T he Supreme Court wants Parliament to put a full stop to the unbridled power enjoyed by presiding officers of legisla- tures in deciding disqualifica- tion pleas against lawmakers. The SC on Tuesday observed that a Speaker also belongs to a political party and asked Parliament to think over setting up some sort of permanent body or indepen- dent mechanism to decide dis- qualification petitions. The Bench pointed out recent cases where Assembly Speakers came under scanner for their han- dling of disqualification peti- tions and said that MPs or MLAs should not be allowed to continue even for a day if they have incurred disqualification for issues like anti-defection. In its Tuesday judgment in a case related to the role of the Manipur Assembly Speaker in not taking decision on dis- qualification pleas against a State Minister, the SC held that the Speaker can’t sit on a dis- qualification petition indefi- nitely and he must act within a reasonable time. The court’s suggestion came in the wake of several cases where the Speakers were accused of deciding the dis- qualification pleas to suit their political preferences, disre- garding norms and conven- tions, and using such pleas as a tool to arm-twist the law- makers to protect or destablise State Governments. Last year’s Karnataka polit- ical crisis was a case in point. The Assembly Speaker took weeks in deciding over the disqualification plea despite direction from courts. The Speaker’s refusal to act on the disqualification pleas against the rebel Congress and JD(S) MLAs created such a standoff that the Karnataka High Court in April 2018 issued a direction to the Speaker and fixed a deadline for deciding a plea. The Speaker took his own time and then matter went to the SC. More often than not, the Speaker “sit over” such pleas, which remain pending for months — in some cases for years — even after MLAS/MLAs have clearly vio- lated the provision of anti- defection law. By not acting on such pleas, Speakers allow MLAs to retain their voting power despite switching side. This mostly helps the ruling party in a State. Such arbitrariness by the Speakers often facilitated mid- night political coup in North- East States. Suggesting for an inde- pendent mechanism to deal with disqualification pleas against lawmakers, the SC asked the Manipur Assembly Speaker to decide within four weeks the plea of a Congress leader seeking disqualification of BJP lawmaker and Manipur Forest Minister Th Shyamkumar. A Bench headed by Justice RF Nariman had granted lib- erty to Congress MLA Fajur Rahim and K Meghachandra to approach it again if the Assembly Speaker fails to take a decision within four weeks. The BJP Minister had won the Assembly election on a Congress ticket and later joined the BJP. This led to filing of the disqualification plea. I n one of its biggest crack- down on illegal ticketing in the railways, the RPF has arrested a madrassa-educated, self-taught software developer from Jharkhand in a racket which has links to Pakistan, Bangladesh and Dubai with suspected involvement in ter- ror financing, a senior official said on Tuesday. Ghulam Mustafa (28), who was arrested from Bhubaneswar, has a team of programmers working for him. He started his career in 2015 touting counter tickets in Bengaluru and then graduated to e-tickets and illegal software, the RPF official said. “For the last 10 days, the IB, Special Bureau, ED, NIA, Karnataka Police have interro- gated Mustafa. “Dimensions of money laundering and terror financ- ing are suspected,” Railway Protection Force (RPF) Director General Arun Kumar said at a press briefing. Kumar said Mustafa has 563 per- sonal IRCTC user IDs, and a list of 2,400 SBI branches and 600 regional rural banks where he is suspected to have accounts. He also said Mustafa used soft- ware to access dark- net, and Linux-based hacking systems were found on his laptop. An Indian software com- pany with branches across the country and abroad has also come under the scanner for having links to the racket, Kumar said, refusing to name it. He, however, said the com- pany has been involved in a case of money laundering in Singapore. “Analysis of Mustafa’s lap- tops, which were highly encrypted. His phone has many Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Middle- Eastern, Indonesian, Nepali numbers as well as six virtual numbers. There was also an application to create fake Aadhaar cards,” Kumar said. The DG said Mustafa has revealed that he is a follower of a Pakistan-based religious group. Mustafa’s digital foot- prints were found on Government websites, he said. The RPF chief named Hamid Ashraf as the master- mind of the racket which is sus- pected to generate revenue of Rs 10-15 crore per month. Ashraf, who is also a soft- ware developer, was involved in the bombing of a school in Uttar Pradesh’s Gonda district in 2019 and is now suspected to have fled to Dubai, Kumar said. T he BJP’s alliance partner in Haryana Jan Nayak Janta Party (JJP) has decided not to contest the Delhi Assembly elections due to issues with the party’s election symbol. Confirming the develop- ment, Haryana Deputy Chief Minister and JJP leader Dushyant Chautala said the symbol is an important issue and the party on such a short notice will not field its candi- date on new symbol. Dushyant told reporters here that the election symbols of “key”, “pair of slippers” and “cup and saucer”, on which his party candidates had fought polls earlier, were all reserved by some other outfits for the Delhi elections to be held on February 8. “We won’t field candidates in Delhi polls, since symbol is a very important issue. We had requested the Election Commission to give key or slip- pers as symbol... these were given to another organisation. In such a situation, the JJP has decided not to contest,” the JJP tweeted. I n a major step to prevent road accidents, the Centre is considering to install crash barriers along its existing NHs and make it mandatory for all future highway projects. A week after Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said highway acci- dents lead to loss of 3 per cent of GDP annually, the Ministry is exploring ways to bring down highway crashes and fatalities. Installing crash bar- rier is one of the steps in that direction. Crash barriers are designed to withstand the impact of even high speed vehicles. They are expected to slide and roll guide vehicles back on the road while keeping the level of damage to vehicle as well as to the barriers within acceptable limits. It has been found that less than five per cent of the total network of about 1.50 lakh km of National Highways has crash barriers installed. “Ideally a crash barrier should present a continuous smooth face to an impacting vehicle so that the vehicle is redirected, without overturn- ing, to a course that is nearly parallel to the barrier face and with a lateral deceleration, which is tolerable to motorists. To achieve these aims, the vehicle must be redirected without rotation about both its horizontal or vertical axis (without “spinning out”) and the rate of lateral deceleration must be such as to cause the minimum risk of injury to the passengers,” explained a senior NHAI official. “We are preparing specifi- cations to install crash barriers. Different type of crash barriers have to be installed, depending on the lanes of the highways,” said an official. The Ministry has also taken immediate measures to identify faulty engineering and road designs across the coun- try and has sought help from all stakeholders, including the States. The Road Ministry is also identifying accident-prone spots. It has set up district-level committees to examine and suggest immediate repair and attention. The Ministry has also formed four separate working groups based on the principle of 4 Es Road Safety — Education, Enforcement, Engineering (roads as well as vehicles) and Emergency care. These groups would submit their recommendations on short-term and long-term mea- sures for immediate imple- mentation so as to curb road accidents in the country. At the National Road Safety Council and 39th Meeting of Transport Development Council last week, it was pointed out that more people in India die annu- ally in road accidents than those killed in militant strikes. Gadkari had asked the States to prepare a roadmap to develop and reorient road infrastructure within their administrative limits to cut down fatalities on road. A new format on ‘Environment and Emergency’ care of road accident victims with tie up with several NGOS, hospitals and stakeholders is also to be worked on. T ragedy struck a group of 15 Kerala tourists in Nepal when eight of them, including four children, died after they fell unconscious probably due to a gas leak from a heater in their room at a mountainous resort in Pokhara, amid cold wave in the Himalayan region. The tourists were airlifted to HAMS hospital in Kathmandu where they were pronounced dead on arrival, Superintendent of Police Sushil Singh Rathaur said. Postmortem will be con- ducted on Wednesday and bodies will be taken to Kerala by Air India on Thursday. “All eight were airlifted and brought to hospital in Kathmandu. A doctor from the Indian mission was also imme- diately sent to the hospital to check on welfare of patients and to provide necessary assis- tance,” said officials of Indian Embassy in Kathmandu. The victims were identified as Praveen Nair and his wife Saranya and their kids Sreebhadra, Aarcha and Abhinav Saranya. Other three victims are Ranjith Kumar and his wife Indu Lakshmi and their younger son Vyshnav. Their elder son Madhav, who was in other room, survived. It is believed that leak of carbon monoxide from the heater led to the death of the eight mem- bers of the two families. The group of 15 from two Kerala families were on their way back home and stayed at Everest Panorama Resort in Daman in Makawanpur district on Monday night. According to the manager of the resort, the guests stayed in a room and turned on a gas heater to keep themselves warm. Although they had booked a total of four rooms, eight of them stayed in a room and remaining others in anoth- er room, the manager said, adding that all the windows and the door of the room were bolted from inside. Praveen and Ranjit, both IT professionals, were engi- neering college classmates and the tour was arranged after a get-together with old friends in Delhi, a family member said. Praveen hails from Thiruvananthapuram, was an engineer in Dubai, while his wife, Saranya, was staying at Kochi along with 3 children and is a nursing student. I n a bid to tackle the crime committed by interstate gang- sters in the city, the UT Administration has proposed establishing a special unit involv- ing senior police officers from Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana. Apart from this, the Administration has proposed extension of e-beatbook system in the tricity (Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali), better coordination on law & order between the tricity police and integration of emergency response support system. These key issues will be taken up at the meeting of Apex Committee for coordi- nation of tricity to be held under Punjab Governor and Chandigarh Administrator VP Singh Badnore on Wednesday. Secretary level bureaucrats and senior police officers from Chandigarh and neighboring State Governments of Punjab and Haryana will attend the meeting. A total of nine agendas have been listed for the meeting. UT Administrator Badnore on Tuesday held a meeting with senior UT officers to discuss var- ious agendas which will be raised at the coordination meet- ing by the Administration. “The Administration has proposed establishing a special unit of tricity policy to tackle the crime committed by interstate gangsters. The special unit hav- ing SP level officers from Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh including lower rank officers is proposed to be constituted to coordinate in the gang related crimes,” said a senior officer of Chandigarh Administration while taking to The Pioneer. “There have been some incidents like Vishal Chillar murder (Sector 49) case, Sonu Shah murder case (Burail), Narwana Gang war shooting incident (Sector 17) and Sector 15 students murder case in the city. In all these incidents, gang- sters from Haryana and Punjab entered Chandigarh and com- mitted crime here,” he said. Apart from this, the Chandigarh Administration will raise the issue of better coordi- nation in Police Departments of Chandigarh, Haryana and Punjab. At various occasions, even after giving prior infor- mation to neighboring state police about entry of protestors in Chandigarh and request to stop the procession at the bor- der, no action was taken from their side to prevent entry of the agitators. It is also proposed that emergency response support system (control room no112) of tricity be integrated or syner- gized so that more effective response could be made to overcome any hazardous situa- tion in any part of tricity, the officer added. Traffic related issues are also listed in the agenda. The Administration will raise the issue of completion of seven km left out stretch of inner ring road. The Punjab Government has proposed PR -7 road in Master Plan of Mohali and Zirakpur to link Panchkula with the International Airport. The said road starts from the road leading from Kharar to Chandigarh near North Country mall and further pro- vides connectivity to Panchkula. However, there are certain missing linkages approximately around seven kms which needs to be con- structed for its full utilization to ease traffic congestion. The issue of construction of outer ring road to prevent unwanted traffic passing through Chandigarh will also be taken up at the meeting. The Administration will recommend that the speed lim- its of the major roads connect- ing Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali should be same. The UT Administration will also insist on action against plying of auto rickshaws without permit espe- cially diesel run autos, manda- tory QR code for auto rickshaws, taxis and public transport for the safety of passengers espe- cially women. The Administration will suggest Punjab to put in place a proper referral system of cases by developing a referral proto- col so that overcrowding of health institutions at Chandigarh could be avoided. It has been observed that 56 percent of deliveries that take place in union territory of Chandigarh are of residents from neighboring states out of which 51.27 percent are from Punjab. The city has tertiary care institutions like PGIMER and GMCH-32 and secondary care centre at GMSH-16. Other issues which are like- ly to be taken up at the meeting included preservation of Sukhna Lake, metro rail project, nam- ing of International Airport, security audit of public places for women safety and setting up of toll free number for women and child safety. Standard operation proce- dure for making Chandigarh child beggar free will also be dis- cussed at the meeting. A mid a tug-of-war with Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar over the charge of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Haryana, Home Minister Anil Vij on Tuesday again sought discipli- nary action against the state chief of the agency. On Monday, Vij reached New Delhi and went directly to BJP headquarters from Haryana Bhavan at around 11 pm and met party presi- dent JP Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. T h e H o m e Minister on Monday ordered a chagesheet “for major penalty” against incumbent CID chief Anil Rao for not being able to gather enough intelligence inputs in the absence of which the social fabric of the state was endan- gered. In another order, Vij asked Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Vijai Vardan to transfer ADGP Shrikant Jadhav as the new CID chief. Both orders come amid Vij’s ongoing tussle with Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar over control of the state CID. Vij says that as the Home Minister, he has the right to seek intelligence input from the CID. Sources say his reaction over this issue came after CID chief Anil Rao did not report to him even after his CID report was sought repeatedly. Vij made it clear that he has no dispute with the Chief Minister, but the arbitrariness of government officials will not be tolerated. Asked what action will be taken if the CID chief is not removed, Vij told reporters, “I have given orders for action on my behalf, see what happens next.” Talking to reporters, Vij said, “As a Home Minister, I repeatedly sought the intelli- gence input of the state from the CID chief, but it was not made available to me. This can cause great harm to the peace of the state at any time. I will not have input then how do I take steps and take action. When they (officials) do not agree, then it is our right to take action against a government official.” He reiterated: “There is no dispute over this issue with the Chief Minister. He is the supreme of the government. I have no dispute over CID or any department with him. CM can take a minister's depart- ment and give it to anyone whenever he wants. But, as long as I am the Home Minister, I will have CID reporting because I have to prepare myself. Continued on Page 4
Transcript
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The Supreme Court wantsParliament to put a full stop
to the unbridled power enjoyedby presiding officers of legisla-tures in deciding disqualifica-tion pleas against lawmakers.
The SC on Tuesdayobserved that a Speaker alsobelongs to a political partyand asked Parliament to thinkover setting up some sort ofpermanent body or indepen-dent mechanism to decide dis-qualification petitions. TheBench pointed out recent caseswhere Assembly Speakers cameunder scanner for their han-dling of disqualification peti-tions and said that MPs orMLAs should not be allowed tocontinue even for a day if theyhave incurred disqualificationfor issues like anti-defection.
In its Tuesday judgment ina case related to the role of theManipur Assembly Speaker innot taking decision on dis-qualification pleas against aState Minister, the SC held thatthe Speaker can’t sit on a dis-qualification petition indefi-nitely and he must act withina reasonable time.
The court’s suggestioncame in the wake of severalcases where the Speakers wereaccused of deciding the dis-qualification pleas to suit theirpolitical preferences, disre-garding norms and conven-tions, and using such pleas asa tool to arm-twist the law-makers to protect or destabliseState Governments.
Last year’s Karnataka polit-ical crisis was a case in point.The Assembly Speaker tookweeks in deciding over thedisqualification plea despitedirection from courts.
The Speaker’s refusal to acton the disqualification pleasagainst the rebel Congress andJD(S) MLAs created such astandoff that the Karnataka
High Court in April 2018issued a direction to theSpeaker and fixed a deadlinefor deciding a plea. TheSpeaker took his own timeand then matter went to the SC.
More often than not, theSpeaker “sit over” such pleas,which remain pending formonths — in some cases foryears — even after
MLAS/MLAs have clearly vio-lated the provision of anti-defection law. By not acting onsuch pleas, Speakers allowMLAs to retain their votingpower despite switching side.This mostly helps the rulingparty in a State.
Such arbitrariness by theSpeakers often facilitated mid-night political coup in North-East States.
Suggesting for an inde-pendent mechanism to dealwith disqualification pleasagainst lawmakers, the SCasked the Manipur AssemblySpeaker to decide within fourweeks the plea of a Congressleader seeking disqualificationof BJP lawmaker and ManipurForest Minister ThShyamkumar.
A Bench headed by JusticeRF Nariman had granted lib-erty to Congress MLA FajurRahim and K Meghachandra toapproach it again if theAssembly Speaker fails to takea decision within four weeks.
The BJP Minister had wonthe Assembly election on aCongress ticket and later joinedthe BJP. This led to filing of thedisqualification plea.
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In one of its biggest crack-down on illegal ticketing in
the railways, the RPF hasarrested a madrassa-educated,self-taught software developerfrom Jharkhand in a racketwhich has links to Pakistan,Bangladesh and Dubai withsuspected involvement in ter-ror financing, a senior officialsaid on Tuesday.
Ghulam Mustafa (28), whowas arrested fromBhubaneswar, has a team ofprogrammers working for him.He started his career in 2015touting counter tickets inBengaluru and then graduatedto e-tickets and illegal software,the RPF official said.
“For the last 10 days, the IB,Special Bureau, ED, NIA,Karnataka Police have interro-gated Mustafa.
“Dimensions of moneylaundering and terror financ-ing are suspected,” RailwayProtection Force (RPF)
Director GeneralArun Kumar said ata press briefing.
Kumar saidMustafa has 563 per-sonal IRCTC userIDs, and a list of2,400 SBI branchesand 600 regionalrural banks wherehe is suspected tohave accounts.
He also saidMustafa used soft-ware to access dark-net, and Linux-based hackingsystems were found on hislaptop.
An Indian software com-pany with branches across thecountry and abroad has alsocome under the scanner forhaving links to the racket,Kumar said, refusing to nameit. He, however, said the com-pany has been involved in acase of money laundering inSingapore.
“Analysis of Mustafa’s lap-tops, which were highlyencrypted. His phone has manyPakistani, Bangladeshi, Middle-Eastern, Indonesian,
Nepali numbers as well assix virtual numbers. There was
also an application to createfake Aadhaar cards,” Kumarsaid. The DG said Mustafa hasrevealed that he is a follower ofa Pakistan-based religiousgroup. Mustafa’s digital foot-prints were found onGovernment websites, he said.
The RPF chief namedHamid Ashraf as the master-mind of the racket which is sus-pected to generate revenue ofRs 10-15 crore per month.
Ashraf, who is also a soft-ware developer, was involved inthe bombing of a school inUttar Pradesh’s Gonda districtin 2019 and is now suspectedto have fled to Dubai, Kumarsaid.
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The BJP’s alliance partner inHaryana Jan Nayak Janta
Party (JJP) has decided not tocontest the Delhi Assemblyelections due to issues with theparty’s election symbol.
Confirming the develop-ment, Haryana Deputy ChiefMinister and JJP leaderDushyant Chautala said thesymbol is an important issueand the party on such a shortnotice will not field its candi-date on new symbol.
Dushyant told reportershere that the election symbolsof “key”, “pair of slippers” and“cup and saucer”, on which hisparty candidates had foughtpolls earlier, were all reservedby some other outfits for theDelhi elections to be held onFebruary 8.
“We won’t field candidatesin Delhi polls, since symbol isa very important issue. We hadrequested the ElectionCommission to give key or slip-pers as symbol... these weregiven to another organisation.In such a situation, the JJP hasdecided not to contest,” the JJPtweeted.
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In a major step to preventroad accidents, the Centre is
considering to install crashbarriers along its existing NHsand make it mandatory for allfuture highway projects.
A week after RoadTransport Minister NitinGadkari said highway acci-dents lead to loss of 3 per centof GDP annually, the Ministryis exploring ways to bringdown highway crashes andfatalities. Installing crash bar-rier is one of the steps in thatdirection.
Crash barriers are designedto withstand the impact ofeven high speed vehicles. Theyare expected to slide and rollguide vehicles back on theroad while keeping the level ofdamage to vehicle as well as tothe barriers within acceptablelimits. It has been found thatless than five per cent of thetotal network of about 1.50 lakhkm of National Highways hascrash barriers installed.
“Ideally a crash barriershould present a continuoussmooth face to an impactingvehicle so that the vehicle isredirected, without overturn-ing, to a course that is nearlyparallel to the barrier face andwith a lateral deceleration,which is tolerable to motorists.To achieve these aims, the
vehicle must be redirectedwithout rotation about both itshorizontal or vertical axis(without “spinning out”) andthe rate of lateral decelerationmust be such as to cause theminimum risk of injury to thepassengers,” explained a seniorNHAI official.
“We are preparing specifi-cations to install crash barriers.Different type of crash barriershave to be installed, dependingon the lanes of the highways,”said an official.
The Ministry has alsotaken immediate measures toidentify faulty engineering androad designs across the coun-try and has sought help from allstakeholders, including theStates.
The Road Ministry is alsoidentifying accident-pronespots. It has set up district-levelcommittees to examine andsuggest immediate repair andattention. The Ministry hasalso formed four separateworking groups based on the
principle of 4 Es Road Safety —Education, Enforcement,Engineering (roads as well asvehicles) and Emergency care.These groups would submittheir recommendations onshort-term and long-term mea-sures for immediate imple-mentation so as to curb roadaccidents in the country.
At the National RoadSafety Council and 39thMeeting of TransportDevelopment Council lastweek, it was pointed out thatmore people in India die annu-ally in road accidents thanthose killed in militant strikes.
Gadkari had asked theStates to prepare a roadmap todevelop and reorient roadinfrastructure within theiradministrative limits to cutdown fatalities on road.
A new format on‘Environment and Emergency’care of road accident victimswith tie up with several NGOS,hospitals and stakeholders isalso to be worked on.
Tragedy struck a group of 15Kerala tourists in Nepal
when eight of them, includingfour children, died after theyfell unconscious probably dueto a gas leak from a heater intheir room at a mountainousresort in Pokhara, amid coldwave in the Himalayan region.
The tourists were airliftedto HAMS hospital inKathmandu where they werepronounced dead on arrival,Superintendent of Police SushilSingh Rathaur said.
Postmortem will be con-ducted on Wednesday andbodies will be taken to Keralaby Air India on Thursday.
“All eight were airliftedand brought to hospital inKathmandu. A doctor from theIndian mission was also imme-diately sent to the hospital tocheck on welfare of patientsand to provide necessary assis-tance,” said officials of IndianEmbassy in Kathmandu.
The victims were identifiedas Praveen Nair and his wifeSaranya and their kidsSreebhadra, Aarcha andAbhinav Saranya. Other threevictims are Ranjith Kumar andhis wife Indu Lakshmi andtheir younger son Vyshnav.Their elder son Madhav, whowas in other room, survived. Itis believed that leak of carbonmonoxide from the heater ledto the death of the eight mem-bers of the two families.
The group of 15 from twoKerala families were on theirway back home and stayed atEverest Panorama Resort inDaman in Makawanpur districton Monday night.
According to the managerof the resort, the guests stayedin a room and turned on a gasheater to keep themselveswarm. Although they hadbooked a total of four rooms,eight of them stayed in a roomand remaining others in anoth-er room, the manager said,adding that all the windowsand the door of the room werebolted from inside.
Praveen and Ranjit, bothIT professionals, were engi-neering college classmates andthe tour was arranged after aget-together with old friends inDelhi, a family member said.Praveen hails fromThiruvananthapuram, was anengineer in Dubai, while hiswife, Saranya, was staying atKochi along with 3 childrenand is a nursing student.
In a bid to tackle the crimecommitted by interstate gang-
sters in the city, the UTAdministration has proposedestablishing a special unit involv-ing senior police officers fromChandigarh, Punjab andHaryana. Apart from this, theAdministration has proposedextension of e-beatbook systemin the tricity (Chandigarh,Panchkula and Mohali), bettercoordination on law & orderbetween the tricity police andintegration of emergencyresponse support system.
These key issues will betaken up at the meeting ofApex Committee for coordi-nation of tricity to be heldunder Punjab Governor andChandigarh Administrator VPSingh Badnore on Wednesday.Secretary level bureaucrats andsenior police officers from
Chandigarh and neighboringState Governments of Punjaband Haryana will attend themeeting.
