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A Delhi Court on Friday deferred the “death war- rant” of the four convicts of the Nirbhaya gangrape-murder case till further order as the mercy plea of one of the con- victs is pending before the President. The hanging was scheduled for Saturday (February 1) at 6 am. Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana of the Patiala House courts ruled that four “death-row convicts”— Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Kumar Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar (31) — of the Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case will not be hanged on Saturday and postponed the execution of their death war- rants till further order. Vinay’s mercy plea before the President is pending, while Akshay has not filed a mercy plea yet. Pawan is the only one yet to file a curative plea. Mukesh’s mercy plea was dis- missed by President Ram Nath Kovind on January 17. Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court dismissed Pawan’s plea seeking review of the decision by which his appli- cation claiming to be a juvenile at the time of the commission of offence was rejected. Convicts have the option of moving a mercy petition before the President only after the apex court dismisses their curative plea. The court passed the order on the plea by the convicts seeking adjournment of the executions “sine die” (with no appointed date for resump- tion). This is for the second time that the execution of the death warrants has been deferred. The first order for execution of death sentence, issued on January 7 for January 22 was stayed on January 17. Tihar jail administration has completed all the formali- ties for the execution. The hangman, Pawan Jallad, requi- sitioned for the hanging has even carried out a dry run of the hanging and has been housed on the jail premises. Advocate AP Singh, the counsel for the three convicts — Pawan, Vinay and Akshay — had urged the court to adjourn the matter “sine die” saying their legal remedies were yet to be exhausted. The Tihar jail authorities had challenged their applica- tion saying it was not main- tainable and the death-row convicts can be hanged sepa- rately. However, the argument of the Tihar jail authorities was not accepted by the court. The convicts’ lawyer had argued that rules dictate that when one convict’s plea is pending, the others cannot be hanged. In the order, the judge noted that if an appeal or an application is made by only one convict, the execution of sen- tence shall be postponed in the case of co-convicts also. The judge said, “Without commenting upon the dilato- ry tactics adopted by the con- victs, suffice it would be to state that seeking redressal of one’s grievances through procedure established by law is the hall- mark of any civilised society. The courts of this country cannot afford to adversely dis- criminate any convict, including death-row convict, in pursuit of his legal remedies, by turning a Nelson’s eye towards him.” “As a cumulative effect of the aforesaid discussion, I am of the considered opinion that the execution of warrants issued by this court vide order dates January 17, 2020, deserves to be postponed till further orders,” the judge said. The court said a copy of this order be given to the counsel for convicts and the jail officials present in the court. “The jail superintendent is directed to file the compliance report by tomorrow,” it said. Reacting to the court’s order, Nirbhaya’s mother Asha Devi on Friday said she will continue her fight till the con- victs in the 2012 gangrape and murder case are hanged. Devi told reporters her “hopes are dashed” but she will continue her fight till the con- victs are hanged. “These con- victs have no right to live. We keep getting disappointed by the system. I will continue my fight till the convicts are hanged,” she said. T he Economic Survey on Friday projected revival of economic growth to 6-6.5 per cent next fiscal and suggested that the Government should relax the budget deficit target to boost growth from a 11-year low of 5 per cent this year. Sensex skidded 190 points while the Nifty closed below the 12,000-mark on Friday after the Economic Survey sug- gested relaxing fiscal deficit tar- get to boost growth. The Survey, released a day before Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presents the Union Budget for 2020-21, suggested a cut in food subsidy to create fiscal space at a time when tax revenues were falling. Facing the worst econom- ic slowdown since the global financial crisis of 2008-09 that worsened job prospects, the Survey said businessmen should be respected as they cre- ate wealth and jobs. For India to become a USD 5 trillion economy by 2025, it prescribed strengthen- ing trust in the economy, enabling and empowering mar- kets, promotion of pro-business policies, and measures to enhance farmers' income. It also suggested reforms to make it easier to open new businesses, register property, pay taxes and enforce contracts. Giving a new dimension to “Make in India”, the Survey suggested that the Government should integrate “Assemble in India for the world” into its flagship programme to boost exports and generate jobs. “By integrating 'Assemble in India for the world' into Make in India, India can raise its export market share to about 3.5 per cent by 2025 and 6 per cent by 2030. This will create 4 crore well-paid jobs by 2025 and 8 crore by 2030,” the survey said. The survey said China's remarkable export perfor- mance vis-a-vis India is driven primarily by deliberate spe- cialisation at large scale in labour-intensive sectors, espe- cially network products, where production occurs across Global Value Chains (GVCs) operated by multi-national cor- porations. It batted for aggressive dis- investment to bring higher profitability and efficiency, minimal government inter- vention in markets, encourag- ing entrepreneurship, and sup- porting wealth creation. Commenting on the Survey, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the report focuses on wealth creation for Indians. "It outlines a multi- faceted strategy to achieve a USD 5 trillion economy through enterprise, exports, ease of doing business and more," he tweeted. A n Air India jet landed in Wuhan on Friday evening to bring back the Indian stu- dents stuck in China’s Hubei province, the epicentre of dead- ly coronavirus outbreak. After arrival in Delhi, these persons will be taken to the newly set up Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) quarantine facility. The paramilitary will provide basic amenities like food, lodging and internet facilities besides medical care. The Army and ITBP have set up separate quarantine cen- tres in the NCR. The ITBP has set up a 600-bed facility, the Army facility will cater to about 300 students being evacuated from China’s Hubei province. Meanwhile, as the death toll due to lethal coronavirus climbed to 213 with nearly 10,000 infections across 15 countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. The facility at ITBP’s camp in Chhawla area of south-west Delhi is ready with medicines and monitoring equipment along with a team of qualified doctors from the paramilitary force and Safdarjung Hospital, ITBP spokesperson Vivek Kumar Pandey said. A team of doctors have been stationed at the facility where special arrangements have been made to host chil- dren and women at this quar- antine facility, Pandey said. After preliminary diagno- sis at the airport, these families will be brought to the quaran- tine centre which will coordi- nate with Safdarjung Hospital for assistance, said the official. The Army quarantine facility in Manesar near Gurugram will keep around 300 Indian students. Officials said the students will be mon- itored for any signs of infection for two weeks by a qualified team of doctors and staff mem- bers. The procedure of screen- ing and quarantine will com- prise of two steps. The first one will be at the Indira Gandhi International Airport followed by quarantine at Manesar. T he youth, who fired at a group of anti-CAA pro- testers near Jamia Millia Islamia on Thursday injuring a university student on the hand, was on Friday sent to a 14-day protective custody by the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB). “The juvenile was present- ed before the JJB on Friday afternoon. We have also urged the board to form a medical panel to conduct a bone ossi- fication test that will verify the age of the youth,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rajesh Deo. On Thursday, the accused opened fire at an anti-CAA protester injuring him before walking away while brandish- ing the firearm aloft and shout- ing “Yeh lo aazadi” amid heavy police presence. He was soon overpowered by police. Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik has asked the Crime Branch to probe the case as it is sensitive in nature and should be inves- tigated from all angles follow- ing claims that his Class Xth marksheet issued by the CBSE, shows that he is a yet to attain 18 years of age and he is a minor. The injured Jamia student, Shadab Farooq, was discharged from AIIMS after a surgery on Friday. No injury to blood ves- sels or nerves were sustained, a doctor said. C hief Minister Kamal Nath said we will give a new identity to Madhya Pradesh by enriching the culture of har- mony, new vision and by changing the existing system. In the coming time, our state will be compared with the leading states of the country, not backward. Kamal Nath was inaugu- rating the Amarkantak Narmada Mahotsav-2020. The Minister for Tribal Welfare Omkar Singh Markam, Minister for Panchayat and Rural Development Kamleshwar Patel, Former Chief Minister Digvijay Singh were present on the occasion. The Chief Minister said that the heart of the country, Madhya Pradesh comprises different cultures. The differ- ent cultures of Malwa Nimar, Mahakaushal, Vindhya region have a strong sensitivity of mutual harmony, brotherhood and love. This is the characteristic of our country. Indian culture is a culture that unites everyone under one flag, this is the greatness of India, which asto- nioshes the whole world. We have to further strengthen the culture of harmony. We have to defeat the forces engaged in weakening it. Kamal Nath further men- tioned that the Narmada Mahaotsav being organised for the first time in Amarkantak will be cotinued in future too. It will be devel- oped as an ideal tourist desti- nation to bring change in the life of the people of entire region and to provide employ- ment to the people. Nath said that the 13 months old government has exhibited its intention and policy of working in just 10 and half months tenure. Our aim is the comprehensive development of the state. We want to make a state, where happiness and prosperity pre- vail in the life of people of every section. The govern- ment aims to ensure that the state has a new working cul- ture, government and admin- istration should have new vision and needy get the ben- efits of the government schemes. We have taken fun- damental decisions for chang- ing the system. Chief Minister Kamal Nath said that the biggest challenge before us today is to bring investment and to create a trustworthy environment for investment in the state. In the last fifteen years, the num- ber of industries closed was greater than those set up in the State, owing to the lack of trust. The Chief Minister said that in the last one year, a new investment environment has been created in the state. Investment will increase our economic activity and besides providing employment to our youth, we will be able to give them an opportunity for busi- ness. The Chief Minister said that we have initiated efforts to make the agriculture sector progressive and prosperous. We have started with the loan waiver of 21 lakh farmers under the Mukhya Mantri Jai Kisan Wrin Maafi Yojana. We will change the tradition in which the farmer is born in debt and dies under the burden of debt. The Chief Minister said that the second phase of the loan waiver scheme has begun. The Government is committed to waive off loans upto Rs 2 lakh of all the eligible farmers of the state. Citing the demand of Rs 300 crore by MLA Phundelal Marko for the development of Amarkantak including region, Kamal Nath said that no stone will be left unturned in devel- opment of the area. He further said that the people of this region area will not be disappointed. RNI Regn. No. MPENG/2004/13703, Regd. No. L-2/BPLON/41/2006-2008
Transcript
Page 1: The Pioneer · ˘˘ˇ˘ ˆ ˙ ˘ˇˆ ˙ ˆ ˚ ˇ ˇ ˜ ! ˇ ˆ˝ ˆ ˘˝ " ˆ #$ ˆ ˘ ˜ ˇ % & ˆ˘ ˇ ’ ( ) * * ˆ

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��$$������� (01�,023-

ADelhi Court on Fridaydeferred the “death war-

rant” of the four convicts of theNirbhaya gangrape-murdercase till further order as themercy plea of one of the con-victs is pending before thePresident. The hanging wasscheduled for Saturday(February 1) at 6 am.

Additional Sessions JudgeDharmender Rana of thePatiala House courts ruled thatfour “death-row convicts”—Mukesh Kumar Singh (32),Pawan Gupta (25), VinayKumar Sharma (26) andAkshay Kumar (31) — of theNirbhaya gangrape and murdercase will not be hanged onSaturday and postponed theexecution of their death war-rants till further order.

Vinay’s mercy plea beforethe President is pending, whileAkshay has not filed a mercyplea yet. Pawan is the only oneyet to file a curative plea.Mukesh’s mercy plea was dis-missed by President Ram NathKovind on January 17.

Earlier in the day, theSupreme Court dismissedPawan’s plea seeking review ofthe decision by which his appli-cation claiming to be a juvenileat the time of the commissionof offence was rejected.

Convicts have the optionof moving a mercy petitionbefore the President only afterthe apex court dismisses theircurative plea.

The court passed the orderon the plea by the convictsseeking adjournment of theexecutions “sine die” (with noappointed date for resump-tion). This is for the secondtime that the execution of thedeath warrants has beendeferred. The first order forexecution of death sentence,issued on January 7 for January22 was stayed on January 17.

Tihar jail administrationhas completed all the formali-ties for the execution. The

hangman, Pawan Jallad, requi-sitioned for the hanging haseven carried out a dry run ofthe hanging and has beenhoused on the jail premises.

Advocate AP Singh, thecounsel for the three convicts— Pawan, Vinay and Akshay— had urged the court toadjourn the matter “sine die”saying their legal remedieswere yet to be exhausted.

The Tihar jail authoritieshad challenged their applica-tion saying it was not main-

tainable and the death-rowconvicts can be hanged sepa-rately. However, the argumentof the Tihar jail authorities wasnot accepted by the court.

The convicts’ lawyer hadargued that rules dictate thatwhen one convict’s plea ispending, the others cannot behanged. In the order, the judgenoted that if an appeal or anapplication is made by only oneconvict, the execution of sen-tence shall be postponed in thecase of co-convicts also.

The judge said, “Withoutcommenting upon the dilato-ry tactics adopted by the con-victs, suffice it would be to statethat seeking redressal of one’sgrievances through procedureestablished by law is the hall-mark of any civilised society.The courts of this countrycannot afford to adversely dis-criminate any convict, including death-row convict, in pursuit of his legal remedies, by turning a Nelson’s eyetowards him.”

“As a cumulative effect ofthe aforesaid discussion, I amof the considered opinion thatthe execution of warrantsissued by this court vide orderdates January 17, 2020,deserves to be postponed tillfurther orders,” the judge said.

The court said a copy ofthis order be given to thecounsel for convicts and the jailofficials present in the court.“The jail superintendent isdirected to file the compliancereport by tomorrow,” it said.

Reacting to the court’sorder, Nirbhaya’s mother AshaDevi on Friday said she willcontinue her fight till the con-victs in the 2012 gangrape andmurder case are hanged.

Devi told reporters her“hopes are dashed” but she willcontinue her fight till the con-victs are hanged. “These con-victs have no right to live. Wekeep getting disappointed bythe system. I will continue myfight till the convicts arehanged,” she said.

���(�����(01�,023-

The Economic Survey onFriday projected revival of

economic growth to 6-6.5 percent next fiscal and suggestedthat the Government shouldrelax the budget deficit targetto boost growth from a 11-yearlow of 5 per cent this year.

Sensex skidded 190 pointswhile the Nifty closed belowthe 12,000-mark on Fridayafter the Economic Survey sug-gested relaxing fiscal deficit tar-get to boost growth.

The Survey, released a daybefore Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman presentsthe Union Budget for 2020-21,suggested a cut in food subsidyto create fiscal space at a timewhen tax revenues were falling.

Facing the worst econom-ic slowdown since the globalfinancial crisis of 2008-09 thatworsened job prospects, theSurvey said businessmenshould be respected as they cre-ate wealth and jobs.

For India to become aUSD 5 trillion economy by2025, it prescribed strengthen-ing trust in the economy,

enabling and empowering mar-kets, promotion of pro-businesspolicies, and measures toenhance farmers' income.

It also suggested reforms tomake it easier to open newbusinesses, register property,pay taxes and enforce contracts.

Giving a new dimension to“Make in India”, the Surveysuggested that the Governmentshould integrate “Assemble inIndia for the world” into itsflagship programme to boostexports and generate jobs. “Byintegrating 'Assemble in Indiafor the world' into Make inIndia, India can raise its exportmarket share to about 3.5 percent by 2025 and 6 per cent by2030. This will create 4 crorewell-paid jobs by 2025 and 8crore by 2030,” the survey said.

The survey said China'sremarkable export perfor-mance vis-a-vis India is driven

primarily by deliberate spe-cialisation at large scale inlabour-intensive sectors, espe-cially network products, whereproduction occurs acrossGlobal Value Chains (GVCs)operated by multi-national cor-porations.

It batted for aggressive dis-investment to bring higherprofitability and efficiency,minimal government inter-vention in markets, encourag-ing entrepreneurship, and sup-porting wealth creation.

Commenting on theSurvey, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi said the reportfocuses on wealth creation forIndians. "It outlines a multi-faceted strategy to achieve aUSD 5 trillion economythrough enterprise, exports,ease of doing business andmore," he tweeted.

����� (01�,023-

An Air India jet landed inWuhan on Friday evening

to bring back the Indian stu-dents stuck in China’s Hubeiprovince, the epicentre of dead-ly coronavirus outbreak. Afterarrival in Delhi, these personswill be taken to the newly setup Indo-Tibetan Border Police(ITBP) quarantine facility. Theparamilitary will provide basicamenities like food, lodgingand internet facilities besidesmedical care.

The Army and ITBP haveset up separate quarantine cen-tres in the NCR. The ITBP hasset up a 600-bed facility, theArmy facility will cater toabout 300 students beingevacuated from China’sHubei province.

Meanwhile, asthe death toll due tolethal coronavirusclimbed to 213 withnearly 10,000 infectionsacross 15 countries, the WorldHealth Organization (WHO)has declared the outbreak apublic health emergency ofinternational concern.

The facility at ITBP’s campin Chhawla area of south-westDelhi is ready with medicines

and monitoring equipmentalong with a team ofqualified doctors from

the paramilitary forceand SafdarjungHospital, ITBP

spokesperson VivekKumar Pandey said.

A team of doctors havebeen stationed at the facilitywhere special arrangementshave been made to host chil-dren and women at this quar-antine facility, Pandey said.

After preliminary diagno-sis at the airport, these familieswill be brought to the quaran-

tine centre which will coordi-nate with Safdarjung Hospitalfor assistance, said the official.

The Army quarantinefacility in Manesar nearGurugram will keep around

300 Indian students. Officialssaid the students will be mon-itored for any signs of infectionfor two weeks by a qualifiedteam of doctors and staff mem-bers.

The procedure of screen-ing and quarantine will com-prise of two steps. The first onewill be at the Indira GandhiInternational Airport followedby quarantine at Manesar.

��$$������� (01�,023-

The youth, who fired at agroup of anti-CAA pro-

testers near Jamia MilliaIslamia on Thursday injuring auniversity student on the hand,was on Friday sent to a 14-dayprotective custody by theJuvenile Justice Board (JJB).

“The juvenile was present-ed before the JJB on Fridayafternoon. We have also urgedthe board to form a medicalpanel to conduct a bone ossi-fication test that will verify theage of the youth,” said DeputyCommissioner of Police(Crime) Rajesh Deo.

On Thursday, the accusedopened fire at an anti-CAAprotester injuring him beforewalking away while brandish-ing the firearm aloft and shout-ing “Yeh lo aazadi” amid heavypolice presence. He was soonoverpowered by police.

Delhi PoliceCommissioner Amulya Patnaikhas asked the Crime Branch toprobe the case as it is sensitivein nature and should be inves-

tigated from all angles follow-ing claims that his Class Xthmarksheet issued by the CBSE,shows that he is a yet to attain18 years of age and he is aminor.

The injured Jamia student,Shadab Farooq, was dischargedfrom AIIMS after a surgery onFriday. No injury to blood ves-sels or nerves were sustained,a doctor said.

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Chief Minister Kamal Nathsaid we will give a new

identity to Madhya Pradesh byenriching the culture of har-mony, new vision and bychanging the existing system.In the coming time, our statewill be compared with theleading states of the country,not backward.

Kamal Nath was inaugu-rating the AmarkantakNarmada Mahotsav-2020. TheMinister for Tribal WelfareOmkar Singh Markam,Minister for Panchayat andRural DevelopmentKamleshwar Patel, FormerChief Minister Digvijay Singhwere present on the occasion.

The Chief Minister saidthat the heart of the country,Madhya Pradesh comprisesdifferent cultures. The differ-

ent cultures of Malwa Nimar,Mahakaushal, Vindhya regionhave a strong sensitivity ofmutual harmony, brotherhoodand love.

This is the characteristic ofour country. Indian culture isa culture that unites everyoneunder one flag, this is thegreatness of India, which asto-nioshes the whole world. Wehave to further strengthen theculture of harmony. We haveto defeat the forces engaged inweakening it.

Kamal Nath further men-tioned that the NarmadaMahaotsav being organisedfor the f irst t ime inAmarkantak will be cotinuedin future too. It will be devel-oped as an ideal tourist desti-nation to bring change in thelife of the people of entireregion and to provide employ-ment to the people.

Nath said that the 13months old government hasexhibited its intention andpolicy of working in just 10and half months tenure. Ouraim is the comprehensivedevelopment of the state. Wewant to make a state, wherehappiness and prosperity pre-vail in the life of people ofevery section. The govern-ment aims to ensure that thestate has a new working cul-ture, government and admin-istration should have newvision and needy get the ben-efits of the government

schemes. We have taken fun-damental decisions for chang-ing the system.

Chief Minister KamalNath said that the biggestchallenge before us today is tobring investment and to createa trustworthy environmentfor investment in the state. Inthe last fifteen years, the num-ber of industries closed wasgreater than those set up in theState, owing to the lack oftrust.

The Chief Minister saidthat in the last one year, a newinvestment environment hasbeen created in the state.Investment will increase oureconomic activity and besidesproviding employment to ouryouth, we will be able to givethem an opportunity for busi-ness.

The Chief Minister saidthat we have initiated efforts to

make the agriculture sectorprogressive and prosperous.We have started with the loanwaiver of 21 lakh farmers underthe Mukhya Mantri Jai KisanWrin Maafi Yojana. We willchange the tradition in whichthe farmer is born in debt anddies under the burden of debt.

The Chief Minister saidthat the second phase of theloan waiver scheme has begun.The Government is committedto waive off loans upto Rs 2lakh of all the eligible farmersof the state.

Citing the demand of Rs300 crore by MLA PhundelalMarko for the development ofAmarkantak including region,Kamal Nath said that no stonewill be left unturned in devel-opment of the area.

He further said that thepeople of this region area willnot be disappointed.

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With a noticeable spurt inshooting of films and

TV projects in MadhyaPradesh, the State is set toemerge as a major film shootdestination in 2020. Aptlydescribed as the heart ofIncredible India, the State ofMadhya Pradesh offers a hostof attractive locations that havelured film producers of allgenres, down the line.

As the State has become aregular visiting point forBollywood industry, MadhyaPradesh Tourism has decidedto promote film tourism of theState.

More than 200 projectsincluding Hollywood Projectslike “The Bear” by ParamountPictures, “A Suitable Boy” byBBC Production, White Tigeretc and many Indian featurefilms, TV Serial/Series, TVCs& Reality shows have beenshot in Madhya Pradesh tillnow. Some of the recent being

Panga, Stree, Sui-Dhaga,Kalank, Manikarnika, LukaChuppi, Padman, ToiletekPrem Katha, MohenjoDaro,BajiraoMastani, MotiChoorChaknaChoor, apartfrom these several Web Seriesare also reaching out to theState and current projects cover–RangbaazPhirse starringJimmy Shergill, SharadKelkar,GulPanag and others,Panchayat, Shuttle CockMurder, Gullakand few TVC aswell in the best suited locationslike Orchha, Khajuraho,Maheshwar etc. of the State.

Projects coming up in 2020include “Sherni” starringVidhyaBalan, “Durgawati” star-ing Bhoomi “BhujThe pride ofIndian” PonniyinSelvan, amulti-starrer Tamil moviedirected by Mani Ratnam“Mere Desh Ki Dharti”, pro-duced by Carnival MotionPictures. TV serials being shotin the state include RajshriProductions upcoming televi-sion serial for Star Plus-

‘DadiAmmaDadiAmma ManJao’, “EkDujekeVaaste – 2” pro-duced by Sony Entertainment,where all the 250 episodes willbe shoot in Bhopal and near-by locations.

Faiz Ahmed Kidwai,Principal Secretary-Tourism,Govt of Madhya Pradesh andManaging Director, MadhyaPradesh Tourism Board saidthat Madhya Pradesh is a per-fect combination of naturalsettings, ancient heritage, hugewater bodies, helpful adminis-tration and others to a filmmaker’s delight which makes ita preferred destination for sev-eral years. It is something real-ly prestigious for the State thatthe film fraternity is visiting ourState over and over again. Thisis a really good opportunity forthe State to increase tourism.The Bollywood producers anddirectors find this State moredesirable as compared to otherplaces not only because of itsscenic beauty but also peoplehere are very hospitable.

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The Piplani police hasnabbed three vehicle

lifters and recovered 13 two-wheelers from their posses-sion on Thursday.

The accused used to pro-duce fake documents to sell stolenmotorbikes which were alsorecovered by the police.

Acting on a tip-off, thethree vehicle lifters werenabbed along with the fourthaccused, the mastermind.

The three nabbed vehiclelifters were identified asUmesh Patel (21), GajendraPatel (20) and Krishna Mishra(20) who hail from Rewa.

The main accused, AnupMishra, went absconding andis still at large.

During the investigation,the accused confessed thatthey used to produce fakedocuments of look-alike vehi-

cle by searching it in RTOwebsite and would use regis-tration number of that vehi-cle by removing the original one.

The accused used to pro-duce fake identity cards likeAaadhar and PAN cards tosell stolen vehicles.

They stole one motor-bike each from Kamla Nagarand Ratibad police stationarea, nine motorbikes fromPiplani police station areaand two from other areas.

Police have registeredcases under sections 420, 467,468, 471, 482, 379 and 34 ofthe IPC and section 41(1-4) ofthe CrPC.

During the investigation,police recovered fake docu-ments. They were threeAadhar cards, two PAN cards,one Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC)and 6 vehicle registrationcards.

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Sagar Public School, RohitNagar, installed and inaugu-

rated NITI Aayog’s “AtalTinkering Lab” (ATL). The labwas inaugurated by KK Dubey,Director, Human Resources,Sagar Group, Dr MadhuabalaChauhan, Principal, Sagar PublicSchool (SPS), Rohit Nagar, andSagarites.

“Atal Tinkering Lab” is anapproach by the Centre to cre-ate scientific temperament andinnovation amongst students tofoster curiosity, creativity andimagination in young minds.The lab is aimed to inculcateskills such as design mind-set,learning by doing, computa-tional thinking, adaptive learn-ing, physical computing etc withScience, Technology,Engineering and Maths.

The lab is well-equippedwith the latest apparatuses andintends to create a motivationalmilieu to develop research skillsamong the curious learners ofscience. Lab has come up in 150sq mts and has 3D Printers,Robotic Equipments, microprocessors, drone, electronicssection with state-of-the-art withtechnologies, reference booksetc and is aimed to go beyondhabitual classroom.

Speaking on the occasion,Madhubala Chouhan said, “It isa step towards building a betterfuture for our youth. It is ahands-on methodology, the needof the hour and is vital for stu-dents of 21st-century skills whichwill help them in developingTechno Innovative skills.”

