I n an anti-climax to a month- long unprecedented political drama in Maharashtra, the BJP’s surreptitious effort to install its Government fizzled out on Tuesday afternoon as Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis resigned from his post after the NCP’s rebel leader Ajit Pawar, the Deputy Chief Minister, pulled out of the new dispensation under tremendous pressure from his parent party. Within hours after the Supreme Court put a break to a possible horse-trading by ordering a floor test in the State Assembly by 5 pm on Wednesday, Fadnavis’ 80-hour- long stint as the Chief Minister ended. Things moved rapidly on the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance front, as the three par- ties and other allies, including Shetkari Swabhimani Sanghatana, Samajwadi Party and Peasants and Workers’ Party (PWP) — at the first joint legislature party meeting at the Hotel Trident in the evening — floated “Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi” (MKS), which they said was wedded to the principles enshrined in the preamble and provisions of the Constitution and would work for the welfare of the State and its people. At the meeting, Sena pres- ident Uddhav Thackeray was elected as the leader of the MVA and elected as the Chief Minister-designate of the new Government to be installed in the State. With Uddhav to lead Sena- Cong-NCP Government, the swearing-in will be held at Shivaji Park in Central Mumbai on November 28, NCP supre- mo Sharad Pawar said. After Sharad mooted the proposal, the NCP’s Legislature Party leader Jayant Patil moved a resolution nominating Uddhav as the Chief Minister- designate with Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Balasaheb Thorat seconding the proposal. The resolution was passed unanimously by the MLAs present at the meeting. After the MVA meeting, the legislature party leaders of the Sena, the NCP and the Congress — Eknath Shinde, Jayant Patil and Balasaheb Thorat respectively — drove to Raj Bhavan at night, met Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and submitted a for- mal letter, along with signatures of the supporting MLAs, seek- ing an invitation to form a Government under the lead- ership of Uddhav. Congratulating Uddhav on his election as the Chief Minister-designate of the impending MVA Government, Sharad recalled his associa- tion with late Sena chief Bal Thackeray with whom — despite the political rivalry — he had personal relations. He expressed confidence that the Uddhav-led MVA Government would do justice to the people a c r o s s the State. Thanking Sharad, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, all legislators and lead- ers for reposing confidence in him and electing him, Uddhav said, “It is not three parties. It is our family. It is our Government. It is a Government of the common people.” In a significant announce- ment, Uddhav said after taking over as the Chief Minister of the State, he would go to Delhi and meet Home Minister Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It was speculated that NCP’s breakaway leader Ajit Pawar — who had earlier in the afternoon, resigned as the Deputy Chief Minister and returned to the parent party — would attend the MVA’s joint legislature party meeting, but he was not present there. The NCP leaders attributed Ajit Pawar’s absence to his uneasiness and hesitation to be at the meeting, especially after the developments in the last few days. Earlier, talking to media persons before handing over his resignation to the Governor, Fadnavis said he had decided to put in his papers, “after Ajit met him, expressed his inability to con- tinue in the BJP-led Government and tendered his resignation to me”. “At a time when there was uncertainty over the continu- ity or otherwise of President’s Rule in the State, NCP’s Legislature Party leader Ajit came forward and offered his cooperation to form a Government in the State. After a discussion, he handed me over a letter of support. Based on the letter of support we formed the Government,” Fadnavis said. T he Supreme Court’s Tuesday morning order directing Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to hold trust vote on Wednesday came as a big setback for the BJP and triggered a chain of events, forcing rebel NCP leader Ajit Pawar to quit as Deputy CM and leaving no option for Fadnavis to contin- ue as the CM. In ordering urgent floor test, the SC went by previous decisions of the apex court in similar situations and sent a clear message that it would not allow Governors to use their discretions in any manner that suited them. As a month has elapsed after the declaration of results of the Assembly elections, it is incumbent upon the court to protect the democratic values for which immediate floor test is the most effective mecha- nism to curtail unlawful prac- tices such as horse trading as well as to avoid uncertainty and to effectuate smooth run- ning of democracy by ensur- ing a stable Government, it said. The court order pressed the panic button in the BJP camp and was also used by the Sharad Pawar camp to con- vince Ajit Pawar of the futili- ty of his rebellion when he had just 24 hours to manage the numbers. The apex court had asked Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to appoint a Pro-tem Speaker and ensure that all the elected members of the House are sworn in on Wednesday itself by 5pm for paving the way for floor test. A fter the State NCP leaders made unsuccessful attempts to bring party’s break- away leader Ajit Pawar back to party fold during the last three days, it was ultimately party chief Sharad Pawar’s wife Pratibha Pawar who played a key role in prevailing upon him to resign as the Deputy Chief Minister and return to the parent party. Informed sources in the NCP said on Tuesday that Pratibha, who had never taken part in the political activities of Sharad during the latter’s 52- year-old career, met Ajit with the help of her son-in-law Sadhananda Sule, husband of Pawars’ only daughter Supriya Sule, at an undisclosed location and succeeded in persuading Jr Pawar to return to the NCP. Ajit is the son of Sharad’s elder brother Anantrao Pawar, a filmmaker. He lost his father at an early age and he was brought up by Sharad and Pratibha like their son. Ajit’s resignation as the Deputy CM and return to the NCP fold came as a big relief to the NCP and Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in gen- eral and Pawar family in par- ticular. Ajit was being persuaded by his cousin Supriya Sule, Sr Pawar’s grand nephew Rohit Pawar and various senior NCP leaders. Interestingly enough, Ajit — who had earlier in the afternoon handed over his res- ignation to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis prompting the latter to put in his papers leading to the collapse of the 80-hour-long Government — called on NCP chief Sharad late on Tuesday night, at the latter’s “Silver Oak” residence in south Mumbai. It was Supriya, who greet- ed him at the entrance of Sr Pawar’s residence. This was the first time that Ajit met Sharad after he broke away from the NCP and joined hands with the BJP. Though Sharad has been upset with Ajit, he had never spoken against him during the last three days. All Sharad had done was to rubbish the “mis- leading” claims by his nephew Ajit that he was still with the parent party and charged that the breakaway group leader was trying to create “confusion” and “false perception” in the minds of the people. Pratibhatai was very upset that Ajit had chosen to move away from the Pawar family and joined hands with the BJP. “Ever since he was sworn in as the Deputy CM in the BJP-led Government, Pratibha was keeping a close watch on the political developments. As nothing was happening, Pratibha decided to get into the act,” a family source said. She enlisted the help of her son-in-law Sadanand Sule, a low-profile businessman, to reach out to Ajit. “Both Pratibhatai and Sule met Ajit. During the meeting, Pratibha made an emotional appeal to Ajit. Ajit, who has huge respect for Pratibha, agreed to her request and decided to resign from his post and return to the NCP,” the family source said. State NCP leaders Chhagan Bhujbal and Dilip Walse Patil held four-hour long meeting with Ajit at the Vidhan Bhavan on Sunday, in an effort to convince him to severe his relations with the BJP. Afterwards, Sharad’s grand nephew and newly elected MLA Rohit Pawar had taken to social media to make an emo- tional appeal to Ajit to return to the parent party. Rohit, who has been elect- ed to the State Assembly from Karjat-Jamkhed Assembly con- stituency, wrote in a Facebook post, “... Ajit should bow to Pawar’s wishes and return home. Sharad has never mixed politics with family affairs. He is unlikely to do so in future as well.” “... When I lost my grand- father Appasaheb Pawar (Sharad Pawar’s brother), it was ‘Pawar Saheb’ who first con- soled my father Rajendra… I have witnessed how, when Ajit lost his father Anantrao, again it was ‘Pawar Saheb’ who looked after him (Ajit).. After the death of Ajit’s father, it was Pawar Saheb who gave father’s love to him. On his part, Ajit Pawar reciprocated in equal measure by standing up for Pawar Saheb whenever he was in crisis,” Rohit wrote. “... I feel this is the time for the family to stand united and we must all remain behind Pawar sahib,” Rohit stated. Rohit had also posted a photograph on his twitter han- dle that showed him posing with Sharad, Supriya Sule and Ajit in good times. S ince last few days, there were speculations Health and Family Welfare Minister and Jharsuguda MLA Naba Kishore Das’ daughter Deepali would enter politics. And now, Deepali herself has formally declared in a Press meet here that she is inter- ested to carry on public wel- fare activities initiated by her father in Jharsuguda district. In her Press conference held at the local BJD office on Monday, Deepali said a lot of development works have been undertaken in the Jharsuguda constituency by her father. But after becoming a Minister, her father cannot give the required attention to the con- stituency. She would give priority to providing drinking water, health service and transport service to the peo- ple, she said. When asked, Deepali said she would be happy to run for the post of Jharsuguda Municipality Chairman post. But it would depend upon a decision of the BJD high command. Local BJD leaders Pintu Padhi, Arpan Pradhan and Robin Pandey, Sarita Agarwal, among others, were present at the Press meet. A day after the Opposition’s demand for a reply from the Chief Minister on the rape and suicide of a Dalit girl in Jagatsinghpur district, Minister of State for Home Dibya Shankar Mishra on Tuesday informed the House that the girl committed suicide out of shame after a youth circulated her objectionable pictures and the accused was arrested in two days. “Sakuli Das of Tentoi village had alleged before the Nuagaon police that she had found her daughter Laxmipriya Das (24) committed suicide in a locked room at 6 am on November 7, 2019. She ascribed the reason of the suicide to be one-sided love affair and harassment by their neighbour Deepak Behura (32), who managed to click some objectionable photograph of Laxmipriya and stuck them on the walls of the girl’s house, for which she committed out of shame. Since Prima facie evi- dence was established against Deepak Behera who belong to SEBC, was arrested on November 9, 2019 and for- warded to court under Sections 354A/354-D/306/292 (2)(a)/509 of the IPC,” said the Minister. Since the girl belonged to the SC category, an interim compensation of Rs 1 lakh has been paid to her family, said the Minister. Following the report, Congress Legislature Party Leader Narasingha Mishra, who had raised the issue and demanded a reply from the CM, said he doesn’t accept the report. “I reject the Minister’s report,” he said. L eader of Opposition Pradipta Naik (BJP) has asked why the Government is planning to adjourn the Winter Session of the Assembly before the scheduled time. During Zero Hour in the House on Tuesday, Naik said there is a move to end the ses- sion even though it has not run half of its scheduled time. “Is it true? If yes, what is the cause?” questioned Naik. Now, a plea is taken that the House has no business to transact. “Did not the Government know how many businesses were there and for how many days the session needed to be run , before issuing a notice indicating the time schedule of the Winter Session?” asked Naik. He also wanted to know if question-answer is not a part of the business of the House. “There are thousands of ques- tions to be asked; why the Government is afraid of dis- cussions?” the LoP asked fur- ther. Naik said there were many issues which were worth rais- ing in the House like violence against women, disarray in paddy procurement, nonpay- ment of KALIA installment money, duped chit fund investors and corruption in PM Awas Yojana, etc. “The Government’s stand on these issues is not known. So in whose interest the House is going to be closed?” Naik sought to know. Notably, as per the sched- ule, the Winter Session of the Assembly, which began from November 13, would contin- ue till December 19. T he State Government has now no plan to either open or make an audit of the jew- elleries kept in the Ratna Bhandar of the Jagannath Temple, Puri. L a w Minister Pratap Jena informed this in the State Assembly in response to a ques- tion of Congress MLA Suresh Kumar Routray on Tuesday. He informed that the Ratna Bhandar was last opened on July 14, 1985. As per the record, 454 gold and other jewelleries weighing 12,838 bhari (tola) 13/4 ana existed in the Ratna Bhandar. The number of silver jew- ellery was found to be 236 weighing 18,815 tola 6 ana. There were eight golden statues and six silver statues and uten- sils which were not weighed then due to various reasons. The Minister informed that all jewelleries listed between May 13, 1978 and July 23, 1978 are safe in the Ratna Bhandar. T he air quality of the twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack is not under the approved norms as per the reports of the Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB). While PM10 is not within its standard limit in Bhubaneswar, PM 10 and PM2.5 are not with- in their limits in Cuttack. However, sulphur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOX) are within their standard limits in both the cities. Forests and Environment Minister Bikram Keshari Arukha informed this in the State Assembly in response to ques- tion of BJD MLA Debi Ranjan Tripathy on Tuesday. He also informed that the OSPCB has planned to estab- lish an ultramodern system called ‘Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Station’ to measure air pollution in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack regularly.
In an anti-climax to a month-long unprecedented political
drama in Maharashtra, theBJP’s surreptitious effort toinstall its Government fizzledout on Tuesday afternoon asChief Minister DevendraFadnavis resigned from hispost after the NCP’s rebelleader Ajit Pawar, the DeputyChief Minister, pulled out ofthe new dispensation undertremendous pressure from hisparent party.
Within hours after theSupreme Court put a break toa possible horse-trading byordering a floor test in the StateAssembly by 5 pm onWednesday, Fadnavis’ 80-hour-long stint as the Chief Ministerended.
Things moved rapidly onthe Shiv Sena-NCP-Congressalliance front, as the three par-ties and other allies, includingShetkari SwabhimaniSanghatana, Samajwadi Partyand Peasants and Workers’Party (PWP) — at the first jointlegislature party meeting atthe Hotel Trident in theevening — floated“Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi”(MKS), which they said waswedded to the principlesenshrined in the preamble andprovisions of the Constitutionand would work for the welfareof the State and its people.
At the meeting, Sena pres-ident Uddhav Thackeray waselected as the leader of theMVA and elected as the ChiefMinister-designate of the newGovernment to be installed inthe State.
With Uddhav to lead Sena-Cong-NCP Government, theswearing-in will be held atShivaji Park in Central Mumbaion November 28, NCP supre-mo Sharad Pawar said.
After Sharad mooted the
proposal, the NCP’s LegislatureParty leader Jayant Patil moveda resolution nominatingUddhav as the Chief Minister-designate with CongressLegislature Party (CLP) leaderBalasaheb Thorat secondingthe proposal. The resolutionwas passed unanimously by theMLAs present at the meeting.
After the MVA meeting,the legislature party leaders ofthe Sena, the NCP and theCongress — Eknath Shinde,Jayant Patil and BalasahebThorat respectively — drove toRaj Bhavan at night, metGovernor Bhagat SinghKoshyari and submitted a for-mal letter, along with signaturesof the supporting MLAs, seek-ing an invitation to form aGovernment under the lead-ership of Uddhav.
Congratulating Uddhav on
his election as the ChiefMinister-designate of theimpending MVA Government,Sharad recalled his associa-tion with late Sena chief BalThackeray with whom —despite the political rivalry —he had personal relations. Heexpressed confidence that theUddhav-led MVA Governmentwould do justice to the peoplea c r o s sthe State.
Thanking Sharad,Congress president SoniaGandhi, all legislators and lead-ers for reposing confidence inhim and electing him, Uddhavsaid, “It is not three parties. Itis our family. It is ourGovernment. It is aGovernment of the commonpeople.”
In a significant announce-ment, Uddhav said after taking
over as the Chief Minister ofthe State, he would go to Delhiand meet Home Minister AmitShah and Prime MinisterNarendra Modi.
It was speculated that
NCP’s breakaway leader AjitPawar — who had earlier in theafternoon, resigned as theDeputy Chief Minister andreturned to the parent party —would attend the MVA’s jointlegislature party meeting, buthe was not present there.
The NCP leaders attributedAjit Pawar’s absence to hisuneasiness and hesitation to beat the meeting, especially afterthe developments in the lastfew days.
Earlier, talking to mediapersons before handing overhis resignation to theGovernor, Fadnavis said hehad decided to put in hispapers, “after Ajit met him,expressed his inability to con-tinue in the BJP-ledGovernment and tendered hisresignation to me”.
“At a time when there wasuncertainty over the continu-ity or otherwise of President’sRule in the State, NCP’sLegislature Party leader Ajitcame forward and offered hiscooperation to form aGovernment in the State. Aftera discussion, he handed meover a letter of support. Basedon the letter of support weformed the Government,”Fadnavis said.
directing Maharashtra ChiefMinister Devendra Fadnavis tohold trust vote on Wednesdaycame as a big setback for theBJP and triggered a chain ofevents, forcing rebel NCPleader Ajit Pawar to quit asDeputy CM and leaving nooption for Fadnavis to contin-ue as the CM.
In ordering urgent floortest, the SC went by previousdecisions of the apex court insimilar situations and sent aclear message that it would notallow Governors to use theirdiscretions in any manner thatsuited them.
As a month has elapsed
after the declaration of resultsof the Assembly elections, it isincumbent upon the court toprotect the democratic valuesfor which immediate floor testis the most effective mecha-nism to curtail unlawful prac-tices such as horse trading aswell as to avoid uncertaintyand to effectuate smooth run-ning of democracy by ensur-ing a stable Government, itsaid.
The court order pressedthe panic button in the BJP
camp and was also used by theSharad Pawar camp to con-vince Ajit Pawar of the futili-ty of his rebellion when he hadjust 24 hours to manage thenumbers.
The apex court had askedMaharashtra Governor BhagatSingh Koshyari to appoint aPro-tem Speaker and ensurethat all the elected members ofthe House are sworn in onWednesday itself by 5pm forpaving the way for floor test.
attempts to bring party’s break-away leader Ajit Pawar back toparty fold during the last threedays, it was ultimately partychief Sharad Pawar’s wifePratibha Pawar who played akey role in prevailing upon himto resign as the Deputy ChiefMinister and return to theparent party.
Informed sources in theNCP said on Tuesday thatPratibha, who had never takenpart in the political activities ofSharad during the latter’s 52-year-old career, met Ajit withthe help of her son-in-lawSadhananda Sule, husband ofPawars’ only daughter SupriyaSule, at an undisclosed locationand succeeded in persuading JrPawar to return to the NCP.
Ajit is the son of Sharad’selder brother Anantrao Pawar,a filmmaker. He lost his fatherat an early age and he wasbrought up by Sharad andPratibha like their son.
Ajit’s resignation as theDeputy CM and return to theNCP fold came as a big reliefto the NCP and MaharashtraVikas Aghadi (MVA) in gen-
eral and Pawar family in par-ticular.
Ajit was being persuadedby his cousin Supriya Sule, SrPawar’s grand nephew RohitPawar and various senior NCPleaders. Interestingly enough,Ajit — who had earlier in theafternoon handed over his res-ignation to Chief MinisterDevendra Fadnavis promptingthe latter to put in his papersleading to the collapse of the80-hour-long Government —called on NCP chief Sharad lateon Tuesday night, at the latter’s“Silver Oak” residence in southMumbai.
It was Supriya, who greet-ed him at the entrance of SrPawar’s residence.
This was the first timethat Ajit met Sharad after hebroke away from the NCP andjoined hands with the BJP.
Though Sharad has beenupset with Ajit, he had neverspoken against him during thelast three days. All Sharad haddone was to rubbish the “mis-leading” claims by his nephewAjit that he was still with theparent party and charged thatthe breakaway group leaderwas trying to create “confusion”and “false perception” in the
minds of the people.Pratibhatai was very upset
that Ajit had chosen to moveaway from the Pawar familyand joined hands with theBJP. “Ever since he was swornin as the Deputy CM in theBJP-led Government, Pratibhawas keeping a close watch onthe political developments. Asnothing was happening,Pratibha decided to get into theact,” a family source said.
She enlisted the help of herson-in-law Sadanand Sule, alow-profile businessman, toreach out to Ajit. “BothPratibhatai and Sule met Ajit.During the meeting, Pratibhamade an emotional appeal toAjit. Ajit, who has huge respectfor Pratibha, agreed to herrequest and decided to resignfrom his post and return to theNCP,” the family source said.
State NCP leadersChhagan Bhujbal and DilipWalse Patil held four-hourlong meeting with Ajit at theVidhan Bhavan on Sunday, inan effort to convince him tosevere his relations with the BJP.
Afterwards, Sharad’s grandnephew and newly electedMLA Rohit Pawar had taken tosocial media to make an emo-
tional appeal to Ajit to returnto the parent party.
Rohit, who has been elect-ed to the State Assembly fromKarjat-Jamkhed Assembly con-stituency, wrote in a Facebookpost, “... Ajit should bow toPawar’s wishes and returnhome. Sharad has never mixedpolitics with family affairs. Heis unlikely to do so in future aswell.”
“... When I lost my grand-father Appasaheb Pawar(Sharad Pawar’s brother), it was‘Pawar Saheb’ who first con-soled my father Rajendra… Ihave witnessed how, when Ajitlost his father Anantrao, againit was ‘Pawar Saheb’ wholooked after him (Ajit).. Afterthe death of Ajit’s father, it wasPawar Saheb who gave father’slove to him. On his part, AjitPawar reciprocated in equalmeasure by standing up forPawar Saheb whenever he wasin crisis,” Rohit wrote.
“... I feel this is the time forthe family to stand united andwe must all remain behindPawar sahib,” Rohit stated.
Rohit had also posted aphotograph on his twitter han-dle that showed him posingwith Sharad, Supriya Sule andAjit in good times.
Since last few days, therewere speculations Health
and Family Welfare Ministerand Jharsuguda MLA NabaKishore Das’ daughterDeepali would enter politics.And now, Deepali herself hasformally declared in a Pressmeet here that she is inter-ested to carry on public wel-fare activities initiated by herfather in Jharsuguda district.
In her Press conferenceheld at the local BJD office onMonday, Deepali said a lot ofdevelopment works have beenundertaken in the Jharsugudaconstituency by her father.But after becoming a Minister,
her father cannot give therequired attention to the con-stituency.
She would give priority toproviding drinking water, health service andtransport service to the peo-ple, she said.
When asked, Deepali saidshe would be happy to run for
the post of JharsugudaMunicipality Chairman post.But it would depend upon adecision of the BJD highcommand.
Local BJD leaders PintuPadhi, Arpan Pradhan andRobin Pandey, Sarita Agarwal,among others, were present atthe Press meet.
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Aday after the Opposition’sdemand for a reply from
the Chief Minister on the rapeand suicide of a Dalit girl inJagatsinghpur district, Ministerof State for Home DibyaShankar Mishra on Tuesdayinformed the House that thegirl committed suicide out of
shame after a youth circulatedher objectionable pictures and the accused was arrested intwo days.
“Sakuli Das of Tentoi villagehad alleged before the Nuagaonpolice that she had found herdaughter Laxmipriya Das (24)committed suicide in a lockedroom at 6 am on November 7,2019. She ascribed the reason ofthe suicide to be one-sidedlove affair and harassment bytheir neighbour Deepak Behura(32), who managed to clicksome objectionable photographof Laxmipriya and stuck themon the walls of the girl’s house,for which she committed out ofshame. Since Prima facie evi-
dence was established againstDeepak Behera who belong toSEBC, was arrested onNovember 9, 2019 and for-warded to court under Sections3 5 4 A / 3 5 4 - D / 3 0 6 / 2 9 2(2)(a)/509 of the IPC,” said theMinister.
Since the girl belonged tothe SC category, an interimcompensation of Rs 1 lakh hasbeen paid to her family, said theMinister. Following the report,Congress Legislature PartyLeader Narasingha Mishra,who had raised the issue anddemanded a reply from theCM, said he doesn’t accept thereport. “I reject the Minister’sreport,” he said.
asked why the Government isplanning to adjourn theWinter Session of theAssembly before the scheduledtime.
During Zero Hour in theHouse on Tuesday, Naik saidthere is a move to end the ses-sion even though it has notrun half of its scheduled time.“Is it true? If yes, what is thecause?” questioned Naik.
Now, a plea is taken thatthe House has no business totransact. “Did not theGovernment know how manybusinesses were there and forhow many days the sessionneeded to be run , beforeissuing a notice indicating thetime schedule of the WinterSession?” asked Naik.
He also wanted to know ifquestion-answer is not a partof the business of the House.“There are thousands of ques-
tions to be asked; why theGovernment is afraid of dis-cussions?” the LoP asked fur-ther.
Naik said there were manyissues which were worth rais-ing in the House like violenceagainst women, disarray inpaddy procurement, nonpay-ment of KALIA installmentmoney, duped chit fundinvestors and corruption inPM Awas Yojana, etc. “TheGovernment’s stand on theseissues is not known. So inwhose interest the House isgoing to be closed?” Naiksought to know.
Notably, as per the sched-ule, the Winter Session of theAssembly, which began fromNovember 13, would contin-ue till December 19.
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The State Government hasnow no plan to either open
or make an audit of the jew-elleries kept in the RatnaBhandar of theJ a g a n n a t hTemple, Puri.
L a wMinister PratapJena informedthis in the StateAssembly in response to a ques-tion of Congress MLA SureshKumar Routray on Tuesday.
He informed that the RatnaBhandar was last opened on July14, 1985. As per the record, 454gold and other jewelleriesweighing 12,838 bhari (tola)13/4 ana existed in the RatnaBhandar.
