TN RAGHUNATHA n MUMBAI P rime Minister Narendra Modi has indicated that the Government is contem- plating to bring 99 per cent of goods at or under the 18 per cent Goods and Services Tax (GST) slab, while restricting the remaining one per cent of lux- ury items, like aircraft, expen- sive vehicles, liquor and ciga- rettes, to a GST slab above 18 per cent. “I would like to tell you one important thing that we are heading towards a situation wherein we intend to bring 99 per cent of goods at or below the 18 per cent GST slab. We intend to restrict the remaining one per cent of luxury items like the purchase of aircraft, expensive vehicles, liquor and cigarettes to above 18 per cent. Our intention is to make GST as simple as possible. I have already made this suggestion for placement before the next GST Council meeting,” Modi said while addressing the Republic TV summit in Mumbai on Tuesday. The Prime Minister said the GST system has more or less been established in the country and his Government is committed to make the GST conducive to the needs of the common man. “In 2014, 65 lakh entre- preneurs had registered them- selves for the payment of taxes. However, ever since the intro- duction of GST, 55 lakh more entrepreneurs have come under the taxation net,” said the Prime Minister. Alluding to the economic progress made by the country on various fronts, Modi said there was only two mobile manufacturing companies in the country in 2014, the num- ber has now crossed 120 com- panies. Citing another example of “Surging India”, the Prime Minister said as many as 450 aircraft were operational in the country since Independence, but airline com- panies placed orders for pur- chase of a staggering 1,000 aircraft during the last one year itself Modi said auto-rickshaw drivers, vegetable vendors and tea sellers currently use BHIM App and carry debit cards in their pockets. “The country has already tested a Made-in-India engine-less train running at 180 kmph, while the National Waterways has become a real- ity with a ship sailing on the Ganga from Bengal to Benares,” Modi said. “Could anyone think four years ago that India would launch 100 satellites at one go? We are moving ahead with the Gaganyaan Mission. The Gaganyaan Mission of ISRO is intended to take an Indian astronaut into space by 2022,” he said. On the steps taken by his Government to bring eco- nomic offenders, both based within the country and abroad, to justice, Modi made a special mention of the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code, 2016 and the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018, and said the new leg- islations are helping prosecute those who had escaped the clutches of law. He said the eco- nomic fugitives and bank loan defaulters would not be spared. “Our national interest now guides India’s foreign policy. India’s voice is being heard at international forums,” he said. During the course of his day-long visit to Maharashtra, the Prime Minister laid foun- dation stone for upcoming first-ever Metro Corridors in Thane district, launched a housing scheme of 90,000 homes and also performed “bhoomi puja” for Pune Metro Rail Phase-3. After performing ground- breaking ceremony for two metro rail corridors at Kalyan in the neighbouring Thane district, the Prime Minister said by 2024 Mumbai would have 275-km long metro line. Later, while laying the foundation stone for the `8,000-crore Pune Metro-III corridor, Modi said during the past four-and-half years, the Government had constantly laid stress on infrastructure, speed of connectivity through highways, railways, airways, waterways. “No one in the country, whether in villages or cities, wants to remain insulated from the ‘development highway’ which drives the Government to focus on developing and expanding the infrastructure network in the country,” he said. Continued on Page 7 PNS n NEW DELHI B uoyed by the just conclud- ed electoral success, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday vowed to fight for the interest of farmers and said he and other Opposition leaders will not let Prime Minister Narendra Modi sleep until all farm loans are waived, prompting the ruling BJP to describe the Congress president’s remarks as lowest in the country’s public discourse. Speaking on the Parliament premises, Rahul also raised the issue of alleged corruption in the Rafale fighter jet deal and accused the BJP of running away from a debate in Parliament. “We will force a JPC on the Rafale issue. Why are they running away from a debate in Parliament,” he said. Rahul said the Government has turned a blind eye to the loans given to 15 top industrialists of the country, including Reliance’s Anil Ambani, but made no effort to alleviate the woes of the farm- ers in the last four years. “We promised to waive loans in 10 days. In two States (Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh), we did it with- in six hours and we would do it in the third State very soon,” Rahul said talking to the media outside Parliament. He was referring to the Congress’ promises made ahead of the Assembly polls and waiving loans on Monday. Reacting to the Gandhi scion’s onslaught on Modi, the BJP said nothing better can be expected from Rahul, whose party ensured that Indians did not sleep during its 60 years of rule due to rampant corrup- tion. Hitting out at Rahul, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said he should come to Parliament and debate the Rafale issue there. “Friends I am given to understand that Rahul Gandhi today said that he will not allow Prime Minister Narendra Modi to sleep. This is a new low in the public discourse of the country,” Prasad said. Continued on Page 7 PNS n NEW DELHI C ongress veteran Sajjan Kumar on Tuesday resigned from the primary membership of the party citing his conviction in a 1984 anti- Sikh riots case. In a letter to Congress president Rahul Gandhi, the former Member of Parliament said his resignation should be accepted with imme- diate effect, AICC sources said. “I tender my resignation with immediate effect from the primary membership of the Indian National Congress in the wake of the judgment of the honourable High Court of Delhi against me,” Kumar said in the letter to Rahul on Monday. The Delhi High Court on Monday sentenced Kumar to imprisonment for life, the first conviction of a politician in the anti-Sikh riots in 1984 in which more than 2,700 people were killed. Continued on Page 7 PNS n NEW DELHI A lmost two months after 23 Asiatic lions died in Gujarat’s Gir forest following an outbreak of canine distemper virus (CDV), the State lost three more big cats on Monday midnight when they were mowed down by a goods train in Amreli district. Since September, the country has lost 35 lions, including cubs in and around the Gir forest, the only abode of the endangered predators. The rail incident occurred near Borala village in Savarkundla taluka when a pride of six lions was walking along the railway track passing from the village, which is locat- ed near the Gir Forest. The ani- mals were sub-adults in the age group of 1.5-2 years. “A goods train, headed to Pipavav port from Botad, hit three of six lions of the pride during midnight, which led to the death of two lions and a lioness,” said Chief Conservator of Forests, Junagadh wildlife circle, DT Vasavada. He said an enquiry has been ordered by the Gujarat Forest Department. “We will enquire if the train was moving at a high speed which could have led to this unfortunate incident. We will also probe whether the for- est staff or the lion trackers were at fault in discharging their duties. Stringent action will be taken against the guilty,” he added. Continued on Page 7 RAJESH KUMAR n NEW DELHI C able TV consumers will have to shell out more from December 29. As per new directives of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, a consumer will have to pay to choose individual channels, which they want to see. Consumer will need to pay individually for each channel. In other word, current package of cable TV consumers will go ineffective from December 29 and they will have to renew their package under the new tariff regime. According to cable opera- tors, under the new tariff regime, a cable TV consumer’s monthly bill will go up to `400 or `450 per month. If he or she is opting for premium bou- quets, the bill will be over `600-700 per month. Presently, there are 30 crore households in the country. Nearly 19 crore households have TV connections. It is estimated that at least 10 crore have connections provided through cable TV network. Currently, consumers pay a monthly bill of `250-350 for a cable TV connection, which includes sports and regional channels depending on the localities. As per the new tariff struc- ture, a consumer will have to pay up to `130 (plus taxes) for first set of 100 channels, which will be mostly free-to-air (FTA) channels. As of now, Multiple System Operators or MSOs offer you a bundled package of channels. The MSOs such as Tata Sky or DishTV, Airtel, Hathway, SITI, DIGI Cable (INDIA), INDUSIND, DEN, DDC network choose random channels into a package, and offer it to consumers. According to cable TV operators, all the broadcasters have also come up with their own MRP of their channels. The first type of category is “free & cheap” channel package or “basic pack” which will be priced at around `150-200 by most cable players. This “basic pack” will be made out of “free” channels like B4U, Dabang and PTC, supple- mented by the “1-rupee-chan- nels” from big broadcasters like Star, Zee and Sony. Continued on Page 7 SAPNA SINGH n NEW DELHI A t time when the presence of birds is considered a sign of wildlife opulence for any nation, the northern States of India are awaiting the arrival of migratory birds into their habi- tat. Ornithologists working on birds’ navigation have found that since 2017 the arrival of winged guests into the Indian territory has been delayed by at least three months. The delay in arrival of migratory birds has been ascribed to climate change, claimed ornithologists of Delhi University. This means that due to rel- atively more conducive weath- er climate patterns in Russia and other cold countries, migratory birds preferred to stay put in the homeland between August and November. “It is pivotal to understand the behaviour and overseas journeys of the birds. Their early arrival is always a good sign because they play crucial role in the balance of ecology and in large perspective the economy,” an ornithologist said, adding, “The pattern has changed significantly. Earlier they arrived in August or max- imum by September. However, this year is different.” Sharing more interesting facts about the migration route to breeding areas, a Delhi University Professor said the migration route is extended from Narurzum wetlands in northern Kazakhstan, before diverging southwest to the Caspian Sea and southeast to India on journeys that navigate seven nations. “The migration route of these birds takes them over Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and then to the Gangetic basin of north- ern India; much of the journey is hazardous and through dif- ficult terrains,” the ornitholo- gist explained. However, he added a large number of birds have diverted to Rajasthan. When asked about the rea- son, he said good amount of rains in northwestern region is pivotal factor in diverting migratory birds. Continued on Page 7 Will trim GST for masses: PM Working on to bring 99% items in sub-18% slab, says Modi Won’t let Modi sleep till farm loan waived: Rahul BJP terms Cong chief's remarks lowest in nation’s public discourse 3 Asiatic lions mowed down by train in Guj Cable TV to cost you more from Dec 29 Winged guests take rain check on India invite BJP writes off ` 600 cr debt in Assam, ` 650 cr Gujarat rural power bill PNS n GUWAHATI A fter farm loan waiver announced by newly- elected Congress Governments in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the BJP-led Governments of Assam and Gujarat too have decided to write off farm loans and electricity bills of rural users respectively. The BJP-led Government in Gujarat announced it will waive electricity bills of con- nection holders in rural areas to the tune of `650 crore. The Assam Government approved `600-crore farm loan waiver which it said will ben- efit around eight lakh farmers of the State. The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting held on Monday night. According to the Assam Government scheme, it will write off 25 per cent loan of farmers up to a maximum of `25,000, State Government spokesperson and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said. The waiver will be for all the loans taken through Kisan Credit Card (KCC) and from PSU banks, he said. The MP Government had declared to waive individual loan of up to `2 lakh taken by farmers. The Assam Government has also sanctioned an interest relief scheme which will enable around 19 lakh farmers to take loans at zero interest from the next financial year, said the Assam Parliamentary Affairs Minister. “The debt relief scheme for farmers will waive 25 per cent of all loans taken till now. The benefit will be up to a maximum of `25,000. This scheme will immediately ben- efit around eight lakh farmers,” he said. Due to these schemes there will be an additional bur- den of `600 crore on the State exchequer this fiscal. “For the next fiscal, we will have to do budgetary provision for the schemes,” Patowary said. The Cabinet also approved subsidy up to `10,000 to incentivise farmers if they take loan from KCC. Continued on Page 7 Guilty Sajjan quits party to give Cong clean chit Congress president Rahul Gandhi addresses the media during the Winter Session of Parliament in New Delhi on Tuesday PTI Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses a gathering at the foundation stone laying ceremony of Metro Phase III via remote in Pune on Tuesday PTI 2 Consumers of cable TV will have to renew their package under the new tariff regime from December 29 2 Under the new tariff regime, a cable TV consumer’s monthly bill will go up to `400 or `450 per month. If he or she is opting for premium bouquets, the bill will be over `600-700 per month 2 Presently, there are as many as 30 crore households in the country. Of them, nearly 10 crore households have cable TV connections @TheDailyPioneer facebook.com/dailypioneer Follow us on: www.dailypioneer.com } AVENUES 10 H1B VISA FOR STUDENTS OPINION 8 A MISSED OPPORTUNITY WORLD 13 PRESIDENT XI TELLS WORLD: DON’T DICTATE TO CHINA instagram.com/dailypioneer/ Late City Vol. 154 Issue 339 *Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable Published From DELHI LUCKNOW BHOPAL BHUBANESWAR RANCHI RAIPUR CHANDIGARH DEHRADUN Established 1864 RNI No.2016/1957, REGD NO. SSP/LW/NP-34/2016-18 LUCKNOW, WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 19, 2018; PAGES 16 `3 MANCHESTER UNITED SACK MOURINHO 15 SPORT } Yogi, AKY flay Kamal Nath for ‘outsider’ remarks PNS n LUCKNOW C hief Minister Yo g i demanded an apology from Congress president Rahul Gandhi for the statement of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, terming migrants from UP and Bihar as ‘outsiders’. “The MP Chief Minister’s statement is unfortunate and represents the divisive and subversive mindset of the Congress for which the party chief Rahul Gandhi must apol- ogise to the nation,’’ tweeted Yogi on Tuesday. Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav voiced serious disagreement with MP Chief Minister for blaming ‘outsiders’ for grabbing jobs. “MP Chief Minister Kamal Nath is following the path of regional parties Maharashtra and this is unacceptable. We are used to rants from Maharashtra where Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena often target migrants from UP and Bihar,’’ said Akhilesh in Lucknow on Tuesday. Akhilesh said: “It’s unfair on the part of the MP Chief Minister Kamal Nath to target people from UP and Bihar as voters of these two states decide the composition of government at the Centre every five years.’’
Transcript
TN RAGHUNATHA n MUMBAI
Prime Minister NarendraModi has indicated that
the Government is contem-plating to bring 99 per cent ofgoods at or under the 18 percent Goods and Services Tax(GST) slab, while restricting theremaining one per cent of lux-ury items, like aircraft, expen-sive vehicles, liquor and ciga-rettes, to a GST slab above 18per cent.
“I would like to tell you oneimportant thing that we areheading towards a situationwherein we intend to bring 99per cent of goods at or belowthe 18 per cent GST slab. Weintend to restrict the remainingone per cent of luxury itemslike the purchase of aircraft,expensive vehicles, liquor andcigarettes to above 18 per cent.Our intention is to make GSTas simple as possible. I havealready made this suggestionfor placement before the nextGST Council meeting,” Modisaid while addressing theRepublic TV summit inMumbai on Tuesday.
The Prime Minister saidthe GST system has more orless been established in thecountry and his Government iscommitted to make the GSTconducive to the needs of thecommon man.
“In 2014, 65 lakh entre-preneurs had registered them-selves for the payment of taxes.However, ever since the intro-duction of GST, 55 lakh moreentrepreneurs have come underthe taxation net,” said the PrimeMinister.
Alluding to the economicprogress made by the countryon various fronts, Modi saidthere was only two mobilemanufacturing companies inthe country in 2014, the num-ber has now crossed 120 com-panies.
Citing another example of“Surging India”, the PrimeMinister said as many as 450aircraft were operational inthe country sinceIndependence, but airline com-panies placed orders for pur-
chase of a staggering 1,000aircraft during the last oneyear itself
Modi said auto-rickshawdrivers, vegetable vendors andtea sellers currently use BHIMApp and carry debit cards intheir pockets. “The country hasalready tested a Made-in-Indiaengine-less train running at 180kmph, while the NationalWaterways has become a real-ity with a ship sailing on theGanga from Bengal to Benares,”Modi said.
“Could anyone think fouryears ago that India wouldlaunch 100 satellites at one go?We are moving ahead with theGaganyaan Mission. TheGaganyaan Mission of ISRO isintended to take an Indianastronaut into space by 2022,”he said.
On the steps taken by hisGovernment to bring eco-nomic offenders, both basedwithin the country and abroad,to justice, Modi made a specialmention of the Insolvency &
Bankruptcy Code, 2016 and theFugitive Economic OffendersAct, 2018, and said the new leg-islations are helping prosecutethose who had escaped theclutches of law. He said the eco-nomic fugitives and bank loandefaulters would not be spared.
“Our national interest nowguides India’s foreign policy.India’s voice is being heard atinternational forums,” he said.
During the course of hisday-long visit to Maharashtra,the Prime Minister laid foun-dation stone for upcomingfirst-ever Metro Corridors inThane district, launched ahousing scheme of 90,000homes and also performed“bhoomi puja” for Pune MetroRail Phase-3.
After performing ground-breaking ceremony for twometro rail corridors at Kalyanin the neighbouring Thanedistrict, the Prime Ministersaid by 2024 Mumbai wouldhave 275-km long metro line.
Later, while laying thefoundation stone for the`8,000-crore Pune Metro-IIIcorridor, Modi said during thepast four-and-half years, theGovernment had constantlylaid stress on infrastructure,speed of connectivity throughhighways, railways, airways,waterways.
“No one in the country,whether in villages or cities,wants to remain insulated fromthe ‘development highway’which drives the Governmentto focus on developing andexpanding the infrastructurenetwork in the country,” he said.
Continued on Page 7
PNS n NEW DELHI
Buoyed by the just conclud-ed electoral success,
Congress president RahulGandhi on Tuesday vowed tofight for the interest of farmersand said he and otherOpposition leaders will not letPrime Minister Narendra Modisleep until all farm loans arewaived, prompting the rulingBJP to describe the Congresspresident’s remarks as lowest inthe country’s public discourse.
Speaking on the Parliamentpremises, Rahul also raisedthe issue of alleged corruptionin the Rafale fighter jet deal andaccused the BJP of runningaway from a debate inParliament. “We will force aJPC on the Rafale issue. Whyare they running away from adebate in Parliament,” he said.
Rahul said theGovernment has turned a blindeye to the loans given to 15 topindustrialists of the country,including Reliance’s AnilAmbani, but made no effort toalleviate the woes of the farm-ers in the last four years.
“We promised to waiveloans in 10 days. In two States(Madhya Pradesh andChhattisgarh), we did it with-in six hours and we would doit in the third State very soon,”
Rahul said talking to the mediaoutside Parliament. He wasreferring to the Congress’promises made ahead of theAssembly polls and waivingloans on Monday.
Reacting to the Gandhiscion’s onslaught on Modi, theBJP said nothing better can beexpected from Rahul, whoseparty ensured that Indians didnot sleep during its 60 years ofrule due to rampant corrup-
tion. Hitting out at Rahul,Union Minister Ravi ShankarPrasad said he should come toParliament and debate theRafale issue there.
“Friends I am given tounderstand that Rahul Gandhitoday said that he will not allowPrime Minister Narendra Modito sleep. This is a new low inthe public discourse of thecountry,” Prasad said.
Continued on Page 7
PNS n NEW DELHI
Congress veteran SajjanKumar on Tuesday
resigned from the primarymembership of the party citinghis conviction in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case. In a letter toCongress president RahulGandhi, the former Member ofParliament said his resignationshould be accepted with imme-diate effect, AICC sources said.
“I tender my resignationwith immediate effect fromthe primary membership of theIndian National Congress inthe wake of the judgment of thehonourable High Court ofDelhi against me,” Kumar saidin the letter to Rahul on
Monday. The Delhi High Court on
Monday sentenced Kumar toimprisonment for life, the firstconviction of a politician in theanti-Sikh riots in 1984 in whichmore than 2,700 people werekilled.
Continued on Page 7
PNS n NEW DELHI
Almost two months after 23Asiatic lions died in
Gujarat’s Gir forest following anoutbreak of canine distempervirus (CDV), the State lostthree more big cats on Mondaymidnight when they weremowed down by a goods trainin Amreli district. SinceSeptember, the country haslost 35 lions, including cubs inand around the Gir forest, theonly abode of the endangeredpredators.
The rail incident occurrednear Borala village inSavarkundla taluka when apride of six lions was walkingalong the railway track passingfrom the village, which is locat-ed near the Gir Forest. The ani-
mals were sub-adults in the agegroup of 1.5-2 years.
“A goods train, headed toPipavav port from Botad, hitthree of six lions of the prideduring midnight, which led tothe death of two lions and alioness,” said Chief Conservatorof Forests, Junagadh wildlifecircle, DT Vasavada. He said anenquiry has been ordered bythe Gujarat Forest Department.
“We will enquire if thetrain was moving at a highspeed which could have led tothis unfortunate incident. Wewill also probe whether the for-est staff or the lion trackerswere at fault in dischargingtheir duties. Stringent actionwill be taken against the guilty,”he added.
Continued on Page 7
RAJESH KUMAR n NEW DELHI
Cable TV consumers willhave to shell out more
from December 29. As pernew directives of the TelecomRegulatory Authority of India,a consumer will have to pay tochoose individual channels,which they want to see.Consumer will need to payindividually for each channel.In other word, current packageof cable TV consumers will goineffective from December 29and they will have to renewtheir package under the newtariff regime.
According to cable opera-tors, under the new tariffregime, a cable TV consumer’smonthly bill will go up to `400or `450 per month. If he or sheis opting for premium bou-quets, the bill will be over`600-700 per month.
Presently, there are 30 crorehouseholds in the country.Nearly 19 crore householdshave TV connections. It isestimated that at least 10 crorehave connections providedthrough cable TV network.
Currently, consumers paya monthly bill of `250-350 fora cable TV connection, whichincludes sports and regionalchannels depending on the
localities.As per the new tariff struc-
ture, a consumer will have topay up to `130 (plus taxes) forfirst set of 100 channels, whichwill be mostly free-to-air (FTA)channels. As of now, MultipleSystem Operators or MSOsoffer you a bundled package ofchannels. The MSOs such asTata Sky or DishTV, Airtel,Hathway, SITI, DIGI Cable(INDIA), INDUSIND, DEN,DDC network choose randomchannels into a package, andoffer it to consumers.
According to cable TVoperators, all the broadcastershave also come up with theirown MRP of their channels.
The first type of category is“free & cheap” channel packageor “basic pack” which will bepriced at around `150-200 bymost cable players. This “basicpack” will be made out of“free” channels like B4U,Dabang and PTC, supple-mented by the “1-rupee-chan-nels” from big broadcasterslike Star, Zee and Sony.
Continued on Page 7
SAPNA SINGH n NEW DELHI
At time when the presenceof birds is considered a sign
of wildlife opulence for anynation, the northern States ofIndia are awaiting the arrival ofmigratory birds into their habi-tat. Ornithologists working onbirds’ navigation have foundthat since 2017 the arrival ofwinged guests into the Indianterritory has been delayed by atleast three months.
The delay in arrival ofmigratory birds has beenascribed to climate change,claimed ornithologists of DelhiUniversity.
This means that due to rel-atively more conducive weath-er climate patterns in Russiaand other cold countries,
migratory birds preferred tostay put in the homelandbetween August andNovember.
“It is pivotal to understandthe behaviour and overseasjourneys of the birds. Theirearly arrival is always a goodsign because they play crucialrole in the balance of ecologyand in large perspective theeconomy,” an ornithologistsaid, adding, “The pattern haschanged significantly. Earlierthey arrived in August or max-imum by September. However,this year is different.”
Sharing more interestingfacts about the migration routeto breeding areas, a DelhiUniversity Professor said themigration route is extendedfrom Narurzum wetlands in
northern Kazakhstan, beforediverging southwest to theCaspian Sea and southeast toIndia on journeys that navigateseven nations. “The migrationroute of these birds takes themover Russia, Kazakhstan,Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan,Afghanistan, Pakistan and thento the Gangetic basin of north-ern India; much of the journeyis hazardous and through dif-ficult terrains,” the ornitholo-gist explained.
However, he added a largenumber of birds have divertedto Rajasthan.
When asked about the rea-son, he said good amount ofrains in northwestern region ispivotal factor in divertingmigratory birds.
Continued on Page 7
Will trim GST for masses: PM
Working on to bring 99% items in sub-18% slab, says Modi
BJP writes off `600 crdebt in Assam, `650 crGujarat rural power billPNS n GUWAHATI
After farm loan waiverannounced by newly-
elected CongressGovernments in MadhyaPradesh and Chhattisgarh, theBJP-led Governments ofAssam and Gujarat too havedecided to write off farm loansand electricity bills of ruralusers respectively.
The BJP-led Governmentin Gujarat announced it willwaive electricity bills of con-nection holders in rural areasto the tune of `650 crore.
The Assam Governmentapproved ̀ 600-crore farm loanwaiver which it said will ben-efit around eight lakh farmersof the State. The decision wastaken at a Cabinet meetingheld on Monday night.
According to the AssamGovernment scheme, it willwrite off 25 per cent loan offarmers up to a maximum of`25,000, State Governmentspokesperson andParliamentary Affairs MinisterChandra Mohan Patowarysaid. The waiver will be for allthe loans taken through Kisan
Credit Card (KCC) and fromPSU banks, he said.
The MP Government haddeclared to waive individualloan of up to `2 lakh taken byfarmers.
The Assam Governmenthas also sanctioned an interestrelief scheme which will enablearound 19 lakh farmers to takeloans at zero interest from thenext financial year, said theAssam Parliamentary AffairsMinister.
“The debt relief schemefor farmers will waive 25 percent of all loans taken tillnow. The benefit will be up toa maximum of `25,000. Thisscheme will immediately ben-efit around eight lakh farmers,”he said.
Due to these schemesthere will be an additional bur-den of `600 crore on the Stateexchequer this fiscal. “For thenext fiscal, we will have to dobudgetary provision for theschemes,” Patowary said.
The Cabinet also approvedsubsidy up to `10,000 toincentivise farmers if they takeloan from KCC.
Continued on Page 7
Guilty Sajjan quits partyto give Cong clean chit
Congress president Rahul Gandhi addresses the media during the Winter Sessionof Parliament in New Delhi on Tuesday PTI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses a gathering at the foundation stone laying ceremony of Metro Phase III via remote inPune on Tuesday PTI
2 Consumers of cable TV will have to renew their package under thenew tariff regime from December 29
2 Under the new tariff regime, a cable TV consumer’s monthly bill willgo up to `400 or `450 per month. If he or she is opting forpremium bouquets, the bill will be over `600-700 per month
2 Presently, there are as many as 30 crore households in the country.Of them, nearly 10 crore households have cable TV connections
@TheDailyPioneer facebook.com/dailypioneerFollow us on:
www.dailypioneer.com
}
AVENUES 10
H1B VISA FOR STUDENTS
OPINION 8
A MISSEDOPPORTUNITY
WORLD 13
PRESIDENT XI TELLS WORLD: DON’T DICTATE TO CHINA
instagram.com/dailypioneer/
Late City Vol. 154 Issue 339*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable
Published From DELHI LUCKNOW BHOPAL
BHUBANESWAR RANCHI RAIPURCHANDIGARH DEHRADUN
Established 1864
RNI No.2016/1957, REGD NO. SSP/LW/NP-34/2016-18
LUCKNOW, WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 19, 2018; PAGES 16 `3
MANCHESTER
UNITED SACK
MOURINHO
15 SPORT
}
Yogi, AKY flay Kamal Nath for‘outsider’ remarksPNS n LUCKNOW
Chief Minister Yogidemanded an apology
from Congress president RahulGandhi for the statement ofMadhya Pradesh ChiefMinister Kamal Nath, termingmigrants from UP and Bihar as‘outsiders’.
“The MP Chief Minister’sstatement is unfortunate andrepresents the divisive andsubversive mindset of theCongress for which the partychief Rahul Gandhi must apol-ogise to the nation,’’ tweetedYogi on Tuesday.
Samajwadi Party presidentAkhilesh Yadav voiced seriousdisagreement with MP ChiefMinister for blaming ‘outsiders’for grabbing jobs.
“MP Chief Minister KamalNath is following the path ofregional parties Maharashtraand this is unacceptable. We areused to rants from Maharashtrawhere Shiv Sena andMaharashtra Navnirman Senaoften target migrants from UPand Bihar,’’ said Akhilesh inLucknow on Tuesday. Akhileshsaid: “It’s unfair on the part ofthe MP Chief Minister KamalNath to target people from UPand Bihar as voters of these twostates decide the compositionof government at the Centreevery five years.’’
city 02LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 19, 2018
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State govt to give jobs a
push in traditional sector
PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW
With an aim to generateemployment in the tradi-
tional sector, the state govern-ment has launchedVishwakarma Shram SammanYojana under which youthswill be imparted training in tra-ditional work like carpentry,tailoring, black smith, goldsmith, pottery work and evenrunning sweetmeat shops.
The proposal says thatthrough this project handi-craft and self-employmentschemes will be promoted sothat people can easily earntheir livelihood.
The decision was taken inthe Cabinet meeting held onTuesday.
The governmentspokesman said that interestedpeople would be imparted six-day free of cost training in the
vocation of their choice. Thetraining will be held at tehsil ordistrict headquarters. Duringthe training period, the traineewill get honorarium from theLabour department. “After thetraining, youths will be giventools and certificates,” thespokesman said.
In another decision, thegovernment has decided toopt for one-time stamp duty forpolicy bonds issued by LIC. Tillnow, insurance stamp was usedand LIC had requested thestate government to opt forone-time stamp duty.
“The government hasaccepted this proposal. It isbelieved that after this decision,there will be increase in gov-ernment revenue as incidentsof fake registration will beminimised,” the spokesmansaid.
The government has pro-
posed to change the name ofAllahabad Nagar Nigam toPrayagraj Nagar Nigam afterthe government had changedname of Allahabad toPrayagraj.
The Cabinet has alsoapproved the proposal ofHealth department to selectoperators for the second tier of108 emergency medical trans-port service. The spokesmansaid that under this scheme thegovernment proposed to oper-ate a fleet of 2200 ambulancesby next five years. As this willbe telecom-based service sorequest for proposal for eastand west clusters is proposed.“To make this service effectivethere is need to increase man-power as well as improve tech-nical efficiency. There is a pro-posal that one person shouldoperate 10 ambulances so thatthe response is good. Investors
willing to invest in the easternsector should pay bid securityof `2,29,00,000 while for west-ern cluster it will be`1,14,00,000,” the spokesmansaid. The government has alsomade changes in collection ofmining byproducts. Licencewill be given for three years.
In another decision, theCabinet has proposed to tableUP Water and SewerManagement (amendment)Act on the floor of the House.A sewage proposal for Jaunpurhas also been approved. Theestimated cost of the projectwill be `2,647 crore.
The government has alsodecided to provide houses topoor under Asra scheme with-out any lottery system. Thosepeople will be entitled for suchhouses who have not got houseunder any scheme, thespokesman said.
Girl returning home set on fire
PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW
Unidentified bikers sentshock waves in Agra
when they torched a 14-year-old girl for opposing theirmolestation bid in front of herhouse on Tuesday. The victimwas later rushed to AgraMedical College with 80 percent burns.
Harendra of Lalau hamletof Malpura (Agra) complainedthat his daughter Anjali (14) isa student of class X at AP InterCollege in Naumeel area. Hesaid that on Monday after-noon, when she was returninghome from school, two bikers,wearing helmets, started teas-ing her. When she resisted, themiscreants stopped the girlbefore her house. Before thevictim could sense foul play,they doused her with keroseneand set her afire.
After executing their sin-ister design, the miscreantssped off from the crime scene,while locals rushed in to savethe victim.
Later SP (Rural), along
with Circle Officer of Achnera,rushed to the spot and shift-ed the victim to Agra MedicalCollege where the doctorssaid that her condition wascritical.
Meanwhile, in LakhimpurKheri, the bodies of twoteenaged lovers, whose familiesobjected to their liaison, werefound hanging from a tree onTuesday morning.
As per reports, MahaveerMaurya (24) of Rahtara inLakhimpur Kheri was in lovewith his neighbour Aarti (21).Their link-up, however, riledtheir families as they belongedto different castes.
On Monday evening, theyoung couple eloped fromtheir houses and while theirfamilies launched a hunt, theyfinally found their bodieshanging from a tree outside thevillage the next morning. Theirbodies were sent for autopsyand investigations were on.
Meanwhile, in Ghazipur,four youths were buried alivewhen a wall collapsed at Alipurvillage of Jangipur police sta-
tion area on Tuesday. Theyouths were sitting on the wallin the morning when it sud-denly collapsed and the youthswere buried under its debris.The deceased were identified
as Akshay (22), Umesh (30),Ramesh (20) and Dharmendra(19) while another youthGuddu (17) suffered injuries.The bodies were sent forautopsy.
Samajwadi Party members taking out a padyatra from 1090 Crossing on Tuesday Pioneer
3 held in Bulandshahr
cow slaughter case
PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW
Three miscreants involved inthe alleged cow slaughter
case in Bulandshahr werearrested by a police team onTuesday. Those arrested wereidentified as Nadeem, Rahisand Kala, all of Syana policestation area of Bulandshahr.The police said a team, led bySP, City, Atul Kumar Srivastava,got a tip-off about miscreantsinvolved in the cow slaughter-ing case in Mahav village underSyana police station area onDecember 2 and 3 night. “Ateam laid a trap and nabbed themiscreants who were in aGypsy near Pashu Paith market
in the locality,” the police said.The police said the miscre-
ants were arrested on Tuesdaymorning. “ A double barrelgun, a machete and a sharp-edged weapon were recoveredfrom them,” the police said,adding that one of their aides,identified as Harun of Syanalocality, escaped arrest.
The miscreants owned uptheir crime and disclosed thatthey had killed a cow in a for-est cover in Syana police stationarea on December 1 night.They disclosed that Harun hadgun down the cow and latertheir distributed the meatamong them before throwingthe carcass in a sugarcane field.
The miscreants further dis-closed that they had gunneddown three cows on December2 and December 3 night andhad thrown the carcasses andsome meat in a field before dis-tributing the meat amongthem. They admitted that theyhad taken the hides of slaugh-tered cows with them.
The carcasses and meatwere recovered from a field inMahav village and that led topeople of a community to taketo the street in protest againstthe incident. While controllingthe situation, inspector SubodhKumar Singh had fallen victimto the bullet of some of the pro-testers.
UP Houses adjourn after condolence
PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW
The Uttar Pradesh Assemblywas adjourned on the first
day of the winter session onTuesday after condoling thedeaths of former Chief MinisterND Tiwari and BJP legislatorfrom Lakhimpur Kheri PatelRam Kumar Verma.
The Legislative Councilwas adjourned for the day tooafter condoling the deaths ofTiwari and Union ministerAnanth Kumar.
As soon as the Assemblymet in the morning, ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath readcondolence messages. Leadersof the Samajwadi Party,Bahujan Samaj Party, Congressand other parties also mournedthe deaths. After observing atwo-minute silence, the Housewas adjourned for the day bySpeaker Hriday Narayan Dixit.
Tiwari (93) died after aprolonged illness in New Delhion October 18. The veteranleader had served as CM of UPfour times, Union minister inseveral Congress governmentsand also as Andhra PradeshGovernor. He had also servedas Uttarakhand Chief Minister.
