora "credible crackdown"against militant groups fol-lowing the detention ofJamaat-ud-Dawa chief HafizSaeed, saying it does notneed New Delhi's endorse-ment for its actions.

"Pakistan does not needany certification or endorse-ment from India over therecent actions it has taken inrelation to Hafiz Saeed," aspokesperson for the fed-eral Interior Ministry said ina statement in response toTuesday's statement by theIndian Ministry of ExternalAffairs.

The spokesperson saidthe actions taken by the

government were carriedout as per "obligations vis-à-vis listing of JuD under UNSecurity Council Resolution1267 in December, 2008".He, however, said variousactions that needed to betaken under the relevantresolution i.e. arms em-bargo, travel ban and assetfreeze were not taken forsome reasons by the previ-ous regime.

"India has constantlybeen using Hafiz Saeed'spolitical activities as a tool tomalign Pakistan," thespokesperson said, addingthat the international com-munity should take noteand understand that Paki-stan is a democratic country."In Pakistan judiciary takes

free, independent and trans-parent decisions."

The Interior Ministryurged New Delhi to comeup with undeniable evi-dence against the JuD chiefif it were serious about theallegations.

"India should come upwith concrete evidenceagainst Hafiz Saeed which issustainable in court of law inPakistan or for that matteranywhere in the world," thestatement said.

The ministry warnedNew Delhi against "castingaspersions and levelling al-legations without any cor-roborating evidence", say-ing it would not help thecause of peace in the region.

The firebrand leader,who has a $10 millionbounty on his head, wastaken away by police onMonday and escorted to ahouse where he is now un-der house arrest. Four otherJuD followers were detainedin the same operation.

India said JuD was afront for the militantLashkar-e-Taiba group,which it accuses of carryingout the attacks on India's fi-nancial capital Mumbai inNovember 2008 whichkilled 166 people. Islamabadbriefly detained Saeed inthe aftermath of the attacksbut he was later released oncourt orders.

Priests of tossing Gulal on devotess as a ritual of symbolic start of Holi festi-val on the occasion of Basant Panchami at Lord Bankey Bihari temple inVrindavan near Mathura.

Washington, Neil Gorsuch, a federal

appellate judge from Colo-rado, nominated by USPresident Donald Trump asthe new Supreme Court Jus-tice, has a solidly conserva-tive pedigree that hasearned him comparison tothe combative justice hewould replace, AntoninScalia.

If confirmed by the Sen-ate, 49-year-old Gorsuch willbe the youngest justice tojoin America's highest courtsince William Rehnquist in1971.

Known for a florid pen, asense of humour and unim-peachable conservative po-sitions on religious liberty,guns, business regulationand administrative power,Gorsuch may be the perfectcandidate to emulate theoperatic flamboyance andpreference for legaltextualism and originalismof Justice Scalia, who diednearly a year ago.

Gorsuch currentlyserves as a judge on the10th US Circuit Court of Ap-peals in Denver, the citywhere he was born. He wasappointed to that post in2006 by Republican Presi-dent George W. Bush.

He has a reputation as abrilliant writer of legal opin-ions, and has followed thewell worn path fromHarvard Law school, gradu-ating the same year asformer President Barack

Obama, to the federalbench. Gorsuch attendedColumbia University as anundergraduate, and re-ceived his doctorate in legalphilosophy as a MarshallScholar at Oxford University.

He spent several years inprivate practice and workedin George W. Bush's JusticeDepartment. He clerked fornot one but two SupremeCourt justices, first ByronWhite and later AnthonyKennedy, currently the highcourt's "swing justice".

Gorsuch likes to fly-fish

and hunt and he is also anadjunct law professor at theUniversity of Colorado. If hisappointment is confirmed,he would become the onlyProtestant on the currentbench. The other justices areJewish and Catholic.

His family is well-con-nected in Republican estab-lishment politics.

Gorsuch's mother, AnneBurford, was the first womanto head the EnvironmentalProtection Agency, servingduring the Reagan adminis-tration.

He is revered by conser-vatives, though, and ruled infavour of religious libertyarguments in two high pro-file cases dealing with ac-cess to contraception. Hehas also been highly criticalof liberals for turning to thecourts rather than the legis-lature to forward their socialagendas on issues like gaymarriage and assisted sui-cide.

He argued against eu-thanasia in his 2006 bookThe Future of Assisted Sui-cide and Euthanasia.

There are many parallelsbetween Gorsuch and theScalia. Both subscribe tooriginalist interpretations ofthe constitution, meaningthey view the document asstable and not subject to re-

interpretation as societychanges.

Gorsuch describedScalia as a "lion of the law"while accepting Trump'snomination.

While sitting on thebench of the 10th Circuit,Gorsuch sided with groupsthat successfully challengedthe Obama administration'srequirements for employersto provide health insurancethat includes contraceptionin the Hobby Lobby Storesv Sebelius case.

Gorsuch has also ex-pressed concern about "ex-ecutive overreach", a criti-cism that was often directedat the Obamaadministration's use ofpresidential orders to over-come congressionalgridlock.

His nomination met im-mediate resistance fromDemocrats, including NancyPelosi, the House minorityleader, who said that he held"hostile views" and was"outside the mainstream".

Happy to see youth taking interest in classical music: Pandit Jasraj

Bollywood an important influencingfactor: Designer Aggarwal

By Durga Chakravarty

Mumbai, Designer Amit

Aggarwal, who will show-case his latest line at theLakme Fashion Week (LFW)Summer/Resort 2017 here,considers Bollywood stars asan important influence insetting fashion trends acrossthe country. "Bollywood isone of the few things thatrun the major chunk of en-tertainment business in ourcountry. It also has a hugepotential of educatingpeople regarding new socialconcepts. This makes it animportant influencing factorfor the minds of a hugepopulation of a country likeIndia," Aggarwal told IANS inan interview. The designerfeels if a Bollywood celebrityflaunts one's creation, ithelps give the label a push."Engaging with Bollywoodfor a fashion label like ours isalways an interesting affair. Acelebrity in our clothes is arole model for a whole lot ofwomen who wish to dressnew and fresh," he added.Overall, Aggarwal feels therehas been a great change inthe fashion scene in India. Hebelieves the fashion frater-nity has taken forward thelegacy of Indian bridal cou-ture by amalgamating it withfresh techniques and cuts.

"A generation of design-ers has taken forward thelegacy of Indian bridal cou-ture with new techniquesand silhouettes every sea-

son, inspired from a sari orlehenga to give their audi-ences fresh options to wearfor different wedding occa-sions. "On the other hand, wealso see this wave of contem-porary designers who areconscious of sustainable de-sign practices that rangefrom using organically culti-vated textiles, recycling ma-terials, zero waste designimplementations," Aggarwaltold IANS. At the same time,he finds that the involve-ment of Indian crafts by de-signers at a global level haskept the country on theworld map in the interna-tional fashion scene. "It's aninteresting setting for a di-verse country like India withso many possibilities for de-signers to take inspirationsfrom." At LFW, which got un-derway here on Wednesday,the designer has collabo-rated with Lakme Salon.

"The AM.IT X Lakme Sa-lon collection to be show-cased at LFW S/R 2017, de-rives inspiration from mil-lions of unusable, unclaimedpieces of heritage," he said.

Talking about the collec-tion, he said: "There will be aseries of 25 to 30 ensembles.The colours of the collectionare that of a traditional Patolalike wine, rust, teal, olive,khaki, mustard and ink blueand similar metallic tones toaccentuate them."

Aggarwal is known forhis style of 3D structure withdrapes. How does he balancebetween his signature look

and at the same time recre-ate new looks? "Our collec-tions are always a combina-tion of our signature silhou-ettes developed accordingto the ethos for the particu-lar season and a number offresh looks that are newlydeveloped according to thecollection's theme." This bal-ance is vital for the economicand creative growth of thelabel, added the designer,who has catered toBollywood clients like HumaQureshi, Dia Mirza, KarismaKapoor and Nargis Fakhri.

By Nivedita

New Delhi, Eminent musician

Pandit Jasraj says he findsthe audience compositionat classical music concertsastonishing -- and he feelsheartened that thecountry's youth is willing totake the legacy of such mu-sic forward. "There is a largeaudience that has an inter-est in classical music and at-tends concerts... What's as-tonishing to see is the agedemography of the audi-ence who attend theseevents," Jasraj, a recipient ofthe Padma Vibhushan, thecountry's second-highestcivilian award, told IANS inan interview here.

"I have seen teenagers

who have a keen interest inclassical music and havestarted doing riyaaz prettyearly to master the art. So,yes, there is a decent num-ber of young people in thecrowd that understands thelegacy of classical music andis keen to take it ahead,"added the maestro, whoturned 87 last week.

As a mentor and guru,Pandit Jasraj has presentedto the world an impressivenumber of illustrious dis-ciples whom he has nur-tured. Today, his best dis-ciples too are carrying theflag of Indian music to everycorner of the world.

The octogenarian, whoperformed at a concert herethat launched the NavrasaDuende production house,

feels "classical music willkeep evolving with chang-ing times". "Even today, wesee there are young artisteswho have chosen classicalmusic as their area of inter-est and are adapting it to thecurrent scenario. I am gladto see the acceptance ofclassical music among theyounger generation andhow they are taking the artform ahead," he said.

He also feels technologyhas impacted classical mu-sic in a positive way.

"Technology has helpedpeople to come closer thanever before and made theworld a global village. Simi-larly, it has impacted Indianclassical music in a positivemanner. (It also helps) to in-troduce this rich genre and

find newer admirers not justin India but globally, andthat's the reason you findlarger audiences all over theworld," said Pandit Jasraj.

Also a proud recipient ofthe Sangeet Natak AkademiAward and SangeetMartand, he said the "onething that I wish the musicindustry does is to promoteIndian classical music in In-dia and abroad and carry onthe legacy of our rich heri-tage and culture".

Apart from performingat concerts and events bothin India and on foreignshores, Pandit Jasraj has alsolent vocals to films like"1920" and "Life of Pi".

Asked if he ever felt likeexploiting his potential incommercial cinema and

sing for more films, he toldIANS: "There are no such at-tractions at this point intime." His message to aspir-ing classical singers?

"My message to them isto believe in themselves andkeep doing riyaaz to betterthemselves. It takes years ofpractice and dedication toexcel in the art of classicalsinging. Many schoolsacross the country alreadyhave classical music as partof the curriculum, I don'tthink making it mandatorywill be effective.

"One needs to have apassion and interest to takeup classical music as a pro-fession. There is also a direneed of knowledgeable gu-rus to teach classical musicin India," he said.

US travel ban 'not best wayto protect' America: UN

Malaria superbug lineagespreading fast in Asia: Study

Bangkok, A lineage of multidrug

resistant P. falciparum ma-laria superbugs has widelyspread and is now estab-lished in parts of Thailand,Laos and Cambodia, a studyhas warned.

Noting that the furtherspread of these multidrugresistant parasites throughIndia to sub-Saharan Africawould be a global publichealth disaster, the authorsof the study called for accel-erated efforts in the GreaterMekong Sub-region andcloser collaboration tomonitor any further spreadin neighbouring regions.

The malaria superbuglineage is causing hightreatment failure rates forthe main falciparum malariamedicines, artemisinin com-bination therapies (ACTs),according to the study pub-lished today in the journalThe Lancet Infectious Dis-eases.

The emergence andspread of artemisinin drugresistant P falciparum lin-eage represents a seriousthreat to global malaria con-

trol and eradication efforts."We now see this very

successful resistant parasitelineage emerging,outcompeting its peers, andspreading over a wide area,"said study lead author ArjenDondorp from Mahidol Ox-ford Tropical Medicine Re-search Unit (MORU) inBangkok, Thailand.

The authors warned thatmalaria parasites resistant toboth artemisinin and itswidely used partner drugpiperaquine are nowspreading quickly through-out Cambodia, with fittermultidrug resistant para-sites spreading throughoutwestern Cambodia, south-ern Laos and northeasternThailand. "It has also pickedup resistance to the partnerdrug piperaquine, causinghigh failure rates of thewidely used artemisinincombination therapy DHA-piperaquine" Dondorpnoted.

"We hope this evidencewill be used to reemphasizethe urgency of malariaelimination in the Asia-re-gion before falciparum ma-laria becomes close tountreatable," Dondorpadded.

After examining bloodspot samples from patientswith uncomplicatedfalciparum malar ia fromsites in Cambodia, Laos ,Thailand and Myanmar, thestudy team found thatPfKelch13 C580Y, a singlemutant parasite lineage, hasspread across three coun-tries, replacing parasitescontaining other, less ACT-resistant mutations.

"The consequences ofresistance spreading furtherinto India and Africa couldbe grave if drug resistance isnot tackled from a globalpublic health emergencyperspective," said MahidolUniversity Professor Nicho-las White.

United Nations, UN Secretary-General

Antonio Guterres said hereon Wednesday that the UStravel ban imposed on refu-gees and immigrants fromseven Middle East andNorth African countries "isnot the way to best protectthe US or any other coun-try," voicing his hope that"this measure should be re-moved sooner rather thanlater".

The secretary-generalmade the remarks in re-sponse to a question as hewas briefing reporters hereon his travel to Ethiopia,where he attended an Afri-can Union summit, Xinhua

reported.In the Ethiopian capital

of Addis Ababa on Monday,Guterres commended Afri-can countries for openingtheir borders to refugeesand people fleeing violencewhile other parts of theworld, including the devel-oped West, close bound-aries and build walls.

"In my opinion, this isnot the way to best protectthe US or any other countryin relation to the ser iousconcerns that existed aboutthe possibility of terroristinfiltration," he said. "I don'tthink this is the effectiveway to do so."

"What was lacking was acapacity to have a compre-hensive approach to theproblem," he said of the USban, adding that it is veryimportant to review "thevery dramatic situations therefugees are facing whenthey have no chance toreach protection."

"And I think this mea-sure should be removedsooner, rather than later,"the UN chief said.

On Tuesday, the secre-tary-general issued a state-ment via his spokesman,saying that refugees fleeingconflict and persecution areentitled to protection, andhe expressed concern at de-cisions around the worldthat have undermined theintegrity of the internationalrefugee protection regime.

"Refugees fleeing con-flict and persecution arefinding more and more bor-ders closed and increasinglyrestricted access to the pro-tection they need and areentitled to receive, accord-ing to international refugeelaw," the statement said.

Under the executive or-der signed by PresidentDonald Trump last Friday,refugees from all over theworld will be denied US en-try for 120 days while all im-migration from so-called"countries with terrorismconcerns" will be sus-pended for 90 days. Thecountries included in theban are Iraq, Syria, Iran,Sudan, Libya, Somalia andYemen.

British MPs vote in favour of triggering BrexitLondon,

Politicians in House ofCommons gave over-whelming backing to theBrexit bill, paving the way forPrime Minister Theresa Mayto trigger the Article 50mechanism for Britain toleave the European Union.

The vote on Wednesdaynight, came after two daysof intensive debating whenaround 180 members ofparliament (MPs) spoke for

and against the measure.The final figures stood at498 'yes' against 114 'no',which gave the governmenta clear and comfortable ma-jority of 384, Xinhua newsagency reported. The votewas the most critical in aprocess that will lead tomore detailed discussionsbefore peers in the House ofLords vote, ahead of QueenElizabeth II giving the billher Royal assent. The debate

was called after the Su-preme Court ruled lastmonth that parliament hadto vote on triggering Article50, the mechanism for anycountry wanting to leavethe EU. The final speaker inthe debate, governmentminister David Jones, urgingMPs to "trust the people"and saying the governmentwas clear that the referen-dum outcome would applyto the whole of Britain.