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Honda two-wheelers Indiahere on Friday declared

that it crossed the milestone of20 lakh units in its cumulativesales in Madhya Pradesh.

Expressing gratitudetowards customers for theirtrust and sharing two-wheel-er trends in Madhya Pradesh,Yadvinder Singh Guleria,Senior Vice President, Salesand Marketing, HondaMotorcycle & Scooter IndiaPvt Ltd, told media persons“From Activa in 2001 to ourlatest BS-VI models, Hondahas changed the way peopleride in Madhya Pradesh.”

Looking ahead, Hondahas started#AQuietRevolution into theBS-VI era. Giving more value

to customers are our 6-yearwarranty package - a first intwo-wheeler industry (3 yearsstandard + 3 years optionalextended warranty). Now cus-tomers can choose betweenBS-IV and BS-VI, howeverBS-IV stocks may be limitedas Honda moves to 100% BS-VI only production begin-ning Februar y 2020.Delighting customers evenfurther will be our attractiveretail finance schemes withbenefits up to �10,000.”

Guleria informed thatMadhya Pradesh gives athumbs up to Honda in BS-VIera Honda was the first two-wheeler manufacturer to startmass availability of its BS-VItwo-wheelers, a lmost 6months ahead of the April 1,2020 deadline. At the heart of

#AQuietRevolution is Honda’sall new BSVI engine withEnhanced Smart Power (eSP)technology. eSP integratesACG Starter motor, reducedfrictional losses withProgrammed FuelInjection(PGM-Fi). Addingmore new value are the manyfirst-in-segment features, sig-nificant mileage-up (10% upin Activa 6G to 16% mileageup in SP 125) and two-wheel-er industry’s first 6-year war-ranty package (3 years stan-dard + 3 years optionalextended warranty).

More and more two-wheeler customers are appre-ciating these features & theleading towns like Bhopal,Indore etc are driving the BS-VI sales momentum inMadhya Pradesh, he added.

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Madhya Pradesh GovernorLalji Tandon advised the

State Government not to cross

the constitutional “LaxmanRekha” on this subject of con-tentious CitizenshipAmendment Act (CAA).

While talking to media

persons at Raj Bhavan here onFriday, Tandon replying to aquery about Kamal NathGovernment’s opposition toCAA, said, “There is a Laxman

Rekha for the Government(State) in the constitution andthe Government should notcross it.”

The Act (CAA) has beencleared by the parliament bytwo-third majority and shouldbe implemented by all, addedTandon. Raising opposition isthe constitutional right butone should also take into con-sideration the constitutionallimitations while doing so,added the State Governor.

However, besides his “con-cern” on the StateGovernment’s stance on CAA,Tandon was all praises for theKamal Nath-led Governmentof Madhya Pradesh.

The State Government isdeveloping Ram Van GamanPath and is building goddessSita temple in Sri Lankabesides holding Sundarkand

recitation, said the Governoradding that going back to ourSanatana dharma and originalculture is the need of the hour.

Meanwhile, on the heateddebate on Mahatma Gandhiand his views, Tandon claimedthat Gandhi’s views couldnever be discarded.

Public Relations Minister,PC Sharma, was quick to praisethe Governor saying he is asensitive politician and haslauded the State Governmentafter evaluating its merits anddemerits.

“We need to see on whichperspective the Governor haslauded the State Government,”said BJP spokespersonRajneesh Agrawal adding thatthe Kamal Nath Governmentcannot save itself from publicscrutiny through propaganda.

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The cleanliness pakhwadaconcluded on Friday at

Radharaman Institute ofPharmaceutical Science.

On this initiative of RGPV,various programmes relatedto cleanliness awareness wereorganised in this 15-day eventin collaboration with MunicipalCorporation, Bhopal andHuman Resource Department,New Delhi.

College director, LK Omre,said that these programmesincluded tree plantation, slogancompetition, poster presenta-tion, speech competition andmore.

Along with cleaning, thestudents also gave presentationson topics related to forest andwater. The winners of all thesecompetitions were awardedcash prizes and certificates.

During the fortnight, theexperts from the MunicipalCorporation provided the stu-dents with information relatedto the cleanliness of theirhomes, educational institu-tions, colonies and the city.Group Director Professor JLRana administered the oath ofcleanliness to the students onthe closing occasion and said tokeep cleanliness in their houseand surroundings.

On the concluding day ofthe 15 day programme,Chairman of Radharamangroup RR Saxena said that thestudents that while cleanlinessbrings happiness to our mind,its environmental protection onthe other hand promotes com-munity health. He said thatcleanliness is not only theresponsibility of theGovernment but our contri-bution in it is also necessary.

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A48-year-old Superintendentof GST died after her scoot-

er was hit by a speeding bus atRatnagiri trisection in themorning on Friday. Piplanipolice has started investiga-tion.

The accident took placearound 10 in the morning onSaturday.

The deceased was identi-fied as Shiny Thomas. Herscooter bore registration num-ber MP04-SF-4603.

The bus belongs to Pushpbus services which hit thescooter head.

The errant bus driverescaped from the spot leaving

the bus which was later seizedby the police.

The body was sent for thepost mortem after the prelim-inary investigation. The policehave registered a case undersection 304 A of the IPC.

At the time of the accidentthere were no passengers in thebus and only driver was present.

Search for the errant driverhas been started by the police.

Meanwhile, a man in theage group of 40 years died afterhe was hit by an unidentifiedvehicle at Jamunia village underKhajuri police station area onThursday.

The deceased remainedunidentified as nothing wasfound from his possession.

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Madhya Pradesh hasbagged the first position

in the implementation ofPradhan Mantri MatraVandana Yojana. Indore dis-trict has bagged the first placefor better performance of thescheme. Along with this, theState has also got the thirdplace for the implementationof Pradhan Mantri MatraVandana Saptah which wasobserved in the State fromDecember 2 to December 8,2019. Minister for Womenand Child DevelopmentImarti Devi and PrincipalSecretary Anupam Rajan willreceive the award in NewDelhi on February 3.

So far, total 14 lakh 55thousand 501 beneficiarieshave been registered underthe Pradhan Mantri MatraVandana Yojana. The firstinstallment has been paid toabout 13 lakh 40 thousand224 beneficiaries, secondinstallment to 12 lakh 60thousand 304 and thirdinstallment to 8 lakh 80 thou-sand 517 beneficiaries.

The main objective of theMatra Vandana Yojana is toprovide incentives in the formof financial compensation tocompensate for the loss ofwages of working women andensure their proper rest andnutrition.

The payment of theincentive amount is deposit-ed directly into the bankaccount or post office accountlinked to the beneficiary’saadhar.

The first installment of�1,000 on the registration ofpregnancy is payable to theeligible woman beneficiary,the second installment of�2,000 after at least one pre-natal check-up (after 6months of pregnancy), andthe third installment of �2,000 is payable after and thebirth registration of the childand completion of the firstround of vaccination.

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With an aim to increase itspresence in India, Opple

lighting has launched a new lineof products in the domesticelectronics market.

A company statement saidon Friday that Opple is aShanghai-based company whichis rapidly emerging as a globalleader in LED lighting.Established in 1996, the com-pany now has significant pres-ence in over 50 countries includ-ing India and a team of 6,000employees. The company wantsto increase its presence in India,and with this aim a new rangeof products have been launched.Opple has also increased its salestarget by 20 per cent in 2020, the

company said."The EcoMax COB

Spotlight comprises innovativelens for a clean beam, the V7LED bulb has a wide beam anglegreater than 180 degrees, the USSpot Utility is a flicker-freeclean beam and the ''HPB E-1''has a high lumen output of100lm/w and is flicker-free,"the company said.

Besides, other line of prod-ucts launched include the ‘SmartBulb’ which has dimmable, tun-able and CCT change options, a2W spot bulb, an emergencybulb with 500 battery chargingcycles with a lifetime of 15000hours, linear office utility foroffices, shopping centres, con-ference halls, airports and lob-bies, etc.

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Gaurav Chauhan, a formerboxing academy player,

will represent India at the 64thBocskai Istvan MemorialInternational Boxing tourna-ment. It will be held inHungary from February 2 to 7.

Notably, he will showcasehis talent in the 91 kg catego-ry. Gaurav Chauhan is cur-rently getting training in box-ing sports at the ongoingnational camp in Patiala.

Minister of Sports andYouth Welfare, Jitu Patwari,congratulated Gaurav Chauhanfor his success in the tourna-ment to be held in Hungary.

Boxing player GauravChauhan learned the nuancesof boxing game from the year2009 to 2017 at the MadhyaPradesh State Boxing Academy,Boxing Instructor Roshanlal.He won the Gold Medal inSGFI held in 2012, Silver Medal

in National Sports held inKerala in year 2015 andMadhya Pradesh in 2016Senior National BoxingChampionship held inGuwahati. Gaurav Chauhanwon the silver in the President'sCup held in Kazakhstan in2017 and the gold medal in theSouth Asian Games.

Gaurav Chauhan has so farearned more than 15 medals innational and internationalcompetitions. Director Sportsand Youth Welfare Dr. SlThousen also wishes GauravChauhan.

Meanwhile, the state levelGuru Nanak Devji ProvincialOlympic Games will begin at11.00 am on Saturday at the citystadium. State Revenue andTransport Minister GovindSingh Rajput, Public Relations,Minister P.C. Sharma, Sportsand Youth Welfare and HigherEducation Minister JituPatwari, former Union

Minister Arun Yadav andPadmashree Olympian archerDeepika Kumari will be inau-gurated in the distinguishedhospitality.

In the ceremony, medalwinners of Khelo India YouthGames will be awarded byproviding incentives. Thelaunch programme wasrehearsed on Friday.

It is noteworthy that theState level Guru Nanak DevjiProvincial Olympic SportsCompetition, organized fromFebruary 1 to 7, is being orga-nized in two groups, in whichabout three thousand boys andwomen players of ten divisionsof the State are participating.

Before the event, SportsDirector S L Thoussenreviewed the preparations. Themarch past was rehearsed onthis occasion. The players prac-ticed for the Mallakhamb per-formance performed at theceremony.

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Jabalpur city remainedpeaceful but tense on Friday

after a stone-pelting incidentwas reported on Thursdaynight.

On Friday, in view of spe-cial prayers, heavy police forceand personnel of STF weredeployed in the Raddi Chowkiarea which had witnessed anti-CAA protesters clashing withpolice on Thursday night.

Besides, internet serviceswere snapped by the adminis-tration across the district as aprecautionary measure onFriday. Locals also had toughtime with poor cell phonenetwork coverage on Friday.

Some minority communi-ty women were staging anti-CAA dharna at Gazhi MiyanMaidan since Jan 21 and onThursday after submittingmemorandum to ministerLakhan Ghanghoria and col-lector Bharat Yadav ended thestir. But others unimpressed bythe move started protestingagain at Raddi Chowki area byevening and clashed with thepolice when the latter tried todisperse them. Stones alsowere pelted on the police.

The police used lathicharge to disperse the moband also reportedly lobbedtear gas shells on protesters.

Protesting the incident,some women again sat ondharna continuing it onFriday.

Collector Bharat Yadavtold the media persons that asprecautionary measure theinternet services were snappedin Jabalpur on Friday.

The anti-CAA protestershad ended the dharna but agroup of women against start-ed it and administration washolding dialogue with them,he added.

The police have lodged anFIR against those who werestaging protest in the area onThursday night.

The locality had witnessedviolent protests in againstCAA-NRC on Dec 20 andadministration had clampedcurfew in four police stationareas.

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Hanumanganj police hasnabbed two persons near

Om Plaza hotel and recovered 68stolen mobile phones worth �7lakh from his possession onThursday.

Acting on a tip-off, a policeteam rushed to the spot andnabbed the accused who failedto provide details of the mobilephones.

The accused was identifiedas Rajesh alias Raja Raikwar (19)of Vidhisha. Later, he confessedto have stolen mobile phoneswith his aide, Shivraj Kushwaha.

Shivraj confessed that he andhis aide were released fromVidisha jail around two monthsago and planned to commitburglaries in Bhopal.

Few days ago, they targeteda mobile phone shop at ChholaMandir road by entering theshop by breaking the roof of theshop. Later, they divided thestolen valuables at a rented roomin Mandideep. The two used tohide mobile phones of theirshare and they have disposed thepack boxes.

The two are residents ofsame village. On January 1,Toufeeq Khan who runs amobile shop was targeted andmobile phones were burgled.

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Acity artist Hemant Rao isall set to woo the art lovers

at India Art Fair, the largest fairof modern and contemporaryart from South Asia. It is beingheld in New Delhi. It will be ondisplay till February 2.

Hemant will be displayinghis work in an exhibition.Hemant Rao will be displating12 art works at the IAF.

IAF is the biggest art eventin India, showcasing 65 gal-leries from 20 global cities thisyear in its 12th edition.

12 of his abstract paint-ings, gives the meditative andsoothing qualities of naturewhile the forms and layers arefull of magical allusions,accentuated with sensitivelines.

It is to be noted that hispaintings have a curious radi-ance which carry a spiritualcalmness and an aloofnessfrom worldly tensions, just asthe artist stated his intention.

The combinations of trans-parent colors in various layerslend his paintings a magical,mysterious, even metaphysicaldimension, which is a treat tothe viewer's eye.

Hemant Rao is very excit-ed as he is well on his wayafter recently being conferredwith the national Lalit KalaAkademi award for his paint-ings at the 60th NationalExhibition of Art at NationalGallery of Modern Art and JJSchool of Art.

"Representing Bhopal fre-quently at national and inter-national levels, each time fillsme with equal happiness," hesaid.

His works are present incollections in museums anduniversities in India as well asin countries like the USA,Sweden, Taiwan etc.

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Sharp dip in temperaturewas witnessed on Thursday

while day temperatureincreased slightly on Friday inthe State Capital.

Apart from intense coldconditions in the State, Jabalpurand Shahdol divisions record-ed light rainfall at isolatedplaces.

Seoni, Damoh, Tikamgarh,Bhopal, Ujjain, Ratlam, Betul,Khandwa witnessed cold daycondition while Betul wit-nessed cold wave conditions.Lowest night temperature wasrecorded at 4 degree Celsius.

The temperatures wouldwitness increasing trend in thenext 2-3 days.

A Western Disturbance

(WD) would be witnessed ataround February 3 and wouldimpact the weather condi-tions. The system hasinduced changes in whichcold and dry winds.

In the changed weatherconditions night temperatureof the State Capital rose to 14degree Celsius and later itdecreased again to 7.6 degreeCelsius which was recordedon Thursday night.

Met official said thatincreasing temperatures trendwould prevail after 2-3 days.For the second consecutivenight temperatures dippedsignificantly in Rewa division.

Warning of cold day con-ditions has been issued forUmaria, Chhindwara, Seoni,Damoh, Tikamgarh, Bhopal,

Betul, Khandwa, Khargone,Dhar, Indore, Ratlam, Ujjainand Shajapur districts. Statecapital is likely to witnessday and night temperature at23 and 9 degree Celsiusrespectively.

The distr icts whichrecorded low night tempera-tures were 5.8 degree Celsius,Gwalior 6.3 degree Celsius,Khargone 6.8 degree Celsius, Raisen, Rewaand Umaria 5.5 degreeCelsius, Shajapur 7.7 degreecelsius.

Damoh, Jabalpur, Sidhiand Tikamgarh recordednight temperature around 7degree Celsius.

The day temperaturesacross the state were record-ed around 25 degree Celsius.

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Under the film fest OscarNominated Film Festival,

film “The Rules of the Games”was screened at Bharat Bhavanhere on Friday.

The Rules of the Game is a1939 French comedy-dramasatirical film directed by JeanRenoir. It features an ensemblecast of Nora Gregor, PauletteDubost, Mila Parély, MarcelDalio, Julien Carette, RolandToutain, Gaston Modot, PierreMagnier and Jean Renoir.

In this melancholy Frenchsocial satire, André (RolandToutain) is having an affair withChristine (Nora Gregor),whose husband, Robert

(Marcel Dalio), himself is hid-ing a mistress. MeanwhileChristine's married maid,Lisette (Paulette Dubost), isromantically entangled withthe local poacher.

The story of the film con-cerns a weekend gathering ofwealthy French socialites at acountry estate. The focus is onvarious romantic flirtationsand infidelities, involving ser-vants and gentry alike, and assuch and with its allusions toBeaumarchais’s Marriage ofFigaro, it has all the externaltrappings of a light comedy ofmanners.

The film screeningrecieved a satisfactory responseby the Bhopalites. The film fes-tival will continue till Saturday.

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New Delhi: Expenses of a stu-dent on books, stationery anduniform in rural India on anaverage are over 10 percent-age points higher than thosein urban areas, although par-ticipation in education systemhas seen improvement at alllevels , according to theEconomic Survey.

As per the EconomicSurvey 2019-20 tabled in theParliament by FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharaman,the absence of suitable finan-cial support system and highburden of course fee, especiallyin higher education, pushesthe poor and underprivilegedout of the education system.

Citing data from theNational Sample Survey (NSS)

report on 'Key Indicators ofHousehold SocialConsumption on Education inIndia 2017-18', the survey saidthat in 2017-18, there wereabout 13.6 per cent persons ofage 3 to 35 years who werenever enrolled in the educa-tion system.

"The reasons they cite fornot enrolling were 'not inter-ested in education' and 'finan-cial constraints'," it said.

Among those who wereenrolled, drop-out rate was ashigh as 10 per cent at prima-ry level, 17.5 per cent at upperprimary/middle, and 19.8 percent at secondary level, thesurvey added.

Highlighting the chal-lenges for 'Education for All'

initiative, the survey said thecomposition of various com-ponents of expenditure oneducation indicates that thecourse fees, which is 50.8 percent at all India level, amongothers contributes about halfof the average expenditure ofa basic course.

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Punjab Government will pre-sent its Budget for the

Financial year 2020-21 onFebruary 25 during the ensuingBudget session, beginningFebruary 20.

The decision was takenduring the Cabinet meetingon Friday. The Cabinet alsodecided to summon the 11thsession (Budget session) of the15th Punjab Vidhan Sabhafrom February 20 to 28, said anofficial spokesperson.

The Cabinet meeting,chaired by the Chief Minister,authorized the Governor VPSingh Badnore to convene thesession, as per clause (1) ofArticle 174 of the Constitutionof India.

As per the schedule, thebudget session would com-mence on February 20 at 11 amwith obituary references, fol-lowed by the presentation of aBill regarding Punjabi languageat 12 noon.

On February 24, themotion of thanks and discus-sion on the Governor’s Addresswould take place at 11 am, to beresumed in the afternoon at 2pm, after lunch break, till theconclusion of the same.

The reports of theComptroller and AuditorGeneral of India for the year2018-19 (civil, commercial),financial accounts ofGovernment of Punjab for theyear 2018-19, andAppropriation Accounts forthe year 2018-19 would be laidon the table of the House onFebruary 25 at 10 am.

Supplementary demandsfor grants for the year 2019-20,Appropriation Bill on supple-mentary demands for grants forthe year 2019-20, and Budgetestimates for the year 2020-21would be presented before theHouse on February 25.

General discussion on theBudget estimates for the year2020-21 would resume at 10 amon February 26 till their con-clusion.

Non-official businesswould be conducted at 10 amon February 27, followed bydiscussion and voting ondemands regarding budget esti-mates for the year 2020-21,Appropriation Bill in respect ofbudget estimates for the year2020-21 and legislative busi-ness.

The House would be thenadjourned sine-die.

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Liquor may go the pizza wayin Mohali. In a bid to give

a new high to the tipplers, thePunjab Government is mullingto introduce a policy that willsee liquor being delivered homein Mohali.

The State Government isplanning to introduce a plat-form for online home deliveryin Mohali city on an experi-mental basis.

“The online home deliveryof liquor in Mohali will be donein consultation with all the retaillicensees of the city,” said aGovernment spokesperson onFriday following the Cabinetmeeting during which the newExcise Policy for 2020-21 wasapproved.

The spokesperson made itclear that the experiment wouldnot, however, be undertakeneven if a single licensee objectsto it.

As of now, the online homedelivery system has been intro-duced in Maharashtra. If imple-mented, Punjab would be thesecond State in the Country.

“The decision to introduceonline liquor home deliverysystem would, in a way, help inchecking the drunken drivingand accidents due to that besidesadding to the state’s revenue, giv-ing a boost to the liquor busi-ness,” a senior government offi-cial told The Pioneer.

The official said that underthis system, the alcohol wouldbe delivered at customers’homes through platforms justlike the e-commerce web por-tal. “Presently, this is just a pro-posal…It needs to be discussedin detail at various levels andwith all the stakeholdersinvolved,” added the official.

The State Cabinet, in itsmeeting, approved the newexcise policy with a continuedfocus on maintaining stabilityin the liquor trade while pro-tecting the state’s excise revenue.

Under the new policy, theexisting licensees, who attain 12percent excess revenue over theMinimum GuaranteedRevenue (MGR), will beallowed renewal for the year2020-21.

A target of � 6,250 crore

has been fixed as against antic-ipated collection of � 5,676crore of 2019-20, as per the newpolicy.

The excise revenue isexpected to go up to � 5,676crore in 2019-20 from � 5,150crore in 2018-19 as a result ofthe sweeping reforms initiatedby Capt AmarinderGovernment in its previouspro-trade and pro-retail excisepolicy, said an officialspokesperson.

In the new policy, the num-ber of groups had been retainedat last year’s level of 756. TheMGR from retail vends during2020-21 is to be realized at �4,850 crores, as against �4,529.40 crores during 2019-20.The MGR of each group orzone during 2020-21 has beenincreased by 8 percent over2019-20.

The Government can offerrenewal to existing licensees ifthey pay 12 percent excessrevenue over the MGR fixed,for the year 2021-22, and therenewal fee will vary from oneto four percent, depending onthe response of application in

the previous year.Spokesperson pointed out

that the Department wouldinvite applications for renewalof groups or zones of 2019-20for the year 2020-21 through apublic notice. The MGR ofeach group or zone will be fixedat eight percent higher than theMGR of last year, 2019-20.

After the approval ofDeputy Excise and TaxationCommissioners (DETCs)-cum-Collectors of Divisions,the details would be displayedon the notice boards of the con-cerned districts and also be puton the website of theDepartment.

The licensee will submit anapplication to the AssistantExcise and TaxationCommissioner (AETC) con-cerned, along with renewal feeat � 10 lakhs, along with detailsof payments made till dateand an undertaking that hewould deposit 12 percentexcess revenue of the MGRfixed for his group for the year2019-20 by March 20, 2020.

The licensee would also berequired to submit an Affidavit

under order 7 of the PunjabIntoxicants License and SaleOrder, 1956, besides depositingprescribed Fixed License Feeand Additional Fixed LicenseFee on the dates prescribed inthe Excise Policy 2020-21, thatis � 10 lakhs by February 28,2020, and the balance amountby March 23, 2020.

License fee of distillerieswas rationalized last year on thebasis of installed capacity. Onsimilar lines, the license fee ofbottling plants will be ratio-nalized on the basis of bottlinglines and of Breweries on thebasis of capacity.

Cow cess is to be chargedas per provisions of 2019-20, inthe shape of Special LicenseFee, whereas quarterly assessedfee to be charged from bars hasbeen marginally increased.

Further, the StateGovernment is contemplatingimposition of minimum exciseduty on the basis of installedmanufacturing capacity of var-ious manufacturers (distilleriesand bottling plants). This mayrequire an amendment in lawor rules, which can be done

during the year. Flow meterswould be made mandatory forbottling plants.

LIQUOR PRICES LIKELYTO GO UP

With the Governmentenhancing the license fee andexcise duty, the liquor prices isexpected to go up.

Giving details, thespokesperson said that FixedLicense Fee of � 600 crores dur-ing 2019-20 is to be increasedto � 625 crores while theAdditional Fixed License Fee of� 120 crores during 2019-20 isalso to be increased to � 385crores under the new policy.

“Instead of any significantincrease in the quota of differ-ent kinds of liquor, the increasehas only been in the addition-al license fee, because thelicensees can lift quota of liquoras per their choice, out of thisAdditional Fixed License Fee,”said the spokesperson addingthat generally, the fees forlicenses has been modestlyincreased or kept at the exist-ing level.

The excise duty at retail isto be increased nominally (Rsfive for PML, Rs four for IMFLand Rs 2 for beer). At whole-sale stage, there is no increasein excise duty rates at PML, inthe case of IMFL, the increaseis approximately five percentand in the case of Beer, whilethe duty has been enhancedfrom � 62 per BL to � 68 forstrong beer.

As per the new policy, theEx-Distillery Price (EDP) forfixed quota of PML has beenfixed at � 271.11 per case.Now, the retail licensee will beallowed to interchange hisquota of PML, IMFL and Beerup to 15 percent.

The VAT paid on import-ed (BIO) liquor is also to beadjusted in additional fixedlicense fee and additional 12percent revenue requirementfor renewal of licenses nextyear. The L-2B license is to beissued to the retail licenseesonly in his area for sale of BIObrands in partnership withGeneral Stores whose GST tax-able turnover is Rs one croreduring last year.

The number of retail vendshave been retained at last year’slevel of 5835. Bottling Fee onIMFL has been increased fromRe one per bulk litre to Re oneper BL (for EDP up to � 650 percase), Rs 1.25 per BL (for EDP651-2000 per case) and � 1.50per BL (for EDP above 2000).

The licensee can carryforward unsold quota of 2019-20 to next year, that is 2020-21at nominal transfer fee of � 25per PL (for PML), � 40 per PL(for IMFL), � 45 per PL forImported Foreign Liquor, �12 per BL for Imported Fee and� 10 per BL for Beer.

MARRIAGE PALACES TOFACE PENALTY FORUNAUTHORISED CON-SUMPTION

Under the new policy, themarriage palaces would beheld responsible for unautho-rized consumption of liquor ontheir premises. On first offence,penalty of � 25,000, on secondoffence � 50,000, and on thirdoffence, a penalty of Rs onelakh would be charged.