The number of silver jew-ellery was found to be 236weighing 18,815 tola 6 ana.There were eight golden statuesand six silver statues and uten-sils which were not weighedthen due to various reasons.
The Minister informed thatall jewelleries listed betweenMay 13, 1978 and July 23, 1978are safe in the Ratna Bhandar.
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The air quality of the twincities of Bhubaneswar and
Cuttack is not under theapproved norms as per thereports of the Odisha StatePollution Control Board(OSPCB).
While PM10 is not within itsstandard limit in Bhubaneswar,PM 10 and PM2.5 are not with-in their limits in Cuttack.However, sulphur dioxide (SO2)and nitrogen oxides (NOX) arewithin their standard limits inboth the cities.
Forests andEnvironmentMinister BikramKeshari Arukhainformed this inthe StateAssembly in response to ques-tion of BJD MLA Debi RanjanTripathy on Tuesday.
He also informed that theOSPCB has planned to estab-lish an ultramodern systemcalled ‘Continuous AmbientAir Quality Monitoring Station’to measure air pollution inBhubaneswar and Cuttack regularly.
Contractors who have beenengaged in the Pradhan Mantri
Gram Sadak Yojana and left theroad works halfway would be black-listed, said Rural DevelopmentMinister Susanta Singh in the StateAssembly on Tuesday.
Replying to a query by BJDmember Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak,the Minister informed the Housethat action would be taken againstthe contractors involved in poorroad works or leaving the worksmidway.
The Centre has sanctionedfunds for road construction underthe Pradhan Mantri Gram SadakYojana (PMGSY) in 16,241 villagesof the State whereas 17,079 villageslack proper road connectivity, theMinister stated.
Raising the issue of half-con-structed roads in villages, Nayakhad alleged that many contractorshired for the PMGSY are taking upprojects of other departments with-out completing the road projects.He demanded that the State gov-ernment blacklist such contractors.
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The All Odisha Contractors’ Association onTuesday submitted a memorandum to
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik urging him todirect the concerned authorities for immediateadoption, approval and implementation of its10-point-charter of demands immediately.
The association thanked the CM forinstructing the authorities to form aMinisterial committee to address to thedemands and fulfil them.
Association president Pravat Dash saidthat while contractors from outside the Stateare allowed to execute projects from 100% to300% above the scheduled rate, the Odishacontractors are forced to do projects at14.99% than the scheduled rate. Finding noother alternative, the contractors have to com-
plete projects at 14.99%. In the process, theysuffer huge losses and their financial condi-tion is in dire straits.
The association’s demands include theUnion Government’s standard data block tobe immediately introduced, withdrawal of thecutoff rate of 14.99% immediately in all theGovernment projects, 10% of dues to be paidfor GST like in Telangana and introductionof the tender rules of the Central Government.
Dash said the fast-unto-death agitation atthe Lower PMG would continue till thedemands are met.
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Only six new IndianAdministrative Service
(IAS) officers have been allot-ted to the Odisha cadre thisyear, Chief Minister NaveenPatnaik said in the StateAssembly on Monday.
Patnaik informed this in awritten reply to a question inthe House.
The Chief Minister saidthat to run the administration,the State Government has pro-moted many senior OdishaAdministrative Service (OAS)officers to the rank of IAS.
While 26 OAS officerswere promoted to the IAS rankin 2017, seven OAS officerswere promoted to the IASgrade in 2018, he added
Meanwhile, a StateGovernment official said thatOdisha’s sanctioned strength ofIAS officers is 237, but the Stateat present has 176 officers with61 posts lying vacant.
Of the 176 IAS officers ofthe Odisha cadre, 27 are onCentral deputation, one oninter-State deputation andanother IAS officer on studyleave, the official furtherinformed.
����� 13��.1�
The Vigilance police on Tuesday arrestedJunior Engineer (JE), RWSS, Niali Block
in Cuttack district Bidulata Rout for demand-ing and taking a bribe of Rs 30,100.
According to official sources, the JE haddemanded the bribe from one Md MojamilSeikh to submit bills of 43 latrines amount-ing Rs 5,16,000 constructed by him under theSwachh Bharat scheme.
Acting on a complaint by MojamilSeikh, Vigilance sleuths laid a trap and caughtRout red-handed while she was accepting themoney from the complainant at the Nialiblock office.
The bribe amount was recovered at thespot and seized. A case was registered in thisconnection and further investigation wasunderway, the sources added.
��� � 13��.1�
The OrissaHigh Court
on Tuesdaygranted condi-tional bail to for-mer OdishaC r i c k e tA s s o c i a t i o n(OCA) secretaryAsirbad Behera.
The bail wasgranted againsttwo sureties ofRs 1.5 lakh each.The court direct-ed Behera tosubmit his passport, not to influence wit-nesses and cooperate in the investigationprocess.
Notably, the Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI) had on September 19arrested Behera on the basis of a non-bail-able warrant over his alleged complicity
in the Artha Tatwa Group chit fund scam.He was later taken to the Capital
Hospital in Bhubaneswar on September23 as he complained of loose motion andthen shifted to the SCB Medical Hospitalhere. He was undergoing treatment at thehospital since then.
����� 4�34.56-7.8
Gaon Sathi, who are sittingon dharna since 23 days at
the Lower PMG under the ban-ner of the Gaon Sathi SanghaMilita KriyanusthanCommittee, on Tuesday saidthey would decide to keep theirstir in abeyance only after get-ting a Government letter ofassurance, said committee gen-eral secretary Laxmidhar Biswal.
Biswal, addressing a Pressconference here, said the com-mittee members had a meetingwith the Panchayati RajMinister and officials onMonday and the Governmenthas assured to fulfil two out ofthe committee’s five demands.
The demands include per-manent appointment in thePanchayati Raj Department inphases and a monthly remu-neration of Rs 6,000.
Notably, thousands of agi-tators had taken out their thirdmassive rally on Monday wherea member had attempted tocommit suicide and another ofGanjam, who fell ill, was admit-ted to a hospital.
The committee hasdemanded that theGovernment bear the treat-ment expenses from the ChiefMinister’s Relief Fund and thePanchayati Raj Minister informthe outcome of the meetingwith the committee through aPress meet.
����� 48.��.�38
Former Deputy Speaker ofOdisha Assembly and
senior lawyer Rama ChandraPanda hailed the SupremeCourt decision on Tuesday onMaharashtra Government for-mation describing it as historicas it would pave the way forprobity on the role ofConstitutional authorities toensure fair play by Governorsin formation of StateGovernments.
Panda, who is aConstitutional expert, recalledthe role of Governor Ramlal in1984 in dismissing the NTR
Government followed by manysimilar episodes thereafter inGovernment formations inGoa, Manipur and Karnatakaand, of late, in Maharashtra
terming them as quite shock-ing.
The Supreme Court’s ver-dict is expected to end politi-cal maneuvering by Raj
Bhavans to perpetuateState Governmentfavourable to theCentral Government.Now, the President ofIndia should constitutean ethics committeeheaded by a retiredChief Justice of SupremeCourt to probe unethi-cal conduct by anyGovernor to safeguardConstitutional values,multiparty democracyand federalism, Pandaurged.
Notably, the apexcourt on Tuesday direct-ed the MaharashtraGovernment headed by
Devendra Fadnavis of the BJPto prove its majority in theAssembly, following whichFadnavis tendered his resigna-tion.
����� 4�34.56-7.8
Even though 20 years havepassed since the Super
Cyclone devastated the State inOctober 1999, construction ofas many as 59,662 houses,sanctioned under the IndiraAway Special Yojana, have notbeen completed yet.
This was revealed fromthe information submitted inthe State Assembly byPanchayati Raj and DrinkingWater Minister Pratap Jena inresponse to a question of BJDMLA Prashant Muduli onTuesday.
“After the 1999 SuperCyclone, a total of 5,73,068beneficiaries, including1,03,839 of Jagatsinghpur dis-
trict, were issued work ordersfor construction of housesunder the Indira Awas SpecialYojana. Of them, a total of59,662 houses, including 12,676in Jagatsinghpur district, are yetto be completed,” informedthe Minister.
The Minister furtherinformed that the beneficiarieshave not been able to completethe houses as sanctioned fundswere of a smaller amount. In2016-17 financial year, thework orders were cancelledand an in-principle decisionwas taken to provide houses tothe concerned beneficiariesunder the Pradhan MantriAwas Yojana (Rural) and theBiju Pucca Ghar after theyrefund money received earlier.
��� � 4�34.56-7.8
The Aadhaar enrolment inOdisha has made headway
with more than 93 per cent ofachievement during last coupleof months.
This was discussed in aState Level UniqueIdentification ImplementationCommittee Meeting heldunder the chairmanship ofChief Secretary Asit Tripathyon Tuesday wherein Secretary
IT Monoj Kumar Mishra out-lined the issues for discussion.
Available data show, out ofthe projected population of4.58 crore by 2019, so far 4.41crore Aadhaar numbers havebeen generated in the agegroup of 18 and above which isaround 93.1 per cent of the pro-jected population.
The registration level in 0-5 age group is around 46 percent with real number of18,26,038 and, 5-18 age groupis around 81 per cent with realnumber of 95,87,186.
DDG UniqueIdentification Authority ofIndia (UIDAI) G VenugopalReddy said the all India aver-age of enrollment is around 90per cent.
Reviewing the progressmade so far, Chief SecretaryTripathy directed the nodal
i m p l e m e n t i n gagency OCACalong with con-cerned departmentsto devise age-groupspecific strategies oflive saturationenrollment andscale up Odisha toTop-5 States inAadhaar implemen-tation.
Tripathy further directed tofocus on Aadhaar generation ofthe children in the age group of0-5 and 5-18.
It was decided to link theissue of birth certificates toAadhaar registration. ITSecretary Mishra presented thetechnical and administrativematters for age-specific strate-gy. It was decided that Aadhaarfacilitation centers would beopened at hospitals and urban
local bodies for Aadhaar gen-eration at the time of birth andissue of birth certificates.
For the purpose newupdated kits would be pro-cured. Target was set to roll outthe process for registration byJanuary, 2020. Chief SecretaryTripathy directed thatAnganwadi Centers andschools should be activelyinvolved in Aadhaar enroll-ment of the children.
����� 4�34.56-7.8
AState level communityradio workshop was
organised by the YoungIndia in collaboration withthe Unicef here on Tuesday.
More than 100 youngjournalists, radio profes-sionals, community radiobroadcasters and journalistsfrom community radio sta-tions of Odisha participated.
The guests were Chief ofOffice, Unicef, Odisha DrMonica Oldezka Nielsen,C4D Officer, Unicef, DrLopamudraTripathy, seniorjournalist, BBC SandeepSahoo, former Station Head,AIR-Cuttack Santanu Rath,News Editor, All IndiaRadio, Cuttack ItishreeSingh Rathore.
President, CommunityRadio Association, India,NA Shah Ansari said verysoon 50 more communityradio stations will be estab-lished in Odisha and the Statewill be the hub for communi-
ty radio in South Asia in com-ing days. Now 265 communi-ty radios are functioning inIndia and there are 17 func-
tional community radio sta-tions in Odisha, he informed.
Nielsen spoke aboutempowerment of youths with
their skill development and therole of community radio.
Tripathy gave priority onmore focused field level nar-
rowcasting sessions bycommunity radio stations.
Former Station Head,AIR-Cuttack, DD-Bhubaneswar Dash high-lighted some innovativepractices and works doneby him during his workperiod in AIR. JournalistSahoo prioritised commu-nity radio as last mile con-nectivity. Rathore sharedher journey experiencefrom a community radiointern to News Editor atAIR.
Rudra Prasanna Rath,State CommunicationSpecialist, Unicef, dis-cussed with the communi-ty radio participants abouthow the community radioscan expand their outreach,visibility and bring finan-cial sustainability.
‘The CommunityRadio for Change’ booklet
was released and eight youngjournalists from different com-munity radio stations werehonoured .
����� 4�34.56-7.8
BJP MLA Sanatan Bijuli onTuesday moved a Privilege
Motion against Health andFamily Welfare Minister NabaKishore Das alleging that hemisled the House by furnishinguntrue information.
“Through a question, Ihad sought to know doctorpositions in the Badasahi CHC.The Minister said there werefour specialist doctors servingin the CHC. But in reality, thereis no specialist working in theCHC. Let the motion be movedto the Privilege Committee foraction,” demanded the MLA.
In response, Speaker SurjyaNarayand Patro said he wouldexamine the matter soon.
����� 4�34.56-7.8
Chief Minister NaveenPatnaik felicitated Erik
Jacquemyn of Belgium for win-ning the Unesco Kalinga Prizefor popularisation of science forthe year 2017 at a function atthe Institute of Physics,Bhubaneswar on Tuesday.
“Jacquemyn is a leadinginternational expert in sciencecommunication. He is also a spe-cialist in development and man-agement of science centres andscience and interactive museumsworldwide. He is appreciatedworldwide for his extraordinarycreativity and his deep sense ofdedication to science and tech-
nology museums,” said Patnaik.Among others, Minister
for Science and TechonologyAshok Panda, KalingaFoundation Trust chairmanBhabani Charan Patnaik,Director NISER and KalingaFoundation trustee PrafullaSamal also spoke on the occa-sion.
����� �38*
An unidentified decom-posed body of a 35-year-
old youth was recovered fromthe sea beach here near the pro-posed Samuka Project onTuesday morning. The bodywas believed to be lying for lastthree to four days.
From circumstantial evi-dence, it was suspected theyouth was murdered and laterdumped. Also, some doubtthat the youth was kidnappedand murdered here as the place
close to the beach is very muchisolated by dense casuarinasforests.
Sources said the placewhere the body was seizednear the beach under the Sadarpolice station has turned asafe haven for illegal activitiessuch as sand mining, wood cut-ting and smuggling, besidesmurder cases.
On being informed, thepolice recovered the body andsent it for postmortem to theDistrict Headquarters Hospital.More investigations were on.
expedite construction of anadditional spillway at theHirakud Dam.
The WB team, which vis-ited the spot, observed slowprogress in this regard as it isa World Bank funded projectand advised the State to sort outthe issues, which are hamper-ing progress in construction ofthe spillway, said sources.
The additional spillway,which is coming up with Rs600 crore cost, will enhance theflood water discharge capacityof the Hirakud Dam. It wasexpected to be completed with-in 36 months. But with the slowprogress, it is likely to takemore time and will hike cost ofthe project, experts said.
The project work is beingundertaken under the super-vision of internationallyacclaimed experts and thedesign was prepared by theDesign and Research Wing of
The spillway construction
work was awarded to the con-tractor in September, 2018.However, due to slow rehabil-itation and resettlement (R&R)process, it is apprehended thecompletion of the project willbe delayed.
While the Department ofWater Resources (DoWR) haschalked out detailed R & RPolicy, but its implementationhas been very slow, pointed out
the World Bank team, accord-ing to sources.
Most importantly, theWorld Bank has set the com-pletion date as June, 2020 andthe team has emphasized tocomplete the work by the date.
If the project is not com-pleted within the stipulatedtime period, then the StateGovernment will have to bearthe spending after the closing
date, said an official.In view of slow progress of
Rehabilitation Action Plan(RAP), personnel with R&Rexpertise are needed to beroped in to extend support tothe Land Acquisition Officerand Hirakud Dam authorities,said sources.
These R&R experts willguide the State officials andspeed up the progress, feel
officials, which will facilitate inhanding over the entire area forseamless execution, sourcessaid.
The spillway, when com-pleted, would have capacity todischarge 7 lakh cusecs ofwater. The Hirakud Dam’s pre-sent capacity is 15 lakh cusecsand water is released through64 sluice gates and 43 crestgates.
����� 48.��.�38
A30-year-old man was sentenced to a 10-year-long impris-onment by a court here on Monday for kidnapping and rap-
ing a minor girl three years ago.Additional District Judge Jagdish Prasad Mohanty also
slapped a fine of Rs 10,000 on the accused Narasingh Das forcommitting the crime in the Golanthara area of Ganjam districton June 27, 2016. For failure of payment of the penalty amount,the convict would undergo an additional jail term of six months,Public Prosecutor Narayan Panda said.
According to the prosecution, Narasingh Das had kidnappedthe 12-year-old girl from her village under the Golanthara policestation and raped her. He was arrested by the police next day fol-lowing an FIR lodged by the girl’s father. He was booked underrelevant sections of the POCSO Act and IPC.
The court convicted Das and pronounced the jail term onthe basis of the medical report and statements of 17 witnessesin the case, Panda said.
The court also asked the District Legal Aid Authority to pro-vide Rs 3 lakh as financial assistance to the girl.
����� 48.��.�38
Two more teachers workingat different schools in
Kabisuryanagar block ofGanjam district who hadallegedly secured jobs aftersubmitting forged educationalcertificates resigned from theirposts on Tuesday.
The two teachers, BishnuPradhan and Sunanda Sethi,sent their resignation letter toBlock Education Officer (BEO)Niranjan Mishra citing health
and personal reasons.On the other hand, the
BEO said allegations levelledagainst the duo are underprobe.
It may be noted that asmany as 71 teachers in the dis-trict had allegedly submittedforged documents to securejobs. But the EducationDepartment has initiatedaction against only seventeachers in Dharakote blockand lodged police complaintsagainst them.
In the wake of Tuesday’sresignation by the two, a totalof 11 teachers have so farresigned from jobs citing var-ious reasons.
����� 48.��.�38
In protest against the tempo-rary relocation of the bus-
stand in Brahmapur city, pri-vate bus owners’ association hasdecided to suspend servicesfrom the bus-stand here begin-ning from Tuesday.
Passengers suffered due tothe decision of the associationas privates buses stayed off theroads in the city.
The Ganjam districtadministration had urged theassociation to provide bus ser-vices from the Haladiapadarbus-stand instead of theBrahmapur bus-stand for twomonths in view of the repairand renovation of theBrahmapur bus-stand.
A meeting between offi-cials of the administration andsenior members of the associ-
ation held on Mondayremained inconclusive as thebus owners opposed the deci-sion of the administration.
The association has decid-
ed to halt bus services from thetown till completion of therepair and renovation works.The bus owners have alsodecided to park their vehiclesnear their houses.
����� 48.��.�38
People residing in various parts of Ganjam districtwould face power cut for about nine hours on
Wednesday due to maintenance work at theNarendrapur grid substation.
Official sources said there would be no power sup-ply from 8 am to 5 pm because of annual maintenanceof 33-KV bus of 220/132/33 K Narendrapur grid sub-station.
Development works like installation of 33-KVbreaker at 33/11 K Ambapua substation at Janibili,water-related works at Nilanchal Nagar and works on11KV AB switches would be carried out during this nine-hour period.
Due to the development works, people of GajapatiNagar, Nilanchal Nagar, Alkapuri, Alekhnagar,Khodasingi Engineering School Main Road,BidyutpuriColony, Rajib Nagar, Gopalpur Junction, SaradabaliBasant Bihar, Ambapua, Krishna Vihar, Income TaxHousing Board, Palligulmula, Archana Bihar PoliceColony, Mahima Bihar and its nearby areas wouldexperience power cut, said an official.
����� 4�.08.�
Two persons were killed and anothersustained critical injuries as the
motorcycle by which they were travellinghit a roadside culvert near Nuagaon underChandbali block in Bhadrak district onMonday night.
The deceased were identified asAshok Nayak and Balaram Nayak. Theinjured one, Ananda Nayak, is undergo-ing treatment at the SCB Medical CollegeHospital in Cuttack.
Eyewitnesses said that the one whowas driving the bike lost control over thewheels, following which the vehicledashed against the culvert. Locals rescuedthe trio in critical conditions and rushedthem to the Chandbali CommunityHealth Centre, where Ashok succumbedto his injuries.
The remaining two were later shift-ed to the SCB Hospital, where Balaramdied while under treatment.
����� 4�.08.�
Abody of a man was foundhanging near a pond at
Gopalpur village underChandbali block in Bhadrakdistrict on Tuesday.
The deceased was identi-fied as Basanta Sahu. Policerecovered the body, sent it forpostmortem and registered anunnatural death case in con-nection with the incident.
Sahu, who was residingand working in Jajpur, hadcome to his village a week ago.A land dispute was prevailingbetween him and his brother,locals said.
Though the reason behindthe death was yet to be ascer-tained, it was suspected thatSahu was murdered. Sahu’sbrother said he had gone out ofthe house at 10 pm on Mondayand his body was found hang-ing on Tuesday morning.
��������� 8.<.".0.
In a significant breakthrough,the Rayagada police in the
wee hours of Monday nabbeda dreaded criminal in anencounter in Rayagada town.The arrestee was identified asHadipa Siva alias Siva.
Siva was initially admittedto the District HeadquartersHospital and later shifted to theMKCG Medical CollegeHospital in Brahmapur afterhis condition deteriorated.
Acting on a tipoff, apolice team traced the loca-tion of Siva and attempted toapprehend him around 4am. But spotting the policeparty, Siva and two of hisassociates opened fire.
In retaliation by police,he sustained bullet injurieson his left leg and head. Buttwo of his associates man-aged to give the slip topolice.
Two police personnel,Sub- Inspector Rigan Kindoand Havildar Dilip Hotawere also injured duringthe exchange of fire. Both ofthem are out of danger andhaven released from thehospital after treatment.
Siva is involved in morethan 50 criminal cases ofloot, abduction, extortionand several other seriouscriminal cases in Rayagadadistrict including the recentabduction of a Sonepur youthfor a ransom of Rs 10 lakh.
Rayagada SP SarvanaVivek M said one pistol and
nine bullets were seized fromhis possession confiscated. Thedreaded criminal Siva had ahistory of earlier attacking apolice official with his dagger.
Sources said he had a col-lection of lethal weapons likedaggers, bombs, and pistolssome of which were recentlyseized when police appre-hended six dreaded criminalsin an abduction case of aSonepur youth. Siva enjoyedpolitical patronage and his wifewas a Councillor of theRayagada Municipality.
He was arrested a numberof times but every time man-aged to get bail and continuedoperating his criminal syndi-
cate. But this is the first time thepolice mustered courage tonab him, the sources added.
����� 4�34.56-7.8
Worldwide economic slow-down, climate change
and frequent natural disastershave severely affected the mostmarginalised communities; andmarine fishermen are amongthe worst victims, said Ministerof Food, Civil Supplies andCooperation Ranendra PratapSwain on Thursday last.
Swain further added thatkeeping an eye of 14 lakh largefishermen community bothinland and marine, the StateGovernment has taken someconcrete steps to safeguardtheir livelihoods sources andpromoting 'Mo Pokhari' byproviding fifty per cent sub-sides on farm ponds for fishing.
"We will shortly call a highlevel meeting to explore possi-bilities of what could be donethrough CooperationDepartment to extend sup-port to marine fishing com-munity and promoting dryfish in Odisha, which hasimmense potentiality," Swaintold. He extorted fishingCommunity to keep a balanceon deep sea fishing to ensureconservation of marineresources in time of climatechange.
Swain was speaking afterinaugurating 'World FisheriesDay" celebration held onSaturday here organised by theOdisha Traditional FishWorkers Union (OTFWU).
The Government need tothink about the life and liveli-hoods of fishing communitiesbecause both periodic fishingban and disasters reduced them
to wage labourers, said con-venor of Coast CouncilSudarshan Chhotoray, whograced the occasion as guest ofhonour.
While presenting the
demand charter of the com-munity, general secretary ofOTFWU, K Aleya highlightedthe plight of community bysaying more than 6,55,000 peo-ple, spread over 185 village in
6 coastal districts are livingwith uncertainty due to fishingbans during peak sessions.
Apart from these, theUnion Government hasbrought the National Marine
Regulation Act, 2017, NationalMarine and Managing Bill2019 and fresh CoastalRegulation Zone (CRZ) 2019which will spell doom forthem, he told.
����� 4�34.56-7.8
The KIIT University in asso-ciation with the
International Society of WasteManagement, Air and Water(ISWMAW) is going to organ-ise the 9th InternationalConference on SustainableWaste Management towardsCircular Economy (IconSWM-CE 2019) on the ‘SustainableWaste Management forCircular Economy’ at KIITfrom November 27 to 30.
Prof M Nelles from theRostock University, Germany;Prof Francesco Di Maria fromthe University of Perugia, Italy;Dr Abas Basir from the AECEP,Sri Lanka; Dr Ashok Pandeyfrom the CSIR, India; ProfHN Chanakya from the IISc;
Prof Sasmita Samanta fromthe KIIT, former APPCBChairman Dr BSS Prasad andmany others would attend theprogramme.