Meteorite in Africa offers cluesto volcanic activity on Mars

New York, Examining a Martian meteorite found in Africa, scien-

tists have uncovered evidence of at least two billion years ofvolcanic activity on Mars. The findings, published in the jour-nal Science Advances, offer new clues to how the planetevolved and insight into the history of volcanic activity onMars, said lead author of the study Tom Lapen, Professor atUniversity of Houston in the US. Much of what we knowabout the composition of rocks from volcanoes on Marscomes from meteorites found on Earth. The meteorite,known as Northwest Africa 7635 and discovered in 2012, wasfound to be a type of volcanic rock called a shergottite. Elevenof these Martian meteorites, with similar chemical composi-tion and ejection time, have been found. "We see that theycame from a similar volcanic source," Lapen said. "Given thatthey also have the same ejection time, we can conclude thatthese come from the same location on Mars," Lapen noted.

Facebook, Oculusto pay $500 mn inVR lawsuit

New York, A US court has ordered

Facebook's virtual realitysubsidiary Oculus and itsexecutives to pay game de-veloper ZeniMax Media$500 million in damagesover copyright infringe-ment and violation of non-disclosure agreement. TheDallas court order comesweeks after Facebook CEOMark Zuckerberg deniedthe allegations of stealingthe ZeniMax technologyand said that it used its owntechnology to create theOculus VR headset.

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A H M E D A B A D * M A R K E T * G U I D E

In the News WESTERN TIMES AHMEDABADFRIDAY, 3/2/2017

Archbishop apologises forreporting 'child abuser'

Alternative mechanism toFIPB will be far simpler: Jaitley

New Delhi, Announcing the aboli-

tion of the Foreign Invest-ment Promotion Board(FIPB) during his budgetspeech, Finance MinisterArun Jaitley on Wednesdaysaid that the alternativemechanism will be far sim-pler.

"If there is an Informa-tion & Broadcasting Ministryor any other ministry relatedproposal, the ministry con-cerned can look into it. It isone of the possible mecha-nisms that can be consid-ered," Jaitley told media per-sons at a post-budget pressconference.

"It could be the ministryconcerned's mechanismthat can be considered. Thealternative mechanism willbe far simpler," he added.

Jaitley, in the budgetspeech, said that with thegovernment undertakingsubstantive reforms in theForeign Direct Investment(FDI) policy, more than 90per cent of the total inflowsare now through the auto-matic route.

"The Foreign InvestmentPromotion Board (FIPB) hassuccessfully implementede-filing and online process-ing of FDI applications. Wehave now reached a stagewhere FIPB can be phasedout," he said.

"We have, therefore, de-cided to abolish the FIPB in2017-18. A roadmap for thesame will be announced inthe next few months," headded.

In the meantime, furtherliberalisation of the FDI

policy is under consider-ation and necessary an-nouncements will be madein due course, the FinanceMinister said.

India Inc lauded thegovernment's move tophase out FIPB and addedthat it would lead to furtherease of doing business.

Associated Chambers ofCommerce & Industry of In-dia (Assocham) PresidentSunil Kanoria said: "Aboli-tion of the FIPB is a great sig-nal to the foreign investorsabout furthering of reformsand ease of doing businessin India."

Naushad Forbes, Presi-dent, Confederation of In-dian Industry (CII), said: "Theeconomic reforms agendacontinues at a rapid pacewith the abolition of FIPB."

London, The Archbishop of Can-

terbury has issued an "unre-served and unequivocal"apology on behalf of theChurch of England

for not reporting a childabuser to the police in the1970s, a media report said.

Archbishop ReverendJustin Welby apologised af-ter admitting that he hadworked at the holidaycamps where teenage boys

were groomed for abuse,the Telegraph reported.

Welby said on Wednes-day the Church had "failedterribly" by not reportingJohn Smyth QC to the po-lice.

Smyth, the head of aChristian charity that ransummer camps, was ac-cused of carrying out astring of "horrific" sado-masochistic attacks in thelate Seventies.

The report also said thatthe Channel 4 News will onThursday broadcast allega-tions of Smyth's use of thecamps.

The boys from some ofBritain's leading publicschools attended thesecamps. Smyth used them togain access to teenagers,whom he forced to strip na-ked before subjecting themto savage beatings.

Environment gets more funds,but cut on Project Tiger

New Delhi, The Environment Minis-

try is proposed to be allo-cated Rs 2,675.42 crore in the2017-18 Union Budget, an in-crease of Rs 399.42 crore overthe last fiscal. In 2016-17, theministry had got a hike ofover Rs 600 crore, about 39per cent over the previousyear and a budget of Rs2327.51 crore (revised esti-mate). The 2017-18 budgetproposals seem less promis-ing vis-a-vis the ministry, as acrucial department like theWildlife Crime Control Bureaureceived Rs 10.04 crore, thesame as last fiscal, while someprojects and departments re-ceived even less.

Project Tiger, NationalGreen Tribunal, Central Pollu-tion Control Board, AnimalWelfare Board and ClimateChange Action Plan also sawreductions in their allocations.

Funds proposed to be al-located to Project Tigerdropped from Rs 365 crore(budgetary allocation of Rs375 crore) last fiscal to Rs 345

crore for the current financialyear. However, the hike in 'In-tegrated Development ofWildlife Habitat' for the nextfiscal shows the aim is to im-prove the green corridors andoverall conservation efforts.

Reflecting thegovernment's commitmentto international goals, theministry will get extra fundsfor pollution abatement (Rs11.6 crore hike), hazardous

substance management (Rs18.82 crore hike), new and re-newable energy (Rs 155.56crore hike) and the NationalRiver ConservationProgramme. However, Fi-nance Minister Arun Jaitley,who presented the budgetproposals in the Lok Sabha,focused more on cleaneconomy and better workingenvironment but missed spe-cific mention .

Health budget 'unclear' and'under funded', say experts

New Delhi, Even as Finance Minis-

ter Arun Jaitley allocated Rs48,853 crore to the healthsector, and assured of add-ing 5,000 post graduatemedical seats every year,health experts and hospitalowners on Wednesdaycalled the health budget"unclear" and "underfunded". Although the ex-perts hailed the announce-ment to set up All India In-stitutes of Medical Sciences(AIIMS) in Jharkhand andGujarat, they said there is aneed for the government toannounce more for screen-ing and preventive mea-sures to check the growingtuberculosis (TB) burden.

"We were hopeful thathealth care would be ac-corded a national prioritysector status," said PrathapC. Reddy, Chairman, ApolloHospitals Group.

The budget allocationfor the health sector for2017-18 is Rs 48,853 crore,23 per cent higher than lastyear, which stood at Rs39,688 crore.

Stating that he is satis-fied with the structural re-

forms in medical education,in particular the increase inthe number of post gradu-ate medical seats, Reddysaid: "I do hope that thehealth policies will addressthe large unmet need forquality health care infra-structure and in particularthe need to wage a waragainst non-communicablediseases which the healthsector has been focusingon." Jaitley in his budgetspeech announced 5,000new post graduate medicalseats every year in the medi-cal colleges of India. He alsosaid that the governmentwill take steps to roll outDiplomate of National Bud-get (DNB) courses in big dis-trict hospitals.

Commenting on thebudget, S.P. Yadav, Urologistand MD of Gurugram'sPushpanjali Hospital, said:"The budget 2017-18 didnot discuss the health caresector in detail because ofwhich there is no clarity asto what structural reformsthe government proposesto bring in health care andmedical practice."

The government also

Research professor Christopher Whittier captured the unusual sight whilst taking a break from veteri-nary work in the Central African Republic to visit the famed Dzanga Bai forest clearing. The golden elephantwas one of around 150 endangered African forest elephants that came to visit the clearing. Mr Whittier, wholives in Grafton, Massachusetts in the United States, said that the elephants had made a 'nice mud bath' in aparticularly yellow patch of soil.

proposed to amend theDrugs and Cosmetics Rulesto ensure availability ofdrugs at reasonable pricesand promote use of genericmedicines.

Yadav said: "The prices ofvarious drugs and healthcare devices are totally de-pendent on the formationof GST Bill. However, thegovernment has taken awise step by turning 1.5 lakhhealth sub centres to healthwellness centres, which isnecessary in view of the factthat health care in India willbecome expensive in daysto come." According to thegovernment, it has an-nounced an action plan toeliminate Kala-Azar and Fi-lariasis by 2017, Leprosy by2018 and Measles by 2020.Elimination of TB by 2025 isalso targeted.

Rajit Mehta, MD andCEO, Max Health care, saidthe announcement of thegoal of eradicating TB fromIndia by 2025 is welcome.

"However, I am disap-pointed to note that thehealth care outlay in thebudget hasn't been prop-erly touched upon and it re-

mains largely under-funded.There is no announcementregarding granting healthcare industry the status ofinfrastructure industry, along standing demand ofthe sector," Mehta said.

"There is still a greaterneed to invest in screeningand preventive measuresfor addressing the growingTB burden. Non-Communi-cable Diseases that accountfor 53 per cent of the diseaseburden should have beenprioritised," said VarunKhanna, Chairman ofAdvaMed India WorkingGroup. AdvaMed is a medi-cal device company.

Anjan Bose, SecretaryGeneral, NATHEALTH -- a fo-rum for advocating betterhealthcare -- said: "The bud-get clearly focuses on im-proving health care accessfor the less privileged andon 'preventive andwellness', both of which arevery encouraging.

"The target of transform-ing 1.5 lakh health sub-cen-tres into health wellnesscentres is in line with theneed of the hour for the In-dian citizens."

Abhishek Jawkar, Sonali Barthwalto do a web series together

New Delhi, Filmmaker Abhishek

Jawkar and model SonaliBarthwal, who are rumouredto be dating each other, willplay the lead couple in atravel web series "Travelove".

"Travelove" will be thefirst of its kind to showcase acouple's take and will featureseveral offbeat locations.

"A lot of travel based webshows are scorching theinternet, however 'Travelove'

will be the first of its kind toshowcase a couple's loveand enthusiasm for travel.

"We have added the ele-ment of love to the travel di-ary," Mayur Goswami, con-tent and production head,said in a statement. WhileSonali Barthwal is a supermodel with several brands toher credit, Jawkar debuted asa director with Hindi featurefilm "Missing on a Weekend".

"I have directed several

travel documentaries in myearly days but had neverthought of facing the cam-era. Considering that I havealways been hit by the travelbug, this was an opportunityI didn't want to let go," saidthe filmmaker.

Talking about the desti-nations which are mapped,Goswami says that they arecovering exotic locations,national parks and destina-tions unheard of.

Ahmedabad, Page 4

City-State4

As a step towards quest for skill and knowledge, L J Group of Institutions hassigned an MoU with National Stock Exchange (NSE), the leading stock exchange ofIndia, on 1st Feburary; 2017. Owing this MoU, the students will be able to enroll forall courses of NSE on Financial Markets that consists of 48 modules in the areas ofMutual funds, Derivatives, Commodity, Options, Banking, Insurance and many more.The student can choose any of the module as per their interest and online exam willbe conducted by NSE for the same. The Vice President of L J group Manishbhai Shahhas talked to the students regarding the benefits they can receive and the place-ment opportunities for the future. The chief manager and Assistant manager fromNSE has come to the event for MOU signing. The Vice president and the Chief man-ager has signed the MOU on the day of Vasant Panchmi when the saraswati pujahappens.

BOLLYWOOD ACTOR SHAHRUKH KHAN PERFORMS LUNGI DANCE WITH NGOLADIES IN AHMEDABAD.

Students of Magadh Mahila College in a celebtating mood during theSaraswati puja, in Patna.

Missing boy: Police probe love angleAhmedabad,

Nikol police investigating disappearance of a 17-year-old youth since January 29, are now probingwhether a love affair led to the incident. The youth’sscooter was found from near Narmada canal onDehgam Road on Monday. According to police, par-ents of Dinesh (name changed), a class XII student ofSaraswati High School in Nikol, had reported his dis-appearance to Nikol police. Questioning in the inci-dent revealed that he had tried to force a girl of thesame age into marriage recently for which a complaintwas also filed against him for abduction. He had takenthe girl to Naroda after which the girl had informed herfamily. Dinesh had left the home saying that he was go-ing to tuition class. Sources said that his mobile phonewas found switched off on January 29 in Bapunagar.While the parents have asked the police to probewhether the girl’s family is behind the incident, policesuspect that Dinesh might have committed suicide.

Disturbed by wife’s affair,man hangs self

Ahmedabad,A 37-year-old man hanged himself at his home

in Chandkheda on January 11. Members of his fam-ily have accused his wife of abetting his suicide.Chandkheda police have started investigations onthe basis of call records. The family of the deceasedsay that the accused woman, a lab technician, had arelationship with a doctor from B J Medical College.

Chandkheda police said Ramila Shrimali, 60, a resi-dent of Keshavkunj Society, lives with her two sonsin Chandkheda. A third son lives at IOC Road. Whileshe lives with her son Manish’s family on the groundfloor, her second son Nilesh and with his wife Preetilived on the first floor. Nilesh and Preeti have a nine-year-old daughter. “She mentioned in her complaintthat Nilesh, an electrical engineer, worked for thewater supply department at Gyaspur for seven years.He was recuperating from an accident at work for thelast four months as he had suffered fractures. Preetiworks as a lab technician,” said an investigator.

LTV holders must register onlineAhmedabad,

Pakistani nationals living in India on long-termvisas (LTV) have been asked to register themselveson the Indian FRRO website to apply for visa exten-sions. In connection with the move, special branchof the city police has issued a notification asking LTVholders to take the online route. According to the no-tification on Tuesday, police officials have mentionedthat until now applications for extending visas weretaken at police stations. “With a view to cut the delayand streamline the procedure, those staying in Indiaon LTV before August 15, 2015, have been asked toregister themselves on the website and submit cop-ies of their applications to respective police stations,”the notification reads. LTV holders in Gujarat believethat the system will duplicate the process. “We areanyway expected to visit the police station to regis-ter. It will not reduce the effort. The process will justduplicate efforts. Not all LTV holders, especially theelderly, are digitally literate it will be an uphill task,”said an LTV holder. He also pointed out that the sys-tem rejects expired passports and this may create anissue for many. According to an estimate, Gujarat hasaround 20,000 Pakistani nationals living with LTVs.

Jan gold imports down nearly 70%Ahmedabad,

The gold business is showing scant signs of re-vival after being severely hit by demonetization. Thisis evident as gold imports have only marginally in-creased from last month. According to data providedby Ahmedabad Air Cargo Complex, gold imports inJanuary were nearly 70% lower than in the same pe-riod last year. Imports stood at 2.8 metric tonnes (MT)till Jan 30 this year, against 9.42 MT in January 2016.

Estimates by city-based bullion traders andstockiest indicate that cash crunch earlier in Januaryand limited sales has led to a decline in imports. Nor-mally, sales from November to February are buoyantdue to the festive and wedding season. However,people are overly judicious in making gold purchasesnow. “People are prioritizing purchases because oflimited cash supply. Moreover the Government ac-tion against frenzied gold buyers soon after demon-etization has led to reluctance among consumers tomake large investments in gold,” said Piyush Bhansali,president, Manek Chowk Bullion Traders Association.

Cops on drive against heavy vehiclesAhmedabad,

City traffic police on Tuesday conducted driveagainst heavy vehicles on Tuesday night. Officials saidthat their efforts will aim primarily at reducing fatalaccidents and mishaps on city roads. The focus ofthe drive will be major roads including SP Ring Road,SG Road and other roads frequented by heavy ve-hicles. In a notification dated January 31, the officeof additional commissioner of police (traffic) askedall police stations and senior officials to participatein a drive with the traffic branch to keep an eye onheavy vehicles between 6pm and 9pm in their re-spective areas. The notification asked the teams toreport the maximum possible rule violations. The traf-fic police issued notifications in the past prohibitingheavy vehicle traffic between specific times and onspecific stretches. “The focus will be on catching er-rant drivers and reporting cases to the RTO. The ef-fort is to reduce road fatalities, as it has been foundthat the accidents involving heavy vehicles increasechances of fatal or serious accidents. The rules arealready in place but the drive is to ensure that therules are followed,” said an official;.