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With the Punjab Police bust-ing a major narco-terror

racket having alleged links to oneof India’s biggest drug smugglingkingpins, the Chief MinisterCapt Amarinder Singh on Fridayasserted that he would not spareanyone found implicated in thecase, irrespective of their politi-cal affiliations.

Capt Amarinder made itclear that the State Governmentwould not allow drug smugglers,narco gangsters and narco-ter-rorists to spread their wings inthe State, which had witnessedmassive decline in the number ofdeaths due to drug abuse as aresult of the efforts of the gov-ernment and the police.

The deaths come downfrom 114 in 2018 to 47 in 2019,said Capt Amarinder whileaddressing a press conferencealong with the state police chiefDinkar Gupta, adding that hisGovernment would not give upthe fight against drugs till theproblem is rooted out com-pletely.

Giving details of Thursdaynight’s arrests and seizures, theChief Minister said that thehouse in Sultanwind village,from which the police seizednearly 195 kilograms of heroinalong with chemicals last nightin the Amritsar border region,allegedly belonged to AnwarMasih, who was a member of theSubordinate Services Board(SSB) – an appointee of the pre-vious SAD-BJP government.

“Investigations are inprogress to ascertain Masih’sinvolvement, who claims to haverented out the house to theaccused arrested last night by theSTF Border Range,” said CaptAmarinder.

However, Masih had, so far,failed to produce any written rentagreement and the people of thearea were also unaware of anytenants living there, he saidadding that preliminary investi-gations had revealed that theaccused had been using thepremises for the past one month.

Congratulating the police onthe seizure and arrests, CaptAmarinder said that initial inves-tigations suggested that the drugnetwork was linked withSimranjit Singh Sandhu, one ofthe biggest drug mafiosi of thecountry, who has recently beendetained in Italy.“We would seekremand of Sandhu, who holds anAustralian passport and wasdetained in Italy on an Interpolpolice from the Gujarat author-ities,” he said.

The Chief Minister said thatthe seizure appeared to be a partof the consignment of 300 kgs ofdrugs that arrived in Mandavi inGujarat last year, and of which200 kg was smuggled intoPunjab. The consignment hadbeen traced to Sandhu, whileefforts were also on to trace theother big fish involved in thecase.

Giving further details of lastnight’s seizure and arrests, theChief Minister said that six per-sons, including an Afghan

national identified as ArmaanBasharmal, have so far beenarrested, with 194.15 kgs ofheroin and several kgs of chem-icals seized from their posses-sion.

A lot of equipment used forrefining of heroin and mixing itwith other products has alsobeen seized from Armaan, whohad come to Punjab a week ago.

Interrogation of Sandhu andfurther investigations in the casewould lead to others involved inthe case and would also revealwhether the drugs were meantfor Punjab or for distributionoutside the state, he said.

Patting the Government andSpecial Task Force’s back for their“success in combating the drugproblem”, the Chief Ministersaid that 35500 cases have beenregistered under the NDPS Actbetween March 2017 andJanuary 2020 (before the presentcase).

In this period, 44,500 smug-glers or peddlers have beenarrested and 11000 are current-ly in prison, said the ChiefMinister, adding that theseefforts had led to a dramaticincrease in the seizure of hero-in (1100 kg from March 2017 toJan 2020, in addition to 194.15kgs seized last night).

As far as rehabilitation wasconcerned, the Buddy andDAPO programmes were work-ing well and so far around 3.5lakh drug victims had visited therehabilitation, OOAT and de-addiction centres.

Unfortunately, Punjab, along

with Delhi, had over the yearsemerged as a lucrative market fordrugs, encouraging smugglersfrom other states and narco ter-rorists from Pakistan to pushnarcotics into the State.

“Punjab Government isworking closely with othernorthern states, sharing regularinformation, to combat the prob-lem,” said Capt Amarinder.

With the DGPs of thesestates meeting every month,there was significant progress incracking down on the drugsmugglers, he said, pointing outthat the Chief Ministers had alsoagreed to meet every six months.

He recalled that his govern-ment had given a list of drugdealers to Canada’s PrimeMinister Justin Trudeau, whichhad led to some change for thepositive, with the Canadianauthorities taking action againstthe smugglers.

In response to a question,the Chief Minister emphasizedthat industrial development andemployment generation werethe key to weaning youth awayfrom the drugs menace, whichwas affecting the whole world,including the advanced nations.

Replying to another ques-tion, the Chief Minister said thathe would look into the need torevise and add more chaptersabout drug abuse awareness inschool curriculum.

HAVE SOUGHT ANTI-DRONE DEVICES FROMCENTRE

Admitting that use of dronesby Pakistan in recent months tosmuggle weapons and drugsinto Punjab was a matter of seri-ous concern for the State, theChief Minister said that theState Government had soughtanti-drone devices from theCentre to tackle the problem.

The Chief Minister said thathe had taken up the issue withthe Centre when the first case ofdrones came to light in Augustlast year. “We are trying to get the

anti-drone devices to check thisproblem…I think Israel has thetechnology and Centre is work-ing on that,” he added.

“Punjab has become a hubof drug trafficking because of themoney involved…The drugs arecoming into Punjab basicallyfrom Afghanistan. But now,cases have come into light withdrugs coming in from Uri,Chamba, Delhi, which could befrom Nepal, and south westernside,” said Capt Amarinder.

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Taking the fight against nar-cotics to a different level,

the Punjab Government onFriday made clear its intentionto reward the drug-free villagepanchayats.

“The Government ismulling over a proposal toreward the panchayats whichhave declared the villages underit 100 percent drug free by giv-ing them special grants for theirdevelopment,” said the ChiefMinister Capt AmarinderSingh.Capt Amarinder saidthat some sarpanches havetold me that they have declaredtheir villages drug-free. “Wewould encourage them by giv-ing special grants for develop-ment,” he added.

However, this is not for thefirst time that the StateGovernment has announced toreward the villages for declar-

ing themselves completely freefrom the grip of the drugs.

Capt Amarinder, in 2018,had made similar announce-ment, while SAD’s Surjit SinghRakhra had also announced togive special grants to the pan-chayats in 2012 under the pre-vious SAD-BJP regime.

In fact, the government, atone point of time, was also con-sidering the proposal to give agrant of � 5 lakh to each villageto purchase gym and sportsequipment for youth to helpkeep them away from drugs.

The state Panchayats andRural Development MinisterTripat Rajinder Singh Bajwa, inJuly 2018, had declared thatevery village, that turns drug-free, would get a grant of Rs fivelakh to purchase gym andsports goods for youth.

Notably, several villagesare coming forward declaringthemselves as drug free.

New Delhi: India on Fridaybanned exports of all kinds ofpersonal protection equipment,including clothing and masksused to protect people from airborne particles.

The move assumes signif-icance as there could be aspurt in demand for suchproducts due to outbreak ofdeadly coronavirus that hasclaimed more than 200 lives inChina while the number ofconfirmed cases reached near10,000.

"Exports of all varieties ofpersonal protection equip-ment including clothing andmasks used to protect thewearer from air borne parti-cles and/or any other respira-tory masks or any other per-sonal protective clothing(including coveralls and N95masks)...Is hereby prohibitedwith immediate effect till fur-ther orders," the directorategeneral of foreign trade(DGFT) said in a notification.

Air India's 423-seaterjumbo B747 plane took offfrom the Delhi airport onFriday to evacuate Indiannationals from Wuhan asChina deals with the novel

coronavirus outbreak.Around 400 Indians are

expected to be evacuated. AirIndia Chairman andManaging Director AshwaniLohani said on Friday morn-ing, "No service will takeplace in the plane. Whateverfood is there will be kept inseat pockets. As there will beno service, there will be nointeraction (between cabincrew and passengers)."

"Masks have beenarranged for the crew and pas-sengers. For our crew, wehave also arranged a complete

protective gear," he added.The government has

reached out to over 600Indians living in China'sHubei province, the epicentreof the outbreak, to ascertaintheir willingness to be broughtback to India. In a separatenotification, the DGFT hasalso banned imports of stocklot papers.

These are kind of dis-carded, improper sized andunused papers.

The move aims at cuttingdown imports of non-essentialitems into the country. PTI

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The Jaleswar police havearrested three persons

allegedly involved in the gan-grape of a husband-desertedwoman of village Kubadiaunder the MohammadpatnaGP in the district on January17.

The arrestees were iden-tified as Das Marandi , ArjunMurmu of village Sainpadaand Chadan Dehuri of villageNatabada .

The victim having fourchildren is a daily wage earn-er.

The incident occurredwhen the victim was return-

ing with a male companionLisku Tudu from villageSainpada of Raibania GP by acycle.

They were intercepted byfour persons on the way.While Lisku fled from thespot the victim was forciblydragged to nearby jungle bythe accused and raped.

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Regarding the continuingstr ike of Anganwadi

workers, the director ofIntegrated ChildDevelopment Services (ICDS)Jharna Kamthan has directedofficials of the department totake proper action to preventthe negative effect of theprotest on departmentalschemes.

However, the Anganwadiworkers association presi-dent Rekha Negi alleged thatKamthan is making contra-dictory statements regardingthe action reportedly direct-ed on the striking workers.

According to Rek haNegi, “When we questionedJharna Kamthan about howwe can be issued noticewhen we have not violatedany law and have informedthe department days agoabout our protest, she toldus that she is not aware ofthe notice issued to us andof f ic ia l s l i ke Dis t r ic tProgramme Officer (DPO)and Child Development

Project Officer (CDPO) havethe rights to take decisionsas they are the one whoappoints us too. But whiletalking to media persons,she gave a statement sayingthat she told the officials tot a ke t he prop er ac t ionagains t t he Anganwadiworkers.”

However ICDS directorJharna Kamthan has deniedthis allegation by Anganwadiworkers. According to her, “Idid not say anything abouttaking any actions againstAnganwadi workers or toterminate their services.

S ince their s tr ike isgoing on for so long, I didnot want it to have an effecton the schemes related toAnganwadi workers thataffect the children in theAnganwadi centres too, so Ijust asked the DPOs to takenecessary actions as per therules. It is up to DPOs howthey proceed in order tomake the Anganwadi centresrun in an area.”

It is pertinent to men-tion here that Anganwadiworkers have been protest-

ing for about 57 days in sup-p or t of t he i r demandsincluding raise in allowance.They have also been under-taking hunger strike untodeath for about 23 daysthough the authorities havepicked up a number ofhunger strikers so far due tohealth concerns.

They have also warnedto commit self immolation ift he gover nment do es not accept t he i rdemands. However, therehas been no initiation of set-tlement from any officials ofthe government, said RekhaNegi.

Besides, the last two

protesting workers BasantaRawat and MadhurvadniTiwari who were on fastunto death for three dayshave been admitted to thehospital by police and newduo, Sak i ran Khatoon and Urmila Tomarhave taken up a fast untodeath.

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Aday-long workshop on“Marketing of Organic

Products of Horticulture andVegetables” was held at trib-al Gumma area in Gajapatidistrict on Thursday. Morethan 200 farmers of the dis-trict participated.

Most of the farmersdemanded establishing astate- of- the- art cooling

chamber at Block headquar-ters, Gumma under Gajapatidistrict to facilitate storage ofmyriad horticulture and veg-etable products of tribalfarmers during peak season.

Former Deputy Speakerof Assembly and advisor ofOdisha AgriculturalMarketing Board RamaChandra Panda graced theevent as chief guest. Pandahailed the efforts of the orga-

nizers. He visited the incom-plete market-yard andgodown site at Gumma Blockto take stock of the progressof work and expressed hisconcerns that the construc-tion work of the market-yardand the godown was yet to becompleted even though thetarget period of constructionwas over.

He asked the local officersto issue notice to the execut-

ing agency to complete theproject within one month orelse pay compensation.

Among others, DeputyDirector of Horticulture,

Gajapati, K Sudarsan andProfessor of KeralaAgricultural University,Thrissur Dr GS Arularsamspoke.

President of PREM DrJacob Thundyil, secretary ofRMC L Raghubabu, GummaBDO Natabara Garada,Gajendra Gamango andDirector of CCD A JagannathRaju werepresent.

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Leaders of 14 Opposition par-ties, including the Congress,

on Friday wore black arm bandsduring the President’s address toboth the Houses of Parliament,saying it was “shameful” on thepart of the Government toclaim the CAA as an achieve-ment. Opposition parties decid-ed to move amendments toPresident Ram Nath Kovind’saddress seeking the removal ofreference made to the passage ofthe CAA from it.

The Opposition leaders alsostaged a protest outsideMahatma Gandhi’s statue inParliament complex and raisedslogans against the Governmentwhile standing in solidarity

with those protesting against theNational Population Register(NPR), National Register ofCitizens (NRC) and CitizenshipAmendment Act (CAA).

Leaders of these parties,including Leader of Oppositionin Rajya Sabha Ghulam NabiAzad and Congress presidentSonia Gandhi did not sit ontheir designated seats in thefront and second rows and sattogether in one block in theCentral hall of Parliament dur-ing the president’s address as amark of their protest.

Outside the ParliamentSonia was accompanied byparty leader Rahul Gandhi,Azad, senior party leadersMotilal Vohra, Ahmed Patel,Adhir Ranjan Choudhury, A KAntony and all party MPs from

Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha.They held placards that read‘Save the Constitution’ andraised anti-government sloganswhile expressing solidarity withthe protesters against the CAA,NPR and the NRC.

The black bands were wornas a mark of protest against thealleged attack on theConstitution of India with thepassage of the amendedCitizenship Act by the govern-ment, the leaders said.

Opposition members alsoprotested after President Kovindhailed the CAA in his address.As soon as the president madethese remarks, some oppositionmembers shouted “shame,shame” and displayed bannersin the Central Hall.

Among the leaders of the

opposition parties who woreblack bands were NationalistCongress Party (NCP),Samajwadi Party (SP), DravidaMunnetra Kazhagam (DMK),Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD),Communist Party of India(Marxist), Communist Party ofIndia, Shiv Sena, JharkhandMukti Morcha Janata Dal(Secular), Revolutionary

Socialist Party (RSP), KeralaCongress (M), Indian UnionMuslim League (IUML) and theNational Conference (NC),besides the Congress, thesources said.

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The Economic Survey 2020,pointed out that the

Government interventions likedebt waiver or food subsidies endup creating distortions in thefunctioning of the free market.The Survey says that debt waiv-er schemes’ disrupt credit cultureand disrupt formal credit flow tothe very farmers it aims to ben-efit. The share of agriculture andallied sector in the total grossvalue added (GVA) of the coun-try has been continuously declin-ing from 18.2 per cent in 2014-15 t0 16.5 per cent in 2019-20.

The Economic Surveypicked four instances wherearchaic Government interven-tions have created more prob-lems than they solve whichinclude rationalisation ofEssential Commodities Act,Drug Price Control Order(DPCO), food subsidies anddebt waiver.

The food subsidy Bill hasincreased from �1,13,171.2 crorein 2014-15 to �1,71,127.5 crorein 2018-19, it said adding that thereasons for widening of the foodsubsidy have been many. Whilethe economic cost has increased,the central issue price (the rateat which grains are sold in rationshops) for NFSA beneficiarieshas not been revised from �200per quintal in case of wheat and

�300 per quintal in the case ofrice. Foodgrains via ration shopsare supplied at highly subsidisedrates of �3 per kg for rice, �2 perkg for wheat and Rs 1 per kg forcoarse grains through PublicDistribution System (PDS) as perthe National Food Security Act(NFSA).

“While the interests of thevulnerable sections of the pop-ulation need to be safeguarded,for sustainability of food securi-ty operations, the issue of bur-

geoning food subsidy bill needsto be addressed,” the Surveyadded.

The NFSA has been imple-mented in all states and Unionterritories. However, inChandigarh, Puducherry andurban areas of Dadra and NagarHaveli, the NFSA is being imple-mented in cash transfer mode,under which food subsidy isbeing transferred into the bankaccounts of beneficiaries whothen have a choice to buy food-grains from open market.

During the financial year2019-20, the government allo-cated 603.88 lakh tonnes offoodgrains to states and UTsunder the NFSA and other wel-

fare schemes as on December2019. Under the NFSA, the gov-ernment supplies 5 kg of sub-sidised foodgrains to each per-son per month to over 81 crorepeople through 5 lakh rationshops in the country.

The Economic Survey alsopitched for scrapping of theEssential Commodities Act(ECA), Drug Price ControlOrder (DPCO) and debt waiv-er saying the law is “anachro-nistic” that leads to harassmentand is of no help in checkingprice volatility. The survey saidthat these acts should be let goof for more economic freedomto the market and to spur wealthcreation.

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For the first time, scientists will beusing hi-tech sophisticated sci-

entific tools and techniques such aslaser, sonar, doppler, GPS and GIStechnology to conduct river habitatassessment in the Ganga basin aim-ing to maintain its aviral dhara(continuous flow) and nirmaldhara(unpolluted flow).

The survey will be conducted bythe National Mission for CleanGanga (NMCG) in collaborationwith the Delhi-based WildlifeInstitute of India (WII) under theNamami Gange programme of theUnion Ministry of Jal Shakti wherinten rivers in the eight States in theGanga basin will be covered.

The rivers include Ganga,Ramganga, Yamuna, Gomti, Ghagra,Gandak, Koshi, Son, Chambal and

Rupnarayan covering from source toits respective confluences.

Director General of NMCG,Rajiv Ranjan Mishra said that thesurvey team will use the state-of-the-art scientific tools and techniquessuch as laser based distance mea-surement units for channel widthdetermination, sonar-based channeldepth estimator, Doppler-based riverflow determination, GPS and GIStechnology in combination with thelocal traditional knowledge of theriverside communities.

A large number of GangaPraharis created for river conservationwill support the assessment as the rep-resentatives of local communities.

Miishra said that in the FirstNational Ganga Council meeting onDecember 14, 2019 at Kanpur, it wasagreed that aquatic biodiversity con-servation such as Gangetic dolphin

is important for river conservation. He further said that a compre-

hensive project has been awarded to

WII for scaling up the aquatic speciesconservation in the Ganga basin.

Project In-charge Dr. SA Hussain

and Dr Ruchi Badola said that theassessment will generate baselinedata on river habitat conditions

based on which a roadmap will beprepared for aquatic biodiversityconservation in Ganga basin forensuring Nirmal Dhara andAviralDhara of not only Ganga riverbut also in its tributaries.

According to a survey by theWII, around 49 per cent of the GangaRiver has high biodiversity value andspecies of conservation concern arereappearing as the river is gettingmuch more cleaner.

Dr. Hussain said the initiativewill successfully address the biodi-versity and river conservation issuesin the Ganga basin, which will be amodel for science based river con-servation in India.

Raiver Ganga, with over 2,525km long mainstream, is one resourcethat sustains multiple functions-pertaining to ecological, socio-cul-tural and livelihoods in India.

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To promote preventivehealthcare, 1.5 lakh

Ayushman Bharat Health &Wellness Centres are proposedto be set up by 2022 under theAyushman Bharat health flag-ship scheme, according to theEconomic Survey 2019-20tabled by Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman inParliament on Friday.

As on January 14, 2020, theGovernment has been able to setup just 28,000 health and well-ness centres under its flagshipscheme launched last year.

Citing the latest NationalHealth Accounts (NHA) 2016-17 data, the economic survey onFriday said that out of pocketexpenditure as a percentage oftotal health expenditure hasdeclined from 64.2 per cent in2013-14 to 58.7 per cent in2016-17. Talking about perfor-mance of the MissionIndradhanush, the survey said3.39 crore children and 87.18lakh pregnant women in 680districts across the country havebeen vaccinated.”

New vaccines such asMeasles-Rubella (MR),

Pneumococcal ConjugateVaccine, Rotavirus Vaccine andInactivated Polio Vaccine havealso been introduced, it added.

Primary healthcareaccounts for 52.1 per cent ofIndia’s current public expendi-ture on health as per theNational Health Estimates,2016-17. The National HealthPolicy, 2017 recommended tospend at least two thirds of thegovernment’s health expenditureon primary healthcare, it added.

“Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan ArogyaYojana (PM-JAY), the world’slargest health insurance scheme,is a major step towards provid-ing affordable healthcare to theidentified poor,” the Survey said.

The scheme has been rolledout based on the deprivation andoccupational criteria of theSocio-Economic Caste Censusfor rural and urban areas,respectively, it added.

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As many as 5,151 projectsworth more than �2 lakh

crore are being implemented in100 cities under theGovernment’s Smart CityMission. According to theEconomic Survey of India 2019-20, all 100 cities under the mis-sion have incorporated SpecialPurpose Vehicles (SPVs), CityLevel Advisory Forums(CLAFs) and appointed ProjectManagement Consultants(PMCs). Talking about achieve-ments of ‘Smart Cities Mission’(SCM), the survey said that“Since the launch of the mission,5,151 projects worth more than�2 lakh crore are at variousstages of implementation in the100 cities,”.

As on November 14, 2019,4,154 SCM projects worth�1.49 lakh crore (72 per centof the total proposals) havebeen tendered, of which 3,359projects worth �1.05 lakhcrores (51 per cent of totalproposals) have been issuedwork orders. As many as 1,290projects worth �22,569 croreshave been completed and areoperational.

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Amidst shouts of shame-shame from the black band

sporting Opposition MPs,President Ram Nath Kovind onFriday hailed the newCitizenship Amendment Act(CAA) as “historic” and a ful-filment of Mahatma Gandhi’swish even as he denouncedviolence “in the name ofprotests” saying it weakened thesociety and the nation. ThePresident, however, did notrefer to the National Register ofCitizens (NRC) in his addresseven as he hastened to stressthe importance of “mutual dis-cussion and debate” to consolidate democracy.

As the Citizenship(Amendment) Act (CAA) hasset the ruling and oppositionparties on the path of con-frontation since its passing lastDecember, the two sides againstood face to face in the centralhall with the government againaffirming that CAA was theurgent need of the time byhighlighting suppression ofminorities in Pakistan and also

citing the ‘Nanakana Sahib’incident in the neibhouringcountry.

“While condemning theatrocities on the minorities inPakistan, I urge the world com-munity to take cognizance of itand take necessary steps in thisregard,” the President said.

The reference to the CAAand abrogation of autonomy ofJammu and Kashmir underArticle 370 drew loud and pro-longed thumping of benches bythe ruling MPs, including PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, Union

Home Ministers Amit Shah,Defence Minister Rajnath Singhand others, while the oppositionmembers shouted “shame-shame”. The President looked upfor a few seconds but went onreading the written address.

The address devoted gen-erous space to the nullifying ofarticle 370 and the new Kashmir.The President whose address iscustomarily the account of thegovernment policies, said thehistoric measure led to the ful-filling of wishes of ShyamaPrasad Mukherjee, the founder

president of the ̀ Bharatiya JanaSangh`, who wanted that allstates and union territoriesshould be having equal funda-mental rights and benefits .

Congress president SoniaGandhi and the party’s leader inRajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azadsat in the back rows in theCentral Hall of Parliamentinstead of the front seats allot-ted to them to mark their protestagainst the law.

Delivering his 70-minuteaddress in Hindi which marksthe start of the Parliament’sBudget session, Kovind pointedout that mutual discussions anddebates strengthen democracy.

“At the same time, anykind of violence in the name ofprotests weakens the societyand the nation.” he said with-out directly referring to theanti-CAA protests in the coun-try some of which have wit-nessed violence.

He said Mahatma Gandhihad said that Hindus and Sikhs

of Pakistan, who do not wish tolive there, can come to India andit is the duty of the Indian gov-ernment to ensure a normal lifefor them.

“It is our responsibility tohonour this wish of the found-ing fathers of our nation. I amhappy that both the Houses ofParliament have fulfilled thiswish, by enacting the CitizenshipAmendment Act. At a timewhen the country is celebratingthe 150th birth anniversary ofGandhiji, all of you have givenparamount consideration to thissentiment,” Kovind said.

Referring to atrocities onminorities in Pakistan, thePresident said, “We have allseen what happened in NankanaSahib recently. It is the respon-sibility of all of us to bring theatrocities being committed inPakistan to the notice of theglobal community.” TheNankana Sahib gurudwara inPakistan was attacked by a mobearlier this month.

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Against the backdrop ofongoing anti-CAA stir

across the country, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi onFriday asked the NationalDemocratic Alliance (NDA)members to aggressivelydefend the new citizenshiplaw that grants Indian nation-ality to the six persecutedminorities, barring Muslims,from Pakistan, Bangladesh andAfghanistan.

Modi sought MPs to takeon the Opposition’s chargethat the amended citizenshiplaw discriminated againstMuslims and said that minori-ties are as much “ours as othercitizens are”.

A BJP ally said after themeeting that Modi asked theNDA leaders, who met tostrategise as Parliament’sBudget Session began here onFriday, to go on the front-footto take on the Opposition’s

charge that the amended citi-zenship law discriminatedagainst Muslims.

The Government has donenothing wrong as far as theCAA is concerned and has noreason to feel defensive about,he said.

The NDA leaders alsohailed Modi for the Bodoaccord and settlement of Brutribe members in Tripura.

Opposition leaders havesaid they will raise the issue ofnationwide protests againstthe CAA in the Session, as theyaccused the Modi Government

of arrogance and making noeffort to reach out to protest-ers.

The sporadic protests inDelhi and other cities havebrought CAA at the centre-stage of the current BudgetSession with Congress andother Opposition parties set tocorner the Government onthe issue and the latter set togo aggressive on it and notback out.

The Delhi election inFebruary has already chargedboth the sides and the issuehas, seemingly , a polarisingimpact on the polls with theBJP trying to inject nationalissues like CAA in the cam-paign while AAP is seeking tofocus on local developmentalissues.

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The JD(U) on Friday urgedthe Government to remove

questions seeking details ofparents in the NationalPopulation Register (NPR)questionnaire.

Janata Dal (United) leaderLalan Singh said he raised theissue at the NDA meeting andUnion Home Minister AmitShah assured that the matterwill be discussed. Singh said theShiromani Akali Dal (SAD),another BJP ally, also support-ed the JD(U) on the issue.

Union Minister PrakashJavadekar had earlier clarifiedthat people are free not to

answer questions about theirparents such as place and dateof birth in the NPR exercise.

