ˇˆ˙˝˛ * ./.*/0 )*˘+,- ˜ ˘ !ˇ ’# ,# $6€¦ · islam (warriors for cause of islam) and...

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T he National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday busted a new mod- ule of ISIS-styled international terror group Harkat-ul-Harb-e- Islam (warriors for Cause of Islam) and arrested 10 suspect- ed fidayeen. They were sus- pected to be in an advanced stage of executing terror plots that included synchronised IED hits at multiple targets like vital installations, sensitive locations and crowded places, besides important political personalities. The arrests came after raids at 17 locations in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. Five persons have been nabbed from UP and five from the national Capital. They were in touch through instant messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram, sources said, adding they were highly radicalised and trying to assemble remote-controlled IEDs and suicide vests. The arrested accused are also suspected to be in touch with a handler abroad, the details of which are under the scrutiny of the security agen- cies. The module was formed three-four months back and the NIA did not rule out the pos- sibility of attacks during the Republic Day celebrations next month. The exposure of the mod- ule marks a major shift in the ISIS strategy in the Indian hin- terland as the outfit has hith- erto tried to radicalise the youth for carrying out the ter- ror group’s agenda in the West Asia and not hitting targets in India. In a multi-city early morn- ing operation in the national Capital and Uttar Pradesh in association with the local police, the NIA picked up 16 suspects and placed 10 suspects under arrest, including the mastermind Mohammad Sohail, a mufti from Amroha in Uttar Pradesh. The agency also seized a huge cache of explo- sives, weapons, materials for fabrication of IEDs and 7.5 lakh cash from the suspects. A woman suspect is also being questioned by the agency sleuths and more arrests are likely, officials said. On receipt of credible information that a group of pro-ISIS individuals have formed a terrorist gang and they are preparing to carry out terrorist attacks targeting vital installations, sensitive loca- tions and crowded places in and around Delhi/NCR, the agency registered a case on December 20 under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, Explosive Substances Act and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act against the module mastermind Mufti Mohmmad Suhail, alias Hazrath. “The inputs were further developed and field verifica- tions were done. It was ascer- tained that the Mufti and his associates have mobilised funds and have procured weapons, ammunition and explosive material to prepare IEDs and bombs and they planned to carry out explo- sions and fidayeen attacks at places of importance in and around Delhi and also target crowded places. To disrupt and dismantle the module, searches were carried out today at six places in Jafrabad, Seelampur, Delhi, and 11 places in UP, including six locations in Amroha, two in Lucknow, two in Hapur and one in Meerut,” NIA spokesperson Alok Mittal said. Huge quantities of explo- sive material, arms and ammu- nition and other incriminating material and documents were seized, he said. D espite claims by TRS sources that party presi- dent and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) would hold talks with BSP supremo Mayawati and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday about a proposed federal front, both the Uttar Pradesh stal- warts did not turn up for the meeting. However, Akhilesh on Wednesday backed KCR’s move for the anti-BJP and anti-Congress federal front, and said he will meet the TRS chief in Hyderabad soon. There was no word from Mayawati as yet on the KCR’s move. On his second day in Delhi, instead of meeting Opposition leaders, KCR met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss issues pertaining to Telangana. Meanwhile, rebel SP leader Shivpal Yadav, who recently floated the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia), on Wednesday said he is willing to join hands with the Congress to defeat the BJP in the coming Lok Sabha elections. The estranged uncle of Akhilesh stressed that all those talking about forming a front to defeat the BJP should also talk to him. Appreciating the efforts of the Telangana CM to build an alliance keeping in view to 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Akhilesh said that he would visit Hyderabad next month on January 6 and would defi- nitely call on KCR. The SP chief said he could not meet the TRS leader due to his unavailability in Delhi that coincided with the sched- ule of KCR. Sources said the meeting between Akhilesh and KCR were planned at the residence of SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav. However, KRC received a setback when Mayawati, who despite being in Delhi, did not turn up for the proposed meeting. On Tuesday, sources close to the TRS had claimed that Mayawati was scheduled to meet the Telangana CM on Wednesday at 11.30 am. Pitching for a federal front of regional parties, the TRS chief reached Delhi on Monday night and will stay put in the national Capital till Thursday. While the BJP has dubbed KCR as the “B team” of the Congress, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and TDP leader N Chandrababu Naidu have accused Rao of B JP president Amit Shah on Wednesday appointed party’s incharges of 17 States to steer the party’s campaign in the Lok Sabha polls. The list includes Union Minister Prakash Javadekar for Rajasthan, Thawarchand Gehlot, another Minister, for Uttarakhand; and Rajya Sabha member Om Prakash Mathur for Gujarat. BJP general secretaries Bhupender Yadav and Anil Jain have been assigned Bihar and Chhattisgarh respectively, according to a statement. BJP general secretaries Bhupender Yadav and Anil Jain have been assigned Bihar and Chhattisgarh, respectively, for the 2019 polls, according to the statement. Besides incharges, the party has also named co- incharges for several States, a BJP statement said. Govardhan Jhadapia, a Gujarat leader; Dushyant Gautam, a party vice president; and Narottam Mishra, who is from Madhya Pradesh; have been given the responsibility for Uttar Pradesh, a politically crucial state, where the BJP is likely to face a tough challenge from a prospective alliance of the SP and the BSP. Rajya Sabha member V Muraleedharan and party sec- retary Deodhar Rao will be incharge of Andhra Pradesh. Mahendra Singh and OP Mathur will be incharge of Assam and Gujarat respective- ly, the statement said. Former Bihar BJP presi- dent Mangal Pandey has been made incharge of Jharkhand. The BJP has also appoint- ed incharges and coincharges for several other States, includ- ing Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland, Punjab, Telangana and Sikkim among others. Manipur and Nagaland are to be handled by the party’s spokesperson Nalin Kohli and Odisha by general secretary Arun Singh. Party sources said in- charges for more states such as West Bengal, J&K, Kerala and Tamil Nadu will be announced in the coming days. B JD supremo and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday once again slammed the BJP-led NDA Government at the Centre for its alleged fail- ure to fulfil various promises for Odisha it had made five years ago. Addressing a meeting at the BJD headquarters here on the party’s 21st Foundation Day, Patnaik targeted the Modi Government by taking up nine issues that the Centre has failed to address so far. In effect, he posed nine issues in his reaction to as many questions Modi had raised at his Monday Khordha public meet- ing for the State Government to reply as regards lack of the State’s development despite the Centre’s financial assistance. Alleging poor condition of NHs in the State, Patnaik said, “People fend for themselves while travelling on NHs like the one from Baripada to Deogarh. Don’t know what will be the condition of coastal highways in the State.” On rail projects, the CM said the Centre has allocated land for the Khurda-Bolangir railway line and sanctioned half of the project cost, but the pro- ject has not yet made any progress. Patnaik also took on the Centre over poor mobile con- nectivity, saying several villages in the State are yet to get BSNL connections while in rural areas the telecom service is par- ticularly deplorable. One has to climb a tree or go to the rooftop of a house to get mobile con- nection, he said. He also targeted the NDA Government over issues like paddy MSP, coal royalty revi- sion, 33-per cent reservation for women and the demoneti- sation, which, he said, led to economic mess. Besides, recalling the issue Biju Patnaik had made, the CM demanded financial autonomy for Odisha and said, “The State does not need Special Category Status or any Central funds or grants. Rather, Odisha wants financial autonomy so that the State will develop with its own money,” he remarked. Patnaik exhorted the party workers to sensitise the public about various welfare initiatives undertaken by his Government. A film-like event occurred at the Rourkela railway station where a 12-year-old boy of Asansol, West Bengal, gets down from train to bring water, but upon completing filling water in a bottle, he finds the train in which his par- ents are on board had left the station. He tries to trace out his parents by running from platform to platform, but in vain. Meanwhile, the Child Line officials have informed their Asansol office to locate the parents of the child to hand over their son to them. According to sources, Banti Bhuian was travelling with his father Sambhu Bhuian and mother Lalita Bhuian in a general bogie by the Geetanjali Express to Kolkata on Tuesday morning. The train reached at the Rourkela station at about 6 am. Since Banti was feeling thirsty at that time, he got down from the train at the Rourkela station to fetch water but after taking water from a water point at the platform, when he looked back, he saw the train had already left the station. Helpless Banti had started searching his father and mother in all the platforms and after he fails to locate them, he started weeping. Some members of Super- 20, a voluntary organisation, rescued the boy and informed the Child Line. On Tuesday evening, the Child Line officials reached at the Rourkela railway sta- tion and took Banti into cus- tody. While they talked to Banti, he could tell his par- ents name and address but could not tell their contact number. As per Banti, his father's name is Sambhu Bhuian and mother's name is Lalita Bhuian, residents of Kalu Pahadi, Asansol, West Bengal. According to the Child Line officials, Banti is not being able to tell from which place they had boarded the train. He simply told they were returning to their house. "We have kept the boy in Disha shelter house and we are talking care of him. We are also taking necessary steps to locate the parents of the boy," said Ambar Alam of Child Line. I n response to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s nine counter questions to the Central Government, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday accused the State Government of corruption and demanded that Chief Minister make a statement in pubic as to who are nourishing “scam and PC demons”. To the CM’s allegation that Ujjwala scheme is being over- propagated, Pradhan said, “The Ujjwala scheme is a very pop- ular scheme in the country. About 6 crore women have got subsidy cylinders. In Oidsha, gas connection has reached 75 per cent households in just four years. It is disappointing that Minister Surjya Narayan Patro has taken LPG subsidy of Rs 1,850 this year.” On the Chief Minister’s move for providing 33-per cent reservation for women in Assemblies and Parliament, Pradhan wanted to know how many women Ministers are there in Patnaik’s Cabinet. He wanted to know why the State Government didn’t slash VAT on petrol and diesel while the Union Government had cut Rs 5 a litre, and by its efforts, fuel prices have been reduced by Rs 20 in 70-75 days. He wanted the CM to give details of the land acquired for the Khordha-Balangir railway line. He said no land has been acquired in Sonepur and Boudh districts and for the Haridaspur- Paradeep railway line project. He claimed that the Modi Government is now providing Rs 5,000 crore per year for rail- way development in Odisha. He demanded that the Chief Minister tell people that who was Saroj Sahoo once interrogated by a chit fund probe team. He sought to know why the Chief Minister is yet to implement his promise to give Rs 100 bonus per quintal of paddy over MSP. Similarly, Pradesh Congress Committee president Niranjan Patnaik, whose party observed the BJD Foundation Day as a ‘Black Day’ accusing the ruling party of trampling the rights of panchayat samitis through schemes like PEETHA and Ama Gaon Ama Bikas, ridiculed the claims of devel- opment of the BJD supremo. “Naveenbabu is boasting of development while 85 lakh youths are unemployed, the State’s debt burden has spi- ralled from Rs 18,000 crore in 2000 to Rs 93,000 crore in 2018 and farmer suicides are increasing,” ridiculed Patnaik. Speaking on Naveen’s criti- cism of the Centre over Special Category State status, Patnaik said the comments are ridiculous. “The Naveen Patnaik- led BJD decided to walk out of Lok Sabha and abstain from voting during the no-confi- dence motion saying the dis- cussion was futile for Odisha people. They are demanding special status now, but why did they not discuss it then and there?” Patnaik ques- tioned. T icket system for darshan of Lord Jagannath and his divine siblings will begin from the New Year, Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Chief Pradipta Mohapatra informed. Speaking to media, Mohapatra said, “Ticket dar- shan, which is a variant of Parimanik Darshan, was already there in the Record of Rights (RoR) of the shrine. The Pratihari Nijog was entrusted with the task toprepare a blue- print for introduction of the ticket darshan system.” On the ticket prices, Mohapatra said the rate has not been fixed yet. Earlier, the SJTA used to charge 50 for Parimanik darshan of the deities which again increased to Rs 100. Ticket dar- shan is one of the main sources of revenue of all temples across the country, he added. On Abadha rate charts, the SJTA chief said, “We have done an internal scrutiny and almost given a final shape to the proposal. Abadha rate- charts will be put on display at Anand Bazaar on the temple premisesfrom the New Year soon after necessary discussion with Suar MahasuarNijog.” C hief Minister Naveen Patnaik will inaugurate the National Children’s Science Congress (NCSC) to be held at the SOA University here on Thursday. Over 800 children from across the country and 15 other countries (five Gulf and 10 ASEAN countries) would attend the 26th edition of the NCSC, which would be held for five days to provide a platform to children to showcase their creativity and ability in science innovation. The Chief Minister would address the children in the presence of School and Mass Education, Science and Technology Minister Badri Narayan Patra and Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi, among others. The children, in the age group of 10 to 17 years, drawn both from the formal school system as well as from those who are out of school or dif- ferently able, will be attending the event catalysed and sup- ported by the National Council for Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC). Besides children, around 400 teachers, guides, facilitators and parents will also attend the event along with scores of sci- entists, evaluators and researchers.The children will present their research find- ings, carried out relating to the focal theme and identified sub- themes, during the technical sessions. The event will also feature colourful cultural pro- grammes.

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Page 1: ˇˆ˙˝˛ * ./.*/0 )*˘+,- ˜ ˘ !ˇ ’# ,# $6€¦ · Islam (warriors for Cause of Islam) and arrested 10 suspect- ... Manipur and Nagaland ... In effect, he posed nine

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The National InvestigationAgency (NIA) on

Wednesday busted a new mod-ule of ISIS-styled internationalterror group Harkat-ul-Harb-e-Islam (warriors for Cause ofIslam) and arrested 10 suspect-ed fidayeen. They were sus-pected to be in an advancedstage of executing terror plotsthat included synchronised IEDhits at multiple targets like vitalinstallations, sensitive locationsand crowded places, besidesimportant political personalities.

The arrests came after raidsat 17 locations in Delhi andUttar Pradesh. Five personshave been nabbed from UP andfive from the national Capital.They were in touch throughinstant messaging apps likeWhatsApp and Telegram,sources said, adding they werehighly radicalised and trying toassemble remote-controlledIEDs and suicide vests.

The arrested accused arealso suspected to be in touchwith a handler abroad, thedetails of which are under thescrutiny of the security agen-cies. The module was formedthree-four months back and theNIA did not rule out the pos-sibility of attacks during theRepublic Day celebrations nextmonth.

The exposure of the mod-ule marks a major shift in theISIS strategy in the Indian hin-terland as the outfit has hith-erto tried to radicalise theyouth for carrying out the ter-ror group’s agenda in the WestAsia and not hitting targets in

India. In a multi-city early morn-

ing operation in the nationalCapital and Uttar Pradesh inassociation with the local

police, the NIA picked up 16suspects and placed 10 suspectsunder arrest, including themastermind MohammadSohail, a mufti from Amroha inUttar Pradesh. The agency also

seized a huge cache of explo-sives, weapons, materials forfabrication of IEDs and �7.5lakh cash from the suspects. Awoman suspect is also beingquestioned by the agency

sleuths and more arrests arelikely, officials said.

On receipt of credibleinformation that a group ofpro-ISIS individuals haveformed a terrorist gang andthey are preparing to carry outterrorist attacks targeting vitalinstallations, sensitive loca-tions and crowded places inand around Delhi/NCR, theagency registered a case onDecember 20 under varioussections of the Indian PenalCode, Explosive SubstancesAct and Unlawful ActivitiesPrevention Act against themodule mastermind MuftiMohmmad Suhail, aliasHazrath.

“The inputs were furtherdeveloped and field verifica-tions were done. It was ascer-tained that the Mufti and hisassociates have mobilisedfunds and have procuredweapons, ammunition andexplosive material to prepareIEDs and bombs and theyplanned to carry out explo-sions and fidayeen attacks atplaces of importance in andaround Delhi and also targetcrowded places. To disruptand dismantle the module,searches were carried out todayat six places in Jafrabad,Seelampur, Delhi, and 11places in UP, including sixlocations in Amroha, two inLucknow, two in Hapur andone in Meerut,” NIAspokesperson Alok Mittal said.

Huge quantities of explo-sive material, arms and ammu-nition and other incriminatingmaterial and documents wereseized, he said.

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Despite claims by TRSsources that party presi-

dent and Telangana ChiefMinister K ChandrasekharRao (KCR) would hold talkswith BSP supremo Mayawatiand Samajwadi Party chiefAkhilesh Yadav on Wednesdayabout a proposed federal front,both the Uttar Pradesh stal-warts did not turn up for themeeting. However, Akhileshon Wednesday backed KCR’smove for the anti-BJP andanti-Congress federal front,and said he will meet the TRSchief in Hyderabad soon.There was no word fromMayawati as yet on the KCR’smove.

On his second day inDelhi, instead of meetingOpposition leaders, KCR metPrime Minister Narendra Modito discuss issues pertaining toTelangana.

Meanwhile, rebel SPleader Shivpal Yadav, whorecently f loated thePragatisheel Samajwadi Party(Lohia), on Wednesday said heis willing to join hands withthe Congress to defeat theBJP in the coming Lok Sabhaelections. The estranged uncleof Akhilesh stressed that allthose talking about forming afront to defeat the BJP should

also talk to him. Appreciating the efforts

of the Telangana CM to buildan alliance keeping in view to2019 Lok Sabha polls,Akhilesh said that he wouldvisit Hyderabad next monthon January 6 and would defi-nitely call on KCR.

The SP chief said he couldnot meet the TRS leader dueto his unavailability in Delhithat coincided with the sched-ule of KCR. Sources said themeeting between Akhileshand KCR were planned at theresidence of SP patriarchMulayam Singh Yadav.

However, KRC received a

setback when Mayawati, whodespite being in Delhi, did notturn up for the proposedmeeting. On Tuesday, sourcesclose to the TRS had claimedthat Mayawati was scheduledto meet the Telangana CM onWednesday at 11.30 am.

Pitching for a federal frontof regional parties, the TRSchief reached Delhi onMonday night and will stayput in the national Capital tillThursday. While the BJP hasdubbed KCR as the “B team”of the Congress, Congresschief Rahul Gandhi and TDPleader N Chandrababu Naiduhave accused Rao of

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BJP president Amit Shah onWednesday appointed

party’s incharges of 17 States tosteer the party’s campaign inthe Lok Sabha polls. The listincludes Union MinisterPrakash Javadekar forRajasthan, ThawarchandGehlot, another Minister, forUttarakhand; and Rajya Sabhamember Om Prakash Mathurfor Gujarat.

BJP general secretariesBhupender Yadav and AnilJain have been assigned Biharand Chhattisgarh respectively,according to a statement.

BJP general secretariesBhupender Yadav and AnilJain have been assigned Biharand Chhattisgarh, respectively,for the 2019 polls, according tothe statement.

Besides incharges, theparty has also named co-incharges for several States, aBJP statement said. GovardhanJhadapia, a Gujarat leader;Dushyant Gautam, a party vicepresident; and NarottamMishra, who is from MadhyaPradesh; have been given the

responsibility for UttarPradesh, a politically crucialstate, where the BJP is likely toface a tough challenge from aprospective alliance of the SPand the BSP.

Rajya Sabha member VMuraleedharan and party sec-retary Deodhar Rao will beincharge of Andhra Pradesh.

Mahendra Singh and OPMathur will be incharge ofAssam and Gujarat respective-ly, the statement said.

Former Bihar BJP presi-dent Mangal Pandey has beenmade incharge of Jharkhand.

The BJP has also appoint-ed incharges and coinchargesfor several other States, includ-ing Himachal Pradesh,Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh,Manipur, Nagaland, Punjab,Telangana and Sikkim amongothers. Manipur and Nagalandare to be handled by the party’sspokesperson Nalin Kohli andOdisha by general secretaryArun Singh.

Party sources said in-charges for more states such asWest Bengal, J&K, Kerala andTamil Nadu will be announcedin the coming days.

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BJD supremo and ChiefMinister Naveen Patnaik on

Wednesday once again slammedthe BJP-led NDA Governmentat the Centre for its alleged fail-ure to fulfil various promises forOdisha it had made five yearsago.

Addressing a meeting atthe BJD headquarters here onthe party’s 21st Foundation Day,Patnaik targeted the ModiGovernment by taking up nineissues that the Centre has failedto address so far.

In effect, he posed nineissues in his reaction to as manyquestions Modi had raised at hisMonday Khordha public meet-ing for the State Government toreply as regards lack of theState’s development despite theCentre’s financial assistance.

Alleging poor condition ofNHs in the State, Patnaik said,“People fend for themselveswhile travelling on NHs like theone from Baripada to Deogarh.Don’t know what will be thecondition of coastal highways inthe State.”

On rail projects, the CMsaid the Centre has allocatedland for the Khurda-Bolangirrailway line and sanctioned halfof the project cost, but the pro-

ject has not yet made anyprogress.

Patnaik also took on theCentre over poor mobile con-nectivity, saying several villagesin the State are yet to get BSNLconnections while in ruralareas the telecom service is par-ticularly deplorable. One has toclimb a tree or go to the rooftopof a house to get mobile con-nection, he said.

He also targeted the NDAGovernment over issues likepaddy MSP, coal royalty revi-sion, 33-per cent reservationfor women and the demoneti-

sation, which, he said, led toeconomic mess.

Besides, recalling the issueBiju Patnaik had made, the CMdemanded financial autonomyfor Odisha and said, “The Statedoes not need Special CategoryStatus or any Central funds orgrants. Rather, Odisha wantsfinancial autonomy so that theState will develop with its ownmoney,” he remarked.

Patnaik exhorted the partyworkers to sensitise the publicabout various welfare initiativesundertaken by hisGovernment.

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Afilm-like event occurredat the Rourkela railway

station where a 12-year-oldboy of Asansol, WestBengal, gets down fromtrain to bring water, butupon completing fillingwater in a bottle, he findsthe train in which his par-ents are on board had leftthe station. He tries to traceout his parents by runningfrom platform to platform,but in vain. Meanwhile, theChild Line officials haveinformed their Asansoloffice to locate the parentsof the child to hand overtheir son to them.

According to sources,Banti Bhuian was travellingwith his father SambhuBhuian and mother LalitaBhuian in a general bogie bythe Geetanjali Express toKolkata on Tuesday morning.

The train reached at theRourkela station at about 6am. Since Banti was feelingthirsty at that time, he got

down from the train at theRourkela station to fetchwater but after taking waterfrom a water point at theplatform, when he lookedback, he saw the train hadalready left the station.Helpless Banti had startedsearching his father andmother in all the platformsand after he fails to locatethem, he started weeping.

Some members of Super-20, a voluntary organisation,rescued the boy andinformed the Child Line.

On Tuesday evening, theChild Line officials reachedat the Rourkela railway sta-tion and took Banti into cus-tody. While they talked toBanti, he could tell his par-

ents name and address butcould not tell their contactnumber.

As per Banti, his father'sname is Sambhu Bhuian andmother's name is LalitaBhuian, residents of KaluPahadi, Asansol, WestBengal.

According to the ChildLine officials, Banti is notbeing able to tell from whichplace they had boarded thetrain. He simply told theywere returning to their house.

"We have kept the boy inDisha shelter house and weare talking care of him. Weare also taking necessarysteps to locate the parents ofthe boy," said Ambar Alam ofChild Line.

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In response to Chief MinisterNaveen Patnaik’s nine counter

questions to the CentralGovernment, Union MinisterDharmendra Pradhan onWednesday accused the StateGovernment of corruption anddemanded that Chief Ministermake a statement in pubic as towho are nourishing “scam andPC demons”.

To the CM’s allegation thatUjjwala scheme is being over-propagated, Pradhan said, “TheUjjwala scheme is a very pop-ular scheme in the country.

About 6 crore women have gotsubsidy cylinders. In Oidsha, gasconnection has reached 75 percent households in just fouryears. It is disappointing thatMinister Surjya Narayan Patrohas taken LPG subsidy of Rs1,850 this year.”

On the Chief Minister’smove for providing 33-per centreservation for women inAssemblies and Parliament,Pradhan wanted to know howmany women Ministers arethere in Patnaik’s Cabinet.

He wanted to know why theState Government didn’t slashVAT on petrol and diesel whilethe Union Government hadcut Rs 5 a litre, and by its efforts,fuel prices have been reduced byRs 20 in 70-75 days.

He wanted the CM to givedetails of the land acquired forthe Khordha-Balangir railwayline. He said no land has been

acquired in Sonepur and Boudhdistricts and for the Haridaspur-Paradeep railway line project.He claimed that the ModiGovernment is now providingRs 5,000 crore per year for rail-way development in Odisha.

He demanded that theChief Minister tell people thatwho was Saroj Sahoo onceinterrogated by a chit fundprobe team.

He sought to know whythe Chief Minister is yet toimplement his promise to giveRs 100 bonus per quintal ofpaddy over MSP. Similarly,Pradesh Congress Committeepresident Niranjan Patnaik,whose party observed the BJDFoundation Day as a ‘BlackDay’ accusing the ruling partyof trampling the rights ofpanchayat samitis throughschemes like PEETHA andAma Gaon Ama Bikas,

ridiculed the claims of devel-opment of the BJD supremo.

“Naveenbabu is boastingof development while 85 lakhyouths are unemployed, theState’s debt burden has spi-ralled from Rs 18,000 crore in2000 to Rs 93,000 crore in2018 and farmer suicides areincreasing,” ridiculed Patnaik.Speaking on Naveen’s criti-cism of the Centre overSpecial Category State status,Patnaik said the comments areridiculous.

“The Naveen Patnaik-led BJD decided to walk out ofLok Sabha and abstain fromvoting during the no-confi-dence motion saying the dis-cussion was futile for Odishapeople. They are demandingspecial status now, but whydid they not discuss it thenand there?” Patnaik ques-tioned.

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Ticket system for darshan ofLord Jagannath and his

divine siblings will begin fromthe New Year, Shree JagannathTemple Administration (SJTA)Chief Pradipta Mohapatrainformed.

Speaking to media,Mohapatra said, “Ticket dar-shan, which is a variant ofParimanik Darshan, wasalready there in the Record ofRights (RoR) of the shrine. ThePratihari Nijog was entrustedwith the task toprepare a blue-print for introduction of theticket darshan system.”

On the ticket prices,Mohapatra said the rate has notbeen fixed yet. Earlier, theSJTA used to charge � 50 for

Parimanik darshan of thedeities which again

increased to Rs 100. Ticket dar-shan is one of the main sourcesof revenue of all temples acrossthe country, he added.

On Abadha rate charts,the SJTA chief said, “We havedone an internal scrutiny andalmost given a final shape tothe proposal. Abadha rate-charts will be put on display atAnand Bazaar on the templepremisesfrom the New Yearsoon after necessary discussionwith Suar MahasuarNijog.”

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Chief Minister NaveenPatnaik will inaugurate the

National Children’s ScienceCongress (NCSC) to be held atthe SOA University here onThursday.

Over 800 children fromacross the country and 15 othercountries (five Gulf and 10ASEAN countries) would attendthe 26th edition of the NCSC,which would be held for five daysto provide a platform to childrento showcase their creativity andability in science innovation.

The Chief Minister wouldaddress the children in thepresence of School and MassEducation, Science andTechnology Minister BadriNarayan Patra and ChiefSecretary Aditya Prasad Padhi,

among others.The children, in the age

group of 10 to 17 years, drawnboth from the formal schoolsystem as well as from thosewho are out of school or dif-ferently able, will be attendingthe event catalysed and sup-ported by the National Councilfor Science and TechnologyCommunication (NCSTC).

Besides children, around400 teachers, guides, facilitatorsand parents will also attend theevent along with scores of sci-entists, evaluators andresearchers.The children willpresent their research find-ings, carried out relating to thefocal theme and identified sub-themes, during the technicalsessions. The event will alsofeature colourful cultural pro-grammes.

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The future of mankind willbe protected only when

the nature is kept unharmed,viewed environmentalists andintellectuals at an award distri-bution ceremony held by theHouse of Nature, Environmentand Society Trust (HONEST)here on Tuesday.

Trust president Dr SundaraNarayan Patro presided over

the programme. Asian Instituteof Public Health UniversityVice-Chancellor ProfJyotirmaya Mohapatra grac-ing as chief guest stressed onthe need of protecting thenature and described howIndian culture has strength-ened the social integration.Principal Chief Conservatorof Forest Dr Debabrata Swainhighlighted about the wildliferesources and their signifi-cance in Odisha. He too spokeabout various steps being takenby the Government for wildlifeand important natural sites.

Patra opined that theyouths should be committedfor protection of environmentand conservation of natural

resources. Local CorporatorAswhini Kumar Sundaray waspresent.

On the occasion, fournoted persons were felicitatedwith the HONEST Samman fortheir contributions to differentfields. While Dr DasharathiMohapatra and Dr AshokKumar Rout received the awardfor health services, ManjuMishra got the award for yogapractice and Er PrakashChandra Jena was given theaward for his contribution toenvironment sector.

At the outset, ShrabanKumare Patra delivered wel-come address and Dr JayaKrushna Panigrahi introducedguests. The programme con-

cluded with a vote ofthanks proposed bySunita Kumar Patra.

Among others,Sudhir, Suprit andSansi coordinated theprogramme. Manyenvironmentalists andintellecturals attend-ed the programme.

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Nalco CMD Dr Tapan KumarChand give away awards to

the winners and participants ofthe prestigious All Odisha NalcoOpen Tennis Tournament 2018here on Tuesday Chand also

pledged to provide support fordevelopment of sports ecosystemin Odisha and encouraged thesociety to come forward in cre-ating job opportunities and help-ing youngsters take up sports asa career option.

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Only a couple of days ago,Modi paid kind of a whirl-

wind visit to Odisha, believablyunder pressure from the hor-rendously helpless local saffronbrigade without enough groundto position firmly on. The localleadership, after exhausting alltheir horribly ineffective tricksto turn the BJP cadres a force,begged the only charismaticface to materialise in Odisha.