The conference will delib-erate on various issues relatedto innovation and practice insolid and liquid waste man-agement including policies andstrategies, segregation, collec-
tion, transportation, biological,thermal and mechanical treat-ment technologies, LCA, cli-mate change, circular economy,research, business opportuni-ties, etc.
On the occasion, variousawards like IconSWMExcellence Awards forIndustries, ULBs and NGOswill also be presented.
��������� 8.<.".0.
During the of 120th birthanniversary
of Veer SahidLaxman Nayakhere, speakersdemanded thatthe birth place ofthe martyr bedeveloped as atourist spot.
OctogenarianG a n d h i a nJayaram Jenaspeaking on theoccasion saidassessment oftribal leaderNayak’s exact agebefore 120 years iscertainly difficult.
He was born in a non-descript village, Tentuligumma,in Baipariguda block ofKoraput district. Though thevillage is just nine km awayfrom the block headquarters,the inhabitants of the villageneed to cover around 70 km toreach Baipariguda becausethere is no fair weather road
connecting to the block,lamented senior journalistBadal Kumar Tah.
He proposed a collabora-tive effort between the ZillaSarvodaya Mandal and the dis-trict administration to takesome students for exposure toLaxman’s village Tentuligumma
and distribute photos amongstudents. He also suggestedthe school students of SashtriNagar Primary School to writeto CM Naveen Patnaik todevelop Tentuligumma as asacred and important touristspot.
Collector, Rayagada,Pramod Kumar Behera, whopresided over the meeting,
lauded the efforts of Rayagadacitizens for their interest inkeeping the memory of Nayakalive.
Sub Collector PratapChandra Pradhan and seniorjournalist Basudev Patra rem-inisced the memories of Nayakin a lucid
manner. Eminent persons like for-
mer Vice-Chairman, RayagadaMunicipality, Dr NiranjanBuxipatro, lawyer Kedar Panda,Satyabadi Pati, NN Padhi,former Ombudsman BidulataHuika, headmistress AshalataDevi and ABEO BalaramHuika among others were pre-sent.
acres of land belonging tothe Shree JagannathMahaprabhu Bije, Purithrough the registered saledeeds in the State andfetched Rs 10,64,90,777 forthe shrine.
Law Minister PratapJen informed this in theState Assembly in responseto a question of BJD memberBhupinder Singh on Tuesday.
The Minister also informedthat as many as 396 encroach-
ment cases have been filed on96.269 acres of acres of landbelonging to the temple.
While the Shreemandir hasa total of 60,426.943 acres ofland in the State, the ShreeJagannath TempleAdministration has receivedfinal RoR against 34,206.734acres. As many as 395.252acres of land belonging to the
Jagannath Mahaprabhu Bije,Puri have been identified out-side the State, informed theMinister.
����� �6508.�.0.
An RWSS Junior Engineer ofDerabish block was sus-
pended following his involve-ment in a tube-well scam.
He was identified as SarojKumar Mohapatra, who as perthe allegations against himpassed a bill for a tubewell tobe dug at a private land withGovernment funds under theBasudha Yojana violatingnorms.
Nahanga sarpanchUmakanta Nayak managed toinstal the tubewell at his per-sonal land in Nayaksahi ofManipura village at an esti-mated cost of Rs 2.32 lakh,under Basudha Yojana and JEMohapatra was hand in glovewith him.
The scam came to the forefollowing revelation under RTIAct. The RTI activist broughtthe alleged matter before thedistrict administration and alsoto notice of the RWSS author-ities. A case has been registeredagainst the JE and sarpanchNayak, stated Nikirai police sta-tion IIC Kabuli Barik.
����� 4�34.56-7.8
Congress Legislature PartyLeader Narasingha Mishra
on Tuesday demanded in theState Assembly that the auditreports of all the State andCentral Cooperative Banks betabled in the House soon.
“There are provisions thatthe audit reports of the Stateand Central Cooperative Banksshould be tabled in the Houseevery year. But such reportshave never been placed sinceinception of these institutions,”said Mishra.
����� 1�.��3.
The Barbil SuperLeague will
start at Barbil fromDecember 22. Thiswas declared byMining AreaCricket Association( MACA) presidentL a c h h a m a nMahanta in a Pressmeet held at Barbilon Sunday.
He informedtotal eight teamswill participate inthe tournamentwhich is a proto-type of IPL.
R a s a n a n d aBehera of socialorganisation, Native Voice,under whose aegis, the MACAis going to organise the tour-
nament revealed that there isno dearth of talent in the Joda-Barbil mining area but due tolack of proper encouragement,many talents are unable to
come up and show their merit.Already 198 players have
registered their names for the
tournament and the teamswhich will participate includeAJ Fitting, YBCC RanaRangers, Vinayak Gift House,Samal Auto India, Bishnupriya
Sports Club, GS XI, RushadAfza Cricket Club and GNSport Club.
����� 4�34.56-7.8
Congress Legislature PartyLeader Narasingha Mishra
on Tuesday demanded thatthe Government make a state-ment on its stand on theMahanadi water dispute in theHouse soon.
Raising the issue during theZero Hour, Mishra alleged thatthe State Government haschanged its stance towards theBJP-led Central Governmentafter the last general elections.
He said the Treasure Benchmembers are no more rasingthe issues of the Mahanadi andVamshadhar water disputes inthe House, indicated that theState Government has changedits stance on the issues which
are ought to be raised againstthe Union Government.
He expressed unhappinesssaying that even as two com-mittees were constituted on theMahanadi dispute, one headedby CM Naveen and the otherheaded by the Speaker, yetthey have not met for a singletime.
The Government shouldtable all the data relating to theriver disputes in the Assembly,Mishra demanded.
����� 4�34.56-7.8
Celebrating the ConstitutionDay, Chief Minister
Naveen Patnaik on Tuesdayreiterated his demand thatMahatma Gandhi’s ideologyof “Ahimsa” be incorporated inthe Preamble to theConstitution.
“Celebration of theConstitution Day is a celebra-tion of the ideals of liberty,equality and fraternity andsecularism which are enshrinedin the Constitution for ensur-ing good governance and com-prehensive cultivation of whatDr BR Ambedkar described asconstitutional morality so thatpeople of India not only enjoypolitical democracy but alsosocial and economic democ-racy,” opined Patnaik at the cel-
ebration held in the Assemblypremises.
He said the uniquelyIndian ideal of Ahimsa should
be incorporated in thePreamble to the Constitution topay tribute to the father of ournation and to ensure peacefultransformation of society.
Besides paying tributes toAmbedkar, the Chief Ministeralso remembered theConstituent AssemblyMembers from Odisha likeBiswanath Dash, BichitranandaDas, Sarangadhar Das, LaiMohan Pati, YudhisthiraMishra, Malati Choudhury, NMadhaba Rao, KrushnaChandra Gajapti Nrayan Deo,Harekrushna Mahatab,Laxminarayan Sahu, LokanathMishra, Nandakishore Das,Santanu Kumar Das and RajaKrushna Bose on the occasion.
Speaker Surjya NarayanPatro, Leader of OppositionPradipta Naik, CongressLegislature Party LeaderNarasingha Misrha, allMinisters and MLAs belongingto all parties attended the meet-ing.
����� 4�34.56-7.8
The BJP on Tuesday said thatthe State Government has
removed BK Sharma from the
post of Director General ofPolice (DGP) to derail theinvestigation in PEO Smitaranideath case.
Addressing a Press meethere, BJP State general secre-tary Lekhasri Samantsingharsaid that Sharma was ousted tosuppress facts in the case andadded that the Governmenthad acted in a dictatorial man-ner to oust Sharma.
She said Chief MinisterNaveen Patnaik, who is in-charge of Home Departmentand claims to focus on womensecurity, had said not to politi-cise the cases of atrocitiesagainst women in theAssembly.
“Who are politicising theissue? Those who are fightingfor the cause of women orthose who are sidesteppingissues of atrocities againstwomen and shielding anti-socials? ” she questioned.
Security forces have fannedout in Palamu’s most tough-
est and difficult locations forthe conduct of polling which isdue on November 30.
A contingent of CISF(Central Industrial SecurityForces) conducted a massiveAD (area domination) in vul-nerable areas like Gaura,Gharatiya, Baghnanwa,Choratiya.
Similar AD was carriedout in areas of Nawa, Chainpur,Hussainabad, Pandu, PankiUntari road, ChhaterpurRamgarh, Narsinghpoorpathra, Bhairwa, Nagwa etc.
Small culverts and bridgescoming on the way have beenchecked for any booby trapthere. Sources said a longstretch between Saraideeh andChetma is a high risk area andhere too footfall of securityforces has come.
Police sources said so farthere is no report of anyunearthing of booby trap orimprovised explosive device.
However, security forcesare well cautious and are leav-ing nothing to chance.
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Before voting each voter getsmarked with an indelible dot
of a silver nitrate solution on his
left forefinger to guard againstvoting fraud. During thisAssembly election, this markcan earn discounts at restaurantsand sweets shops after voting onpolling days at Bokaro Steel City.
Taking a unique and a verygood initiative over dozens ofrestaurant's owners at City cen-ter in Bokaro offering a specialdiscount of 10 per cent on thechoice of delicious dishes to thevoters who show indelible inkmark on their finger after cast-ing their vote. The discount willbe valid only for the day of poll,said AP Singh the owner ofShan-e-Punjab at City CenterSector in Bokaro Steel City.
“Our motto behind thisoffer is only that people mustcast their right to make Indiabetter and to make this megafestival a grand success,” saidRD Gupta of Todi Restaurant.“We hope that our initiative willhelp people to make themaware of their voting rights," headded.
importance of abiding by"Constitutional morality" byall thee organs of the State, per-sons holding constitutionalposts and members of civilsociety , while Prime MinisterNarendra Modi reminded peo-ple of their "duties".
Addressing a joint-sittingof Parliament in the Centralhall, celebrating the 70thanniversary of the adoption ofthe Constitution, the Presidentsaid B R Ambedkar, whileunderlining the importance ofconstitutional morality, hademphasised that its essencewas to regard the Constitutionas supreme and to follow con-stitutionally-mandated proce-dures.
"All the three organs of theState, persons gracing consti-tutional posts, members ofcivil society and common cit-izens of India are expected to
abide by constitutional moral-ity," he said quoting Ambedkar.
It is the duty of every citi-zen to abide by theConstitution and respect itsideals and institutions and tocherish and follow the nobleideals of its freedom struggle,he said.
President said theConstitution enshrines theideal of building an inclusivesociety to "bring about revolu-tionary changes peacefully byway of constitutional amend-ments".
Referring about rights andduties, Kovind quoting theFather of the Nation MahatamaGandhi said the true source ofrights is duty.
"If we all discharge ourdu-ties, right will not be far to seek.If leaving duties unperformedwe run after rights, they escapeus like a will-o-the-wisp,Kovind said quoting Gandhi.
Constitution day-'Sambidhan Divas'- is observedannually on November 26 as on
this day country's Constitutionwas adopted by the Constituentassembly in 1949. Constitutioncame to effect on January 26,
1950.In his address to the joint
sitting Prime Minister said theConstitution has helped a
large segment of society toachieve equality and it hasstood test of time. PrimeMinister made a subtle refer-
ence to the Emergency, whichwas imposed by the then PrimeMinister Indira Gandhi, sayingthat countrymen failedattempts targeting theConstitution and that itremained unwavering.
Modi said a special aspectof the Indian Constitution isthat it highlights both rightsand duties of citizens.
"Let us think about how wecan fulfill duties enshrined inour Constitution," Modi said.He said Gandhiji had wellunderstood that there was anunbreakable and balancebetween rights and duties.
Prime Minister asked peo-ple to be more aware not onlyabout their rights but alsoabout their duties enshrined inthe Constitution.
Opposition parties boy-cotted the event to protestpolitical developments inMaharashtra following theGovernor's decision to swear inBJP's Devendra Fadnavis as theState's Chief Minister.
Modi said there had beenan emphasis on people's rightsin the last many years as a vastnumber of people felt deprivedof equality and justice.
The demand of the presenttime is that society shoulddeliberate on its duties andresponsibilities as well, he saidand asserted, "We cannot pre-serve our rights without ful-filling our responsibilities".
Noting that theConstitution begins with "wethe people of India", he saidpeople are its strength, inspi-ration and aim.
"Our effort should be toensure focus on our duties inour conversations and meet-ings," he said.
"Our Constitution is asacred book that contains ourtraditions and beliefs and alsooffer solutions to new chal-lenges," he added.
Bhim Rao Ambedkar, akey architect of theConstitution, had asked peopleif the country can uphold free-
dom and democracy it envi-sions, Modi noted and said hadhe been alive, he would haveprobably been the happiest.
He said November 26 is ahappy occasion as India cele-brates Constitution Day but italso is a sad reminder of theMumbai terror attacks, whichhad taken place on this day in2008. He paid tributes to thosekilled in the attack.
In his observation , Vice-President and Chairman ofRajya Sabha M VenkaiahNaidu said, "We have progres-sively put the `public` at thecentre of `Republic' " andgrew as vibrant , pluralistic cul-ture with a flourishing parlia-mentary system withConstitution working as a bul-wark in protecting the rights ofa free society.
Lok Sabha speaker OmBirla, in his address, said "Most of the problems beingfaced by the nation can besolved by pursuing funda-mental duties."
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In a move to do away with'The Press and Registration
of Books (PRB) Act, 1867', aBritish era regulation, theInformation & BroadcastingMinistry has come out with adraft of the "Registration ofPress and Periodicals Bill 2019.The draft bill proposes a sim-ple system of registration of e-papers/digital media.
Through the draft bill, theMinistry has proposed to doaway with prosecution provi-sions of imprisonment of pub-lishers and to simplify imple-mentation of the registrationprocess through a newly-cre-
ated Press Registrar General.The proposed draft also pro-hibits a person from bringingout a publication who has beenconvicted by any court for anoffence involving terror acts orunlawful activities and for hav-ing done anything against thesecurity of the State.
Currently, in the PRB Actoffences are punishable with animprisonment term of up to sixmonths as part of the penaltiesclause for improper disclosureof information. "The Bill pro-poses to do away with the ear-lier provision under the PRBAct, 1867 of prosecution ofpublishers," the Ministry stat-ed in the draft Bill which has
been uploaded on its website toseek views from stakeholdersand public.
The draft Bill states that"publishers of news on digitalmedia shall register themselveswith the Registrar ofNewspapers of India". Itdefines news on digital mediaas the news in digitised formatthat can be transmitted over theinternet, computer or mobilenetworks and includes text,audio, video and graphics. Theproposed Bill will help theGovernment to grant adver-tisements to digital media. Themove is significant as the leg-islation has been proposed bythe Narendra Modi
Government, which has beenfacing criticism over the yearsfor its tough position on media-related issues.
The Bill enables theCentral Government and theState Government to frameappropriate rules/ regulationsto regulate the criteria/ condi-tions for issuing Govt adver-tisements in newspapers,accreditation of newspapersand provide any other benefitto the periodical or its own-ers/employees.
The draft Bill proposes todo away with the existing pro-cedure of furnishing of decla-ration by publishers/ printersbefore the District Magistrate
and its subsequent authentica-tion.The draft bill proposesthe process of title and regis-tration of periodicals includingnewspapers is proposed to beeffected centrally by the PressRegistrar General as a simul-taneous process.
The draft Bill also propos-es to remove the existing pro-visions relating to registration ofbooks. In the draft Bill, cancel-lation or suspension of regis-tration norms now also includea provision that States that if thepublisher has been convicted byany court for an offence, "involv-ing terrorist act or unlawfulactivity," it may result in can-cellation of registration.
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The Lok Sabha MPs cuttingacross party lines demand-
ed on Tuesday setting upNational Institute of Design(NID) in all States during thepassing of the Bill which seeksto declare four NationalInstitutes of Design in AndhraPradesh, Madhya Pradesh,Assam and Haryana as insti-tutions of national importance.
The National Institute ofDesign (Amendment) Bill,2019 was passed by the LokSabha by a voice vote. It hasalready been cleared by theRajya Sabha. During thedebate, MPs said NID shouldbe established across the coun-try, saying it will help createskilled manpower and generatejob opportunities.
DMK MP Kalanidhi
Veeraswamy said theGovernment should establishan institute in any district ofTamil Nadu. Congress leaderHibi Eden too asked for settingof an institute in Cochin as thecity has ancient churches andother heritage buildings. "Weneed an institute in Kerala. AnNID can be considered inCochin," he said.
The Bill seeks to declarefour National Institutes ofDesign in Andhra Pradesh,Madhya Pradesh, Assam andHaryana as institutions ofnational importance. It willallow the four institutes togrant degrees and diplomas.Trinamool Congress parlia-mentarian Satabdi Roy toosaid that West Bengal shouldhave such an institute. KiritSolanki of the BJP said thatevery state should have one
NID because all states haveskills and design capacity. Healso said that there should besome kind of scholarship forwomen, SC and ST candidatesin these institutes.
Ritesh Pandey of the BSPsaid that Uttar Pradesh andBihar too should have NIDs asthese will help create jobs. B BPatil of the TRS said that NIDin Andhra Pradesh should beshifted to Telangana. CPI-M member A M Ariff saidthere are 134 institutes whichhave the tag of institute ofnational importance and thereis a need to increase the qual-ity of faculty in these centres.Kirron Kher of the BJP sug-gested that the NID governingcouncil should have a repre-sentative from the Ministry ofTribal Affairs as various tribeshave rich sense of design.
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Congress on Tuesdaydemanded apologies from
both BJP's Devendra Fadnavisand NCP leader Ajit Pawar formisleading the people of Stateand country by first takingcharge as Chief Minister andDeputy Chief Minister andthen quitting the posts withintwo days realising they will failthe floor test.
The Congress also soughtto ensure accountability of thePrime Minister Narendra Modiand Home Minister Amit aswhy the Governor used as apuppet and why did they hurtthe stature of the President. Theparty also said the turn ofevents in Maharashtra has alsoput the role of the Presidentunder scanner but did not
elaborate.The grand old party which
is one of the main constituentsof the Shiv Sena led NCP-Sena-Congress combine pitching tostake claim in Maharashtra,
stated the second termFadnavis Government wasbased on "defections" and felllike a "house of cards".Congress has now askedGovernor Bhagat Singh
Koshiyari to invite its alliancewith the Shiv Sena and theNCP to form the Governmentin the state.
Minutes after DevendraFadnavis' announcement thathe is resigning, formerMaharashtra Chief Ministerand Congress leader PrithvirajChavan said he has requestedKoshiyari to accept it and invitethe Shiv Sena-NCP-Congressalliance led by Sena chiefUddhav Thackeray to formthe Government.
"Devendra Fadnavis andAjit Pawar should apologise tothe people of Maharashtra.Their Government was basedon lies and defections and felllike a house of cards," he said.
Congress' chief spokesper-son Randeep Surjewala posedquestions to Prime Minister
Narendra Modi and HomeMinister Amit Shah, asking"why such a spectacle ofdemocracy was created inMaharashtra?"
Claiming that the lack ofnumbers of those "who kid-napped the people's mandate"stands exposed with the devel-opments, Surjewala said,"it isnow clear that 'Chanakyaniti'(political strategy) in BJPmeans abduction of democra-cy."
"Why was the country'sCabinet paralysed? Why wasthe naked dance of defectionsand horse trading? Why was aminority Government formeddrama done of having majori-ty for so long? Why corruptioncases were taken back?Whywas the Constitution torn intoshreds?" Surjwala asked.
Deafness can be detectedwithin four hours of birth
and if kids born with such dis-ability are stimulated at anearly age with sound, they canlearn speech easily, and livetheir life to the fullest, say doc-tors.
But despite of availability oflatest technology to manage thedisability, majority of childrenin India reach for medicalintervention when they arearound four-year old, by whichtime, in most of the cases seri-ous damage could have been
done."Early detection helps in
faster and effective treatments.Parents may not always beable to identify the hearing lossin their children, which is whyhaving Universal NewbornHearing Screening (UNHS)programme becomes crucial. Itis adopted in many countries tosolve the problem of hearingdisability. It is high time Indiatoo go for it," Dr SC Sharma,ENT specialist from AIIMS inDelhi says.
Currently, Kerala is theonly state to have successfullyachieved 98 per cent UNHS
across all Government hospi-tals.
According to researches,there are 5-6 infants every1,000 neonates in India whoface hearing problems.
Dr Sharma says, "Thereare many medical interven-tions like Cochlear implantsand hearing aids which canhelp a child to lead a dignifiedlife."
International cricket legendBrett Lee who is global hearingambassador for Cochlear-anhearing implant company-wasin Delhi on November 14 to batfor making UNHS mandatory
in hospitals like it is in coun-tries like the USA, Singapore,Australia and the UK.
Dr Alok Thakkar, ENTspecialist from the AIIMSechoed similar views. "Thebest results with a cochlearimplant can be observed if theimplantations is done betweeneight months and 2 years of ageas 80 per cent of the braindevelops during this period oflife. The results of the Cochlearimplants done within the age offive will also be good but thechild will require a lot of speechtherapy," he said.
A cochlear implant is per-
formed on patients who havelost all or most of their usefulhearing in both ears and notbenefited by conventional hear-ing aid. "We have done 900implants till date. The numberis meager against the demand,admitted Dr Kapil Sikka, assis-tant professor (ENT) AIIMS.There is a waiting list of ninemonths due to manpower andinfrastructure challenges.
Moreover, the fact thatcochlear implants come withthe cost--starts from Rs. 6.5lakh and depending on fea-tures, goes up to Rs.16 lakh-andparents find difficulty in
arranging fund arrangement isnot easy, the delay in hearingidentification just add to theagony of such kids.
"Poor parents who can'tafford the treatment have tofind funding agencies.Thankfully, help is comingfrom NGOs and corporate sec-tor who support the treat-ment," points out Dr Sikka.
Dr Ashok Kumar,Consultant ENT Surgeon, RMLHospital pitched for reducingcost of the cochlear implantsbeing provided under theGovernment programme."Also as there is no provision
of maintenance cost after threeyears of implant, the devices aredumped by the users as theycan't afford the extra cost," hesays. Cochlear implant is aninner device and has no risk tothe life of the patient. TheCochlea is a part of the ear,where sound energy is con-verted intobio electrical signalsand sent to the brain. Thisimplant is placed on to thepatient's skull surgically. Andthe electrode inserted into theCochlea which is attached tothe hearing nerve.
Those having severe toprofound hearing loss in both
ears are chosen for cochlearimplant while for others we rec-ommend hearing aids, adds DrSikka.
Implanting the Cochlear isnot sufficient. After theimplant, children also need tobe taught to listen and under-stand. For that to happen, theyneed to undergo audio thera-py for a minimum of twoyears, he says.
Though the CentralGovernment has made provi-sion to sponsor 500 numbersunder its ADIP Scheme, it isminuscule in comparison toactual requirement.
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In an effort to boost themorale of Armed forces,
Defence Minister RajnathSingh on Tuesday approved aproposal to extend the reten-tion of Government accom-modation by families of battlecasualties to one year from theexisting three months.
The nod for this majorrelief came after reviewing therequirements and demands ofthe armed forces, officials saidhere adding the benefit willcover personnel all the threeServices. The Minister okayedthe proposal after goingthrough the existing provi-sions and then recommended
the extension of the period ofretention, they added.
At present, the families ofarmed forces personnel killedin action against enemy forcesor whilst enemy air attacks orfighting terrorists are permit-ted retention of Governmentaccommodation for threemonths.
The benefit also coverssoldiers who die in cross-bor-der firing or ceasefire violationon the Line of Control(LOC)asthe martyred personnel aretreated as battle casualties.
The latest welfare mea-sures comes a month afterSingh approved a four-foldhike in assistance to the next ofkin of all categories of battle
casualties from Rs lakh to Rseight lakh. The amount will begranted under the Army BattleCasualties Fund(ABCWF).
The ABCWF was institut-ed in July 2017 and was imple-mented with effect from April2016. It was set up underDepartment of Ex-ServicemenWelfare (ESW) after a largenumber of people offered toprovide monetary assistance tothe families of battle casualtiesfollowing an incident inFebruary 2016 at Siachenwhere 10 soldiers were buriedin an avalanche. This fundwas set up in addition to thevarious existing schemes for thewelfare of next of kin of battlecasualties and their children.
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With Chief MinisterDevendra Fadnavis
forced to quit after three daysin the CM's chair in his secondterm, the BJP lost one moremajor State it had ruled andwhich it had sought to add toits saffron basket by tacticalmoves, exposing the 'faultlines' in the 'Chanakya Niti' ofits stalwarts.
The coup in Karnatakawhere ' Operational Kamal'dismantled Congress-JDS dis-pensation in July and the suc-cess of similar moves inArunachal Pradesh and Goamay have psychologicallyemboldened BJP to upscaletheir statecraft in Maharashtra.