Gujarati-origin woman sells £250,000UK home for £2 to dodge eviction

London,A 43-year-old Indian-ori-

gin teacher in the UK hassold her home, which has amarket value of 250,000pounds, for a token of more2 pounds to ensure that shecannot be evicted from theproperty.

Rekha Patel has beenlocked in a feud with herneighbour over some build-ing work dating back sixyears on the home. Shespent 200,000 pounds buy-ing the dilapidated two-bedroom cottage in 2010 inSimmondley village inGlossop and turning it intoher dream home.

A court order had di-rected that the home besold to recover legal feesand costs of around 76,000pounds. “I realized I will havemore rights as a tenant than

the owner so I decided tosever all legal ties with thehouse in order to live inpeace in my own home,” shetold. She told the home, builtin the early 18th century, totwo private companies re-cently and has signed a 10-year tenancy agreementwith them to carry on livingin the property for amonthly rent of 50 pounds.

“I had tried everythingpossible and had no otherchoice. There are properagreements in place withthe two private companiesand these are people I trust.The people of this villagehave been absolutely lovely.Many have taken days offwork to come out and sup-port me,” she said.

Patel, who was born inthe UK to an Indian familyfrom Navsari in Gujarat, got

embroiled in a dispute withher next door neighbourover some roof stones thatgot damaged during reno-vation work on the two bed-rooms house, which has amarket value of 250,000pounds.

The dispute landed incourt, which ordered Patelto pay damages and legalcosts to her neighbour.While she paid part of theamount, Patel disputes theremaining bill imposed onher.

She was evicted fromher home in June last yearover non-payment but re-entered a month later andhas since been fightingagainst a court order for herhome to be sold. She ap-plied for the legal bill to bequashed by ManchesterCounty Court last week.

Mega job fair planned at 11 places from Feb 11 to 17Gandhinagar,

A high-level meeting oflabour and employmentdepartment was held hereon Tuesday. Gujarat chiefminister Vijay Rupanichaired the meeting whichwas also attended bydeputy chief minister NitinPatel.

It was decided at themeeting that a mega job fairwill be organized at 11places across the state fromFebruary 11 to 17 in order toprovide jobs to unem-ployed youth through acampaign.

The state governmentwill provide employmentopportunities in industrialclusters and also in GIDC toyouth through the job fairs .

Outlining the final shape ofthe mega job fair, Rupanisaid that state cabinet min-isters and higher authoritieswill be present at the job fa-thers. The state governmentplans to ensure placementof local youth through atransparent system.

During the meeting itwas said that help of train-ing institutions of variousgovernment departments,industry department, GIDCand education institutionswill also be taken in themega job fair. The effort willbe to ensure that such unitsget required manpower and85% of the local youth de-sirous of employment arecovered.

Rupani suggested that

the employment portalshould be used for registra-tion of youth keen to have ajob. The CM also suggestedthat Gujarat can set a modelfor the entire country byproviding employment toyouth by integrating data ofprivate, semi-government,PSUs and also employmentexchanges.

It also planned to recruitas many as 2,500 appren-tices in this mega job fair. Atarget of recruiting morethan 25,000 people throughsuch job fairs has also beenfixed. The state Governmentclaims that between Janu-ary and December 2016,2.40 lakh youths had gotemployment through 1,307recruitment fairs. Labour

and employment ministerDilipkumar Thakor, chiefprincipal secretary to CM KKailashnathan and chiefsecretary of labour and em-ployment department RajivGupta were among thosewho attended the meeting.

GU organizes campus placementsGujarat University (GU) on Monday organized a cam-

pus placement drive for Infosys aimed at hiring studentsof BCA and BSc courses. As many as 775 students from 19affiliated colelges took part in campus placement, out ofwhich 473 who gave on-line test on Monday were foundeligible, said a statement issued by the GU registrar. Theresult of the test will be conveyed to students and qualify-ing candidates will appear for personal interviews anddocument verification process, it said.

IMA-Gujarat will protest today againstmandatory test for licence to practise

Ahmedabad,The Gujarat chapter of

Indian Medical Association(IMA) on Tuesday stated thatmaking the National ExitTest (NEXT) mandatory formedicos to practice as doc-tors will be gross injustice tothe medical students.Gujarat-IMA plans a state-wide protest on Wednesdayin which more than 15,000students of 22 medical col-leges will take part. TheGujarat-IMA claimed thatthe proposed exam will ruinthe career of medical stu-dents as they will be back tosquare one if they are not beable to clear the commontest in three attempts.

Dr Yogendra Modi, presi-dent of Gujarat-IMA, said onTuesday that the new provi-sions of National MedicalCouncil (NMC) proposed byNiti Aayog require a medicalgraduate in India to clear anexam to qualify as a practis-ing doctor. But one of theprovisions of the NMC saysthat the students who getmedical degrees from for-eign countries will not needto appears in the screening

test for a licence to practicein India.

Apart from this, studentsfrom Ayurvedic and homeo-pathic faculties will justneed to go through abridgecourse to register them-selves as ‘allophanic’ doc-tors, said Modi. Protestmarches and sit-in agitationswill be held outside the 22medical colleges between 10am and 1 pm, he said.

Students will also form ahuman chain and submit amemorandum to the collec-tor of their respective dis-tricts to press for their de-mand to scrap the proposalfor a test, Modi said.

“The proposed examwill put additional burdenon the students who alreadyhave to qualify for thecourse through variouscompetitive examinationsand who put in five-and-a-half years to obtain anMBBS degree,” Modi said.

“We do not see any jus-tification for the proposedexam,” he said. “Studentswho complete their MBBSgo through clinical intern-ship, which provides them

with hands on experience toqualify as practising doc-tors.”

Modi further said thatthey will oppose the bill byholding protests across thecountry on November 16.“The Centre had promisedto look into our demandsbut nothing happened. Thisis why we have decided tohold another round of pro-test,” he said. The Bill seeksto replace the MedicalCouncil of India with Na-tional Medical Commissionin order to improve regula-tion of medical education inthe country.

Monil Patel, who com-pleted MBBS this year, saidthat any medico spends 4.5years and appears in 16theoretical and practicaltests. “Those exams are con-ducted by colleges gov-erned by a Government-rununiversity. It seems the Gov-ernment does not believe inthe exams conducted by itsown universities,” Patel said.He further said that if a stu-dent fails to succeed inNEXT then he will havequalification of only class 12.

Rape survivor discharged from VSAhmedabad,

The learning-impairedrape survivor, found fromoutside the Civil Hospital onDecember 30, would finallystart her homeward journeyon Wednesday. She was dis-charged from the VS Hospi-tal on Tuesday after whichshe got united with her fam-ily numbers. The family isyet to decide on futurecourse of action.

The rape survivor’s agewas determined at around23 years by the ossificationtest at the hospital. It wasearlier believed that she isaround 14 years of age.

Kuldeep Joshi, RMO, theVS Hospital, said that thewoman was discharged af-ter her recuperation. “She is

responding very well to thetreatment. Her situation hasgot improved and she nowhas no issues with whichshe was admitted,” he said.She was admitted to thehospital on January 14 by aGandhinagar-based organi-zation where she was sentdue to her mental andhealth conditions.

The woman was foundfrom outside the Civil Hos-pital on December 30 afterwhich she shuttled betweenvarious agencies.; She wasnot accepted almost every-where as she had no controlover her excreta. Medicalexamination on January 14finally revealed that she wasraped and her rectum wasbadly damaged, leading her

to the situation.Police investigators had

tracked her family on thebasis of her statement innorth Gujarat and also ar-rested one person for therape. Police are working onthe theory that she mighthave been raped multipletimes. Police had shown thewoman multiple photo-graphs of the suspects outof which she had identifiedthe man. Panna Momaya,ACP (woman crime), saidthat police have assured thefamily of all support and fairinvestigation.

“A team will remain intouch with the family. Theywould decide on the futurecourse of action on Wednes-day,” she said.

Foresters nab poacher,rescue 3 endangered birds

Ahmedabad,Forest department on

Tuesday arrested a manwith three endangered mi-gratory birds fromNalsarovar lake in Sanandtaluka in Ahmedabad dis-trict. The three rescued birdswere a common coot, com-mon pochard and aGarhwal, said forest officials.

R G Prajapati, deputyconservator of forests atNalsarovar, said they foundthe three migratory birdsfrom the house of PremjiPagi at Rajval village nearthe lake. “On the basis of tip-off, a team of the forest de-partment raided the houseof Pagi early in the morningand found the migratorybirds in his possession. Theteam also found nets bywhich Pagi used to trap thebirds from the lake area,”Prajapati said.

“These bird migratehere in the winter season

and some poachers trapthem for sale in the localmarket,” he said.

Prajapati said an offencehas been registered againstPagi under the Wildlife Pro-tection Act and he will beproduced before court onWednesday. “We have beenquestioning Pagi about theincident and to knowwhether he has been in-volved in other such activi-ties,” Prajapati said.

This is the second inci-dent in a fortnight in whichmigratory birds were res-cued by the forest depart-ment. On January 18, theforest department had res-cued 63 endangered birdsincluding common coots,common pochards, ferrugi-nous pochard, Garhwal andwigeons from a boat onNalsarovar Lake, the onlyRamsar wetland site inGujarat.

Edu dept to hold chintan shibir on Feb 4Ahmedabad,

The state education de-partment will hold a‘Chintan Shibir ’ or brain-storming camp at MahatmaMandir in Gandhinagar onFebruary 4. This is the sec-ond edition of the ChintanShibir where teachers ofprimary schools, principalsof B.Ed colleges along withbureaucrats of educationdepartment will partici-

pate.Though the govern-

ment is holding the annualbrainstorming camp for thesecond time, the results ofthe first camp are yet un-clear.

The theme of this year’ssession is ‘Quality PrimaryEducation - a collective re-sponsibility’, where in dis-cussions will be held onsubjects like ‘Teacher’s re-

sponsibility in primary edu-cation’, ‘Innovative experi-ments of primary educa-tion’, ‘Use of technology forskilled teachers’ and ‘Re-sponsibility of society to-wards primary education’.

Religious figures likeDharmbandhu Maharaj,Brahmvihari Swami of BAPSand chief minister VijayRupani will also attend theshibir.

State-cops catch cricket feverAhmedabad,

Cops used to wielding lathis will now try their hands atswinging cricket bats for a month starting February 10.State in-charge DGP, P P Pandey, formally inaugurated the23rd edition of the 50-over one-day format and 9th edi-tion of Twenty20 format cricket tournaments for the statepolice on Tuesday at Gujarat College. The organizers saidthat there would be 16 teams-nine police ranges, four po-lice commissionerates and one team each from the DGPoffice, railways and State Reserve Police (SRP). The teamswould be divided into four groups for league rounds. Whilethe tournament would take place across the state, the semi-finals and final matches would be played in Ahmedabad.RVAsari, member of organizing committees, said that the statepolice had emerged winner in all India police cricket meetlast year beating Maharashtra. “A number of players fromGujarat police have also represented the state. We believethat it would be the platform to show players their talent.

Dogs lovers save eleven beagles from euthanasiaAhmedabad,

Eleven beagles, kept in alaboratory in Vadodara fromthe time they were 45 daysold and used in clinical tri-als to test drugs, were slatedfor euthanization after theyoutgrew their usefulness tothe laboratory owners. How-ever, five dog lovers fromAhmedabad stepped in andtook custody of the dogs,each of which is 6-7 yearsold. Now, the beagles havebeen put up in a shelter inSanand, while the volun-teers --- R icha SinghChoudhary, Himani Mod,Swati Verma, Chirag Sharmaand Devesh Trivedi -- areworking hard to find fami-lies to adopt the dogs.

“I was asked to pick upthese pedigree dogs onMonday, else they wouldhave been euthanized,” saidChoudhary. “Since I’ve pre-viously adopted a labora-tory-released beagle from

Bengaluru, I was first con-tacted by an animal welfareorganization called CUPA(Compassion Unlimited PlusAction), and later by Unionminister, Maneka Gandhi, onFriday, last week,” she added.

“Therefore, along with afew friends who are into res-cuing and getting straydogs adopted, I went toVadodara to pick them up,:”said Choudhary, who added,“Records indicate that theywere in the laboratory sincethey were about 45 days old,and were kept there forabout 6-7 years before be-ing released.”

The dogs will soon beexamined medically.

“These pups haven’tseen the outside world orperhaps even sunshine in allthese years,” said ChiragSharma, one of the rescuers.“Some of them have soreson their skin as they havebeen staying in cage for

years.” “While it was a joy tobring them to the shelter,the work is still half done, aswe need to get their bloodreports and medical exami-nation done,” he added.

Many of the dogs aretraumatized. No visitors arecurrently allowed to playwith them because they arescared and tend to run awayand hide in their cage. Theyhave never had human in-teraction before except tobe exposed to drugs and in-jections. The team of doglovers are attempting tomake them familiar with theenvironment, with humantouch and even one an-other. They feel that evenafter due medical care, get-ting them adopted is a chal-lenge.

“The family which willadopt these pets will; haveto be prepared to spendtime training them and tak-ing care of them because of

their condition. We woulddo so after due counsellingwith the future pet parents,”said Himani Mod, yet an-other dog rescuer based inAhmedabad.

“It will take them closeto a year to be toilet trained.

It is really different fromadopting a pedigree dogstraight from a litter or evenafter it is abandoned. Whenadopting a laboratory-re-leased dog, one must beprepared to take necessarycare,” added Richa.

Parents say girl molested by teacherAhmedabad,

The parents of a 10-year-old girl have accused a teacherat a Bapunagar school of molesting her. The school authori-ties denied these allegations and said that the girl was slappedfor not doing her homework. Senior school board authoritiesordered a probe into the incident. The incident took place atHindi Municipal School No.2 at Thakkarngar in Bapunagar fourdays ago. The class V student reported the incident to herparents, accusing the teacher of molesting her. Her parentsand parents of the other students approached the school thenext day but the teacher was not found. The group then madea representation to the principal. “We learned that the teacherhad slapped the girl when she did not bring her homework.She was not molested,” said Arun Tiwari, school principal. Theparents however alleged that the teacher concerned wasembroiled in controversies earlier as well. The municipal schoolboard has taken cognizance of the incident, as corporal pun-ishment is an offence anyway.

WESTERN TIMES AHMEDABADFRIDAY, 3/2/2017

Ahmedabad, Page 5

International 5

A WOMAN WALKS THROUGH A SNOWY PARK IN MINSK, BELARUS.

Devotees offer butter lamp to celebrate Shreepanchami festival at Saraswatitemple in Kathmandu, Nepal February 1, 2017. Children are given their first writ-ing and reading lessons at the temple during this festival in the belief that thegoddess of education Saraswati will help them excel in education.

Protesters against the travel ban imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump’sexecutive order march to the U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong, China.

We're all afraid of death: PopeVatican City,

Pope Francis on Wednesday urged Christians tostand by their faith and believe in resurrection andeternal life, admitting that we all fear death.

"We are all a bit afraid of dying," Francis told pil-grims gathered at the Vatican for his weekly generalaudience."Before the mystery of death, and the lossof our loved ones, we Christians are challenged tohope more firmly in the Lord's promise of eternal life,"Francis said. The first Christian communities also "hadsome difficulty" with death, Francis said, citing the "stillrelevant" teaching of Saint Paul in his First Letter tothe Thessalonians.Francis noted how Saint Paul toldthe early Christian community to believe in the after-life and to "wear its faith like a helmet".