A total of nine agendashave been listed for the meeting.UT Administrator Badnore onTuesday held a meeting withsenior UT officers to discuss var-ious agendas which will beraised at the coordination meet-ing by the Administration.
“The Administration hasproposed establishing a specialunit of tricity policy to tackle thecrime committed by interstategangsters. The special unit hav-ing SP level officers from Punjab,Haryana and Chandigarhincluding lower rank officers isproposed to be constituted tocoordinate in the gang relatedcrimes,” said a senior officer ofChandigarh Administrationwhile taking to The Pioneer.
“There have been someincidents like Vishal Chillar
murder (Sector 49) case, SonuShah murder case (Burail),Narwana Gang war shootingincident (Sector 17) and Sector15 students murder case in thecity. In all these incidents, gang-sters from Haryana and Punjabentered Chandigarh and com-mitted crime here,” he said.
Apart from this, theChandigarh Administration willraise the issue of better coordi-nation in Police Departments ofChandigarh, Haryana andPunjab. At various occasions,even after giving prior infor-mation to neighboring statepolice about entry of protestorsin Chandigarh and request tostop the procession at the bor-der, no action was taken fromtheir side to prevent entry of theagitators.
It is also proposed thatemergency response supportsystem (control room no112) oftricity be integrated or syner-
gized so that more effectiveresponse could be made toovercome any hazardous situa-tion in any part of tricity, theofficer added.
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Traffic related issues arealso listed in the agenda. TheAdministration will raise theissue of completion of seven kmleft out stretch of inner ring road.
The Punjab Governmenthas proposed PR -7 road inMaster Plan of Mohali andZirakpur to link Panchkulawith the International Airport.The said road starts from theroad leading from Kharar toChandigarh near NorthCountry mall and further pro-vides connectivity toPanchkula. However, there arecertain missing linkagesapproximately around seven
kms which needs to be con-structed for its full utilization toease traffic congestion.
The issue of construction ofouter ring road to preventunwanted traffic passingthrough Chandigarh will also betaken up at the meeting.
The Administration willrecommend that the speed lim-its of the major roads connect-ing Chandigarh, Panchkula andMohali should be same. The UTAdministration will also insiston action against plying of autorickshaws without permit espe-cially diesel run autos, manda-tory QR code for auto rickshaws,taxis and public transport forthe safety of passengers espe-cially women.
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The Administration willsuggest Punjab to put in place aproper referral system of cases
by developing a referral proto-col so that overcrowding ofhealth institutions at Chandigarhcould be avoided.
It has been observed that 56percent of deliveries that takeplace in union territory ofChandigarh are of residentsfrom neighboring states out ofwhich 51.27 percent are fromPunjab. The city has tertiary careinstitutions like PGIMER andGMCH-32 and secondary carecentre at GMSH-16.
Other issues which are like-ly to be taken up at the meetingincluded preservation of SukhnaLake, metro rail project, nam-ing of International Airport,security audit of public placesfor women safety and setting upof toll free number for womenand child safety.
Standard operation proce-dure for making Chandigarhchild beggar free will also be dis-cussed at the meeting.
Lal Khattar over the charge ofthe Criminal InvestigationDepartment (CID) in Haryana,Home Minister Anil Vij onTuesday again sought discipli-nary action against the statechief of the agency.
On Monday, Vij reachedNew Delhi and went directly toBJP headquarters fromHaryana Bhavan at around 11pm and metparty presi-dent JPNadda andUnion HomeM i n i s t e rAmit Shah.
T h eH o m eMinister onMonday ordered a chagesheet“for major penalty” againstincumbent CID chief Anil Raofor not being able to gatherenough intelligence inputs inthe absence of which the socialfabric of the state was endan-gered. In another order, Vijasked Additional ChiefSecretary (Home) Vijai Vardanto transfer ADGP ShrikantJadhav as the new CID chief.Both orders come amid Vij’songoing tussle with ChiefMinister Manohar Lal Khattarover control of the state CID.
Vij says that as the HomeMinister, he has the right toseek intelligence input from theCID. Sources say his reactionover this issue came after CIDchief Anil Rao did not report
to him even after his CIDreport was sought repeatedly.
Vij made it clear that he hasno dispute with the ChiefMinister, but the arbitrarinessof government officials willnot be tolerated.
Asked what action will betaken if the CID chief is notremoved, Vij told reporters, “Ihave given orders for action onmy behalf, see what happensnext.”
Talking to reporters, Vijsaid, “As a Home Minister, I
repeatedlysought thei n t e l l i -g e n c einput ofthe statefrom theCID chief,but it wasnot made
available to me. This can causegreat harm to the peace of thestate at any time. I will not haveinput then how do I take stepsand take action. When they(officials) do not agree, then itis our right to take actionagainst a government official.”
He reiterated: “There is nodispute over this issue with theChief Minister. He is thesupreme of the government. Ihave no dispute over CID orany department with him. CMcan take a minister's depart-ment and give it to anyonewhenever he wants. But, as longas I am the Home Minister, Iwill have CID reportingbecause I have to preparemyself.
evening apprised PrimeMinister Narendra Modiabout the progress of central-ly sponsored schemes in thestate and various initiativeswhich the State Governmenthas taken.
Modi held a meeting withChief Ministers of BJP ruledstates at New Delhi. Hereviewed the progress of vari-ous central governmentschemes being implemented instates which include AyushmanBharat, PM- Kisan, Ease ofdoing Business, National FoodSecurity Act, Tourism,Administrative Reforms,Citizen Services Delivery, GSTCollections, Aspirational dis-tricts, Export Promotion andLabour Reforms etc.
Speaking in the meeting,Thakur apprised the PrimeMinister that Global InvestorsMeet was organised in thestate recently which attracted
an estimated investment worth96,721 crore and 703 MoUswere signed. He said that griev-ances of investors were beingredressed by Chief Ministerthrough Him Pragti Portal.
Thakur said Chamba dis-trict is one of the 117 aspira-tional districts of the countryand government is taking seri-ous steps for its developmentand a committee headed bychief secretary is monitoringthe execution of developmen-tal programmes in the district.The district was ranked secondin the health sector and nutri-tion in the NITI Aayog rank-ing and centre has also pro-vided Rs three crore incentiveto this sector.
The Chief Minister saidthat state government has start-ed Nayi Rahen Nayi Manzilenscheme with a provision of Rs.100 crore for promoting watersports and constructing rope-ways in tourist destinationsand MoU has been signed forconstructing international stan-dard airport.
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Strongly rejected the reportsregarding embezzlement in
post-matric scholarship funds,Punjab Social Justice,Empowerment and MinoritiesMinister Sadhu SinghDharmsot on Tuesday saidthat these were “baseless andfar from truth”.
During the last SAD-BJPgovernment, there were variousirregularities regarding post-matric scholarship, and theChief Minister Capt AmarinderSingh had decided inSeptember 2017 to audit thepost-matric scholarship by the
Finance Department which isbeing carried out in accordancewith the guidelines or criteriaof the Post-Matric ScholarshipScheme 2010, said Dharamsot.
He said that this audit orreview is still under process andpayment is being made as soonas the report of the audit orreview of an educational insti-tution is being received by theDepartment.
“There is no truth in thenews in the media that lettershad been issued to the educa-tional institutions for recovery,”he said.
At the same time, he clar-ified that the audit or review isnot yet 100 percent complete,but is in process. “About 3600educational institutes in theState, lakhs of poor ScheduledCaste students are being giventhe benefit of post-matricscholarship,” he added.
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Haryana Government hasdecided to give free books
to the students studying inClass IX and XII in the gov-ernment schools in the State.
Education MinisterKanwar Pal on Tuesday said atpresent, the State Governmentis already providing free of costbooks, school bags, other sta-tionery and uniforms to thestudents from class I to VIII.
"The decision to providefree books to the studentsstudying in Class IX and XII inthe Government schools willinvolve an expenditure of aboutRs 41.47 crore," the EducationMinister said.
Kanwar Pal said that theCenter has recommendedimplementing 'RashtriyaShiksha Niti-2019' for extend-ing the scope of free education
from class VIII to XII standard.He said that the HaryanaGovernment has already decid-ed to adopt ‘Rashtriya ShikshaNiti-2019' in the State.
He said NCERT books arebeing taught in governmentschools of the state from classIX to XII, which costs aroundRs 650 to Rs 700 per studentper class. He said that thenumber of students from classIX to XII is 6, 19,256 and thetotal expenditure of books isaround Rs 41.47 crores.
Kanwar Pal said the booksfor these four classes will begiven to the students through
libraries or book-banks. Headded that the passed-out stu-dents who get promoted to thenext class will have to depositthe books of the previous classin the library or book-banks inorder to keep the books for thenext class.
"The decision of theHaryana Government will notonly reduce the financial bur-den on the parents of the stu-dents but will also help inconservation of environment asit will also reduce the cutting oftrees," the minister said.
The Education Ministerinformed that the Nuh districthas already been declared as aregional-district by the CentralGovernment, under which Rs.2 crore has already been pro-vided for the provision of freebooks to prevent the drop-outof children. The amount hasbeen released.
linking Delhi poll decisionwith Citizenship AmendmentAct (CAA) as “ludicrous”,Punjab Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh on Tuesdaychallenged the Akalis to walkthe talk and quit alliance at theCentre to prove their sinceritywith regard to the “unconsti-tutional legislation”, which theywere party to passing in bothHouses of Parliament.
Capt Amarinder ridiculedSAD’s claim that it had chosennot to contest the DelhiAssembly polls due to differ-ences with BJP over the CAAasking “why don’t you (Akalis)walk the talk and show thepeople of India that you reallystand against the divisive anddestructive CAA?”
He urged the SADMinisters in the Union Cabinetto immediately resign in sup-port of their stated stand on thecontroversial legislation, thathad evoked widespreadnationwide protests from allsections of the society.
“If you found the CAA tobe anti-Muslim, why did yousupport and pass the legislationin the Rajya Sabha and the LokSabha?” Capt Amarinder askedthe Akalis, adding that thevociferous support extended bySAD to the legislation in theParliament was a matter ofrecord.
Pointing out that Delhiwas the second state, afterHaryana, where the SAD haddecided not to go with theirally, the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP), the Chief Minister saidthat their claim that they haddecided against contesting theDelhi polls on account of dif-ferences on CAA was prepos-terous and unacceptable.
“The decision to opt out ofthe Delhi elections is clearly
motivated by political compul-sions as the SAD had evident-ly realized that it had no groundsupport and could not wineven a single seat in the nation-al capital,” he said adding thatperhaps, the BJP was not readyto give them what they wantedin terms of seats, promptingthem to look for a graceful wayout of the situation.
Taking a dig at the SADleadership, including partychief Sukhbir Badal and UnionMinister Harsimrat Kaur Badal,over their spate of contradic-tory and conflicting statementson CAA, the Chief Ministersaid that the Akalis did nothave a principled stand on thismajor issue of national impor-tance.
“Manjinder Singh Sirsa’sclaim that the party had beenunder pressure to review itsstand on CAA is ludicrous, tosay the least, considering thediscordant notes the Akalishad been striking on the issuefor the past several days,” headded.
No wonder the SAD was ina shambles, having lost allground support in Punjab(purportedly their stronghold),and also facing severe internaldiscord that threatened to splitthe party down the centre,Capt Amarinder remarked.
The Chief Minister advisedthe Akalis to stop trying tobefool the people with theirbogus claims and contrarianstand on such a sensitive andcritical issue, on which thenation’s future depended. “Youcannot expect people to believethat you are serious when youcontinue to stand with the BJPin Parliament and in the gov-ernment at the Centre,” headded.
Shiromani Akali Dal(SAD) president Sukhbir Badalon Tuesday asked Punjab ChiefMinister Capt AmarinderSingh to clarify if he wasopposed to giving relief to per-secuted Sikhs under theCitizenship Amendment Act(CAA) and whether he wasfighting to get the entire Actrejected to end the relief givento Sikhs under CAA.
“By opposing CAA, theChief Minister is opposing therelief given to Sikhs under theAct. This does nothing exceptfulfill the anti-Sikh agenda ofthe Congress party,” he said.
Sukhbir said that if CaptAmarinder is really seriousabout giving relief to perse-cuted Sikhs in Pakistan andAfghanistan with recent figuresof the Pak human rights them-selves stating that 1000 Hinduor Sikh girls were abducted andforcibly married off to Muslimmen, he should join SAD inseeking inclusion of Muslims inthe CAA.
Sukhbir said that SADvoted in favour of the CitizenAmendment Bill to save theSikhs. “We, however, recordedour dissent with me demand-ing that Muslims also beincluded in the new Act. Wehave stuck to our stand andhave preferred to forsake con-testing the Delhi assembly elec-tions rather than give up ourprincipled stand on this issue,”he said.
Stating that the SAD didnot need any lessons on how toreact to a situation from a“failed” Chief Minister, theSAD president said that AkaliDal, on its part, would contin-ue its struggle to get Muslimsincluded in the ambit of CAAand would continue to use thegood offices of Union MinisterHarsimrat Kaur Badal also forthis purpose.
He said that the party had,simultaneously, made it clear
that it was against NationalRegister of Citizens (NRC).
Sukhbir said that it wasunderstandable that CaptAmarinder could not compre-hend what it meant to stand byprinciples.
“It is a fact that the Sikhcommunity of Delhi has putforward a demand to contestfrom eight seats in the forth-coming assembly elections. Theparty considered the demandbut decided that it must cham-pion the cause of all minoritiesand not only members of itsown community,” he said.
A day after the ShiromaniAkali Dal (SAD) decidedagainst contesting the DelhiAssembly elections, the AamAadmi Party (AAP) onTuesday asserted that the AkaliDal opted out of Delhi polls to‘protect’ Badal bahu’s ministe-rial berth.
Senior AAP leader and theLeader of Opposition HarpalSingh Cheema described theclarification being given bythe Badals on the visible riftbetween the SAD (Badal) andthe BJP long standing allianceas the height of double stan-dards of the Badals.
“Even though it is an inter-nal matter of the BJP and theSAD (Badal), the plausible rea-son cited by the Badal andparty invoking the CitizenshipAmendment Act (CAA), is farfrom the ground reality,” saidCheema adding that the SAD’sstand on the CAA, NCR orNPR was categorically clearwhen it came for discussion onthe floor of the Parliament.
Cheema said that bothSukhbir and his wife and UnionMinister Harsimrat Kaur Badal(both MPs) had voted in favorof the CAA. He accused the
Badal couple of maintainingdouble standards, saying thatthey favored the CAA in theParliament and back home inPunjab, were shedding croco-dile tears to exhibit their abid-ing love for the Muslim com-
munity.Cheema alleged that SAD’s
“public announcement” wasnothing but a mere politicalgambit to save Union MinisterHarsimrat Kaur Badal's minis-terial berth.
“The dubious role of theBadals on the controversialAct in the Parliament as also inPunjab Assembly has broughtforth their dual face,” he said.He questioned that if the AkaliDal (Badal) could withdraw
from the Delhi assembly elec-tions on the issue of CAA, “whycould not it part ways with thealliance partners by pullingout of the Union Ministry toteach BJP a lesson on the issueof CAA?”
Decades old alliance betweenthe Bharatiya Janta Party
(BJP) and the Shiromani AkaliDal (SAD) is in jeopardy withthe Akalis virtually severingtheir ties with the saffronbrigade in the national capitalon the issue of CitizenshipAmendment Act (CAA).
The echo of SAD’s actionmay eventually be heard inPunjab with the second breakupbetween the two parties — firstbeing in Haryana after the BJPjoined hands with the JannayakJanta Party (JJP) while droppingthe Akali Dal ahead 2019 polls.
The reason for the Delhibreak up being cited by the SADis ideological differencesbetween the two over the CAA-National Register of Citizens(NRC). But the politicalobservers believed that there ismuch more to it.
SAD has been contesting onfour Sikh-dominated assemblyseats in Delhi since 2013, whenthe Akali Dal entered the elec-toral fray in the national capi-tal. In 2015 elections, SADfielded its two candidates on BJPelection symbol — lotus, andtwo on its own party symbol —weighing scales.
However, this time, theparty was adamant on fieldingits candidates on its own partysymbol, besides demandingmore seats — a demand notagreed upon by the BJP, whicheventually announced to contestDelhi polls in alliance withJanta Dal (United) and Lok
Janshakti Party (LJP) with nomention of the SAD.
The development appearsto being sync with the BJP’snationwide policy of not givingtoo much weightage to its alliesafter emerging powerful duringthe past few years — partingways with the Shiv Sena inMaharashtra, joining handswith JJP in Haryana despiteholding talks with the Akali Dal,are major instances.
This comes close on theheels of Punjab BJP leaders’demand of giving the saffronparty a larger share in the statepolitics.
What was a whisper in theBJP corridors since long washeard loud and clear duringAshwani Sharma’s taking-overceremony as the state unit pres-ident on Friday at Jalandhar.
Party’s senior leaders,including former MinisterMaster Mohan Lal, MadanMohan Mittal, former state unitpresident Rajinder Bhandari,had minced no words to say thatthe BJP should contest on morenumber of seats than SAD andplay the role of “big brother”which is currently being playedby the Akali Dal.
Mittal, BJP veteran, hadproposed that the party shouldcontest on 59 seats out of thetotal 117, leaving 58 for theSAD.
Still holding the same view,Mittal said that the party lead-ers have conveyed to the highcommand that workers werenot satisfied with contesting just23 seats in Punjab.
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Haryana Chief MinisterManohar Lal Khattar on
Tuesday exhorted the MLAs ofruling as well Opposition par-ties to raise issues of publicinterest pertaining to theirrespective constituencies in theVidhan Sabha by rising abovethe party lines.
Speaking in the inauguralsession of 2-day orientationprogramme for the training ofMLAs organized by HaryanaVidhan Sabha in associationwith Parliamentary Researchand Training Institute forDemocracies (PRIDE), LokSabha Secretariat, Khattar alsoasked them to work with theStatesman’s spirit and workstowards the betterment of futuregenerations and not limitingthemselves to just five years.
The Chief Minister alsosuggested that to motivate elect-ed representatives to work bet-ter, best MLA award should begiven every year on the patternof best parliamentarian awardsbeing conferred on theMembers of Parliament fortheir outstanding contributions.He said this award should begiven to those MLAs whoexhibit good conduct in thehouse and also maintain digni-ty while raising issues of publicinterest.
Khattar also suggested thatas on several occasions Bill ofvarious departments are notproperly discussed in theVidhan Sabha, the draft of theseBill should be sent to the MLAs5-7 days earlier so that theycould thoroughly study thesame. He urged the MLAs togive constructive suggestions in
the House and assured thatwhile bringing any amendment,adequate time would be givento them for debate.
Khattar said elected repre-sentatives should keep them-selves abreast with any changesand amendments in the law andacts so as to keep themselvesupdated, adding that theyshould study the procedures andRules of Vidhan Sabha andcome to the House with fullpreparation.
Earlier, Deputy ChiefMinister Dushyant Chautalasaid each MLA should under-stand their responsibility andwork towards the welfare ofpeople of the State. He said thatthe Haryana Vidhan Sabhashould enact such Act andRules which could become a
role model in the country.Speaker Gian Chand Gupta
said that the aim of this train-ing programme is to train theMLAs to discharge their ser-vices to the society more effi-ciently and also ensure their skilldevelopment. He urged theelected representatives to studythe issues before raising themin the House as it would sig-nificantly help in saving the pre-cious time of Vidhan Sabha.
Out of the 90 MLAs in theVidhan Sabha, nine are women,44 are those who have beenelected for the first time and 46are those who have been elect-ed more than once.
Bhupinder Singh Hooda,Director, PRIDE Pulin B. Bhutiaalso spoke on the occasion.
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accident or incident happens inthe state.”
This was not the first timewhen Vij had shown his dis-pleasure over the working ofthe state intelligence depart-ment. Earlier too he had raisedserious questions over its func-tioning. Recently, he hadannounced to set up a three-member panel headed by stateHome Secretary Vijai Vardhanto suggest ways to improve theworking of the department.The minister had alsoexpressed his dismay when hewas not kept in the loop whilethe chief minister's flying squadundertook surprise checks atoffices of the RegionalTransport Authority offices.The rising tensions between theminister and the state CIDchief had triggered a tug-of-warbetween Vij and the chief min-ister over the control of thedepartment.
The home portfolio, alongwith ministries like health andurban local bodies, was allot-ted to six time MLA Vij afterBJP-JJP alliance came to powerin the state last year.
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Congress central leadership,it seems, is keen on con-
solidating the party’s positionin the states ruled by it, Punjabincluded. The interim Congresspresident Sonia Gandhi’s directintervention in the state affairsbecame apparent with the dis-solution of the Punjab Pradeshand District CongressCommittees, besides settingup an 11-member coordinationpanel and a five-member man-
ifesto implementation com-mittee.
The action came a dayafter Sonia Gandhi held adetailed meeting with PunjabChief Minister CaptAmarinder, state unit presidentSunil Jakhar and state partyaffairs in-charge Asha Kumari,questing the Government overhigh power tariff and growingdissidence within the party.
A day after, the party highcommand dissolved the PunjabPradesh Congress Committee
with immediate effect, includ-ing the district committees,but retaining Jakhar as thestate Congress chief.
“The Congress presidenthas dissolved the state execu-tive committee of Punjab anddistrict Congress committeein the state,” party general sec-retary KC Venugopal said in astatement.
At the same time, SoniaGandhi constituted aCoordination Committee, toensure better coordination
between the Congress partyand the State Government,headed by All India CongressCommittee (AICC) in-chargefor Punjab Asha Kumari.
“Congress president hasconstituted a coordinationcommittee for Punjab for bet-ter coordination with the partyand the government,” an offi-cial communication said.
The coordination commit-tee will have Chief MinisterCapt Amarinder and PunjabPradesh Congress Committee
(PPCC) president Sunil Jakharas its members, besides AICCgeneral secretary Ambika Soni.
Besides them, the panelwould also have PunjabCabinet Ministers CharanjitSingh Channi, Sunder ShamArora, Sukhjinder SinghRandhawa, Vijay Inder Singla,as its members along withPPCC general secretary CaptSandeep Singh Sandhu andAICC secretaries Kuljit Nagraand Gurkirat Kotli as its mem-bers.
The committee wasannounced after the Congressinterim chief had cleared thenames after holding delibera-tions with Capt Amarinderand senior party leaders a daybefore.
The party high commandhad, on Monday, announcedsimilar committees forRajasthan, Madhya Pradesh,Chhattisgarh and Puducherrywhich are all under Congress
rule.Besides, the high com-
mand has also set up aManifesto ImplementationCommittee in Punjab, to beheaded by the former UnionMinister P Chidambaram.
Congress-led PunjabGovernment, which is set tocomplete its three years inMarch, is being targeted by theopposition for its failure to ful-fill its pre-promises includingeliminating drug menace, fameloan waiver, employment,unemployment allowance andmobile phones, cancellingpower purchase agreements(PPAs) with private players,punishing culprits of sacrilege,among others.
Congress high commandhad, a day before, expressed itsconcern over the growing voic-es on the issue of costly elec-tricity in Punjab. It has beenlearnt that the first questionSonia Gandhi had asked the
Chief Minister in the meetingwas on why the power is soexpensive in Punjab for whichCapt Amarinder blamed theprevious SAD-BJP regime.
Chief Minister assured theparty chief that theGovernment was working onresolving the issue, and soon itspositive results will come out.During the meeting, Jakharalso described the power tariffissue as “big”.
It has been learnt thatMonday’s meeting was held in
two phases — one with theentire sate leadership, andanother with Capt Amarinderalone. It was in one-to-onemeeting between the two whenCapt Amarinder raised theissue of Rajya Sabha MP PartapSingh Bajwa’s “outburst”against him and the StateGovernment.
Although it was not clearwhat assurances Sonia Gandhigave to Capt Amarinder, it isbelieved that he was satisfiedwith the “favourable” meeting.