Aparajita Sarangi, withsome acceptable history to hercredit earned from respectablepostings granted by the Naveenadministration when she was asenior bureaucrat, is now beingprojected. She has come as abolt from the blue. She toocouldn’t keep the tempo high asshe blundered by saying Naveenhad never inspired her one bit;

she has been incredibly electri-fied by only Modi while serv-ing the Union Governmentduring a deputation stint. Nowno matter how much pleasboth the portrayed faces,Dharmendra and Aparajita,may make about their beingtogether for the common cause,the one-upmanship battle is vis-ible. Big strategist guys includ-ing Bijay Mohapatra and DilipRay have deserted the fold,and no one big enough hasstepped in to talk sense torestore harmony in the witlesslocal community.

Modi has realised just toowell by now that Naveen is trulyan invincible leader. Not surpris-ingly, therefore, he has beenheavily briefed and tutored tobehave well in Odisha and speakgentler words than before whenhe was in a world of fairytalehysterics due to sudden elevationto Premiership. He was made tounderstand that he was socharismatic that even stonesand pebbles became live to votefor him. So, Modi kept on mak-ing wild, boastful talk. His mar-keting managers painted him asa former humble ‘Chaiwala',whose only aim was to makeevery Indian wealthier by at leastfifteen lakh rupees as he woulddig out the enormous amount ofblack money on foreign locales.

Unfortunately, he failed to dothat as he could not even find athousand dollars of black moneyanywhere outside the country.Further, he failed to generate thetwenty million jobs for theyouth which he had promised.He, on the contrary, took Indiabehind by a decade or so by themad demonetisation one finemidnight.

The ‘Article 370 scrapping'promise was not taken serious-ly even by a school kid. BJP bossAmit Shah’s crude techniques ofintimidation and threat slowlybegan to backfire, causing deepwounds across the saffron bulkand body. Modi, who spent awhopping 14,840 million rupeeson his insane, mostly-futile for-eign tours, has irked the Indiansfurther.

Furthermore, the Modi-Shah duo’s extreme love for thewealthy corporate entities hassent all the negative signalsdown the line. People havealready come to know that theBJP-led NDA Government ishere to amass funds to survivefor always by making tallpromises. Despite repeatedwarnings about mass displeasurein Punjab, Rajasthan, MadhyaPradesh and Chhattisgarh, theModi-Shah duo remained arro-gantly smug and screamed to thenation that the BJP is here for

always. The party was simplykicked out of Punjab; andrecently from the rest threeindicating people of India haveactually lost faith in the partyprimarily due to its non-secularapproach on every issue. It isknown that Shah and RSS sec-retary Bhaiyaji Joshi agreedthere was anti-incumbencyagainst party sitting MLAs. Thecampaigns to drum up supportfor building a Ram temple inAyodhya were also not takenwell by the people. The Hindiheartland strongholds are goneforever. Excessive boastfulrhetoric and some of the bizarrepro-Hindu schemes had causedterrible anti-incumbency senti-ments and disenchantmentamong the masses who cravedfor real communal harmony.

For all this, Modi came aperfect gentleman and neveruttered a word about anythingpolitically unacceptable that theNaveen administration hadcaused to the people. Naveenreceived the Prime Ministershowing utmost dignity as thelatter is the nation’s chief exec-utive. But as the saffron strate-gists may have hammered intoModi’s head, he had to mention,for only mentioning sake, sev-eral aspects of bad governancein Odisha without citing anyconcrete example or naming any

particular individual player. Hewas extremely cautious aboutnot stirring up any hornet’s nestlest that should boomerang athim to cause irreparable damageat a location considered an anti-BJP bastion.

Modi was tricky in promis-ing the skies by saying he hasbrought with him a basket ofprojects worth nearly fifteenthousand crore rupees to giveOdisha a big facelift in develop-ment. Naveen Patnaik too wassmart. He promised all neces-sary land and other infrastruc-tures to put up the dream pro-jects. Modi said unless east ofIndia is developed, the countrycannot improve the quality of lifeof masses. He used a great dealof innuendos to blame theOdisha administration pointingto field-level corruption andthe chronic bribery problems asif only to please the helpless localBJP fraternity so as to keep itsfighting morale intact.

Just prior to Modi’s visit,Telangana CM KCR had comeon a courtesy visit with a view toforming a robust anti-BJP-Congress third front. KCR vir-tually looked upon Naveen as apolitical demigod who movedhis people with some magicpower difficult to figure out.Naveen gave him all assurance ofhelp but made no binding

promise because he knows hedoes not require much outsidehelp. Modi went upwards tovomit the same stuff in Khordhaand vanished from there. Thedisenchanted BJP cadres ofOdisha stayed back gaping inutter confusion as to what wentwrong with Modi who did noteven launch one simple missileat Naveen.

The just-concluded HockeyWorld Cup in Bhubaneswar hasleft Indians in a frenzy of prideand glory because the show theOdisha administration put up isnearly impossible to replicate forthe supreme-class parametersset already. Modi should havebeen in Bhubaneswar to wel-come and bid goodbye to therecord sixteen super-grade worldteams. He did not even pushedUnion Minister Jual Oram to thescene for Oram’s home district isconsidered the breeding groundof Indian hockey.

Modi was thrilled to see thecrowd in Khordha, imagining theBJP is very popular in Odisha. Hedid not seem to make out the factthat any Prime Minister makespeople so happily curious as tocongregate at his or her meetingplace. Modi must have realised bynow that Naveen could come onein handy when the BJP with amuch smaller number wouldseek help from regional parties

the BJD.Some great events of 2018 thatneed to be known by all:� India’s team won the 2018

Blind Cricket World Cup atSharjah beating Pakistan.

��The MaharashtraGovernment put the plasticban in full effect from June23.

��Mithali Raj became the firstIndian cricketer to score2000 T20I runs during theIndia’s Women’s T20 AsiaCup tournament in Junethis year, Indian women’scricket team captain MithaliRaj became the first Indiancricketer to score 2,000runs in T20I, a feat thathadn't even been matchedby a certain MrKohli either.

� Dipa Karmakar became thefirst Indian gymnast toclinch a Gold at a globalevent

��Sonam Wangchuk, thecharacter behind AmirKhan’s role in ‘3 Idiots' forhis exemplary contributionto science in Ladakh; andBharat Vaswani, a psychia-trist won the RamonMagsaysay Award

��Sunil Chhetri became thethird highest scorer in theworld at theIntercontinental SoccerCup

��India got its first-ever all-female Special Weaponsand Tactics (SWAT) team.

� Indian Air Force gets itsfirst 24-year-old womanfighter pilot AvaniChaturvedi who flew a MiG-21 Bison, which possessesthe highest takeoff and land-ing speed in the world.

� Vikas Sathaye, a Pune-bornengineer, was a part of theteam that won an Oscar forScience and Technology. Hisand his team’s innovation‘the ShotoverK1' used inmovies such as Dunkirk andGuardians of the Galaxyamong others.

� World’s first thermal batteryplant was built in AndhraPradesh.

��And finally, in August, theworld’s first-ever batteryplant was unveiled inAndhra Pradesh. It hasbeen manufactured by theBharat Energy StorageTechnology (BEST) PrivateLimited and is aimed atincreasing energy produc-tion by the means of renew-able resources.

Happy New Year!

(The writer is a core mem-ber of TransparencyInternational, Odisha)

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The State Crime Branch’sSpecial Task Force (STF)

arrested a notorious criminalfrom Saheed Nagar here onWednesday for his allegedinvolvement in a series ofcrimes in the twin cities ofCuttack and Bhubaneswar.

The accused, identified asPrasant Das alias Tapu ofKandarpur in Cuttack dis-trict, was involved in varioustender fixing and extortioncases.

Acting on reliable inputsabout the presence of Tapu inSahid Nagar, the STF swoopeddown on his hideout andnabbed him. A mouser andcash of Rs 5 lakh were seizedfrom his possession. Sourcessaid Tapu and his associatesbecame active after the arrestof the Dhalasamanta brothers.

Though officials were try-ing to arrest Tapu since long,he had managed to elude thepolice dragnet.

The accused has beentaken into custody. Manycriminal cases are pendingagainst him in various policestations in the twin cities,police said.

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The Vigilance police onWednesday arrested Jatni

Municipality Executive Officer(EO) Lailta Kapoor while shewas accepting a bribe of �5,000.

Kapoor had demanded abribe of Rs 10,000 from oneBhikhyakari Sahu for sanc-tioning the latter’s pendinggratuity amount.

Reportedly, Sahu super-annuated from his municipal-ity job three years ago, but hisgratuity amount of Rs 4 lakhwas pending for which Sahu

was running from pillar topost.

However, Sahu reportedthe matter to the Vigilancepolice in Khordha and, accord-ingly, a trap was laid to nabKapoor. As per the direction ofthe Vigilance, Sahu went to theoffice with the money andKapoor was caught whileaccepting the bribe. Theaccused was arrested and for-warded to court, said VigilanceDSP Akshay Kumar Mishra.

Later, the Vigilance policeconducted simultaneous raidsat Kapoor’s office and resi-dence.

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Unidentified miscreantsbrutally attacked a devotee

and looted valuables near theJagannath Ballav parking lothere late on Tuesday night.

Three miscreants slit thethroat of the devotee, identifiedas Pramod Jena of Cuttack,while he was returning afterhaving a darshan of the deitiesat the Shreemandir. Jena fur-ther alleged that the miscreantsalso snatched his gold chainand wallet.

When Jena resisted theloot, the miscreants attackedhim with sharp weapons and

an iron rod causing grievousinjuries on his neck and head.

Jena was initially rushed toa hospital in a critical conditionand later shifted to the SCBMedical College Hospital inCuttack.

Meanwhile, a case in thisconnection has been regis-tered at the Town police sta-tion and police have initiatedan investigation into the inci-dent.

The incident has againraised questions over the safe-ty and security of devoteescoming from different places tohave a darshan of the deities atthe Shreemandir.

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The Puri Town police arrest-ed three miscreants on

Tuesday night for allegedlykilling another criminal, SanjayBehera (27) alias Para, near theGundicha Temple under theKumbharapada police limitshere in the morning.

The cops also seized a gun,a sword and a bike from thepossession of the accused trio.

Three miscreants hadopened fire at Behera, leavinghim critically injured. Behera,against whom several criminalcases including murder andextortion were pending, diedwhile undergoing treatment atthe SCB Medical CollegeHospital in Cuttack.

Though the reason behindthe attack was yet to be ascer-

tained, police suspected gangwar as the cause of the incident.

The three accused werebeing interrogated and fur-ther investigation into the inci-dent was on, police said.

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The Hotel and RestaurantAssociation of Odisha

(HARO) on Wednesdayexpressed concern over thedeteriorating law and ordersituation in holy and touristcity of Puri.

The HARO pointed out tothe incident near JagannathBallabh parking area in Purion Tuesday where a touristwas injured after beingattacked allegedly by someunidentified miscreants.

Such incidents are now on

the rise in the tourist capitalof Odisha.

HARO chairman JKMOhanty said, “As Purireceives the highest number ofnational and internationaltourists visiting this holy place

throughout the year, most ofthe time tourists are sufferingil l-treatment inside theJagannath Temple, snatchingon the beach by local goons,which creates a negative imagein the global market and if thistype of law and order situationcontinuous in Puri then def-initely tourist inflow to theState would decrease.”

In view of the rising num-ber of crimes against touristsin Puri the HRAO appealedfor intervention of the StateGovernment for issuing nec-essary directions to the Puridistr ict Col lector andSuperintendent of Police toimprove the law and order sit-uation in the town, particular-ly for the tourists. It alsosuggested for action by theTourist Police.

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Afive-day inter-State YouthRed Cross volunteers’

training camp organised bythe Indian Red Cross Society.Odisha State Branch’s YouthRed Cross department wasinaugurated at the KIITUniversity here on Wednesday.

Chief guest Governor ProfGaneshi Lal, inaugurating thecamp, said the Red Cross is not

limited to Hindu, Muslim,Christian or Sikh, but it worksfor peace, affinity and brother-hood.

Governor’s SecretaryMadhusudan Padhi said youthsshould uphold traditional val-ues and maintain self-control tohelp in making a healthy soci-ety. Gopal Krushna Mishraspoke about the aim and objec-tive of the camp.

More than 500 volunteers from across nine States and 30

districts of theState are partici-pating in thecamp. The par-ticipants wouldbe impartedtraining on theRed Cross’s his-tory and rulesand regulations,benefits of blooddonation camps,

disaster management, first aid,

among other things. Culturalprogrammes would also beheld in evening.

On the occasion the guestsunveiled the Youth Red Crossletter. Among others, societyHonourary Secretary MajorDr Kalpana Das, disaster man-agement coordinator SumitraTripathy and KIIT UniversityProf Jayant Kumar Parida andRegistrar Prof Sasmita Samantawere present.

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The 21st foundation day ofthe Biju Janata Dal (BJD)

was celebrated by the EasternIndia Oil Refinery Workers’Union on Wednesday at itsZero Point office premises.Union president SantoshKumar Pattnaik presided overthe meeting.

Pattnaik said that lateBijubabu is a rare outstandingpolitical leader of India, afterwhom a political party hasbeen named, and his son, thepresident of the party, hasbeen ruling Odisha since last19 long years as its popularChief Minister.

Union working president

Dilip Kumar Behera, mem-bers Netrananda Samal andMihir Kanta Sahoo, advocateDebabrata Sahoo, journalistPrasanta Kumar Rout alsospoke on the occasion.

Behera, advocate Sahoo,journalist Rout said how pop-ular the BJD has become sinceall these years.

Early in the morning, thestatues of Bijubabu at Rahama,Kujang and Paradip were gar-landed. Sweets and fruits weredistributed to the patients ofthe Kugang and ParadipGovernment hospitals.

Hundreds of people,including a large number ofwomwn, were present in thefunction.

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The Manav AdhikarSuraksha Manch held its

74th Ghanta Yatra (cymbalrally) here recenlty, demandingbasic facilities and filling up ofall doctor posts in the AskaSub-Divisional Hospital (SDH)at the earliest.

In a memorandum to theCMDO, the Manch alsodemanded proper functioningof different machines in theBrahmapur City Hospital and

24-hour service at theNiramaya centre here.

Manch coordinatorAbani Kumar Gaya saidthat even if the StateGovernment had inNovember 2017declared the AskaCommunity HealthCentre as a Sub-Divisional Hospital, yetit lacks basic facilities ofdigital X-ray, ultra-sound and CT-scanmachines.

He also demanded that aboundary be constructed soonaround the hospital.

Gaya also said though the

City Hospital was declared asa satellite hospital of the MKCGMedical College Hospital in2017, yet necessarly facilities

have not been provided to thehospital and senior doctorsfrom the MKCG are notattending the hospital.

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Athree-day-long PlatinumJubilee celebration of the

Raja AT High School, Khariar,the oldest of Nuapada district,was inaugurated onWednesday in the schoolpremises. Governor ProfGaneshi Lal is scheduled toattend the function on the lastday on December 28.

The school was estab-lished in the year 1943 withthe patronage of the erst-while King of Khariar; RajaArtatrana Singh Deo.

It has produced thou-sands of students, many ofwhom have contributed to thesociety in different ways start-ing from literature, sports,music and also by adorninghigh posts in the bureaucra-cy.

The inaugural celebra-tion started with offering gar-lands in the statue of RajaArtatrana Singh Deo andSatish Sengupta, the firstHeadmaster of the school, byJitamitra Prashad Singh Deo,the present Raja of Khariar,who is an archeologist and awriter of repute. He also inau-

gurated a blood donationcamp organised on the occa-sion.

The guests were some ofthe alumni of the school likeShyam Narayan Tiwari, ex-DG of Odisha, AnugrahaNarayan Tiwari, ex-IAS offi-cer and ex-Member ofNational InformationCommission, Pruthiraj Majhiand an ex-IRS officer. Theyinteracted with the students.Gopal Pattnaik, who served inthe school as science teacherfor many years, was presentduring the interaction.

The day also witnessedparticipation of students invarious traditional games likeGuli Danda, Bati, Natu andRumal Chori.

The guests at the meetingin the evening wereDuryodhan Majhi, MLA,Khariar, Dr Santosh KumarKamila, Post Master Generalof Odisha, Prof MadhusudanPati, Shyam Narayan Tiwari,and Anugraha NarayanTiwari. The session waspresided over by ShreekantChatterjee, president of thePlatinum Jubilee CelebrationCommittee.

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The State Government is wor-ried over inordinate delay in

grant of forest and environ-mental and exploration clear-ances for some of the majormines of the Odisha MiningCorporation (OMC).

The OMC is regularly apply-ing for forest and environmen-tal clearances for its iron ore andchromite mines. But there isinordinate delay in receivingsuch clearances from the UnionGovernment. Take for examplethough the OMC has requestedthe Union Government for envi-ronmental clearances for itsSouth Kaliapani chromite minessince 2015; however, the GoldCategory State PSU is yet toreceive such clearance from theGovernment of India.

The OMC has been growingsteadily over these years andtoday it stands as the largest StatePSU in the mining sector of thecountry. In fact, it recorded thehighest ever turnover of Rs2,850 crore in Financial Year2017-18.

The revenue generated fromoperation of mines of OMC isone of the potential sources forthe State exchequer. However

obtaining of forest and environ-mental clearance from theGovernment of India has turnedto be a Herculean Task as foryears together it is pending withthe Centre, pointed out a seniorofficial. Due to such inordinatedelays, productions from thesemines are halted and harmingthe interest of the State, admitofficials. Prolonged delay inobtaining amendment of envi-ronmental clearance pertainingto South Kaliapani mines iseroding its production target.

The OMC submitted theproposal on May 5, 2015 foramendment of EC due to changein tailing pond location withinthe mining lease area. The pro-posal was approved by theEnvironment AppraisalCommittee (EAC) after duescrutiny on July 21, 2016.

Later, a few discrepancies

were pointed out by the UnionGovernment and those werecomplied with by the OMC onMay 1, 2017.

The compliance report tothe observations of Ministry ofEnvironment and Forests andClimate Change (MoEFCC) hasalso been forwarded by theRegional Office of the MoEFCC,Bhubaneswar, to the Ministrysince September 20, 2017. TheOMC later submitted a timebound action plan to theMoEFCC for compliance to ECconditions on November 3,2017.

After lapse of another year,the OMC is yet to get EC for themajor chromite mines, which isthe cause of worry for the StateGovernment. Similarly, for theStage II forest clearance ofKumitar and Tiringpahar ironore mines, the OMC has appliedin time. All documents were pre-sented to the MoEFCC, howev-er, there is delay in granting suchclearances. The MoEFCC is con-sidering the clearance proposalfor Stage II FC pertaining to boththe major iron ore mines sinceApril 2018.

Similarly, exploration pro-posals of the OMC for Birasal,Baliapadia Mahagiri, Kalarangiand Kaliapani chromite minesare also pending with theMoEFCC.

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The construction work of themost anticipated heart care

hospital was started atJharsuguda on Tuesday, thanksto efforts from local MLANaba Kisore Das.

For the first time, a hearthospital will be built in the Stateat Jharsuguda with a cost esti-

mate of Rs100 crore on PPPmode. This is being done with

MCL funds near the DistrictHeadquarters Hospital at

Balijori.An MOU has already been

signed with Hyderabad -basedManjira Construction Limitedto complete the construction ofthe project by 2020. An agree-ment has been made with theQuality Care Hospital PrivateLimited to supply the technicalknow-how and equipment forthe hospital. The three storiedhospital will provide 100 bedsfor the heart patients.

The Chief Minister wouldinaugurate the hospital after itis operational in the next twoyears, informed MLA Das.

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The National Human RightsCommission (NHRC) has

sought an action-taken report(ATR) from the Chief Secretaryof Odisha over the illegal shel-ter homes, within four weeks.

Acting on a petition filed bySupreme Court lawyer andrights activist RadhakantaTripathy, the apex human rightspanel passed the order.

For a couple of years, theinmates of shelter home, theGood News India DreamCentre, at Beltikiri inDhenkanal district subjected itsinmates to sexual abuse, harass-ment and rights violation. TheDhenkanal police had no clueabout what was happeningthere despite the fact that it wasrunning without registrationsince 2015. The illegal shelterhome which was operating inblatant violation of the JuvenileJustice Act, Tripathy said in hispetition.

The District ChildProtection Unit (DCPU) hadissued closure notice to the shel-ter home in 2015 for not com-plying with the guidelines of theJuvenile Justice Act and hadeven repatriated the inmates totheir respective districts.

However, the shelter home con-tinued its illegal operationsright under the nose of the dis-trict administration. Had theofficials concerned cared tocarry out inspections at regularintervals, the abuse would nothave taken place, Tripathy said.

In Rayagada, the NGO wasrunning a shelter home nearSiriguda area where 76 girlswere lodged. It has been oper-ating for the last nine years.Rayagada has at least 80 shel-ter homes or hostels and amajority of them are runningwithout complying the normsand parameters of JJ Act, RTEAct and other acts applicable tothe welfare of the minor chil-dren, the petitioner said.

Women and ChildDevelopment Minister PrafullaSamal informed that the insti-tution was unregistered andrunning illegally. Tripathy con-tended that if the Minister wasaware of the developments,then why he could not takeaction against the erring insti-tution for years. According toDepartment of Women andChild Development, there are300 recognised child care insti-tutions in the State. Good NewsIndia Dream Centre has regis-tered child care shelter homes in

Mayurbhanj, Kalahandi,Deogarh and Baleswar districts.However, the authorities haddenied permission to the organ-isation for running the institutein 2015. The main registrationof the centre is believed to be inWest Bengal.

Tripathy complained thatthere are illegal conversions ofthe children from one religionto another and violation ofchild rights in the shelter homes.

He requested the NHRCto constitute a team of offi-cials headed by the DIG of theNHRC for a thorough inves-tigation of the entire episodeand direct the State adminis-tration to find out total num-ber of unregistered shelterhomes/Ashrams or any insti-tutions with different nomen-clature running in Odisha,investigate in detail whethersuch institutions have beencomplying with the provi-sions of Societies RegistrationAct, Indian trust Act, con-version laws, JJ Act, RTE Actand other laws related to chil-dren and take legal actionagainst the errant officialsand rehabilitate the victimswith counseling, alternativearrangements with compen-sation.

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Former Vishwa HinduParishad (VHP) leader

Pravin Togadia was inJharsuguda on Tuesday and headdressed a gathering of morethan 1,500 supporters andactivists from Bajrang Dal,Marwari Mahila and MarwariYuva Manch.

Togadia announced thatafter leaving the VHP he hasformed a new Hindutva outfitcalled Antarrashtriya HinduParishad (AHP).

Attacking Prime MinisterNarendra Modi's four and ahalf years in office, Togadia saidthe Modi Government hasfailed on both Hindutva anddevelopment front.

Hinting at the BJP for itsfailure to build a Ram temple

in Ayodhya, Togadia said thosepeople who came to power onthe name of Ram temple havemanaged to make a party officeworth over Rs 500 crore forthemselves in Delhi while LordRam continues to be forced tolive under a tent below theopen sky in his own homeland.

Togadia alleged that PMModi has betrayed DharamSansads by taking their supportfor his election and then leav-ing the matter of Ram templein the hands of reluctantSupreme Court judges.

Setting the agenda for2019, Togadia said, “We wanta Government of the Hindus.Our slogan for the 2019 generalelection is ‘Ab ki baar Hinduonki sarkaar’. In case such aGovernment is formed, it willconstruct the Ram temple atAyodhya and solve unemploy-ment issues, plight of farmers,price rise issue and ensure all-round development.”

He said that within amonth, he would announce anew political party which willcontest on all parliamentary

constituencies to fight on aplatform of pro-Hindu causeand look to solve the nation'slong-standing problems.

Replying to the question bylocal mediapersons about histie-up with Patidar leaderHardik Patel and GujaratCongress leader ArjunModwadia, Togadia said hedoes not have any politicallink with them.

He clarified that he is opento engage with anyone fromacross the political spectrum onthe issues that matter.

He called upon Hindus tojoin hands together. Whenasked how he would fund theparty he was going to form,Togadia said that the partywould be funded by his sup-porters.

National general secretaryof Rashtriya Bajrang Dal ManojKumar Sahoo and workingpresident of AHP Arun KumarUpadhyaya were present.

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Aworkshop on elephant pro-tection and conservation

was held here on Wednesdayby the Athagarh ForestDivision in collaboration withthe Save Elephants FoundationTrust.

DFO Sasmita Lenka whilechaired it, former PCCF andDirector of Indira Gandhi

National Forest AcademyVinod Kumar attended as chiefguest.

Others like ACF RajendraKumar Das, Honorary WildlifeWardens Ashok Pattnaik and

Bijaya Das joined the dais.Expressing concern, Vinod

Kumar attributed the risingman-elephant tussle to destruc-tion of fruit bearing plants inthe jungle, drinking watersources for wild animals andcultivation near the jungle byencroaching upon the forestland.

This apart, he also raisedthe points of obstruction of ele-phant corridors by industriesafter erecting high fences, dis-turbances of the elephants dur-ing their passage by throwingstones, blowing horns, etc.

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Adistrict level job fair was heldin the Sarala Mahavidyalaya

in Rahama on Monday. ParadipADM Kanhu Charan Dhir inau-gurated the one-day fair.

Labour and EmploymentDepartment Assistant DirectorHimansu Sekhar Lenka, DistrictEmployment Officer TapasKumar Swain, DIPRO KaminiRanjan Patnaik and Sarala

MohavidyalayaPrincipal Dr SCSahoo werepresent.

As many as921 job aspi-rants, includingmale and female, registered theirnames in the fair and interactedwith visiting companies.

Reports said that some ofthem were selected.

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The State Youth Congress hasdemanded that stringent

action be taken against thosewho attacked the CongressYuvakranti Rath, engaged increating awareness againstalleged Rafale scam, here recent-ly. Addressing a Press conferencehere, party activists said BJPworkers attacked the Rath and,thus, police should arrest themimmediately. While the Rathwas passing Khordha, BJP work-ers, who were going to attendPrime Minister’s rally onDecember 24, attacked its driverbrutally and damaged the Rath.

It his learned that driver HDebenna, a resident ofKarnataka, has filed a complaintthe Khordha Industrial Estatepolice outpost in this regard. Theparty leaders also demandedthat BJP State president Basant

Panda and Union MinisterDharmendra Pradhan give aclarification as to why theirparty workers attacked the Rath.They warned that the Congresswould take to the streets acrossthe State if no action is takenagainst the errant.

Pradesh CongressCommittee spokesperson andYouth Congress Khordha prab-hari Amit Mohanty, PCC gen-eral secretary Niranjan Nayakand Congress KhordhaAssembly constituency presi-dent Praban Patnaik were pre-sent, among others.

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An exchange of fire tookplace between security

forces and Maoists near theManabhanga dam under thePaikmal police limits in Bargarhdistrict on Tuesday, PadampurSDPO Laxminarayan Pandatold media on Wednesday.

A joint team of the DVFand CRPF personnel, whileconducting a combing opera-tion in the area, spotted a groupof 10 to 12 Maoists near thedam. Even as the security forcestold the Red rebels to surrender,the latter opened fire at thepolice. In retaliatory firing ionby the security forces, Maoistcommander Ravindra and hisassociate reportedly sustainedinjuries. The ultras later man-aged to escape. As many as 16bullets, a sharp knife and severalMaoist articles were seized fromthe spot.

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Odisha is a great State in thewhole world because of the

Jagannath culture and polite-ness of its people. So, teachersshould take responsibility tobuild students as good humanbeings in future.

Governor Prof Ganeshi Lalsaid this while inaugurating theGolden Jubilee celebrations ofthe Balanga Nodal High Schoolhere on Tuesday.

“Odisha is a prosperousState and, thus, all studentsshould build their career insuch a way that they will be able

to make the State moreprosporous,” said the Governor.

The Governor unveiled asstatue of late Basudev Baral, thefirst Headmaster of the school,in the school premises.

Among others,Jagatsinghpur MP DrKulamani Samal, NimaparaMLA Samir Ranjan Dash,Ekamra Book fair president

Pitabas Routaray, eminent childwriter Dash Benhur, PuriDistrict Education Officer DrHrushikesh Kandi and ProfTulasI Ojha graced as guests. Asouvenir was released andmany eminent persons werefelicitated on the occasion.

Alumni committee presi-dent Dillip Kumar Pattanaikpresided over the meeting.

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The Central EnforcementMonitoring Committee

(CEMC) under the leader-ship of MemberEnforcement, BhubaneswarDevelopment Authority(BDA), Bhabani ShankarChayani, took possession ofa prime land on Wednesday,under the occupation of anOld Town resident for years,to facilitate the circulation ofgrowing traffic near theLingaraj Temple.

The initiative will workas the entry point to analternative road connectingthe Devipadahara-KotitirhaLane to help divert trafficfrom the road in front ofAnantavasudev Temple dur-ing festivities

Also the roads nearLingaraj Temple and sur-rounding areas, during megacelebrations like Ashokastamiand Shivaratri.

The vehicles coming fromRatha Road to Anantavasudev

Temple and Lingaraj wouldalso get an alternative drive-way through this new roadbehind the 12th CenturyAnantavasudev Temple.Secondly, the future plan ofpedestrianisation of the areaaround Anantavasudev andLingaraj shrines could also bethought of following the

development.The CEMC team also

recovered three old monu-ments from private occupa-tion.

The alternative parallelroad connectingDevipadahara andKotitirthalane Lane could alsolead to an alternative parking

site in front of the newly-builtmarket complex, where all thetourist buses and vehiclescould be parked nicely.Presently, the parking spacenear bthe Devipadahara Parkis not sufficient to accom-modate all the vehicles duringpeak tourist seasons.