The political developments
in the key western state, how-ever, proved a kind of anti-cli-max for the BJP as it has ignit-ed opposition unity that wasnowhere in sight until recent-ly. It has virtually broughtSharad Pawar , the NationalistCongress Party (NCP) leader,sitting on the margins, to thecentre-stage of Opposition pol-itics.
The surprise move by theBJP in installing Fadnavis in theCM's chair gave the Oppositionparties a cause to get back atthe BJP by reaching out to theSupreme court and attackingthe saffron party for allegedlythrowing to winds theConstitutional proprieties.
The Maharashtra power-play seemed to have become acementing factor for the dis-
arrayed opposition which since2014 was not being able to puta joint-fight - be that ideolog-ical or strategic- vis-à-vis theBJP.
A view even among theBJP sympathisers is that theMaharashtra episode may havegiven an unwanted attentiontowards BJP's 'political machi-nations' and rendered a ratherlethargic and dying opposition
a new life. The unholy speed with
which Fadnavis was sworn-inwith the help of Ajit Pawar-led-NCP faction and the wayPresident's rule was with-drawn in Maharashtra hadunwittingly given a high moralground to the opposition.
In a way the saffron dampsquib in Maharashtra has alsoslashed down the `invincibili-ty aura' surrounding'Chanakyas' of the BJP as it hasalso exposed the limitation of'cloak and dagger' moves inpolitics.
The Maharashtra episodealso reflects that the increas-ingly powerful BJP underShah-Modi was not too will-ing to accommodate its allieswhich was the not the case
under Atal Bihari Vajpyee. The jettisoning of its old-
est 'ideological ally' for gainingtotal dominance inMaharashtra politics has onlydriven Shiv-Sena to the oppo-sition camp which is now a lit-tle ignited with its rainbowcombination .!
Somehow, similar may bethe experience of the JD (U)leader Nitish Kumar whoseleadership was also questionedby some state BJP leadersbefore Amit Shah put the lid onthe controversy saying thatBihar assembly polls would befought with Kumar at the helmin the state. In Haryana, BJPdid not share seats with allyShrimoni Akali Dal, andinstead stole its sole MLAbefore the October poll.
Sabha a bill to merge UnionTerritories Daman and Diu, andDadra and Nagar Haveli intoone. The proposed legislation -The Dadra and Nagar Haveliand Daman and Diu (Merger ofUnion Territories) Bill 2019 -was introduced in the House byUnion Minister of State forHome G Kishan Reddy.
"In view of the policy of theGovernment to have 'MinimumGovernment, MaximumGovernance", considering smallpopulation and limited geo-graphical area of both theUnion Territories and to use the
services of officers efficiently, ithas been decided to merge theUTs of Dadra and Nagar Haveliand Daman Diu into a singleUT," Reddy said. The mergedUnion Territory will be namedas Dadra and Nagar Haveli andDaman and Diu.
The merger of the twoUTs, located along the westerncoast near Gujarat, is done forbetter administration and checkduplications of various work. Sofar, both the Union Territorieshave separate budgets and dif-ferent secretariats even thoughthey are just 35 km apart.Dadra and Nagar Haveli hasjust one district while Damanand Diu has two. Both UTswere under the Portuguese rule
for a long time. They were liberated from
Portuguese rule in December1961. Since 1961 to 1987,Daman and Diu was part of theUT of Goa, Daman and Diu. In1987, when Goa got statehood,Daman and Diu was made aseparate UT. Dadra and NagarHaveli was occupied by thePortuguese in June 1783.Residents of Dadra and NagarHaveli got liberated themselvesfrom the Portuguese rule onAugust 2, 1954. Since, 1954 to1961, the territory was admin-istered by a citizen's councilcalled the Varishta Panchayat ofFree Dadra and NagarHaveli.and its division intotwo Union Territories.
Once being the only secondChief Minister in Maharashtra
to complete the full five-year term,BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis nowholds the dubious distinction ofbeing the CM with the shortesttenure of four days in the last 59years, a downhill journey whichunderlines transient nature of politics.
On Tuesday afternoon,Devendra Gangadharrao Fadnavis,49, resigned from his post, onlythree days after he made a dramat-ic comeback as the Chief Ministerfor a second term with the supportof NCP leader Ajit Pawar, who hadbroken ranks with his parent partyto lend support to the BJP.
However, what was supposed tobe a dream run for Fadnavis cameto an abrupt end in afternoon afterAjit Pawar stepped down as deputyCM, exposing the BJP’s claim thatit had majority in the 288-member
Assembly.Earlier P K Sawant held the
record of being the MaharashtraCM with the shortest term-- fromNovember 25 to December 4, 1963.He was made the caretaker chiefminister after the death of his pre-decessor Marotrao Kannamwar.
Fadnavis’ previous term as thechief minister lasted from October31, 2014 to November 12, 2019,making him only the second CMafter Vasantrao Naik of theCongress to last the full five-yearterm.
The second tenure of Fadnavislasted from November 23 toNovember 26, 2019.
The four-day-old BJP-ledGovernment collapsed on the eve ofthe supreme court-ordered floor testin the Assembly, after Ajit Pawarquit as deputy CM citing “person-al reasons”.
Fadnavis too resigned whileadmitting that the BJP had lostmajority in the House.
The collapse of the nascentgovernment capped the month-long uncertainty in Maharashtrapolitics, which witnessed manytwists and turns since the results ofthe Assembly elections weredeclared on October 24.
Fadnavis remained CM tillNovember 8, as the tenure of the13th Legislative Assembly hadended.
He submitted his resignation onNovember 8 and changed his twit-ter bio to “caretaker” Chief Ministerof Maharashtra.
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An effigy of Abu Asim Azmi, chiefof the Maharashtra unit of the
Samajwadi Party, was burnt inBhiwandi town near here to protest theparty’s decision to support Congress-NCP-Shiv Sena alliance to formGovernment.
Protesters also put a garland ofshoes around an effigy of local SPleader Raees Sheikh, MLA fromBhiwandi East during the incident onMonday night.
The protesters shouted slogansagainst Azmi and the SP, for “betray-
ing” voters from the minority com-munity. Kumbharwada police arrest-ed one person in connection with theprotest on Tuesday.
When contacted for reaction,Azmi, MLA from Mankhurd here,said, “It was necessary to extend support to Sena-NCP-Congress in the State, because ourprime objective is to keep the BJP outof power.”
He had discussed the issue withsenior SP leaders, Azmi said, addingthat those who protested his decisiondid not know the political situation.
Mumbai: Senior BJPleader Eknath Khadseon Tuesday dubbedAjit Pawar’s resigna-tion as Deputy ChiefMinister ofMaharashtra a “facesaving act”.
Bringing anoth-er twist in the see-sawing political drama in Maharashtra,NCP leader Ajit Pawar, who had joinedhands with the BJP and took oath asdeputy CM on November 23, steppeddown from his post.
The development resulted into thefour-day-old BJP-led Government losingits majority and Chief Minister DevendraFadnavis resigning on Tuesday afternoon.
“Ajit Pawar stepping down as DeputyChief Minister is a face saving act. Itwould have been more humiliating forAjit Pawar had he waited for tomorrow’sfloor test in the Maharashtra Assembly.It was expected that he (Ajit Pawar) wouldquit today,” Khadse told reporters.
The senior BJP leader, who is in polit-ical wilderness for last four years, said hisparty and the Shiv Sena should have ami-cably resolved the issues between them,
post the verdict of theOctober Assembly elec-tions.
“Had they foundsome solution, it wouldhave been better forMaharashtra,” Khadsesaid apparently refer-ring to the Sena and BJPparting ways over the
former’s demand for the Chief Minister’spost.
A known detractor of Fadnavis,Khadse said he was not aware whetherthe promise of sharing the CM’s post forequal term was made to the Sena by theBJP.
“I feel finding a solution (for thestand-off between the BJP and the Sena)was not an impossible thing,” he said.
Ajit Pawar had supported BJP asleader of the 54-member NCP legislatureparty and with his resignation earlier inthe day, the Government has lost major-ity.
Addressing reporters, Fadnavis said,“We don’t have majority after Ajit Pawar’sresignation as Dy CM. I will be submit-ting my resignation to Governor after thismedia briefing”. PTI
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Maharashtra Congress pres-ident Balasaheb Thorat
has been elected as the party’slegislature wing leader, theCongress said on Tuesday.
AICC general secretary in-charge for MaharashtraMallikarjun Kharge made theannouncement at a meeting ofthe party MLAs held at a hotelhere.
“The Congress president(Sonia Gandhi) has approvedthe name of Balasaheb Thoratas the Congress LegislatureParty leader in the MaharashtraLegislative Assembly,” Khargetold the MLAs.
Thorat is an eight-termMLA and currently heads theMaharashtra Pradesh CongressCommittee.
The Congress has tied-upwith the NCP and Shiv Sena to
form Government inMaharashtra.
The Supreme Court onTuesday directed that the floortest for Chief MinisterDevendra Fadnavis to prove hismajority in the MaharashtraAssembly be conducted onWednesday.
It also directed GovernorKoshyari to ensure that allelected members of the Houseare sworn in on Wednesdayitself.
The apex court also saidthat the entire proceedingshave to be telecast live. Votingin the Assembly shall not be onthe basis of secret ballot, it said.
Mumbai: Floral tributes were paid onTuesday to those who laid down theirlives while fighting Pakistani terroristswho had attacked Mumbai on this day11 years ago.
Maharashtra Chief MinisterDevendra Fadnavis was among thedignitaries who paid homage at the26/11 police memorial site at MumbaiPolice Gymkhana in south Mumbai.
“I pay homage to the brave police-men who fought for Mumbai’s safetyand laid down their lives for us on26/11. We are proud of them and wewill strive hard for the safety and secu-rity of our state,” Fadnavis said.
Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyarialso paid tributes to the martyrs.
State Chief Secretary Ajoy Mehta,Director General of Police SubodhKumar Jaiswal, Mumbai Police
Commissioner Sanjay Barve, and fam-ily members of the policemen who losttheir lives during the attacks were alsopresent during the ceremony.
On November 26, 2008, 10Pakistani terrorists arrived by searoute and opened fire indiscrimi-nately at people killing 166, including18 security personnel, and injuring
several others, besides damaging prop-erty worth crores.
The then Anti-Terrorism Squad(ATS) chief Hemant Karkare, ArmyMajor Sandeep Unnikrishnan,Mumbai’s Additional PoliceCommissioner Ashok Kamte, SeniorPolice Inspector Vijay Salaskar andAssistant Sub-Inspector (ASI)Tukaram Omble were among thosekilled in the attack.
The attacks had begun onNovember 26 and lasted till November29. The Chhatrapati Shivaji MaharajTerminus, the Oberoi Trident, the TajMahal Hotel, Leopold Cafe, CamaHospital and the Nariman HouseJewish community centre, nowrenamed Nariman Light House, weresome of the places targeted by the ter-rorists. PTI
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In a joint operation with UttarPradesh forest division, five
sloth bear were seized fromwildlife traffickers and later trans-ferred to the Agra Bear Rescuefacility for required medical treat-ment by Wildlife SoS on Tuesday.
According to Wildlife officials,these bear were intended for saleto other middleman by traffickers.
Surprisingly, organ of bearsare used in making of Chinese tra-ditional medicine. “Bear bile, gallbladders and other body parts areused in Chinese traditional med-icine and make the bear a vul-nerable target for this reason,” saida member of rescue team.
Elaborating the condition ofthese animals, an official saidthat the offenders had alsosmashed the teeth of the bearswith metal rods and mutilated themuzzles to insert a rope to train
the bears for street performance.”“By the timely rescue of thesebears, they have been saved fromtrafficking and a lifetime of tor-ture,” he added.
Initially these bears wereplaced under temporary care and treatmentinitially at Bhagwan BirsaZoological Park in Ranchi how-
ever following the orders fromChief Wildlife Wardens ofJharkhand and Uttar PradeshForest Departments, the bearshave been transferred to the 165acre Agra Bear Rescue Facility, thelargest bear rehabilitation centerin the world for this species, runby Wildlife SOS in collaborationwith Uttar Pradesh Forest
DepartmentDr. S. Ilayaraja, Deputy
Director of Veterinary Services atWildlife SOS said, “Our first pri-ority is the health of the bears andto provide them intensive veteri-nary care. Every bear will be sub-jected to a detailed veterinaryhealth examination.”
Kartick Satyanarayan, Co-founder and CEO Wildlife SOSsaid, “The timely intervention bythe enforcement authoritieshelped to rescue these bears frompoachers. Sloth bears are targetedby poachers for their body partsand to be traded as live animals forstreet performance. Poachers takeadvantage of porous internation-al borders to move wildlife con-traband and live animals across &conceal themselves in remoteareas. Sloth bears are a vulnerablespecies and poaching species fromthe wild severely impacts the wildpopulation.”
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Hours after MamataB a n e r j e e
announced regularisa-tion of refugee coloniesboth on private andG o v e r n m e n t lands peopleliving in the refugeecamps in North 24Parganas and Nadiaerupted in joy thanking theBengal Chief Minister for providing them some defenceagainst what they called “dread-ed” National Register forCitizens.
Hundreds of people atBongaon and Thakurnagar inNorth 24 Parganas andHanshkhali-Ranaghat in Nadiaexpressed their gratitudetowards the Chief Minister forproviding them “place of permanent residence” decadesafter they migrated to Bengalfrom the other side of the bor-der.
Millions of people hadmigrated to Bengal postIndependence and particular-ly in and around theBangladesh war in the wake ofpersecution.
Banerjee earlier had saidthat attempts would be madeby her Government to regu-larise refugee colonies on pri-vate and Government lands —
including those owned even bythe Central Government.
She said that such peoplewould be provided with pattasor land deeds and rights by herGovernment. Coming againstthe backdrop of the Centre’sannouncement that the NRCwas inevitable in Bengal as itwould be carried out through-out the country.
“We were under tremen-dous pressure ever since theCentre announced that theNRC is inevitable in Bengal.We are born and brought uphere, doing government jobs,giving votes but are now facedwith the prospect of beingevicted. The land deed willprovide us with some reason toclaim citizenship,” said middle-aged Nirmal Basak of Bongaon.
The State Government hadearlier regularized 94 refugeecolonies which were on stategovernment land, she said aftera Cabinet meeting.
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Hours after Maharashtra dramareached its climax with Chief
Minister Devendra Fadnavis ten-dering his resignation as his partyBJP fell far short of the magic fig-ure, Bengal Chief Minister onMonday slammed the “Governors”for failing to act constitutionally.
In a loaded remark Banerjeesaid she was aware of the historyoffreedom struggle and knew thatIndependence was won at thestroke of midnight but “I haveheard of freedom of midnight but Inever heard of a situation when aGovernment is formed in the midnight,secretly… When there is no majoritythen why he is called … the politicalparties and MLAs concerned shouldhave asked whether letters of supportthus presented were genuinely given bythem.”
Wondering why the MaharashtraGovernor called Fadnavis to form aGovernment without speaking to theother parties Banerjee said “Governoris a constitutional post and should …the dignity of this post should be pre-served and maintained.”
Apparently the Chief Minister’sacerbic remarks tended to come in thebackdrop of the deteriorating chemistrybetween Nabanna (State secretariat)and the Raj Bhavan in Bengal with theruling outfit and its senior ministersregularly attacking the BJP, CentralGovernment and the Governor for“running a parallel Government inBengal.” Both the “It’s a federal struc-ture. Central and State Government’sare elected by the people and have theirrespective place in the Indian consti-
tution. They have their own limitswhich should not be violated.
They should not violate theConstitution,” Banerjee said addinghow the Central Government hadbeen regularly interfering in the State’sbusiness.
Making a veiled reference to StateGovernor Jagdeep Dhankhar, the ChiefMinister said “I know who sent himhere and why… I know on what pur-pose he is working here. Whose cut outwill be used where and why is alsodecided by you.”
Incidentally in a rare occurrence(on Constitution Day) — catching theeyes of all and sundry present at theAssembly House — both the Governorand Chief Minister came nose to nosetwice but refused to acknowledge eachother’s presence, let alone exchangingpleasantries.
The two constitutional posts havebeen at loggerheads for the past cou-ple of months with the State Governorregularly complaining against theGovernor’s alleged attempt to interferein the affairs of the State and “runninga parallel Government.”
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The war of nerves being foughtbetween Tamil Nadu Government
and a retired officer of the Indian PoliceService saw the opening of yet another battle front in the MadrasHigh Court on Monday.
AG Ponn Manickavel, InspectorGeneral of Police, Idol Wing (CID) ofthe Tamil Nadu who retired from ser-vice on November 30, 2018 on reach-ing the age of 60 but was appointed bythe Madras High Curt as the Officer onSpecial Duty for a period of one yearto complete the probe into the case ofmissing temple idols had approachedthe court citing the impedimentsbeing created by the Tamil NaduGovernment from preventing him tofunction independently and requestingfor an extension of his tenure by twoyears.
A Bench consisting of Justice RMahadevan and P D Audikesavalu toldthe officer on Monday to wait till theSupreme Court takes a decision as theTamil Nadu Government has filed a pleabefore the apex court requesting for adirective to Manickavel to hand over thecharge and details of the idol missingcases to Abhay Kumar Singh, the addi-tional director general of police. TheSupreme Court had asked theAdditional Advocate General BalajiSrinivasan to request the Madras HighCourt to adjourn its proceedings tillDecember 2 when the former is sched-uled to hear the plea by Tamil NaduGovernment.
The Government of Tamil Nadu, topreempt any move by Manickavel toseek extension of his tenure as Special
Officer had directly approached theSupreme Court last week asking for adirective to the officer to hand over thecharges to the ADGP.
Manickavel, who is supported bythe devotees because of his stern anduncompromising stance against polit-ical pressure has already traced manyidols which were stolen from the tem-ples under the Hindu Religious andCharitable Endowment Department ofthe Tamil Nadu Government. Morethan 5,000 antique idols dating back tothousands of years have gone missingfrom the temples of the State since 1967.Some of them found their way to pri-vate art museums across the globe.
Manickavel, in his petition to theMadras High Court had stated that theState Government with the active con-nivance of the Director General of Policewas creating all kind of obstacles to pre-vent him from going ahead with theinvestigation into the missing idols.
“Interestingly, the AIADMK and theDMK are on the same side of this caseas both the parties want Manickavel tobe out from this investigation. Itshould be noted that a joint commis-sioner of HRCE was arrested by PonManickavel in the case of a missing idoland the department employees went ona day’s strike against the arrest. Thisshows that the HRCE department itselfis hand in glove with the perpetratorsof the crime,” said T R Ramesh, presi-dent, Temple Worshippers Society.
Parthasarathy, an entrepreneurbased in Sreerangam said that the gov-ernment was not comfortable withManickavel’s investigation as it wasafraid that the probe may reach its owndoorsteps.
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Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath onTuesday vowed to return “everysingle paisa” of the State powerfirm employees’ provident fundafter confiscating properties ofthose behind the scam ofinvesting the money in taintedDHFL.
“We will not let the inter-est of any employee be harmed.The properties of all thoseinvolved in this scam will beconfiscated and every singlepaisa of each and every employ-ee will be returned,” the ChiefMinister said.
Adityanath made thepromise while addressing aspecial session of the state leg-islative council, convened tomark 70 years of the adoptionof the Constitution. “No onewill be allowed to go scot free.The Government has said it andwill do it,” he asserted.
Talking about the formermanaging director of the UPPower Corporation Limitedarrested for his alleged role inthe scam, Aditynath said, “Themastermind of the PF scam wasa favourite officer of the previ-ous (SP) Government. Ourgovernment has put himbehind bars.” PTI
Mumbai: When Sharad Pawaraddressed a rain-soaked rally inMaharashtra’s Satara during cam-paigning for the October 21Assembly polls, few thought thatthe 79- year-old would be the dri-ving force behind the newGovernment.
With the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress all set to assume powerin Maharashtra, the patriarch ofthis unlikely anti-BJP combine isthe one left smiling, having out-witted stalwarts from the BJPcamp.
Having brought his party outof a virtual existential crisis ahead
of the Assembly polls, Pawar’sefforts suffered a setback, albeitmomentarily, when nephew AjitPawar shocked him by aligningwith the BJP to form theGovernment.
That regime lasted just 80hours, before Ajit quit as DeputyCM citing personal reasons, leav-ing Devendra Fadnavis, into hissecond stint as the CM high anddry. Within hours, Fadnavis alsoquit, paving way for the non-BJPcombine to assume reins of theState.
With the NCP hit by multipledesertions ahead of the
Maharashtra polls, Sharad Pawarassumed charge of the campaignand traversed the State.
His efforts paid off, with theparty winning 54 seats, 13 morethan its 2014 tally in the 288- mem-ber House.
A dauntless Pawar was instru-mental in stitching the unlikelyalliance with rival Shiv Sena toform a Government in theState to keep the BJP away from
power.Pawar has been a Defence
Minister, opposition leader in theLok Sabha and three-timeMaharashtra Chief Minister in a
career spanning 52 years in elec-toral politics.
He was a member ofMaharashtra Legislative Assemblyand the Lok Sabha for seven timeseach.
At 27 he was already a legisla-tor in the Maharashtra Assembly,and at 38 he managed to pull downthe Congress Government in thestate.
Pawar shot to fame in 1978when he dislodged the thenVasantdada Patil dispensation inthe state to form a Governmentwith the Janata Party. He was only38 at the time and is Maharashtra’s
youngest Chief Minister till date.He went on to become chief
minister of the State two moretimes, from June 1988 to June 1991and from March 1993 to March1995.
Pawar served as defence min-ister from June 1991 to March1993. He parted ways with theCongress in 1999 over party pres-ident Sonia Gandhi’s foreign ori-gin issue and formed the NCP thesame year.
The Congress and NCP cametogether after the 1999 Assemblyelection in Maharashtra to formGovernment in the State. PTI
Development Council, Doorualong with an employee of theAgriculture Department wereboth killed while four othersreceived injuries in a major ter-ror strike, aimed at derailingflagship program ‘Back toVillage’ of Rural DevelopmentDepartment in Anantnag dis-trict on Tuesday.
In a second grenade attack,which took place outside one ofthe gates of Kashmir Universityin Srinagar, at least five civiliansreceived injuries while panicstricken local shopkeepersdowned their shutters after theattack.
Meanwhile, the joint teamsof security forces early Tuesdaymorning recovered anotherdead body of a slain terroristfrom the encounter site inPulwama. The encounter tookplace between the joint teamsof security forces and the hid-
ing terrorists late Mondayevening.
According to police, “In aterror incident at Hakura,Anantnag, 2 civilians got seri-ously injured who later onsuccumbed to their injuries onTuesday”.
Official sources claimed,“large number of local vil-lagers along with panches and
sarpanches and several gov-ernment employees wereattending the ‘back to village’ programme atPanchayat Ghar in Hakooraarea of Anantnag when terror-ists lobbed grenades to targetthem”.
Local reports claimed, fir-ing was also reported in thearea but till the time of filing
the report the police hasnot issued a detailedincident report.
Official sourcessaid, “Sheikh Zahoor,an employee of the agri-culture department andSyed Rafiq, ViceChairman of BlockDevelopment Council,Dooru were killed inthe terror attack whilefour others receivedinjuries”.
In Srinagar, largenumber of people werestanding near Sir Syedgate of KashmirUniversity on Tuesday
morning when the grenadeattack around 1.10 p.m shat-tered window panes of severalvehicles and shops in the area.
In Pulwama, police identi-fied the two terrorists killed inthe encounter as Irfan AhmadSheikh & Irfan Ahmad Rather.They were both affiliated withproscribed terror outfit HizbulMujahideen.
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Jammu & Kashmir LieutenantGovernor GC Murmu on
Tuesday asked the police chief tostrengthen security of shrinesacross the Union Territory fol-lowing an attack on the Dargah ofMir Syed Mohammad Hamdani inTral area of south Kashmir.
The Sufi shrine, adjacent to alocal mosque at Kounsarbal(Krusbal) Mohalla in the Old TralTownship, was allegedly set ablazeby miscreants on the interveningnight of November 25-26.
According to police, the struc-ture was partially damaged andsome window panes and mattingwere charred by the time the firewas put out.
Condemning the attack bycalling it “cowardly”, the LG saidsuch acts are designed to arousepassion among the people and
hurt their sentiments but they willnot be tolerated, an officialspokesperson said.
He said that the perpetratorsof the heinous act will not bespared and shall be brought to jus-tice, he added.
Police have registered a caseand launched a manhunt to nabthe culprits, the spokespersonsaid.
Murmu has appealed to thepeople to maintain peace andcalm and not get swayed byrumours.
