14 vivacity rahul vows criminal probe on rafale · rafale is a decision in national inter-est. i...

CAPSULE

NO INDIANS WILL BE LEFTOUT OF NRC, ASSURES PMSilchar: Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Fridayassured the people of Assamthat no genuine citizen will beleft out of the NRC.

PHOOLKA: AAP EXPLOITEDANTI-GRAFT MOVEMENT New Delhi: Targeting the AAP,HS Phoolka, who quit the partyon Friday, said converting ananti-graft movement into AAP in2012 was “wrong”.

55 TRAINS CANCELLED,11 DELAYED DUE TO FOGNew Delhi: As dense fogenveloped parts of Delhi onFriday, 55 trains were cancelled,25 remained partially cancelledand at least 11 delayed.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Accusing Defence MinisterNirmala Sitharaman of not

addressing his specific questionon the Rafale deal during thedebate in the Lok Sabha,Congress president RahulGandhi on Friday vowed to ini-tiate a criminal investigationinto the purchase of the fight-er jets if the Congress comes topower after the Lok Sabhaelections in 2019.

Asserting that those foundguilty of wrongdoings in theRafale deal will be punished,Rahul demanded that PrimeMinister Narendra Modishould be investigated for cor-ruption and for weakeningnational security by giving theRafale contract to “his friend”industrialist Anil Ambani.

Also attacking DefenceMinister Nirmala Sitharaman,Rahul said the Minister just“ran away” after a long speechin the Lok Sabha without pro-viding answers to his questionson the controversial fighter jetdeal. He further questioned theabsence of the Prime Ministerin Parliament when the debateon the topic was on.

“The Defence Minister didnot answer any of the questionsI asked on the Rafale deal. Shedid not even take the name ofAnil Ambani,” Rahul Gandhitold reporters outsideParliament after Sitharamangave the Government’s reply onthe Rafale fighter jet deal issuein the Lok Sabha. Rahul said heput two questions to the

Minister towards the end of thedebate and asked her to replyin yes or no. “I asked that aftera long negotiation process,those people who participatedin that negotiations — AirForce chief, Defence Minister,secretaries, Air Force officials— when the Prime Ministerdid a ‘bypass surgery’... Did theAir Force people object, yes orno,” Rahul said.

“And you saw that insteadof answering this, the DefenceMinister started doing dramathat ‘I have been insulted, I wascalled a liar’,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Rahulsaid the PM should be investi-gated for corruption for givingthe Rafale contract to AnilAmbani. The Gandhi scioncited a media report onSwedish Telecom majorEricsson filing a contempt plea

in the Supreme Court againstReliance Communicationschief Anil Ambani anddemanding that he be detained.

“In addition to corrup-tion, the PM should be inves-tigated for weakening nation-al security by giving the Rafalecontract to his friend and inter-national debt master, AnilAmbani,” Rahul said in a tweetand tagged the media report.

Speaking to the media out-side Parliament ahead of theGovernment’s reply in the LokSabha over the issue, Rahulaccused Narendra Modi ofrunning away from the debateand posed a series of questionsto Sitharaman.

“Let me tell you that if wecome to power in 2019, thenthere will be (an) investigation(into the Rafale deal).

Continued on Page 7

STAFF REPORTER n NEW DELHI

With senior Congressleader Ajay Maken relin-

quishing the post of Delhi unitpresident citing health rea-sons, chances of Aam AadmiParty (AAP) and the Congresscontesting Lok Sabha electionstogether have brightened.

Days after HS Phoolka’sresignation from the AAP overthe party’s likely tie-up with theCongress, Maken’s resignationassumes significance amidspeculation of a possiblealliance with the AAP in Delhifor 2019. He had been strong-ly opposing any coalition withthe ruling AAP in the city forupcoming parliamentary polls.

Maken later took to Twitterto announce his resignation. Hehad taken over as the Delhi unit

chief after the party lost the2015 Assembly election.

“After the 2015 DelhiAssembly elections, as its Delhiunit president, I received a lotof love and support fromCongress workers, the mediacovering the party and ourleader Rahul Gandhi ji. It wasnot be easy in these difficulttimes. Thank you all,” he tweeted.

“My resignation has beenaccepted and I would nowwork for the party in preparingit for the 2019 general election,due by May,” Maken told PTI

“I had tendered my resig-nation in September itself. Imet Rahul ji yesterday to insist

Continued on Page 7

IANS n MUMBAI

Bollywood thespian DilipKumar and his wife Saira

Banu have slapped a legalnotice on Mumbai builderSameer N Bhojwani, alleging“continuous harassment and awell-planned conspiracy totake over the only property” thecouple has in Mumbai.

The defamation notice hasbeen served in response to apublic notice published in theMumbai media throughBhojwani’s lawyer, DigvijaySingh, after which the celebri-ty couple said “they fear fortheir lives.”

“It is disheartening to gothrough such a tumultuousphase at this age. The proper-ty rightfully belongs to YusufKhan saheb (Dilip Kumar).We neither have the supportnor the strength to go throughthis continuous harassment bySameer Bhojwani, whose onlyfocus seems to usurping ourland,” a distraught Saira Banutold IANS on Friday.

She said the couple hasalready approached PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andMaharashtra Chief MinisterDevendra Fadnavis seekingtheir help.

Continued on Page 7

ARCHANA JYOTI n NEW DELHI

Even as anti-poaching dronesare increasingly being used

worldwide to keep watchfuleyes on endangered wildlife,India’s new policy ‘The DroneRegulations 1.0’ regulated bythe Directorate General of CivilAviation (DGCA) is set tocome in the way of the coun-try’s ambitious plan of imple-menting high-end gadgets forsurveillance and habitat man-agement in tiger reserves andprotected habitats.