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The Mo Bus operation onRoute No. 10 from the Biju

Patnaik International Airportto the Biju Patnaik Park inCDA, Cuttack, covering alength of 37 km was started onDecember 25.

While the bus service startsat 7 am in the morning, the lastbus would be available from thetwo starting points till 8 pm atthe Biju Patnaik InternationalAirport and 8.20 pm at the BijuPatnaik Park, in CDA.Currently there are 28 busesincluding 19 air-conditionedand nine non-AC buses for theroute and the number wouldchange as per the requirementfrom time to time.

The major stops on theroute include Biju PatnaikInternational Airport, CapitalHospital Square, AG Square,Bhubaneswar Club, Heads ofthe Departments (Naatala),

Power House Square, KalingaStadium, Jayadev Vihar Square,Kalinga Hospital Square, PatiaSquare, Infocity Square,Shikharchandi, KIIT Square,Nandankanan Biological Park,Barang, Trisulia Square,Judicial Academy, CDA 6 Park,CDA 9 Market Square, JusticeSquare and Biju Patnaik Park.

General Manager(Personnel andAdministration) of CRUTDipti Mahapatro said the busservice would help connectpeople of the two historic citiesand in near future two moreroutes through NH-16 will beeffective very soon betweenCuttack and Bhubaneswar.While Route No. 16 will con-nect between Master CanteenTerminal and Biju Patnaik Parkin CDA, Route No. 16 (A) willconnect between MasterCanteen Terminal and BarabatiStadium, he said.

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The Bhubaneswar VigilanceSpecial Judge on Wednesday

convicted former Koraput RTOPurandar Pujari for possessingdisproportionate assets to hisknown sources of income.

He was sentenced him to

undergo two years rigorousimprisonment (RI) and to payfine of � 1 lakh, in default, toundergo more six months RI.

Earlier on June 24, 2006 hisresidential house along with thehouses of his relatives, resi-dential Government quarterand office room were searchedand disproportionate assetsamounting to � 16, 66,688 wasdetected.

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The Vigilance police onWednesday arrested

Bhubaneswar court policeSub-Inspector Dillip KumarDas for possessing dispropor-tionate to income assets worthRs 77,83,556.

Earlier on December 14,Vigilance sleuths had con-ducted raids on Das’s houses atdifferent places and officeroom at Bhubaneswar anddetected movable and immov-able assets worth Rs 98,02,327in his and his family memb-mers’ names.

After search and invento-ry, the income, expenditureand assets of Das, it was foundthat he possessed assets dis-proportionate to his knownsources of income to the tuneof � 77,83,556. Das was arrest-

ed and forwarded to the Courtof Special Judge, Vigilance,Cuttack. The court hasremanded him to judicial cus-tody till January 8, 2018.Investigation was still progress,said an official release.

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Odisha Pradesh Kisan KhetMazdoor Sangha presi-

dent Amiya Kumar Patnaiksaid here that the StateGovernment’s KrushakAssistance for Livelihood andIncome Augmentation(KALIA) scheme is nothing buta political gimmick of the BJD.

Patnaik said even if theGanjam district is the homeground of Chief MinisterNaveen Patnaik and FoodSupplies and ConsumerWelfare Minister SurjyaNarayana Patro, yet farmers ofthe district are being neglect-ed.

He alleged that even ifmany days have passed sinceCyclone Titli hit the coast,farmers have not got the sub-sidy and crop insurance money.

While the State lacks coldstorages, the KALIA schemewill serve no purpose.

Mentioning that only sevenquintals of paddy against thedistrict’s target of 25 lakh quin-tal have been procured tilldate, Patnaik said the Sanghawould hold demonstration inevery block in protest againstit.

Among others, Ganjamdistrict Congress president DrTrinath Behera, working pres-ident Pitabas Panda, Sanghadistrict president BrundabanKhatei and Padma CharanSahu and Congress Nagar pres-ident Pramod Jena were pre-sent.

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The para teachers’ strike thathas virtually crippled the

primary education system inthe State for over one and a halfmonths has now taken a polit-ical colour with the JMM,JVM, Congress and left partiesopenly coming out in supportof the agitating teachers anddisrupting the functioning ofthe House on the second con-secutive day during the ongo-ing Winter Session of StateAssembly.

While, the Assemblyremained disrupted on theissue of Para Teachers through-out the day few representativesof the teachers’ associationtoday came to the StateAssembly and gave flowers toruling party MLAs. They alsomet Ministers CP Singh,Randhir Kumar Singh andAmar Kumar Bauri at VidhanSabha but nothing concretecould come out after the talks.

Talking to media persons atthe State Assembly onWednesday para teachers asso-ciation’s Sanjay Dubey saidthat they have received infor-mation about government’soffer for talks through news-papers only. He said that theywant regularisation on the linesof Chhattisgarh and Bihar andunless the government invitesthem with a written letter fortalks they will not end theirlong-drawn stir.

Meanwhile, Leader ofOpposition Hemant Soren saidon Wednesday that the gov-

ernment has hijacked theHouse and not letting people’svoices heard. “TheConstitutional institutions arebeing undermined and thegovernment is using institu-tions for their political gains.The Opposition cannot remaina mute spectator in such situ-ation.” said Soren.

JVM legislator PradeepYadav said that the governmentis stubborn enough to look atthe sentiments of the people ofthe State. “Some officials havemisguided the government. Ifthey have little sensitivity theywould have come out with anapology on the November 15incident when unarmed teach-ers, pregnant women and jour-nalists were subjected to bru-tal use of force by police. Thegovernment does not want toeven think of the para teachers’

issues. It is delayeing severalissues of people’s interest. Noone is happy with the govern-ment. It is taking its last breath,”he said.

However, the legislators ofruling coalition said that theOpposition was fuelling parateachers’ issue just to gainpolitical mileage. “The CM issensitive towards the parateachers and he is taking allpossible steps to end theirstrike. The Opposition is rais-ing the issue just for politicalmileage. They have also rungovernment in the State butthey never thought about thebetterment of para teachers.The Raghubar Das led gov-ernment has taken many pos-itive steps in last four years tosolve the issues. We expect thatthe crisis will end soon,” saidHRD Minister Neera Yadav.

BJP MLA Anant Ojha saidthat the Opposition was shyingaway from discussion on theburning issues and was tryingto hijack it on para teachers’issue. “When the House is inmotion why are they not dis-cussing the issues? We all wantto get a solution to the problembut sloganeering and makingruckus in the House will notgive us any fruits,” he said.

A delegation of Congressleaders led by CLP leaderAlamgir Lam also metGovernor Droupadi Murmuon Wednesday and handedover a memorandum seekingsolution on para teachers’ anddeteriorating law and order inthe State. The delegation com-prised former Union MinisterSK Sahay, MLAs SukhdeoBhagat, Irfan Ansari, GeetaKoda among others.

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Farmers are eagerly awaitingtheir crop compensation in

villages falling in and aroundPalamu tiger reserve. Standingcrop and harvested crop both aredestroyed and damaged by herdof elephants. Standing crop israided by herd of pachyderms inthe fields while harvested cropstored in barns which are alwaysopen and vulnerable is alsodestroyed by elephants.

Sources said July toDecember every year is the vul-nerable months of crop destruc-tion by elephants. Betla andGaru ranges of Palamu tigerreserve are the most vulnerableranges from the point of view ofthe elephant raiding and destroy-ing crop. Bareysarn,Chhipadohar, Kutku andMahuadarn ranges too are notfree of the elephant menace.

Sources said the destructionof crop is done by two kinds ofelephants. In Betla range it isPTR’s elephants that destroy thecrop mostly. It is true of Garu,Bareysarn ranges as well butthere are instances where herd ofChhatisgarh elephants also hascaused destruction of crop andhouses in villages falling in andaround PTR.

Sources said crop destruc-tion and damages of houses/huts by elephants go together invillages here in PTR.

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As the country gears up forthe Lok Sabha polls next

year, a group of well-knowndoctors on Wednesday releasedthe “Ethical Doctors” manifestourging political parties to make‘health for all’ their poll agen-da, and regulate and reform theprivate sector on a priority basisto cut down the catastrophichealth expenditure that is tak-ing a toll on the common man.

“It’s time that theGovernment brings ‘health-care for all’ on top of its agen-da given that increasing out ofpocket expenditure on thehealth is pushing people belowthe poverty level. The com-mitment to bring in a system ofuniversal healthcare bystrengthening and expandingthe public health system willensure a rationale, humanehealth care system in India,”said Dr Arun Mitra, ENTSurgeon and member of theAlliance of Doctors for Ethical

Healthcare (ADEH).Gurinder Grewal, a physi-

cian in Ludhiana and formerpresident of the PunjabMedical Council, backed theproposal put forward by theNiti Ayog to cap the trade mar-gins to 30 per cent for allmedical devices. Last year, hehad sent to the PMO theGovernment pharmaceuticalindustry documents to showhow maximum retail prices of

medicines are fixed to help hos-pitals earn profits on eachtablet or injection sold.

“We want strict actionagainst such unethical practicesand other forms of corruptionin healthcare and medical edu-cation. We want the commonman to have faith and trust inthe medical profession which atpresent is depleting,” Grewalsaid while taking to reportershere.

The doctors also expressedtheir displeasure at the provi-sions enabled in the recentlylaunched National HealthProtection System as well as theprogramme for the provision ofComprehensive PrimaryHealth Care alleging that theywere based on “faulty founda-tion.”

“Apart from low budgetaryprovision, there is every possi-bility that the majority of the

Government’s expenditure onhealthcare will be diverted tothe high-end interventionalprocedures only available inmedium and big hospitals.

“In the absence of robustregulatory mechanism andmandatory standard treatmentguidelines, we fear that theschemes will be misused by thecorporate and big private hos-pitals,” said Dr Samiran Nundy,Delhi-based surgical gastroen-terologist.

The ADEH members havebeen actively voicing their con-cerns about malpractices in themedical profession, education,corporatisation of healthcareand other systemic issuesafflicting the medical sector atthe national level.

“We felt the need to releasethis manifesto since afford-able and quality healthcare,despite being a fundamentalright, never gets the attentionfrom political parties itdeserves,” said Arun Gadre, aPune-based gynecologist.

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In a sharp attack againstPrime Minister Narendra

Modi, Congress chief RahulGandhi on Wednesday said 15labourers trapped in a coalmine in Meghalaya sinceDecember 13 struggled for airwhile he strutted about onAssam’s Bogibeel Bridge posingfor cameras.

Asking Modi to “pleasesave the miners”, Rahul allegedthe Government was notorganising high-pressurepumps needed for rescue oper-ations. The Congress presi-dent’s attack came a day afterPrime Minister inauguratedthe country’s longest rail-cum-road bridge over theBrahmaputra river at Bogibeelnear Dibrugarh in Meghalaya’sneighbouring State Assam.

Rahul appealed to thePrime Minister to save theminers, who were trapped inthe coal mine a fortnight ago.Search operations have beensuspended by the MeghalayaGovernment for want of high-powered pumps to flush outwater from the pit. “15 minershave been struggling for air ina flooded coal mine for twoweeks. Meanwhile, PM strutsabout on Bogibeel Bridge pos-ing for cameras. HisGovernment refuses to organ-ise high pressure pumps for therescue. PM please save theminers,” Rahul tweeted.

His remarks come amid

reports that the operation torescue the 15 miners is ham-pered by lack of equipment.The miners were trapped afterwater from the nearby Lyteinriver suddenly gushed into the pit.

A senior Meghalaya homedepartment official has said thepolice force in East JaintiaHills district, where the mine islocated, do not have adequatepersonnel to deal with theproblem. “It is very sad. 14 dayshave passed since theMeghalaya miners have beentrapped while State and Central

Governments are busyexchanging letters for rescueequipments. Why this lack-adaisical approach?” seniorCongress leader Ahmed Pateltweeted.

Earlier, Congress’ chiefspokesperson RandeepSurjewala said more than 13days on, as 15 miners are stuckat the difficult terrain in JaintiaHills, Meghalaya, and waterextraction should be swiftlyexpedited.

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Union HRD MinisterPrakash Javadekar on

Wednesday assured studentsthat no ne of them will face anydifficulty in getting scholarshipamount on time.

Addressing a Press confer-ence, Javadekar said thatGovernment has thoroughlyreviewed the system and fromthe month of November theMinistry has started creditingeach scholarship beneficiaryaccount with the scholarshipamount by 30th of each month.

He stated that a Specialgrant of �250 crore has alsobeen sanctioned to completethe backlog of scholarshipamount and all backlog hasbeen cleared now. He furtherannounced that nearly 2.44lakh students get benefit of var-ious scholarships which arerun by MHRD, AICTE andUGC. “Government is spend-ing nearly �4,000 crore amounton these scholarship schemes,”said Javadekar.

He further named variousscholarship schemes which arerunning successfully underMHRD, AICTE and UGC.National Means-Cum MeritScholarship Scheme, CentralSector Scheme of Scholarshipfor College and UniversityStudents and SpecialScholarship Scheme for Jammuand Kashmir under MHRD,Scholarship for Girls (PRA-GATI), Scholarship forDifferently abled Studentsunder AICTE and “ISHANUDAY” Special ScholarshipScheme for North EasternRegion under UGC, JRF etc aresome of the noteworthy schol-arship schemes of HRDMinistry, he said.

The Union Minister alsoinformed that Study in Indiaprogramme has taken off welland nearly 2,000 students havegot admission in selected 100top Indian institutions for the

first season. He said that we areexpecting nearly 20,000 foreignstudents from 30 Asian,African, Middle East andCommonwealth ofIndependent States (CIS) coun-tries under this program innext 3 years.

The Minister also shareddetails about ambitious ‘Studyin India’ programme beingconducted by the Centre. Hetermed it to be an innovativeinitiative to attract studentsfrom 30 partner countries inSouth Asia, South-East Asia,Middle East and Africa tocome and experience the verybest of academic learning at thetop institutions in India. Hesaid the target about Study inIndia programme is to getabout 20,000 students duringthe next three academic yearsat the about 100 partners insti-tutes which includes the IITs,IIMs and other prestigiousacademic and technical institutes.

“The programme includessetting-up of a large portal, callcentre, social media campaign,branding, event managementand setting up of a facilitationcentre to attract more andmore foreign students towardsIndian Institutions,” said theHRD Minister.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi will attend an event in

Dharamshala on Thursday tomark one year of the BJPGovernment in HimachalPradesh. He will release a doc-ument highlighting achieve-ments of the State Governmenton the occasion, said PMO ina statement.

The Prime Minister willreach Dharamshala at around11.30 am and address a publicrally. He will also interact withthe beneficiaries of variousgovernment schemes, the state-ment said. Himachal ChiefMinister Jai Ram Thakur,Union Health Minister JPNadda, BJP State in chargeMangal Pandey and BJP Statepresident Satpal Singh reachedDharamshala on Wednesdayand took stock of the prepara-tions at the rally site.

Thakur expressed his grat-itude towards the people of thestate for their cooperation in an“all-round and equitable devel-opment” of the state. He alsothanked Modi for providingfinancial assistance of crores of

rupees to the state for variousdevelopment works. He saidone year’s tenure of his gov-ernment has been “very suc-cessful and full of achieve-ments”.

In a statement, the Chiefminister said that his govern-ment has made best efforts tobenefit every section of thesociety by launching variousnew welfare schemes likeHimachal Grihini Suvidha

Yojana, Mukhya MantriSavavlamban Yojana andMukhya Mantri Chikitsa Kosh.“The Jan Manch programmeinitiated by the government hasproved a boon for the commonman in redressing their com-plaints and demands immedi-ately at their door-steps.

“Similarly, the decision ofthe state government to reduceage limit for getting old-agepension beyond any incomelimit from 80 to 70 years hasbenefitted more than one lakhpeople in the state,” Thakursaid.

He said he has covered 63assembly constituencies of thestate in this period, which hashelped him to interact direct-ly with the masses.

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New Delhi: Meghalaya ChiefMinister Conrad K Sangma,without mentioning Rahul’scomment, said there is noinaction and that the adminis-tration, made all efforts to res-cue miners and the NDRF hadreally worked hard to trace thethem. But, unfortunately, theoperation did not yield anyresult. So far, 12 lakh litres ofwater has been pumped out ofthe mine, but it seems thewhole river has gushed into thepit. Getting high-poweredpumps and transporting themto the site of the mishap is notan easy task, he told a privatenews, reported PTI fromShillong. PNS

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New Delhi: The Centre hasinstituted annual awards torecognise the excellent workdone by individuals and insti-tutions in the country in thefield of disaster management.Three eligible institutions andindividuals will be given the‘Subhash Chandra Bose AapdaPrabandhan Puraskaar’ everyyear with cash rewards rangingfrom �5 lakh to �51 lakh, astatement issued by theNational Disaster ManagementAuthority (NDMA) said.

If the awardee is an institu-tion, it will be given a certificateand a cash prize of �51 lakh andthe prize money will be utilisedfor disaster management-relat-ed activities only. If the awardeeis an individual, the person

shall receive a certificate and acash prize of �5 lakh, it said. Anapplication by an institutiondoes not debar any individualfrom that institution to apply forthe award in his individualcapacity. The statement saidthere is a need to recognise theefforts of individuals and organ-isations who have been workingassiduously to alleviate thehuman suffering caused by dis-asters. Only Indian nationalsand Indian institutions canapply for the award.

The last date for filing ofapplication for the year 2018shall be January 7, 2019, andthe award will be announcedon January 23, 2019, on thebirth anniversary of NetajiSubhash Chandra Bose. PNS

New Delhi: With the searchoperation launched by theCoast Guard to trace the miss-ing trawler ‘Suvarna Tribhuja’off Karnataka and Goa watersyielding little success, the mar-itime agency is now looking atuninhabited areas along thecoasts of these two States, asenior official said.

The Coast Guard has alsoapproached the MaharashtraGovernment to check whetherthe ship had ventured in itswaters.

The ship, carrying sevencrew members, belonged toone Nityanand Kotian. Thelast contact established with theship was on December 16, theofficial said. The Coast Guardhad launched an operation totrace the fishing trawler onDecember 22 with its multipleships and aircraft.

“We have not been able totrace the ship despite the searchand rescue efforts over the lastfew days. The ship owner hadgiven a location off the Goa

coast, but there was no trace ofany ship at that location,” theofficial said.

He said there were chancesof engine failure of the trawlerand in such cases, they taketime to reach the coast.

“We are now looking atuninhabited areas along theKarnataka and Goa coasts. Weare also in touch with theMaharashtra fisheries depart-ment to check whether thetrawler had ventured into theirarea,” the official added. PTI

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Ayyappa Jyothi, an offeringby the devotees of Lord

Ayyappa, to the authorities inKerala not to shatter the age oldcustoms and traditions at theHoly Shrine situated in theWestern Ghats took the Stateby storm on Wednesdayevening.

The 795-km stretchbetween Mangalore inKarnataka and Kanyakumari,the land’s end in southernTamil Nadu saw millions ofdevotees which included men,women and children holdinglighted lamps and chantingSwamy Saranam and AyyappaSaranam with a prayer to theLord to make the authoritiessee reason and resist fromtheir move to allow women inthe 10-50 age group inside thetemple.

The Ayyappa DharmaSamiti which organised theJyothi sprang a surprise byensuring the participation ofsome of the most veneratedcultural leaders of Kerala in thisunique event. Those who tookpart in the Jyothi led by SwamyChidanandapuri included T PSenkumar, MGA Raman, for-mer directors general of police,Prof KS Radhakrishnan, for-

mer vice-chancellor of SreeSankara Sanskrit Universityand national award winningactress Menaka Suresh.

“It was an enlighteningexperience. I feel this Jyothi willlead Kerala to a world of lightand peace,” said Senkumar, anapolitical person who hadearned appreciation from allover the State for his 35 yearsof service as a police officer.

Govind Bharathan, seniorlawyer of Kerala High Courtwho had to fight his way

through the massive crowd toget a position in the Jyothi infront of the Adi Sankara Towerat Kaladi said the event was atremendous success. “This isthe first time I am seeing anapolitical rally like this inKerala and I hope the messagewill reach the authorities in theright perspective,” saidBharathan.

The 45 km stretch betweenAngamally in the NationalHighway and Muvattupuzha inthe Main Cetral Road leading

to Sabarimala turned out to bean ocean of humanity, eachperson holding tray with light-ed chirath made of mud.Interestingly, many Christianswere seen taking part in therally at Perumbavoor.Mazhuvencherry Jaison, aChristian businessman said heand most other Christianswere with the devotees in theiragitation to preserve the tradi-tions of Sabarimala.

Elsewhere in the State,there were reports from

Kannur of attacks on womenand children who were ontheir way to take part in theJyothi allegedly by DYFIactivists. Eight persons includ-ing three children who wereinjured in pelting of stones byunknown persons have beenadmitted to hospitals inKannur. The event sawunprecedented participationof women, especially house-wives hitherto confined to theirhomes. Geetha Rajagopal,Anitha Prakash and hundredsof housewives like them joinedthe Jyothi much to the joy ofthe organisers.

Ayyappa Temple atChennai’s Mahalingapuramsaw hundreds of devotees withlighted lamps joining the Jyothi.“This is our silent message tothe authorities who are out totamper with age old traditionsin Sabarimala. If they ignorethis Jyothi, the repercussionsmay be very severe,” said AnitaPillai, a Chennai housewife.While the Ayyappa Jyothi con-cluded peacefully, Kerala is infor another spectacle y theCPI-M sponsored WomenWall to be organised onJanuary 1, 2019 which hasbeen described as the begin-ning of a renaissance in theState.

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Triggering speculations overthe future chemistry

between the TrinamoolCongress and Congress, BengalChief Minister MamataBanerjee on Wednesdayexpressed reservations aboutthe blanket waiver of farmloans by “some States” (readCongress ruled states).

In tandem with lambastingthe BJP for claiming creditabout farmer insurance schemesthe Trinamool Congress chiefalso questioned the efficacy of“some States who are blindlywaiving farmers’ loans.”

Banerjee said during anadministrative meeting that shewas collecting informationregarding the benefit the farm-ers were getting from loan waiv-er schemes. “There are some(governments) who are waivingfarmers’ loans and I am gather-ing papers to find out whetherfarmers are actually benefited ornot,” Banerjee said without refer-ring to the Congress directly.

She said, “none other thanthe Trinamool Congress gov-ernment has given better ser-vices to the farmers. Here inBengal we have seen how theentire flock of the farming

population has benefited fromour pro-farmer policies.”

The Congress had waivedfarmers’ loans till �2 lakh aftercoming to power in Rajasthan,Madhya Pradesh andChhattisgarh. Banerjee’s twistyreference of the Congress ruledStates could give rise to specu-lations on whether she waskeen to ally with the tri-colourparty in immediate future,experts said drawing referenceto how the Chief Minister con-gratulated her Telangana coun-terpart K Chandrashekhar Raopersonally at his “marvelousvictory” in the recently con-cluded Assembly elections butdesisting from doing so in thecase of Congress.

The Chief Minister alsoattacked the BJP for trying to“claim entire credit” about thefarmer insurance schemes.“They (BJP) are telling the peo-ple that the Central Governmentis giving farmers’ insurancewhereas the truth is that theCentre is only contributing 20percent of the money. The restis being given by the State. Theyare trying to mislead the peopleby telling lies. I am telling this inpublic and dare them to slapdefamation charges against me,”Banerjee said.

The Bengal Governmentwould pay the entire insurancemoney to the farmers and thatit did not need Centre’s contri-bution, she said adding theBJP’s was an anti-farmerGovernment. “Look at the risingnumbers of farmers’ suicidesduring this regime. About12,000 farmers have committedsuicide during this regime, shesaid reminding how the farmersin Nasik and elsewhere werebeing forced to destroy their gar-lic and onions on the highways.

Reacting to her attacksenior BJP leader Rahul Sinhasaid “the BJP does not want toreact to statements made by aChief Minister who is worth-less and has lead Bengal to thepath of anarchy.”

State Congress presidentSomen Mitra on the other handwondered, “How does a ques-tion of alliance arise between theCongress and the TrinamoolCongress at a time when ourworkers are being attacked andtortured everyday by theTrinamool Congress and itspolice State. The Congress is tak-ing care of itself in Bengal,”adding he did not expect goodwords from the TMC chief asshe was “bound to feel frustrat-ed by the Congress’ success.”

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The news about the bishopsand vicars of all Churches

in Tamil Nadu declaring theirsupport to the DMK in theupcoming Lok Sabha electionhas jolted the ruling AIADMKas well as the BJP.

Though the Church or theBishops Council of Tamil Naduhave not made any formal dec-laration about the support tothe DMK, the deal was struckduring the Christmas gala heldat Tiruchirappalli last Saturdaywhich was attended by partychief MK Stalin and heads of allChurches and “Ministries” inthe State.

It may be noted that theBishops Council of Tamil Naduhad declared their support tothe DMK-led alliance in the2016 assembly election. Asigned statement by AntonyPappusamy, Archbishop of

Madurai, was read out duringcongregations and was releasedto the media in the run up tothe assembly election.

The result of the 2016assembly election was in theexpected lines. The AIADMKled by Jayalalithaa won by awhisker. But what stood out inthe assembly election was thewash out suffered by theAIADMK in the southern dis-trict of Kanyakumari whereChristians constitute 46.9 percent of the population.

The DMK-Congressalliance swept theKanyakumari district by win-ning all the six assembly con-stituencies with comfortablemargins. All the candidateswho got elected from the dis-trict belonged to Christiancommunity. These six con-stituencies constitute theKanyakumari Lok Sabha con-stituency which is presentlyrepresented by PonRadhakrishnan of the BJP whois also the minister of state forfinance and surface transport.Radhakrishnan won the 2014election because there was noalliance between the DMK,

the Congress and the Left par-ties.

The 2004 Lok Sabha elec-tion saw the Rainbow Allianceled by the DMK and which hadthe blessings of the Churchobliterating the Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK by sweeping allthe 40 Lok Sabha seats (39 fromTamil Nadu and the lone seatfrom Puducherry).

In the eventuality of theLefts too join the DMK-Congress bandwagon,Radhakrishnan and the BJP arein for trouble, said a senior BJPleader in Tamil Nadu. But theDMK-Congress alliance alonecould derail the chances ofRadhakrishnan making it toLok Sabha in the 2019 election

A scientific paper pub-lished by Centre for PolicyStudies, a Chennai based inde-pendent think-tank specialisingin demographic studies andwhich was accessed by ThePioneer points out thatChristians constitute 6.12 percent of the total population of7.22 crore in Tamil Nadu.

"Tamil Nadu has a consid-erable Christian population.Of the total 2.78 crore

Christians counted in India in2011, 44 lakh are in TamilNadu, where they form 6.12percent of the population.Their number and share inTamil Nadu is the highest of allmajor States except the adjoin-ing Kerala. Tamil Nadu andKerala account for more than1 crore of Christians in thecountry," said the paperauthored by JK Bajaj, MDSrinivas and AP Joshi, alldemography experts.

What stands out in thestudy is the observation madeby the authors that despitetheir not so big presence in theState, Christian population isdistributed in the State in sucha way that they wield big influ-ence. The three districts ofThanjavur, Tiruchirappalli andDindigul have a total Christianpopulation of 5.5 lakh .WhileTiruchirappalli has 9 per centChristian population, Dindiguland Thanjavur closely followwith 7.9 and 5.6 per centrespectively. No political par-ties in Tamil Nadu can hope towin the election without enlist-ing the support of the Christiancommunity in the State.

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Entire Kashmir Valley is reel-ing under intense cold wave

as plummeting temperatureshave frozen parts of severalwater bodies and left majorityof residents to face plethora ofhardships. Most people choseto stay indoors as the cold wavetriggered several ailmentsmostly targeting children andold age people.

The cold wave is moreintense in Ladakh region wherelowest temperature in Leh dis-trict touched minus 17 degreesTuesday night, meteorologicaldepartment officials said.

The normal life is affectedin most parts of Kashmir dueto the intense cold wave thathas hampered water and elec-tricity supply. Despite heavyload shedding, the power sup-ply schedule has gone awry asmost residents complain thatthey have not received chargefor long hours.

The cold wave has frozenwater supply pipes in manyareas leaving the residents to gofor alternate means to fetch

water for domestic use.The summer capital

Srinagar recorded coldest nightin 11 years on Monday withtemperature slipping to minus6.8 degrees Celsius. Parts offamed Dal Lake were frozenespecially in the interiors. Thefamous resort of Pahalgam insouth Kashmir recorded 7.9degrees Celsius below freezingpoint.

The cold wave has equallyhit the north Kashmir regions

where Kupwara district head-quarters recorded 6.4 degreesCelsius.

Gulmarg, the famed skiresort in north Kashmir’sBaramulla district has wit-nessed a trickle of tourists oneve of Christmas and NewYear. The officials said thatGulmarg recorded tempera-ture of minus 9.4 degreesCelsius. With a thin layer ofsnow enveloping the famousresort, the cold wave has added

to the charm of the place. Thetourists are awaiting snowfallon eve of New Year to maketheir trip memorable, a hotelierfrom Gulmarg said on phone.

The cold wave began in theValley last week coincidingwith the onset of Chillai-Kalan- the 40-day period of harshwinter. It begins on December21 and lasts till the end ofJanuary. The authorities haveclosed all educational institu-tions for winter vacations.

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Acivilian porter was killed infresh ceasefire violation

along the Line of Control (LoC)in Nowshera sector of Rajourion Wednesday. In response,Indian army too retaliated inequal measure.

Regular exchange of firingin the area has once againtriggered panic reaction fromthe local residents.