���8������ ���������������� ��� Chandigarh: Punjab ChiefMinister Capt AmarinderSingh will soon carry out theimpending Cabinet reshuffleexercise.
It is expected that theportfolios of “under attack”Ministers — SukhjinderSingh Randhwa and BharatBhuhan Ashu — would bechanged. It has been learntthat the Local GovernmentDepartment, currently held
by senior most ministerBrahm Mohindra, can behanded over to some otherMinister.
Former Minister RanaGurjit Singh and VidhanSabha Speaker Rana KanwarPal Singh are expected to beincluded in the Cabinet —which means that one of thesitting Minister would bemoved out of the Cabinet.
Plying of staff buses by com-panies with more than 50
employees, two main gates tofacilitate parking in residentialbuildings, promotion of com-munity parking among otherswould be soon made manda-tory in Chandigarh.
For, the UTAdministration is all set tonotify its vehicle parking pol-icy.
With the city gettingclogged with increasing num-ber of private vehicles everyyear, the policy is aimed ataddressing parking woes ofthe city residents.
As per the policy, it wouldbe mandatory to ply staff busesby Industrial/IT companies withmore than 50 employees. In caseof violation, penalty per car perday will be levied for all carsparked outside the premises.
To facilitate parking andmovement of vehicles, twomain gates shall be permittedalong accessible road in thefront boundary wall of theresidential buildings. Also,stilt parking at ground floorshall be allowed within the per-missible ground coverage, FAR
and height of the building.Apart from this, working
Place Parking Levy (WPPL)shall be introduced in publicinstitutions at an initial stageand the same may be extend-ed to private institutions/ orga-nizations in the city, the poli-cy stated.
“The Administration willsoon notify the parking policy.The Administrator’s AdvisoryCouncil has already approvedthe policy,” said a senior officerof UT Administration.
We have sent the draft tothe Legal Department seekingrecommendation on rulesunder which the policy will benotified, he added.
Some of the other featuresof the policy include commu-nity parking in each sub-sectorto be created by using neigh-borhood and commercial andinstitutional parking lotsovernight on rental basis, to bemanaged and run by the reg-istered Resident WelfareAssociations (RWAs).
Also, all institutions will beasked to clearly demarcatedpick-up or drop off zones andimplement signages showingtime limits of pick-up anddrop off school children.
Chandigarh: The Punjab andHaryana High Court onTuesday granted stay on theCentral AdministrativeTribunal (CAT) order that hadset aside the appointment ofsenior IPS officer Dinkar Guptaas the state police chief.
The petition challengingthe CAT order was taken up bya division bench of justicesJaswant Singh and Sant Prakashhere on Tuesday.
The state of Punjab as wellas DGP Gupta on Mondayhad approached the high court,challenging the CAT order.
The court stayed the CATorder, senior advocate PuneetBali, the counsel for DGPGupta, said.
The next date for hearinghas been fixed for February 26.
The arguments during thecourt proceedings went on fortwo hours, Punjab AdvocateGeneral Atul Nanda said.
On January 17, the CAThad set aside the appointmentof Gupta as the state policechief that had come as a bigblow to the Congress-ledPunjab government.
A two-member bench ofCAT chairman L NarsimhaReddy and M Jamshed hadpronounced the order on anappeal by senior IPS officersMohammad Mustafa andSiddhharth Chattopadhyaya,who had challenged Gupta''sappointment on the groundsthat they were "ignored" despitebeing senior to Gupta.
The police officers alsoopposed the contention of theempanelment committee,which had sent a report to theUPSC saying the officers lackedexperience in core policingareas. PTI
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh,on Tuesday, approved privatesector Larsen and Toubro andpublic sector Mazagon DocksLimited(MDL) for the Navy'sproject to manufacture six con-ventional submarines worth over�45,000 crores within the coun-try.
Approved last year, the pro-ject known as P-75 I will beunder the Strategic Partnershipmodel with the Indian partnerstying up with a foreign manu-facturer. The DAC also approvedthe Original EquipmentManufacturer (OEM)s who arein the race for the project. Theyinclude RosoboronExport(Russia), Daewoo(SouthKorea), Navantia(Spain),Thysenkrup MarineSystems(Germany) and FrenchNaval Group, sources said. TheLarsen and Toubro and MDLwill forge the strategic partner-ship with one of the selectedOEMs after due tender process,they added.
The first DAC meeting ofthis year and after the creation ofthe post of Chief of Defence Staff(CDS)also cleared proposals
worth over �5,100 crores fromlocal industry to promote indi-genisation. General Bipin Rawat,the first CDS, attended the meet-ing along with other top func-tionaries of the defence ministry.
As regards the submarineproject, sources said the DACapproved short-listing of theLarsen and Toubro and MDL asthe Indian strategic partners(SP)and the potential OriginalEquipment Manufacturers(OEMs) that would collaboratewith SPs to construct six con-ventional submarines in India.The MDL is already construct-ing Scorpene submarines in col-laboration with the French.
The DAC nod to the short
listing came days after theCongress last week claimed theNDA Government of "favour-ing" the Adani group in the sub-marine project alleging it waspromoting its "crony capital-ists".
Addressing a Press confer-ence, Congress communicationchief Randeep Surjewala andparty spokesperson JaiveerShergill had charged theGovernment of violating theDefence Procurement Procedure(DPP) of 2016 as well as over-rul-ing the recommendations of the'Empowered Committee' of theIndian Navy that had been set upfor the project.
The Congress claimed that
two key parameters set by theDPP were that the shortlistedcompany to manufacture the sixsubmarines in the deal should beof Credit 'A' rating and theMinistry of Defence shouldapprove the 'Special PurposeVehicle' (SPV) set up for the pro-ject before applying for "requestfor expression of interest".
The EmpoweredCommittee of the Navy, claimedthe Congress, shortlisted thepublic sector unit, MazagonDocks Shipbuilders Limited,and Larsen and Toubro from theprivate sector.
The main Opposition partyalleged that the Government isall set to violate the Committee'srecommendations by allowingthe private entity which neitherhas any experience in submarinemanufacturing nor the requiredcredit rating.
Surjewala also said five com-panies — Larsen & ToubroLimited, Mazagon DockShipbuilders Limited, RelianceNaval and Engineering Limited,Hindustan Shipyard Limited,Adani Defence, and HindustanShipyard Limited Joint Venture— had applied for the project.
The Strategic PartnershipModel was promulgated in 2017to give a major boost to 'Make inIndia' in Defence Sector. The
Strategic partner is expected toplay a transformational role inbuilding an eco-system in thecountry, comprising develop-ment entities, specialised vendorsand suppliers; especially thosefrom the medium and smallscale sector.
The new model also aims atpromoting India as a manufac-turing hub for defence equip-
ment, in addition to establishingan industrial and research anddevelopment eco-system capableof meeting the future require-ments of the armed forcesbesides giving boost to exports.
Meanwhile, the �5,100 croreproposals approved includesophisticated Electronic WarfareSystems for the Army designedby Defence Research and
Development Organisation(DRDO) and manufacturedlocally by the Indian industry.These systems will be used indeserts and plains and will pro-vide comprehensive ElectronicSupport and Counter Measurecapabilities to the field forma-tions in both communicationand other aspects of ElectronicWarfare.
The DAC also approvedprototype testing of trawl assem-blies designed by the DRDO forT-72 and T-90 tanks providingan important indigenous de-mining capability to the Army.
The DAC also accordedapproval for inclusion ofInnovations for DefenceExcellence (iDEX) in DefenceProcurement Procedure.
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The CBI carried out searchesat 13 locations on Tuesday
including the premises of thepresent and former directors ofMumbai-based private firmFrost International which hasbeen booked by the agency forallegedly cheating a consortiumof 14 banks to the tune of Rs3,592.48 crore minus interestsaccrued on the defaultedamount.
The FIR comes following acomplaint from the KanpurZonal office of Bank of India,which alleged that the directorshad worked under the guise ofundertaking merchanting tradewithout genuine business.
This is understood to be thebiggest default reported by pub-lic sector banks to the CBI afterJanuary 2018 when disgraceddiamond traders Nirav Modiand Mehul Choksi fled thenation causing a loss of over Rs13,000 crore to the PunjabNational Bank.
The Bank of India in itscomplaint, which is now part ofthe CBI FIR, stated that Frost
International's account had start-ed showing signs of stress fromJanuary, 2018 and later becamea non-performing asset.
The probe agency carriedout searches at 13 locationsincluding the premises of thecompany, its directors UdayDesai and Sujay Desai and otherformer and present directors and
guarantors in Mumbai, Delhiand Kanpur, officials said.
Besides the company anddirectors, the agency hasbooked 11 more entities whichinclude three Kanpur-basedcompanies — RK Builders,Globiz Exim Pvt Ltd andNirman Pvt Ltd — representedthrough their directors.
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Every time, a natural habitatis converted into a land for
agricultural or residential pur-poses, it is the small predators,especially small invertebrateslike spiders and ladybirds,which lose their homes as wellas lives, as per a first of its kindglobal study on the impacts ofhuman land-use on differentgroups of animals.
The findings published inthe journal, FunctionalEcology, also found that smallectotherms--cold blooded ani-mals such as invertebrates,reptiles and amphibians, largeendotherms like mammals andbirds and fungivores ie animalsthat eat fungi were also dis-proportionally affected.
But, the loss of large her-bivores will also likely to haveimportant effects on ecosystemfunctioning, for exampleincreasing the risk of rodentborne human disease, warn theresearchers who had analysedover one million records ofanimal abundance at sitesranging from primary forest tointensively managed farmlandand cities.
The data represented over25,000 species across 80 coun-tries. Species were grouped bysize, whether they were warmor cold blooded and by whatthey eat. Species ranged fromthe oribatid mite weighingonly 2x10-6g, to an Africanelephant weighing 3,825kg.
"Normally, when we thinkof predators, we think of biganimals like lions or tigers.These large predators did notdecline as much as we expect-ed with habitat loss, which wethink may be because theyhave already declined becauseof human actions in the past(such as hunting). We find
small predators - such as spi-ders and ladybirds - to showthe biggest declines," said DrTim Newbold from UniversityCollege London and leadauthor of the research.
The results indicate thatthe world's ecosystems arebeing restructured with dis-proportionate losses at thehighest trophic levels (top ofthe food chain).
"We know that differenttypes of animals play impor-tant roles within the environ-ment - for example, predatorscontrol populations of otheranimals. If some types of ani-mals decline a lot when welose natural habitats, thenthey will no longer fulfil theseimportant roles." said Dr TimNewbold.
The conversion of land tohuman use is associated withthe removal of large amountsof natural plant biomass, usu-ally to give space for livestockand crops. As you go up thetrophic levels (food chain),resource limitations are com-pounded through a processknown as bottom-up resource
limitation, said the study whichis part of the PREDICTS pro-ject exploring how biodiversi-ty responds to human pres-sures.
The researchers analysed1,184,543 records of animalabundance in the PREDICTSdatabase, gathered from 460published scientific studies.This database included allmajor terrestrial vertebratetaxa and many invertebratetaxa (25,166 species, 1.8% ofdescribed animals).
Species were sorted intofunctional groups defined bytheir size, trophic level (whatthey consumed) and thermalregulation strategy (warm orcold blooded). The type ofland-use at each of the 13,676sample sites was classifiedfrom the description of thehabitat in the source publi-cation.
The six broad categorieswere primary vegetation, sec-ondary vegetation, plantationforest, cropland, pasture andurban. Three levels of humanuse intensity were also record-ed: minimal, light and intense.
New Delhi: The CBI hasbooked a former DirectorateGeneral of Foreign Trade(DGFT) Joint Director alongwith directors of a Ahmedabad-based private company in a caseof corruption and cheating theexchequer of over �20.26 crorethrough fraudulent claim of ter-minal excise duty in 2014-15.
According to the FIR reg-istered on January 18, actionhas been taken against A KSingh, the former DGFT JointDirector, Ahmedabad andMohit Kumar Goel, AnkurAggarwal and Nand Kishore
Aggarwal -- all directors ofAhmedabad -based CrystalCrop Protection Pvt. Ltd.
As per the requirements ofthe Prevention of CorruptionAct, the CBI had sought sanc-tion from the CommerceMinistry before proceedingagainst the officer. The sanctionwas granted by the Ministry onJuly 15, 2019.
Besides slapping thePrevention of Corruption Act,the agency has also chargedthem under the Indian PenalCode Sections relating to cheat-ing and criminal conspiracy.
Reiterating, India's historicties with Nepal, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi saidNew Delhi is committed tosimplifying traffic with allfriendly countries in the neigh-bourhood and to further facil-itate contacts in areas like busi-ness.
He said this after jointlyinaugurating with his Nepalesecounterpart K P Sharma Oli thesecond integrated check post atJogbani-Biratnagar along theborder.
Built with Indian assis-tance, the integrated checkpost is spread over 260 acresand is capable of handling 500
trucks on a daily basis.The Rs140 crore project will improvetrade and people-to-peoplecontact.
The project was launchedjointly by the two leaders via avideo link. The first ICP wasbuilt in Raxaul-Birgunj in 2018.
After inaugurating the ICP,Modi said India is committedto simplifying and smoothen-ing traffic with all friendlycountries in the neighbour-hood, and to "further facilitatecontacts between us in areassuch as business, culture andeducation".
He also said India andNepal are working on severalcross-border connectivity pro-jects such as road, rail andtransmission lines.
"Integrated check posts atmajor places of border betweenour countries are greatly facil-itating mutual trade andmovement," he said.
At the event, both primeministers also witnessed theprogress in Indian-assistedpost-2015 earthquake hous-ing reconstruction projects inNepal.
Out of India's commit-ment to build 50,000 houses inGorkha and Nuwakot districts,45,000 have already been com-pleted.
"The 2015 earthquake wasa painful accident. Naturalcalamities like earthquakes testman's tenacity and determina-tion. Every Indian is proud thatour Nepali brothers and sisters
faced the sad consequences ofthis tragedy with courage,"Modi said.
It is a matter of great satis-faction that 45,000 out of50,000 houses have been con-structed under Indo-Nepalcooperation, he said.
"We hope that the con-struction of the remaininghouses will also be completedsoon. And these houses willsoon be dedicated to Nepalibrothers and sisters," the primeminister noted.
Addressing the event viavideo, Oli invited Modi to visitNepal.
Prime Minister Modi saidhe looks forward to a visit tothe neighbouring country thisyear.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi set up an 11-mem-ber committee for ensuring better coordination
between the party and the government in Punjab, withAICC in-charge for Punjab Asha Kumari as its chair-person.
The moves comes after she dissolved the OfficeBearers and Executive Committee of Pradesh CongressCommittee (PCC) and District Congress Committees(DCCs) of Punjab with immediate effect. Its State unitpresident, however, remained unchanged.
The coordination committee will have ChiefMinister Amarinder Singh and PCC president SunilJakhar as its members, besides AICC general secretaryAmbika Soni. It will also have Punjab ministersCharanjit Singh Channi, Sunder Sham Arora,Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Vijay Inder Singla,besides PCC general secretary Sandeep Singh Sandhuand AICC secretaries Kuljit Nagra and Gurkirat Kotlias its members.
The committee was announced after Sonia clearedthe names following deliberations with AmarinderSingh and senior party leaders on Monday. It comes aday after the party announced similar committees forRajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh andPuducherry which are all under Congress rule.
Sabarimala(Ker): After apeaceful Mandalam-Makaravilakku pilgrimage sea-son of over two-months, theportals of the Lord AyyappaTemple here were closed afterperforming customary ritualsand pujas on Tuesday.
Though the annualMakaravilakku was held hereon January 15, the hill top tem-ple, nestled in a reserve forestin the Western Ghats, wasopen for devotees to offer wor-ship till Mondayevening.
Even the last day of the pil-grimage witnessed heavy rushof devotees, including those
from neighbouring States, atthe Sannidhanam (templecomplex), sources at theTravancore Devaswom Board(TDB), the apex temple body,which manages the shrine,said.
Customary rites like “aash-tadrvya mahaganapathihomam’, ‘abhishekam’ and ‘ushanivedyam’, were performedunder the aegis of tantri (headpriest) Mahesh Mohanaru inthe early hours of Tuesday. Inaccordance with the tradition,the royal designate of thePandalam Palace, whereaccording to legend LordAyyappa had spent his child-
hood, offered prayers beforethe sanctum sanctorum. Helater led the procession carry-ing the sacred jewels ‘thiruvab-haranam’, brought here to beadorned on Lord Ayyappa onthe day of Makaravilakku, backto the Palace.
Melsanthi (chief priest), AK Sudheer Namboothiri per-formed the ‘bhasmabhishekam’,the offering of holy ash, on theidol of the Lord Ayyappa andclosed the doors of the sanctumsanctorum singing ‘hari-varasanam’, the sacred lullaby,marking the culmination ofover 60-day pilgrimage season. PTI
Bareilly (UP): Two-year-old Sanket may not look itbut he is 102-year-old, according to his birth certifi-cate. Shubh (4) is 104.
A Bareilly court recently ordered police to lodgea case against a village development officer and a vil-lage head who allegedly issued wrong documents afterthe children’s family refused to give them abribe.
Pawan Kumar of Bela village under the Khutarpolice station of Shahjahanpur had moved court alleg-ing that birth certificates of his nephews Shubh (4) andSanket (2) were issued with wrong years of birth, SHOTejpal Singh said.
Pawan had alleged that Village DevelopmentOfficer Sushil Chand Agnihotri and head Pravin Misrahad demanded � 500 for each birth certificate for whichhe had applied online two months ago, the SHO said.
When he refused to give bribe, the year of birthwas mentioned in the certificate as June 13, 1916 andJan 6, 1918, instead of June 13, 2016 and Jan 6 2018,Pawan had stated in the court. PTI
Jaipur: The second phase ofpolling in 2,312 village pan-chayats of Rajasthan will beheld on Wednesday and allpreparations have been madefor conducting free, fair andpeaceful elections, officials saidon Tuesday.
Polling in 15,127 wards of2,312 village panchayats of 74Panchayat Samitis will be heldbetween 8 am and 5 pm, StateElection Commissioner PSMehra said.
A total of 77,56,416 peopleare eligible to exercise theirfranchise. Counting forsarpanch posts will be done onWednesday itself.
In the second phase, 21sarpanches and 7,466 pancheshave been elected unopposedin 25 districts. Apart fromthese, 15,334 candidates are inthe fray for sarpanch posts and43,376 candidates for panchposts. PTI
Kota: A POCSO court here on Tuesday sen-tenced a 24-year-old man to life imprisonmentfor raping a minor girl in 2017.
The court also imposed a fine of � 60,000 onthe convict, a public prosecutor said.
Anil Sahariya (24) took the girl, then five-year-old, to his room on the pretext of showingher a cartoon movie and raped her.
A case was registered against Sahariya at theAnantpura police station on the complaint of thevictim’s father.
Protection of Children from Sexual Offences(POCSO) Act court special judge Ajay KumarSharma held Sahariya guilty of raping theminor girl under sections of the IPC and thePOCSO Act and sentenced him to life impris-onment, the public prosecutor said.
He said statements of 16 witnesses wererecorded during the trial of the case and 20 documents were produced before thecourt. PTI
Thane: A 24-year-old man wasarrested on Tuesday for allegedlyraping his five-year-old neighbourin Maharashtra’s Thane city, policesaid. The accused, Deepesh Sutar, anemployee of a courier company,lived in the same chawl as the vic-tim at Lokmanya Nagar Pada no. 2,senior inspector SB Gaikwad ofVartak Nagar police station said.The incident took place at around6 pm on Sunday, when Sutar luredthe victim to his house and sexual-ly abused her when no one was
around, he said.The child, who was in extreme
pain, rushed home and confided inher mother, who lodged a complaintwith the police, the official said.
The minor was sent for a med-ical check-up, after which the policeconfirmed the rape and arrested theaccused, he added. A case has beenregistered against Sutar under sec-tion 376 (rape) of the Indian PenalCode and provisions of Protectionof Children from Sexual OffencesAct, the official said. PTI
Banda (UP): A minor girl was allegedly raped by a 23-year-old man in a village in Uttar Pradesh’s Fatehpurdistrict who was later arrested, police said on Tuesday.
The girl was alone when Jaswant Lodhi, a residentof the same village, apparently lured her to his housepromising to give her sweets where he raped her onSunday, the incharge of the police station in the areasaid.
The girl’s parents, who returned later in the night,found her in grave condition and admitted her to a gov-ernment hospital where she is undergoing treatment,the policeman said.
They lodged a complaint against the accused onMonday who confessed to the crime upon being arrest-ed, the officer added. PTI
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Ahead of the DelhiAssembly elections, senior
Janata Dal(United) leaderPavan K Verma has confront-ed Bihar Chief Minister NitishKumar over the party’s alliancewith the BJP in two seats-Burari and Sangam Vihar- forthe February 8 election despitehaving expressed apprehen-sions ‘in private’ about theBJP-RSS leading the nationinto a ‘dangerous space’. This isfor the first time that the JD(U)headed by Bihar Chief MinisterNitish Kumar is having a tie-upwith the BJP outside Bihar.
In a strongly worded twopage letter to Nitish, Varmasaid he is ‘deeply perplexed’ bythe development amid the cit-izenship law protests and islooking to him for “ideologicalclarity”. Varma, who sharedscreenshots of the missive onhis official twitter handle andFacebook profile, said he was‘perplexed’ by the partys tie-upwith the BJP for the DelhiAssembly polls, accusing thesaffron party of having“embarked on a massive, social-ly divisive agenda.” “On more
than one occasion, you haveexpressed your grave appre-hensions about the BJP-RSScombine,” Pavan Varma said inthe letter on Tuesday.
The BJP had announcedon Monday that it will sparetwo seats for the JD(U) in Delhiand one for another NDA part-ner— the LJP headed by UnionMinister Ram Vilas Paswan.Both the JD(U) and the LJPhad ploughed the lonely furrowin the recent assembly polls inJharkhand, where the saffronparty lost power to the JMM-Congress-RJD alliance.
“If these are your realviews, I fail to understand howthe JDU is now extending itsalliance with the BJP beyondBihar, when even long standing
allies of the BJP, like the AkaliDal, have refused to do so,” hewrote. “This is especially so ata time when the BJP, throughthe CAA-NPR-NRC combine,has embarked on a massivesocial divisive agenda aimed atmutilating the peace, harmonyand stability of the country,”Varma said.
“In my first meeting withyou in Patna in August 2012,even before I had resignedfrom the IFS, you had spokento me at length and with con-viction on why Narendra Modiand his policies are inimical forthe country,” Varma, one of themost articulate spokespersonsof a political party, said.
“When you were leadingthe Mahagathbandhan (a grand
alliance which also had the RJDand the Congress as partners),you had openly made a call forRSS-Mukt Bharat. These views,articulated for a sustained peri-od, are a matter of publicrecord,” Varma wrote.
In comments that mayembarrass Kumar, Varmaclaimed that the JD(U) leader,even after aligning with the BJPagain in 2017, had confessed tohim ‘in private’ how the currentsaffron party leadership had‘humiliated’ him. “You men-tioned on more than one occa-sion that the BJP was leadingIndia into a dangerous space. Itwas your personal view, asconveyed to me, that the BJP isdestroying institutions and thatthere is a need for democraticand socialist forces within thecountry to regroup, a task forwhich you actually assigned asenior party official,” Varmaadded, without disclosing whothe JD(U) leader was.
JD(U) national vice presi-dent Prashant Kishor also hadcome out strongly against theparty’s support to theCitizenship (Amendment) Billwhen it was tabled inParliament last year.
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As advised by the Union HealthMinistry, the Union Civil
Aviation Ministry has directedseven airports Chennai,Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Cochin,Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata tomake arrangements for screeningof passengers arriving from Chinain the wake of outbreak of aninfection caused by a new strain ofvirus there.