The Drone Regulations 1.0,which were released by UnionMinister of Civil AviationSuresh Prabhu, came into effectfrom December 1 last year.However, some of its clauses do

not augur for the functioningof the wildlife agencies like theNational Tiger ConservationAuthority (NTCA) andWildlife Institute of India (WII)engaged in curbing wildlifecrime and habitat manage-ment including human-ani-mal conflicts.

Sources said that theNTCA and WII, both underthe Union EnvironmentMinistry, are likely to jointlyrepresent before the civil avia-tion regulator DGCA soon,with demands such as allowingit to fly the drones in night, inprotected areas and along inter-national borders sharing theboundaries of Indian tigerreserves. They also insistedthat maintaining “full visual

line of sight” at all times, as pre-scribed in the new guidelines,is impractical.

Poaching of wildlife likeelephants and rhinos and tigersin India for their valuable partshas threatened the populationof these species across thewildlife-rich continents,prompting rangers and wildlifeadvocates to fight back by tak-ing to the sky with drones capa-ble of spotting poachers froma distance. In India too wildlifeis facing scourge of poachingwhich needs to be trackedthrough sky, said an expertfrom the WII.

He said while theunmanned aerial vehicles(UAVs) also known as drones,are fast becoming a necessary

hi-tech tool in wildlife man-agement all over the world, thenew policy has completelyignored our entities (NTCAand WII) as security agencies.This, despite our suggestionsduring the drafting of thedrone policy, he said.

The aim of drones is tomake the system easy for con-servationists and foresters toallow endangered animals to betracked and monitored easily,and proactive way to stoppoaching. This will also helpkeep a tab on movement of ani-mals in the villages, preventinghuman-animal conflicts.

Much before the policycame, the WII under the super-vision of the NTCA hadalready taken permission from

the regulatory bodies fordeploying drones fitted withGPS device and hi-resolutioncameras in five tiger reserves -- Panna, Jim Corbett NationalPark, Kaziranga, Sundarbansand the Sathyamangalam for-est of TN. However, the WIIexperts feel that plans to imple-ment more drones will not beeasy in view of the new policy.

“The new policy will makeour task difficult to use dronesin other reserves as some of itsclauses do not meet our need,”said an expert from the WII.

For instance, they saidpoaching of wildlife increasesduring the night while thenew rules do not allow the useof the drones after the sunset.

Continued on Page 7

Rahul vows criminal probe on Rafale

Cong chief says Defence Minister parriedquestions, Modi should be probed for graft

PNS n NEW DELHI

Defence Minister NirmalaSitharaman on Friday

attacked the Congress for aseries of scams in defence dealsin the past, and told the LokSabha that the ModiGovernment’s Rafale jet pur-chase was transparent and wasexecuted in the interest ofnational security. During hernearly two-hour long reply toa discussion on the issue,Nirmala gave a “point-by-point” rebuttal to Opposition’sallegations, including on priceof the fighter aircraft and HALnot getting the offset contract.

She alleged the Congressstalled the deal when it was inpower as it “didn’t get money”and ignored national security.

“Defence Ministry hasbeen functioning without dalals(middlemen) during five yearsof Prime Minister Modi. Rafaleis a decision in national inter-est. I don’t want to talk aboutBofors because Bofors was ascam and Rafale is not.

Bofors brought themdown. Rafale will bring usback, Rafale will bring Modiback to have a new and trans-forming India and... Removethe corruption which is stink-ing around the Congress,” theMinister said.

Countering Congress’

charge, she said that it was theIndian Air Force which sug-gested that the Governmentbuy two squadrons or 36 Rafalejets in fly-away conditioninstead of 18, as was planned tobe purchased under theCongress-led UPAGovernment. She accused theCongress of compromisingwith national security in theinterest of the party’s “treasury”while deciding on buying 126fighter jets.

Under the deal finalised bythe NDA Government, thedelivery of first Rafale willhappen in 2019, while the lastof 36 jets will be delivered in2022, the Minister informedthe House. With regard to

pricing difference, Sitharamansaid there was no formal pricenoting by the Congress of `526crore as the deal price. But theprice negotiated by the NDAGovernment is nine per centlower than what was negotiat-ed by the UPA.

“Comparing the cost of`526 crore with ̀ 1,600 crore, islike comparing apples tooranges. The cost quoted in2007 will not remain the samein 2016, because there is esca-lation cost and there isexchange rate variation,” shesaid, adding that the price ofthe basic aircraft cannot becompared with price ofweaponised aircraft.

Continued on Page 7

Unlike you, we don’temploy dalals: Nirmala

Days after Phoolka

quit AAP on Cong

ties, Maken resigns

as Delhi Cong chief

on ‘health ground’

Dilip Kumar sues

builder as help

from PM, CM

not forthcoming

Anti-poaching drones face shooting down by DGCA

Maken exit fuelsspeculation ofCong-AAP hug

Congress president Rahul Gandhi addresses the media on the Rafale deal duringthe Winter Session of Parliament in New Delhi on Friday PTI

Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman speaks during the discussion onissues relating to Rafale deal in the Lok Sabha in New Delhi on Friday PTI

SP, BSP give

final shape to

UP alliance

PNS n NEW DELHI

BSP supremo Mayawati andSamajwadi Party chief

Akhilesh Yadav are under-stood to have given final shapeto the Uttar Pradesh maha-gathbhandan in Delhi onFriday night in highly “secret”meeting, keeping the Congressout of the alliance. The twoleaders held a three-hour meet-ing at Mayawati’s residence.