The JD(U), which is head-ed by Bihar Chief MinisterNitish Kumar, has backed thegovernment on the Citizenship(Amendment) Act, and theBihar government hadannounced the roll-out of theNPR exercise in the state.

With criticism rising aboutthe questions on parents’ detailsin the NPR on the ground thatmany people may not be awareabout the place and date ofbirth of their parents, theGovernment has already saidthat answering them is notcompulsory.

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New Delhi: The SupremeCourt Friday agreed to hear aplea seeking quashing ofnotices sent to alleged protes-tors by district administrationfor recovering losses caused bydamage to public propertiesduring the anti-CAA agita-tions in Uttar Pradesh andasked the State to respond to it.A Bench comprising Justices DY Chandrachud and K MJoseph issued notice to theUttar PradeshGovernment onthe plea and directed it to fileits reply within four weeks.

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The Congress on Friday camedown heavily on the projec-

tions of the Economic Survey,saying the findings are “totallydisconnected with the reality”.

The party said the prices ofcommodities are rising and theGovernment has not said how itwill contain the food inflation.The “Make in India” has failed so“Assemble in India” has come upbut this will not add value to theGDP as already the position is

grim, the Congress said.“The Economic Survey

comes nowhere close to reveal-ing what the actual situation is.India is facing a very difficulttime due to the Narendra ModiGovernment’s mismanagementyet if you look at the EconomicSurvey, you will find it is totallydisconnected from this grimreality,” Congress spokespersonRajeev Gowda said.

Gowda said the EconomicSurvey is not about talking of thepast but the current situation in

the country. “The current situ-ation is - the economy is in theworst phase in 52 years withunemployment at an all-timehigh,” said the Rajya Sabhamember.

“In this Economic Survey,the Chief Economic Advisorpays scant attention to distribu-tion and inequality. Even today,inequality is worsening. RecentOxfam report says richest 1 percent of India hold over 40 percent of national wealth,” partyleader Gaurav Vallabh said.

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Page 6: The Pioneer · ˘˘ˇ˘ ˆ ˙ ˘ˇˆ ˙ ˆ ˚ ˇ ˇ ˜ ! ˇ ˆ˝ ˆ ˘˝ " ˆ #$ ˆ ˘ ˜ ˇ % & ˆ˘ ˇ ’ ( ) * * ˆ

The Economic Survey for 2019-20 hasbeen prepared by the Chief EconomicAdvisor, Dr K Subramanian, keeping

the ambitious target of achieving the $ 5 tril-lion economy status by 2024-25, set by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, at its centre. Therigorous analysis (a lot of it involves runningof “regression equations” — a euphemismin econometric analysis to bring out corre-lation between various economic parame-ters) done by the CEA has to be seen in thebackdrop of deceleration in the GDP (grossdomestic product) growth to its 11-year-lowof five per cent during the current year (firstadvance estimate) and the dire need to res-urrect it without losing much time. Indeed,he projects the growth for 2020-21 at 6.5 percent (pertinently, this is significantly high-er than the projection of the InternationalMonetary Fund [IMF] at 5.5 per cent).

In sync with this pretty ambitiousrebound and keeping the economy on a highgrowth trajectory for the next four years, thedominant focus of the survey is on “wealthcreation” with better distribution, which ina way also reflects Modi’s assertion time andagain that “unless wealth is created, it won’tget distributed.” These prognosticationsthough need to consider a piece of researchreleased by rights group Oxfam ahead of thejust concluded 50th Annual Meeting of theWorld Economic Forum in Davos,Switzerland. According to the study, India’srichest one per cent holds more than four-times the wealth held by 953 million peo-ple who make up for the bottom 70 per centof the country’s population. Further, thecombined total wealth of 63 Indian billion-aires is higher than the total Union Budgetof India for the fiscal year 2018-19(�24,42,200 crore). Between 2014-15 and2018-19, the average growth in GDP wasabout 7.5 per cent, which demonstrates thatwealth was generated at a fast pace but itsdistribution was highly inequitable. So, byrestoring growth to a higher level 2020-21onward won’t assure better distribution.

The survey gives an indication ofdecline in growth having already bottomedout (during the second quarter, it was 4.5 percent) and that during the second half, thepick-up is anticipated in view of increase inFDI, building demand pressure and increasein GST (Goods and Services Tax) collections.The reference here may be to GST collectionduring November/December, 2019 crossing�100,000 crore each (this is likely to touchRs 115,000 crore). But this is more due tointensified efforts to rein in tax evasion,increasing compliance and checking fraud-ulent claims of input tax credit (ITC) ratherthan being indicative of any significantrevival in economic activity.

In any case, in view of the survey itselftalking of five per cent growth for the wholeyear, it is abundantly clear that there is notgoing to be any dramatic turnaround dur-ing the second half.

To see resurrection of growth during

2020-21, Dr Subramanian hasalluded to the need for deviat-ing from the fiscal deficit targetof three per cent set by the Modigovernment for the year. This initself is a substantial slippagefrom the three per cent glidepath recommended by the DrNK Singh committee on reviewof the Fiscal Responsibility andBudget Management (FRBM)Act to be achieved by 2018-19.Any reference to the three percent benchmark is laughablewhen seen in the backdrop ofthe current year (2019-20),which is expected to end with aslippage to at least four per cent(against a target of 3.3 per cent),that too when off-budget liabil-ities and extra-budgetaryresources (EBRs) are not includ-ed. If EBRs are included (thereare some reports pointing to theFinance Minister’s intent tomaking these transparent inthis budget), then the year mayend up with a deficit close to sixper cent.

Therefore, for boostingdemand and investment (theseare the two overarching con-straints on growth), to expect thegovernment to achieve thismerely by deviating from the so-called prudential fiscal norms(read FRBM) is tantamount to“missing the wood for the trees.”Here, it may be pertinent torecap that already, through a

number of mini-budgets pre-sented by the Finance Minister(a spate of policy announce-ments and support measuresmade during August/September2019 subsequent to the mainbudget presented in July 2019),the Government had alreadyinjected a number of demandboosters.

Indeed, a number of thosemeasures had meant huge lossof revenue. For instance, thesteep reduction in the corporatetax (from 30 per cent to 22 percent for existing firms and from25 per cent to 15 per cent fornew companies to be set up afterOctober 1, 2019) meant a loss ofabout �1,45,000 crore; even afterconsidering many firms notavailing of the lower rates, theactual is still high at about�1,00,000 crore. Taking intoaccount other sops like taxrefund to exporters, special dis-pensation for real estate sector,support to housing finance com-panies and so on, the total sup-port would work out to wellabove �2,50,000 crore.

As stated by the PrimeMinister ad infinitum, the sur-vey, too, reiterates the dire needfor a whopping investment of�100 lakh crore in infrastructureover the next five years. This isto be funded by 39 per cent con-tribution from the UnionGovernment and States each and

22 per cent by the private sector.This will translate to � 8 lakhcrore annually by the Centre andState each. For the Centre, thisamount is even higher than itsbudget fiscal deficit [or total bor-rowings] for the current year.Likewise for the States, thenumbers look theoretical to saythe least. The official think tankwill really have to look for inno-vative ways, including muchgreater participation of privatesector (foreign investmentincluded) of financing the mam-moth investment in infrastruc-ture. It is not as if the task is notdoable. This requires a completeoverhauling of the Indian bank-ing sector as also the non-bankfinance companies (NBFCs). Inthis context, the CEA needs tobe commended for undertakinga comprehensive analysis of thereforms undertaken in the bank-ing sector since 2015-16, vizcleaning up of the balance sheetsof public sector banks (PSBs),the Insolvency and BankruptcyCode (IBC) and its use forrecovery of NPAs (non-per-forming assets), improvement inthe quality of lending and so on.

He has visibly demonstrat-ed as to how indiscriminatelending during 2008-2013 neg-atively affected investment andincrease in the quality of lend-ing from 2014 onward will pos-itively impact investment and

growth. But one wonderswhether the “bad loan” syn-drome has really bottomed outor more skeletons are yet tocome out. The NBFC crisis inparticular raises serious concern,especially when one looks at twobehemoths in this segment, theInfrastructure Leasing andFinancial Services (IL&FS) andDewan Housing and FinanceCompany (DFCL) going bust.Considering that a sizeablechunk of the funds has report-edly been siphoned off by dubi-ous promoters/management,the concern only gets aggravat-ed.

With the government nowbeing forced to consider andsanction specialdispensation/packages even forNBFC (as the stakeholders con-sider their revival as crucial torevival of credit flows, invest-ment and demand), one won-ders we may not be landing ina situation of the exchequerpouring water (read funds) in abottomless pit. One can onlyhope that we don’t see morecases of willful default or misap-propriation of funds or else anyrevival attempt using tax payersmoney is bound to fail.

The survey rightly empha-sises the need for expeditingreforms particularly in the areaof banking (the recommenda-tion for reducing the govern-ment’s shareholding below themajority mark is pending forlong), land acquisition, enforce-ment of contracts, elimination ofbureaucratic red-tape, removingbottlenecks in transportationand clearances at the ports (thisis particularly relevant for boost-ing exports) and so on as thesemajor bottlenecks come in theway of ease of doing businessand attracting investment. Ithas also guarded theGovernment against too muchof intervention and micro-man-agement of activities (includingimplementation of welfareschemes) which, if left to themarket forces, would delivermuch better results. DrSubramanian has aptly articulat-ed the role of what heeuphemistically describes as therole of “invisible hand” juxta-posed with “public trust” instimulating wealth creation.

Both are crucial pillars ingalvanising Indian economy onto a high growth trajectory,yielding better distributioneffects. Seen from an economist’sperspective, this looks eloquent.But, when it comes to executionwhich has to be done by thepolitical class, one gets into a log-jam as it is prone to controllingmost of the things; in fact,almost all of the essential itemsin the consumer’s basket.

(The writer is a New Delhi-based policy analyst)

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Sir — Though stand-up comedi-an Kunal Kamra is absolutelyright to feel aggrieved about ArnabGoswami’s style of “journalism”,he shouldn’t have indulged in aforced debate with Goswami with-out direct provocation from the lat-ter on a personal basis. Of course,the TV anchor threatens, insultsand belittles his guest if he/she doesnot dance to “saffron” tunes andinstigates his viewers against the“sickulars” who dare to questionthe series of unilateral intolerantdivisive agenda of theGovernment. Yet eye for an eye isnot the answer. Let Goswami playthe role of a zealous bhakt in theguise of a journalist but whyshould Kamra allow himself toengage in such a heated one-wayconfrontation, thereby “honour-ing” that very bullying act of theanchor which he is opposing? Solet Goswami do his job as he deemsfit! And Kamra should vent hisfully justified anger through hisown civilised way, i.e. comedyshows, which provide himimmense opportunity to protestagainst pseudo-nationalism, intol-erance and muscle-flexing by rid-ing on pun and satire. “Playing vic-

tim” has been a long-time tactic ofSangh sympathisers, which theyruthlessly milk to their politicaladvantage by playing with foolishreligious, caste and ethnic senti-ments. Why allow Goswami to act

as a “victim” of tirades? Though theincident took place on Indigo air-lines, the Civil Aviation Ministryhas promptly suspended Kamrafrom flying until further notice. Butwhat “exemplary action” had the

Ministry taken when Shiv SenaMP Ravindra Gaikwad hit a crewmember on an AI flight in 2017?The ban on flying was revokedafter he offered a token “regret.”Not to speak of awarding clean-chit

to Pragya Thakur when she alsocreated a scene and refused tocooperate with Spice jet crew.These are just double standardsand are reprehensible.

Kajal ChatterjeeKolkata

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Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “A ban too late” (January 31).Mahatma Gandhi was shot by anindoctrinated fanatic on January30, 1948. On the same day after72 years, another fanatic shot atstudents, who were peacefullyprotesting against the citizen-ship law near Jamia Milia, injur-ing one student in the presence ofpolicemen. The country mustrealise what speeches of politicalleaders can do, as this incidentfollowed election rallies in Delhiwhere BJP leaders AnuragThakur and Parvesh Verma madevitriolic speeches. This irrespon-sible behaviour has to stop beforeit is too late and engulfs the nationin hate.

Sujit DeKolkata

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Not very long ago, December 2017 to beprecise, the world was celebrating thedefeat of the Islamic State (ISIS), the dead-

ly face of terror that had compelled the worldpowers with differing strategic interests to cometogether to defeat it and along with it the ideaof a medieval Islamic Caliphate. The ISIS had suc-ceeded in recreating it by capturing swathes ofterritory in Iraq and Syria, including oil fields,refineries and mine fields of strategic minerals.

The aura of the ISIS was such that it not onlyattracted thousands of jihadists from differentparts of the world, including Europe, but alsodared to challenge the might of the United States(US) by executing and beheading American cit-izens. The menace of ISIS grew so fast and rapid-ly that the entire world was unanimous in coun-tering the threat posed by it. Qaseem Soleimani,an Iranian General, was the face of armed resis-tance against the ISIS in Iraq and Syria along withthe USA, Russia, Turkey and its Europeanallies. Soleimani contributed in a big way in thedefeat of the ISIS. The US and Iran, adversariesin the Middle East, identified a common enemyin the ISIS and effectively fought togetheragainst it to eliminate the terror group’s de factostate in Iraq and Syria. However, realpolitik soonovertook the strategic convergence of interestswith Iran and the US almost at the verge of a warwith a renewed Middle East crisis.

The ongoing US-Iran crisis reached the peaklast month with US President Trump authoris-ing the killing of General Qaseem Soleimani, thehead of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard’s eliteQuds Force and an American ally in the fightagainst ISIS while he was on a visit to Iraq. Thisraised the tensions between the US and Iran toa new level with the future of the US forces inIraq in the doldrums.

It also let loose many Shia militias whichSoleimani had carefully raised and groomed tocounter and challenge the ISIS. Their focus allof a sudden shifted from combatting ISIS to theirnewly-emerged enemy, the US assets and troopsin the Middle East. Under the threat of Iranianretaliation, even the focus of Americans and oth-ers has been diverted from the ISIS and other rad-ical Islamist jihadi terror groups for the timebeing. If at all there was a clear winner of theongoing US-Iran conflict, it was undoubtedly theterror organisation. It has provided the ISIS withthe much-needed oxygen as well as time andspace to reorganise and regroup.

As a result, the US and its allies now face thedual threat of Shia militias and the Sunni radi-cal Islamist jihadi terror groups led by the ISIS.The fall of Soleimani has provided them a newopening. The growing demand of ejecting USforces from Iraq has further complicated thesecurity scenario in the region and in theprocess hurt the efforts to counter ISIS whichhave suffered a serious blow.

My assessment when Iraq’s Prime Ministerdeclared a final victory over Islamic State inDecember 2017 was that the “ISIS may have beendefeated but it was not destroyed. It may havebeen disseminated but was not dissolved.”

According to Goldenberg, an Americandiplomat who had served as Special Advisor inthe Middle East between 2009-12, “The ISISretains an underground presence and could take

advantage of the chaos of an Americanwithdrawal or a US-Iranian conflict toimprove its position in Iraq.”

The assessments are seeming to beproving true with increased frequenciesof terror attacks by the ISIS after theelimination of General Soleimani. Theupheaval created by his killing has givenrise to such conditions in Iraq that theISIS is ever-willing to exploit.

The weakening of the Shia militiasas a consequence to absence ofSoleimani’s charisma as well as sterlingleadership qualities will definitely weak-en the Iraqi Government which wouldcreate a space for the ISIS and otherSunni terror groups to stage a comebackin the region.

Moreover, the US focus shiftingtowards defending its bases in Iraq andthe security of green zone, will allow theterror group to manoeuvre more freely.The ISIS fighters, who had dispersedand gone underground are nowrebuilding and re-emerging fully recu-perated as a potent threat in form ofinsurgency, Improvised ExplosiveDevices, bombings, targetted killingssuicide attacks, sniper attacks and lonewolf attacks. It is too early to assess ifthey would continue with this tactics orattempt once again to establish anIslamic Caliphate.

The US is trying to put up a bravefront by denying any surge in the activ-ities of the terrorist organisation due toits own activities. It is also obstinatelyclaiming that most of the recent attacksby the group may have been plannedwell before the killing of Soleimani(because of the time and resourcesrequired to plan and execute such oper-ations, more so when the ISIS is suffer-

ing from a unified command crisis anddispersion of its fighters). But the factremains that with a divided focus it hasbecome increasingly difficult for the USto contain the terror group.

The flare-up in the US-Iran crisishas certainly provided opportunity toAbu Ibrahim al Qurayshi — the newly-appointed successor of the assassinat-ed long-time ISIS leader Abu Bakr alBaghdadi — to strengthen his grip andrevitalise the terror outfit to intensifyits attacks in the region.

Under Qurayshi’s leadership, thegroup may also attempt to regain lostterritories in Syria and Iraq dependingon the resistance it faces, as this wouldgive the new chief an opportunity toestablish his hold more firmly over thegroup and prove his mettle.

The ISIS attacks on US-backedKurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forceshave also intensified during the lastmonth. The group is also trying torestore and rejuvenate its social mediawing, its main source of funding andrecruitment. Disturbingly, the terroristgroup’s propaganda sites are on the riseon various social media platforms andapps.

The re-emergence of ISIS wouldhave a definite impact on theAfghanistan-Pakistan region (Af-Pakregion) with its consequential fallout forIndia and regional peace and stabilityin South Asia.

Soleimani’s successor, BrigadierGeneral Ismail Qaani, is an old hand atfomenting trouble in Afghanistan andPakistan. Solemani himself had playedan active role in Afghanistan by coop-erating with the Northern Alliance tofight the growing might of the Taliban.

In a later turn of events after theAmerican invasion of Afghanistan,Iran courted Taliban to fight theAmericans and other Western troops inAfghanistan. General Qaani, who till aslate as 2018 was the Iranian deputyAmbassador to Afghanistan, wasinstrumental in managing Iran’s Afghanpolicy.

Pakistan has also been accused ofcross-border terror in Sistan-Baluchistan by Iran. Tehran is opposedto the rise of any Sunni-fundamental-ist regime on its eastern border and withPakistan now assisting the US to forgea deal with the Taliban, Iran has furtherbeen angered.

Shia-Sunni violence in Pakistan andpersecution of Shias remains a constantpoint of friction between Iran andPakistan. Thus a US-Iran conflict mayhave an impact in the situation inAfghanistan with Iran turning a blindeye to the rise of ISIS in the Af-Pakregion as a complimentary threat to theUS. In the process, Iran will try its bestto derail the Afghan peace process.While Iran may have its own axe togrind in Afghanistan and sort outPakistan as well for promoting theAmerican interest in the region, rise ofISIS will have adverse impact on India’ssecurity.

ISIS may well use Pakistan andBangladesh as launch pads to renew itsthreat of Ghazwa-e-Hind. India willhave to be cautious and watchful andat the same time strengthen its intelli-gence apparatus to counter the emerg-ing challenges.

(The author is a Jammu-based vet-eran, political commentator, security andstrategic analyst)

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Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman will present her sec-ond Union Budget today at a

time when the Indian economy isgrappling with the lowest growth insix and a half years, with the GrossDomestic Product (GDP) dipping to4.5 per cent in the July-Septemberquarter. Economists are now more orless in agreement that the currentslowdown has cyclical as well asstructural features.

Also, most economists believe thatit is more of a demand side problemthat needs to be tackled by providingmore disposable incomes in the handsof the people. The fiscal space avail-able to the Government to leverage the

fiscal policy is limited owing to lowerthan expected tax revenues and thecorporate tax cut announced inSeptember 2019 that have constrainedincome.

The Government has alreadycommitted an economic stimulusthrough the National InfrastructurePipeline (NIP), the proposed expen-diture for which in the Financial Year2021 (FY) is �19.5 trillion. Providingsuch funds (the Centre and States arerequired to pitch in 39 per cent each)at a time when the resources of theGovernment have hit rock bottom isa challenge.

Taxes, which are a major sourceof Government revenue, have reachedonly 45.5 per cent of the FY 2020Budget estimates as per the ControllerGeneral of Accounts.

Clearly, the tax collections havenot matched the seven per centgrowth of the economy in the first halfof this fiscal. It is highly unlikely thatthe Government will be able to reachits target tax collection of �24.61 tril-lion by the end of March 2020.Therefore, a larger fiscal hole isexpected in this Budget. The higher

oil prices amid US-Iran tensions havenot helped ease the Government’s fis-cal deficit worries.

When faced with a prolongedslowdown a prescription of fiscalstimulus is normal. When the privatesector is not forthcoming in terms ofconsumption and investment expen-diture, the Government has to step up.The Centre must stretch itself withoutworrying too much about missing thedeficit target. When the fiscal stimu-lus shows its impact, the corporateearnings increase along with that ofretail investors. Also, it directly impactsthe jobs and incomes generated in theprocess.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)has done its bit by changing its stanceon the monetary policy from “neutral”to “accommodative” and reducing therepo rate by 135 basis points in 2019.Thereafter, it adopted a wait-and-watch approach and kept the repo rateunchanged to a nine-year low of 5.15per cent. This was necessitated by ris-ing inflationary pressures in the econ-omy. The RBI has revised its estimateof retail inflation for the second halfto 5.1-4.7 per cent from 3.5-3.7 per

cent. Under the given circumstances,when pursuing an expansionary mon-etary policy looks dangerous and theGovernment finds its hands tied forfiscal stimulus, the question ariseswhat approach should be adopted thatcan be successful in bringing the econ-omy back on track?

Here are some ways throughwhich the Finance Minister can steerthe economy on the path to recovery.

Boost demand: Economists agreethat a slowdown in consumptionthrough a lack of demand has been amajor contributor in the currentdeceleration as consumption is the“engine” of the economy. Hence, theFinance Minister should ensure anincrease in disposable income in thehands of people who have the highmarginal propensity to consume andlow marginal propensity to save.Schemes like the Kisan SammanNidhi, increasing allocations under theMahatma Gandhi National RuralEmployment Guarantee Act, givingincome tax relief to the lower middleclass and even schemes having thecharacter of the Universal BasicIncome (UBI) like Universal Pension

can go a long way in boosting demand,especially rural demand.

Allow States to borrow more:States can help the CentralGovernment in providing a fiscal stim-ulus and distribution of resources. TheCentre should in fact raise the borrow-ing limits of States so that more moneyflows into all regions, thereby boost-ing demand.

Fill Government posts: If theCentre and State Governments decideto fill vacant posts in their offices ona priority basis, it will not only createpurchasing power but also give a fil-lip to the youth who are living throughthe worst employment crisis thecountry has seen in decades.

Private investment revival:Private investment has not picked uptill now due to stress in the bankingsector, especially in the non-bankfinancial company sector, a weaken-ing demand and falling business sen-timent. The early December quarterearnings indicate that the stimulusthrough rate cuts and lower corporatetaxes has not been able to boost busi-ness growth. Net sales of many BSE-listed companies show a lower year on

year growth of 4.07 per cent from 4.81per cent in the preceding Septemberquarter.

Faster revenue generation: TheGovernment’s tax revenue for April-November 2019 was just �11.7 trillion,just 0.8 per cent more than collectedlast year. Through disinvestment also,the Government generated revenue of�18,099 crore, which is way below thetarget of �1.05 trillion that it set foritself. In order to meet its expenditure,the Government will have to step uprevenue generated through the disin-vestment route while not giving anyfurther rebates in income tax rates. Amajor relief in personal income taxrates may also not help in boostingconsumption. Given the present cir-cumstances of low business sentiment,uncertainty in the global businessenvironment and deceleration in pri-vate investment — any increases indisposable income will not convertinto spending entirely — it is likely thatmost of it will be saved for emergen-cies. Instead the Government shouldbring more of high income earnersinto the tax net.

Control wasteful expenditure

for fiscal consolidation: During hardtimes, no one, including theGovernment can afford wastages andleakages. The Government needs toseriously plug in leakages from the sys-tem and plan its expenditure in a bet-ter way.

A cautious monetary policy: Atpresent the RBI has to worry aboutinfusing capital into banks that needit, ensure smooth mergers andtakeovers and prevent any furtherbank frauds that have proven detri-mental to the health of the bankingsector in the past. Some reliefannouncements for the non-bankingsector for purchase of bad assetsshould be there. The transmission ofrates must be ensured and at a quick-er pace, while further reductions canonly be done if inflation allows that.Since the fears of “stagflation” grippingthe Indian economy are already there,the RBI can do nothing more than justwait and watch.

(The writer is Professor and Headof Department of Management andCommerce at Trinity Institute ofProfessional Studies, GGSIPU, inDwarka)

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Lucknow: Three members of thePopular Front of India (PFI) werearrested on Friday for theirinvolvement in the December 19anti-CAA protests in Lucknowwhich had turned violent, policesaid.

Shakeel ur Rehman, ShabiKhan and Mohammed Arshadwere among the conspiratorsbehind the anti-Citizenship(Amendment) Act violence thathad rocked the State Capital, apolice spokesperson said in astatement issued here.

The trio were held fromHasanganj Police Station area ofthe city.

“They were arrested followinga tip-off by their associates whowere arrested earlier. Shakeel urRehman, Shabi Khan and

Mohammed Arshad are linked toPFI, and they used to instigatepeople,” the police said.

On December 31, last year,the Uttar Pradesh Police hadsought a ban on the PFI, days afterits complicity was suspected in therecent statewide violent protestsagainst the amended citizenshiplaw.

The then Uttar PradeshDirector General of Police O PSingh had said that they had writ-ten to the Union Home Ministry,seeking a ban on the PFI after itsUttar Pradesh head, Wasim and16 other activists were arrested forallegedly masterminding the vio-lence in the state capital.

“We have written to the UnionHome Ministry, recommendingthat the PFI should be banned,”

Singh had told reporters here.Deputy Chief Minister

Keshav Prasad Maurya had saidthat the PFI in a way was the“incarnation” of the StudentsIslamic Movement of India (SIMI)— an organisation banned by thegovernment in 2001 for alleged-ly being involved in a series of ter-ror acts in the country.