BJP legislator fromNighasan constituency ofLakhimpur Kheri Patel RamKumar Verma (64) died due toailments at a hospital inLucknow on September 30.He served as PWD Minister inthe Kalyan Singh-led BJP gov-
ernment in 1991 and also asCooperative Minister in 1997.
As soon as the Council metfor the day, chairpersonRamesh Yadav read out condo-lence messages and membersobserved a two-minute silence.Senior BJP leader AnanthKumar died at a hospital inBengaluru last month at the ageof 59.
Deputy CM DineshSharma, Leader of Oppositionin Council Ahmed Hasan andleaders of other parties recalledTiwari's contribution in thedevelopment of UP.
Before the Upper Housemet, leaders of the SamajwadiParty protested near the statue
of former Prime MinisterChaudhary Charan Singh inVidhan Bhawan complex,demanding the arrest of theprime accused in Bulandshahrviolence. “Law-and-order situ-ation in the state is very bad.The government is yet to arrestthe prime accused in the mur-der of inspector duringBulandshahr violence,” SPleader Hasan told mediaper-sons. Hasan said that the gov-ernment had announced that aCBI probe would be conduct-ed in the Deoria shelter homecase in August, but no actionwas taken till date.
Congress lawmakers saidissues like Bulandshahr vio-
lence, alleged delay in paymentof cane arrears and 'corrup-tion' in recruitment drivewould be raised by theOpposition during the session.
At an all-party meet onMonday, Yogi had appealed toOpposition parties for thesmooth conduct of the House.
On the second day of thesession on Wednesday,Finance Minister RajeshAgarwal will table the supple-mentary budget of about Rs11,000 crore after the QuestionHour. The winter session ofthe legislature will conclude onDecember 21 with theapproval of supplementarybudget on Thursday.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and other MLAs mourning the death of former CM Narain Dutt Tewari at UP Assembly sessionon Tuesday Pioneer
Miffed PPS Assn
members may
skip Police Week
PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW
Members of ProvincialPolice Services (PPS)
Association are up in armsagainst seniors and the govern-ment and are planning to dis-tance themselves from thecoming Police Week functions.The PPS officers are upset asthey feel that not only theirdemands not being addressed,but senior officers avoid to givethem audience and listen totheir grievances.
Recently, PPS Associationchief Ajay Mishra, who couldnot make it to the IPS cadredue to unnecessary delay inpromotion, had resigned fromthe post, citing personal rea-sons.
Sources said that office-bearers and members of PPSAssociation chalked out anagenda to raise their voices inthe coming Police Week.
Members said that duringthe programme of theAssociation during the lastPolice Week, the state govern-ment and the DGP promisedthem of addressing their prob-lems which were put up beforethem. However, nothing wasdone in this regard and hence
it would be prudent to stayaway from such programmes.The officers pointed out that allothers, except for PPS cadremembers, were getting timelypromotion but their demandswere ignored over the years.They claimed that 2006 batchconstables had been promotedas head constable, 2005 batchsub-inspectors had becomeinspectors, 2005 IPS officershad become DIGs, 2005 batchPCS officers had been promot-ed as ADMs but 2001 batchPPS officers were still workingas Deputy SP, a post on whichthey had joined the service.
The Association has hencedecided to boycott the comingPolice Week to highlight thestep-motherly treatment beingmeted out to them.
RECENTLY, PPSASSOCIATION CHIEFAJAY MISHRA, WHOCOULD NOT MAKE IT TOTHE IPS CADRE DUE TOUNNECESSARY DELAYIN PROMOTION, HADRESIGNED FROM THE POST
PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW
Shia Central Waqf Boardchairman Waseem Rizvi
alleged on Tuesday that clericsof All India Muslim PersonalLaw Board (AIMPLB) hadturned puppets in the hands ofthe Congress and hence wereopposing any move to solve thevexed Ayodhya issue at the ear-liest.
“The recently held AIM-PLB executive meeting inLucknow rejected the offer ofShia Waqf Board on Ram tem-
ple and the construction of analternative mosque inLucknow. This shows thatAIMPLB clerics are dancing tothe tune of the Congress tooppose Ram temple. One
should not forget that AIMPLBwas formed by Congress in1971 to serve its political ends,”Rizvi said.
In a statement issued inLucknow on Tuesday, Rizvialleged that the AIMPLB com-prised hardliners among SunniMuslims and their actions wereagainst the interests of theentire community. "In the pasttoo, AIMPLB had refused toaccept several court decisions.They are now saying that theywill only accept a court verdicton Ram temple. But it is just an
eyewash in view of their pastconduct. They will work out analibi and never accept theSupreme Court verdict onAyodhya issue,’’ said Rizvi.
The Shia Waqf Boardchairman said that a monthback, Shia Waqf Board sent aproposal to AIMPLB for theconstruction of Ram templeand construction of Masjid-e-Aman in Lucknow, which theAIMPLB rejected. Now ShiaWaqf Board will not send anyproposal in future about Ramtemple.
AIMPLB playing second fiddle to Cong: RizviRizvi alleged that theAIMPLB comprisedhardliners among
Sunni Muslims andtheir actions were
against the interestsof the entirecommunity
BJP counters SP's chargeLucknow (PNS):
Countering charges of beinganti-farmer, Cane DevelopmentMinister Suresh Rana blamedthe previous Samajwadi Partyregime for doing nothing forfarmers' welfare, particularlycane farmers and accused theparty of spreading canardsagainst the government.
“The people raising farmers’issues should see what they didfor them while in power. Theallegation of the SamajwadiParty leaders is like pot callingthe kettle black,” Rana toldmediapersons in the state BJP
headquarters in Lucknow onTuesday.
Rana's reaction came afterSamajwadi Party lawmakersprotested on Vidhan Bhawancampus blaming the Yogi gov-ernment for the agrarian crisis.The lawmakers staged a dharnabefore the winter session sport-ing garland of potatoes andonions. The minister said thatthe Opposition was spreadinglies in the name of farmers.“They know well that this gov-ernment has done commend-able work in the farm sector,” headded.
city 03LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 19, 2018
PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW
The need of the hour is tomake collective efforts
through all departments asso-ciated with road safety tospread awareness on the issuebecause this could go a longway in giving good and qual-itative results. The state ofUttar Pradesh has the highestnumber of deaths due to roadaccidents and with a maximumlevel of awareness the numberof accidents could be broughtto the minimum level.
These views wereexpressed by Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath at the valedic-tory session of the day-longworkshop organised by theTransport department at theIndira Gandhi Pratishthan hereon Tuesday. The CM also felic-itated winners of the debatecompetition organised inschools all over the state. Onthe occasion, he also dedicat-ed 12 driving training insti-tutes, two inspection and train-ing centres and laid foundationstones of five Saarthi halls anddedicated two Saarthi halls tothe public. The total cost ofthese road safety projects whichwere launched by the pressingof a button is `9697.29 lakh.
Chief Minister YogiAdityanath said that he had
called several state-level meet-ings on road safety during thepast one year and had expecta-tions that awareness pro-grammes would be spread byall the departments associatedwith road safety. “Awarenesscan go a long way in saving theloss of money and lives. A wiseperson is one who learns fromthe other person’s experiences.The lives lost in accidents aremore than in any other area.Only small things have to bekept in mind to keep the acci-dents to a minimum level,” hesaid.
Pointing out that in all themeetings which he held, healways tried to explore thecause behind these accidents.He said: “If there is a reason forthe accident, there is also asolution. The road safety rulesmay appear small to the gener-al public but help in savinglives. In Lucknow itself, I haveseen how incomplete flyoversare used by bikers for doingstunts. We took stringent actionand now for the past one year,there have been no deathsbecause of stunts on bikes.”
The Chief Minister saidthat it was important for thepeople to know that good roadsdid not mean that no monitor-ing should be carried out ontheir speed. “The commuters
now and then argue with thetraffic police and the staff as towhy they should wear hel-mets. People do not listenwhen it comes to wearing seatbelts. Unfortunately, no healthcheck-ups are carried out of thedrivers who drive the fourwheelers and they get no prop-er place to sleep when theyaccompany their masters. In
the last camp which we carriedout we found that a large num-ber of drivers were sufferingfrom cataract and these wereprimarily the governmentones,” he added.
The CM stressed the needfor making road safety a part ofthe curriculum. “It is theresponsibility of all the insti-tutes to ensure that the students
were imparted knowledge onthis aspect apart from the gen-eral courses of study. Thesethings should be told at theassembly itself because the stu-dents run at the time of cross-ing the road near theseschools,” he added.
Yogi said that road acci-dents also happen in theabsence of good drivers.
“Behind most of the accidentsit has been seen that humanerror is a reason which can beremoved. If the TrafficDepartment is organising thedrive then all the other depart-ments should also be made apart of it,” he added.
Earlier, while inauguratingthe workshop, PWD MinisterKeshav Prasad Maurya saidthat the first 10 winnersamongst children who partic-ipated in the competitions onroad safety organised by thePWD for making a specialcontribution in spreadingawareness about it would havetheir residences linked to themain roads with pucca roads.He said that roads and vehicleswere complementary to eachother and hence one should fol-low road safety rules andensure that there was no overloading. Minister for TransportSwatantra Deo Singh said thatthe Chief Minister had takenspecial interest in the issue ofroad safety and held severalmeetings in that regard. Theoccasion also witnessed thepresence of the Minister forTranport Swatantra Dev Singh,Transport Commissioner PGuru Prasad, PrincipalSecretary Aradhana Shuklaand Joint Secretary AbhayDamali.
PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW
Chief Minister YogiAdityanath and Governor
Ram Naik will inaugurateYuva Kumbh which will beheld at Smriti Upvan onDecember 23 and will witnessthe participation of over 6,000youths from all over the country.
Minister for Medical andTechnical Education AshutoshTandon and V-C of LucknowUniversity SP Singh, addresseda press conference regardingYuva Kumbh at LucknowUniversity on Tuesday. It wassaid that well-known names inthe field of education, films,industries, professionals, writ-ers and sports people would beattending the Kumbh includ-ing Gautam Gambhir, PiyushChawla, Madhur Bhandarkar,Vivek Oberoi, Sushil Kumarand Hima Das to name a few.It will also witness the partic-ipation of youths from theprestigious institutes such asIITs and IIMs. Only thoseyouths who had registeredthemselves for the event willbe participating in it. The var-ious sessions will also seeRajnath Singh, Smriti Iraniand Swami Ramdev address-ing the session. AshutoshTandon said that there wouldbe several discussions whichwould be held in various cat-egories in which youths wouldfocus on their contributions inthose fields. On being askedwhether there was any politi-cal agenda behind the Kumbhwith elections round the cor-ner, the minister said thatthere was no such thing.
Vice-Chancellor SP Singh,while giving a detailedoverview, said that it was thedecision of the state govern-ment to take up VicharKumbh implying a Kumbhon deliberations and a meet-ing was held at the ChiefMinister’s residence in thisregard.
“This is in line with theother Kumbhs which are beingheld as a curtain raiser to theKumbh in Allahabad such asMahila Kumbh in Vrindavanand Samrasta Kumbh inAyodhya,” he said. Talkingabout the concept of YuvaKumbh, he said that over6,000 people from variousfields would congregate andhold discussions. “It implies adiscussion like a ‘manthan’from which emerges the ‘elixir.’The idea is that if at least oneper cent, which is 600 out ofthem, will be inspired throughthese discussions then it islikely that they can emerge asleaders to take the country for-ward in the coming future.”
He said that the keynotespeaker at the inaugural ses-sion would be Dr KrishnaGopal. The second sessionwould be addressed by secre-tary, ABVP, Suneel Ambedkar,minister Raghvendra SinghRathore, V-C of Dev SanskritUniversity, Haridwar,Chinmay Pandey and scientist,DRDO, Sateesh Reddy. In thethird session, the speakerswill include AcharyaBalkrishna from Patanjali,minister Smriti Irani andAshish Gautam from theDivya Prem Seva Mission andthe closing session will witnessthe presence of SwamiRamdev, Rajnath Singh andDeputy chief ministersMinister Keshav PrasadMaurya and Dinesh Sharma.
Shatrud Pratap, nationalorganiser, Yuva Kumbh, saidthat they took five months inmaking preparations for thisKumbh and 40 meetings wereheld across the country tocarry out the campaign. Thesemeetings were held by 300-1000 youths in places likeChennai, Hyderabad, Pune,Amritsar etc. “The partici-pants will begin arriving onDecember 22 and the visiondocument will be revealed onthat very day,” he added.
PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW
Throwing an open challengeto police, thieves stole cash
and jewellery from a house inChinhat on Tuesday afternoon.Dinesh Yadav of Shiv LakhanVihar Colony (Chinhat) workswith Sahara Housing Companyand had gone to his workplace.His wife left the house around12 noon to pick her son fromschool in the locality. When shereturned around 12:40 pm, shefound the main gate lock bro-ken. As she went inside, shefound articles lying strewnacross the floor. She called herhusband, who reached thehouse and later informed thepolice. Police spokesman AKDwivedi said Dinesh was yet togive the list of articles stolen. AnFIR was yet to be registered inthis connection.
The theft in broad daylightcame as a shock to locals. “Thecity is witnessing a spurt in theftcases and here the houses arenot safe even during the daytime. It is a great challenge forthe police,” a resident said.Sources said the Lucknowpolice apparently opted a cos-metic approach to show a goodlaw and order record. “In ameeting at Reserve Police Lines,the SSP had directed SHOs andother subordinates to pull uptheir socks but despite that, theSHOs are yet to swing intoaction,” they said.
Meanwhile, the arrest of aman in a case under SC/STAct and that of eve-teasingkicked up a row as theMahanagar police wereaccused of being biased
against the family of theaccused. As per reports, thepolice registered a case foreve-teasing, brawl, abusingand threatening againstRakesh Pandey aka Pandit ofRahim Nagar on December15. On Monday, the policearrested Rakesh. Soon afterhis arrest, Rakesh’s wifeaccused the Mahanagar policeof being biased and showingpromptness in arresting himto keep their slate clean. Shealso accused the Mahanagarpolice of initiating one-sidedaction and not accepting theircomplaint even though shelodged an FIR immediatelyafter her opponent gave acomplaint to the police.
As the news went viral onsocial media, the Lucknowpolice went on the back footand issued an explanationlater on Tuesday night. Policespokesman AK Dwivedi saidRakesh’s wife was exertingpressure on the Mahanagarpolice to register a cross-FIR.“The police worked in the casein a transparent way,” he saidwhile defending theMahanagar police.
PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW
Ajournalist shot himself athis house in Rajajipuram
under Talkatora police stationon Tuesday afternoon. Thedeceased, identified as KalyanSingh Yadav (52), lived with hisfamily comprising wife and ason in E block (near IndoorMini Stadium). Around 3 pm,Yadav shot himself with hislicensed single-barrel gun in aroom. His wife, son and broth-er rushed him to the KGMUTrauma Centre where he suc-cumbed after a while,” policespokesman AK Dwivedi said.
He claimed that Yadav tookthe extreme step due to somefamily discord. “He was work-ing for a Hindi daily,” thespokesman said.
Doctors said Yadav suf-fered firearm injuries in thestomach (a little above thepelvic bone) and the bulletpierced through. “He died of
excessive bleeding,” the doctorssaid. Meanwhile, a retiredemployee of Public WorkDepartment (PWD) ended hislife at his house in Indira Nagaron Tuesday. The deceased,identified as Pratap NarayanKashyap (66) of KhurramNagar, went into his room afterhaving dinner on Monday. “Hedid not wake up by 1 pm onTuesday and this made usbecome apprehensive. I repeat-edly knocked the door whichwas bolted from inside and alsocalled him, but there was noresponse. I peeped through awindow and found him hang-ing from the ceiling with a bed-sheet tied around his neck,” hisson Sunil told the police.
Police spokesman AKDwivedi said the body wassent for autopsy and furtherprobe into the case was on.“Sub-inspector Santosh Kumarhas been assigned the case,” headded.
PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW
Aretired woman employee ofBSNL was found dead at
her flat in Indira Nagar undermysterious circumstances inGhazipur police station area onTuesday. Police called her fam-ily members and the body wassent for autopsy.
As per reports, some resi-dents of Adarsh Enclave inIndira Nagar noticed in theafternoon that their neighbourShashi Singh did not come outof the house since morning andthey sensed something fishy.They dialled the police controlroom after which a team, led bysub-inspector Sanjeev Singhfrom Ghazipur police station,reached the scene.
The police found the doorslying ajar. When the copsentered the flat, Shashi Singh(65) was found lying on thefloor in a room while a blanketwas lying on her bed. SHO,Ghazipur, Rakesh Singh saidhousehold goods were foundintact and there was no sign ofany forcible entry into the flat.“Prima facie, the woman hadno injuries on her body. Itseems that she fell down aftersuffering a heart attack some-time in the night,” the SHOsaid, adding that her husband
had died some time back andthe couple had no issue fromthe marriage. “Shashi was liv-ing in the flat on rent. Her sis-ter, who lives in Banda and ismarried, has been informedabout the incident. We don’thave enough details aboutShashi as yet,” the SHO said.
Singh said Shashi's neigh-bours told the police that shewas having some heart diseaseas well as high blood sugarlevel. “Some neighbours went
to the flat when they did not seeShashi come out as late as by 2pm on Tuesday and dialled thepolice control room. After that,a team was sent to the place,”the SHO said.
He said the autopsy reportwould ascertain the cause ofdeath. “Prima facie, it does notappear to be a case of murderor loot in view of circumstan-tial evidence found by theinvestigating team as yet,” heclaimed.
PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW
Two unidentified miscre-ants allegedly abducted a
middle-aged grocery shop-owner from his shop atGokhale Marg in Hazratganjon Tuesday evening. PankajJaiswal runs the shop from hishouse in the locality. Around 8pm, two men reached the shop.The tipsy men had a verbal spatwith Pankaj after which theyasked him to come out to dis-cuss some important issue.They forcible made him sit ona bike and sped off.
A vegetable vendor, who isan eyewitness to the incident,told the police that he ques-tioned the men but and theysaid they were going for somework and would return soon.
Later, victim’s son Shreyascalled the police to informthem about the incident. As thenews spread, the Lucknowpolice came under pressureand a huge team, led by ASP(East) Sarvesh Mishra reachedthe scene. While the search wason, Pankaj returned home onhis own. There were reportsthat Pankaj was thrashed by themiscreants and then dropped afew yards away from his shop.
Rubbishing the reports of
abduction, the ASP said thatthe shop-owner had not paidarrears to a flour supplier.“Pankaj owed Rs 9,000 to thecompany. The men whoreached the shop were employ-ees of the company and theytook him to discuss the issuewith him,” Mishra said.
However, the shop-ownersaid he was thrashed anddumped on the roadside atNishatganj bridge. He said as hewas scared out of his wits, hedid not raise an alarm. Policesaid they were scanning CCTVfootages to verify the claims.
A police spokesman saidthat a case was of illegal deten-tion was registered in thisconnection and the police hadlaunched a manhunt for theaccused. “The miscreants tookthe route through DainikJagran crossing and then to amulti-storey building before
Nishatganj bridge. At all theseplaces, there are several pick-ets. A police picket is also atthe crossing. But the copsfailed to sense any foul play,”sources said.
Meanwhile, a group of per-sons wielding sticks and sharp-edged weapon attacked aneighbouring woman and herbrother in Ganesh Kheda local-ity of Mohanlalganj on Tuesday.The siblings suffered injuriesand were taken to hospitalfrom where they were dis-charged after being adminis-tered first aid. As per reports,the woman, identified as Kiran,is staying at her parents’ housethese day. Her brother Pankajalso lives in the same house. OnTuesday, their neighboursSadashiv and Kallu, along withtheir aides, reached the houseand started abusing Kiran andPankaj. When Pankaj offeredresistance, he was attacked.When Kiran intervened, shewas also attacked. Villagershelped in rushing the victimsto hospital. Later, Kiran lodgeda case in this connectionagainst Sadashiv, Kallu andtheir aides. The police weresearching for the accused evenas no arrests were made till latenight.
Make road safety a part of curriculum: Yogi
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at the road safety workshop held at Indira Gandhi Pratishthan on Tuesday
Governor, CM to
inaugurate Yuva
Kumbh on Dec 23
Hindi newspaper
journo shoots self
Minister for Medical and Technical Education Ashutosh Tandon, LucknowUniversity V-C SP Singh and others during a meeting on Tuesday
Retired employee of BSNL
found dead in her flat
Lucknow (PNS): Scoldedby his mother for stealing andselling her jewellery, a 17-yar-old boy ended his life at hishouse in Mohanlalganj onTuesday. The teen, identifiedas Ranjeet of Parwar West, wasfound hanging from the ceil-ing with a saree tied aroundhis neck on Tuesday after-noon. He was all alone whenhe took the extreme step.
Ranjeet’s elder brotherSandeep said he left the housefor a construction site in thelocality. “A little later, my sis-ter left for MohanlalganjKasba for some work while
the mother went to a neigh-bour’s house. When shereturned around noon, shefound Ranjeet hanging fromthe ceiling,” Sandeep said.While the police were yet tofind out why Ranjeet endedhis life, villagers said he hadsold the ornaments of hismother to a local goldsmith atthrowaway prices without herpermission. When his moth-er came to know about this onMonday, she scolded him afterwhich he wept for quite sometime. The villagers suspectedthat Ranjeet might have endedhis life over this.
Scolded for selling mother’s
ornaments, teen ends life
Shop-owner abducted, let
off after being thrashed
PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW
People in large numbers are com-ing forward to buy the unsold
properties of Lucknow DevelopmentAuthority in different areas of thecity. LDA has earned Rs 100 croresince a special offer was made to thebuyers in October last.
Nazul officer Sanjay Pandeysaid many people had shown inter-est in buy both commercial and res-idential properties. The sale wasexpected to go up in coming days,he said, adding that the revenuewould give a fillip to LDA’s financialstatus. Unsold properties worth Rs1,200 crore had been lying unsold for
the past decade with buyers show-ing no interest. The properties arenot in good shape due to lack ofmaintenance. However, the offerthat buyers would be handed overthe possession after repair workand whitewash evoked a goodresponse. MK Agarwal from LDA’saccounts department said he wasoptimistic that the sales would fetchover Rs 500 crore by March nextyear. People have purchased residen-tial properties on Napier road whiletraders have bought 23 shops inBalaganj. People have also pur-chased residential accommodationsand commercial establishments inAishbagh. The LDA administration
has built 500 houses for peoplebelonging middle income group butthe results were not encouraging.
Now, the LDA administrationwill concentrate on the Kanpur roadhousing scheme where it had con-structed 700 units in the early 90’s,but only 11 per cent of the shelterswere sold. The LDA administrationis hopeful that all the unsold prop-erties will be sold in about three yearsas according to a survey conductedrecently, the demand for shelters hasgone up in the past one year.
LDA Vice-Chairman PN Singhsaid the recent trends were encour-aging and they were optimisticabout the future.
Sale of LDA properties gathers pace
House burgled in broad daylight
Police spokesman
AK Dwivedi said
house owner
Dinesh was yet to
give the list of
articles stolen and
an FIR was yet to
be registered in
this connection
Minister Surya Pratap Shahi, Suresh Rana and others all ears to the issues of people at Jan Sahyog Kendra in BJP office on Tuesday Pioneer
city 04LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 19, 2018
CELEBRATIONSCity Montessori School
(Aliganj Campus II) organ-ised Annual Mothers’ Day andGrandparents’ Day celebra-tions on Tuesday. The stu-dents presented several educa-tional-cultural items and sen-sitised people about humanrights. An all-religion andworld peace prayer markedthe beginning of the celebra-tions. Special educational-cul-tural items on human and fun-damental rights were also pre-sented.
EUREKA INTERNATIONALOn the 3rd day of the 4-day
international educational-cul-tural festival ‘EurekaInternational-2018’, organisedby City Montessori School,Anand Nagar campus, the par-ticipants from India and abroadshowcased an amalgamation ofcreative thinking, artistic abil-ities and intellectual talentsand also became the voice of
two-and-a-half billion childrenof the world, disseminatingthe message of world unity,peace and love across the globe.In a debate contest, the partic-ipants impressed the judgeswith their creative thoughts andalso displayed their skills inother contests. Earlier, the daybegan with a speech by CMSfounder Jagdish Gandhi.
CHRISTMASStudents of Amity
International School (GomtiNagar) organised a specialChristmas assembly whichbegan with a song, followed by
a short narration and a videopresentation on the birth ofJesus Christ. The studentsenacted a skit showing thebirth of Jesus even as thestage glittered with shimmer-ing dresses and light effects.The students looked delight-ful as fairies, Mother Mary,Joseph and shepherds.Traditional Christmas carolswere also presented on theoccasion. The students andstaff collected woolen clothsand other stuff and donatedthe same to Roti-KapdaFoundation to help the under-privileged children.
MOVIE SCREENINGPrithvi Innovations, in col-
laboration with AmityUniversity, will screen a movieand have an open house sessionon Wednesday. AnuradhaGupta from Prithvi Innovationssaid that global showings of‘Stories from the Clean Room’are an important way to raiseawareness about a chemicallyintensive industry and advancekey chemical safety and humanrights issues. “A key chemicalsafety issue in electronics pro-duction is workplace right toknow. This programme is a partof an international campaignthat works for a toxic-freefuture,” she said. The pro-gramme is expected to beattended by more than 250students. “Mobile phones, com-puters and TVs are blockbusterconsumer products but theirmanufacture relies on and usesmore than a thousand chemi-cals and other materials. Thiscauses harm in production,exposes consumers to toxic
chemicals during use, andreleases toxic chemicals whenproducts become electronicwaste. Occupational exposureforms the basis of knowledgeabout harms to human healthfrom chemicals but is largelyneglected as a campaign andpolicy topic,” Gupta explained.“Companies routinely claimtrade secrets to conceal linksbetween worker diseases andworking environment and toprevent its sick workers fromreceiving compensation due towhich the issue of toxic elec-tronics has remained largelyinvisible,” she added.
JOB FAIRThe Counseling and
Placement Cell of LucknowUniversity organised the 10thJob Fair in the BusinessAdministration building. Asmany as 111 jobs were offeredto candidates selected by 11companies, CPC directorMadhurima said. “In the jobfair, 182 candidates faced inter-
views. In one-and-a-half yearsof its inception, CPC has con-ducted 10 job fairs involving147 companies and more than1,100 recruitments and intern-ships have been provided to thestudents,” she said.
APPOINTMENTOn the directive of
Housing commissioner AKChauhan, nine persons weregiven appointment letters oncompensatory grounds in UPAwas Vikas Parishad.
MEETINGThe quarterly meeting of
Rajbhasha Committee wasorganised in RDSO and head-ed by DG Virendra Kumar,who reviewed the progress ofthe official language andprogress of the work done inHindi in the quarter whichended on September 30. Herequested all officers to men-tion about their findingsregarding Hindi during theirinspections.
PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW
The foundation stone of Bharat RatnaAtal Bihari Vajpayee Cultural Centre
will be laid at Awadh Vihar Yojana onShaheed Path on December 25. Thecentre is dedicated to the late Prime Minister and his contributions tothe country.
The cultural centre is said to be ofinternational standards and the purposeis to promote tourism and culture of dif-ferent regions of the state. It will be ajoint venture of UP Awas Vikas Parishadand department of Culture and Tourism.The centre was ideated by Cultural andTourism department. The first cultur-al centre in the state exclusively for cul-
tural activities, it is said to be a dreamproject of the state government.
Awadh Vihar Yojana incharge SunilChowdhary said a team of governmentofficials recently inspected the site andselected the land between Awadh ShilpGram and Barauli village on SultanpurRoad under Sarojini Nagar tehsil.
He said the cultural center wouldhave an auditorium with a total seatingcapacity of 5,000. Presently, theAmbedkar auditorium of Ram ManoharLohia Law College is the biggest as it isspacious enough to accommodate 3,000persons. There will also an open air the-atre with a capacity of 1,500.
The project is said to be fundedjointly by the state government and
Centre. It will likely be completed with-in 15 months once the constructionwork begins.
Chowdhary said Housing commis-sioner AK Chauhan directed him in thefirst week of December to help theCultural department in selecting anideal site in Awadh Vihar Yojana com-plex for the project at the earliest. Hesaid he consulted a district administra-tion official, Chandan Patel, regardingthe ideal site and the latter suggested thesite which was finalised.
The estimated cost of the project hasnot been calculated as yet. The projectwill be designed by noted developers ofthe country and private partners will beinvited for their participation.
PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW
Lucknow Municipal Corporation hasshifted more than 1,700 vendors
uptill now in all the eight zones whichcome under the Nagar Nigam under theexercise which they are currently car-rying out. Municipal CommissionerIndra Mani Tripathi admitted that theMunicipal Corporation was facing sev-eral challenges in the implementationof the Vendors’ Act and in shifting them.
The Municipal Commissioner saidthat they were trying to facilitate ven-dors even as they carried out their shift-ing to proper zones. He admitted thatthere were several challenges which theywere facing in this regard. “The issuesinvolve the coordination of manydepartments which include the Trafficand the Police departments. The firstproblem which we are facing are vend-ing zones which had been decided ear-lier but are not getting the NOC fromthe Traffic department due to the con-gestion which they are causing. Hencethese vending zones have not got the
permits and new areas have to be select-ed for them. These are 40-45 zones forwhich alternative arrangements have tobe made,” he said.
He said that secondly even as theexercise of shifting the vendors wasbeing carried out they also had to befacilitated in new areas. “The vendors
have to be facilitated with platformswhere they are seated and also there isa provision of water for them in theseareas. There are some vending zoneswhich are being constructed by SUDAand the work is currently going on.There are 6-7 proposals which theNagar Nigam has also submitted in thisregard. These are a total of 274 propos-als which are under construction,” headded.
The official said that the other prob-lems which they were facing were froma different category of traders. “Thereare traders of fruits and vegetables whoare not ready to shift and are protest-ing that they don’t want to move fromthat area. There is a need to convincethem to shift to the new area,” he added.
However, he stated that they hadshifted over 1,700 vendors across thecity and some of them were from all thezones. In the wake of these protestswhich were being carried out their strat-egy was to carry out both the facilita-tion of the vendors and their shiftingsimultaneously, he added.
PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW
District Magistrate Kaushal RajSharma inspected Charbagh railway
station on Tuesday. Accompanied byMunicipal Commissioner IndramaniTripathi, SSP Kalanidhi Naithani andDRM (NR) Satish Kumar, the DMinspected the road outsidethe railway station anddirected the GRP to removethe damaged vehicles anddemarcate the parking areawith an iron fence, and nota rope. He said the dividerin the centre should be firstrepaired and then painted.
He directed LMC offi-cials to get the nullah fromCharbagh to DurgapuriMetro station cleaned. Healso directed the LMCNagar Nigam officials todeclare the road in front of
Charbagh station a ‘no vending’ zoneand shift the vendors to some other placenearby. He also issued directions forremoval of the hoardings from in frontof the station and advertisement framesnear Ravindrayala. He told the officialsto install lights on the foot overbridgeand ensure its cleanliness.
Lucknow (PNS): Filmmaker KrishnaMishra, who made ‘Wounded - The BanditQueen’ based on Seema Parihar and ‘Beehad’on Nirbhay Gujjar, has set his next venturein Lucknow. Mishra, who will be conduct-ing auditions in the city, said the film wastitled ‘Kadambari’ and it was about the psy-chology of a child who survived abortionsbids. “I decided to make the movie becausea medical research was presented before mein which it was stated that the unborn childis aware of what goes on around him or herin the first three months in the womb.Children who survive abortion bids arementally and physically affected. The moviewill also deal with what happens when apregnant woman smokes and drinks,” hesaid. A Lucknowite whose family comesfrom Bijnore, Mishra, is known for makingfilms on dacoits. He is known for havingconvinced Seema Parihar to act in the filmand make the film as her version. He shotin the ravines for the second film and por-trayed the life of Nirbhay Gujjar. He said thenew film would be shot entirely in the statecapital.
SCHOOLSCAN
CITYBRIEFS
LMC shifts over 1,700 vendors in all 8 zones
Members of Vidyut Karmachari Sangathan Morcha staging a protest at Shakti Bhawan on Tuesday Pioneer
Base of cultural centre to be laid
at Awadh Vihar Yojana on Dec 25
Krishna Mishra’s nextfilm to be shot in city
DM inspects Charbagh
railway station
PNS n ALLAHABAD
Governor Ram Naik hasgiven his nod to the pro-
posal for rechristeningAllahabad Museum asPrayagraj Museum. Presidingover a meeting of theAllahabad MuseumCommittee and ExecutiveCommittee held at Raj Bhavan,the Governor stressed the needfor making the museum ofinternational level. For this hehad also approved a budget of`40 crore. During the meeting,the Governor said that with thecooperation of the Centraland state governments a bigchange was taking place inPrayagraj. All the KumbhMela-related preparations willbe completed ahead of the firstmajor bathing festival fallingon January 14/15.
During the Kumbh fairthe time for opening the muse-um will be increased from 10
am to 8 pm. At the time ofKumbh the museum should beopened for seven days, theGovernor said and added thatthe Kumbh Mela Special tick-et should be issued for entry inthe museum, which would beaccepted at any time during theKumbh Fair. He said that thehelp of research scholars, uni-versity students, volunteersand retired people of thedepartment would be taken asservice guides. In the meetingthe approval was also given forthe construction of the AzadGallery (Vithika) in the muse-um. In this gallery specialphotographs, artifacts, records,papers and documents etc willbe displayed especially thoserelated to revolutionaries fromthe struggle for country’s inde-pendence i.e. from 1857 till1947. He said that its digitalform would also be displayedduring Kumbh.
On the occasion of Kumbh
Mela the museum will mod-ernise the gallery and ensurerelease of the book related toAllahabad besides a replica ofantique artifacts will be exhib-ited and sold together. Duringthe Kumbh Fair an exhibitionrelated to its history will alsobe held in the exhibition hallof Allahabad Museum.
JAL NIGAM MAKESELABORATEARRANGEMENTS
In order to provide betterfacilities to the devotees andpilgrims, the Jal Nigam hasmade extensive arrangementsfor supplying water duringthe 49-day-long Kumbh Melabeginning from January. Ithas decided to arrange 12crore litres of water on everymajor bathing day. In general50 million litres of water willbe consumed in the mela areaevery day.