The Union Health Ministryhas also sought from the Ministryof External Affairs details of thosewho have applied for Indian visasince December 31 so that theycan be counselled.
Airlines flying in from any air-port in China including HongKong have been asked to make in-flight announcements requesting
passengers with history of feverand cough and travel to Wuhancity in the past 14 days to self-declare at the port of arrival inorder to facilitate early isolation,according to an official statementon Tuesday.
This is in continuation to thetravel advisory issued by the UnionHealth Ministry regarding threatof novel coronavirus in Wuhan,Hubei province of China askingcitizens to follow certain precautionary measures while vis-iting the country.
The action-plan includes thermal screening of passengers tobe undertaken, it said. Thermalcameras will be installed at the pre-immigration area of the sevenidentified airports and airlinesstaff will bring the passengers tothe health counters before the
immigration check.The coronavirus (CoV) is a
large family of viruses that causesillnesses ranging from the com-mon cold to acute respiratorysyndromes, but the virus that haskilled four people in China is anovel strain not seen before.
Also, if an ill passenger or crewmember is confirmed as aprobable case of nCoV, publichealth authorities should be noti-fied about the contacts using thepassenger locator form, the state-ment said.
All travellers who have visit-ed China, particularly throughWuhan during the past 14 daysand show symptoms of acuteonset of fever, cough, shortness ofbreath have been asked to reportto the airport health unit.
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Following the IMF’s loweringof India’s economic growth
estimate, the Congress onTuesday targeted the BJPGovernment with its seniorleaders and former UnionMinisters P Chidambaram andKapil Sibal taking a dig sayingthe IMF and its chief should beready for being attacked by theBJP.
While Sibal launched apersonal attack on PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andHome Minister Amit Shah say-ing they were a “drag on Indiandemocracy”, Chidambaramwho servedas Finance Minister in Manmohan SinghGovernment, said that the NDAregime will now prove the IMFwrong and entire team NDA
will foul mouth the world bodyand its chief economist, GitaGopinath.
“IMF lowers India’s GDPfor 2019 to 4.8%. Calls it a dragon the world economy,” Sibalsaid at AICC Press conference.“Protests of people, young andold, across India (who can’t berecognised by the clothes theywear) Reflect that the duoModiji and Amit Shah are adrag on Indian Democracy,” theCongress leader added.
Sibal said the nationwideprotests against the amendedcitizenship law reflected thatPrime Minister Narendra Modiand Union Home MinisterAmit Shah were a “drag onIndian democracy”.
Ahead of the start of theWorld Economic Forum(WEF) annual summit inDavos, Switzerland, Gopinath
had said growth in the countryslowed sharply owing to stressin the non-bank financial sec-tor and weak rural incomegrowth. Chidambaram claimedan attack on the world body andits chief economist GitaGopinath by government min-isters was imminent. He alsoalleged that the growth figure of4.8 per cent given by theInternational Monetary Fund(IMF) is after some “windowdressing” and he won’t be sur-prised if it goes even lower.
“Reality check from IMF.Growth in 2019-20 will beBELOW 5 per cent at 4.8 percent,” Chidambaram said in aseries of tweets.
“Even the 4.8 per cent isafter some window dressing. Iwill not be surprised if it goeseven lower,” the former financeminister said.
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Rajinikanth, Tamil filmdom’s superstar, has put both the AIADMK
and the DMK in a fix with his state-ment about EV Ramasamy Naiker,founder of the Dravida movement inTamil Nadu.
While addressing the GoldenJubilee meeting of Tamil magazineTuglaq launched by late ChoRamaswamy, Rajinikanth who iscertain to launch his political outfitanytime from now, had said thatNaicker with his followers had takenout a procession in Salem in 1971with nude pictures of Lord Rama andhis consort Sita ‘decorated’ withfootwears. The rallyists had raisedderogatory slogans against therevered couple, Rajinikanth had said,
“While all newspapers and mag-
azines had blacked out the incident,it was Tuglaq which carried thereport in detail with the picture of therallyists. The then KarunanidhiGovernment had tried its best to pre-vent the magazine copies from reach-ing the hands of the readers. But Choprinted additional copies and saw toit that the magazine copies reachedits readers,” Rajinikanth said in hisreminiscences.
Rajinikanth’s declaration fromthe venue of Thuglaq’s function thatit was the intelligentsia who readThuglaq while DMK activists carryMurasoli (mouthpiece of the DMK)has upset the DMK leadership.
The DMK came out with a frontpage article stating that the readersof Murasoli were Dravida youths withself respect and courage. “Our read-ers are people who care about the
suppressed and depressed people inthe society and they are not slaves toany ideology,” the Murasoli stated inan indirect reply to Rajinikanth’s dec-laration that those who read Thuglaqwere intelligentsia while the readersof Murasoli were cadre of Dravisianparty.
“Rajinikanth has succeeded inopening a new battlefront as well aspolitical narrative in the State poli-tics,” said Kolahala Srenivaas, polit-ical commentator.
Nehrudoss, a DK leader , hasapproached Coimbatore Police witha plea to file a complaint against theactor for spreading hatred againstpeople. Nehrudoss alleged thatRajinikanth was peddling lies.
But Thuglaq Ramesh, lead writerof the magazine who has worked withCho Ramaswamy from the day the
Thuglaq was launched said there wasno lies in the speech by Rajnikanththough there was a factual error.“Naicker and his associates had car-ried nude pictures of Lord Shiva andLord Vishnu to denigrate the birth ofLord Ayyappa. The big size photo-graph was adored with footwears andwe have preserved the copies in ouroffice. What Rajinikanth told is cor-rect though the characters differed,”Ramesh told The Pioneer.
He said the action of Naicker andhis associates were nothing surpris-ing as they had hatred for Hindu godswhom they disgraced and insulted atall available opportunities.
Though he was present duringthe 75th anniversary of Murasoli in2018, the superstar did not make anyspeeches despite the pleads by Stalin.
Thiruvananthapuram: KeralaChief Minister Pinarayi Vijayanon Tuesday said hisGovernment will take all stepsto ensure that the mortalremains of eight tourists fromthe State who died at a resortin Nepal are brought back atthe earliest.
The bodies are expected tobe brought to the State onWednesday, a statement fromthe Chief Minister’s Office said.
Union Minister of State forExternal Affairs VMuraleedharan said he hasasked the Indian Embassy inKathmandu to make allarrangements to bring back thebodies.
The tourists, including fourminors, died after they fellunconscious probably due to agas leak from a heater in theirroom at a mountainous resort,police said.
The Indian nationals were
airlifted to HAMS hospital inKathmandu where they werepronounced dead on arrival,they said.
Vijayan expressed “deepgrief ” over the incident, thestatement said. According tothe chief minister’s directions,officials of Department of Non-Resident Keralites Affairs(NORKA) have gotten in touchwith the Indian Embassy inNepal, it said.
The bodies are expected tobe brought to the State onWednesday after post-mortem,it added.
Makwanpur police said thevictims, who were a part of agroup of 15 tourists, might havefallen unconscious due toasphyxiation. Muraleedharantold PTI that he has asked theIndian Embassy in Kathmanduto make all arrangements tobring back the bodies.
He said he has also deput-ed a doctor from the IndianEmbassy to coordinate themedico-legal procedures.
A doctor from the IndianEmbassy also went to the hos-pital where the bodies havebeen kept to examine the causeof the deaths, he added.
“We are in regular touchwith the Indian embassy inKathmandu”, Muraleedharan,who is also a Rajya Sabhamember from Kerala, said.Transport for the remainingtourists of the group is alsobeing arranged, he said.
The victims were identifiedas Praveen Krishnan Nair,Saranya Sasi, SreebhadraPraveen, Aarcha Praveen,Abhinav Saranya Nair, RanjithKumar Adatholath Punathil,Indu Lakshmi PeethambaranRagalatha and VyshnavRanjith. PTI
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Noida (UP): The post-mortem reportof the 20-year-old girl whose familyalleged rape and assault by two men hasconfirmed that she died from multiplefractures and a shock due to an injuryto kidney after an accident on theYamuna Expressway, police said onTuesday.
However, a report of medical diag-nostics involving the vaginal swab ofthe deceased is yet to be out and thatwill confirm if she was raped or not,police said.
“The autopsy has re-confirmed theobservations of a femur bone fractureof the private hospital in Jewar whereshe was first treated before beingreferred to Delhi,” DCP (I) SankalpSharma told PTI.
“The report stated that she died asa result of shock due to injury to kid-ney and multiple fractures produced byblunt force impact, which generallyhappens in cases of road accident,” headded.
“So far there is no evidence of rape.However, the vaginal swab of thedeceased has been taken for observa-tion and we would get its report in about a week,” Sharma said.
The woman had died at Guru TegBahadur Hospital in Delhi on Sundaywhere she was brought on Fridaynight after preliminary medication ata private hospital in Gautam BuddhNagar’s Jewar area, according to police. PTI
Guwahati: Assam ChiefMinister Sarbananda Sonowalon Tuesday urged youths torealise their potential and com-mit themselves to the develop-ment of society.
Value-based services are ofutmost importance in today’sworld and working for onlyindividual success does notgive much satisfaction,Sonowal said at the concludingceremony of the three-dayChief Minister’s YouthConclave.
“Youths must strive toequip themselves with requiredskills, knowledge through edu-cation and hardwork to achieveexcellence. Students shouldjudiciously utilise time andnot get distracted in pursuit of a successful life,” hesaid.
The State Government iscommitted to making north-east the new engine of growthfor the country and capture themarket in Southeast Asiancountries through the Act EastPolicy, he added. PTI
Srinagar: The purpose of theCentre’s outreach programmein Jammu & Kashmir is to geta firsthand account of theproblems faced by the peopleand address their concerns,Union Minister MukhtarAbbas Naqvi said on Tuesday.
“The objective of this dia-logue is to go close to people,listen to their problems andneeds and also find solutions totheir problems, “ Naqvi toldreporters here.
Naqvi, who laid the foun-dation stone for a developmentproject at Harwan on the out-skirts of the city, was the firstminister to visit Kashmir as
part of the Centre’s outreachprogramme.
He said Prime MinisterNarendra Modi is keen toensure that benefits of thechanges initiated by the Centralgovernment should reach allthe people of the union terri-tory.
“The aspirations andexpectations of the people werenot upheld (earlier) and cor-ruption had eaten into Jammuand Kashmir... Some peoplehad benefited themselves butwe want prosperity for all peo-ple here, “ Naqvi said.
Asked why only five min-isters were visiting Kashmiragainst 31 going to Jammu, he
said the present outreach pro-gramme was just the beginningof the Centre’s efforts to reachout to the people of the Valley.
“This is not the last pro-gramme. This initiative willcontinue,” he said. Naqvirefused to comment on criti-cism from some quarters aboutthe Ministers not includingseven districts of Kashmir intheir outreach programme.
Addressing a gathering ear-lier, Naqvi said the CentralGovernment wants “a newdawn” of development andaccountability in the function-ing of the Governmentmachinery in Jammu &Kashmir. PTI
Jammu: The Jammu & Kashmir unit of theCongress on Tuesday attacked the BJP-led cen-tral Government over its ongoing public out-reach programme in the Union Territory andalleged that the visit of the Ministers is only tohighlight the agenda of the party at the expenseof the public exchequer.
It also alleged that the visit is aimed at divert-ing the attention of the people from real issuesof unemployment, price rise and “worst ever”economic slowdown besides the social and polit-ical upheavals being witnessed in the country,affecting the political prospects of the BJP inDelhi and West Bengal.
In the aftermath of the abrogation of Article370 provisions and bifurcation of the erstwhilestate into two UTs in August last year, the Centrelaunched a major week-long public outreachprogramme on January 18 to aware people aboutthe benefits of the move and to disseminate
information about the implementation of itspolicies and programmes for the overall devel-opment of Jammu & Kashmir. So far about 24ministers visited different parts of Jammu.
“The visit of Ministers’ brigade is only tohighlight the agenda of the party at the expenseof public exchequer by use of entire officialmachinery, after feedback to the BJPGovernment at the centre that people even inJammu region are fed up with the neglect, espe-cially the treatment meted out to the erstwhilestate depriving it of the identity and rights of thelocals,” Pradesh Congress Committee chiefspokesperson Ravinder Sharma said.
“The BJP should answer why only five min-isters, out of 36, are going to Kashmir to attendeight programmes against 51 programmes in theJammu region to explain the benefits of abro-gation of special status under Article 370 and dis-banding of the erstwhile state,” he said. PTI
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Union Home Minister AmitShah on Tuesday emphat-
ically said the CitizenshipAmendment Act(CAA) willnot be withdrawn and thoseprotesting can continue to doso even as he challengedOpposition leaders for a pub-lic debate on the contentiouslaw.
Accusing the Oppositionof “misleading” people on theamended citizenship law, Shahthrew the challenge for the debate to RahulGandhi(Congress), MamataBanerjee(Trinamool Congress),Akhilesh Yadav(SamajwadiParty) and Mayawati(BahujanSamaj Party).
Addressing a rally inLucknow in support of theCAA, Shah also declared thatthe construction of a Ram
temple “touching the skies” inAyodhya will begin withinthree months.
At the same meeting, UttarPradesh Chief Minister YogiAdityanath alleged that theCongress is shelling out moneyfor “arson” and protests overthe CAA.
Shah accused the Congressof not implementing the sug-gestions that came from its ownleaders in the past on grantingcitizenship to minority Hindusin Pakistan, Bangladesh (thenEast Pakistan) and Afghanistanafter Partition.
He also hit out at WestBengal Chief Minister MamataBanerjee, saying she is nowopposing Indian citizenshipfor Dalit Bengalis.
Shah said there is no pro-vision in the amended law fortaking anyone’s citizenshipaway. “A canard is being spread
against the CAA by theCongress, SP, BSP, andTrinamool Congress.”
The CAA is a law to grantcitizenship, he added. “I wantto say that irrespective of theprotests it will not be with-drawn,” he said, adding,“Whoever has to oppose canoppose the Act, it is not goingto be revoked.”
Stating that a myth isbeing spread in the countryabout the CAA, Shah allegedthat riots and arson are beinginduced and that the SP, BSP,Congress and the TMC arefomenting the protests.
“If any clause of the CAAtakes away the citizenship ofanyone, including Muslims,they can tell me. The agitationsand sit-ins, which are beingorganised in the countryagainst it, are wrong,” he said.
“The Congress has
become blind due to vote bankpolitics,” he said, and alsoblamed the party for Partition.
Reacting to the assertionsby Shah, Akhilesh Yadav saidthey reflected intolerance as theBJP “wants to crush peoplewith the road roller of itsmajority”.
Lashing out at the BJP, theformer Chief Minister allegedthat the saffron party is mak-ing “intolerance” as its identi-ty.
“Playing with basic prin-ciples of the democracy, theBJP is going ahead with mak-ing intolerance its identity.Shah’s statement that he wouldimplement the CAA at any costshows that the Governmentwants to crush people with theroad roller of its majority,”Yadav said in a statement
The Uttar Pradesh unit ofthe Congress accused Shah of
“speaking the language of a dic-tator”.
“Virtually soaked in prideof being in power, the country’shome minister is speaking thelanguage of a dictator....” UPCongress chief Ajay KumarLallu said in a statement.
Shah asked Oppositionparties where they were when“crores of people were killed” inPakistan, Afghanistan andBangladesh on the basis ofreligion.
He said five lakh Panditswere displaced from Kashmir,“but these parties did not uttera word”.
“Now, because of PMModi, a new chapter has begunin the lives of these people,” hesaid. Shah referred to the recentSupreme Court verdict thatallows the construction of aRam temple at the disputedAyodhya site.
Coimbatore: Police havedenied permission to variousMuslim organisations to carryout a procession in the city onFebruary 2 against theCitizenship Amendment Act.
Representatives ofFederation of IslamicOrganisation and the DistrictAll Kamath had submitted apetition to the office of policecommissioner on January 17
seeking permission to take outa 7 km “unity procession”.
Deputy Commissioner ofPolice (Law and order) L BalajiSaravabnan had convened ameeting on Monday with rep-resentatives of SDPI, TMMK,PFI, Manithaneya MakkalKatchi and Jamaath, a releasefrom police department said onTuesday. They were informedthat the procession wouldparalyse movement of vehicles
besides affecting people as itwas being taken out through anational highway and arterialroad. Besides, almost 16 organ-isations had already conduct-ed nearly 50 rallies, protestmeetings, human chain, closureof shops and other mode of agi-tations on the issue.
Against this background,an order denying permissionfor the procession was issued,the release said. PTI
Aligarh: Hundreds of students took out aprotest march against the amended citizen-ship act on the Aligarh Muslim Universitycampus here on Tuesday rasing slogans of“CAA se azaadi” and vowing to boycott class-es until their demands are met.
The protesters including girls andschoolchildren, belonging to the schoolswithin the campus, began their march fromthe Purani Chungi and culminated it at theBabey Sir Syed gate of the university.
They also raised slogans in support ofDelhi’s Shaheen Bagh protesters and theJawaharlal Nehru University.
“Shaheen Bagh Zindabad (Long liveShaheen Bagh)” and “JNU tum sangharshKaro hum tumahre saath hain (keep fight-ing JNU, we are with you)” rent the air alongwith the chants of “CAA se azaadi” (freedomfrom CAA) and “BJP se azaadi” (freedomfrom BJP). The university was closed earlyfor winter vacations from December 16, aday after students clashed with police dur-ing a protest against the CitizenshipAmendment Act (CAA) on campus. It wasto reopen on January 6 but the vacation wasextended owing to persisting tension over thechanges in the citizenship law.
It is reopening in phases from Monday.But after the university reopened on January13, agitation against the law has been goingon and students have devised innovativeways to protest peacefully. PTI
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The Mamata Banerjee Governmentwill call a special session of the
State Assembly on January 27 totable a resolution rejecting theCitizenship Amendment Act. Thedate was given by State ParliamentaryAffairs Minister and TrinamoolCongress general secretary ParthoChatterjee.
The formal announcement camea day after Banerjee declared that shewould soon get a resolution againstCAA passed in the State Assembly.
The development also comes as anaftermath of members of the minor-ity community openly questioning theTMC Ministers — Jyotipriya Mullickand Bratya Basu at various organisa-tional forums as to why the BengalGovernment was not following in thefootsteps of Kerala and Punjab whichhad earlier passed resolutions againstthe controversial Act.
“I don’t have to say anythingabout who said what. But I can onlysay that our Chief Minister has decid-ed to call a special session of theAssembly to pass a resolution againstthe CAA,” Chatterjee said adding theState Government’s credentials couldnot be questioned as it had alreadypassed similar resolutions againstNational Register for Citizens andNational Population Register.
“I have personally spoken toopposition leader Abdul Mannan(Congress) and would also speak toCPI(M) Legislator Party Leader SujanChakrabarty seeking their support forthe resolution which will be tabled onJanuary 27,” Chatterjee said.
The decision which theGovernment had taken on Tuesdayshould have been taken earlierCongress leader in Lok Sabha AdhirChowdhury said reacting to theTuesday’s announcement adding “theCongress and the Left had moved asimilar resolution earlier in theAssembly but the TMC refused to takeit up for discussion now for someunknown reasons they have agreed topass the resolution only after Keralaand Punjab Governments have doneit… it is better late than never.”
Chakrabarty wondered “why theyrejected our move when we wanted totable a similar resolution a few daysin the Assembly denouncing CAA. Itseems that only after getting thegreen signal from her BJP friends inDelhi that the Chief Minister has nowdecided to table the resolution. In anycase we have no problem in support-ing it.”
He added how the TMCGovernment had grudgingly passed aresolution against NRC and NPRtabled by the opposition “but onlyafter tabling it in their party’s name.”
Chatterjee would not dwell muchon the issue but said “We have alreadysubmitted the resolution to theSpeaker on January 20.”
He also would not comment onwhy the TMC was moving theSupreme Court challenging the CAAa la Kerala and Punjab. “I am in Statepolitics and will not be in a positionto take questions on things at nation-al level. Please ask the questions toDerek O’ Brien who will be theappropriate person to take the ques-tion.”
On whether the Chief Ministerwould take up Home Minister AmitShah’s challenge to debate the CAA atnational forum, the senior BengalMinister said “we will take it up fordiscussion in the party forum beforecoming back to you.”
However, another Minister andsenior party leader Tapas Roy saidthere is no problem for any debatebecause it is Mamata Banerjee whohad for the first time given an openchallenge for a debate on NRC, andCAB (before it became an Act).
Meanwhile, after the lawyers, stu-dents and civil society it was the turnof the doctors to descend on thestreets against the CAA with hundredsof medicos from NRS Medical Collegeand Hospital on Tuesday taking outprocessions condemning the contro-versial Act.
An Army jawan and a spe-cial police officer (SPO) of
J&k police on Tuesday sacri-ficed their lives during a fiercegunfight with terrorists in snowclad Khrew area of SouthKashmir’s Pulwama district.
Till the time of filing thereport, the security forces hadnot confirmed whether anyterrorists were neutralised orthey managed to gave a slip tothe security forces during theencounter.
Soon after the operationwas launched, after receiving atip off about the presence ofthree terrorists in the area,joint teams of security forceshad cordoned off Zand villageof Tral.
While searches were goingon in the area, first contact wasestablished with the terrorists.
To avoid any collateraldamage the security forceseven escorted children andothers from the area.
In the initial exchange of
fire an Army jawan and SPOreceived bullet injuries.According to official sources,“SPO of the J&K police died onthe spot while Army jawan succumbed to his fatal injuriesin the hospital”.
Initially, twitter handle ofthe Kashmir zone police post-ed a tweet, “Encounter hasstarted at Awantipora. Police &security forces are on the job.Further details shall follow”.Thereafter, no update was post-ed till late evening nor any pressstatement was issued by thepolice media centre confirmingkilling of terrorists in theencounter.
Meanwhile, Twitter handleof the Udhampur basedNorthern command head-quarters, paid rich tributes to
the martyred solider who sac-rificed his life in the Pulwamaencounter on Tuesday.
“Lt- Gen Ranbir Singh,Army Cdr NC and all rankssalute the supreme sacrifice ofSepoy Rahul Rainswal; offerdeepest condolences to thefamily”, tweeted NorthernCommand.
This is the second majorencounter which took place inKashmir valley ahead ofRepublic day celebrations in thelast 48 hours.
On Monday, joint teams ofsecurity forces killed three ter-rorists including top comman-der of Hizbul MujahideenWaseem Ahmad Wani alongwith Adil Bashir Sheikh inShopian.
According to policerecords, Waseem was involvedin the killing of eight people,including four security men inthe Valley while Adil haddecamped with 7 AK 47 riflesand a pistol from the residenceof former PDP MLA fromWachi Assembly segment.
Bollywood blockbuster‘Tanhaji — The UnsungWarrior’, in which the faces ofChhatrapati Shivaji and histrusted commander TanajiMalusare have been morphedwith those of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and UnionHome Minister Amit Shahwent viral in the social mediaon Tuesday.
Fresh from the controver-sy over a Hindi book ‘Aaj keShivaji: Narendra Mod’, liken-ing the current Prime Ministerto Maratha warrior ChhatrapatiShivaji Maharaj, the latest video— in which Delhi ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal of theAam Aadmi Party (AAP) hasbeen projected as UdaybhanSingh Rathore — has turnedthe spotlight on the BJP once
again, amid the ongoing cam-paigning the Delhi Assemblypolls.
The spoof video, posted onthe twitter handle named ‘polit-ical kida’ has drawn compar-isons between the battle ofSinhagad Fort with the upcom-ing Delhi elections and thewebsite has said: “Jo Dilli JeetGaya, Samjho Dil Jeet Gaya”.Interestingly, the twitter pagecontaining the spoof videowent missing later in theevening.