Stressing that PFI’s role hasbeen “established” in vandalism inthe State, Maurya had toldreporters: “The truth is emergingthrough the probe. If SIMI reap-pears in any form, it will becrushed.” When asked if the PFIwill be banned, Maurya said,“The process is on. Such organi-sations will not be allowed togrow. If needed, they will bebanned.” PTI

Mumbai: The Congress onFriday demanded that a sedition case be registeredagainst the management of aschool in Mumbai for alleged-ly forcing children to supportthe controversial CitizenshipAmendment Act.

The demand from theMaharashtra Congress comesagainst the backdrop of a moveby police from neighbouringKarnataka to slap seditioncharges against a school inBidar there for staging a dramacritical of CAA and PrimeMinister Narendra Modi.

The drama was staged bystudents of fourth, fifth andsixth standard on January 21,and a sedition case was regis-

tered on January 26.The head-mistress of Shaheen Schooland the mother of a studenthave been arrested by Bidarpolice in this case.

According to mediareports, a programme relatingto the CAA was organised atthe school in Matunga here ear-lier this month.

“If sedition case can be reg-istered against students forstaging drama against CAA,then a case of sedition shouldbe filed against a school man-agement and organisers forholding students to ransom tosupport CAA at a Mumbaischool,” Maharashtra Congressspokesperson Sachin Sawantsaid in a statement. PTI

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The Congress on Friday condemned theFIR filed against a Goa Church wing and

an NGO over the presence of children atanti-CAA protest, terming it an “assault ona religious institution”.

The Goa police’s women and child pro-tection unit on Thursday filed an FIR againstCouncil for Social Justice and Peace (GoaChurch’s wing) and National Human RightsOrganisation (Goa Chapter) for using chil-dren to protest against the Citizenship(Amendment) Act at a rally in Margao onJanuary 24.

“The politically dictated FIR by the GoaPolice is not only an attack on freedom ofexpression and speech, but also a directassault on a religious institution,” GoaCongress chief Girish Chodankarsaid.

Talking to reporters here, Chodankaraccused the BJP- led state government of cre-

ating “fear psychosis” among the anti-CAAprotesters, who have been fighting to savethe Constitution.

The FIR was completely “politically dic-tated” by BJP leaders to suppress the voiceof masses, he said.

“When the BJP realised that people areagainst its ulterior motive of passing CAA,they are resorting to such actions,” theCongress leader alleged.

The police has kept several complaintsagainst corruption in the state in cold stor-age, while it was quick to file an FIR in friv-olous and mischievous complaint by anNGO against a Goa Church body, healleged.

Speaking about the issue, BJP’s Goa gen-eral secretary and former MP NarendraSawaikar said, “There is no point in drag-ging children on the street for this issue. Theperson who has filed the complaint musthave found something unconvincing in therally,” he said.

Bengaluru: Days after a sedi-tion case was slapped against aschool in Karnataka, its head-mistress and a student’s moth-er have been arrested foralleged involvement in stagingof a drama portraying PrimeMinister Narendra Modi inpoor light over the CAA andNRC, police said on Friday.The police action came afterthey questioned the twowomen, a few staff members ofthe Shaheen School in the dis-trict headquarters town ofBidar and students onThursday.

They were produced beforea court which remanded themto judicial custody, police saidadding further investigationwas on.

The drama was staged bystudents of fourth, fifth andsixth standard on January 21.

A sedition case was bookedby police on January 26 against

the school, along with someother sections of the IndianPenal Code (IPC) on January26, based on a complaint fromsocial worker NeeleshRakshyal.

The play uploaded onsocial media had gone viral.

Officials said, the utter-ances against the PrimeMinister were not part of theoriginal script, but the motherof a Class six student alleged-ly incorporated them duringthe practice and the teacherallowed it to be part of the

drama.The complainant has

alleged the school authorities‘used’ the students to performa drama where they “abused”Modi in the context of theCitizenship Amendment Actand the National Register ofCitizens.The management triedto create ‘fear’ among theMuslims that they would haveto leave the country if theCAA and NRC were imple-mented, Rakshyal had charged. PTI

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Panaji: The National Student’sUnion of India (NSUI) onFriday filed a complaint withthe director general of police(DGP) against a school inPorvorim for allegedly brain-washing students and makingthem participate in a pro-CAAmarch.

The action has come hoursafter the police registered acriminal case against a wing ofGoa Church and an NGO forallegedly making children takepart in a rally against theCitizenship (Amendment) Act(CAA).

NSUI Goa chief AhrazMulla filed a complaint withthe DGP alleging thatPorvorim-based school VidyaPrabhodini had brainwashedstudents and made them par-ticipate in a pro-CAA rally atPorvorim on December 18 last

year.In its complaint, the NSUI

said the management of VidyaPrabhodini has been brain-washing young students andhad reportedly asked them toparticipate in a rally support-ing CAA and National Registerof Citizens.

The management exposedchildren to political ideologyand aggressive language, andalso exposed them to psycho-logical abuse and an unsafeenvironment, the NSUIalleged.

“There have been com-plaints that students from theinstitution are forced to bepart of such rallies, failingwhich strict action is taken bythe management against stu-dents who oppose NRC andCAA,” the complaint states. PTI

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Thrissur (Ker): A day after India’s firstnovel coronavirus (nCoV) case wasreported from Kerala, the StateGovernment on Friday warned thepeople of the potential gravity of thethreat but maintained that there was noneed to panic.

Camping in this city, where thewoman medical student who camefrom China tested positive for the coro-navirus, Health Minister KK Shailajaactivated the health department and saidthe patient is currently treated at an iso-lation ward of the Government MedicalCollege hospital here.

The condition of the patient is sta-ble, official sources said. Earlier in theday, health authorities shifted the studentfrom the general hospital to theGovernment medical College.

The minister requested those whohad travelled to China in recent days tovoluntarily report themselves to thenearest hospitals. Some have reported tothe health facilities in their neighbour-hood in response to a directive given bythe State Government, she said.

Strengthening its resolve to checkthe spread of illness to others, theMinister directed those coming fromChina and other affected regions tostrictly remain under home quarantine.

The Minister also requested the fam-

ilies of those who returned from thecoronavirus-hit regions to postponemarriages to prevent a possible outbreakof the disease in the state.

“Home quarantines are being doneonly as a precaution. No need to panic,”the Minister told reporters here aftermeeting the private hospital authoritiesto prepare them for facing the challenge.

She said the family members of thepeople coming from the affected-regionsshould abide by the protocol.

“It is heard that in some such fam-ilies, preparations are being made formarriages. There is no harm in tem-porarily postponing the date of the mar-riage. There will be some difficulties inpostponing the marriages fixed earlier.But this is a protocol. This must beobeyed,” Shailaja said. Those who arehome quarantined would be underobservation for 28 days.

“Those who are going for job, theyshould take leave and be under obser-vation. Health volunteers would bearound to solve their problems,” she said.After holding a meeting with represen-tatives of private hospitals in Thrissurdistrict, Shailaja said isolation wards arebeing set up in such facilities and train-ing programmes are being conducted forthe health officialsthere. PTI

Pudukottai/Chennai: Tamil NaduHealth Minister C Vijayabaskar onFriday asserted that there was no caseof coronavirus in the State and said 242people who returned from infection hitChina were being monitored. A dayafter he said 78 people who had arrivedfrom the dragon nation were under‘house quarantine,’ he told reporters atPudukottai that the number of returneeshas climbed to 242.

“As of today, 242 have arrived fromChina and the Public HealthDepartment is in direct touch with allof them. They areall normal. There isno case of coronavirus in Tamil Nadu,”he said. Such returnees were being mon-itored and were under home quarantine,he noted.

As regards a techie who recentlyreturned to his native place inTiruvannamalai district from China,there was no manifestation of any cor-navirus symptom in him, he said.

Hence, there was no need as of nowto take the software engineer’s bloodsample to check if he had contracted theinfection and similar was the status ofa student who has come back toKrishnagiri district, he pointed out.

The Minister asked people not topanic and wanted them to take pre-cautions like washing their hands and

ensuring personal hygiene since thepathogen may spread through airbornedroplets.

Besides, a woman has tested posi-tive for the virus in neighbouringKerala, he noted.

The Dean, Madras Medical Collegeand Rajiv Gandhi Government GeneralHospital, R Jayanthi, told reporters inChennai that a 40-year-old woman whoreturned from China last night has beenadmitted in the isolation ward forobservation though she was found to benormal.

The lady was referred to theRGGGH by a Government facility insuburban Chennai after she had gonethere with “very mild fever.”

Examination by a team of experts,however, found that she was very nor-mal and did not exhibit any symptomof the virus. The top hospital authori-ty said that the woman has been admit-ted for “only observation.”

To a question, she said the citywould soon get a coronavirus testingfacility. People were being sensitisedthrough IEC (Information, Educationand Communication) materials like fly-ers and brochures about the infectionthat originated from China and pre-cautionary measures that were neededlike hygiene,she said. PTI

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Aforeign national hospi-talised in Goa as a

precautionary measure sinceJanuary 28 for the novel coro-navirus has tested negative andwould be discharged soon, asenior State medical officialsaid on Friday.

The man had arrived inGoa after visiting China andwas kept in the isolation wardof Goa Medical College andHospital (GMCH) with symptoms similar to novelcoronavirus, officially called2019-nCoV, infection.

“We have received thereport from the Pune-basedlaboratory. His sample has test-ed negative. As per WorldHealth Organisation guide-lines, he can now be dischargedfrom the ward,” GMCH DeanDr Shivanand Bandekar toldPTI.

The Goa Government, onThursday, said six people wereunder surveillance for sus-pected novel coronavirus infec-tion.

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The Gujarat Governmenthas shared with the

Ministry of External Affairs(MEA) and Indian Embassy inChina the information aboutover 200 students from theState, who are currently inChina and want to return afterthe outbreak of novel coron-avirus in that country, officialssaid on Friday.

The State EmergencyOperation Centre (SEOC) inGujarat has collected andshared the information aboutsuch students and other peoplefrom the State living in China.

“The SEOC control roomin Gandhinagar has shared thedetails of 215 persons, mostlystudents, with the Ministry ofExternal Affairs and the IndianEmbassy in China to helpauthorities in bringing themback,” SOEC Deputy CollectorTrupti Vyas said.

“We had received phonecalls from the parents and rel-atives of 215 persons, mostlystudents. The parents hadinquired about various aspectsof the steps being taken by theGovernment to bring the stu-dents back, about the airlinebooking, connecting flightsand other things,” Vyas said.

All of the parents weregiven contact numbers of theIndian embassy in China forany other inquiry about theirchildren. According to officials,no case of coronavirus hasbeen found in the state so far.

Novel coronavirus belongsto the coronavirus family thatcauses llnesses ranging fromthe common cold to acute res-piratory syndromes. It hasemerged from a seafood andanimal market in Wuhan cityof China and is suspected tohave spread as far as the UnitedStates.

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Acollege girl has lodged apolice complaint against

Bengal BJP president DilipGhosh for threatening murderand making uncouth remarkslowering a woman’s dignity.

The complaint was lodgeda day after Ghosh told themedia that the woman — whowas heckled by the BJP work-ers while protesting againstthe Citizenship AmendmentAct— was lucky to haveescaped with a torn poster“otherwise many more thingscould have happened to her.”

Sudeshna Dutta Gupta, aSecond Year student of SanskritUniversity was allegedly heck-led by BJP workers onThursday while she was stand-ing with an anti-CAA poster bythe route of a AbhinandanYatra (rally) led by Ghosh.

The poster that read “No

CAA, No NRC” apparentlyinfuriated the BJP workerswho challenged the womanand pushed her around untilthe police came to her rescue.

Subsequently, Ghosh toldthe media that “why do thesepeople come to protest? Sheshould consider herself luckythat his party men only tore theposter and did nothing else,”adding, “she had come to thespot either to be humiliated orget martyred…. She shouldremain cautious for the nexttime. We warn her againstsuch misadventures. We havetolerated enough and won’tput up with any such nuisanceagain.”

The woman who wasprotesting alone by holdingaloft a placard only later lodgedan FIR at the Patuli PoliceStation in south-east Kolkata.

“I was not only heckled butalso abused by the people in the

rally and I was luckily saved bythe police men,” Dutta Guptasaid adding, “I have alsobrought charges of murderousintent… he is creating panicand trying to divide the peo-ple… He has also made sexu-al remarks. The women in ourcountry are not safe. Every 22minutes, a woman is raped inIndia. I am not surprised by hiscomment. But he shouldremember that he is a people’srepresentative and must use hiswords with caution.”

Elsewhere CPI(M)’s SujanChakrabarty slammed Ghoshfor publicly acknowledgingthat his party was dividing thepeople to get votes. “Whatmore is left to know the realface of these people and theparty they represent?”Chakrabarty the Left legislatureParty Leader said referring toa recent speech by Ghoshwhere he took pride in divid-

ing the population to garnervotes.

“They (opposition) say thatwe are dividing the people. If Iam doing so I am justified indoing that. I will again dothat. What happened thenwhen you (Congress) dividedIndia and Bengal? What hap-pened when Hindus were tor-tured and driven out of theirown homeland?... I willgivedivisive speeches. Do whatev-er you can,” Ghosh had alleged-ly told in a recent rally.”

Meanwhile, the Left andCongress continued to protestat Jalangi in Murshidabaddemanding the arrest of themain accused and a local TMCleader who allegedly shot deadtwo persons protesting againstthe CAA and NRC. “The twinmurders only prove thatMamata Banerjee is actuallybacking the BJP’s cause,”Chakrabarty saiid.

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The Oxford Union, one ofthe oldest student debating

societies in the world whichcommenced its functions in1823, will host India’s Pad Man, ArunachalamMuruganantham as a keynotespeaker to its global audienceon February 11, 2020.

A school drop out from avillage in Coimbatore district inTamil Nadu, Murugananthamholds an important position inthe hearts of rural as well townwomen in the lower strata ofsociety. His pathbreaking inno-vation helped women all overthe world with a fresh lease oflife, in sanitation, hygiene andhealth. The machine he

designed to manufacture low-cost sanitary napkins and theproducts have become part ofnational folklore whileMuruganantham earned a cultstatus through the ‘sanitaryrevolution’.

No, he is not going tospeak in the Oxford Unionabout the hardship he had toendure to design and developthe low cost but hygienic nap-kins. Muruganantham is car-rying with him a part of theancient Indian ethos of“Vasudaiva Kutumbakam” (theworld itself is a family) andMaanava seva Madhava seva(serving the poor is same asserving the God). “Please don’tbe under the impression thatI’ll be speaking about charity.I’ll never use that word. My

request to the Western world isto be responsible and alert tothe society from day one. Oneshould show his compassionand love to the society even ashe/she starts building the enter-prises from Day One. Weshould not accumulate wealthand postpone the responsibil-

ity to a later day. That’s not fair.It should happen side by side,”Muruganantham told ThePioneer.

He said though he washappy to address the OxfordUnion, he has no politicalviews. “It is the same podiumfrom where the likes of Sir

Winston Churchill, PresidentRonal Regan, Albert Einsteinand Dalai Lama. I don’t haveany qualifications to speak likethem and would like to remainthe same Kongunadu man (thesouth west region of TamilNadu is known asKongunaadu). But my love forhumanity made me accept theinvitation,” he said.

“It would be a great privilege to host you as a guest.We would be thrilled to hostyou for an address,” Sara Dube,president, Oxford Union said inher letter to Muruganantham.

So, Oxford Union, pleasestand by for an enthrallingspeech in rustic Indian Englishfrom a rural person in TamilNadu who took the country bystorm.

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In an effort to reduce noisepollution levels in the coun-

try’s commercial Capital, theMumbai Traffic police onFriday rolled out a novel“Punishing Signal” campaign— centred around “Honkmore, wait more” theme — todiscipline Mumbaikars wholove to honk needlessly evenwhen the traffic signal is red.

A video clip released by theMumbai police ahead of theintroduction and activation of“punishing signals” at majortraffic junctions in the metrop-olis like the Chhatrapati ShivajiMaharaj Terminus (CSMT),Marine Drive, Pedder Road,Hindmata Cinema Dadar andBandra, has gone viral on thesocial media.

As part of the “Punishingsignal” campaign, the citypolice have connected decibelmonitors to traffic signals atmajor traffic junctions in themetropolis. When the cacoph-ony triggered by needlesshonking exceeds the dangeroussound level of 85-decibels, thesignal timers get reset, entail-ing a double waiting time for allvehicles!. And a “punishing”message ‘Honk more, waitmore’, comes on the digital dis-play board installed near thetraffic junctions.

“To change your tomorrow,we must change our habitstoday! We have taken the 1ststep to end the menace ofexcessive honking in #Mumbai. Watch it and#HonkResponsibly,” MumbaiPolice Commissioner SanjayBarve gently prods and exhortsthe motorists through his twit-ter handle @CPMumbaiPoliceto watch the video clip lastingfor nearly two minutes.

The video clip opens at amajor traffic junction inMumbai with a commentary:“Welcome! To the HonkingCapital of the world..! (Amidcacophony of blaring horns

from the vehicles waiting forthe signal to turn green)..Here,people honk even when the sig-nal is red! Savai ahe na ! (Isn’tit their habit). Maybe theythink that by honking, they canmake the signal turn greenfaster! Samjat nahi (They sim-ply don’t understand)”.

Now the video clip intro-duces a professional actor in thegarb of a traffic hawaldar, whotakes the narrative forward.“Wait. We the Mumbai policeare itching to do about this. ..One day we connected decibelmeters to a few signal polesaround the city. If the decibelwent over 85 db, the signalwould re-set and stay red forlonger”. The next day, you getto see motorists honking longerand louder. As the traffic sig-nal stays red for a very longtime, a digital display boardinstalled at the traffic junctioncomes up with a message:“Honk more, wait more”.

The Mumbai Traffic Policehave, in collaboration withFCB Interface, hit upon inno-vative idea to curb noise pol-lution caused by honking attraffic signals. “Horn not okay,please! Find out how the@MumbaiPolice hit the mutebutton on #Mumbai’s recklesshonkers. #HonkResponsibly,”reads a tweet put out by theMumbai police. The“Punishing Signal” campaignlaunched by the Mumbai police

on the twitter has come in forimmense praise from the twit-terati.

“Mumbai is one of thenoisiest cities in the world. Weget to hear a lot of this noise attraffic signals because of honk-ing…Honking is bad habit andan act of traffic indiscipline.Unfortunately, manyMumbaikars indulge in reck-less honking. Honking causesnoise pollution, hurts theeardrums, increases heart rate,creates traffic confusion andcauses stress,” Joint PoliceCommissioner (Traffic)Madhukar Pandey said.

“We recognise unneces-sary honking is a menace butwe do precious little to curb it.The `Punishing Signal’ is oneof the many attempts by theMumbai police to inculcatediscipline among theMumbaikars. We hope thatour campaign will encourageMumbaikars to honk less, andcreate an atmosphere for anoise-free and stress-free com-mute,” Pandey said.

FCB Group Chairman andCEO Rohit Ohri said: “Wehave been partnering MumbaiPolice for many years now.Noise pollution is a big prob-lem in our cities. This new ini-tiative is a fantastic creativesolution for bringing aboutawareness and a behaviourchange among the drivers inMumbai.”

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Three highly trained ‘fiday-eens’ (members of a suicide

squad) of Pakistan based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terroroutfit, tasked to target vitalsecurity installations, werekilled by the joint teams ofsecurity forces near Ban Tollplaza on Jammu-SrinagarNational Highway onFriday.

All three heavily armedterrorists were travelling in aKashmir bound truck, bearingregistration number JK03F-1478, when they were inter-cepted at Bann Toll plaza bypolice at a security check pointaround 5.30 a.m. According topolice, terrorists hiding insidethe truck opened fire on secu-rity forces when they insistedon carrying thorough checkingof the truck.

During the encounter,three associates of JeM terror-ists, including a Kashmir basedlocal guide, along with a driverand conductor were also arrest-ed by the police. The arrest-ed driver is identified as SameerAhmed Dar. A year ago,Sameer Dar’s cousin Adil Dar

had rammed his explosive-laden Maruti Eeco car into aCRPF bus, killing 40 personnelon board. Sameer has report-edly done Masters in geologyfrom Kashmir university.

The incident comes daysbefore the Pulwama attackanniversary on February 14.

Preliminary reports gathered by the police teamsclaimed the trio may have pos-sibly infiltrated from across theInternational border withPakistan via Hiranagar sectorin Kathua district and werebeing escorted in a Kashmirbound truck to their destination.

The truck driver alongwith the conductor had creat-ed a special cavity to hidethese terrorists by packingpolyvinyl bags in a particularpattern.

DGP Police, DilbaghSingh, who visited theencounter site along withsenior police and CRPF offi-cers, told reporters, “accordingto preliminary reports all threeterrorists, belonging to Pakistanbased Jaish-e- Mohammad ter-ror outfit, were eliminated bythe security forces after inter-

cepting a truck in the earlyhours of Friday morning”.

Dilbagh Singh said, “thethree terrorists were armedwith AK rifles including asniper rifle and large quantitiesof ammunition, satellite phone,brand new mobile handsets,wire cutters, grenades,rationsupplies and other essentialitems to last long during theoperation”.

According to preliminary

investigations carried out bythe intelligence agencies, thesethree terrorists were tasked tocarry out attacks on vital secu-rity installations.

Soon after the encounterstarted in the area, traffic on theJammu-Srinagar NationalHighway wassuspended.

Educational institutions inthe neighboring Udhampurdistrict were closed down and

all other vital security installa-tions were put on high alert toprevent any attack.

Thousands of Kashmirbound passengers alsoremained stranded on the high-way at different locationsbetween Jammu and Bann TollPlaza. After the encounter wascalled off and necessary sanitisation operation wascompleted the traffic wasallowed to ply on the highway.

Earlier on September 28,2019, three pro-PakistanHizbul Mujahideen (HM) ter-rorists were eliminated by thejoint team of security forcesduring nine-hour-long opera-tion in Ramban district.

One civilian who was heldhostage by the terrorists insidehis house in Batote town wassafely rescued by the securityforces while one Army jawanhad sacrificed his life and twoother policemen receivedinjuries. In September 2018, agroup of militants,travellingin a Srinagar bound truck,were neutralised near Kakriyalon Jammu-Srinagar Nationalhighway by the security forcesafter they opened fire on apolice patrol party.

��'�� ���'���� �!��4

A‘lathi’ wielding cop ofJammu & Kashmir police

on Friday saved the day forsecurity forces by immediate-ly raising an alarm after detect-ing presence of heavily armedterrorists hiding in a cavity ofa Kashmir bound truck .

Constable Bhomraj,deployed at Police station,Nagrota was the first securitypersonnel on duty who grewsuspicious and directed thedriver of the truck to uncoverthe truck, covered with a plas-tic sheet, so that he can carryout thorough inspection.

Recuperating in an emergency ward ofGovernment Medical collegehospital, police constableBhomraj told reporters, “wheni first stopped the truck at BannToll plaza i directed the driverto throw open a rear windowof the truck”.

Bhomraj said, “first of all,he detected a blanket lying inthe middle of the cavity inside

the truck. As he became suspi-cious, he also noticed a pair ofboots lying there”.

Bhomraj said, “as he grewsuspicious he moved towardsthe driver and directed him tocome down and take out theplastic cover”. Bhomraj said, “ashe climbed the truck and start-ed searching, a group of ter-rorists hiding inside the cavityopened fire”.

“I received bullet injurieson my right arm and was bare-ly saved”. He said, central secu-rity forces, who had takenpositions in the vicinity retal-iated the fire and the encounterstarted.

DGP police DilbaghSingh, visited him in the hos-pital and patted his back for his‘act of bravery’ and wishedhim speedy recovery.

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The Khadi and Village IndustriesCommission (KVIC) and Titan

have come together to launch a lim-ited edition of Khadi wrist watchesto observe the Martyrdom’s Day onThursday and pay tribute toMahatma Gandhi on his 72 deathanniversary.

Union Minister for MSME NitinGadkari launched Khadi wristwatches, specially designed andmanufactured by Titan, in the pres-ence of Minister of State PratapChandra Sarangi, Chairman KVICVK Saxena and CEO Titan Shri RaviKant.

The beautifully designed Khadiedition watch sport a silver dial dis-playing the iconic Charkha with thehand woven signature fabric in thebackground and on the straps. Thegrey-black texture of the watch

depicts the timeless significance ofthe watch. Simplistic in its looks, thewatch is a representation of the‘Spirit of Khadi’.

Applauding the efforts of KVICand Titan, Gadkari said, “MahatmaGandhi believed that every revolu-tion of Charkha spins peace, good-will and love. Two things that wereclosest to Mahatma were Khadiand his watch.

This initiative endeavors to cre-ate a product which is a combina-tion of both the products closest tohis heart.”

Highlighting the efforts taken byKVIC to promote contemporaryKhadi products in the market,Chairman KVIC said, “Khadi is notthe age-old fabric anymore, it is thetimeless fabric of transformationwhich is transforming the lives inrural areas every day. KVIC isexploring the uncharted waters and

experimenting new trends anddesigns which could appeal theIndian as well the Internationalmarkets. “

Saxena said that they haveopened doors for new thoughtsand ideas which could leverage theKhadi fabric and help growth ofKhadi and Village Industries, thuspromoting the rural entrepreneursand Khadi artisans.

“ It is time to uphold our badgeof honor — Khadi, and provide it therespect and dignity it deserves,” hesaid.

Saxena said that one squaremeter of Khadi fabric will be usedfor manufacturing 10 Titan watch-es. 1000 such limited edition time-less timepieces are proposed to besold for now.”

The cost of this special editionwatches for both men and womenis � 5,000.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Fridayagreed to examine a West Bengal-basedmadrasa managing committee’s plea against itsrecent verdict upholding a law on the appoint-ment of teachers by a commission for minor-ity institutions.

The Contai Rahamania High Madrasah hasclaimed that the January 6 verdict by a two-judge Bench of the Supreme Court was contraryto an 11-judge Bench’s judgment that gave fun-damental rights to minority institutions toappoint teachers.