The Jal Nigam has made
different schemes for all themajor bathing days and nor-mal days for snan in Kumbh.For this over 67 temporarytubewells had been installedfor supplying water. The workfor laying 950-km-longpipeline had been started.
The chief engineer of JalNigam, GC Dubey, said thatabout three crore devoteeswere likely to turn up for theholy dip on every majorbathing festival in Kumbh.During normal days an aver-age of 50 lakh pilgrims wouldtake a holy dip in the Sangamevery day. Apart from them1.5 lakh officers/employees,more than 30 lakhs Kalpvasis,tirthpurohit and members ofseveral organisations would bestaying here. Adequatearrangements for water hadbeen made keeping in mindthe large number of peoplevisiting the fair, Dubey added.
PNS n ALLAHABAD
In a sensational incident, aformer BDC member was
killed by slitting his throat andhis body was dumped on aroad in Lokapur village underthe Mauaima police stationhere. On receipt of informa-tion, the police reached thespot, took the body of the vic-tim into its custody and sentit to the mortuary for the post-mortem examination.
As per the reports, GyanChandra Yadav, son of the lateVishwas Yadav, was a formerBDC member.
It was reported that his
body was found dumped on aroad with his throat slit inLokapur village under theaforesaid police station. Thelocals spotted it on Tuesdayand informed the police aboutit. If sources are to be believed,old enmity over a plot of landcould have led to the murderof the former BDC member.However, the police hadpicked some suspects for inter-rogation in this connectionand raids were being con-ducted to trace the where-abouts of the culpr itsinvolved in this gruesomemurder.
In another incident a 30-
year-old miscreant identi-fied as Dinesh Patel wasdone to death when he wascaught by the people red-handed while sneaking intoa house with the intention toa commit theft there. Theincident took place in an area
under the Koraon police sta-tion late on Monday night.
According to police, thedeceased, Dinesh Patel wasalso an accused in a murderand was at large. The policesaid that the miscreantsneaked into the house ofRaghuraj, a resident of anarea under the Koraon policestation with the intention ofcommitting a theft late onMonday night. However, thefamily member raised analarm on seeing him stealingsomething from the almirah.On hearing their screams theirneighbours also gathered thereand beat him to death.
Proposal for renaming museum gets Gov nod
Enmity over plot of land claims a life
Annual Mothers’ Day and Grandparents’ Day
Shahnajaf roadside vendors protesting at LMC headquarters on Tuesday Pioneer
LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 19, 2018 nation 05
PNS n NEW DELHI
Both the houses ofParliament witnessed pan-
demonium on Tuesday amidststand-off between theGovernment and the Congressover the Rafale fighter jet dealissue. For their part, whileTamil Nadu parties AIADMKand DMK raised slogans overthe Cauvery dam issue, theTDP demanded special statusfor Andhra.
The Government said itwas ready for a discussion onthe Rafale issue and chargedthe Congress with runningaway from the debate after theSupreme Court verdict lastweek. Congress said in theLok Sabha it was ready for dis-cussion, but demanded forma-tion of a Joint ParliamentaryCommittee (JPC) to probe theRafale deal. Speaker SumitraMahajan said constitution ofJPC was not under herpurview.
In the Rajya Sabha, Leaderof Opposition Ghulam NabiAzad said the privilege motionmoved by the Congress shouldbe taken up alleging theGovernment misled theSupreme Court and Parliamenton the Rafale issue. He also saidthe Government has no right tocontinue and “should go.”Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu,however, said that the Chairshould be allowed to take aview.
Countering Azad, Ministerof State for ParliamentaryAffairs Vijay Goel said theGovernment was ready to dis-cuss all issues, including Rafale.He demanded that theCongress apologise in the wakeof the apex court's refusal toorder an SIT probe in Rafaledeal and Sajjan Kumar's con-viction by the Delhi HighCourt in a 1984 anti-Sikh riotscase.
Appeals by the Lok SabhaSpeaker to allow the House tofunction went unheeded asCongress members displayedplacards and trooped into theWell demanding JPC probe. Inthe din, the National Instituteof Design (Amendment) Bill,2018 was introduced in the
House. The Bill seeks to declarethe various NIDs as institutionsof national importance.
In the Rajya Sabha too,Naidu urged the members toallow the House to function asvarious notices on urgent mat-ters, ranging from cyclonesaffecting lives in some states toprice rise to agriculture crisis,have been admitted for dis-cussion.
His appeal was of no availas soon after the papers werelaid by the Ministers when theproceedings for the day com-menced, AIADMK and DMKcame into the well carryingplacards and shouting sloganson the Cauvery issue. Somemembers from AndhraPradesh were also seen dis-
playing placards demandingspecial status for the State.Naidu initially adjourned theHouse till 2 PM at 11.10 amand as the din continued whenthe proceedings began again,he adjourned the House for theday. In the lower house, upsetwith the disruption, Mahajansaid the members were wellaware that this was an impor-tant session as everyone willface elections after this. Shesaid the Government was readyfor discussion, but the ruckuscontinued. Proceedings barelylasted for five minutes and itwas initially adjourned tillnoon.
As the ruckus continued,only one query related to pro-duction of garlic was taken up
during the Question Hour. The BJP members raised
slogans demanding an apologyfrom Congress president RahulGandhi. Later, ParliamentaryAffairs Minister NarendraSingh Tomar said the SupremeCourt verdict has made thingsclear, indicating that there wasno need for a JPC on the con-troversial issue.
Unhappy with theresponse, Congress membersagain started raising slogans,following which the Housewas adjourned for the day.
When the Upper Houseresumed in the afternoon,Naidu proposed to discuss acalling attention on the situa-tion arising due to devastationcaused by cyclones Gaja andTitli in some States and theaction taken by theGovernment in this regard.
However, senior Congressleader Anand Sharma raised apoint of order claiming thatMinister of State forParliamentary Affairs hadreferred to Rahul Gandhi andit is against the rule to demandhis apology because he is mem-ber of other House. Soon after,the ruling party member againstarted raising slogans anddemanded apology fromGandhi while some of theAIADMK and DMK mem-bers trooped into the well toprotest over Cauvery issue.The Chair adjourned theHouse for the day.
Rafale, Cauvery issues rock both Houses
Rajya Sabha Chairperson M Venkaiah Naidu looks on as Opposition members protest in the Rajya Sabha during the WinterSession of Parliament in New Delhi on Tuesday PTI
Irregular expenditure in KVs: Panelsays `59.67 crore due for recoveryPTI n NEW DELHI
There have been irregularexpenditures in setting up
and running of new KendriyaVidyalayas for children of thoseworking in PSUs andGovernment-run institutionswith `59.67 crore due forrecovery, a ParliamentaryCommittee pointed out onTuesday.
The Kendriya VidyalayaSangathan sets up schools onrequest from PSUs and insti-tutes like IIMs and IITs on theircampus for children of employ-ees working there. Accordingto norms, the Public SectorUndertakings or the institutesare supposed to reimburse thecost of setting up and runningthe schools.
However, a report tabled in
Parliament Tuesday has point-ed out that as on March 31,2016 an amount of `59.67crore was due for 81 suchschools. Of this, 34 has beenalready been shut due to vari-ous reasons, making the pos-sibility of recovery as remote.
“The committee notes thatKVS, an autonomous bodyunder the HRD Ministry, estab-lishes and manages KV and thescheme of KV has been extend-ed to children of the employeesof PSUs and government ownedInstitutes of Higher Learning(IHL) on the condition that allrecurring and non recurringexpenditure on running theseschools would be provided bythe sponsoring agencies.
“The sponsoring authori-ties of some existing or func-tioning and closed project
Vidyalayas defaulted in pay-ment of dues resulting in recov-erable amount of `24.57 crorein the year 2003,” the panelreport said.
The committee said thatalong with the key concern ofrecovery of dues which havebeen long pending, the matterneeds to be looked at in thelarger perspective of the impor-tance of Kendriya Vidyalayasin providing education.
The Parliamentary panelhas recommended that afterasking the sponsoring author-ity to transfer the infrastruc-tural assets to KVs, the stategovernments and corporateentities in the area may berequested to contributetowards running of suchschools under their corporatesocial responsibility initiatives.
PNS n NEW DELHI
The Government's agricul-ture schemes are “not dis-
jointed” but linked at variousstages of the farm sector. UnionAgriculture Minister RadhaMohan Singh informed theParliament that Indian agri-culture is confronted with highprice volatility and climate riskfor which adequate prepared-
ness has been in place.Due to steps taken by the
Government, despite climaterisks, the overall crop produc-tion in the country is on theincreasing trend, he said in awritten reply to the Lok Sabha,Singh.
To reduce the dependenceof farmers on private moneylenders, Singh said that theGovernment has taken sever-
al measures to increase insti-tutional credit flow and bring-ing down the interest rate onfarm loans. Further, with a viewto provide better insurancecoverage to crops for all stages,the Government has launchedcrop insurance scheme underwhich `16,967.92 crore claimswas settled during Kharif 2017,he added.
The Minister also men-
tioned that the Governmenthas been “reorienting” the agri-culture sector by focusing addi-tionally on an income-centricapproach. In another reply,Singh said that more than 60per cent markets in the coun-try are still selling agriculturalproduce below the MinimumSupport Price (MSP).
On the Prime MinisterFasal Bima Yojna (PMFBY),
the minister informed thatafter implementation of thePMFBY since April, 2016,enrolment of non-loanee farmers for whom the schemeis voluntary, has increasedfrom 27.81 lakh in 2015-16under erstwhile schemes, to136.66 lakh in 2016-17 and to138.47 lakh in 2017-18, indi-cating acceptance of thescheme.
Agriculture-schemes not disjointed but linked at various stages: Minister
PNS n NEW DELHI
As many as 1.95 crorehectare of land in 97 dis-
tricts of six States-Maharashtra,Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh,Gujarat, Jharkhand andRajasthan are facing drought
this year. According to Ministry of
Agriculture, these six Stateshave sought relief of `16,773crore from the Centre to tack-le drought situation. But Bihar,West Bengal and Uttar Pradeshhave not sought relief from thecentre due to tedious process toget relief from the centre, offi-cials said.
Odisha has also declareddrought during Kharif 2018 butthe State Government has notsubmitted any memorandumso far. As per IMD, 250 of the681 districts across the coun-try have faced deficient rainfallthis year.
In a reply to BhagwanthKhuba, Union AgricultureMinister Radha Mohan Singhsaid that 26 districts ofMaharashtra, 24 of Karnataka,18 of Jharkhand, 11 of Gujarat,9 of Andhra Pradesh andRajasthan each have faceddrought this year and soughtdrought relief package of`16,773 crore. Memorandumsto this effect have been sub-mitted to the Ministry. Takingnote of their memorandum, theMinistry has set up inter-min-isterial high level committee toassess the damage and recom-mend the financial assistancefrom National DisasterResponse Fund (NDRF).
Drought in six States:
Relief of `16,773 cr
sought from Centre
KHURSHEED WANI n SRINAGAR
The authorities on Mondaysealed off all roads leading
to headquarters of XV Corps inSrinagar to thwart separatistsplan to stage a protest demon-stration in the garrison areaagainst the spree of civiliankillings. Police detained twomain separatist leaders MirwaizUmar Farooq and Yasin Malikto foil their march towards thelargest cantonment in summercapital Srinagar.
The separatists had calledfor a protest demonstration infront of the office of the XVCorps Commander who com-mands the military operationsin the entire Kashmir Valley.The army had counselled thepeople against paying heed tothe separatists’ call. The pro-posed protest was part of 3-dayshutdown called by the sepa-ratists against the killing ofseven civilians in Sirnoo villageof south Kashmir’s Pulwamadistrict on Saturday. ThreeHizbul Mujahideen terroristsand an Army soldier were alsokilled in the encounter. Thelocals blamed the security
forces for “target killings.”Senior separatist leader
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq defiedpolice restrictions on his man-sion in Nigeen area of Srinagaroutskirts and led a group of hissupporters to march towardsthe cantonment area. However,he was intercepted by a largecontingent of police, mostlymasked personnel, who tookhim into brief custody after about of slogan-shouting.Before being whisked to policestation, Mirwaiz was allowedto address his supporters. Heblamed the state authorities forunleashing a reign of terror bykilling what he called innocentcivilians.
“After indiscriminatekillings, civilians are branded asover ground workers and ter-rorists which is preposterous initself, but what is worse is thatthis propaganda is used as ameans of endorsing and justi-fying the civilian killings byarmed forces. Delhi has over-played the terrorist, Pak proxyand instigators card and no oneis buying this narrative exceptsome people in India at whomit is aimed for electoral gains,”
Mirwaiz said adding the worldsees for itself the ever-growinggraph of atrocities and mas-sacres of Kashmiris who areseeking peaceful resolution ofthe Kashmir dispute.
Another separatist leaderand JKLF chairman YasinMalik also detained by policeafter he tried to march towardsBadami Bagh cantonment inSrinagar. Reports said Malikalong-with his supportersincluding several womenassembled at Gaw Kadal local-ity to begin their march.
Eyewitnesses said as soonas Malik reached near Budshahbridge a police party swung intoaction and detained him. Policefired tear gas smoke shells todisperse the crowd.
The authorities hadordered restrictions on publicmovement under Sec 144 CrPcin various parts of Srinagar dis-trict in view of Joint ResistanceLeadership (JRL) call forprotest march towards Army’sXV Corps Headquarters. Theauthorities ordered impositionof restrictions within the terri-torial jurisdiction of Khanyar,Rainawari, Nowhatta,
Safakadal, MR Gunj and RamMunshi Bagh police stations ofthe district. In addition, partialrestrictions are in force withinthe territorial jurisdiction ofMaisuma and Kralkhud policestations in the uptown city.
The normal life remainedaffected across Kashmir Valleyon third consecutive day inresponse to the JRL’s shutdowncall No untoward incident wasreported from any part ofValley.
Shops, business establish-ments and fuel stationsremained closed while publictransport was off the roads insummer capital Srinagar.However, scarce private vehi-cles besides ambulances pliedon the city roads. The atten-dance in government and semigovernment offices is alsoaffected.
Similar reports of shut-down and effect on normal lifewere received from other dis-trict headquarters in the Valley.
Heavy deployment ofpolice and paramilitary securitypersonnel was made inPulwama district and adjoiningShopian district. Train services
between Srinagar and Banihalin Jammu and connectingnorth Kashmir’s Baramulla dis-trict remained suspended forthe third day. The mobile inter-net services in Srinagar besidesPulwama and Shopian districtsare suspended as a precau-tionary measure.
The civilian killings evokedwidespread condemnationfrom both separatist as well asmainstream political partiesincluding NC, PDP, Congressand other smaller parties call-ing for halt to such killings andpolitical initiatives to resolveKashmir issue.
Governor Satya Pal Malikexpressed grief over killingsand directed security forces toadhere to Standard OperatingProcedure (SOP) during antimilitancy operations. He alsodirected divisional adminis-tration Kashmir to conductprobe into the Pulwama inci-dent. Advisor to Governor KVijay Kumar held a securityreview meeting in Srinagar onSunday and urged upon thesecurity forces to adhere toSOPs while conducting coun-terinsurgency operations.
PNS n NEW DELHI
In a bid to give fillip to thetourism sector and enhance
economic activities in Ladakh,the Home Ministry hasapproved new tourist andtrekking routes in the ‘Land ofHigh Passes’.
The Home Ministry, in astatement, said the decision hasbeen taken buoyed by the suc-cess of many tourism initiativesannounced under the PrimeMinister’s DevelopmentPackage-2015. TheGovernment of Jammu &Kashmirhas taken yet anotherleap by proposing to open upmore tourist and trekkingroutes in Ladakh with the aimof recapturing the glory, richculture and beauty of theregion, it said. The move willgive a big boost to adventuretourism too.
The proposed new touristroutes are Merak-Lema Bend,Chushul-Kartsangla-Mahe,Durbuk-Shahikul-Tharuk-Sato, Kargyam-Parma-Erath-Chusul and Loma-Hanley.Ko r z o k - Nu r b o - S u m d o -Parangla-Kazaand and Agyam-Shayok-Durbuk are the twoother tourist routes.
The proposed new trekkingroutes include Phyang-Dokla-HunderDok-Hunder, Basgo-Ney-HunderDok-Hunder,T e m i s g a m - L a r g y a p -Panchathang-Skuru andSaspol-Saspochey-Rakurala-Skuru.
Roads sealed off to foil separatist stir
TN RAGHUNATHA n MUMBAI
The toll in Mumbai’s ESIShospital fire mounted to
eight on Tuesday, even as theMaharashtra Governmentorders an inquiry into thealleged negligence and lapsesleading to the mishap.
While two more injuredpersons succumbed to burnwounds, the condition of atleast 25 of the total 147 injuredpersons admitted to varioushospitals in the city wasdescribed as "critical". Many ofthe injured persons were dis-charged from various hospitalafter treatment.
Prime Minister NarendraModi, who was on a day-longvisit to Maharashtra, extendedhis condolences to the familiesof those killed in the mishap andmade anxious enquiries aboutthose injuries in the mishap.
“I have discussed the inci-dent with Chief MinisterDevendra Fadnavis. All help isbeing extended to the families ofthose killed and also to the per-sons injured in the mishap,”
Modi said, while speaking at theRepublic TV summit.
Meanwhile, Union HealthMinister JP Nadda spoke toFadnavis while Labour &Employment Minister SantoshGangwar rushed to Mumbai.
The Maharashtra govern-ment announced an ex-gratia of`10 lakh to the families of thosekilled, `2 lakh to those serious-ly injured and `1 lakh to thosewho suffered with minor injuries.
Till Monday night, six per-sons had been killed and 147others injured late on Mondayafternoon after a major firebroke out in the state govern-ment-runEmployees StateInsurance Corporation (ESIC)Kamghar Hospital at Andheri(East) in north-west Mumbai.
The fire had been noticed ataround 4 pm on Monday, nearthe operation theatre of thehospital located at Marol local-ity of Andheri (East). Beforelong, the fire spread to otherfloors stranding more 150 peo-ple in the fire-engulfed building.
As the fire spread in thebuilding, a few patients panicked
and jumped out of the fourthfloor window. They sufferedfractures.
However, within minutes ofthe fire being reported, at least12 fire tenders, 15 water tankersand other specialised equip-ment arrived on the scene to bat-tle with the blaze. The firebrigade used ladders to bringdown those trapped in the thirdand fourth floors of the hospi-tal building. The fire brigadepersonnel extinguished the blazeafter battling for three hours.
Meanwhile, informedsources said that the hospital hadfailed a fire safety audit con-ducted a fortnight ago.
Taking cognizance of thelack of adequate fire safety mea-sures at the hospital, chief min-ister Fadnavis ordered aninquiry into the circumstancesleading to the mishap and fixresponsibility for it.
Talking to media persons,Mumbai Mayor VishwanathMahadeshwar said: “Whetherthe fire audits were done or notand whether the systems were inplace or not, will be investigated".
PNS n MUMBAI
Releasing a coffee table book"Timeless Laxman" based
on the life and times ofrenowned cartoonist RKLaxman, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi said here onTuesday that he was happy tobe a part of the timeless jour-ney of the late cartoonist.
"I am very happy to be partof Laxman's timeless journey.I am happy that we can now getan insight into the vast treasureof Laxman's work. StudyingLaxman's works through thedecades is a nice way to under-stand sociology, and the socio-economic milieu of the times,”the Prime Minister said.
“This effort is not just forLaxman or his memory..Asmall part of Laxman liveswithin the minds of crores ofpeople. Laxman's commonman is timeless and pan-Indian. All Indians, and all gen-erations of people identify withhim, Modi said.
The coffee table book hasbeen penned by his daughter-in-law, Usha Srinivas Laxman.
It may be recalled thatLaxman — best known for hiscreation The Common Manfor his daily cartoon strip, “ YouSaid it” in The Times of Indiawhich started in 1951—passedaway at a Pune hospital onJanuary 26, 2015.
Meanwhile, a delegationrepresenting the film and enter-tainment industry, called onPrime Minister Modi inMumbai today. The delegationcomprised producers andCEOs of companies in theentertainment industry.
The delegation, comprising
among others actors AkshayKumar, Ajay Devgan, film-maker Rakesh Roshan, lyricistPrasoon Joshi, producers KaranJohar and Siddhartha RoyKapur, rooted for lower anduniform rates of GST, for theentertainment industry inIndia.
The delegation alsoexpressed its strong support ofthe Prime Minister's vision formaking India a five trillion dol-lar economy in the near future.They gave an overview of thevast growth potential of themedia and entertainmentindustry in India, and saidthat this sector is poised to con-tribute in a significant waytowards this goal.
Members of the delegationstrongly made a strong case fordeveloping Mumbai as theglobal entertainment capital,through various initiatives andproactive approaches.
On his part, Modi said thatthe Indian entertainmentindustry enjoyed immensepopularity across the worldand it was one of the key ele-ments of India's rising softpower status, globally.
STAFF REPORTER n NEW DELHI
Inspired by the decades oldNational Women's Party in
the United States, a 36-year-olddoctor and social activistlaunched a woman's only partyon Tuesday to fight for issueslike reservation for women inParliament and harassment ofwomen at workplace.
The newly formed NationalWomen's Party (NWP) is beingheaded by Swetha Shetty, whosaid the party's goal was to rep-resent "women" particularlythe underprivileged who "havesuffered at the hands of system.Those who have run fromoffice to office in expectation ofsome help to make their livesbetter and got nothing" andthose who suffered fromdomestic abuse or are strug-gling against the social estab-lishment".
"The actual ground workfor National Women Partybegan in 2012. The motivebehind formation of NationalWomen Party is to get 50 percent reservation for womencandidates in Lok SabhaElection.
Even in 2018 women rightsare avoided easily and there isso much crime against womenand no significant reformationsare being considered so farhence she felt the need forwomen party," Shetty said.
"The political world inIndia has been majorly maledominated and women havealways felt excluded. The partywill attempt to eradicate thepresent challenges as there isneed for women participantswho understand the subjectmore delicately. Womenempowerment will be a fairplay to persistent paradoxes ofour times," she said.
Shetty said while she wasworking with an NGO inTelangana, she worked uponthe idea of starting a massmovement. "I wantedto make a national movement.To serve the original purposewomen need higher commit-ment from the governing body.We need higher participationin the parliament to amend thelaws for women welfare andprogress," she said.
While Shetty urged moreand more women to join theparty to be able to collectivelyrake up the issues, she did notelaborate on any plans of con-testing any elections.
ESIS hospital fire: Death tollreaches to 8, probe ordered
I am happy to be partof Laxman's timelessjourney, says Modi
The move likely
to boost
adventure
tourism also
LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 19, 2018 nation 06
SAUGAR SENGUPTA n KOLKATA
There is no plan for anyalliance with the Congress
before the Lok Sabha elec-tions, Bengal’s rulingTrinamool Congress leader-ship said on Tuesday.
When asked to commenton whether the TMC wouldfor once consider any electoralalliance with the Congress in2018 general elections seniorTMC leader and State MinisterSubroto Mukherjee said “thereis no question of any allianceat least before the elections.There will be no pre-pollalliance. Whatever tie-up thatmay be taken up for consider-ation will be after the elec-tions.”
All parties had their sepa-rate views and strategies aboutthe elections and the TMC toohad its. But on the question ofdefeating the BJP all the oppo-sition parties were thinking inone direction “that is this partyhas to be defeated,” and theTMC was of the view that “theparty which is strong in a par-ticular region should be sup-ported by the other partiesagainst the BJP.”
Incidentally Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee had alreadymade it clear that her partywould contest all the 42 LokSabha seats of the State alone.
Reacting to the issue StateOpposition Leader and
Congress veteran AbdulMannan said “question ofalliance has not come upbecause no one from theCongress has approached them(Trinamool) with an allianceproposal. In fact we havealready given our decision fora solo fight from a recent rallyin Kolkata.”
On the BJP’s proposedRath Yatra for which the StateGovernment had denied per-mission on grounds of com-munal harmony, the seniorMinister said, “permission wasdenied in order to maintainpeace,” wondering, “how theBJP will be able to manage somany people required for aYatra of the magnitude they areplanning.”
Incidentally the CalcuttaHigh Court on Tuesday asked
the State BJP for three tentativedates for the proposed RathYatra.
The Court of JusticeTapabrata Chakrabarty alsoasked the State AdvocateGeneral to submit before it thevideo recording of the meetingheld under the Court’s direc-tion between the State officialsand the BJP leadership inwhich the saffron outfit report-edly claimed that the Yatra hadno religious undertones andthat it was purely a politicalprogramme.
“The State was categori-cally told by our leaders that itis a political and not religiousYatra but still they are not giv-ing permission for it,” BJPleader JP Majumdar said. Thenext hearing for the matter willbe held on Wednesday.
TN RAGHUNATHA n MUMBAI
Flagging the issue of corrup-tion, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on Tuesdaytook an indirect swipe at theOpposition Congress over itsallegations of corruption madeby against him in the Rafalescam, saying that the SupremeCourt – through its clean chitto his Government — hadgiven a “befitting reply” to thelitigants who had approachedthe court over the alleged irreg-ularities in the fighter jets pur-chase deal.
Without actually namingthe Rafale deal, Modi broke hissilence for the first time over theSupreme Court’s verdict in themuch-discussed fighter aircraftpurchase case, Modi said:“Hamare yaha ek psychologyrahi hai ki jab sarkar ke khilafaarop lagate koi adalat me jatahai, to mana jaata hai ki sarkarghalat hogi aur aarop laganewala sahi hoga. Yeh aamtaur pemanyata hai, ghotale ho, bhrash-tachar ka aarop ho, ye mansik-ta hamare man me ghar kar gayihai. Kyuki humne yahi dekha haipehle’ (It has been our psychol-ogy that whenever some goes tocourt with allegations of cor-ruption, we presume that theGovernment is in the wrongand the people making allega-tions are right. That’s we have tocome tom accept. That’s whathas been our mindset when itcomes to scams or allegations ofcorruption. Because, we haveseen these things in the past”.
“Lekin ye pehli bar hua haijab kuchh, sarkar par bhrash-tachar ka aarop lagate hue desh
ki sab se badi adalat gaye auradalat ne unhe do took jawabmila hai ki jo kaam hua hai,woh paardarshita se hua hai,imaandari se hua hai. Humaredesh me aisa bhi hoga, char saalpehle kisi ne nahi socha tha (Ithas happened for the first timethat some people moved thecountry’s highest court withallegations of corruptionagainst the Government andthe court gave a befitting replyto the litigants concerned thatwhatever work that took placehappened in a most transpar-ent and honest manner. No onewould have imagined fouryears ago that such a thing canhappen in this country)”, thePrime Minister said.
Modi also took an indirectpot shot at the Nehru Gandhifamily on the issues of theissues of extradition ofChristian Michel, the allegedmiddleman in theAgustaWestland chopper scamfrom Dubai and the life sen-tence handed to Congressleader Sajjan Kumar sentencedto life in a 1984 anti-Sikh riotscase by Delhi High Court.
“No One thought four yearsago that one day we would beable to bring Christian Michelto India to face trial in theAgustaWestland chopper scam.No One thought four years agothat one day that a Congressleader would be sentenced inthe 1984 Sikh riots case. We arethe same country. We have thesame bureaucracy. We havethe same infrastructure. Butwhat is the change in the situ-ation we are witnessing today?”Modi asked.
In his key note address atthe Republic TV summit here,Modi listed his Government’sachievements during the lastfour and a half years and saidthat the country was witness-ing the change which was astrong representation of“Surging India” wherein theGovernment was moving for-ward with “Policy-driven gov-ernance” and “Predictabletransparent policies”. “As aresult, we are constructinghighways, doubling of railwaylines twice the pace of thework executed earlier. We haveconstructed more than 100
airports and heliports in thecountry. We are completing theprojects which had remainedpending for the past 30 to 40years,” the Prime Minister said.
The Prime Minister saidthat four years ago, no onewould have imagined that Indiawould be surging towardsbecoming a five trillion dollareconomy and rising up theranks in the ease of doingbusiness from 142 in 2014 to 77in 2018. “We are moving fast toget into the under 50 bracket inthe world in terms of ease ofdoing business,” he said.
Referring to the rapid paceof infrastructure developmenttaking place in the country,Modi said that his Governmenthad – through reviews under-taken at the monthly PRAGATImeetings which he chaired –had reviewed projects worth Rs12 lakh crore which had beenpending for years on end andwas speeding up these works.
“Go to any part of thecountry, we can get to see signboards mentioning `Work inProgress’. The importance ofthese sign boards is indicativeof the fact that “India inProgress”. We are not just con-structing highways, flyovers,metros etc. But, what is hap-pening is building of a newIndia. The city (Mumbai) thatI am in today is often describedas a `city that neverstops’.Speaking from this city, Iwould like to say that `India isa country that never stops’.India has made up its mind thatneither would it stop nor wouldit slow down,” the PrimeMinister said.
SAUGAR SENGUPTA n KOLKATA
The EnforcementDirectorate while investi-
gating into illegal hawala dealsin Kolkata has bumped intotransactions that have terrorlinks, sources said.
ED sleuths who conducteda series of raids throughoutKolkata a few days ago havereportedly found strong terrorlinks of the hawala dealsprompting the NationalInvestigating Agency to jumpinto the case. The NIA willsoon take up the matter forfinding out its terror angle,sources said.
According to officials thecash collected from Kolkataand perhaps other parts ofBengal were routed to countrieslike Singapore, Dubai,Bangladesh and Nepal fromwhere they were sent to the var-ious terror outfits for carryingout militant activities in India,sources said adding about Rs1,000 crore have been siphonedout of Kolkata through hawalaroute.
A part of the hawalamoney had gone into the handsof dreaded terror outfits likeJamaat MujahideenBangladesh, sources saidadding other terror outfits havealso received money from suchtransactions.
The hawala money wasbeing transferred out ofKolkata for the past six monthsor so, sources maintained
adding whether more moneywas sent before that period wasbeing looked into.
The Tuesday’s report camein the wake of Bongaon ses-sions court awarding deathpenalty to a Lashkar e Toibaterrorist Sk Naeem a resident ofAurangabad in Maharashtra.Naeem was arrested by the BSFat the Bangladesh border in2007 along with three accom-plices. He was involved in atrain blast in Mumbai.
That parts of Bengal werebeing used by the terror outfitslike JMB came to light wayback on October 2, 2014 whena blast killed two militantswho were manufacturingexplosive devices at a house atKhagragarh in Burdwan dis-trict.
Subsequent investigationsconducted by the NIA into thecase took the lid off an elabo-rate terror network that wasactive in border districts ofNadia, Birbhum, Malda andNorth 24 Parganas. A numberof undercover JMB militantsand moles were arrested then.The JMB militants were work-ing on a plot to assassinatesome key leaders inBangladesh, it was alleged.
On whether the hawalamoney allegedly sent to someterrorist organisations had anybackward political linkage theED officials would not revealsaying the NIA would sooninvestigate into the terrorangles.
No pre-poll tie-up
with Cong: TMC
Modi takes dig at Cong on Rafale
PM Narendra Modi addresses the ‘bhoomi pujan’of proposed two Metro V lines and inauguration ofa CIDCO housing project at Kalyan in Thane PTI
PTI n RANCHI
Two days after resumingpolitical activities, Tej Pratap
Yadav, the elder son of jailedRJD chief Lalu Prasad, Tuesdaymet his father and claimed thathe was advised to “take the partyforward” by him.
The over two-hour meet-ing between Tej Pratap and hisfather took place at theRajendra Institute of MedicalSciences, where the RashtriyaJanata Dal (RJD) chief is under-going treatment for variousailments after being convictedin fodder scam cases.
The former Bihar healthminister had been keeping alow profile for several monthson account of differences withyounger brother TejashwiYadav and estrangement withhis wife of six months.
It was a long time since Imet my father. I became emo-tional. I love him. My father ismy God---Krishna, Vishnuand Mahadev, Yadav toldreporters.
He further claimed that theRJD chief had asked him “totake the party forward”, reiter-ating that he saw Tejashwi as“Arjuna” and vowed to play therole of Lord Krishna who wasthe warrior prince’s charioteerin the epic Mahabharata.
Asked about his divorcepetition, Tej Pratap refused todivulge the details, saying thematter was in court.
Tej Pratap meetsLalu, claimsfather asked him to take RJD forward
Indian Space Research Organisation’s GSAT-7A onboard GSLV-F11 being taken to the launch pad during the countdown for itslaunch, at Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on Tuesday. The rocket will be launched from the launch pad 2 at 4.10pm on Wednesday PTI
`1,000 cr takehawala route toterrorists: ED
PNS n NEW DELHI
The IAF on Tuesday createda record of sorts by airlift-
ing nearly 500 tons of loadfrom Chandigarh in a singlewave to airfields and dropzones in the Ladakh region aspart of winter stocking. Theregion remains cut off from therest of the country throughland route due to snow and theIAF plays a crucial role inmaintaining operational readi-ness of the army deployed onthe Line of Actual Control(LAC) facing China throughround the year logistical main-tenance.
The feat was accomplishedby a fleet of 16 fixed wing air-craft comprising C-17Globemaster, the IL-76 andAN-32. “All aircraft wereloaded and took off fromChandigarh airbase early in themorning. The entire wave wasaccomplished in little less thansix hours,” IAF said.
This was a demonstrationof the ‘rapid airlift capability’ ofthe IAF for quick responseboth during times of war andnatural disasters and theWestern Air Command (WAC)airlifted a record 463 tonnes.
The WAC is entrusted withthe air maintenance of theentire northern region of thecountry and under normaloperating circumstances airliftsclose to 3,000 tonnes of load
per month.Air Marshall NJS Dhillon,
Senior Air Staff Officer (SASO)of Western Air Commandunder whose direction theeffort was undertaken observedthat rapid air mobility is a keycomponent of modern warfare.“This assumes greater signifi-cance in short and intensewars. This is very true in India’scontext, especially when relat-ed to air mobility to airfields inthe Ladakh region,” he said.
Airlift of approximately500 tonnes, in the achievedtime frame, in a single wave,happens to be a record whichenhances the assessment ofthe Commands’ capabilitytowards rapid and heavy airlift,the IAF statement added.
Given the strategic impor-tance of Ladakh region, the IAFin the last few years has builtairfields in the inaccessibleareas to ensure uninterruptedsupply of weapons, equipmentand food to the troops postedon the LAC. They have tomarch for three to four daysfrom the nearest road head toreach some of posts on thefront.