In the absence of start ofconstruction work of bunkersin the most vulnerable areaslarge number of people haveonce again appealed to theState administration to expe-dite construction work ofbunkers in the area.

Pakistan army had earlierviolated ceasefire agreementon Monday in Nowshera forc-

ing the local administration toshut down educational institu-tions in areas falling close to the

line of control to prevent schoolchildren from receivinginjuries.

According to reports, agroup of three porters, ferry-ing supplies to forward posts,received injuries after Pakistanarmy initiated ‘unprovoked’firing in Nowshera sector ofRajouri on Wednesday around12.00 p.m

Defecne PRO in Jammusaid, One civilian identified asBodhraj, aged 55 years wasevacuated for medical aid buthe succumbed to his fatalinjuries". He said the armyauthorities have promised allpossible assistance and help tothe family of the deceased.According to local reports thecondition of two others, injuredin the exchange of firing, wasstated to be stable.

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Amid high security, the cer-emonial procession carrying

the sacred ‘Thanka Anki’ (gold-en attire), to be worn by LordAyyappa, the presiding deity ofthe Sabarimala temple,reachedhere Wednesday evening.

The procession, which hadset off four days ago from theSree Parthasarthy temple atAranmula, reached the LordAyyappa temple by around6.30 PM, temple sources said.

Lord Ayyappa would adornthe sacred attire tomorrow for the‘Mandala pooja’. After the‘Athazha pooja’ in the evening, theshrine will be closed for two days,marking the culmination of the41-day pilgrimage season, the first

phase of the annual festivities.The shrine will re-open on

December 30 for the‘Makaravillaku’ festival, whichfalls on Januaury 14.

Meanwhile, during thismandala puja season, 32 lakhpilgrims have so far trekked tothe hill shrine, A Padmakumar,president, TravancoreDevaswom Board (TDB), whichmanages the temple, said.

During this pilgrim season,there has been a dip in the rev-enues compared to the previ-ous years, he said.

Last year, revenue collec-tion at the temple touched Rs160 crore, while this year it wasrs 105 crore so far.

By the time theMakaravillakku is over, the

earnings are expected to touchthat of last year, he said.

The temple had witnessedheavy rush in the past few daysafter a lull in footfalls, follow-ing the restrictions imposeddue to protests by devotees.

The Ayyappa temple hadwitnessed frenzied protests bydevotees against the state gov-ernment’s decision to imple-ment the Supreme Court’sSeptember 28 verdict, openingits doors to women of all agesto offer prayers.

Traditionally, girls andwomen in the menstruating agegroup of 10-50 years werebarred from offering prayers,the presiding deity of which is"Naishtika Brahamachari"(perennial celebate).

Gondia (Maharashtra): Twoyoung men drownedWednesday in Khairbandhadam near here in eastMaharashtra, police said.

The incident occurredaround 1 pm after KrishnakumarArre (18) and DharmendraLilhare (21), along with theirfriend, entered the water forbathing though they didn’t knowhow to swim, they said.

According to police, Arreand Lilhare got trapped in thewater current and drowned.

However, their friend sur-vived as he had come out ofwater to attend a nature’s call.

After the youth raisedalarm, villagers rushed to thespot, but couldn’t save the duo,police said. PTI

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The CJM courtof Assam’s

Nagaon district hass u m m o n e dMinister of Statefor Railways RajenGohain to appearbefore it on January8, 2019 in connection with thealleged rape of a 24-year-oldwoman in that district.

In August this year, a caseunder Indian Penal Code sec-tions 417 (punishment forcheating), 376 (rape) and 506(criminal intimidation) wasregistered against Gohain forallegedly raping and threaten-ing the married woman.

The summons, whichbecame public Wednesday, wasissued on November 28.

When contacted, Gohaintold PTI, “I have heard that thecourt has issued a summons,but I have not received it yet.The case is totally false and Iam a victim of political rival-ry,” he said.

The complaint alleged thatthe incident took place seven to

eight months ago atthe her home whenher husband andother family mem-bers were not pre-sent.

Gohain, whohas been represent-ing the Nagaon LokSabha constituen-

cy since 1999, had claimed thatthe victim herself went to thecourt and wanted to withdrawthe case, which was not accept-ed.

Nagaon sadar police sta-tion officer-in-charge had saidin August that the woman hadpleaded at the court to with-draw the case, two days afterthe case was filed.

Both Gohain and thewoman knew each other for along time and the minister usedto visit her home, a senior offi-cial of the Nagaon PoliceStation had said.

The minister’s officer onspecial duty Sanjiv Goswamihad then claimed that Gohainhad filed some complaints ofblackmailing against thewoman and her family.

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Aminority cell leader of theCongress party Haji

Sagheer Saeed Khan has trig-gered a fresh row by announc-ing if Congress party is votedto power BJP leaders, respon-sible for killing of ‘innocent’people in Kashmir valley, willbe ‘sent to the gallows’.

Haji Sagheer Saeed Khan,who is currently observer ofMinority cell of AICC, alsoannounced that the Congressparty will award 1 crore com-pensation to all those 'innocent'people killed in kashmir due toterrorism and job each for onefamily member.

He made this announce-ment during a brief interactionwith the media in stateCongress headquarters inJammu on Tuesday.

Flanked by minority lead-ers of the Congress party, SaeedKhan, also announced that thecongress party will also releaseall those prisoners currentlykept behind bars due to ter-rorism, to restore peace in theregion.

Addressing a press confer-ence in Jammu Haji SagheerSaeed Khan said, BJP leadersthat have carried out thesekillings, how ever big the leaderis, a new law will be formedand the BJP leaders will be sentto the gallows. Referring to therecent incidents of violencewhich rocked Bulandshehr inUttar Pradesh,Congress leaderclaimed if 'terrorists' of BajrangDal,'terrorists of RSS, 'terrorists'of BJP can be compensatedthen why compensation cannotbe given to innocent peoplekilled during terrorism inKashmir valley.He saidCongress party will also imple-ment Minority Commissionin the State, if voted to power.

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Hours after the CentralBoard of Film

Certification (CBFC) three dia-logue cuts suggested in thefilms, the makers onWednesday went ahead andreleased the trailers of theMarathi and Hindi versions ofthe much-awaited biopic onlate Shiv Sena chief BalThackeray “Thackeray”.

Shiv Sena presidentUddhav Thackeray, who waspresent at the release of thetrailers of both Hindi andMarathi versions of“Thackeray” held at theCarnival IMAX theatre atWadala in north-centralMumbai, responded tersely tothe three dialogue cuts sug-gested by the CBFC. “Whateverhas happened has happened.But there is no point in hidingthings. If the CBFC does nottake immediate decision (inclearing the film), it is better ifit would be better if the imme-diate decision in Babri matter”.

Expected to be used by theShiv Sena as a vehicle for itscampaign in the run-up to the2019 Lok Sabha polls,“Thackeray” features actorsNawazuddin Siddiqui andAmrita Rao in the lead roles asBal Thackeray and his wifeMeenatai respectively.

Executive Editor of theSena mouth-piece “Saamana”and Sena spokesperson SanjayRaut has only written the scriptand screen play, but he has alsoproduced the film. Well-knownMarathi filmmaker AbhijitPanse has directed the film.

There is confusion aboutthe exact date of the release ofthe film. While the makershave said the film will releaseon January 25, 2019, Uddhavsaid that the film would hit thescreen across the country onJanuary 23, 2019 – the birthanniversary of late Thackeray.

Responding to the cutssuggested by the CBFC, Rautsaid: “When we talk of late

Balasabeh, who will decide asto what is right or wrong ?. Thefilm is true story of lateBalasaheb. Balasaheb’s life is nota fiction. Balasaheb’s life was anopen book, Not event relatingto Balasaheb’s life is hidden. Ittakes time CBFC to understandthis. For some people, it hastaken 50 years to understandfor what Balasaheb. Forinstance, Madhya Pradesh’snew chief minister Kamal Nathis now talking about preferenceto local people – a thing thatBalasaheb crusaded 50 yearsago”.

Of the three cuts suggest-ed by CBFC, two are remarks“ Utao Lungi bajao Pungi” and“Endu Gundu walle” that lateThackeray had made in refer-ence to south Indian migrantssettled in then Bombay in latesixties which witnessed attacksby the Shiv Sainks against themigrants from south India.The third reference relates tothe Babri Masjid.

The two trailers – Marathiand Hindi – have different setof dialogues. The Marathi trail-er talks about the lack of jobsfor local because of south

Indian migrants,late Thackeray’sreferences aboutthem, Shiv Sena’sagainst Air Indiademanding jobsfor locals, hisutterances againstlate PrimeMinister MorarjiDesai, his famousdialogues “AapApne Desh kecricket bare mesochthe hain mecricket khelnewaledesh ke bare me

sochta hun” and “RamlallaPakistan me Paida Hue the?”

The Hindi version trailercontains dialogues like “Bheekmangne acha hain, goondabanke apna hak china”, threathanded to then Union HomeMinister Morarji Desai (forearly resolution to the Belgaum(Karnataka-Maharashtra) bor-der dispute) that he will not beallowed to enter Maharashtra,agitations to force cinema own-ers in Mumbai to screenMarathi films, his explanationfor saying “Jai Hind, JaiMaharashtra” ( For me, nationcomes first, then my state),court room scenes where heinsists that Lord Ram was bornin Ayodhya and rebuts a lawyerquestioning as how sure he wasthat Lord Ram was born inAyodhya by saying “ Nahi thoRamlalla Pakistan me PaidaHue the kya?”, his sayingwhether he is right or wrongwill be decided by the peopleof the country and how he han-dles media questions aboutthe Sena’s role in the commu-nal riots in Mumbai in thepost-Babri Masjid demolitionperiod.

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Apparently miffed over theexclusion of the lone

Samajwadi Party MLA in theCabinet of Congress-ledGovernment in MadhyaPradesh, SP chief AkhileshYadav said that his party wouldgo for an alliance of non-Congress parties for the 2019Lok Sabha elections.

The SP chief slammed theCongress for not including thelone SP legislator in the MPCabinet saying, “He wasexcluded even as my partyextended unconditional sup-port to the Kamal Nath gov-ernment.”

“Samajwadi Party will con-test the 2019 Lok Sabha polls inalliance with non-Congressparties but will keep all optionsopen and decide about it in nearfuture,” said the former ChiefMinister of Uttar Pradesh.

“I want to thank both theCongress and the BharatiyaJanata Party for removing allobstacles from my party’s wayand enabling it to charter anindependent course in politics,”Akhilesh said.

Without naming any party,the SP chief said, “I remembereach word said for theSamajwadi Party over itsalliance with other parties for2019 Lok Sabha elections.”

Akhilesh lashed out at theBJP for making him realise thathe was from the backward

caste. “I never thought aboutmy caste and wanted to takealong all sections of society fordevelopment but the BJP wonthe 2017 UP assembly poll bydeceit and cheating the people.”

On attempts of TelanganaCM K Chandrasekhar Rao tofloat a third front comprisingnon-BJP and non-Congressparties, Akhilesh opined, “Iam looking forward to meetingthe Telangana CM. We werescheduled to meet either onDecember 25 or 26 but hemeeting did not materialise for

some reason. I will soon seekappointment with KCR andmay go to Hyderabad to meethim.”

In an apparent dig at theYogi Adityanath governmentfor its decision to install thestatue of former Prime MinisterAtal Bihari Vajpayee at LokBhawan, the SP chief said,“The BJP government hasstarted a new tradition byputting up statues of politicalleaders in the building. We willfollow them when our partycomes to power.”

Targeting Governor RamNaik over law and order,Akhilesh said, “When I was theChief Minister, the Raj Bhawanwas hyperactive over law andorder situation. The Governoris now maintaining a studiedsilence and those responsiblefor deterioration of law andorder are being honoured inRaj Bhawan.”

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Lucknow: Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) chief ShivpalSingh Yadav said that he was willing to join hands with theCongress to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2019 LokSabha elections.

To a question on the possibility of a coalition for the com-ing general election, Yadav said in Bareilly, “We have our party’sorganisation in 75 districts of UP. The party has decided to con-test all seats against the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Fordefeating the BJP, we can also enter into an alliance with theCongress.”

Shivpal stressed that all those talking about forming a mor-cha to defeat the BJP should also talk to his party as it was readyto deliberate on the issue.

On the controversy over Lord Hanuman, the PSPL chief said,“Lord Hanuman is a God and those who are out to confine himto a particular caste have a very narrow mindset”.

Yadav also reiterated his stand on the Ram temple, saying thatthe temple should not be constructed on disputed land. PNS

Lucknow: Lok Sabha SpeakerSumitra Mahajan onWednesday termed lawyers aspriests in the temple of law andhighlighted their role in thefreedom struggle.

“The lawyers’ communityplayed a vital role in the free-dom struggle. What a priestdoes in the temple, the advo-cates do the same in the tem-ple of law,” asserted Mahajanwhile addressing the conclud-ing ceremony of the three-dayconvention of Akhil BharatiyaAdhivakta Sangh in Lucknowon Wednesday.

Attacking the #Metoo cam-paign, Mahajan said that advo-cates should feel their respon-sibility towards the society andinstead highlight #Ytoo.

“Advocates at present areeyeing high packages by gettingengaged in the corporate worldinstead of practising in courts andfacilitating justice to the commonman. Lawyers have to maintainintegrity and they should feeltheir responsibility in building uphigh standard in the society,” theLok Sabha Speakers said.

Claiming that even herhusband and she were advo-

cates, Mahajan said that lawyersshould remain aware and facil-itate the government in imple-menting new laws enacted toforward justice to the last per-son of the society.

She also appealed to thelawyers’ association to comeforward not just in improving thesystem, but also with suggestionson how India’s judicial systemcould be strengthened further.

Speaking at the function,West Bengal Governor KeshariNath Tripathi said that theAdhivakta Parishad was anexample of showing the way tothe society and facilitating jus-tice to all. He added that advo-cates should not indulge in anyagitation or protest so that theHigh Court has to take cogni-sance and ban their unwantedstir and declare it unlawful.

Tripathi highlighted theimportance of Public InterestLitigation claiming that it hadbecome a powerful tool to extendjustice or check unlawful activi-ties of Government or evenexpose corrupt practices.However, he cautioned that peo-ple should keep in mind that suchtools should be not misused.PTI

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Union Minister for ExternalAffairs Sushma Swaraj’s state-ment in the Lok Sabha onWednesday, December 12,2018, undoubtedly makes for

a perfect politico-diplomatic posturing byIndia towards Pakistan. However, whatmade Swaraj’s statement stand out was itscarefully crafted semantics. Thus read thestated position of New Delhi over Jammu& Kashmir: “India’s ‘consistent and prin-cipled’ position is that the entire State ofJammu & Kashmir has been, is, and shallbe an integral part of India”.

Spot on the Minister was, as she con-tinued and concluded: “Pakistan hasbeen in an illegal occupation of approx-imately 78,000 square kilometre of theIndian territory in the State of Jammu &Kashmir…under the so-called ‘BoundaryAgreement’ signed between China andPakistan on March 2, 1963; Pakistan ille-gally ceded 5,180 square kilometre of theIndian territory in Pakistan-occupiedJammu & Kashmir to China.

“We have repeatedly and consistent-ly called upon Pakistan to immediatelyvacate all areas under its illegal occupa-tion, most recently on November 30,2018,” the Minister informed theParliament. Yet, the picture appears grimas “Pakistan continues to be in illegal andforcible occupation of a part of Jammu &Kashmir”, she asserted. What then doesthis mean to India? It’s simple, yet adverse,to say the least.

That the “illegal occupation of approx-imately 78,000 square kilometre of theIndian territory” by Pakistan does not fig-ure in Delhi-Islamabad bilateral anymore. Swaraj’s clarification to theParliament on Pakistan, however, did notmention that with the “so-called‘Boundary Agreement’ signed betweenChina and Pakistan on March 2, 1963”,and with the ceding of “5,180 square kilo-metre of the Indian territory in Pakistan-occupied Jammu & Kashmir”, Chinaautomatically emerged as a stake holderwith the very physical presence of itstroops and civilians. This amounts toChinese occupation of the Indian territo-ry. It’s the presence of foreign China as‘third party’ deep inside Jammu &Kashmir. It’s a live ‘dragon in the room’.

In other words, China has been ‘exist-ing’, though illegally, deep inside theIndian territory since more than 55 years.And there is no way that China is goingto withdraw voluntarily, or show somediplomatic niceties like Jawaharlal Nehruconsistently did throughout the 1950stowards China, or give up illegal occupa-tion of the Indian territory and retreatfrom there in the foreseeable future.

Especially, since (now) China’s Belt &Road Initiative (BRI) and the ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) aredeeply entrenched within, and pass through

the State of Jammu & Kashmir.For China, it’s a question

of geo-politics, geo-econom-ics and geo-strategy for itssuper power status-aspiration.It constitutes an hydra-head-ed future game-plan: Control,rather than visible physicaloccupation, of key land-lockedterritories, where the ‘greatgame’ was played by theempires of Russia and Britain.It’s also the terrain which wasdreamily aspired by Hanrulers from far off Hwang Hovalley and who saw recurringaggression by numerous hos-tile sultans, badshahs andprincipalities across the corri-dor connecting Istanbul withthe great alluvial soil of SouthAsia. The terrain of Jammu &Kashmir also connects themighty and lofty landmass ofEuro-Asia around the Pamirand the Karakorum withdeclining demography andpromising mineralogy witheasy access to warm waterports of the Indian Ocean(which the Romanovs andCzars of Russia always dreamtof, and yet always failed toturn it into reality).

Plain speaking, therefore,there doesn’t seem to be aneasy way out (especially in the21st century), to either alterthe possession of physicalgeography of Jammu &Kashmir by the menacing tri-flanking China-Pakistani axis,

or owing to the immenselycomplicated demography anddistribution thereof acrossSouth Asia.

India has been badly cor-nered for its own past inabil-ity to reclaim (and even retain)its own land from ‘illegaloccupation’ of Pakistan andChina. Unlike China, Indiahas shown a peculiar propen-sity to cede its own territory toforeign country, thereby dilut-ing its own professed stand atthe diplomatic table; tamelycapitulating even when theresimply did not exist any ‘causeof action’ to do so.

It may sound bizarre,unpleasant and harsh, butrecalling past reality of India’sconspicuous fai lure onJammu & Kashmir may be ofsome consolation and form alesson for the future. It shouldnot be repeated, else thingscan go worse than what it wasin the past.

Thus, when the Ministerof External Affairs was refer-ring to “illegal occupation ofJammu & Kashmir,” her wordspertained to the whole terri-tory thereof which legallyacceded to India on October26, 1947, following the sameprocedure and documenta-tion as done by 548 otherprincely States vis-à-vis NewDelhi (with 16 acceding toPakistan).

Logically and legally, it,

therefore, follows that whenany of the “illegal occupiedland of Jammu & Kashmir” isreclaimed by India, as wasdone by the valiant soldiers ofthe Indian Army (under theable military leadership ofZorawar Chand Bakshi andRanjit Singh Dayal) in HajiPeer Pass in the 1965 India-Pakistan war, was it not a caseof supreme folly to returnIndia’s own territory in thediplomatic table of Tashkent inJanuary 1966 by the galaxy ofIndian stars themselves?

All the more, as it hap-pened within 35 months of theChina-Pakistan illegal occupa-tion of Indian territory ofJammu & Kashmir? Had Indianot surrendered so tamely atTashkent, the China-Pakistanaxis would have been underconspicuous pressure pertain-ing to their illegal actions.

Hence, this one single actdamaged India till no end.Suddenly, India’s avowed legalposition on Jammu &Kashmir appeared fragile andillegal when our country sur-rendered its own territory toPakistan, thereby giving theworld an impression as if HajiPeer Pass was Pakistan’s bonafide possession and that Indiahad illegally usurped it duringthe course of the war in 1965.

Hence, New Delhi wasmorally, logically and diplo-matically bound to “return the

Jammu & Kashmir land toPakistanis”, thereby legitimis-ing their illegal act. What anirony! In one stroke, legalIndia became illegal! Andgrossly, illegal China-Pakistanoccupation of the Indian landcontinued, unchallenged,unharmed and unaffected,thereby transformingIslamabad-Beijing duo’s per-fidy and illegal act into anindisputably ‘legal act’!

Seen in this background,the bona fide statement inParliament by the ForeignMinister needs to be supple-mented with/by a sustainedteaching of the Constitution ofIndia to the members ofIndian legislature who act asexecutive and guardians of lawwhile protecting the territoryand sovereignty of India.

Article 1 (1) of theConstitution is explicit and cat-egorical: “India, that is Bharat,shall be a Union of States” andArticle 1 (2) stipulates “TheStates and the territories there-of shall be..” “(c) such other ter-ritories as may be acquired.”The point is loud and clear.India can ‘acquire territories’.India cannot surrender terri-tory, least of all, its own terri-tory. That is the crux, and theruling class of India has to fol-low the Constitution thereof,in letter and in spirit.

(The writer is an alumnus,National Defence College)

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Sir — Prime Minister NarendraModi repeatedly insulted thefarmers from Tamil Nadu andother States, who demonstratedin Delhi for almost a year. Hesought relief by refusing to meetthem even once and also used thepolice force. One wonders howcould the Prime Minister declarein Odisha that his party’s focus ison the farm sector. Given theVyapam scam, Lalit Modi fiasco,and the multi-crore rice scam inChhattisgarh, all of which hap-pened during the BJP’s rule, it isan irony that Prime MinisterModi is calling the NaveenPatnaik Government corrupt. Itis not the Congress that is dup-ing the farmers but the BJP thathas gone back on its electionpromises to the poor farmers.

Shalini GeraldChennai

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Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Out in the cold” (December26). It is shameful that millions ofour very own people have to leada hell-resembling life out on the

streets, enduring scorching heat,biting cold and monsoon deluge.Far from remaining sympatheticto their woes, privileged Indiansand political masters scandalous-ly boast about ‘elitism’ in attain-ing Mars orbit and ‘might’ by per-forming mass Yoga on streets.

When the urgent need is touplift the poor and the downtrod-den by ensuring minimumhuman rights and dignity for

them, concerned authoritiessquander billions of money inspace missions, bullet trains, sky-kissing statues and lofty flags toreap electoral dividends. If Indiareally wants to attain trueprogress, then it must first ensurebasic human rights of food, attire,shelter, medicine, education andjustice for all.

Kajal Chatterjee Kolkata

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Sir — Retention of coalition part-ners within the NDA fold is animportant exercise for the BJP.This is why the party played itscard really well in parting with 17seats for the Janata Dal (United)and six for the Lok Janshakti Party.

For political opponents, thenew arrangement between the

three parties has become anobject of ridicule. They are nowlaughing at the plight of the BJPfor its climb-down.

But, it is a known, that in pol-itics, conditions do not alwaysremain the same. Seat-sharingratio depends upon prevailingconditions at the time of elections.Before JD(U) chief Nitish Kumarcame back to the NDA, when theBihar Assembly election was held,the performance of the BJP was nobetter than that of JD(U). Assuch, sharing equal number ofseats with the JD(U) is a respect-ful bargain. made by the BJP.

KV SeetharamaiahHassan

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Sir — The massive tsunami thathit Indonesia’s coast and beachesrecently left more than 300 peo-ple dead. The world communitymust extend helping hand andhelp the country and its peoplecome up out of the difficult situation.

ShubhamVia email

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The National DemocraticAlliance (NDA) Government’sefforts to drive the Swachh

Bharat Abhiyan, coupled with itssanitation drive, rested on ensuringthe building of more toilets inrecord time. It is to the credit of theGovernment that registered substan-tial improvements in the building oftoilets. The Government’s toilet-building drive spurred some not-for-profit institutions and individuals tobuild more toilets, making the entireeffort a truly national one. But didthe Government misread therequirement? This uncomfortablequestion does make us sit up becausetremendous amounts of money havebeen spent on the building of toiletsand their publicity.

The question whether theGovernment got it right or not wasfuelled by a recent World Bankreport that concluded that merebuilding of toilets won’t stop Indiansfrom defecating in the open as longas their attitude towards latrines donot change.

The research was conducted byVarun Gauri, Tasmia Rahman andIman Sen. The researchers surveyedfive villages in the Ghazipur districtof eastern Uttar Pradesh. The Statehas a high burden of open defeca-tion. The first round of the surveywas conducted at the householdlevel, across 204 households thatowned latrines, between Januaryand February 2017. The secondphase was conducted in March2017. The surveys threw up someinteresting findings.

Researchers measured four keyaspects of open defecation:Defecation practices, acceptabilityof open defecation, enforcement oftoilet use and notions of purityattached to toilet construction.

They found that around 40 per centof the people, who had toilets intheir house, did not use them.Many even associated toilets withgandagi (dirt).

Further, people’s beliefs wereclosely linked to their perception ofwhat others believed. This meansthat social norms have a big say onindividual attitudes and that moretoilets in more homes may not nec-essarily mean more cleanliness inthe environs outside.

The World Bank research hasgiven the authorities and the peo-ple of this country an opportunityto understand that proper planningis the need of hour before weembark on a nation-wide mission,like Swachh Bharat. This researchshould have been commissioned bythe Government before it embarkedon this mission that involved mil-lions of taxpayers’ money.

Designing of facilities withoutcreating awareness about it is akinto putting the horse before the cart.And this is what happened to

Swachh Bharat. Our policy-makersshould have given it a properthought before making efforts tobuild toilets. Desired change inbehaviour related to toilet useshould have been the first step.

Eliminating open defecationhas been a herculean task for India.Since 1970, many programmes havebeen initiated but all failed to bringthe desired result. However, thelessons learnt from the effortsundertaken till date is that reduc-tion of open defecation needs notjust access to improved sanitationfacilities, but also a serious effort tochange mindsets.

In 2014, India had almost 70per cent of the rural populationdefecating in the open. To curtailthis rampant problem, theGovernment claimed that around94 per cent of the rural householdshave been provided with toilets tilldate. But the question remains: Howmany of these toilets are actuallybeing used?

The Government can still turn

around the project and get the pop-ulation to actually use the built toi-lets. For change to happen, there hasto be initiation of sufficient deter-rents against open defecation — beit in the form of penalties or othermeasures of the similar kind.

Countries such as China, too,were grappled with the same prob-lem during the early 1990s but theambition to catapult itself to theworld stage as a developed nationforced the country to adopt toughmeasures to keep a check on opendefecation. Today, the country isalmost open defecation free. Chinais just one of the many examples.There are other countries, too, thatIndia can emulate.

Rural India needs to be opendefecation free as quickly as possi-ble due to other pressing problems.Apart from environmental con-cerns, the issue of open defecationis deeply connected with hygieneproblems — diseases and infections.Thanks to open defecation, a num-ber of diseases, that have been

expelled from other countries, haveraised their ugly heads once again.

Local water bodies and top-soilare the largest sufferers of opendefecation while the local popula-tion only experiences the resultanthealth problems. This aspect needsto be brought to the notice of thelocal villagers in order to increasegeneral awareness.

India can rein in open defeca-tion by launching a nationwideawareness campaign, which is con-nected with the ever-growing num-ber of new toilets. Strategy must bebased on self-respect. Only this canbring instant results. TheGovernment has set October 2,2019, as the deadline to make Indiaopen defecation free. However, ifthe World Bank reports results areanything to by, it will be clear thatthe Government needs to give anextra push to heighten awarenessamong the people about the bene-fit of using toilets.

(The writer is an environmentaljournalist)

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The recent expeditious filling up ofjudicial vacancies, right from theposition of the judicial magistrate tothat of a Supreme Court judge,speaks volumes about the monu-

mental task undertaken by the Chief Justice ofIndia (CJI), Justice Ranjan Gogoi, to reducependency of cases at various Indian courts.

Justice Gogoi seems to be resolute in doingthe same as he has already held myriad col-legium meetings for the filling up of vacancies.Thereafter, he made appointments of judgesto different High Courts and the SupremeCourt. As far as the lower judiciary is con-cerned, Gogoi passed many orders, wherein heasked the High Courts to fill all vacancies ina time-bound manner.

However, the filling up of vacancies in thejudiciary may just be one way of managing thebewildering problem of pendency of cases. Thechorus for the establishment of the NationalCourt of Appeal (NCA) has once again gainedmomentum with several academicians mak-ing demands for its establishment. Theybelieve a Court of Appeal can stem the bur-geoning pendency of cases. Their argument isthat the NCA would not just help annihilatethe problem of pendency but would also helpresolve multiple issues that plague the coun-try’s legal system.

Initially, the Supreme Court of India wasentrusted upon the primary responsibility ofinterpreting ambiguities in various laws andthe Constitution that may arise from time totime. However, with the passage of time, thetop court skewed away from that responsibil-ity and shifted its focus on dealing with appealsarising from the decision of the High Courts.

The Law Commission of India, in its 125threport, highlighted that the disposal andestablishment of Constitutional Benches hasdeclined from 15.5 per cent in 1950-54 to 0.12per cent in 2005-2009. Thus, the growing needof finding an alternative to disposing theappeals was felt by the apex court so that thesanctity of the court as a Constitutional enti-ty could be restored.

The proposed NCA was supposed to be anadjudicating body that would deal with alltypes of matters, except those relating to theConstitution or public importance, whichwould ordinarily fall under the domain of theSupreme Court. The NCA will, thus, act as anintermediary between the High Courts and theSupreme Court with regional Benches inDelhi, Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata. TheNCA would also act as the last appellate courtfrom where no appeal would lie with theSupreme Court.

The idea of the establishment of the NCAin different parts of the country can be datedback to the time of the formulation of theConstitution when Jaspat Roy Kapoor suggest-ed the same. Despite being seconded by BRAmbedkar, the NCA could never find its wayinto the Constitution. Later, the 95th, 125thand the 229th report of the Law Commissionalso dealt with the issue of NCA but to no avail.Interestingly, the Supreme Court, too, has hadits fair share of comments about the NCA.