Top Islamic State leader killed inAfghanistan

Kabul, A senior leader of the Islamic State jihadist group

was killed in a drone strike in Afghanistan's Nangarharprovince, a media report said on Wednesday.

Shahid Omar was killed early on Wednesday in adrone strike conducted by foreign forces in Afghani-stan, Khaama Press news agency reported, quotingNangarhar government officials.

Omar commanded a group of at least 40 IS fight-ers in Nangarhar, the governor's spokesman AtaullahKhogyani was cited as saying.

The drone strike that killed Omar took place inNangarhar's restive Achin district. Omar is believed tohail from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of northwestPakistan.

Ex-rail boss urged to quit afterdisaster conviction

Rome, Former Italian rail chief Mauro Moretti and other

defendants jailed over the 2009 Viareggio rail disas-ter that killed 32 people should resign, families of thevictims said on Wednesday.

"It is morally unacceptable that after a convictionof first instance, Mauro Moretti continues to lead astate company," the families said through theirspokesman Marco Piagentini.

"We request his resignation and that he bestripped of his Order of Merit for Labour," the familiesstated. The families were referring to former Italian rail-ways chief Mauro Moretti, who is currently head ofstate-controlled defence and aeropspace giantLeonardo. A court in the Tuscan city of Lucca on Tues-day jailed Moretti and another top Italian manager toseven years and two others to six and a half years inprison for their roles in the train derailment whichcaused a massive gas explosion.

Indian American realtor to run forVirigina assembly

Washington, Subba Rao Kolla, an Indian American Republican

from Washington DC, announced he will run againstincumbent Democrat John Bell for the Virginia Houseof Delegates 87th District seat, the media reported.

Kolla, a real estate businessman and a communityactivist, if elected, will become the first Indian-originmember of the Virginia House of Delegates, Ameri-can Bazaar reported.Kolla immigrated to the US in the1990s and became an American citizen in 2008.In astatement, Kolla said: "Whether helping new citizensnavigate the area and become citizens or volunteer-ing as I have for the past three years on the LoudounCounty Board of Equalization, I understand the impor-tance of having accessible, hands-on help from ourelected officials."My top priorities as a member of theState House will be education, transportation andworking with small businesses and taxpayers to re-duce government interference and regulation. As aconservative Republican, I believe the governmentthat governs least, governs best," he added.Kolla is arealtor in Loudoun County, having worked in real es-tate for over 10 years, and is well-known among thelocal Telugu community.

UAE says Trump's travel bansovereign decision

Abu Dhabi, The Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates

said that the decision of the US President to ban theentry of citizens from seven Muslim-majority coun-tries is a sovereign decision and not directed againstIslam.

Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan made his remarkson Donald Trump's ban in a press conference onWednesday held with his Russian counterpart SergeyLavrov, who is on a visit to the UAE, Efe news reported.

Al Nahyan emphasized that every state has theright to take sovereign decision, and the US made oneon Friday.He pointed out that the decision did notinclude the vast majority of Muslims, and stressed thatit is a provisional decision and will be rectified.

Indian charged with money launderingfor drug dealer in US

New York, A California businessman, Krishen Sauble Iyer, has

been convicted of laundering money for a marijuanadealer.

The federal prosecutor for Eastern California PhillipA. Talbert said on Wednesday that Iyer, who lived inFresno, had admitted his guilt.

According to documents, Iyer, who owned severalinsurance businesses, made a deal with a marijuanadealer to have money from selling the narcotics trans-ferred to one of his companies, Health Shield.

He then returned the money to the dealer aftertaking a commission and disguising the payments assalaries, the prosecution said. He filed tax documentsshowing a payment of $111,952 in 2013 and $164,000in 2014 even though the dealer had not worked forhim.The marijuana dealer was identified only as "S.V."in the court documents.Iyer is to be sentenced byJudge Dale A. Drozd in April and faces a maximumpenalty of 20 years in jail and a $500,000 fine.

Pakistan bans Saeed fromtravelling, protests escalate

Islamabad, Two days after Pakistan

placed UN sanctioned mili-tant leader, Hafiz Saeed, un-der house arrest in Lahore,the Interior Ministry onWednesday banned the JuDchief from travelling out ofthe country.

The ministry has for-warded a letter to all provin-cial governments and theFederal InvestigationAgency, which includedSaeed among 38 othersplaced on the Exit ControlList.

All of them were said tobe affiliated with theJamaat-ud-Dawah orLashkar-e-Taiba, which he issaid to have founded.

On Monday, authoritieshad placed Saeed underhouse arrest along with fourother individuals, namelyAbdullah Ubaid, Zafar Iqbal,Abdur Rehman Abid and

Qazi Kashif Niaz, in Lahore.On Wednesday, pro-JuD

protests escalated demand-ing the release of Saeed.

Hizb-ul Mujhadeen chiefSyed Salahuddin also calledupon Islamabad to reverseits detention order, which hetermed "painful and cow-ardly".

Salahuddin, chairman ofUnited Jihad Council (UJC),said in a statement: "HafizMohammad Saeed has notonly been urging the inter-national community tobreak its criminal silence onKashmir, but he has alsobeen exposing the atrocitiesof India's imperialistic re-gime."

Demonstrators inLahore also held an effigy,on which portraits of USPresident Donald Trumpand Indian Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and flags ofthe US and India were af-

fixed. The effigy and a ban-ner with portraits of the duoand flags of both countrieswere torched afterwards.

Protesters also carriedbanners and placards, in-scribed with slogans infavour of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief.

"House arrest of HafizSaeed to please India is un-acceptable," read a big ban-ner.

The JuD leaders alsowarned the government oflaunch of a protest move-ment if Saeed was not re-leased immediately.

They said the responsi-bility would lie with theNawaz Sharif government ifthe Kashmir movement suf-fered any disruption orweakness as result ofSaeed's arrest. The protest-ers promised to take out anationwide rally on Febru-ary 5 on the instruction ofHafiz Saeed.

On Tuesday, Pak istanArmy spokesperson MajorGeneral Asif Ghafoor statedthat putting restrictions onthe JuD chief was a policydecision.

"This was a policy deci-sion taken by the state in thenational interest and severalinstitutions will have to playtheir role. This news cameyesterday and in the comingdays more details will beavailable," he said.

Ghafoor emphasisedthat there was no foreignpressure behind the deci-sion and it was taken in na-tional interest.

Senate approves Jeff Sessionsas US Attorney General

Washington, The Senate Judiciary

Committee approved thenomination of Senator JeffSessions as US AttorneyGeneral after several delaysforced by Democrats follow-ing President DonaldTrump's controversial firingof acting Attorney GeneralSally Yates.

In an 11-9 vote onWednesday, Sessions finallymade it through the com-mittee process and now hisnomination will pass to thefull Senate, where it is ex-pected that his confirmationwill be simpler given thatonly a simple majority isneeded and Republicanshold 52 of the body's 100seats, Efe news reported.

The Alabama lawmaker

has had a difficult time dur-ing the confirmation pro-cess so far given his extremeviews on immigration andwomen's issues.

Matters became evenmore controversial on Tues-day when Trump fired Yatesfor insubordination aftershe ordered Justice Depart-ment attorneys not to de-fend his executive ordertemporarily barring US en-try refugees and citizensfrom seven Muslim-majoritynations.

Democrats praisedYates' decision during theconfirmation debate overSessions and accused him ofhelping Trump draft the or-der.

Democrats claimed thatany vote for Sessions would

be a vote to allow Trump toeliminate the separation ofthe executive and judicialbranches.

A 20-year Senate vet-eran, Sessions was one ofTrump's more loyal advisers,agreeing with him in manyareas, including taking ahard line against crime andthe massive deportation ofundocumented migrantsliving in the US.

Meanwhile, the SenateFinance Committee onWednesday approvedTrump's nominees to headthe Department of Healthand Human Services andthe US Treasury, Tom Priceand Steven Mnuchin, re-spectively, despite Demo-crats' boycott of the com-mittee votes.

White Houserestores Spanish-language Twitteraccount

Washington, The White House has

restored its Twitter accountin Spanish and will soonhave an official website inthat language, an adminis-tration official said.

The previous SpanishTwitter account and websitewere deleted when DonaldTrump was sworn in as USpresident, Efe news re-ported.

"Hello! Welcome to@LaCasaBlanca! Follow us tokeep updated on the latestnews about @POTUS Trumpand his administration!" thefirst post said onWednesday."La Casa Blanca"is Spanish for the WhiteHouse and @POTUS is theTwitter handle for the Presi-dent of the United States.OnWednesday morning, theWhite House Spanish-lan-guage Twitter account,which currently has about122,000 followers, postedanother message reportingTrump's nomination of NeilGorsuch to fill the vacant sCourt.The page in Spanish,a language spoken by morethan 50 million people inthe US and roughly 700 mil-lion around the world, van-ished from the White Housewebsite after Trump wassworn in as the 45th presi-dent on January 20.

US prison standoffcontinues

Washington, A 12-hour long US

prison standoff continues inDelaware with four out offive employees still remain-ing hostage with the in-mates, a media report saidon Thursday.

The single hostage re-leased was sent to a hospi-tal, a police spokespersonsaid, Xinhua news agencyreported.

The FBI and Delawarestate police continued ne-gotiations with inmates in-side a building of the Level5 James T. Vaughn Correc-tional Center (JVTCC) inSmyrna, some 149 km fromhere, said Sergent RichardBratz, the state policespokesman.

The incident beganaround 10.30 a.m. onWednesday when a guardradioed for immediate assis-tance from inside the build-ing housing more than 100inmates, said Bratz.

He did not revealwhether the authorities hadreceived any demands fromprisoners."We are doing ev-erything we can to ensurethe safety of everyone in-volved and using all of ouravailable resources," Bratzsaid.Citing the officers asso-

ciation, CNN said fourguards and one counsellorwere taken hostage by in-mates, while one guard wasreleased.

"It's a very scary situa-tion right now," Geoff Klopp,president of the Correc-tional Officers Association ofDelaware said.

A large number of localemergency responders, in-cluding policemen fromDelaware and neighbouringPennsylvania, were seenrushing to the prisonaround midday.

All Level 5 Delaware pris-ons, the state's maximumsecurity facilities, wereplaced on lockdown in theday as a result, though a cor-rections departmentspokeswoman said it was anisolated incident.He did notreveal whether the authori-ties had received any de-mands from prisoners.

Opened in 1971, theJVTCC has been Delaware'slargest correctional facilityfor men, housing about2,500 minimum, mediumand maximum security pris-oners as well as the state'sdeath row inmates.

It also housed facilitiesfor executions, said the StateBureau of Prisons.--IANS

Melania Trumphires chief of staff

Washington, After over a week US

President Donald Trumptook office, First Lady Mela-nia Trump has hired herchief of staff.

Late Wednesday, theWhite House announcedthat Melania hired LindsayReynolds as her chief of staff,who had previously servedunder former PresidentGeorge W. Bush as an asso-ciate director of the WhiteHouse Visitors Office, TheWashington Post reported.

Reynolds "brings over14 years of experience in po-litical fundraising, eventmanagement, and logisticalexpertise" to her new role,the White House said.

"I am putting together aprofessional and highly-ex-perienced team which willtake time to do properly,"Melania Trump said in thestatement.

"I am excited to beorganising and bringing to-gether such a dynamic andforward thinking group ofindividuals who will worktogether to make our coun-try better for everyone."

Reynolds said she isworking to fill out the FirstLady's staff as well as theWhite House visitor's officeand to open the WhiteHouse to the public follow-

ing a "traditional temporaryclosure during the transitionperiod", The Hill magazinesaid in a report.

"I look forward to theopportunity to serve as theFirst Lady's Chief of Staff,"Reynolds said in the WhiteHouse release.

According to sources in-volved with the First Lady'shiring process, Natalie Jones,a former deputy chief ofprotocol appointed byformer President BarackObama, is a leading candi-date to be the White House'snew social secretary. d in areport."I look forward to theopportunity to serve as theFirst Lady's Chief of Staff,"Reynolds said in the WhiteHouse release.MelaniaTrump has also hiredStephanie Winston Wolkoff,a New York party plannerknown for organising thecelebrity-laden annual MetGala, as a senior adviser, TheWashington Post reported.

Melania Trump's deci-sion to remain in New Yorkfor at least the next sixmonths to look after her 10-year-old son, Barron, createsa novel situation for her staff.While Wolkoff will remain inNew York, Reynolds and pre-sumably Jones will work inWashington, the sourcessaid.

Protests over corruptiondecree grow in Romania

Bucharest, Massive anti-govern-

ment protests broke outhere on the streets in Roma-nia af ter a decree waspassed by Prime MinisterSorin Grindeanu-led gov-ernment that could freedozens of officials jailed forgraft, a media report said onThursday.

In what is being said asone of its largest ever anti-government protests, acrowd of at least 150,000gathered here outside gov-ernment offices late onWednesday, as rallies werealso taken out in othertowns and cities, the BBC re-ported.

The protesters threwfirecrackers and smokebombs at police who re-sponded with tear gas.

The leftist government,led by Grindeanu of the So-cial Democratic Party (PSD),passed the decree late onTuesday, saying it wasneeded to ease overcrowd-ing in prisons.

But Grindeanu's criticssay he was trying to releaseallies convicted of corrup-tion.

Wednesday's protestscame hours after the EUwarned Romania against"backtracking" in its effortsto beat corruption.

"The fight against cor-

ruption needs to be ad-vanced, not undone," saidEuropean Commission headJean-Claude Juncker. "Weare following the latest de-velopments in Romaniawith great concern."

Protesters in Bucharestchanted "Resign" and"Thieves, thieves".

"Our chances are smallbut it is important to fight,"said architect Gabr ielaConstantin.

Another protester,Nicolae Stancu, said: "Wecame to protect our countryagainst criminals who tried

to dismiss the rule of law inRomania; to protect ourrights and interests, nottheir obscure interests."

The emergency decreedecriminalises several of-fences and makes abuse ofpower punishable by incar-ceration only if the sums in-volved are more than$48,000.

One immediate benefi-ciary would be PSD leaderLiviu Dragnea, who facescharges of defrauding thestate of $26,000. Others duefor release include electedofficials and magistrates.

Trump blasts Australian PM,abruptly ends phone call

Washington, Donald Trump blasted

Australian Prime MinisterMalcolm Turnbull over arefu-gee agreement whichled to the US Presidentabruptly end an hour-longphone call only after 25 min-utes into speaking.

Senior US officials saidon Wednesday that duringthe call on January 28,Trump also boasted aboutthe magnitude of his elec-toral college win and in-formed Turnbull that he hadspoken with four otherworld leaders that day - in-cluding Russian PresidentVladi-mir Putin - and that"this was the worst call byfar", The Washington Postreported.

"This is the worst dealever," Trump fumed asTurnbull attempted to con-firm that the US wouldhonour its pledge to take in1,250 refugees from an Aus-tralian detention centre offthe country's coast at Nauruand Manus Island in PapuaNew Guinea.

Deplorable conditionsat those sites prompted in-tervention from the UN anda pledge from the US to ac-cept about half of thoserefugees, provided theypassed American securityscreening.

During the call, Trumpwas joined by chief strate-gist Steve Bannon, NationalSecurity Adviser MichaelFlynn and White Housepress secretary Sean Spicer.

At one point, Turnbullsuggested that the twoleaders move on from theirimpasse over refugees todiscuss the conflict in Syriaand other pressing foreignissues.

But, Trump kept his fo-cus on the issue and said: "Idon't want these people".

He also repeatedly mis-stated the number of refu-gees called for in the agree-ment as 2,000 rather than1,250, according to the offi-cials.

Finally, Trump ended thecall, making it far shorterthan his conversations withJapanese Prime MinisterShinzo Abe, German Chan-cellor Angela Merkel of Ger-many and French PresidentFrancois Hollande.