Reacting to the spoofvideo, BJP’s Rajya Sabha mem-ber and the 13th direct descen-dant of Maratha kingChhatrapati Shivaji and greatgrandson of Chhatrapati Shahuof Kolhapur SambhajiChhatrapati tweeted: “After thebook (likening Shivaji toModi), we now have videothat indecent, intolerable andcondemnable. The parties con-cerned should expressed itsstand over the video. TheCentre should order an inquiryinto the video and initiateaction against those behind it”
“For us Shiv bakths Shivaji
Maharaj is everything. Thevideo has hurt the Shiva bak-ths. It is the responsibility of theGovernment to take cogni-sance of the sentiments of theShiv bakths and take steps toensure against recurrence ofsuch things in future. Myrequest to all political partiesnot to misuse the image of greatMaratha warrior for their cheappolitics,” Sambhaji Chhatrapatitweeted.
Responding to the objec-tionable video, Shiv Sena MPand spokesperson Sanjay Rautsaid: “ I have sent the video tocontroversial Hindutva leaderSambhaji Bhide and variousBJP leaders. I am waiting fortheir response.”
Alluding to the recentdemand by Sambaji Bhide thataction be taken against him forhis disparaging remarks againstthe descendents of ChhatrapatiShivaji, Raut said: “I want to seethe reaction of those who havecalled for a bandh at Satara andSangli against the Shiv Sena.Not even a single person whomI have sent the video to hasreplied so far”.
Meanwhile, theMaharashtra BJP has disasso-ciated itself from the spoofvideo put out on the twitterhandle of “political kida’. “TheBJP{ has nothing to do withthis video. The BJP is notusing the video in its campaignfor the Delh9i Assembly polls.We condemn this video. It iswrong to elicit the BJP’s reac-tion on this video. ChhatrapatiShivaji cannot be comparedwith anyone,” Maharashtra BJPpresident Chandrakant Patilsaid.
“There is no restriction onany one making anything ofvideo, putting it on socialmedia and letting it go viral.There is a clear cut attempt todefame the BJP by makingsuch a controversial video,”Patil said.
Hitting out indirectly atRaut, Patil said: “The peoplewho are demanding evidencefrom the descendents ofChhatrapati Shivaji have nomortal right left to talk aboutthe Maratha warrior. The BJP’sstand is that there was onlyunique king (Shivaji) and we do
not get to see such a kingagainst. It was because of thisking that Hindu Swaraj wasestablished. No one can becompared chhatrapati shivaji”.
Last week, under severeflak from various politicalquarters, an embarrassed BJPhad distanced itself from acontroversial book “Aaj keShivaji: Narendra Modi”,penned by the party’s JaiBhagwan Goyal, likening thecurrent Prime Minister withMaratha warrior ChhatrapatiShivaji Maharaj.
BJP’s National Media co-head Sanjay Mayukh had saidthrough a video statement:“Whatever that been written inthe book is the author’s per-sonal point of view. It is neitherour party publication nor arewe connected with it in anymanner”
“The writer has clarifiedthat it is his personal writing.He has also said that if the bookhas hurt anybody’s emotions,he is withdrawing the book.We would like to clarify againthat it is not a party publica-tion,” Mayukh had said.
The Astana Club based inKazakhstan has brought out auseful document which assess-es the top 10 risks for Eurasia in2020. There are contributions
from researchers and thinkers from all overthe world, which have been incorporatedwhile carrying out this assessment.Although the risks identified are specificto Eurasia, in effect, one could identifythese as being applicable to almost anyother part of the world.
The foreword of this document iden-tifies China emerging as a new potentialsuperpower. It also draws attention toChina’s economic strength as signifiedthrough the Belt and Road mega initiative.Eurasia being in the vicinity of China seesthe changes in the balance of power thatare now developing. It also expresses thefact that Russia has finally recoveredfrom the chaos and devastation of the1990s despite several sanctions and restric-tions. As a result of this phase of recovery,it is expanding its influence far beyondpost-Soviet borders. Concurrently, leaderssuch as India, Japan, Turkey, Iran andSaudi Arabia have been identified asshowing bold intentions to influence theinternational order. The documentobserves that no geo-political game cannow play out without the participation ofthese new players.
The first of the 10 risks, which is iden-tified, deals with the aftershock of the USpresidential campaign. It looks at develop-ments within the US and the efforts of thecurrent administration to move in the direc-tion of nationalism with possible isolationfrom global affairs and developments. Theprediction made is that in the coming year,there will be more apparent manifestationsof the unilateral approach to foreign poli-cy, which obviously will have erratic con-sequences in a negative sense. In effect, theassessment of this first risk can be seen asnot entirely related to aftershocks of the USpresidential campaign but possibly more interms of leading up to the presidential elec-tion, which implies several risks during thecampaign itself.
It is obvious that the current process ofimpeachment, which the US Senate will bepursuing, will have major implications forthe presidential election in November,2020, as well as some risks for candidatesrunning for the US Senate. It is also obvi-ous that global developments initiated by theWhite House would be targetted, keepingin view the 2020 elections. While this AstanaClub assessment was produced before thekilling of Iranian Major General Soleimani,it can be concluded that to some extent, thisattack on a very popular and respected gen-eral in Iran was clearly a “macho” act, whichwas perhaps designed to blunt the impactsof the current impeachment process againstUS President Donald Trump.
This document also highlights the fact
that as far as Iran is concerned,Trump will increase sanctionsand the pressure that would beimposed on Tehran. On theother hand, the likelihood of aUS-Iran military conflict, whichposed certain danger in thesummer of 2019, will declinethis year. The opinion is alsoexpressed that Trump is unlike-ly to initiate a military campaignagainst Iran, which could haveuncontrollable consequences.There are other possible devel-opments related to the MiddleEast, which could also constitutea risk politically to Eurasia.But, of course, there will be seri-ous implications for other partsof the world, particularly forSouth Asia, with its proximity toboth Eurasia and the countriesof the Middle East.
The other risks identified inthe study include the effects ofglobal economic recession, esca-lation of the US-China con-frontation, a new stage of thenuclear missile race, exacerba-tion of the battle for technolog-ical dominance, military escala-tion of the conflict around Iran,nuclear crisis on the Koreanpeninsula, a new wave of terror-ism, aggressive nationalism andpopulism as well as large-scaleclimate change problems.
The prospect of a globaleconomic recession is very realand this, combined with aninward looking policy ofnationalism such as in the caseof the US, could cause econom-ic complications worldwide.
Also, in the case of the US, thereis the real prospect of a furtherdivision between theDemocrats and theRepublicans, those who aresupporters of Trump and thosewho are strongly opposed to hiscontinuation as President. Inthe case of the Middle East, itseems unfortunate that Iran andthe US have been at loggerheadsfor over 40 years now, which isaffecting all developments inthe wake of the Iranian revolu-tion. Developments in 2020will continue to be affected byan obvious bias on the part ofthe US openly favouring someMiddle Eastern nations.
The issue of terrorism isalso alive. While the backboneof the Islamic State (IS) has gen-erally been decimated, it isentirely possible that re-group-ing by this terrorist organisationcould lead to several dangers indifferent parts of the world.India is confronted by State-sponsored terrorism in its vicin-ity and this is a subject that theentire global community and itwould need to deal with. Theextent of this threat is likely toincrease as a result of frustrationwithin a country which is ourneighbour. We have to be aliveto this as well as other terroristthreats across the globe.
With respect to climatechange, we need to come upwith scenarios on how we maybe able to bring about a tran-sition from fossil fuels to lowcarbon sources of energy. Far
more immediate is the issue ofimpacts of climate change,which would pose increasingrisks across the globe.Projections of extreme events,which the IntergovernmentalPanel on Climate Change(IPCC) had clearly broughtout 11 years ago, is the increasein intensity and frequency ofdisasters and extreme events. Atypical but unfortunate exam-ple of this is provided by theraging forest fires, whichrecently affected several partsof Australia, followed immedi-ately by extreme precipitationevents which led to floodingand excessive damage.
All in all, it is importantthat the Astana Club has comeup with a comprehensive list-ing of threats, which canemerge during 2020 and, there-fore, extending into this decadeas a whole.
Kazakhstan and severalEurasian countries may liebeyond the Himalayan rangebut in terms of proximity, theyare in some cases very close tous in terms of geographicaldistance. India should, perhaps,engage far more closely withcountries of the region andexercise its soft power, includ-ing the flow of knowledge, edu-cation and research on issuesthat have a bearing on theregion. The threats for Eurasiaapply equally to India as well.
(The writer is former chair-man, Intergovernmental Panelon Climate Change, 2002-15)
Sir — An Australian developerhas produced an app that allowspeople to upload a photo ofsomeone else and match it withother photos of people and theirlocation. Police in America havealready tested and successfullyused it to arrest one person. Theintroduction of cameras onmobile phones has led to millionsof photos being taken and far toomany being put online for us toignore. The Instagrammers andinfluencers may not realise that bydefault, the location is embeddedin their photos. The technologythat allows facial recognition isunder attack from privacy advo-cates, but why? If you have donenothing wrong, then you havenothing to hide. Although thereality is that some people err intheir life choices. The concern ofpeople being recognised in pho-tos has gone too far with googlemaps and street view blurringnumber plates on cars and peo-ple’s faces. People should behappy to be known and seenalthough not obsessively. Live agood life and be seen doing it.
Dennis FitzgeraldMelbourne
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Sir — Bapu Nadkarni, whopassed away recently, leavesbehind an incredible legacy inbowling. In 1964, he bowled 131consecutive balls without conced-ing any runs during a Test inningsagainst England. He had similar
economical bowling averages inearlier matches against Pakistanin Kanpur and Delhi in the 1960-61 series. His economy rateacross his first-class career wasless than two.
He was one of the finest all-rounders of the time. His maid-en over tally is difficult to match.It is unfortunate that the present
cricketers, who play at a time ofimmense money and fame in thesport, are honoured frequentlywhile players of yesteryear are for-gotten. It would be even better ifa series of postage stamps of oldercricketers with notable contribu-tions could be issued.
SC AgrawalDelhi
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Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “BJP’s new chief ” (January21). Both Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and HomeMinister Amit Shah wantedsomeone to take charge of theparty who would be a non-chal-lenger to them and JP Nadda wasbest suited for this. What, how-ever, must be complimented isthat Nadda is one leader whogrew from the grassroot level tomake his way to the top.
Nadda has taken charge amidprotests against the CitizenshipAmendment Act (CAA). Moreimportantly, will he be able to stopthe reverses the party has seen inStates? Surely, the BJP is on aweaker footing and the winningthe forthcoming elections in Delhiand West Bengal will be challeng-ing. One thing that will comehandy for him is that he has beenpart of the Modi Government andknows both the organisation andthe Government well. Can be agood catalyst between the two?
Having achieved the fiscal deficit (FD) tar-get for three years in a row, the NarendraModi Government missed it in 2017-18
and 2018-19. During 2017-18, the actual FDexpressed as a percentage of the Gross DomesticProduct (GDP) was 3.5 per cent against the tar-get of 3.2 per cent. For 2018-19, the then FinanceMinister, Arun Jaitley had set a target of 3.3 percent as against three per cent sought by a com-mittee under NK Singh, former ExpenditureSecretary and current Chairman of the 15thFinance Commission.
The committee was set up in 2016 to reviewthe Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management(FRBM) Act, 2003, with a mandate to revamp itand recommend a path for the next six years. Itadvocated a FD target of 2.5 per cent, revenuedeficit 0.8 per cent, combined Centre-State debtceiling of 60 per cent and a Central debt ceilingof 40 per cent for 2022-23. It recommended threeper cent FD for 2018-19. It also allowed theGovernment to breach the target in case of “far-reaching structural reforms with unanticipated fis-cal implications.”
Vide the Finance Bill, 2018-19 theGovernment amended the FRBM Act to allow itto achieve three per cent FD by 2020-21 insteadof 2018-19 recommended by the committee.Further, it sought the debt limit of 40 per cent bythe Centre (60 per cent for Centre and States) tobe reached by 2024-25 instead of 2022-23 man-dated by the committee.
During 2018-19, the Government posted 3.4per cent (against the target of 3.3 per cent), thattoo by taking recourse to what is termed as “finan-cial engineering.” It paid �60,000 crore less to theFood Corporation of India (FCI) towards foodsubsidy as reimbursement of the excess of the costof procurement, handling and distribution over thesale price to the beneficiaries under the NationalFood Security Act (NFSA). It paid �32,000 croreless to State-owned oil marketing companies(OMCs) viz. Indian Oil Corporation Limited(IOCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited(BPCL) and so on, for selling LPG and keroseneat subsidised prices. Likewise, short payments tomanufacturers for fertiliser subsidy were about�40,000 crore.
The above three so-called “deferred payments”add up to �1,32,000 crore. In addition, publicundertakings like the National Bank forAgriculture and Rural Development (NABARD),Housing and Urban Development Corporation(HUDCO), National Housing Bank (NHB), RuralElectrification Corporation (REC), Power FinanceCorporation (PFC), National Highways Authorityof India (NHAI) and Indian Railway FinanceCorporation (IRFC) borrowed on behalf of theGovernment to fund welfare schemes such as ruraland urban affordable housing, sanitation and irri-gation projects, rural electrification schemes(including free electricity connections to house-holds) highways and railway projects. TermedExtra-Budgetary Resources (EBRs), these totalled�280,000 crore.
All put together, the money, a whopping�412,000 crore, should have been paid by theGovernment from its Budget. But it decided tomake other entities pay for it or borrow on itsbehalf. This translates to about 2.3 per cent of theGDP.
Including this, the FD for 2018-19would have been 5.7 per cent instead of3.4 per cent reported in the Budget.During 2017-18 also, according to theComptroller and Auditor General(CAG), the FD was suppressed by 2.4 percent, courtesy EBRs.
The current year for which the FDtarget is kept at 3.3 per cent (same as thetarget for 2018-19), will also end up witha repeat of the scenario in the previoustwo years.
Let us look at how slippage from thetarget is likely to pan out. First, at thetime of the Budget presentation, the FDprojection at 3.3 per cent or about�700,000 crore in value term was basedon a nominal GDP growth of 12 per cent— from �188,00,000 crore during 2018-19 to �211,00,000 crore during 2019-20.Against this, the actual growth is estimat-ed to be 7.5 per cent implying a GDP ofabout �202,00,000 crore during 2019-20.Even if the deficit were to be kept at�700,000 crore, as percentage of thelower than initially projected GDP or�202,00,000 crore (or “denominator”effect), this will be 3.46 per cent.
That apart, even in absolute terms,the deficit is expected to be much high-er than �700,000 crore. First, given theslow pace of tax collection so far tillNovember 2019 — both direct and indi-rect — and little prospect of any majorrecovery in the remaining four months,the collection during the year is expect-ed to fall short of the Budget estimate byabout �200,000 crore. Second, the pro-ceeds of disinvestment are expected tomiss the target by a whopping �80,000crore (the Budget estimate of �1,05,000crore was based largely on strategic saleof BPCL, Air India and so on which isunlikely to materialise before March 31,2020).
So, the total shortfall in collection —on both these counts — adds up to�2,80,000 crore. Add to this, fertilisersubsidy arrears of about �60,000 crore(according to the industry body FertiliserAssociation of India); unpaid food sub-
sidy bills of the FCI at �60,000 crore andabout �30,000 crore as unpaid fuel sub-sidy bills to OMCs. That takes thegrand total to �430,000 crore. This willpush the actual deficit to �1130,000 crorewhich translates to 5.6 per cent. Thisdoes not capture the EBRs used to fundthe Government’s welfare schemes. If,that is included then, the deficit wouldbe even higher.
Taking a “fair” and “realistic” viewof all receipts and expenditure of theUnion Government, its fiscal deficit isthus turning out to be almost double thethree per cent target handed out by theNK Singh Committee. Though, in thebalance sheet, it may still show a figureclose to the target and brandish that itis sticking to the fiscal consolidation glidepath, that is made possible through anact of skullduggery. But, this is not a sus-tainable situation.
Apart from the spillover effect onPSUs, other agencies of the Governmentsuch as the FCI and others, throughwhom subsidy is administered (e.g. fer-tiliser manufacturers) who are made tobear the brunt by way of liquidity prob-lems, interest cost, recurring losses andso on, the most serious damage is donedue to the “complacency” this breedswith regard to fiscal management. When,the target is achieved without actuallybringing about reduction in expenditureor boosting revenue or a combination ofboth, why would our planners and pol-icymakers take credible measures in thatdirection?
For instance, a major reason for theballooning subsidy on urea is its ridicu-lously low MRP (the current price is just10 per cent higher than it was in 2002).This is despite the recommendation ofthe Expenditure Reforms Commission(ERC) in 2000 to increase steps toeliminate the gap between the cost andprice over five years. No action on thisfront implies increasing subsidy in theface of ever-increasing cost. But, byrolling over payments year-after-year andshowing less in the Budget, the man-
darins in the Finance Ministry skirt thereal issue.
Likewise, by not releasing food sub-sidy dues to FCI and showing lessexpenditure in the Budget, they run awayfrom dealing with the real factors viz.ridiculously low selling price of foodgrain, high inefficiency in handlingoperations by agencies and giving mil-lions of non-deserving access to the foodsecurity system.
The same holds for oil subsidy(mainly LPG and kerosene).
In the backdrop of the slowdown ingrowth, even as commentators are advo-cating some leniency in the fiscal con-solidation drive, the reality is thatalready, there is substantial relaxationthough it is going unrecognised. Underthe “business as usual” scenario, theeconomy may face catastrophic conse-quences. The Government should actbefore it is too late. For that, it shouldrecognise that the problem exists andstop fudging its accounts. But, this byitself won’t help.
This has to be followed up by somehardcore reforms such as removal of con-trols in key areas such as fertilisers, food,fuel and power, giving subsidy throughdirect benefit transfer (DBT), substan-tial pruning of the number of beneficia-ries under welfare schemes and remov-ing inefficiencies at various levels in thesupply chain. This will require sheddingpopulism and cracking down on vestedinterest (especially corrupt politiciansand bureaucrats who are gaining a lotfrom the existing dispensation) withalacrity.
Modi should show the gumption tocrack the whip. Having an absolutemajority in the Parliament and four-and-a-half years to go, he can afford to do.Even so, time and again, he has reiter-ated his commitment to do things in theoverall national interest even if it leadsto a political backlash. Hence, he shouldgo ahead.
Delhi’s urban planning policies havebeen characterised by the inabili-ty of the agencies concerned to
facilitate adequate supply of affordable,formal housing stock for its residents. Asa result, informal housing has crept upacross large parts of the national Capital.Unauthorised Colonies (UACs) are oneform of such informal housing cate-gories and have grown at an unprecedent-ed rate — from 110 in 1961, to nearly1,800 colonies today. These UACs caterlargely to the Economically WeakerSections (EWS) and Low Income Groups(LIG) that reside in the city.
While numerous efforts have beenmade to regularise these colonies to
address problems emanating from theirinformality, the situation has barelyimproved. This has been a result of insti-tutional multiplicity coupled with thepolitical motives of elected representativesat various levels.
Political establishments target theUAC population for garnering votes andmake promises about regularisation anddevelopment. However, once elected,they fail to deliver on them.
In 2008, just before the 2009 LokSabha elections, the then CentralGovernment issued a notification to reg-ularise UACs and invited applicationsfrom these colonies. However, the processwent nowhere post applications.
This time, the Narendra Modi-led BJPGovernment at the Centre, close to theDelhi Assembly elections in February 8,has passed a Bill in the Parliament to con-fer ownership rights on 40 lakh people liv-ing in unauthorised colonies. In thisregard, Prime Minister Modi addressed arally in New Delhi and said, “We took theinitiative to do the work which many pre-vious Governments did not do.”
As per the Bill, these rights will beconferred for built-up plots as well as
vacant plots on payment of nominalcharges.
Subsequently, any owner of a 100 sqmt residential plot in an unauthorisedcolony will have to pay at least �19,980(depending on the zone in which thecolony falls) to acquire the ownership cer-tificate. This addresses the affordabilityconcern in case of the UAC populationwhile attempting to recover the land costfrom the residents of these colonies.
This measure can have positive ben-efits for the city’s economy. Implementingthis notification can provide an entry pointfor the residents into the formal financialmarkets. This affirmed ownership canenable property owners to seek collater-al against their houses. Such a move isexpected to add around 800,000 potentialcustomers to the housing loans market,providing the necessary push to thenational Capital’s economy.
With the registration of UAC house-holds, the decision is likely to boost fur-ther formal transactions, hence adding tothe Government’s stamp duty revenue.
However, the Bill does not offer anyclarity on the status of transaction of aplot/house/property in the existing colony.
This clarity is important to solve the issueof creating a formal and affordable hous-ing market in these colonies. In theabsence of clear information, it may beassumed that with the conferment of theownership rights to a UAC plot owner, thesubsequent registration of sale deed willtake place at the conventional circle ratesof the colony.
In this case, the resident living in anUAC household acquires the ownershiprights of a 100 sq mt plot for at least�19,980; however he/she would be sellingthe same property for �1.6 crore, based onconventional circle rates.
This begs the question — do proper-ties in these localities really merit thisprice, given the inadequate infrastructure?In this regard, to maintain a balancedbuyer-seller dynamics, policymakersshould reconsider the transaction pricesfor these households. Without this neces-sary revision, it is possible that these pricescreate an excess supply condition and con-sequently distort the market.
Another route through which this Billis likely to inflate the Government’s rev-enue is through Property Tax obligationfor the registered UAC households.
Although the notification is silent on theissue of Property Tax collection from thesecolonies, the forthcoming Bill is likely tooffer clarity in this regard. With legal own-ership, the UAC residents will be obligedto pay the annual property tax, which willbe a significant contributor to its main-tenance services.
To reap these possible economic gainsfrom the Bill, it is vital that the implemen-tation of the entire process is not complex.From the perspective of the applicants, thesuggested process involves certain toolsand techniques that are likely to bebeyond their understanding, given theirsocio-economic profile. Thus, training andawareness would be required to make theprogramme successful and the DelhiGovernment must take the lead on it bysubstantiating the need for institutionalcoordination.
Discussions with a few residents ofUACs in Delhi have brought out that giventheir past experience, residents are stillapprehensive about the actual imple-mentation of the Bill and have not goneahead with the application process on theonline portal. In some cases, people arenot even aware of the procedural require-
ment. This is reflected by the fact that there
are only a handful of applications on theDDA’s portal —166 out of around 800,000households in the city. Against this pes-simistic situation, it is imperative that forthe desired success rate of this policy, vol-unteers are appointed to assist the UACresidents in the process. As of now, thereare only 25 help desks and they are veryunlikely to serve the purpose of efficient-ly facilitating the process.
Effective implementation of this pro-posed policy can unlock the substantialeconomic potential of the city’s land andhousing markets.
The issue of UACs in Delhi has goneon for far too long and it is high time thatit gets resolved for better economic out-comes. Whether the vicious circle aroundpolicy implementation for unauthorisedcolonies — with vote bank politics beingthe central point — will be broken thistime around is likely to get clear after theDelhi Assembly elections.
(The writer is an Associate Fellow atthe National Council of Applied EconomicResearch. The views expressed in this arti-cle are personal)
Shares of telcos’ on Tuesdayended the session on a
mixed note after the SC agreedto list next week telecom firms’fresh pleas, seeking a freshschedule of payment of statu-tory dues to the DoT.
Shares of Vodafone Ideazoomed over 24 per cent to�6.04 during the day. Later, thestock shed some of its gains tosettle at �5.92, up 21.18 per centover previous close on theBSE.
On the NSE, the scrip roseas much as 24.74 per cent to�6.05. It settled 22.68 per centup at �5.95.
Moreover, the spurt in vol-ume was more than 2.16 timeson the BSE and the stock hasgained over 30 per cent in lastthree trading sessions.
