A s the Supreme Court on Monday turned down the plea for expeditious hearing of the Ram Janmabhoomi land dispute case and said the mat- ter will be dealt with by an appropriate Bench in January, the court faced harsh criticism from several quarters and demand for an Ordinance for the construction of Ram Temple grew louder within the BJP, RSS and various Sangh Parivar outfits .The Congress exercised restraint saying that the apex court verdict should be awaited and the issue be not linked with vote-bank poli- tics. With the country warming up to the Lok Sabha polls, around six months away, the BJP and the RSS called for bringing a legislation to expe- dite the temple construction at Ayodhya apprehending that the court proceedings on the issue may not conclude too soon. Outlining the Government’s stand, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, at the same time, said a lot people in the country want the case to be heard quickly. Addressing a press conference in poll-bound Chhattisgarh, Prasad said the BJP never linked the Ram Mandir issue with polls. “The Supreme Court today said the hearing (on the Ayodhya land title dispute cases) will be held in January. As a Law Minister, I should not say anything else, as you under- stand that there are certain lim- itations,” Prasad said. “I would like to humbly say that a lot of people in the coun- try want that the hearing on the issue should be completed soon,” he said. The RSS said the Supreme Court should make an early decision on the Ram Janmabhoomi land dispute and the Union Government should bring a legislation to remove hurdles, if any, in the way of the construction of a Ram temple at the site. RSS chief spokesperson Arun Kumar said the Allahabad High Court in its verdict has accepted that the site is the birthplace of Lord Ram and a temple existed there. The HC judgment, deliv- ered in four civil suits, had said the 2.77-acre land be divided equally among three parties — the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla. “The Sangh believes a grand Ram temple should be constructed soon at the birth- place of Lord Ram. And land should be allotted at the birth- place for temple construc- tion. With the construction of the temple, an atmosphere of unity and harmony will be created. With this in view, the Supreme Court should make an early decision and if there are any difficulties, the Government should make a law to remove all hurdles in the way of giving land for tem- ple at the Ram Janmabhoomi site,” Kumar said in a state- ment. “Ever since this andolan was started by sants, we have supported it and will continue to support them in their deci- sions in future,” he said. BJP leader Vinay Katiyar alleged that the issue was being delayed “under pressure” from the Congress, which denied the charge. “The decision is being delayed under pressure from the Congress. People like Kapil Sibal and Prashant Bhushan are pressing for delay- ing the issue. Till when will Ram bhakts (devotees) wait? In 2019, the Congress will come to know,” he said. Former Union Minister and BJP leader Sanjeev Baliyan said, “I am surprised at the pri- orities of the court. I am of the view that the Ram Temple should be constructed. The Government should explore all possibilities.” BJP’s ally Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said the Ram tem- ple is an issue of faith and demanded that the Government comes out with an Ordinance soon. “It is a matter of faith. The court cannot decide on this. The Government should bring an ordinance,” he said. Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, however, main- tained that it was a familiar story every five years before the elections when the BJP tries to polarise the issue. T he Supreme Court on Monday refused to enter- tain the Uttar Pradesh plea for early hearing of the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case, saying it has different priorities. The court fixed the case for the first week of January before an “appropriate Bench” which will decide the schedule of hearing. The court’s decision is a big blow to the temple pro- tagonists who had hoped for an early resolution of the dis- pute and day-to-day hearing of the case that could have paved the way for building of the Ram temple before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. “We will fix the date of hearing of the Ayodhya dispute case before the appropriate Bench in January,” said a three- judge Bench, headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, and comprising Justices SK Kaul and KM Joseph. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and senior advocate CS Vaidyanathan, appearing for the UP Government and deity Ramlala respectively, sought early listing of the appeals in the case after refer- ring to their long pendency. But the Bench remained unim- pressed and clearly indicated the case was not a priority for it. “We have our own priori- ties. Whether the matter will be heard in January, February or March, the appropriate Bench will decide,” the Bench said. Hopes for expeditious set- tlement of the Janmabhoomi- Babri Masjid land dispute case were revived after a three- judge Bench, by a 2:1 majori- ty last month, refused to refer to a five-judge Constitution Bench the issue of reconsider- ation of the observations in its 1994 judgment that a mosque was not integral to Islam. The matter had arisen during the hearing of the Ayodhya land dispute. The majority view by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra and Justice Ashok Bhushan ordered that the hear- ing in the main Ayodhya title suit appeals should resume from October 29. A s the Supreme Court on Monday banned 15-year- old petrol vehicles and 10- year-old diesel vehicles from plying in Delhi and National Capital Region (NCR), nation- al Capital air quality has been predicted to deteriorate “dras- tically” on Tuesday. The System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) on Monday said stubble fire counts has increased “tremendously” in past 24 hours. The Supreme Court also instructed the transport depart- ment to impound such vehicles if they are found on the road. “A list of these vehicles should be published on the websites of the Central Pollution Control Board CPCB) and the trans- port department, and an adver- tisement should be published in newspapers,” said the court. The Supreme Court passed these directions on a note placed before it by advocate Aparajita Singh, assisting the court as amicus in the air pol- lution matter, seeking urgent directions to correct the pre- vailing situation of pollution. The court also directed the CPCB to immediately cre- ate a social media account on which citizens could lodge their complaints directly about pollution. Appropriate action could be taken by the author- ities concerned on the written complaints, the SC added. The court has posted the matter for hearing on November 1. In 2015, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had banned 15-year-old petrol vehicles and 10-year-old diesel vehicles. The following year, the NGT directed authorities in the NCR and Delhi to begin dereg- istering all diesel vehicles in the capital that are more than a decade old. During the hearing on Monday, the Bench referred to media reports that people should not go on morning walk due to the high levels of pollution. “Have you gone to old Delhi railway station? Poor people there have to work to earn their livelihood. The kind of exertion they undergo is much more than those walking in the morning at Lodhi Gardens,” the Bench told Additional Solicitor General (ASG) ANS Nadkarni, appearing for the Centre. “They are doing heavy duty manual work. You cannot tell them that you stop your work because it is unsafe for you to work in the morning. This is a very critical situ- ation,” said the Bench, adding, “It is horrible”. The Bench told Nadkarni that authorities would have to do their work properly and find out solutions. T he Indian Army on Monday retaliated “strong- ly” to Pakistan’s ceasefire vio- lation by carrying out “puni- tive” strikes on Pakistan Army’s brigade headquarters oppo- site Poonch sector in general area of Hajira in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK). According to ground reports, the Pakistan Army suffered heavy damages in the area. But till the time of filing the report, the exact scale of damage was not known. Local residents of border villages reported that they could see smoke emanating from the Pakistan Army’s administrative unit headquarters. The Indian Army sent the strong signal to Pakistan in response to Pak Army’s firing of stray shells on Poonch and Jhallas on October 23, 2018. Poonch-based Brigade headquarters of the Indian Army had come attack for the first time on October 23 after 1997. Ministry of Defence spokesman in Jammu had claimed, “Pakistan Army had used recoilless gun (Rcl) with a calibre of 105/106 mm to tar- get the Poonch brigade head- quarters.” Sources said while giving befitting reply, the Indian Army exercised maximum restraint despite continuous provoca- tion by the Pakistan Army. The thickly populated civil- ian areas on the other side of the line of control namely Hajira tehsil, Bandi, Gopalpur, Nikial, Samani and Khuiratta were not targeted in the retal- iatory firing. A huge population of ex- servicemen of the Pakistan Army and retired Government servants are settled in the area against the wishes of the local population. The Indian Army had ear- lier undertaken “surgical strikes” in September 2016 to demolish terrorist launch pads across LoC in POK in response to Pakistan-sponsored terror- ist strikes in Uri and Nagrota in Jammu & Kashmir. T hree men who were sitting on railway track near Nangloi railway station and consuming alcohol were run over by Bikaner-Delhi Express train after they failed to move off the track despite driver frenetically hooting the horn on Monday around 7.20am. According to eyewitnesses, the train driver reportedly sounded the siren but the trio did not move away from the track near The driver could no apply brakes that would have derailed the train, and the train just sliced them. Police immediately moved them to a nearby hospital where they were declared brought dead. They were iden- tified as Mukesh Verma (50), Sushil Kumar (25) and Prashant. Their body has been sent for post-mortem exami- nation at Sabzi Mandi Morgue. Police said people in the vicinity tried to alert the booz- ers but they refused to move obviously under the influence of alcohol. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Railway) Dinesh Gupta said police found two-country made liquor bottles from the spot. Eyewitnesses told police that they were sitting on the track for quite some time while they merrily consumed liquor. Police said loco pilot Randhir Singh is also being questioned. The deceased Mukesh Verma is a resident of Dharm Enclave, Prem Nagar. Sushil Kumar and Prashant were reported to be residents of Mangolpuri. A 16-year-old teenage French girl was allegedly sexually assaulted by a 45-year-old busi- nessman in whose house she was staying while on a student exchange programme in India. The French national was a friend of her assaulter’s daugh- ter who stayed at the victim’s house in France in May-June being a part of the same exchange programme. According to the victim’s complaint, on October 18 while she was packing clothes and other belongings in her bags before leaving for a trip to Jaipur, the 45-year-old inappropriately “touched” and forcibly “hugged” her. The girl narrated her ordeal to her teacher in Jaipur who informed the French Embassy. A ll 189 passengers, the Indian pilot and crew aboard a crashed Indonesian Lion Air jet were likely killed in the accident, rescue officials said on Monday, as they announced they had found human remains and would continue the grim search through the night. The Boeing-737 MAX, which went into service just months ago, vanished from radar 13 minutes after taking off from Jakarta Soekarno Hatta International Airport, plunging into the Java Sea moments after it had asked to return to Jakarta. Websites that display flight data showed the plane speeding up as it sud- denly lost altitude before it dis- appeared, with authorities say- ing witnesses saw the jet plunge into the water. Indian pilot Bhavye Suneja, 31, captained the plane, Indian Embassy here confirmed. Some 40 divers are part of about 150 personnel at the scene, authorities said, with the plane wreckage some 30 to 40 metres deep in the water. Earlier, video footage apparently filmed at the scene of the crash showed a slick of fuel on the surface of the water and pictures showed what appeared to be an emergency slide and bits of wreckage bear- ing Lion Air’s logo. The carrier acknowledged that the jet had previously been grounded for unspecified repairs. The disaster is a setback for Indonesia’s airline industry, which just emerged from decadelong bans by the European Union and the US Over safety concerns. PTI Detailed report on P12 T he much-talked about “green” firecrackers would not be available in the market before Diwali and the existing ones will continue to pollute the air despite the Supreme Court allowing only the sale of “green and improved” fire- works that emit lesser toxic emissions. The Government’s premier scientific research agency, the Council for Science and Industrial Research (CSIR), has developed eco-friendly crackers, but they are yet to get approval for production. This means they will not be available in the market for consumers before the festival of lights. Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan said it was unlikely that “green” fire- crackers would be available in time for this Diwali, though the technology to make them has been developed by the CSIR labs and the fire-crackers man- ufacturers will have to come forward to avail it. These crackers have been named as safe water releaser (SWAS), safe minimal alu- minium (SAFAL) and safe thermite cracker (STAR). Talking to reporters at the Press conference, Dr Vardhan said the tests have shown a decrease in emission of partic- ulate matter, smoke, noise and toxic gases. Listing a string of steps to make further improvement in the firecrackers, he said that it is for the first time in the coun- try an emission testing facility has been established at CSIR- NEERI and extensive testing is in progress for conventional and green crackers for moni- toring the emissions and sound”, he said. This facility uses all sophis- ticated instruments for mea- surement and sampling when firecrackers are used. “First, we set up an emis- sion testing facility at NEERI in Nagpur, where all the existing firecrackers and green crackers have been tested. Then we tested with dif- ferent chemicals for things like colour, smoke, ability to burst,” he said, adding that the exist- ing firecrackers had four key components that were replaced — aluminium, barium, potasi- um nitrate and carbon — all of which are polluting and were replaced.
Transcript
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As the Supreme Court onMonday turned down the
plea for expeditious hearing ofthe Ram Janmabhoomi landdispute case and said the mat-ter will be dealt with by anappropriate Bench in January,the court faced harsh criticismfrom several quarters anddemand for an Ordinance forthe construction of RamTemple grew louder withinthe BJP, RSS and various SanghParivar outfits .The Congressexercised restraint saying thatthe apex court verdict shouldbe awaited and the issue be notlinked with vote-bank poli-tics.
With the country warmingup to the Lok Sabha polls,around six months away, theBJP and the RSS called forbringing a legislation to expe-dite the temple construction atAyodhya apprehending thatthe court proceedings on theissue may not conclude toosoon.
Outlining theGovernment’s stand, UnionLaw Minister Ravi ShankarPrasad, at the same time, saida lot people in the country want
the case to be heard quickly.Addressing a press conferencein poll-bound Chhattisgarh,Prasad said the BJP neverlinked the Ram Mandir issuewith polls.
“The Supreme Court todaysaid the hearing (on theAyodhya land title disputecases) will be held in January.As a Law Minister, I should notsay anything else, as you under-stand that there are certain lim-itations,” Prasad said.
“I would like to humbly saythat a lot of people in the coun-try want that the hearing on theissue should be completedsoon,” he said.
The RSS said the SupremeCourt should make an earlydecision on the RamJanmabhoomi land dispute andthe Union Government shouldbring a legislation to removehurdles, if any, in the way of theconstruction of a Ram templeat the site.
RSS chief spokespersonArun Kumar said theAllahabad High Court in itsverdict has accepted that thesite is the birthplace of LordRam and a temple existedthere. The HC judgment, deliv-ered in four civil suits, had said
the 2.77-acre land be dividedequally among three parties —the Sunni Waqf Board, theNirmohi Akhara and RamLalla.
“The Sangh believes agrand Ram temple should beconstructed soon at the birth-place of Lord Ram. And landshould be allotted at the birth-place for temple construc-tion. With the construction ofthe temple, an atmosphere ofunity and harmony will becreated. With this in view, the
Supreme Court should makean early decision and if thereare any dif f icult ies, theGovernment should make alaw to remove all hurdles inthe way of giving land for tem-ple at the Ram Janmabhoomisite,” Kumar said in a state-ment.
“Ever since this andolanwas started by sants, we havesupported it and will continueto support them in their deci-sions in future,” he said.
BJP leader Vinay Katiyar
alleged that the issue was beingdelayed “under pressure” fromthe Congress, which denied thecharge. “The decision isbeing delayed under pressurefrom the Congress. People likeKapil Sibal and PrashantBhushan are pressing for delay-ing the issue. Till when willRam bhakts (devotees) wait? In2019, the Congress will cometo know,” he said.
Former Union Ministerand BJP leader Sanjeev Baliyansaid, “I am surprised at the pri-orities of the court. I am of theview that the Ram Templeshould be constructed. TheGovernment should exploreall possibilities.”
BJP’s ally Shiv Sena leaderSanjay Raut said the Ram tem-ple is an issue of faith anddemanded that theGovernment comes out with anOrdinance soon. “It is a matterof faith. The court cannotdecide on this. TheGovernment should bring anordinance,” he said.
Senior Congress leader PChidambaram, however, main-tained that it was a familiarstory every five years before theelections when the BJP tries topolarise the issue.
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The Supreme Court onMonday refused to enter-
tain the Uttar Pradesh plea forearly hearing of the RamJanmabhoomi-Babri Masjidland dispute case, saying it hasdifferent priorities. The courtfixed the case for the firstweek of January before an“appropriate Bench” which willdecide the schedule of hearing.
The court’s decision is abig blow to the temple pro-tagonists who had hoped foran early resolution of the dis-pute and day-to-day hearing ofthe case that could have pavedthe way for building of theRam temple before the 2019Lok Sabha polls.
“We will fix the date ofhearing of the Ayodhya disputecase before the appropriateBench in January,” said a three-judge Bench, headed by ChiefJustice Ranjan Gogoi, and
comprising Justices SK Kauland KM Joseph.
Solicitor General TusharMehta and senior advocateCS Vaidyanathan, appearingfor the UP Government anddeity Ramlala respectively,sought early listing of theappeals in the case after refer-ring to their long pendency.But the Bench remained unim-pressed and clearly indicatedthe case was not a priority for
it. “We have our own priori-
ties. Whether the matter willbe heard in January, Februaryor March, the appropriateBench will decide,” the Benchsaid.
Hopes for expeditious set-tlement of the Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute casewere revived after a three-judge Bench, by a 2:1 majori-ty last month, refused to referto a five-judge ConstitutionBench the issue of reconsider-ation of the observations in its1994 judgment that a mosquewas not integral to Islam. Thematter had arisen during thehearing of the Ayodhya landdispute.
The majority view byChief Justice of India (CJI)Dipak Misra and Justice AshokBhushan ordered that the hear-ing in the main Ayodhya titlesuit appeals should resumefrom October 29.
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As the Supreme Court onMonday banned 15-year-
old petrol vehicles and 10-year-old diesel vehicles fromplying in Delhi and NationalCapital Region (NCR), nation-al Capital air quality has beenpredicted to deteriorate “dras-tically” on Tuesday.
The System of Air Qualityand Weather Forecasting AndResearch (SAFAR) on Mondaysaid stubble fire counts hasincreased “tremendously” inpast 24 hours.
The Supreme Court alsoinstructed the transport depart-ment to impound such vehiclesif they are found on the road.“A list of these vehicles shouldbe published on the websites ofthe Central Pollution ControlBoard CPCB) and the trans-port department, and an adver-tisement should be publishedin newspapers,” said the court.
The Supreme Court passedthese directions on a noteplaced before it by advocateAparajita Singh, assisting thecourt as amicus in the air pol-lution matter, seeking urgentdirections to correct the pre-vailing situation of pollution.
The court also directed
the CPCB to immediately cre-ate a social media account onwhich citizens could lodgetheir complaints directly aboutpollution. Appropriate actioncould be taken by the author-ities concerned on the writtencomplaints, the SC added.
The court has posted thematter for hearing onNovember 1.
In 2015, the NationalGreen Tribunal (NGT) hadbanned 15-year-old petrolvehicles and 10-year-old dieselvehicles. The following year, theNGT directed authorities in theNCR and Delhi to begin dereg-istering all diesel vehicles in thecapital that are more than adecade old.
During the hearing onMonday, the Bench referred tomedia reports that peopleshould not go on morning
walk due to the high levels ofpollution. “Have you gone toold Delhi railway station?Poor people there have towork to earn their livelihood.The kind of exertion theyundergo is much more thanthose walking in the morningat Lodhi Gardens,” the Benchtold Additional SolicitorGeneral (ASG) ANSNadkarni, appearing for theCentre.
“They are doing heavyduty manual work. You cannottell them that you stop yourwork because it is unsafe foryou to work in the morning.
This is a very critical situ-ation,” said the Bench, adding,“It is horrible”.
The Bench told Nadkarnithat authorities would have todo their work properly and findout solutions.
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The Indian Army onMonday retaliated “strong-
ly” to Pakistan’s ceasefire vio-lation by carrying out “puni-tive” strikes on Pakistan Army’sbrigade headquarters oppo-site Poonch sector in generalarea of Hajira in PakistanOccupied Kashmir (POK).
According to groundreports, the Pakistan Armysuffered heavy damages in thearea. But till the time of filingthe report, the exact scale ofdamage was not known.
Local residents of bordervillages reported that theycould see smoke emanatingfrom the Pakistan Army’sadministrative unit headquarters.
The Indian Army sent thestrong signal to Pakistan inresponse to Pak Army’s firingof stray shells on Poonch andJhallas on October 23, 2018.
Poonch-based Brigadeheadquarters of the IndianArmy had come attack for thefirst time on October 23 after1997.
Ministry of Defencespokesman in Jammu hadclaimed, “Pakistan Army hadused recoilless gun (Rcl) witha calibre of 105/106 mm to tar-get the Poonch brigade head-quarters.”
Sources said while givingbefitting reply, the Indian Armyexercised maximum restraintdespite continuous provoca-tion by the Pakistan Army.
The thickly populated civil-ian areas on the other side ofthe line of control namelyHajira tehsil, Bandi, Gopalpur,Nikial, Samani and Khuirattawere not targeted in the retal-iatory firing.
A huge population of ex-servicemen of the PakistanArmy and retired Governmentservants are settled in the areaagainst the wishes of the localpopulation.
The Indian Army had ear-lier undertaken “surgicalstrikes” in September 2016 todemolish terrorist launch padsacross LoC in POK in responseto Pakistan-sponsored terror-ist strikes in Uri and Nagrota inJammu & Kashmir.
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Three men who were sittingon railway track near
Nangloi railway station andconsuming alcohol were runover by Bikaner-Delhi Expresstrain after they failed to moveoff the track despite driverfrenetically hooting the hornon Monday around 7.20am.
According to eyewitnesses,the train driver reportedlysounded the siren but the triodid not move away from thetrack near
The driver could no applybrakes that would have derailedthe train, and the train justsliced them.