The LG has further directedthe Director General of Police(DGP) to strengthen the securityof shrines across J&K.
He has also asked theDivisional Commissioner ofKashmir to take immediate mea-sures to restore the vandalised Sufishrine to its original pristine con-dition, the official said.
New Delhi: Train services in the Srinagar-Banihal sectionof Kashmir Valley has resumed fully, more than threemonths after it was suspended due to security reasons, therailways said on Tuesday. A limited passenger service oftwo pairs of Trains between Srinagar-Baramulla was start-ed between 10 am to 3 pm with effect from November 12.Later, two more pairs of train services were allowed to oper-ate between Srinagar and Banihal from November 17.
Sixteen services are presently running in the Valley,the railways said, adding the duration of train services havebeen increased from five hours to nine hours -- 8 am to5 pm. Further, the Srinagar-Banihal section has beenrestored to its normal speed of 100 kmph. The resump-tion of services came after days of trial runs.
“The Railways has restored train services to benefitthousands of local commuters to travel by train over theentire area between Baramulla and Banihal (138 km). Thedecision to re-start train services in Kashmir Valley wastaken after due security audits and assurance byGovernment Railway Police, Jammu and Kashmir,” the rail-ways said. Train services in the Valley were suspended onAugust 3, ahead of the Centre’s decision to abrogate spe-cial status to Jammu and Kashmir given under Article 370of the Constitution and divide it into two Union territo-ries. PTI
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Ending an over 12-hour-long standoffwith devotees opposing the entry of
women in the menstrual age group intoSabarimala temple, a team of genderrights activists led by Trupti Desai onTuesday night called off their decision tovisit the hill shrine of Lord Ayyappa.
Desai announced the decision to goback to Maharashtra after police, citingsecurity reasons,denied them protectionamid protests by devotees, members of aright wing outfit and BJP here, againsttheir entry into the shrine.
We had discussions with the policeofficers of the Kochi police commission-erate. Police told us that there is a threatto our life and will be insecure here.
So we decided to go back but we willreturn to Sabarimala. We will continue ourfight,” Desai told reporters.
She also condemned the attack onactivist Bindu Ammini, allegedly by aHindu right wing activist outside the officeof the commissionerate.
Desai reached here early Tuesdayalong with five others to proceed to theSabarimala temple to offer prayers.
She had announced that she wouldleave Kerala only after visiting Sabarimala.
The Kerala government dubbedDesai’s attempt to visit Sabarimala as a“conspiracy”.
As soon as the team of activists land-ed at the airport here, they went to the citypolice commissionerate seeking protectionto proceed to the hill shrine.
However, police declined to grant pro-tection to them, citing the recent SupremeCourt decision to review its 2018 orderpermitting women in all age groups intoSabarimala.
A large number of Ayyappa devotees,activists of the BJP and Sabarimala KarmaSamiti gathered outside the commission-erate chanting ‘’Ayyappa Saranam’’ mantrasprotesting against Desai’s visit.
Activist from Kerala, Bindu Ammini,who had joined Desai’s team at the airport,was attacked by a right wing group mem-ber using pepper spray when she came out
of the office of the commissioner to takesome papers from their vehicle, policesources said.
Visuals aired by TV channels showedher being attacked. The man identified asSrinath Padmanabhan has been arrested,police said. He has been charged with anon-bailable offence, they added.
Ammini, who was admitted to the
general hospital here, has been dischargedafter treatment, her lawyer said.
The agitators ended the protest fol-lowing assurances from police officials thatthe women activists would not be givenprotection to visit the temple.
The Pune-based Desai had made anunsuccessful attempt to enter the templein November last year, weeks after the
Supreme Court lifted the ban that pre-vented women and girls between the ageof 10 and 50 from entering the famousshrine.
Scripting history, Ammini andKanakadurga were the two womenactivists who had offered prayers at theSabarimala Ayyappa temple in January fol-lowing the apex court order of Septemberlast year.
Reacting cautiously, the CPI(M)-ledLDF Government condemned the attackon Ammini but made it clear that nowomen in the age group of 10 and 50would be given police protection to climbthe holy hills unless they get an order fromthe Supreme Court in this regard.
Kerala Devaswom MinisterKadakampally Surendran alleged con-spiracy behind Desai’s decision to visitSabarimala.
“The government suspects a conspir-acy behind Trupti Desai’s decision to goto Sabarimala. She has come from Pune,a stronghold of the RSS and the BJP,” theMinister told reporters at Thalassery.
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Eleven Sabarimala pilgrims were injured,six of them seriously, early on Tuesday
when a tree fell on them as they were pass-ing through the Marakootam-Chandranandana route, police said.Theincident occured around 2 am this morn-ing, they said. It is not clear if the pilgrimswere returning after the darshan.
The tree fell due to strong winds in thearea.
Following the incident, electric andtelephone cables got snapped.
With help from the emergency opera-tions team, NDRF, the branches wereremoved and the injured were rushed toPamba hospital. At least six people havebeen referred to Kottayam Medical collegehospital, police said.
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Bru refugees lodged in reliefcamps in Tripura have
urged the Centre to restart itssubsistence allowances, daysbefore the TripuraGovernment puts an end tothe free ration supply to thedisplaced people.
The Ministry of HomeAffairs (MHA) had discon-tinued its allowances, includ-ing ration supplies and cashdole, to the Bru refugees fromSeptember 30.
However, following claimsof starvation deaths of sixpeople in the refugee campsand over a week-long roadblockade by the displacedfamilies, the state govern-ment decided upon provid-ing free ration to them ear-lier this month.
“The Tripura govern-ment would supply the freeration to the Brus tillNovember 30 and it isunclear whether it will becontinued beyond that date,”official sources said.
Altogether 4,447 dis-placed Bru families, lodged inrelief camps at Kanchanpurand Panisagar sub-divisionsof North Tripura district, arescheduled to return to neigh-bouring Mizoram fromwhere they started fleeingsince 1997 following ethnic
clashes.The ninth and “final”
round of the repatriationprocess of the Bru refugees willcome to an end on November30.The Mizoram BruDisplaced People’s Forum(MBDPF), in a communica-tion to the Centre on Monday,demanded resumption of thesubsistence allowances.
The displaced Brus wouldnot agree to be repatriated toMizoram “until and unlesstheir small and simpledemands are fulfilled,” theMBDPF said in a letter to A PMaheshawari, SpecialSecretary (Internal Security),Ministry of Home Affairs.
Patna: The Bihar Assembly onTuesday passed two Bills amiddin by Opposition membersover the demand for a resolu-tion to prevent the implemen-tation of the National Registerof Citizens (NRC) in the State.
The two Bills passed wereBihar Goods and Services Tax(Amendment) Bill, 2019 andBihar Taxation DisputesResolution Bill, 2019.
Opposition members con-tinued with sloganeering allthrough the proceedings thatlasted for 30 minutes in thepost lunch session and thebills were passed beforeSpeaker Vijay KumarChoudhary adjourned theHouse till 11 am onWednesday.
During the debate on thetaxation disputes resolutionbill, Deputy Chief MinisterSushil Kumar Modi said thatthe government has broughtout a ‘One Time Settlement’(OTS) scheme for resolution ofall pending cases under old taxlaws/statutes which were inforce before the introduction ofGoods and Services Tax (GST).
The GST was implement-ed on July 1, 2017 in the coun-try. Cases relating to sales tax,electricity duty, luxury, enter-tainment and advertisementtax, entry tax and others can beresolved under the OTSscheme which will be in forcefor three months, said Modi,who also holds the financeportfolio.
The tenure for the schemecan also be extended by anoth-er three months by the stategovernment, he said, addingthat around half a dozen statesincluding West Bengal, Kerala,Harayana and Rajasthan havealready come out with suchprogramme.
Speaking on the anotherbill, the deputy chief ministersaid it proposes to increase thethreshold limit from ��20 lakhto � 40 lakh for getting tradersregistered under GST Act.Furnishing “Aadhaar” numberhas been made mandatory forregistration and a provision hasalso been made to acquire thesame from traders who havealready been registered underthe Act, he said. PTI
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Employees of the TelanganaState Road Transport
Corporation were allegedlyturned away by officials andpolice on Tuesday when theyreached bus depots to resumework, a day after they called offtheir 52-day-long strike.
Emotional scenes were wit-nessed at some places aswomen employees started cry-ing after they were not allowedto rejoin duty and police sentthem away.
We are finding it difficultto pay school and college fees(of children), a weeping womanconductor told reporters.
We appeal to the CM sir totake us back for duty, anotherwoman conductor said.
Police said hundreds ofemployees, including scoresof women employees, weretaken into preventive custodynear bus depots in various dis-tricts across the State onTuesday.
Security was tightened nearbus depots and bus stands inthe state to prevent any unto-ward incidents, they said.
RTC officials were notimmediately available for com-ment on the situation followingthe strike’s withdrawal.
A release from the ChiefMinister’s office said theTelangana cabinet would meeton November 28 and 29 here todiscuss issues relating to RTCemployees and others.
The Government’sannouncement came a dayafter the TSRTC employees’unions called off their two-month old strike on Monday.
“The two-day Cabinetmeeting will discuss at lengthon the measures to be taken toend the RTC impasse in thestate,” it said.
The RTC said in a releasethat it was trying, not only toimprove alternative measuresfor passengers, but continuework in offices with limitedstaff.
The release said 6,475buses were operated with11,055 temporary staff in 11regions of the Corporation.
Congress MPs fromTelangana N Uttam KumarReddy,who is state Congresspresident, KomatireddyVenkata Reddy and ARevanth Reddy on Tuesdayexpressed deep anguish andagony at the inhuman mannerin which RTC employeesare being treated by ChiefMinister K. ChandrasekharRao.”
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ISRO chief K Sivan onTuesday offered prayers at
this famous hill shrine here, aday ahead of the launch ofIndia’s imaging satellite, CAR-TOSAT-3.
ISRO is all set to launch theearth imaging and mappingsatellite CARTOSAT-3 alongwith 13 other nano-satellitesfrom the US, from Sriharikotaon Wednesday.
Sivan offered prayers to thepresiding deity of LordVenkateswara at Tirumala here.
Later, speaking to reportershere, Sivan said Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter was doing well andsending a lot of informationabout the Moon. Lander‘Vikram’ from Chandrayaan-2had crashlanded while attempt-ing a soft landing on the lunarsurface on September 7.
There is now heightened awarenesson the crucial need for the worldto take action against human-induced climate change. Thisincludes initiatives by
Governments, businesses, civil society and,in general, the public at large. It was in 2011that the Intergovernmental Panel on ClimateChange (IPCC) brought out a special reporton Managing the Risks of Extreme Events andDisasters to Advance Climate ChangeAdaptation, which altered perceptions aboutclimate change. The public then understoodand associated with climate change, theincrease in frequency and intensity of extremeevents all over the world. While nationalGovernments have the prime responsibilityfor action under the Paris Agreement, thereis also a need for regional initiatives.
There are, no doubt, universal efforts onmitigating the emissions of greenhousegases (GHGs) and carbon dioxide in partic-ular. But some of the fundamental changesthat would be required to minimise the risksfrom the impacts of climate change in thefuture are not fully understood. Pope Francisin his message on the “World Day of Prayerfor the Care of Creation” stated: “It is also aseason to reflect on our lifestyles and howour daily decisions about food, consumption,transportation, use of water, energy andmany other material goods can often bethoughtless and harmful. Too many of us actlike tyrants with regard to creation.”
Lifestyles, unfortunately, across the globe,in both developed and developing countries,are being directed towards a monoculture ofexcessive consumerism and escalating gen-eration of waste. There are societies which areignoring their own historical and culturalroots, blindly embracing the lifestyles estab-lished in the developed world, particularly inthe US. There is a growing need for societiesto look within, pursue culturally consistentlifestyles through opportunities for cooper-ation among countries, which face similarproblems as a result of climate change.
Nature does not recognise geographicalboundaries. While sharing common cultur-al and geographical features, several nationsfail to see the common good in workingtogether to meet the serious challenge of cli-mate change. South Asia is one such region,which ignores this reality, leading to a neglectof poverty, which would be exacerbated withthe impacts of climate change.
The IPCC clearly stated in its fifthassessment report, “Climate change willamplify existing risks and create new risks fornatural and human systems. Risks areunevenly distributed and are generally greaterfor disadvantaged people and communitiesat all levels of development.” It also stated thatclimate change is projected to increase dis-placement of people and some would “expe-rience higher exposure to extreme weatherevents, particularly in the developing coun-tries with low income” along with increasedrisks of violent conflicts resulting from dri-
vers of these conflicts such aspoverty and economic shocks.South Asia could see an increasein these unfortunate trends.
South Asia has a shared cul-ture and history and high vulner-ability to climate change impacts.If we take only the landmassextending from Afghanistan tothe southern tip of India, exclud-ing Sri Lanka and the Maldives,this landmass is home to around1.75 billion people.
Regional impacts of climatechange, which are rapidly on theincrease, show that a decline inwheat productivity would varyfrom seven per cent for a 1.5oCincrease in temperature to 24 percent at 3oC. South Asia is vulner-able to extreme events, the fre-quency and intensity of which isincreasing. These would affecthuman health, security, liveli-hoods and poverty.
The IPCC identified anincrease in heat waves, heavy rain,floods and droughts, some ofwhich would lead to an increasein diarrhoeal disease, denguefever and malaria. The monsoon,which provides the bulk of watersupply for this region, will seefuture increase in precipitationextremes and in contrast a declinein productivity of rainfed agricul-ture in semi-arid areas. A largepart of the population in thecountries of South Asia lives inlow-lying coastal zones and floodplains, which leaves them vulner-able to sea level rise.
Since island States like SriLanka and the Maldives faceproblems somewhat different
from the landmass of SouthAsia, for the present, we mayinclude them in separate effortsinvolving adaptation and miti-gation initiatives. As yet inSouth Asia, the spirit of coop-eration even on issues of com-mon concern has been largelymissing. Given the high densi-ty of the population in thisregion, the large number ofhuman beings exposed to cli-mate change impacts is perhapshigher than in any other regionof the world.
South Asia has sufferedgrievously from terrorism,which has been fostered bysome countries as a part ofGovernment policy. It should beobvious that carrying on the das-tardly practice of terrorism alsoresults in serious and long-termdangers for countries that breedand support terrorism. If theyare serious about the welfare oftheir people, they have to movefrom terrorism to terra-ism.
There are, unfortunately,serious political differencesamong some of the countries ofthe region but given the com-mon challenge of climatechange, perhaps rising abovehostile and contentious issuethrough a programme of mutu-ally beneficial action would bein the interest of all. Such an ini-tiative should include adaptationmeasures in Afghanistan,Bangladesh, Bhutan, India,Nepal and Pakistan and cost-effective mitigation measures.
Developing country negotia-tors have argued for several years
under the United NationsFramework Convention onClimate Change (UNFCCC) for“common but differentiatedresponsibilities”, whereby the his-torically high emitters of GHGsare required to do much more inmitigating their emissions thanthose nations, which are on thethreshold of development.
There is also a rationale forthe developed nations to pro-vide financial resources to helpdeveloping countries as part ofcollective action to deal with cli-mate change. Unfortunately,the principles behind thesedemands have been forgotten bythe developed countries. Thenations of South Asia couldraise their collective voice forprojects to be funded by theindustrialised nations.
South Asia, with its excel-lent insolation and wind ener-gy potential, would be in aunique position to collaborateboth in scientific and econom-ic terms across national bound-aries. Can the leadership ofSouth Asia rise above currenttensions and political differencesto serve the interests of theirown deprived populations,which would be exposedincreasingly to the growingimpacts of climate change?Perhaps as a beginning, this sub-ject could be a serious area ofresearch and advocacy at therecently established South AsianUniversity.
(The writer is former chair-man, Intergovernmental Panelon Climate Change, 2002-15)
Sir — As we witnessed theunfolding of drama and dilem-mas in the formation of a govern-ment in Maharashtra, we mustponder over BR Ambedkar’s pre-scient words on the adoption ofemergency provisions such asthe President’s Rule. He statedthat “every part of theConstitution” could be abused forpolitical purposes.
It is pointless to talk of moral-ity, Constitutional values andgubernatorial excess when noneof the players involved in themonth-long drama showed anyconcern for the very same prin-ciples and proprieties.
It was a naked power gamewhere all parties played theircards well. Dilly-dallying, delib-erate dalliance or deft design —put it in any way —proves theold adage that politics is an artof improbabilities and impossi-bilities.
J AkshobhayaMysuru
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Sir — Although the Home
Minister’s idea of compiling anationwide National Register ofCitizens (NRC) has its merits, oneis not sure whether the exercisewill actually help in identifyingillegal immigrants.
The implementation of theNRC in Assam has already raisedquestions about the Government’scompetence. Over 19 lakh people,many of whose families havebeen living in Assam for gener-ations, were excluded from the
final list. These administrativeflaws need to be addressed first.
While some argue thatrefugees and illegal migrants canbe a financial burden on a coun-try, the process of identifyingthem must not jeopardise therights of the Indian citizens. Thesituation in Assam should be alesson for the Government toexercise caution.
NR RamachandranChennai
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Sir — Union Home MinisterAmit Shah’s proposition of updat-ing the National Register ofCitizens (NRC) in Assam hasfinally been welcomed byHimanta Biswa Sarma, theFinance Minister of the State, onthe basis that there are shortcom-ings in the final list as of now. Itis disheartening to see that after
spending enormous resources,the exercise is being consideredunsatisfactory by the very peoplewho undertook it. When Shahproclaims that no person, nomatter what their religion, needsto be afraid, one wonders ifthese assurances are akin to theCentre’s repeated declarationsthat the situation in the KashmirValley is “normal.”
The NRC exercise in Assamhas led to the installation ofdetention camps for alleged ille-gal migrants. The eventual cre-ation of concentration campslike those in Nazi Germany doesnot seem impossible. There, thesegregation began with theGovernment demanding that allJewish people register their assetsexceeding a certain limit withauthorities. At that time, suchacts had been carried out underthe guise of nationalism.Considering the rise of Hindutvaand the enthusiasm for the imple-mentation of the NRC, one won-ders if atrocities similar to thoseof the Third Reich’s might berepeated here.
Worldwide, gender diversity in the board-rooms is on the rise, as appointingwomen in leadership roles has tangible
and intangible gains for businesses. These ben-efits can be categorised into four sections:Financial performance; leveraging talent; reflect-ing the marketplace and building reputation;increasing innovation and group performance.
Women evaluate information differently,have a capability to deal with risk effectively andhave different insights into consumer behaviourwhen compared to men. This is particularly trueof industries where women are the primary pur-chasing agents and their perspective leads toimproved decision-making.
After all, women drive 70-80 per cent of allconsumer purchases through their buying powerand influence. In addition, women exhibit high-er levels of trustworthiness and cooperation. Notonly do they better address the concerns of cus-tomers, employees, shareholders and the localcommunity, they also tend to focus on long-termpriorities, thus improving boardroom dynamics.Having at least one women director on boardmakes a significant contribution to corporate gov-ernance, with several studies showing increasein attendance at meetings and improvement inCorporate Social Responsibility ratings.
Apart from this, women directors serve asrole models and therefore, improve femaleemployees’ performance and boost the firms’image and reputation. Several rating agencies andinvestment funds use the extent of genderdiversity as one of their investment criteria. Astudy by Boston Consulting Group and TechnicalUniversity of Munich also found that presenceof women in management teams can increaseinnovation significantly.
Finally, from the standpoint of public poli-cy, gender diversity is an important social valueand one that is consistent with equality.Notwithstanding these benefits, women still findit hard to reach the top. Globally, one-third ofbusinesses still do not have women in seniormanagement roles. At this pace, women will notreach parity with men until 2060.
In its most literal form, diversity is definedas “differences” and it becomes a purposeful,strategic direction once these differences are val-ued. On boards, diversity brings together indi-viduals with different backgrounds and a num-ber of benefits, including new ideas, better com-munication, debate and corporate governanceprocesses. Studies have shown that compared tohomogeneous groups, diverse groups exhibitincreased information search and a greaterrange of perspectives. Further, they generate morealternative solutions to problems.
Understanding the importance and relevanceof promoting gender diversity in the true sensein Indian corporate boards, it is critical to eval-uate what it takes to reach the board, that is, thehuman and social capital that help women reachapex positions. Gender diversity in the board-room is an issue that has received increased atten-tion both in academia and in the popular Pressduring the last decade. Studies concerning thepractice have been conducted in a number ofcountries, including the United States (US),Canada, the United Kingdom (UK), France, NewZealand, Australia, Spain, Jordan, Tunisia,Denmark, Iceland and Norway.
From a resource perspective, the board mem-bers’ contributions are typically based on their
human capital which can be defined asa combination of human resources, i.e.the knowledge and skills embodied inpeople, acquired over a number of yearsand the outcomes of the developmentof these human resources, throughcareer experience, learning and special-isation. Each director brings a uniqueset of human capital resources to theboard. Research on top managementteams shows that managers’ pre-exist-ing knowledge systems and repertoireof skills are derived from prior profes-sional experiences, which help explainand predict managerial inclinations,strategic choices, biases, and accom-plishments.
Here are some of the variables:Director education and experience:Human capital investment in educationand particularly advanced education isa starting point for development ofindependent thinking, a key facet ofrole requirements for non-executivedirectors. It is evident that minoritygroups can gain public and objectivecredentials through education, partic-ularly postgraduate qualifications,thereby levelling the playing field andcompensating for the effects of any dis-crimination and subjective bias inselection and promotion. Educationalqualifications are valued by the publicand employers can then benefit fromthe expertise and credibility of the edu-cational human capital of their staff anddirectors.
Reputation: Reputation is associ-ated with human capital derived frominvestments in education and other vis-ible individual attributes that stand asproxies for the actual capabilities of theperson. Individuals gaining director-ships are likely to have acquired repu-tational capital that signals competenceand reduced risk to the beholders whouse their social networks to select andappoint new directors. A noticeable fac-tor in the profile of women directors inthe Financial Times Stock Exchange
100 since the 1980s is that significant-ly more women than men, have titles,whether academic, aristocratic, civic orpolitical. There is also a preference inthe US for “branded women” directors,including those with a degree from IvyLeague universities, which signalsupper-class status to senior managers.The same could be said for the repu-tational capital value of degrees fromOxford and Cambridge universities inthe UK, which are well-represented inthe higher echelons of business andGovernment. Another facet of reputa-tional capital is the extent to whichdirectors appear in the Press and indirectories of well-known people. Asrole models, these high-profile womenoften make speeches or are featured inthe Press, so their names are likely tobe picked up by internet search enginessuch as Google.
Previous experience: Previously,women were more likely to work part-time or to settle for lower paid but con-venient jobs, and hence would be lesslikely to participate in on-the-job train-ing for more senior roles, as neither theynor their employers would gain a rea-sonable return on the investment intraining. But in recent times, womenhave invested in education, and adopt-ed a lifetime work pattern similar to thatof men. So today’s women workers areacquiring more senior-level experiencethan did previous generations andinequalities such as the gender pay gapare reducing, albeit slowly.
Hence all directors are expected tohave successful and relevant careerexperiences in their sectors and profes-sions before their appointment.However, given that women are oftenmore attracted to public and not-for-profit sector careers, it is also expect-ed that women directors’ work experi-ence human capital would be biased infavour of those sectors, in contrast totheir male peers. The human capital ofwomen directors could also be differ-
ent from their male peers in terms ofprofessional background, with moremale directors with career experiencein traditional “masculine” sectors wheremen comprise the majority of thoseemployed, such as engineering and sci-ence.
International work experience:Given recent trends in globalisation andthe increasing numbers of cross-nation-al mergers and acquisitions of manylarge corporations, it is expected thatinternational experience will play anincreasingly important role as directorsare being asked to monitor, govern andadvise on corporate activities andopportunities across a range of coun-tries and different national and businesscultures.
International experience is regard-ed as highly developmental as it buildson and integrates other related humancapital management experienceacquired in the home environment.However, it may be more difficult or lessattractive for women to acquire thisform of human capital as traditionallymen are more internationally geo-graphically mobile than women.
Human capital theory leads us toexpect that directors’ appointments arebased, in part, on the human capital(knowledge, skills, experience) they canprovide to the firms. Women have beenpresent in the full-time workforce formany years now. Hence, proper stepsneed to be taken to ensure that womenare not absent from corporate board-rooms and are not being used astokens when they are present there. Weneed to question ourselves to examineif women have failed to accumulate suf-ficient relevant human capital? If not,then what steps are being taken toencourage their growth and develop-ment in an organisation and make themacquire relevant experience to be onboards and contribute meaningfully?