On the other hand, BhartiAirtel stock ended marginallyup by 0.41 per cent to �511.35on the BSE.
On the NSE, the scrip lost0.07 per cent to close at�508.35.
Tata Teleservices(Maharashtra) stock settled1.15 per cent lower at �2.59 onthe BSE and ended flat at �2.60on the NSE.
Meanwhile, shares ofReliance Industries, the parentfirm of Reliance Jio InfocommLtd, gained 0.13 per cent toclose at �1,533.95 on the BSEand 0.17 per cent to �1,535 onthe NSE.
“It is learnt that telecommajors have moved theSupreme Court in a bid to delaypayments that are due onJanuary 23. This is after theSupreme Court last weekrejected the pleas of telecomcompanies with regards toOctober verdict on adjusted
gross revenue (AGR).“However, telecom players
have got a fresh lease of life asthe apex court has agreed to lis-ten to pleas with regards to pay-ment of statutory dues nextweek. In case of a negative out-come, the telecom sector willessentially move towardsduopoly kind of market bene-fiting Bharti Airtel and RelianceJio largely and the viability ofother weaker players will bequestioned amid uncertainty,”said Paras Bothra, President ofEquity Research, Ashika StockBroking.
The Supreme Court onTuesday agreed to list nextweek the fresh pleas of telecomfirms, including Bharti Airtel,Vodafone Idea and TataTeleservices, seeking a freshschedule of payment of statu-tory dues to the tune of �1.47lakh crore to the Departmentof Telecommunications.
The telcos said they want-ed an open court hearing ontheir fresh pleas with regard toworking out fresh schedule ofpayment of their dues.
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Shrugging off his impeach-ment trial back home, US
President Donald Trump cameout all guns blazing at theWEF summit here on Tuesdayas he lauded the unprecedent-ed economic boom in theUnited States and exhortedother nations to follow theAmerican example of lowertaxes and reduced regulations.
In his characteristic style,Trump also claimed that heshares an “extraordinary” rela-tionship with ChinesePresident Xi Jinping and nego-tiations for the second phase ofthe US-China trade deal willcommence soon.
Without directly mention-ing climate change, Trumpsaid he believed forecasts ofapocalypse by the “perennialprophets of doom” were wrong.
In a special address at theWorld Economic Forum(WEF) annual summit, Trumpsaid since he last addressedDavos two years ago, the UShas enjoyed the “greatAmerican comeback” that hehad predicted.
“Today I am proud todeclare that the United States isin the midst of an economicboom the like of which hasnever been seen before,” hesaid.
The American dream isback and better than ever,Trump said.
According to him, 11 mil-lion jobs have been gained byAmerica since his election andaverage unemployment rate isthe lowest for the tenure of any
US President in history.Talking about reforms
undertaken by his government,he said, “I knew that if weunleashed the potential of ourpeople, cut taxes, slashed reg-ulation, fixed broken tradedeals and fully tappedAmerican energy, that pros-perity would come thunderingback and that is exactly whathappened.”
“Years of economic stag-nation have given way to aroaring geyser of opportunity,”he added.
“We have launched a his-toric step of removing jobkilling regulations. We areremoving all archaic laws.Today I urge the nations to fol-low our example and liberatetheir citizens from the shack-les of bureaucracy and otherarchaic laws. There is no bet-ter place on the earth than theUnited States,” the Presidentasserted.
Amid simmering tradetensions between the US andChina, Trump said the rela-tionship with China has neverbeen better. “We went througha rough patch, but things aregood now,” he remarked.
The first phase of the tradedeal between the two eco-nomic majors was signedrecently, which has helped inreducing trade tensions whichhave been a major concern forthe global economy.
Trump added that heshares a great relationship withChinese President Xi Jinping.
“My relationship with Xi isextraordinary. He’s for China,I’m for the US but other thanthat, we love each other,” theAmerican president said.
The second phase of nego-tiations for the US-China tradedeal would begin soon and theadministration is focussing ontrade, which was neglected byhis predecessors, Trump noted.
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Union Minister PiyushGoyal on Tuesday said
India is working on ways tohave fairer and more equi-table terms in its trade rela-tionships with various coun-tries. Speaking here at theWorld Economic ForumAnnual Meeting 2020, thecommerce and industry min-ister also called for greatercooperation among variousnations to realise the hugegrowth prospects in the IndianOcean region and also fortackling the important issue ofclimate change.
Goyal said the RCEP in itspresent form was clearly anunworkable agreement.
“Any pact needs to takeinto account several factors.India is grappling with a hugetrade deficit, particularly withChina and many other nationsin the region,” he said.
For the first time, Indiademonstrated that trade cannotbe dictated by diplomacy,Goyal said, referring to India’sdecision to pull out of theRCEP. The RegionalComprehensive EconomicPartnership (RCEP) has had tofactor in several diversitiesamong partners, but India hasserious concerns about climatechange and is seeking greater
cooperation on fair terms, heasserted. Goyal was speaking ata Strategic Outlook session on‘The Indian Ocean Rim’.
“We are like a pivot for theIndian Ocean and we believethis region has huge potential.At the same time, India is verymuch concerned about theissue of climate change.
“Going forward, the entiregrouping around the IndianOcean will play a very impor-tant role, while keeping inmind fair and equitable distri-bution. India also expectsgreater cooperation amongvarious nations on climatechange,” he said.
Goyal further said, “We inIndia are also working on howto put in place more equitableterms in our trade relationswith various countries.”
On whether India can stilljoin RCEP, Goyal said thecountry had said at that timetoo that it will not be able tojoin the trade deal in its currentform. If nations provide ade-quate transparency safeguardsand if non-tariff barriers areaddressed, there is always scopefor a fresh dialogue, he added.
The Indian Ocean Rimsees two-thirds of the world’soil shipments pass through itswaters and is home to half ofthe world’s container ships thatsupport 2.7 billion people.
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The Indian rupee logged itsfourth straight loss on
Tuesday, dropping another 10paise to settle at 71.21 againstthe US dollar amid concernsover IMF revising downwardsIndia’s growth forecast andweak quarterly earnings.
Besides, heavy sell-offs indomestic equity market for asecond session in a row and theoutbreak of a deadly virus inChina also impacted forexmarket sentiment.
At the interbank foreignexchange market, the localcurrency opened on a weaknote at 71.17. During the day,it saw a high of 71.13 and a lowof 71.24.
The Indian currency final-ly settled at 71.21, lower by 10paise against its previous close.
However, weaker green-back overseas and easing crudeoil prices helped the rupeerestrict its losses to some extent.
The domestic unit had set-tled at 71.11 against theAmerican currency onMonday.
“Rupee fell following sell-off in domestic equities andbroad strength in the US dol-lar,” said Gaurang Somaiyaa,Forex & Bullion Analyst,Motilal Oswal FinancialServices.
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Indian airports are likely toincur a revenue loss of �650
crore per annum and couldpotentially turn defaulters if thecommerce ministry’s proposalson the sale of liquor and ciga-rette at duty-free shops areaccepted, an industry bodywarned on Tuesday.
The Association of PrivateAirport Operators (APAO) ina statement said that if non-aero revenues are restricted byan act of government, the newoperators will find the air-ports unviable and may evenrenege on their contracts.
Flughafen Zurich AG,which is one of the largestEuropean airport operators,has just re-entered the domes-tic airport space, bagging thecontract for the greenfieldJewar Airport in UP while
Adani group has been man-dated to run six AAI-ownedairports in the country.
The Commerce Ministry,as part of its proposals to thefinance ministry ahead of thebudget, has recommendedrestricting purchase of tax-free alcohol to one bottleagainst two at present and pro-hibiting completely the pur-chase of cigarette cartons, fromone carton of 100 sticks now, atduty-free shops at the arrivalarea of the international air-ports in the country.
“Such a move will have dis-astrous effects on the Indianaviation industry across allstakeholders including airports,airlines, passengers and duty-free operators,” the APAO said.
Liquor accounts for major-ity of sales of duty-free opera-tors. Vehemently opposingthe proposal, the body said, “It
will make their operationsunviable due to firm commit-ments towards fixed fee andfixed expenses to be met out oflower revenue base.”
Share of import of liquorfor sale to arrival passengers intotal import is miniscule —0.0213 per cent or $97 millionof the total $460 billion imports,it said adding that “even doingaway with entire imports willnot serve any purpose.”
According to the associa-tion, the proposed restrictionswill lead to an increase in pas-senger charges, hurt airportindustry and may “encouragesmuggling,” besides a revenueloss of about �650 crore perannum at all airports.
The revenue loss at airportswill impact the operators’financial ratings and conse-quently hamper expansionplans, it said.
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The Department of Telecom(DoT) has approved raising
of foreign direct investment inBharti Airtel to 100 per centfrom 49 per cent allowed ear-lier, a stock exchange filing ofthe company said on Tuesday.
The company also has theapproval of the Reserve Bank ofIndia (RBI) that allowed for-eign investors to hold up to 74per cent stake in the company.
“Bharti Airtel Limited hasreceived the approval from theDepartment ofTelecommunications (DoT)vide its letter dated January 20,2020, for increasing the limit offoreign investment up to 100per cent of the paid-up capitalof the company,” the filing
said. The approval comes fewdays before the company has toclear statutory liabilities of upto nearly �35,586 crore, ofwhich �21,682 crore is licencefee and another �13,904.01crore is spectrum dues (exclud-ing the dues of Telenor andTata Teleservices).
“...The aforesaid approvalread together with the RBIapproval dated July 3, 2014granted to the company allowsthe FPIs/FIIs to invest upto 74per cent of the paid up capitalof the company,” it said.
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Industry body CII on Tuesdayrecommended easing of cer-
tain norms for enhancing liq-uidity for non-banking finan-cial companies (NBFCs) andhousing finance companies(HFCs).
It has suggested to easeECB norms with a higher limitfor investment grade-ratedcompanies equivalent to sov-ereign rating up to maybe$1,500 million from the currentuniform limit of $750 millionfor all NBFCs.
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The Asean Secretariat hasinvited India to participate
in a meeting called in Bali onFebruary 3 and 4 on RCEPagreement to sort out concernsof New Delhi, an official said.
India at a meeting inNovember last year in Bangkokdecided to withdraw from thismega free-trade agreement asits concerns were not addressedadequately by the RCEP.
“India has received theinvitation for the meeting butit has not yet taken any decisionon this,” the official said.
The meeting in Bali will beheld at a chief negotiator level.
The RCEP, comprising 10-member Asean bloc and sixother countries India, China,Japan, South Korea, Australiaand New Zealand, is engaged innegotiations for a free-tradepact. Meanwhile, speaking at aWEF session in Davos,Commerce and IndustryMinister Piyush Goyal said,“We believe if RCEP nationsprovide adequate protectionagainst circumvention of prod-uct origin rules, adequate trans-parency is brought in the trad-ing practices, if non-tariff bar-
riers can be addressed, there isscope for discussion”.
Japan had earlier indicatedthat efforts were on to makeIndia join the ambitiousRegional ComprehensiveEconomic Partnership (RCEP),saying all member countries ofthe grouping were committed toaddress New Delhi’s concerns.
Speaking at the RaisinaDialogue earlier in the month,External Affairs Minister SJaishankar said India had notclosed its doors on the RCEPand would carry out a cost-benefit analysis to evaluate itsmerit.
Mumbai (PTI): Market bench-mark Sensex furthered losses forthe second straight session onTuesday as investors fretted oversubdued corporate results andIMF revising downwards India’sgrowth forecast. At the closingbell, the 30-share Sensex wasdown 205.10 points, or 0.49 percent, at 41,323.81; while theNSE Nifty settled 54.70 points,or 0.45 per cent, lower at12,169.85 — the third loss for thegauge in a row.
Indian bourses alsoremained under pressure track-ing weaker global markets afterthe outbreak of a new deadlyvirus in China spooked investors.On the Sensex chart, Tata Steelwas the top loser, shedding 3.01per cent, followed by M&M,Maruti, Asian Paints, PowerGrid,ITC and Axis Bank. On the otherhand, Ultratech Cement, KotakBank, Bharti Airtel, HDFC,IndusInd Bank and ONGCended with gains. Sectorally,BSE power, realty, metal, auto,utilities, FMCG, bankex andfinance indices ended up to1.47 per cent. While telecom,teck and energy indices settled inthe green. In the broader market,BSE midcap fell 0.21 per cent,while smallcap closed flat.
Besides rising concerns overgrowth in India, global investorsturned risk-averse after confir-mation of a deadly SARS-likevirus in China. “Indian markets
continued to fall for third con-secutive day on the back ofweak Asian and European mar-kets. Global agencies are slash-ing India’s growth rates asdomestic demand growth hasslowed down more than antici-pated earlier. Earnings season hasstarted and the growth has notbeen very encouraging fromthe few Nifty companies thathave declared their results so far,”Hemang Kapasi, PortfolioManager - Equity InvestmentProducts, Sanctum WealthManagement, said.
All eyes are now on the bud-get and government initiatives torevive the lagging economy, headded. The InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF) onMonday lowered growth esti-mate for India to 4.8 per cent for2019, citing stress in the non-bank financial sector and weakrural income growth as themajor factors for the downwardrevision. “Investors are profitbooking in mid and small capspost the decent pre-budget rally.Some subdued results in Q3compared to the solid expecta-tion has triggered a consolidationin the market. We believe this isa rational reaction of the marketwhich will hold in the short-termand can reverse as per the finaloutcome of Budget & Q3FY20results,” Vinod Nair, Head ofResearch, Geojit FinancialServices Ltd, said.
business of Uber Eats in an all-stock deal that will give Uber9.99 per cent stake in theIndian food delivery andrestaurant discovery platform.Uber Eats app in India will dis-continue operations and directrestaurants, delivery partners,and users of the Uber Eatsapps to the Zomato platform,effective Tuesday, Zomato saidin a statement.
The deal marks possibleconsolidation in the highlycompetitive and price-sensi-tive online food delivery mar-ket where most players are inthe red. In a regulatory filingto the BSE, Info Edge (India)- a shareholder in Zomato -said its shareholding inZomato will stand reduced toabout 22.71 per cent on fullyconverted and diluted basisupon closing of the transac-tion. The deal comes daysafter Zomato had raised USD150 million in funding fromexisting investor Ant Financial,an Alibaba affiliate, at a USD3 billion valuation. Post moneyvaluation of Zomato is USD3.55 billion, sources in knowof the matter told PTI, addingthat this transaction will addto a total of over 50 millionorders per month on its plat-
form, giving it around 55 percent market share. “We areproud to have pioneeredrestaurant discovery and tohave created a leading fooddelivery business across morethan 500 cities in India. Thisacquisition signif icantlystrengthens our position in thecategory,” Zomato Founderand CEO Deepinder Goyalsaid.
Uber Eats, which enteredIndia in 2017, has about26,000 restaurants listed on itsplatform from 41 cities. Onaccessing Uber Eats app, userswere shown a message sayingthey can still use Uber Eats ifthey are travelling outsideIndia. Discussions betweenZomato and Uber have beenon for months. Facing stiffcompetition from Zomato andSwiggy, Uber Eats had beenmaking losses. Uber had pro-jected an operating loss of Rs2,197 crore in its food deliverybusiness for the five monthsthrough December 2019,
according to a valuation reportprepared by KPMG affiliateBSR and was part of regulato-ry f i l ings. According tosources, Uber Eats India busi-ness contributed three percent of the global gross book-ings but accounted for over 25per cent of adjusted EBIDTAlosses for the first three quar-ters of 2019. With sale of thefood business in India, Ubercan now focus on the ridesbusiness and driving it towardsprofitability, one of the sourcessaid. They also said that 245full time employees of UberEats will be affected and some of these people could be absorbed in otherroles in Uber.
“India remains an excep-tionally important market toUber and we will continue toinvest in growing our localrides business, which isalready the clear categoryleader. We have been veryimpressed by Zomato’s abilityto grow rapidly in a capital-efficient manner and we wishthem continued success,” UberCEO Dara Khosrowshahi saidin the statement. Zomato is arestaurant review, restaurantdiscovery, food delivery anddining out transactions plat-form, providing in-depthinformation for over 1.5 mil-lion restaurants across 24countries.
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Automobile dealers’ bodyFADA on Tuesday said
retail sales of passenger vehiclesin December 2019 declined 9per cent to 2,15,716 units year-on-year, as even the best offersfailed to lift weak consumersentiments. According to theFederation of AutomobileDealers Associations (FADA),passenger vehicles (PV) salesstood at 2,36,586 units inDecember 2018.
Two-wheeler sales declined16 per cent to 12,64,169 unitslast month as compared with15,00,545 units in December2018. Commercial vehicle salesdeclined 21 per cent to 67,793units as compared to 85,833units in December 2018.
Three-wheeler sales, how-ever, rose one per cent to58,324 units last month. Totalsales across categories declined15 per cent to 16,06,002 unitsin December 2019 as against18,80,995 units in the year-agomonth. FADA President AshishHarsharaj Kale said Decembersales de-growth was not onexpected lines as the inquirylevels all through the monthwere quite robust.
Consumer sentiment con-tinues to be very weak as cus-tomers did not conclude on thepurchase even after taking theefforts of inquiring and despite
the best offers being available,he added. “The sharp decline ingrowth has denied the dealercommunity an opportunity toreduce its BS-IV inventorymaking the transition to BS-VItrickier,” Kale said.
With such weak consumersentiment, FADA recommendsa very cautious approach to itsmembers with serious focus onBS-IV inventory liquidation,he added. “FADA will worktowards seeking relief from theHonourable Supreme Courtfor the BS-IV inventory of itsmembers as with such weakconsumer demand the nearterm retail sales are unpre-dictable, making it extremelydifficult for our members tocontinue the current business
and also ensure a nil BS-IVinventory on March 31,” Kalenoted. The commercial vehicleand two-wheeler inventorystill remains a concern, headded. Besides, liquidity stillremains a concern for thedealers’ community as well asfor the retail customer asbanking industry continuesto be in cautious mode, Kalesaid highlighting the chal-lenges. “Equal importanceneeds to be given to availabil-ity of reasonably liberal cred-it, especially in a developingcountry like ours where thegrowth is driven by first timebuyers or individuals and busi-nesses looking to expandbeyond their current capacity,”he added.
Washington: PresidentDonald Trump’s historicimpeachment trial begins inearnest Tuesday in the Senate,with Democrats calling for hisremoval from office andRepublicans determined toacquit him — and quickly, ifpossible.
Four months after theUkraine scandal exploded andwent on to overshadow the endof Trump’s term, and 10months before Americans goto the polls to decide whetherto re-elect him, the 100 mem-bers of the Senate will gatherat 1 PM (1800 GMT) withchief justice John Roberts pre-siding over the trial.
The job of these lawmak-ers, sworn in last week asjurors, is to decide if Trumpabused his office and obstruct-ed Congress as charged in twoarticles of impeachmentapproved last month by theHouse of Representatives.
They state that Trumptried to pressure Ukraine intointerfering in the 2020 US
election to help him win, andthen tried to thwart a con-gressional probe of his behav-ior.
It will be only the thirdtime a president has enduredan impeachment trial, afterAndrew Johnson in 1868 andBill Clinton in 1999.
Part of the scandal centerson a July 25 telephone call inwhich Trump pressuredUkrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelensky toannounce an investigation offormer Vice President JoeBiden, Trump’s potential oppo-nent in the November vote.
Democrats, who controlthe House of Representativesand led the investigation,accuse Trump of manipulatingUkraine by withholding near-ly $400 million in military aidfor its war against Russian-backed separatists and a WhiteHouse meeting for Zelenskyuntil the latter announced aBiden probe.
“The president did noth-ing wrong,” Trump’s lawyers
responded in a 110-page briefsubmitted to the Senate onMonday.
This echoes the repeatedassertions of the 73-year-oldreal estate magnate that the sagais a political witch hunt and ahoax, and that his phone callwith the Ukrainian leader was“perfect.” In the president’sbrief, his 12-man legal teamcontested the very idea of hisimpeachment. They called thetwo articles of impeachment —approved largely along partylines in the Democratic-con-trolled House — the product of“a rigged process” and “consti-tutionally deficient on theirface” because they involved noviolation of established law.
That team, which hasrecruited high profile lawyerssuch as Kenneth Starr, who triedto bring down Clinton over hisaffair with Monica Lewinsky,said in the brief, “The Senateshould reject the Articles ofImpeachment and acquit thepresident immediately.”
“President Trump abused
the power of his office to solic-it foreign interference in ourelections for his own person-al political gain, thereby jeop-ardizing our national security,the integrity of our elections,and our democracy,” the Housemanagers said Saturday in amemorandum. They said thepresident’s behavior “is the
Framers’ worst nightmare,”referring to the authors of theUS Constitution, and thatTrump deserves to be removedfrom office.
But Trump looks almostcertain to be acquitted becauseof the 53-47 Republicanmajority in the Senate. He willbe abroad as his trial opens;
Trump left late Monday forthe economic forum in Davos,Switzerland. How long thetrial will last is up in the air.The first order of businessTuesday will be to set therules, such as how long theywill hear the arguments of the
House managers, or prosecu-tors; how long they will hearthe defense; the time allottedfor questions, submitted bythe senators but read byRoberts; and whether theywill call witnesses or seekother evidence. AFP
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Washington: When PresidentDonald Trump’s historicimpeachment trial is called toorder in the Senate this week, hewon’t be watching from insidethe chamber or on televisionfrom the White House.
He’ll be thousands of milesaway at the Davos economicforum in the Swiss Alps, tryingto charm global CEOs over din-ner. Trump’s participation in theannual World Economic Forumwill provide a conspicuous split-screen moment in a presiden-cy familiar with them. His two-day visit to Switzerland will test
his ability to balance his angerover being impeached with adesire to project leadership onthe world stage.
Administration officials sayTrump remains focused onserving the public. “The presi-dent’s work doesn’t stop justbecause of the impeachmentsham,” White House press sec-retary Stephanie Grisham saidin an email.
Trump, who departsWashington on Monday night,said he’s going to Davos toencourage businesses to investin the US. AP
��������� �����!$�9���� �Davos: The starkly opposedvisions of US President DonaldTrump and Swedish teenactivist Greta Thunberg onclimate change will clash inDavos on Tuesday as the WorldEconomic Forum tries to faceup to the perils of globalwarming on its 50th meeting.
The four-day gathering ofthe world’s top political andbusiness leaders in the SwissAlps gets under way seeking tomeet head-on the dangers toboth the environment andeconomy from the heating ofthe planet.
Trump, who has repeat-edly expressed scepticismabout climate change, is set togive the first keynote addressof Davos 2020 on Tuesdaymorning, on the same day ashis impeachment trial opens atthe Senate in Washington.
Around the same time,Thunberg will also attend ameeting at the forum, whereshe is expected to underline themessage that has inspired mil-lions around the world — thatgovernments are failing towake up to the reality of climatechange. AFP
Tehran: Iran has confirmedtwo missiles were fired at aUkrainian airliner broughtdown this month, in a cata-strophic error that killed all 176people on board and sparkedangry protests.
The country’s civil aviationauthority said it has yet toreceive a positive response afterrequesting technical assistancefrom France and the UnitedStates to decode black boxesfrom the downed airliner.
The Kiev-bound UkraineInternational Airlines plane wasaccidentally shot down shortlyafter takeoff from Tehran’s ImamKhomeini International Airporton January 8. Iran has comeunder mounting internationalpressure to carry out a full andtransparent investigation intothe air disaster.
“Investigators... Discoveredthat two Tor-M1 missiles... Were
fired at the aircraft,” Iran’s CivilAviation Organisation said in apreliminary report posted on itswebsite late Monday.
It said an investigation wasongoing to assess the bearingtheir impact had on the accident.