Police immediately movedthem to a nearby hospitalwhere they were declaredbrought dead. They were iden-tified as Mukesh Verma (50),Sushil Kumar (25) andPrashant. Their body has beensent for post-mortem exami-nation at Sabzi Mandi Morgue.
Police said people in thevicinity tried to alert the booz-ers but they refused to moveobviously under the influenceof alcohol.
Deputy Commissioner ofPolice (Railway) Dinesh Guptasaid police found two-countrymade liquor bottles from thespot. Eyewitnesses told policethat they were sitting on the
track for quite some time whilethey merrily consumed liquor.
Police said loco pilotRandhir Singh is also beingquestioned. The deceased
Mukesh Verma is a resident ofDharm Enclave, Prem Nagar.Sushil Kumar and Prashantwere reported to be residents ofMangolpuri.
A16-year-old teenage Frenchgirl was allegedly sexually
assaulted by a 45-year-old busi-nessman in whose house shewas staying while on a studentexchange programme in India.
The French national was afriend of her assaulter’s daugh-ter who stayed at the victim’shouse in France in May-Junebeing a part of the sameexchange programme.
According to the victim’scomplaint, on October 18while she was packing clothesand other belongings in herbags before leaving for a tripto Jaipur, the 45-year-oldinappropriately “touched” andforcibly “hugged” her. The girlnarrated her ordeal to herteacher in Jaipur whoinformed the FrenchEmbassy.
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All 189 passengers, theIndian pilot and crew
aboard a crashed IndonesianLion Air jet were likely killedin the accident, rescue officialssaid on Monday, as theyannounced they had foundhuman remains and wouldcontinue the grim searchthrough the night.
The Boeing-737 MAX,which went into service justmonths ago, vanished fromradar 13 minutes after takingoff from Jakarta SoekarnoHatta International Airport,plunging into the Java Seamoments after it had asked toreturn to Jakarta.
Websites that display f light data showed the plane speeding up as it sud-denly lost altitude before it dis-appeared, with authorities say-ing witnesses saw the jet plunge
into the water.Indian pilot Bhavye Suneja,
31, captained the plane, IndianEmbassy here confirmed.
Some 40 divers are part ofabout 150 personnel at thescene, authorities said, with theplane wreckage some 30 to 40metres deep in the water.
Earlier, video footageapparently filmed at the sceneof the crash showed a slick offuel on the surface of the waterand pictures showed whatappeared to be an emergencyslide and bits of wreckage bear-ing Lion Air’s logo.
The carrier acknowledgedthat the jet had previouslybeen grounded for unspecifiedrepairs. The disaster is a setbackfor Indonesia’s airline industry,which just emerged fromdecadelong bans by theEuropean Union and the USOver safety concerns. PTI
Detailed report on P12
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The much-talked about“green” firecrackers would
not be available in the marketbefore Diwali and the existingones will continue to pollutethe air despite the SupremeCourt allowing only the sale of“green and improved” fire-works that emit lesser toxicemissions.
The Government’s premierscientific research agency, theCouncil for Science andIndustrial Research (CSIR),has developed eco-friendlycrackers, but they are yet to getapproval for production. Thismeans they will not be availablein the market for consumersbefore the festival of lights.
Union EnvironmentMinister Harsh Vardhan said itwas unlikely that “green” fire-
crackers would be available intime for this Diwali, though thetechnology to make them hasbeen developed by the CSIRlabs and the fire-crackers man-ufacturers will have to come
forward to avail it. These crackers have been
named as safe water releaser(SWAS), safe minimal alu-minium (SAFAL) and safethermite cracker (STAR).
Talking to reporters at thePress conference, Dr Vardhansaid the tests have shown adecrease in emission of partic-ulate matter, smoke, noise andtoxic gases.
Listing a string of steps tomake further improvement inthe firecrackers, he said that itis for the first time in the coun-try an emission testing facilityhas been established at CSIR-NEERI and extensive testing isin progress for conventionaland green crackers for moni-toring the emissions andsound”, he said.
This facility uses all sophis-ticated instruments for mea-surement and sampling whenfirecrackers are used.
“First, we set up an emis-sion testing facility at NEERI inNagpur, where all the existingfirecrackers and green crackershave been tested.
Then we tested with dif-ferent chemicals for things likecolour, smoke, ability to burst,”he said, adding that the exist-ing firecrackers had four keycomponents that were replaced— aluminium, barium, potasi-um nitrate and carbon — all ofwhich are polluting and werereplaced.
first convocation of the DrRajendra Prasad GovernmentMedical College in Kangra andawarded eleven Gold Medals toeight meritorious students ofthe Medical College.
Speaking on the occasion,the President said Dr. RajendraPrasad Government MedicalCollege Kangra from its mea-gre beginning has grown to aprestigious medical institutionof the region. He also congrat-ulated the medal recipientsand wished for their prosper-ous and bright future.
Governor Acharya Devvratsaid the first and for most qual-ity of any educated humanwas to remain a learnerthroughout their life so thatthey can excel the benefits ofmodern technology.
Chief Minister Jai RamThakur said the MedicalCollege was established in 1997and its first batch started in1998. During the short periodof twenty years, this college hascreated a special place for itself,he added.
Thakur said presently theState has six medical colleges inGovernment sector alone andin addition this UnionGovernment has sanctioned
AIIMS for the State whichwould be opened at Kothipurain Bilaspur district. He said thatwith all these prestigious insti-tutions, the State would beproducing six hundred doctorsevery year and all the healthinstitutions would have bestdoctors to serve the people ofthe State.
The Chief Minister saidthat due to difficult geograph-ical and topographical con-stituents of the State, creatingquality infrastructure was abiggest challenge and despitethis, the State has madetremendous progress in allspheres of life. He said thatHimachal was the second most
literate state of the country andit was also way ahead of thenational average in varioushealth indicators.
Thakur also urged theyouth to come forward to col-lectively fight the menace ofdrug abuse so as to save theyounger generation.
He said that on the initia-tive of the State Government ameeting was held with theChief Ministers of four neigh-bouring States to chalk a jointstrategy to tackle the menace ofdrug abuse.
Earlier, the Governor andChief Minister accorded warmwelcome to the President on hisarrival at Gaggal Airport.
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Haryana Health Minister AnilVij on Monday said that an
immunization campaign wouldbe organised on November 22,and December 22 in districtRewari, for complete immu-nization of children, so that 90per cent of children are immu-nized in the district byDecember.
In this regard, a meeting washeld under the chairmanship ofManaging Director, NationalHealth Mission, Amneet P.Kumar here.
During the meeting, direc-tions were issued to the con-cerned officers to take appro-priate steps, for the success of theimmunisation campaign. Thecampaign is being organised inthree phases i.e. October 22,November 22 and December 22,2018. Its first phase has alreadybeen completed successfully onOctober 22, in which the depart-ment had achieved 18 per centmore than the fixed target, forthe immunisation of childrenand pregnant women, aspokesman said.
He said that the Union
Ministry of Health and FamilyWelfare had released a list of 75districts of the country, havingimmunisation coverage less than50 per cent. That list includedonly Rewari district of Haryana,where special immunisationcampaign was required. Underthe Mission Inderdhanush, forthe success of this campaign,responsibilities had been allo-cated to different departments,the spokesman said.
Special attention would begiven to children and pregnantwomen living in brick kilns, areasand slum areas, he added.
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Haryana State VigilanceBureau has recommended
departmental action againstnine gazetted officers and 14non-gazetted officers in eightinquiries, besides criminal caseagainst a gazzetted officer anda non-gazetted officer in aninquiry, in the month of august.
Giving details, a spokesmanof the Vigilance Bureau saidthat the Bureau has caughtseven officers and officials red-handed while accepting illegalgratifications ranging from Rs1,700 to Rs 40,000. Cases havebeen registered against them
under Prevention ofCorruption Act, 1988.
Sanjay Singh, clerk in theoffice of District EducationOfficer, Hisar, was caught red-handed while taking bribe of Rs40,000 while Sub InspectorPardeep Kumar in the office ofAssistant Registrar, Co-opera-tive Society, Sonipat has beencaught taking bribe of Rs30,000.
Assistant Sub Inspector,Narender Singh, Incharge andSamay Singh, Special PoliceOfficer, Police Post Alawalpur,Police Station, Chandhut,District Palwal were caught whileaccepting bribe of Rs 10,000.
In a separate case, SureshKumar, Assistant TreasuryOfficer, Treasury and AccountsDepartment, Tehsil Matanhail,District Jhajjar was caught tak-ing bribe of Rs 2,000. Jagbir,Reader and Deepak, ComputerOperator, in the office ofDistrict Revenue Officer,Panipat were caught takingbribe of Rs 1,700.
Meanwhile, the VigilanceBureau on Monday caught red-handed a Head Constable,Vinod Kumar of Narnaul whileaccepting illegal gratification ofRs 8,000 from Rati Ram ofNarnaul in lieu of taking out hisname from the case registered
against him in Police StationSadar Narnaul.
The spokesman said that acase has been registered againsthim under section 7 ofPrevention of Corruption Act atBureau’s police station atGurugram.
In another case, HeadConstable, Nayab Singh postedin Police Post No.2, PoliceStation Ambala City was caughtred handed while taking bribeof Rs 2,000 from Rahul ofAmbala City in lieu of arrestingthe remaining accused in acase registered in Police StationAmbala City.
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The youth registered under the ‘Saksham YuvaScheme’ will be given preference in enrolling
for the skill training and providing placementunder the Haryana Urban Livelihood Mission.
The directions in this regard were given by theChief Minister Manohar Lal on Monday while pre-siding over the first meeting of Governing Councilof State Urban Livelihood Mission, Haryanahere. Manohar Lal said that after the post gradu-ate and science and equivalent graduates, the gov-ernment is soon going to add more streams underthe ambit of the Saksham Yuva Scheme.
It was informed in the meeting that 18 agen-cies imparting skill training have been empanelledand allocated target to train 15,000 candidates. Theagencies are providing training in 93 training cen-
tres.In the current financial year upto October 15,
3430 candidates have been trained and 7440 can-didates are under training.
It was also informed that as against the targetof 4750, 6510 self help groups (SHGs) has beenformed. The bank accounts of 3591 SHGs havebeen opened and accounts of the remaining SHGswould be opened in next two months as banks havegiven assurance in this regard.
The Chief Minister directed to make arrange-ment of providing loan under DRI scheme to peo-ple belonging to low income group for setting uptheir own ventures. Finance Minister Capt.Abhimanyu, Health Minister Anil Vij, Urban LocalBodies Minister Kavita Jain and Minister of Statefor Labour and Employment Nayab Singh Sainiwere also present in the meeting.
Punjab Animal Husbandry andDairy Development Department
has framed an ambitious policy toprovide self employment to al teast55 youngsters from each district, attheir doorsteps in the field of dairyfarming.
Sharing the information, thestate Animal Husbandry and DairyDevelopment Minister Balbir SinghSidhu on Monday said that that theDepartment will encourage youth to
opt for dairy farming which hasplenty of scope to flourish and earnsizeable income with less input cost.
“Working in this direction, theAnimal Husbandry and DairyDevelopment Department wouldcommence a training programmefrom November 12 to impart train-ing to dairy farmers on various newtechniques prevalent worldwide inthe field of dairy farming,” he said.
The Minister said that this train-ing would be given at all DairyTraining and Development Centres,
and the training module wouldcover topics like how to increasemilk production with less inputcost, latest available machinery andtechnology and its usage, modernmarketing techniques to sell milk.
Sidhu said that dairy farming isprofitable occupation and the PunjabGovernment is giving 25 to 33 per-cent subsidy on the purchase ofMilch animals, purchase of milkingmachines and on the purchase ofmachinery to make various milkproducts at the village level.
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) hasdecided to reach out to its dis-gruntled and rebel leaders topacify them and bring back tothe party fold.
The decision, taken byparty core group, came a dayafter SAD chief Sukhbir Badaloffered to step down from thecoveted post, apparently to ebbthe burgeoning rebellion with-in the party facing heat from thetraditional and senior Akalileaders for his style of func-tioning.
During the core committeemeeting, the leaders discussedthe issue of growing dissidencewithin the party at length, withall present agreeing on initiat-ing the process of winningthem over.
The party’s core groupwould again meet onNovember 1 to further chalkout its strategy.
Senior and Taksali leadershave raised a banner of revoltagainst the functioning style of
the party’s current “young”leadership, headed by Sukhbir.
While the taksali leadershipin Majha region has openlychallenged Sukhbir and hisstyle of functioning, the twosenior leaders, next to Akalipatriarch and former ChiefMinister Parkash Singh Badal,have decided to stay away fromactive politics citing “poorhealth”.
Rajya Sabha MP SukhdevSingh Dhindsa, and Lok SabhaMP from Khadoor Sahib RanjitSing Brahmpura have recentlyresigned from all party posts,while announcing that theywould not contest elections.
Besides Brahmpura, threemore senior leaders from Majha— Sewa Singh Sekhwan, RatanSingh Ajnala, and Bhai ManjitSingh — have also revoltedopenly against the party, raisingslew of issues, including ques-tioning the Akal Takht pardonto Sirsa-based Dera set headRam Rahim Singh, and series ofsacrilege incidents.
Badals, the father-son duoof Parkash Singh Badal andSukhbir — had ruled Punjab for
a decade, until they were oust-ed by the Congress last year.When on a winning spree,everyone appreciated Sukhbir’selection management skill,accrediting a shift from SAD’sstyle of traditional panthic pol-itics to the one based on devel-opment agenda.
But the series of sacrilegeincidents and the related firingincidents, coupled with SAD-administered apology to DeraSacha Sauda sect head, had hurtSAD’s image to a large extent,with its own leaders goingagainst the party. Party’sresounding defeat in 2017 pollswas also attributed to the samereasons.
Soon after Justice RanjitSingh Commission report wastabled in the Vidhan Sabha,pointing finger at the role of thethen SAD-BJP government,especially the then ChiefMinister Badal, the Akali lead-ers started distancing them-selves from the party.
The report has indictedthat Senior Badal for his role inthe police killing of innocentSikhs, two years ago when they
were peacefully protesting thedesecration of the sacred GuruGranth Sahib.
Facing heat from a sectionof senior party leaders, Sukhbir
on Sunday had said that he was“duty bound to do whatever theparty asks me to do. If itdemands my resignation, I amready for it”.
Earlier also, Sukhbir hadstated that SAD was not a“property” of the Badal familyand somebody else could rep-resent it after a few years.
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Chandigarh: SAD hasdeclared that it would launcha “massive struggle” to forcethe Congress-led PunjabGovernment to “apologiseto the Khalsa Panth for“deliberate and persistentinsults” cast against the greatGuru Sahibaan in the histo-ry books meant for Class XIIstudents in Punjab SchoolEducation Board.
Announcing this, SADpresident Sukhbir Badal saidthat the party leaders wouldperform an ardas at Takhaton November 1 beforelaunching the struggle tobring the Chief MinisterCapt Amarinder Singh andthe Congress Government
down on its knees for itsbrazen assault on the sacredimage of the great Sikh GuruSahiban, especially GuruArjan Dev, Guru Hargoibind,Gure Teg Bahadur and thetenth Guru Guru GobindSingh.
Sukhbir demanded thatthe Chief Minister and hisCongress Government mustimmediately apologise to theKhalsa Panth and to human-ity at large for their sinagainst the great GuruSahibaan.
He also demanded reg-istration of criminal casesagainst those associated withthe preparation of such out-rageous sacrilegious materi-
al and that they be dismissedfrom their respective posi-tions and punished.
“New books, containingthese humiliating portions,must be banned and with-drawn immediately and bereplaced with the old bookswhich had been in use fordecades,” he said.
Sukhbir said that if theCongress Government didnot accept the demand toundo the damage immedi-ately, “it should prepare toface the wrath of the KhalsaPanth. SAD struggle willcontinue till the Congress isbrought to its knees beforethe might of the Panth”.
In a bid to pay befitting tributes toSardar Vallabhbhai Patel on his
142nd birth anniversary, HaryanaGovernment will organize a statelevel function at Sirsa on October31.
Chief Minister Manohar Lalwould flag-off the “Run for Unity”program at Sirsa in the state levelfunction, said an officialspokesman.
He said that with a view to fos-ter and reinforce dedication topreserve and strengthen unity,integrity and security of nation,Rashtriya Ekta Diwas (nationalunity day) is being observed all overthe country on October 31 to com-memorate the birth anniversary ofSardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
Also, Prime Minister NarendraModi will dedicate this Statue ofUnity built in Gujarat to the coun-try on October 31, the spokesmansaid.
He further said that iron wascollected from all over the countryfor the statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai
Patel in Gujarat. This ‘Statue ofUnity’, tallest statue in the world,measuring 182 meters has beenconstructed in 42 months.
The spokesman said that ‘Runfor Unity’ programme would beorganised at all district headquar-ters.
The celebration of the occasionannually helps youth of the coun-try to be aware of and provides anopportunity to everyone to main-tain the integral strength of thenation. In 2014, Rashtriya EktaDiwas was introduced by theGovernment of India to pay tributesto Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Itmakes Indian citizens to realize theimportance of national integrity, headded.
He said that Haryana VidhanSabha Speaker Kanwar Pal Gujjarwould flag-off the “Run for Unity”programme in Yamunanagar,Education Minister Ram BilasSharma in Gurugram, Agricultureand Farmers’ Welfare Minister OPDhankar in Jhajjar, Health MinisterAnil Vij in Ambala, Public Works(Building and Roads) Minister,
Rao Narbir Singh in Rewari, UrbanLocal Bodies Minister Kavita Jainin Sonipat.
Among others, TransportMinister Krishan Lal Panwar willflag off the event in Panipat,Industries and Commerce MinisterVipul Goel in Faridabad, Minister
of State for Co-operation ManishKumar Grover in Rohtak, Ministerof Social Justice and EmpowermentKrishan Kumar in Fatehabad. TheDeputy Commissioners would flag-off the “Run for Unity” in districtBhiwani, Charkhi Dadri, Jind andMewat, he added.
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After the purchase of Bajrathrough e-procurement system
at minimum support price (MSP) ofRs 1950 per quintal and payment tofarmers directly into their bankaccounts, Haryana Chief MinisterManohar Lal has accorded hisapproval for using the same systemfor the procurement of moong andpotato.
While the procurement ofmoong would commence nextmonth, the procurement of potatowould start in the month ofFebruary, said an official spokesman.
He said that about 1.51 lakhMetric Tons of Bajra has so far beenprocured by the procurement agen-cies in the state at MSP of Rs 1950per quintal.
He said that Hafed would pur-chase 25 per cent of the produce ofmoong under Price Support Scheme
(PSS) in the state for which mini-mum support price (MSP) has beenfixed at Rs 6900 per quintal.
In order to ensure that actualfarmers gets MSP and there is notrading of moong, the paymentwould be made to farmers directlyin their bank accounts. For this, allthe moong growing farmers havebeen asked to register themselves onMeri Fasal Mera Byora portal, the e-Kharid portal, the spokesman said.
The Agriculture and Farmers’Welfare Department has been askedto complete the registration processof farmers within a period twodays, he added.
The spokesman further saidthat Hafed would engage the servicesof Saksham Yuva in this work. Theywould be stationed in the mandis atthe time of bidding alongside thearthiyas and procurement agencies.
They would automatically gen-erate form J on the spot by filling upthe purchase details, bid price, esti-mated weight and would also ensure75 per cent payment of the pur-chased moong through automati-cally generated I forms on the spotdirectly into the accounts of farmers.The balance payment would bemade after measurement by pro-curement agencies, he added.
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Punjab government hasdecided to cancel the allot-
ment of industrial plots acrossthe state, allotted to the indus-trialists for boosting the state’sindustrial sector but lyingvacant since long.
Announcing this, the stateIndustries and CommerceMinister Sham Sunder Aroraon Monday said that such plots
would be given to those whoare interested in setting upindustrial units.
Arora, during an interac-tive session and a functionorganized by Mohali Industries’Association, said that manyplots in the state didn’t see anyindustrial units being estab-lished on these by the allotteeseven after the expiry of thefixed time limit.
The issue of the vacant
industrial plots was broughtforth by the state AnimalHusbandry and dairyDevelopment Minister andMohali MLA Balbir SinghSidhu. He demanded that theseplots be allotted to those indus-trialists interested in setting upindustrial concerns, which wasimmediately accepted by theIndustries Minister.
Arora said that the StateGovernment’s industrial poli-
cy is the best in the countrywhich has resulted in puttingPunjab’s industrial sector fullyon the course to the prosperi-ty and this is further borne outby the fact that the town ofMandi Gobindgarh has seen227 industrial units being re-started.
The Minister also releaseda grant of Rs 3.32 crore toMohali Hi-Tech Cluster andalso announced Rs 10 lakh for
MIA Bhawan to the MohaliIndustries’ Association. Apartfrom this, 25 MoUs, worth Rs591.66 crore, were also inkedwith the industrialists.