Trump, who on January27 signed an executive or-der temporarily barring theadmissions of refugees andcitizens from seven Muslimmajority countries, com-plained that he was "goingto get killed" politically andaccused Australia of seekingto export the "next Bostonbombers".

Trump returned to thetopic late Wednesday night,writing in a message onTwitter, "Do you believe it?The (former PresidentBarack) Obama administra-tion agreed to take thou-sands of illegal immigrantsfrom Australia. Why? I willstudy this dumb deal!"

However, Turnbull toldthe media on Thursday that

Trump assured him the USwould take the refugees,CNN reported.

"Look, I'm not going tocomment on a conversationbetween myself and thePresident of the UnitedStates other than what wehave said publicly, and youcan surely understand thereasons for that," he said.

US Fed leaves ratesunchanged inJanuary meeting

Washington, US Federal Reserve on

Wednesday left the bench-mark interest rates un-changed and offered nohint on when it might move.

The central bankpainted a relatively upbeatpicture for the economy."Labour market continuedto strengthen and... eco-nomic activity has contin-ued to expand at a moder-ate pace," Xinhua newsagency cited a central bankstatement after concludingits two-day policy meeting.Itaprove consumer and busi-ness sentiment followingthe election of DonaldTrump as the USPresident.The upbeat eco-nomic assessment sug-gested that the central bankshould be on track to raiseinterest rates in the future. Inlast December, the Fedraised benchmark interestrates by 25 basis points, thefirst and only time in 2016.

American Airlines opensticket office in Cuba

Havana, Amid diplomatic un-

certainties, American Air-lines, one of the world'sbiggest carriers, has inau-gurated a ticket office inHavana, a media reportsaid.

"This is very promi-nent because we are thefirst American companylicensed by the CubanChamber of Commercewhich has allowed us tohave this facility," GaloBeltran, the airline repre-sentative told Xinhua

news agency.American Airlines

which opened the ticketoffice in Miramar onWednesday, will operateits own office with its ownairline employees, he said.

The airline has beenone of the leaders in directregular commercial flightsfrom the

US to Cuba after theadministration of formerUS President BarackObama loosened restric-tions on travel to the Car-ibbean nation.

WESTERN TIMES AHMEDABADFRIDAY, 3/2/2017

Ahmedabad Page 6

National6

MODELS DISPLAYS THE CREATION OF DESIGNER PALLAVI SINGH DURINGAT LAKME FASHION WEEK SUMMER RESORT 2017 IN MUMBAI.

AIJASS NATIONAL PRESIDENT YASHPAL MALIK AGITATING JAT PROTESTERSAT JASSIA VILLAGE IN ROHTAK.

Swaraj Abhiyan leader Yogendra Yadav ad-dressing Farmers’Parliament at Jantar Mantar inNew Delhi.

Coal India production grows 5.5% inJanuary

Kolkata, Coal India Ltd (CIL) on Thursday reported that its

production grew by 5.5 per cent to 55.99 million tonnes(mt) in January as compared to 52.86 mt in the corre-sponding month last fiscal, but the production duringApril 2016 to January 2017 remained flat.

According to provisional data, the production stoodat 433.76 mt, up by a meagre 1.7 per cent during thefirst ten months of the current fiscal (2016-17). Itachieved 91 per cent of the target which was set at478.57 mt for the period.

It also reported that its off-take during this periodas up by a marginal 1.3 per cent at 443.13 mt as againsta target of 489.71 mt. Its off-take for January stood at51.35 mt achieving 92 per cent of the target. In 2015-16, the state miner produced 538.75 mt of coal againsta target of 550 mt and its off-take was at 534.5mt.During the current fiscal, the coal production targethas been pegged at 598.61 mt is expected to be 660.7mt in 2017-18.The company envisaged production of908.10 mt in 2019-20 with a CAGR (Compound AnnualGrowth Rate) of 12.98 per cent with respect to 2014-15.In its latest annual report, the coal-mining behemothsaid it would invest Rs 7,765 crore as capital expendi-ture and Rs 5,069 crore in various other projects in 2016-17.

Trinamool walks out of RS, allegespolitical vendetta

New Delhi, Trinamool Congress members walked out of the

Rajya Sabha on Thursday, alleging that the central gov-ernment was indulging in "politics of vendetta".

Soon after the house met for the day at 11 a.m.,Trinamool member Derek O'Brien alleged that the gov-ernment was harassing his party's members for oppos-ing demonetistion."Government is indulging in politicsof vendetta against the opposition. This is a very seri-ous issue. We may have political differences on issuesbut this is not done," O'Brien said.In his reply, Ministerof State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvisaid the agencies were investigating a chit fund scamand there was no political vendetta againstanybody.Dissatisfied with the government's responsethe Trinamool members walked out of the house.

Public Cloud market to hit $1.8 bn inIndia in 2017: Gartner

Mumbai, Driven by Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), the

public cloud services market in India is projected togrow 38 per cent in 2017 to reach $1.81 billion, marketresearch firm Gartner predicted on Thursday.

The highest growth will continue to be driven byIaaS which is projected to grow at 49.2 per cent in 2017,followed by 33 per cent in software-as-a-service (SaaS)and 32.1 per cent in platform-as-a-service (PaaS),Gartner said.

The increase of SaaS and PaaS indicates that themigration of application and workloads from on-pre-mises data centres to the cloud, as well as the develop-ment of cloud ready and cloud native applications, arefuelling the growth in the cloud space."We see in-creased cloud growth in the infrastructure computeservices space as adoption becomes increasingly main-stream," Sid Nag, Research Director at Gartner, said in astatement. "This has been predicted for a while, and themomentum continues to sustain in 2017 eventually pla-teauing through 2020 as the market further matures,"Nag added.

Decision on Parrikar's future brief afterpolls: Amit Shah

Panaji, The BJP's central leadership will decide whether

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar will continue in thecentral government or will be sent back to state poli-tics, party President Amit Shah said on Wednesday.

"I get a lot of calls and letters requesting for Parrikarto be sent back. Parrikar is doing a great job for thecountry as Defence Minister. The party has decided tokeep all its options open. We will decide after elections.But whether he is in Goa or there (in Delhi) Parrikarthinks about Goa 24x7," he said.Imploring voters to castballot in favour of the BJP in the February 4 polls, Shahsaid: "Press the lotus button so hard, that the buttonwill be pressed here and the current will go to Italy."

Rahul doesn't know about ourresponse to cross-border terror: BJPchief

Panaji, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi doesn't

realise the difference between the response of the In-dian armed forces to cross-border terrorism during theearlier UPA rule and that under Prime Minister NarendraModi as he wears Italian spectacles, BJP President AmitShah said on Wednesday.

"Now Rahul baba asks Modi ji, there is cross-borderfiring during your government. It used to happen in ourgovernment too. So what is the difference? You will notknow Rahul baba, you are wearing Italian spectacles,"Shah told a rally in Bicholim town in north Goa.

"(The difference is) when your government was inpower, the cross-border firing was started by Pakistanand ended by them. Now, there is a BJP governmentand Narendra Modi is its Prime Minister and ManoharParrikar its Defence Minister. Now the firing is stillstarted by the Pakistan Army, but it is now ended bythe Indian Army," Shah said."They fire a bullet and werespond with a cannon... no one has the courage to se-vere our soldier's head," the BJP President said.

EC imposes 'prohibition' in Punjabfrom Thursday evening

Chandigarh, Ahead of polling to be held in Punjab on February

4, the Election Commission has issued prohibition or-ders for the entire state from Thursday evening.

The prohibition will be effective from 5 p.m. onThursday evening and will end on the conclusion of thevoting process on Saturday.Punjab Chief Electoral Of-ficer V.K. Singh said that the guidelines have been is-sued in accordance with the provisions enacted in Sec-tion 126 of Representation of Peoples' Act.As per theguidelines, the ongoing campaigning in all the 117 as-sembly constituencies and Amritsar Lok Sabha bye-election would come to an end 48 hours prior to thepolling date.

EC notice to Parrikar over voter-bribejibe

Panaji, The Election Commission (EC) on Wednesday is-

sued a show-cause notice to Defence Minister ManoharParrikar following a complaint of violation of the ModelCode of Conduct, filed by Delhi Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal and a regional party in Goa.

The complainants have alleged that Parrikar encour-aged voters to accept money from rival candidates dur-ing his election campaign here.Sumit Mukherjee, Sec-retary to the Commission, has directed the central min-ister to respond to the show-cause notice by 1 p.m onFebruary 3, a day before the state goes topolls."Whereas, the Commission is prima facie of theopinion that by making the aforesaid statement, youhave violated the above said provision of the ModelCode of Conduct," Mukherjee said in his notice.

Sonia condoles Ahamed's deathNew Delhi,

Congress PresidentSonia Gandhi on Wednes-day condoled the death ofsenior Kerala MP E. Ahamed,calling him a "fine humanbeing" and a "committeddemocrat".

"In his death India haslost an outstanding parlia-mentarian. He was a com-mitted democrat and be-loved leader of Kerala,whose simple lifestyle andcommitment to cause ... wasan example for an entiregeneration," Gandhi said.

She conveyed her soli-darity with the family andsupporters of Ahamed "inthis hour of grief ".

In a condolence letter toAhmed's son AhamedRayees, Gandhi said she wasdeeply grieved over the

passing away of his "be-loved father".

"E. Ahamed was widelyrespected and admired forthe complete sincerity anddedication with which heundertook every task, hiswarm human qualities, hisdiplomatic sk ills whichmade him strike a warm rap-port with leaders of severalcountries and his outstand-ing qualities as a parliamen-tarian.

"At this time of grief, youmuch take consolation fromthe fact that he was activeand engaged in public ser-vice until the very end andthat he did not suffer a longand painful illness," shewrote.

Gandhi also said shepersonally mourned the"loss of a warm and loyal

friend, a man with a simple,modest way of life whocared deeply for the under-privileged and vulnerableand always put their inter-ests first, and a leader ofbroad vision, humanity andintegrity.

"Indira Gandhi and RajivGnadhi also held him inhigh esteem. His many ad-mirers and supporters, notjust in Kerala but in thewhole country and in theMuslim world, will alwayshonour his memory and begrateful for his rich contribu-tion to our national life," shewrote.

Ahamed died here earlyon Wednesday, a day aftersuffering cardiac arrest inParliament during thePresident's address to a jointsession.--IANS

WESTERN TIMES AHMEDABADFRIDAY, 3/2/2017

Ahmedabad, The Indian Coast Guard

celebrated its 41th RaisingDay on 01 Feb 17. With amodest beginning of just 7ships in 1978 the service hasgrown into a formidableforce with 126 ships, 62 air-craft and 42 stations. By theturn of the present decade,the Coast Guard is likely tohave an inventory of 150ships and 100 aircraft.

As the fourth largestCoast Guard in the world,the Indian Coast Guard hasplayed a significant role insecuring the Indian Coastand enforcing the regula-tions within the MaritimeZones of India. True to itsmotto "Vayam Rakshamah"meaning We Protect, theservice has to its credit-sav-ing 7539 lives. Keeping ahawk's vigil on the IndianCoast, the service has pro-vided a robust and impreg-nable coastal securitymechanism.

In consonance with theGovernment policy of em-powering women, the ICGhas employed Lady Officersin combat with the success-ful all women Dornier flight.Soon lady officers will alsobe inducted in a float plat-form that is ACV (Air Cush-ion Vehicle), for which theyare presently undergoingtraining.

The President, Vice Presi-dent, Prime Minister, De-fence Minister, Governorand the Chief Minister ofGujarat in their messagescongratulated the IndianCoast Guard on completionof 40 glorious years of ser-vice to the nation and ap-preciated the pivotal role

41st raising day of Indian Coast Guard celebratedat HQ North West region in Gandhinagar

played by the service in en-suring the nation’s interestsin the Maritime Zones.

A traditional CG Recep-tion ceremony held on theCoast Guard Day was gracedby Shri OP Kohli, HonorableGovernor of Gujarat. In linewith the tradition, the

Hob’ble Governor cut theCoast Guard Anniversarycake with Inspector GeneralRakesh Pal TM CommanderCoast Guard Region (NorthWest). Senior officials fromthe Government, Defenceand other armed forces alsograced the occasion.

Odisha blast toll rises to 8Bhubaneswar,

With the recovery ofanother body on Thursdaythe death toll in alandmine blast triggeredby suspected Maoists inOdisha's Koraput districthas risen to eight, a policeofficer said.

The incident took placeon National Highway 26 atMungabhumi village onthe Odisha-AndhraPradesh border, when thepersonnel were travellingin a van to Cuttack fortraining on Wednesdayevening.

The body of OdishaState Armed Police (OSAP)official Tulasiram Majhi,who went missing after theblast, was found on Thurs-day morning.

Six of the other seven

deceased identified so farare Arun Kumar Nayak,Ganesh Prasad Saha,Somanath Sisa, S anjayKumar Dash, SubarnaKumar Raj and PradiptaKumar Rout.

"Even though nobodyhas claimed the incidentso far, we strongly suspectthis blast was triggered bythe red rebels as it is aMaoist area," said DirectorGeneral of Police K.B .Singh.He said the otherfive injured were shifted toa hospital inVisakhapatanam inA n d h r aPradesh.Meanwhile, fullstate honours were givento the deceased jawans, inthe presence of top seniorofficials at Koraput Paradeground on Thursday.

Widespread protests across Keralaover placing of liquor outlets

Thiruvananthapuram, Following the recent di-

rective of the SupremeCourt that there should beno liquor outlets on nationaland state highways, the newlocations decided for theseshops in the state has comeunder fire from civil society.

Girl students of the HolyAngels Convent in the heartof the city here took to thestreets Thursday after learn-ing that there would be anew retail outlet of thestate-owned Beverages Cor-poration (Bevco) near theirschool.

"We won't allow this toopen and we will protestagainst the opening of itnear our school," said agroup of protesting schoolstudents.

Similar protests havebegun across the state bylocals at more than twodozen proposed Bevco out-lets.

On Wednesday, troublebroke out near Kozhikodeafter an angry lady dousedherself in Kerosene and waspulled back from lightingherself.

In December last year,the Supreme Court bannedthe sale of liquor within 500metres on either side of na-tional and state highwaysacross the country, forcingaround 300 such outletscomprising beer and wineparlours, five star hotels and

state-owned liquor retailoutlets to look for newplaces, as they have to moveout latest by the beginningof the new fiscal.

In Kerala, liquor is cur-rently served only in about30 five star hotels andaround 600 beer and wineparlours; it is sold through334 state-owned retail out-lets.

H. Venkatesh, ManagingDirector of Bevco, told re-porters that the corporationhas decided to move its af-fected outlets to new loca-tions and when it does, it willfollow all the rules and regu-lations.

"We are only followingthe guidelines as per the lawof the land. The police canlook into everything," saidVenkatesh.

The profile of liquor us-ers reveal that around 32.9lakh people out of the 3.34crore population in the stateconsume liquor, which in-cludes 29.8 lakh men and3.1 lakh women.

Around five lakh peopleconsume liquor on a dailybasis. Of this, around 83,851people including 1,043women are addicted to al-cohol.

Now the ball is in thecourt of the Kerala govern-ment as revenue earnedthrough sales of liquor ac-counts for a major chunk ofrevenue and the state gov-

ernment will soon have totake the call on how to stopthese protests.

VRS plea of foodprotester constablecancelled: BSF

New Delhi, The Border Security

Force (BSF) on Thursday saidthat it has cancelled the vol-untary retirement plea ofconstable Tej BahadurYadav, who had uploaded avideo in social media overpoor food for soldiers.

"The voluntary retire-ment plea of constable TejBahadur Yadav has beencancelled owing to thepending court of inquiry,"BSF spokespersonSubhendu Bhardwaj toldIANS.