In the case of Bihar Legal Support Society

vs The Chief Justice of India, the court proposedthe formation of the NCA with four differentregional branches. In 2016, the apex courtordered for the formulation of a Constitutional Bench to decide on the viabil-ity of the NCA in view of the pendency of casesin the country.

People, who supported the establishmentof the NCA, attributed multiple reasons for thesame. Apart from the argument of pendencyand the recreation of the Supreme Court as theConstitutional court, a major block in the lit-igant’s path of seeking justice is the cost of lit-igation. From the commencement of the suitin the district court to its final disposal in theSupreme Court, the path that a litigant walkson, is filled with various applications, adjourn-ments, inter-court appeals, et al.

Added to this is the burden of travellingfrom one part of the country to the other. NickRobinson in his report, ‘Interpreting theConstitution: Supreme Court ConstitutionBenches since Independence’ showed thatappeals to the Supreme Court are made by lit-igants belonging to nearby areas. This issue canbe readily resolved by the setting up of fourregional NCAs in four corners of the nation.

Although the idea of NCA might appearto be very appealing, however, to guarantee itseffectiveness, several steps need to be taken.First, the very practice of filing frivolousappeals will have to be discouraged. This canbe accomplished if heavy penalties are imposedon the litigants, who waste the court’s time. Buthistory is a proof that this solution has not beensuccessful.

Despite the apex court laying down guide-lines for the filing of Public Interest Litigation(PIL) in State of Uttaranchal vs Balwant SinghChaufal, the practice of filing frivolous PILsis far from over yet. For the working of theNCA in the most efficient form, strict adher-ence to various guidelines will have to beensured, otherwise the body would act just as

another additional step before the SupremeCourt of India.

Another important aspect to be looked atbefore the formulation of the NCA will be therules surrounding the appointment of judges.The hierarchy of judges, their transfer and sub-sequent elevation are all questions that haveto be firmly resolved before the NCA can beset up. Attorney General KK Venugopal hadearlier suggested that for the smooth function-ing of the NCA, the age of the judges shouldbe increased from 65 years to 70 years. Thissuggestion must be taken seriously becauseusually, the years of experience of judges cometo a stop at the age of 62 or 65, without prop-er exhaustion of their mental faculties. For thisreason (in addition to that of transparency),in the US, there is no retirement age for thejudges. They hold their offices till their vol-untary retirement or death.

It has been reported that in India, one judgehandles over 1,800 cases. This not only resultsin the improper and untimely dispensation ofjustice, but also staggers the speed of develop-ment of the Constitutional jurisprudence in thecountry. The setting up of the NCA would allowample time for the adjudication of the rightsof disputing parties as well as for the develop-ment of law in the Supreme Court.

It is worthy to note that if the idea of NCAdoes conceptualise, India would not be the firstcountry in the world to have introduced it.Colombia, Australia, the United States, France,Germany, Iran, Italy, Russia, South Africa andmany other countries already have in placesuch an adjudicatory body. Thus, it can be opti-mistically presumed that the conception ofNCA will help reduce the problems which haveplagued our judicial system for centuries.

(Raghav Pandey is an Assistant Professor ofLaw at Maharashtra National Law University,Mumbai and Neelabh Bist is a Fourth Year stu-dent of Law at Maharashtra National LawUniversity, Mumbai)

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After gyrating nearly 700points on Wednesday,

benchmark equity indicesreversed initial losses andended higher, driven by arebound in financial stocksamid firming trend in the USmarket.

The BSE Sensex broke itsthree-day falling streak by end-ing 179.79 points, or 0.51 percent, higher at 35,649.94. Intra-day, the index fell to a low of35,010.82.

The broader NSE Niftytoo recovered to reclaim the10,700 level, rising 66.35 points,or 0.62 per cent, to 10,729.85.

“Market recovered in thesecond half following a recov-ery in Dow futures. At currentlevels, Nifty 50 is on track todeliver nominal positivereturns in CY18. Nifty is theonly index among large mar-kets that is positive for the cal-endar year,” said ViralBerawala, CIO of Essel MutualFund.

The 30-share index hadended the previous session271.92 points lower at

35,470.15, while the Nifty hadlost 90.50 points.

“Globally, investors wouldclosely track political develop-ments in US and slowdown inglobal economies. In the shortterm, liquidity and sentimentare set to drive the market,”Hemang Jani, Head-Advisory,Sharekhan by BNP Paribas,said.

Nifty ended above 10,700levels led by financials, FMCGstocks, he added.

The biggest gainers onboth bourses were BhartiAirtel, HDFC duo, L&T, BajajAuto, Kotak Bank, RelianceIndustries, Axis Bank, ICICIBank, SBI, ITC and BajajFinance, rising up to 4 per cent.

On the other hand, SunPharma, Yes Bank, TCS,NTPC, Tata Motors, Infosys

and ONGC fell up to 2 percent.

The rupee, meanwhile,gained against the US dollar,and was trading at 70.08 perdollar.

Brent crude, the interna-tional benchmark, was up 0.73per cent at $51.14 per barrel.

On a net basis, foreignportfolio investors (FPIs) soldshares worth �577.10 croreMonday, while domestic insti-tutional investors (DIIs) werenet buyers to the tune of�186.14 crore, provisional dataavailable with BSE showed.

Elsewhere in Asia, Korea’sKospi ended 1.31 per centlower, Hong Kong’s Hang Sengfell 0.40 per cent and ShanghaiComposite Index slipped 0.26per cent; while, Japan’s Nikkeirose 0.89 per cent.

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Cash strapped national car-rier Air India should dis-

close its assets abroad andearnings from them, theCentral InformationCommission has ruled.

It “summarily” rejected thecontention of Air India that theinformation sought by activistAseem Takyar regarding rent,lease fee fetched by it fromApril 01, 2008 with regard to itsproperties abroad; demarcationplan and total area of theseproperties, arrears attractsexemption of commercial con-fidence under the RTI Act.

“Commission summarilyrejects the application ofSection 8(1)(d) of the RTI Actin the matter as CPIO has failedto provide any tenable justifi-cation for the same,”Information CommissionerDivya Prakash Sinha said.

Section 8(1)(d) exemptsfrom disclosure the informa-tion which is of commercial

confidence, trade secrets orintellectual property, the dis-closure of which would harmthe competitive position of athird party, unless the compe-tent authority is satisfied thatlarger public interest warrantsthe disclosure of such infor-mation.

“Appellant has merelysought to know the amount ofrent, lease fee and arrears ofrent accruing to Air India fromits properties abroad and dis-closure of this information canby no stretch of imaginationimpact aspects of commercialconfidence,” Sinha said.

He noted that arguments ofAir India Central PublicInformation Officer in writtensubmission appear rather fee-ble and moreover during hear-ing no argument was forth-coming from him.

“CPIO is directed to pro-vide available and specificinformation...Of the RTIApplication for the periodmentioned therein...,” he said.

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The country’s largest car-maker Maruti Suzuki

India (MSI) on Wednesdaysaid it is recalling 5,900 unitsof its light commercial vehi-cle Super Carry to replacefaulty fuel filter.

The company will inspecta possible defect in fuel filterof 5,900 Super Carry vehiclesmanufactured between April26, 2018, and August 1, 2018,MSI said in a regulatory fil-ing.

The recall also includesvehicles in which fuel filterhas been replaced in fieldduring this period, it added.

MSI dealers will startcontacting owners of the sus-pected vehicles Wednesdayonwards to inspect andreplace faulty part free ofcost, it said.

Recall campaigns areundertaken globally to recti-fy faults that may potential besafety defects.

Earlier in October, MSIhad announced recall of 640units of Super Carry to fix apossible defect in the fuelpump supply.

The recall covered SuperCarry units manufacturedbetween January 20 and July14, 2018.

MSI rolls out Super Carryfrom its Gurugram facility.The vehicle comes equippedwith a 793-cc diesel engine.

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More than a year has passed, since theNDA Government rolled out the

Goods and Services Tax (GST), on 1 July,2017. The introduction of this indirect taxregime marked the end of over a decadeof squabbling, where politicians struggledto build accord across party lines.Heralded as India’s greatest tax reform, theaim of the GST was to free Indians frommultiple taxes and setting the base for aunified common market — One Nation,One Tax, One Market.

However, with the introduction ofGST came multiple challenges related toimplementation both at the organisationand the country level. Some of the com-mon challenges that organisations facedpost GST implementation were change inbusiness processes, change in productpricing, Tax positions, Transition andCompliances. However, to ensure theunbroken implementation of GST law onnotified entities, the Government entrust-ed on Chartered Accountants and CostAccountant to conduct audit and submitreport under the notified form. Instance,the Section 35(5) read with Section 44 andRule 80(3) of Goods and Services Tax(GST) Laws, provides that every registeredperson, whose aggregate turnover duringa financial year exceeds two crore rupees,is required to get its accounts audited. InGST, there are 3 types of audits, Audit byChartered Accountant or CostAccountant, Audit by Department andSpecial Audit.

The copy of auditedannual accountsand a reconciliation statement, duly cer-tified, in Form GSTR-9C has to be sub-mitted on or before the 31st Day ofDecember (extended to 30th June 2019forFY 2017-18 by Government in its 31stGST council meeting) by the tax payer. Inthis regard, the Government has also noti-fied Form comprising of reconciliationstatement, certification, records, returns

and other documents maintained by theregistered person to verify the correctnessof declared turnover, taxes paid, refundclaimed and input tax credit availed andto assess his compliance with the GSTprovisions. With the higheremphasis oncompliancesby Government and the com-prehensive reporting burden on compa-nies, GST reconciliations and documen-tations will not be an easy task, butGSTaudit allows companies to self-examine thetax positions taken and allow improvingthe same for next year. To ensure timelyand efficient compliance of GST audit,companies should appoint their GSTauditor, plan way forward, start gatheringdocuments, and create internal controlsfor been GST law compliant.

It’s important that companies startpreparing for these audits in order to avoidany loss of credits, applicability of inter-est/penalties, etc. Some of the key aspectsto be considered by companies duringaudit should be:

Reconciliations: Ensure reconcilia-tions of output tax/input tax between thebooks of accounts, returns and e-waybillsissued;

Taxpositions: Review the tax posi-tions adopted and also whether these arecorrectly reflected in documentation;

Credits: Review if any ineligible cred-its have been availed and, in the process,also ensure completeness of credits;

Reverse Charge: check all inward sup-ply of goods or services which are coveredunder reverse charge mechanism andwhether tax has been remitted in capac-ity of recipient of supply, where required;

Export/RFD01: check the optionselected to supply for export without pay-ment of integrated tax and has paid thetax or vice versa.

Also, it is essential to take make noteof the sector wise considerations duringthe GST audit. Some of these include:

Banking /NBFC Sector — Reversal ofITC in according to the rule 38 of the

CGST Act, 2017, & time limit for issuanceof Invoice is 45 days (Instead of 30 daysas per general rule).

E-Commerce Sector — E-commerceaggregators are made responsible underthe GST law for deducting and deposit-ing tax at the rate of 1% from each of thetransaction. Any dealers/traders sellinggoods/services online would get the pay-ment after deduction of 1% tax. It is a sig-nificant change which would increase a lotof compliance and administration cost foronline aggregators.

Exporters- Exporter will export underthe Letter of Undertaking (LUT) thatwould be valid for a financial year orBond, or with payment of tax. Filling ofRFD-01 for claiming the Input tax cred-it paid on the inward supplies.

Real Estate Sector — Sale of immov-able properties before or after completioncertificates are issued, sale of propertyunder the credit linked subsidy scheme.Reconciliation will be an issue becausebuilders recognise the income based ofpercentage completion method as perIND-AS which is not in line with time ofsupply as per GST.

Presumptive Taxpayers (LifeInsurance companies, Travel Agents) —Turnover in Financial statements wouldbe different from turnover in GST.

Sectors where outward supplies areexempted (Like Power Sector,Universities) -Focus on Reverse chargemechanism liability to be discharged.

Apart from the above, there arenumerous issues which taxpayers mightface during audit depending on thenature of business. Therefore it is well sug-gested that taxpayers should start work-ing on annual GST return with their audi-tors in order to execute the complianceswell before time.

(The article is contributed by CAManeet Pal, IP Pasricha & Co, Partner.Views expressed are personal)

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Helo, a regional languagesocial media platform, on

Wednesday unveils the topthree most popular trendingtopics that have engaged usersnationwide.

According to Helo, thisyear’s festive Diwali seasonwas the biggest trending topicof 2018, as the platform gar-nered over 600 million views,with users exchanging wish-es and engaging with posts byIndian celebrities.

The second most popular

trending topic among Helousers was the launch of thefilm 2.0. The release of thisbiggest Indian science fictionf i lm of the year lastNovember garnered over 220million views on the plat-form. This trending topicsparked discussions aroundthe film as well as on the top-ics of science and technolo-gy, resulting in various postsand memes.

Helo is available in India in14 vernacular languages,including Hindi, Telugu, Tamil,Malayalam and more.

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The commerce ministry is infavour of hiking import

duty on aluminium with aview to support domestic man-ufacturers, Union MinisterSuresh Prabhu has said.

“That is a proposal to pro-tect our domestic industry.The proposal is under exami-nation and we support theproposal,” Prabhu added.

The Commerce andIndustry Minister said thatthere has been a complaint byaluminium industry aboutdumping of the commodity.

He was replying to a ques-tion about the Government’splan to increase import duty onaluminium.

The industry has demand-ed increase in import duties onaluminium scrap and primaryaluminium amid a high growthin inward shipments of theseitems. They are demanding toraise the duty on primary andscrap aluminium to 10 per cent.

Currently, the basic cus-toms duty on aluminium scrapand primary aluminium is 2.5per cent and 7.5 per cent,respectively.

Besides this, domesticplayers have also urged toimpose minimum import priceand some kind of quota on theimports for the user industry.

Total production of alu-minium in India is about 4 mil-lion tonnes and consumptionis about 3.6 million tonnes.

The demand comes in thewake of the US imposing 10per cent duty on certain alu-minium products. China toohas raised the duties.

Aluminium is required bythe industries like automobile,construction, consumer goodsetc.

All these industries aregrowing in India and the coun-try is producing sufficientamount of the required metaldomestically, an industryexpert has said.

As per estimates, duringthe first quarter of the currentfiscal, imports of aluminiumscrap increased to 36,000tonnes from 16,000 tonnes.

Further talking about a pro-posal to cut export duty on ironore, the Commerce and IndustryMinister said the Ministry hassought views of steel and minesministry on the issue.

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Markets regulator Sebi hasslapped a penalty of �10

crore on three promoters ofMan Industries for failing tomake an open offer to thecompany’s shareholders.

The three promoters areJPA Holdings Pvt Ltd, NikhilMansukhani and AnitaMansukhani.

The regulator conducted aprobe in the shareholding ofMan Industries during June toSeptember 2010.

It observed that the share-holding of the company’s pro-moters increased from 51.29per cent to 55.18 per cent dueto acquisition of shares in openmarket as well as by conversionof warrants.

Under Substantia lAcquisition of Shares andTakeovers (SAST) regula-tions, it is mandatory to makean open offer if the promot-ers’ shareholding crosses thethreshold limit of 55 percent.

However, the promotersfailed to do so.

The promoters argued thatthey belonged to two differentgroups and hence should notbe considered as persons act-ing in concert (PAC).

Rejecting the argument,Sebi said,”both groups were act-ing in concert and their share-holding has to be taken as awhole and thus the noticeeshave breached the threshold of55 per cent thereby violating ...SAST regulations.

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Tightening norms for e-com-merce firms having for-

eign investment, theGovernment on Wednesdaybarred online marketplaceslike Flipkart and Amazon fromselling products of companieswhere they hold stakes andbanned exclusive marketingarrangements that could influ-ence product price.

The revised policy on for-eign direct investment in onlineretail, issued by the commerceand industry ministry, alsosaid that these firms have tooffer equal services or facilitiesto all its vendors without dis-crimination.

The revised norms areaimed at protecting the inter-est of domestic players, whohave to face tough competitionfrom e-retailers having deeppockets from foreign investors,the ministry said.

The policy would be effec-tive from February 2019.

“The move would com-pletely prevent influencingprices by e-commerce players.This will also ensure betterenforcement of FDI guidelinesin e-commerce companies,” asenior official said.

The policy says a vendorwill not be permitted to sell

more than 25 per cent of itsproducts on an online plat-form of a single e-marketplacefirm.

“Inventory of a vendor willbe deemed to be controlled bye-commerce marketplace enti-ty if more than 25 per cent ofpurchases of such vendor arefrom the marketplace entity orits group companies,” the com-merce and industry ministry’spress note said.

“An entity having equityparticipation by e-commercemarketplace entity or its groupcompanies, or having controlon its inventory by e-com-merce marketplace entity or itsgroup companies, will not bepermitted to sell its products onthe platform run by such mar-ketplace entity”.

E-commerce marketplaceentity “will not mandate” anyseller to sell any good “exclu-sively” on its platform “only”,the note said.

Any service like logisticsprovided by e-commerce com-panies to vendors in which theyhave direct or indirect equityparticipation or common con-trol stake, should be fair andnon-discriminatory.

These services includelogistics, warehousing, adver-tisement, marketing, pay-ments, financing etc.

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New Delhi (PTI): BloomHotels on Wednesday said it hadfurther raised �100 crore in afresh round of funding fromSamena Capital, taking the prin-cipal investment group’s stake inthe company to 45 per cent.Samena Capital had earlier, inApril this year, invested �100crore in a series B investmentround in Bloom Hotels for 35%stake in the company. With theadditional investment of �100crore, the stake of SamenaCapital in the company hasincreased to 45%, a BloomHotels spokesperson said.

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Tightening norms for e-commerce firms likeFlipkart and Amazon,

the government on Wednesdaytook host of steps and barredthem from selling products ofthe companies in which theyhave stake.

The Commerce andIndustry Ministry also prohib-ited e-commerce companiesfrom entering into an agreementfor exclusive sale of products.

“An entity having equity

participation by e-commercemarketplace entity or its groupcompanies, or having control onits inventory by e-commercemarketplace entity or its groupcompanies, will not be permit-ted to sell its products on theplatform run by such market-place entity,” the ministry said.

Besides, the revised policyon foreign direct investment inonline retail firms says that ser-vices should be provided by e-commerce marketplace entityor other firms in which e-retailcompany has a direct or indi-

rect equity participation orcommon control to vendors onthe platform at arms length andin fair and non-discriminato-ry manner.

“Cash back provided by thegroup companies of market-place entity to buyers shall befair and non-discriminatory,”the ministry’s notification said.

It further said that thesecompanies would have to file acertificate along with a reportof statutory auditor to the RBI,confirming compliance withthe guidelines by September

30th of every year for the pre-ceding fiscal.

These changes will comeinto effect from February 1 thisyear.

The decision comes in thebackdrop of several complaintsbeing flagged by domestictraders on heavy discountsbeing given by e-commerceplayers to consumers.

As per the current policy,100 per cent FDI is permittedin marketplace e-commerceactivities. It is prohibited ininventory-based activities.

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After gyrating nearly 700points on Wednesday,

benchmark equity indicesreversed initial losses andended higher, driven by arebound in financial stocksamid firming trend in the USmarket.

The BSE Sensex broke itsthree-day falling streak by end-ing 179.79 points, or 0.51%,higher at 35,649.94. Intra-day,the index fell to a low of35,010.82. The broader NSENifty too recovered to reclaimthe 10,700 level, rising 66.35points, or 0.62%, to 10,729.85.

The 30-share index hadended the previous session271.92 points lower at35,470.15, while the Nifty hadlost 90.50 points.

The biggest gainers onboth bourses were BhartiAirtel, HDFC duo, L&T, BajajAuto, Kotak Bank, RelianceIndustries, Axis Bank, ICICIBank, SBI, ITC and BajajFinance, rising up to 4%.

On the other hand, SunPharma, Yes Bank, TCS,NTPC, Tata Motors, Infosysand ONGC fell up to 2%.

The rupee, meanwhile,gained against the US dollar,and was trading at 70.08 per

dollar.Brent crude, the interna-

tional benchmark, was up0.73% at USD 51.14 per barrel.

On a net basis, foreignportfolio investors (FPIs) soldshares worth �577.10 crore onMonday, while domestic insti-tutional investors (DIIs) werenet buyers to the tune of�186.14 crore, provisional dataavailable with BSE showed.

Elsewhere in Asia, Korea’sKospi ended 1.31% lower,Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell0.40% and ShanghaiComposite Index slipped 0.26%while, Japan’s Nikkei rose0.89%.

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India is preparing a specificstrategy for exports to each

geography as part of plans tomake 2019 a year when out-ward shipments would startdriving the country’s overalleconomic growth, Commerceand Industry Minister SureshPrabhu has said.

The minister said India’sexports performance had been“extremely good” in the past 14months, but he was not fully sat-isfied as yet and the plans for2019 also included a specialfocus on boosting shipments tothe African continent and LatinAmerica given huge growthpotential there. He said theIndian exports were growing ata time when the global trade waswitnessing worst ever head-winds, countries were fighting atimport duty front and there wasincreasing protectionism andslowdown in demand.

“(But) I am not fully satis-fied. I want exports to driveIndia’s growth. To do that, thesituation is very challenging aseach country is trying to puttheir own borders,” Prabhu toldPTI in an interview.

Since 2011-12, India’sexports have been hovering ataround USD 300 billion. During2017-18, the shipments grew byabout 10 per cent to USD 303billion. Experts have cautionedthat growing trade tensions

between the US and Chinacould impact the global tradegrowth.

Imposition of high importduties by the US this year on cer-tain steel and aluminium prod-ucts have triggered a trade warkind of situation. The WorldTrade Organisation (WTO) toohas stated that escalating tradetensions and tighter credit mar-ket conditions in importantmarkets will slow trade growthin 2019.

“In 2019, we would like toensure that all measures that weinitiated earlier and the newmeasures get consolidated and2019 should be a new year forexports. So I am preparing astrategy. For each of the geo-graphies, we will prepare a spe-cific strategy,” Prabhu said.

Elaborating on his plans, theminister said African continentheld huge potential for domes-tic exporters and there was aneed to significantly boost ship-ments to that region. Prabhusaid his ministry was in processof creating a template for somekind of a free trade agreementwith Africa which would takeinto account the overall differ-ence of level of growth of thatcontinent and the country spe-cific profiles.

Similar plans are there forother regions as well, includingfor Latin America, he said,adding that Central America,South East Asia, Central Asia

and South Asia hold huge poten-tial for domestic exporters, but“our performance is at sub-optimal level” in these regions.

Emphasised on the need topromote value-added exports,Prabhu said his ministry wastrying to bring Japanese andKorean companies on board toincrease outbound shipments ofmarine products. He also hopedthat the recently announcedagri-export policy would helpboost exports from the sector toUSD 60 billion in the next fiveyears and USD 100 billion in thenext 10 years. “This is doablebecause we are the largest pro-ducers of milk and the secondlargest producer of fruits andvegetables,” he said.

The ministry would bedrawing a strategy to promoteshipments of five categories —plantation crops, meat, fish-eries, agriculture and horticul-ture, he added. For this, the min-ister will be meeting all planta-tion boards, farmers associationsand organisations and discussissues related to every segment.

“We are asking states forproduct-specific clusters. For

example, in Jalgaon(Maharashtra) we are promot-ing cluster for bananas, and forgrapes in Nashik,” he said.

The ministry is also prepar-ing an incentive package forlabour intensive sectors likeleather to address issues faced byexporters. “We are preparing apackage which will ensure thatexporters’ woes are addressedproperly. There have been chal-lenges for the export sectorover a period of time and one bigchallenge is credit,” he said. Theministry is also looking at qual-ity of goods being exported byIndia as foreign firms are keep-ing a special tab on this.

Further, Prabhu said asIndia was one of the majorexporter of services like IT andITeS, the ministry’s strategywould have elements to promoteservices exports also. The gov-ernment has approved an actionplan for 12 champion servicessectors, including IT, tourismand hospitality, for realisingtheir potential through estab-lishment of a �5,000 crore ded-icated fund.

Commenting on the growthprospects next year, exporterssaid the government needs tofocus on areas like timely refundof Goods and Services tax; ade-quate availability of affordablecredit; extending export dutybenefits to more areas like seeds;and interest subsidy to merchantexporters.

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Script Open High Low LTPRCOM 14.20 14.46 13.82 14.29YESBANK 182.20 182.60 174.25 179.45SUZLON 5.50 5.53 5.26 5.44JPASSOCIAT 7.20 7.20 6.83 7.14JETAIRWAYS 253.70 272.00 251.20 268.90IBULHSGFIN 818.80 836.00 790.05 831.00JUBLFOOD 1213.90 1236.50 1146.60 1230.10SPICEJET 85.75 88.00 84.70 87.50RELIANCE 1087.00 1100.65 1066.55 1096.95HEG 3650.00 3650.00 3485.05 3566.35DHFL 233.95 239.20 226.60 237.85GRAPHITE 750.00 775.05 708.55 753.35INFY 648.90 650.00 637.70 644.60SUNPHARMA 425.00 425.00 410.30 414.00BEML 875.00 905.00 853.15 900.00LT 1403.00 1429.65 1385.00 1422.50SBIN 293.00 294.80 287.20 293.95PCJEWELLER 82.80 82.80 79.25 81.10HINDUNILVR 1759.00 1798.60 1742.00 1791.15TATAMOTORS 172.00 172.15 167.70 170.90MARUTI 7512.00 7599.80 7406.00 7550.50BANDHANBNK 525.00 549.60 502.85 545.10BAJFINANCE 2555.00 2582.65 2504.90 2569.40TCS 1916.00 1917.95 1872.00 1889.50IOC 136.45 137.20 134.20 134.70RELCAPITAL 215.70 215.70 206.70 212.10BANKINDIA 100.70 101.60 97.05 100.80VEDL 196.90 197.70 193.05 196.60AXISBANK 613.00 622.95 603.55 616.85TATASTEEL 509.80 517.90 505.15 513.65ZEEL 437.00 455.90 431.35 453.65INFIBEAM 47.00 47.00 44.50 45.95ADANIPORTS 360.95 379.50 358.00 376.70JINDALSTEL 156.05 163.20 153.60 162.15HDFCBANK 2084.90 2128.00 2070.60 2120.20BHARTIARTL 310.95 323.95 303.00 321.20ICICIBANK 351.75 356.50 348.00 355.35SIEMENS 995.90 1047.00 981.10 1036.65BEL 87.50 89.40 85.35 88.75PNB 76.75 78.30 74.75 77.80L&TFH 151.75 155.95 149.55 154.55ASHOKLEY 104.30 104.30 102.05 103.85DMART 1537.70 1564.00 1504.50 1554.30CGPOWER 44.50 44.50 42.10 44.20BANKBARODA 115.50 118.80 113.00 118.10ASIANPAINT 1372.60 1373.60 1344.35 1359.00HINDPETRO 250.00 251.00 244.80 248.65BHEL 70.95 71.75 69.35 71.50ITC 276.00 278.45 274.75 276.70CEATLTD 1263.00 1271.00 1221.35 1269.15STRTECH 284.50 288.75 277.40 284.30RECLTD 113.45 116.00 110.90 115.45TITAN 879.00 900.00 869.00 889.15RELINFRA 307.45 308.35 300.40 303.70KOTAKBANK 1231.90 1253.35 1211.00 1249.65SRF 1975.00 1989.30 1906.00 1970.15DLF 178.55 179.35 172.20 177.50DABUR 426.80 429.55 414.45 423.15IDFCBANK 43.10 43.40 42.20 42.95BPCL 368.85 371.55 358.30 366.30BOMDYEING 109.50 112.40 104.40 110.05M&M 789.00 792.70 772.05 787.65NTPC 146.85 147.90 143.90 145.55AUROPHARMA 719.90 720.50 698.00 718.20INDIGO 1171.10 1175.00 1144.10 1158.20BAJAJ-AUTO 2724.00 2754.00 2669.40 2737.95ESCORTS 671.10 686.85 660.00 686.00UNIONBANK 83.80 84.00 80.05 83.60MUTHOOTFIN 494.00 504.80 481.50 498.80JAICORPLTD 106.40 107.70 102.55 106.50CHENNPETRO 281.80 287.05 273.55 281.10MOTHERSUMI 159.95 165.60 159.10 163.70JSWSTEEL 290.80 298.00 288.20 298.00IBREALEST 87.40 90.15 85.50 88.75UPL 735.95 754.00 728.30 751.40DRREDDY 2600.00 2629.25 2573.00 2613.00HINDALCO 215.45 220.00 213.15 218.35PFC 100.00 100.85 98.40 99.95INDUSINDBK 1560.10 1563.75 1521.60 1557.20BIOCON 610.95 618.75 601.95 616.50ONGC 148.40 149.25 145.75 146.75HAVELLS 664.00 681.25 654.20 678.45ADANIPOWER 50.50 51.75 49.55 50.75SUNTV 580.50 580.50 554.40 575.65COALINDIA 249.90 250.55 246.35 247.30ACC 1449.00 1484.00 1422.65 1478.45LUPIN 830.00 839.60 817.35 833.15CANFINHOME 276.55 291.60 267.80 289.20CIPLA 518.30 518.30 507.75 514.00WESTLIFE 377.90 377.90 361.15 374.80UJJIVAN 270.70 276.85 264.00 274.95HDFC 1908.00 1941.40 1884.75 1934.45AVANTI 379.00 382.25 367.50 377.50EDELWEISS 181.50 188.30 178.80 185.75SUNTECK 352.15 360.00 343.25 355.90BAJAJFINSV 6274.95 6482.00 6155.00 6447.50NBCC 53.90 55.10 52.40 54.50WOCKPHARMA 505.00 507.45 492.30 505.50NCC 83.55 84.30 80.50 84.15JUSTDIAL 482.95 492.70 464.90 487.60WIPRO 327.00 327.25 319.40 325.80INDIACEM 92.65 93.45 89.25 93.25FEDERALBNK 94.00 94.00 91.35 92.45GRUH 315.90 315.90 295.20 307.90CANBK 266.25 273.30 259.85 271.15GODFRYPHLP 846.00 864.00 762.90 864.00GAIL 347.70 354.00 341.90 352.00SAIL 51.85 52.80 50.60 52.55