Arora, in his address, saidthat the dues of industrialistswould be cleared positively byMarch 2019. He also added thatpending amount of the Mohaliindustrialists, which was tothe tune of Rs 22.02 crore hasbeen released.
Adding more, he said thatthe Punjab Government is ful-filling the promise of providinga job to every family. Duringthe previous year, 1.75 lakhyouth were provided with thejobs in various sectors.
Also addressing the gath-ering, cabinet Minister Sidhusaid that the industrialists of theregion have brought the stateon the world map by the dintof their hard work and labour.
He appealed for the estab-lishment of maximum numberof processing units for themore rapid development ofthe industrial and commerce-related sector.
Sidhu also placed ademand that the ESI Hospitalat Mohali be equipped withthe state-of-the-art facilities soas to enable the industrialworkers to get affordabletreatment.
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Eyeing 2019 Lok Sabha andassembly polls in Haryana,
Aam Aadmi Party convenerand Delhi Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal will be visitingthe state again on Tuesday.
Kejriwal will be visitingHansi and Fatehabad assemblyconstituencies during his oneday state visit on October 30.
The Delhi Chief Minister'svisit to the two constituencieson Tuesday will be his ninthvisit to the state in the pastthree months.
Naveen Jaihind, HaryanaAAP chief on Monday said thatparty cadre is geared up for the
proposed visit of Kejriwal. Hewill be visiting villages in Hansiand Fatehabad and interactwith the people of two con-stituencies.
People of the two con-stituencies are facing prob-lems related to electricity, waterand basic infrastructure, whichthey will be raising with theDelhi CM.
Recently, Kejriwal had vis-ited government schools inBeri and Tosham, Jaihindadded. Reacting on the reportsthat AAP has no base inHaryana, Kejriwal during hislast visit to Haryana’s Bhiwanihad said that political partieshad underestimated the AAP
before it registered a record winin the national capital andnow, they are doing the samein Haryana, where the party'sgraph is on the rise.
He had also accused theBJP led State Government ofplaying the politics of Jat andnon-Jat and doing nothing forthe development in its past four
years tenure.Kejriwal has promised
implementation ofSwaminathan report, if AAPforms the next government inthe state.
The AAP’s chief had earli-er this year announced that hisparty will contest next year’sgeneral elections and assemblypolls in Haryana.
In the previous parlia-mentary polls held in 2014,AAP had lost on all 10 LokSabha seats in Haryana andmost of its candidates had fin-ished at fourth or fifth position.Following this, the AAP hadnot contested the state assem-bly polls held in October 2014.
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In a bid to mount pressureon the Manohar Lal Khattar
Government, Haryana road-ways employees extendedtheir ongoing strike ti l lNovember 2 even as it enteredits fourteenth day on Monday.
Protesting against theHaryana Government's deci-sion to hire 700 buses fromprivate owners in the state,the roadways employees havebeen on strike since October16 making it the biggest andlongest-ever agitat ionlaunched by them.
Several rounds of meet-ings between the StateGovernment and roadwaysemployees have failed to reachany consensus as both
remained adamant on theirrespective stand on hiring ofprivate buses in stateTransport Department.
While the StateGovernment claims that theroadways employees arereturning to their duties androadways buses are plying invarious parts, various gov-ernment employees’ unionwill now be joining a two-daystatewide strike on October30-31, in support of demandof roadways employees.
The two days statewidestrike by employees of powercorporations, schools, uni-versities, municipal corpora-tions, panchayat samitisamong other organizations islikely to spell trouble for theState Government as official
work will be badly hit due tothe proposed strike.
“ The governmentemployees from variousdepartments, boards, corpo-rations, municipalities andpanchayati raj institutionswill go on a two-day strikefrom October 30 in support ofroadways employees,”Subhash Lamba, general sec-retary of the Sarv KaramchariSangh, Haryana, said.
“The State Governmenthas not taken back its deci-sion to hire 700 private buseseven as roadways employeesstrike entered its fourteenday. Now, even after the two-day strike from October 30, ifthe government does not rollback its decision and with-draw cases under the
Essential Ser vicesMaintenance Act registeredagainst the striking transportworkers, we will start a 'PolKhol' campaign against thegovernment,” he said.
He added if the govern-ment is facing dearth of fundsto buy 700 odd buses forHaryana Roadways, the gov-ernment employees from alldepartments are ready to con-tr ibute and meet theseexpenses from their salaries.
The employees unionshave also demanded with-drawal of enforcements ofEssential Ser vicesMaintenance Act (ESMA) inthe state.
In a meeting with agitat-ing employees last week, theState Government had offered
to reconsider its decision on190 private buses as the ten-ders for the same were yet tobe finalised, but remainedfirm on 510 buses, saying itcannot be reworked as theCabinet had already decidedon this matter and signed anagreement to this effect.
The employees' union,however, has remainedadamant on their demandthat the tenders issued untilnow be cancelled under thekilometre scheme.
There are about 19,000employees in the HaryanaRoadways. The roadways,having a fleet of 4,100 buses,cater to about 12 lakh pas-sengers daily.
“A day before, as many as2503 buses plied on different
routes of Haryana. As manyas 284 employees have beensuspended while services ofother72 have been terminat-ed on Sunday,” a govern-ment’s spokesman said.
Transport MinisterKrishan Lal Panwar onMonday maintained that thegovernment will hire 700 pri-vate buses. The decision tohire the private buses wastaken in the cabinet meetingand cannot be withdrawn, hesaid.
The Minister a lsoappealed to the agitatingemployees to join their duties.
Meanwhile, former ChiefMinister and senior Congressleader Bhupinder SinghHooda on Monday lashedout at the State Government
for failing to resolve the issuesof government employees.
The people of entireHaryana are suffering due tothe lackadaisical approach ofthe BJP led Har yanaGovernment. On one handthey are ignoring the generalpublic who are suffering dueto roadways strike and on theother, the government isignoring the genuine demandof its employees, he said.
Hooda had earl ierdemanded an inquiry intothe hiring of private busesunder kilometre scheme.
While criticizing the gov-ernment, Leader of opposi-tion and INLD’s senior leaderAbhay Chautala said that it isunfortunate that the govern-ment is adamant on privati-
zation of state roadways.Instead of hiring private
buses, the government shouldwork on improving the ser-vices and buying more busesfor state roadways, he added.
After Congress and INLD,lef t part ies have alsoannounced to extend theirsupport to the agitating road-ways employees.
In a joint statement,Surender Singh (CPI-M),Dariyav Singh Kashyap(CPI)M Satyavan (SUCI-C)and Prem Singh Gahlot (CPI-ML) alleged that the strike ofroadways is due to theadamant attitude of BJPGovernment. The left partieswill observe statewide protestday on Wednesday, theyannounced.
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Adelegation from Bihar willvisit Haryana for a two-day
visit on October 30 to study theworks undertaken by theHaryana Government underthe National ApprenticeshipPromotion Scheme in the state.
“The works undertaken bythe Haryana Government have
been appreciated by the Centreand other states as well. As aresult of which, other stateshave been visiting Haryana togather information of worksundertaken by the HaryanaGovernment on skill develop-ment,” Skill Development andIndustrial Training Minister,Vipul Goel said on Monday.
He said that the state hasmade significant progressunder National ApprenticeshipPromotion Scheme (NAPS) byincreasing the number of reg-istered establishments to 10,601and number of apprentices to47,815.
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The Manohar Lal KhattarGovernment in Haryana
has identified sewer personnelwho lost their lives while clean-ing sewer in different parts ofthe state since 1993 and givena compensation of Rs 1.90crore to the families of 19 suchpersonnel.
Besides, the governmenthas approved an insurancescheme for the sewer personnels.
The Chief Minister onMonday presented chequesworth nearly Rs 60 lakh ascompensation to the familymembers of such sewer per-sonnel who died while doingtheir duty.
The State Government haddecided to pay compensationof Rs 10 lakh each to theaffected family.
“Out of compensation ofRs 1.90 crore, compensationamounting to Rs 1.30 croreshas already been paid inaccounts of family members ofthe deceased, while thecheques of balance amount ofabout Rs 60 lakh were dis-bursed by Manohar Lal,” saidan official spokesman.
He said that the ChiefMinister presented cheque ofRs 10 lakh as compensation toShakuntla Devi resident ofBhiwani, cheque of Rs 7,40,467to Hukam Chand of districtRohtak, cheque of Rs 7,42,000to Krishna of Sonipat, chequeof Rs 7,10,683 to Anita ofJind, cheque of Rs 3,17,262 toSantosh of Sonipat amongothers.
Manohar Lal expressed hissympathy to the deceased fam-ily members and inquiredabout their family and sourceof livelihood.
He said that directionshad been issued to the PublicHealth EngineeringDepartment to identify causal-ities in work of sewer cleaningthroughout the state since1993 so that compensationcould be given to their familymembers.
Additional Chief Secretary,Public Health EngineeringRajiv Arora informed thatChief Minister has approvedan insurance scheme for thesewer personnels and the samehas been sent for the approvalof Finance Department.
Apart from this, it hasalso been decided that thesewer personnels would also becovered under differentschemes of Welfare ofScheduled Castes andBackward Classes Department,he said.
Arora informed that theDepartment has formulatedand issued strict guidelines tothe field functionaries thatonly trained persons beallowed to enter into sewerwith all precautions and safe-ty measures only in unavoid-able circumstances.
To train, all the regular,temporary and contractualstaff, a special campaignthrough agencies having spe-cialization in this field hasbeen launched by theDepartment. Till date, 631sewer personnel have beentrained under 12 circles ofPublic Health EngineeringDepartment, he added.\
Among those present onthis occasion included DirectorGeneral, Information, PublicRelations and LanguagesSameer Pal Srow and RajivJain, media advisor to ChiefMinister.
announced to give financialassistance of Rs two lakh eachto about 40 registered organi-sations working for the welfareof Dhanak Samaj.
The Chief Minister made
this announcement whileinteracting with representa-tives of Dhanak Samaj, whocalled on him, here on Monday.
Manohar Lal said that acommittee should be consti-tuted to explore the possibili-ties of setting up the tradition-al work of cloth weaving byimparting training to youthwith the use of machinery.
He suggested the repre-sentatives to prepare a propos-al in this regard and send it tothe government.
The Chief Minister alsosaid that relevant course ofcloth weaving would be includ-ed in the Skill University andyouth would be trained in thiscourse which would make
them employable and theywould also be able to set uptheir own ventures.
He said that the StateGovernment has implementedseveral welfare orientedschemes for the people.
For making people awareof such schemes, the StateGovernment has openedAntyodaya Sewa Kendras inseven districts where infor-mation regarding all welfareschemes is being provided topeople under one roof, he said.
Manohar Lal also suggest-ed the representatives to organ-ise one function each at theseAntyodaya Sewa Kendras sothat people would becomeaware of these kendras.
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Hit by #MeToo movement,Punjab’s women panel on
Monday issued a slew of guide-lines for the governmentemployees, administrators andeven the elected officials to pre-vent sexual harassment at theworkplace.
Punjab State Women
Commission chairpersonManisha Gulati, issuing theguidelines, said that theCommission has decided toframe a policy for everyone sothat no one harasses a womanin future at workplaces.
At the same time, Gulatimade it clear that theCommission has received nocomplaint against the Minister,accused for harassing a seniorwoman IAS officer, whileadding that she would raise theissue with the Chief MinisterCapt Amarinder Singh.
“The Commission can takesuo motu cognisance of thematter if there is specificinformation about the victim,”she said while pointing that thesaid bureaucrat has not yet
come forward, and even havenot filed any formal complaintanywhere.
At the same time, Gulatisaid that the Commission isalso receiving false complaintsunder the #MeToo movement,but, action would be initiatedeven in false complaint cases.
Citing the CentralGovernment’s notification,dated November 9, 2013, pass-ing the Sexual Harassment ofWomen at Workplace Act,Gulati said that theCommission is announcingcertain rules and regulations toprevent any kind of sexualharassment of women at work-place.
The guidelines said thatsexual harassment may occur
not only where a person usessexual behaviour to control,influence or affect the career,salary or job of another person,but also between co-workers.
“All male officers andMinisters are required tounderstand that if a femaleemployee is being called for anykind of discussion or meetinginto a confined space, like in anoffice, he needs to have a min-imum of one other woman inthe office for the entire dura-tion of the meeting,” said theguidelines.
It added that no kind ofdiscussions which include thesalary appraisals of the femalejunior or involving money shallbe done with any indication ofreceiving any favour from the
female employee.Gulati said that physical
contact and advances shall beconsidered as sexual harass-ment and it is mandatory thatno male employee shall behavein any manner which can beconstrued as sexual in nature.
Sexually coloured remarksor remarks of a sexual natureabout female's clothing or bodyare strictly prohibited at work-place, she said, adding thatindulging in any humour lacedwith sexual innuendoes, sexu-al teasing and sexual pranks arenot allowed.
She categorically said thatany jokes, photos, GIFs, videosor even plain text sent to anyfemale’s mobile phone by amale colleague, junior or senior
shall be taken as serious andsexual harassment of the femaleemployee, and shall be dealtwith strictly as various Courtsof India have accepted anyconversation done over chat-ting and messaging apps asadmissible in the court of law.
“Any communication hap-pening on mobile devices,including mobile phones,tablets, computers, or evenlandlines, are not limited byoffice hours and hence anyobjectionable content sent by amale colleague, junior or seniorto a female, even outside theoffice hours, shall not be tol-erated by the Commission andbe dealt with in lines with sex-ual harassment,” she made itclear.
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After all attempts to capturetigress ‘Sundari’ failing,
the State Government onMonday decided to shift thebig cat to NandankananZoological Park here after it istranquilised.
Forest and EnvironmentMinister Bijayshree Routraysaid that once captured, thetigress would be shifted to awell-protected environment ofNandankanan.
“It appears that the tigresshas become more cautious fol-lowing the attempts of ourteams to tranquilise it.However, additional teams willbe deployed to capture Sundariand, subsequently, it will beshifted to Nandankan,” saidRoutray.
Routray further stated thatsuch a decision has been taken
keeping in view the severalaspects including safety ofpeople which cannot be over-looked completely.
“Our plans are to keepSundari in the tiger safari inNandankanan and we willnotify National TigerConservation Authority(NTCA) officials in this regard.If they do not accept our pro-posal, we may consider send-ing back the tigress to theBandhavgarh Tiger Reserve inMadhya Pradesh, from whereit was brought as part of theambitious Tiger TranslocationProgramme,” Routray added.
Meanwhile, two tranquil-liser teams from the Pench andKanha Tiger Reserves inMadhya Pradesh arrived in theState on the day to tranquilisethe tigress, informed PrincipalChief Conservator of Forests(PCCF) Sandip Tripathy. Theteams have already reached thefield, the official said.
“The entire situation isbeing monitored. The tigresswas last spotted in deep forestsaround three km fromAsanabahala village,” he added.
Earlier, the Odisha ForestDepartment had requested itsMadhya Pradesh counterpartto send two teams to captureSundari.
The tigress was relocatedfrom Madhya Pradesh’sBandhavgarh Tiger Reserve tothe Satkosia wildlife sanctuaryon June 28 in a pilot inter-Statetransfer project to increasethe big cat population inOdisha.
However, locals aredemanding shifting of the
tigress from the forest after itkilled a man Trinath Sahu, onOctober 21 at Tainsi village.On September 12, the tigresshad allegedly killed a 35-year-old woman in the area.
It is pertinent to mentionhere that Sundari, the RoyalBengal tigress brought fromBandhavgarh Tiger Reserve inJune was released into theSatkosia Tiger Reserve in themonth of August.
On July 6, a tiger broughtfrom the Kanha Tiger Reserve
in Madhya Pradesh was alsoreleased into the same tigerreserve.
As per reports, this was thefirst pair of tigers to be releasedinto the forest under the tigerrelocation project.
However, the demand forshifting tigress Sundari gainedmomentum after the big catallegedly killed two personsand a bullock in separate inci-dents in Baghamunda andTainsi villages inside the tigerreserve earlier this month.
New Delhi: The SupremeCourt on Monday stayed theBombay High Court orderrefusing extension of time tothe State police for filing chargesheet in the Koregaon-Bhimaviolence case.
Recently, the Bombay HighCourt had set aside the lowercourt’s order allowing extensionof time to police to file its probereport against the rightsactivists in the violence case.
Taking note of the appealof the MaharashtraGovernment, a bench headedby Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoistayed the High Court orderand issued notice to rightsactivists on the plea.
Earlier, the apex court hadrefused to interfere with thearrest of five rights activists by
the Maharashtra Police in con-nection with the Koregaon-Bhima violence case anddeclined to appoint a SIT forprobe into their arrest.
The Pune Police hadarrested lawyer SurendraGadling, Nagpur Universityprofessor Shoma Sen, Dalitactivist Sudhir Dhawale,activist Mahesh Raut andKerala native Rona Wilson inJune for their alleged linkswith Maoists under theUnlawful Activities(Prevention) Act (UAPA).
The arrests had followedraids at their residences andoffices in connection withthe Elgar Parishad conclaveheld in Pune on December 31last year, which, the policehad claimed, had led to vio-lence at Bhima Koregaon thenext day.
The MaharashtraGovernment had on October25 moved the apex court chal-lenging the Bombay High
Court order by which theextension of time granted tostate police to conclude probein the Koregaon Bhima vio-lence case was set aside.
In the previous hearing, thebench had considered the sub-missions of lawyer NishantKatneshwar, appearing for theMaharashtra Government, thatthe appeal needed to be heardon an urgent basis.
The lawyer had said that ifthe High Court order is notstayed then accused in theviolence case would becomeentitled for grant of statutorybail for want of non-filing ofcharge sheet within the stipu-lated period.
Under the UAPA, a chargesheet must be filed within 90days of arrest. However, theprosecutor can file a reportbefore the trial court, explain-ing the reasons for the delay,and seek more time. If satisfied,the court can extend the timeby 90 days. PTI
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The Congress on Monday hitout at Prime Minister
Narendra Modi over reportsthat US President DonaldTrump has not accepted India’srequest to be the chief guest atthe Republic Day parade nextyear and termed it a “diplo-matic faux pas”.
Former Union MinisterAnand Sharma said Modi’sapproach is “frivolous” and hisconduct of diplomacy lacks
gravitas. He said Modi mustunderstand that engagementwith strategic partners cannotbe transactional or episodic.
“President Trump’s non-acceptance of invitation to bethe chief guest for RepublicDay was an avoidable embar-rassment. Extending theinvite without assured accep-tance was a diplomatic fauxpas.
“Never before this honourhas been declined by a head ofstate... He (PM Modi) mustknow that engagement withstrategic partners can not betransactional or episodic,” hesaid.
Sharma said such a thinghas never happened in the
past.Another Congress leader
Manish Tewari said, “NotSurprising. I was inWashington DC when news ofIndia’s Republic Day invite toDonald Trump broke in July2018. Asked a senior WhiteHouse official would Trumptravel to India, the personsmiled and said-needs to beforward movement on a bunchof issues”.
Trump is unlikely to acceptIndia’s invitation to be thechief guest at the parade,sources said Sunday.
The US is understood tohave conveyed to New Delhithat Trump may not be able tohonour the invitation as he will
have pressing engagements,including his State of TheUnion address, around thetime India will celebrate itsRepublic Day.
This comes at a time whenIndo-US ties have witnessedsome strain after India wentahead and sealed a deal withRussia to procure a batch of S-400 air defence missile systems,notwithstanding US threat ofpunitive action under CAAT-SA (Countering America’sAdversaries Through SanctionsAct).
Sources said India hasshortlisted names of two-threeheads of states for extendinginvitation to be the chief guestat the parade.
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Women and Child DevelopmentMinister Maneka Gandhi on
Monday asked the Mother Teresa-found-ed Missionaries of Charity (MoC) to“come back into” the Government’s systemof adoption services.
The MoC had decided to stop puttingchildren up for adoption under theGovernment’s Central Adoption ResourceAuthority (CARA) system following anideological row with Ministry in 2015 overissues such as the organisation’s denial togive children to separated or divorced par-ents.
Maneka met a MoC delegation led bySister Mary Prema Pierick, who heads theorganisation after Mother Teresa, and
requested them “to come back into” theCARA system of adoption.
The CARA functions as the nodalbody for adoption of children and is man-dated to monitor and regulate in-countryand inter-country adoptions.
The Union minister said the moveaims to bring children living in the 79 MoChomes into family care.
“Prema agreed to my request to workjointly on each of these homes so that thechildren in the MoC homes can be on-board-ed into CARINGS expeditiously,” she tweet-ed. The Women and Child DevelopmentMinistry and the MoC have been involvedin a number of rows in the past.
In July this year, Maneka had orderedall states to get the child-care homes runby the MoC inspected, after cases of alleged
illegal adoptions carried out by the homescame to light. A shelter home run by theMoC in Ranchi has allegedly been involvedin “selling” three children and “givingaway” another one.