Bhardwaj said thatYadav has currently beenkept in his battalion head-quarters in Jammu andKashmir."Cancellation of hisplea to opt for VRS (Volun-tary Retirement Scheme)was communicated to Con-stable Tej Bahadur on Janu-ary 30, 2017, evening," saidBhardwaj.BSF trooper TejBahadur Yadav had com-plained about the quality offood being served to secu-rity personnel, and accusedunnamed officers of illegallyselling off the food suppliesmeant for the troopers.

Thousands attend last ritesof ex-minister Ahamed

Kannur (Kerala) Thousands of people

took part in the funeral ser-vice of senior Kerala parlia-mentarian E. Ahamed at amosque here on Thursday.

A sitting Lok Sabhamember, Ahamed passedaway early on Wednesdaymorning in a Delhi hospital,and was laid to rest with fullstate honours.

The former Union Minis-ter from Malappuram fellunconscious in the CentralHall of Parliament duringthe President's address thatmarked the start of thenBudget session.

Ahamed was put on life

support at the RamManohar Lohia hospitalwhere he passed away at2.15 a.m.

Ahamed's last rites wereconducted at his nativeKannur City Juma Masjid,very close to his ancestralhome. His political activitieswere centred mostly aroundMalappuram district and atDelhi.Besides the nationaland state political leadersfrom various parties, peoplefrom every walk of life at-tended the last rites.

Ahamed's remains werefirst brought to Kozhikodefrom Delhi on Wednesdayevening and were taken to

his ancestral home late atnight.The funeral servicewas led by Indian UnionMuslim League chiefPankkad Sayyid HyderaliShihab Thangal. Ahamedwas a leading member ofthe IUML.

The 78-year-old formerUPA minister was regularlyelected to the Lok Sabhasince 1991. The IUML is thesecond biggest constituentof the Congress-led UnitedDemocratic Front (UDF) inKerala.A law graduate,Ahamed joined politics as astudent, and was firstelected to the Kerala assem-bly in 1967.

If voted to power, will jailcorrupt politicians: Elvis Gomes

Panaji, Aam Aadmi Party's

(AAP) chief ministerial can-didate Elvis Gomes onThursday said that if votedto power, he will send to jailthe corrupt political leaderswho tricked the public.

Addressing a press con-ference here, Gomes saidthat on February 4 (the poll-ing day), people of Goa willscript "doom and the end ofthe road" for the corruptpoliticians."All who tricked

the people for decadesthrough the mining scam,innumerable land grabscams and amassed hugeamount of unaccountedwealth will be prosecutedand jailed once my govern-ment takes office," Gomestold reporters.

Goa will elect its new 40-seat assembly on February4.

He also promised to en-sure "fish for all" at afford-able prices in Goa.He said

that during door-to-doorinteractions with people, herealised that fish which wasstaple part of food for al-most every Goan has be-come unaffordable for theaverage family in Goa.

"It will be done with ascheme delivered throughfishermen's cooperativessupported with state-of-the-art supply chain of coldand dry storages inneighbourhoods acrossGoa," Gomes said.

More wasted children, anaemic adultsthan before in once-robust Punjab

By Oommen C. Kurian

The popular caricatureof Punjabis is of a robust,relatively-rich people madethat way by hearty eatingand energetic living. The re-ality today: Wasting (lowweight-for-height) amongchildren has increased from9.2 per cent in 2005 to 15.6per cent in 2015, and one infour is still stunted (lowheight for age).As Punjab, atone time among India's fast-est-growing and richeststates, prepares for assem-bly elections, it is now oftentermed as a "once-rich"agrarian state, its economydeclining and ill-healthplaguing people of all ages.

Punjab faces a doubleburden of obesity and poornutrition. Obesity amongmen (27.8 per cent) andwomen (31.3 per cent) in-creased by 5.6 and 1.4 per-centage points, respectively,in the decade to 2015. Si-multaneously, the propor-tion of anaemic mendoubled between 2005(13.6 per cent) and 2015(25.9 per cent), and anaemicwomen went up from 38 percent to 53.5 per cent.

There is some goodnews too. Though drug-useis surging, only 34 per centof Punjabi men now con-sume alcohol, down from43.4 per cent in 2005, ac-cording to National FamilyHealth Survey-4 (NFHS-4).The proportion of underagemarriages among girls has

fallen from 19.7 per cent in2005 to 7.6 per cent in 2015.The state's sex ratio has im-proved from 746 to 860 (theall-India ratio: 906 in 2014).

The state had -- and has-- much going for it, but itdoes not show in its health

Punjab is ranked 16th bypopulation among statesbut 15th by Net State Do-mestic Product (NSDP) percapita, according to NITIAayog. Studies have shownthat, historically, free ruralelectricity linked to thegreen revolution has notonly led to overexploitationof groundwater, but also afiscal crunch. This has af-fected public spending oneducation and health, andthere has been little realgrowth in Punjab's socialspending.Punjab has India'shighest proportion ofhouseholds with improvedsources of drinking water,among the lowest propor-tion of households thatpractice open defecation,and the fourth-lowest pro-portion of children youngerthan five who are under-weight. Yet, the health indi-cators lag its economicstanding and there are wideinequities within the state,with under-provisioningand over-provisioning exist-ing in parallel, driven by acostly, unregulatedhealthcare sector.Amongthe battleground states ofthe 2017 elections, Punjabhas the second-lowest percapita public health spend-

ing at Rs 647 per year, ac-cording to the 2013-14 datafrom the Health Ministry.That has led to infrastruc-ture gaps: For instance, theaverage population sizeserved by each govern-ment-run hospital bed is2,420 in Punjab, comparableto poorer states such asOdisha, Madhya Pradeshand Assam.Also, depen-dence on private healthcarefacilities is high -- 83 percent for outpatient and 66per cent for inpatient -- lead-ing to Punjab having thehighest average medical ex-penditure per episode ofhospital admission in India.

Among India's largerstates, Punjab had the sec-ond-highest proportion ofhouseholds (18.5 per cent)that reported "catastrophic"healthcare expenditure, af-ter Kerala, according to re-search from Brookings India,a think tank, based on thelatest National Sample Sur-vey Office (NSSO) data.

Often, patients fromPunjab travel toneighbouring states seek-ing medical care. The aver-age expenditure per over-night trip for health andmedical purposes was thehighest in Punjab among allstates and Union territories-- at Rs 31,512, Punjab's av-erage was about double theIndia average of Rs 15,336,according to a 2016 NSSOreport.The proportion of ru-ral households in Punjabwith any member covered

by health insurance orhealth scheme is 22.1 percent, compared toManipur's 3.7 per cent, Goa's11.4 per cent, orUttarakhand's 19.8 per cent,according to NFHS 4 datareleased in 2016. However,district-level disparities ininsurance coverage remain:From districts like Patiala,where only 10.5 per centhouseholds are covered byhealth insurance, toRupnagar where 45.4 percent households are cov-ered.

Ahmedabad, Page 7

7BusinessBusiness Brief

Lokesh Machines Signs Strategic Alliancewith World Leader Tongtai of Taiwan

Ahmedabad,Lokesh Machines Limited has signed a landmark

agreement with Tongtai Machine & Tool Co Ltd., Tai-wan to manufacture the most popular Hi-Speed Ver-tical Machining Center Model EZ5 for the Indian mar-ket. The company has made this strategic announce-ment during the ongoing machine tool fair IMTEX2017. Lokesh Machines Limited is ranked as one of thetop five Machine Tool Manufacturers in India. The com-pany takes pride in a worldwide client base and is anoted machine tool Manufacturer in India with arecord of exports to Japan, Germany, Italy, Russia andother European Countries.

With a successful portfolio of products under itsbelt and with sound credentials of supplying severalcritical machines to the Indian Automobile, Energy,Aerospace Industries & also exporting machines toJapan, Germany, Italy, Russia, China & other EuropeanCountries, the company wishes to leapfrog its tech-nological base with some ultrahigh speed machinesfor new age metals and products.

Speaking about the tie up the Director Mr. M. SriKrishna said “We are in an era of change and unparal-leled growth. To speed up our processes and remainat the cutting edge of technology is of paramountimportance to take the company to the highest peaksof achievement and to make in India but yet remain aglobal power. Our venture with Tongtai opens upanexciting new chapter in our progress and poten-tial.

India's Sona group exits Sona KoyoSteering Systems

Chennai, Indian auto-component group Sona will exit Sona

Koyo Steering Systems Ltd (SKSSL) by selling its staketo JTEKT Corp Japan, the group said on Wednesday.

In a statement, the group said that SonaAutocomp Holding Ltd, led by Sunjay J. Kapur, hadentered into an agreement with JTEKT Corp to sell itsentire holding in SKSSL for Rs 419.28 crore at Rs 84per share.

Sona Autocomp holds 25.12 per cent stake inSKSSL while JTEKT Corp holds 20.10 per cent.TheJTEKT Corp has also issued an open offer to acquirethe 26 per cent stake held by public.On completionof all the transactions-acquisition of stakes from SonaAutocomp and the public in full, JTEKT Corp holdingin SKSSL will go up to 71.22 per cent.

The SKSSL makes steering systems for passengerars and utility vehicles in India.The transaction is sub-ject to regulatory clearances by the Competition Com-mission of India and certain other conditions men-tioned in the agreement, the statement added with-out specifying the other conditions.Subject to receiptof approvals and completion of conditions mentionedin the agreement, the transaction is expected to closeby the first quarter of financial year 2017-18.

V-Mart launches Value-Club- Anexclusive Rewards Program

Ahmedabad,V-Mart Retail Ltd., one of the fastest growing fash-

ion chain in North India announced the launch of itsRewards Program 1st February 2017. Staying true toits promise of constantly striving to provide a bettershopping experience to over 60000 customers walk-ing into V-Mart stores daily.

Value Club, a one-of-its-kind Rewards Program,aims to make shopping more rewarding for Consum-ers while also consciously trying to customize the of-ferings as per customer needs. The program rewardsand incentivize customers basis on their shoppingbehavior.

Speaking on the launch of the Value Club, Mr.LalitAgarwal (CMD-V-Mart Retail Ltd.) said, “Value Clubis a means of expressing our gratitude towards ourloyal customers. While our competition is busy in ratrace of mass-discounts, we have consciously decidedto provide customized offerings to our customersbasis their past shopping trends, purchase pattern etc.Also the program will help us identify V-Mart loyalistsand enable us to provide these set of privileged cus-tomers with benefits like-free-parking, Exclusive pre-view to our EOSS and New Collection launch, free carrybags etc. We are very excited to introduce Value Cluband hope to create a stronger connect with our cus-tomers with the help of this program.”

Air India to get Rs 1,800 crore of freshequity in 2017-18

New Delhi, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday pro-

posed to infuse an additional equity of Rs 1,800 crorein the cash-strapped national passenger carrier AirIndia for 2017-18 fiscal.

The budgetary support has been provided to theairline on account of a turnaround and financial re-structuring plan worth more than Rs 30,000 crorewhich was passed in April, 2012.

"The provision (turnaround plan of Air India) ismade for government investment in Air India to meetthe equity shortfall to discharge its liabilities relatedto loans, NCD (non-convertible debentures) etc. whichare government guaranteed," the document on'Notes on Demands for Grants' for the Ministry of CivilAviation read.According to the expenditure budgetdocument 217-18, a total outlay of Rs 2,308 crore hasbeen proposed to be provided to the state-runairline.The government had allocated Rs 1,713 croreto the flag carrier as budgetary support for 2016-17with a total outlay of Rs 2,065 crore.However, the re-vised estimates for 2016-17, showed that the state-run airline's budgetary support reached Rs 2,465.21crore with a total outlay of Rs 2,900.21 crore.

Short covering, strong rupee buoyIndian equities

Mumbai, Short covering, coupled with a marginally strong

rupee and hopes of positive quarterly corporate earn-ings buoyed the Indian equities markets during themid-afternoon trade session on Thursday.

However, investors were cautious ahead of theReserve Bank of India's (RBI) monetary policy slatedfor next week, and the Bank of England's (BoE) inter-est rate decision later in the day. The key indices tradedin the green -- on a flat-to-positive note, as healthybuying was witnessed in consumer durables,healthcare and IT stocks. The wider 51-scrip Nifty ofthe National Stock Exchange (NSE) was up by 13.85points or 0.16 per cent, to 8,730.25 points.

ASUS ROG unveils new gamingnotebook at Rs 94,990

New Delhi, Under its Republic of Gamers (ROG) series, Taiwan-

ese company ASUS on Thursday launched ROG StrixGL553 compact ultralight gaming laptop in India at astarting price of Rs 94,990.

The 15.6-inch GL553 offers a gamer-friendly key-board powered by ASUS Aura with four distinct light-ing areas for good gaming experiences in the dark.

"The product is aimed at young professionals whoenjoy regular-through-heavy gaming sessions andpremium entertainment on the go," Peter Chang, Re-gional Head-South Asia and Country Manager-SystemBusiness Group- ASUS India, said in a statement.

Indians ready for low pay ifwork allows travel: survey

New Delhi, A new research reveals

that 43 per cent of businesstravellers in India would ac-cept a lower paying job if itmeant they could travelmore for work as comparedto 30 per cent globally.

Commissioned byBooking.com for Business,the global leader in con-necting business travellerswith the widest choice ofplaces to stay, the researchshows that company bossesare potentially under-valu-ing business travel as a staffremuneration "bargainingchip" as well as a workforcemotivation and retentiontool, said a statement.

The findings also reflecta broader trend identifiedby Booking.com for Busi-ness which reveals that em-ployees are increasinglysmudging the line betweenbusiness and leisure. Ac-

cording to data, more thanhalf of Indian business trav-ellers(67 per cent) have ex-tended their business trips,to a different city or countryin the past 12 months.

The statistics indicatethat this trend in India ishigher as compared to theglobal findings (49 per cent).

Where nearly one thirdof Indian business travellers(48 per cent) are claimingthat they intend to do thesame in 2017, only 27 percent claim the same glo-bally.

Additionally, 69 per centof Indian travellers surveyed,believe that they will travelmore for business in 2017than they did in 2016, as ver-sus a global finding of 46 percent.Ripsy Bandourian, Di-rector of Product Develop-ment, Booking.com for Busi-ness said: "No longer seen aslost time or a career incon-

venience, business travel isincreasingly seen as an op-portunity to expand hori-zons, find inspiration andprogress in a career."

"Today's laptop and lattebreed of employee is in-creasingly mobile and fluidwith their travel plans, look-ing to strike a balance be-tween business and leisuretravel," Bandourian said.

"As such, they expectemployers to keep pacewith their need for greaterfluidity and flexibility andare even prepared to nego-tiate on salary to do so."

"It's why Booking.comfor Business is focused onproviding a diverse range ofaccommodation choices forbusiness travellers as well asensuring they can find, man-age and enjoy companystays in the simplest, smart-est and most rewardingway," Bandourian added.

WESTERN TIMES AHMEDABADFRIDAY, 3/2/2017

New Delhi,BMW Group India pre-

sents the 13th BMW Art Carcreated by Italy’s most re-nowned contemporary art-ist Sandro Chia.His creation willbe exclusively ex-hibited from 2-5February 2017 atthe India Art Fairin New Delhi.Sandro Chia cre-ated the 13th ArtCar for BMW in1992 with theBMW M3 GTRwhich is celebrat-ing its 25th anni-versary in 2017.