A Bench of Chief Justice SA Bobde and jus-tices BR Gavai and Surya Kant said it will exam-ine the matter, and issued notice to the West Bengal Government and theCentre. PTI

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear a pleaby whistleblower bureaucrat Sanjiv Chaturvedi seeking disclo-sure under the RTI Act about corruption complaints receivedby the PMO against Union Ministers between 2014-17.

A Bench comprising justices L Nageswara Rao and HemantGupta issued a notice to the central public information officer(CPIO) of the PMO and sought a response.

Chaturvedi moved the apex court challenging the Delhi HighCourt’s September 6, 2019 order which had dismissed his pleaand said that the chief information commissioner of the PMOhad not committed any error in deciding his RTI application. PTI

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Fridaysought response from the Centre on a plea byCongress MP Jairam Ramesh who has chal-lenged the constitutional validity of the Rightto Information (Amendment) Act 2019 whichgives power to the Government to prescribetenure, allowances and salary of informationcommissioners.

A Bench of Justices DY Chandrachud andKM Joseph issued notice to the Centre anddirected it to file response on the plea within fourweeks.

Ramesh, a Rajya Sabha MP, has said in hisplea that the RTI amendment Act, 2019 and theRight to Information (Term of Office, Salaries,Allowances and Other Terms and Conditionsof Service) Rules, 2019 “collectively violate” thefundamental right to information of all citizenswhich is guaranteed under theConstitution.

The plea, filed through advocate SunilFernandes, said that provision of the amendedAct “alters the erstwhile fixed tenure” of fiveyears of central information commissioners(CICs) and state information commissioners(SICs), to a “tenure to be prescribed by theCentral Government”. PTI

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Power Grid Corporation ofIndia Limited (POWER-

GRID), a “Maharatna” compa-ny under Ministry of Power,GoI and the “CentralTransmission Utility” (CTU) ofthe country on Friday posted aprofit after tax of �2,673 croreand total income of �9,497crore for the third quarter(Oct-Dec, 2019) on standalonebasis.

On a consolidated basis,the company has posted prof-it after tax and total income of�2,672 crore and �9,541 crorerespectively for the third quar-ter (Oct-Dec, 2019), registeringan increase of about 14 per cent& 7 per cent respectively withrespect to corresponding peri-od of FY19.

For nine-month period(Apr-Dec, 2019), the profitafter tax and total income onstandalone basis are �7,629crore and �27,908 crore respec-tively, which are about 11 percent and 7% higher withrespect to corresponding peri-od of FY19, while on consoli-dated basis, the profit after taxand Total Income are �7,746crore and �28,163 crore arerespectively, registering a

growth of 11% and 8% respec-tively. Capital expenditure andcapitalisation during the quar-ter was about �3,953 crore and�5,557 crore respectively (onconsolidated basis) and thesame for nine month period(Apr-Dec, 2019) were about�10,485 crore and �11,623crore respectively.POWERGRID’s Gross FixedAssets on a consolidated basisstood at about �2,18,838 croreas on Dec 31, 2019.

The Company has target-ed a capital expenditure of�15,000 crore for FY2019-20.

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The Economic Survey onFriday projected revival of

economic growth to 6-6.5 percent next fiscal and suggestedthat the Government shouldrelax the Budget deficit targetto boost growth from a decadelow of 5 per cent this year.

The Survey, released a daybefore Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman presentsthe Union Budget for 2020-21,suggested a cut in food subsidyto create fiscal space at a time when tax revenueswere falling.

Facing the worst econom-ic slowdown since the globalfinancial crisis of 2008-09 thatworsened job prospects, theSurvey said businessmenshould be respected as theycreate wealth and jobs.

For India to become aUSD 5 trillion economy by

2025, it prescribed strengthen-ing trust in the economy,enabling and empowering mar-kets, promotion of pro-businesspolicies, and measures toenhance farmers’ income.

It also suggested reforms tomake it easier to open newbusinesses, register property,pay taxes and enforce contracts.

The Survey called forboosting manufacturing with‘assemble in India for the world’concept and underlined theneed to spend $1.4 trillion ininfrastructure to nearly doublethe size of the economy to $5trillion.

It batted for aggressive dis-investment to bring higherprofitability and efficiency,minimal government inter-vention in markets, encourag-ing entrepreneurship, and sup-porting wealth creation.

For the current fiscal, itprojected a GDP growth of 5

per cent, the lowest in 11 years.Commenting on the

Survey, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi said the reportfocuses on wealth creation forIndians. “It outlines a multi-faceted strategy to achieve aUSD 5 trillion economythrough enterprise, exports,ease of doing business andmore,” he tweeted.

Some economists believethe Survey’s growth forecast istoo optimistic as the recoveryis likely to be slow and shallowamid rising inflation anddeclining investment.

The Survey has been wideof the mark in forecastinggrowth in four out of past fiveyears.

“The deceleration in GDPgrowth can be understoodwithin the framework of aslowing cycle of growth withthe financial sector acting as adrag on the real sector,” it said.

“The government must use itsstrong mandate to deliver expe-ditiously on reforms, which willenable the economy to strong-ly rebound in 2020-21.”

S u r v e y - a u t h o rKrishnamurthy Subramanian,Chief Economic Adviser tothe Finance Ministry, rejectedhis predecessor ArvindSubramanian’s analysis ofIndia’s GDP growth rate beingoverestimated by 2.7 per centpost-2011, saying the allegationwas “unfounded” and “unsub-stantiated by the data”.

As has been argued earlier,the government has to priori-

tise growth, the Survey for2019-20, which was tabled bySitharaman in Parliament, said.

And for this, relaxing thefiscal deficit target could beconsidered, said the Survey --an annual report card on theeconomy.

Sitharaman had projectedthe fiscal deficit at 3.3 per centof the gross domestic productin her budget for 2019-20 butit is widely seen slipping to 3.8per cent as the slowdown low-ered revenue collections andthe government provided atax stimulus to spur invest-ments.

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Chief Economic Adviser KVSubramanian on Friday

said India’s GDP is expected togrow at 6-6.5 per cent next fis-cal as the economic slowdownhas bottomed out.

As per the first advanceestimates released by theNational StatisticalOrganisation (NSO), the coun-try’s economic growth is like-ly to hit an 11-year low of 5 percent in the current fiscal end-ing March 2020.

The Economic Survey2019-20, prepared by a teamlead by Subramanian, has pro-jected the GDP to expand inthe range of 6-6.5 per cent dur-ing 2020-21.

“If you look at the businesscycle phenomena in India, typ-ically if you look at the peaksand troughs and co-relate itwith what has happened, itseems like we have hit thetrough therefore there shouldbe uptick in growth. That iswhat we are Budgeting,” he saidin a media briefing post theEconomic Survey.

Amid a weak environment

for global manufacturing, tradeand demand, the Indian econ-omy slowed down with GDPgrowth moderating to 4.8 percent in the first half of 2019-20,lower than 6.2 per cent in H2of 2018-19.

Based on NSO’s firstadvance estimates of GDPgrowth for 2019-20 at 5 percent, an uptick in GDP growthis expected in the second halfof the fiscal, it said.

According to it, the uptickin second half of 2019-20would be mainly due to tenpositive factors like pickingup of Nifty India ConsumptionIndex for the first time thisyear, an upbeat secondary mar-ket, higher FDI flows, build-upof demand pressure, positiveoutlook for rural consumption,rebound of industrial activity,steady improvement in manu-facturing, growth in merchan-dise exports, higher build-up offoreign exchange reserves andpositive growth rate of GSTrevenue collection.

When asked if there is anychange in meeting USD 5 tril-lion target by 2024-25,Subramanian said,” To best of

my knowledge, there is nochange in deadline.”

On the impactCoronavirus outbreak on theeconomy, he said, “I am not adoctor, (but) it may be verymarginal.”

Subramanian said byfocusing on labour intensivesector, India can create 4 crorejobs by 2025 and 8 crore jobsby 2030.

The CEA said that theIndian banking sector needs toscale up and become propor-tional to the size of the econo-my.

He said exponential rise inIndia’s GDP and GDP per capi-ta post liberalisation coincideswith wealth generation in thestock market.

Subramanian said Indiashould strengthen the invisiblehand of markets together withthe hand of trust that can sup-port markets, in line with theeconomic model advocated inour traditional thinking.

He said a 10 per centincrease in registration of newfirms in a district yields a 1.8per cent increase in districtlevel GDP.

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To prevent ‘lack of infra-structure’ becoming a

‘binding constraint’ on thegrowth of Indian economythat aspires to become a USD5 trillion by 2024-25, thecountry needs to spend aboutUSD 1.4 trillion on infra-structure, the EconomicSurvey said on Friday.

Investment in infrastruc-ture is necessary for the econ-omy, as power shortages, inad-equate transport and poorconnectivity affect overallgrowth performance, theEconomic Survey for 2019-20tabled in Parliament by UnionFinance and Corporate AffairsMinister Nirmala Sitharamanstated.

“To achieve the GDP ofUSD 5 trillion by 2024-25,India needs to spend aboutUSD 1.4 trillion on infra-structure. The challenge is tostep-up annual infrastructureinvestment so that lack ofinfrastructure does notbecome a binding constrainton the growth of the Indian economy,” theSurvey said.

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Rising inflation may haveburnt a hole in common

man’s pocket but FinanceMinistry’s chief economic advi-sor believes otherwise as hebrought a novel ‘thali’ conceptto otherwise heavy-duty datacrunching to drive home thepoint that affordability of aplate of meal has improved.

Calling it ‘Thalinomics’,Krishnamurthy VSubramanian compared priceof standard veg and non-vegmeal plates across the countryto say that affordability as a fac-tor of daily wage has improvedovertime, indicating improvedwelfare of the common person.

The affordability of vege-tarian ‘thalis’ improved by 29per cent while that of non-veg-etarian by 18 per cent between2006-07 and 2019-20, theEconomic Survey said in itschapter ‘Thalinomics -- TheEconomics of a Plate of Foodin India”.

The conclusion has beendrawn after analysing the datafrom the Consumer PriceIndex for industrial workers foraround 80 centres in 25

states/Union Territories fromApril 2006 to October 2019.

As per the survey, a vege-tarian thali comprises a servingof cereals, ‘sabzi and dal’ andthe non-vegetarian thali com-prises of cereals, sabzi and anon-vegetarian component.

“Both across India and thefour regions - north, south, eastand west - we find that theabsolute prices of a vegetarianthali have decreased since2015-16 though it increasedduring 2019. This is owing tosignificant moderation in theprices of vegetables and dalfrom 2015-16 when comparedto the previous trend ofincreasing prices,” the surveysaid.

In fact, the increase inprices of pulses and vegetablescontributed to the increase inthe thali price during 2019-20(April-October).

“If the prices of a vegetar-ian thali had followed the trendobtained till 2015-16, an aver-age household comprising offive individuals would havehad to spend Rs 10,887 moreon average per year for eatingminimum two healthy thalis a day.

New Delhi: The average timetaken for resolution of stressedassets has come down to 340days since the insolvency lawcame into force three years agocompared to around 4.3 yearstaken earlier, according to theEconomic Survey. TheInsolvency and BankruptcyCode (IBC), which came intoforce in 2016, provides formarket-linked and time-boundresolution of stressed assets.

The survey, tabled in theParliament on Friday, also saidresolution under the Code hasbeen much higher.

Citing data provided in thereport on Trend and Progress ofBanking in India 2018-19, thesurvey said the amount recov-ered as a percentage of amountinvolved in 2017-18 and 2018-19 has been much higher ascompared to Lok Adalat andDebt Recovery Tribunals(DRTs), among others. PTI

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Substantial competition andlow tariff rates by telecom

operators since 2016 have ledto a financial stress in the sec-tor, the Economic Survey saidon Friday.

The data price in the coun-try came down by over 99 percent during 2016-2019, makingit among the lowest tariff in theworld, according to the survey.

“Since 2016, the sector haswitnessed substantial compe-tition and price cutting by thetelecom service providers(TSPs), creating financial stressin the sector. As a result, thesector is experiencing consol-idation. While some opera-tors have filed for bankruptcy,others have merged, in theirquest to improve viability,” the survey reportsaid.

���� (01�,023-

The Economic Survey onFriday made a case for

relaxing the fiscal deficit targetof 3.3 per cent of GDP in viewof the need to arrest declininggrowth, estimated to touch an11-year low of 5 per cent in thecurrent fiscal.

The Medium Term FiscalPolicy (MTFP) statement pre-sented with the Budget 2019-20, pegged the fiscal deficit tar-get for 2019-20 at 3.3 per centof gross domestic product(GDP), which was furtherexpected to follow a gradualpath of reduction and attain thetargeted level of 3 per cent ofGDP in 2020-21, and continue at the same levelin 2021-22.

The year 2019-20 has beenchallenging for the Indianeconomy owing to the decel-

erating growth rate experi-enced in the first half of theyear, said the survey preparedby a team led by ChiefEconomic Adviser K VSubramanian.

“While, on one hand theoutlook for global growth per-sists to be weak, with escalat-ed trade tensions adding to therisk; on the other hand, thepace of recovery of growth willhave implications for revenuecollections,” it said.

In a press conference afterthe Economic Survey for 2019-20 was tabled in Parliament ,Subramanian said, “We haveactually acknowledged that ifyou look at overall fiscal deficitover the nine-month periodthen it is similar to what it wasin last year. But given the rev-enue situation there may bepossibly some slippage in thefiscal deficit.”

���� (01�,023-

The Government on Fridayrevised downwards the eco-

nomic growth rate for 2018-19to 6.1 per cent from 6.8 per centestimated earlier, mainly due todeceleration in mining, manu-facturing and farm sectors.

“Real GDP or GDP at con-stant (2011-12) prices for theyears 2018-19 and 2017-18stand at �139.81 lakh crore and�131.75 lakh crore, respective-ly, showing growth of 6.1 percent during 2018-19 and 7.0per cent during 2017-18,” theNational Statistical Office saidin revised national accountdata released on Friday.

Under the first revisionreleased in January 2019, realGDP or GDP at constant(2011-12) prices for 2017-18was pegged at �131.80 lakhcrore, showing a growth of 7.2per cent.

���� (01�,023-

The steep cut in corporatetax rate will benefit large

companies the most as small-er ones were already payinglower rates, the EconomicSurvey 2019-20 said on Friday.

Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman had in Septemberlast year announced the low-ering of the base corporate tax

rate to 22 per cent from 30 percent for companies that do notseek exemptions and reducedthe rate for some new manu-facturing companies to 15 percent from 25 per cent.Including surcharges and cess-es (levies to raise funds for spe-cific purposes), the effectivecorporate tax rate will drop bynearly 10 percentage points to25.17 per cent.

���� (01�,023-

Acut in personal incometax, sops for rural and

agriculture sectors as well as anaggressive push on infrastruc-ture spending are likely to bepart of Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman’s “feel-good” second Budget.

Facing the worst econom-ic slowdown in more than adecade, Sitharaman is expect-ed to pull out all stops to spurconsumer demand and invest-ment, government sources andeconomists said.

Sitharaman’s secondBudget, to be presented onFebruary 1, is expected toannounce measures to restoreeconomic growth and to set outa clear road map for achievingthe ambitious target of USD 5trillion economy by 2025.

Investments have failed topick up despite corporate taxcuts and other stimulus mea-sures, higher FDI inflows, plansto consolidate state-ownedbanks and monetary easing.

After corporate tax cuts inSeptember last year, specula-tion is rife about possiblereduction in personal incometaxes. A combination of anincrease in the basic exemptionlimit and/or the introduction ofa differentiated tax rate struc-ture for higher incomes may beon the cards. To cushion theimpact on collections, thesetweaks might be accompaniedby rationalisation in tax rebates.

“The governmentannounced a slew of stimulusmeasures in the last fourmonths but consumer confi-dence is missing. Not many areeager to take loans to buyhomes or cars fearing the worst.The feel good factor in theeconomy is missing,” a seniorgovernment source said.

“I think the Budget will bea feel-good Budget that will tryto restore faith in the economyand spur spending and invest-ments,” the source said.

With disbursements underthe PM-Kisan scheme to farm-ers being less than theBudgeted amount.

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The death toll in China’s coro-navirus epidemic spiked to

213 and more than 9,800 havebeen infected, the Governmentsaid on Friday as the WorldHealth Organisation (WHO)declared the outbreak that hasspread to more than a dozencountries, including India, as aglobal health emergency.

The death toll rose to 213,mostly of elderly people, after43 new deaths all but one inHubei, the epicentre of the out-break, China’s national healthauthorities said, adding 1,982new cases had been confirmed,bringing the total to 9,692.

About 20 countries, includ-ing India, the UK, US, SouthKorea, Japan and France, havereported confirmed cases ofthe virus in travellers comingfrom China. The WHO, whichheld an emergency meeting inGeneva on Thursday, ondeclared the outbreak a globalhealth emergency, a rarely useddesignation that could lead toimproved international co-ordi-nation in tackling the disease.

“Our greatest concern isthe potential for the virus tospread to countries with weak-er health systems,” WHO chiefTedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

said as he announced the virusas a Public Health Emergencyof International Concern(PHEIC).

Reacting to the WHOannouncement, ChineseForeign Ministry spokespersonHua Chunying in a press state-ment said, “Since the outbreakof the novel coronavirus epi-demic, the ChineseGovernment has been takingthe most comprehensive andrigorous prevention and con-trol measures with a high senseof responsibility for people’shealth.” Many of these mea-sures go well beyond therequirements of theInternational HealthRegulations, she said.

“We have full confidenceand capability to win this fightagainst the epidemic,” said thespokesperson.

She said at the same time,the Chinese side informed rel-evant sides and shared thegenome sequence of the coro-navirus in a timely mannerwith openness, transparencyand a responsible attitude.

Hua said China has been inclose communication andcooperation with WHO.“WHO experts recently con-ducted a field trip to Wuhan.Director-General Tedros

Adhanom Ghebreyesus alsovisited China and discussedcontainment and mitigationof the 2019-nCoV with theChinese side,” she said.

Noting that Tedros com-mended China’s efforts andspoke highly of China’s greatcontribution to the world byfighting against the novel coro-navirus, Hua said the countrywill continue working withWHO and other countries tosafeguard regional and global public health security,Xinhua news agency quotedher statement.

San Francisco: Facebook saysit’s working to help limit thespread of misinformation andharmful content about the coro-navirus and will focus on pro-viding helpful information topeople. Kang-Xing Jin,Facebook’s head of health, saidin a post that the social mediaplatform’s third-party fact-checkers are reviewing contentand debunking false claimsrelated to the coronavirus.Facebook is also removing con-tent with false claims or con-spiracy theories that have beenflagged by global health organ-isations and local health author-ities, particularly focusing onclaims designed to discouragetreatment or taking appropriateprecautions. AP

Beijing: Carrying permitsdemanding “fast passage,” truckdrivers rushed a 560-ton ship-ment of disinfectant from east-ern China to Wuhan, thelocked-down city of 11 millionpeople at the centre of a vasteffort to contain a new viral dis-ease. Outside the metropolis incentral China, the cargo wasshifted to local trucks with dri-vers in masks and protectivesuits, part of a tightly controlledflow of food and other suppliesthrough checkpoints that haveblocked most access to Wuhansince January 23.

As global anxiety aboutthe new virus rises, authoritieshave blocked 50 million peoplefrom leaving Wuhan and near-by cities at the centre of theoutbreak. That in turn requiresa massive effort to keep themsupplied with food and othernecessities. “Wuhan is not anisolated island,” declared a statenewspaper, the Yangtze Daily.

Few Governments couldattempt such drastic restric-tions on a population biggerthan South Korea’s orAustralia’s. They are made pos-sible by the ruling CommunistParty’s extensive controls onsociety and experience com-bating the 2002-03 SARS epi-demic. AP

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Delta Air Lines andAmerican Airlines are sus-

pending all flights between theU.S. and China as the coron-avirus outbreak spreads.American Airlines says it is sus-pending flights beginningFriday through March 27.

Delta says its suspensionwill not take effect untilFebruary 6 to ensure that cus-tomers looking to exit Chinacan do so. Delta’s suspensionwill last until April 30. OtherUS carriers have curtailed ser-vice to China, while severalEuropean airlines have sus-pended it altogether.

In Bangladesh’s biggest air-port, workers held up digitalthermometers to passengers’heads. A beeping alarm sound-ed as a passenger walkingthrough a thermal scannerregistered a fever.

On a plane ride fromShanghai to New York, nobody spoke for fear ofspreading germs as flight atten-dants donning face masksserved drinks to similarly-cladpassengers.

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China’s delayed response tothe discovery of a deadly

new coronavirus infectionworsened the epidemic, themost senior official from thecity at the centre of the out-break said Friday. More than210 people have died and near-ly 10,000 others have beeninfected in China by the SARS-like virus and new cases have

been found abroad, with morethan 20 countries now affect-ed by the disease.

Public anger has simmeredon Chinese social media overthe handling of the healthemergency by local authoritiesin Wuhan, where the viruswas first detected.

Wuhan officials have beencriticised online for withhold-ing information about theinfection until the end of last

year, despite knowing about thenew illness weeks earlier.

“Right now I’m in a state ofguilt, remorse and self-reproach,” said Ma Guoqiang,the municipal CommunistParty secretary for Wuhan.

“If strict control measureshad been taken earlier, theresult would have been better than now,” he told aninterview with state broad-caster CCTV.

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The World HealthOrganisation cautioned on

Friday that closing borderswas probably ineffective inhalting the transmission of thedeadly novel coronavirus fromChina and could even acceler-ate its spread.

If you close official bordercrossings, you can “lose trackof people and cannot monitor(their movement) anymore”,World Health Organisationspokesman ChristianLindmeier told reporters inGeneva.

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Britain begins the day as amember of the European

Union. Its status at the end ofthe day — as a proud nationthat has reclaimed its sover-eignty, or a diminished pres-ence in Europe and the world— will still be up for debate.

Britain officially departs theEU at 11 pm local time Friday,midnight in Brussels (2300GMT, 6 pm EST). The departurecomes 3½ years after the coun-try voted by a margin of 52%-48% to walk away from the clubthat it had joined in 1973.

It’s the first time a countryhas left the EU, and many in thebloc regard it as a sad day. InBrussels, European CouncilPresident Charles Michel andEU Commission leader Ursula

von der Leyen are due to sketchout the EU’s first steps as agroup of 27, rather than 28.

UK Prime Minister BorisJohnson is to meet in themorning with his Cabinet inthe pro-Brexit town ofSunderland, in northeastEngland. He is scheduled todeliver a televised address tothe country an hour beforedeparture, calling Brexit “notan end but a beginning.”According to his office, he willdescribe it as “a moment of realnational renewal and change.”

The government hopes themoment will be marked in adignified, nontriumphalistfashion, with red, white andblue lights illuminating gov-ernment buildings and a count-down clock projected onto theprime minister’s 10 Downing

St. Residence.Some Brexit supporters

will be holding more raucouscelebrations. Arch-BrexiteerNigel Farage and his band ofdevotees will gather for patri-otic songs and speeches inLondon’s Parliament Square tomark a moment that evenFarage sometimes doubtedwould ever come.

Britain was never a whole-hearted EU member, but actu-ally leaving the bloc was longconsidered a fringe idea.

It gradually gained strengthwithin the Conservative Party,which has a wing of fierce“euroskeptics” — opponents ofEU membership. Former PrimeMinister David Cameron even-tually agreed to hold a referen-dum, saying he wanted to set-tle the issue once and for all.

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Republican Senator LamarAlexander of Tennessee

will oppose calling more wit-nesses in President DonaldTrump’s impeachment trial, allbut dashing Democratic effortsto hear more testimony andboosting odds the Senate willvote to acquit Trump as earlyas Friday.

A vote on witnesses,expected Friday, could lead toan abrupt end and assuredacquittal in only the third pres-idential impeachment trial inAmerican history.

Trump was pressing foraction in time for his State ofthe Union address, and thatnow seems likely.

As the Senate adjournedlate Thursday, it set the date forTuesday night’s speech. Despitethe Democrats’ singular, some-times-passionate focus on wit-nesses after revelations fromJohn Bolton, the former nation-al security adviser, the numbersare now falling short.

It would take fourRepublicans to break with the53-seat majority and join withall Democrats to demand moretestimony. Chief Justice John

Roberts, in the rare role pre-siding over the impeachmenttrial, could break a tie, but thatseems unlikely.

Alexander said in a state-ment there was “no need formore evidence,” giving theTrump team the likelihood ofa Senate vote in its direction.Trump was impeached byHouse last month on chargesthat he abused his power likeno other president, jeopardis-ing Ukraine and US-Ukrainerelations.

Democrats say Trumpasked the vulnerable ally toinvestigate Joe Biden anddebunked theories of 2016election interference, tem-porarily halting Americansecurity aid to the country as itbattled Russia at its border.

The second article ofimpeachment says Trump thenobstructed the House probe ina way that threatened thenation’s three-branch system ofchecks and balances. BeforeAlexander’s statement,Republican Sen. Susan Collinsof Maine said late Thursday shewould vote to allow witnessesin the impeachment trial,briefly raising Democrats’hopes for a breakthrough.

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Iran’s nuclear energy organisation called recent sanctions on thehead of the agency by the US. An “unwise move” that won’t

interrupt Iran’s peaceful nuclear policies.The US announced new sanctions Thursday against the

Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and its director, Ali AkbarSalehi. The sanctions freeze any assets that Salehi has within USjurisdiction. The organisation said in a tweet Friday: “The unwisemove by @realDonaldTrump to impose sanctions on Dr. Salehiand AEOI will not in any way interrupt (Iran’s) peaceful nuclearactivities and policies.” “Such cruel sanctions will furtherenhance the nuclear scientist’s motives in neutralising hostile USpolicies,” the organisation continued.

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Page 12: The Pioneer · ˘˘ˇ˘ ˆ ˙ ˘ˇˆ ˙ ˆ ˚ ˇ ˇ ˜ ! ˇ ˆ˝ ˆ ˘˝ " ˆ #$ ˆ ˘ ˜ ˇ % & ˆ˘ ˇ ’ ( ) * * ˆ

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��"� ���'�� Kidambi Srikanthwill lead India’s full-strengthmen’s team while the upcominggroup of shuttlers have beengiven a chance to showcasetheir prowess in the women’ssection of the Asia TeamChampionships to be played inManila from February 11-16.