Taking cognisance of the cases ofalleged illegal adoptions carried out by theMoC in Jharkhand, Maneka ordered all thestates to get the child-care homes run bythe organisation inspected immediately,the ministry had said in a statement in July.
There was also a conflict in 2015 overthe MoCs not allowing adoption by sep-arated or divorced or single parents.
Maneka had then said the governmentwould have to derecognise the organisationif it continued to defy the revised guidelinesbut the Missionaries of Charity itself decid-ed to stop putting children up for adoption.
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Sugar production is likely to decline by3 per cent to 31.5 million tonnes (MT)
in the current marketing year due tountimely rains and pest attacks that affect-ed the cane crop. Diversion of cane juicefor ethanol is also a reason for decline insugar production.
Sugar production reached at an all-time high of 32.5 million tonnes in the2017-18 marketing year (October-September). The Indian Sugar MillsAssociation (ISMA) in July had projecteda production of 35 MT in the 2018-19 sea-son that started this month, taking intoaccount higher cane acreage and forecastof normal monsoon.
In its forecast issued Monday, theISMA reduced the sugar production esti-mate for the 2018-19 marketing year as thesugarcane crop in the three main growingstates of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra andKarnataka, which contribute around 80 percent to the total sugar output, have beenimpacted adversely.
“Sugar production in 2018-19 wouldbe around 32 MT. However, this figure maybe lower if we consider the expected diver-sion of sugar to ethanol...The sugar pro-duction estimates for 2018-19, after con-sidering this diversion into ethanol, will be
around 31.5 MT tonnes,” the statementsaid.
The association said that there wouldbe surplus availability of sugar in the coun-try despite estimated fall in productionbecause of huge carry-over stocks from theprevious marketing year. The total avail-ability of sugar would be 42.7 MT during2018-19 as against the annual domesticdemand of 25.5-26 MT. Even if millsexport 4-5 MT of sugar, the closing stockwould be significantly high at 11-13 MT,it added.
According to ISMA, sugar productionin UP was expected to be higher becauseof higher cane area under the high yield-ing variety Co0238. “However, severalareas in UP have had untimely rainfall inSeptember 2018 which has adverselyaffected the growth of the sugarcane atthis very important maturity period.Further, some areas have reported water-logging and in some parts of Western UP,there has been sugarcane lodging also,” itsaid.
As a result, sugarcane yields andsugar recovery would be impacted.Accordingly, ISMA has revised its sugarproduction estimates for UP from 13-13.5MT tonne made in July 2018 to 12.1 MT,which is almost similar to 12.04 MT in2017-18.
In Maharashtra, sugar production isestimated at around 9.5 MT as against10.72 MT in 2017-18. In July, ISMA hadpegged output at 11-11.5 MT. “These esti-mates were made considering a normalrainfall during July — September 2018which has a big influence on the sugarcaneyields and sugar recovery. However, dur-ing the last 2-3 months, the rainfall in mostof the sugarcane areas in Maharashtra hasbeen substantially lower than last yearsame period as well as below normal aver-age of the last three years,” it said.
Moreover, white grub has infested asignificant area in the districts ofAhmednagar, Solapur and Marathwadaand to a lesser extent in Kolhapur, Sangli,Satara and Pune. In some small areas with-in the above districts, the crop has beenso seriously infested that either farmershave uprooted them or the crop has notsurvived.
“The northern part of Karnatakabeing contiguous to sugarcane grown insouthern part of Maharashtra, have alsosuffered due to lower rainfall as well assome infestation of white grub. Theimpact is, however, lower thanMaharashtra,” ISMA said.
Sugar production in Karnataka isnow estimated at 4.2 MT from 4.48 MTprojected in July.
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Just as Delhi is gasping forbreath due to increasing air
pollution, a WHO reportreleased on Monday increasedthe concerns as it pointed outthat everyday 98 per cent ofkids globally, under the age of15 years, breathe air that istoxic, putting them to severehealth risk. Alarmingly, 14 outof the 20 most polluted cities inthe world are in India, thereport stated based on its studyin 2016.
Air pollution is fatal too asaround 600,000 children diedfrom acute lower respiratoryinfections caused by dirty airduring the study year, as per thereport titled, “Air pollutionand child health: Prescribingclean air.”
The report examines theheavy toll of both ambient(outside) and household airpollution on the health of the
world’s children, particularly inlow and middle-income coun-tries including India.
The report is beinglaunched on the eve of WHO’sfirst ever Global Conference onAir Pollution and Health at thefirst Global Conference on AirPollution and Health beingheld in Geneva from 29October — 1 November to rallythe world towards major com-mitments to fight this problem.
The conference will raiseawareness of this growing pub-lic health challenge and shareinformation and tools on thehealth risks of air pollution andits interventions.
The WHO report alsotalked about the health hazardsof toxic air on pregnantwomen. They are more likely togive birth prematurely, andhave small, low birth-weightchildren, it said.
“In low- and middle-income countries around theworld, 98% of all childrenunder 5 are exposed to PM2.5levels above WHO air qualityguidelines. In comparison, inhigh-income countries, 52%of children under 5 are exposedto levels above WHO air qual-ity guidelines,” the study says.
“Globally, 93 per cent of theworld’s children under 18 yearsof age are exposed to ambientfine particulate matter (PM2.5)levels above WHO air qualityguidelines, which include the630 million of children under5 years of age, and 1.8 billionof children under 15 years,” thereport said.
The PM2.5 (or particleswith a diameter of less than 2.5micrometres present in theair), also called “fine particu-lates”, can be a matter of moreserious health concern thanPM10 (those with a diameter ofless than 10 micrometres).
PM2.5 poses greater harmas being finer, it can easily beinhaled into the respiratorytract.
The WHO report cited acase study that investigatedwhether exposure to PM2.5during pregnancy was associ-ated with low birth weight inan integrated rural-urban,mother-child cohort in TamilNadu.
“The researchers recruit-ed 1285 women in the firsttrimester of pregnancy in pri-mary health care centres andurban health posts and fol-lowed them until the birth of
their child to collect data onmaternal health, prenatal care,exposure to air pollution dur-ing pregnancy and the birth-weight of the child,” the studysaid.
The findings indicate thatmaternal exposure to PM2.5should be considered withother risk factors for low birth-weight in India.
The report also quoted acase-control study in Indiawhich showed a correlationbetween exposure to HAP fromsolid fuel combustion and therisk of contracting TB in chil-dren less than 5 years of age.
The CBI has shared all thefiles pertaining to allega-
tions against CBI Director AlokVerma to the CVC that is con-ducting a probe against himeven as the Delhi High Courton Monday asked the agency tomaintain status quo in thebribery case against the CBISpecial Director RakeshAsthana who has soughtquashing of the FIR.
The CVC probe againstVerma is being monitored byretired Supreme Court judgeAK Pattnaik. Earlier, Vermahad stalled CVC probe againsthimself by not sharing thesefiles with the anti-corruptionwatchdog despite repeatedreminders.Verma and Asthanawere divested of their roles inthe CBI.
Citing Verma’s non-coop-eration as “unprecedented”,the CVC had passed orders todivest Verma along withAsthana of the “functions,power, duty and supervisory
role in the cases registered bythe CBI under the Preventionof Corruption Act. The CVChas the authority of superin-tendence over the CBI in casesrelating to PC Act. Verma didnot furnish the files related toAugust 24 complaint byAsthana that is the subjectmatter of the CVC enquirydespite repeated adjourn-ments.
The Government hasappointed CBI Joint DirectorM Nageshwar Rao as the inter-im chief of the agency. CBIsources said the agency hassubmitted a number of files tothe CVC as and when demand-ed by the superintendingauthority. The Delhi HighCourt on Monday directed the
CBI to maintain status quo tillNovember 1 on the criminalproceedings initiated againstAsthana, who has challengedthe FIR lodged against him onbribery allegations.
Justice Najmi Waziri ques-tioned the CBI for not filing itsresponse to the petitions ofAsthana and the agency’sDeputy Superintendent ofPolice Devender Kumar, whohas been in CBI custody sinceOctober 23.
The high court, in lasthearing on October 23, hadasked CBI to file its response byMonday. It had ordered theagency to maintain status quoon the proceedings againstAsthana. When CBI’s SpecialProsecutor K Raghavacharyuluprayed for a “little” more timeto file its reply, the court askedas to why it has not been doneyet. The CBI prosecutor toldthe high court that the delay infiling of reply occurred as thecase files have been sent toCentral Vigilance Commission(CVC).
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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday favoured cancellingthe 2017 SSC examination, whose declaration of results it hadstayed in August, and holding it afresh by the National TestingAgency (NTA) or the CBSE “in the interest of students”.
The top court observed it was difficult to ascertain the realbeneficiaries of the irregularities in the “tainted” examinationand hence it should be scrapped.
It refused to agree with the contention of Centre that theexamination held in February this year got “tainted” due to atechnical snag and a fresh examination of one paper had beenconducted thereafter.
The examination papers of the SSC CGL were allegedlyleaked, leading to huge protests from job seekers for several days.Amid the protests, the SSC had recommended a CBI probe intothe allegations of paper leak following the demands by the protest-ing job aspirants.
A bench of Justices S A Bobde and L Nageswara Rao askedthe Centre to go through the status report and file its reply byNovember 13.
“We had stayed declaration of results for the examinationsas there were prima facie material. It is in the interest of studentsthat whole thing is scrapped and held afresh,” the bench said.
The court said that even after the CBI probe or investiga-tion by any agency, there was no mechanism by which it can bedetermined who all were tainted and who all were innocents.
“Sometimes a hard decision has to be taken to send a mes-sage to those involved that these kind of activities would not ben-efit and every thing can be washed off,” it said. PTI
the army is verifying reportsthat snipers have enteredKashmir valley to target secu-rity forces. His comments camein the wake of reports that atleast three security men werekilled in sniper attacks by ISItrained Jaish-e-Mohammad(JeM) militantssince mid-September forcingthe security forces to redrawtheir strategy to meet the newchallenge.
Responding to the patternof attacks, the Army chief saidthe Army was studying whetherthe attacks were carried out bysnipers. “Whether these attackshave been done by snipers ornot, this is something we arestill studying. “But to say thatsnipers have infiltrated andthat they have sniperweapons...We have not foundany sniper weapon,” he toldreporters on the sidelines of anevent here.
Rawat also said to saysnipers have come into theValley was “premature.”
Based on intelligence inputs,security agencies believe that atleast two separate ‘buddy’groups of the proscribed JeMcomprising two terrorists eachentered Kashmir Valley in earlySeptember and have entrenchedthemselves in South Kashmir’sPulwama district with the helpof some overground supportersof the outfit.
These terrorists, accordingto the officials, have beentrained by ISI for carrying outsniper attacks in the Valley andhave been armed with M-4carbines, used by the US-ledallied forces in Afghanistan.
Rawat, however, said nor-mal weapons could have beenused to target the security per-sonnel in the recent attacks asa good rifle has the range of200-300 metres. He also saidthe security forces were able totrace some snipers and “that weare fully aware that people havebeen trained in sniping
New Delhi: As Delhi continuesto battle alarming pollution lev-els, a new study has found thatthree of the world’s largest nitro-gen dioxide emission hotspotsthat contribute to formation offiner particulate matter causingair pollution are in India, withone in the Delhi-NCR.
The study by Greenpeacecomes as Delhi’s pollution levelclimbed to alarming levels. Airquality continued to remain inthe “very poor” category as athick haze engulfed the cityMonday. NO2 is a dangerouspollutant in itself and also con-tributes to the formation ofPM2.5 and ozone, two of themost dangerous air pollutants.
The largest number ofhotspots, a total of 10, is foundin China, eight in the Arabworld, four in the EU and three
each in India, the US and theDR Congo, according to ananalysis of new satellite datafrom June 1 to August 31.
Delhi-NCR, Sonbhadra inUttar Pradesh and Singrauli inMadhya Pradesh and Talcher-Angul in Odisha are the identi-fied hotspots in India. Sonbhadraand Singrauli are considered aspart of a single hotspot.
“Air pollution is a globalhealth crisis, with up to 95 percent of the world breathingunsafe air. With hotspots acrosssix continents, ranging fromcities to industrial clusters toagricultural areas, this newanalysis shows us more clear-ly than ever before just how biga part of the picture NO2 pol-lution is,” Lauri Myllyvirta,Greenpeace Nordic air pollu-tion campaigner, said. PTI
sis on Monday as the SupremeCourt refused to adjourn thehearing of a petition filed bythe DMK seeking disqualifi-cation of 11 AIADMK MLAs,including O Panneerselvam,the Deputy Chief Minister, fordefying a party whip and vot-ing against the EdappadiPalaniswami-led Governmentin the trust motion onFebruary 18, 2017.
The Madras High Courthad dismissed the DMK petitionin April this year ruling that theCourt does not have the juris-diction over the powers of theSpeaker. The DMK laterapproached the apex court witha petition challenging theMadras High Court verdict.Since the court has paved theway for the hearing the appeal,the AIADMK Governmentwould be on tenterhooks as anyadverse verdict from the apexcourt means the loss of 11 MLAsfor the ruling dispensation whichis surviving only because of theproverbial ‘wafer thin majority’.
The AIADMK has 115members (including theSpeaker) in the House with atotal strength of 234. TheOpposition has 98 memberswhich include TTVDhinakaran, the lone memberof the AMMK. Chances arethat five members are all set to
cross over to the Dhinakarancamp which means theAIADMK would be left with99 members making thePalaniswami Government alame duck.
The day began with M KStalin, the DMK president,declaring at a marriage cere-mony that his party had col-lected all documentary evi-dence of ‘big-time’ corruptioncommitted by the EdappadiPalaniswamy Governmentover the last two years. “Wehave concrete proof of the cor-rupt practices of the chiefminister, his deputy and othermembers in the council ofMinisters. The day thisGovernment falls and ourGovernment takes over theadministration, all these cor-rupt ministers includingEdappadi Palaniswami,Panneerselvam and otherMinisters would end up injail,” declared Stalin.
He accused thePalaniswami Government of
running away from the elec-torate without holding eventhe local body elections. “ThisGovernment is unlikely tohold even the 20 by-pollsnecessitated by the disquali-fication of the 18 MLAs andthe demise of two MLAs,”charged Stalin.
Earlier in the day, theAIADMK leadership includ-ing Palaniswami,Panneerselvam and seniorleaders and Ministers wentinto a huddle following theSupreme Court’s refusal toadjourn the hearing of thepetition filed by the DMKseeking disqualification ofPanneerselvam and ten partyMLAs. Despite the MadrasHigh Court’s verdict uphold-ing the Speaker’s order dis-qualifying the 18 MLAs owingallegiance to VK Sasikala andDhinakaran, the Palaniswami-Panneerselvam camp extend-ed olive branch to the rebelMLAs as well as party func-tionaries with a request toreturn to the mother party.
The rebel camp is yet todecide on the future course ofaction. Though TTVDhinakaran told reporters atSivaganga on Saturday that thedisqualified MLAs would seekre-election as and when the by-polls are held, his party was yetto decide whether they shouldfile an appeal in the SupremeCourt challenging last week’sMadras High Court order.
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A‘Light & Sound Show’ onSardar Vallabbhai Patel, a
part of the Statue of Unity pro-ject, would be inaugurated byPrime Minister Narendra Modion Wednesday after he woulddedicate the world’s tallest stat-ue of Sardar Patel at Kevadiya.
The Light & Sound Showwill be shown in the exhibitionhall built at the pedestal of182-metre tall Statue of Unitybeing unveiled downstreamthe Sardar Sarovar Project(SSP) dam on River Narmadaon the occasion of the birthanniversary of the Sardar onOctober 31, 2018.
The show will depictSardar Patel’s fight against theBritish rule with reference to
partition of India, unifica-tion, the support of tribalpeople, construction of thedam and related issue.
A short video on theprocess and stages of con-structing the Statue of Unity,billed as the world’s talleststatue, will also be screened onthe wall from an audio-videokiosk for the visitors.
It took the time and toil ofpeople, besides collecting soiland iron for the statue, fromall over India.
The 73 feet high exhibi-tion hall spread on 4,637square metres will also screen16 films shot by famous direc-tors on the life and times ofSardar Patel with footagesfrom the history during amal-gamation of princely statewith Union of India duringIndependence.
The hall will also have alibrary of books on SardarPatel published over a periodof time.
An 18-foot tall bronzestatue of Sardar has also beeninstalled at the exhibition hallas centre of attraction.
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Chandrashekhar Verma,the absconding husband
of former Social WelfareMinister Manju Verma, sur-rendered in the court onMonday and was sent to judi-cial remand. After this it isstrongly believed that she toocould surrender very soon asa warrant against her is withthe police.
Verma was wanted inconnection with the infa-mous sexual harassment ofminor girls at a Government run shelter home inMuzaffarpur and had goneunderground for over threemonths when his name sur-faced in this case with his calldetailed record showed hewas in constant touch withthe main accused Brajesh Thakur.
He was also accused ofvisiting the shelter home allalone and spending good timebehind closed door.
His wife Manju Verma,who was then Social WelfareMinister in Nitish Kumarcabinet had to quit after hishusband’s name figured inthis case and many victim
girls alleged about the visit ofa “pot-bellied uncle” and sex-ual assault by him.
This reference was sup-posed to be about Vermawho came on the radar on theinvestigating agency CBI.
After the Patna high courtrejected his anticipatory bailpetitions and Supreme Courtexpressed displeasure overpolice inaction in arrestinghim, Verma had little optionleft but to surrender inManjhaul sub-divisionalcourt.
Warrant was issuedagainst the former Ministerthis month after her antici-
patory bail plea was rejectedby the high court.
The police had filed a casagainst her under Arms Actafter the recovery of 50 car-tridges of different bores,some of them banned forpublic use, from her home inher constituency CheriaBeriarpur during a searchoperation.
Manju Verma is alsoabsconding after submittingher resignation to the CM in August. A warrant was issued afterBegusarai police filed FIRagainst her in September andthe high court turned downher anticipatory bail petition.
Monday said that the Governmentof Assam has decided to bring themaster roll and casual workersemployed by the StateGovernment under pay-scaleswhich will ensure increased finan-cial benefit to them. The Ministersaid this while addressing a pressconference at Dispur and addedthat the decision will benefit13,860 master roll and casualworkers working under 52departments of the State.
"The average wage of thesemaster role workers used to bebetween �3000 to �6.000 permonth. However after they werebrought to the pay scale system,their average monthly salary willbe �18,000 approximately," saidthe Minister. Sarma said that themove will cost the State exchequerwith an additional expenditure ofclose to �177 crore per year. Hesaid that the Government willissue the notification in this regardsoon and will be executed fromMonday itself.
energy-efficient, self-propelledor engineless train was flaggedoff by Railway Board ChairmanAshwani Lohani here onMonday.
Soon after Lohani waved thegreen flag, the white-colouredtrain with a dash of blue moveda few yards in the IntegralCoach Factory (ICF) amid thebeating of drums in celebration.
Officials said India's firsttrainset — Train 18 — will bea game-changer for the IndianRailways.
The train was developedat nearly half the cost that isnormally incurred for suchdevelopment.
Speaking to IANS earlier, S.Mani, General Manager, ICF,said the train with a capacity totouch speed of 160 kmph willreplace the Shatabdi Express.
"With 16 coaches, the trainwill have the same passengercarrying capacity. There arenow separate power cars. But itis about 15-20 per cent energyefficient and leaves less carbonfootprint," Mani said.
Officials said the trainsetwas conceived, designed anddeveloped in about 18 months'time as against the industry
norm of about 3-4 years.The trainset has aerody-
namically designed driver cab-ins at both ends for quickerturnaround at destinations.
According to an ICF offi-cial, every alternative coach ismotorised, to ensure even dis-tribution of motive power andfaster acceleration/ deceleration.
The train sports advancedregenerative braking systemwhich saves power.
Mani also said the fully air-conditioned train offers betterpassenger comfort and safety, asall equipment are fixed under
the carriage/ coach, so thatmore space is available on board.
In the Executive Class, theseats are rotatable to match thetrain direction.
Train 18 will have modernlook with continuous windowson the exterior and the totalseating capacity will be 1,128.
On safety front, TrainManagement System in thedriver's cab will ensure precisebrake control and automateddoors control.
The coach doors will openonly when the train toucheszero kmph and the train will
start only when all the coachdoors are properly closed.
The train will have auto-mated sliding steps uptil theplatform avoiding the risk of apassenger falling. The drivercan also monitor the move-ment of passengers on theplatform via closed circuit tele-visions (CCTVs) in his cabinbefore closing the door.
There are emergency talk-back units (through which pas-sengers can talk to crew in caseof emergency) and CCTVs areprovided in all coaches for safeand secure travel, officials hadsaid earlier. CCTV cameras onboth sides of driving cab wouldhelp the driver monitor themovement of passengers on theplatform before closing thedoors and starting off.
ICF would roll out six suchtrainsets.
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At least three personnel ofthe Border Security Force
(BSF) were injured when ter-rorists attacked their vehicle atPantha Chowk on Srinagar-Jammu National Highway onthe outskirts of Srinagar city onMonday evening.