The statement confirms areport in The New York Timeswhich included video footageappearing to show two projec-tiles being fired at the airliner.
The Tor-M1 is a short-range surface-to-air missiledeveloped by the former SovietUnion that is designed to targetaircraft or cruise missiles.
Iran had for days deniedWestern claims based on USintelligence reports that theBoeing 737 operating FlightPS752 had been shot down.
It came clean on January 11,with the Revolutionary Guards’aerospace commander BrigadierGeneral Amirali Hajizadeh
accepting full responsibility.But he said the missile
operator who opened fire hadbeen acting independently.
The deadly blunder trig-gered days of student-ledprotests mainly in theIranian capital. Supremeleader Ayatollah AliKhamenei said on Fridaythat the demonstrationswere unrepresentative of theIranian people and accusedthe country’s enemies ofexploiting the air disaster forpropaganda purposes. AFP
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Beijing: At least six personshave died of the new SARS-likevirus in China with top leaderswarning officials against anycover up of the information onits outbreak even as the WHOis considering declaring aninternational public healthemergency to combat the dead-ly illness.
The number of infectedpeople has also increasedsharply to about 300 as the gov-ernment scampered to con-tain its spread by increasingmonitoring on the movementof public from the 12 millionpeople strong Wuhan city fromwhere the SARS-like virus wasfirst reported in December.
The World HealthOrganization (WHO), which isholding an emergency meetingon Wednesday, will considerdeclaring an international pub-lic health emergency over thevirus - as it did with swine fluand Ebola, BBC reported.
Such a declaration, if made,will be seen as an urgent call fora coordinated internationalresponse in view of fears thatmillions of Chinese are travel-ling at home and abroad for theChinese New Year and SpringFestival holidays starting fromJanuary 24.
The week-long festival trig-gers biggest mass migration,clogging road, rail and air net-works every year.
India has already issued atravel warning. Several coun-tries started screening trav-ellers coming from China, espe-cially from Wuhan to detectsymptoms like fever.
Chinese Foreign Ministryspokesman Geng Shuang con-firmed on Monday aboutChinese official’s attendance atthe emergency meeting of theInternational Health Regulation(IHR) called by the WHO.
Experts from countriesfrom where the virus is report-ed would also attend the meet-ing and share the informationon the epidemic and come upwith scientific solution, he said.
He said China has sharedinformation with the WHOabout the virus as well as thecountries affected besides HongKong and Macau which arespecial administrative regionsof China.
Meanwhile, as the fear gripsChinese cities, the country’s topleaders have warned lower-level officials against any coverup in the information relatingto the spread of the new coro-navirus.
China’s National HealthCommission on Monday con-firmed for the first time that theinfection could be transmittedfrom human-to-human. It saidtwo people in Guangdongprovince had been infected thisway. In a separate statement, theWuhan Municipal HealthCommission said at least 15medical workers in Wuhanhave also been infected with thevirus, with one in a critical con-dition.The workers presum-ably became infected with thevirus due to the contact withpatients. All of them are beingkept in isolation while beingtreated, BBC reported. PTI
Beirut: Russian air strikes killedat least 15 civilians on Tuesdayin northwestern Syria, asrenewed violence tightened thenoose around the country’slast major rebel-held bastionand deepened an already direhumanitarian crisis.
Retaliatory rocket attacksblamed on rebels and jihadistskilled three more civilians in thegovernment-held city of Aleppoin northern Syria, state newsagency SANA said.
The spike in violence in theneighbouring provinces ofAleppo and Idlib follow so farunsuccessful diplomaticattempts to reduce hostilities inthe flashpoint region, with thelatest truce in theory going intoeffect less than two weeks ago.
Most of Idlib and parts ofAleppo province are still con-trolled by factions opposed toPresident Bashar al-Assad’sregime, including a group thatincludes onetime members ofAl-Qaeda’s former Syria fran-chise.
The Damascus regime,which controls around 70 percent of the country after near-ly nine years of war, has repeat-edly vowed to recapture theregion.
On Tuesday, air strikes by
regime-ally Russia on a rebel-held region in Aleppo’s westerncountryside killed eight mem-bers of the same family shel-tering in a house, said theSyrian Observatory for HumanRights.
Six children were amongthose killed in the raid on KfarTaal village, where three girlsalready died a day earlier instrikes, according to the Britain-based monitor.
Another seven civilianswere killed in Russian air strikeson western Aleppo and a south-ern region of Idlib.
“Over the past three days,the bombardment on Idlib andits surroundings, including inwestern Aleppo, has beenexclusively Russian,” saudObservatory head Rami AbdelRahman.
“They want to push rebelsand jihadists away from the cityof Aleppo and from the motor-way linking Aleppo toDamascus,” Abdel Rahmansaid. SANA said rebel rocketfire on Tuesday also killed twowomen and a child in Aleppocity. The surge in violencecomes despite a ceasefireannounced by Russia earlierthis month that never reallytook hold. AFP
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Colombo: For the first time,Sri Lanka’s President GotabayaRajapaksa has admitted thatsome 20,000 people who dis-appeared during the coun-try’s brutal civil war withTamil Tiger rebels over adecade ago are “dead”.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa, theformer wartime defence sec-retary who played a key role inending Sri Lanka’s nearly 30-year civil war with the Tamilseparatist rebels, told UN
Resident Coordinator HanaaSinger last week that after thenecessary investigations arecompleted steps would betaken to issue death certificatesto these missing persons, theColombo Gazette reported.
According to the govern-ment figures, over 20,000 peo-ple are missing due to variousconflicts including the three-decade separatist war withLankan Tamils in the northand east which claimed at
least 100,000 lives.The Tamils alleged that
thousands were massacredduring the final stages of thewar that ended in 2009 whenthe government forces killedLiberation Tigers of TamilEelam (LTTE) chief VelupillaiPrabhakaran.
The Sri Lankan Armydenies the charge, claiming itas a humanitarian operation torid the Tamils of LTTE’s con-trol. PTI
Taipei: Rights groups and gaycouples called on Taiwan’sPresident Tsai Ing-wenTuesday to cement the island’sreputation as a bastion ofLGBT rights by recognisinginternational same-sex mar-riages following her landslidere-election victory.
Taiwan is at the vanguardof the burgeoning gay rightsmovement in Asia and becamethe first place in the region tolegalise gay marriages last yearafter a bruising political fight.
Nearly 3,000 couples havesince wed as of December but rights advocates say the law still contains restric-tions not faced by heterosex-ual couples.
Same-sex couples can onlywed foreigners from coun-tries where gay marriage isalso recognised and can onlyadopt their partners’ biologi-cal children.
“I hope President Tsai cansee the difficulties interna-tional couples face,” said LaiKai-li, whose partner is fromconservative Malaysia.
“We feel like our futuresare in limbo right now and wecan’t really make any plans,”she added.
A 26-year-old HongKonger -- who asked to beidentified only as Yan -- saidshe longed for Tsai’sDemocratic Progressive Partyto push further on gay rights.“Hong Kong doesn’t have free-dom and human rights nowand I think it would neverrecognise same-sex marriage,”she told reporters.
Hong Kong’s judges haverepeatedly ruled in favour ofgranting more rights to samesex couples but the city’s con-servative pro-Beijing leader-ship has resisted legislativechanges. AFP
Kikwit , (DR C ongo):Fifteen people died andmore were missing after aboat capsized in high windson a lake in westernDemocratic Republic ofCongo, local sources said onTuesday.
The accident occurredMonday at Bankay on LakeMai-Ndombe, the mayor ofInongo, Cosmos MboWemba, said on Monday,giving a provisional toll.
The vessel, a large canoecalled a pirogue, was carry-ing around 30 people whowere returning from afuneral 35 kilometres (20miles) away, said local radiojournalist Firoger Balimba.
Boats and canoes aremajor forms of travel in DRCongo, a country the size ofcontinental western Europewhose lakes and rivers sub-stitute for decrepit roadinfrastructure. AFP
The National Testing Agency has declaredthe results of Joint Entrance
Examination (JEE Main Jan 2020). The JointEntrance (JEE Main) examinations wereheld in between January 6 and 9, 2020 in 233cities across India.
With the JEE Main Jan 2020 resultsdeclared by NTA, FIITJEE has a reason torejoice and celebrate its students’ feat.
Nishant Agarwal, a student of FIITJEESouth Delhi Centre has been declaredDelhi(NCT) Topper by securing NTA score100.000000 in JEE Main(Jan) 2020. Hescored NTA score 100 in Physics, 100 inChemistry and 99.9846935 in Maths respec-tively.
Nishant Agarwal is NTSE scholar in 2017& KVPY fellow. He is also qualified NationalStandard Examination in Astronomy (NSEA)in 2018.
Another FIITJEE Student, NisargChadha, threeYear classroom programme stu-dent of FIITJEE Vadodara Centre has alsoscored perfect 100 percentile, thereby becom-ing a Gujarat State Topper.
Subsequently, in JEE Main 2020(January), 12 FIITJEE Studentshave Toppedtheir respective States- Chhattisgarh, Delhi,Gujarat, Jharkhand, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh,Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Tripura,Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
A total number of 9, 21,261candidateshadregistered for Paper-I (BE/BTech) in theexamination.
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The FORE School ofManagement, New Delhi
offers a full-time fellowProgramme in Management(FPM) approved by AICTE. Theobjective of this programme is toenhance the body of knowledgein the research domain and itsdissemination.
It is aimed at admittingscholars with exceptional acad-emic background, strong moti-vation, discipline and having astrong inclination towards goodquality research.
Dr Hitesh Arora, Dean(Academic Services), FORESchool of Management says:“The FPM at FORE is built on itsstrong foundation and long expe-rience of eminent FORE Facultymembers in creating industry-ready researchers and academi-cians. FORE scholars are exposedto a carefully designed curricu-lum that prepares them for therigours of the research.Additionally, a full-time fellowprogramme in Managementalways gives an extra edge inknowledge creation and a stronginclination towards good quali-
ty research.”Specialisations offered are in
the areas of economics and busi-ness policy, finance and account-ing, information technology,international business, market-ing, organisational behaviour &human resource, quantitativetechniques and operations man-agement, communication, strat-egy.
The highlights of the pro-gramme are that it providesfinancial assistance, support toattend international/nationalconferences/workshops and acontingency grant.
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The British Council, ownersof IELTS, the global English
Language proficiency test areoffering ten prizes of up to£3,000 to help students who arestudying in autumn/winter2020, and early 2021.
On December 23, 2019,The British Council launcheda campaign for students whoare considering studying nextyear.
For filling in an onlineform with just 500 words,explaining why they deservethe money and where they
plan to go study, studentscould potentially win £3,000toward their study fees. Theonly stipulation is that theymust be studying in the nextacademic year and have takenan IELTS test between January2019 and February 2020.
To be in with a chance ofwinning the IELTS prize, allstudents will need to submittheir details into the applica-tion form and tell why theywould like to win!
For more information logon to https://takeielts.british-council.org/take-ielts/study-work-abroad/ielts-prize.
�������������The Indian School of
Hospitality in collaborationwith At-Sunrice GlobalChefAcademy, Singapore, invitesapplications for admissionsto its Diploma in Pastry &Baker y and Diploma inCulinary Arts.
Duration: One and a halfyear
Eligibility: Applicantswho have completed ClassXII or equivalent, Graduates,Professionals and PG stu-dents who are planning tochange career or venture inthe exciting world of bakeryor culinary art are eligible toapply for this course.
Also, students with IELTS5.5/TOEFL 46-59/WPLNLevel 5 or at least 75 per centin English in Class XII examscan apply.
How to apply: Log on tohttp:// ish.edu.in/how-to-apply.html .
L ast date to apply :January 31, 2020.
�" ����"����The JK Business School
(JKBS) invites applicationsfor admissions to its AICTEapproved PGDM programme.
Duration: Two yearsEligibility: Graduate in
any discipline from a recog-nised university with mini-mum 50 per cent score is eli-gible to apply for the PGDMprogramme.
Selection is based onC AT / M AT / C M AT / ot he r
national managemententrance exams, JKBS writtenaptitude test, group discus-sion, personal interview, pastacademic record, extra-cur-ricular activities and workexperience.
How to apply: Log on towww.jkbschool.org or call at18001020240.
L ast date to apply :January 31, 2020.
�������Delhi Collage of Art
(DCA) invites applicationsfor admission to its Fine Art(BFA) and Super ProfessionalDiploma programme in FineArt (DFA) courses.
Duration: Two years forBFA and four years for DFA.
Eligibility: Class XII passfrom any stream who wants towork in Fine arts industry canapply.
How to apply: Log on towww.delhicollageofart.co orthe Application forms &brochure may be obtainedfrom admission office of DelhiCollage of Art.
L ast date to apply :January 31, 2020.
�What is the liberal arts approach to edu-cation?
It is focused on providing students aworld view, empowering them to approachcomplexity, change and diversity in a bet-ter manner, for example through the lensof science, culture and society.
A liberal arts education is needed toimpart key communication skills (writing,speaking and negotiating); expose studentsto many disciplines like arts, humanities,and the social, natural and information sci-ences; and empower students to innovate,be creative and entrepreneurial, and charttheir own paths in becoming engaged cit-izens and community role models.�What are its benefits?
A liberal arts education teaches onehow to learn, how to think creatively, andhow to communicate effectively. These arecritical skills for leadership in the 21st cen-tury.�How does this approach help preparestudents for all the challenges that lieahead?
In a changing world, the most impor-tant skill is to be able to adapt, to take innew information and make sense of the sit-uation. Learning how to learn is consistentwith the liberal arts approach, where stu-
dents learn across many different styles, top-ics and paradigms.
The liberal arts and humanities are vitalto our future, preparing students for thechallenges they will confront in their pro-fessional, political, social and cultural lives. �What should the Indian government doto promote liberal arts education?
The draft new education policy is agreat step to recognise the importance ofthe liberal arts education.
Next will be needed resources devotedto infrastructure, increasing awarenessabout the benefits of such education, sup-porting faculty and students, and perhapseven supporting more internationalexchange programmes to learn from othercountries as well.�How does the approach help in gettingbetter jobs?
If there is one thing common in everyjob, it is human interaction. The humani-ties — the academic fields that study thehuman condition, society and culture —prepare young adults for the most essentialaspects of work: getting along with otherpeople, understanding multiple points ofview and coming to terms with one’s placein the world.
As such, students of all majors need
exposure to the humanities to be adequately— and practically — prepared for the work-ing world. The return on investment of aVassar liberal arts education can be seen inour excellent outcomes, with 95 per cent ofstudents being employed, in graduateschool or on a competitive fellowshipwithin six months of graduation. �Partnership/collaborations that Vassarhas entered into?
In the summer of 2019 Vassar partneredwith the University of Global Health Equity(UGHE) in Rwanda, to teach classes in thehumanities and sciences, helping shape theway medical education is delivered inAfrica in the future; and forged a partner-ship with Columbia University MailmanSchool of Public Health, enabling Vassarstudents to earn a master’s degree in pub-lic health a year after they graduate fromVassar.
Vassar was also in China this summer,exploring opportunities to incorporate a lib-eral arts model in a local context with gift-ed high school students there. In partner-ship with the Diligence & Delight LearningCenter in Beijing, we ran a three-week pro-gram taught by Vassar faculty, exposing stu-dents to a liberal arts classroom environ-ment.
In the early part of the lastdecade, the word outsourc-ing struck fear in the hearts
of professionals in developedcountries. White-collar work-ers feared their jobs would beoutsourced to India, wheresomeone would do them for afraction of the salary thanthose expected in industri-alised countries. Thankfully,outsourcing was a win-win forthose in western countries andIndians because it created morejobs in developed countriesthan were offshored.
Today, there is fear thatjobs of almost every kind willbe automated. Physicians,lawyers, software architects,and others with highly-skilled,well-paying jobs never fearedtheir jobs would be outsourced.Still, today they are concernedthat Artificial Intelligence willbecome sophisticated enoughto make them redundant.Software is becoming excep-tionally advanced: Whatseemed impossible 10 yearsback, today seems just over thehorizon. Self-driving vehiclesare an example. Before 2008,few believed AI would be intel-
ligent ever to drive cars itself.Today while much needs to bedone to improve AI, mostbelieve it is only a matter oftime before it replaces humansbehind the wheel.
The prowess of AI behindthe wheel is only one exampleof machines doing jobs thatwere believed only humanscould. Artificial Intelligence isgetting better every year atwriting its own software code.But AI’s growing prowess does-n’t mean it is only a matter oftime before programmersbecome obsolete. There are alot of programmers that can dowhat AI cannot and may neverbe able to. Programmers anddesigners who have expertise inthe following software can resteasy that their jobs are unlike-ly to be assigned to AI.
�������Engineers, architects, and
designers who know AutoCADwill remain in demand. Themodelling capabilities ofAutoCAD let virtually anyform and its components bemodelled. What will makeknowledge of AutoCAD so
valuable to employers is itrequires users to have an imag-ination as well as technicalskills. Artificial Intelligencemay be able to replicate humanactions and make accurate pre-dictions using more data pointsthan humans. Still, it cannot,and may never be able to imag-ine. The ability of humans toimagine is a reason profes-sionals who know AutoCADwill always be in demand.
����4The economy of the future
will be data-driven, so therewill continue to be a massivedemand for those who under-stand how to use data sciencetools. Spark is the most popu-lar data science tool. Hence,professionals who know how touse it will have little difficultyworking in well-paying jobs.Using Spark, they will be ableto accurately model consumerbehaviour and make predic-tions that result in higher sales.While AI’s ability to make pre-dictions is uncanny, employersneed people who know how toextract compelling stories fromdata. A critical reason expertise
in Spark will be crucial forfuture success is it will remainthe best data science tool forthe foreseeable future.
�������:Software testing is essential
to roll out products that work asexpected. Selenium is a vitalsoftware testing tool becausemuch of it is automated.Software testers need to knowhow to use Selenium to put thesoftware through the right tests.To do so, they must select theproper tests and author com-puterised tests. KnowingSelenium, they can do both.
The software is essentialbecause it saves enormous timeand effort in testing: Thosewith knowledge of the softwarewill enjoy careers that are futureproof.
�@���������;Creating games is chal-
lenging, fun, and can beextremely lucrative. Unity isone of the most popular gameengines. Newbie game devel-opers can bring their vision tolife using C# for Unity. In addi-tion to game developers, design-
ers can use C# for Unity to workinside Unity’s IntegratedImmersive Environment andcreate a virtual world. Becauseconsumers have grown accus-tomed to outstanding visualexperiences in games and alsoexpect interactive virtual envi-ronments, knowing how to useC# in Unity is a hugely valuableasset. Those who know how touse C# in Unity will be prizedresources for many organisa-tions.
Depending on whose nar-rative is believed, automation iseither a decimating job or isoverhyped. The reality likelyrests in the middle and shouldbe cause for concern amongprofessionals. Millions of devel-opers are working to make AIsmarter. AI is doing the sameitself as well. While fear of out-sourcing was overblown, AI’sability to replace humans is not.Gradually more jobs will beassigned to AI. Yet, engineersand designers with expertise inthe mentioned software mayremain immune to its encroach-ment for decades, if not longer.
Every number in numerology indi-cates towards a certain career and
the person should choose his careeraccording to the number of his des-tiny/conductor number. Throughnumerology we also understand therelationship or affinity or enmitybetween various numbers. So, weshould not select that career, whichbecomes a barrier towards our success.
Let us take a few examples.Suppose a person whose destiny num-ber is two, ruled by Moon and whichis soft, artistic, caring, has interest inmusic, singing, and in case if he choos-es the career of marketing, architect,salesman, which are characteristics ofnumber five, then he is bound to fail.So, in this way we can avoid misfor-tunes.
Similarly, a person having destinynumber one, ruled by Sun alwaysaspires for managerial positions, headof the company, bureaucrats, politiciansand if they choose a career in media,film industry, cosmetics, which arecharacteristics of number six, they willnever be successful and will have toleave the job.
A person having destiny numberseven is inclined towards spiritualism,meditation, politics and now if theychoose a career in salesmanship, job indefence forces like army and air force,which are characteristics of numbernine, then they will not gel with the
profile.People having destiny number
eight are good organisers, inclinedtowards justice, good in banking andcommerce, if they choose the career ofshare market, gambling, entertain-ment, which are characteristics ofnumber seven, then their chances ofgrowth will become less.
Hence, if a person chooses a careermatching with his destiny number thenhis/her chances of becoming success-ful increases.
(�+������&�!�� �����Afellow member of the institute CS Ashish Garg, has been elect-
ed as President of the Institute of Company Secretaries ofIndia for the year 2020 w.e.f. January 19, 2020. A nominatedDirector on the Board of ICSI Institute of Insolvency Professionals,he has also chaired several in-house Committees of the ICSI ofthe likes of Placement Committee, PMQ Committee andDirect Tax Code Committee.
CS Nagendra D Rao, a fellow member of the institute hasbeen elected as the Vice-President of the Institute of CompanySecretaries of India for this year w.e.f. January 19, 2020.
He is a whole time Practising Company Secretary and is theDesignated Partner and Founder of Nagendra D Rao &Associates LLP. He has been elected to the Central Council ofInstitute of Company Secretaries of India for the term 2019-2022.He was also the Chairman of Southern India Regional Councilfor the year 2015.
As organisations continually work towardmaking jobs leaner and people more effi-
cient, jobs are quickly being automated. Thespeed with which a new employee can learntheir job directly affects the speed of pro-duction and efficiency of the employee. Andso, it is not only the nature of work that ischanging, but also the way work is learned.
Learning and Working SimultaneouslyPicture an industrial set up where a new
engineer, who was given on-the-job trainingthrough audio, visual, and demonstrative ses-sions, comes across a machine he has neveroperated before. Considering that it is likelythat engineer would not remember their train-ing completely, they may fumble with themachine.
Now picture the same new engineerfaced with a new machine, but this time, themachine has an automated bot giving real-time instructions on how to operate it. Thenew employee not only hears the content, butsimultaneously gets hands-on experiencewith the machine directly.
Since participative learning methods,such as practice,result in a much higher reten-tion rate of new learning than passive learn-ing methods, such as lectures and demon-strations, this real-time training not onlyresults in faster learning, but also makes theemployee productive much sooner.
As repetition is the best way to strength-en new skills, a new employee may use theinstructions from the bot every time until theyfeel completely ready to operate/work on theirown. Such participative learning methods aremore engaging, and the learner is unlikely tozone out while learning hands-on.
Rise of Smart Technology-Aided LearningWhile more and more companies have
incorporated virtual training labs, some arenow also experimenting with virtual realityand augmented technology-based learningprogrammes, creating life-like situations tolearn from.
Such applications are especially valuablein supporting engineers and technicians tolearn the specific nuances of their roles on thejob itself. For other non-mechanical roles,cloud-based, hands-on virtual labs continueto offer the cognitive learning and practicerequired for better retention.
AI is being used to design individuallearning programmes by understanding andcapitalising upon the individuals’ information,such as experience, educational backgrounds,
personality insights, career goals, and learn-ing preferences. This AI-assisted learningallows employees to take control of their learn-ing and development with content that can beupdated in real time.
AI and bots are also enabling faster andmore accurate learning. Bots used for hands-on training may be programmed to pick upon feedback and comments from new employ-ees in real time, tag that feedback appropri-ately, and get other employees or trainers toshare their thoughts, expertise, and experi-ences, thus maintaining the human touch tothe learning process.
Ideal Training ModelGreat on-the-job training is a collective
of methods, including simulation, practice,coaching, experiencing, and peer learning.On-the-job training must allow a learner tocontinuously reinforce what has been taughtthrough practice.
As organisations step into the future andpush to train their employees more efficient-ly and comprehensively, support from auto-mated bots and artificial intelligence, pairedwith the expertise of mentors and senior man-agement, is helping to build the ideal on-the-job training platform.