TATAPOWER 76.70 77.15 74.95 75.95PIDILITIND 1110.00 1112.65 1087.90 1103.70CUMMINSIND 789.00 810.00 772.00 805.20CONCOR 646.65 657.40 635.65 653.40HEROMOTOCO 3165.00 3208.00 3134.65 3185.95RCF 63.30 63.95 62.65 63.50M&MFIN 473.00 479.00 460.10 473.65EICHERMOT 23187.40 23416.00 22500.00 23077.30PEL 2305.00 2323.00 2233.55 2315.10SRTRANSFIN 1202.45 1227.45 1178.20 1217.95VGUARD 232.80 232.85 221.40 226.00IDEA 37.25 37.45 36.35 37.25RPOWER 27.90 27.90 26.75 27.65NAVKARCORP 60.00 60.00 56.25 56.90ULTRACEMCO 3920.00 4005.95 3860.00 3998.50JISLJALEQS 67.65 67.65 65.20 66.70BHARATFORG 498.10 507.90 494.75 506.00DELTACORP 246.70 246.70 239.30 242.55IBVENTURES 378.75 379.35 361.00 372.50VIPIND 516.90 520.00 509.25 511.55IDFC 43.00 43.75 42.05 43.40GICRE 264.05 265.05 248.50 258.80ORIENTBANK 95.50 96.70 92.25 94.50HCLTECH 941.00 947.45 931.45 942.55GNFC 345.00 345.00 334.00 340.75TATAMTRDVR 93.80 93.95 91.70 93.10CHOLAFIN 1223.45 1230.00 1161.30 1219.05MPHASIS 1011.00 1036.80 1003.90 1005.20NATCOPHARM* 697.00 697.00 669.60 675.85DIVISLAB 1448.00 1458.90 1428.00 1455.00SPARC 201.00 203.30 198.50 199.75GRASIM 810.05 821.90 795.60 818.15ENGINERSIN 129.90 129.90 121.35 125.95ICICIGI 837.55 844.00 813.65 829.00RADICO 392.00 396.30 374.80 393.70HDFCLIFE 385.00 387.45 379.85 385.10MANAPPURAM 87.95 91.25 86.60 90.80

NATIONALUM 61.50 62.95 61.10 62.80TECHM 697.00 698.30 687.00 694.65PHILIPCARB 198.55 202.75 196.00 200.30FORCEMOT 1622.00 1628.90 1595.00 1607.95STAR 455.50 462.55 446.85 460.80COLPAL 1308.30 1314.30 1295.00 1302.20ITI 90.00 91.45 88.40 89.80ABCAPITAL 97.00 97.90 95.75 97.35BBTC 1277.00 1282.35 1232.00 1263.30BERGEPAINT 335.50 335.50 320.55 328.25GSFC 107.30 110.30 106.90 109.50AMBUJACEM 213.90 221.45 210.00 221.00LTI 1704.90 1705.00 1674.75 1675.50RAIN 133.00 134.80 128.30 131.35BRITANNIA 3100.00 3113.00 3040.55 3088.60JKTYRE 104.55 104.95 102.30 103.85LICHSGFIN 472.50 488.20 465.40 485.90ALBK 45.05 46.50 44.10 46.05INTELLECT 222.60 224.00 215.90 221.55ABFRL 206.85 209.95 201.50 206.00ABB 1310.00 1318.50 1286.85 1300.00MANPASAND 84.60 87.30 83.35 86.75BALKRISIND 918.70 918.70 891.00 908.85CENTURYTEX 891.00 906.50 873.65 897.75DEEPAKNI 211.70 211.70 204.60 207.75GODREJCP 803.00 803.40 781.40 800.00OIL 174.85 175.50 173.00 173.60FCONSUMER 46.70 46.85 45.50 46.35VENKYS 2399.00 2399.00 2330.00 2364.70UBL 1369.00 1369.00 1312.45 1360.50TATAELXSI 991.00 994.85 972.70 991.50TATAGLOBAL 219.95 219.95 212.60 218.70TVSMOTOR 558.50 567.15 553.55 557.85ADANITRANS 210.80 210.80 196.00 198.85EXIDEIND 256.90 263.00 250.50 262.00SOUTHBANK 15.50 15.50 14.90 15.20EQUITAS 123.25 126.35 120.30 125.65KTKBANK 107.80 111.40 105.50 109.60KEC 297.50 300.30 291.55 291.55APOLLOTYRE 228.80 234.80 225.90 233.20BATAINDIA 1106.00 1106.00 1075.55 1096.30FSL 47.75 47.75 46.00 47.60MRPL 73.80 76.00 71.90 75.25REPCOHOME 391.15 406.70 375.95 405.05IGL 264.70 264.70 258.55 262.90CAPF 594.00 594.95 580.25 590.65RBLBANK 557.35 566.10 549.15 559.00INDIANB 237.15 243.95 232.00 242.45MINDTREE 831.25 858.00 818.50 851.70LTTS 1679.00 1706.00 1655.00 1694.80FRETAIL 560.00 563.95 538.00 543.05NOCIL 165.50 165.50 160.00 162.30

RAYMOND 825.20 838.80 813.55 836.80VOLTAS 555.00 555.05 541.35 548.00JMFINANCIL 87.50 88.35 82.55 87.10INDHOTEL 145.80 148.75 144.70 147.20SYNDIBANK 37.60 38.10 36.60 37.95TATACHEM 708.95 709.00 687.35 697.55HFCL 21.40 21.40 20.65 21.25CASTROLIND 151.15 153.85 150.00 152.20BHARATFIN 980.00 998.70 958.95 995.65JUBILANT 706.40 716.75 701.00 711.55IRB 160.10 161.05 154.45 160.35SREINFRA 33.95 34.90 33.40 34.60MEGH 59.30 60.25 58.05 59.45JINDALSAW 84.00 84.00 80.90 82.85GMRINFRA 15.75 16.25 15.40 16.15NAUKRI 1545.00 1551.95 1507.90 1508.50PNBHOUSING 942.00 945.85 916.55 923.80KANSAINER 483.55 485.00 474.55 481.30IFCI 14.40 14.67 13.90 14.61PETRONET 222.40 224.25 220.20 222.45DCBBANK 163.85 163.85 158.60 163.65SHANKARA 535.30 537.00 520.50 525.05PTC 87.20 89.55 85.70 89.40HSCL 133.00 133.00 129.05 131.30MFSL 438.00 449.00 423.70 446.25CADILAHC 341.00 342.50 336.65 339.10PARAGMILK 257.50 257.50 248.00 252.10TORNTPHARM 1757.95 1768.65 1718.55 1747.15NIITTECH 1110.00 1128.80 1102.90 1122.05KPIT 216.00 218.00 214.30 216.50VINATIORGA 1560.00 1564.00 1465.15 1559.00JSLHISAR 84.10 86.45 83.05 85.65TATACOMM 518.75 519.00 506.60 510.55AJANTPHARM 1135.45 1138.10 1107.75 1132.00ADANIGREEN 42.70 42.70 40.05 41.65CENTURYPLY 174.25 174.25 170.00 171.15TORNTPOWER 257.85 259.60 252.80 256.30NMDC 94.60 95.50 93.05 94.60WELSPUNIND 59.05 59.65 57.90 58.60HEXAWARE 312.70 318.80 307.80 318.80GLENMARK 661.00 674.05 660.05 672.00KEI 358.05 361.40 350.00 358.05DISHTV 36.50 38.00 35.80 37.20WABAG 258.00 259.00 248.95 253.95IBULISL 389.95 391.90 364.70 377.90MAHINDCIE 243.20 247.25 236.60 246.00KSCL 576.25 576.45 555.35 565.55CENTRALBK 35.00 35.00 32.85 34.15NAVINFLUOR 706.00 706.30 690.20 694.50MARICO 370.00 370.00 361.00 367.45POWERGRID 193.50 196.55 191.25 195.30SUVEN 221.00 224.20 216.90 221.85AMARAJABAT 740.00 743.00 729.00 732.85PAGEIND 23815.90 23921.05 23232.15 23400.00JSWENERGY 68.45 68.45 66.65 67.75MCX 722.00 722.00 703.45 710.20ICICIPRULI 321.60 323.15 315.85 321.25GREAVESCOT 118.35 118.40 117.00 118.05QUESS 628.10 665.70 628.05 641.50BLISSGVS 139.20 141.40 135.00 137.60RAJESHEXPO 570.50 575.45 569.00 575.00TAKE 149.10 149.20 141.65 148.003MINDIA 21000.00 21000.00 19700.00 20760.25INDOSTAR 314.55 355.70 307.30 339.30LEMONTREE 68.30 69.75 67.90 68.15GRANULES 87.85 88.60 85.10 87.60TV18BRDCST 36.20 36.35 35.30 36.20PVR 1550.00 1558.90 1515.95 1550.20DBL 420.05 424.00 415.40 420.00SYMPHONY 1120.00 1120.00 1021.55 1076.00INFRATEL 266.00 266.00 258.55 262.60BAJAJHLDNG 2907.00 2909.95 2762.00 2860.00NIACL 184.50 184.80 173.05 178.35MMTC 29.00 29.55 28.60 29.40HINDCOPPER 50.00 50.00 49.10 49.70HUDCO 43.30 43.30 42.50 43.15CROMPTON 224.95 230.70 218.70 226.00SBILIFE 580.20 582.75 570.25 572.55JAMNAAUTO 63.10 64.10 62.35 63.90GODREJIND 515.80 523.50 505.50 523.50MOIL 173.85 173.85 167.30 168.70APOLLOHOSP 1280.00 1280.00 1239.10 1266.05NESTLEIND 10950.00 10975.50 10750.15 10764.30KAJARIACER 481.70 490.10 473.05 489.00EMAMILTD 401.00 408.20 395.10 405.75SUPREMEIND 1090.30 1149.90 1080.50 1126.50VIJAYABANK 48.55 49.40 47.35 49.10NHPC 26.00 26.15 25.85 26.05RAMCOCEM 641.00 647.00 609.00 621.70GET&D 262.00 289.80 261.65 284.30NBVENTURES 119.60 119.60 115.00 118.00MGL 875.00 885.00 865.80 873.25GLAXO 1449.00 1515.00 1402.40 1510.00MRF 66489.25 67428.15 65269.00 66980.75CARERATING 959.20 974.05 950.80 965.00HINDZINC 271.00 272.25 267.50 269.80ISEC 260.75 263.10 251.00 261.00AUBANK 601.00 601.00 583.00 591.05RALLIS 171.60 173.90 169.35 173.10GODREJPROP 677.00 679.90 667.85 676.00WELCORP 143.50 143.50 140.00 141.50GUJFLUORO 885.00 895.00 875.00 895.00MOTILALOFS 642.15 663.00 638.70 647.00MAXINDIA 81.95 81.95 78.25 79.45GSKCONS 7490.00 7512.75 7372.00 7495.00INOXLEISUR 245.00 247.50 238.20 244.30HSIL 225.35 228.90 219.20 223.05SJVN 25.15 26.00 25.05 25.35BALMLAWRIE 197.00 204.00 193.50 202.20

TATAMETALI 619.00 624.25 607.80 615.50GMDCLTD 88.10 88.70 86.45 87.10TEJASNET 201.10 208.70 197.50 205.50NLCINDIA 67.85 67.85 66.80 67.05DEEPAKFERT 146.00 146.00 142.50 144.75DCAL 230.55 230.55 226.00 228.15TIMKEN 547.55 562.45 531.00 542.50DCMSHRIRAM 336.35 349.00 330.00 345.50SWANENERGY 100.65 103.60 100.05 102.70TRIDENT 65.70 65.70 63.85 64.50MAHABANK 14.69 14.69 13.84 14.03TATAINVEST 884.90 884.90 868.00 876.50SCI 47.45 47.50 46.35 46.85KALPATPOWR 380.00 383.00 368.80 376.90BAJAJELEC 500.50 500.50 487.50 494.25CUB 187.30 187.90 182.50 184.05PERSISTENT 620.80 635.00 615.00 635.00COROMANDEL 443.95 453.00 427.00 447.00FORTIS 134.50 135.30 134.10 134.70WHIRLPOOL 1290.00 1324.00 1275.00 1320.80LINDEINDIA 694.70 694.70 677.80 684.00ZENSARTECH 235.85 236.25 230.00 236.00ASTRAL 1060.30 1099.80 1040.95 1076.45IDBI 61.30 61.40 60.95 61.10GUJALKALI 535.00 535.00 525.00 529.55DENABANK 16.65 16.70 16.30 16.65JKCEMENT 735.05 738.00 714.00 714.75ASHOKA 126.00 126.00 122.20 122.70OMAXE 213.10 216.50 213.05 215.55THERMAX 1104.00 1104.00 1070.20 1086.20GICHSGFIN 252.20 255.00 248.05 253.75CARBORUNIV 352.95 353.65 347.10 347.10BOSCHLTD 19482.40 19619.95 19051.10 19446.00OBEROIRLTY 444.15 454.65 437.70 446.85HIMATSEIDE 218.60 218.60 210.20 212.50AARTIIND 1405.00 1441.25 1400.00 1420.00EIDPARRY 202.95 208.70 200.00 208.40CYIENT 606.00 609.15 602.00 606.00FINCABLES 465.00 468.00 451.00 457.00VMART 2600.00 2624.50 2550.00 2550.00OFSS 3644.05 3644.05 3538.10 3560.65GODREJAGRO 500.80 500.80 494.40 497.00CORPBANK 28.20 28.85 27.35 28.25PRSMJOHNSN 86.00 89.00 85.15 88.20PFIZER 2804.95 2860.00 2740.00 2832.00ATUL 3340.05 3446.30 3320.50 3424.20RNAM 160.55 160.55 155.00 156.75IEX 166.15 168.00 165.30 166.50UCOBANK 20.25 20.25 19.40 19.85TATACOFFEE 95.60 96.10 94.15 95.20SUNDRMFAST 522.00 528.00 515.00 527.00NILKAMAL 1514.40 1515.25 1486.30 1505.50CHAMBLFERT 142.95 142.95 140.60 141.30SUDARSCHEM 337.90 349.90 329.35 339.90MINDACORP 140.70 141.90 137.00 141.90ALLCARGO 104.90 108.00 103.55 107.00AEGISLOG 187.00 195.00 184.00 194.05COCHINSHIP 380.00 380.65 375.50 376.00UFLEX 270.00 273.00 267.20 270.70ANDHRABANK 29.95 29.95 28.75 29.80FDC 174.50 174.70 171.00 172.65TIINDIA 348.00 348.00 323.00 328.25HERITGFOOD 515.60 544.25 513.00 540.00MERCK 2841.00 2941.50 2836.00 2941.50TRENT 355.00 355.00 339.95 343.15HEIDELBERG 145.05 152.50 145.05 150.95VBL 710.00 736.00 708.00 733.90SHREECEM 16645.60 17259.75 16350.00 17100.00MHRIL 198.20 198.20 193.05 193.10PHOENIXLTD 560.05 574.40 556.15 564.00TIMETECHNO 104.50 104.50 100.20 102.25SHARDACROP 310.75 312.85 302.65 303.45BASF 1565.45 1588.05 1548.15 1574.80MINDAIND 319.00 322.00 310.40 319.35CENTRUM 37.15 37.15 35.50 35.80GESHIP 315.00 321.25 308.00 321.25ENDURANCE 1153.90 1162.00 1142.50 1161.00KNRCON 199.20 207.90 198.55 205.40GSPL 174.85 175.65 174.05 174.40SOBHA 447.35 450.40 442.90 445.30GHCL 235.40 239.85 235.00 238.00JYOTHYLAB 198.80 200.00 194.00 198.00NETWORK18 37.55 38.35 37.35 37.50IPCALAB 790.00 793.15 783.05 784.25AIAENG 1602.05 1670.00 1584.05 1670.00EIHOTEL 190.50 198.90 189.50 194.30ELGIEQUIP 261.00 266.00 253.55 255.00TVTODAY 374.20 378.00 368.60 372.60SONATSOFTW 295.50 300.00 293.00 297.90APLLTD 572.05 575.10 562.00 566.45KRBL 280.50 284.80 278.50 282.00MAGMA 109.05 111.90 108.65 111.00J&KBANK 36.35 36.85 36.15 36.50PRESTIGE 201.00 207.75 199.90 204.75ITDC 302.00 307.00 296.00 301.30APLAPOLLO 1127.10 1127.10 1100.00 1100.10GPPL 101.05 104.40 100.75 103.05PNCINFRA 138.60 144.00 136.30 143.55IOB 14.83 14.95 14.55 14.85ALKEM 1852.05 1882.75 1840.00 1860.00ADVENZYMES 176.60 181.10 175.80 177.25JSL 32.15 32.60 31.85 32.35ASTERDM 148.40 150.70 146.50 150.00BDL 276.60 278.50 270.00 270.05LAKSHVILAS 86.30 87.00 85.95 86.80SOMANYCERA 313.55 334.75 310.00 328.00HAL 775.00 785.25 775.00 777.90THOMASCOOK 234.15 234.15 228.50 230.85LAXMIMACH* 5776.35 5800.00 5667.00 5720.00

SHOPERSTOP 506.00 514.00 497.70 514.00TRITURBINE 121.15 122.50 119.35 120.85FORBESCO 2350.05 2431.00 2300.00 2400.00ECLERX 1068.35 1085.95 1045.05 1065.10GULFOILLUB 825.00 825.00 813.10 819.90BIRLACORPN 595.05 618.75 594.40 618.75PIIND 841.05 850.60 834.85 841.05SYNGENE 557.10 563.65 549.95 563.00LALPATHLAB 936.90 938.15 918.00 925.00THYROCARE 540.00 550.00 534.00 545.00SCHNEIDER 99.30 101.45 98.80 100.15SUPRAJIT 215.00 219.00 210.00 219.00ABBOTINDIA 7452.90 7515.00 7375.00 7460.10BLUESTARCO 614.65 622.10 605.00 610.00APARINDS 636.50 669.00 634.00 669.00BAJAJCORP 358.10 363.00 355.10 360.00ASTRAZEN 1463.05 1490.05 1458.05 1458.05ISGEC 5076.95 5076.95 4960.00 5000.00GREENPLY 134.30 138.70 133.40 136.45DBCORP 169.35 171.00 166.00 170.50ERIS 669.95 671.60 655.00 669.00REDINGTON 86.45 87.20 85.95 87.15PGHH 9570.00 9731.70 9569.10 9709.00JKLAKSHMI 279.95 285.50 277.30 283.00TEAMLEASE 2848.00 2858.00 2820.35 2849.90FLFL 402.30 405.00 396.00 403.15MONSANTO 2590.00 2649.00 2546.00 2622.00IFBIND 847.35 859.95 836.00 845.00EVEREADY 188.00 188.35 183.25 187.95TTKPRESTIG 7229.35 7499.90 7229.35 7446.55SCHAEFFLER 5668.25 5668.25 5431.85 5502.75CRISIL 1580.30 1630.35 1552.05 1630.35SOLARINDS 1033.00 1056.10 1020.00 1055.00DHANUKA 461.55 470.00 458.00 470.00SADBHAV 200.00 207.60 197.25 206.20BLUEDART 3063.20 3211.30 3042.05 3151.05SHK 170.40 171.80 169.40 170.20ZYDUSWELL 1374.00 1380.60 1337.80 1373.90JAGRAN 114.25 115.65 113.70 115.25INOXWIND 77.65 78.50 76.40 77.20WABCOINDIA 6868.00 6868.00 6680.05 6836.15GUJGAS 671.00 672.00 661.05 672.00ESSELPRO 105.30 105.50 104.00 104.10TVSSRICHAK 2518.95 2519.00 2455.20 2483.35GDL 133.00 133.00 128.70 130.00MAHLIFE 394.85 394.85 377.05 378.00COFFEEDAY 267.65 272.25 266.40 272.25SANOFI 6076.65 6141.15 6019.40 6126.00FINOLEXIND 543.00 548.00 535.10 536.55JBCHEPHARM 295.60 298.00 293.00 294.70CAPPL 384.00 384.45 379.10 382.00RELAXO 714.75 735.70 711.40 720.00ITDCEM 108.55 112.95 107.95 112.95LAOPALA 222.30 225.05 220.50 220.60SHILPAMED 380.50 389.85 379.10 388.25NAVNETEDUL 104.30 106.65 104.30 105.05TNPL 253.05 256.80 253.00 254.35ORIENTCEM 80.95 81.95 78.90 81.15LAURUSLABS 379.25 384.05 370.65 382.00GALAXYSURF 1200.00 1203.70 1183.10 1185.05CERA 2366.20 2401.40 2353.75 2353.80AKZOINDIA 1604.00 1622.80 1590.00 1619.00VTL 1007.00 1030.00 1007.00 1025.00BAYERCROP 4194.75 4282.70 4169.00 4217.85LUXIND 1409.45 1414.00 1398.80 1398.80SUNCLAYLTD 3444.00 3444.00 3430.00 3443.00GRINDWELL 538.00 541.00 535.00 535.85HONAUT 21350.00 21602.00 21350.00 21520.00HATSUN 615.50 623.90 613.00 623.90MAHLOG 510.00 519.90 505.20 519.90TIFHL 500.35 508.00 495.75 500.05SUPPETRO 202.25 205.60 200.95 205.60SKFINDIA 1891.20 1908.30 1881.00 1887.00GILLETTE 6432.30 6500.00 6432.30 6461.25ASAHIINDIA 242.00 245.50 240.00 243.15KPRMILL 575.85 575.85 565.15 566.05NH 200.00 201.95 198.30 201.60KIOCL 145.10 149.90 143.70 149.50STARCEMENT 100.75 102.65 100.75 102.10GEPIL 834.40 834.40 825.00 825.00CCL 272.00 273.90 269.65 272.95SIS 742.00 744.85 741.00 741.65JCHAC 1838.00 1838.00 1760.00 1790.00RATNAMANI 892.00 925.00 888.05 925.00SHRIRAMCIT 1568.00 1569.95 1567.55 1569.95

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 10635.45 10747.50 10534.55 10729.85 66.35ZEEL 435.85 457.00 431.30 455.30 18.55ADANIPORTS 360.20 378.50 357.50 376.00 14.90BHARTIARTL 308.20 323.00 302.60 321.50 12.40BAJAJFINSV 6272.00 6465.00 6150.00 6465.00 190.55HDFCBANK 2077.00 2127.00 2069.00 2124.80 44.15ULTRACEMCO 3891.10 4008.00 3857.05 3993.65 76.50HDFC 1896.00 1944.70 1883.20 1938.00 35.85UPL 737.00 751.90 728.00 750.25 13.80GAIL 346.40 354.40 342.00 353.85 6.15GRASIM 808.00 822.25 795.10 822.25 14.10JSWSTEEL 290.55 297.00 288.10 297.00 4.80IBULHSGFIN 818.95 835.90 790.00 832.50 13.25LT 1398.80 1432.00 1384.30 1422.65 17.85ICICIBANK 350.65 356.90 348.15 356.45 3.70TITAN 879.00 900.00 868.20 889.00 9.15DRREDDY 2598.00 2628.00 2575.20 2626.00 26.20KOTAKBANK 1234.50 1250.80 1210.50 1250.80 12.30RELIANCE 1085.80 1100.00 1065.65 1099.70 10.55HINDALCO 213.85 219.80 212.90 219.75 1.90POWERGRID 193.60 196.30 191.35 195.40 1.45HINDPETRO 250.30 250.85 244.80 248.10 1.80BAJAJ-AUTO 2713.70 2749.80 2670.00 2744.35 19.70AXISBANK 611.00 623.65 603.45 618.95 3.95BPCL 368.80 371.30 358.20 367.20 2.25SBIN 292.85 295.00 287.15 294.55 1.50HEROMOTOCO 3160.00 3212.00 3136.05 3184.15 15.75HCLTECH 938.00 947.70 931.00 941.95 4.10BAJFINANCE 2560.00 2582.95 2503.70 2575.00 10.10ITC 276.35 278.80 274.80 276.95 0.95MARUTI 7488.00 7600.00 7402.00 7552.50 23.35HINDUNILVR 1760.00 1798.65 1741.25 1790.00 5.35ASIANPAINT 1367.95 1374.90 1347.40 1360.05 3.00VEDL 195.95 197.65 193.05 196.75 0.35INFRATEL 259.95 265.00 258.25 262.90 0.35INDUSINDBK 1559.70 1564.95 1520.30 1563.95 1.60M&M 785.65 793.50 772.00 789.00 0.35TATASTEEL 509.00 517.30 504.40 513.45 -0.25NTPC 146.20 148.35 144.25 146.00 -0.40IOC 136.30 137.20 134.30 134.60 -0.45TECHM 695.90 697.90 686.00 695.50 -2.40WIPRO 325.70 327.30 319.35 325.55 -1.15COALINDIA 248.30 250.40 246.00 247.30 -1.00TATAMOTORS 171.45 172.20 167.60 171.40 -1.10ONGC 148.10 149.45 145.75 146.85 -1.05CIPLA 515.60 519.00 507.30 515.00 -3.80EICHERMOT 23100.00 23450.00 22700.00 23038.00 -172.70INFY 647.00 647.00 637.35 643.90 -5.10TCS 1921.80 1921.80 1870.25 1892.00 -26.50YESBANK 182.50 182.65 174.25 179.50 -2.80SUNPHARMA 423.45 423.45 410.00 414.95 -9.40

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 27531.95 27799.15 27137.90 27725.65 105.05BANDHANBNK 523.00 551.85 507.25 548.00 23.75SIEMENS 996.90 1045.00 980.60 1039.90 44.00AMBUJACEM 212.65 222.00 209.90 221.10 7.85LICHSGFIN 470.00 488.35 465.20 486.50 14.35BANKBARODA 115.00 118.90 112.90 118.50 3.10ACC 1442.30 1486.00 1421.10 1482.00 34.35SHREECEM 16630.00 17279.00 16355.60 17100.00 345.40SRTRANSFIN 1199.00 1229.00 1178.70 1222.95 23.25MCDOWELL-N 607.00 623.30 588.60 619.60 10.95MOTHERSUMI 159.80 165.80 158.85 163.80 2.25SAIL 51.85 52.75 50.55 52.65 0.70MRF 66200.00 67503.00 65105.25 67000.00 882.35HAVELLS 665.40 679.25 655.00 676.25 8.35BEL 87.75 89.50 85.25 88.75 0.80BIOCON 609.80 617.00 601.00 615.95 5.20L&TFH 152.30 155.90 149.45 154.00 1.15BOSCHLTD 19450.00 19640.00 19170.75 19524.95 109.45DMART 1534.70 1562.90 1501.30 1554.00 8.25AUROPHARMA 715.95 720.75 697.10 718.80 3.40NHPC 25.90 26.25 25.85 26.05 0.10BHEL 70.70 71.85 69.25 71.50 0.25PEL 2285.00 2324.00 2234.00 2307.00 5.65HDFCLIFE 383.00 386.05 379.55 386.00 0.90HINDZINC 271.50 272.25 267.20 270.25 0.20CONCOR 652.00 656.75 636.10 650.00 -0.05ABCAPITAL 96.80 97.75 95.65 97.00 -0.05PGHH 9715.40 9787.10 9575.10 9705.00 -10.40ABB 1301.20 1318.00 1285.00 1300.00 -2.15NMDC 94.55 95.60 92.90 94.50 -0.20SUNTV 578.70 580.00 554.00 575.60 -1.35BRITANNIA 3086.40 3114.00 3041.00 3092.50 -8.05PETRONET 222.85 224.80 220.10 222.30 -0.65INDIGO 1174.00 1174.00 1142.55 1156.40 -5.00DLF 179.00 179.75 171.80 177.30 -0.80OIL 175.00 175.60 173.00 173.45 -0.90IDEA 37.10 37.50 36.35 37.15 -0.20GODREJCP 802.00 803.25 780.80 798.20 -4.35LUPIN 828.00 840.40 817.05 832.60 -5.65ASHOKLEY 104.00 104.30 102.00 103.90 -0.70MARICO 369.00 370.10 360.65 367.50 -3.00CADILAHC 342.00 342.35 336.20 338.85 -2.80ICICIPRULI 323.50 323.75 315.50 321.55 -2.85COLPAL 1305.15 1315.95 1293.05 1302.00 -13.30DABUR 424.90 429.80 414.20 421.25 -4.60ICICIGI 838.00 842.70 811.35 828.00 -10.75SBILIFE 576.00 584.00 570.15 572.00 -7.45PIDILITIND 1105.00 1114.00 1087.05 1103.55 -15.35GICRE 263.15 264.00 247.10 257.55 -6.00OFSS 3632.50 3651.90 3531.90 3567.85 -93.45NIACL 183.15 184.95 171.20 176.50 -7.40

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Washington: Christmas hascome and gone but the partialGovernment shutdown is justgetting started.

Wednesday brings the firstfull business day after severalGovernment departments andagencies closed up over theweekend due to a budgetarystalemate between PresidentDonald Trump and Congress.And there is no end in sight.