Security sources said theterrorists fired upon theBorder Security Force (BSF)vehicle at Zewan Crossing leav-ing at least three personnelinjured. They said the injuredhave been shifted to nearbyhospital for treatment.
In another incident, thesecurity forces arrested threesuspected Over GroundWorkers (OGWs) on SrinagarBaramulla highway in the out-skirts of Srinagar city.
Sources said suspected ter-rorists travelling in a vehiclejumped over a police check-point (Naka) while opening firetowards security guard per-sonnel near Shalteng inSrinagar outskirts.
The security forces alsoretaliated and one among threesuspects on board the vehiclewas injured in the brief
shootout.Later, two suspected mili-
tants or Over Ground Workerswere intercepted in the fleeingvehicle and overpowered nearNarbal. They were taken intocustody for questioning.
The injured militant hasbeen taken to nearby JVCHospital for treatment.
Arms and ammunitionwere also recovered from thearrested trio.
Reports said the trio wastraveling from Pulwama insouth Kashmir and belonged tothe same area. However, Policehave not revealed identity ofthe arrested persons.
“A vehicle-borne terroristwas intercepted by a naka partyat Narbal leading to a brief
exchange of fire in which oneterrorist sustained injury whiletwo others were apprehended.The injured has been evacuat-ed to hospital for medicalattention. Their identity isbeing ascertained,” a policespokesman said.
“Incriminating materialincluding a huge quantity ofarms and ammunition wererecovered from the spot,” he said.
A case has been registeredand the investigation has beeninitiated, the spokesman said.
Meanwhile, terroristsattacked residence of a formerlegislator in south Kashmir’sShopian district.
Reports said that unknownmen hurled a grenade towardsthe residence of a former MLAof Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) Abdul Razaq Zawoora,in Zawoora Shopian.
However, the grenadeexploded outside the boundarywall of his residence and therewas no damage reported fromthe site.
Security forces have cor-doned off the area and man-hunt has been launched to nabthe assailants, reports said.
The Reang tribals, shelteredin Tripura for over 20 years,
have demanded the setting upof polling stations in refugeecamps to cast their votes for theNovember 28 MizoramAssembly polls, a refugee leadersaid on Monday.
ver 35,000 Reang tribalrefugees, comprising 5,907families, fled from Mizoramand have been staying inTripura's Kanchanpur andPanisagar sub-divisions sinceOctober 1997 following ethnictension after a Mizo forestofficial was killed in the neigh-bouring state.
Among the refugees, onlya little over 11,000 immigrantsare eligible to vote in nextmonth's elections to constitutea new Assembly in theCongress-ruled Mizoram.
"Though the names of lit-tle over 11,000 refugees areenrolled in the electoral lists ofMizoram, but there are over5,000 more people among theimmigrants who have the eli-gibility to become voters butdue to the negligence of theMizoram administrations,their names are yet to beenrolled in the electoral lists,"refugee leader Bruno Mshatold IANS over phone fromKanchanpur.
Msha, who is the GeneralSecretary of the refugees' apexbody Mizoram Bru DisplacedPeople's Forum (MBDPF), saidthat the Election Commissionand the Mizoram ElectionDepartment were yet torespond to their demand forsetting up the polling stations.
A senior official of theMizoram election departmentsaid that the issue of setting upthe polling stations was dis-cussed when the full ElectionCommission headed by ChiefElection Commissioner OmPrakash Rawat visited the stateon October 16.
"However, the Commissionhas not yet communicated itsdecision to us in this regard,"the official said.
Meanwhile, leaders of var-ious political parties includingthe Congress and the BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) are visitingthe seven refugee camps as partof their election campaign.
The BJP-led alliance gov-ernment on October 22resumed the supply of food andrelief material to the refugeesafter the relief was stoppedfrom October 1.
sparked by Sena presidentUddhav Thackeray's Ram tem-ple construction pitch, hasintensified with a close relativeof NCP chief Sharad Pawarassailing the Sena leader.
Rohit Pawar, son of SharadPawar's nephew Rajendra, hitback at Thackeray over hiscriticism of formerMaharashtra Deputy ChiefMinister Ajit Pawar over the
temple issue.Addressing a rally in Jalna
last week, Ajit Pawar, nephewof the NCP chief, said UddhavThackeray had failed to con-struct a memorial in the nameof his father, Bal Thackeray, butwas "harping" on constructionof Ram temple in Ayodhya.
The Sena had hit back,with an editorial in partymouthpiece Saamana callingAjit Pawar a "gutter insect" ofPune politics who lives off hisuncle Sharad Pawars fortune ashe was left with no importance
in Maharashtra politics.In a counter attack, Rohit,
in a Facebook post Sunday,said, "During his last day,Balasaheb had appealed peopleto look after Uddhav. Yesterday,we learnt what he meant whenhe made the appeal. His wordsmeant his son was gullible andtherefore should be taken careof," Rohit said.
The late Sena founder wasa clever and big leader who hadcommand over language andwould attack political oppo-nents through the weekly mag-azine Marmik and Saamanabut those who engage in poli-tics using Bal Thackeray's namehave insulted his pen bylaunching tirade against AjitPawar, Rohit said.
"Uddhav Thackeray nei-ther got elected through pub-lic, nor has he toiled to seeMaharashtra by stepping out ofMatoshree (the Thackeray fam-ily residence in Mumbai).While Maharashtra is on fire,this man is hoodwinking peo-ple by sharing power (withBJP)," Rohit said.
fron was the colour of Sikhismand it was adopted byBharatiya Janata Party as Sikhsare an integral part ofHinduism and the BJP prop-agates this philosophy withoutany hesitation.
“It is only the BJP which hasadopted Sikh’s saffron colour.Those organisations which haveused Muslims as vote bankdesist from using saffron in theircolours. This is really a bigmockery of the political system,”Yogi said while addressing aSikh Sammelan in Lucknow onMonday to commemorate the550th birth anniversary of GuruNanak Dev.
The Chief Minister saidthat there was no differencebetween Hindu and Sikh fam-ilies. “But attempts are beingmade to divide them byspreading canards. Peoplewho are doing this do notknow the history of Khalsa.They were born to protect
Hindus. Sikhs and Hindushave always lived in harmonyand will continue to do so infuture also,” he said.
Yogi declared that out ofthe eight medical colleges com-ing up in Uttar Pradesh, onewill be named after GuruNanak Dev.
“Some institutions will also
be named after Guru GobindSingh and Guru Teg Bahadur,”he added.
Deputy Chief MinisterKeshav Prasad Maurya saidthat Sikhs had played a stellarrole in making Narendra Modithe Prime Minister of India.
“They (Sikhs) played thesame role in Uttar Pradesh by
ensuring a resounding victoryof the BJP, paving the way formaking Yogiji the ChiefMinister of the State,” he said.
Deputy Chief MinisterDinesh Sharma said that theparty which was instrumentalin killing Sikhs in the 1984 riotshad no right to seek vote andsupport of the community.
“Opposition parties likeCongress, Samajwadi Partyand Bahujan Samaj Party arein the ICU and their revival isnext to impossible,” he commented.
President of LucknowGurudwara PrabandhakCommittee, Rajendra SinghBagga, demanded that BaldevSingh Aulakh be made a CabinetMinister in the YogiGovernment.
Aulakh is junior ministerin the Minority Welfare depart-ment. In his address, Aulakhsaid that the Yogi governmentwas working for the welfare ofthe people. He strongly advo-cated the construction of Ramtemple at Ram Janmabhoomicomplex at Ayodhya.
Lucknow: Chief Minister YogiAdityanath will preside overRail Investors’ Summit inLucknow on Tuesday.
The summit is a follow-upof the announcement for set-ting up a rail ancillary park inUttar Pradesh.
The announcement wasmade by Railway MinisterPiyush Goyal during the UPInvestors’ Summit held inLucknow in February this year.
Chief Secretary AnupChandra Pandey said here onMonday that the rail park wasbeing developed on 254 acreland in Fatehpur district.
“The rail park will augmentproduction capacity of existingModern Coach Factory at RaeBareli. The rail park will bedeveloped by ABA InfratechPvt. Ltd., Lucknow,” he said.
Market benchmark Sensex on Monday rallied by718 points to end above the 34,000-level buoyed
by heavy buying mainly in financials like ICICI Bankand SBI coupled with revived optimism relating toRBI's move to ease liquidity crunch.
The broader 50-share Nifty too rose over 220points to close above 10,250. Among the Sensex con-stituents, ICICI Bank was the biggest gainer with 11per cent jump, followed by State Bank of India, whichrose 8.04 per cent. The index heavyweight ICICI Bankcontributed over 200 points to the Sensex gains. Thecountry's top private sector lender ICICI Bankswung into profit in the second quarter of this ongo-ing fiscal. The bank had reported a net loss of �119.55crore in the first quarter of the current fiscal.
On year-on-year basis, ICICI Bank, however,reported a 42 per cent drop in its consolidated netprofit to �1,204.62 crore in the September 2018 quar-ter. Other top Sensex gainers were Adani Ports, L&T,Axis Bank, Reliance Industries, Tata Steel and TCS,rising up to 7.33 per cent.
Market sentiments were further revived by theReserve Bank's decision to pump in �40,000 crore intothe system in November through purchase of gov-ernment securities, with an aim to tackle liquiditycrunch. "Markets bounced out of extremely poor sen-timent and oversold conditions. A good sign shortterm as we may have started a short-covering rally in
equities," said Rohit Srivastava, Fund Manager - PMS,Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.
"The rise was broad-based which is a good signand weak sectors like PSU banks were strong per-formers. Given the double bottom in the bank nifty,it appears the trend may continue in the near term,"he added. Snapping its two-day losing streak, the 30-share index ended 718.09 points, or 2.15 per cent,higher at 34,067.40. It had opened 173.33 points, or0.52 per cent, higher at 33,522.64.
The NSE Nifty too surged 220.85 points, or 2.20per cent, to reclaim the 10,250 mark. It had opened44.25 points, or 0.44 per cent, higher at 10,074.25.
Bucking the uptrend in a majority of Sensex con-stituents, IndusInd Bank, HDFC Bank, Kotak Bankand Bharti Airtel fell up to 2.26 per cent.
Meanwhile, the rupee was trading flat at 73.43against the US currency.
According to Friday's provisional data, foreignfunds sold shares worth a net of �1,356.66, whiledomestic institutional investors bought shares to thetune of �1,875.89 crore.
Dr Reddy's too surged 5.29 per cent to �2,531.65on the NSE after the company reported a 77 per centjump in profit-after-tax for the quarter endedSeptember 30 at �504 crore against �387.6 crore inthe second quarter of FY18.
Oil prices fell on Monday. Brent crude oil futureswere down 31 cents at USD 77.31 a barrel, while WTIFutures fell by 28 cents to USD 67.31.
Meanwhile, concern over China's slowing econ-omy kept Asian stocks subdued. Shanghai Compositeended 2.2 per cent lower, while Hang Seng Index rose0.4 per cent. Japan's Nikkei closed 0.2 per cent down.
European shares climbed on strong earnings DAXwas up 0.7 per cent while STOXX50E rose 0.5 per cent.
Meanwhile, investor wealth soared over Rs 3 lakhcrore Monday driven by a rally in the broader mar-ket where the BSE benchmark index zoomed 718points.
Sharp gain in stocks, send the market capitalisa-tion of the BSE-listed companies higher by Rs3,11,665.6 crore to Rs 1,36,43,642.98 crore.
Snapping its two-day losing streak, the 30-shareBSE index ended 718.09 points, or 2.15 per cent, high-er at 34,067.40. "The equity markets remained buoy-ant throughout the trading session with impressivebuying across sectors including PSU banks, power andtech. The market assumed an upward push with manyof the factors of the past two weeks probably brushedaside for the time being," said Joseph Thomas, HeadResearch, Emkay Wealth Management.
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The rupee ended almost flat at 73.45 againstthe US dollar Monday after its initial gains
were erased by a late dollar demand fromimporters despite strong equity markets and theRBI's move to ease liquidity crunch.
Despite the initial bounce, the home unitappeared to struggle, as the dollar remainedbroadly firm.
Foreign investors also pulled out �2,230.79crore from capital markets Monday amid thedollar hovering near 10-week high and hitting96.66 against the basket of six global currencies.
The rupee opened higher at 73.33 amidsharp gains in local stock markets.
The local currency, however, gave up initialgains due to capital outflows and a firming dol-lar to hit a session low of 73.53.
The rupee made a comeback in the closinghour to settle at 73.45, showing gains of just 2paise over the previous close.
Brent crude oil futures were down 31 centsat USD 77.31 a barrel, while WTI Futures fellby 28 cents to USD 67.31.
Meanwhile, market benchmark Sensex ral-lied over 718 points to end above the 34,000-level, while the broader 50-share Nifty rose over220 points to close above 10,250.
At the same time, the Reserve Bank's deci-
sion to pump in �40,000 crore into the systemin November through purchase of governmentsecurities, with an aim to tackle liquiditycrunch, failed to bring cheer to the forex mar-ket, but arrested any significant fall in the rupee.
In an another development, India andJapan Monday concluded a USD 75 billion bilat-eral currency swap agreement, a move that willhelp in bringing greater stability in foreignexchange and capital markets in the country.
"India and Japan has signed currency swapagreement worth $75 billion – a step will go longway in soothing frayed nerves of Rupee bulls,"said V K Sharma, Head PCG & Capital MarketsGroup, HDFC Securities.
The Financial Benchmark India Private Ltd(FBIL) set the reference rate for the rupee/dol-lar at 73.4181 and for rupee/euro at 83.6942. Thereference rate for rupee/British pound was fixedat 94.2644 and for rupee/100 Japanese yen at65.62.
New Delhi: Tata Sons, the promoter ofmajor operating Tata group companies,has severed ties with celebrity consultantSuhel Seth, following allegations of sex-ual misconduct by several women,according to a company official.
Ever since several women, includingmodel Diandra Soares, filmmakerNatasha Rathore and writer Ira Trivedi,accused Seth of sexual misconduct,
Tata Sons stopped dealing withCounselage, a brand consultancy firmowned by Seth. When asked to confirmif Tata Sons has severed ties with Sethafter allegations of sexual misconduct in#MeToo campaign in India, a companyofficial said "Yes". "Post the allegations,Tata Sons has not engaged withCounselage," a source said. When con-tacted, a Tata sons spokesperson said,"Counselage's contract with Tata Sonswill end on November 30, 2018."
Although the company did not elab-orate on the future of its contract withCounselage, the source, however, saidconsidering the backdrop it would not berenewed. Comments could not be imme-diately obtained from Seth, who isamong the leading brand consultants inthe country.
He played a key role in rebuilding theTata brand after crisis hit one of the mosttrusted corporate brands in India in thewake of abrupt sacking of then Tata Sonschairman Cyrus Mistry in 2016. PTI
India and Japan on Monday con-cluded one of the largest bilateral cur-
rency swap agreements at USD 75 bil-lion that will help in bringing greaterstability in foreign exchange and cap-ital markets in the country.
The agreement will furtherstrengthen and widen the depth anddiversity of economic cooperationbetween the two nations.
"With a view to enhancing finan-cial and economic cooperation, gov-ernments of Japan and India wel-comed the agreement to conclude aBilateral Swap Arrangement (BSA) ofUSD 75 billion," said India-JapanVision Statement.
The statement was released afterIndia-Japan Annual Summit betweenPrime Minister Narendra Modi and hisJapanese counterpart Shinzo Abe inTokyo.
Commenting on the development,Economic Affairs Secretary S C Gargsaid in a tweet: "Bilateral swap arrange-ment with Japan for USD 75 billion isone of the largest swap arrangementsin the world.
"Accepting Japanese request, Indiaagreed to do away with requirement of
mandatory hedging for infrastructureECBs of 5 years or more minimumaverage maturity".
The finance ministry said the cur-rency swap agreement should "aid inbringing greater stability to foreignexchange and capital markets inIndia...This facility will enable theagreed amount of foreign capital beingavailable to India for use as and whenneed arises".
The facility will also help in bring-ing down the cost of capital for Indianentities while accessing foreign capitalmarket, it added.
Recognising the unparalleledpotential for development of relationsbetween the two countries, Modi andAbe reviewed the significant mile-stones achieved over the last four yearsand outlined a shared vision for thefuture of India-Japan relations.
The two leaders remain committedto synergising India's demographicdividend and Japan's capital and tech-nology to realise the true potential ofthe India-Japan economic partnershipfor a prosperous future.
"In this regard, India welcomedJapan's strong support for key trans-formational initiatives such as Make inIndia, Skill India and Clean India
Mission, through sharing of resourcesand advanced technologies, and activemobilisation of Japanese public and pri-vate sector investments," said the visiondocument.
The two leaders "reviewed with sat-isfaction" the progress made, includingthe signing of the Exchange of Notes foryen loan, on the Mumbai-Ahmedabadhigh speed rail project, which is animportant symbol of India-Japan col-laboration.
They also welcomed the continuedcooperation on metro projects whichsupport smarter development of Indiancities.
"India further appreciated Japan'srole in promoting connectivity throughquality infrastructure projects such asthe Western Dedicated FreightCorridor and the Delhi-MumbaiIndustrial Corridor," said the visiondocument.
Modi and Abe welcomed theexpansion of Japan's FDI in Indiaunder the "India-Japan InvestmentPromotion Partnership”, the progressmade in Japan Industrial Townships(JIT) and other initiatives included inthe Japan-India Roadmap forInvestment Promotion. Both leaderswelcomed the launching of a compre-
hensive India-Japan DigitalPartnership with a vision todevelop IoT and AI solutions forsocietal benefits and explorecollaboration in emerging tech-nologies by utilising 'Japan-IndiaStartUp Hub' in Bengaluru andNASSCOM's IT corridor projectin Hiroshima Prefecture.
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Bengaluru has witnessed thehighest decline in unsold
housing stock among sevenmajor cities in the last one yearat 25 per cent on the back ofbetter sales, according to prop-erty consultant Anarock.
The unsold housing stockin Bengaluru stood at 76,500units at the end of July-September quarter (Q3 of 2018calendar year), down 25 percent from 1,02,740 units in theyear-ago period.
Pune reported a 10 percent fall in unsold inventoriesto 90,610 units in Q3 2018 asagainst 1,01,020 units in Q32017.
The Delhi-NCR marketalso saw 9 per cent decline inunsold stocks to 1,90,650 unitsfrom 2,09,430 units.
There were marginal drop
of 1-2 per cent in unsold stockin Mumbai MetropolitanRegion (MMR) andHyderabad, while there wereincrease in Chennai andKolkata by 7 per cent and 1per cent, respectively.
"Bengaluru's real estatemarket has out-performed allother cities in terms of shed-ding unsold housing invento-ry. Bengaluru saw a remark-able decline of 25 per cent inthe total unsold stock acrossthe top cities," Anarock said inits report, which was releasedat ACETCH 2018 inBengaluru last week.
The report trackedBengaluru's residential realestate trends since 2013, fac-toring in the city's evolution interms of infrastructure devel-opment, transport and con-nectivity.
"Burgeoning commercial
activity, a cutting-edge start-up culture and realistic prop-erty prices dictated by end-user demand have keptBengaluru's real estate marketvibrant, and generally moreresilient than in other cities,"said Anuj Puri, Chairman -Anarock PropertyConsultants.
IT/ITeS sector continuesto drive most of the city's res-idential demand and supply,and housing sales haveremained healthy despite allmacroeconomic headwinds,he added.
Bengaluru's housing salesincreased by 26 per cent in Q32018 over the same period lastyear, the highest amongst allcities. Overall unsold stockdeclined by 32 per cent andstood at 76,550 units in Q32018 in contrast to 1,12,995units in Q3 2015.
Russia has expressed interestin investing in projects like
Delhi-Mumbai IndustrialCorridor (DMIC) and smartcities besides railways, andpublic transport, Commerceand Industry Minister SureshPrabhu has said.
The minister also said thatin the November 23 trilateralmeeting on International NorthSouth Corridor (INSTC), allissues are expected to beresolved in order to opera-tionalise the route as early aspossible.
INSTC is an initiativetaken by India, Russia andIran to promote transportationcooperation and to enhanceconnectivity with central Asiancountries.
It is the shortest multi-modal transportation routelinking the Indian Ocean andPersian Gulf via Iran to Russiaand North Europe.
The estimated capacity ofthe corridor is 20-30 milliontonne of goods per year andwill reduce time and cost by 30-40 per cent. These issues werediscussed during the meetingof Prabhu and Russian businessdelegation on Saturday here.
"There is a possibility forRussian investments in DMIC,smart cities, railways, publictransport, sanitation and lowcost housing," the ministrysaid in a statement quotingPrabhu.
ala (name changed) was 20 when she first experiencedsymptoms of psoriasis. She mistook it to be a skin prob-lem and assumed that it would cure in time. She relied
on creams and moisturisers to relieve her symptoms. Every sec-ond month, she had similar rashes and she continued to resort toself-medication. Eight months later, she was diagnosed with pso-riasis. She has, now, been living with this condition for eight yearsnow.