Moreover, construction ofairfields and advanced landinggrounds(ALG) in the Ladakhregion is a tough call given theterrain and climate wherebuilding activity is restrictedonly five to six summer monthsbefore snow blocks everything.
PNS n NEW DELHI
The Trinamool Congress onTuesday alleged that despite
promises made by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, hisGovernment has not been ableto create job opportunities forthe youth.
Addressing a press briefing,the Trinamool’s parliamentaryparty leader in Rajya SabhaDerek O’Brien said that theGovernment was using dataselectively.
“Shifting time series, andthe selective use of data deflectsattention from the quality ofjobs that are being created andwhether they are in fact ‘newjobs’...PM Modi promised in2015 that he will turn
India into the ‘humanresource Capital of the world’.In 2018, India ranks 158/195nations on the Human CapitalIndex, just behind Sudan,”O’Brien said.
He said wages in Indiacontinue to be well below theSeventh Pay Commission andwhen adjusted for inflation,wage rates have grown in mostsectors at three per cent perannum.
“31 million Indians arewithout a job...10 per centincrease in GDP results in lessthan one per cent increase inemployment,” he said. TheTMC protested outside parlia-ment over lack of jobs for theyouths.
He said that according toLabour Ministry data, over thepast year, the National CareerService portal witnessed a 29per cent decline in the numberof advertised vacancies but a 56per cent increase in job seekers.
PNS n NEW DELHI
Post-Doklam, the SashastraSeema Bal (SSB) has
ramped up its defences alongthe Indo-Bhutan border. It hasset up 15 Border Outpostsalong the Arunachal Pradeshborder and three outpostsalong Sikkim border besidesdeploying manpower to manthese posts.
The SSB is a designatedborder guarding force and LeadIntelligence Agency for theBhutan frontier besides theNepal border.
The BOPs and the relateddeployments have been madeon Indo-Bhutan frontier inSikkim and ArunachalPradesh, close to the Indo-China border. The BOPs havebeen constructed close to thetreacherous terrains of valleyslike Diban, Dua-Delai andLohit opposite the Tibetanplateau in China, officials said,adding all the 18 BOPs havebeen operationalised.
SSB Director GeneralSurjeet Singh Deswal said,
“Three new BOPs in Sikkimand 15 in Arunachal Pradeshwere established and they havestarted functioning this year toprovide better security andpatrolling in the areas border-ing Bhutan. The three newBOPs are in Western Sikkimwhich touches Bhutan border.”
Addressing a Press confer-ence ahead of the force’s 55thRaising Day, Deswal, however,clarified that his force hasnothing to do with the opera-tions along India-China Borderor the Doklam issue which wasbeing looked after by sisteragencies.
The 18 new BOPs areamong the 72 such posts thathave been made operationalthis year, he further said.
The strengthening of theIndo-Bhutan frontier comesmonths after the troops ofIndia and China were locked ina 73-day standoff at Doklamon the tri-junction of India-Bhutan-China--from June 16,2017. The standoff began afterthe Indian side stopped roadconstruction by China’s People’s
Liberation Army in the areathat belonged to Bhutan. Thestandoff ended on August 28last year.
Presently, 53 battalions ofSSB are deployed on the 699km Indo-Bhutan and 1,751km India-Nepal borders. TheSSB secures the frontiersthrough a network of 708 BOPsalong the two countries.
As many as 176 BOPs areoperational along the India-Bhutan border that runs alongthe states of Sikkim, ArunachalPradesh, West Bengal andAssam while 533 are alongIndia-Nepal border that runsacross the states ofUttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh,Bihar, West Bengal and Sikkim.
The SSB has also begun theprocess of transferring around1,800 non-combat personnel ofthe SSB to the IntelligenceBureau and the exercise will becompleted in the next onemonth, Deswal said.
The move is part of theCentre’s plan to bolster theIntelligence Bureau’s presencealong the borders.
PNS n NEW DELHI
The CBI has booked twoArmy officers for alleged-
ly taking bribes of over `82 lakhfrom a civilian contractorengaged in supply of rations fortroops posted in Nagaland.
The action has been takenon a complaint from BrigadierRajiv Gautam posted at theheadquarters of the Army’s 3Corps headquartered in theNortheast.
Lt Col Amit Sharma and LtCol Sutikshan Rana, officers ofthe Army Service Corps,received bribes worth `82 lakhbetween 2012 and 2016 from asupplier of ration, according tothe complaint.
Sharma was CommandingOfficer of the ASC at Dimapurfrom July 27, 2012, to October15, 2014, while Rana held theposition from October 16,2014, to September 10, 2016.
The Army had carried outa Court of Inquiry duringwhich it was found that `82lakh were allegedly paid tothese two officers by the con-tractor Jai Prakash Singh, thecomplaint alleged.
During a seven-month-long Preliminary Enquiry, theCBI managed to establishalleged payments of `10 lakhand `3.40 lakh from Singh toSharma and Rana, respective-ly, the officials said.
The payments were madethrough bank deposits of thirdparties known or close to thefamily members of Sharmaand Rana, the officials said.
CBI books two
Army officers
for graft
INCIDENTALLYCHIEF MINISTER
MAMATABANERJEE HAS
ALREADY MADEIT CLEAR THAT
HER PARTYWILL CONTEST ALL THE 42 LOK SABHA
SEATS OF WEST BENGAL
SSB sets up 15 outpostsalong Bhutan borders
‘Despite promises, ModiGovt has been unable tocreate job opportunities’
IAF sets new records,airlifts 463 tonnes ofload in one go
DEEPAK K UPRETI n
NEW DELHI
The politically sensitive tem-ple issue figured in the
BJP’s Parliamentary Party meet-ing on Tuesday with some of themembers wanting to know thetimeline for its construction atthe disputed site at Ayodhya. Themeet also discussed Triple talaqand Rafale deal.
The meeting was held in theabsence of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and party pres-ident Amit Shah. Union HomeMinister Rajnath Singhaddressed the meet, the secondof the current Winter Session.
BJP’s MPs from UP,Ravindra Kushwaha and HariNarayan Rajbhar, raised the tem-ple issue which is part of party’smanifesto, and were backed byother MPs when Rajnath wasaddressing the party MPs.
The Home Minister wasquoted by sources as tellingparty MPs that it was everybody’swish to see a Ram temple inAyodhya and that MPs should be
patient.RSS head Mohan Bhagwat
had recently called for the con-struction of Ram temple sayingthat its fulfillment would removeone of the main constraints inway of Hindu-Muslim rap-prochement. RSS has advocateda law to facilitate the construc-tion of the temple.
Though the BJP has agreedwith the sentiments of theseorganisations, it has so far notofficially spoken on the subject.
Supreme court which ishearing the title suit for in theRam-temple-Babri Masjid dis-pute is expected to fix time-tablefor the hearing of the trail earlynext year when Lok Sabha pollare also be due.
In the meeting Rajnathspoke about the high populari-ty of Modi and claimed that nonein the Opposition could matchit. “We are far ahead of theOpposition. Circumstances arevery good for us,” ParliamentaryAffairs Minister Narendra SinghTomar Singh quoted.
Rajnath asked MPs to work
hard to repeat the success of theBJP in the 2019 hustings.
The issue of BJP’s defeat inAssembly polls — MadhyaPradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh— was, understandably, notdeliberated in the gathering.The poll set back in the Hindiheartland has come when thecrucial Lok Sabha polls are onlyfew months away and pose a bigchallenge to the leadership ofModi and Shah. The grandalliance of the Opposition whichis yet to take shape, seeks to havestate-to-state tie up against theBJP in the Lok Sabha poll.
Tomar also told newspersons that the passage of the tripletalaq bill, which stipulates jailterm for Muslim espousesaccused of giving instant divorceto their wives, in Parliament is atop priority for the Government.The Opposition has opposed tothe non-bailable warrants againsthusbands. The Government hasbrought some changes in the billstipulating bail to Muslim hus-bands by the court if consentedby the affected wives.
Ram temple issue echoes
in BJP Parl party meeting
India ranks 158/195
nations on the
Human Capital
Index: TMC leader
nation 07LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 19, 2018
PNS n KOLKATA
The winners of the eightedition of the prestigious
US $25,000 DSC Prize forSouth Asian Literature will bedeclared at a special AwardCeremony at the Tata SteelKolkata Literary Meet (Kalam)that will take place from 22ndto 27th January, 2019 inKolkata, India.
This partnership is in linewith the peripatetic nature ofthe prize, where true to itsSouth Asian essence, the win-ner is announced in differentSouth Asian countries by rota-tion. The DSC Prize, 2016 wasawarded to Anuradha Roy atthe Galle Literary Festival in SriLanka. Last year, prize wasawarded to AnukArudpragasam at the Dhaka LitFest in Bangladesh/
This year, the winner willbe announced at the Tata SteelKolkata Literary Meet inKolkata on January 25. .
Instituted by SurinaNarula and Manhad Narula in2010, the DSC Prize for SouthAsian Literature has emergedas a leading international lit-erary prize specifically focusedon South Asian fiction writing.Its key vision is to showcaseand reward the best literarywriting talent from this regionand present it to a globalaudience.
The prize is committed toextend the conversation on
South Asian writing and reach-es out to various audiencesthrough exciting and creativepartnerships. The partnershipwith the Tata Steel KolkataLiterary Meet will provide a sig-nificant impetus to the litera-ture of this region as both theprize and the festival arestrongly focused to further thecause of South Asian writing.The five member internation-al jury panel which is adjudi-cating the books as well as theshortlisted authors would beinvited to attend the AwardCeremony.
Speaking about the part-nership, Surina Narula,founder of the DSC Prize forSouth Asian Literature said,“We are delighted to partnerwith the Tata Steel KolkataLiterary Meet to announce thewinner of the DSC Prize forSouth Asian Literature 2018 atthis prestigious festival inJanuary. We see a lot of posi-tive synergies in this partner-ship as we both share a com-mon vision to promote andhighlight South Asian writingto more people across geogra-phies through the forum of lit-erature and the arts. In con-tinuation of our tradition ofannouncing the winner in dif-ferent South Asian countriesby rotation, we are now happyto announce the DSC Prize2018 winner at the Tata SteelKolkata Literary Meet inKolkata, India”.
PIONEER NEWS SERVICE nNEW DELHI
Former Prime MinisterManmohan Singh on
Tuesday silenced his criticswho often called him a “silentPM” by stating that he was nota Prime Minister who wasafraid of talking to the press. .
“I was a silent PrimeMinister. My books speak forthemselves. I wasn’t the PMwho was afraid of talking to thePress. I met Press regularly andon every foreign tour that Iundertook, I had a Press con-ference on return in the plane,”Singh said on the sidelines oflaunch his authored book titled‘Changing India’.
The book penned by the
Manmohan Singh encapsu-lates his life as an economistand a policymaker, and shedslight on the 10 years that he ledthe Congress led UPAGovernments.
On the economic front, theformer prime minister saidthat India is destined to be amajor powerhouse of the glob-al economy. Singh, who is alsoa renowned economist, saidthat India has witnessed anaverage growth rate of about 7per cent since 1991. “Despite allhiccups, hurdles, India will getits action right... India is des-tined to be a major powerhouseof global economy,” he said.
Talking about the tusslebetween the RBI and theCentre, Singh said the rela-
tionship between the two (RBIand Government) is like hus-band and wife where differ-ences must be harmonised sothey can work in harmony.
A set of five volumes,Changing India gives the for-mer PM’s perspectives on awide range of economic, socialand political issues as theyevolved through his politicalcareer. Singh also writes abouthis time in academia during the1950s, and his tenure as theprime minister from 2004-2014.
Singh, who has been a vocalcritic of the Narendra Modi-ledNDA government’s policies, haswritten extensively about thecountry’s economic evolution inthe last decade.
PNS n NEW DELHI
Post-Doklam, the SashastraSeema Bal (SSB) has ramped
up its defences along the Indo-Bhutan border. It has set up 15Border Outposts along theArunachal Pradesh border andthree outposts along Sikkimborder besides deploying man-power to man these posts.
The SSB is a designated bor-der guarding force and LeadIntelligence Agency for theBhutan frontier besides theNepal border.
The BOPs and the relateddeployments have been made onIndo-Bhutan frontier in Sikkimand Arunachal Pradesh, close tothe Indo-China border. TheBOPs have been constructedclose to the treacherous terrainsof valleys like Diban, Dua-Delaiand Lohit opposite the Tibetanplateau in China, officials said,adding all the 18 BOPs havebeen operationalised.
SSB Director GeneralSurjeet Singh Deswal said,“Three new BOPs in Sikkim and15 in Arunachal Pradesh wereestablished and they have start-ed functioning this year to pro-vide better security andpatrolling in the areas borderingBhutan. The three new BOPs arein Western Sikkim which touch-es Bhutan border.”
Addressing a Press confer-ence ahead of the force’s 55thRaising Day, Deswal, however,clarified that his force has noth-ing to do with the operations
along India-China Border or theDoklam issue which was beinglooked after by sister agencies.
The 18 new BOPs areamong the 72 such posts thathave been made operationalthis year, he further said.
The strengthening of theIndo-Bhutan frontier comesmonths after the troops of Indiaand China were locked in a 73-day standoff at Doklam on thetri-junction of India-Bhutan-China--from June 16, 2017. Thestandoff began after the Indianside stopped road constructionby China’s People’s LiberationArmy in the area that belongedto Bhutan. The standoff endedon August 28 last year.
Presently, 53 battalions ofSSB are deployed on the 699 kmIndo-Bhutan and 1,751 kmIndia-Nepal borders. The SSBsecures the frontiers through anetwork of 708 BOPs along thetwo countries.
As many as 176 BOPs areoperational along the India-Bhutan border that runs alongthe states of Sikkim, ArunachalPradesh, West Bengal andAssam while 533 are alongIndia-Nepal border that runsacross the states of Uttarakhand,Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, WestBengal and Sikkim.
The SSB has also begun theprocess of transferring around1,800 non-combat personnel ofthe SSB to the IntelligenceBureau and the exercise will becompleted in the next onemonth, Deswal said.
SSB sets up 15outposts alongBhutan borders
SAUGAR SENGUPTA n KOLKATA
The EnforcementDirectorate while investi-
gating into illegal hawala dealsin Kolkata has bumped intotransactions that have terrorlinks, sources said.
ED sleuths who conducteda series of raids throughoutKolkata a few days ago havereportedly found strong terrorlinks of the hawala dealsprompting the NationalInvestigating Agency to jumpinto the case. The NIA willsoon take up the matter forfinding out its terror angle,sources said.
According to officials thecash collected from Kolkataand perhaps other parts ofBengal were routed to countrieslike Singapore, Dubai,Bangladesh and Nepal fromwhere they were sent to the var-ious terror outfits for carryingout militant activities in India,sources said adding about Rs1,000 crore have been siphonedout of Kolkata through hawalaroute.
A part of the hawalamoney had gone into the handsof dreaded terror outfits likeJamaat MujahideenBangladesh, sources saidadding other terror outfits havealso received money from suchtransactions.
The hawala money wasbeing transferred out ofKolkata for the past six monthsor so, sources maintainedadding whether more moneywas sent before that period wasbeing looked into.
The Tuesday’s report camein the wake of Bongaon ses-sions court awarding deathpenalty to a Lashkar e Toibaterrorist Sk Naeem a resident ofAurangabad in Maharashtra.Naeem was arrested by the BSFat the Bangladesh border in2007 along with three accom-plices. He was involved in atrain blast in Mumbai.
That parts of Bengal werebeing used by the terror outfitslike JMB came to light wayback on October 2, 2014 whena blast killed two militantswho were manufacturingexplosive devices at a house atKhagragarh in Burdwan dis-trict.
Subsequent investigationsconducted by the NIA into thecase took the lid off an elabo-rate terror network that wasactive in border districts ofNadia, Birbhum, Malda andNorth 24 Parganas. A numberof undercover JMB militantsand moles were arrested then.The JMB militants were work-ing on a plot to assassinatesome key leaders inBangladesh, it was alleged.
`1K cr flows
via hawala to
terrorists: ED
DSC prize winner to be declared atKolkata literary meet
KESTUR VASUKI n BENGALURU
MLAs give a miss to Karnataka CongressLegislature Party meeting ahead of Cabinet
expansionAmidst conspicuous absence of many aspi-
rant MLAs ahead of proposed Cabinet expan-sion, the crucial Congress Legislature Party(CLP) meeting was held on Tuesday at Belagavi.The absence of many MLAs indicates the pres-sure tactics and rebellion in the century old party.
The Cabinet is scheduled to be expanded onDecember 22 but by all indication this will beput off to another date looking at the dissidencein the party. The possibility of a reshuffle comesamidst the unhappiness expressed by varioussenior leaders in the party who were deniedberths during the cabinet formation.
Leaders, including former ministers, whoweren’t given berths during the first round ofexpansion, gave the meeting a miss. They wereRamalinga Reddy, MB Patil, Satish Jarkiholi,
Ramesh Jarkiholi, Roshan Baig and SR Patil,most of whom have openly expressed their dis-appointment in the past for being denied cab-inet positions. There was also north and southdivide in the party which has been openlyexpressed by the MLAs. The Lingayat factor alsocame to haunt the Kumaraswamy led coalitiongovernment. The powerful north Karnataka lin-gayat leaders in the party like SR Patil, MB Patiland others are openly opposing the leadershipand critical of chief minister HD Kumaraswamyfor ignoring north Karnataka.
However to douse the fire Dinesh GunduRao, president, Karnataka Pradesh CongressCommittee has said the cabinet expansion willtake place on December 22 but said with riderthat Congress president has to clear the names.He said “The cabinet could be expanded andreshuffled. Both are possible. We will be meet-ing Congress president Rahul Gandhi and tak-ing decisions regarding this. As announced, theexpansion will take place on 22nd.”
From Page 1An aide of Kumar said he
does not want the party to faceany embarrassment and that iswhy decided to resign from theprimary membership of theCongress soon after the DelhiHigh Court pronounced itsjudgment in the case.
The aide clarified the 73-year-old three-time MP doesnot have a Twitter accountand comments attributed tohim in the social media plat-form were not made by him.
When asked for his reac-tion on the issue, Rahul skirt-ed a question on Kumar andalso about the apolog ydemanded by the BJP fromhim after Kumar’s convic-tion by the Delhi High Courta 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.“My position on the riots, Ihave made it very clearbefore. That is absolutelyclear, the issue is very simple,”Rahul parried the queriesfrom the media outsideParliament.
From Page 1Rahul said Modi has been
at helms of affairs as PM for last4.5 years, but has not waived asingle rupee of farmers’ loansbut promised that Congressand other Opposition partieswould join hands to end thefarmer’s miseries. He said if theModi Government does notwaive farm loans, Congressguarantees to waive the same ifvoted to power in 2019. He saida united Opposition will exert“such pressure on Modi thatnot a single farmer will be leftout”.
When asked aboutGovernment’s claim on the“typo” in the affidavit given tothe Supreme Court on theRafale issue, Rahul quippedthere will be many more typoscoming now from theGovernment side.
“A number of typo errorswill come out now. This is justa beginning of typo errors, nowone after the other typo errors
will come, on JPC issue, onRafale issue, on farmers, ondemonetisation, you will startseeing typo errors. Basically,what is happening is thatmoney of people of India isbeing stolen, of farmers, ofsmall shopkeepers. I considerdemonetisation as the biggestscam of the world. The purposeof note ban was to snatchmoney of the poor and give tothe friends of NarendraModi…,” Rahul claimed.
Referring to Rahul address-ing the issue of farmer distressand saying that the Congressand other Opposition partieswill ensure that all farm loansare waived, Prasad declared itwas just drama. The Congress,he said, had been in power forabout 60 of the last 70 years.“What have they done forfarmers? They are doing justdrama now,” he said.
Daring the Congress andits chief to show “courage” anddiscuss the fighter jet deal “eyeto eye” in the House, Prasadsaid, “Don’t run away from thedebate.” He added that theCongress was fleeing a debateon the issue because it hadmany skeletons from defencedeals in its cupboard.
From Page 1“There will be interest relief
scheme of up to four per centfor farmers. There will be inter-est relief from the StateGovernment so that farmersget crop loan at zero interestfrom next financial year,”Patowary said adding thataround 19 lakh farmers acrossthe State are expected to takethe benefit of it.
Meanwhile, the BJP-ledGovernment in Gujaratannounced on Tuesday it willwaive electricity bills of con-nection holders in rural areasto the tune of `650 crore.
“Total 6.22 lakh connectionholders in rural areas across theState will be benefited with thiswaiver to the tune of ̀ 650 crorepending electricity bills,”
Gujarat’s Energy MinisterSaurabh Patel said.
The Minister said theseconnections were cut off due topower theft and non-paymentof bills. “These are domestic,agricultural as well as com-mercial connections,” Patelsaid.
The Congress and Patidarquota agitation leader HardikPatel have been demandingloan waiver for farmers inPrime Minister Modi’s homeState for some time now, cor-nering the Vijay Rupani-ledGovernment in Gujarat.
The agrarian distress led tothe BJP’s worse performance inover decades when it barelymanaged to win 99 seats in the182-member Assembly in Stateelections last year.
From Page 1Sources said that forest
staff had been tackling the restthree members of the lionpride to ensure that they do notcome near the tracks in searchof the missing three sub-adults.
According to the 2015 cen-sus, Gir has 523 lions, includ-ing 109 male, 201 female, 73sub-adults, and 140 cubs. SinceSeptember, 35 lions have died:Some due to natural cause,many others fell prey to CDVand Protozoa infections andduring territorial fights.
Gir (east) forest divisionfalls under Junagadh wildlifecircle. Boarala is a village locat-ed in Savarkundla taluka ofAmreli district. It is adjacent toChandgadh and Liliya whereAsiatic lions have settled inreserve forest and thickets inprivate revenue land.
The railway tracks onwhich the accident took placeconnect Pipava port on sea coatin Rajula taluka of Amreli dis-trict to Surendranagar junction.The busy broad-gauge railwaytracks are owned by Pipavav
Railway Corporation Limited(PRCL), a joint venturebetween Indian Railways andGujarat Pipavav Port Limited,a private firm which owns andoperate the Pipava port.
The Pipavav port is one ofthe biggest ports of Gujarat interms of handling container-ised cargo. The railway line hasthe capacity to handle 21 trainsevery day.
Around six Asiatic lionsdied after being hit by movinggoods train in Rajula range ofAmreli social forestry division
and Savarkundla rangebetween 2014 and 2015. Afterthe fatalities, the forest depart-ment had erected chain-linkedfencing on either side of thetrack over a stretch of around10-km from near the Pipavavport onward to Rajula town.However, fencing is not therein Borala where the latest inci-dent took place, said the offi-cials.
Asiatic lions are an endan-gered species and their onlywild population in the world issurviving in Gir forest andother protected areas spreadacross Junagadh, Gir Somnath,Amreli and Bhavnagar dis-tricts in Saurashtra region ofGujarat State. Their populationwas estimated to be 523 duringthe lion census conducted in2015. Of this, 174 was record-ed in Amreli district alone. Thecarnivores have settled in Liliyaand Krakach area of Amrelidistrict for the last 15 years astheir population grew in pro-tected forest areas. Being ter-ritorial animals, the big catslooked for abodes outside.
From Page 1The channels include in this packare Zee Anmol, Zee Action, SonyPAL, Sony WAH, Rishtey, MoviesOK, Star Utsav, Star Utsav Movies,Discovery Jeet, Zee Action and BigMagic. The basic pack will alsohave sports channels, includingStar Sports First, Star Sports 3and DD Sport, all of which arepriced in the range of `1-4 permonth.The second category is a premiumplan, which will be priced at `300-350 for the standard definitionversion and `450-550 per monthfor the HD version. This premiumpackage will have channel such asStar Plus, Zee, Zee Cinema,Colors, Sony, &TV, SET Max, StarMovies, History TV18, Star Worldand &Flix. The local cable TV operators arenot happy with the new tariffregime and they have wrote toTRAI in this regard.
From Page 1“If your travel from Kargil
to Kanyakumar or Kutchh toKamrup, you will realise thespeed at which developmentworks are underway. Whateveris happening is because of theGovernment’s commitment,the aspirations of the localpeople, farmers, labourers, pro-fessionals,” Modi averred.
“We are concentrating onintegration of next generationinfrastructure and transportfrom villages to cities today.With this aim, the Centre andthe Maharashtra Governmentare strengthening the infra-structure in the State,” thePrime Minister said.
Describing the Hinjewadi-Shivajinagar Metro corridoras a “special” project, thePrime Minister said it is thefirst project approved under theGovernment’s new Metro RailPolicy for the country. “TheMetro Rail Policy is ‘reform ori-ented’ by ensuring the metrotrains are linked with feeders,buses, new walkways, pathwaysdeveloped simultaneously,”Modi said.
From Page 1“The revival of wetland is
required if we want to seewinged guests in Delhi andNational Capital Region,” hesaid.
Meanwhile, against allodds, there is some good newsfor Delhiites as rare species ofmigratory birds — RedPochard beak has been spot-ted in Yamuna biodiversitypark.
Dr Faiyaz Khudsar,Scientist in the Environmentdepartment, Delhi University,said December month hasrecorded good number ofmigratory birds. “We haverecorded 1,000 birds of ten dif-ferent species of migratorybirds such as NorthernShoveler, Common Pochard,”Dr Khudsar added.
It is important to mentionhere that in a recent bird countsin Delhi recorded 251 species
of birds in Delhi-NCR. Thesespecies were found inNajafgarh, Sultanpur,Bhindawas, Dhighal, OkhlaBird Sanctuary and Yamunafloodplains.
As per the findings, thisyear 15 birds were spottedwhich were missing last year,however, 21 species were notspotted which was spotted lastyear.
Najafgarh Jheel is a favor-able wetland where bird watch-ers may spot hundreds ofspecies of birds, including largeflocks of greater flamingo,common shelduck, osprey, pel-ican, duck and goose.
Importantly, Stoliczka’sbuschat, listed in the vulnera-ble category by Internationalconversation of Nature(IUCN), has been spotted onlyat a few places in the past,including Hisar and some areasof Rajasthan and Kutch.
The Indian rupee on Tuesdayrallied by a whopping 112
paise, its best single-day gainsin over five years, to settle at70.44 against the US dollar assoftening crude oil prices easedconcerns over India’s currentaccount deficit expansion.
Besides, sustained selling ofthe American currency byexporters and banks as well asthe greenback’s weaknessagainst its key rivals globallyahead of the US Fed policydecision Wednesday alsohelped the domestic unit scalefurther heights. The Brentcrude, an international bench-mark, was trading 2.26 per centlower at $58.26 per barrel, a 14-month low.
At the Interbank ForeignExchange (forex) market, therupee opened on a firm note at71.34 from. It gained furtherground to hit a high of 70.44,a massive climb of 112 paiseover its previous closing.
The Indian currency hadgained 34 paise to close at 71.56against the US dollar Monday.
The Tuesday’s 112 paiseascent marked the best day forthe rupee since September 19,2013, when it had surged by161 paise against the US dollar.
Forex dealers said a drop inbond yields easing liquidityconcerns in the market andbullish trend in equities trad-ing also supported the rupee inmaintaining its upward move-ment. The benchmark SensexTuesday wiped off early lossesto end 77 points higher at36,347 on Tuesday, the sixthconsecutive session of gains.The broader NSE Nifty edgedhigher by over 20 points to endabove the 10,900-mark. TheFinancial Benchmark IndiaPrivate Ltd (FBIL) set the ref-erence rate for the rupee/dol-lar at 71.1940 and forrupee/euro at 80.7554. Thereference rate for rupee/Britishpound was fixed at 89.8829 andfor rupee/100 Japanese yen at63.21.
` logs best dayin over 5 years,vaults 112 paise
PTI n NEW DELHI
Finance Minister Arun Jaitleyon Tuesday said the
Government did not seek res-ignation of Urjit Patel as RBIGovernor over differences onsome issues, and went on to citehow central bank heads weremade to resign under primeministers Jawaharlal Nehru andIndira Gandhi and whenYashwant Sinha was financeminister. Defending hisGovernment’s demands fromthe Reserve Bank to address cer-tain issues including liquidity orfund problem in certain sectors,he said that there is no threat tothe autonomy of the centralbank. Patel, who was brought inby Prime Minister NarendraModi-Government in 2016 aftera second term was denied tooutspoken former IMF chiefeconomist Raghuram Rajan, ina surprise move resigned as RBIGovernor on December 11.
Many blamed the pressurebrought by the Governmenton the central bank to ease lend-ing restrictions and release moreof its capital to bolster the econ-omy for Patel’s resignation.
“Sarkar ki unse koi istife kiapeksha nahi thi (TheGovernment did not seek Patel’sresignation),” Jaitley said whenasked about Patel’s resignationat ‘Agenda Aaj Tak’ programmehere. The Government hadcited the never-used-before pro-vision of the RBI Act that givesit powers to issue directions tothe Governor, to get the central
bank to discuss its areas of con-cerns. Two board meetings afterthat were “cordial” and decisionswere taken on three-four issueswhile there were also some onwhich no decision was taken, hesaid, adding the issue of paringof some of RBI’s over `9 lakhcrore reserves after deciding onan appropriate size of buffer wasdecided to be referred to anexpert committee. While thecommittee was decided to beformed in the RBI board meet-ing held on November 19, aconsensus on the compositioneluded till Patel resigned.
Jaitley said the expert com-mittee would be announced infew days time. “So if you are say-ing that raising these issues is aninfringement on autonomy, thisis wrong,” he said. He then wenton to cite past RBI governorswho had resigned. “The firstgovernor to resign (was in) 1955when (Prime Minister) PtJawaharlal Nehru wrote toGovernor B Rama Rau (that)economic policy is to be framedby Government of India (and)monetary policy is to be framedby you. But your other policieslike credit policies have to be insupport of the Government’s
economic policies. And if are sug-gesting you would resign, ‘I amunable to advise you to the con-trary’. So he resigned,” he said.
“Yashwant Sinha, whobecame the high priest of RBIautonomy, during the ChandraShekhar Government called(RBI) Governor RN Malhotraand said I want your resigna-tion,” he added. Former financeminister P Chidambaram,Jaitley said, was “not on speak-ing terms with two Governorsduring his tenure.”
Many central banks aroundthe world maintain 8 per cent ofgross assets as reserves whileconservative ones maintain at13-14 per cent. RBI maintainsit at 28 per cent, Jaitley said.
“In 2013 they said that youhave `1.46 lakh crore in excessyou give. Then no one said thatit is raiding the Reserve Bank,”he said, adding reserves releasedcan be used for infusing capitalin public sector banks as well asfor schemes for the benefit ofpoor. “I don’t need these fundsfor funding fiscal deficit, orgovernment expenditure for thisyear till the month of May. Idon’t need even one rupee,” hesaid and cited a letter written byRajan as the chief economicadvisor of the Government in2013 to RBI asking how muchcapital did it require. “MyGovernment has the best fiscalrecord and even this year we willmaintain the fiscal deficit. Andtherefore to maintain fiscaldeficit I don’t need that kind ofmoney,” he said.
Govt didn’t seek Urjit’sresignation, says Jaitley
For those who are intrepid optimists,giving Pakistan Prime MinisterImran Khan a chance to prove hecan do more to better India-Pakistanrelations is a fair bet. After all, he has
been handpicked by the Army and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) played no small rolein installing him as the Prime Minister. Khanclaimed that Pakistan Army chief GenQamar Bajwa and he are on the same page.The Kartarpur corridor confidence buildingmeasure (CBM) is an Army-approved Khan’sfirst step awaiting an Indian response whichwill be followed by Khan’s promised addition-al steps, whatever those might be. PrimeMinister Narendra Modi compared Kartarpurwith the fall of the Berlin wall, adding:“Kartarpur will not be a corridor but a rea-son to bring people together.” The two SikhMinisters he sent were equally euphoric, espe-cially Union Minister for Food Processing,Harsimrat Kaur, who said that Kartarpur wasa perfect way to start a “new beginning.” Butspoilers are on both sides. Union ExternalAffairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was quick toguillotine hope with her famous one-liner:“Terror and talks cannot go together.”Similarly, Swaraj killed an earlier agreed meet-ing on the sidelines of UNGA of a conversa-tion between Indian and Pakistan ForeignMinisters in reaction to media outrage overbeheading of a soldier and Line of Controlviolations. Both incidents were missed oppor-tunities to test Khan’s strategic autonomyunder Bajwa’s watch.
Linked to the resumption of bilateral dia-logue is Islamabad’s yearning to hold the 19thSaarc summit, which was postponed in2016 following the Uri attack, and rejected bySwaraj citing lack of conducive environment(read Pakistan’s backing for terrorists). Thekilling of 19 soldiers in the Uri attack was notdue to any ingenious or suicidal terroristaction but was accidental, caused by the care-less storage of gas cylinders which engulfedthe tent in which they were sleeping. Duringthe Vajpayee-led NDA Government, evenafter a major terrorist attack on Parliamentin December 2001 —which led to OperationParakram — Vajpayee did not skip the 11thSaarc summit in Kathmandu in January 2002,where the then Pakistan Prime MinisterPervez Musharraf shook hands even asIndia’s armed forces were on full-scaledeployment, ready for war. India’s attemptsto isolate and punish Pakistan have seen there-energising of sub-regional groupings, likethe Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi SectoralTechnical and Economic Cooperation(Bimstec), which includes Bangladesh, India,Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal andBhutan. According to a World Bank report,‘Glass Half Full: The Problem of RegionalTrade in South Asia’ (by Sanjay Kathuria), theformal trade between India and Pakistancould be $37 billion but is only $2 million dueto a variety of surmountable barriers. SouthAsia, as a region, is locked down by India-Pakistan tensions and an upswing in relationsbetween the two nations would benefit otherSaarc countries too.
In conformity with Modi’smuscular policy — surgicalstrikes et al — his Governmenthas become the first one to notengage in official dialogue withPakistan since it started in 1996.Except for the likes of ManiShankar Aiyar of uninterruptedand uninterruptible dialoguefame and Sudheendra Kulkarni,who have suffered repeatedindignities at the hands of Hindugoons, the majority of soldiers,diplomats and intellectuals are onthe side of no dialogue withPakistan as it attracts the law ofdiminishing returns, coupledwith doses of despair and frus-tration. Still, there are those whohang around in fatigued Track IIsimply because the official trackis closed. The 26/11 Mumbaiattacks, whose perpetrators havegone unpunished and are beingmainstreamed, marked the turn-ing point in the dialogue process,especially after India and Pakistancame breathlessly close to agree-ing on the four or five pointKashmir formula during the sin-gle-window Musharraf regime,which turned out to be a flash inthe pan. Ten and six years ofGenerals Musharraf and AshfaqParvez Kayan had upset the col-legium of Corps Commanders,disturbing the channel of promo-tions. The Generals agreed toreplace the era of direct withproxy rule, thereby obviatinginternational and domestic costs.This mechanism gave rise to newterminologies — electedGovernment and establishment(deep state).