TV channel News 18 quot-ed sources close to develop-ments saying the two partieshave decided to contest 37seats leaving six for the otherparties, including the Congress.

Of the six remaining seats,the BSP and the SP have decid-ed to leave the Congress twoseats — Rae Bareli and Amethi— from where Sonia Gandhiand Rahul Gandhi contestrespectively. The Congress hadwon only these two seats in the2014 general elections.

Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya LokDal (RLD) is likely to be allot-ted two seats. While Singh islikely to contest from hisstronghold Baghpat, his sonJayant Choudhary will onceagain contest from Mathura.

The two remaining seatshave been kept aside for sulk-ing BJP ally Om PrakashRajbhar’s Suheldev BharatiyaSamaj Party.

New SC Bench to fix Ayodhya hearingon Jan 10, says CJIPNS n NEW DELHI

With the Sangh Parivarmounting pressure for

early disposal of the RamJanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid titlecase, the Supreme Court onFriday said an “appropriateBench” on January 10 will fix thedate of hearing. The SC is to beset up for hearing the matter ona batch of petitions.

“Further orders in the mat-ter will be passed on January 10by the appropriate Bench, asmay be constituted,” said aBench comprising Chief JusticeRanjan Gogoi and Justice SKKaul. The CJI passed this ordereven before senior advocatesHarish Salve and RajeevDhavan, appearing for differentparties, get the opportunity tomake submission. The hearingfinished in 30 seconds.

After it passed the order, theBench came across a fresh pleawhich demanded that the SCshould hear the Ayodhya landdispute matter on an urgent andday-to-day basis.

The SC dismissed the PILfiled by advocate Harinath Ram,who had submitted that in viewof the inordinate delay in theadjudication of the matter andin the prevailing sentimentssurrounding the Ayodhya landdispute, matter should be givena hearing on priority.

The Bench in its order said:“Having heard the petitioner,who is appearing in person andupon perusing the relevant

material, we are not inclined toentertain the writ petition. Thesame is, accordingly, dismissed.”

Now, a three-memberBench will be set up for takingforward the Ayodhya land dis-pute case in which as many as 14appeals were filed against the2010 Allahabad High Courtjudgment, delivered in four civilsuits, that the 2.77-acre land bepartitioned equally among thethree parties -- the Sunni WaqfBoard, the Nirmohi Akharaand Ram Lalla.

The apex court on October29 had fixed the matter in thefirst week of January before the“appropriate Bench”. Later, anapplication was moved foraccording an urgent hearing byadvancing the date, but the topcourt had refused the plea, say-ing it had already passed anorder on October 29 relating tothe hearing of the matter.

The plea for early hearingwas moved by the Akhil BharatHindu Mahasabha (ABHM)which is one of the respondentsin the appeal filed by legal heirsof M Siddiq, one of the originallitigants in the case.

A three-judge bench of thetop court had on September 27last year, by 2:1 majority, refusedto refer to a five-judge constitu-tion Bench the issue of recon-sideration of the observations inits 1994 judgment that a mosquewas not integral to Islam. Thematter had arisen during thehearing of the Ayodhya land dis-pute.

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Late City Vol. 155 Issue 4*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

Published From DELHI LUCKNOW BHOPAL

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LUCKNOW, SATURDAY JANUARY 5, 2019; PAGES 16 `3

AISH RECALLS

HER ROKA

CEREMONY

14 VIVACITY

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Retired officer held in `300-cr land scam PNS n LUCKNOW

Retired assistant housingcommissioner of Meerut

VK Chaudhary, involved in aland scam of over `300 croreand having about a dozencriminal cases against him,was finally arrested by Meerutpolice in the state capital onFriday morning.

He was later taken toMeerut for producing himbefore the court and gettinghim on remand for furthergrilling.

Chaudhary, also anaccused in National Rural

Health Mission (NRHM) scamin UP, was arrested from hisGomti Nagar bungalow inLucknow by a Meerut policeteam led by Crime Branchinspector Indrapal Singh.

As per reports,Chaudhary, during his tenureas assistant housing commis-sioner in Meerut in 2004,indulged in irregularities liketransferring 52 acres of landand registered it in the nameof Indraprastha Estate SahkariAwas Samiti in revenuerecords. The scam was esti-mated at about `300 crore.

Besides Chaudhary, then

cooperative officer (housing)in Meerut Raj Kumar was alsoinvolved in the scam. Landmafia Satyapal Singh,Deshwal, Rajmohan, RPSChaudhary, who organisedthe society, connived to trans-fer the land illegally.

The accused issued fakeregistration certificate to thesociety, when the said organ-isation was registered onMarch 18, 1985. The certificatewas issued by Omkar Yadav,the then assistant housingcommissioner-cum-assistantregistrar of CooperativeSociety.

After the matter came tothe knowledge of then MeerutDivisional CommissionerPrabhat Kumar, he ordered ahigh-level probe. Later, thematter was f i led withPallavpuram court after whichan order was issued in 2015 toregister a criminal case againstChaudhary and others. TheMeerut police were asked toprobe the case and initiatelegal proceedings against theaccused.

After three years of inves-tigation, Meerut police final-ly arrested Chaudhary fromLucknow.