The Indian men’s team,which won the Bronze medal inHyderabad in 2016, will alsohave B Sai Praneeth along withHS Prannoy, Subhankar Deyand Lakshya Sen in the squad.

With Olympic qualificationbeing the top priority, the eventwill give India’s elite men’s play-ers a chance to garner crucialpoints ahead of the mega qua-drennial Games.

In the doubles events, thefast improving pair of DhruvKapila and MR Arjun would belooking to impress everyone inthe tournament and also com-pliment Satwiksairaj Rankireddyand Chirag Shetty in the teamchampionships.

In the women’s team event,

rising youngsters will be fieldedas the senior players are concen-trating on their Olympic prepa-rations.

SAG Gold medallistAshmita Chaliha, the promisingMalvika Bansod, AakarshiKashyap and Gayatri Gopichandwill make the singles unit.

Senior national championsAshwini Bhat and ShikhaGautam along with the experi-enced K Maneesha andRutaparna Panda make up thedoubles combinations. PNS

����� (01�,023-

Though the Indian men’sand women’s table ten-

nis teams missed out on anopportunity to secure qual-ification for the TokyoOlympics in the 2020 ITTFWorld Team Qualificationtournament, earlier thismonth, but top Indian TTplayers still have a chanceto book a berth in the sin-gles competition. India’sTT star G Sathiyanexpressed that the topIndian singles players havea great chance of qualifying

for the Olympics. “We have a very big

chance for qualifying forthe singles and I will defi-nitely try to make amendsthere and see how I can

improve my best and howI can maintain my topform. The preparations aregoing great. We have a lotof tournaments scheduled.I am pretty sure that I willmake the cut very soon,”said the paddler.

The Indian table tenniscontingent performedexceedingly well at theAsian Games andCommonwealth Games in2018 with the women’steam clinching Gold atCWG and the men’s teamwinning Bronze at theAsian Games, among other

medals. Sathiyan said thatincreased exposure for ath-letes has helped the sportgrow in India.

“Table tennis hasimproved by leaps andbounds in India. The veryfact that we were thefavourites in such a bigtournament like theOlympic qualification talksabout how we have grownin the last four years. Wehave started proving ourmettle in the world arena.It’s not an easy job forteams to take on Indianow,” said the 27-year-old.

��"����'�� Ace India tennis player Rohan Bopanna andhis partner Arjun Kadhe has been awarded with the wildcard entry in the doubles at the third edition of TataOpen Maharashtra which is scheduled from February3-9 at Mhalunge Balewadi Stadium in Pune.

The World No 38 Bopanna, who clinched the dou-bles title in the last edition playing alongside DivijSharan, will lead Indian challenge in South Asia’s onlyATP Tour tournament alongside local boy ArjunKadhe. Sharan, who will partner alongside Artem Sitak,have already made into the main draw with a direct entry.

Kadhe also received wild card entry into the sin-gles main draw while the third wild card has beenawarded to young promising Indian player SasikumarMukund.

“It’s amazing to have Bopanna back in the tourna-ment. He clinched the title in the last edition and wehope he will dish out impressive show with Kadhe thisyear too,” said Prashant Sutar, Tournament Director.

With Kadhe and Mukund’s inclusion, five Indianplayers will now feature in the 28-size singles maindraw. PNS

��������� Lionel Messiscored twice as Barcelona ham-mered Leganes 5-0 to advanceto the quarter-finals of theCopa del Rey and deliver amuch-needed boost for newcoach Quique Setien.

Messi’s double, as well asgoals from Antoine Griezmann,Clement Lenglet and ArthurMelo rounded off an emphaticwin at Camp Nou, where Barcasuccessfully bounced back fromSaturday’s surprise La Liga lossaway at Valencia.

Griezmann made his caseby opening the scoring afterfour minutes as Nelson Semedocut back for the Frenchman tocontrol and poke home his13th goal of the season.

Another Griezmann strikewas ruled out shortly after,only for Lenglet to head inMessi’s corner at the near postto put Barcelona two up after 27

minutes.Messi made it three after

springing in behind just beforethe hour and then Arthur Melo,on for Griezmann, addedanother, banging in after bothAnsu Fati and Messi had beendenied.

Leganes were finished butMessi had one more goal left inhim as he latched onto IvanRakitic’s pass and roundedPichu Cuellar, before finishingfor his 19th of the season andthird under a relieved Setien.

They will now faceAthletic Bilbao in away quar-ter-final game after Friday’sdraw, while Real Madrid willhost Real Sociedad at SantiagoBernabeu. AFP

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Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal is cur-rently in a tight spot in her bid

for a Tokyo Olympics singles berthbut a couple of good performancesin the coming weeks can put herback in contention, her mentorParupalli Kashyap said on Friday.

Saina is racing against time tomake the cut for her fourth succes-sive Olympics.

According to the BWFOlympics qualification rules, onlytwo players from each singles cat-egory can qualify from a country iftheir rankings lie within the top-16by April 28.

“It is getting tight now. Thereare two more weeks before theSpain Masters (February 18-23). Itis a crucial time. She has to get her

confidence back. I thinkshe will be okay. A coupleof good weeks and she willbe back on track. But herbody has to support her,”Kashyap said about hiswife.

The 2012 LondonOlympic Bronze medallist,has not won a title sincethe 2019 IndonesiaMasters in January andshe was able to cross thefirst-round only six timesin the last 14 tournamentsthat she has played.

The gradual dip inher performance saw herslip to the 18th spot inBWF rankings and a lowly22nd in the Olympic qual-ification rankings.

Explaining further,Kashyap, himself a formerworld No 6 singles player,said: “Saina is currentlyworld No 18 and she hasto be inside top 16 byApril 28. She has 49000points and she has to getto around 53000 points bythat time, so basically shehas to make 4000-5000points in the next eighttournaments.

“She has to defendpoints at All England andAsian championship. Soshe has to basically makefour quarters or semifi-nals. She has to play bet-ter in next few tourna-ments and she can stillmake it.”

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Zinedine Zidanehas said he is

“not contemplating” Gareth Baleleaving Real Madrid on Fridaybefore the end of the Januarytransfer window.

Bale came close to joiningChinese Super League sideJiangsu Suning last summer andEnglish newspaper the Timesreported on Friday the Welshmanwas in talks to rejoin his former clubTottenham.

But a source at Spurs said they are not in nego-tiations to sign Bale this month. Another sourceclose to the player insisted earlier this week that“nothing has changed” and he would not be leav-ing Real Madrid in January.

Asked about the possibility of Bale being soldon Friday, Zidane said in a press conference:“Gareth is with us, I’m counting on him. I do notcontemplate this possibility.”

Bale was left out of the Copa del Rey squad onWednesday, having completed only one full train-ing session following an ankle injury.

Zidane would not say if he would return forthe city derby against Atletico Madrid at theSantiago Bernabeu today.

“I’m not going to tell you who is going to play,”Zidane said. “The players all have to be prepared.”

There was also a positive update regarding thefitness of Eden Hazard, who has recovered fromhis foot injury and could feature against Atletico.

“We’ll see but he has been training with us allweek,” Zidane said. “He could be included tomor-row but we will never take any risks.”

Hazard has not played since fracturing his footagainst Paris Saint-Germain on November 26.

CARRASCO BACK TO ATMAtletico Madrid have signed Yannick Carrasco

from Chinese side Dalian Yifang on loan until theend of season. Carrasco returns to Atletico, wherehe spent three years before moving out in 2018.

“Our club has reached an agreement withDalian Yifang for the loan of Yannick Carrasco untilthe end of the current season,” an Atletico state-ment read.

“The player returns to Atletico, where he spentthree seasons and played a total of 124 games, scor-ing 23 goals.” Atletico described Carrasco as “a play-er who knows our team and has a lot of talent andprovides penetration from both sides”.

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Portugal midfielder BrunoFernandes completed his move

from Sporting Lisbon to ManchesterUnited on Thursday, claiming he wasinspired to switch to Old Trafford bycompatriot Cristiano Ronaldo.

The 25-year-old has signed afive-and-a-half year contract with anoption to extend for a further year.

“My love of Manchester Unitedreally started when I used to watchCristiano Ronaldo play and eversince then I have been a big fan ofthis great club,” Fernandes explainedof his Portuguese teammate whoplayed for United from 2003-2009.

“For me, to now play forManchester United feels incredible.

“I have worked hard to get to thismoment and I can promise the fansthat I will give everything for thebadge to help bring us more successand trophies.”

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Serena Williams dominated talkbefore the Australian Open buttoday’s women’s final is between

unseeded Garbine Muguruza andunheralded Sofia Kenin — a 750-1longshot of a championship match thatnobody predicted.

After a tournament of surprises,the 21-year-old Kenin can even sup-plant Williams as the top-rankedAmerican if she manages another plottwist by beating Spain’s Muguruza inMelbourne.

The 38-year-old American legendWilliams was attempting to equal therecord 24 Grand Slam titles ofAustralian Margaret Court, but shelost in the third round toChina’s Wang Qiang.

Reigning championNaomi Osaka wentout at the same stageto 15-year-old sen-sation Coco Gauff,who was promptlyturfed out herselfby fellow AmericanKenin.

Six of the top 10seeds exited in thethird round, seeminglyblowing the tournamentopen for Australia’s worldnumber one AshleighBarty.

But step for wardMoscow-born 14th seedKenin once more, whoshowed remarkably fewnerves in her first GrandSlam semi-final as she brokehome hearts in straight sets.

Even if she loses the final,Kenin will reach a career-highnine in the world, rising fromher current position of 15th.

If she beats Muguruza —and she did so in their only pre-vious meeting, at the ChinaOpen in the autumn — she will

leapfrog Williams into sev-enth in the rankings.

“After this week, she isa top-10 player, she deservesthat respect and shedeserves the recognition,”said the beaten Barty, thelatest to succumb to thefiery Kenin.

“She’s played anexceptional tournament,she’s had an exceptionallast 12 months.”

Kenin won her firstWTA title only 12months ago in Hobartand added two moreduring the seasonwith the determina-tion and aggressionthat has become hertrademark in thepast fortnight.

“I’ve always

had that, no matter who I’m playing,where I’m playing, I’m going to fightfor it,” said Kenin, who moved to theUnited States from Russia as a babywith her family.

The 26-year-oldMuguruza will be the next totry to tame Kenin. Britishbookmakers William Hillsaid the odds of a Kenin-Muguruza final were750-1 before theAustralian Open began.

They make Muguruza thefavourite because she has experience ofthe biggest occasions, having won theFrench Open in 2016 and Wimbledonin 2017.

But this is her first final inMelbourne and she is ranked 32 in theworld after her form tailed off alarm-ingly in the past 18 months.

Unseeded for the first time at aGrand Slam since 2014, Muguruza beat

three top-10 seeds in reaching the final.She fought back in both sets in her

semi-final against fourth-ranked SimonaHalep to defeat her fellow former worldnumber one 7-6 (10/8), 7-5.

Muguruza is not one forexuberant celebrations and

she gives as little away inher post-match comments.

So it was left to Halepto say that the Spaniardhas the quality to be theworld’s top-ranked playeronce more — but with

one caveat.“If she can play every day like this,

she can be number one for sure,” saidthe 28-year-old Romanian, also aFrench Open and Wimbledon cham-pion, following their hard-fought semi-final.

“But it’s tough to do that. The con-sistency on tour — it’s the most impor-tant thing and the toughest one.”

NGIDI, SHAMSI PASS FITNESS TESTSDubai: � ����!�����������2����(��������������������� ���� ����� ������ � ��� �� ����� ���� ����� �� ����� �� � �� ���� ;,-� ���� ������ 0�������� ��������� �����������G �!������������������*���������������� ���� ��� ���� +�!9� �������� ���� � ��� ������� ����������������� ������ ���������������������� �� ���� ;,-� H����� ��� � �� ���� ���� ���� ������H�������� ���� ���� � ������ � � � ��� ���� ����������� ���� ��������� ��������� ���� ������������ �#6-������������������������������;,-

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Tireless DominicThiem came from aset down to outlast

German Alexander Zverevand make his firstAustralian Open final onFriday, booking a show-down with seven-timechampion Novak Djokovic.

The 26-year-old fifthseed, the first player fromAustria ever to reach theMelbourne decider, battledpast seventh-ranked Zverev3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/4)on a sweltering evening.

Defending championDjokovic awaits him afterthe second seed endedRoger Federer’s dreams instraight sets on Thursday tomake his eighth Melbourne

Park final.Thiem has his

work cut out againstthe Serb who is ona 12-matchunbeaten streakthis season andhas won all seven

of the Australian Opendeciders he has contested.

And if Djokovic needsextra motivation, winningtomorrow will see himreclaim the world numberone ranking after RafaelNadal crashed to Thiem inthe last eight.

“It was an unreal match,two tie-breakers, so toughand so close. It was almostimpossible to break him,”said Thiem.

“Being in the AustralianOpen final is unreal. Whata start to the season for me.”

Thiem had dealt withsemi-final pressure before,although always on theslower red clay at RolandGarros, where he reachedthe past two finals only to bebeaten by Nadal.

That experience paiddividends as he coollyclosed out the match after3hrs 42 mins to give himselfanother chance to breakthe stranglehold of the BigThree and win his firstGrand Slam.�����������������������������������������������B����������� ��� �!

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Restaurant food is meant tolook, smell and taste great,and that means nutrition cansometimes fall by the waysidewhen menus feature main

dishes drenched in butter or rich sauces,salads with creamy dressings, and fewwhole grains, fruits and vegetables.

Dining out presents a great oppor-tunity to unwind, relax and enjoy a deli-cious meal in a great atmosphere. Whilethis is what most people are looking forwhen they decide to dine out, it is notalways what they get. There are somevery good restaurants, but unfortu-nately, they are few and far between.People will always make a return visitwhen they enjoy the dining experienceand it is to everyone’s advantage for therestaurant to up its game! Following aresome of the qualities or characteristicsthat distinguish between a great restau-rant and other restaurants.

The goal of a restaurant is to attractpatrons and to provide such an enjoy-able experience that those patronsbecome repeat customers. Word ofmouth is essential to the survival of arestaurant, and in this era, negativeonline reviews can have a significantimpact on a restaurant’s success. Themost heralded restaurants share sever-al qualities in common, which helpensure their continued growth.

No restaurant can survive withoutoffering quality food, which uses the

freshest ingredients to give patrons a sat-isfying meal. Some restaurant owners,however, don’t understand that patronsjudge their food based on what waspromised. For example, the promise ofa good family restaurant is that it offerscomfort food that reminds people of thefavourite meals their mothers cookedwhen they were kids. So, quality food fora family restaurant consists of entriessuch as hamburgers, roast beef, andhearty, wholesome pasta. That woulddiffer from standard cuisine at a five-starrestaurant, where patrons desire food inwhich the unique offerings and the rich-ness of flavor is far beyond that of cui-sine of a family restaurant.

The patron experience at a restau-rant should begin the moment that per-son walks through the door, and itshouldn’t end until that person walksout. Successful restaurants will ensurethat a host or server greets diners as soonas they enter and then welcomes patronsto the establishment. Servers must befriendly but professional, and should beable to discuss each item on the menuwith confidence. They should keeppatrons informed about the wait time forfood, and they must fulfill each requestin as short a time as possible.

Most importantly, the service mustmatch the spirit of the restaurant. Forexample, in a family restaurant, theservers should make patrons feel relaxedand comfortable as if they were hang-

ing out at a friend’s house. In a five-starrestaurant, servers should make patronsfeel pampered and special, as if they’retaking part in an exclusive, worthwhileexperience. When service is good,patrons feel as if they are dining in arestaurant that appreciates their busi-ness.

A clean restaurant communicatesthe health standards that a restaurantowner finds important. Cleanliness isalso a significant contributor to the over-all ambiance of a restaurant. Whenpatrons enter a restaurant, they makeinstant judgments, based on the interi-or appearance of the establishment. Iftables are not properly cleaned, or if thefloors are strewn with food and debris,that creates an unfavorable impressionthat's difficult to overcome.

One of the biggest challenges in arestaurant is to maintain immaculaterestrooms. Clean, fresh-smelling bath-rooms reflect a restaurant’s standards,and can help cement goodwill in apatron's the mind. A good restaurantalways looks clean, orderly, and struc-tured. This creates a positive mood thatsets the tone for the patron’s dining expe-rience.

If your restaurant provides goodfood and service but is too similar toother restaurants, customers may over-look your restaurant when decidingwhere to dine. A good restaurant shouldhave one or more unique features that

stand out in a customer’s mind and giveit a competitive advantage over others.For example, your restaurant may be theonly restaurant in town that makes itsingredients fresh daily or it may have anamazing view of the city that none ofyour competitors have.

A good restaurant owner managesthe business aspect of the restaurantproperly, which increases the chancesthat it can provide quality food and ser-vice without interruption. Runningyour restaurant properly can also helpboost your small business’s profits. Youmust manage your restaurant’s finances,keep good records and stay current withregulatory requirements, such as taxesand health inspections. For example,consistently paying your vendors ontime reduces the risk of running out ofitems on your menu.

If lacking in passion, successfulmanagement is impossible and successwill remain out of reach. Restaurantmanagers must be passionate aboutwhat they do, and determined to suc-ceed. Passion makes things happen.Without it, the whole establishment willcollapse.

Most people are looking for some-thing different when they decide to dineout. A great restaurant promises to offersomething that is not available else-where. Being different is a good thingand it is a quality to look out for whenchoosing a restaurant. If providing

good food and service is all that arestaurant can offer, that is nothing new.If customers can get the same experi-ence from dozens of other restaurants,they are bound to overlook the restau-rant. A great restaurant will have one orseveral unique features that will standout in the patrons mind and this cre-ates a competitive advantage.

The price is an important consid-eration when people are dining out andit takes into account different charac-teristics of the restaurant. People pay forthe overall experience and not just thefood and that is why some restaurantscharge much more than others.Restaurant customers expect the pricesto reflect the type of food, level of ser-vice and the overall atmosphere of therestaurant. People will not complainwhen they feel that they are gettingvalue for their money and a reputableestablishment will always strive to seta balanced price. Prices that seemunreasonable will upset customers, dis-couraging repeat business while unrea-sonably low prices tend to raise suspi-cion about the food and service quali-ty.

There are many restaurants in everyregion but it is not unusual to find thatwhile some are always filled to capaci-ty, others remain empty night afternight. Most people look for popularrestaurants because they know that allthose people cannot be wrong.

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Who said that art is for the afi-cionado? A walkthrough atthe India Art Fair clearly

inspired us with its new ideas and avery humane approach to life as it islived everyday. This wasn’t anescapade of imagination, it was ofowning reality and an attempt to tran-scend it with human will. It was of anew India that is being scripted in thesubterranean folds of the mind, nomatter what is being dictated exter-nally. It was a fresh breath thatbrought us alive.

Voices from IndiaCurator Sudarshan Shetty’s Look

Outside This House stayed with uslong after we had left the display area.Earlier showcased at the SerendipityArts Festival 2019, the first part of theexhibition featured six videos of dif-ferent people, singing in their nativelanguages from different cities ofIndia. The videos depicted how thereare people outside our houses who actas objects, which may be dreaming ofanother world, one without framesand obligations and constraints. Froma tribal woman from Jharkhandsinging a song inspired by Gandhianphilosophy, a Maharashtrian womansinging Powada and initiating a con-versation around how plastic is affect-ing our collective future, to aMumbai-based Dalit bard standingbeside the road, narrating poignanttales of daily battles against injusticeand subjugation of the Dalit commu-nity... these objects look for meaningsin society’s changing ways. There wasalso the Bombay Lokal, the first hip-hop band from the suburbs ofMumbai, spreading socio-politicalawareness, with a vision to unite thecountry’s youth, and recalling theleaders of the freedom movement asthey sing, ‘Follower hain hum BhagatSingh aur Azad ke.’ Then there weretwo Miyah poets, the last of their kindwho chronicle their sorrow of beingcalled so, the term is a derogatory slurused for Bengali-origin Muslims.They sing about violence, discrimi-nation, apathy and threat of stateless-ness due to the changing socio-polit-ical climate in India.

Making space for moreNext up was the inclusivity por-

tal or Inclusion @ IAF, which hosteda number of workshops at the fair bythose who have played small butessential roles in keeping different artsalive and have yet stayed unrecog-nised. Moving further, Sandeep TK’sseries of photographs, Declaration ofEmpathy, gave an eye-opening andevocative message. The photographsrepresented the aftermath of whathappened when Sandeep asked a fewof his friends from Kerala who belongto the trans-community to imagine analternative life. While in one photo-graph, a transwoman is dressed as adancer holding her head high in frontof her teachers and classmates, whoridiculed her for her feminine behav-iour, in another, a transwoman is adressed as a lawyer, which would havebeen her answer to all the discrimi-nation she has ever faced. There werealso transpersons dressed as a nurselooking after a patient, a police offi-cer riding a bike, a classical dancer,a film actress and a leader of theCommunist Party in Kerala.

Art gone liveCarried out in a ceremonial style,

Nigerian artist Jelili Atiku’s perfor-mance-installation, Nobody is BornWise, invited the audience to re-enact

the traditional ritual of colouringsacred idols in turmeric, which is con-sidered crucial during various “cul-tural, religious as well as culinarypractices” in India. Dressed in an all-white garment, Atiku’s clean attiresoon turned yellow as he painted a100 Ganesha idols with the colour, aswe watched on.

Another one was by MayaKrishna Rao, who presented a soloperformance, Loose Woman, givingshort and sharp glimpses of a womanwho finds herself in situations thatpush, pull and stretch her skin, as itwere. Known for her feminist andprotest theatre, she acted as a persondriving through the streets, lookingat her mother gardening, playing ata highway and dancing with abandon.

Naksha, an Untold Odyssey, byartist Piyali Ghosh, which will beshowcased tomorrow, is a live draw-ing performance inspired by themathematical design and symmetrythe Chakravyuh, the military forma-tion mentioned in the Hindu epicMahabharata.

Meeting of the two worldsOne of the most eye-catching art-

work installations was that by NewYork-based artist Ghiora Aharoni,who has made some opposites meetwith such ease that it looked like theyweren’t different from each other atall — vintage and technology, scienceand religion, Hindi and Urdu, andJeruselam and Varanasi. Talkingabout the idea behind combiningsome completely different worlds, hesaid that the works were charac-terised by an interest in exploringdualities such as that of religion andscience, which might seem distant,but in a way “go hand in hand.”Looking around the gallery, onefound traditional objects and sym-bols, cultural artifacts and sacredtexts, which had been recontextu-alised with a new meaning, challeng-ing the conventions. He also createda separate space where he combinedHindu and Urdu as the wall reads,‘Shukr Hai Bhagwaan Ne MujheAurat Banaya,’ both in Devanagri andPersian scripts. He said, “I had beenworking on combining Hebrew andArabic. The motive behind combin-ing Hindi and Urdu was to unite two

elements which are conflicted yetoverlapping.”

What struck the mostWhile Korea’s Gallery Tableau’s

The Sunny Room, Celadon Bowl, andSee The World, caught eyeballs, theexhibition Be Reborn at Simyo Galleryfrom Seoul, South Korea, made wavesby showcasing old masterpieces bygreat artists which were digitallyaugmented and given a new life. Froman old Asian masterpiece of a land-scape to the famous Mona Lisa’spainting, the artworks come alivethrough more dynamic, vivid andcolourful elements being added tothem. Lee Leenam has presentedpoetic images and transitions ofspace with new perspectives andinterpretation through the theme,‘reborn’.

Tapasya Gupta’s sculpture series,Sweet Days of Summer, by GalleryVeda presented the concept of destinythrough a wry sense of humour andlaughter, which, as per the artist, rep-resent the inner beauty of a person.

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As one enters the India Art Fair, time becomes an illu-sion as you are surrounded by a plethora of creativi-

ty and art from across the world. It’s enthralling to see howthe contemporary art scene has evolved overtime in thecountry and today has an immense global presence.

There are around 80 galleries from across Indian andinternational cities, many of them first-timers. Taking a walkthrough the fair, one could see many live installations,events, bookshops and workshops.

Inspired by the imagery of the golden period of Hindicinema — 1960s, the paintings of Canada-based artistMarcel Dzama gives an insight into the Indian culture,details about Bollywood and regional wildlife. Presentedby the David Zwirner gallery, Dzama’s works are a visualexploration of the Indian ethos with hints of divine iconog-raphy. His works presented a blurred relationship betweenthe real and the subconscious through a understandablevisual language. “I have always admired Bollywood. I lovedhow each character had a specific charm and tone whichis somewhere still intact in the hearts of the people. So Ihave always been drawn to dance, costumes and masks. Iremember, during mychildhood, I used todress up in a costumeand pretend that I was afilm’s character all daylong,” Dzama said,pointing towards hiswork that seamlesslymerge Indian mytholo-gy, pop culture andmemories.

While I wonderedthe depth each paintingtalked about, the appeal-ing tent facade designedby popular Indian artistSameer Kulavoor,grabbed my attentioninstantly. It focussed onthe routine Indian life, Icouldn’t help appreciating him for depicting the everydayordinariness so beautifully.

Another artist, Chitra Ganesh has explored the the linesbetween past and future. She has also portrayed a dynam-ic connection between mythology and science fiction.“There are always untold stories trying to rise to the sur-face. They are inspiring,” said she.

B Prabha, a female modernist, brought one of her prizedpieces to the fair. She began painting at a time when veryfew women were in this profession. Inspired by artist AmritaSher Gil, Prabha represented real female subjects, liberat-ed from the gaze of the male artist. She painted the trau-ma and tragedy of women and depicted the melancholyrural women in natural colour palettes.