While the last two electedGovernments completed their
term, their Prime Ministers wereprevented from doing so byshowing them as corrupt andincompetent, to establish theindispensability of the Army asthe ultimate custodian ofPakistan’s core values and nation-al interest. The established demo-cratic tenet of civilian-politicalcontrol of the military wasreversed to military (judicial andNAB) control of the politicalclass, which the recent electionshave commendably demonstrat-ed with the Army’s choice ofPrime Minister.
In and outside Pakistan, thequestion that is inevitably askedis about altering the behaviour ofthe military: Who will do it andhow will it be done? This is con-sidered un-doable. At one time,the Americans were the only oneswho could have achieved this butthe Army was their strategic ally.After plastering Pakistan withabuse and freezing military aid,US President Donald Trumphas been forced into seeking helpfrom the Generals for the peaceprocess in Afghanistan. TheChinese are best placed to influ-ence behavioural change but willnot oblige. Neither the US norChina will mess around with anuclear-armed Pakistan, umbil-ically tied with terrorist proxies,making Pakistan the most dan-gerous state. Cross-border jihadand terrorism will pose a peren-nial threat to India — while keep-ing alive the Kashmir dispute-which even a 100 surgical strikes(not feasible without escalation)will be unable to counter.
For Pakistan, India is an exis-tential threat, even more so after
the then Defence MinisterManohar Parrikar and NationalSecurity Advisor Ajit Dovalthreatened a counter jihad andevaporation of Balochistan ifthere was another Mumbai.Pakistan’s military is the defend-er of faith and bulwark againstIndian machinations of its furtherbreak-up following the creationof Bangladesh. Cross-border ter-rorism is Pakistan’s low-costhigh-gain revenge against India’ssplitting of Pakistan.
So, why should Gen Bajwaand Imran Khan want an on-and- off dialogue with Indiawhen status quo is suitable?Reason: To keep up the optics ofgood neighbourliness, enhanceand benefit trade relations withthe fastest growing economy,resume conversations onKashmir without necessarilyaiming to find a solution (of amothballed Kashmir) and evenseeking India’s help inAfghanistan. In short, withoutdiluting the threat from India,which dilutes its primacy incivil-military relations, cherry-pick items for talks which bene-fit Pakistan. Regulating the tap ofterrorism as Musharraf did is theprice Rawalpindi is willing to pay.Despite these calibrated contra-dictions, Khan’s wish for talkswith India will be consummatedmid-2019 after the elections.Terror and talks will then gotogether.
(The writer is a retiredMajor General of the IndianArmy and founder member ofthe Defence Planning Staff, cur-rently the revamped IntegratedDefence Staff)
If there is a truism about India, it is that
everyone over here seems to have an
opinion about politics and cricket. So,
one should really treat actor Naseeruddin
Shah’s comments on cricketer Virat
Kohli’s behaviour as just another Indian
cricket fan expressing his/her opinion on
sport. Just like the thousands, who
shared their opinions on who should form
India’s opening pair for the Melbourne Test
star ting next week, others, mainly
Australians, have been commenting on
Kohli’s aggressive, take no prisoners
captaincy style. The irony that those who have been watching cricket for a
few years feel about the new ‘woke’ Australian cricket team is palpable.
Australian teams defined the aggressive and nasty cricketers on the field between
the eras of Allan Border to Steve Smith. It appears after they were caught
cheating in South Africa and with Smith and David Warner banished to the
wilderness at least temporarily, this new Australian side is on a public rela-
tions spree to be likeable. But let us be honest, Kohli doesn’t need to go on
a PR campaign, he lets his bat and captaincy do the talking. While he is a bit
lippy on the field, he is a perfectly decent bloke off the field and doesn’t need
Anushka Sharma’s certificate for that — anyone who has interacted with him
will testify to his politeness off the field. And that was the same about most
Australian cricketers of the past. Steve Waugh, who was never short of a snarky
comment on the field, is a humanitarian for example.
That said, while we should be proud that Virat Kohli wears his heart on
his sleeve and has the Indian flag in his heart when playing for the country,
he should not forget that as the Captain of the Indian men’s cricket team, he
is possibly the most influential individual in the nation. There are millions of
impressionable young children looking up to him and they might not have
the degree of self-control that Kohli has to keep his on-field and off-field per-
sonae separate. And in an age of multiple cameras and powerful microphones,
it might not be a bad idea to control his aggression. But if it is his aggres-
sive nature on the field and pitch that will help us finally conquer Indian crick-
et’s ‘final frontier’ (to borrow the term from Waugh) and win a test series down
under, it is worth it. Let’s be honest, despite their performance in the recent-
ly concluded Test in Perth, this is the weakest Australian cricket team for three
decades and India has never had such an opportunity. Let us not lose sight
of the big picture and take a cricket fan’s opinion too seriously.
The Congress probably had not bar-
gained for a bad day at the courts
so soon after managing some
respectable foothold on the electoral
ground in the latest round of state polls.
But its past ghosts came to haunt it swift-
ly, dim its newly-minted relevance and
remind it that victories remain pyrrhic and
there’s still a long way to convince peo-
ple why they should trust it ever again.
While its poor homework led to the
Supreme Court’s dismissal of the Rafale
petitions as baseless and without con-
crete evidence of wrongdoing, the Delhi High Court had a mountain of evi-
dence with which to nail it over the carnage of Sikhs in 1984 after Indira
Gandhi’s assassination. It reversed earlier judgments and rightfully sentenced
one of the pogrom leaders, Sajjan Kumar, to life imprisonment for what it
classified as a crime against humanity, which needed closure despite the
time lapse of 34 years. Justice delayed may be justice denied but for the
generations of the 2,700 Sikh families that have borne the burden of pain,
loss and utter humiliation viscerally, having seen their loved ones killed bru-
tally, this is both vindication and reconciliation. Somewhat. It is also a recla-
mation of their identity that at one time was bracketed under terrorism against
the state. The court also listed precedents to justify why delayed justice is
necessary to prove that there is no getting away and restore faith in democ-
racy as the ultimate arbiter of right and wrong even if the law and order
system itself is held hostage by the perpetrators, in this case even enjoy-
ing political patronage as members of the ruling party. The court cited the
Supreme Court of Bangladesh, which took up an appeal against the acquit-
tal of the accused of mass killings of Bangladeshi citizens in 1971 by sym-
pathisers of the Pakistani Army. The trial began in 2009, 38 years after the
incident, and concluded in 2013. A Nazi war criminal was convicted after
56 years. As the court articulated, “no amount of time can be ‘too long’ to
satisfy the needs for truth and some measure of accountability, nor can come
arbitrary legal time limit be set. The argument that some wounds are too
old to be exposed has little moral integrity… the wounds are still there for
all to see.” And in this case, it is that of a community that has contributed
constructively to our national life.
The bigger problem for the Congress is that unlike Sajjan Kumar, who
resigned after the verdict, bigger leaders like Jagdish Tytler and the newly-
elected Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Kamal Nath, will now be facing
the heat of inquiry. And though Nath claims the Nanavati Commission had
found no ground to implicate him, petitioners of the Sajjan Kumar case say
they will pursue a case against Nath as he was present at the spot as is
documented. The BJP, seeing a ray of light post the Rafale ruling, is amp-
ing up its offensive and building up an emotive narrative for 2019, zeroing
in on its nemesis in Madhya Pradesh. But the Congress sustenance is not
likely to be affected much considering it sits pretty in Punjab and can sac-
rifice senior leaders if they are convicted. In such a situation, Rahul Gandhi
can even cleanse the seniors to usher in the young and appear he is gen-
uinely concerned about undoing past evil. But can the BJP itself rest easy?
The Delhi High Court, after all, even listed the Gujarat riots of 2002 as one
of the many genocidal crimes that needed redress as the accused evaded
prosecution and punishment by using their political clout and manipulating
the police. The court, therefore, called for a strong legal framework that would
make the guilty answerable and not immune in real time. There’s no doubt
that the BJP has more than a few skeletons that can tumble out if the Congress
counteracts with a similar “nail them” narrative. In the end, no political party
in a democracy should go scot free or feel free to tweak the system with impuni-
ty just because it is in command.
Justice at last
Sajjan Kumar’s life sentence may bring some closure to Sikhs hitby 1984 but the court has asked questions of other killings as well
Failed policy
Sir — This refers to the article,“No salvation in shooting thereformist” (December 18) byBindu Dalmia. In the just-con-cluded Assembly elections tofive States, the BJP got one outof 40 seats in Mizoram, one outof 119 seats in Telangana, 15 outof 90 seats in Chhattisgarh, 73out of 199 seats in Rajasthan and109 out of 230 seats in MadhyaPradesh. Barring MadhyaPradesh, the BJP could not comeanywhere near the halfway markin the five State Assemblies.
These election results clear-ly indicate that the people didnot like the BJP’s bottom-tight-top-loose kind of policy toundertake reformation.
While measures, like demon-etisation and Goods and ServicesTax, took the water away forsmall fries, big crocodiles happi-ly survived on the land withoutwater, with help of plastic money.On the other hand, soft-dealingwith macro bank loan defaultersand the hard approach on farmloans did not go down well withthe farmers.
Sujit DeKolkata
Better hopes
Sir — This refers to the article,“GST, unaddressed Hindu con-cerns blighted BJP” (December16) by Swapan Dasgupta. Withregards to Telangana andMizoram, where both the BJP andCongress lost badly, regional con-siderations played a major roleover there. As for the other Hindi
heartland States anti-incumbencyled to the BJP’s defeat.
In Madhya Pradesh, ShivrajSingh Chouhan’s impartiality,strictness and adherence to rulesannoyed the people of the Stateand even his near and dear ones.As for Chhattisgarh, Naxals, beingafraid of the BJP’s aggressiveness,threatened that the electoratecould not vote for the party.This had a questionable effect. In
Rajasthan, people were more dis-satisfied with Vasundhara Rajethan Prime Minister Modi.
While the Congress can nowrejoice over its victories, peoplewill soon get disenchanted withit. Prime Minister Modi’s poli-cies, particularly in the sectorsof Foreign Affairs, Defence andHome are remarkably fine. TheGovernment needs more time toclean up the mess created by the
UPA Government. We musthope for the better.
LR GuptaLucknow
Bleak chances
Sir — DMK President MKStalin’s call to the Opposition torally around Rahul Gandhi is nodoubt a big boost for theCongress president but it is tooearly to say whether the entireOpposition would stand unitedand endorse Rahul as theirprime ministerial candidate.
Electoral victories in thethree crucial northern Stateshave infused confidence in theCongress and bolstered the imageof Rahul as a leader with apotential to take Modi head-onin the Lok Sabha battle. Butgiven its organisational weaknessin electorally significant Stateslike West Bengal, Bihar, TamilNadu and Uttar Pradesh, theCongress has no option than toally with regional heavyweightsto improve its electoral prospects.
Despite all the calibrated contradictions between India and Pakistan, Imran Khan’s wish
for talks will be fulfilled after the 2019 elections. Terror and talks will go together
India would be happy toassociate with Zambia inany area, including trainingof officials in the institution-al or technical humanresource development.
Vice President —Venkaiah Naidu
India will never forgiveHafiz Saeed for his role in26/11 Mumbai attacks.You can be certain, sometime or the other, justice will be met.
UN representative—Syed Akbaruddin
I get disturbed when themedia exaggerates. If radi-cal, violent groups are notgiven attention, then maybethis world would be a betterplace to live in.
Actor—Sunny Leone
Cartoons do not hurt buthave a healing power.Cartoonists are ‘closer toGod’ as they can minutelyobserve different characteris-tics of various human beings.
Prime Minister—Narendra Modi
S O U N D B I T E
L E T T E R S T O T H E E D I T O R
Ban loan waivers altogether
This refers to the article, “Resurrect Indian economy”(December 18) by Shivaji Sarkar. There must be a com-plete ban on promises such as subsidies and loan-
waivers that routinely make up poll manifestos of politicalparties. The ultimate sufferer of such promises is the mutecategory of the middle-class taxpayer, who bears the bruntof additional taxes and cost inflation due to a deficit in theeconomy.
Even the subsidy system should be abolished in a grad-ual manner. Agricultural incomes over a certain limit shouldbe taxed because it’s not the farmers, but ultra-rich person-alities, including famous celebrity icons and politicians, whobenefit from such tax-free income. They misuse the pro-vision by declaring their unaccounted income from land useas agricultural income.
A loan waiver to farmers is a big election gimmick and,in fact, makes them more dependent on middlemen becausebanks, compelled to write off grants, refuse to finance them
in the future. Also, such loan waivers are limited only toprevious years during which many farmers have alreadyrepaid their loans. But political gimmickry means that eventhose who can repay are kept out.
Madhu AgrawalDelhi
WHY SHOULDGEN BAJWA AND
IMRAN KHANWANT AN
ON-AND-OFFDIALOGUE WITH
INDIA WHENSTATUS QUO IS
SUITABLE?REASON: TO
KEEP UP THEOPTICS OF GOOD
NEIGHBOURLYBEHAVIOUR,
ENHANCE ANDBENEFIT TRADE
RELATIONS WITHTHE FASTEST
GROWINGECONOMY
Cricket’s bad boy
We should all cut Virat Kohli and his behaviour on the pitch some slack
The energy sector, electricity inparticular, is undergoing aphase of rapid change.
Provisional data from the CentralElectricity Authority (CEA) showedthat up to October 2018, electrici-ty supply deficit was only 0.6 percent of the total energy demand anddeficit at peak was only 0.8 per cent.This in itself is suggestive of the factthat our country has come a longway since a decade. In fact, for theentire financial year of 2018-19,CEA’s Load Generation BalanceReport anticipated 4.6 per centoverall energy surplus and 2.5 percent surplus at peak demand.However, below the surface, there isa long list of challenges alreadybeing faced and even bigger oneslooming ahead.
India’s electricity demand isprojected to more than quadrupleby 2035-36. Its demand grows con-comitant with economic develop-ment, which is aided by increasedpenetration of necessary and discre-tionary goods powered by electric-ity, rise of disposable income and
access to credit. One particularitem, air-conditioners, is of specialinterest. It has already lead to a tem-poral shift in demand patterns.The situation will only get height-ened in the future due to increasedmarket penetration of the productand growing demand for cooling,given the rising temperatures.
A further spurt in demand isexpected due to the electrificationof the transport sector that is nowalmost inevitable. Even theSaubhagya scheme is expected tounlock latent demand by bringingelectricity connection to a multitudeof homes. Planning to meet theshifting demand is of essence. Weare in a situation where we are con-strained about our choice of electric-ity generation because of the con-ditions set by global climate change.Quite rightly, therefore, theGovernment has declared its inten-tion to increase the share of renew-able energy to 40 per cent by 2030.
Efforts to incentivise renewablesare also palpable in the NationalTariff Policy 2016 and the proposed
amendments to the Electricity Act.Most industry watchers haveexpressed hope in meeting the175GW renewable target. However,certain things demand attention.The intermittency of renewables andchallenges of grid integration under-score heightened risk of curtailment,both of technical nature and mis-alignment with demand-supplyforecast. These problems will keepexacerbating as the quantum ofrenewable power available for gridinjection increases as planned.
At this point, technical chal-lenges of renewable power evacua-tion are compounded by flexibleoperations requirement of basepower plants. Immediate focus isneeded on storage that cansmoothen out intermittence ofrenewables and longer-term net-work infrastructure planning.
Notably, conventional powersources, particularly thermal, isnow at 64.1 per cent of the installedcapacity (CEA: October 2018 pro-visional figures) that is predomi-nantly coal-fed. Discussions are
already rife about the financialdebacle lurking in many of theseassets as their cost-competitive-ness vis-à-vis renewables has erod-ed and policy thrust is shifting away.This needs attention since there isno prudence in thinking that a col-lapse of investments made in thissector will not have collateral dam-age for investor sentiment in renew-able sector.
Overall, the power sector needsto demonstrate policy reliabilitydue to long-time horizon of invest-ments. Therefore, a carefully man-aged decrease in share of thermalpower needs to be staged, includinglooking at technologies, that canreduce negative impact of thesepower plants and, therefore, providecushion for managing the transition.
Well none of the challenges ingeneration can be compared towhat is brewing on the distributionside. The Ujjwal DISCOMAssurance Yojana (UDAY) contin-ues to be in a perilous economiccondition. Their tottering healthemanates from both revenue reali-
sation deficit as well as aggregatetechnical and commercial (AT&C)losses, which is about 19 per cent.As rural electrification becomesmore pervasive due to policy pre-rogatives, there is a growth of sub-sidised customers entering the frayand ultimately deepening the ongo-ing crisis.
There is also a lingering threatfrom the prospect of rooftop solarand net-metering as this increasesthe chance of net revenue from pay-ing customer base falling rapidly.Though Uday has provided a path-way for shifting the burden of loss-es, it hasn’t really come up with aroadmap to reduce the burden.
Overall, India can benefit fromforesight in planning the transitionto a sustainable generation para-digm. Planning should have placefor technology discovery, upgrada-tion of transmission and distribu-tion networks to handle load pat-terns of a new era and solutions forplugging revenue leakages.Immediate focus on research anddevelopment (R&D) in areas of local
importance, like dust sustainingsolar panels, storage solutions thatwork in extreme weather whilehopefully being less dependent onimport-oriented minerals, econom-ically meaningful solutions for dra-matic reduction in emissions formthermal power plants, and smartmetering will help alleviate thefinancial stress on DISCOMS.
That the Government isn’t obliv-ious to boosting a local ecosystem isevident in its efforts to supportlocal manufacturing in solar indus-try. The approach, however, hasbeen reliant on erecting trade barri-ers which remains a contentious andpolitically thorny strategy. One oftenthinks whether such policy decisionsfocus on attracting investments inR&D. Ultimately, what is needed isa policy environment that will pushthe country ahead on the innovationcurve and hopefully help the nationseize leadership of an industry seg-ment in the future.
(The writer is Practice Lead,Climate, Environment andSustainability, Chase India)
Small businesses, big contribution
LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 19, 2018
WE (CONGRESS) WILL NOT RETRACT A SINGLE INCH.
WE WILL NOT LET THEM SLEEP AT NIGHT TILL
FARMER LOANS ARE WAIVED.
—CONGRESS PRESIDENT
RAHUL GANDHI
NOTHING BETTER CAN BE EXPECTED FROM GANDHI. HIS
PARTY ENSURED THAT INDIANS DID NOT SLEEP DURING
ITS 60 YEARS OF RULE DUE TO RAMPANT CORRUPTION.
—BJP LEADER
RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD
POINTCOUNTERPOINT
Small businesses, start-ups and entrepre-neurs are some of the most importantinfluencers of economic growth because,in any economy, they represent more than90 per cent of all employers and create 60
to 80 per cent of all new jobs, annually. In 2018,there were 30.2 million small businesses in the US,which represented 99.9 per cent of all business-es in the country, employing about 58.9 millionpeople. Out of the total small business, 39 per centwere owned by women, who contributed to eightper cent of employment and generated 4.2 per centof the revenues. According to a survey byRandstad Workmonitor, entrepreneurial ambitionwas the highest in India with 83 per cent of theIndian workforce wanting to be entrepreneurs.This is even higher than the global standard of53 per cent. According to the survey, 58 per centof the respondents were willing to leave their cur-rent job to start their own venture. This is impor-tant because although big businesses may dom-inate the stock market, it’s the small businessesand startups that keep the economy moving.
Small businesses create job opportunitiesand drive the country’s economic growth insmaller geographic areas. They make the mar-ket more competitive. A local farmer, forexample, may be able to offer cheaper productsbecause he doesn’t have to spend money on ship-ping. Similarly, an agile start-up may be able toinnovate new technology faster than a bulkybureaucratic counterpart, thereby forcingchanges in thinking and behaviour.
Second, small businesses also operate local-ly. This gives them a strong preference for hiringlocal people. Big corporations often move into newterritories with a team already in place. This canimprove a city’s population but nothing drives newjob growth in a region as small businesses do.
Third, small firms have more flexibility.Anyone can start a new business. This makesthem more diverse in form, function, cultureand increases their potential as against large cor-porations. Greater the diversity in an economy,easier it is for the country to withstand toughconditions.
There are many reasons why men andwomen are turning to entrepreneurship and start-ing their own businesses. Decreasing wages,demands for more family and personal time area few reasons that propel one towards entrepre-neurship. Generally, it is seen that wages have notkept pace with the increased cost of living. Whatused to take the average income of only one work-er to support a family today can take almost two-and-a-half. In contrast, entrepreneurs have thepotential to earn more as business owners thanas employees. Because entrepreneurs are work-ing in small businesses for themselves. As theirown boss, they have the flexibility to arrange theirhours around their family schedules.
Moreover, salary raises of the employees, too,have become fewer. Companies generally tend togive performance bonuses so as to keep fixed costslow. And often, managers have to adhere to strictguidelines for standard operations procedures, ortheir bonuses are unlikely. An electronic chain cor-poration not only demands its managers to worksix days a week but it also sends inspectors intothe stores, unannounced, to deduct points for
minor infractions. On the other hand, small business
owners start as owners of their owncompany. Although they have respon-sibilities that go with being a businessowner, they can take their businesses inwhatever direction they choose. Theyalso have the ability to strive and pro-vide benefits to their employees andfamilies as well. Additionally,economies world over are witnessingunprecedented changes — the job sce-nario is changing rapidly. Many jobshave discontinued, others may notreturn. So, unemployed workers haveto find new jobs, often at much lowerpay, or undertake training and educa-tion as a new career option.
Unstable economic conditions areinducing people to start ventures tosecure their financial future. Thismakes entrepreneurship and smallbusiness ownership a viable careeroption. Although many companiesnow offer their employees flexiblehours to handle family needs, there aretimes when employees, especiallywomen — who are still the primarycare-givers of family members — facescheduling conflicts while handlingeveryday personal concerns. Therefore,many entrepreneurs opt to work fromhome so that they can be with theirfamilies, attend their children’s schoolevents, or even run errands.
Lastly, having a small business is adefinite way to escape from a job thatone dislikes or no longer finds challeng-ing or fulfilling. A recent study foundthat nearly 25 per cent of the peopledetest their jobs but remain trapped dueto financial commitments like loans,rents, payments and living expenses.
Therefore, if they cannot afford toquit a full-time job to start a business,entrepreneurs can start a small businesson the side until their business profitsenable them to quit. According to theSmall Business Administration (SBA),US, the number of part-time business-
es steadily increased since the mid-1980s and is expected to increase byabout 10 per cent each year.
Once the employees leave to set uptheir own venture, there are several rea-sons why these owners of small, home-based and micro-businesses stay insuch businesses to survive. First, smallbusiness owners network well withintheir industry, communities andbeyond by encouraging and sharingwith one another. Successful entrepre-neurs will find mentors or themselvesbe the mentor to new business owners.
Second, many people, who are intheir 50s, want to try their hand atentrepreneurship. Not only do suchpeople bring a vast array of experi-ence to their ventures, they also havea more mature approach. They aremore likely to care about theiremployees or respect them. This canfoster repeat business.
Third, entrepreneurs are notafraid to fail. Statistics reveal that ittakes an average of three businessstart-ups for an entrepreneur toachieve a successful enterprise.Entrepreneurs constantly learn frommistakes and persist until one or moreof their ventures succeed. They canrespond to challenges and quicklychange to stay competitive in the mar-ket and satisfy their customers.
Fourth, time management issues,family responsibilities and the desire formore money are just a few reasons whymen and women tend to start a small-scale venture. Because their ventures aresmall, owners can pay attention todetails that promote positive image.
Many business owners have goneon to expand their small ventures intomulti-million enterprises, especially asventure-capital investment resourcesbecame available. Others chose to staysmall so that they could serve spe-cialised and niche markets. Thus,starting smaller and growing slowlydecreases the likelihood of making
hasty and costly decisions that canlead to failures. Surveys also show thatsmall business owners generally caremore about the quality of their prod-uct and services than bigger compa-nies. They believe this is the best wayfor them to compete with large com-panies that have access to moreresources but are less personal.
Owners of small businesses striveto keep their customers satisfied toencourage repeat business. Small busi-nesses can respond flexibly to problemsand challenges as there is little hierar-chy or chain of command. Large busi-nesses may have set ways of operatingand establish procedures that are hardto change. Small businesses are often farmore flexible. They can also reach aquick decision on whether or not theycan do what is required. Also, smallbusinesses are well-positioned to intro-duce and develop new ideas. This is dueto their owners not having to report orseek approval from anyone else. Forexample, when Anita Roddick set upThe Body Shop, she developed a rangeof environment-friendly cosmetics inunsophisticated packaging. This wouldhave been frowned upon in a conven-tional cosmetics company.
Due to the small scale of operation,small businesses have lower overheadcosts. They operate in small premiseswith low heating and lighting costs, lim-ited rent and rates to pay. Low costsresult in lower prices for consumers.Small business is among the mostpowerful symbols of modern capitalismand its owners are frequently describedas virtuous, self-reliant and indepen-dent. Starting a venture is the easy partbut staying in business is the hardesttask. There are many reasons for thesuccess of small and home-based busi-nesses but the most important can besummed up in three Ds —desire, dis-cipline and determination.
(The writer is Assistant Professor,Amity University)
India’s power sector paradox
The viability of small and medium-sized firms is greater than that of large firms. Not only dothey bring prosperity to the people but also play a fundamental role in driving the economy
Problems surrounding India’s energy sector are so complex and voluminous that the immediate need is for a policy environment that can push the country
ahead on the innovation curve. Hopefully, this can help the nation seize leadership of an industry segment in the future, says SAURABH BISWAS
SMALL BUSINESS IS AMONG THE
MOST POWERFULSYMBOLS OF
MODERNCAPITALISM AND ITS
OWNERS AREFREQUENTLY
DESCRIBED ASVIRTUOUS,
SELF-RELIANT ANDINDEPENDENT.
STARTING AVENTURE IS THEEASY PART BUT
STAYING INBUSINESS IS THE
HARDEST TASK.THERE ARE MANY
REASONS FOR THESUCCESS OF SMALL
AND HOME-BASEDBUSINESSES, BUT
THE MOSTIMPORTANT CAN BE
SUMMED UP INTHREE DS —
DESIRE, DISCIPLINE ANDDETERMINATION
analysis 09F I R S T C O L U M N
Congress has to
tread carefully
KALYANI SHANKAR
The Grand Old Party must not get carried awaywith new-found victories. It must first anchor
Opposition unity and keep watch on BJP moves
HIMA BINDU KOTA
FOREIGNEYE
Though older generationseverywhere get worked upover radical developmentsin art, music and culturalforms — recall howAmerican parents reacted toElvis Presley, the Beatles,hippies and beat poets —the arts have a powerfulhistory as a political force inRussia and the SovietUnion. Putin’s “lead anddirect” suggested thatauthoritarian delusions diehard. (The New York Timeseditorial)
RUSSIA’S CULTUREOF CONTROL
www.dailypioneer.com
For a party that appeared to be in an existential crisis, the
Congress has much to cheer about following its win in
three big States — Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and
Chhattisgarh — this month. Success in elections is always
heartening and it becomes even better given the fact that the
Congress has been in a political wilderness since 2014. Though
it seemed the BJP had all the momentum since 2004, the saf-
fron space has shrunk a little after December 11, 2018. The
challenge now for the Congress leadership is to take the momen-
tum forward until the 2019 Lok Sabha election in which stakes
are very high for both the Congress-led UPA and the BJP-led NDA.
After all, momentum does matter in politics. A diminished BJP
is not going to sit quiet and allow the Congress to have a free
run in the 2019 poll. It might even redouble its efforts to win the
general election. Narendra Modi is an assertive Prime Minister
and might re-package himself and reintroduce ‘brand Modi’ in
a different mould. In all probability, alternative politics might gain
momentum if Congress chief Rahul Gandhi goes the right way
and projects a new narrative for himself and his party as going
by the poll results, people are willing to give him a chance.
Gandhi’s priority should be to set his organisation, which has
shrunk electorally, and redouble efforts for Opposition unity. The
Congress is now at number four position in States such as West
Bengal, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. It also finished at the third
or fourth place in other States as well. Many sections, like the
Dalits, tribals, upper castes and even Muslims have drifted away.
The BJP’s strength is that it is a cadre-based organisation; it has
unlimited resources, best communication skills and a wonder-
ful propaganda machine. Internally, the young Gandhi has cho-
sen to go with the old guard. The message became clearer with
his choice of Chief Ministers in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and
Chhattisgarh. He more or less told the youth that younger lead-
ers will be allowed to build their profiles, even if that means they
have to wait a bit longer for leadership roles.
Second, he must focus on building alliances. Even with
the wind in its sails, the Congress is faced with challenges.
The Opposition parties have inherent contradictions but Gandhi
has been showing some boldness. He walked with Jignesh
Mewani and Hardik Patel in Gujarat, which helped the party
reduce the BJP’s numbers in the State. Similarly, the decision
to support the Janata Dal (Secular) in Karnataka earlier this
year, to stop the BJP from forming the Government, also showed
his political adventurism. Besides, the party has tied up with
alliance partners in different States like Bihar, Maharashtra, Tamil
Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Jharkhand. Further, it
is in the process of aligning with the Samajwadi Party and the
Bahujan Samaj Party in Uttar Pradesh. The Grand Old Party
has to keep the UPA flock together and also expand wherev-
er necessary. As a bigger party, the Congress has to be flex-
ible in sharing seats with other regional parties.
Third, he has to build a new narrative. It may not be enough
to indulge just in Modi-bashing and negative campaigning.
Gandhi successfully tapped political resentment of the farm-
ers against the BJP Government as also discontent among the
unemployed. These are the two major issues that helped him
win the three States. Negative sentiments circling demoneti-
sation and GST, too, helped. The caste factor played its role
for the grand old party.
The fourth option is to stitch Opposition unity. The suc-
cess in Assembly polls has given Gandhi a new image and
he must now be able to reach out to senior leaders and region-
al Opposition parties and ensure that the Congress is able to
anchor the coalition. Following the Karnataka polls, the
Opposition showed interest in forming a ‘grand alliance’ which
fell apart with the BSP and SP moving away. It is now clear
that the prime ministerial face of the Opposition will be decid-
ed only in a post-poll scenario. These parties can do the trick
if they come together and make sure that Opposition votes are
undivided. In fact, Modi’s strength lies in Opposition disunity.
The road to success in 2019 is challenging but Rahul Gandhi
has made a good start. Despite setbacks, the BJP remains a
formidable opponent and must not be taken lightly. As Union
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley pointed out, the BJP won the same
three States in December 2003 but lost the 2004 general elec-
tion. Hence, the Congress should not be carried away by the
present success. It has won the battle but not the war as yet.
Time is very short and Opposition parties must decide their
course of action now itself.
(The writer is a senior political commentator)
LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 19, 2018 avenues 10
PINNACLE MBA
The JK LakshmipatUniversity has announcedadmissions for Pinnacle MBAfor the year 2019. PinnacleMBA is a two-year full-time,residential, post-graduatedegree programme, recognisedby UGC, Government of India.The programme is led by DrPramath Raj Sinha, foundingDean, ISB Hyderabad, andProf Asheesh Gupta, formerdirector, McKinsey KnowledgeCentre; MBA, IIM Calcutta.Pinnacle MBA is focused onthe holistic development offuture professional with expe-riential and project basedlearning.
Candidates aspiring for theadmission may apply online athttp://jklu.edu.in/mba_land-ingpage/
Eligibility criteria: Athree-year bachelor’s degree(10 +2 + 3 ) or equivalentdegree in any discipline fromany recognised University withat least 50 per cent marks (45per cent for SC/ST candidates)or equivalent CGPA.
Students appearing in thefinal examinations of bachelor’sdegree can also apply. Thecandidate must have appearedin CAT, MAT, ATMA, XAT,CMAT or any other nationallevel entrance test.
Selection procedure:Candidates will be first short-listed after consideration oftheir merit on the basis of scorein CAT/MAT/ CMAT/XAT/ATMA, their previous acade-mic records and preliminaryinteractions with the admis-sions team at JKLU. Shortlistedcandidates will go through tworounds of interviews withsenior leaders at JKLU.Candidates will be finallyselected through overall eval-uation of merit and the quali-ty of interactions during thepersonal interviews.
Important dates: March15, 2019.
PHD PROGRAMME
The IIHMR University,Jaipur invites application forthree-year PhD programme indifferent areas of research.Some of them includes publichealth, pharmaceutical man-agement, health and hospitalmanagement, nursing man-agement, population and devel-opment, health economics andfinance, rural and urban health,health communication and
behavioural change, informa-tion technology in the healthsector, food security and nutri-tion and rural development.
The programme has a totalintake of 30 students (part-timeas well as full-time). The reg-istration in PhD depends onthe subject to passing qualify-ing examination which will bebased on the course work in thefirst year of the programme.
Eligibility criteria: Thecandidates should have a mas-ter’s degree or MPhil degree bythe corresponding statutoryregulatory body, with at least 55per cent marks in aggregate orits equivalent grade 'B' in theUGC 7-point scale (or anequivalent grade in a pointscale wherever grading systemis followed). Or an equivalentdegree from a foreign educa-tional Institution accreditedby an Assessment &Accreditation Agency which isapproved, recognised by anauthority, established or incor-porated under a law in itshome country.
Selection process: Theadmission process will includethree steps— screening ofapplications, IIHMR ResearchAptitude Test (IRAT) and per-sonal interview. The IIHMRUniversity will conduct a qual-ifying test after the screening ofapplications and short-listingcandidates. IRAT will be awritten test consisting of mul-tiple choice questions fromEnglish language proficiency,reasoning, basic quantitativeanalysis and research aptitude.
UGC CSIR qualified JRF &NET, SLET, GATE and TeacherFellowship holder and havepassed MPhil programme inrelevant subjects are categorieswhich will be exempted fromwriting the IRAT. A personalinterview will be conducted onthe day of IRAT or next dayafter IRAT at the IIHMRUniversity, Jaipur.