Atiq Ahmed may be shifted to Lko jail

PNS n LUCKNOW

The terror of mafia-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed

seemingly to loom large in theminds of law-enforcing agen-cies as it forced Bareilly admin-istration to request the gov-ernment to shift the jailed donto some other prison.

Sources said that the Prisondepartment brass as well as theHome department were nowplanning to shift Ahmed toLucknow.

The move was also con-templated as the recent case ofthe abduction of a businessmanand torturing him to sign prop-erty papers were registered inLucknow and the accused has

to be produced in local courtsat regular intervals.

“A lot of security staff isrequired to bring Atiq Ahmedfrom Bareilly to Lucknow toproduce him in the court.Hence, we are planning tobring him to Lucknow prison.The Bareilly administrationhas also requested that theincarcerated don be shifted tosome other prison,” revealed aPrison department official inLucknow on Friday.

Reports confirmed thatDistrict Magistrate of BareillyVirendra Kumar Singh wrote tothe state government request-ing that Ahmed be shiftedfrom Bareilly jail for securityreasons due to shortage of

staff. “I have written to the gov-ernment (Principal Secretary,Prison) to shift Atiq fromBareilly jail. I have got a letterin this regard from jail super-intendent of Bareilly,” Singhsaid.

Only on last Monday,Ahmed was shifted fromDeoria jail to Bareilly jail afterLucknow-based businessmanMohit Jaiswal accused the for-mer Samajwadi Party Memberof Parliament of getting himabducted and assaulting himinside the prison.

In his complaint to thepolice, Jaiswal alleged thatAhmed's son Umar and about15 others forcibly took hisSUV and drove him to Deoria

from Lucknow. Jaiswal allegedthat he was assaulted byAhmed and his aides inside

Deoria jail and later forcedto sign papers for handingover his property worth Rs 40crore before being let off.

Atiq Ahmed, a history-sheeter with at least 70 cases,including the kil l ing ofBahujan Samaj Party MLARaju Pal in 2005 in Allahabad,was lodged in Deoria districtjail after being transferredfrom Allahabad’s Naini jail.He has been incarceratedsince February, 2017 afterbeing booked for assaultingfaculty members of an agri-culture institute in Allahabadin 2016.

city 02LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | JANUARY 5, 2019

Lucknow (PNS): The two-day visit of Congress presidentand Member of Parliament fromAmethi, Rahul Gandhi, to hisparliamentary constituency onFriday was postponed at the lastmoment due to his engage-meant in Parliament. NowRahul will visit his constituen-cy on January 22 and 23. UPCongress spokesperson JeeshanHaider confirmed on Fridaythat Rahul would visit his con-stituency on January 22 and 23.

Lucknow (PNS): BharatiyaJanata Party MLA fromMuzaffarnagar, Vikram Saini,has demanded a law for takingstringent action against thosecomplaining of feeling ‘unsafe’in India, calling them traitors.“Give me a ministry and I willexplode bombs behind thosewho aren’t loyal to the country.Not even one will be left,” theMuzaffarnagar legislator said onFriday. However, Saini laterdefended his remark saying hewas merely speaking in hisusual language, the one spokenin his village.

Asked if he was willing tobe a human bomb for such trai-tors, Saini said, “Army has sev-eral bombs and I will drop themon these traitors. This is my per-sonal remark and should not belinked to my party.” “Hum todesh deewane hai (We arepatriots),” he said, adding thereshould be a provision for pun-ishment to act as a deterrent tosuch traitors.

“I said that those who feelunsafe in the country and feelinsecure here should either

leave the country or the govern-ment should make somearrangement for them. Theircomments should invite action,”Saini said after ‘bhumi pujan’for setting up of a 151-foot tri-colour at Rampur Tiraha. Thefunction was also attended bythree other BJP MLAs from thedistrict.

The MLA’s commentcomes after Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, during a recentinterview, rejected the con-tention of actor NaseeruddinShah that minorities were feel-ing unsafe in India due tolynchings. Modi had said thatsome people sense insecurityaround poll time because of‘agenda’.

Reacting to Saini’s com-ments, UP Congress chief RajBabbar said that he was “talk-ing like a terrorist”.

“The Chief Minister says‘thok do’, a legislator aspiring tobe a minister says ‘will bombpeople’. He should be arrestedand punished. He is speakinglike a terrorist, must be probedfor terror links,” Babbar said.

PNS n LUCKNOW

In order to boost invest-ments in Uttar Pradesh,Prime Minister Narendra

Modi is likely to lay the foun-dation stones of industrial pro-jects in the state this month.

The Prime Minister will laythe foundation stones of indus-trial projects worth nearly`75,000 crore in UP later thismonth.

While the Yogi Adityanathgovernment has fixed the ten-tative date for ‘groundbreaking’ceremony in Lucknow forJanuary 20, the final date willbe fixed after confirmation bythe Prime Minister’s Office(PMO).

These projects, mostlyrelated to IT and electronicssector, are part of the Rs 4.68lakh crore worth Memorandaof Understanding (MoUs)signed by the state governmentwith public and private sectorcompanies during the UPInvestors’ Summit held inLucknow on February 21-22,2018.

UP IndustrialDevelopment Minister SatishMahana said, “We are planningto lay the foundation stones ofprojects worth `1 lakh crore

this month and are waiting forPMO’s nod. In any case, we areconfident that projects worth`70,000 crore to `75,000 crorewould be launched at thegroundbreaking ceremony.”

The first groundbreakingceremony held on July 29,2018 was also attended byModi, who not only laid thefoundation stones of 80 pro-jects worth `60,000 crore butalso exhorted UP andMaharashtra to compete foremerging as the country’s firsttrillion-dollar economy.