Moving ahead was the miniature artist, Sahil Naik, whodescribed his meticulous models in a fine manner. For Naik,close examination of structures offers the possibility ofunderstanding what took place and under what circum-stances. He is interested in knowing the incidents that ledto a particular situation. One of his project calledMonuments, Mausoleums, Memorials and Modernismexplored the zeal of new nations. Models of structures wereinspired by a proposed dam in his native Goa, whose build-ing process would have displaced local residents from there.There is a human cost, Naik implies, to such large-scaleambition.

Apart from a diverse selection of contemporary andmodern art galleries from across different cities, the fairalso features international galleries from New York,Berlin, Seoul, Colombo, London, Hong Kong, and Dubai.

There were sections showcasing solo presentationscurated by various galleries — Ratheesh T by GalerieMirchandani and Steinruecke, Girjesh Kumar Singh byRukshaan Art, Anjan Modhak by Emami Art, Avijit Duttaby Kalakriti Art Gallery, D Dhasan by Apparao Galleries,KS Radhakrishnan by Galleri Nvya and Subodh Kerkar byGallery Art Positive.

Next in line were outdoor art projects, ranging fromlargescale interactive installations to sculptures. It also hadgiant wooden rain drops by Chennai-based printmakerVijay Pichumani with Art Houz Gallery. It touched uponthe ongoing conversation around water scarcity.

Yet another interesting part of the fair, that extendsbeyond the venue, are collateral events programmed by gal-leries, museums and arts spaces around the city. The open-ing of the newly refurbished Jaipur House, Kiran NadarMuseum of Art, Gujral Foundation, Khoj InternationalArtists Association, Bikaner House and walkthroughs inOkhla, among others remained a centre of attraction.

Various artists were glad about the fact that they notonly do a fair amount of business through the fair but havealso been able to build long-term relationships.

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The recent trai ler ofMalang has been makingwaves as people hazard

wild guesses about what thefilm’s storyline is about. Thereare conjectures all around as towho is playing what and actorAnil Kapoor fuels the curios-ity further when you ask himabout his character. He laughsand says that’s the “intent”because it’s a thriller. “Yes, itdoes look a bit confusing andthat’s the idea — to keep peo-ple’s curiosity alive. The trail-er should be such that peoplewant to watch the film when itreleases. Don’t you want to?,”he asks.

Anil has played a range ofcharacters during the 40 yearsthat he has been a part of theindustry. But he is not flaggingas he continues to reinventhimself with each film. Hisfirst reaction to the trailerwas similar to that of most ofthe audience. So what madehim go for such a character?“When I heard the script, I feltwhat the audience is feelingafter watching the trailer. Itmakes you think about whatand how will the film unfold.It confuses you. But then youare eager to find out the layers.The narrative is not simple butit is definitely interesting,”says he.

The film revolves arounda couple, Advait (Aditya RoyKapoor) and Sara (DishaPatani), whose seemingly per-fect life comes crashing downwhen they get linked to a cor-rupt cop (Anil) and his right-eous counterpart (KunalKhemu). To further complicatematters, all four are on akilling spree. Anil plays apolice officer from Goa, whois disappointed with the waysof the world and the hostileenvironment around him. Hefeels that the process is slowand taxing. “He just wants jus-tice. While his department isa little unhappy with the wayhe works, he is also dissatisfiedwith the manner in which hisdepartment handles opera-tions. There’s also a simmeringanger within him about thedecline of Goa. Earlier he wasfine with the place becominga tourist attraction but now hefinds that it has become toocommercial,” he tells us. Anilfeels that such films push oneto use their mind and young-sters today enjoy doing that.“They don’t want to be spoon-fed,” he says.

Amid this flood of goodcontent and realistic cinema,what do thrillers have to offer?Do they still appeal to theaudience as they did before?

Moreover, the idea of thrillershas also changed with SacredGames and Mirzapur. Theyare no longer infused with fic-tion or fantasy. It’s reality allthe way. Anil thinks it’s chang-ing because of the kind ofexposure to content we havenow. “It’s so important thateven fantasy has a bit of real-ity now. People want the char-acters and stories to be real. Alittle larger than life. Nobodystarts investing in somethingthe customer doesn’t require.It’s always according to whatpeople want. There are somany stakeholders, distribu-tors and producers. Theyalways invest in stories whichthe audience wants to con-sume. Sometimes they succeedand at times they don’t. It’s justa part of the business. Also, thechoices vary from filmmakerto filmmaker, actor to actor.You just need to do your bestand eventually, it is the audi-ence which decides what’sright, what’s wrong,” he says.

The actor is known tohave blended in with theyounger generation really well.So does he feel the pressure ofputting the right content for-ward as many people, especial-ly youngsters look up to him?He feels that it’s not just himbut almost everybody has thepressure of putting the rightcontent forward, no matter theage or the profession. “Wheneverybody knows the kind ofwork you do, they start expect-ing a little more and you standin a position where you haveto deliver. That’s partially theprice you pay for being in theshow business. And you arealso paid for that, so whywon’t you deliver? There are nofree lunches in life,” he laughsand says.

As an actor, Anil has strad-dled arthouse and big com-mercials effortlessly. How dif-ficult is it to keep a balancewhile switching genres? Itdepends on the actor, he says.For him, the more challengingit is, the more exciting itbecomes. “I love challenges. Iwant to dive into somethingwhich I have never donebefore. So I never step backfrom tr ying new thingsbecause when you keep ondoing same things over andover again, there is a tenden-cy to stagnate and people getbored. So that’s not the rightmove for an actor who reallyloves his work. And when youstart doing great work, peopleexpect you to do the samething and even that becomesmore challenging. Both ways,it is difficult,” says Anil.

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When David Alan Grierwas offered a chance torevisit one of his

favourite plays on Broadway, hequickly agreed. He just forgotabout all the beatings. In A Soldier’sPlay, Grier plays a stern Armysergeant who during each show ispummeled twice and later shotdead, again twice. While the vio-lence is fake, the actor does haveto repeatedly drop and roll aroundon the American Airlines Theatrestage.

While this is Grier’s third timeperforming A Soldier’s Play, thefact that the role he’s playing wasso physical slipped his mind. Heonly remembered the physicalitywhen a fight coordinator appeared.

“I forgot about all that. I waslike, ‘Oh, he has lots of lines. Yeah,I’ll do it.’ I thought there were lit-tle scuffles. I thought, well, he getspushed a couple times. A lot ofmonologues. I’ll take it,’” saysGrier.

To be sure, Grier is the last per-son you’d expect to be caughtunaware. One of his earliest roleswas in a small part in the off-Broadway debut of A Soldier’s Playwhen he was in his 20s. He revis-ited the work when it was turnedinto a 1984 film. This is his thirdbite of the apple. “I was theyoungest actor. Now I’m the old-est,” he says.

The play by Charles Fuller isset on an Army base in Louisianaduring World War II. A Blackinvestigator has been called to findout who murdered the Blacksergeant of an all-black company.What he finds is racism — but notfrom white bigots or the KKK. Hefinds intolerance within the black

ranks.The play won the Pulitzer

Prize for drama and over the yearshas attracted some of the mostaccomplished actors in the blackcommunity: Denzel Washington,Adolph Caesar, Samuel L. Jackson,Wood Harris, Taye Diggs, AnthonyMackie, James McDaniel and BlairUnderwood.

Jerry O’Connell, who plays acaptain worrying about the direc-tion of the case, said it’s a kick hav-ing Grier — who has now playedthree different roles — around forthe Broadway version. “It is pret-ty funny asking Grier for advice,like ‘Hey, what happened in theoriginal production?’ He’s like, ‘Itwas 38 years ago! I don’t remem-ber any of it!’”

Grier recalls making the filmin Arkansas and one day then GovBill Clinton stopped by the set. Healso vividly recalled the food: PattiLaBelle, who played a nightclubsinger, made rice and red beansdaily and one day the catererserved something a little odd: cat-fish sushi. “I abstained. Wisely,wisely, I was told later,” Griersays. One reason was that he’dnever heard of such a dish. “AndI’m going to go out on a limb. Ispeak for all Japan: Neither havethey.”

When you speak to the actor,food often comes up. He’s an avidchef and shares his creations onsocial media and in a food blog. Herecently detailed cooking a massivepork shoulder for eight hours. Hemanaged to pull out the bone andsimmer it with root vegetables tomake bone broth. Someone men-tioned in the comment sectionthey’d also been boiling bones but

they were doing it for three daysand the broth tasted terrible. “Yeah,you dummy. Three days? That’swhat you do to get rid of a body,”joked Grier.

Food — well, dessert, really —had an important role in how hebecame an actor. Growing up inDetroit, he knew he was funny buthe moved to New York in the mid-1970s to be a musician. And likeall struggling musicians, he had aside hustle.

Grier worked at a Häagen-Dazs ice cream store in the UpperEast Side of Manhattan and oftenafter his sticky shift would goacross the street to a disco. Onenight he was messing aroundwhen an actor spotted him andsaid he had talent and was wastinghis life. “He was really responsiblefor saying you are on the wrongpath. Whatever he saw in thatmoment was ‘You need to go overhere,’” says Grier. “And I listened.”

Grier, who after that conversa-tion applied to acting schools andchose Yale, would go on to acareer on the stage (Dreamgirls andPorgy and Bess), on TV (In LivingColor and DAG) and film (Jumanjiand Native Son).

Being on Broadway again thesedays isn’t old hat to the 63-year-oldperformer. He even likes to get tothe theatre early, long before theplace is buzzing.

“To walk into a theater andbelong — this is my doorway intomy life — is the best. It’s the bestpart of the day,” he says. “You walkin this environment before theaudience is there and the crew iskind of just vacuuming, setting up,testing everything. I love it.”

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Actor Aparshakti Khuranasays he had a great timeshooting for his quirky

next release, Helmet. The film,co-starring Pranutan Bahl, is hisfirst outing as a solo lead actor.He added that the audienceresponse to the film will deter-mine whether he should dolead roles in the future.

“I think these all are wish-es of my family, colleagues andthe audience that all these thingsare happening to me. If Helmetconnects with the audience thenpeople might think aboutwhether I should play lead rolesor not. If it does not connect,then people will say that it wastoo early for me to do a lead-hero film and I should havedone two to three films in sup-porting roles. So, it’s all very sit-uational. Having said that, I hada great time shooting for thefilm. Whatever I have seen andheard about it, it’s all goinggreat,” said the actor, whileinteracting with the media atdancer choreographer ShaktiMohan’s Break A Leg Season 2shoot along with actor NushratBharucha.

Aparshakti has carved hisniche as a fine actor and come-dian with some interesting char-acter roles and was recentlyseen in the dance hit, StreetDancer 3D. “This is the firsttime I played an emotionalcharacter. I have always playedcomic characters in films. WhenI used to do theatre, I used to doa lot of dark and intense roles

but when I started working infilms, I continuously have beendoing comic characters and thatwas a bit weird. I had fun whileplaying an emotional characterin this film and I feel glad thatit connected with the audience,”he said.

Helmet, his first outing as aleading man, is directed bySatram Ramani. NushratBharucha, who was also presentat the location, talked about herforthcoming film Chhalaang,co-starring Rajkummar Rao.“We have recently launched theposter of the film. Everybody isexcited to see what is going tohappen in the film and why Raj(Rajkummar Rao) is sleeping inthe poster. We are going torelease the trailer very soon, soI don’t want to talk about it anymore. The film will release onMarch 13,” she said aboutChhalaang, a black comedydirected by Hansal Mehta andbacked by Ajay Devgn, LuvRanjan and Ankur Garg.

This f i lm wil l beAparshakti’s first as a lead actor.Directed by Satram Ramani,Helmet is a funny script whichtouches upon an unusual topicthat is considered embarrassingfor most people in India. It is yetto be disclosed. Rohan Shankar,who previously wrote LukaChuppi has been roped in as thewriter.

Aparshakti will play oppo-site Pranutan Bahl in the film.It has been shot in Varanasi andMumbai. F���6

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Former India cricketersRudra Pratap Singh,

Madan Lal and SulkashanaNaik were on Friday appoint-ed members of the CricketAdvisory Committee (CAC)by the BCCI.

The CAC’s immediatetask will be to pick replace-ments for outgoing selectorsMSK Prasad and GaganKhoda.

“The term of appoint-ment will be for one year,”BCCI Secretary Jay Shah said

in a statement.Initially, Gautam

Gambhir was to be one of theCAC members but was noteventually considered as he isa serving Member ofParliament, making way forSingh.

The 34-year-old fromfrom Uttar Pradesh is theyoungest CAC member. Lal is68 and Naik is 41.

CAC is a high-profilebody but its job is limited.However, its seniormostmember Lal is looking for-ward to the challenge.

“Responsibility is aresponsibility. Name of thegame is to take the responsi-bility and do the job honest-ly,” Lal said, adding that he hasno information yet onwhether BCCI is doing awaywith the zonal policy for pick-ing selectors or not.

“I have no idea if the zonalsystem will be followed or youcould pick the selections fromany region. Today, I have gotofficial communication onthe appointment and in thecoming days, we will get toknow more,” he added.

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Dane Cleaver smashed anunbeaten century as New

Zealand A put India A in a tightspot by amassing 385 for five intheir first innings on the secondday of the first unofficial Test.

After Will Young (54) com-pleted his half-century, the hostssuffered a mini-collapse, losingthree wickets cheaply but Cleaver(111 off 194 balls) and MarkChapman (85 off 187 balls) res-urrected the innings, adding anunbeaten 209 runs for the sixth

wicket.Cleaver sent the ball across

the fence 16 times, whileChapman smashed eight bound-aries in his innings.

At stumps, the duo was at thecrease with New Zealand takingan overall lead of 169 runs.

On day one, India A were allout for 216 in their first innings.

For India A, SandeepWarrier claimed two wickets,while Mohammed Siraj (1/104),Ishan Porel (1/61), ShahbazNadeem (1/67) accounted forone wicket each.

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Skipper Harmanpreet Kaurstruck an unbeaten 42 fol-

lowing a fine bowling perfor-mance to set up India’sthrilling five-wicket win overEngland in the first match ofthe women’s triangular T20series on Friday.

Indian spinners —Rajeshwari Gayakwad (2/19),Deepti Sharma (2/30)and leftarmer Radha Yadav (1/33) —restricted England to 147for seven in stipulated 20overs, while right-arm medi-um pacer Shikha Pandey(2/33) accounted for two atthe Manuka Oval.Harmanpreet took the runchase deep after the Indiantop order, including the 15-year-old Shafali Verma (30),Smriti Mandhana(15) andJemimah Rodrigues (26) —squandered good starts.

Veda Krishnamurthy (7)and Taniya Bhatia (11) alsofailed to stay on the crease as

England bowlers struck atregular intervals.

With six needed off thelast over, Harmanpreet,whose innings was studdedwith five boundaries untilthen, hit a towering six totake India to 150 for five andend the match in style withthree balls to spare.

Earlier, put in to bat,England suffered a top orderbatting collapse as openersAmy Jones (1) and DanniWyatt (4) were dismissedcheaply.

Natalie Sciver (20) andFran Wilson (7) soon fol-lowed, leaving England reel-ing at 59 for four in 10 overs.

Skipper Heather Knightthen took charge, hitting abrisk 44-ball 67. Her inningswas laced with eight bound-aries and two sixes.

Wicketkeeper TammyBeaumont supported hercaptain with a 27-ball 37. Theduo helped England post afighting total.

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India captain Virat Kohli onFriday said he has learnt animportant lesson in the back-

to-back Super Over finishesagainst New Zealand: To “staycalm till the end” and bounce backwhen the opportunity arises.

A nervous New Zealandthrew it away yet again as a per-severant India prevailed in the

Super Over for the second succes-sive time to take a 4-0 lead in thefive-match T20I series.

“There’s something new I’velearnt in the last couple of games:when the opposition is playingwell, you stay calm till the end andtry to come back,” Kohli said at thepost-match presentation ceremo-ny.

Needing just 11 runs off thelast two overs with seven wicketsin hand, New Zealand dug a holefor themselves yet again, taking thegame to a Super Over two nightsafter doing the same in Hamilton.

New Zealand managed 13runs in six balls and India got thereeffortlessly.

The India skipper said havingcome out victorious in two consec-utive Super Overs for the first timeproves the character of the team.

“We couldn’t have asked formore exciting games, we’ve neverplayed Super Overs before and

now we’ve won two. It shows thecharacter of the team,” Kohli said.

Although Sanju Samson did-n’t make any significant contribu-tion in the match, Kohli said heinitially thought of sending theKerala batsman in the Super Overalong side K L Rahul but eventu-ally changed his mind.

“Initially we thought of open-ing with Samson and KL in theSuper Over, but then KL told meI should bat because of the expe-rience and the options I’ll bring,”he said.

“His (Rahul’s) two strikes

were crucial and then you knockthe ball into the gap and take yourteam over the line. Sanju was fear-less at the top of the order. He triedto take the momentum away, heshould back himself.”

Kohli also lavished praise onyoung pacer Navdeep Saini, whowent wicketless on Friday.

“Saini was impressive with hispace again. We were very proudwith the way we went about it,” hesaid.

New Zealand skipper TimSouthee, who stood in for injuredregular captain Kane Williamson,

said they presented India oppor-tunities and the visitors grabbedthem with both hands.

“It’s very tough especially inthe positions we put ourselves into.We gave them (India) a chanceand they took them with bothhands,” he said.

“We have a young bowlingattack and, it is tough, when youhaven’t won and you play againsta quality opposition in India, givethem a sniff and make it tough foryourselves.”

Man-of-the-match ShardulThakur, who finished with figures

of 2 for 33 and also bowled thecrucial last over in which NewZealand needed just seven runs,said such nail-bitting finishesaugurs well for India ahead of this

year’s ICC T20 World Cup.“I’m feeling good, we play for

such nail-biting finishes, we could-n’t have asked for anything morein these two games,” he said.

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Jasprit Bumrah might be consid-ered one of the best in the busi-

ness at present, but former Pakistanpacer Shoaib Akhtar believes thatit is Mohammed Shami who is bestfast bowler in the world at present.Akhtar not only praised the Indianpacer for his brilliant show in thethird T20I against New Zealand,but also said that Shami uses hisexperience really well in tough sit-uations.

“Shami is a very clever bowler.He is the find of India and he is thebest fast bowler in the world.Whatever situation you put him in,he always excels, whether it's aworld cup or a T20 in New Zealand,he’s a very very smart fast bowler.When he got to know that yorkerswon’t work, he immediatelyswitched to length balls and bounc-ers,” Akhtar said on his Youtubechannel.

“When Taylor hit Shami for asix in the first ball, I thought thematch was over but that’s where theexperience of Shami came into play.He realized there was little bit ofdew which will help the ball skid ifhe hits the length.”

New Zealand needed 9 runs offthe last six balls when Kohli hand-ed the ball to Shami and eventhough Taylor started the overwith a six, the pacer kept cool andcame back to dismiss him off thelast ball to tie the game.

“Taylor hit me a lot through themidwicket region in my last matchbut unfortunately he dragged thesame shot onto his stumps on thelast ball. But credit to Shami,”Akhtar pointed.

Earlier Rohit Sharma also cred-ited Shami for bringing the teamback into the game after a master-class from Kane Williamson hadalmost seen the Kiwis stroll home.

“I think Shami’s last over wascrucial, and actually that got us thevictory. Not my two sixes. It wasShami’s over where we defendednine runs. It’s not easy with thedew,” Rohit had said.

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Astubborn 80 not out from SriLankan opener Kusal Mendis

frustrated Zimbabwe’s hopes of squar-ing the two-Test series on Friday’s fifthand final day of the second Test inHarare.

Set a challenging 361 to win, SriLanka dropped anchor, scoring just 51runs in the afternoon session, to reach156 for three at tea.

Sri Lanka lost captain DimuthKarunaratne in the morning andOshada Fernando for 47 just afterlunch but Mendis batted though totea, striking 10 fours in his 170-ballvigil.

Zimbabwe gained some renewedhope shortly before the interval whenAngelo Mathews slapped a deliveryfrom Victor Nyauchi straight to CraigErvine at mid-on.

Sri Lanka require another 205 inthe last session although with rain

forecast, any result other than a drawwould now be a surprise.

Instead they batted on briefly toreach 247 for seven before the decla-ration came with Williams, whomade a century in the first innings,picking up the three runs he neededfor another half-century to finish 53not out.

Williams then chose to open thebowling with spinner Raza who tookseven wickets in the first innings.

��"����'���World No 2 TaiTzu Ying edged worldchampion PV Sindhu inthe most-awaited clash totake Bengaluru Raptors tovictory over HyderabadHunters in the showdownbetween the last two years’champions at the PBL. Thiswas the first triumph of theseason for the defendingchampions Raptors aftersuffering three losses on thetrot.

Tai came out as thestronger of the two, makinga fast start to go up to 3-0.It, however, did not take theRio Olympic Silver medal-list long to level matters.Finding her trademarksmashes, she made it 3-3before moving ahead to 8-5 as the Chinese Taipei ace

seemed to be struggling tofigure out Sindhu.

Amid roars of supportfrom the crowd, Sindhulooked to be in control toinch her way ahead to 10-7. The Raptors ace thentried accelerating her gameand used her skilful decep-

tion at the net to take twopoints on the trot. That wasall she could manage to doagainst a determinedSindhu who never faltered.

Running Tai aroundthe court by rotating thedirection of the shuttle,the Indian raced ahead to

12-9 and soon bagged theopening game 15-11.

A highly competitivesecond game ensued whichwitnessed the stamina andhunger of both. Tai keptanswering Sindhu’s powersmashes with her ownattacking game, keepingthe game on par till 8-8.Infusing a little more speedin the exchanges, Tai gotthe better of Sindhu tomove ahead to 12-9. Withthe World No. 2 havingreached game points, theIndian banked on heraggression to close the gapbetween the two to just twopoints before extending therallies in an attempt todraw an error from Tai’sracquet. It did not help hermuch as Tai took the sec-

ond game 15-13.With the momentum

having swung her way, Taidid not make any mistakein the decider to open up abig lead of 6-2, riding onher finesse. Under pressure,Sindhu made unforcederrors which did not helpher cause further.

Having put Sindhu onthe backfoot, Tai kept goingfor her smashes to lead 13-9. With Sindhu’s smashlanding wide, the highlyanticipated match ended inan 11-15, 15-13, 15-9 vic-tory for Tai, sealing the tiefor the Raptors.

Elsewhere in the matchfor home team Verma beatsBrice Leverdez 15-12, 10-15, 15-6 for his first win ofthe fifth season.

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Ahalf-century from openerMuhammad Huraira on

debut and a fine bowling per-formance powered Pakistan toa six-wicket win overAfghanistan in the ICC U-19World Cup on Friday, setting upan exciting semifinal againstarch-rivals India.

Afghanistan fought hardafter posting 189 but just didnot have enough runs on theboard. Huraira, playing his firstgame of the tournament, strucka match-winning knock in thefourth quarterfinal.

Qasim Akram (25 not outoff 41 balls)and MohammadHaris (29 not out off 43) saw theteam through in just 41.1 overs.

Tahir Hussain (1/28 in 10overs), Fahad Munir (2/29 in 7)and Mohammad Amir Khan(3/58 in 10) were the pick of thePakistan bowlers.

Defending championsIndia and Pakistan play theirsemifinal in Potchefstroom onFebruary 4. India had beatenAustralia in their quarterfinalmatch.

Talking about the team’sperformance, Pakistan captainRohail Nazir said: “We dropped2-3 early catches and had weheld on, we could have restrict-ed them to a lesser total. Thespinners bowled really well inthe middle overs and bowledthem out for 190. The wicketwas turning a bit and our planwas to rotate strike. The open-

ing partnership was good andwe played sensibly in the mid-dle overs.”

On the India game, headded: “It is another game.India is a good side and we needto play good cricket. The crowdreally motivated us, appreciat-ed us and I hope they turn upfor the semifinal and cheer forus.”

Afghanistan captain FarhanZakhil said 189 was defendable.

“The wicket was good andour batsmen did not takeresponsibility. They bowled welland created the chances. 190was a par score for our bowlers.We expected our fast bowlers toprovide early wickets and theywere not able to do that,” saidZakhil.

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New Zealand threw it awayfrom a winning position in

the last two T20s but openerColin Munro instead gave cred-it to the visitors, saying they“always” find a way to bounceback.

“That’s cricket isn’t it? Weput ourselves in positions to winboth of those games I thought.But India, with the roll they’reon at the moment and thecricket that they’re playing,they always just find a way. Andthen Super Over is a bit of luck

each way. It can go either wayI reckon,” he said.

“We’re all sitting in thesheds now and talking about itand hurting that we have let twogames like that slip. And, I putmy hand up too. We talk aboutrunning quickly between thewickets and then I wasdawdling with that second one,and Kohli picks up and doessome magical work and that’s it.

“There are a few guys thatare hurting. But we are tight inour group and we will bounceback, come Sunday hopefully,”he added.

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Crediting India’s second successive SuperOver win to the team’s never-say-die atti-

tude, middle order batsman Manish Pandeysaid they will push for an unprecedented 5-0series whitewash in the fifth T20I.

The two sides meet for the final match atMt Maunganui tomorrow.

“It has been our motto, not only for thesetwo matches, that till the time the last ball isbowled, we won’t give up any match. If you playwith that intent you will get matches like thesewhere you might get a Super Over, and youwin from there,” Pandey said at the post-match conference.

“And now we have an opportunity tomake it 5-0 and it will be real-ly amazing to do that. Comethe fifth match, we willlook to go 5-0 up, that isour plan. Nobody has doneit before and especiallyIndia has not done it before.So, I think it will be a greatstart to do that.”

Asked if the playersbelieved they could pull offa Super Over win yet again asthey did on Friday, Pandeysaid, “In the middle, it lookedlike we were a little easy on our-selves. But since it had hap-pened the last game, we thoughtwe had to bowl good balls andit is possible we push it to aSuper Over. And then, as theballs went by and we reachedthe last two balls, we were cer-tain that this would go toSuper Over.

“We were ready for it inthe back of our mind. We havevery good bowlers and Shardul(Thakur) bowled a very good lastover. For his effort, he deserved itthat the game went into a SuperOver,” said Pandey who made 50not out off 36 balls.

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