Important dates: Last dateto apply is January 25, 2019.IRAT and personal interview ison February 1 and 2, 2019
For more information, logon to www.iihmr.edu.in.
PNS n NEW DELHI
As a part of the Ministry ofHuman Resource
Development’s f lagshipscheme of promoting inno-vations in the higher educa-tion institutes in country,The Indira Gandhi NationalOpen University (IGNOU)has set up InstitutionsInnovation Council (IIC) atthe National Centre forInnovation in DistanceEducation (NCIDE).
The IIC at IGNOU aimsat promoting idea generation,grassroots innovation, devel-ops prototype, solve problemsin the local context with a viewto generating intellectual prop-erty. The IIC, IGNOU isorganising an ‘IdeaCompetition’ or whichbonafide IGNOU studentscan submit their ideas in theprescribed proforma to thedirector, National Centre forInnovations in DistanceEducation (NCIDE) atIGNOU through email [email protected] or by post.The proforma can be down-loaded from IGNOU’s web-site — www.ignou.ac.in. Thelast date for receiving the
ideas is January 20, 2019.The selected students
from different regions will beinvited to present their workin the Festival of Ideas & theselected best three entrieswill be awarded prizes &certificates.
The selected students willbe invited to participate andpresent their ideas in theFestival of Ideas on February28, 2019 at IGNOU, MaidanGarhi, New Delhi. Further,they will be mentored andnurtured for developing abusiness plan to work on theideas. This will be a uniqueopportunity for IGNOU stu-dents to showcase their ideasand vision.
IGNOU students cansubmit their original andcreative ideas that can solveany daily life problem in anyof the fields including food,agriculture and rural devel-opment, clean energy andalternate fuel, clean waterand water management,swacchhata initiatives andwaste management, healthcare and hygiene, educationand open university systemand smart transportation andtraffic management.
NEW INNOVATION CENTRE
#MainBhiHerocampaignPNS n NEW DELHI
The Tech Mahindra Foundation, under its ini-tiative Tech Mahindra Smart Academy for
Healthcare, has launched a movement#MainBhiHero to create awareness around the roleof paramedical and allied healthcare professionalsin the healthcare sector. The movement aims atbridging the prevalent skill-gap in our healthcare sec-tor by creating a pool of skilled and qualified health-care professionals at the Smart Academy forHealthcare located in New Delhi, Mohali andMumbai.
The #MainBhiHero movement lays emphasis onfostering Individual Social Responsibility (ISR) moti-vating the society to guide aspiring youths towardsparamedical courses. With the #MainBhiHeromovement and the Smart Academies for Healthcare,Tech Mahindra Foundation has strengthened itsalignment to the WHO vision of “Health for All” andvarious UN Sustainable Development Goals rang-ing from quality education, gender equality anddecent work & economic growth.
CP Gurnani, MD & CEO, Tech Mahindra, said:“The #MainBhiHero movement, not only encour-ages us to further the ISR initiative and Rise for Good,but also addresses the issue of skill gap faced by theindustry today. I urge one and all to contributetowards this initiative that aims at creating a poolof skilled and qualified healthcare professionals.”
Speaking about the initiative, Dr LoveleenKacker, CEO, Tech Mahindra Foundation, says: “Atthe Tech Mahindra SMART Academies forHealthcare, we are trying to change the definitionof the word Hero. The youth come here as studentsand leaves as healthcare professionals with lifelongskills, employment, and a feeling to serve andimprove the healthcare services of our country. Nowthat’s exactly like a Hero.”
The recent proposal of the UnitedStates’ Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to give pri-
ority to advanced degree holdersfrom the US Universities for H1B visawill benefit Indian students. During2018, out of 65,000 H1B visa sanc-tioned, 74 per cent applicants werefrom India.
The H1B is a visa in theUnited States under theImmigration and NationalityAct, section 101(a) (15) (H)that allows US employers totemporarily employ foreignworkers in specialty occu-pations. A specialty occupa-tion requires the applicationof specialised knowledgeand a bachelor’s degree or theequivalent of work experience.Laws limit the number of H-1Bvisas that are issued each year.
The H1B visa is the jobvisa for studentsfrom countriesother thanUn i t e dStates.V i s a
holder will get all benefits, includingbetter pay and allowances. Moreover,they will get the opportunity toprogress towards green card and cit-izenship in future as the case may be.
Under H1Bvisa, technocrats,
scientists, doc-tors, accoun-
tants, engineers, veterinarians andteachers can work in the US. Science,technology, engineering, mathemat-ics, nursing and management aresome of the prospective sectors whichgain more H1B visas.
Recently, more and more Indianstudents have started pursuing over-seas education especially in UnitedStates. South Indian students rankmore in US when compared to stu-dents from North Indian States inthe country.
ADVANCED DEGREES FROM USInternationally, our graduate
programmes are undergraduateprogrammes and our post graduateprogramme will come under gradu-ate programmes. Under advanceddegree from US Universities, it can begraduate, honours, higher degree,post graduate or doctoral pro-grammes. Compared to other Asiancountries, more Indian students arepursuing advanced degree pro-grammes in United States.
Proposed rule will facilitate foradvanced degree holders from the USUniversities to get priority in gettingH1B visa up to first 20,000 level. DHSpublished the draft rule on December3 and will be finalised by December31, 2018. It will come into effect from2019 onwards.
ADMISSION PROCESSStudents interested in the US edu-
cation after graduation from Indiarequire one-year homework for theadmission process. They can start thepreparation from final year onwards.Preparation of bio-data in two pagesand applying for passport are the pre-liminary steps for pursuing educationabroad.
The US universities offer cours-es during winter (January toFebruary) and falls (September toOctober) semesters. Indian studentscan pursue for admission during fallsemester. Students are required toclear Graduate Record Examination(GRE) and Test of English as aForeign Language (TOEFL) withbetter test scores.
Review of bio-data will createimpression about the student amongthe US universities. So, they need toprepare the bio data in an attractivemanner with a font size of 11 in TimesNew Roman. Filled-in applicationrequires a statement of purpose fromthe students and two recommenda-tion letters from referees. Referees canbe senior faculty members who canjudge about the abilities and skill ofthe students.
Initially, a student can apply forfour to five universities. Projectworks, internships, work expe-rience, extra-curricular activ-ities and publications will
get additional scores during theadmission process. Two or threeuniversities will offer admission basedon test scores.
Again, pursue them for fundingoptions like fellowship, scholarship orassistantship. Students can do parttime work up to 20 hours per weekto support their studies. Studentsaspiring for US education will getmore information from United StatesIndia Education Foundation (USIEF).
Prometric India is conductingGRE and TOEFL/ IELTS tests. Testpreparation requires minimum threemonths period. Students can take theexamination date three months aheadand start preparation. Since theexamination fee is high, it is prefer-able to appear for the examination onthe prefixed dates. Postponement ofexamination requires additional min-imum 40 dollars.
Various textbooks, apps, onlinecoaching and software’s facilitate thestudents for examination preparation.Test prep platform Kaplan offersexcellent text book series. For moredetails visit, www.prometricindia.com,www.gre.org and www.toefl.org.
Success in getting admission toUS universities depends on environ-ment, effort and direction. If the stu-dent has a keen interest, aptitude, atti-tude and goal, it is easy to get admis-sion. The right choice and involve-ment coupled with appropriate deci-sion-making process to facilitatesuccess in US education.
The writer is education & careerconsultant, director, UL education.
Conference on green energyPNS n NEW DELHI
The SRM University-AP, inassociation with Amara Raja
Batteries, is hosting anInternational Conference onGreen Energy Technologies forSmart Cities (GETSC-2018) at itsAmaravati campus fromDecember 19 to 21, 2018. Dr VKSaraswat, member, NITI Aayog,(National Institution for trans-forming India) will be inaugurat-ing the conference.
A series of presentations andpanel discussions will cover basicand advanced fields of research —materials & computational sci-ences, biotechnology, environ-mental science and engineering,health education and environ-ment. Equal emphasis will beplaced on practical technologiesand applications for smart citiessuch as smart grids, storage solu-tions (hydrogen production, bat-teries & energy storage technolo-gies) fuel cells & sensor technolo-gies, carbon footprint as well assmart waste management sys-tems.
The conference will be chairedby SRM AP pro VC Prof DNarayana Rao; director of TexasMaterials Institute, UT-Austin,USA Dr Arumugam Manthiram,and CTO, Amara Raja Batteries,India M Jagadish. Over 45 inter-national delegates from over 10countries and 150 delegates fromacross India will be attending.
These include distinguished aca-demics, researchers and highereducation leaders in the field ofmaterial science, renewable ener-gy and green technologies.
“One of the main problemsregarding the Smart City projectsis the issue of energy access andthe prohibitive costs thereof. Weaim to prove through this confer-ence that sustainable need not beexpensive and we need to focus onsolutions that are green and sus-tainable in our quest for energysolutions. We are bringing inglobal experts to share their workwith us,” says Dr D Narayana Rao.
SRM APs conference aims athighlighting advancements in theprincipal sciences that sustainmodern green cities, namely greenenergy, renewable energy, materi-als science, environmental sci-ence, and green technologies. Theconference will work as a bridgebetween the academic communi-ty (faculty and research students),practitioners and policymakers.
The idea is to explore ways topromote the development anduse of sustainable energy withoutdisrupting the environmental andsocial fabric of smart cities.“Putting the focus on green tech-nologies specifically designed forsmart cities is the best investmentfor the future,” Dr Jatis KumarDash, Assistant Professor, Physicsand the conference convener, says.For more details, log on tohttp://www.greenenergy2018.com/.
Life Skill Olympiad
The Skillizen LearningFoundation, a Singapore head-
quartered global socio-education-al company, has launched“International Life Skills Olympiad(ILSO)” for 2018-19. This is theworld’s first Olympiad that testsyoung citizens on life skills and willbe held online on January 27,2019.
Aimed at school children fromClass III to XII, ILSO is a globalonline test that will be based on theSkillizen Curriculum, the world’sfirst Critical Life Skills Curriculum.This curriculum follows a uniquemethod that transfers the mostpractical life skills in such a man-ner, that even an eight-year-old canplayfully master those skills.
The registration lines for ISLOis live, with a nominal registrationfee of `490. This is the firstOlympiad in which, besides schools,parents can also directly enroll theirchildren online. Home schooledchildren can also participate.
Launching the Life SkillsOlympiad, Sidharth Tripathy,founder & CEO, SkillizenOlympiad Foundation, says: “Thechildren of the 21st century need awhole range of critical Life skills toengage, manage and lead the world.When children grow-up and jointhe workforce, we often find organ-isations complaining that Indianstudents might be bright, havingpassed through one of the tough-est educational curriculums in theworld, but they are mostly not
employable. Critical Life Skills areextremely essential to convert thechildren into responsible citizensand successful individuals.”
This unique life skills test willfocus on assessing skills and com-petencies that are essential foryoung children of the 21st centu-ry to lead their personal and pro-fessional lives. The questions ofILSO 2018-19 will be based on reallife scenarios that will test theyoung students on their applicationof critical life skills like leadership,ethics, teamwork, communications,empathy, goal setting and manymore. The main prizes for the win-ners of ILSO would include freetickets to visit Harvard Universityin USA, mini iPads and Kindles.Besides the top prizes, there areassured prizes for all participants.
“Life skills are a set of skills thatenable us to lead our life to itsfullest potential; skills that we allneed to effectively manage the chal-lenges of everyday life, be it atschool, at work or in our person-al lives. Our objective is not to pre-pare the children for the nexteducational level but for the realworld. School children are alwayscomparing themselves against theirclassmates or at best with otherchildren in their own school. Whilepreparing for this test, youngminds from Class III-XII will beable to acquire new life skills andcompare their skill levels againstthe smartest children across 100plus countries,” Tripathy adds.
PNS n NEW DELHI
The Schneider Electric IndiaFoundation (SEIF) — the social
commitment of Schneider ElectricIndia — is set to facilitate the 12thedition of ‘Green Championship’under its ‘Conserve My Planet’ pro-gramme. ‘Conserve My Planet’ isan educational programme con-ceptualised to address the crucialenergy crisis that the world is fac-ing and to educate school childrenabout the importance of conserv-ing energy along with protectingthe environment.
In this edition, the ConserveMy Planet programme would beconducted in specific schools ofIndia spread across 10 cities name-ly Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad,
Jaipur, Delhi, Chandigarh Mumbai,Pune, Goa and Kolkata. All par-ticipating schools are meticulous-ly selected for the programme andstand together as a proud com-munity called the ‘Green Republic’and are termed ‘GreenAmbassadors’.
Speaking about the initiative,Venkat Garimella, VP corporatestrategy and CSR, SchneiderElectric India, said: “Conserve myenergy programme enables stu-dents to design and develop work-ing models on efficient energymanagement. In the process, theyget acquainted with the energy
conservation techniques and alsoshare their learnings with theirfamilies. This programme helps usshare the message of energy con-servation amongst a large audi-ence.”
Schneider Electric IndiaFoundation trains the GreenAmbassadors to undertake energyaudits, evaluate energy consump-tion at homes, and conduct greencertification of schools while build-ing energy-conscious communitiesaround them. This helps them toreceive industry exposure and con-tribute to hands-on projects, whileparticipating in numerous contests
and team activities such as pre-sentations, group discussions andpreparation of energy audit reportsof their campuses via interactiveclassroom sessions and uniqueoutdoor activities.
Some of the schools hostingthe Green Championship this yearinclude Ambience Public School,Delhi; Malviya Convent school,Jaipur; The Pupil Saveetha EcoSchool, Chennai; HarvestInternational School, Bangalore; StWilfred College, Mumbai; VIikhePatil School, Pune; St Peter’sResidential School, Hyderabad andCalcutta Public School, Kolkata.
Converse My Planet programme
PNS n NEW DELHI
The CL Educate Limited (CL),India’s leading education and
knowledge services provider, signs aMemorandum of Understanding(MOU) with EvueMe Selection Bot.
As per the MoU, CL Educate Ltdwill be launching a new mock inter-view product named iGuru in strate-gic partnership with EvueMeSelection Bot. This aims at helpingstudents and professionals prepare forvarious kinds of interviews for get-ting jobs or admission to study high-er education courses.
CL Educate Ltd and EvueMeSelection Bot will work in collabo-ration to use cutting-edge technolo-gy to simplify the entire interviewpreparation process, enabling stu-
dents and professionals to take mockinterviews from the comfort of theirpremises using their own devices, attheir own convenient time, with an“Interviewer on Demand”. Thismakes the interviewing process sim-ple, user-friendly and utilitarian.Further, EvueMe Selection Bot willextend its expertise in developingquestion banks relevant to everysegment of the target audience.
Talking about the initiative,Gopalakrishnan Rengan, president,marketing & Alliances at CareerLauncher, said: “In these days ofmobility and constant up-skilling, itis important for all of us profession-
als to be ahead of the curve. However,being skilled alone doesn’t preparecandidates for the various angles fromwhich recruiters evaluate prospects.Hence, the soft skill of presentingoneself as the ideal candidate for thecourse or job becomes so very impor-tant. Through our strategic partner-ship with EvueMe, we intend to offercareer support to students and pro-fessionals, so that they can confi-dently present their candidature.Even if there are any gaps in theirknowledge or presentation skills,they can use our industry-expertpanel members to iron out the sameand achieve their career dreams!”
iGuru launched
QUOTE OF THE DAY
If Education is identical with
information, the libraries are the
greatest sages in the world and
encyclopedias are the Rishis
— Swami Vivekananda
US education facilitates easy access to H1Bvisa, says DR TP SETHUMADHAVAN
Success in gettingadmission to US
universities depends onenvironment, effort anddirection. If the student
has a keen interest, goodaptitude, attitude and a
set goal, it is easy to getadmission. The right
choice and involvementcoupled with appropriatedecision-making processfacilitates success in US
education
H1B FORSTUDENTS
Agreat design is meant to influence, it ismeant to astonish, and it is meant toastound. Saul Bass, a virtual designer,
rightfully said: Design is thinking madevisual. It is to imbibe values, personality,creativity, and character into an innate object.A true design transforms prose into beautifulpoetry.
Today, India with a phenomenal growthrate of 23 to 25 per cent annually is therising star among the design superpowers allacross the globe. There are various aspectsof designing and all of them hold astoundingimportance in the fundamentals of ourculture and lives. Many designers likeSabyasachi, Ritu Beri, Manish Arora and
many others have set a
benchmark that has put India on the map ofrising stars in the design industry.
The four most prominent of them havebeen discussed below.
Jewellry designing: India hastraditionally been called the land of gems andjewellry. Contributing to around seven percent of the country's GDP and 15.7 per centof the total exports in the country, it is one ofthe fastest growing sectors, employing overfour million professionals. India today notonly competes but completely dominates thesector of jewellry design globally and canalready claim to be a superpower in thesector exporting 75 per cent of the world'spolished diamonds.
With an industry worth billions, our
nation is right at the pinnacle among otherfashion capitals of the world featuring top ofthe line designs in jewelry.
Communication designing: Today Indiaranks among the top global giants incommunication designing. From acquiringluxury automobile brands like Jaguar andLand Rover by Indian companies to creatingglobal standards in industrial design, ournation is not far behind.
Interior designing: India today, ranksnot only among the top design capitals in theworld but also competes among the best in
the business of innovation. Interior design inIndia has taken a huge leap within a veryshort span and is consistently rising indemand.
The work of an interior designer isrelatively complex as the profession involvesnot only making precise geometriccalculations but also attempt beautificationwithin a limited space requiring ingenuity inboth architectural sense and creative,illustrative and durable designing which theowner can call home.
The unique thing about India in interior
designing is that how our designers caninnovate in a space as small as a fewhundred square feet and achieve brilliantresults in the process.
Fashion designing: Every beautiful pieceof love in your closet that you adore so muchand dutifully save for those special occasionsbegan its journey from the tip of a pen heldby a passionate fashion designer. It is widelystated by fashion eccentric persons that afashion designer weave dreams with theirfingers, not clothes and nothing can be farfrom the truth.
Designing something that is bothaesthetically pleasing and also functional atthe same time requires a lot of insightblended with skill, a sharp eye, and a creative
mind as well. This is the space where theIndian fashion designers are graduallytapping in, owing to which the fashiondesign industry of India has already begun tomake global headlines. The Indian textileindustry is estimated to be at around 108billion dollars and expected to reach 223billion dollars by 2021. More than justadopting western trends, India seems to be astep ahead in creating a perfect blend offusion clothing that other fashion capitals arestruggling to keep up with. India is currentlygenerating a growth of 9.5 percent perannum whipping up a storm in the globaldesign world.
The writer is Dr Kulneet Suri, Senior Director atInstitute of Management Studies Noida
LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 19, 2018 avenues 11
M I N D I T
The University ofSheffield, UK is offering anaward of up to £3000 foroverseas undergraduate stu-dents. The scholarships of upto £3000 will be awarded as aone-off payment in recogni-tion of academic excellence tostudents starting an under-graduate degree inSeptember2019 in one of thefollowing departments —Aerospace Engineering,Automatic Control & SystemsEngineering, Bioengineering,Chemical Engineering, Civil& Structural Engineering,Electronic & ElectricalEngineering, MaterialsScience & Engineering,Mechanical Engineering,MEng Engineering.
Eligibility: Make TheUniversity of Sheffield yourfirst (firm) choice in theUCAS application process for2019 entry, Apply to study afull-time undergraduate pro-gramme in the relevantdepartment, Be classed as aninternational student fortuition fee purposes, Be takingall prerequisite subjects foryour selected degree, Not havestudied at the University ofSheffield InternationalCollege.
The university will offerthe scholarship in the form ofa cash bursary at the start ofyour course should you be eli-gible. The scholarship amount
is
depended on youracademic achievement
please email theUndergraduate AdmissionsTeam for your chosenDepartment.
For details visit:https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/faculty/engineering/study/scholar-ships.
Applications are invitedfrom students for a scholar-ship in advance training inHindustani Music. The valueof the scholarship is `7,500per month — April 2019 toMarch 2020). Send in yourapplication to [email protected] or in anenvelope marked — Citi-NCPA Scholarship for YoungMusicians to the NationalCentre for the PerformingArts, Nariman Point, Mumbai400021. The shortlisted candi-dates will be informed viaemail or telephone and berequired to appear for anaudition in Mumbai. Thedecision of selection commit-tee is final.
Eligibility: Age Limit:khayal/tabla/pakhawaj — 18to 30 years of age (March 1,2019); For dhrupad: 18 to 35years of age (March 1, 2019).Students who are beneficiariesof other scholarship/grant inthe field of music during April2019-20, are not eligible toapply. Professional musiciansincluding those with ‘A’ gradefrom AIR are not eligible toapply. Only Indian citizens areeligible to apply.
Application deadline: Itis December 31, 2018.
Many of us familiar with theterm Internet of Things(IoT) but may not know
what it means and that one canmake a career in this sector. TheIoT can connect devices in vari-ous systems to the Internet. Forexample: IoT can be could be aperson with a heart monitor. Towork in this field one must havethe basics knowledge of elec-tronics. One can work as an: IoTProduct Manager, IoT Architect,IoT Developer and RobotCoordinator and IoT CloudEngineer. The good part is thatan IoT professional is paid thanIT professionals. Beginners canearn between `6-`10 lakh oreven more per annum depend-ing on their industry and loca-tion. A few institutes where onecan study are:nCollabera TACT, Vadodara.Course: IoT TrainingnGraspskills Pvt Ltd,Bengaluru. Course: IoT TrainingnBirla Institute of Technologyand Science (BITS Pilani),Pilani. Course: PG Diploma inInternet of ThingsnNational Institute ofElectronics and InformationTechnology (NIELIT), Kozhikodeand New Delhi. Course: PGDiploma in Internet of Things
STUDY CENTRES SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING AT IMAGINEMARKETINGLocation: DelhiStipend: `15,000 per monthLink: internshala.com/i/16786Application deadline:December 27, 2018
HUMAN RESOURCES (HR)AT PEARSON INDIAEDUCATION SERVICESLocation: NoidaStipend: `10,000 per monthLink: internshala.com/i/16787Application deadline: December 25,2018
GRAPHIC DESIGN AT NESTAWAYTECHNOLOGIESLocation: BengaluruStipend: `5,000-`7,000 per monthLink: internshala.com/i/16788Application deadline: December 27, 2018
CONTENT WRITING AT MERITNATIONLocation: DelhiStipend: `20,000 per monthLink: internshala.com/i/16790Application deadline: December 25, 2018
OPERATIONS AT INCRAFT FASHION VENTURESLocation: DelhiStipend: `10,000 per monthLink: internshala.com/i/16791Application deadline: December 27, 2018
WEB DEVELOPMENT AT TRAVEL TUTORLocation: Work From HomeStipend: `5,000-`10,000 per monthLink: internshala.com/i/16792Application deadline: December 28, 2018
The Indian School of Hospitality’s(ISH), newest venture and anewcomer in the hospitality
education space hosted its firstinternational counsellor summit —the Counsellors’ Retreat 2018. Itwas inaugurated by VC of theGurugram University Dr MarkandayAhuja. The summit saw a gatheringof school counsellors representingsome of the most prominentschools from across the entirecountry and neighbouring regions,including world leaders inhospitality education École hôtelièrede Lausanne.
The retreat was called with themission and aim to introduceschool counsellors to the diverserange of professional opportunitiesand career paths in the world oftravel, tourism, hospitality, culinaryarts and other new age industriesfor their students.
Indian Institute of TechnologyMadras has partnered with Thales
to design a Shakti RISC-Vprocessor compatiblewith the highest safetycritical standards. Thecollaboration will resultin defining andprototyping a processorsuitable for mix-
A fault-tolerant framework willbe developed and will undergoevaluation by the world’s top
experts in safety critical standards.Pursuant to their approval, it can beused in sensitive equipment used indefence, aerospace, space, andtransportation sectors.
The processors are targeted formobile computing devices,embedded low power wirelesssystems and networking systemsbesides reducing reliance onimported microprocessors incommunications and defencesectors. The microprocessor can beused by others as it is on par withinternational standards.
The KIIT World School Juniororganised a Skill-O-Fest for thechildren of ages two to 10. The
fest was organised to showcase avariety of skills like dance, theatre,art, culinary, gardening, scientificlanguage, and mathematical activity.
The students mesmerised theaudience with a great cultural howwith their beautiful performances.Science-Magica brought them aunique science show. They madeglow jars, wishing bottles, fancysoaps and slime play. Pottery andgardening were a big attraction and
they had fun making pots andplanting saplings.
The KIIT mentor NeelimaKamrah said: “It is important todevelop skill in young children.Parents need to encourage childrenin participating more in physicalactivities. Physical skills are equallyimportant for children for theirproper development.”
Rashmi Srivastava, principalKIIT made special efforts to includethe underprivileged girls ofKasturba India Vision School andgave them the stage to perform too.
Shine.com hasintroduced facerecognition and
touch ID capabilities inits mobile application.The technologicalmilestone marks thefirst time that anyIndian online jobsportal has integratedfeatures designed
around hardware-based tech in itsmobile app.
When a user ofthe portal signs up onor logs into the mobileapp for the first time,they are prompted tocreate a face/touch IDfor future sessions.One user session on
the application lastsfor a month, afterwhich users need tolog in again.
This has ensuredthat users canseamlessly log backinto the app withoutany hassle, even ifthey forget theirpasswords. A
two-day FORE InternationalConference on digital innovationwas inaugurated on December
14, 2018 and included academicspeakers from the British AcademyUK, King's College London, SwanseaUniversity UK, IIM Kozhikode, IMTGhaziabad, IIT Delhi, Faculty ofManagement Studies, BITS Pilani,ICFAI and FORE School ofManagement. The objective was toprovide a collaborative platform forresearchers and experts in whichdiscussions about the impact ofdigital technologies in creating safercities in India could be held.
There was a special address byDr Vinayshil Gautam, founder-director, IIM Kozhikode & MemberExecutive Board, FORE School ofManagement, New Delhi.
COUNSELLORS CONCLAVEIIT-M PARTNERS WITH DIGITAL FIRM THALES
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IN BRIEF
The Symbiosis National AptitudeTest (SNAP) exam conducted on16th Dec 2018 in the computer-
based-test format went glitch-free. Theoverall difficulty level of the exam waslower as compared to last year’s. Sincethere were no sectional cut-offs, it madethe job of the students a lot easier — theycould focus on maximising their overallscore instead of perforce trying toimprove their sectional performances intougher sections.
SECTION WISE ANALYSISnGeneral English: The section had
a total of 35 questions. There were 30 nor-mal questions of 1 mark each. There were5 special questions (non-MCQ or Inputbox types where the answer had to beentered on the screen) of 2 marks each.
The RC area had two passages withfive questions each. The passages werelengthy in nature with around 750-850words.
Passage 1: A lengthy passage on‘Google tracks your movement whetheryou like it or not’ or ‘privacy taken fromCBS News’. The questions included 1 title,1 specific detail, 3 contextual reference(of a phrase)/inference based questions.
Passage 2: Another lengthy passageon ‘Tired of globalisation — Trade andPoverty’ taken from The Economist.There were four specific detail questionsand 1 vocab-based question.
Around 22-24 can be considered tobe a good number of attempts in this sec-tion.
nQuantitative Ability, DataInterpretation and Data Sufficiency: Thesection was relatively easier compared tothe last year. There were 30 questions of1 mark each (normal MCQ type). Therewere 5 special questions of 2 marks each(non-MCQ type). The section had moredoable questions and perhaps for the firsttime, Data Interpretation questions werecompletely missing. Continuing the tra-dition, there were no Data Sufficiencyquestions in this section but the samewere asked in the Logical Reasoning sec-tion. The weightage of questions fromalgebra was on the higher side.
One question appeared to not havethe correct answer options (h, c and v ofa cone). A good student could haveattempted a net of 22-24 out of 35 ques-
tions in this section by spending around35-40 minutes. However, this called fora judicious selection of the questions.
nAnalytical & Logical Reasoning:The section had a reasonable number ofeasy and moderate questions.
There were 30 questions of 1 markeach (normal MCQ type). There were 5special questions of 2 marks each (non-MCQ type). Unlike last year, apart fromthe standalone ones, there were 7 ques-tions based on a caselet. Added to this,there were also some tough ones to crack.The level of the section could be peggedat a moderate level of difficulty. Out of35 questions in this section, 19 to 21would be a good number of attempts.
nGeneral Awareness: The sectionhad 25 questions. As the name of the sec-tion suggested, there were no static GKquestions. Most of these questions werenot difficult especially for those who readnewspapers regularly. Most of the ques-tions were pertaining to events whichtook place in the last few months.
Around 12 to 14 attempts in the sec-tion in around 10-15 minutes would havebeen good for this section.
An overall score of 74-76 or aboveshould be a good score for SIBM, 70-73for SCMHRD, and 62-65 for SIBMBangalore and SIIB.
S N A P 2 0 1 8
A N A L Y S I S
The SNAP exam conducted onDecember 16 in the computer-based testformat went glitch-free. ANKUR JAINgives a low down
Ankur JainChief Knowledge Expert, TIME Delhi
Boostrapping builds charac-ter. There are endless waysto finance your ideas, but
there's nothing like marketing astartup with a modest budget toencourage innovation. Limitedfunds give you an excuse to flexyour creative muscle and trulyshare your vision with the world.Being an entrepreneur is riskybusiness.
We’ve all read stories of start-up companies that spent toomuch money getting off theground and crash upon takeoff.Managing your money when youhave very little coming in the dooris tricky but it’s not impossible.
Don’t rely on the same oldbanner ads and Google reviews.Instead, try these eight marketingstrategies to place the spotlight onyour business. Below are strategiesfor getting the most bang for yourbuck as an entrepreneur.
Go to startup events. Theseevents are frequented by thosewho have similar interests, andmost of these people are operat-
ing on shoestring budgets, too.Many of them are happy to intro-duce you to someone who canhelp your startup; others will bewilling to develop a quid pro quorelationship with you to get bothof your businesses off the ground.Either situation is a cost-effectivewin-win.
Take advantage of free offers.Many people shy away from freestuff; they’re afraid that takingadvantage of it implies that theydon’t have money. Instead, look atit this way: When a company isoffering something for free, theybelieve the item has value. Theywant you to experience it sobadly that they’re willing to giveyou a taste at no cost. Take themup on it. You’re helping a fellowbusinessman out, and you're sav-ing cash on your end.
Access an incubator and useother business resources.Incubators can provide you witha lot of the structure that yourentrepreneurial endeavour ismissing, but without any of the
interference that a partner com-pany might entail. They haveamazing free resources; these caninclude everything from officespace to snacks. Search for one onGoogle, or try lists of ranked start-up accelerators to find a good fit.
Track your finances. Fromthe start, you should be carefullywatching how much you spend.Cash flow is one of the easiestareas for start-ups to get ahead ofthemselves you need to turn aprofit at some point, but you’llnever know where that point is ifyou don’t track your money.
Make smart hiring deci-sions. It’s important to build thebest team possible. Your startup isyour baby. Find people who are allin, and you’ll get the most fromthem with each of their pay-checks.
Avoid burnout. Many entre-preneurs get so caught up in sav-ing money that they find it hardto balance rewarding themselveswith pumping money into thecompany. If you want to be suc-
cessful with your startup, then youshould enjoy what you’re doing.Your reward will be the excite-ment you reap from your success.That means that most of yourmoney should go into your start-up but not all of it. Set aside time(and money) to travel, visit friendsand relax. If you forget to do thesethings, it won’t matter how muchmoney your startup has — it won’thave an effective leader.
Every entrepreneur goesthrough ups and downs; it’s thenature of the beast. But strugglingto make ends meet doesn’t have tobe one of your problems. Find thebalance between fueling your jetand pulling back on the throttle.You don’t want your start-up — oryou — to crash upon takeoff. Taketime to really consider who youare, who your customers are,what you want your brand to rep-resent, and what your messageshould be. Consider this a verysimple marketing roadmap. Thenstick to it.
The writer is Co-founder, OOFFRR App
There are several ways by which one can finance ideas. But the best way forward tomarket a start-up is to begin with a modest budget to encourage innovation,says PRADEEP SHUKLA
TAKE TIME TOCONSIDER WHOYOU ARE, WHO
YOURCUSTOMERS
ARE, WHAT YOUWANT YOURBRAND TO
REPRESENT ANDWHAT YOUR
MESSAGE SHOULDBE. THEN STICK
TO IT
money 12LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 19, 2018
KAPIL CHOPRA UNVEILS NEW LUXURY HOTEL BRANDNew Delhi: Hospitality industry veteran Kapil Chopra Tuesday unveiled
a new luxury hotel brand, The Postcard Hotel, and launched three new prop-erties in Goa under the label. Chopra, who has earlier served as the presi-dent of Oberoi Hotels and Resorts, said seven more luxury hotels under thebrand would come up at different locations like Uttarakhand and HimachalPradesh over the next 12-18 months. “Work has already started on few ofthese seven properties. We are looking to have around 50 hotels in the nextfive years,” Chopra, CEO and founder of The Postcard Hotel told PTI. Threehotels, part of the proposed seven new properties, would come up in east-ern and north eastern parts of the country in partnership with Ambuja Neotiagroup, he added. Elaborating on future plans, Chopra said he would first liketo establish the brand in India and then venture out into international loca-tions. “We plan to build a luxury hospitality company out of India. Peopleare ready to pay but there are no properties which could offer intimate andpersonalised luxury experience. The entire segment needed a disruption,”he added. The new brand would focus on hotels with 8-50 rooms so thatthe guests could have a personalised experience, Chopra said. “What I want-ed to do with The Postcard Hotel is make luxury hotels for the modern audi-ence but bring back the romance and charm of sun kissed holidays..as a strat-egy, we will either go to mountains, sea and wildlife sanctuaries,” he noted.The properties under the new brand would not have a check in or check outtime, no mini bar or breakfast hours, Chopra said “We want travel to be expe-riential and transformative. We believe guests want to stay in a place wherethe hotel does the thinking for them, where they get the simple things right,yet offer fantastic spaces for them to relax, meet like minded people and expe-rience local culture,” he added. On opening properties abroad, Chopra saidthe first hotels could come in countries like Sri Lanka and Bhutan. Chopra,who is also the chairman of the board of restaurant reservation applicationEazyDiner, said the company has received funding from Small Ventures, aventure capital firm based out of UAE. He added that the brand would pre-fer combination of strategic buy outs and long term leases for its upcomingproperties. Headquarted in Delhi, The Postcard Hotel already has 300 employ-ees on its rolls.