Earlier in November, theYogi government tried toorganise the second foundation

stone laying ceremony butowing to Assembly polls in fivestates and the whirlwind cam-paign tours of the ChiefMinister, the event was post-poned. Also, the preliminarygroundwork was incomplete.

In November last year, theUP Industrial Developmentdepartment had organised aroundtable with leading indus-trialists, whose projects werelined up for the next grandlaunch.

In fact, Yogi also hadexpressed unhappiness overthe slow pace of follow-ups ofthese projects and directedofficials to ensure that neces-

sary work was completed intime, to ensure that projectsworth `50,000 crore could belaunched before December,2018 with another similar cer-emony for projects totalling`50,000 crore lined up forFebruary 2019.

Modi is also scheduled tovisit Agra on January 9 tokick-start the Bharatiya JanataParty’s 2019 Lok Sabha pollcampaign. Yogi is expected tovisit Agra on Saturday to reviewthe preparations for the PrimeMinister’s visit next week.

The twin visits of Modi toUP this month would providea perfect footing to the rulingBJP to formally switch to elec-tioneering mode by balancingits political and developmentplanks.

Meanwhile, the Yogi gov-ernment is also pushing itsother mega infrastructure pro-jects, including BundelkhandDefence Corridor, BundelkhandExpressway and Jewar interna-tional airport.

While, the defence corridoris expected to attract an invest-ment of almost `50,000 crore,the 289-km BundelkhandExpressway is estimated togarner investments worth`10,000 crore.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Hitting out at Congressnational president at his

home turf, Union TextilesMinister Smriti Irani said thegrand old party was daydream-ing that Rahul Gandhi wouldbe the next prime minister ofthe country when the fact wasthat it would be difficult forhim to win another electionfrom Amethi.

“These Congress peopleare daydreaming that RahulGandhi will become the nextPM whereas the fact is evenpeople in Amethi rejectedCongress in the 2017 assemblypolls. The partners of maha-gathbandhan have refused toaccept Rahul as their PM can-didate,” Smriti Irani toldreporters in Amethi duringher day-long visit on Friday.

“Rahul Gandhi ko maha-gathbandhan mein is tarah kaaashirvaad na Mayawati seprapt hua hai, na Akhilesh sehua hai, na Mamata se hua hai,toh Mungerilal ke sapnedekhne hain toh kisne manakiya hai (Rahul Gandhi has notbeen given blessings by maha-gathbandhan leaders likeMayawati, Akhilesh orMamata. No one can stop himfrom daydreaming),” Irani said.

The statement of the Unionminister came in the wake ofposters put up by Congress inAmethi claiming that RahulGandhi would be the next

prime minister of the country.Irani said this region elect-

ed members of Gandhi familyfor last many decades but theAmethi parliamentary con-stituency witnessed develop-ment only during NarendraModi’s regime. “The first CTscan unit was inauguratedtoday. This shows how devel-oped this region was duringCongress rule,” she said.

Irani inaugurated a CTscan unit at the district hospi-tal in Gauriganj and distributedwoollen clothes to the poor inAmethi.

When asked about Ram

temple, the Union ministersaid that the Prime Ministerhad clarified the issue andthere was no need to commentafter his statement.

“But Rahul Gandhi shouldanswer the PM’s question as towhy Congress lawyers are try-ing to create hurdles in the earlydecision on Ayodhya case,” shesaid.

The Bharatiya JanataParty’s firebrand leader alsoquestioned Rahul Gandhi overthe reported statement of thenew Madhya Pradesh ChiefMinister regarding the migrantwork force from Uttar Pradesh

and Bihar. “Why was Rahul silent

when Madhya Pradesh CMspoke against UP and Biharmigrants? How will he facepeople of Amethi today?,” sheasked.

The Union minister’s state-ment comes after a poster warbroke out in Amethi on thestatement of MP Chief MinisterKamal Nath about jobs ofyouths from UP and Bihar.

The posters pasted in dif-ferent parts of Amethi, includ-ing Gauriganj, asked theCongress president to reply tothe statement of MP CM aboutUP and Bihar youths.

Kamal Nath had comment-ed that due to the migrant youthsfrom UP and Bihar, the youths ofMP were not getting jobs.

Samajwadi Party presidentAkhilesh Yadav too hadopposed this statement thoughhis single MLA in MP is sup-porting the Congress govern-ment.

The poster said, “Sapa keaashirvaad se, Congress partyke Madhya Pradesh kemukhyamantri Shri KamalNath dwara Uttar Pradesh kelogon ko rojgar se hatane parCongress adhyaksh RahulGandhi jawab do (With theblessings of SP, Congress CM inMadhya Pradesh, Kamal Nath,is planning to remove the peo-ple of UP from jobs. Congresspresident Rahul Gandhi shouldgive a reply).”

PNS n LUCKNOW

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath saidthat his government was commit-

ted to the development of poor anddowntrodden because developmenthad no substitute and keeping this inmind, the state and the Central gov-ernments had implemented manywelfare schemes.

Yogi was speaking at a functionheld in Gorakhpur in which the ChiefMinister distributed certificates andblankets to the poor and dedicated topeople or laid foundation stones of 112projects worth `923 lakh.

He also distributed pension certifi-cates to 31,549 people that included19,330 old age pension, 10,694 widowpension and 1,525 divyang pension.He also gave money under marriagescheme.