So far, the public and fed-eral workers have largely beenspared inconvenience andhardship because Governmentis closed on weekends andfederal employees were excusedfrom work on Christmas Eveand Christmas, a federal holi-day. The shutdown began atmidnight last Friday.

Trump said on Tuesdaythat the closed parts of theGovernment will remain thatway until Democrats agree towall off the US-Mexico borderto deter criminal elements. Hesaid he's open to calling thewall something else as long ashe ends up with an actual wall.

Asked when theGovernment would reopen fully,Trump said he couldn't say.

"I can't tell you when theGovernment's going to beopen. I can tell you it's notgoing to be open until we havea wall or fence, whatever they'd

like to call it," Trump said,referring to Democrats whostaunchly oppose walling offthe border.

"I'll call it whatever theywant, but it's all the samething," he told reporters afterparticipating in a holiday videoconference with representa-tives from all five branches ofthe military stationed inAlaska, Bahrain, Guam andQatar.

Trump argued that drugflows and human traffickingcan only be stopped by a wall.

"We can't do it without abarrier. We can't do it withouta wall," he said. "The only wayyou're going to do it is to havea physical barrier, meaning awall. And if you don't have thatthen we're just not opening" theGovernment.

Democrats oppose spend-ing money on a wall, preferring

instead to pump the dollarsinto fencing, technology andother means of controllingaccess to the border. Trumpargued that Democrats opposea wall only because he is forone.

The stalemate over howmuch to spend and how tospend it caused the partialGovernment shutdown thatbegan Saturday following alapse in funding for depart-ments and agencies that makeup about 25 per cent of theGovernment.

Some 800,000 Governmentworkers are affected. Many areon the job but must wait untilafter the shutdown to be paidagain.

Trump claimed that manyof these workers "have said tome and communicated, 'stayout until you get the fundingfor the wall.' These federalworkers want the wall.

The only one that doesn'twant the wall are theDemocrats." Trump didn't sayhow he's hearing from federalworkers, excluding those heappointed to their jobs or whowork with him in the WhiteHouse. But many rank-and-fileworkers have gone to socialmedia with stories of the finan-cial hardship they expect to facebecause of the shutdown. AP

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Tokyo: Japan said onWednesday it is withdrawingfrom the International WhalingCommission and will resumecommercial whaling next year,in a move expected to sparkinternational criticism.

The announcement hadbeen widely expected andcomes after Japan failed in a bidearlier this year to convince theIWC to allow it to resume com-mercial whaling.

"We have decided to with-draw from the InternationalWhaling Commission in orderto resume commercial whalingin July next year," topGovernment spokesmanYoshihide Suga told reporters.

"Commercial whaling...Will be limited to Japan's ter-ritorial waters and exclusiveeconomic zones. We will nothunt in the Antarctic waters orin the southern hemisphere,"Suga added.

Tokyo has repeatedlythreatened to pull out of thebody, and has been regularlycriticised for catching hun-dreds of whales a year for "sci-entific research" despite beinga signatory to a moratorium onhunting the animals.

Suga said Japan would offi-cially inform the IWC of itsdecision by the end of the

year, which will mean the with-drawal comes into effect byJune 30.

Leaving the IWC meansJapanese whalers will be able toresume hunting in Japanesecoastal waters of minke andother whales currently pro-tected by the IWC. But Japanwill not be able to continue theso-called scientific researchhunts in the Antarctic that ithas been exceptionally allowedas an IWC member under theAntarctic Treaty.

The withdrawal meansJapan joins Iceland and Norwayin openly defying the IWC'sban on commercial whalehunting.

Japan has hunted whalesfor centuries, and the meat wasa key source of protein in theimmediate post-World War IIyears when the country wasdesperately poor.

But consumption hasdeclined significantly in recentdecades, with much of thepopulation saying they rarely ornever eat whale meat.

Whale hunting has becomea rare thorny subject in Japan'sotherwise largely amiable for-eign policy, with internationalopposition only serving to makeconservatives dig in deeper insupport of the tradition. AFP

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Moscow: Russia on Tuesdayexpanded its economic sanc-tions on Ukraine, adding morethan 250 people and business-es to a blacklist first announcedat the start of November.

According to a decree byPrime Minister DmitriMedvedev, 245 individuals andseven companies, mostly in theenergy and defence sectors,were sanctioned by Moscow.

Relations between Moscowand Kiev have deterioratedsince a pro-WesternGovernment came to powerafter the 2014 revolt against apro-Russian leader, Moscow'sannexation of the Crimea andthe outbreak of war in easternUkraine.

A total of 567 individualsand 75 Ukranian companiesnow face Russian economicsanctions, which put a freezeon any assets they have inRussia.

On his Twitter account,Medvedev said the sanctionswere "to defend the interests ofthe Russian Government, busi-nesses and people."

Tensions between the twoneighbours have worsenedsince November when Russia'scoastguard captured threeUkrainian naval vessels andtheir crews off the Crimeancoast. AFP

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Seoul: North and South Koreabroke ground on Wednesday onan ambitious project to mod-ernise North Korean railwaysand roads and connect themwith the South, but withoutprogress in nuclear negotia-tions, trains won't be crossingthe border anytime soon.

The ceremony at the NorthKorean border town of Kaesongcame weeks after the Koreasconducted a joint survey on thenorthern railway sections theyhope to someday link with theSouth. It's one of several peacegestures agreed between NorthKorean leader Kim Jong Un andliberal South Korean PresidentMoon Jae-in as they pushahead with engagement amida stalemate in larger nuclearnegotiations betweenWashington and Pyongyang.

But beyond on-sitereviews and ceremonies, theKoreas cannot move muchfurther along without theremoval of US-led sanctionsagainst the North.

A South Korean train car-rying about 100 people —including Government offi-cials, lawmakers and aging rel-atives separated by the 1950-53 Korean War — rolled intothe North Korean border townof Kaesong, where they weregreeted by North Koreans

including Ri Son Gwon, whoheads an agency dealing withinter-Korean affairs.

North and South Koreanofficials signed a wooden rail-road tie, unveiled a new sign-board and observed a ceremo-nial connecting of northern andsouthern tracks at Kaesong'sPanmun Station, according toSouth Korea's UnificationMinistry.

Officials from China andRussia were also invited to wit-ness the symbolic start of anambitious project Seoul hopeswill one day link South Koreawith the Trans-China and Trans-Siberian railways. AFP

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Kabul: Afghanistan's presi-dential election, initiallyscheduled for April, will bepostponed for several monthsto allow time to fix technicalproblems that surfaced duringOctober's parliamentary elec-tions, officials saidWednesday.

More time is needed toverify voter lists and train staffon a biometric identificationsystem designed to reducefraud, said Abdul AzizIbrahimi, deputy spokesmanfor the Independent ElectionCommission.

Parliamentary electionswere fraught with delays afterthe few staff trained on thebiometric system did not showup at the polling booths andcountless registered voterscould not find their names onvoter lists. Polling had to con-tinue for a second day afterhundreds of polling stationsopened several hours late.Several legal complaints havebeen filed to challenge theresults. No new date for thepresidential election has yetbeen set.

The last presidential elec-tion, held in 2014, was miredin controversy and widespreadallegations of fraud.

The two leading candi-

dates, Ashraf Ghani andAbdullah Abdullah, fought atight race that went to a sec-ond vote. But before theresults of the runoff could beannounced, Abdullah allegedmassive vote fraud andwarned of widespreadprotests.

John Kerry, the then U.S.Secretary of state, intercededand helped cobble together aunity government and con-vinced the election commis-sion to hold off on announc-ing the results of the runoff,which Ghani seemed poisedto win.

Ghani was named presi-dent and Abdullah was givena newly created title of ChiefExecutive. The arrangementwas intended to last only twoyears but has continued up tothe present, resulting in agovernment marked by deepdivisions that has struggled tocombat a resurgent Taliban.

The postponement of theelection could give more timefor U.S. Efforts to end the 17-year war. US peace envoyZalmay Khalilzad has criss-crossed the region severaltimes since his appointment inSeptember, reportedly meet-ing with the Taliban on severaloccasions. AP

'/,!��(�%+(���%(��%����+�! �� ��+���Kano: Boko Haram jihadists

ambushed a military convoy innortheastern Nigeria, killing 13soldiers and a policeman, thearmy said Wednesday.

But an officer, speaking oncondition of anonymity, saidthe militants had overrun anarmy base, and put the deathtoll at 18.

An army statement said theattackers ambushed a military

convoy late Monday on a high-way linking Maiduguri, thecapital of Borno state, withDamaturu in neighbouringYobe state.

"Sadly, 13 military and apolice personnel... Paid thesupreme price while extricatingthemselves from the ambush,"said the statement, signed bylocal military spokesmanColonel Onyema Nwachukwu.

The attack followed anattempted raid on a nearby mil-itary base along the highway inKukareta village, 20 kilometres(12 miles) from Damaturu,Nwachukwu said.

That attack was "repelled"by troops who "engaged andoverpowered the terrorists,killing several of them",Nwachukwu said, adding thata soldier was injured. AFP

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BANGKOK: The ThailandGovernment has approved adraft legislation to allow same-sex civil union, a step whichcould make it the first Asiancountry to recognise such part-nerships once the bill is passed,official sources said onWednesday.

The Government approvedthe Civil Partnership Bill onTuesday, Efe news quotedApichat, a Governmentspokesperson, as saying.

The official said no datehas been fixed yet for the leg-islation to be presented in theNational legislative Assemblyfor a debate and approval as theState Council was reviewing itsdetails. IANS

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Dhaka: Bangladesh's mainOpposition alliance hasdemanded the resignation ofthe chief election commis-sioner, questioning his neu-trality, days ahead of theDecember 30 general elections,a senior official has said.

Members of Bangladesh'sopposition BNP-NUF allianceon Tuesday walked out of anElection Commission meet-ing, alleging that the behaviourof Chief ElectionCommissioner (CEC) NurulHuda was "inappropriate" andhe was not taking their viewsinto consideration during thetalks.

The Opposition delega-

tion led by National UnityFront (NUF) convenor andeminent jurist Kamal Hossainmet Huda to discuss thealleged arrests of the coalition'ssupporters in police crack-down ahead of the generalelections this week.

The NUF has demandedHuda's resignation accusinghim of bias ahead of the polls,a senior BNP leader said lastevening.

BNP secretary generalMirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgirsaid they demanded the CEC'sresignation as they fear a freeand fair election cannot beexpected under Huda's leadership. PTI

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London: Britain haslaunched a review into thepersecution of Christiansworldwide in response to asurge in violence againstmembers of the faith,Foreign Secretary JeremyHunt announcedWednesday.

The report will makerecommendations on stepsthe government can take tobetter support persecutedChristians.

The Foreign Office citeda "dramatic rise" in violencethat saw 215 millionChristians face persecutionfor their faith last year.

Women and childrenare particularly vulnerableand often subjected to sex-ual violence, the Ministrysaid.

Last year, on average250 Christians were killedeach month because of theirfaith, the Foreign Officesaid.

"So often the persecutionof Christians is a telling earlywarning sign of the persecu-tion of every minority," Huntsaid. "We can and must domore." The report, due inApril, will attempt to mapChristian persecution acrossthe Middle East, Africa andAsia, analyse the levels ofBritish Government supportand suggest a comprehensivepolicy response. AFP

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Sumur (Indonesia):Indonesian authorities askedpeople to avoid the coast inareas where a tsunami killedmore than 420 people lastweekend in a fresh warningissued on the anniversary of thecatastrophic 2004 Asian earth-quake and tsunami.

The big waves that fol-lowed the eruption of AnakKrakatoa, or "Child ofKrakatoa" island volcano, hitcommunities along the SundaStrait on Saturday night. Theeruption is believed to have setoff a landslide on the volcano,displacing the water thatslammed into Java and Sumatraislands.

Indonesia's Meteorology,Geophysics and ClimatologyAgency asked people lateTuesday to stay at least 500meters (1,640 feet) and up to 1kilometer (less than a mile)from the coastline along thestrait, which lies between thetwo main islands. Government workers weremonitoring Anak Krakatoa'seruptions and high waves andheavy rain were possibleWednesday, said agency headDwikorita Karnawati.

"All these conditions couldpotentially cause landslides atthe cliffs of the crater into thesea, and we fear that that couldtrigger a tsunami," she said ata news conference. She asked

that communities remain vig-ilant but not panic.

The tsunami struck with-out warning, taking people bysurprise even in a countryfamiliar with seismic disaster.No big earthquake shook theground beforehand, and it hitat night on a holiday weekendwhile people were enjoyingconcerts and other beach andresort activities.

It was a sharp contrast tothe disaster that struck 14 yearsago off the western coast ofIndonesia's Sumatra island. Anenormous 9.1 magnitudeearthquake rocked the areathe day after Christmas, creat-ing gigantic waves that surgedfar inland swallowing every-thing in their path. The wall ofwater killed some 230,000 peo-ple in a dozen countries, mostof them in Indonesia.

The devastation was vast,and the disaster was among theworst witnessed by the world inrecent history. Recovery wasslow, but some victims of the lat-est tsunami said on Wednesdaythey remember the resilience ofthe people in hard-hit BandaAceh, which is giving themhope that they too can rebuildtheir homes and their lives.

Beaches were largely emptyin the hard-hit area of Carita,and police patrolled the area onmotorbikes warning people tostay away from the coast. AP

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Years tick by, filmscome and go, so doesthe ebb and flow inthe film industry.C i n e - o m n i v o r e s

crank out the countdown listsevery December, but whatmakes a film truly unforget-table, no one knows.

2018 seemed to be a goodyear for Bollywood as com-pared to the past two years.Not only did some actors got

their first 100-crore marks,many small budget, low star

cast and good content films out-performed the biggies at the boxoffice. Many films worked unex-pectedly and also witnessedmany young and debutant film-makers making their mark.Starring Ranbir Kapoor, Sanjuruled the roost reaching �300-crore mark, followed by DeepikaPadukone’s Padmaavat.Following were Race 3, BadhaaiHo, Stree, Raazi, Sonu Ke Titu KiSweety, Raid, Gold, SatyamevJayate, Padman, Veere DiWedding, Sui Dhaaga, Dhadak,Parmanu, Andhadun, 2.0 andothers. Many content-drivenfilms registered �100 crore at thebox office.

Actor Rajkummar Rao’sStree turned out to be one of thebiggest surprise hits grossingover �100 crore in just twoweeks. Whereas, Sonu Ke Titu KiSweety turned out be a smashinghit. Ayushmann Khurrana’sBadhaai Ho earned more thanBaahubali 2 in its sixth weekend.There were four films from theSouth Indian cinema, Sarkar,Rangasthalam, Bharat Ane Nenuand 2.0, each of which grossedmore than �150 crore globally.

Apart from Bollywood,Hollywood also had a great yearin 2018. Avengers Infinity Wargarnered over $43,594,456 fol-lowed with Black Panther col-lecting $10,458,639 andIncredibles 2 over $7,641,308 inIndia. These films were releasedin English and many otherIndian languages. In fact,

Incredibles 2 collected �22.3crore within just five days of itsrelease here, becoming the high-est grossing animation Englishfilm ever released in India.Interestingly, The Stolen Princessbecame the first English anima-tion film from Ukraine to releasein India in English, Hindi andTamil and found favour with theaudience.

Another interesting trendseen this year was the acute trac-tion that OTT platforms gar-nered. Netflix India becameprofitable in its first year of oper-ations clocking a net profit of�20.2 lakh. Series like SacredGames, Lust Stories, Mirzapurand many others which werestreamed on various OTT plat-forms had the audience hookedfor more unconventional con-tent. The combination of mobilephone penetration and cost-effective data prices have madeit easy for the consumers towatch it as per their conve-nience and schedule. On the lastcount, there are roughly around

30 OTTs active in India current-ly, including Amazon Prime,Hotstar, Alt Balaji, Eros Now,Zee 5 and others.

Over and above China,newer non-traditional, nonIndian diaspora global marketslike Russia, Turkey, Taiwan,South Korea, Germany, Poland,

Portugal, Latin America andFrance are opening up to theIndian cinema. Over and abovetheatrical release, their televisionand digital platforms also arebeing explored to make ourfilms get an access to their audi-ence. In this year, Indian filmcontent has been customised forthe mainstream audience’s lan-guages and sensibilities. RaniMukerji-starring Hichki has sofar been released in Russia,Kazakhstan,Taiwan, Hong Kongand China. It extended the fron-tiers that Bajrangi Bhaijaan hadstarted to chart out with itsrelease in China and Turkey thisyear.

The year also witnessed arevolution in the acousticsdepartment. For the first time inIndia, the 4D SLR sound systemtechnology was introduced withthe release of the film 2.0. In thistechnology over and above thespeakers placed on both thesides and above the watcher,there would be speakers belowthe seats to provide the audiencewith sound from the closestsource, hence elevating theirfilm watching experience.

Keeping in mind the dismalscreen count in India, the yearalso witnessed existing multiplexchains expanding their foot-prints into small towns and

cities to capitalise on the poten-tial that these have to offer.This was done keeping in mindthe substantial appetite of film-goers who do not have enoughspace or platforms to see thefilms. According to the FICCIFrames Report 2018, India has9,530 cinema screens comparedto over 44,000 in China and over40,393 in the United States.Despite producing the largestnumber of films in the world peryear, India still remains one ofthe most under-penetrated mar-kets with an average of eightscreens per million people. Thisis primarily due to lack ofscreens in Tier II, Tier III andTier IV cities, hence leaving alarge section of the populationwith limited screen access. Thebiggest films in India reach onlyabout 30-35 per cent of thepopulation. The country hasthe capacity of at least 23,000more screens to be implement-ed in the next 10 years

Sensing this opportunity,new players have entered theexhibition business while strong-ly concentrating on the Tier II toTier IV markets in MP, UP,Rajasthan and other places.Actor Ajay Devgn under hisbrand name NY Cinemasalready has 17 operationalscreens and is expanding inmore geographical areas.

With the recent slash inGST on film tickets from 18 percent to 12 per cent and from 28per cent to 18 per cent, both theexhibition infrastructure andcreative development will get astrong impetus and attract sub-stantial investments.

Indeed the year has provento be a disruptive one for theentire film industry’s ecosystemand the end consumer. Withmajor films releasing in 2019,one can look forward to morepositive and interesting disrup-tions to follow in 2019 too.

(The author is the CEO ofUltra Media and EntertainmentGroup.)

Theatre has been so much a part ofIndian culture that it is where some

of the renowned Bollywood names havecut their teeth. However, it is strugglingto keep its identity alive in the present-day, tech-driven frenzy, promptingsome of the veterans to suggest it begiven a cinematic and digital touch tomake it more relatable and reachable.

Film and theatre actress SonaliKulkarni felt that theatre is an impor-tant part of “our culture and it is ourresponsibility to pass on the legacy tothe future generations.”

She said, “Today’s generation isimpatient, wants the best quality service,doesn’t want to be stuck in a theatre, feel-ing deprived that they couldn’t sit in thefront row — televising a play is the bestopportunity for everyone to feel thatthey are at the centre of the first row.”

She also feels that drama is one ofthe most original forms of art. “I real-ly like this culture of entertaining eachother by storytelling. There are stories

— mythical, political, social, storiesabout our livelihood, society, romanti-cism and poetry — and everything canbe conveyed through a play.

“I believe this basic form of story-telling should be preserved. Today’saudience is always racing against time.They need convenient options of enter-tainment. Hence, it is important to maketheatre easily available to them,” she said.

Joy Sengupta, another theatre vet-eran, echoed this and also pointed to thelimitation of theatre. “Performing art isexperienced live and by several peopleat one given time and venue. But a par-ticular performance cannot reach every-where. That is the limitation of theatreas opposed to cinema, which can beshowcased, or a serial which can be tele-

cast in multiple mediums or places at thesame time.

“Millions of people can experiencea film or serial at the same time, but nottheatre,” said Sengupta.

So, is the emergence of new ageBollywood stories taking away theessence of watching a play? “I don’t thinkso,” said Sengupta, adding, “I thinkBollywood has actually benefitted fromtheatre. The best of actors, writers anddirectors have actually come from the-atre. It serves as a base for introspectionof life, psychology, emotions, society,politics, everything. So theatre, in thatsense, is probably the best vehicle forcommunicating human truth and themagic of theatre will never go out offashion.”

He disagreed that theatre is in anykind of crisis. “Youngsters in India rightnow are definitely turning towardstheatre as an outlet for their expressionand are benefitting from it. More andmore youngsters are experiencing the-atre right from their college time, postcollege, into group theatre, into profes-sional theatre. Theatre is benefittingfrom it, the youth is benefiting from it.I don’t think theatre is in any kind of cri-sis,” he said.

Mita Vashisht, whose oeuvre spanstheatre, TV and films, pointed out thatthe cinematic format will give theatre anew boost.

“When it comes to educating theyouth about the significance of theatre,exposing them to the exemplary perfor-mances of theatre stalwarts and reviv-ing its glory, the cinematic format of the-atre is the way to go,” said Vashisht.

She also felt it’s vital to increase the-atre’s social and cultural space in soci-ety. “It reflects the rich cultural heritage

of our country and teaches society aboutitself, bringing to light the mindsets ofcurrent society and educating themabout their conditions,” she said.

Aiming to preserve the art ofdrama and emotions of theatre, increaseits reach beyond a few privileged citiesand take it to the audience short of time,Tata Sky has recently launched a theatreportal — a 24-hour dedicated platformto provide an ad-free theatre-watchingexperience on digital devices.

The content is curated with the bestplays and performances from the finesttheatre groups, bringing multiple gen-res of plays under one platform to beaccessible from the comfort and conve-nience of one’s home.

“We believed that, theatre, which isone of the oldest and the most appre-ciated entertainment art forms of India,should also be given a new stage andreach. That’s when we planned this con-cept of ‘archiving’ and ‘televising’ pop-ular plays,” said Pallavi Puri, chief com-mercial officer, Tata Sky.

So is televising theatre the next bigstep on the small screen? “Televisionviewership is only growing stronger witheach passing day and televising India’smost cherished art form is an interest-ing phase for the small screen.

“The plays have been recreated tosuit the sensibilities of today’s viewersand is shot using different techniquesand technology. The result gives view-ers a refreshing experience of watchingexcellent content and enjoyingacclaimed theatre performances fromthe comfort and convenience of yourhome and across devices such as mobile,tablet, laptop and desktops,” Puriexplained.

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For actor Sonu Sood, 2019 promises to bea good year. He is waiting for the release

of Simmba which will be only three days oldwhen the New Year kicks in. He plays Durga,the most powerful guy in Goa who is a foilto Ranveer (Singh). “I have not played acharacter which is similar before. Despite itbeing a negative one, there’s a positive sideto it as well. The kind of layering that RohitShetty has done is quite commendable,” hesays.

Following this, he will be heading backto the South to complete his Kannada filmand two other releases which are lined upfor later next year. “My production house hasgot the rights of a film on PV Sandhu so thattoo needs to be worked upon,” says he.

For Sood, there are some things whichare essential while signing up for a film. Ontop of the list is the script. “There might bebig production houses but when it comes tothe script, it might not always be somethingthat you want to do. It’s a tough call to takebut I always believe that if the script and therole is not as per your taste, there’s no pointlanding it,” he says. Whenever he choosesa role, in the order, he looks at the script first,then the director and then the producer.

For the actor, the decision is often takenin the first five minutes when he first hearsthe script. “When I sat for the narration ofSimmba, I was hoping for it to be the kindof role I was waiting for since the last fewyears. When the narration begun, I knewthat Durga is me and that this is a role thatI’ll enjoy playing. I felt that the role was chal-lenging. I have done films in various lan-guages including Kannada, Telugu andTamil but have never played a Marathi char-acter in a Hindi film.”

However, despite carefully choosingfilms, there is no surety of it being a hit onbox office, as he believes. Sood says, “I wishthere was a formula to choose the right scriptwhich would say, ‘do this and you’ll succeed.’Most of the actors just follow their instinct.”

He believes that going by the trends thisyear focus on the content has certainlyincreased. Sood says, “The change was longoverdue. There was a phase when content-driven work was not being noticed, whichgave leverage to filmmakers who took theaudience for granted. We have to make goodcinema to pull the people to the theatres. I’mglad that this year was a learning process fora lot of filmmakers and actors. It is becauseof the audience that there is this emphasison good scripts.”

Many feel that the change andimprovement in the content of Hindi filmshas come about due to digital platforms,which have practically exploded withfresh storylines, new content and actorsextending their oeuvre further. The actorsays, “It has challenged actors and film-makers because people now have easy

access to good performances and content.So you have to make something goodwhich can be compared to those high-in-content web shows.”

It has helped in other ways as well. “Ithas provided a lot of job opportunities to dif-ferent actors. If you are good, you are boundto get busy. It’s challenging to stay there. Iwould say the competition has become verytough. But the opportunities have increased.”

Sood is not just known on account ofhis work in the Hindi film industry but hasacted in many movies down South. So howeasy or difficult is it to mouth dialogues ina language that one is not familiar with? Heanswers, “You never actually get too com-fortable with the language. Moreover, youhave to take care that the expressions andthe timing are right. I derived this formulawhere I make the assistant director say theline before me,” says Sood who has donealmost 65-70 films and believes he is a pro-fessional now. And in the process, he hasstarted understanding the languages quitea bit, “I don’t know these languages com-pletely but I do understand them now.”

Another leap of faith that he had takenwas turning into a producer when helaunched Shakti Sagar Productions, whichis named after his father, in 2016. He says,“As a producer, I would know how actorsfunction. And as an actor, I know what doesa producer want. It’s good to experience boththe sides. It helps you develop on an indi-vidual level too. I’m glad I have stood at boththe sides,” he says as he signs off.

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The president of the WorldCongress of Poets (WCP)and the founder of the

Kalinga Institute of IndustrialTechnology (KIIT) and the KalingaInstitute of Social Sciences (KISS),Prof Achyuta Samanta, informedthat the World Academy of Artsand Culture (WAAC) and the twoinstitutes—KIIT and KISS, willjointly organise the next WCP inOdisha. This announcement wasmade in the presence of the exec-utive board member of the WCPand WAAC, Jacob Isaac and thesenior advisors at KIIT and KISS,Dr RK Das and Dr BN Nanda, ata press meet in New Delhi.

Dr Samanta informed that theevent is expected to be attended bymore than 500 poets from around100 countries. He further addedthat besides the poets, 2,000 writ-ers and poets from India andanother 2,000 delegates fromOdisha are expected to join the con-gress.

“On the request of KIIT andKISS, the decision to organise thisprestigious event at KIIT and KISSwas taken by the executive boardmembers of WAAC, the presidentof WAAC, Dr Maurus Young,senior vice president, Prof ErnestoKahan and the general secretary DrMaria Eugenia Soberanis, duringthe 38th WCP, which was hosted inSuiyang County of China’s Guizhouprovince,” said Dr Samanta.

WAAC, a UNESCO-affiliatedbody, auspices the World Congressof Poets (WCP). The WAAC wasfounded in 1969 and its GoldenJubilee will be celebrated along withthe 39th WCP in 2019. ThoughWAAC is a 50-year old institution,it has so far conducted 38 WCPs.For the third time, the WorldCongress of Poets is going to beheld in India.

Dr Samata elaborated that in apreliminary meeting, it was tenta-tively decided to hold the forthcom-ing World Congress of Poets fromOctober 2-6, 2019. The inauguralceremony will be held on October2, which also coincides with the

150th birth anniversary ofMahatma Gandhi. “It has beenplanned to hold a session ontourism poetry at Konark and a ses-sion on spiritual poetry in Puri, topromote tourism and culture ofOdisha, in particular, and of India,in general,” said Dr Samanta.

The Kalinga Institute ofIndustrial Technology (KIIT)Deemed to be University, and theKalinga Institute of Social Sciences(KISS) Deemed to be University, aretwo prominent academic institutesin India. The former is exclusivelyfor the professional education, hav-ing more that 30,000 student fromacross India and 50 countries.Despite being a very young univer-sity, KIIT has secured an impressiveposition of 1001+ in the global uni-versity ranking of the Times HigherEducation World UniversityRanking 2019.

On the other hand, KISS is thehuman face of KIIT. It is a home for50,000 tribal students—27,500existing students, and 12,500 well-placed alumni along with morethan 10,000 students in its varioussatellite centers. The institute pro-vides quality education fromkindergarten to post-graduation ina fully-free, fully-residential setting.KISS holds the distinction of being

the only university, exclusively fortribal students in India and global-ly. With the backing of huge infra-structure and other world-classfacilities at KIIT and KISS, the uni-versities have proved their mettle byorganising hundreds of very promi-nent, national and internationalseminars, workshops and confer-ences for the last 10 years.

KIIT has hosted the prestigiousnational and international meets likethe 99th Indian Science Congress in2012, attended by 20,000 academi-cians from across India and abroad.Similarly, KISS had organised theCommonwealth Big Lunch in 2018,where the High Commissionersfrom 50 Commonwealth countriesinteracted with 27,000 tribal stu-dents over lunch.

Dr Samanta also added that theCongress will see a good academ-ic exchange as poets and writersfrom across the globe will cometogether. “I feel it will definitely givea very good boost to poets and writ-ers in the state of Odisha and inIndia as well. The Odisha state gov-ernment has extended its cooper-ation to make the 39th WCP agrand success and we are seekingthe support from the Ministry ofCulture, Government of India aswell,” said Dr Samanta.

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The former minister of Tamil Nadu,Panrutti S Ramachandran believes

that the chancellor of the Vellore Instituteof Technology, Dr G Viswanathan, shouldtake the lead in uniting the Tamilsthroughout the world to protect the inter-ests and cause of the Tamils living in dif-ferent countries. He was speaking at the80th birthday celebration of DrViswanathan, organised by a committeeof well-wishers, recently.