IL&FS GROUP COS CLIMB UP TO 10PC New Delhi: Shares of IL&FS group companies surged up to 10 per cent
on Tuesday as it announced its plan to sell equity stakes in its road assets toraise funds. IL&FS Investment Managers was trading 9.86 per cent higherat ` 7.02 at 1230 hours on BSE, IL&FS Transportation Networks Ltd (ITNL)rose 5 per cent to `11.55 and IL&FS Engineering and Construction advancedas much as 4.98 per cent to `14.13. However, the benchmark BSE Sensexwas down 139 points at 36,137 during the same time. On Monday,Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) group, which sits on adebt pile of about ̀ 90,000 crore, said it will sell equity stakes in its road assetsto raise funds.
BUSINESS CORNERGovt says all geared up
for ‘24x7 Power for All'
PTI n NEW DELHI
Confident of meeting '24X7Power for All' target by
March, the government wants totake forward its reform agendafor the power sector in 2019including by providing con-sumers options to change theirservice provider even as theindustry wants immediate stepsto ease the “pains” relating tocoal shortage, financial stressand high pricing.
After 100 per cent house-hold electrification under thegovernment’s ambitious‘Saubhagya’ scheme, the next bigpolicy move for the sector couldbe the proposed electricityamendment bill that provides forseparation of carriage and con-tent business. This would helpconsumers to change their ser-vice providers for electricitysupply, just like they do for thetelecom and other services.
Under the `16,320 croreSaubhagya scheme, the govern-ment has already provided elec-tricity connections to 2.2 crorefamilies and expects to completethe task of connecting theremaining 78 lakh householdslatest by February 2019. “Thelast one year has been momen-tous for power sector in thecountry. Electricity reachedevery village this April and weare on the verge of electrifyingevery household. The whole
world is looking at India’s elec-trification journey with admi-ration,” Power Minister R KSingh told PTI.
“Now we have set ourselveson the path of ‘24X7 Power forAll’ by March 31, 2019 and thegovernment is committed totake every step to achieve thisthrough expansion andstrengthening of infrastructurefor power generation, trans-mission & distribution as alsoputting in place a robust regu-latory framework in terms ofamendments to Electricity Actand Tariff Policy,” he said.
The industry players, how-ever, also wants an urgent atten-tion on possible measures fromthe government side on tacklingvarious stress points for thesector, including those regardingtheir financial viability.Association of Power Producers(APP) Director General AshokKhurana said 2018 has been apainful year with some positivesfor the power sector.
He said rise in powerdemand across states due toaccelerated household electrifi-cation under the Saubhagyascheme and a pick-up in eco-nomic activity augurs well forthe stranded and under-utilisedpower assets. Despite manyinfirmities, the new coal alloca-tion framework, ‘Shakti’, hashelped 9 GW of operationalcapacity having power purchase
agreement access coal, he added.A High-Level Empowered
Committee (HLEC) has rec-ommended review of certainflawed provisions of Shakti, hesaid, while hoping that the gov-ernment would act fast on therecommendations and makecoal allocation framework moreequitable and ownership-neu-tral. According to the APP,whose members include AdaniPower, Essar, Tata Power, PTCIndia and Vedanta, power plantshave experienced huge coalshortages, necessitating importsand purchase from auction plat-forms, thus increasing the priceof power despite rise in coal pro-duction. The industry bodypointed out that adequate avail-ability of coal is a must toachieve the “reliable and quali-ty power upply to all” round theclock.
It suggested opening thecoal mining sector to competi-tion and appointing a coal reg-ulator to bring in transparencyand commercial discipline. Onfinancial stress of the sector,Khurana said: “RBI’s ill-con-ceived circular of February 12,prescribing stringent definitionof default and impractical time-lines without taking intoaccount the sector-specific gen-uine difficulties and that itsapplication in present form willneither help banks nor sector atlarge”.
Saudi Arabia, RIL in talks forrefinery, petrochem projectPTI n NEW DELHI
World’s largest oil exporter SaudiArabia and richest Indian Mukesh
Ambani-run Reliance Industries arediscussing joint investment in petro-chemicals and refinery projects, theSaudi Oil Minister Khalid al-Falih said.
Al-Falih, who has known Ambanifor over a decade now, travelled toUdaipur earlier this month to attend thepre-wedding festivities of Ambani’sdaughter Isha’s marriage with AjayPiramal’s son Anand.
During that visit, he also held talkswith Ambani but choose to tweet aboutthose discussions only this week.
In an Arabic tweet, which wastranslated using online tools, Al-Falihsaid he was delighted to meet Ambani.
At the meeting “we discussed oppor-tunities for joint investments and coop-eration in petrochemical, refining andcommunications projects”.
He also tweeted a picture of themeeting where Ambani is dressed in abusiness suit, a sharp contrast to otherpictures of his in traditional attire dur-ing the pre-wedding festivities held onDecember 8 and 9. No details of themeeting were available from Reliance.
Reliance operates two refineries atJamnagar with a total capacity of 68.2million tonnes per annum.
Reliance plans to expand its only-for-exports SEZ refining capacity to just over41 million tonnes from current 35.2 mil-lion tonnes but does not have any plansto set up a new refinery in the country.
It is presently focused on expandingpetrochemical and telecom business,industry sources said.
Crude oil is the basic raw materialfor the manufacturing of petrochemicals.
Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, iskeen to get a foothold in the world'sfastest-growing fuel market so as to geta captive customer for crude oil it pro-duces.
Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest oilcompany, and its partner Abu DabhiNational Oil Co (ADNOC) have pickedup 50 per cent stake in a planned USD44-billion refinery in Maharashtra butthe project is facing problems in acquir-ing land due to protests from local politi-cians.
Aramco and ADNOC will togetherhold 50 per cent stake in the 60 milliontonnes per annum (MTPA) refinery andadjacent 18 MTPA petrochemical com-plex planned to be built at Ratnagiri dis-trict of Maharashtra by 2025.
The two will supply half of the crudeoil required for processing at the refin-ery.
Like other major producers, the twoare looking to lock in customers in theworld's third-largest oil consumerthrough the investment. Kuwait too islooking to invest in projects in return forgetting an assured offtake of their crudeoil.
Saudi Aramco is also keen on retail-ing fuel in India. A refinery in India canalso be a base for it to export fuel todeficit countries in Europe and theAmericas. India has a refining capacityof 247.6 million tonnes, which exceed-ed the demand of 206.2 million tonnes.
According to the InternationalEnergy Agency (IEA), this demand isexpected to reach 458 million tonnes by2040.
Los Angeles: “The Flash” star Grant Gustinhas married has fiancee LA Thoma. Gustin,28, and Thoma, 30, exchanged weddingvows last Saturday, reported E! online. Thewedding reportedly took place at ValentineDTLA, a 9,000-square-foot venue erected inthe 1920s. According to the publication,“Supergirl” stars Melissa Benoist and ChrisWood, Hamilton’s Daveed Diggs and TaylorTrensch, along with Broadway actors AdamKaplan, Jared Loftin, Ben Ross and LeelaRothenberg attended the ceremony. Thecouple is yet to comment on their nuptials,but Gustin’s manager Robert Stein shared aphoto of himself with the newlyweds onInstagram. “What heartfelt joy is was to watchGrant and LA, surrounded by their family and friends, come together for a loving union. “Wishingthem both a Lifetime of Love and Happiness. They are so blessed to have one another to spendthe rest of their lives together,” he captioned the post.Gustin and Thoma, a physical therapist,announced their engagement in April 2017. They dated a little over a year before getting engaged.
Elgort to play lead in ‘The Great Imposter’
Los Angeles: Actor Ansel Elgort is set to starin drama “The Great High School Imposter”. The story is based on a Daniel Riley GQMagazine article published this year aboutArtur Samarin, a young Ukranian man whoposed as a teenager so he could be adoptedby a childless couple in a small Pennsylvaniatown and became the top student in his highschool. Saramin was five years older than heclaimed. His adopted parents turned him intothe authorities. According to Deadline, MikeMakowsky is adapting the script for the pro-ject to be produced by Jeremy Steckler ofConde Nast Entertainment.
GLOBE TROTTING
President Xi tells world:
Don’t dictate to China
PTI n BEIJING
China will not heed to anydictation by others on what
it should do or what it shouldnot, President Xi Jinping assert-ed Tuesday as the Communistgiant celebrated the 40thanniversary of its reform andopening-up policies that havetransformed it from an impov-erished country into a globaleconomic powerhouse. But Xi’sspeech lasting over 80 minutesdid not offer any indication ofrelaxation of the rulingCommunist Party’s firm gripon political power or concretepolicies to tackle China’s com-plex economic problems likeslower growth and an ongoingtrade war with the UnitedStates.
President Donald Trumphas demanded further reformsto the Chinese economy,including greater access forUS companies and a clamp-down on intellectual propertytheft. Xi’s speech comes duringa 90-day truce betweenWashington and Beijing whilethe two sides try to reach acompromise.
At a grand ceremony heldin Beijing’s imposing GreatHall of the People, Xi praisedthe Chinese people’s “hardwork, wisdom and courage”and listed its achievementssince late leader Deng Xiaopinglaunched the era of “Reformand Opening” in 1978.
China’s economy will pro-duce “miracles that will impressthe world” in the coming years,the 65-year-old top leader saidwhile noting that there is notextbook of golden rules to fol-low for reform and develop-ment in China, a country withover 5,000 years of civilisationand more than 1.3 billion peo-ple.
“No one is in a positionto dictate to the Chinese peo-ple what should or should notbe done,” he asserted amidstgrowing pressure from theTrump administration on
Beijing on several fronts,including on trade and theChinese military flexing itsmuscles in the strategic Indo-Pacific region.
“(We must) oppose thepractices of imposing one’s willupon others, interfering inothers’ internal affairs or thestrong bullying the weak,” hesaid. China is “increasinglyapproaching the centre of theworld stage,” he said and notedthat the country pursues adefensive national defence pol-icy. “China’s development doesnot pose a threat to any coun-try. No matter how far Chinadevelops, it will never seekhegemony,” the Chinese pres-ident assured jittery neigh-bours who are worried overBeijing’s growing economicclout.
The reform and opening-up is a great revolution in thehistory of the Chinese peopleand the Chinese nation, he said.“It is the great revolution thatpropelled a quantum leap for-ward in the cause of socialismwith Chinese characteristics,”Xi, also General Secretary ofthe Communist Party andChairman of the CentralMilitary Commission, said.
Xi is widely seen as China’smost influential leader sinceMao. In 2017, he cemented hispower, enshrining his politicalviews in the Constitution.China’s economic reform wasinitiated by Deng in 1978 andthe programme was ratified on18 December that year.
The reform path turned thecountry away from the oldstyle communism of‘Chairman’ Mao Zedong whencollectivisation had led to animpoverished and inefficienteconomy. The transformationfocussed on agriculturalreform, private sector liberali-sation, industry modernisa-tion and opening to interna-tional trade. Today, Chinaholds about 10 per cent of glob-al wealth. China now has 600
billionaires, a higher numberthan anywhere else in theworld. Xi described the reformspioneered by Deng and the rul-ing party as a “break from theshackles” of previous mistakes.
He noted that China haslifted 740 million people out ofpoverty in the 40 years. “Thecountry has maintained itssocial stability over a long peri-od, making it one of the coun-tries that provide the greatestsense of safety in the world,” Xisaid. China has bid farewell tothe problems that plagued itspeople for thousands of years,including hunger, shortage andpoverty, he said.
China’s development haseffectively served the cause ofworld peace and development,Xi said.
The reform and opening-up in the past four decades hasshown, a major country likeChina cannot afford any dis-ruptive mistake on fundamen-tal issues, he said. Xi’s speechwill have “disappointed” bothinternational and localinvestors, said Tom Rafferty, aChina expert at the EconomistIntelligence Unit.
“There’s a lot of anxietyabout near-term economicgrowth and trade talks with theUnited States ... it was a bit ofa missed opportunity for (Xi)to at least offer something inthat direction,” he was quotedas saying by CNN.
In his speech, Xi stressedon the leadership of the rulingCommunist Party of China inall sectors.
The reform and opening-up in the past four decades hasshown that leadership of theParty is the most essentialattribute of socialism withChinese characteristics, andthe greatest strength of this sys-tem, Xi said.
Despite the economicreforms, the past decades havenot brought change to China’srigid one-party system of com-munist rule.
Chinese President Xi Jinping prepares to present a medallion during a conference to commemorate the 40th anniversary ofChina's Reform and Opening Up policy at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Tuesday. AP
China will never seek hegemonyAP n BEIJING
China will never pursuehegemony, President Xi
Jinping said Tuesday as globalconcerns persist over the coun-try’s growing economic influ-ence. During a speech to mark40 years of market reforms, Xirepeated China’s commitmentto a multilateral trading systemand further opening of itseconomy. However, he did notannounce any new initiatives tocounter a slowing economyand trade frictions with theUnited States.
The Chinese leader saidChina would not develop “atthe expense of other countries’interests.” China’s expandingfootprint worldwide — fromAsia-Pacific to Africa andbeyond through a broad net-work of infrastructure pro-jects called the Belt and RoadInitiative — has led somenations to raise the alarm overwhat they call China’s long armof influence, which has beencriticised for being political aswell as economic. While Xi saidChina is “increasinglyapproaching the center of theworld stage,” he also noted
that the country pursues adefensive national defense pol-icy. “China’s development doesnot pose a threat to any coun-try,” Xi said. “No matter how farChina develops, it will neverseek hegemony.” Xi chroni-cled at length the country’srecent achievements, givingspecial credit to former leaderDeng Xiaoping, whose reformsXi said saved China from thebrink of economic collapse
following the tumultuousCultural Revolution.
Other celebrations ofreform and opening up havebeen criticized by scholars fordownplaying the role of Deng,widely considered the architectof the changes, in order to ele-vate Xi.
This time around, Xispared no praise for Deng, ashe began by remarking on thesignificance of 1978 — the
year Deng implemented hisfirst reforms.
During the ceremony, 100individuals were recognizedas pioneers of reform. Theeclectic slate included NBAplayer Yao Ming, Alibabafounder Jack Ma and Nobelprizewinning scientist TuYouyou. They received theirmedals to the tune of “Story ofSpring,” a patriotic ballad pay-ing tribute to Deng.Throughout, Xi emphasizedthe absolute rule of theCommunist Party and itsupholding of Chinese sover-eignty.
“No one is in a position todictate to the Chinese peoplewhat should or should not bedone,” he said.
“We will resolutely reformwhat can and needs to bereformed, and we will res-olutely uphold what cannotand does not need to bechanged.” Xi’s speech espoused“above all else,” said JulianGewirtz, an international affairsscholar at Harvard, “the dis-tinctiveness and absolute cor-rectness of China’s path underthe party’s leadership.”
Colombo (PTI): MahindaRajapaksa on Tuesday becameSri Lanka’s main oppositionleader in Parliament, days afterhe resigned as prime ministerafter clinging on to power fornearly two months, amidst theunprecedented political tur-moil in the country. Rajapaksa,73, replaced veteran Tamilleader of the main Tamil partyR Sampanthan who held theposition from 2015.
His appointment wasannounced by Speaker KaruJayasuriya in Parliament whichmet for the first time after thereinstatement of RanilWickremesinghe as prime min-ister that ended the 51-daypolitical standoff in the coun-try. M A Sumanthiran of TamilNational Alliance (TNA) and
Rauff Hakeem of the Sri LankaMuslim Congress raised objec-tions against Rajapaksa’sappointment.
They claimed thatRajapaksa has ceased to be amember of Parliament becausehe had joined another politicalparty recently.
Rajapaksa now becomesLanka’s main opp leader
Children salute medallion recipients during a conference to commemorate the 40thanniversary of China's Reform and Opening Up policy at the Great Hall of the Peoplein Beijing on Tuesday. AP
Afghanistan appreciates US’ flexibility towardsexempting Chabahar port from Iran sanctionsPTI n UNITED NATIONS
Afghanistan has voicedappreciation for the “flex-
ibility” shown by its “strategicpartner” the US in exemptingthe Chabahar port project,being developed by India, fromits tough sanctions againstIran.
Last month, the Trumpadministration exempted Indiafrom imposition of certainsanctions for the developmentof the strategically-locatedChabahar Port in Iran, alongwith the construction of therailway line connecting it withAfghanistan.
The US had imposed “thetoughest ever” sanctions on adefiant Iran aimed at alteringthe Iranian regime’s “behav-iour”. The sanctions cover Iran’sbanking and energy sectorsand reinstate penalties for
countries and companies inEurope, Asia and elsewherethat do not halt Iranian oilimports.
However, Secretary of StateMike Pompeo had said thateight countries — India, China,Italy, Greece, Japan, South
Korea, Taiwan and Turkey —were temporarily allowed tocontinue buying Iranian oil asthey showed “significant reduc-tion” in oil purchase from thePersian Gulf country.
“The Chabahar Portremains an important gateway
for providing commerciallyviable access to the sea linkingthe Indian Ocean withAfghanistan, Central Asia andbeyond.
In this regard, we appreci-ate the collaboration and flex-ibility of our strategic partner,the United States to work withAfghanistan, Iran and Indiatowards exempting the portfrom its Sanctions,”Afghanistan’s PermanentRepresentative to the UNMahmoud Saikal said Mondayat a Security Council on the sit-uation in Afghanistan.
Saikal said since last year,Kabul has operationalised air-cargo corridors with India,Kazakhstan, Turkey, Europe,Russia, UAE, Saudi Arabia andChina, leading to a substantialincrease in export of Afghanproducts abroad.
Pak releasesIndian nationalHamid fromprison: ReportIslamabad(PTI): Indian nation-al Hamid Nihal Ansari wasreleased from a Pakistani jail onTuesday to be repatriated toIndia, six years after he wasdetained by intelligence agenciesfor entering the country illegallyreportedly to meet a girl he hadbefriended online.
Ansari was detained byPakistan’s intelligence agenciesin 2012 after he entered thecountry from Afghanistan andsubsequently sentenced to threeyears’ imprisonment by a mili-tary court in 2015 for possess-ing a fake Pakistani identitycard. The 33-year-old Mumbairesident was lodged in thePeshawar Central Jail after beingsentenced by the military courton December 15, 2015. Histhree-year jail term ended onDecember 15, 2018 but he wasnot able to leave for India as hislegal documents were not ready.
On Thursday, the PeshawarHigh Court gave the federalgovernment a month deadlineto complete his repatriationprocess. The Indian nationalwas released from Mardan jailon Tuesday and was shifted toIslamabad for his onward jour-ney to India, state-run RadioPakistan reported.
Ansari, a software engi-neer, went missing after he wastaken into custody by Pakistaniintelligence agencies and localpolice in Kohat in 2012 andfinally in reply to a habeas cor-pus petition filed by his moth-er, Fauzia Ansari, the high courtwas informed that he was incustody of the Pakistan Armyand was being tried by a mili-tary court.
He entered Pakistan fromAfghanistan, reportedly to meeta girl he had befriended online.Pakistan claims that Ansari wasan “Indian spy who had illegal-ly entered Pakistan and wasinvolved in anti-state crimes andforging documents.” A two-judge Peshawar High Courtbench, comprising JusticeRoohul Amin and JusticeQalandar Ali Khan, onThursday heard an appeal filedby Ansari through his lawyerQazi Muhammad Anwar.
Low self-control online putsyou at risk of cyber attacksPTI n WASHINGTON
People who have low self-control — indulging in
impulse online shopping,downloading music and com-pulsive email use — are morelikely to become easy targets ofcyber attacks, a study warns.Scientists from the MichiganState University in the USexamined the personality traitsand behaviours — both obvi-ous and subtle — that leadsomeone to fall victim to mal-ware attacks.
“People who show signs oflow self-control are the ones wefound more susceptible to mal-ware attacks,” said Tomas Holt,lead author of the research. “Anindividual’s characteristics arecritical in studying how cyber-crime perseveres, particularlythe person’s impulsiveness andthe activities that they engagein while online that have thegreatest impact on their risk,”Holt said.
Low self-control comes inmany forms. This type of per-son shows signs of short-sight-edness, negligence, physicalversus verbal behavior and aninability to delay gratification,Holt said. “Self-control is anidea that’s been looked at heav-
ily in criminology in terms ofits connection to committingcrimes,” Holt said.
“But we find a correlationbetween low self-control andvictimisation; people with thistrait put themselves in situa-tions where they are near oth-ers who are motivated to breakthe law,” he said.
The research, published inSocial Science ComputerReview, assessed the self-con-trol of nearly 6,000 survey par-ticipants, as well as their com-puters’ behaviour that couldindicate malware and infection.
To measure victimisation,researchers asked participantsa series of questions abouthow they might react in certainsituations. For computer behav-iour, they asked about their
computer having slower pro-cessing, crashing, unexpectedpop-ups and the homepagechanging on their web brows-er. “The internet hasomnipresent risks. In an onlinespace, there is constant oppor-tunity for people with low self-control to get what they want,whether that is pirated moviesor deals on consumer goods,”Holt said. Hackers and cyber-criminals know that peoplewith low self-control are theones who will be scouring theinternet for what they want —or think they want — which ishow they know what sites,files or methods to attack,researchers said.
Understanding thepsychological side of self-con-trol and the types of peoplewhose computers becomeinfected with malware — andwho likely spread it to others —is critical in fighting cyber-crime, Holt said. What peopledo online matters, and thebehavioural factors at play areentirely related to risks.
“There are human aspectsof cybercrime that we don’ttouch because we focus on thetechnical side to fix it,” Holtsaid.
PTI n LOS ANGELES
Anxiety and depression maysignificantly increase the
risk of heart disease, stroke andarthritis, comparable to smok-ing and obesity, a study warns.Researchers from the Universityof California, San Francisco(UCSF) in the US looked at thehealth data of more than 15,000older adults over a four-yearperiod. The study, published inthe journal Health Psychology,found that 16 per cent (2,225)suffered from high levels ofanxiety and depression, 31 percent (4,737) were obese and 14per cent (2,125) were currentsmokers.
Participants with high lev-els of anxiety and depressionwere found to face 65 per centincreased odds for a heart con-dition, 64 per cent for stroke, 50per cent for high blood pressureand 87 for arthritis, comparedto those without anxiety anddepression. “These increasedodds are similar to those of par-ticipants who are smokers orare obese,” said AoifeO’Donovan from UCSF.“However, for arthritis, highanxiety and depression seem to
confer higher risks than smok-ing and obesity,” O’Donovansaid. Unlike the other condi-tions investigated, theresearchers found that highlevels of depression and anxietywere not associated with cancerincidence.
This confirms results fromprevious studies, but contradictsa prevailing idea shared bymany patients, researchers said.“Our findings are in line witha lot of other studies showingthat psychological distress is nota strong predictor of manytypes of cancer,” O’Donovansaid.
Depression, anxiety may take same toll on health as smoking: Study
In this photo taken on Sunday, Dec. 16, 2018, whirling dervishes of the Mevlevi order perform during a Sheb-i Arus ceremonyin Konya, central Turkey. Every December the Anatolian city hosts a series of events to commemorate the death of 13th centuryIslamic scholar, poet and Sufi mystic Jalaladdin Rumi. AP
world 14LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 19, 2018
UK mins meet to step
up no-deal Brexit plans
AFP n LONDON
British ministers met onTuesday to intensify plans
for leaving the European Unionwithout a deal — a prospectthat is becoming more likely asPrime Minister Theresa Mayplays for time with just 101days to go until Brexit. Theopposition Labour Party mean-while faced refusal over itsrequest for a no-confidencemotion in May and growingpressure to table a bindingvote against the government.May on Monday said the gov-ernment was preparing for ano-deal Brexit and “the cabinetwill be discussing the nextphase in ensuring we are readyfor that scenario”.
She will be refereeingbetween ministers who wantthe government to step uppreparations for a no-deal sce-nario and those that want par-liament to have a final say in aseries of votes on potentialoptions for Brexit. One optionis the prime minister’s ownBrexit deal, but that is hangingby a thread after she was forcedto pull a vote on it last week inthe face of huge oppositionfrom within her ConservativeParty.
Opposition leader JeremyCorbyn on Monday tabled anon-binding no-confidencevote in May after she told MPsthey will get another chance tovote on her deal in the weekbeginning January 14. “Thishouse has no confidence in theprime minister due to her fail-ure to allow the House ofCommons to have a meaning-ful vote,” Corbyn told law-makers ahead of tabling themotion in parliament.
But Downing Street wasreported on Tuesday to beblocking the motion frombeing debated. “We won’t allowtime for what is a stunt,”Britain’s Press Associationquoted Downing Street as say-ing.
Labour had the option oftabling a binding motion butfaced defeat after ConservativeBrexit hardliners and the
Democratic Unionist Party,which props up her govern-ment, both said they wouldback May. Leading euroscepticTory MP Jacob Rees-Moggtold BBC Radio 4’s Today pro-gramme on Tuesday that he“will always support theConservative government, Iwill not vote a Conservativegovernment out of office.”Rees-Mogg led a party confi-dence vote against May lastweek, which she survived, butonly after a third of her parlia-mentary party voted to ousther.
Even a non-binding vote ofno-confidence from a majori-ty in the House of Commonscould leave May’s authorityfurther weakened — andpotentially prompt anothervote in her entire governmentand a general election.
Britain is set to leave theEuropean Union on March 29next year, but after 18 monthsof tortuous negotiationsappears no closer to formalis-ing a divorce deal. If parliamentfails to approve the text of herdeal, Britain could crash out ofthe EU with no deal — aprospect that experts warncould lead to serious tradedisruption and trigger a finan-cial crisis.May insisted Mondaythat she was continuing to
seek “assurances” from the EUover elements of her plan,although EU officials said nomeetings were planned.
The delay on the vote hasangered members of her ownparty and Labour oppositionpoliticians, who accused her oftrying to “run down the clock”ahead of Britain’s withdrawal toincrease pressure on them toback the deal.
“The prime minister hascynically run down the clock,trying to manoeuvre parlia-ment into a choice between twounacceptable outcomes” — herdeal or no deal, Corbyn said.
May is also facing calls fora second referendum to resolvethe impasse, with dozens ofMPs from all sides now sup-porting another poll andreports that May’s officials areconsidering the possibility. Butthe prime minister argued thatthis would betray the 2016result and undermine publicconfidence in politics.
Let us not break faith withthe British people by trying tostage another referendum,” shetold parliament on Monday.“Another vote... would doirreparable damage to theintegrity of our politics,” Maysaid, adding that a second vote“would likely leave us no fur-ther forward”.
A pro-Brexit demonstrator waves a placard with others outside the Houses ofParliament in London on Tuesday. AP
continue to mount as he is setto face bankruptcy proceedingsin the UK High Court nextyear, brought by a consortiumof Indian banks in their attemptto recoup unpaid debt worthnearly 1.145 billion pounds.
TLT LLP, the UK-basedlaw firm which had won alandmark case for the 13 banksled by State Bank of India(SBI) earlier this year, con-firmed on Monday that theirbankruptcy petition againstthe 62-year-old businessmanhas been transferred to theinsolvency list in London’sHigh Court of Justice for ahearing in the first half of2019.
“We can confirm that wepresented a bankruptcy peti-tion against Dr Mallya onbehalf of the banks on 11September 2018,” said PaulGair, partner at TLT. “This wasissued in Dr Mallya’s localcourt, Northampton CountyCourt, and has now been trans-ferred to the insolvency list inthe High Court of Justice inLondon for the hearing. Thehearing is expected to takeplace in the Spring,” he said.
In a ruling in May, a UKHigh Court judge had refusedto overturn a worldwide orderfreezing Mallya’s assets andupheld an Indian court’s rulingthat the consortium of 13Indian banks were entitled torecover funds amounting tonearly 1.145 billion pounds.TLT LLP has been representingthe banks in their efforts torecover their dues as part of theworldwide freezing order, withthe bankruptcy petition aimedat seizing his assets to recoverdues.
Besides SBI, the 13 Indianbanks include Bank of Baroda,Corporation bank, FederalBank Ltd, IDBI Bank, IndianOverseas Bank, Jammu &Kashmir Bank, Punjab & SindBank, Punjab National Bank,
State Bank of Mysore, UCOBank, United Bank of India andJM Financial AssetReconstruction Co Pvt Ltd.
They have secured follow-on High Court orders to recov-er some of the funds owed tothem as a result of unpaid loansby Mallya’s now-defunctKingfisher Airlines.
Mallya, meanwhile,remains on bail after his extra-dition was recently ordered byWestminster Magistrates’Court in London, an orderwhich now awaits a sign-off byUK home secretary Sajid Javid.
Chief Magistrate, JudgeEmma Arbuthnot, had ruledlast week that Mallya doeshave a case to answer in theIndian courts over substantial“misrepresentations” of hisfinancial dealings, in a boost toIndia’s efforts to bring back thebusinessman wanted foralleged bank fraud and moneylaundering charges amount-ing to an estimated Rs 9,000crores.
“There is clear evidence ofdispersal and misapplication ofthe loan funds and I find aprima facie case the Dr Mallyawas involved in a conspiracy tolaunder money,” the rulingnoted. Mallya has indicatedthat he plans to appeal the ver-dict in the High Court.
“My legal team will reviewthe judgment in detail, considervarious options and then I willdecide going forward. There isa process ahead,” he toldreporters.
Vijay Mallya facesbankruptcy proceedingsin UK High Court
Ruling AL, opposition BNP unveil elections manifestos in B’deshPTI n DHAKA
Prime Minister SheikhHasina’s ruling Awami
League and jailed ex-premierKhaleda Zia’s BNP unveiledtheir manifestos ahead of thecrucial December 30 polls onTuesday, as the election com-mission ordered the deploy-ment of the forces acrossBangladesh to maintain lawand order.
Unveiling the rulingAwami League’s election man-ifesto, Prime Minister Hasinaasked voters to take a lenientview for any mistakes com-mitted by her government dur-ing its two consecutive termssince 2009. The 21-point char-ter promised to put Bangladeshon a “highway to develop-ment”. “We do not want a pol-itics of division, violence, arson,obstruction or unrest. We wanta democratic environment fora free and fair election. Wewant to ensure the participa-tion of all to reach a nationalconsensus,” the 80-page man-ifesto read.
The main oppositionBangladesh Nationalist Party(BNP) secretary general MirzaFakhrul Islam Alamgir releasedthe manifesto in the of absenceZia, who is serving a jail termfor embezzlement of funds,and her “fugitive” elder son andacting party chief TariqueRahman.The BNP manifestopromised to limit the term totwo for an elected person tohold the office of the primeminister.
The manifesto promised toscrap “all black laws” includingthe Digital Security Act,Official Secrets Act and SpecialPower Acts to facilitate free-dom of speech and expression.
“A single vote of yours willrevitalise the life of our leader(Zia),” Alamgir said, addingthat their votes would restorethe image of Rahman, nowstaying in London. Rahmanwas given life imprisonment formasterminding a grenadeattack on an Awami Leaguerally in 2005 in which 24 peo-
ple were killed and severalothers, including the thenopposition leader and nowPrime Minister Hasina, injured.
Zia, 73, who is serving a10-year jail sentence on cor-ruption charges, has beenbarred from contesting thepolls. The developments cameas a single-judge High Courtbench virtually sealed scopesfor Zia to contest the pollsbeing a convict rejecting herfinal plea to overturn the elec-tion commission decision todisqualify for the polls.
According to the electioncommission officials, around100 million people are eligibleto cast their votes in the gen-eral elections.
Meanwhile Commissionon Tuesday ordered the deploy-ment of the paramilitaryBorder Guard Bangladesh(BGB) throughout the countrywith “immediate effect” tomaintain law and order.
“A total of 1,016 platoons ofBGB troops have beendeployed across Bangladesh tocontrol the law and order sit-uation,” a commissionspokesman said. On Monday,Bangladesh’s main oppositionalliance unveiled its poll man-ifesto, promising to safeguardthe opinion and rights of peo-ple if it was voted to power.
The National Unity Front(NUF), a political alliance ofopposition parties includingZia’s BNP, promised to ensure“peoples’ ownership”. “Whenthe people no longer have con-trol of the government, it istaken over by vested interestsand various domestic and for-eign groups... you have felt thisin your bones,” NUF convenorand eminent jurist KamalHossain said.
The NUF, in line with theconstitutional principle, wouldnot only ensure peoples’ own-ership over the government butalso the stake of defeated par-ties in the governance process,he said.Though the BNP is partof the NUF alliance, it releasedits manifesto separately.
Nearly 2,000jailed for lifesince 2016coup: MediaAnkara(AFP): Nearly 2,000people have been sentenced tolife in prison since the July 2016attempted overthrow ofPresident Recep TayyipErdogan, Turkish state mediareported Tuesday. State newsagency Anadolu said some1,934 suspects have been toldby the courts that they willspend the rest of their life in jail.Of these, 978 people werejailed for life, Anadolu report-ed, while 956 were sentenced toaggravated life imprisonment,which has replaced the deathpenalty in Turkey and carriesharsher conditions than normallife imprisonment convictions.
A total of 239 out of 289cases opened after the failedcoup have been closed. Theremaining 50 include 18 inAnkara and nine in Istanbul,Anadolu added. Ankara accus-es the US-based Muslimpreacher Fethullah Gulen ofordering the 2016 coup attemptand refers to his movement asthe “Fethullah TerroristOrganisation”.
Gulen strenuously deniesTurkey’s claims and followersinsist his movement promotespeace and secular education,ridiculing the description ofthemselves as a terror group.
More than 3,050 people inall have been convicted overlinks to Gulen, with 1,123given different jail sentencesranging from over a year to 20years in prison. In one trial,Gulen’s nephew Selman Gulenwas sentenced to seven yearsand six months in jail for beinga “member of an armed ter-rorist organisation”, the agencyreported Tuesday.
Kutbettin Gulen, brother ofthe preacher living in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania,was jailed for 10 years and sixmonths on the same charge inOctober. In recent weeks, therehave been multiple police raidsacross the country against indi-viduals suspected of links to theGulen movement, especiallyin the armed forces.
UN condemns North Korea rightsviolations and nuke spendingAP n UNITED NATIONS
The UN General Assemblyon Monday condemned
North Korea’s “systematic,widespread and gross viola-tions of human rights” and itsdiversion of resources intopursing nuclear weapons andballistic missiles over the wel-fare of its people. It noted “withconcern” that over 10 millionNorth Koreans are estimated tobe undernourished and thatthere is “an unacceptably highprevalence of chronic andacute malnutrition” in thereclusive northeast Asiannation.