“This BJP government is commit-ted to bringing smiles on the faces ofthe downtrodden and the poor. It hasstarted many people-oriented projectsand their results are very encouraging,”the Chief Minister said, elaborating onfree electricity connections to belowpoverty line families and free LPG con-nections to poor women.

The Chief Minister also spokeabout development projects beinglaunched in Goarkhpur, include setting

up of an AIIMS in the city. “The OPD of AIIMS will be oper-

ational by 2020. This will improvehealth services in the region. Besides,infrastructure in BRD Medical Collegehas also been improved. This will bringabout holistic change in the region,” hesaid.

“Within next two years, the fertilis-er factory, which was closed for 26years, would be made opereational.This will generate employment in theregion,” the Chief Minister said.

“Gorakhpur is changing very fast.A modern zoological park will comeup in the city soon. A water sportscomplex and an auditorium is being setup and directives regarding this havebeen given to the officials. SoonRamgarh Tal will be developed as atourist spot,” he said.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Power employees will go ona two-day nationwide strike

in protest against IndianElectricity (Amendment) Bill2018 and privatisation policiesof Central and state govern-ments, from January 8.

The National Federations ofPower Employees andEngineers, under the banner ofNational CoordinationCommittee of ElectricityEmployees and Engineers(NCCOEEE), an umbrellaorganisation of 1.5 millionpower workers and engineersacross India, decided to strikework.

The NCCOEEE has alreadyserved strike notice to Centraland state governments and haswarned to go on flash strike incase the government movedearlier to pass the bill inParliament.

The Indian Electricity(Amendment) Bill, 2018, statesthat consumers will have thechoice of obtaining power frommore than one power distribu-tion companies, which will givethem the option of changingtheir power supply company orutility based on efficiency oftheir services.

Beside opposition of theElectricity bill, other maindemands of the power employ-ees are restoration of all unbun-dled state electricity boards,restoration of old pensionscheme for all employees recruit-ed after unbundling and regular-

isation of contractual workers.Chairman of All-India

Power Engineers Federation,Shailendra Dubey, on Fridaytermed the draft amendment toElectricity Act, 2003 as “verydangerous” and claimed that itwould result in a steep hike intariff, thereby making electrici-ty unaffordable even for middleclass, let alone farmers and thepoor.

“Consequence of enactmentof this bill will boost the cost ofsupply to unaffordable level. It isvery much pertinent to note theplea cited by the government toenact Electricity Act, 2003 wasinefficiency and accumulation ofhuge losses by state electricityboards. Total accumulated lossafter five decades of socio-eco-nomic development service bySEBs was `23,000 crores. Onlyafter 20 years of so-called mar-ket driven commercial service ofall power distribution companies(Discoms) , summation of accu-mulated loss and debt burdentouched `10 lakh crore evenafter several tariff hike,” healleged.

“The AIPEF sought rea-sons for the Central govern-ment’s failure to keep its assur-ance of cheaper power for all byboosting efficiency and compe-tition among private entrepre-neurs with the implementationof Electricity Act, 2003. Multipletariff escalation with connivanceof regulators and private playershas given consumers a terribleexperience in the last 25 years,”Dubey said.

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PM may lay foundation of `75K cr

industrial projects in UP in Jan

CM: Govt committedto development of poor, downtrodden

Smriti: Congress daydreaming

Rahul will become PM

Rahul postpones Amethi visitBJP MLA’s remark

stirs a controversy

Power employees’strike on Jan 8, 9

Minister invites Rahul toKumbh, asks him to washoff sin of lying over Rafale

Varanasi (PNS): State Medical and HealthMinister Sidharth Nath Singh on Friday invitedCongress president Rahul Gandhi to take a holydip in the Sangam during the upcoming KumbhMela at Prayagraj to wash away the sins he hadaccumulated by “lying” on the Rafale issue.

“Mother Ganga will pardon Gandhi for allhis sins and I extend him an invitation to visitPrayagraj to take a holy dip in the Ganga riverduring the Kumbh. He has been lying on theRafale issue for the last two years and trying tomislead the public,” the Bharatiya Janata Partyleader, who was here to attend the regional meet-ing of Ayushman Bharat-Prime Minister JanArogya Yojana , told reporters.

Replying to a question on the constructionof Ram temple in Ayodhya, the Medical andHealth Minister said everybody wanted the tem-ple to be built at the earliest and expressed hopethat the Supreme Court would soon give a deci-sion on the matter.

He also attacked Madhya Pradesh ChiefMinister saying that Kamal Nath was workingwith the same mentality as his party had shownduring the time of Emergency.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n ALLAHABAD

The Allahabad High Court on Friday askedthe Union of India through Secretary,

Ministry of Home Affairs, Secretary, Ministryof Law and Justice, and others to file a counter-affidavit on or before February 1, 2019, in a PILwherein the validity of Section 69 of theInformation and Technology Act, 2000, waschallenged.

The order was passed by a bench compris-ing Chief Justice Govind Mathur and JusticeCD Singh on a public interest litigation filedby Saurabh Pandey, appearing in person in thecase.

The main ground of attack challenging thevires of Section 69 of Information andTechnology Act, 2000, was that it was viola-tive of Article 14 of the Constitution of Indiabeing arbitrary for the reason that it givessweeping power to the executive.

The petition contends that Section 69 ofInformation and Technology Act, 2000, is alsoirrational as there is no nexus to justify the power of such greatmagnitude which would result in impingingupon constitutional rights of these persons with impunity.