Like Mala, there are a lot of women in India living with pso-riasis and hesitant to talk about it. A global survey — Clear AboutPsoriasis revealed that 66 per cent of people face discriminationand humiliation because of their skin. The disease looms over theeveryday lives of about 20 per cent of women, compared to 12 percent of men. Nearly 60 per cent of women said psoriasis interfereswith their quality of life.
������-���The immune system mistakenly starts attacking healthy skin
cells, accelerating the formation of skin cells and causing dead skincells to rapidly build up on the skin’s surface. This results in raised,scaly, itchy, dry, and red rashes with silvery scales appearing on theskin, commonly occurring on the scalp, elbows, knees, lower back,hands, feet, nails, genitals, and skin folds.
The problem dramatically reduces the quality of life of affect-ed individuals, and takes a mental, emotional, social, and econom-ic toll on them. It is still not known why it happens, but the mostcommon belief is that genetic factors, stress, skin injury and a faultyimmune system triggers this condition.
An Indian epidemiologicalpattern study showed a pointprevalence of 8 per cent. This fig-ure might be higher as manypatients with milder type of pso-riasis may resort to home reme-dies and alternative therapies.
����There are three stages based
on the amount of area of the skindamaged. Psoriasis is categorised
as mild when plaques cover less than three per cent of the body,and moderate when they cover three per cent to 10 per cent of thebody. When the disease affects more than 10 per cent of the body,it’s considered severe.
������The treatment options are customised for each patient. The
therapy requires continuous maintenance, lifestyle modificationsand monitoring. With medical advancements and accessibility, bestof the treatments are available in India. It is advisable for the patientsto visit trusted dermatologists for consultation.
���������� ��������Control stress and anxiety: Try keeping stress at bay as it mightflare-up psoriasis. Breathing exercises, yoga and meditation canhome handy to stay calm and collected. Since psoriasis patients arealso at the risk of having depression, they need to be extra carefulabout their mental well-being�Quit smoking & drinking alcohol: Smoking doubles a person’srisk of getting psoriasis. The risk increases with the number of cig-arettes smoked per day and is higher in women than men. Likesmoking, drinking alcohol also triggers the immune system.Psoriasis patients are advised to completely stay away from smok-ing and alcohol.�Follow bathing and skin care routine: Avoid bathing with veryhot water as it might dry the skin and use lukewarm water instead.Be gentle with towel drying and try to pat dry yourself after a show-er. Use baby soaps and avoid using a loofah or exfoliate as it mightdamage the skin tissue. Moisturise after a shower and keep yourskin moisturised throughout the day. For scalp psoriasis, use sham-poos made with coal tar or salicylic acid.�Eat healthy and stay active: Stick to a nutritious diet with lotsof fresh vegetables and fruits. Avoid eating oily and junk food.Psoriasis patients should also include a regular exercise regimenin their daily routine. Brisk walking, yoga and dancing helps stayactive and promotes positive thoughts.
�������9���� Widely consumed in dried form, or as roastedsnacks like pancakes, sweet balls, chikkis and gajaks, sesame
seeds are highly nutritional. Only 100 grams of sesame seedscan contain up to 573 kcal of energy and almost 50 grams of fat,of which approximately 85 per cent are healthy fats. These seedscontain an abundance of vitamin B6, thiamine, and niacinamong vitamins, and calcium, copper, magnesium, iron,phosphorus, fiber and protein. It facilitates digestion, improvesskin and hair health, reduces hypertension, reducesinflammation, prevents cancer and bone diseases, controlsdiabetes, improves oral health, and improves metabolism.Infusions of sesame help cure chronic respiratory disorders likepneumonia, bronchitis and asthma. White sesame seeds havehigher iron content than the black ones and are mostly used asingredients in foodor in the form ofoil. Whereas blackseeds have astronger aroma thanwhite or brown sesame seedsand are preferably used inmedicines.
increase in the incidence ofgastrointestinal (GI) andskin cancer among locals in theLadakh region of India. The high altitude,exposure to excessive ultraviolet (UV)rays, lack of oxygen, and a sedentarylifestyle are some of the causes attributedto the increase. The rise in GI cancer ismostly due to the unhealthy and sedentarylifestyle which includes consumption ofstored meat and hot beverages.
GI cancer is more common in menover the age of 40. Women who haveundergone menopause are also prone to it.What adds to the burden is that fact thatpeople are not aware of the early symptomsof this condition. There is also a lack ofaccess to cancer treatment and properdrugs to combat GI cancer. Some lifestylechanges suggested by HCFI.
Avoid using tobacco in any form:Smoking has been linked to various typesof cancer like cancer of the lung, mouth,throat, larynx, pancreas, bladder, cervix andkidney.
Consume a healthy diet: A diet richin fruits, vegetables, and whole grains isimportant to prevent the risk of cancer.
Maintain a healthy weight: This canlower the risk of various types of cancer ofthe breast, prostate, lung, colon and kidney.
Avoid risky habits: Habits such asunsafe sex and sharing needles can lead toinfections that may increase the risk ofcancer.
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We all love to burstcrackers aroundDiwali and even
though we know that precau-tions are a must, one getscaught up in the festivities anddistractions can leadto carelessnessespecially ifthere aresmall chil-d r e na r o u n d .Here are afew simplethings thatone can doto treat mildburns.
Treating a mildburn with lavender oil is agood way to prevent scarring.Take two-three drops of undi-luted lavender oil on a cottonpad and spread it evenly on theburned area. Do this threetimes a day until you see pos-
itive results.Using mustard seeds helps
too. Take a tablespoon of yel-low mustard and add 1/2 table-spoon of water. Make a finepaste. Apply this on the affect-
ed area. Do this at leastthrice a day.
We all know thewonders of aloevera. Take a tea-spoon of aloevera gel. If youhave a plant athome the betterit is. Peel the
fleshy leaf andapply the gel to the
burned area evenly.Do this two to three times
a day.Honey is another ingredi-
ent that is available at home.Take 2 teaspoons of organichoney and slather it onto theburn. Do this at least thricedaily to see positive results.
Diwali is next week, and so is theseason to burst crackers. Despite
several warnings and precautions,children tend to get careless and
may end up with mild burns.ROSHANI DEVI shares some
quick home remedies
There has been a spike in the num-ber of positive H1N1 cases report-ed in Bengaluru in the month of
September. October has been no differ-ent and the causes attributed to theincreasing prevalence includechanges in weather and rains.There were 68 positive cases dur-ing the first week of October,which further increased by 21 ina matter of some days.
This disease is caused by astrain of the influenza A virus andwas found to have been transmitted tohumans from pigs. H1N1 can also befatal if not treated on time. Its symptomsinclude a cough, sore throat, fever,headache, nausea and vomiting.
Speaking about this, Padma ShriAwardee, Dr KK Aggarwal, formernational president of Indian MedicalAssociation, said: “Swine flu presentswith fever of more than 1,000 F with
cough or sore throat in the absence ofany other main cause. The diagnosis isconfirmed with a lab test using Reversetranscription polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) technique. Mild or uncompli-
cated flu or Swine Flu is charac-terised by fever, cough, sorethroat, nasal discharge, musclepain, headache, chills, malaiseand sometimes diarrhea andvomiting. In mild cases, there is
no shortness of breath.”Progressive swine flu is charac-
terised by above symptoms along withchest pain, increased respiratory rate,decreased oxygen in the blood, labouredbreathing in children, low blood pres-sure, confusion, altered mental status,severe dehydration and exacerbation ofunderlying asthma, renal failure,Diabetes, heart failure, angina or COPD.In the pregnant women, flu can causemore serious complications.
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With the surge in employment industryand increasing work pressures, there hasbeen a boom in the entertainment
industry as well. Each medium is emphasising howit’s important to take a break and chill. Whileadventure and outdoor activities have made a sortof comeback, we hardly see anyone without aphone, even when engaged in adventure. The flipsare many.
In a recent study presented in November 2017at the American Heart Association’s ScientificSessions in Anaheim, California, risk of blood clotsin the leg veins or lungs was higher in those whoreported watching TV “very often” compared withthose who reported watching TV “never or sel-dom.”
Dr Parinita Kaur, consultant, internal medi-cine, Aakash Healthcare Super Speciality Hospital,says: “Whenever we are sitting for a long dura-tion, the blood circulation in our veins slows down.This may lead to formation of blood clots, whichcan block the deep veins of our legs. This can causepain and swelling in the legs. Often the clots mayresolve on their own, but at times these clots canextend throughout the leg veins, or sometimeseven dislodge and travel upwards to the heart andlung blood vessels. This can further lead to sud-den onset breathlessness, chest discomfort, lightheadedness and even sudden death. Elderly peo-ple, pregnant women, those who are bedboundfor various reasons, including those recoveringfrom surgeries, cancer patients, travellers are allat a risk of developing these deadly clots.”
Apart from these clots, sitting for long pre-disposes one to obesity and its adverse outcomes.So it is recommended that while we all must takethese entertainment breaks, we should remindourselves to not stay glued to our cozy sofas forone movie after the other. It will be ideal if we allhad our TV in front of a treadmill or a station-ary bike to lead a fuller and healthier life.
Dr Neeraj Bhalla, senior consultant & direc-tor in Cardiology Department at BLK SuperSpeciality Hospital, says: “Watching TV isn’t bad,but we tend to snack and sit still for prolongedperiods while watching. Research has found thattoo much time spent sitting watching TV is linkedto an increased risk of blood clots, even if peopleare getting sufficient amount of exercise. Too muchTV viewing has already been associated with heartdisease involving blocked arteries, with sedentarybehaviour in general also linked with a range ofhealth conditions such as an increased risk of car-diovascular disease, including coronary heart dis-ease, stroke and heart attack, a higher risk of obe-sity and an increased risk of death.”
Too much TV viewing has a risk of develop-ing a Venous Thromboembolism (VTE), a bloodclot which starts in the veins of legs, arms, pelvisand lungs in a western population. The risk of life-threatening clots in both the extremities and thosein the lungs also increases with more TV view-ing. Although obesity was found to be more com-mon in people who watched more TV, it is foundthat only 25 per cent of the increased risk of a VTEcould be explained by obesity.
The risk of VTE can be reduced by maintain-ing a healthy weight and staying physicallyactive. It is estimated that between three to sixlakhs people in the US develop VTE every year,making it common vascular diagnosis after a heartattack and stroke. Although VTE is more com-mon in people 60 and older, it can occur at anyage.
BINGE-WATCHINGA RISKY AFFAIR
Stroke or brain attack is potentially life-threatening in whicha part of the brain is deprived of adequate oxygen and energy.Stroke may be ischemic due to clotting in artery of brain thatresults in the brain damage, or it may be haemorrhagic due totear in the wall of artery that results in bleeding in the brain.Nearly 80 per cent of all strokes are ischemic.
� A patient may undergo behaviour-al problems like depression. It isimportant to ensure that they feelsupported. Making them a part ofa support group is one way to enablethem to handle their emotions.
� Motor-skill exercises can helpimprove their muscle strength.
� Forced - use therapy: An unaffect-ed limb is restrained while they prac-tice moving the affected limb to helpimprove its function.
� Range-of-motion therapy: Certainexercises and treatments can ease
muscle tension and help themregain range of motion.
� Functional electrical stimulation:Electricity is applied to weakenedmuscles, causing them to contractand may help re-educate muscles.
� Robotic devices can assist impairedlimbs with performing repetitivemotions, helping the limbs to regainstrength and function
� Virtual reality: The use of videogames and other computer-basedtherapies involves interacting witha simulated, real-time environment
� Therapy for cognitive disorders:Occupational therapy and speechtherapy can help them with lost cog-nitive abilities, such as memory, pro-cessing, problem-solving, socialskills, judgment and safety awareness
� Therapy for communication dis-orders: Speech therapy can helpthem regain lost abilities in speak-ing, listening and writing.
� Treatments such as massage, herbaltherapy, acupuncture and oxygentherapy are being evaluated
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�High blood pressure: Increases the risk two fold. Thisis because it can narrow the blood vessels causing themto rupture or leak. It can also result in the formationof blood clots which further increase the risk of stroke.� Smoking: It is known to cause stroke as it leads toincreased blood pressure which can cause the blood toclot and additionally builds up fatty substance in themain artery which provides blood to the brain.�Diabetes: Doubles the risk. High blood sugar in theblood can damage blood vessels making them harder,narrower and more likely to be blocked.�High Levels of cholesterol: Low-density lipoproteincholesterol carries cholesterol through the blood whichcauses blockage. The build of plaque in the arteries makesit difficult for the blood to carry the oxygen to the brain.
WARMING SIGNS� Sudden weakness or numb-ness of face, arm or leg on oneside of body� Sudden loss of vision— par-ticularly in one eye� Sudden loss of speech ortrouble talking or understand-ing speech� Sudden severe headaches � Sudden confusion� Sudden dizziness, unsteadi-ness or falls
The pneumonic —BEFAST — can help people toremember the symptoms:
B: Balance loss E: vision loss in one or both
Eyes F: fascial tilt A: Arm drift S: Speech slurring or loss F: time to act Fast.People must be aware of
these symptoms and caregiversneed to be extra careful inrecognising these.
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Up to 85 per cent ofall strokes are ischemic.For this, there is anoption of intravenousmedication called TPA(recombinant tissue plas-minogen activator) avail-able which can be givento the patient within first3 to 4.5 hours of thesymptom onset. Thepatients who have ablockage in a large bloodvessel can be offeredmechanical thrombecto-my or ‘clot buster’ drugup to 24 hours, but soon-er the better), whichinvolves removing theblockage in the bloodvessel and restoring theblood supply. This pro-cedure is done through asmall nick in the groin.Trials have shown thatpatients do well postmechanical thrombecto-my and have a greaterchance to live indepen-dently.E� �&�������&�%���������
Stroke is the third commonestcause of death worldwide and thereis an increase in the number ofstroke patients with disabilities everyday. India and China contribute to40 per cent of world’sstroke patients.Increased prevalence ofdiabetes, high bloodpressure, heart prob-lems are directly con-tributing to theincreased stroke preva-lence.
Diet which is highin carbohydrates andfats add to the risk.There is a pandemic of obesity in ourcountry along with sleep apnea,which adds to the risk of stroke. It’s
unfortunate to note that 20 per centof stroke patients are less than 40years of age. Stroke in young patientscause significant morbidity and hasa huge impact economically as well
in the family. This year,world stroke day 2018 iscelebrated with the themeof “#up again after stroke”to reinstate hope amongstroke survivors
Every minute afterstroke 1.9 million braincells (neurons) die and84km of nerve fibers getpermanently damaged.
Zia suffered a major setback onMonday when a court herejailed her to seven years in asecond corruption case forembezzling millions from acharitable trust in her late hus-band’s name, ahead of generalelections.
Zia, 73, is already behindbars after being handed a five-year term in February in anoth-er case related to embezzlementof funds of an orphanagenamed after her husband latePresident Ziaur Rahman.
The latest sentence, whichcomes ahead of general elec-tions in December, is relatedthe Zia Charitable Trust.
According to the case, Ziaand three others abused theirpower and collected $3,75,000for the trust from unknownsources.
Judge MohammadAkhtaruzzaman announcedthe verdict from the temporarypremises of the court at the oldcentral prison at Dhaka’sNazimuddin Road.
The final trial proceedingsin the case went ahead in the
absence of Zia, the leader of theBangladesh Nationalist Party(BNP), after the prison author-ities repeatedly failed to bringher to the court.
She had recently com-plained to the court that shewas losing feeling in her handand in a leg.
The Zia Charitable Trustgraft case was filed by theAnti-Corruption Commissionin 2011.
Zia’s former political affairssecretary Harris Chowdhury,his former aide and formerBangladesh Inland WaterTransport Authority actingdirector Ziaul Islam Munnaand former Dhaka mayorSadeque Hossain Khoka’s per-sonal secretary Monirul IslamKhan are the three others con-victed in the case.
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All 189 passengers and crewaboard a crashed
Indonesian Lion Air jet werelikely killed in the accident, res-cue officials said Monday, asthey announced they hadfound human remains andwould continue the grim searchthrough the night.
The Boeing-737 MAX,which went into service justmonths ago, vanished fromradar 13 minutes after takingoff from Jakarta, plunging intothe Java Sea moments after ithad asked to return to theIndonesian capital.
Websites that display flightdata showed the plane speed-ing up as it suddenly lost alti-tude in the minutes before itdisappeared, with authoritiessaying witnesses saw the jetplunge into the water.
“My prediction is thatnobody survived because thevictims that we found, theirbodies were no longer intactand it’s been hours so it is like-ly 189 people have died,” search
and rescue agency operationaldirector Bambang Suryo Ajitold reporters.
Some 40 divers are part ofabout 150 personnel at thescene, authorities said, with theplane wreckage some 30 to 40metres deep in the water.
Earlier, video footageapparently filmed at the sceneof the crash showed a slick offuel on the surface of the waterand pictures showed whatappeared to be an emergencyslide and bits of wreckage bear-ing Lion Air’s logo.
The carrier acknowledgedthat the jet had previouslybeen grounded for unspecifiedrepairs.
“It’s a really mystery whatcould have happened,” saidGreg Waldron, Asia managingeditor of industry publicationFlightglobal.
“Hopefully they will beable to locate the (cockpit)voice data recorders.”
The plane had been enroute to Pangkal Pinang city, ajumping off point for beach-and-sun seeking tourists on
nearby Belitung island, when itdropped out of contact around6.30 am (2330 GMT).
One Italian national wasaboard the plane which wasflown by an Indian pilot, thetransportation ministry said.
Images filmed at PangkalPinang’s main airport showed
families of passengers cryingand hugging each other, withsome calling out to god.
“This morning he calledasking about our youngestson,” said a sobbing Ermayati,referring to her 45-year-oldhusband Muhammed Syafii,who was on board.
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Indian pilot Bhavye Sunejadied on Monday after the
Indonesian plane he captainedwith 188 passengers and crewon board the budget carriercrashed in the Java Sea, IndianEmbassy here confirmed.
Suneja, 31, was flying theLion Air flight JT610 which lostcontact with the ground offi-cials 13 minutes after taking offfrom Jakarta Soekarno HattaInternational Airport.
The Boeing 737 MAX 8aircraft en-route to PangkalPinang city crashed nearKerawang, 32 miles east ofJakarta.
“Our deepest condolenceson the tragic loss of lives in theLion Air Plane crash, off thecoast of Jakarta today. Mostunfortunate that Indian PilotBhavye Suneja who was flyingJT610 also lost his life,” IndianEmbassy in Indonesia said in atweet.
“Embassy is in touch withCrisis Center and coordinating
for all assistance,” it said.The flight carried 178
adults, 1 child and 2 infants.The plane also had 3 crewunder training and 1 techni-cian, the statement said.
The aircraft was com-manded by Captain Sunejaand co-pilot Harvino with sixcabin crew members.
Suneja has 6,000 flighthours and the co-pilot morethan 5,000 flight hours, the air-line said in a statement.
Captain Suneja was a res-ident of Jakarta. He is originallyfrom New Delhi and attendedAhlcon Public School in EastDelhi’s Mayur Vihar.
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The US has called on SriLanka President
Maithripala Sirisena to imme-diately reconvene parliament toallow the democratically elect-ed representatives in the coun-try decide who will lead theirGovernment following a polit-ical turmoil sparked by the sud-den sacking of Prime MinisterRanil Wickremesinghe.
Sirisena on Friday sackedWickremesinghe and appoint-ed former strongman MahindaRajapaksa as the new PrimeMinister, triggering politicalchaos in the Indian Oceanisland nation. Next day, hesuspended Parliament afterWickremesinghe, who hadtermed his sacking as illegaland unconstitutional, sought anemergency session to provehis majority.
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Washington: President DonaldTrump on Monday accused themedia of being “the true Enemyof the People” in the wake of amass shooting and a mail bombplot.
Trump tweeted: “There isgreat anger in our Countrycaused in part by inaccurate,and even fraudulent, reportingof the news.”
He added that the media“must stop the open & obvioushostility & report the newsaccurately & fairly.”
The president’s commentsfollow a mass shooting at aPittsburgh synagogue that left11 dead and a mail bomb scaretargeting Democrats and CNN.
The election season vio-lence rattled a deeply dividednation and prompted ques-tions about whether Trump
should tone done his rhetoric.Trump strongly con-
demned the Pittsburgh attackas an act of anti-Semitism andhas denounced political vio-lence and called for unity.
But with eight days to gobefore the midterm elections,he has continued to hold hispolitical rallies, complete withharsh criticism of Democratsand the media.
At a rally Saturday night,Trump was somewhat mutedbut still offered his standardcampaign attack lines, includ-ing citing Hillary Clinton andRep Maxine Waters, both ofwhom were targeted in thebomb plot.