The BMW ArtCars or the ‘Roll-ing Sculptures’ are originalmasterpieces of ar t thatdemonstrate an individualsynthesis of artistic expres-sion and automobile design.Since 1975, eighteen promi-nent artists from across the

The BMW Art Car by Sandro Chiacelebrates its 25th anniversary in India

world have created Art Carson the basis of contempo-rary BMW automobiles oftheir times, all offering awide range of artistic inter-

pretations.Mr. Frank Schloeder,

President (act), BMW GroupIndia said, “Cultural commu-nication has been one of thelong-standing commit-ments of BMW Group. The

partnerships we buildstrengthen intercultural dia-logue and create platformsfor multidisciplinary ex-change. The BMW Art Carscollection spans the work ofprominent artists acrosscontinents. Together theyform a mirror of contempo-rary culture, as exemplary asit is unique. Through the ex-clusive showcase of theBMW Art Car by Sandro Chiaat the India Art Fair, we bringyet another coveted master-piece of art closer to con-noisseurs and patrons of art.Visitors will be able to dis-cover the design and cre-ative process of the 13thBMW Art Car at the India ArtFair 2017.” BMW Art Cars arean indispensable compo-nent and a core platform ofBMW Group’s cultural en-gagement. They are uniquecreations combining auto-mobiles, technology, designand art.

Bajaj Auto's Januarysales decline by 18%

Mumbai, Two- and three-wheeler

major Bajaj Auto on Thurs-day reported a decline of 18per cent in its total sales, in-cluding exports, for January.

According to the com-pany, its total sales duringthe month under reviewstood at 241,917 units from293,939 units during thecorresponding month of2016.

The two- and three-wheeler major's total do-mestic sales in January weredown 16 per cent to 135,188units from 161,870 unitssold during the like month

of last year.Besides, theoverall exports during thelast month fell by 19 percent to 106,729 units from132,069 units shipped outduring the correspondingmonth of 2016.

The company's totalmotorcycle sales during themonth under review de-creased by 16 per cent to211,824 units from 252,988units sold in the like monthof last year.In addition, theoverall commercial vehiclesales edged down by 27 percent to 30,093 units from40,951 units sold duringJanuary 2016.

Facebook logs impressive growth despite fake news scandalNew York,

Defying the massivefake news scandal that hitthe social networking giantduring the US presidentialelection as well as analysts,Facebook has registeredstrong growth in its mobileadvertising business, withtotal revenue reaching $8.8billion from $5.84 billion lastyear. It means $1.41 profitper share instead of the$1.31 that Wall Street wasexpecting. The quarterlyprofit was $3.57 billion --more than double ($1.56 bil-lion) the company reportedlast year, Fortune reportedon Thursday.For the full year,Facebook's revenueclimbed by $10 billion or 54per cent to just over $27.5billion compared with $17.9billion in 2015 and the

company's net income forthe year more than doubledto $10 billion.

Mired in controversieslike "fake news" and inaccu-rate advertising, Facebookitself expected a slowdownin the growth rate of its ad-vertising revenue.

The one way by whichthe Menlo Park, California-based company registeredthe growth was by addingmore than 265 million newmonthly active users in 2016-- almost as many users asthe micro-blogging websiteTwitter has in total.

Facebook now has morethan 1.8 billion users wholog on every month andmore than 1.2 billion userswho do so every day.

Daily active users hit1.23 billion, up from 1.18 bil-

lion last quarter and up 18percent (Year-on-Year),compared to 17 percent lastquarter. Another majorgrowth engine for the socialmedia giant was mobile.Over 1 billion of Facebook'sdaily users access the siteprimarily on their phones ortablets and that numbergrew by 23 per cent in thelatest quarter. Mobile ad rev-enue made up about 84 percent of the company's totalad revenue.Facebook alsosaid it earned $12.4 billion inincome from operations lastyear, nearly double the totalfrom 2015 ($6.2billion)."During the earningscall, CEO Mark Zuckerbergwas repeatedly asked aboutFacebook's video contentstrategy. He explained that"we're focusing on shorter

form content to start", andthat the company needs tobuild a sustainable ad rev-enue sharing businessmodel to pay professionalcreators to bring that con-tent to Facebook, TechCrunch reported.

NOTICE OF BOARD MEETING

For, MINAXI TEXTILESLIMITED

Place : ChhatralDate : 01/02/2017

MINAXI TEXTILES LIMITEDRegd. Office: Plot No. 3311, Phase-IV, GIDC Industrial Estate,

Village: Chhatral, Taluka: Kalol, District: Gandhinagar (N.G.)CIN : L 17119GJ1995PLCO25007

Notice, pursuant to Regulation 29 of the SEBI (Listing Obligationsand Disclosures Requirements) Regulations, 2015, is herebygiven that a meeting of Board of Directors of the Company willbe held on Saturday, 11th day of February, 2017, at 11:00 a.m.at Registered Office of the Company inter – alia to take note ofand approval of the Unaudited Standalone Financial Results ofthe Company for the quarter ended on 31st December, 2016.Pursuant to Regulation 47 the said Notice may be accessed onthe website of the company www.minaxitextiles.com and mayalso be accessed on the website of the Stock Exchange onwhich the shares of the company are listed i.e. www.bseindia.com

Bharatbhai P. PatelManaging Director DIN : 00161825

Regd.Office : 304, Kaling, B/h. Bata Show Room,Nr. Mt. Carmel School, Ashram Road, Ahmedabad 380009

Web : www.indocreditcapital.com CIN : L65910GJ1993PLC020651email : indocredit@rediffmail.com Telefax : 079-26580366

NOTICE

INDO CREDIT CAPITAL LIMITED

For INDO CREDIT CAPITAL LIMITEDSd/-

(Hardik H. Joshi)Company Secretary

Place: AhmedabadDate : 02.02.2017

Notice is hereby given that Pursuant to Regulation 29 readwith Regulation 47 of the SEBI (Listing Obligations andDisclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, that the Meetingof the Board of Directors of INDO CREDIT CAPITAL LTD isscheduled to be held on Thursday, 9th February, 2017 at 11.00A.M. At the registered office of the company, inter alia, toconsider and take on record the Unaudited Financial Resultof the company for the quarter and nine months ended 31stDecember, 2016.The Said Notice can be accessed on the Company’s websiteat www.indocreditcapital.com and at the website of the stockexchange i.e www.bseindia.com

For & on behalf ofAdarsh Plant Protect

LimitedSd/-

Devangi Rajanikant ZinzuvadiyaCOMPANY SECRETARY

Date : 03.02.2016Place : V.U.Nagar

Regd.Office : 604,GIDC Estate,V.U.Nagar-388121,Anand,Gujarat

CIN : L29210GJ1992PLC017845 TELE: 02692-236705Fax:02692-236704 Wbsite:www.adarshplant.com

Mail : info@adarshplant.com

Pursuant to Regulation 47 of SEBI (LODR) Regulation,2015 Notice is hereby given that the 4th meeting of TheBoard of Directors ,in F.Y.: 2016-17, of the company willbe held on Saturday, 11th February, 2017 at 04:30 P.M.at the Registered Office of The Company to approvethe unaudited Financial results for the Quarter endedon 31st December, 2016

ADARSH PLANT PROTECT LIMITED

NOTICE

ON LINE TENDERINGVADODARA URBAN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

‘VUDA BHAVAN’, Karelibaug, Vadodara-390 018Telephone No: (0265) 2466710, 15, 17

TENDER NOTICE No. 12 of 2016-17The Chief Executive Authority of VUDA invites sealed tender offers from the GOG approved or

equivalent Semi Govt. approved Contractors as detailed below.

Sr. Name of work Estimated CategoryNo. Cost in

Rs. Crore1. Reinviting tender offer for 23.92 AA Class, Sp. Road Category-

Construction of Carpet Road 1 of Gujarat State or EquilantGorva-Ankodiya T.P.-1 of other Govt. of Semi. Govt.Tender Notice No. 12/1 Deptt.

2. Reinviting tender offer for 15.13 AA Class, Sp. Road Category-Construction of Carpet Road 1 of Gujarat State or EquilantAnkodiya T.P.-1 of other Govt. of SemiTender Notice No. 12/2 Deptt.

3. Reinviting tender offer for 7.02 AA Class, Sp. Road Category-Construction of Carpet Road 1 of Gujarat State or EquilantNimeta T.P.-1 of other Govt. of Semi. Govt.Tender Notice No. 12/3 Deptt.

4. Construction of carpet Road 4.93 A Class, Sp. Road Category-2(D.P.) from Bhayali Smashan of Gujarat State or Equilant ofto Garden plot near Bhayali other Govt. of Semi. Govt.T.P.-3 and D.P. Road near Bill Deptt.VillageTender Notice No. 12/4

The details of offer for e-tendering of above works are available on website www.nprocurement.com.The last date of online submission date 13.02.2017 upto 17.00 hrs. This tender notice is alsoavailable on information Department’s Website www.statetenders.com. Sd/-

Chief Executive AuthorityUrban Development Authority

VadodaraDate: 30.01.2017Place : Vadodara (INF/BRD/1408/2016-2017)

WATER SANITATIONMANAGEMENT ORGANIZATION

(WASMO)

TENDER NOTICE NO. 01/2017 (2nd Trial)Unit Manager, District Water and Sanitation Unit, Tapi, On behalf ofchairman, village water & sanitation committee of taluka: Songadh,District - Tapi invites online e-tenders for Designing and ConstructingR.C.C. ESR of 40,000 Litre capacity and 12 meters heightsamounting to estimated coast of Rs.9.36 Lacs from appropriateclass of contractors registered in R&B or irrigation department forfollowing works.Tender ID No. 244803 - Otta (Nishal, Deval, Amba Faliya)

Ta. Songadh (2nd Trial)Last Date & Time for online submission of Bids : 15.02.2017 up to 18.00 Hrs.Last Date & Time for Physical submission of Documents :23.02.2017 up to 18:10 Hrs.Note : Price bid not be accepted in physical form.Further information is available at web site www.gwssb.org &www.nprocure.com. No.: Mahiti/Surat/1361/2017

CHANGE OF NAMEwe have changed our minor

son’s name fromSEYANKHAN RAISKHAN

PATHAN to New NameSHEZAN RAISKHAN

PATHANAdd. : 96, GHB Block No 95 to102, Bapunagar, Ahmedabad

5736

CHANGE OF NAMEI have changed my old name

from ANANDNARENDRABHAI MASIYATA

to New Name ANANDNARENDRABHAI MASIYAVA

Add. : 11, NarmadanagarSociety, Part-2, Ranip

Ahmedabad5735

CHANGE OF NAMEI have changed my old namefrom MOHAMMAD AVESHHASANALI MALEK to NewName MOHAMMAD UVESH

HASANALI MALIKAdd. : Santoshnagar,

Behrampura, Ahmedabad5734

CHANGE OF NAMEI have changed my old name

from KHESKANI PRITIMOHANLAL to New Name

KESWANI SHILPARAJESHBHAI

Add. : C-802, Asawari Tower,Satellite

5731

CHANGE OF NAMEI have changed my old namefrom MURTUZA ABDEALI

CHARNIWALA to New NameMURTUZA ABDEALITINWALA Add. : 766,

Zakariya Pole, KalupurAhmedabad

5734B

CHANGE OF NAMEI have changed my old namefrom MUNAVAR JAFARBHAI

BHATI to New NameMUNAVARBHAI JAFARBHAI

SHAIKH Add. : 752/1,Elahibag Society, Vatva

Ahmedabad5732A

CHANGE OF NAMEI have changed my old name

from MAHMMEDSAKIBFARIDMIYA SHEKH to NewName SAKIB FARIDMIYA

SHAIKH Add. : 4903, MastanMahollo, Dariyapur,

Ahmedabad5732

CHANGE OF NAMEI have changed my old name

from KAUSHALYANARAYANDAS to New NameREKHABEN KISHANBHAI

WADHWANIAdd. : 257, Santramnagar,

Jawaharnagar, Nadiad5735A

CHANGE OF NAMEI have changed my old name

from SAIYADKHALIDSAIYADKHALIL SAIYAD to

New Name KHALIDSAIYADKHALIL SAIYAD

Add. : 70/242, GujaratHousing Bourd, Bapunagar,

Ahmedabad5733A

CHANGE OF NAMEI have changed my old name

from SHARIFKHANKALUBHAI to New NameZAKIRBHAI KALUBHAIPATHAN Add. : 70/2226,

Shaheri Garib Awas Yojna,Jawaharlal Nehru Slum Court,

Vatva, Ahmedabad5733

News in a Nutshell

Ahmedabad Page 8

Sports8

CMYK

CMYKWESTERN TIMES AHMEDABADFRIDAY, 3/2/2017

ATLETICO MADRID 1-2 BARCELONA - PETE JENSON AT VICENTE CALDERON -Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi were up to their old tricks as Barcelona beat AtleticoMadrid in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final.

JONNY SINGER IN LIBREVILLE: It had to be him. Essam El-Hadary is the Africa Cup of Nations’ oldest everplayer. Its most successful ever player. And now he is going to yet another final thanks to penalty heroics.The 44-year-old twice guessed correctly, denying first opposite number Kouakou Koffi, and then BertrandTraore - up to that point, two of Burkina Faso’s best players. It was enough to get the Pharoahs through. Asever the big moments, in the big games, bring out the best in the big men. El-Hadary was one such man, aswere the two who scored in normal time.

CRICKETER AJINKYA RAHANE IS HONOURED BY YOUNG CRICKETERS VISITSAT DADOJI KONDDEV STADIUM IN THANE, MUMBAI.

PARTICK THISTLE 0-1 ST JOHNSTONE: Firhill welcomed a very special guestas Arsenal and England legend Martin Keown took in his son Niall's first homematch for Partick Thistle. At the final whistle, though, the VIP with the widestsmile in Maryhill was St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright after his away-dayspecialists pulled off a precious smash-and-grab win. Having lost only threeleague games on the road since last April — at Inverness, Dundee and Celtic —Steven MacLean's goal against the run of play secured another fine result onSaints' travels.

I-League: East Bengal remain on top,Aizawl win, Minerva-Churchill draw

HIL: Sunil stars in Punjab's7-0 win over Ranchi Rays

Ranchi, Indian forward S.V. Sunil

scored twice as defendingchampions Jaypee PunjabWarriors handed RanchiRays a 7-0 thrashing to marktheir first win of the Coal In-dia Hockey India League(HIL) 2017 at the AstroTurfHockey Stadium here onWednesday.

Sunil successfully fin-ished two brilliant counter-attacks in the 26th and 34thminute after Mink van derWeerden's penalty cornerconversion in the 25thminute had given the visi-tors a lead at a venue wherethey have never wonagainst the hosts.

Jake Whetton swepthome in the 43rd goal tomake it 7-0 as Punjabbounced back in style fromtheir ignominious 4-10opening match defeat toDabang Mumbai last Friday.

Ranchi missed thespeed and guile of $75,000German forward Christo-pher Ruhr, who was ruledout for the match due to in-jury.

Punjab's speedy for-wards made a huge differ-ence in the match, produc-ing quality counter-attack-ing hockey.

After a dull first quarter,the match saw several in-tense moments in the sec-ond quarter. It was Ranchiwho seemed to take the ini-tiative by getting two pen-alty corners after ManpreetSingh was brought down bySatbir Singh. But with Britishset-piece specialist AshleyJackson in the sidelines,Trent Mitton couldn't con-vert. Punjab too got twopenalty corners and in thesecond one, Dutchman vander Weerden rocketed oneto the right corner to markhis debut goal in HIL.

Punjab soon made it 3-0 when a counter-attacksaw Jake Whetton set theball on the path of Sunil andthe latter ran for around 25yards before driving the ballpast an onrushing goal-keeper Tyler Lovell.