(The writer is Assistant Professor,Amity University)
In October, protests erupted on thecampus of the BalochistanUniversity. Even though the protests
were against the alleged harassment ofsome students by the university’sadministration, the renewal of studentunions also became one of thedemands. Recently, various youthactivists in Punjab and Sindh haveraised similar demands, with a solidar-ity march being planned on November29.
What’s more, Sindh’s ruling party,the PPP moved a resolution to restorestudent unions and this was adopted bythe Assembly on November 5. Studentunions were banned in Pakistan by theGeneral Zia dictatorship throughMartial Law Orders in February 1984.In his 2009 book Revisiting StudentPolitics in Pakistan, Iqbal Haider Butt
interviewed many former student lead-ers, most of whom became successfulpoliticians and journalists. Almost allof them lamented that the 1984 bannegatively impacted the quality ofpolitical leadership and participation.They said that at least two generationsof Pakistanis lost touch with howdemocracy worked and what it stoodfor when activities like electoral cam-paigning, participating in polls andnegotiating better academic and recre-ational facilities through student unions,were outlawed. Thus, generally speak-ing, those demanding a revival of stu-dent unions in this context, have a con-vincing case which can be favourablyargued with some compelling evi-dence. However, it is equally importantto understand that the nature of studentpolitics that culminated in a ban in 1984was largely a Cold War phenomenon.It cannot be reactivated in its originalshape in today’s changed scenario. Forexample, many forget that the ban wasrepealed in January 1989 by the firstBenazir Bhutto regime (1988-90). Butdespite the fact that elections for stu-dent unions were successfully held inPunjab’s many State-owned universities,
the venture soon collapsed on itself.Violence between student groups
had become pandemic in the 1980s.And when it flared up again after the1989 revival of student unions, a 1992petition against their restoration wasaccepted by the Supreme Court and in1993 it banned all political activity oncampuses. But whereas there had beenviolent protests by student groupsagainst the 1984 ban, none took placein 1993. One of the reasons for this wasthe erosion of the traditional forms ofstudent politics. This erosion was large-ly triggered by a new reality, in whichyoung people were increasingly optingfor privately-owned universities where-as much of the country’s customary stu-dent politics had been centred in State-owned educational institutions.
Those against the ban on studentunions had argued that the violence thathad engulfed campus politics in the1980s, had been largely due to Zia’s dic-tatorship and (after 1984) due to thecurbing of the students’ democraticrights. However, the court observed thatthe restoration of student unions in1989 had failed to stem violence and itcould only be checked with a blanket
ban on all political activities on cam-puses. Indeed, by the early 2000s, theviolence had greatly receded. But,again, the reasons were far more com-plex than simply the restriction orrestoration of student unions. Privately-owned (and apolitical) colleges and uni-versities had swelled and State-ownedones had become pale reflections ofthemselves. The memory of studentpolitics being just about violence entire-ly drowned the fact that, till the late1970s, it had been a vibrant democra-tic cornerstone on campuses.
Another reason for the attrition oftraditional student politics was the grad-ual disinterest of mainstream politicalparties, that had founded and fundeda majority of student outfits. With thedeclining influence of conventional stu-dent politics, the parties simply beganto use their student groups as props tobe exhibited at rallies, instead of beingtheir electoral extensions on campus-es. The fact is, the decline of student pol-itics in Pakistan was part of a univer-sal trend. Student politics and activismhad witnessed a peak globally in the1960s. But this peak had begun torecede from the mid-1970s onwards. In
Blood & Rage, Michael Burleigh writesthat one of the reasons behind the riseof student activism in the 1960s was thata large number of middle and lower-middle-class men and women hadbegun to enrol in colleges and univer-sities after the end of World War-II.
According to Burleigh, althoughmost European countries, the US andmany new post-colonial realms inAsia and Africa enjoyed economicbooms of one kind or the other in the1960s, their colleges and universitieswere not able to accommodate such alarge influx of students. This creatednumerous logistical and administrativeproblems that left students feeling dis-gruntled and angry.
Burleigh writes that many studentschannelled this anger through radicalpolitical ideologies, mainly those of theLeft. By the 1970s, and due to the grad-ual disillusionment towards Left-lean-ing ideas, similar feelings of disgruntle-ment began to be expressed throughrightest gesticulations. However, asconditions in educational institutionsbecame more accommodating, and, incase of Third World countries, privatecolleges and universities swelled, these
eventually rendered traditional 20th-century student politics obsolete.
Yet, in Pakistan — from 2007onwards — and also in many othercountries, there is once again a clearfeeling of restlessness among the youth.Indeed, one can explain this as govern-ments and educational institutions areonce again falling short of accommo-dating the changing socio-politicalneeds of another generation. But thoselooking to revive organised student pol-itics will have to apply brand new strate-gies and offer newer models instead ofthe ones that have become obsolete dueto the reasons already discussed.Whatever the newness in this contextis, or can be, it will have to get the atten-tion of mainstream centres of power.And, on a lighter note, it cannot sim-ply rely on the many meaningless newbuzzwords that have been flying fromleft to right (and vice versa) on socialmedia; and/or terms that have actual-ly trivialised even the most urgent andalarming issues. They have simply“gamified” radicalism. So, the first stepin this context should be to become avoice taken seriously, and not just noise.
record high level to close downby around 68 points onTuesday mainly due to profitbooking in telecom, IT andauto stocks amid growth con-cerns and evolving politicaldrama in Maharashtra.
The 30-share indextouched its all-time intra-dayhigh of 41,120.28 before clos-ing down by 67.93 points or0.17 per cent at 40,821.30.
The broader Nifty of theNational Stock Exchange alsosoared to a new peak of12,132.45 in day trade beforegiving up gains to end lower by36.05 points or 0.30 per cent at12,037.70.
Bharti Airtel was thebiggest loser among Sensexstocks, dropping by 4.34 percent after ICRA downgradedthe long-term rating of thecompany due to higher-than-anticipated provision pertain-ing to the Supreme Courtjudgement on dues payable
towards license fees on adjust-ed gross revenues (AGR) aswell as spectrum usage chargein the latest quarterly results.
Key IT stocks TCS andInfosys also dropped by 1.6 percent and 1.05 per cent, respec-tively, as investors preferred tobook profits at high levels.HCL Tech fell by 1.29 percent. Auto stocks also declineddue to growth concerns. Maruti
fell by 1.52 per cent, M&M by1.67 per cent and Tata Motorsby 1.36 per cent. PowerGriddropped by 2.26 per cent, SunPharma by 1.75 per cent,
Fitch group firm IndiaRatings and Research said thatIndian economy may haveslowed for the sixth consecutivequarter in July-September to4.7 per cent while lowering itsGDP growth forecast for the
current fiscal for the fourthtime.
“Market elevated to arecord high coupled with glob-al cheer on trade deal anddomestic earnings revivalexpectation. However, volatil-ity ahead of derivative expiry,political drama and caution onupcoming GDP data ledinvestors to book some profit,”Vinod Nair, Head of Researchat Geojit Financial Services
Rising foreign inflows andconfidence that governmentwill address the fiscal gapsthrough divestment can main-tain the buoyancy in the mar-ket, he added.
“Profit booking was clear-ly on investors’ radar ahead ofexpiry and before the crucialGDP data due on Friday asinvestors avoided taking longpositions,” Paras Bothra,President of Equity Research,Ashika Stock Broking, com-mented. Among the gainers,ICICI Bank rose 2.26 per cent,IndusInd Bank by 1.46 percent, Tata Steel by 1.17 per centand ITC by 0.52 per cent.
markets for its ‘Shopping’ fea-ture and has received strongresponse from small andmedium businesses that areusing it to connect to morebuyers.
In December last year,Google had launched ‘Shopping’in India to allow users to easilyfilter through offers, reviewprices from multiple retailersand find products to shop.“We’ve witnessed incrediblemomentum since launch ofGoogle shopping last year.Indian shoppers engage with ourshopping experience more often,and for longer periods of timecompared to other markets,”Google Shopping Vice President- Product Management SurojitChatterjee told PTI.
He added that there arenow over 200 million offers available on GoogleShopping.
“We have seen a strongtraction, especially for smalland medium businesses... clickson listings that direct to smalland medium business web-sites have increased by 30 per-cent,” Chatterjee said.
He added that the compa-ny is now introducing newtools to help businesses connectwith shoppers easily.
Through Google MyBusiness (GMB), any localretailer can create an onlinestore and connect with millionsof shoppers searching for prod-ucts online.
21 “corrupt” tax officers in thefifth tranche of its crackdownon errant officials accused ofcorruption and other mal-practices, finance ministrysources said.
The Central Board ofDirect Taxes (CBDT) — theagency that overseas incomeand corporate tax collections —compulsorily retired 21 GroupB officers of the rank of IncomeTax Officer underFundamental Rule 56 (J) in thepublic interest, due to corrup-tion and other charges and CBItraps, they said.
Since June, this is the fifthround of sacking of corrupt taxofficials. With this, 85 officers,including 64 high ranking taxofficers, have been compulso-rily retired. Of the high rank-ing officers, 12 were from theCBDT.
The last round of sackingwas in September when 15Central Board of Indirect Taxesand Customs (CBIC) — theagency that overseas GST andimport tax collections — werecompulsorily retired.
Sources said the officersretired in the latest roundinclude three in the Mumbaioffice of the CBDT and two inadjoining Thane district. Otherofficers sacked were posted inVishakapatnam, Hyderabad,Rajahmundry, Hazaribag inBihar, Nagpur in Maharashtra,Rajkot in Gujarat, Jodhpur,Madhopur, and Bikaner inRajasthan and Bhopal and
Indore in Madhya Pradesh.Sources said the action
was in line with Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s address to thenation from the ramparts of theRed Fort when he had saidsome black sheep in the taxadministration may have mis-used their powers and harassedtaxpayers, either by targetinghonest assessees or takingexcessive action for minor orprocedural violations.
“We have recently takenthe bold step of compulsorilyretiring a significant number oftax officials, and we will not tol-erate this type of behaviour,” hehad said.
More than half of the offi-cials retired were those whowere were arrested by the CBIfor allegedly receiving illegalgratification. One of them wascaught accepting a bribe of�50,000. One official allegedlyhad over �20 lakh cash in hisbank locker while a Thaneofficer had acquired immov-able and movable assets worthover �40 lakh in his and hiswife’s name, the sources said.
In June, the Governmenthad compulsorily retired 15commissioner-level officials ofCBIC on charges of corruption,collecting and giving bribes,smuggling and even criminalconspiracy.
Thereafter, theGovernment had compulsori-ly retired 12 senior IRS officialsfrom the Income Tax depart-ment over charges of corrup-tion, sexual harassment, dis-proportionate assets underRule 56(J) of the Central CivilServices (Pension) Rules.
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India’s new liberalised petrolpump norms require
licensees to set up a minimumof 100 outlets with at least 5 per cent of them in remoteareas. According to a Gazettenotification detailing the normsfor setting up petrol pumps, thelicensee would also be requiredto “install facilities for market-ing at least one new generationalternate fuels like compressednatural gas (CNG), biofuels,liquefied natural gas, electricvehicle charging points etc attheir proposed retail outletswithin three years of operationalisation of thesaid outlet.”
The government had lastmonth relaxed norms for set-ting up petrol pumps, allowingnon-oil companies to marketfuel in the world’s fastest grow-
ing market.Prior to this change, to
obtain a fuel retailing licence inIndia, a company needed toinvest �2,000 crore in eitherhydrocarbon exploration andproduction, refining, pipelinesor liquefied natural gas (LNG)terminals.
“Any entity seeking autho-risation for retail marketingonly should have a minimumnet worth of at least �250 croreat the time of making theapplication to the centralGovernment,” the notificationsaid.
It fixed the application feeat �25 lakh.
“The entity needs to set upat least 100 retail outlets, out ofwhich at least 5 per cent of theproposed retail outlets shall beset up in the notified remoteareas within five years of thegrant of authorisation,” it said.
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Indian economy may haveslowed for the sixth consec-
utive quarter in July-Septemberto 4.7 per cent, Fitch group firmIndia Ratings and Researchsaid on Tuesday, as it loweredGDP growth forecast for cur-rent fiscal for the fourth time.
The Indian economyexpanded 5 per cent in April-June, its slowest annual pacesince 2013. The 4.7 per centprojection for the second quar-
ter of the current fiscal wouldmark six consecutive quartersof slowing growth, a first since2012. This comes despite arecent series of fiscal stimulus,including reduction in corpo-rate tax rates.
“India Ratings andResearch has revised its GDPgrowth forecast for FY20 to 5.6per cent. This is the fourth revi-sion and has come in after theagency had revised its FY20GDP growth forecast only amonth ago to 6.1 per cent,” the
rating agency said in a state-ment.
The revision, it said,became “inevitable as the high-frequency data now suggeststhat the agency’s estimate of2QFY20 GDP growth comingin a little higher than 5 per centis unlikely to hold”.
“The new projection sug-gests that 2QFY20 GDP growthis likely to be 4.7 per cent,” itsaid. Second-quarter GDPnumbers are likely to beannounced on Friday.
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The Indian rupee on Tuesdayrose by 24 paise to settle at
an over two-week high of 71.50against the US dollar as persis-tent foreign fund inflows andhopes about US-China tradelogjam breakthrough boostedforex market sentiment.
After starting off on astronger note, the domesticunit further strengthened itsposition tracking a host ofpositive factors. It traded in therange of 71.49-71.68, beforesettling at 71.50 a dollar, clock-ing a gain of 24 paise — thebiggest single-day rise sinceOctober 17.
The rupee gain was furtherstrengthened by weakening ofdollar against the key rivalcurrencies. The dollar index,which gauges the greenback’sstrength against a basket of sixcurrencies, fell 0.01 per cent to98.31.
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Reserve Bank deputy gover-nor MK Jain on Tuesday
warned bankers about thegrowing stress in Mudra loans,which has crossed more thanRs 3.21 lakh crore RPT croresystem-wide, and asked themto monitor such loans closely asunsustainable credit growth in the sector can riskthe system.
Prime Minister NarendraModi had launched the Mudrascheme in April 2015 withmuch fanfare to offer speediercredit up to Rs 10 lakh to smallbusinesses which are non- cor-porate, non-farm small/microenterprises and which nor-mally do not get bank fundsdue to their poor and mostly nocredit rating. These loans areextended by banks, NBFCs,RRBs, cooperative banks andsmall finance banks.
Interestingly, it can berecalled that within a year ofthe launch of the scheme, thethen Reserve Bank governorRaghuram Rajan had warnedof asset quality troubles bub-bling in the scheme but thethen finance minister ArunJaitely had brushed aside theconcerns.
“Mudra loans are a case inpoint. While such a massivepush would have lifted manybeneficiaries out of poverty,there has been some concernsat the growing level of non-per-forming assets among theseborrowers,” Jain told a Sidbievent on microfinance.
The commercial-banker-turned central banker saidbanks need to focus on therepayment capacity at theappraisal stage itself and mon-itor loans through the life cycleof the account much moreclosely.
Gold prices on Tuesday fellby Rs 68 to Rs 38,547 per
10 gram in the national capitalon rupee appreciation andweak demand, according toHDFC Securities.
Gold had closed at Rs38,615 per 10 gram on Monday,it said.
“Spot gold prices for 24Karat in Delhi fell by Rs 68 on
rupee appreciation and weakglobal prices. The spot rupeewas trading around 16 paisestronger against the dollar dur-ing the day,” HDFC SecuritiesSenior Analyst (Commodities)Tapan Patel said.
The absence of strongdemand in physical marketkept gold prices under pressurein India, he added.
The rupee on Tuesdayappreciated by 8 paise to 71.66
against the US dollar in earlytrade propelled by foreign cap-ital inflows and gains in domes-tic equity market.
Silver also fell marginallyby Rs 39 to Rs 45,161 per kgfrom Rs 45,200 per kg in theprevious trade.
In the global market, bothgold and silver were trading flatat USD 1,455.30 per ounce andUSD 16.88 per ounce, respec-tively.
placed Bharat PetroleumCorp Ltd’s rating on reviewfor downgrade after the gov-ernment decided to privatisethe country’s second-biggeststate oil refiner.
“The review for down-grade follows the governmentof India’s decision to sell itsentire 53.29 per cent stake inBPCL and to transfer man-agement control of the com-pany to a strategic buyer,” therating agency said in a state-ment.
The ratings placed onreview for downgrade includeBPCL’s ba1 baseline creditassessment, its Baa2 issuerrating and Baa2 backed seniorunsecured rating for BharatPetroResources Ltd, a sub-sidiary of BPCL.
BPCL’s Baa2 rating incor-porates its ba1 baseline cred-it assessment (BCA), a mea-sure of its standalone creditstrength, and a two-notchuplift from expected extraor-dinary support from the gov-ernment.
The Cabinet headed byPrime Minister NarendraModi had on November 20decided to privatise BPCL byselling the government’sentire stake to a strategic
investor along with manage-ment control.
Moody’s said the reviewfor downgrade takes intoaccount the uncertainty withrespect to both the supportincorporated into BPCL’s rat-ing as well as its BCA.
“Post the government’sstake sale, we will not includethe two-notch uplift fromgovernment support inBPCL’s rating. This couldresult in a downgrade ofBPCL’s ratings to Ba1, assum-ing there are no changes to itsfundamental credit profile,including our assessment ofliquidity and refinancing riskwhich could impact the BCA,”said Vikas Halan, Moody’sSenior Vice President.
“Our assessment ofBPCL’s credit profile and anyresultant rating action, postthe stake sale, will depend onthe ability and willingness ofthe buyer to provide extraor-dinary support to BPCL in theevent of distress, and also thecompany’s ability to maintainits standalone credit strength.”
Moody’s rating action alsoassumes that BPCL’s status asa government-owned entity inIndia will continue until atleast the conclusion of theproposed sale.
The sale by the govern-ment will also trigger achange of control on some of
BPCL’s bonds, which willrequire the company toredeem its bonds within 45days of the change of controlbeing triggered.
There is no ratings con-dition attached to the putoption for bondholders.
“Further, BPCL’s foreigncurrency bondholders couldalso decide to treat the gov-ernment stake falling below50 per cent as an event ofdefault, which would result inbonds being immediatelyrepayable. Any bond redemp-tion will significantly increaseBPCL’s refinancing risk,” itsaid.
As of November 22, BPCLhad USD 2.3 billion (about Rs16,300 crore) of foreign cur-rency bonds outstanding.
The company had cashand cash equivalents of Rs 970crore as of September 30.
As part of its decision tosell its stake in BPCL, the gov-ernment also announced thatBPCL will also sell its 61.65per cent in NumaligarhRefinery Ltd to other gov-ernment-owned oil & gascompanies.
“The valuation of thestake and the use of pro-ceeds from such sale is yet tobe determined,” Moody’s said.“The sale will also reduceBPCL’s capital spending as itis one of the largest projectsthat the company is workingon.”
BPCL has been operatingunder government controland its business strategy hasbeen in line with govern-ment policy and objectives.
A change in ownershipcould result in the companyrevising its business strategyor financial policies, whichcould have implications for itsstandalone profile, it said.
“The review will consid-er the buyer’s credit qualityand its willingness to providesupport to BPCL, BPCL’sbusiness strategy, financialpolicies, access to liquidityand capital structure follow-ing the change in its owner-ship and the government’splan for reimbursing BPCLfor the sale of liquified petro-leum gas at subsidized pricesafter the stake sale,” it said.
soon begin its operations inLondon and has startedonboarding licensed drivers inthe region. Ola had received anoperating licence fromTransport for London (TfL)earlier this year.
"Ola has begun registeringlicenced drivers in London asit prepares to launch operationsin the city...With this, over50,000 licensed drivers will beable to join Ola and providemobility services in London,"a statement said.
The Bengaluru-based firmhad forayed into the UK withoperations starting in Cardiff inAugust last year. It has expand-ed across Birmingham,Liverpool, Exeter, Reading,Bristol, Bath, Coventry, andWarwick in the UK.
"Today, we are inviting thetens of thousands of PHV dri-vers across London to registerthemselves on the Ola platform,as we prepare to launch in thecity in the coming weeks. Wehave built a robust mobilityplatform for London which isfully compliant with TfL's highstandards," Ola Head ofInternational Simon Smith said.
He added that the compa-ny has had constructive con-versations with the authorities,drivers, and local communitiesin London.
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Markets regulator Sebi onTuesday barred as many
as four entities — 3M TeamResearch, Samrat Trades, CoreInvestment and Core Group —from carrying out investmentadvisory services till furtherorders.
The entities have been pro-hibited for several reasons,including providing invest-ment advisory services withoutobtaining necessary registra-tion, promising unrealisticassured return to investors andproviding misleading infor-mation to Sebi while applyingfor registration as an invest-ment adviser, among others.
With regard to 3M Team
Research, the regulator, primafacie, found that entity helditself out as portfolio manager,provided portfolio manage-ment services to clients andcharged fee from such ser-vices without obtaining thenecessary regulator approval.
It also offered unrealisticreturns to its clients.
Regarding CoreInvestment and Core Group,
Sebi "prima facie" noted thatthe firms, apart from holdingout as investment adviser andresearch analyst, falsely repre-sented themselves as regis-tered intermediary on theirwebsite to the general publicwho can deal in various fieldsof securities markets public.
Similarly, in the matter ofSamrat Trades, Sebi noted thatthe firm's proprietor, AltamashSheikh had carried out unreg-istered investment advisoryservices through ProficientResearch and prima facie sub-mitted false information toSebi while applying for regis-tration and concealed the factthat it was acting as an invest-ment advisor prior to applyingfor registration.
poenas to appear in theimpeachment investigationagainst the president, a USappeals court judge ruled.
In a case involving formerWhite House counsel DonMcGahn, who was subpoe-naed in May by the HouseJudiciary Committee, judgeKetanji Jackson ruled Mondaythat administration officialscannot claim absolute immu-nity from testifying based ontheir closeness to the US leader.
While Jackson ruled specif-ically on McGahn's case, shesaid it had broad application toall current and former presi-dential aides.
"Presidents are not kings,"Jackson wrote in her decision.
"No one, not even the headof the Executive branch, isabove the law."
She said Congress has thepower to subpoena any of thepresident's advisors, whetherthey are involved in domesticpolicies or sensitive nationalsecurity issues.
"It goes without saying thatthe law applies to former WhiteHouse Counsel Don McGahn,just as it does to other currentand former senior-level WhiteHouse officials," she wrote.
That ruling could open apath for the House Intelligence
Committee -- which is build-ing a case for impeachmentcharges against Trump -- toforce testimony from three topwitnesses: former nationalsecurity advisor John Bolton,White House Chief of StaffMick Mulvaney and Secretaryof State Mike Pompeo.
All are believed to havedirect knowledge of Trump'salleged demand that UkrainePresident Volodymyr Zelenskyopen investigations intoTrump's Democratic rival JoeBiden in exchange for a highprofile summit and much-needed military aid.
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Defense Secretary MarkEsper declared that
President Donald Trumpordered him to stop a disci-plinary review of a Navy SEALaccused of battlefield miscon-duct, an intervention thatraised questions aboutAmerica's commitment tointernational standards forbattlefield ethics.
Esper's commentsMonday were the latest twistin the case of Chief PettyOfficer Edward Gallagher,which led to a conflictbetween Trump and armedservices leaders over militarydiscipline. The dispute peakedover the weekend with the fir-
ing of Navy Secretary RichardV Spencer.
Gallagher was acquitted ofmurder in the stabbing deathof an Islamic State militantcaptive but convicted by a mil-itary jury of posing with thecorpse while in Iraq in 2017.
Esper initially favoredallowing the Navy to proceedwith a peer-review boardwhich could have resulted inGallagher losing his SEALstatus, but he said he wasobliged to follow Trump'sorder. Still, Esper also directed the Pentagon's legaloffice to review how servicemembers are educated in thelaws of armed conflict andtrained to wartime behavioralstandards.
three-year extension given tothe powerful Army chiefQamar Javed Bajwa tillWednesday and said the entireprocess was "upside down", ina blow to Prime Minister ImranKhan who cited "regional secu-rity environment" for his deci-sion to grant the top generalanother term in office.
The unprecedented moveby the apex court to suspendPrime Minister Khan's decisionon August 19 could raise thetension between the judiciaryand the powerful PakistanArmy. It also came just threedays ahead of 59-year-oldBajwa's retirement onNovember 29 as the Chief of theArmy Staff in his first stint.
"The entire process wasupside down. First, the Cabinetshould have given the approval,then the prime minister andpresident should have beenadvised," Geo News quotedChief Justice Asif Saeed Khosaas saying.
The petition againstBajwa's extension was filed bya person named Raiz Rahi, wholater field an application towithdraw it. However, the chiefjustice rejected his withdraw-al bid and took up the petitionas a public interest litigationunder Article 184, Pakistanimedia reported.