On Twitter on Sunday, hesavaged billionaire business-man Tom Steyer, another tar-get of the mail bombs. AP
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Sao Paulo: In some of his firstwords to the nation as presi-dent-elect, far-right politicianJair Bolsonaro has promised todefend the constitution andunite a bitterly divided popu-lace.
His left-wing rival imme-diately vowed to mount a vig-orous opposition, while rightsgroups warned against a roll-back of civil liberties.
That juxtaposition under-scored that the end of the elec-tion was not the end of acri-mony and that myriad chal-lenges lay ahead for LatinAmerica’s largest nation.
Bolsonaro appeared to tryto allay those concerns Sundaynight, saying he would “pacify”Brazil following a race thatrevealed deep divisions and wasrepeatedly marred by violence.
The candidate himself wasstabbed and almost died whilecampaigning in earlySeptember, and there werenumerous reports of political-ly motivated violence, espe-cially directed at gay people.
“This country belongs toall of us, Brazilians by birth orby heart, a Brazil of diverseopinions, colors and orienta-tions,” he said, reading off asheet of paper in a live televi-sion address. AP
Geneva: Exposure to toxic airboth indoors and out killssome 6,00,000 children underthe age of 15 each year, theWorld Health Organisationwarned on Monday.
Data from the UN healthbody shows that every day, 93percent of children under theage of 15 — a full 1.8 billionyoungsters, including 630 mil-lion under the age of five —breath dangerously pollutedair. This has tragic conse-quences: In 2016 alone, some600,000 children died fromacute lower respiratory infec-
tions caused by polluted air, theWHO report found.
“Polluted air is poisoningmillions of children and ruin-ing their lives,” WHO chiefTedros Adhanom Ghebreyesussaid in a statement.
“This is inexcusable. Everychild should be able to breatheclean air so they can grow andfulfil their full potential.”
According to WHO data,more than nine out of 10 peo-ple on the planet breath dan-gerously toxic air, causing someseven million premature deathseach year. AFP
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Britain’s Treasury chief willsplash out on health ser-
vices in a spending plan to beannounced on Monday, sig-nalling the easing of eight yearsof austerity — Brexit permit-ting.
Philip Hammond is set topledge 2 billion pounds (USD2.5 billion) more for mentalhealth services as he delivers hisfinal budget before the countryleaves the European Union, hisoffice said.
In advance of the presen-tation, he told the BBC he alsointends to increase NationalHealth Service funding by 20billion pounds a year by 2023.
assumed charge as Sri Lanka’snew Prime Minister even asdefiant Ranil Wickremesingheasserted that he still com-mands the majority in parlia-ment amid warning by theSpeaker that there could be“bloodbath” on the streets if thepolitical crisis is not resolvedimmediately.
Rajapaksa assumed theduties in the prime minister’ssecretariat which was not usedby the ousted Prime MinisterWickremesinghe.
President MaithripalaSirisena’s new Cabinet was alsosworn in and Rajapaksa wasnamed the new minister offinance and economic affairs.
The new Cabinet was lim-ited to just 12 ministers, oneminister of state and onedeputy minister. Among the
new ministers, three belongedto the ousted Wickremesinghe’sUnited National Party (UNP)who have defected.
The rest of the ministersare from Sirisena’s previousCabinet with Wickremesinghewho have been given sameportfolios which they had han-dled under the unity govern-ment.
One new addition is fromthe northern district of Jaffna,Douglas Devananda, a Tamilwho has been named theMinister of Resettlement,Rehabilitation, NorthernDevelopment and HinduReligious Affairs.
Devananda while in oppo-sition had backedWickremesinghe during theno trust motion in April whichWickremesinghe won to retainhis premiership with supportcoming from Tamil andMuslim minority parties.
Arumugam Thondaman,
representing the Tamils ofIndian origin from central teaplantations, has been namedthe minister of Hill CountryDevelopment.
President Sirisena onFriday night sackedWickremesinghe and appoint-ed Rajapaksa as the new primeminister in a surprise move thatis being debated as a constitu-tional coup.
Sirisena also suspendedparliament till November 16after Wickremesinghe soughtan emergency session to provehis majority.
Sri Lankan parliamentSpeaker Karu Jayasuriya haswarned that there could be“bloodbath” as some peoplewere trying to resolve a powerstruggle between the presidentand his ousted premier on thestreets. Addressing reporters inKandy, Jayasuriya said the issueshould be resolved insideParliament.
She burst upon our screen as thecomplete antithesis of contemporary
heroines. She was strong yet vulnerable.She could be rescued by the hero but wasalso capable of rescuing him right back.She was dusky when that singularattribute could push you into Bollywoodoblivion. When one spoke of ChitrangdaSingh or Geeta Rao, the character thatshe played in Hazaaron KhwaisheinAisi, she was as flesh and blood and con-temporary as any other woman could be.But just like a shooting star, Chitrangdadisappeared, as troubles in her marital lifedominated.
She turned producer with Soormarecently, appeared in an item in Gabbaris Back and is now seen in Baazaar whichreleased this Friday to rave reviewswhere she plays, Mandira Ben who ismarried to Shakun Kothari, the charac-ter played by Saif Ali Khan. “I am ahome-maker, married to this man whois ambitious as hell and trying to be aspowerful as much as possible. She comes
from a rich family and is nota career person as opposed tothe others in the film. She isalmost like the conscience ofthe film as she is the purestcharacter,” says Chitrangdadressed in a black dresswhich has some elementsof bling. She elaboratesthat her take on life, ambi-tion and power is very dif-ferent from the others.“She is trying to hold on tothis man and bring him backfrom this game that he has got intobut eventually gets sucked into it andhow it affects their marriage and rela-tionships,” she adds.
Coming to the #MeToo movementand the way it has affected the indus-try, she recalls one of her earliermovies, Inkaar which released in2012 and grappled with the issue ofharassment. “Everything that Ihave done has come too early,
no?,” she says and laughs throwingher head back and goes on to add,“Bad timing. At that time Iremember having this discussionwhen Sudhir (Mishra, the direc-tor) got in some people very high
up from a leading ad agency.One of them discussed so
many similar real-lifesituations. The forms
of harassment arenot always obvi-
ous. Even in themovie, we did-
n’t want it to bein your face. The
mental pressure thatyou are put to and the
professional setbacks thatyou possibly have for not giv-ing in are immense. A womanhas to work harder to proveherself. What I really likedabout the film was that it wason that thin line and was sowell-balanced.”
In real l ife too,Chitrangda took a standwhich cost her a movie. Sheleft the shoot ofBabumoshai Bandukbaaz,
midway as there was discrep-ancy between the way it was scriptedand the way the film’s director KushanNandy wanted to shoot it. “It was writ-ten that they make passionate love.What is your interpretation of thatyou have to tell me beforehand. If youdon’t, you can’t try and get away withanything on the set by pushing meinto it because we are there andshooting. The language that he used,the way he behaved and shouted at me
was unacceptable. He was so livid thathe was shaking with anger. I think Iam someone who can keep myselftogether quite a bit but I was crying.The worst part was that it didn’t mat-ter to anyone. That’s not the way Iwould like to be treated,” she saysrecalling the time. She preferred towalk out lost out on a film. “Sadly, notmany people took a stand. What I did-n’t like was that during film promo-tions, Nawaz laughed and joked aboutme not wanting to kiss a dark com-plexioned man. I used to get these hatetweets from his fans saying that Irefused to kiss him because he wasdark. He went on to say on a radiostation that, Humne to do do baarmaze le liye. (I enjoyed myself twice).Somewhere you feel that just not sen-sitive about what the other person isgoing through. But the actual personwho did it was not Nawaz so you can-not take his name in that sense. It isnot fair.”
She does agree that harassment wasrampant in the industry and she didhear about it often. “I’ve been fortunateenough not to go through a really hor-rendous experience. But I heard aboutit all the time. Sometimes I got a senseof what was expected out of me so Iwould take a step back,” she says.
But was it because of her stand thatshe isn’t seen as often? “Nobody is mak-ing films like Hazaaron... or maybe theyno longer think of me when they makefilms like that. And I have been awayfor fits and starts every time. I supposethis affected my work. Other thanthat… ,” she trails off and shrugs whileleaving whatever is on her mind unsaid.
However, Chitrangda has upped
her game in an altogether differentdirection. “As a producer you are look-ing at things differently. It is a muchlonger process. You are trying to get theright people together which is a muchlonger process. You can’t pick up thephone and say acha chalo ye karte hain.It takes a long time for film to comeas a producer. As an actor you aremostly concerned about your vans andyour role. It is different as you are con-fined to yourself. But production is alot more satisfying. You see it comingto life from baby steps. I made a threeminute presentation pitch and thenwrote out those 30 pages and then youfinally have the film. I think theamount that I learnt in those two anda half years, I wouldn’t have otherwise.Also, there is more respect for produc-ers,” she says.
Having taken up something new,she is ready to venture further intounchartered territory. She is readingsome interesting scripts for digital con-tent. “The kind of production valuesand the writing that is done is great.Everything has improved — the con-tent, writing and the directors onboard running the show. It is a greatplace to be in.”
On another note, she is happyabout the way the industry is chang-ing. “It is moving in the right direction.Having superstars on board is nolonger a guarantee of a film doing well.I am so happy the audience havechanged. They want good content andthey have really evolved so all credit tothem. This has to do with the interna-tional exposure which has made all thedifference,” she says as she hopes some-thing similar comes her way as well.
Bird Of Dusk, a docu-featurebased on the life story of lateNational Award-winning
Bengali filmmaker RituparnoGhosh, offered an absorbing expe-rience to the audience during itsIndia premiere at the 20th MAMIMumbai Film Festival with Star.
The movie left the audienceemotional about the filmmaker’spersonal journey.
Directed by Sangeeta Datta, thedocu-feature captures Ghosh’stransformation from the copy-writer of an ad agency to a cultur-al and fashion icon of Bengal withhis celebrated films. The movieincludes several interviews of actorslike Nandita Das, Sharmila Tagore,Arjun Rampal, Aparna Sen,Konkona Sen Sharma along withcinematographers, and other film-makers who had a long associationwith Ghosh.
Ghosh’s personal creative jour-ney touched the audience, andmany budding filmmakers andyoungsters regretted not knowingGhosh and his contributions to theIndian cinema, well enough.
A 19-year-old viewer said, “Iloved this documentary and now Icannot wait to binge watch
Rituparno Ghosh’s films.Unfortunately, I had not muchidea about his personality, thoughI have watched some of his worklike Chokher Bali.”
The docu-feature also showsGhosh’s transformation from being
a man to coming out of the closetas one of the third gender. Dattahad worked closely as an associatedirector with Ghosh.
Asked if she had any conversa-tion to know Ghosh’s opinion onthe third gender and his frame of
mind after coming out of the clos-et, she said, “There was a time whena number of his friends stood backwhen he started experimentingwith his own body. We knew thathe was diabetic and such an oper-ation would be risky for his body,which eventually turned out lethal.
“During Chitrangda (a film inwhich Ghosh acted), he talkedabout the possibility of changefrom male to female and thenexplaining that it is not that simple,from one gender to another, but itis about androgyny. In fact, we hadseveral conversations on androgy-ny. Ritu would ask me, ‘What is it?’and I would explain how I interpretthe concept of Ardhnarishwar,which has a reference in our ancienttext. Yet, our society will not acceptthat concept,” she said.
That was an emotionally darktime for Ghosh.
Dutta said, “At one point, a larg-er group felt laid down because Ritudid not go through sex reassign-ment surgery and that remains atopic of conversation in the Bengalifilm industry. The question washanging on if Ritu is a man or awoman... but Ritu did not answerany of them.” E��"$
Food that is as different fromthe mainstream north
Indian cuisine as much as pos-sible. Then there are the silks— extremely durable and hasa natural yellowish-golden tintwith a shimmering, glossy tex-ture. Earlier, it was reserved forthe use of royalty. The secondis a woolly white silk, which isoften referred to as the fabricof peace as it is processedwithout killing the silkworm.The offerings are as unique asthey are diverse. So not surpris-ingly, the sixth edition of theNorth East Festival had visitorsfrom the capital queuing up.
And it was not curiositythat got them here to have adekko. The food-stall owners,weavers and first time entrepre-neurs were elated by theresponse to the three-day cul-tural extravaganza. Not onlydid their crafts, foods andartefacts get an internationalrecognition but it also gavethem their due credit in thedomestic and internationalmarket. It has also opened thedoors to collaborate with sev-eral well-known names.
Entrepreneur SushantPhukan earned �1,80,000, thistime around, the highest in thethree years since he has beenputting up his textile stall.Most of his wares found inter-national buyers. He deals withNorth Eastern fabrics includ-ing cotton, Muga and Eri silk,which he mixes to get a finetexture. “This time the businessis better than previous years.Last year, people just looked atthe products. This time theyare aware about the products,so they are confident to pickthem,” he said.
Not just the products eventhe food is finding takersamong the audience. Most ofthe specialities got over muchbefore the day ended. EthnicKitchen, and Assam specialitycuisine restaurant has beenselling non-vegetarian itemslike fried pork, chicken andvegetarian ones like paneer,chole and daal. Its owner,Hemanka Gogoi, said he did-n’t expect a turnover of�3,50,000 in three days.
“We are happy that peoplehave discovered a taste for ourfood. It’s not only the peoplefrom North East, craving for ataste of home, but even NorthIndians who are enjoying. Oneof the couples complimentedus saying that they haven’teaten a tastier pork gravy intheir lifetime,” Gogoi said.
It’s not only Assamesecuisines or crafts which were ahit among the festival-goers butalso the food from Meghalaya,Sikkim and Tripura. A first-time stall owner, DavidsonShangpliang from Shillong wasamazed at the reception thathis Khasi food received. “I didnot expect that Khasi foodwould be in demand. We didnot anticipate that there wouldbe so many people lining up.We lacked adequate manpow-er of just five people whomanaged everything. But wedidn’t fare too badly. We earnedmore than �75,000,” he said.
Debutant Juhaal, an onlineauthentic Assamese kitchenproduct and ready-to-cookfood items, too registered itspresence with the shop thatthey had put up to showcasetheir items. “We are very happyas our launch took place theway we expected it to. We gota really good response from thebuyers. We will get to work onour drawbacks. So far, we havesold items worth �2,25,000 inthree days. It was a good expo-sure,” said co-owners OlenkaDilip and Krishnazina Thakur.
Interestingly, collabora-tions too were forged at the fes-tival. The Sikkim food stallRomaroo, for instance, wasapproached by a Delhi foodjoint. “We used organic ingre-dients from Sikkim to give cus-tomers authentic food. Our selroti, pork momo and gundrukpickle are the best selling prod-ucts. We couldn’t accept thedeal received from a Delhirestaurant as we didn’t want tochange our base,” said TikaSharma, owner.
Shyamkanu Mahanta, chieforganiser of festival, is glad thatthe fest has given exposure tothe budding entrepreneurs.“We haven’t charged a singlepenny from the stall owners. Iam glad that they had a goodbusiness here. I wish themluck,” he said.
From meaty kebabs, prettydesserts, scrumptious rolls, spicychaat, to even ice-cream shakes,boozy fruit drinks, they have it all.And it’s not just restaurants or cafesthat offer such delicacies today.Courtesy to many food festivalswhich are ruling the hearts and arenow perhaps as many as the num-ber of winter days.
The evolution of these food fes-tivals over the years is captivating.Not just big and established brandsbut the startup food outlets too aremaking their way to these. Some ofthe most favoured food fests likeGrub Fest, ELP (Eat.Love.Party)Food Fest, Horn Ok Please, havetheir own speciality and genre ofvisitors. While Grub fest is moreabout disparate restaurants andmusic bands, Horn Ok Please is anultimate one-stop-shop for all thestreet food lovers. It’s not necessarythat people who will visit ELP willtrudge down to the other festivalsas well. However, those who pro-claim to be foodies, it is simply thecase of more the merrier.
Jai Manish Sharma, organiserof ELP fest says, “People haveadapted new terminologies andhave become more experimentalwhen it comes to food. They pre-
fer something new every time inorder to please their taste buds. Ithink food fests are not only forsavouring delicacies and signaturedishes, rather they have become amajor source of entertainment.
“We try to do innovationsevery year. This time, instead of get-ting only well-known artists to per-form, we have planned to go to var-ious colleges and get bud-ding artists from thereto perform. This isbasically to providethem a bigger plat-form so that theycan showcasetheir talent to awider audience.These kind ofadditions engagesthe audience morethan just givingthem palatable experi-ence.”
He adds, “I don’t thinkthere’s a better platform than a foodfestival for the newer brands to pro-mote their outlets. It’s out an outpromotion plus one gets to actual-ly make people taste your food. Theaudience gets the whole touch andfeel factor of a new brand.”
Jai feels that food fests are also
a great reach for brands who arelooking to expand in the areas thathaven’t been tapped yet.
It becomes a research activityfor them as they get to see the typeof crowd, whether their brand fitsin well or not and if their food andconcept would be welcomed.
Bhavya Anand, who is one ofthe organisers of Horn Ok Please
says, “Going back in time,food festivals used to
be more of gov-ernment-drivenfests. Now thesefests accommo-date all kindsof cuisines, forall of agegroups. Itcaters to a big-
ger market.Festivals like these
play a vital role inadding to the food
industry as they are the rea-son for promoting and helpingsmall outlets and startups to getthemselves established. Startupsdon’t have resources to marketthemselves, and these fests helpthem do just that.”
He feels there is so much ofbrand exposure that small ventures
get a great chance to showcase theirculinary skills in front of the wideaudience.
Organiser of the Grub Fest,Aman Kumar says, “Other than justfood, fests like these have variousother sections where the visitorscan have a great time. We kept aselective and a closed audience fora masterclass this time for the ulti-mate foodies who not only love toeat but also aspire to be mas-terchefs. They could learn the sig-nature cuisines from executivechefs of distinguished outlets withlive cooking demonstrations andmasterclass sessions. We also hada carnival zone this time withinteractive games and challengeslike Power Hammer, ShowtownKnockdown, Shoot and Aim, HookA Duck.”
So food festivals aren’t justabout a weekend to devour deli-cious food, even though that isunquestionably one of the bestthings about them.
These festivals are all packedwith various workshops and enter-taining events. What makes suchfestivals even more special andinteresting is that they provideequal opportunity to the newerbrands.
Imagine discovering a size nine PeterLord shoe box full of images captur-ing life in India a century ago in one
of Scotland’s national collections. CuratorOmar Khan stumbled upon such a post-card from a collection called WomenBaking Bread. These postcards from theBritish Raj come with exotic tales.
Opened at Art Heritage, Globetrotters,Early Postcards from the IndianSubcontinent, from the prestigious AlkaziFoundation, are a selection of picturepostcards that capture the many moodsand nuances of a country under a foreignyoke in the years leading toIndependence.
The exhibition has a representationof the Presidency states of Bengal andMadras, also Delhi, Agra and Bengaluru,and covers the larger South Asian ambitof postcards in Ceylon.
One section is devoted to images ofMumbai (erstwhile Bombay), seen notonly in the cityscapes and elite commu-nities but also the mythological, allegor-ical works of Ravi Varma, who foundeda press just outside the city. Another sec-tion explores popular images from Delhiand the hill stations (Shimla, Ooty) andKashmir, and concludes with imagesfrom the Independence movement.
CULTURE AND CUSTOMSThe show encompasses key themes
important to postcard publishing. Itstraddles religion, dancers, teas andsoaps, famines, fakirs, humour, warfareand the role of postcards in theIndependence movement. It presentsstories of the first postcard publishers ofthe sub-continent between 1892 and1947, most of whose images have notbeen seen since they were published acentury ago.
VICTORIA MEMORIAL TERMINALAND CASHMERE GATE
Monochromatic and magnificent isthe Clifton & Co postcard of VictoriaMemorial Terminal with a note writtenin 1903. The Chhatrapati ShivajiTerminus, formerly known as VictoriaTerminus Station, in Mumbai, is an out-standing example of Victorian Gothic
revival architecture in India, blended withthemes deriving from Indian traditionalarchitecture. The building, designed bythe British architect FW Stevens, becamethe symbol of Bombay as the “GothicCity” and the major international mer-cantile port of India. Built over 10 years,starting in 1878, according to highVictorian Gothic design based on latemedieval Italian models, its architectur-al detailing of remarkable stone dome,turrets, pointed arches and eccentricground plan is close to traditional Indianpalace architecture. It exemplifies theblending of two cultures, of brilliantBritish architects working with Indiancraftsmen to include Indian architectur-al tradition and idioms, thus forging anew style unique to Bombay.
Yet another beauty is Cashmere Gate.It reminds us of the Moghuls and theirarchitecture, it also reminds us of mon-uments touched by the ravages of time.This monochromatic image with hints ofgreen foliage stands as a residue of its glo-
rious past. Delhi used to be enclosed byhigh walls; had 14 gates as entry and exitpoints from different directions.