The resolution, sponsoredby Japan and the EuropeanUnion, was adopted by con-sensus, though countriesincluding Russia, China, Cubaand Venezuela disassociatedthemselves from it. Manyexpressed opposition to assem-bly resolutions singling outspecific countries and said theGeneva-based Human RightsCouncil should deal withrights issues.
North Korea’s UN ambas-sador, Kim Song, said hiscountry “categorically rejects”the resolution, calling it “aproduct of (a) political plot andhostile forces.”
He accused Japan of “pro-voking confrontation” withNorth Korea “by going backagainst the main trend in (the)Korean peninsula” when deli-cate political negotiations are
underway.Since North Korean leader
Kim Jong Un reached out toSouth Korea and the UnitedStates early this year, the twoKorean leaders have met sev-eral times and Kim held a his-toric summit with PresidentDonald Trump — with anoth-er one expected in the newyear. But there has been no sig-nificant progress on Kim’scommitment to nuclear disar-mament, and as a result no lift-ing of UN or US sanctionsagainst North Korea.
The resolution’s approvalfollowed the US failure to getenough votes to discuss NorthKorea’s human rights record inthe Security Council a weekago. It had succeeded for thelast four years, and diplomatssaid the US is likely to try againin the new year when five newmembers join the council.
A statement released
Monday by North Korea’s UNMission noted opposition tothe US move and assertedagain that the Security Council“is neither a place for discus-sion on any human rightsissue nor a platform where ahuman rights issue is politi-cized to flare up confronta-tion.” Whatever the change inthe Security Council’s compo-sition, North Korea said itshouldn’t be used as a platform“where U.S.’s high-handednessand arbitrary practice wouldprevail.” The General Assemblyresolution adopted Mondayexpresses “very serious con-cern” at reports of torture,detention, rape, public execu-tions, the imposition of thedeath penalty, the absence ofthe rule of law, and “collectivepunishments extending up tothree generations.” It alsoexpressed concern at forcedlabor in North Korea and its
“extensive system of politicalprison camps where a vastnumber of persons aredeprived of their liberty andsubjected to deplorable condi-tions” as well as “all-pervasiveand severe restrictions, bothonline and offline, on the free-doms of thought, conscience,religion or belief, opinion andexpression, peaceful assemblyand association.”
The resolution condemns“the systematic abduction,denial of repatriation and sub-sequence enforced disappear-ance of persons, includingthose from other countries, ona large scale.”
It “acknowledges” thefindings of the U.N. commis-sion of inquiry on North Koreain 2014. The commission saidtestimony and information itgathered “provide reasonablegrounds to believe that crimesagainst humanity have beencommitted in the DemocraticPeople’s Republic of Korea,pursuant to policies estab-lished at the highest level of thestate for decades and by insti-tutions under the effectivecontrol of its leadership.”
The General Assemblystrongly urged North Korea “toimmediately put an end to thesystematic, widespread andgrave violations of humanrights” by fully implementingUN resolutions and recom-mendations including closingprison camps and releasing allpolitical prisoners.
Pope Francis warns againstnationalism, xenophobiaAFP n VATICAN VITY
Pope Francis has warnedpoliticians of the dangers of
exploiting nationalism and fearof foreigners to undermine thetrust essential to their task ofbinding societies together, notdividing them. Trust based onan “authentic political life,grounded in law and in frankand fair relations between indi-viduals... is never easy toachieve,” the pope said in amessage released Tuesdaywhich will be used to markWorld Peace Day on January
1.This is because “human rela-tions are complex, especially inour own times, marked by a cli-mate of mistrust rooted in thefear of others or of strangers, oranxiety about one’s personalsecurity,” he said.
“Sadly, it is also seen at thepolitical level, in attitudes ofrejection or forms of national-ism that call into question thefraternity of which our glob-alised world has such greatneed.“Today more than ever,our societies need ‘artisans ofpeace’. “Political addresses that
tend to blame every evil onmigrants and to deprive thepoor of hope are unacceptable,”he added in the message enti-tled: “Good politics at the ser-vice of peace.”
Pope Francis also warnedagainst corruption and thepursuit of personal ambition atthe expense of wider society,saying that when rulers lookout only for themselves, thefuture is compromised, espe-cially for the younger genera-tions which become margin-alised.
In this Saturday, Aug. 25, 2018 file photo Pope Francis passes by a banner of a protester as he leaves after visiting St Mary'sPro-Cathedral, in Dublin, Ireland. Pope Francis is on a two-day visit to Ireland. AP Photo/File
British Airwaysto resumeflights to Pakafter a decadeIslamabad (PTI): BritishAirways said on Tuesday thatit will resume flights to Pakistanfrom June next year, a decadeafter suspending operationsdue to security fears.
“All of us at British Airwayscould not be more pleased to becoming back to Pakistan andwe very much look forward toJune next year, when our firstflight will touch down at yourspectacular new airport,” theBritish carrier’s head of sales forAsia Pacific and the MiddleEast, Robert Williams, said ata press conference here.
The British airline had sus-pended its flights to Pakistan inSeptember 2008 after the dead-ly bombing on the MarriottHotel in Islamabad, whichkilled more than 50 people andtriggered a major drawdown byembassies and internationalorganisations over safety con-cerns.“We only fly somewherewhen we know it’s safe to doso,” Williams said. Separately,British High CommissionerThomas Drew in a video post-ed on Twitter said that thedirect flight will start betweenLondon and Islamabad. “Directflights from Heathrow toIslamabad’s new airport to startin June…A further boost tolinks between the UK andPakistan, especially on tradeand investment,” he said. Astatement issued by the airlinesaid that initially three-per-week service will be launched,operated on a three-classBoeing 787 Dreamliner, withreturn fares starting from 499pounds.
Prime Minister’s specialassistant Zulfi Bukhari andAdviser to Prime Minister onCommerce, Textile, andIndustries, Abdul RazzakDawood, were also presentduring the press conference.
“British Airways comingback after a decade shows youwhere we were and how farwe’ve come,” Bukhari said,adding that it was big achieve-ment of his government.Theannouncement to resumeflights will boost effort ofPrime Minister Imran Khan tobring in more investments as itshowed the confidence of inter-national community.
PTI n BEIJING
The venue of a fan meet ofBollywood actor Aamir
Khan was shifted to a hotelafter a Chinese universitydenied permission to use itscampus to promote his latestmovie “Thugs of Hindostan”.
Khan is currently inChina to promote “Thugs ofHindostan”, which failed toregister a strong performancein B ol lywood and waspanned by the critics. Themovie, starring AmitabhBachchan, Aamir andKatrina Kaif among others,was released on November 8
in India and is slated torelease in the country next
week. The fan meet, whichwas scheduled in Guangdong
University of Finance andEconomics (GUFE) inGuangzhou, capital of southChina’s Guangdong Province,was cancelled by the univer-sity over the failure to seekprior permission to use thecampus, the Global Timesreported.
Around 350 people weresupposed to attend the event.According to the Chinesemedia, the school did notknow about the promotion-al event until Monday.
“The message was spreadonly among a small group ofstudents through socia l
media. The school only knewabout it when students talkedabout the event hours beforeit was about to take place,”the report quoted an employ-ee of the university as saying.
However, the Weiboaccount that promotes Khan’sfilms announced the schoolhad cancelled the event “uni-laterally” as “the studentswere overly enthusiastic”.
The post angered manystudents, who said the uni-versity did not know aboutthe event at a l l beforeMonday.Many students saidthey waited outside the event
site for over an hour. “It isobviously the organiser’s faultfor not applying to the schoolto use an on-campus build-ing,” net user Swim Xinzhu,a student from GUFE, said.
“We have held similarevents before and therewould be no issue if theorganiser had reported inadvance,” an employee of thevarsity said.
The organiser’s deputymanager, a Beijing-basedfilm-promoting company,reported the Weibo post byKhan’s film account, sayingthey were contacting the film
crew and the school to figureout what caused the poorcommunication.
The fan meet was soonrelocated to a Four Seasonshotel not far from the cam-pus and ended at around 11PM on Monday night, thereport said.
Khan is famous with hisDangal movie in Chinawhich was watched byPresident Xi Jinping.
His other movie SecretSuper Star has also becomevery famous in China rakingup record box office earn-ings.
Aamir Khan denied permission by Chinese varsity to promote ‘Thugs of Hindostan’
AFP ■ MANCHESTER
Manchester United have sackedmanager Jose Mourinho after
their worst start to a season inalmost 30 years, the clubannounced on Tuesday.
The 55-year-old Portuguese'slast match in charge was the 3-1defeat by Premier League leadersLiverpool on Sunday which leftthem 19 points behind their oppo-nents.
Mourinho's sacking comes justtwo-and-a-half years into his tenureand three years and a day sinceChelsea sacked him just monthsafter he had guided them to thetitle.
Former player Michael Carrick,now a member of the coachingstaff, is expected to take charge inan interim role but United said acaretaker manager will be appoint-ed until the end of the season.
The club's worst start in theleague since 1990 means evenMourinho's ambition of reachingthe top four and a ChampionsLeague qualification spot is indanger.
Despite United reaching theChampions League knockoutstages — they face an intimidatinglast-16 tie with Paris Saint-Germain— a mix of the results, dressing-room discord and criticism of the
board's transfer policy provedpotent factors in the decision to dis-miss him.
A United source said thatMourinho had been supported inhis efforts to sign players anddescribed reports of player powerat the club as being key to the sack-ing as wide of the mark.
According to British mediareports, United will have to payMourinho 22.5 million ($ 28 mil-lion) — as the club are still in theChampions League — to sever theties.
"Manchester United announces
that manager Jose Mourinho hasleft the club with immediate effect,"a club statement said.
"The club would like to thankJose for his work during his time atManchester United and to wishhim success in the future.
"A new caretaker manager willbe appointed until the end of thecurrent season, while the club con-ducts a thorough recruitmentprocess for a new, full-time man-ager."
‘OUTSTANDING CANDIDATE'In the longer term former Real
Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane hasbeen linked to the club andTottenham Hotspur manager
Mauricio Pochettino could also bea name in the frame.
One bookmaker makesPochettino the early favourite andthe 46-year-old Argentinian is alsoformer Manchester United mid-fielder Gary Neville's favouredoption.
"They need someone whomeets the three key principles ofthat football club: the promotion ofyouth, entertaining football and towin football matches," Neville toldSky Sports News.
"People suggest he (Pochettino)hasn't won a trophy yet atTottenham but with a net spend ofminus 29 million or something overthe last four years, I'm not sure he
could have done more."I do think he is the person
who is the outstanding candidate."Mourinho's reign had started
well enough with the League Cupand the Europa League trophies butfor a club that has been championsof England 20 times, neighboursManchester City's dominance overthem in the league has hurt.
The wound went even deeperfor Mourinho as City are managedby Pep Guardiola, who got the bet-ter of him when he was in chargeat Barcelona and Mourinho was atReal Madrid.
However, despite his protesta-tions to the contrary the Unitedboard gave Mourinho plenty of
money to compete.Top-quality players such as
Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku —who he persuaded to come toUnited and not Chelsea for 75 mil-lion in 2017 — and Paul Pogba fora then world record fee of 89 mil-lion in 2016 have floundered underhis authoritarian stewardship.
Indeed it was his deterioratingrelationship with World Cup-win-ning midfielder Pogba — one ofmany to feel the lash of his tonguein public — that symbolised thedecline at the club under him.
Mourinho questioned his atti-tude while the player hit back withopen criticism of the tactics, cul-minating in him kicking his heelson the bench during the Liverpooldebacle on Sunday.
The manager's overall EPLpoints haul of 176 since hisappointment by United laggedbehind City, Liverpool, Tottenhamand Chelsea during the same peri-od.
Andy Mitten, editor of fanzineUnited We Stand, told BBC Radiothat neither the players nor the fanswould miss Mourinho.
"We've been doing polls where80 percent of fans wanted him toleave," said Mitten.
"He had a very good first sea-son, an acceptable second season,but this season has been a disaster."
LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 19, 2018 sport 15
RAVIKANT SLAMS TONRavikant Shukla slammed aton to help
Akhil Infra Club beat LDACC by 50 runs inaleague match of the 15th BBD CricketLeague at KD Singh ‘Babu’ Stadium onTuesday. Batting first, Akhil Infra scored 201runs for the loss of four wickets in 40 overs.Ravikant’s ton came in 123 balls with the helpof eight boundaries and teo sixes. In reply,LDACC were bowled out for 151 runs in 36.4overs.
In C division, Chauhan Sportingthrashed Trump Starlets by nine wicketswhile National Youngsters Club crushedKalpana Sports by 81 runs. Meanwhile, UnityClub also registered an east seven-wicket winover Friend’s Club.
CHESS TOURNAMENTLucknow District Chess Sports
Association is organising the the 1st ShivaniState FIDE Rated Chess Tournament atShivani Public School from December 23 to25. The tournament carries a prizemoney ofRs 50,000. Interested may contact on7459899385 or 8808023657.
TUSHAR, TANISHA ADVANCE
Tushar Gagneja and Tanisha Singhadvanced to the next round of the 43rdYonex Sunrise Akhilesh Das GuptaMemorial Junior (Under-19) NationalBadminton Championship at UP BadmintonAcademy on Tuesday. Earlier, Sports andYouth Welfare Minister Chetan Chauhaninaugurated the championship.
The minister also honoured SamayraPanwar, who bagged the Under-13 nation-al title recently, by giving him ̀ 21 thousandand a kit bag. Other UPites AbhyanshSingh and Samriddhi Singh got the firstround bye.
LOCAL EVENTS
AFP ■ WELLINGTON
Angelo Mathews celebratedwith push-ups on the
pitch after joining KusalMendis in passing 100 onTuesday as Sri Lanka battedthe whole day without losinga wicket to give themselveshope of an unlikely first Testdraw in Wellington.
Mendis was 116 not out atstumps on day four andMathews 117, with theirrecord-breaking unbroken246-run partnership setting aSri Lankan record against NewZealand.
It was also the first time in
New Zealand that a full day'splay has been completed with-out a Test wicket falling andthe first time anywhere sinceSouth Africa achieved the featagainst Bangladesh inChittagong in 2008.
The pair's epic vigil meantthe tourists ended the day at259 for three after starting ina seemingly hopeless positionwith three wickets down forjust 20 in their second inningsafter conceding a first-inningsdeficit of 296 to New Zealand.
Sri Lanka still need a fur-ther 37 to avoid an inningsdefeat but with a flat pitchoffering nothing to New
Zealand's seam attack andrain threatening on the finalday, a draw is now a realprospect.
"Even tough it's a belter ofa wicket, the concentrationand commitment they hadwas unbelievable," bowlingcoach Rumesh Ratnayake said.
"We couldn't have askedfor anything more."
New Zealand had hopedto wrap up the match early onthe fourth day after posting animposing 578 in the firstinnings, anchored by TomLatham's unbeaten 264 —which eclipsed formerEngland captain Alastair
Cook's 244 as the highestscore by an opener carryingtheir bat in Test history.
But the home bowlersgrew increasingly frustrated bythe stubborn rearguard action,resorting to a barrage ofbouncers that failed to rattlethe batsmen.
Spinner Ajaz Patel said theBlack Caps had not playedpoorly and were still upbeatabout claiming victory on thefinal day.
"The positive thing for usis that we are the only team ina position to win the game.That's great position for us tobe in," he said.
Mendis, Mathews defy NZ
Kusal Mendis (right) and Angelo Matthews return to pavilion after batting entire Day four of first Test ICC
Man Utd lose patience and sack MourinhoM A N A G E R I A L R E C O R D
Team From To P W D L Win %
Benfica 20 September 2000 5 December 2000 11 6 3 2 54.5
União de Leiria July 2001 23 January 2002 20 9 7 4 45.0
Porto 23 January 2002 2 June 2004 127 91 21 15 71.7
Chelsea 2 June 2004 20 September 2007 185 124 40 21 67.0
Inter Milan 2 June 2008 28 May 2010 108 67 26 15 62.0
Real Madrid 31 May 2010 1 June 2013 178 128 28 22 71.9
Chelsea 3 June 2013 17 December 2015 136 80 29 27 58.8
Manchester United 27 May 2016 18 December 2018 144 84 32 28 58.3
TOTAL 909 589 186 134 64.8
PTI ■ JAIPUR
Unheralded architect-turned-crick-eter Varun Chakravarthy on Tuesdayfetched a sensational bid of `8.4
crore, more than 40 times his base price,before veteran Yuvraj Singh finally found abuyer at the IPL players' auction that had anunmissable Caribbean flavour to it.
Chakravarthy, with a base price of `20lakh, went to Kings XI Punjab after a bid-ding war that also involved Delhi Capitals,Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals.
KXIP, who had the maximum moneygoing into the auction, also spent big onEngland all-rounder Sam Curran, buyinghim for ̀ 7.2 crore, the most for an overseasplayer on Tuesday.
Yuvraj fans must have also heaved a sighof relief when the 37-year-old was boughtby Mumbai Indians for his base price of`1crore after going unsold initially.
"If you are wondering why this tooktime...We've just got back to senses! Welcometo Mumbai," tweeted Mumbai Indians.
Yuvraj secured a last minute deal buthis IPL fortunes have been decliningrapidly. In 2015, he fetched a record `16crore deal with the Delhi franchise butwas picked up by KXIP at his base ofprice of `2 crore last season before theteam released him.
Both uncapped and capped Indianswere in demand at the auction.Medium pacer JaydevUnadkat became a mil-lionaire once again witha `8.4 crore bid fromRajasthan Royals butthe spotlight wasfirmly onChakravarthy, the27-year-old mys-tery spinnerfrom TamilNadu who gaveup a career as free-lance architect to pur-sue cricket.
"We had to wait and seehow the bid was going (forChakravarthy). He can bowlin the Powerplay and in thedeath and can also bat," saidKXIP coach Mike Hesson.
Chakravarthy has risento prominence owing to astrong showing in the TamilNadu Premier League. Hehas been widely credited forMadurai Panthers maidenTNPL title win this year.
Unadkat, on the other hand,is back in the RR fold after beingreleased at the end of the 2018 sea-son. He had been bought for `11.5
crore by RR earlierthis year. On Tuesday,the Royals lappedhim up him after abidding battle withKXI, CSK and DelhiCapitals.
B e s i d e sChakaravarthy, the
other uncapped playerswho attracted huge
amounts were 16-year-old all-rounder Prayas Ray
Barman from Bengal (`1.5cr to RCB), Punjab wicket-
keeper Prab Simran Singh(`4.8 cr to KXIP), Mumbaibatsmen Shivam Dube (`5 crto RCB) and Uttar Pradeshbatsman Akshdeep Singh (`3.6cr to RCB) . Akshdeep wasbought after he re-entered theauction pool.
With uncertainty over theavailability of Australian andEngland players in a World Cup
year, the teams went after the West Indians.Out of the 20 overseas slots available, six
were sealed by the Caribbean playersincluding Shimron Hetmyer, CarlosBrathwaite , Nicholas Pooran, OshaneThomas, Keemo Paul and SherfaneRutherford.
Royal Challengers Bangalore paid`4.2 crore for Hetmyer. Kolkata KnightRiders, Rajasthan Royals and DelhiCapitals also bid for the stylish West Indianbatsman, who had a base price of ̀ 50 lakh.
His teammate Brathwaite, the star of2016 World T20, was sold to KKR for `5crore after a bidding war between theDinesh Karthik-led side and Kings XIPunjab.
The all-rounder had entered theauction with a base price of `75 lakh.
Another West Indian to get an attrac-tive deal was wicketkeeper NicholasPooran. The 23-year-old, who camewith a base price of `75 lakh, went for`4.20 crore to KXIP. He is a T20 find andis yet to play Test cricket. Delhi Capitalspaid ̀ 2 crore and ̀ 50 for Rutherford and
Keemo Paul while Royals bought Thomasfor `1.1 crore.
Amongst other Indians, spinnerAxar Patel (Rs five crore), pacer MohitSharma (` five crore) and MohammadShami (`4.8 crore) were the other namesto fetch big bids.
Patel, who made his name at KXIP,was bought by Delhi Capitals after a bid-ding battle with the Punjab franchise.
Shami, who turned up for Delhi lastseason, was sold to KXIP while Mohitwent back to Chennai Super Kings aftera stint with KXIP.
Indian Test player Hanuma Vihariwas sold to Delhi Capitals for ̀ two crore,four times his base price.
Pacer Ishant Sharma, who had a baseprice of ̀ 75 lakh, went to Delhi Capitalsfor `1.1 crore while wicketkeeperWriddhiman Saha was bought back bySunrisers Hyderabad for `1.2 crore.
The high-profile unsold players wereCheteshwar Pujara, Brendon McCullum,Shaun Marsh, Chris Woakes and DaleSteyn.
UNCAPPED VARUN FETCH BIG MONEY AT IPLAUCTION, YUVRAJ FINDS A BUYER AT LAST
ROYAL CHALLENGERSBANGALORE PAID `4.2CRORE FOR HETMYER.
KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS,RAJASTHAN ROYALS AND
DELHI CAPITALS ALSOBID FOR THE STYLISH
WEST INDIAN BATSMAN,WHO HAD A BASE PRICE
OF `50 LAKH.HIS TEAMMATE
BRATHWAITE, THE STAROF 2016 WORLD T20,WAS SOLD TO KKR
Sports Minister Chetan Chauhan with participants
PTI ■ PERTH
India crumbled in the face ofAustralia's remarkable metamor-phosis and crashed to a 146-run
defeat in the second Test here onTuesday, surrendering a rare hard-earned ascendancy in a series DownUnder.
The hosts levelled the four-match series 1-1 after India werebowled out for 140 runs in 56 oversin their second innings on the fifthand final day.
Starting from overnight 112 forfive, India lost their last five wicketsfor 28 runs and it was all over with-in 65 minutes of play.
This was Australia's first Test winsince the ball-tampering scandalbroke out in South Africa earlier thisyear.
Having won the opening game by31 runs to go in front, India had beentalked up as a threat coming into thecapital of Western Australia, butthey wilted as the pace-spin duo ofMitchell Starc and Nathan Lyonworked in tandem at the OptusStadium.
Starc (3-46) and Lyon (3-39) fin-ished with three wickets apiece, whileJosh Hazlewood (2-24) and PatCummins (2-25) took a brace each.
While Starc and his pace col-leagues were expected to thrive on thelively track, it was off-spinner Lyon'sexceptional outing that gave Australiathe edge. He finished the match witheight wickets, including a five-for inthe first innings and a deserving Man-of-the-Match award.
India surely missed a trick in notplaying a specialist spinner, some-thing that was admitted by one oftheir own at the end of fourth day'splay.
Hanuma Vihari (28) and RishabhPant (30) had continued theirovernight partnership, and batted outonly six overs before the first wicketfell on this day. Overall, they added21 runs for the sixth wicket.
Vihari was the first to go, lobbinga catch off Starc to short point. Pantthen tried to play a few more attack-ing strokes, but he didn't comprehendthe situation well and was confusedwhether to farm the strike at all.
In doing so, he attacked Lyon andholed out to mid on, with PeterHandscomb taking a low divingcatch. It hastened the end for India,with Umesh Yadav (2) returning asimple catch to Starc.
Ishant Sharma (0) was caughtbehind off Cummins, and JaspritBumrah (0) hit a skier for anotherreturn catch to the pacer as Australiasealed their first Test win sinceDurban before the ball-tamperingscandal hit the headlines.
Australia had scored 326 runs intheir first innings, and India repliedwith 283 runs, thus conceding a leadof 43 runs. The hosts scored 243 runsin their second innings to post a 287-run target.
LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 19, 2018 sport 16
PTI ■ PERTH
Captain Virat Kohli on Tuesdayfirmly backed his decision to
play four pacers in the second Testagainst Australia, rejecting criticismthat India erred in not playing aspinner.
"We didn't have that controlparticularly in the first innings, notto the extent that we wanted. Butin the second innings for sure, espe-cially yesterday (day four) the firstsession, giving away only 56 oddruns without getting a wicket.
"I think it was outstandingbowling and obviously MohammedShami did what he did in the nextsession with the ball, which wasagain wonderful to see. I think theyexecuted their plans to 95 per centof what we expected. I think youdefinitely can be happy with that.
The India skipper added, "Inthe past when we have played fourquicks, we definitely haven't beenas consistent as we were in thisgame. So, I think they were prettyaccurate, pretty consistent and wewere convinced about going in withfour fast bowlers looking at the con-ditions."
Kohli admitted that playingfour fast bowlers weakened the tailand didn't provide as much controlover Australia's scoring rate in thefirst innings. But at the same time,he added that they didn't compre-hend picking a spinner at all despitea long tail.
"You obviously have two situ-ations that you can think of. Whenyou pick another fast bowler, obvi-ously R Ashwin or Ravindra Jadejahave more ability with the bat, weall know that. It's a very tricky deci-sion to make - what kind of a bowl-ing option you want to go with or
you want to think that that guy cancontribute with the bat as well.
"So eventually you come to onedecision. We backed that decisionand went ahead with it. Whether itcomes off or not, that's a differentthing but we were totally convincedin the team that that was our bestcombination to go with and thebatsmen have to take responsibili-ty.
"There are lots of variablesthat can happen during the courseof a cricket match but before that,you need to have clarity as to whatyou want to do and as a side, wewere totally clear that this was thecombination we wanted to gowith," he added.
PTI ■ PERTH
Australia captain TimPaine on Tuesday played
down the verbal showdownswith Virat Kohli during thesecond Test here but insist-ed that he won't sit back andbe "walked all over" if facedwith a similar situation in theremaining matches.
The two skippers hadquite a bit of banter in themiddle, so much so thatthey almost made physicalcontact at one point. ButPaine shrugged it off, sayingthat Australia will inviteIndia for a beer in the changerooms as per their team tra-dition.
"I don't think we didtouch to be honest. It got
pretty close. It was a highlycompetitive Test match fromboth teams. There's a lot onthe line and both teams des-perately want to win andsometimes that stuff hap-pens" Paine said in the post-match press conference.
"I love it. I enjoy watch-ing Kohli, I always have. Ithink he brings out the com-petitive spirit in a lot ofpeople which is great, andI'm sure it was great towatch.
"I was really proud of theway our team conductedthemselves on the field thisweek. We definitely will (theIndian team for a beer) afterthe series. That's always beenthe thing that has happenedand will always be the case,"
he added.But the wicketkeeper-
batsman was quick to assertthat he won't back down inthe face of a showdown if ithappens again.
"I think it's just one ofthose things, at times youhave got to draw a line andstart sticking up for yourselfand sticking up for yourteammates.
"...We are certainly notgoing to sit back and bewalked all over. Sometimesthose things happen andyou have to get involved.Was it a decision as a captainto try and assert myself onthe game? No. It was just twocompetitive cricketers tryingto do their best to win thegame," he said.
PTI ■ MUMBAI
Former India batsman SanjayManjrekar feels India made
a mistake in not including afront- line spinner in the secondTest that Australia won onTuesday at Perth to square thefour match series 1-1.
He said the team manage-ment should take the blame forselections which have "back-fired.
"(Australian spinner)Nathon Lyon is a great bowler,so we can't assume that a(Ravindra) Jadeja would havebeen as effective (as him).
"But India, I think, made anerror in going with four seam-ers, specially (with) UmeshYadav and not BhuvneshwarKumar," Manjrekar, an expertwith official broadcaster SonyPictures Networks, said.
"If there was one spinner (inthe team) there's always cracksand roughs, especially with left-handed batsmen in the opposi-tion, to exploit. Jadeja could havebeen of more use than thefourth seamer", he said.
"So, it was a selection errorthat may have also contributedto India eventually losing thematch," explained the 53-year-old batsman-turned-commen-tator.
As per experts, India hadcommitted selection errors in
the past, following which theteam lost.
"You don't lose because ofone factor and you can't say thatwe lost because of poor selec-tion. But you can say that therehave been selections which havetaken the world by surprise, notjust a few people.
"These are selections whichare unexpected and eventuallyhave proved to be wrong selec-tions. The team managementwill have to take responsibilityfor those selections that haveback-fired," Manjrekarremarked.
He opined that India couldgo in with Mayank Agarwal andMurali Vijay as openers in thenext Test at Melbourne.
PTI ■ NEW DELHI
The Indian cricket board (BCCI)on Tuesday rubbished media
reports in Australia which claimedthat captain Virat Kohli braggedabout being the best batsman in theworld while ridiculing Tim Paineduring the second Test in Perth.
The two captains were consis-tently involved in banter during thematch but both insisted that no linewas crossed. Reports in Australiaclaimed that the world's No 1 Testand ODI batsman boasted aboutbeing the best in the business dur-ing the showdowns.
The BCCI came out in supportof Kohli, saying the statementattributed to Kohli was just hearsayand he never bragged about him-self.
"It is 'assumed' that Kohli said,'I am the best player in the worldand you are just a stand-in captain'.These claims were based on hearsayand the BCCI would like to bringinto notice that no such words werespoken on the field by the Indiancaptain," BCCI said in a statement.
"The BCCI got a clarification
from the team management aboutthe incident and would like to clas-sify the reports as baseless."
With the banter reported bythe media on the last two days ofthe match, Kohli faced questions onthe issue but he said no one crossedthe line.
"As long as there is no swear-ing on the field, and there's no per-sonal attacks, the line doesn't getcrossed. That's it!. But look, in com-petitive spirit it stays on the field.I am not going to go into details butto be honest it's not of importancefor me to speak on and it's some-thing that's done," Kohli said afterIndia lost the Test by 146 runs.
PTI ■ PERTH
Utility of Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastrias captain and coach must be
assessed if India fail to win the next twoTests against Australia, suggested bat-ting legend Sunil Gavaskar, who is baf-fled by the "selection blunders" com-mitted by the team management.
Gavaskar was not impressed withthe selection choices made by the teammanagement.
"We have been seeing this — theselection blunders that have been com-mitted since the tour of South Africa.It has cost the team because it has lostmatches which could've been won if the
proper selection had been made,"Gavaskar said.
"They have to look at the combi-nation of their team, look at the hole thatneeds to be plugged and pick the mento. If they do that then they can certainlywin the next two matches but if theydon't, then the selectors need to thinkwhether we are getting any benefit fromthis lot - the captain, coach and supportstaff," Gavaskar told Aaj Tak.
The former opener questioned thelogic for picking a jumbo squad.
"I want to find out that who hasauthorised 19 players to go because thenext question is why not three more?The BCCI is a very rich body, it can
afford to send even 40 people downthere. However, I feel that an India cap,an Indian blazer has to be made a lotmore valuable. ... By carrying players andtaking 19 players, I do believe that theselection committee has not handledtheir responsibility well," he said.
"A lot of those players can comeback and play domestic cricket whichwill not only embellish our domesticcricket, lift the standard of our domes-tic cricket but also give these guys,unlikely to be picked in the Test match-es, an opportunity to regain form andmake a case for getting back in theteam," he added.
The first one on the flight backhome from Perth should be Indiaopener KL Rahul according to Gavaskar.
"He (Rahul) has no chance of play-ing in the remaining two Tests unlessof course there is an injury to any play-er. I think that he should be coming backand playing Ranji Trophy for Karnataka.It is not just that he is out of form, heis just not there and you can see that.He can prove me wrong and I will bevery happy to be proven wrong as longas the Indian team benefits."
Meanwhile, Ricky Ponting reckonsIndia's batting woes have outweighedtheir opponents after the visitorsslumped to a massive 146 run defeat.
"I compared the two teams at thestart of the series and I didn't think Indiacould win here just because of the frail-ties of their batting and I think that'sbeen highlighted this week," Pontingtold cricket.Com.Au.
INDIA CRASH AT 140, AUSTRALIA DRAW LEVEL
Starting from overnight 112/5, India lose last five wickets for 28 runs to face humiliating defeat by 146 runs
Kohli didn't boast, didn't
belittle Paine: BCCI
Virat Kohli, centre, looks to the umpire ICC
Jasprit Bumrah walks off as Australian players celebrate winning the secondTest between Australia and India in Perth on Tuesday AP
Australian skipper Tim Paine shake hands with counterpart Virat Kohli after the end of second Test cricket.com.Au
Lokesh Rahul is bowled by Mitchell Starc during fourth day of second Test at Perth AP
Hanuma Vihari bowls during 3rd Day AP
Jasprit Bumrah, third from left, celebrates after dismissing Pat Cummins AP
NDIA’S WORST YEARS IN TESTS
Year P W L D
1959 9 1 7 1
1983 18 — 7 11
2018 13 6 7 —
2014 10 1 6 3
Faisel Features
INDIA’S UNSUCCESSFUL-CHASES IN 2018
Score (Target) Opponent Venue
345 464 England The Oval
184 245 England Southampton
162 194 England Birmingham
151 287 South Africa Centurion
140 287 Australia Perth
135 208 South Africa Cape Town
Faisel Features
PTI ■ PERTH
Tension flared up betweenteammates Ishant
Sharma and Ravindra Jadejaduring a mid-game break onthe fourth day of the secondTest.
Ishant and Jadeja wereengaged in a heated discus-sion before two other team-mates,including MohammedShami, separated them.
Though it did not looklike a friendly discussion, the
reason behind their argu-ment was not clear.
"It does seem pretty ani-mated," former Australiacaptain Ricky Ponting hadsaid.
"There's lots of fingerpointing. They were sepa-rated on a couple of occa-sions."
While Ishant played inthe first two Tests, Jadeja hasbeen limited to drinks dutyand substitute fielding at theOptus Stadium.
Ishant and Jadeja argue on field STARC (3-46) ANDLYON (3-39)
FINISHED WITHTHREE WICKETS
APIECE, WHILE JOSHHAZLEWOOD (2-24)AND PAT CUMMINS
(2-25) TOOK ABRACE EACH
Kohli defendsfour-pacers move
PERTH: Cricket Australia on Tuesdayannounced an unchanged 13-mansquad for the remaining two Testsagainst India in Melbourne andSydney.
The only noticeable change is thatuncapped pacer Chris Tremain, whodid not travel to Perth for the secondTest either, has been released from thelist.
The Australian team managementfeels that they have sufficient back-upin Mitchell Marsh and Peter Siddleshould they need to bolster their four-man bowling attack for the remainingtwo Tests.
Sqaud: Tim Paine (capt), AaronFinch, Peter Handscomb, MarcusHarris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head,Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, MitchMarsh, Shaun Marsh, Peter Siddle,Mitchell Starc. PTI