The Association ofBanks in Singapore isproviding the Dr Goh
Keng Swee funding for thebrilliant applicants at localuniversities in Singapore.The financial aid positionswill be awarded for pursuingundergraduate studies atlocal universities inSingapore— NationalUniversity of Singapore ,Nanyang TechnologicalUniversity, SingaporeManagement University andSingapore University ofTechnology and Design.
Eligibility: Demonstrateleadership qualities and pos-sess good academic and co-curricular activities (CCA)achievements; Applicantswill need to present proof oflanguage proficiency. Itmeans applicants have topass an official language test(for example – TOEFL orIELTS).
Benefits: Scholarshipsupports a maximum of fouryears of UG study (includingHonours). It provides thefollowing: Tuition and othercompulsory fees; Airfare (toSingapore and return tohome country upon comple-tion of study), Annual main-tenance allowance ofSGD6500; Hostel allowancebased on the institution of
study; Settling-in allowance(one-off expense) of
SGD200 upon arrival inSingapore.
How to apply: Submitapplication at www.pscgate-way.gov.sg/app/gks/account/uidsignin
Application deadline:March 15, 2020.
The University ofEdinburgh invites applica-tions for MBA scholarshipsfor international students inthe UK.
Eligibility: Details ofany degrees applicants holdor expect to hold, Any rele-vant details from employ-ment or training history;Details of journal articlesapplicants have had pub-lished; The topic of appli-cants proposed research; Aresearch outline of no morethan 300 words; A personalstatement of no more than300 words; Details of anyother programmes or awardsapplicants hold or have held.
Admission require-ment: Candidates musthave, or expect to obtain, aUK first-class or 2:1 honoursdegree at undergraduatelevel or the internationalequivalent. English lan-guage requirements: Allstudents of every nationalityare required to prove theirEnglish language compe-tence.
Application deadline:The last date to apply isMarch 11, 2020.
The JEE Main 2020 washeld in January betweenJanuary 6-9, 2020.
Around 9.2 lakh candidateshad registered out of whicharound 8.7 lakh appeared. Theresult was announced and ninestudents scored 100 percentilefrom across the country.
However, the CommonRank List for JEE Main 2020will be available in the first weekof May after the declaration ofthe results of the April exam.The higher of the two scores ofcandidates who have appearedin either/both JEE Main Januaryand April 2020will be consid-ered for final ranking of JEEMain 2020.
The list will denote the AllIndia and category ranks of thecandidates in addition to thedetails of the candidates andmarks obtained. The JEE Mainrank will be the basis for admis-sions to the NITs, IIITs andGFTIs.
For those who could not dowell in the January session neednot worry as the April sessionis another chance for all stu-dents who wish to improvetheir scores. The followingpoints must be kept in mindwhen taking up the April ses-sion of JEE Main 2020.
Here are some dos anddon’t to avoid for the session inApril:� One must not repeat the
same mistakes committed inJanuary session of JEE Main.Learning from mistakes isimportant.
� Complete your syllabi if notdone earlier.
� Practice questions from pre-vious year JEE Main papersand even from January ses-sion of JEE 2020.
� Use the gap between yourBoards to revise and take upmock tests on online modefrom reputed source for con-sistency in preparation.
� Keep a check on your speedand accuracy as it is alsoimportant as to how yousolve the paper for a highscore.
� You must have done thetest analysis of the JEE Paperyou took in January andensure you are confidentwith each of those questionsnow.
� Take help from your subjectteachers to clear your doubtsand speak to them in case ofany conceptual doubts orproblems which you areunable to solve.
� Prepare a quick revision
plan and categorise thechapters like:
EASY: Generally you can solveany problem from these chap-ter/topicMODERATE: You take time tosolve but your concepts of thesechapters are clearDIFFICULT: You have notbeen able to understand theconcepts in these chapter andfind questions from these chap-ters tough.� While revising ensure you
take help from your teachersfor the difficult chapters andget all your concepts clearedas merely devoting time onthese chapters may not help.You can join crash course forthese topics.
� For moderate chapters youwill need more practice sodevote time daily so that youhave completed solving ade-quate no. of questions fromthese chapters.
� For the chapters/topics youfind easy it is importantthat you are always able tosolve any given questionfrom them.You must solvesome questions even fromthese topics but avoid spend-ing too much time on theseas you are already good inthese chapters.
� While solving questionskeep a check on your timeand develop short cuts toavoid lengthy calculations.Use of diagrams/graphs willexpedite your answers.
� Try to remember all impor-tant formulae, named reac-tions as this will add toyour speed while solving.
� Your speed, accuracy andtime management will be animportant parameter forsuccess in JEE Main (April),2020.
� Most importantly take careof your physical and mentalfitness as there are externalfactors influencing your per-formance in the exam.
� Avoid taking up new booksor start any new chaptersbefore the exam as this mayspoil your confidence level.
� Maintain a positive attitudethroughout your preparationand remain focused. Stayingconfident and keeping calmwhile taking the exam alsohelps get a desired score. Remember, it is the relative
performance and not just howyou have performed on theexam day.
Zealand have beenhigh scoring and sur-faces have changed,”Tendulkar told PTIduring an exclusiveinterview.
From 2002, whenIndia played ODIs andTests on green tops, to2009, when India wononly their second Testseries in 32 years,Tendulkar has seen itall in New Zealand.
“I remember whenwe played in 2009, theHamilton pitch was dif-ferent compared toother pitches. Otherpitches got harder(Wellington andNapier) but notHamilton. It remainedsoft.
“But Napierbecame hard with pas-sage of time (whereGautam Gambhir
scored an epic match-saving 12-hour hun-dred in 2009). So, frommy first tour (in 1990till 2009), I realisedpitches got harder withpassage of time,”Tendulkar said.
Tendulkar is confi-dent that the Indianbowling attack, spear-headed by JaspritBumrah, has theammunition to put
New Zealand in trou-ble.
“We have a goodbowling attack withquality fast bowlers aswell as spinners. Ibelieve we have theammunition to com-pete in New Zealand.”
However, inWellington, Tendulkarwants the team to bewell-prepared tocounter the breeze fac-tor.
“Wellington, I haveplayed and it makes a
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The pitches in New Zealandhave become a lot more
batting-friendly over the years,says iconic former batsmanSachin Tendulkar, insistingthat India have the “ammuni-tion” to trouble the sprightlyhosts during the upcomingseries.
Tendulkar, who has beenon a record five New Zealandtours since 1990, feels thatfrom seaming tracks duringhis early trips years, the tracksbecame high-scoring hardones during his last tour backin 2009.
“Of late, the Tests in New
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Top seed Rafael Nadalturned on the style as helaunched his bid for a
record-equalling 20th Majortitle at the Australian Open onTuesday, but falling star MariaSharapova hit a career low.
Australia's Nick Kyrgiosalso cantered into the secondround, but fourth seed DaniilMedvedev had to fight his waypast American Frances Tiafoein four sets.
Nadal, one shy of RogerFederer’s Grand Slam mark,dropped only five games as heswatted aside Bolivia's HugoDellien 6-2, 6-3, 6-0 in justover two hours at a sunny RodLaver Arena.
“It was a positive start,”said the reigning RolandGarros and US Open champi-on, wearing a bright pink sin-glet and matching trainers.
“What you want in thefirst round is just to win, andit’s better if it's in straight sets.”
He joins Federer anddefending champion NovakDjokovic in round two as theBig Three look to tighten astranglehold that has brought
them all but one of the last 14Australian Open titles.
Nadal, the first player tobe world number one in threedifferent decades, is still thriv-ing at 33 but it's a differentstory for five-time Grand Slamwinner Sharapova.
The 32-year-old, playingon a wildcard as she wrestleswith a shoulder injury, lost 6-3, 6-4 to Croatian 19th seedDonna Vekic, making her anopening-round loser at threestraight Grand Slams for thefirst time.
The future looks uncer-tain for the former worldnumber one, who wonWimbledon when she wasjust 17 but has not reached aGrand Slam final since shelifted the 2014 French Opentrophy.
“I can speak about mystruggles and the things thatI've gone through with myshoulder, but it’s not really inmy character to,” Sharapovasaid.
“I was there, I put myselfout there (playing). As tough
as it was, I finished the match— it wasn’t the way that Iwanted.” Britain’s JohannaKonta, a two-time Slam semi-finalist, also fell at the firsthurdle as she battles to over-come a knee problem, losing4-6, 2-6 to unseeded TunisianOns Jabeur.
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On a bumper day of 88first-round matches, after rainwiped out half of Monday’sschedule, former US Openchampion Marin Cilic andMilos Raonic both movedsafely through.
Italy’s Fabio Fognini, twosets down against America’sReilly Opelka when theirmatch was suspended onMonday, returned to win it infive after a stormy encounterwhen both players arguedfuriously with the umpire.
A new star emerged in 18-year-old Italian Jannik Sinner,last year's NextGen champion,who earned his first GrandSlam victory againstAustralia’s Max Purcell.Australia's Kyrgios, who hasspearheaded fundraisingefforts for the country's dead-ly bushfire disaster, kept hisnotorious temper in checkdespite being taken to two tie-breaks in a 6-2, 7-6 (7/3), 7-6(7-1) win over LorenzoSonego of Italy.
“I feel super-comfortable,you guys are the best. I feel thesupport.... I am ready to goagain,” Kyrgios told the crowd.
Medvedev, the narrowloser to Nadal in September’sUS Open final, dropped thesecond set against Tiafoebefore recovering to win 6-3,4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Austria’s Dominic Thiem,who has reached the last twoFrench Open finals, wentthrough in straight sets against
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Defending champions Indiaoutclassed debutants
Japan by 10 wickets in theirsecond match to all but securea spot in the quarterfinals ofthe ICC U-19 World Cuphere on Tuesday.
Opting to field first, four-time champions India bowledout a hapless Japan for 41 runsin 22.5 overs with leg-spinnerRavi Bishnoi taking four wick-ets. It was the joint secondlowest total by a team in theUnder-19 World Cup andjoint third lowest in theunder-19 cricket history.
Pacers Kartik Tyagi andAkash Singh shared five wick-ets among themselves as noneof the Japanese batsmenentered double digits.
India needed just 4.5 oversto complete the formalitieswith Yashasvi Jaiswal andKumar Kushagra remainingunbeaten on 29 and 13 respec-tively.
India captain PriyamGarg, however, said his fastbowlers could have done abetter job.
“Very happy with the per-formance. The spinners weregood, but the lines and lengthscould have been better fromthe pacers. There’s no pressureas such. We want to do well,we take every game as itcomes,” said Garg.
Adrian Mannarino, while 2014champion Stan Wawrinka need-ed four to get past DamirDzumhur.
Seventh seed AlexanderZverev beat Marco Cecchinatoin straight sets but there wasdisappointment for France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the 2008 final-ist, who retired with a back
injury against Australia’s AlexeiPopyrin.
Elsewhere, women’s fourthseed Simona Halep survivedsome painful-looking falls tobeat America’s Jennifer Brady,and 2016 champion AngeliqueKerber dropped only fourgames against ElisabettaCocciaretto of Italy.
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Andrea Petagna ignited acome-from-behind vic-tory for struggling SPAL
to hand his former clubAtalanta a shock 2-1 defeat inSerie A on Monday.
The Champions League-chasing side from Bergamohad won their last two homegames against AC Milan andParma with 5-0 scorelines eachtime.
But they slipped up againstSPAL who snatched just theirfourth win of the season tomove off the bottom of thetable.
Gian Piero Gasperini’steam missed the chance toclimb above Roma into thefinal Champions League place,and are now three pointsbehind the side from the cap-ital in fifth.
“Today more than a fewplayers were not at their best,”said Gasperini. “It was clear wewere down a gear.
"But we will have to beready to immediately redeema bad performance, becausethe standings are very tight.”Slovenian forward Josip Ilicicput Atalanta ahead after 16minutes with a clever back-heel flick beating Etrit Berishain the SPAL goal.
But Petagna pulled SPALlevel after 54 minutes by scor-ing his fifth goal in four meet-ings against his former club.
Mattia Valoti snatched thewinner six minutes later withnew signing Bryan Dabo play-ing a role in the goal on his firststart for SPAL.
“I left a piece of heart in
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Kylian Mbappe says he isdreaming of helping
Paris Saint-Germain win afirst Champions Leaguetrophy this year, as well asleading France to the titleat Euro 2020 and theOlympic Games in Tokyo.
The 21-year-old PSGand France star, a WorldCup winner in 2018, wasasked what was on hiswish list for the new yearwhile launching his chari-ty in the Paris suburbs onMonday.
“It would be a treble ofChampions League,European Championshipand Olympic Games. Thatwouldn’t be bad,” saidMbappe, with a smile.
“That seems unattain-able for the time being butI’m going to make sure Ifulfil this dream. It wouldbe a proud moment to beable win the first Europeantitle for PSG and for ourcountry to keep winning”
Mbappe’s charity,“Inspired by KM”, was setup to help 98 children — anod to his birth year —between the ages of nineand 16 from various socialbackgrounds to accom-plish "their dreams”.
Last month, Mbappeput himself forward forthe French team at theTokyo Olympics, whileadding he would not wantto fight his club over takingpart in Japan. “Playing in the Olympics, Idon’t control everything,”he told France Football
magazine.“Of course I want to
go, but if my club, which ismy employer, doesn’t wantme to go, I won’t force aclash.”
He said he would holdtalks with PSG sportingdirector Leonardo, who issaid to be hesitant to allow
Mbappe to play at theOlympics for fears overhis fitness.
Euro 2020 will be heldacross 12 different citiesover the continent fromJune 12 to July 12, with themen’s Olympic footballtournament scheduled forJuly 23 to August 8.
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Their Olympic berths stillnot secured, ace Indian shut-
tlers Saina Nehwal and KidambiSrikanth will hope to put up agood show when they begintheir campaign at the ThailandMasters Super 300 tournamenthere on Wednesday.
Owing to their inconsistentoutings in 2019, Saina andSrikanth are placed at the 22ndand 23rd spots in BWF’s Race toTokyo rankings with April 26being the cut off date forOlympic qualification.
According to the BWFOlympics qualification rules,only two players from each sin-gles category can qualify if theirranking lies within the top-16 byApril 26.
At this moment, worldchampion P V Sindhu (6th) andB Sai Praneeth (11th) and men’sdoubles pair of SatwiksairajRankireddy and Chirag Shetty(8th) have more or less assuredtheir berths for the TokyoGames.
After a series of early exits
last year, which dented theirchances, Saina and Srikanthpulled out of the PremierBadminton League to train andgive themselves a better chance
at the qualification.But Srikanth didn’t
have a good start to thenew year as he fal-tered in the first
round in the first twotournaments — losing
to Chinese Taipei’s Chou TienChen at Malaysia and localplayer Shesar Hiren Rhustavitoat Indonesia.
Saina, a London OlympicsBronze medallist, made it to thequarters at Malaysia but shecouldn’t defend her title atIndonesia Masters, falling atthe first round to Japan’s SayakaTakahashi.
With the Olympic qualifica-tion cut off date ending in April,there are only eight tourna-ments, including the ThailandMasters, left in the calender andthe Indian duo will have to pro-duce consistent performances toearn a ticket to Tokyo.
Saina will begin her cam-paign here against Denmark’sLine Højmark Kjaersfeldt, anopponent against whom shehas a 4-0 record.
Srikanth, on the other hand,will face Shesar Hiren Rhustavitoonce again in the opening roundand would hope to settle thescore this time around.
Among other Indians,Sameer Verma, who also had adisappointing 2019 season, willtake on Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia,seeded seventh, while H SPrannoy faces anotherMalaysian Liew Daren in theopening round.
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World champion PVSindhu said sky-
high expectation fromher makes her work evenharder as she aims at asecond medal in theupcoming TokyoOlympics in July-August.
“From the RioOlympics to now, mylife has changed a lot. Iwon a lot and I lostsome. I have beenimproving step by step.Not much was expectedof me when I went to Riobut now people look fora gold medal from me,”Sindhu, who is here toplay for HyderabadHunters in the fifth edi-tion of PBL, said.
“I look at it in a pos-
itive way when everyoneexpects me to do well. Idon't consider that asadded pressure and thatwill only make me workeven harder. It's notgoing to be easy but I'mprepared for the chal-lenges awaiting me,” sheadded.
Being an Olympicyear, the world No 6 saidit was good to play thePBL because one got toplay with top playerswhich is helpful.
“We get to play withtop quality players inPBL like Tai Tzu Ying,which is helpful in anOlympic-year. We get tolearn a lot from the for-eign players, who comeup with useful inputs.Even I get to improve
some aspects of my gameby interacting with for-eign talent. They offeruseful tips that can helpthe growth of a player.
“There is a lot moretime before theOlympics. We have acouple of importantevents in the run-up toOlympics. For now, myfocus is on helping myteam in the PBL. I justwant to play my gameand enjoy,” she added.
The 24-year oldshuttler, who has had anup-and-down run sincewinning the world title inBasel last year, said shewas working on hermental fitness, adding itwas important to be in apositive frame of mindand come back stronger.
“I have been workingon mental fitness. Therehave been close matchesin the past where I wonand some that I lost. It'simportant to be in a pos-itive frame of mind andcome back stronger andrectify the mistakes,”Sindhu said.
The Hyderabad acealso said it was importantto pick and choosetouramments.
“It is important topick and choose tourna-ments because at timesyou might not be feeling100 per cent. Some peo-ple say that you have toplay as many events asyou can but only if youbelieve you can give yourbest should you play,”she added.
Sindhu said the PBLis a great platform foryoungsters like LakshyaSen and she wasimpressed with herHunters' teammatePriyanshu Rajawat, whomade his debut in theleague yesterday.
“The PBL is a greatplatform for youngsterslike Lakshya Sen. ForPriyanshu, it was his firstmatch on such a bigstage and he played well.It’s a good exposure forthe younger crop becausethey get to learn a lotmore from the seniorpros. It’s a learningprocess and they will getmore familiar with high-pressure matches,” sheadded.
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The Indian men’s tabletennis squad is well
placed to create history atthe Olympic qualifiersbeginning here onWednesday, the fifth seedsneeding just a quarterfinalfinish to ensure its maidenqualification as a team atthe Summer Games.
Unless the team com-prising G Sathiyan (worldrank 30), veteran SharathKamal (WR 33) andHarmeet Desai (WR 86)play badly, India shouldnot have a lot of difficultyin making the Olympiccut. The other members ofthe team are AnthonyAmalraj and fast risingManav Thakkar.
In the past games,Indian players have playedonly in individual eventsbut now three of thembeing in top-100 shows therapid strides India has takenat the highest level.
The men, who havebeen given a first-round byein the draw of 64, take onLuxembourg in their open-er. Sharath and Co effec-tively need to win twomatches to qualify. Theirround of 16 opponent willbe 11th seed Slovenia or20th seed Iran.
The women’s unit, ledby Manika Batra, has amuch tougher task at handas it runs into a muchstronger Sweden in itsopener.
Ahead of the tourna-ment, the entire contin-gent had a camp in Chennaibefore it travelled toGermany to train with itsnational team.
Despite the lack of ahead coach since the 2019Asian Games, Indian play-ers have been producingimpressive performanceson the professional circuit.
The men’s team hadended a 60-year wait bywinning a historic bronze atthe Asian Games in Jakarta.
The contingent’s cam-paign got even betterSharath and Manika, whowon four medals at the pre-ceding CommonwealthGames, bagged a surprisebronze in the mixed dou-bles.
Nine qualifying spotsare on offer at the ITTForganised event. A top-eight finish guaranteesOlympic qualification whilethe last spot available will befought among the teamsthat lose in the round of 16with their eventual winnerfilling the slot.
Korea is the top seed inmen’s category, followed byChinese Taipei, Sweden,France and India.
Hong Kong is the topseed in women's event, fol-lowed by Chinese Taipei,Singapore, Korea andRomania.
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An intriguing duel is on thecards as Bengaluru FC face
Odisha FC square off in a top ofthe table Indian Super Leagueclash here on Wednesday.
Bengaluru FC, the defend-ing champions, are coming offa 2-0 defeat against MumbaiCity FC and will be eager to getback to winning ways. OdishaFC, on the other hand, are on afour-game winning streakwhich has established themfirmly in the top four.
Interestingly, a win onWednesday could see eitherside rise to the top of the table.Bengaluru, currently third onthe table with 22 points, canleapfrog both FC Goa and ATKwho have 24 points each, witha win. Odisha, who have 21, cango level with Goa and ATK.
Carles Cuadrat's side havehad a water-tight defence this
season, conceding just ninegoals in 13 games.
But the Spanish coachwould not be happy after twodefensive errors helped MumbaiCity beat them in the last game.
He will hope that was just anaberration. Moreover, at home,Bengaluru have conceded justfour goals at home.
Another worr y forBengaluru will be their attack.
Apart from Sunil Chhetri, whohas scored eight goals, none ofthe forwards have put in mean-ingful contributions.
Ashique Kuruniyan andUdanta Singh have struggled forform and consistency. Udanta’sform, especially, has droppedwhen compared to last seasonwith just one goal to his name.In fact, Cuadrat has evendropped Udanta from the start-ing XI in the recent matches.
Bengaluru will hope strik-ers Manuel Onwu and DeshornBrown come to the party andprovide some support toChhetri.
Odisha FC will be lookingto cash in on their terrific form.They have scored eight goalsand conceded just two in theirlast four games. If they win inBengaluru and make it 5 con-secutive wins, they will overtakeFC Goa and become the teamwith the most consecutive wins
in the ISL this season.Aridane Santana and Xisco
Hernandez have been key toOdisha’s revival. Santana, specif-ically, has scored nine goals thisseason and has risen to the topof the scoring charts. In fact,five of his goals have come inthe last four games.
Three of their four winshave come at home inBhubaneswar.
Though their last winagainst Hyderabad came awayfrom home, Josep Gombau willwant his team to improve theiraway record. However, to beatBengaluru in Bengaluru is atough task, something onlyMumbai City have been able todo this season.
Odisha do have a couple ofconcerns with Vinit Rai sus-pended and NandhakumarSekar injured but Gombau willhope the rest of the team step upagainst Bengaluru.
up a masterclass on her returnto the Star Sports PremierBadminton League 2020 asshe coasted to an easy win overrising star Ashmita Chaliha ofthe North Eastern Warriorshere in Chennai today. In amuch-anticipated clash ofyouth and experience, the for-mer World No. 1's brilliantanticipation skills and finessewere too much for the SouthAsian Games gold medallist tohandle even though Chalihadid have her moments.
After trailing 0-4, theyoungster rode on her aggres-sion to bag some quickfirepoints and close the gapbetween them to two points at4-6. It was, however, notenough to thwart PBL5's joint-costliest player who soondoused the Chaliha fire to soarto a 15-7, 15-5 win.
Earlier, in an enthrallingbattle between two Olympicmedallists, 2016 Rio Olympicsilver medallist Chan PengSoon beat 2008 Olympic cham-pion Lee Yong Dae to give thedefending champions a verygood start. In partnership withmultiple World Championshipmedallist Eom Hye Won, Soonput up a solid display againstthe Warriors pair of Lee YongDae and former World No. 1Kim Ha Na.
In his fourth consecutiveappearance at the league, Lee,who recently triumphed at theMalaysia Masters, could notfind his champion form as thefirst match of the tie went infavour of the Raptors 15-8, 15-11.
Fresh from reaching thesemi-finals of the IndonesiaMasters, North EasternWarriors' World No. 18 LeeCheuk Yiu showed remarkableresolve to eke out a tight firstgame and then sailed throughthe second to register a 15-14,15-9 win over WorldChampionships bronze medal-list Sai Praneeth. The two hadmet only once before with thematch finishing in favour of theHong Kong shuttler. This timetoo it was no different with Leerefusing to give the Indian anyopening in a performance thatshowed his determination andsteely nerves.