MEN AND WOMENA number of postcards depicting men
and women becomes an emphasis that hasvast narrative possibilities of this deceptive-ly elementary medium. The diversity ofindividuals represented speak clearly tothis. The telegraph person’s attire, the sarisworn by Parsi women, the cast of charac-ters sitting in a group, and the people punc-tuating a street scene. There are no detailsbut there are specifics of cultural ethos anda certain lighter hint of the brown skins.
The Parsi lady sitting at a Singersewing machine with another bejewelledwoman watching her sewing is a charm-ing image of candour and caprice. Thenthere is a black and white image of school-girls from Madras and yet another capti-vating image of Hindu girls of that peri-od. It was interesting to see the flounces intheir blouses, some short with a baremidriff and some longer. The settingseems Maharashtrian by the look of theway they have worn their sarees but whatis even more intriguing is the manner inwhich they are all engrossed and wrapt inconversation.
Omar Khan as a curator affirms thetruth that postcards being circulatedamong the masses over time became a formof knowledge dissemination, as they pro-jected images of prosperity, poverty anddegrees of power that lay within andwithout among common people.
While we are looking atvignettes of everyday lives, we arealso looking at images fromcolonies as it were. Each citybelongs to an album of mem-ories, and you walk away withnostalgia writ large.
(Globetrotters, EarlyPostcards from the IndianSubcontinent runs till November17, 2018)
The sea’s immeasurable coastline, sky-scraping mountains, the ever floating
clouds, the dark blue night sky, the petalsof ethereal roses and the golden forests...the intricacies of the changing naturescapecome to the fore on the canvas of artistHeerina Misra.
Using various pigments, mica powder,metals, acrylic and even shells, the artist’sresin paintings are a tribute to the flora,fauna, the sea and natural mineral forma-tions from the beginning of creation. Andto highlight the ebb and flow of life, shehas created her own wave lashes on thewhiteboard wood canvas. She adds corals,fresh water pearls and shells to work in abeach-like texture, the sand her preferredmetaphor for the end of a creative process.Striking a difference between resin paint-ings and oil paintings, she explains howother kinds of art don’t require spontane-ity or even any kind of time constraint,unlike resins, which are much more dif-ficult and challenging. “For oil paintings,one can spend hours, days and weeksworking on it and completing the samepainting. One can redo some parts whichare not painted properly.”
But in case of resin, she adds, “thestructuring work needs to be
done within 20-30 minutesof beginning. Given its
level of spontaneity,it’s extremely diffi-cult. One has towork with large can-vasses and small sec-tions at a time andwork on it for nine to
10 hours at a stretch.With normal paint-
ings, I can put my brushdown and go for a break.
Resins don’t require brushes.Two or more colours are mixed togeth-er in a cup and then poured on the can-vas. Following that, there is a 20-
minute working time for whatever youwish to do on it as it then starts to spreadacross. And then it cannot be playedaround with any more.”
The artist, who “likes all colours in herpalette,” has used quite a range for her resinpaintings. “I generally use a lot of blues,greens and reds. However, this series hasa lot of black that I’ve never dominantlyused before. I have also used a lot of metal-lic shades and gold to give it a shimmer.”
Lustrous like glass but composition-ally similar to plastic, resin effortlessly pairsform with functionality, giving away a daz-zling crystalline look showcasing the ver-satility of the material. She explains, “It’sa two-part polymer that can be mixedtogether and when it dries out, leaves avery shiny and glossy surface.”
As Misra names her series of paint-ings as Unparalleled Forms, she tells thatit’s because of the impossibility of recre-ation that comes with resin paintings. “Itis a very different form of art that cannotbe recreated. If you see a scene that is cap-tured in your mind, or if you come acrossa beautiful painting, you will try to cre-ate it in your way and may be you succeedin creating a replica of it. But through resin,every painting will look different.”
For Misra, art has to be “evocative.”What’s the point of something that does-n’t even get noticed? “Sometimes you lookat something and just walk past it and noteven notice that it was in the room. Butsometimes there are paintings that juststrike your sight and they really evokesomething in your conscience,” she says.
While we use our smartphones for
networking, the 42-year-old artist used itto browse for resin painting ideas. “It wasover many hours of browsing and learn-ing the ways that I could understand theprocess of resin art,” she says. And whenshe finally could understand its basic func-tionality, she moved to an art school inGermany to “hone my skills.”
As the artist has always been paintingdivine figures on her canvas, she explainsthat it’s the first time that she is display-ing her newly-explored resin art. She ismore drawn towards the abstract natureof resin, relishing the unpredictability ofthe method and ultimately emerging vic-torious to the art’s challenge. “I wanted toexplore the abstract form of art and tomove ahead of the traditional gods andgoddesses.”
She believes that even though she is“mostly a self-taught artist when it comesto resin,” it was only in Germany that shecould understand well about what mate-rials she would require for her paintings.
Her art practice brought her closer toGerman art cultures. She found out thatresin art is not very prevalent in India andthat “Germany is far ahead. The right typeof material isn’t even available in the coun-try. In fact, this is one of the first exhibi-tions in the city for resin paintings.”
There isn’t any particular lens shewants her art to be seen through. She givesan example of one of her paintings,which people sometimes infer as LordKrishna’s Morpankh or peacock’s feather.“Sometimes they see it as just another pat-tern reflecting the cosmic waves and irreg-ular oceanic patterns.”
Explaining few of her paintings, shetalks about Eye of the Tiger, which is “basi-cally the last thing that the hunter seesbefore he kills it.” The other one isGolkonda that has many textures showingmountains and layers of earth, with a goldand silver foiling on its top. The next inline is Sapphires, which is highly inspiredby the geo formations, and they are foundunder the rocks and mines. The paintinghas blue textures with shimmery goldenlines on the top. While Bed of Roses show-cases a number of red spots with goldensprinkles on their head, Diamonds in theSky is inspired by constellations. One ofthe most striking paintings is NewZealand, that makes one go back to won-dering about how a squirrel got its stripes.The only difference is of its colour — blue— with shells and pearls at the bottom ofthe white canvas.
Lessons learnt well are never forgot-ten. There is one that Misra never forgetswhen it comes to understanding about art.“I believe that all art begins with imitationand ends with innovation. Every artist firstcopies from his/her teacher and tries tomake something exactly like that. Andthen when he gets the concept, he startsinnovating it.”
(The show, curated by Payal Kapoor,is on display till November 15 at ArushiArts, Greater Kailash II.)
An energetic drummer got onthe stage with an ensemble of
musicians from Iran, Spain,Reunion Island - and fromRajasthan in India - to set on a col-laboration in pairs and in quartets.The occasion was the finale of theannual Jodhpur RIFF — and themusicians awed the gathering withwhat they laid forth in themoments that followed.
People in the audience were allset as the stage of the city’s annu-al Rajasthan International FolkFestival (RIFF) was soon to presentthe most sought after event of thefestival — “RIFF Rustle”, which isnothing short of magic.
The Jodhpur RIFF had itsfinale stretching from enthusiasticnight-time revelries like rustle atthe majestic Mehrangarh Fort tofinally concluding at the dawn con-cert with the recital of thumri anddadra by Hindustani classicalsinger Vidya Rao against the back-drop of a temple at Jaswant Thada.
The annual folk music anddance festival has a tradition ofholding a large collaboration eventwhere one artist, referred to as the“rustler”, gathers others to performtogether. At its 11th edition,Australian drummer GenePeterson curated the set.
The line-up of artists for thefestival is usually designed bykeeping the tastes of a variety ofaudiences in mind, fusion is cer-tainly their forte. So, the muchanticipated rustle had Iraniansounds and their instrument tar
fused with Peterson’s drums andshowcase of human beatboxing byhis very talented companion fromAustralia Tom Thum. Thum con-tinued his incredible technique ofvocal percussion using his mouth,lips, tongue, and voice to resonatewith the voice of the Iranian artistMakan Ashgvari.
Then came Spanish girls OlaiaManeiro, Sabela Maneiro and AidaTarrio with their tambourines,accompanied a man on accordionand another one on the guitar tojam with Peterson.
In an earlier performance, thegirls collaborated with theRajasthani men. The two styles res-onated in a way that it didn’t soundlike there were musicians from dif-ferent countries playing two dis-parate kinds of instruments. It wassomething like never heard before.
Post their performance,Festival Director Divya Bhatia, ina conversation with the girls,admitted that in the last 11 yearsof RIFF, this was the first time thata band with female leads fusedwith the Rajasthani musicianswith instruments like Khartaal,
Kamaicha, Morchang, andSaarangi among others.
The rustle had TilounRamoune from Reunion Islandalong with his band members ondrums and Congo collaboratingwith Rajasthani dhol players.
Towards the end, the audiencewitnessed a fantastic jugalbandibetween the Australian men andthose from Rajasthan, which goteverybody on the floor moving andgrooving. The audience got numb
when Thum did beatboxing wherehe presented a glimpse of musicfrom parts of the world.
Earlier in the day, Australianband Bush Gothic, performedtheir unique oeuvre of sung-stories.Defiantly modern but achinglyold, this daring band fromMelbourne performed songs ofcriminal women and desperatemen from an era of transportation,adventure and gold.
A unique Welsh-Indian collab-
oration that began at RIFF in2017 came back this year in a newformat — story teller AngharadWynne and composer, singer-songwriter Gwilym Morus-Bairdcreated a tapestry of story and songtogether with classical Sufi singerSmita Bellur, master kamaichaplayer Dharra Khan Manganiyarand others.
The annual Jodhpur RIFF hascarved a niched for itself in theIndian music space, and aims togive back to the society by involv-ing local musicians in workshops,seminars and residencies, wherethey are trained by the masters andare provided with musical instru-ments.
Unlike most other culturalfestivals in India, the JodhpurRIFF does not run on the sponsor-ships but is a joint initiative of theMehrangarh Museum Trust, JohnSingh and Jaipur VirasatFoundation. The festival has beenpreviously endorsed by UNESCOas a “People’s Platform forCreativity and SustainableDevelopment.”
Timed every year to coincidewith the “Sharad Purnima”, thebrightest full moon of the year innorth India, Jodhpur RIFF featuresa series of spectacular concerts andevents based in and aroundMehrangarh Fort.
(The 11th edition of the festi-val that brought to fore an eclec-tic mix of roots musicians was heldfrom October 24-28.)
Lewis Hamilton claimed hisfifth drivers' world champi-onship to draw level with
Juan Manuel Fangio in theFormula One record books whenhe finished fourth behind a vic-torious Max Verstappen in theMexican Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton claimed hisfifth drivers' world championshipto draw level with Juan ManuelFangio in the Formula Onerecord books when he finishedfourth behind a victorious MaxVerstappen in the Mexican GrandPrix.
Hamilton's success - the thirdtime he has taken the title with-out finishing on the race podium- elevated him to a supreme clubalongside Fangio with only seven-time champion MichaelSchumacher ahead of him.
He was adding the 2018crown to his championship winsin 2008, 2014, 2015 and 2017.
The 33-year-old Briton's onlyremaining championship rivalSebastian Vettel of Ferrari, whoneeded a victory, with Hamiltonoutside the top seven, to keep hishopes alive, finished second onSunday.
He celebrated by executing'doughnut' wheel spins for thecheering crowd before leap-ing out of his car and intothe arms of his team.
After being congratu-lated by Vettel,Hamilton said: "It's avery strange feelingright now."
After survivingwhat turned into abattle of attrition atthe AutodromoHermanos Rodriguezhe added: "It was a hor-rible race... I really don'tknow what happened.
"We were strugglingboth Valtteri (Bottas) and Iand we had to just hang onand bring the car home.
��������F"I've been with Mercedes
since I was 13 and to completethis, when Fangio had done itwith Mercedes, is an incredi-ble feeling and it is very surrealto me at the moment.
"I just feel very very humble,of course I dreamed about this butI never thought I'd be standinghere as a five-time champion."
Four-time champion Vettelheaped praise on his rival.
"It is not easy today but welldeserved for him and I want tocongratulate Lewis. They did asuperb job all year. We need tostand there, accept that and sendcongratulations. We would haveliked to have hung in therelonger, but it was not to be."
Reflecting on his seasonHamilton added: "It has been thetoughest year physically, mental-ly and personally with everything
I'm committed to, but I haveamazing support.
"Mercedes and my team have
just been the most incredible unitand worked to raise the bar. In mymind it is just another day offighting and I have more races towin, it is not over.
"In my mind I have to work,go to the brief and try to win inBrazil.
Hamilton, who started thirdon the grid, strug-gled with chronictyre-wear aftermaking a strong
start in his Mercedesand settled for a cau-
tious cruise to the titlewithout a podium fin-
ish.Max, upstaged by his
Red Bull team-mate DanielRicciardo in qualifying onSaturday, came home17.108 seconds ahead ofVettel after the lucklessAustralian pole-sitterretired with nine lapsremaining.
"I didn't sleep verywell last night," saidVerstappen.
"I was very deter-mined to win and we'vedone that - we had theright tyres and the car wasworking very well... "It wasa shame to lose Daniel. Wewanted two of us on thepodium.
A puff of smoke sig-nalled an engine failure
and his eighth 'Did Not Finish'(DNF) of the season while his 21-year-old Dutch tyro team-matesecured a repeat of his 2017 tri-umph, his second win this seasonand the fifth of his career.
Vettel's Ferrari team-mateKimi Raikkonen came homethird ahead of Hamilton and hisMercedes team-mate ValtteriBottas. Nico Hulkenberg wassixth for Renault ahead of CharlesLeclerc of Sauber, StoffelVandoorne of McLaren, MarcusEricsson in the second Sauberand Pierre Gasly of Toro Rosso.
For Ferrari, it was a first dou-ble podium success in Mexicosince 1990 with Alain Prost andNigel Mansell.
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Divij Sharan on Monday became India's new number one doublesplayer, overtaking veteran Rohan Bopanna by moving to 38 in
the latest ATP rankings.The left-handed Sharan, who has been one of the most consis-
tent players on the doubles circuit with partner Artem Sitak, has heldthe numero uno position in the country for the first time in his career.
Bopanna dropped nine places to 39 while Leander Paes gainedtwo places to be 60 in the world now.
Another consistent player Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan touched acareer-high rank of 72 with a jump of three places.
"It feels pretty amazing to have become the highest ranked play-er in India today. It's not easy by any means with Mahesh, Leanderand Rohan having dominated the doubles circuit for the last coupleof decades but they have carved the path and set the trend for the restof us," the 32-year-old Sharan said.
"We have had as many as seven play-ers from India ranked in the top 100 thisyear which is impressive. Personally it'sbeen another positive year for me whereI was able to achieve my best ranking of36 and win a Gold medal for India at theAsian Games," he said.
Sharan has won only one Challengerthis season but reaching the Wimbledonquarterfinals was the highlight of the 2018season for him. He also reached semifi-nal stage of various ATP 250 tournamentsthis year.
In the singles, Yuki Bhambri dropped a place to 108 and was fol-lowed by Ramkumar Ramanathan (121, +3), Prajnesh Gunneswaran(142, +4) and Sumit Nagal (311, +1).
In the WTA charts, Ankita Raina remains India's lone singles play-er in the top-200 at number 197. Karman Kaur Thandi, who endedrunner-up at Nanning on Sunday, was static at 215. Her points fromNanning will be added next week.
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Lewis Hamilton on Monday deflected all sug-gestions that he might be the greatest
Formula One driver of all time, saying thatseven-time champion Michael Schumacherremains the man who most deserves that label.
The 33-year-old Briton, who on Sundayclinched his fifth drivers' title when he finishedfourth for Mercedes in the Mexican Grand Prix,rejected consideration of himself as the great-est in history, citing his father Anthony'smantra to "do your talking on the track."
Hamilton's achievement drewhim level with the sport's 'godfather'Juan Manuel Fangio on five titleswith only German Schumacherahead on seven. Schumacher, with91, also has more race victories,another target for Hamilton during the tworemaining years of his current Mercedes con-tract.
But the Englishman put such statisticalambitions into a distant perspective when headopted a modest role on his own triumphantcareer.
"Firstly, I could never personally classifymyself as the best," said Hamilton.
"Obviously, within myself, I know my abil-ities and where I stand, but ultimately, as mydad always told me since I was eight years old— he said 'do your talking on the track'.
"So I just try to let my results and the resultsfrom the things that I do outside of my sport,
hopefully, also contribute to that. So people canhopefully create a decent opinion.
"But Michael's still quite far ahead in racewins so you have to say he is still the GOAT(greatest of all time)."
Discussion of Hamilton's standing in theexclusive club of the sport's multiple champi-ons had started in earnest before he overcamechronic tyre-wear problems to secure hisfifth title at the Autodromo HermanosRodriguez.
Canadian Jacques Villeneuve, the 1997champion, said that he felt the way in which
Hamilton had succeeded throughouthis career put him way "miles" clearof Schumacher in the evaluation ofthe greats.
Villeneuve said thatSchumacher's career had been
accompanied by "too many negative stories -too many question marks on how some racesor championships were won. And being a greatchampion is about more than just winningraces."
He added that Hamilton, despite some crit-icism of his private lifestyle, had risen withoutany such negativity.
"You can like, or not, the way he is in life,but there's nothing nasty or negative with it.There's nothing nasty towards his opponents.There's respect.
"There's no question mark on 'Is he cheat-ing or not? Has he been dirty?' That makes abig difference."
India embarrassed the WestIndies by 224 runs in the fourthOne-day International here
Monday for one of their biggest winsand a 2-1 lead in the five-matchseries.
Rohit Sharma (162) and AmbatiRayudu (100) struck brilliant cen-turies to guide India to an imposing377 for five after the hosts opted tobat.
The duo took centre stage aftera rare failure by skipper Virat Kohli.
Rohit's 21st century came off137 balls with the help of 20 foursand four hits over the fence, whileRayudu decorated his 100-runknock with eight boundaries andfour sixes.
Chasing 378, West Indies sim-ply caved in against India's clinicalbowling attack on what was a bat-ting-friendly wicket to be bundledout for a paltry 153 in 36.2 overs.
Young pacer Khaleel Ahmed(3/13) impressed upfront beforechinaman Kuldeep Yadav (3/42))ran through the West Indies' tail.
The Indians dished out animpressive effort on the field, inflict-ing two run outs besides Rohit hold-ing onto three fine catches in theslips.
This is India's third biggest winin the format. Their biggest-ever winin ODI remains the 257-run demo-lition of Bermuda in the 2007 ICC
World Cup.West Indies' chase never really
got going as they lost half of theirside inside the 50-run mark withKhaleel doing the bulk of the dam-age.
Except for skipper Jason Holder(54 not out), no other West Indianbatsmen could withstand the Indianattack, as the visitors lost wickets atregular intervals and were neverreally in the hunt.
West Indies lost two wickets —Chandrapul Hemraj (14) and Shai
Hope (0) — in the fifth over. WhileHemraj gave a sitter to Rayadu offBhuvaneshwar Kumar, Hope wasrun out courtesy a stunning directhit by Kuldeep from mid-on.
Matters became worse for thevisitors after Kieran Powell (4) was
run-out in the very next over byKohli.
Wickets kept tumbling and thenext to be dismissed was ShimronHetymar (13), who was trapped infront by Ahmed in the 10th over,even though the batsman went foran unsuccessful review.
The 20-year-old Ahmed was onfire as he picked up two more wick-ets in quick succession. He firstcleaned up Rovman Powell (1) andthen accounted for Samuels, whoedged one to Rohit in the first slip.
Batting first, India made a quickstart with Rohit and Shikhar
Dhawan (38) and added a run-a-ball71 for the opening stand before thelatter pulled a Keemo Paul shortdelivery straight to Powell at themidwicket boundary.
Kohli, who hit three consecutivetons before Monday's match, playedaggressively for his 16 before edginga Kemar Roach delivery to Hopebehind the stumps.
Rohit and Rayudu held fort andcontinued to play aggressive brandof cricket.
The duo continued theonslaught and made the West Indiesattack look ordinary, picking up
boundaries and sixes at will.After Kohli's dismissal, Rohit,
who had scored a match-winningunbeaten 152 in the lung-opener atGuhawati, and Rayudu built theinnings and in the process shared abreezy 211-run stand for the thirdwicket, which came off just 163deliveries.
Rohit didn't spare a single WestIndian bowler and made his inten-tions clear when he opened theaccount with a boundary over point.
The Mumbaikar initially playedsecond fiddle to Dhawan but afterhis half century, that came off 60balls, he upped the ante.
Rohit displayed all the shots inthe book — the drives, pulls, flicksand cuts — before he departed in the44th over.
Rayadu, on the other hand,took time to settle down, but thenhammered the bowlers with hisexquisite stroke-play — first inRohit's company and then alongsideveteran Mahendra Singh Dhoni(23).
Kedar Jadhav (16) and RavindraJadeja (7) remained unbeaten as thehosts amassed 116 runs in the last10 overs.
India won the first ODI by eightwickets before the second gameended in a tie. West Indies bouncedback to win the third ODI by 43runs. The final match of the serieswill be played inThiruvananthapuram on Thursday.
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