The petitioner further contended that theimpugned Section 69 of the Information and

Technology Act, 2000, was also violative ofArticles 19 (1)(a) and 21 of the Constitutionof India. The petitioner appearing in personis an Aerospace Engineer and presently pur-suing LLB (Hons) from the Indian Instituteof Technology, Kharagpur.

Though this public interest litigation wasopposed by the Assistant Solicitor General ofIndia, Gyan Prakash, saying that it was notmaintainable as the petitioner had not dis-closed the credentials and the requirements,required under Chapter 22 of the rules of thecourt.

It rejected the ASGI’s submission andentertained the PIL saying that the High Courtcould refuse the technical objections whileexercising its power under Article 226 of theConstitution of India. The court will now hearthis case on February 1, 2019.

HC directive on PIL challenging

Sec 69 of Info Technology Act


PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Uttar Pradesh State RoadTransport Corporation

will be starting bus servicefrom Lucknow to Ahmedabad.Regional manager PK Bosesaid they would sign an agree-ment in this regard withGujarat Road TransportCorporation. He said the ser-vice was likely to start afterKumbh Mela since they werecurrently busy with providingservices for the grand event.The bus would reach its des-tination in twenty hours, headded.

“The bus will take 20 hoursto reach Ahmedabad and it hasbeen suggested that we alsostart a bus in reciprocity oncethe services begin,” Bose said.He admitted that it was the first

time that they would be start-ing bus services to Gujarat. Hesaid the services would beessential since there was onlytrain which running fromGujarat to Lucknow. “The sug-gestion was also made becausethere was only one train whichcomes from Gujarat and it isSabarmati Express. This traintakes over 24 hours, and hencethe need to have a bus linkbetween Uttar Pradesh andGujarat,” he added.

Bose said that GujaratState Road TransportCorporation made this effortbecause there were severalpassengers who were keen onvisiting Ayodhya and whocould carry on for the holy cityfrom Lucknow. He added thatthe bus fares would be more ascompared to train fares.


The first trial of LucknowMetro on January 8 will be

conducted from Charbagh toMunshipulia and the second onJanuary 9 from Transportnagarto Chaudhary Charan SinghInternational Airport. A seniorofficial of Lucknow Metro RailCorporation (LMRC) said thatthe trials would be carried outwith only one train and paral-lely to save time.

He said that the track workof the entire remaining corridorof the Lucknow Metro projecthad been completed and trac-tion was in progress. “We arenot holding the trials of the trainbecause the trains have alreadybeen commissioned. These tri-als are signaling and integratedtrials only,” said the official. Onbeing asked what would be themain challenges faced by theLucknow Metro RailCorporation for conductingthese trials, he said that thespeed of the trains would haveto be regulated. “It is importantto see where the train stops anddoes it stop at the correct place

and for how much time does itstop. The recordings are takenfrom the track and then the soft-ware is updated each time thetrain moves on it. The train ismade to run every day and thisprocess which will take a lot oftime will be completed onlywithin a period of four to fiveweeks,” he said.

The official further pointedout that they would carry outthe trials with one train and laterif it was required then it wouldbe with two separate trainswhich would be used. He saidthat after these trials the trains

would become fully commis-sioned. When asked whether itwould be more challenging tocarry out the trials for the firsttime on the underground cor-ridor which was a part of theLucknow Metro Project, he saidthat this did not matter. “It doesnot matter whether the trials arecarried out underground or onthe elevated corridor. It is asso-ciated with the track and thetrains have to stop on the rightplatform which is important,” headded. He said that the driverswould also be there during thetrial period.


ALucknow MunicipalCorporation employee,

who was working on the con-tractual basis, sustainedinjuries when he was beaten upby local Congress corporatorHaleem near Char Batti cross-ing under Wazirganj policestation on Friday afternoon.

The police said he wasidentified as Sunil KumarTiwari. He was assigned thetask to check whether streetlights were in working condi-tion in the area. In the mean-time, the local corporator,along with dozen supporters,came to Char Batti crossingand started giving instruc-tions to employees who wererepairing street lights.

Initially, Tiwari, who wasleading the team, ignored hiscommand. Tiwari requestedthe corporator to go back to hiswork and not to disturb him.This provoked Haleem and he

started abusing Tiwari. Tiwaritold him not to use abusive lan-guage and said that he couldgive a befitting reply.

Haleem was annoyed withhis gesture and held Tiwari bythe collar and pushed him inwhich he fell down on theground. Interestingly, otherLMC employees escaped whenthe corporator resorted to vio-lence. Tiwari was beaten up byHaleem’s supporters. The situ-ation was brought under con-trol on the intervention of theChristian College police out-post incharge. Tiwari wastaken to the BalrampurHospital and discharged afterthe first aid.

Later, in the evening,Tiwari lodged a complaint atthe Wazirganj police stationagainst the corporator and hissupporters. Wazirganj policestation inspector Pankaj Singhsaid a case was registeredagainst Haleem and investiga-tion was in progress.

Cong corporator beats up LMC employeeLMRC to conduct traintrials on Jan 8 and 9

UPSRTC to introduce

Lko-Ahmedabad bus

service after Kumbh


The Met department hasforecast rains at isolated

places in western UttarPradesh. Met office director JPGupta said that in Lucknow theskies would remain partlycloudy. “The weather condi-tions at the state capital willremain the same because of thewestern disturbance overJammu and Kashmir. The skieswill be intermittently cloudy”he said. The local forecast forLucknow is that fog is likely inthe morning. The maximumand minimum temperaturewill be around 23 degreeCelsius and 8 degree Celsiusrespectively.