During the hearing, thechief justice said the govern-
ment notification on August 19mentioned an 'extension' whilethe notification issued by thePrime Minister's Office says thearmy chief has been 'reap-pointed'.
"As per rules, there is noauthority of extending armychief 's tenure or his reap-pointment. The governmentcan only suspend his retire-ment and the army chief hasnot retired yet," Khosa said.
The chief justice after sus-pending the government's noti-fication adjourned the hearinguntil Wednesday.
acknowledged on Tuesday thatpublic dissatisfaction with herGovernment fuelled a landslidewin by pro-democracy candi-dates in local elections, butoffered no new concessions toresolve months of violentprotests.
In China, state media soughtto downplay and discredit theweekend ballot that delivered astinging rebuke to the financialhub's pro-Beijing establishmentin what was widely seen as a ref-erendum on Lam's handling ofthe unrest.
The city's chief executivepledged to "improve governance"in the wake of the district coun-cil elections, which she acknowl-edged revealed concern over"deficiencies in the government,including unhappiness with thetime taken to deal with the cur-rent unstable environment."
In a rout that stunned thesemi-autonomous territory, can-didates campaigning againstgreater control by China seizedan overwhelming majority of 452elected seats in the city's 18 dis-trict councils, bodies that havehistorically been firmly in thegrip of a Beijing-aligned estab-lishment.
The result -- the first voteheld since protests engulfed thecity -- was a humiliating rebuketo Beijing and Lam, who hasdismissed calls for politicalreform and repeatedly suggest-ed that a silent majority sup-ported her administration.
In the wake of the polls, pro-democracy politicians havestepped up calls for Lam toaddress the movement's key
demands — such as direct pop-ular elections for the city's lead-ership and legislature, and aprobe into alleged police brutal-ity against demonstrators.
But in Tuesday's weeklypress briefing, she sidesteppedthose calls, denouncing the streetviolence and repeating an earli-er pledge to open a dialogue onthe unrest, a proposal that oppo-nents have dismissed as too lit-tle, too late.
Millions of Hong Kongers
took to the streets earlier this yearafter Lam's government intro-duced a bill to allow extraditionsto China's opaque judicial sys-tem.
Although it was eventuallywithdrawn under public pres-sure, the bill added fuel to grow-ing fears that Beijing was tight-ening its grip on the city,unleashing broader publicdemands for reform and leadingto violent clashes between policeand protesters.
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Officials at a Hong Konguniversity where police
and protesters clashed violent-ly a week ago said Tuesday theyhad searched the entire campusand found just one remainingholdout in a sign the campussiege may be near an end.
Hong Kong PolytechnicUniversity (PolyU) emerged asthe epicentre of the territory'sincreasingly violent protestmovement when clashes brokeout on November 17 betweenpolice and protesters armedwith bows, arrows and Molotovcocktails.
The standoff then quicklysettled into a tense stalemateduring which hundreds fledthe campus -- some attemptingto get out through sewer lines-- leaving a dwindling core ofholdouts.
But university officials saidtheir search turned up just one
remaining female protester."We have swept through
the whole campus systemati-cally and we found one pro-tester in the student unionbuilding," the university's vicepresident Wai Ping-kong toldreporters.
He said the individual wasover 18 and not a student at theuniversity. He gave no furtherdetails on her identity but saidthe university was trying toconvince her to leave.
As the standoff set in, itbecame a guessing game as tohow many protesters remainedsince they largely kept them-selves hidden in buildingsacross the campus.
The university sent inteams earlier on Tuesday tolook for holdouts, sealing doorswith tape after rooms hadbeen searched, but Wai saidofficials could not rule out thepossibility that other protestersremained hidden.
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A27-year-old femalePakistani journalist was
killed here on Monday alleged-ly by her husband, also a scribe,for not quitting her job.
The couple got married seven months ago but then the relations turnedsour soon, according to anFIR.
Urooj Iqbal was associatedwith a Urdu daily and wasentering her office situated inQila Gujjar Singh in centralLahore when her husbandDilawar Ali shot her in thehead, leaving her dead, DostMohammad, a senior policeofficer said.
Goar Vartanyan, one half ofa legendary Soviet spy cou-
ple who helped prevent a Naziassassination of allied leaders inTehran in 1943, has died at age93.
Goar, who with her hus-band Gevork worked as a secretagent on numerous missionsabroad, died on Monday,Russia's SVR foreign intelli-gence service said.
She was to be buried atMoscow's prestigiousTroyekurovskoe cemetery, pos-sibly on Friday, SVR spokesmanSergei Ivanov told AFP.
Goar helped thwartOperation Long Jump -- a Naziplot to assassinate Joseph Stalin,Winston Churchill andFranklin Roosevelt at the firstmeeting between the "Big
Three" in Tehran in 1943.Born on January 25, 1926
in Gyumri in what was thenSoviet Armenia, Goar movedwith her family to Iran in theearly 1930s.
She joined an anti-fascistgroup at the age of 16 and even-tually worked with Gevork toexpose German agents.
When Hitler ordered theplot to kill the "Big Three" at aconference in Tehran, theirgroup reportedly followed Naziagents and exposed the plan.
The couple moved to theUSSR in 1951 and had a longcareer as secret agents.
The SVR -- one of the suc-cessor agencies to the Soviet-eraKGB -- said they were involvedin "active intelligence work" in"extreme conditions in manycountries" but did not provideany details.
Addressing the world bodyhere on Tuesday, Pakistan'sPermanent Representative tothe UN Munir Akram said, "at least one of the G4 does notin our view qualify for membership of the securitycouncil permanent or non-permanent."
The G4 nations comprisingBrazil, Germany, India, andJapan support each other's bidsfor permanent seats on theSecurity Council.
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Pakistan's Law MinisterFarogh Naseem
resigned on Tuesday to repre-sent the government in a caseregarding Army chief GenQamar Javed Bajwa's extensionin the Supreme Court, a seniorminister said after an emer-gency meeting of the Cabinet.
Addressing a Press con-ference after the meeting,Railways Minister SheikhRashid Ahmed said thatNaseem had tendered his res-ignation during the Cabinetmeeting.
"Prime Minister ImranKhan accepted Naseem's res-ignation," he said.
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Rescue crews with excavatorssearched for survivors
trapped in toppled apartmentbuildings Tuesday after a pow-erful pre-dawn earthquake inAlbania killed at least 16 peopleand injured more than 600.
The magnitude-6.4 quakewas felt across the southernBalkans and was followed bymultiple aftershocks, with sev-eral above magnitude 5. In near-by Bosnia, another temblor witha preliminary magnitude of 5.4struck southeast of the capitaland rattled Sarajevo. Therewere no immediate reports ofcasualties and only minor dam-age in that earthquake.
The quake in Albania col-
lapsed at least three apartmentbuildings while people slept, andrescue crews were working to freepeople believed trapped. Therewas no indication as to howmany people might still be buriedin the rubble. Local television sta-tions showed footage of a youngboy being pulled from a collapsedbuilding in the coastal town ofDurres, 33 kilometers (20 miles)west of the capital Tirana, after anexcavator moved a broken slab ofconcrete and local men pulledmangled reinforcement bars outof the way.
Hours later, live TV footageshowed people cheering asanother child was found alive ina collapsed building in Durreswhere a body had been foundearlier.
In recent years, design has been offeringexciting opportunities and become the
career of choice for youth from diverse dis-ciplines, as it involves science, technology, artand aesthetics in equal proportion. OnNovember 9, 2019 the birth anniversary ofProf M P Ranjan, a maverick design teacherwho influenced generations of design students,JK Lakshmipat University (JKLU) organisedDesign Guru Day, to pay homage to him.
Design Guru Day is the annual ritual ofdesigners, paying their respects to senior fac-ulty of design. Upon Prof Ranjan’s untimelydemise in 2015, prominent graduates of theNational Institute of Design (NID) decided toremember and celebrate this famous Design
Guru by recognising senior faculty fromDesign and honor them as design gurus. Thesegraduates include Amit Krishn Gulati ofDelhi, Ayush Kasliwal of Jaipur, AsheeshDeshpande of Pune, Abhijeet Bansod ofBangalore, Krishna Kulkarni of Delhi and ABalasubramaniam, Dean, Institute of Design,JK Lakshmipat University, Jaipur.
The university celebrated this event underthe aegis of MP Ranjan — JKLU DesignResource Centre. This centre has been creat-ed on March 2019 with the contribution ofProf Ranjan’s family of over 1200 books ondesign which belonged to his personal col-lection.
The university, besides honouring adesign guru, also hosted a panel discussion onthe topic of Collaboration.
The VIT-AP University con-ducted an expo at its
Amaravati campus. It was athree-day Engineering ClinicsExpo with themes InnovativeProjects using Arduino for fresh-er’s and System Design forsophomores, where all the fresh-er's and sophomores worked on360 projects and developedworking models.
Through two level filteringprocess, some exceptional pro-jects have been shortlisted forexpo on November 22, 2019.
MS Subrahmanyam, GlobalDelivery Head & Senior
Consultant, TCS, Hyderabad,Chandra Sekhar Cherukuri,Vertical Delivery Head — I & ES,
Wipro, Hyderabad,Arunachalam Jayaraman, SeniorDirector, Virtusa, Chennai,Vasudev Maduri, ConsultantAnalytics, Hitachi Consulting,Hyderabad have come externalreview committee members andreviewed the prototypes andnominated the top three winners.
Dr D Subhakar, Vice chan-cellor VIT-AP University toldthat the concept of engineeringclinics is drawn from the ideathat engineers to require a placeto get the hands-on expertise ofknowledge gained from thecourses studied in class.
��&��������� .����(��'������������In a bid to improve research
activities and facilitate facul-ty abroad programme, Dr CGopalakrishnan, AssociateProfessor from the Departmentof Physics and Nanotechnology,SRM Institute of Science andTechnology, Kattankulathur willsoon be part of The AustralianNational University (ANU)’sFaculty Abroad Programme.
The selection is based onindividual accomplishmentswhich includes demonstratedexcellence in their career inter-nationally and added value todiversity. This will facilitatehim to teach and do research
work on his project NanoBiomedical Devices, which areused in the early stage detectionand prevention of fatal diseasessuch as cancer that havebecome a challenge for medicalpractioners and scientists.
“Nanomechanical res-onators are highly sensitive indetecting the mass changeseven up to the zepto grams sen-sitivity. The development oflow cost and high sensitivenanomechanical resonatorsmay help the practioners in theearly detection of cancer,” saysthis Nanoscale Physicist-Scientist ‘D’ Cadre.
�������������������The TKWs Institute of
Banking & Finance invitesapplications for admissions toits postgraduate diploma inBanking and Finance for thecoming academic session.
Duration: One yearEligibility : Minimum
qualification is graduate in anystream with 50 per cent marks,students awaiting final yearresults may also apply. Thisprogramme starts by provid-ing fundamental clarity andthen advances to expose theparticipants to all essentials ofbanking & finance.
How to apply: Log on towww.tkwsibf.edu.in or theadmission forms can beobtained by filling the insti-tute’s application by paying anamount of �1,000 throughdemand draft in favor ofTKWs Delhi.
L ast date to apply :December 22, 2019.
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Strathclyde, Glasgow invitesapplications for admissionsto its new MSc ManufacturingManagement course.
As demand increases forfaster production and turn-around times as well as trans-parent business models, man-ufacturing management grad-uates are sought-after to makea difference by developingand optimising companies’processes and workflows.
This course helps studentsto get a deeper insight intonew developing business mod-els for management, as well asthe skills and understanding tomeet the stringent demands oftoday's highly competitiveindustrial environment.
Eligibility: First — orupper second-class Honoursdegree, or equivalent, in arelevant engineering, tech-nology, science or business-related discipline.
IELTS 6.0 overall with noindividual component below5.5 .
Fee: £20,900 for interna-
tional students for 2020/21.How to apply: Log on to
https://www.strath.ac.uk/cours-es/postgraduatetaught/manu-facturingmanagement/#whythiscourse or contact - [email protected].
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Sheffield, UK invites applica-tion for admissions to its newMSc Infrastructure & UrbanSystems Engineering coursestarting in September 202o.
Our lives are becomingincreasingly urban, which rais-es significant challenges forengineers to create healthy,sustainable and secure infra-structure that minimises ourimpact on the environment.
This course will providestudents with the tools andtechniques to analyse anddesign urban systems and civilinfrastructure in order to buildbetter, more resilient and sus-tainable cities.
Duration: One yearEligibility: Holders of a
three year bachelor degreewith a minimum of 60 percent or first class (BEng,MEng, BSc) in Civil andStructural Engineering orother appropriate engineeringor science subject from a rep-utable university.
Overall IELTS score of6.5 with a minimum of 6.0 ineach component, or equiva-lent. Applications will be con-sidered if you have appropri-ate professional qualificationsand work experience, butyou’ll need a strong back-ground in the areas covered onthe course.
Social networking sites are thebest way forward when it comes
to get noticed professionally. Onesuch site that helps is LinkedIn. Itis the world’s largest professionalnetworking platform with 59 mil-lion users from India itself, as ofJuly 2019. What makes it tick? It’san excellent way to network withyour professional contacts, buildlucrative relationships, helpsrecruiters, companies and candi-dates to connect on a commonplatform, highlights your profes-sional history and experience, andmoreover, it helps students tobuild a career. According to astudy by Pew Research Center in2018, LinkedIn is a favourite andis quite popular among college stu-dents.
You study hard and you’vegood grades, and now it’s time tolook for a job. LinkedIn is that per-fect platform where you can jump-start your job search. Like Facebookis for posting daily updates aboutyour life, Instagram for photos, sim-ilarly, LinkedIn will tell all aboutyour skills and achievements to theworld. Create a powerful profile andmake it stand out to be found byhundreds of recruiters. A survey bythe website says that when peoplelook for new jobs, social profes-sional networks form 56 per cent ofthe top channels people go to.
Let’s look at some statisticsthat will re-emphasise the powerand importance:
�It is the number one source ofquality candidates, and then comesInternet job boards and employeereferrals.
�More than 75 per cent of peo-ple who changed their jobs, usedLinkedIn to update all of their con-nections.
�Candidates who are hiredusing LinkedIn are 40 per cent lesslikely to quit the job/organisation.
�Due to the quality, the can-didates hired using LinkedIn aretwo times more in demand thanusual and are considered aboveaverage.
�89 per cent of the candidatessay they’re contacted by recruitersdirectly, and that makes themaccept the job more quickly.
Students should invest time inmaking a profile on LinkedInbecause it is the best way to builda remarkable career.
Here are some benefits:�Connect not only with other
students but also professionals inthe field you’re interested in.
�Get endorsed or get recom-mendations by classmates, profes-sors, or your colleagues from yourinternship.
�Market yourself to the topcompanies and make them seeyour potential as a knowledgeableand deserving job candidate.
�Helps you find your dream
job.How it helps in career growth:It can function as an excellent
career planning and managementtool for you. Let’s see in what ways.
�Allows you to network: Thisis important even when you’re noton the job lookout. This helps inbuilding long-lasting relationshipswith other professional connections,whom you can reach out to whenyou're looking for a job. Your net-work can have your family, profes-sors, classmates, and even people
whom you simply admire but don'tknow personally. You can find outprofessionals working in the com-pany you want to get into, theycould help you out with your careerdoubts regarding any particularfield. All your connections canhelp you decide on your careeroptions when you talk to themregarding your choices.
�Helps in job search: Now,companies all have internal open-ings too which get filled easily.LinkedIn contains all those open-
ings which the companies want tofill externally. With every job-opening you check, you can checkhow you're related to the personwho posted the job or who amongyour connections work at that sameorganisation. If you find someone,then you can very well ask for a rec-ommendation. You can also set jobalerts which will save your prefer-ences of a particular job title, geo-graphical area etc.
�Helps you stay updated: It isthat one place where you’ll get allthe latest news and updates aboutyour industry. You can follow com-panies and influencers you admireand get all latest updates. You canalso join groups which are a greatway to know more about yourcareer path because the group willhave like-minded professionals likeyou who are interested in the samefield. Keep sharing articles andopinions about the latest trends sothat your activity is visible to all.This will help in increasing yourreach and make you popular amongyour network.
Use the app to the fullest to reapits complete results and leverage itto build your career!
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Technology has evolved so muchthat even mentioning technolo-gy is making advancements feels
like a null point. Every day a new inno-vation is being shared all over inter-net by scientists and people alike.Fashion industry has also been usingtechnology in its processes,Manufacturing and post production.One such latest technology which ismaking waves in the fashion industryis the concept of Digital Fashion,which is now attracting many studentsto pursue this course.
Digital Fashion ideally is an inte-gration of fashion and informationtechnology. But the recent need forsustainability and reduction of carbonfootprint has led to the concept of dig-itally generated clothing. The interplaybetween fashion and technology is notlimited to design rather is the post pro-duction and user centric innovationswhich are not only ecologically con-scious but also keeping up with thepace of latest trends. A form of cloth-ing which is not available in physicalform but can still be bought is thelaxtest embracement of technology in thefashion field.
When CGI generated Miquelawas launched as the first digital influ-encer the ideas was laughed upon bymany and considered lame but withmore than a million followers onInstagram it proved that the world isready to embrace technology which
might seam unconventional. Andthen jumping on the bandwagon waspopular design house Balmain, whichcasted Margot, Zhi and Shudu — threeCGI generated robots created byBritish photographer Cameron-JamesWilson, for its campaign. The castingof Shudu did generate controversy butthe bigger picture was the shrinkinggap between fashion and technology,specially luxury fashion.
It is not only the robots and CGIgenerated influencers which are cre-ating waves in fashion technology, dig-ital clothing is the answer to Instagraminspired fast fashion consumption. Totackle the over consumptionof cloth-ing in name of trends, digital clothingis introduced. Last year Scandinavianbrand Carlings launched a collectionwhich comes with a disclaimer that‘you will not receive a physical versionof this item’, putting the customers ina dilemma but according to the cam-paign itself the idea behind this digi-tal collection is to open up a world ofpossibilities in fashion and styling withnew trends without elating a negativefootprint in the world.
Social media has elevated thestature of fashion. It has gone frombeing limited it restricted to certain fewto becoming an expression for themasses. People are embracing fashionmore than ever and aren't shy of mak-ing statements using it either. Slowfashion and micro influencers are
another category which has popped upin this age to tackle the ever so grow-ing ecological issues pertaining in fash-ion industry and digital fashion justmight be one of the answers for it.Spending money on something whichone can not posses physically is not analien concept, the gaming industry hasbeen making money off of this ideasince ages, fashion industry is merelylate for the party.
Fashion influencers go to greatlengths to get the perfect shot of theiroutfit or to get the perfect location fortheir outfits, the outfit which mightwill just go and get lost in the pile ofother stuff which were just wornonce. This need to have novelty clothesIs what is driving the fashion indus-try towards exploring digital fashion.People might be apprehensive of thefact that the digitally generated cloth-ing can't be acquired or worn physi-cally, but to pay a small amount andget a garment altered to your body dig-itally for few bucks, which otherwisemight cost thousands in money is whatthe biggest usp of the idea is. Carlingsis not the only retailer which haslaunched a digital collection.Amsterdam based label The Fabricantauctioned the first digital couturedress in May at Blockchain Summit inNew York for almost ten thousand dol-lars. The dress was rendered on thephotograph of the owner'swife, whichcan be used on social media.
It would be incorrect to assumethis digital clothing would be the ulti-mate solution for the crisis that indus-try is facing in terms of it being themost polluted industry but the possi-bility can not be diminished.Considering that Carlings digital col-lection sold out pretty quickly, to thinkthis might not catch on as an accept-able way in near future would beunderestimating the technologicalpotential in terms of clothing weara-bility. According to the head of theFashion Innovation Agency at theLondon College of Fashion, MatthewDrinkwater, “Digital fashion willbecome an important part of everyfashion business’ future businessmodel and It’s not going to replaceeverything, but it will be an importantpart of that.”
People are already spendingmoney on games and buying digitalitems. If people are willing to spendlarge sum of money on fashion gamesit won’t be wrong to assume they won’tfor themselves. But the question nowis not whether people are willing tospend or not but the fact that whetherdigital clothing should be considereda solution or should handwoven,hand spun and naturally generatedclothing by artisans be given the duecredit which they deserve?
Numerology is the Science ofNumbers. There are nine num-
bers from 1 to 9 and the entire life isrevolving around these numbers.
There are three important factorsin everybody’s life, which are veryimportant and influence the entire lifeof a person. These factors are:� Name number � Psychic/Driver number � Destiny/Conductor number The entire prediction and calculation
depends upon the vibrations or fre-quencies of these numbers ofname, psychic number and destinynumber and their affinities.A person who is going to start asmall business (start-up) mustkeep in mind the following things:
� Name of the brand or name of thecompany or name of the product,whatever is kept, should vibrateharmoniously with the name num-ber and psychic number of the per-son who is starting the business.
� The date of the launch of new busi-ness should be in harmony withthe psychic number of the personstarting the business.
� The day of the week, when tolaunch a new business, its numbershould also be considered.
� Chronological age of the person(personal year) should be in har-mony with psychic number.
� Address of the place, where the
brand is being launched. Its num-ber should be calculated and thatshould be in harmony with thedestiny number of the personIn numerology, every english
alphabet is assigned a number accord-ing to the Chaldean system of nomen-clature, which is the most popularwidely accepted system of assigningnumbers to these alphabets.
Every alphabet in the namevibrates with a definite frequencyand the significance of first alphabetof the name is more than any otheralphabet in the name.
Since different planet numbersvibrate with different frequencies,hence may attract or repel each other,based upon their vibration frequencies.Once you have learnt to do this youare good to go.
The CAT 2019 did notthrow any surprises inpaper format. In terms
of level of difficulty, VARC wasslightly trickier this year, withtwo passages on the difficultside. Expect the cutoff inVARC to decrease by aboutsix-eight marks. Both DILRand Quant were slightly easi-er than last year. Overall, thepaper was slightly less difficult,as compared to CAT 2018. Anoverall raw score of around157-160 should fetch a 99%ilein CAT 2019.
The overall structure of theCAT paper was as follows:
VARC: No of Questions:34, No of non MCQ questions:7. Moderate to dif f icult(attempt for 95%tile); 23-25,Attempt for 995tile: 26-28
DILR: No of questions: 32;No of non MCQs: 8. Easy tomoderate: Attempt 95%tile:14-16; Attempt for 99%tile18-20
QA: No of questions: 34.No of non MCQs: 11. Easy tomoderate: Attempt for 95%tile:18-20; Attempt for 995%tile:24-26
Total: 100. No of nonMCQs: 26. Attempt for95%tile: 60; Attempt for99%tile: 65
The VARC section was of
moderate difficulty level.However, the pattern was thesame as that of the previousyear. There were 34 questions,with 10 non-MCQ questions.
There were five passages.One had four questions (thepassage on Emperor Penguins)while the rest had five ques-tions each. The topics of theremaining RC passages werefrom varied areas. While somewere easy to read, there werefew that were tedious and hadconfusing answer options.There were quite a few infer-ence-based questions and mostof these had tricky answeroptions. However, a studentshould have followed theprocess of elimination (POE)to be able to achieve a decentaccuracy rate, as the optionswere not straightforward. The10 Type in The Answer (TITA)questions were also of slight-ly higher difficulty level thanlast year. The para jumblequestions were of moderatedifficulty level, with somechallenges regarding thesequencing of the openinglines. The summary questionswere relatively easier; andfocused on academics andmarketing/advertising.
However, the options werenot really difficult, and one
could eliminate one-twooptions easily. The questionson odd-one-out were relative-ly easy.
The RC passages wereundoubtedly trickier than thatof last year's CAT paper due to:
Trickier question types:One would encounter ques-tions like which of the follow-ing if true, will strengthen theargument of the author theleast and which of the follow-ing will not cause the inversionreferred to in the flipping thescript. The students wouldhave spent quite some timetrying to understand whatthey are required to think
about.Close options: The RC
passages, like the one on theorigins of the Aladdin storyand on folk culture hadoptions which were extreme-ly close to each other. Thiswould have definitely reducedthe speed of the student.
Expect the cutoff of VARCto drop by about eight-10marks, which is about two-three questions lesser thanlast year.
Surprises: Contrary topopular speculation, the paperstructure was a replica of thatof last year.
An attempt of 23-25 wouldbe considered good in this sec-tion for a 95%ile. However,accuracy level will be an issue.
The DILR was easier, ascompared to last year. Aboutthree sets, more specifically theones about different types ofgifts in 100 boxes, the 12 dif-ferent junctions, and summa-tion of two 6-digit numbers,were easy; and should havesurely been attempted.