After the change ofends, Punjab continued todominate Ranchi and in the

34th minute, Sunil scoredsecond of the night to makeit 5-0. Sardar Singh's back-hand cross from the right atthe goal was given a half-hearted touch by Sunil be-fore breaching an inactivehome defence. There was nostopping Punjab as theyfound another field goal inthe 43rd minute, with anunmarked Australian for-ward Whetton sweepinghome a Satbir cross from theright. Trailing by seven goals,Ranchi did their best gettingtwo penalty corners in thefinal quarter but Jacksonwas unable to beat visitinggoalkeeper Tr istianClemons.

Despite being 7-0 upand all the damage done,Punjab didn't relent andcontinued to pile the pres-sure on Ranchi, who had aharrowing outing.

With this win, Punjabjumped to the fifth spotwith five points, whileRanchi remained third with10 points from five games.

Mumbai are on top with17 points from five matches,

while Kalinga Lancers aresecond with 15 points fromfive games. Uttar PradeshWizards, with six points fromtwo matches, are fourth.Delhi Waveriders are sixthwith four points from threematches. Mumbai meetRanchi here on Thursday.

Barasat (WestBengal),

East Bengal extendedtheir unbeaten streak to sixgames as they got past ahapless Mumbai FC 2-0,while Aizawl FC beat DSKShivajians and MinervaPunjab FC played a drawagainst Churchill Brothers FCGoa in the I-League footballmatches on Wednesday.

Trinidad and Tobago for-ward Willis Plaza stamped hisclass with a brilliant first halfdisplay in which he scoredtwo goals (10th and 17th) ina span of seven minutes toleave the visitors in a daze atthe Barasat Stadium here.

In the other matches ofthe day, Minerva shared thespoils with Churchill inLudhiana, while Aizawl FCcame back to their winningways by defeating DSKShivajians 1-0 in Aizawl.

East Bengal are now on16 points from six matches,having played one morethan arch-rivals MohunBagan who are on 13 fromfive games. Aizawl are thirdwith 13 points from sixgames. It took East Bengaljust 10 minutes to break thedeadlock. Plaza let loose arasping left-footer afterRahul Bheke swept in a crossfrom the right. The red andgold brigade were 2-0 upseven minutes later, this timePlaza taking Pires for a rideand hammering home an-other beautiful left footer.

East Bengal entered thebreak with a two-goal cush-

ion. In the second half, therewas not much to talk aboutsave substitute Victor inoFernandes colliding withNarayan Das and picking upa head injury. He was re-placed by India veteranSteven Dias. Coming to theChurchill-Minerva game, theGoan side opted to bank ontheir winning formula play-ing the same eleven andsame formation 4-1-4-1against Minerva.

The game saw a lot ofend-to-end action, withMinerva having most of theopportunities. Both teamsgot chances to score in thefirst half but Minerva failed toconvert. In the second half,the game began to build upas Minerva and ChurchillBrothers started using thewidth of the field and put-ting pressure in the opposi-tion halves but neither ofthem managed to break thedeadlock till the end.

At Aizawl, BrandonVanlalremdika, who came onfrom the bench at the strokeof the hour mark, scored forthe hosts to clinch the match.

Both teams started thematch on a good note. In thefifth minute, DSK Shivajianswere awarded a free kickfrom 40 yards out, but theyfailed to utilise the opportu-nity. Many shots from boththe teams failed to find theback of the net. In spite of themoves made by both sidesto change the score-line intheir favour, the first halfended goalless.

ICC agrees to consider allowingthree nominees from BCCI, SC told

I have a lot of faithin Chahal: Kohli

Bengaluru, Heaping praises on leg-

spinner Yuzvendra Chahal,whose six wickets helpedIndia clinch the third and fi-nal T20 International againstEngland by 75 runs, Indiaskipper Virat Kohli onWednesday said he has a"lot of faith" in theyoungster's abilities.

Chahal returned withfigures of 6/25, to triggerEngland's collapse whichsaw eight wickets goingdown for eight runs as thevisitors' innings folded for ameagre 127 in response toIndia's mammoth 202/6.

Justifying the inclusionof two leg-spinners (Chahaland Amit Mishra) in theplaying XI, Kohli indicatedthat the strategy worked asit exploited England's weak-ness against spin.

"Having two leg-spin-ners on a dry wicket, we al-ways knew we would get afew chances. Mishy (Mishra)started it, and then Chahaltook five wickets in twoovers -- he knows these con-ditions, he knows how tobowl here," Kohli said in thepost-match presentation.

"I have a lot of faith inhim, and he plays with a lotof confidence. He has a lotof skill and he has the char-acter as well," the Delhi bats-man further said.

The 28-year-old alsolauded the efforts of the se-niors in the side, specially hispredecessor MahendraSingh Dhoni, Punjab south-paw Yuvraj Singh and pacerAshish Nehra.

"It's not a bad thingwhen you have MS Dhonibehind the stumps and ex-perienced guys like Ashu(Nehra) bhai and Yuvi(Yuvraj) pa. I'm taking advicefrom them whenever pos-sible, they're so intelligent, alot of credit goes to them."

"Mishra's two overs, andthat one over from Jordan toYuvi, that changed the mo-mentum. It pushed us past200, and that gave us thepsychological advantage,"he added.

On Dhoni getting hismaiden half century in theshortest version, Kohli said:"I wanted to send (Dhoni)up the order, he's the onewho says he'll come in later,that will give the team bet-ter balance." "Come the biggame, even in the one-dayseries, series decider, hestepped up, and he steppedup again today. It's a memo-rable series win for us, thewhole tour. It's been a bril-liant couple of months forthe Indian team, going for-ward we know exactly whatto do in each format," thecaptain added.

New Delhi, The Supreme Court on

Wednesday was told thatthe International CricketCouncil (ICC) has agreed toconsider allowing threenominees from the Indiancricket board BCCI to partici-pate in its crucial meeting atDubai on February 2.

Amicus curiae GopalSubramanium told the

Vinod Rai & Co meet BCCIofficials on IPL 2017

Mumbai, The Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Ad-

ministrators (CoA) met Indian cricket board BCCI offi-cials on Wednesday to take stock of the urgent andimportant matters mainly concerning the successfulconduct of the Indian Premier League (IPL). "The CoAhas issued directions that the existing processes foravailing the services and the appointment of the ven-dors for IPL will continue for this season," BCCI said ina statement. The CoA, comprising former Comptrollerand Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai, RamachandraGuha, Vikram Limaye and Diana Edulji, assured the fran-chisees and all the stakeholders that all the IPL prepa-rations will be promptly dealt with under the supervi-sion and directions of the CoA by the BCCI/IPL man-agement team, according to the release.

The IPL operational timelines for the 2017 seasonwill be communicated shortly by the BCCI/IPL man-agement team. The IPL 2017 Twenty20 tournament willcommence from April 5. The Supreme Court on Mon-day appointed a four-member CoA to run the affairsof the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

England's batting was possiblyworst in last two years: Morgan

Bengaluru, Terming it as the "worst performance" in the last

two years, England skipper Eoin Morgan reckoned thathis and Joe Root's quick wickets was the turning pointfor India's 75-run win in the third and final T20 Interna-tional here on Wednesday. "We made a fatal error in los-ing two in (set) batsmen when we were going so well.Our batting performance was possibly the worst in thelast two years, but we won't necessarily dwell too muchinto that," Morgan said in the post-match presentationafter India clinched the T20I series 2-1 at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium here. Crediting young leg-spin-ner Yuzvendra Chahal, who masterminded England'scollapse with figures of 6/25, Morgan said: "Outstandingbowling from Chahal, and India put in a performanceworthy of winning the series. We could have done withmyself or Joe getting 70 or 80 but it wasn't meant to betonight." Morgan, however, did not find any devils in thewicket and said the target was very much gettable hadthey batted to their potential. "It was a beautiful wicketto bat on, very small boundary, and altitude as well. Wewould have taken 190 at the start of the game," he said.

Sao Paulo eye move forJuventus midfielder Hernanes

Rio de Janeiro, Juventus midfielder Hernanes could return to his

former football club Brazil's Sao Paulo as he attemptsto jumpstart his career, according to media reports.

The 31-year-old has fallen out of favour underJuventus coach Massimiliano Allegri, managing just 10matches across all competitions this season, reportsXinhua. Speculation about the Brazilian's futuremounted after he was left out of the Italian outfit'sChampions League squad on Wednesday. The Uolnews portal said Sao Paulo were considering an offerfor the former Brazil international, adding that clubs inChina had also shown interest. Hernanes, who beganhis career at Sao Paulo before being sold to Lazio in 2010,has been capped 27 times for Brazil's national team.

bench headed by JusticeDipak Misra that ICC was in-formed about the participa-tion of three nominees -- ap-pointed by the apex courton January 30 -- and all ar-rangements have beenmade for them.

Amicus Curiae told thecourt that an email was senton Wednesday at 9 a.m. andICC has said that it would

consider our request.Subramanium told the

court that the BCCI commu-nication was sent to ICCChairman ShashankManohar who is also a law-yer.

"I t must be communi-cated to ICC that all thethree enjoyed the same sta-tus," Justice Misra said afterSubramanium sought toput at rest the controversythat only Vikram Limay wasbeing permitted to attendthe ICC meeting and not theother two -- AmitabhChoudhary and AnirudhChaudhry.

The bench of JusticeDipak Misra, JusticeA.M.Khanwilkar and JusticeD.Y.Chandrachud had onJanuary 30 appointed BCCIJoint Secretary AmitabhChoudhary, TreasurerAnirudh Chaudhry andLimaye to represent theBCCI at the three-day ICCmeet in Dubai.

Limay is the managingdirector & CEO of Infrastruc-ture Development FinanceCompany (IDFC).

The court hearing on theissue took place after seniorcounsel Kapil Sibal andShyam Divan in a mention-ing in the morning had toldthe court that only Limayewas being permitted to at-tend the meeting by the ICC.The senior counsel had ap-peared for the Tamil NaduCricket Association (TNCA).

Lawyer seeks to have Kenyan officialscharged over Rio 2016 scandal

Fan pressure ends Zorzulya'sbrief stay at Rayo Vallecano

Madrid, Pressure from the fans

has forced Ukranian strikerRoman Zozulya to abandonsecond division Spanishside Rayo Vallecano, lessthan 24 hours after joiningon loan from Real Betis.

Zozulya joined Madrid-based Rayo, a club well-known for the left wing sen-timents of the majority of itsfans on Tuesday, just aheadof the closing of the Januarytransfer window, reportsXinhua. However, he has re-turned to Betis after fans ac-cused him of links to the farright, with some even turn-ing up for his first trainingsession on Wednesday witha banner saying Rayo was

"not a place for Nazis".The striker, who had

made only six brief appear-ances for Betis before hisloan, tried to explain hispositon in an open letter inwhich he said his arrival inSpain was "accompanied bya misunderstanding by ajournalist who knows verylittle about the reality of mycountry and my own ca-reer". "I arrived at Seville air-port wearing a shirt with thebadge of Ukraine. This jour-nalist reported that I waswearing a shirt from a para-military group, whosebadge is distinguished fromthe badge of my country."

"As I stated at my pre-sentation with Real Betis, I'm

not linked to any paramili-tary or neo-Nazi group."

However, supporters atRayo did not believe this ex-planation and Betis Directorof Sport Miguel Torrecillasaid the Seville-based clubbelieved it was "in the bestinterests of the player to re-turn", to the La Liga club.

Unfortunately forZozulya he will not be ableto play again this campaignas rules state he cannot beregistered as a player threetimes in the same seasonand after being registeredwith Betis in the summerand also with Rayo, he can-not register with Betis again,no matter how short his stayin Madrid.

Nairobi, A Kenyan lawyer is seek-

ing to have officials from thecountry's sports ministrycharged over the Rio 2016Olympics scandal that sawmoney and kit belonging totheir team stolen or misap-propriated.

Edward Rombo, who isrepresenting one of the fourNational Olympic Commit-tee-Kenya (NOCK) officialsfacing charges over the fi-asco, said late Tuesday itwould be an "awkward situ-ation" if the Sports CabinetSecretary Hassan Wario andhis senior officers at theministry are also brought tocourt, reports Xinhua.

The lawyer was speak-ing outside a Nairobi courton Wednesday where his cli-ent Pius Ochieng (SecondVice-chairman) and his co-accused, Ben Ekumbo (FirstVice-chairman), FrancisKinyili Paul (Secretary) andStephen arap Soi (Chef-de-Mission, Team Kenya for Rio

2016) appeared in court totake plea after their caseswere consolidated by theState. The NOCK bosses de-nied seven charges relatedto conspiracy to steal, steal-ing by agent, stealing andfraudulent appropriation ofgames kit before Chief Mag-istrate Francis Andayi.

Andayi rejected the pleaby Ekumbo's law yerSilvester Nyamberi, who op-posed the consolidation ofhis case with those of hiscolleagues at the under firenational Olympics body rul-ing there was no breach oflaw. "We are very curious toknow who the complainant(s) in this case was or were.We are aware that the Cabi-net Secretary is allegedlythe one who instigated theinvestigations and the arrestof the accused by complain-ing to the Directorate ofCriminal Investigations todeal with matters of admin-istration of sports in Rio,"Rombo said.

Haven't thought about 2020 Olympics, focussed on comeback: SharapovaMoscow,

Russian tennis star MariaSharapova has said it was stilltoo early to think about tak-ing part the 2020 TokyoOlympic Games.

Russian Tennis Federa-tion (RTF) President ShamilTarpishchev earlier saidSharapova was capable ofwinning at the 2020 Olym-pics, reports Tass.

"I have no such long-term plans yet as I was sim-ply not thinking about it,"Sharapova said on Wednes-day.

"As of now I am focusedon the tournament inStuttgart and on my come-back. It is a big question ofwhat will be in Tokyo andwhether I will be playingthere. I have not discussed

this issue with anyone yet."Sharapova is set to make

her comeback following adoping suspension this yearon April 26 at a tennis tour-nament in Stuttgart.

"I would really love toplay (at the 2020 Olympics)if my physical condition per-mits it. However, I do notknow how my body wouldreact and what is comingnext in my life. This is why itis still early for raising the is-sue of whether I would beplaying for the nationalteam." She has been servinga two-year suspension forthe violation of anti-dopingregulations since January 26last year. However, the Swiss-based Court of Arbitrationfor Sport (CAS) ruled on Oc-tober 4, 2016, to reduce her

suspension term from 24 to15 months. Sharapova is of-ficially eligible to make hercomeback on April 26 thisyear.

Last March, Sharapovaannounced that her dopingtests revealed the presenceof banned performance en-hancing drug meldonium inthe body system. Followingthe announcement, theformer World No.1 was pro-visionally suspended from alltennis-related activities, in-cluding from the 2016 RioOlympics.

"It was very difficult forme to see everyone compet-ing at the Olympics, while Iwas unable to be playingthere. I did not pay much at-tention to the fact that I wasskipping Grand Slam series

and other tournaments," sheadded.

Asked whether she wasthinking of wrapping upwith her sports career, the29-year-old tennis star said: "Iused to think about it."

"Last year I had a sorewrist, I was constantly con-sulting with doctors and Iwas even unable to play forthe national team, althoughI arrived in Moscow. It wasdifficult from the psychologi-cal stance and I faced themoment when I began ask-ing myself questions abouthow long my body wouldendure."

Sharapova also said thatshe had no plans getting in-volved in coaching work af-ter she wraps up with hersports career.

"I do not think that I willbe working as a coach. Asyou may well know, I run myown business and it skyrock-eted over the recent years. Iam greatly interested in it(business), but I simply hadno time for it in the past," the29-year-added.

"I will have no problemswith finding time after I wrapup my with my (tennis) ca-reer." Sharapova is Russia'smost decorated tennisplayer having won fiveGrand Slam tournaments,the Australian Open in 2008,French Open in 2012 and2014, Wimbledon in 2004and US Open in 2006.

She is also a silver medalwinner of the 2012 LondonOlympics and the 2008 Fed-eration Cup champion.