The former minister said, “DrViswanathan had the privilege of havingcarved a niche in the heart of the formerChief Minister and Dravida MunnetraKazhagam founder late C N Annadurai(popularly known as Anna). DrViswanathan was the right person tounite the Tamils of the world, transcend-

ing religious, caste and other barriers.”The VIT Chancellor-80th Birthday

Celebration Committee informed that asum of �15 lakh was collected by thewell-wishers in connection with thebirthday celebration and this will bedonated to the Universal HigherEducation Trust (UHET), founded by DrViswanathan to provide financial assis-tance to poor students to pursue highereducation.

The Tamil Nadu Minister forCommercial Taxes and Registration K CVeeramani, released a book—‘ViyarvaiyinVetri’. The former minister,Ramachandran, released the book—‘Starsand Saplings’, while the book tiled—‘Vendhar 80’ was released by another for-mer minister, C Ponnaiyan.]

To offer easier travel toIndians to Italy, Air

Italy has launched it firsttriple weekly direct opera-tions from Delhi andMumbai each to Milan.India is the fourth interna-tional addition to Air Italy’sexpanding network, follow-ing the successful com-mencement of its opera-tions to New York (JFK),Miami (MIA) and Bangkok(BKK) earlier this year. Thethree-times weekly non-stop flight from New Delhiwill be served on an AirbusA330-200, offering 24fully-reclining flatbed seatsin the Business Class and228 seats in the EconomyClass.

The chief operatingofficer of Air Italy, RossenDimitrov, said “The launchof our India-Italy sectorrepresents another majorstep forward for Air Italyand reinforces our commit-ment to our networkexpansion plans in Asia.Our average load factor onboth routes for the firstmonth is already at around70 per cent which is wellwithin our business planexpectations and will onlycontinue to grow now that

operations have com-menced.”

He informed that Italyis the second Europeandestination for Indianstravelling to Europe interms of tourism, comparedto other countries, and thisroute has been a long-standing request from localauthorities, leisure trav-ellers and various tradeorganisations. “India is afascinating and dynamicdestination and is a signifi-cant base for business andtourism. We are delightedto welcome Delhi as a partof our global network and

look forward to providingmore flexibility of travelchoices to our customers,contributing to this ongo-ing growth.”

From Milan Malpensa,Air Italy will providedomestic connecting flightsto Rome, Catania, Palermo,Naples and Lamezia Terme,as well as convenient con-nections to its US-boundflights to New York andMiami. Commencing inApril 2019, there will alsobe connectivity to LosAngeles and San Franciscowith the launch of thosetwo new destinations.

Dimitrov further elabo-rated that the exclusiveBusiness Class cabin of AirItaly allows maximumcomfort on fully recliningseats, an Italian and Indianmenu accompanied by aselection of fine Italianwines and champagne, Wi-Fi service, extensive in-flight entertainment andpersonalised attention fromthe on-board staff. TheEconomy Class cabin offersthe guests a comfortableflight, a highly personalisedservice, Wi-Fi and a widechoice of on-board enter-tainment.

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To promote more value-for-money holiday packages to

Malaysia for the Indian tourists,Tourism Malaysia has launchedthe ‘Malaysia Fantastic Deals’package. For this initiative,Tourism Malaysia is offering fivepackages, designed specifically forthe India market. The packagescan be purchased through selectIndian travel agents based inChennai, Delhi, Mumbai andKolkata from December 15 toJanuary 15, 2019 for travel toMalaysia between February 1,2019 to July 31, 2019. For this,Malindo Air is also offering a 10per cent discount on air faresfrom Chennai, Delhi, Mumbaiand Kolkata. Meanwhile, industrypartners like the Sunway Hoteland Resorts, MeritusPelangiBeach Resort and Spa Langkawi,Lexis Hotel and Group andAtmosphere 360 RevolvingRestaurant KL Tower, have cometogether to offer deals for destina-tions like Kuala Lumpur, PortDickson, Langkawi and Penang inMalaysia.

The director of package devel-opment division of TourismMalaysia Tuan Syed Yahya SyedOthman, said, “We are proud ofthis partnership with some of thekey names in Malaysia’s tourismindustry, and believe that touristsfrom India will enjoy better valueand have a memorable experienceof Malaysia. These packages bringtogether the best of Malaysia’sislands and beaches, city, gastron-omy and family-friendly experi-ences, and will provide a broaderexperience of Malaysia.” Malaysiais also promoting the concept of‘experiential shopping’ at the des-tination.

Malindo Air’s CEO ChandranRama Muthy, added, “Our flightsoffer spacious legroom, in-flightentertainment, meals, baggageallowance as well as BusinessClass option. In 2019, we are tar-geting a 12 per cent incrementalof passenger’s load from Indiacompared to this year. We believethis partnership will contribute inachieving our goal and boost thenumber of visitors to Malaysia.”

Orient Electric Limited,part of the diversified

CK Birla Group, haslaunched a new range oflifestyle portable fans, featur-ing distinctive designs.

With the launch of thisseries, Orient Electric aimsto reinstate its thought lead-ership in the category whilemeeting aspirational needs ofthe consumers. The companyis targeting to not only growthis category exponentially,but also build a dominantshare in the next one year.

The senior vice presidentand Business head of fans forthe company, Atul Jain,believes that with the chang-ing climatic conditions andprolonged summers, increas-ing dust and air pollution,shrinking spaces and needfor more personalised cool-ing solutions, there arises aneed for solutions beyondthe traditional ceiling andtable fans. Jain commented,“The need for safer portable

fans for kids, need for betterair circulation in air-condi-tioned rooms, far more per-sonal need for air in con-fined spaces like puja rooms,were some of the insights

which inspired us to thinkand find solutions for theconsumers, beyond tradi-tional ones. Each of ourlifestyle range of fansaddresses the unique con-

sumer insights and latentrequirements. Designed tobring alive exclusivity, thesefans exude sheer elegance.”

The company haslaunched four fans in itslifestyle series. The OrientBladeless fan uses acombination of physics andaerodynamics, flaunting adistinctive design. Thecurvaceous fan has no bladesand comes with a remotecontrol, in-built moodlighting with four colouroptions and 7.5 hours ofstandby timer. The OrientMonroe tower fan beingcompact, can fit easily intoany space big or small, likethe kitchen top, shop oroffice workstation. The fancomes with three speedsettings, in-built timer and aremote control for ease ofuse. The Orient Auctor, is fitwith the 3-D auto-oscillationfeature which helps the air tocirculate to every nook andcorner of the room. Stylish

and compact, the OrientAuctor has a touch screencontrol, in-built timerfunction and a remote-controlled operation forultimate convenience. TheOrient Proteus is a luxurybox fan with compact design,super silent motor, verticaladjustment feature and threespeed settings along with atimer control.

Jain further added thatwith rising incomes andaspirations, along withincreased exposure to digitaland the global lifestyle andtechnologies, individualisa-tion trend is catching up fastin consumer durables space.He explained, “Consumerstoday want to have individu-alised solutions that makelife simpler and experiencesbetter. Our luxurious breedof mobile lifestyle fans is sureto interest the modern aspi-rational consumers and adda glam quotient to theirhome and office interiors.”

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Cristiano Ronaldo came off thebench to score a late equaliser as10-man Juventus salvaged a 2-2

draw at Atalanta on Wednesday tomove nine points clear of Napoli at thetop of Serie A.

Carlo Ancelotti's Napoli visit third-placed Inter Milan later in the day,though, with the chance to cut the gapto the reigning champions.

Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegridecided to rest Ronaldo as the formerReal Madrid man did not start a leaguegame for the first time since moving toItaly, but the 33-year-old was needed tolevel in the 78th minute after DuvanZapata's double had put the hosts infront following Berat Djimsiti's own goal.

Ronaldo's efforts keep Juventusunbeaten in Serie A, ahead of the finalgame before the winter break againstSampdoria on Saturday.

Everything appeared to be going toplan for Juve when they grabbed the leadin only the second minute when Atalantacentre-back Djimsiti completely mis-kicked Alex Sandro's deflected cross intohis own net.

But Zapata put a spanner in the Juveworks with a fantastic individual goalmidway through the first half, spinningcentre-back Leonardo Bonucci withease before drilling a left-footed strikeinto the far corner.

Douglas Costa fired wide just afterthe half-hour mark as the visitors lookedto restore their advantage, but the Turingiants were reduced to 10 men eightminutes after half-time when RodrigoBentancur was shown a second yellowcard for a poor tackle on TimothyCastagne.

Colombian striker Zapata wasted lit-tle time in making Bentancur pay,bundling in from almost on the goallineto put Atalanta ahead and score his ninthleague goal of the season.

Allegri sent on Ronaldo with 25minutes remaining, and less than 60 sec-onds after Robin Gosens wasted a gold-en opportunity to seal victory forAtalanta, the Portuguese star pounced tonod home from close range.

������0����#,��%,���*��������3�AC Milan's push for a top-fourfinish in Serie A took a hit on Wednesdayas Gennaro Gattuso's side were held toan uneventful 0-0 draw at struggling

Frosinone.The seven-time European champi-

ons have now failed to score in four con-secutive league games for the first timesince 1984, managing three goallessstalemates in the process.

Milan remain fifth, behind fourth-placed Lazio on goal difference in therace for Champions League qualification.

Milan have said they will appeal tothe Court of Arbitration for Sport afterUEFA threatened to ban them from

European competition for a season ifthey do not break even by June 2021.

The club won a previous appeal toCAS earlier this year, following aEuropa League ban for breachingFinancial Fair Play regulations.

But their efforts to secure Europeanfootball for next season suffered a set-back against a resolute Frosinone out-fit who almost snatched a dramatic93rd-minute winner when CamilloCiano was denied by visiting goalkeeperGianluigi Donnarumma.

Ciano had already seen a goalruled out by VAR for a foul eight min-utes before half-time.

Frosinone remain second-bottomabove only winless Chievo, havingmanaged just one victory all season.

Later on Wednesday, reigningchampions Juventus travel to Atalantalooking to extend their eight-pointlead at the top of the table, before sec-ond-placed Napoli face third-placedInter Milan.

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Not willing to reveal their tactics,India and Oman will play behind

closed doors their final internationalfriendly before the AFC Asian Cup, hereon Thursday.

A day prior to the match at theBaniyas Stadium, India's head coachStephen Constantine stressed they"haven't come here expecting to playeasy games".

The match is part of Blue Tigers'preparation for the forthcoming AsianCup. Both the head coaches have decid-ed on playing behind closed doors, theresult of which there won't be any tele-cast of the match and the crowd andmedia will be missing from the stands.

India begin their campaign in theAsian Cup against Thailand on January6.

Commenting on the match againstOman, Constantine stated: "It's going tobe extremely hard. We have come hereto play the big boys of Asia. We playedagainst the likes of Jordan, China. Weneed to play these sort of games to pre-pare in the best possible fashion."

Oman are currently ranked 82 inthe FIFA rankings, while India are at 97.India last played Oman in the FIFAWorld Cup Russia 2018 qualifiers twice,with Oman winning on both occasions.

"We were very unlucky to lose thefirst leg in Bengaluru," Constantinereflected. "That was our first group stagegame in the qualifiers. But we are amuch improved side now, and much

younger."Central midfielder Pronay Halder,

who wasn't part of the squad in the first-leg in Bengaluru complemented hiscoach, saying "we are a much maturedside now".

"We have matured a lot since then.Our organisation on the field is muchbetter compared to what we were in2015," he opined.

India have been the first team toland in Abu Dhabi for the Asian Cup.

"The facilities have been superb andit has been going on according to theplan so far. We have done our home-work as well," Constantine insisted.

In the continental showpiece, Indiaare looking to improve on their show-ing from the last time they took part inthe tournament, in the 2011 edition,when they suffered three heavy defeatsfor a group stage-exit.

India's 13-match unbeaten rununder Constantine has given themhope of a better outing this timearound, coming into the event not longafter scaling their second-best rankingin the FIFA chart.

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Gujarat Fortunuegiants saw off a spirited fightfrom defending champions Patna Pirates to

secure a 37-29 win in an Inter-Zone WildcardPro-Kabaddi League fixture here on Wednesday.

The loss meant the holders were on the brinkof elimination, giving a lifeline to UP Yoddha,who will face Bengal Warriors Thursday to decidethe third team from Zone B.

Gujarat's defence proved to be the differenceas they prevailed over Patna's star-studdedattacking lineup featuring the season six's lead-ing raider Pradip Narwal.

Captain Sunil Kumar, with five tackle points,was Gujarat's mainstay in the defence as he gota fine support from Iran's Asian Games Goldmedallist Hadi Oshtorak.

Leading by a slender three-point margin withthree minutes left on the clock, the duo effect-ed a super tackle to pin down Narwal to give thema decisive 32-28 point advantage.

Narwal finished with 10 raid points but it wasnot enough with the Fortunegiants putting up afine show in defence with their captain leadingthe way.

Gujarat scored some crucial raids throughAjay Kumar (8) and Rohit Gulia (10) to extendtheir lead by three points with less than 10 min-utes.

Season six's leading raider Narwal spear-headed Patna's attack as he made early inroadsto give the defending champions a 6-2 lead.

But the Fortunegiants, who are the most con-sistent team of the season, ensured that they keptPatna's lead in check with Gulia leading theirattack.

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Dronacharya awardee C A Kuttappa hastaken over as India's chief boxing coach

at the ongoing national camp from whichstar pugilist Vikas Krishan (75kg) was leftout following his professional plunge.

The 39-year-old Kuttappa, credited withshaping some of the country's most suc-cessful boxers such as Vijender Singh, MSuranjoy Singh and Shiva Thapa amongothers, took over from veteran coach S RSingh at the beginning of the camp whichstarted December 10. Singh has nowretired.

"It's such a huge responsibility but I amtrying to do my best. I have a few plans andhopefully, I will be able to execute them,"Kuttappa, who was an assistant coach, hesaid.

The Army man said his elevation wasHigh Performance Director Santiago

Nieva's idea."He asked me if I was interested. I

sought some time because I needed to thinkit over. I am not most senior is terms of ageand that was playing on my mind. I told thisto Santiago and he told me I shouldn't bebothered about it," the former National

Games gold-medallist from Karnatakasaid.

His first major assignment would be thesecond edition of the India Open scheduledin January in Guwahati.

"Earlier it used to be more aboutpumping up my boys but now I am goingto be directly responsible for their perfor-mance. So, I know the pressure is going tobe huge but I hope I can deliver," he said.

Kuttappa is just one of the two coach-es from the Services Sports Control Board(SSCB), the reigning national champions,in the camp and the line-up is dominatedby coaches from the Railways SportsPromotion Board (RSPB).

As for the boxers in the camp, Vikas,a Commonwealth Games Gold-medallistand Asian Games Bronze-winner this year,is the most notable omission following hisdecision to sign up with American pro-moter Bob Arum.

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Barcelona midfielderArthur Melo has expressed

the hope that Brazil teammateNeymar will return to theCatalan club, less than 18months after his world-recordtransfer to Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).

Neymar has scored 44goals in 49 matches for theFrench side but there hasbeen speculation that the 26-year-old is unhappy and

angling for a return to theCamp Nou.

"Personally, I'm prayingthat he comes because he is agreat player," Arthur wasquoted as saying by Brazil'sUol news portal on Tuesday,reports Xinhua news agency.

"That's unquestionable.The more top qualify playerswe have, the better [forBarcelona]. But only heknows. I don't how if there arenegotiations and possibilitiesof him coming back. He is a

personal friend and a foot-baller who I admire a lot. I'dbe really happy if he cameback," he added.

Neymar won two La Ligatitles, a Champions Leaguetitle, three Spanish Cups, aSpanish Super Cup and theFIFA Club World Cup in afour-year spell at Barcelona.

He became the mostexpensive footballer in histo-ry when he joined Paris Saint-Germain for 222 million eurosin August 2017.

������ �)������

The North Eastern Warriors (NEW)will look to turn their fortunes around

when skipper Saina Nehwal takes thecourt for the first time in the 4thVodafone Premier Badminton League(PBL) against Mumbai Rockets here onThursday.

With a close 2-3 win-loss record outof the five ties in their last fixture, theWarriors, led by India's first woman towin an Olympic Bronze Saina Nehwal,will be looking to unleash their firepow-er when they take on the MumbaiRockets, the second placed on the leader-board with five points.

If she provides the start that NEWwants, it will be a great inspiration to theplayers following her.

"It wasn't the start that we wereexpecting, but we drew satisfaction fromthe success of Rituparna when she beatKirsty Gilmore, a top 50 ranked playerand Tian backing with a brilliant game.We are confident of a fresh start as theteam has regrouped and we aim to havethe first win tomorrow," a confident Sainasaid.

"I had not played the last match, butI am practising and moving well on thecourt, so will do whatever is best possi-ble for the team's success," she added.

Without a doubt, Saina will wantChinese Tian Houwei, the winner ofChina Masters Open who made hisdebut last year against Delhi Dashers, todo his part as well as he did the othernight in Mumbai. His value addition ofthis veteran will definitely add to the fire-power in men singles.

Tanongsak Sansomboonsuk, the firstThai shuttler to win a Superseries, hasloads of experience and credentials —seven SEA Games medals and the 2010Asian Games Bronze medal in his

swelling kitty — to do a thorough job insingles.

NEW also has a good mix of doublesplayers in Kim Ha Na - she won her firsttitle in India Open in 20112. The Silvermedal winner at the Incheon Games in2014 is a tricky customer and possessesthe strokes and guile of a mixed doublespair to outdo the best in business. Afterhaving had a quiet year, she will look toprove her worth.

South Korean stalwart Yoo Yeon Seongwas a vital cog in the title-winning effortsof Hyderabad Hunters last season. He bringsin not only the experience but also a bigboost to Warriors' doubles lineup and thePBL veteran will look to make his experi-ence count along with Liao Min Chun, the2014 Games bronze winner. The Taiwanese,a star attraction in the lineup, with his expe-rience can provide the edge that NE

Warriors needs. But Mumbai Rockets do have a solid

attack to counter the Warriors with the likesof Le Yong Dae and Sameer Verma in dou-bles and singles respectively will look fortheir second win.

In addition, they have proved them-selves to be a tough team, having been therunners-up in Season 1 and 2. The only dis-advantage could be that they will be play-ing the Saina-led New Warriors for the firsttime as they didn't meet them in Season 3.

The momentum is certainly withMumbai Rockets and Sameer Verma agreesthat they will look to keep it going till theend of the season.

"We had a good start and it will be crit-ical that we get a good start here too againstthe North East. It will be important that wecontinue the winning momentum," Vermasaid.

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Debutant Mayank Agarwalprovided the base with aconfident half-century

before Virat Kohli andCheteshwar Pujara steered Indiato a solid 215 for two on day oneof the third Test against Australia,here on Wednesday.

Agarwal, thrusted into thesquad following failure of KLRahul and Murali Vijay, respond-ed with a 76-run knock off 161balls, sorting out India's openingwoes to some extent.

The conditions, though,were completely different fromwhat Rahul and Vijay had coun-tered in bowler-friendly Adelaideand Perth.

The MCG pitch turned outto be docile, ideal for someonemaking his Test debut as theAustralian pacers had to bendtheir back to get the Kookaburraball to rise sharply.

Make-shift opener HanumaVihari did not make many runs,getting just 8 off 66 balls in his40-run stand with Agarwal butthey batted out 18.5 overs, India'slongest opening stand in termsof balls faced in Test cricketacross Australia, New Zealand,England and South Africa sinceDecember 2010.

Virender Sehwag andGautam Gambhir had batted out29.3 overs against the Proteas atCenturion in that year.

The combination of Agarwaland Vihari was India's sixthopening pairing in 2018, andfifth in 11 overseas Tests this year.

Agarwal missed out on scor-ing a hundred on Test debut butgrabbed the opportunity withboth hands. His 76 came off 161balls with eight shots to the fenceand one over it.

During his knock, hebecame only the second Indianto make a 50-plus score ondebut on Australian soil afterDattu Phadkar (51) at SCG inDecember, 1947.

Overall, he became the sev-

enth Indian batsman to score ahalf-century on Test debut. Hefell at stroke of tea, caught downthe leg side to be the second vic-tim of paceman Pat Cummins,the only successful bowler for thehosts today.

Skipper Kohli and Pujarathen took control over the pro-ceedings denying the hosts anymore success in the final session.However, Kohli survived a hos-tile Mitchell Starc over towardsthe end to stay unbeaten on 47.

Tim Paine grassed a caughtbehind chance when Kohlichased one from Starc in thatover.

Kohli and Pujara, who is bat-ting on 68, have stitched togeth-er a 92-run stand for the thirdwicket.

The Indian captain hadwalked out to bat to a mixture ofcheers and boos, but soonimpressed the capacity crowd atthe MCG with his repertoire ofstrokes. He sped off the blocksand at one stage was scoring atstrike-rate 70-plus beforeAustralia reined things in withsome tight bowling.

It soon reflected in India'soverall run-rate as well whichdidn't cross 2.5/over all day.

�#��■ (��#����

Mayank Agarwal hadbeen waiting for his

India debut for the pastone year but when dreamturned into a reality, therewas such a surge of emo-tions that the Karnatakabatsman found it difficult tofocus on the job at hand.

"It was a tremendousfeeling to get the India Testcap. I had a lot of emotions(running through mind)when I got the cap. I willcherish it for the rest of mylife. The first thought was295 (his India cap number),"Agarwal said after hisimpressive 76 at the iconicMelbourne Cricket Ground.

But the occasion doesget better at times, especiallywhen someone scoresmountain of runs and iskept waiting for that elusiveIndia cap.

"It wasn't easy to gethold of those emotions andfocus there, but it needed tobe done. I just stuck to myplans and just kept tellingmyself, "there is a plan thatI have to go through and Iam just going to stick tothat". Even though it wasoverwhelming, it was goodand I am happy with theway I started," Agarwaladded.

Agarwal felt good thatthe seniors came up andegged him to leave a mark

on his debut."It's a big stage, and a big

opportunity, and I had theseniors walk up to me,telling that bigger the day,bigger the opportunity toleave a mark," said Agarwal.

Agarwal feels blessedthat he made his debut atthe MCG and also crossedevery step towards interna-tional cricket with flyingcolours.

"I just want to say thatwhatever happened andwhatever kept happening, Ifeel very, very special. I amvery lucky because I mademy debut at MCG. Everyplayer has to go throughscoring runs in RanjiTrophy and doing what hehas to do.

"I did that and I am veryhappy about that. And Ilearnt a lot as well. Whenyou play Ranji Trophy forfive years and play in allparts of India, you learn a lotfrom that. You face differentsituations, and it's always agreat learning," he added.

When asked about aflat pitch at the MCG, whichshowed some variablebounce as the day pro-gressed, Agarwal replied,"Iwon't complain about thepitch. I thought it was goodto bat on. It did do a bit earlyon and it was slow. And asthe day progressed andwhen we batted after lunch,it got a little quicker."

�#��■ (��#�����

Australia were disappointed to miss outon the prized wicket of Virat Kohli on

a tough opening day of the third Test, saidTravis Head, stressing on the need to makethe still-hard Kookaburra ball count in thesecond morning.

Kohli was dropped on 47 by Australianskipper Tim Paine during Mitchell Starc'sbrilliant over towards the end of theinnings.

"... The best over today was from Starc.Beating Kohli inside and outside, that newball hopefully can come out and do thattomorrow again. It was disappointing toleave that chance but it happens," Headsaid on Wednesday.

Australian bowlers had to toil hard asIndia finished at 215-2 with Kohli (47) andCheteshwar Pujara (68) remaining unbeat-en at stumps, following Mayank Agarwal's161-ball 76 on debut early in the day.

"We would have liked to have 4-5wickets tonight, but it is a massive morn-ing and if we can still get them down twowickets in the morning, it will be goodwhile the ball is still reasonably hard anda couple left handers coming later on," hesaid.

"Hopefully as the game goes on we will

get more spin, but we have been able torestrict a lot of runs today even though wedidn't get the wickets we would have liked.It makes for an exciting morning andmomentum can change."

Head said the bowling unit did well torestrict the flow of runs on a grinding dayand hoped they can continue in the samevein Thursday.

"Yeah it was a tough day. A grindingday of Test cricket and they batted well.We created pressure and we have seen forthe whole series there hasn't been high runrate for the day," said Head.

"Sometimes that's Test cricket. It is notalways going to be clear sailing and goodwickets, and today was a case when we hadto grind it out.

"It makes for another massive morn-ing tomorrow to create pressure andmake sure we bowl tomorrow the day wedid today. I thought we restricted India intrying conditions," he added.

Head also lauded Pat Cummins for histwo-wicket haul on the opening day.

"Cummins led from the front and gottwo wickets for us. He bowled hard andaggressive, used his bouncer well, andextracted something from the wicket. Andhe put pressure on Indian batsmen all day,"he said.

�#��■ (��#����

Former Australia captain RickyPonting was Wednesday formally

inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall ofFame.

To mark the occasion, Pontingreceived his commemorative capfrom compatriot ICC Cricket Hall ofFamer Glenn McGrath during the teabreak on the opening day of the thirdTest against India at the MCG.

Ponting was named in the ICCCricket Hall of Fame along with for-mer India captain Rahul Dravid andEngland woman wicketkeeper-batterClaire Taylor during the ICC AnnualConference in Dublin in July, whichPonting could not attend.

Ponting, after receiving the cap,said: "It's an incredible feeling, Ithink for it to happen here at the MCGis what makes the whole thing a lit-tle bit more special. I found outtoday I am one of 25 Australians to beinducted.

"When you play one Test forAustralia, you join a very elite groupof players but now to part of the ICCHall of Fame, you join an even moreelite group of cricketers, so it's a pret-ty special day today," Ponting said.

Ponting spoke fondly about hisassociation with McGrath.

"I have lots of great memories withGlenn. I went to the cricket academywith Glenn in about 1990, so I haveknown Glenn for a long time.

"It's a really cool thing that theydo to have a fellow inductee actuallyhand over your cap and induct you in,so to have someone like Glenn do it,with whom I am working with nowand have played with for 10 or 12years, makes the whole thing a littlebit better," Ponting said.

"It's great recognition. I thank theICC for what they have done in mak-ing this possible. To be here in theMCG with 75,000 people, it makes itan awesome day," the formerAustralian captain added.

Ponting, a three-time ICC CricketWorld Cup winner including twotimes as captain, is the 25th Australiacricketer to be formally inductedinto the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.

The 44-year-old retired frominternational cricket in 2012 afterscoring 13,378 runs in 168 Tests with41 centuries, 13,704 runs in 375ODIs with 30 centuries and 401 runsin 17 T20Is with two half-centuries.

Ponting was named the ICCPlayer of the Year in 2006 and 2007while also being named the ICC TestPlayer of the Year in 2006.

�#��■ (��#����

Banned Australian crick-eter Cameron Bancroft

on Wednesday revealed thatit was David Warner, whoencouraged him to tamperwith the ball in the ill-fatedCape Town Test, and he didit since he wanted to "fit in"and feel "valued" in the team.

Bancroft was handed anine-month ban whileWarner and then skipperSteve Smith were handedone-year bans by CricketAustralia in exemplary pun-ishment for their role in ball-tampering scandal in Marchthis year.

"Dave (Warner) suggest-ed to me to carry the actionout on the ball given the sit-uation we were in the game

and I didn't know any better,"Bancroft said in an interview,conducted by former crick-eter Adam Gilchrist for FoxCricket. "I didn't know anybetter because I just wantedto fit in and feel valued real-ly. As simple as that," Bancroftwho is days away from com-pleting his ban, said.

However, he also admit-ted that he was guided by hisown distorted values in mak-ing the horrendous decision.

"The decision was basedaround my values, what I val-ued at the time and I valuedfitting in… you hope that fit-ting in earns you respect andwith that, I guess, there camea pretty big cost for the mis-take."

However, while intro-specting what would havehappened if he had refusedWarner's suggestion, the 26-year-old Bancroft said hemay have buried himselfunder the doubt that proba-bly he did not put team'sinterest before him. "I wouldhave gone to bed and I wouldhave felt like I had let every-body down. I would have feltlike I had let the team down.I would have left like I hadhurt our chances to win thegame of cricket."

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At the other end, Pujaracontinued in his usual mannerand brought up his 21st Testhalf-century off 152 balls.

Australia tried their best toetch out a breakthrough and indesperation also wasted a DRSreview for lbw off Nathan Lyon(0/59).

They took the second newball in the 83rd over, and the bigmoment came in the 87th overwhen Tim Paine dropped Kohli(on 47) off Starc (0/32).

It was only the secondinstance in 11 overseas Teststhis year that Virat Kohli wasyet to arrive at the crease with100-plus runs on the score-board. The first instance was inNottingham during the secondinnings against England.

To their credit Australiacreated chances in the latter halfof this second session. In the52nd over off Mitchell Marsh,a delivery looped up towardsgully off Pujara but fell justshort of a diving UsmanKhawaja.

Then, three overs later,Agarwal edged Cummins

through the vacant third slip.The pacer picked himself upthough and three balls later hehad Agarwal as Australia got aboost going into tea.

It showed in how Lyoncame on to bowl as early as theeighth over, only the secondtime in his Test career that hehad done so.

Vihari took 25 balls and 33minutes to score his first run ashe batted with patience.

He was hit on the helmetin the 13th over off Cumminsas Australia started bowlingshort and attacking the bats-men more. The makeshift-opener shrugged it off andwent on to face 66 balls, thesecond highest for an Indianopener in five innings thisseries.

Cummins got him off asharp rising delivery in the 19thover, as Vihari took his eyes offthe ball and gloved it to AaronFinch in the slip region. TheAustralian pacers continued totest the Indian batsmen withsharp bouncers at every oppor-tunity possible.