Another set, which was ahorizontal bar chart on the dif-ferent types of crimes in dif-ferent states, was also easy; andwould not have taken morethan five-10 minutes to solve.
It as good to see a new
chart type — the radar graph,making its way to the CAT2019 slot Paper-I.
In this set, different ven-dors were ranked on featureslike Customer Service, Costand Reliability. This straight-forward set required you tosolve questions as simple asfinding the best vendor on thebasis of the average of scoreson each of the features.
The cut-off for DILR isexpected to increase by aboutseven-nine marks from lastyear, which is about two-threequestions extra from CAT2018.
The QA was also slightlyeasier than last year. You couldhave found more sitters thistime round than in CAT 2018.The paper had a good numberof questions on Arithmeticfrom topics like Percentages,TSD, Time and Work, etc.Among Algebra, Geometry,and Numbers, the paper hadmore questions on Algebraand Geometr y than onNumbers.
The cutoff for QA isexpected to increase by five-seven marks from last year,which is about one-two ques-tions extra from CAT 2018.!���������������������������������
Joining the Civil Services is considered adream career by many ambitious and tal-ented individuals aspiring to become an
IAS, IPS or IFS officer.These prestigious jobsmark authority and power in India along withjob security, salary package, the opportunityof a foreign tour, job satisfaction, etc.Moreover, civil servants are the ones decid-ing the fate of the nation in terms of imple-menting all developmental and other gov-ernment policies.
However, securing a job in one of thesethree posts demands to undergoa gruelling,three-tier UPSC civil services exam which isconsidered one of the toughest competitiveexams. Lakhs of aspirants appear for UPSCevery year but only a few get selected.
Although proper preparation is necessaryfor cracking this exam, it’s also crucial for thecandidates to handle the exam pressure andthe myths floating around that further aggra-vates their fear, making them nervous towardspursuing such a field. So aspirants it’s time todebunk these common myths you might behearing and gear up to ace the journey towardsyour dream career:
Myth 1: One needs years of preparationReality: UPSC might be a tough exami-
nation demanding complete dedication butthat does not necessarily mean that one wouldneed to start preparing from an early stage.Even a year’s preparation can be good to clearthe examination if aspirants are studying withperseverance. There numerous success storiesof aspirants cracking the examination in onego after just a year or even less than a year'spreparation.
Myth 2: IAS aspirants must be awareofevery topic/subject
Reality:This is not true. Since this is a gen-eral exam, one needs to be well-read alongwith having a balanced outlook towardsissues. Moreover, as the syllabus itself is so vastcovering multiple subjects, aspirants arealready more aware than the others. There isno need to mug topics and become experts.Instead, simply focus on all the NCERT books,current affairs, and books by a few renownedauthors. The exam demands its aspirants tohave a general awareness and analytical skills.
Myth 3: Aspirants need to give at leasttwo-three attempts
Reality: This is just a misconception.There have been so many aspirants who havecleared the examination in the very firstattempt. All it needs is to keep your headstraight and focus on your preparation.Revise once you are done and take multiplemock tests to evaluate your pitfalls and work
on it. If you have religiously revised everythingin the syllabus and are confident to give theshot, nothing can stop you from clearing theUPSC preliminary exam in a go.
Myth 4: Candidates should follow the top-pers’ strategies
Reality: There is no quick route to crackthe UPSC. Even though you listen to the top-pers revealing their strategies and study pat-terns, it is your hard work that will ultimate-ly pay off. Thus, it is crucial for the aspirantsto follow their own rhythm and routine andmake an informed choice when it comes tocreating a preparation strategy.
Myth 5: It is mandatory to have a goodcommand over English to ace the interview
Reality: This is a misapprehension, par-ticularly among the regional language-speak-ing candidates. The UPSC examination assess-es your awareness and analysing skills, and notthe medium of language you write in. Theaspirants are allowed toattempt the paper andgive the interview in almost 22 regional lan-guages, as per their comfort level. So put yourbest foot forward!
While this exam can be a bit over-whelming, UPSC is just another competitiveexam featuring a lengthy syllabus. So ratherthan losing your confidence on the ground ofsome baseless myths, stay disciplined, determined and believe in your hard work to make through this journeysmoothly.
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MPOWER Financing islooking for highly motivatedinternational aspirants toapply for theInternationalStudent.Com/Mpower Central Americaprogramme. Be an interna-tional student allowed tolegally study in the US orCanada, as applicable.
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Eligibility: Submit anessay, a copy of your tran-script or admission letter, aproof of your citizenship,immigration status, andgender (i.e., your passportand visa), and proof ofEnglish language proficien-cy. Admission require-ments: Before you get start-ed on your application, besure to review all require-ments carefully. Languagerequirement: Applicants arerequired to have excellentEnglish language proficiencyo study in the US orCanada.
India were one of the favourites to win the2019 World Cup till a 15-minute spellfrom the New Zealand fast bowlers in
Manchester changed everything and theworld came crashing down for the Men inBlue in the semi-final stages of the showpieceevent. Things could have easily gone down-hill from there had it not been for the guid-ance of head coach Ravi Shastri. He has usedthe stick in the last few years as much as hehas patted the back of the players when themorale has been down and today thisIndian team is often compared to the leg-endary Windies unit in the 1970s and 1980s.
Speaking after completing another serieswhitewash, this time against Bangladesh,Shastri threw light on what made him believethat this team could be world beaters, thefuture of MS Dhoni, how talents likeRishabh Pant need to be backed and mostimportantly the joy of seeing a former crick-eter take over as BCCI President in SouravGanguly.
The World Cup exit was a bitter pill toswallow and Shastri says it has been amaz-ing how the boys decided to not let that dis-hearten them and have only grown instrength from that fateful day — July 9.
“For me, the intensity shown by thisteam is fabulous. The way they have bouncedback after those 15 minutes in Manchester.That was a bitter pill to swallow and hurt oneand all. But then, the ferocity and intensitythey have shown after that in the last threemonths is unbelievable. This is remarkableand that is why I say if you look back 5-6years, this will have to be one of the mostconsistent Indian teams ever across all for-mats,” he said.
The past can’t be changed, but the roadahead has the World T20 in 2020 and win-ning that will go a long way in establishingthe invincibility tag that has been given tothis team under skipper Virat Kohli. Butthen, a question on everyone’s mind iswhether MS Dhoni will take that flight. Thecoach wants one and all to wait, till the IPL.
“It all depends on when he starts play-ing and how he is playing during the IPL.What are the other people doing with thewicket-keeping gloves or what is the formof those players as opposed to Dhoni’s form.The IPL becomes a massive tournamentbecause that could be the last tournamentafter which more or less your 15 is decided.
“There might be one player who mightbe there and thereabouts in case of an injuryor whatever. But your team I would saywould be known after the IPL. What I wouldsay is rather than speculating of who iswhere, wait for the IPL to get over and thenyou are in a position to take a call on whoare the best 17 in the country,” he said.
Coming back to the present, this Indianteam has moved from strength to strengthunder Shastri and Kohli and now we haveanother former captain coming into theBCCI as President in Ganguly.
The loudest cheer at the Eden Gardenswas actually saved for when the two men —Shastri and Ganguly — shook hands afterthe win on the third afternoon. Known tospeak his mind, Shastri says he couldn’t havebeen happier than seeing a former cricketercome in as the BCCI chief at such a crucialjuncture.
“I think it is fantastic. I was one of thefirst to congratulate him when he becamethe President because I was delighted thatmore important than anything a BCCI wasback in place to put Indian cricket where itbelongs both on and off the field. And I was
even more delighted that a cricketer shouldbe at the helm at this important phase ofIndian cricket.
“And Sourav having been a fabulousplayer and captain and been around as anadministrator, him becoming the Presidentadds a lot of value,” he explained.
From a former captain to a young turk.Rishabh Pant is the hot topic in Indian crick-et at present. While some love him, otherslike to pull him up, but for Shastri, there isa superstar in that lad who just needs to begiven that cushion to settle down and feelat home.
So what does he tell a Pant?“Nothing. Just tell him that you are
young and nobody expects you to learneverything in one day. You are bound tomake mistakes, but as long as you sit downand thing about ways to rectify those mis-takes, you know that is what this game willteach you. You are not going to be a super-star in one day. You will have your ups andyour downs. That is life, but the more youwork harder, the more the sacrifices youmake, the better you will become,” hesmiled.
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England players will rallyaround an “emotiona” Jofra
Archer after the paceman wasracially abused by a spectatorin New Zealand, director ofcricket Ashley Giles said onTuesday, as local officialsscoured CCTV footage toidentify the culprit.
“It’s a shame that sort ofthing is still in society,” Gilestold reporters after Archerwas subjected to racist com-ments after being dismissedlate on day five of the openingTest in Mount Maunganui.
The Barbados-bornbowler tweeted after the matchthat it was “a bit disturbinghearing racial insults todaywhilst battling to help save my
team”.The 24-year-old later told
ESPNcricinfo that the abuserwas a solitary New Zealand
spectator making comments“about the colour of my skin”.
Archer has been a power-ful advocate for diversity incricket and Giles, when askedhow the player was faring,replied: “The tweet, it wasobviously emotional, it hurts.
“We fully support Jof,there is no place for racism inthe game... you know what ourteam is like, they’ll rally roundhim.”
Black Caps captain KaneWilliamson described thetaunt as “horrific”, while NewZealand Cricket said the cul-prit would be reported to thepolice and face a life ban ifidentified from the venue’sCCTV footage.
Williamson said suchracism was “against every-thing that we as Kiwis are
about”.“It’s a horrific thing. In a
country and a setting where itis very much multi-cultural,”he told news websitestuff.co.nz.
“It’s something we need toput to bed quickly and hopenothing like that ever happensagain.”
Both Williamson and NewZealand Cricket chief execu-tive David White apologised toArcher.
New Zealand and Englandare working together to inves-tigate the incident and BlackCaps coach Gary Stead said hewanted the person responsiblecaught.
“Hopefully, it was just oneidiot in the crowd and theydeal with it,” he told RadioNew Zealand.
���� �;/�.�.�
Indian cricket icon SachinTendulkar feels BCCI
President Sourav Gangulyshould initiate a revamp of theDuleep Trophy as players com-peting in the event seem morefocussed on individual perfor-mances than their teams.
The batting maestro feelsthat team bonding is missingfrom the four-day tournament,which can be reinvented bybringing in four Ranji Trophysemifinalists along with twoteams of promising U-19 and U-23 players.
“I want him (Ganguly) toconsider looking at the DuleepTrophy...I feel Duleep Trophy isone tournament where one isgetting to hear that players arepossibly more focused on theirown performances and what thenext tournament is and they playaccordingly,” Tendulkar said.
“For instance if there’s anIPL auction, or an upcomingT20 tournament or one-day,players end up playing in thatmode and not for their team orlooking at the need of the hour,”he said.
The Duleep trophy was afive-team zonal tournament butnow features India Blue, IndiaGreen and India Red in a round-
robin format.As the former captain gears
up for the BCCI’s first AnnualGeneral Meeting on Sunday,Tendulkar wants him to sparesome focus on Duleep Trophy.
“This is one change I wouldlike to see because cricket hasalways been a team sport. It is allabout team spirit bonding andplaying together as a team. Notas individuals,” he said.
Explaining his idea on howto revamp the Duleep Trophy,Tendulkar said to get players tocompete as a team, it should beheld right after the Ranji Trophyfinals and among the four semi-finalists, who play the whole sea-son together.
“Top four Ranji teams andthere should be two more teamsbecause there would be a num-ber of teams with talented indi-viduals but which did not qual-ify. You pick these players fromvarious teams, also promotetalented age-group players fromUnder-19 and Under-23.
“If there’s someone excep-tionally talented U19 then youcan look at those players. Bringthem and have this tournamenttogether.”
“So you have got the best ofboth. You have got four leadingRanji teams who have beenplaying together,” he added.
century in the Day/NightTest to close in on top-ranked Steve Smith, whileopener Mayank Agarwalmade his maiden entryinto the top 10 in theICC Test rankingsissued on Tuesday.
Kohli (928rating points),who hit 136a g a i n s tBangladeshin the sec-ond Test inK o l k a t a ,reduced thegap from 25 to threepoints with AustralianSmith (931) to retain thesecond spot.
Agarwal, whostruck a double centuryin the first Test againstBangladesh in Indore,jumped one place to 10th with700 points. He is the fourthIndian batsmen in the top 10list. Cheteshwar Pujara (791)and Ajinkya Rahane (759)remained at fourth and fifthpositions respectively.
England all-rounder BenStokes also reached the top 10for the first time by jumpingthree places after scores of 91and 28 against New Zealand.
Bangladesh’s MushfiqurRahim gained four slots toreach 26th after scoring a fight-ing 74 in the second innings ofthe Kolkata Test while LitonDas is up eight slots to 78thposition.
India fast bowlers IshantSharma and Umesh Yadavachieved career-high pointsafter victories over Bangladesh.Ishant has 716 points but is inthe 17th place, way behind hiscareer-best seventh placeachieved in July 2011. Umeshhas 672 points and has jumpedone place to 21st.
Senior India spinnerRavichandran Ashwin movedone place up to ninth with 772points, while injury-sidelinedJasprit Bumrah lost one spot tobe at fifth with 794 ratingpoints.
Ravindra Jadeja, whojumped one spot to 15thamong bowlers with 725points, retained his secondspot, behind West Indian JasonHolder, in the all-rounders’rankings.
Ashwin, meanwhile, hasmoved down one place to fifthamong the all-rounders.
World champion P V Sindhu, was onTuesday retained by Hyderabad
Hunters for � 77 lakh in the auction forthe fifth season of the Premier BadmintonLeague here.
World number 1 women’s singlesplayer Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei wasalso bought for joint highest amount of� 77 lakh by defending championsBengaluru Raptors after a bidding warwith the Pune 7 Aces.
There was intense bidding for India’smen’s doubles poster boy, SatwiksairajRankireddy, who won the ThailandOpen in August alongside Chirag Shetty.
The 19-year-old eventually went to theChennai Superstarz for a whopping � 62lakhs.
“I am really happy to be a part of theChennai team. I have many friends inChennai and I am looking forward to playthere. Every time we have played here thecrowd has been exceptional and to rep-resent them this season will surely besomething that I am looking forward to,”said Rankireddy.
Korea’s world No 22 doubles ace KoSung Hyun and Hong Kong’s world No24 singles exponent Lee Cheuk Yiu werethe only other shuttlers to cross the � 50lakh mark as the former went to AwadheWarriors for � 55 lakhs while the latterwas purchased by the North EasternWarriors for ��50 lakhs.
2014 Commonwealth Games cham-pion Parupalli Kashyap was the nextcostliest Indian shuttler to be sold toMumbai Rockets for � 43 lakhs whileLakshya Sen, who won four titles in thepast two months, will turn out forChennai colours after the Season 2champions purchased him for � 36 lakhs.
Another top Indian player B SaiPraneeth was also retained by BenagluruRaptors for � 32 lakh.
Among other Indians who wereretained by their respective franchises aremen’s doubles players B Sumeeth Reddy(� 11 lakhs by Chennai Superstarz) and
Chirag Shetty (� 15.5 lakhs by Pune 7Aces).
World number 9 American women’ssingles player Beiwan Zhang too has beenretained by Awadhe Warriors for � 39lakhs.
National badminton coach PullelaGopichand's daughter Gayatri Gopichandwas picked up by Chennai Superstarz for� 2 lakh, while young Assamese shuttlerAshmita Chaliha was bought by her hometeam North Eastern Warriors for �� 3lakhs.
The PBL season 5 lost some sheenafter London Olympics Bronze medallistSaina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanthpulled out of the event to focus on theirinternational careers.
While Saina, who played for NorthEastern Warriors in the last PBL, pulledout of the 2020 event to prepare herselffor the next international season, Srikanthwanted to focus on international eventsahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
154 players, including Sai Praneeth,Lakshya Sen, and men’s doubles pair of
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and ChiragShetty, were also part of the auction.
The next edition of PBL will see atotal of 74 Indian shuttlers in action fromJanuary 20 to February 9.
Seven teams — Awadhe Warriors(Lucknow), Bengaluru Raptors(Bengaluru), Mumbai Rockets (Mumbai),Hyderabad Hunters (Hyderabad),Chennai Superstarz (Chennai), NorthEastern Warriors (North East) and Pune7 Aces (Pune) — will compete in the 21-day event to be played in Bengaluru,Chennai, Hyderabad and Lucknow.
Each franchise has a purse of � 2 crorebut they cannot spend more than � 77lakh for a player. The teams will comprisea maximum of six foreign players and aminimum of three female shuttlers in asquad of not more than 11.
Among the seven teams vying for thePBL 5 trophy, title holders BengaluruRaptors and Awadhe Warriors exhaust-ed their entire purse of � 2 crores whilePune 7 Aces saved � 23.5 lakhs.
Pune and Chennai were the onlyteams to reach the maximum quota of 11as 71 players were picked from a pool of154 players at the end of the auction.
The format of the upcoming editionof the league remains the same with eachtie consisting of five matches — two mensingles, one women singles, one men dou-bles and one mixed doubles.
Jose Mourinho says there is “no chance” ofTottenham signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic after the vet-
eran forward was linked with a move to the club fol-lowing his exit from LA Galaxy.
Mourinho worked with Ibrahimovic at InterMilan and Manchester United but said signing the38-year-old would not make sense with Harry Kaneat his disposal.
“You are right about the connection, we have morethan a connection,” Mourinho said when asked onMonday whether he would be trying to sign theSwede. “I would say also passion and understanding,an amazing player and an amazing guy, but I wouldsay ‘no’. No chance.
“We have the best striker in England, we have oneof the top two or three strikers in the world, it does-n’t make any sense for a striker of Zlatan’s dimension,obviously in his late 30s, but still a striker that can playin any club in the world.”
����� 0;8��350�
Borussia Dortmund hopegoal-scoring defenderAchraf Hakimi will again
be their Champions League“weapon” to shoot downBarcelona today and relievepressure on under-fire coachLucien Favre.
With two group games left,a last 16 place is still firmly in thehands of the Germans, who sita point behind pool leadersBarcelona, thanks to Hakimi’stwo goals in a stunning 3-2home win over Inter Milanthree weeks ago.
However, dreadfulBundesliga results in the mean-time leave Favre needing a goodperformance in Barcelona tosafeguard his job, putting theonus on Madrid-born Hakimiand his team-mates to turnthings around at Barcelona’sCamp Nou.
Hakimi, who joined on loanfrom Real Madrid in July2018, has been a regularstarter under Favre atDortmund. He has scorednine goals and set up 10more in 47 matches aseither a full-back on eitherflank or even up front asa winger.
He has scored four ofDortmund’s five ChampionsLeague goals, dazzling by scor-ing twice out of position on theleft wing in October’s 2-0 win atSlavia Prague, where club cap-tain Marco Reus described himas “a weapon” in Dortmund’sattacking armour.
“He’s incredibly fast. Fromthat point of view, he’s always aweapon,” said Reus.
Having proved his versatil-ity in Prague, Hakimi celebrat-ed his 21st birthday with anoth-er two goals — this time fromfull-back — in the come-backwin over Inter as Dortmundcame from two goals down.
‘HATS OFF’“Hakimi was everywhere,”
said Favre.“Hats off to him: he scored
twice, but the others fed (pass-es into him) well too.” Hakimi isrelishing the freedom in the sec-
ond of his two sea-sons on loan fromReal, where he madebarely a dozenappearances.
The Moroccointernational is athis best using hispace and strengthto power through
defenders.Much like the team around
him, Hakimi has creases tosmooth in his defensive game.He is too often caught out ofposition when opponentscounter attack.
Since the high of the homewin over Inter, the wheels havethreatened to come offDortmund's season.
STILL WIDE OPENMeanwhile, Barcelona also
come to this game, on the backof a goalless draw at home toSlavia Prague earlier this monththat means qualification from
Group E is far from guaranteed.Anything other than a win
is likely to leave them needing atleast a point against Inter Milanat the San Siro in a fortnight’stime.
Valverde would appearunlikely to throw Messi, Suarez,Griezmann and Dembeletogether again for Dortmund,who will offer a sterner test thanbottom-club Leganes.
But his eagerness to roll thedice last weekend with four for-wards, and Messi in a deeperrole, suggests he recognises thelack of creativity and has begunto reach for more daring solu-tions.
In defence, Valverde mighthave to be imaginative too. JordiAlba is out with a hamstringstrain while Nelson Semedoand Clement Lenglet are bothstruggling with calf problems.
Gerard Pique is also missingas he serves a one-match ban,meaning there could be a placefor Samuel Umtiti, who hasmade only three appearancesthis season.
Dortmund’s crunch clash at hisformer club Barcelona today.
Dortmund, who are a pointbehind group leaders Barcelona,flew to Spain on Tuesday with-out their striker, who has scoredseven goals in 13 games this sea-son, as the 26-year Alcacer hasa gastrointestinal infection,according to his club.
A win at Barcelona’s NouCamp stadium will put eitherclub in the last 16. Alcacer alsoinjured his knee in the first-halfof last Friday’s disappointing 3-3 draw at home to Bundesligabottom club Paderborn, whenthe hosts were three goals downat half-time.
Germany forward MarioGoetze is most likely to start inplace of Alcacer, who joinedDortmund on loan fromBarcelona in August 2018, butwas signed permanently for thestart of this season in a dealreportedly worth 21 millioneuros ($23m).
cerns about Mohamed Salah’sfitness ahead of their clashwith Napoli.
Salah was an unused sub-stitute in the 2-1 win at CrystalPalace after missing trainingwith an ankle problem.
“Mo Salah looks reallygood,” Klopp said at his pre-match press conference onTuesday. “I’m not worried aboutit.”
Klopp also provided anupdate on the fitness of defend-er Joel Matip, who has beensidelined with a knee injury.
“Joel is improving but issome time away. There will bea scan this week and then wewill see how it is.”
Klopp said he had plans tocope with Liverpool’s fixturepile-up over the next few weeks.
Their involvement in theFIFA Club World Cup in Qatar,plus their progress in theLeague Cup, mean Liverpoolhave been forced to play twogames within 24 hours of eachother, over 4,000 miles (6,400kilometres) apart in mid-December.
“We have plans for every-thing, as you can imagine, andwe change them constantly. Ihave two smartphones andwhen one of them is ringing itis really rare it is good news,”
said Klopp.“You only get the mes-
sages when a player is not fine,so then we have to make newplans and we don’t know exact-ly how many players we’ll haveto train.
“We know in the long termwhat we have to do, we knowthat’s all set. The athletic part ofthe sessions, we try to adapt tothe specific situation of the play-ers. The tactical things dependon the games we play.”
Victory over CarloAncelotti’s side on Wednesdaywould ensure defending cham-pions Liverpool finish top ofGroup E with a game to sparebut Klopp said he could notafford to look past the match.
Napoli are the only side tohave beaten Liverpool this sea-son but are currently seventh inSerie A.
“The biggest mistake wecould make is that we have wonit already and what would hap-pen if we win it,” Klopp said.
“These things are not in ourmind. Of course we try to winthe game, it would be massivefor us after the start we had.Napoli are a dangerous oppo-nent.
“There are two weeksbetween tomorrow night andthe Salzburg game (final matchof the group) and we have threegames in between. Why shouldI think about the Salzburggame now?”
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Napoli head for Liverpooltoday for a Champions
League Group E game whichcould prove crucial to coachCarlo Ancelotti’s future at thetroubled Italian club.
The three-timeChampions League winningcoach’s second season at theStadio San Paolo has proved tobe a complicated one, afterleading them to second inSerie A in his first year.
His team’s fortunes havewaned after the high of open-ing their Champions Leaguecampaign with a 2-0 win overreigning European championsLiverpool, with dressing roomunrest amid friction betweenthe players and club manage-ment.
Napoli are still oncourse to qualify for theChampions Leagueknockout rounds asthey are second inGroup E behindLiverpool, fourpoints ahead ofthird-placedSalzburg withtwo games toplay.
They willreach the last16 if they beatLiverpool or if
Salzburg do not beat Genk,having failed to advance pastthe group stages last season.
But they come up againsta Liverpool side who have aneight-point advantage on topof the Premier League tableand whose only loss this sea-son came at the San Paolo.
To add to their problemsNapoli will be without captainLorenzo Insigne, who hurt hiselbow in Saturday’s match.
The Italian forward hasscored five times for Napolithis campaign, and also scoredthe last gasp winner againstLiverpool in last season’s 1-0group stage victory in Naples.
Forward ArkadiuszMilik has an abdominalinflammation, joining aninjury list which already
includes defensive duoKevin Malcuit and
Faouzi Ghoulam.B u t
Portuguese full-back Mario Ruiand Spanish mid-fielder FabianRuiz, absentagainst Milan,