The state forecast is thatrain and thundershower is like-ly at a few places in westernUttar Pradesh. The city record-ed a maximum temperature of23.3 degree Celsius which was2 degrees above normal and aminimum of 8.3 degree Celsius

which was one degree abovenormal. In the state, variousdistricts recorded a minimumtemperature between 6 degreeCelsius and 9.5 degree Celsius.

The AIR Quality Index forLucknow was 343 which indi-cated a very poor category. Asenior scientist of the city stat-ed that weather conditionswere responsible to a large

extent for the prevailing AQI.“The load of the pollutionremains the same which isessentially from the tail endemissions and the burning ofwaste. It is the dispersal whichis carried out by the windswhich lessens the pollutionand since the winds are low thepollution load remains high,”he added.

Rains likely in west UP

The state capital recorded a maximum temperature of 23.3 degree Celsius whichwas 2 degrees above normal Pioneer

LMC employees demanding action against Congress corporator Pioneer


U.P. POWER TRANSMISSIONCORPORATION LTD. eTenderNotice e-tenders in two separateparts on prescribed tender forms

are hereby invited from the experiencedcontractors/suppliers/manufacturers onU.P. Govt. etendering website "www.etender.up.nic.in " for execution of follow-ing works/supply of materials up to the dateand time mentioned against each. The-ten-der Part -1/ Technical Bid will contain ten-der fee and earnest money depositedthrough RTGS/NEFT (PNB. SultanpurA/c No, 3126002100003334. IFSC Code: PUNB0312600) duly pledged to the under-signed in official capacity and photocopiesof GST Registration. PAN. Latest IncomeTax Clearance Certificate. experience/ workcompletion certificate. 'A' class ElectricalLicense (required against T. No. 250 & 251)under UPPTCL/ PGCIL and 2nd Part rates and other terms and conditions. For theproof of electronically deposits. U.T.R. No., A/c No. scanned copy of duly counter-signed Pay-in-Slip and in case of EMDdeposited in form of Bank Gurantee.scanned copies of Bank Guarantee andemail copy of confirmation issued by theconcerning bank should be got uploadedby the contractor along with tender docu-ments on the above etendering portal. The original Bank Guarantee shall be submit-ted within a week after opening of Part 1/Technical Bid or before the scheduled dateof opening of Part -11 i.e. Price Bid.whichever be earlier. Tenders withouthaving proper earnest money will not beaccepted. In case the office remainsclosed or undersigned remains out ofheadquarters on the notified tender open-ing date. tenders will be opened on the nextworking day at scheduled time only. Theundersigned reserves the right to acceptor reject any or all the tenders withoutassigning any reason thereof. Intimationregarding opening of Tender Bid Part-Il i.e.Price Bid will be given on above websitein due course of time. Please visit U.P.Govt. etendering website "www.etender.up.nic.in" for details/download and for any cor-rection / amendment/ modification/ exten-sion till the date of submission of tender.eTender No.250 /ETCS /2018-19:- Work:Erection of 3 x10 MVAR Capacitor Bankat 132KV S/s Gauriganj, Amethi under juris-diction of Electricity Transmission DivisionSultanpur. Earnest Money Rs. 5000/-. Costof Tender document Rs. 590/- (includingGST). Tender Documents may beuploaded up to 05:00 PM on 06.02.2019.Opening of Tender Bid Part-I at 01:30 PMon 07.02.2019. eTender No.251/ETCS/2018-19:- Work: Erection of 2x10MVAR

Capacitor Bank at 132KV S/s Kadipurunder jurisdiction of Electricity TransmissionDivision Sultanpur. Earnest Money Rs.3000/-. Cost of Tender document Rs. 590/-(including GST). Tender Documents maybe uploaded up to 05:00 PM on06.02.2019. Opening of Tender Bid Part-I at 02:00 PM on 07.02.2019, eTenderNo.252/ETCS/2018-19:- Supply of maleand female contact arm assemblies suit-able for 245KV S&S type isolators installedat 400KV S/S Sultanpur under jurisdictionof Electricity 400KV S/S Division Sultanpur.Earnest Money Rs. 2000/-. Cost of Tenderdocument Rs. 236/- (including GST).Tender Documents may be uploaded upto 05:00PM on 06.02.2019. Opening ofTender Bid Part-I at 02:30 PM on07.02.2019. eTender No.253/ETCS /2018-19:- Work: Maintenance of 220KV and33KV Feeder Bays at 220KV S/S Sultanpurunder jurisdiction of Electricity 400KV S/SDivision Sultanpur. Earnest Money Rs.2000/-. Cost of Tender document Rs. 236/-(including GST). Tender Documents maybe uploaded up to 05:00PM on 06.02.2019.Opening of Tender Bid Part-I at 03:00 PMon 07.02.2019. eTender No.254/ETCS/2018-19:- Work: Providing and fixing ofwarning plates on 132 KV Darshan Nagar- Gonda (up to Katra) and 132KV DarshanNagar - KM Sugar Mills transmission-linesunder jurisdiction of Electricity TransmissionDivision Ayodhya. Earnest Money Rs.2000/-. Cost of Tender document Rs. 236/-(including GST). Tender Documents maybe uploaded up to 05:00 PM on07.02.2019. Opening of Tender Bid Part-I at 12:00 PM on 08.02.2019. eTenderNo.255/ETCS /2018- 19:- Supply of fiberglass ladder extension and fiber glass lad-der platform at 220KV S/s New Tanda and132KV S/s Jalalpur, Ambedkar Nagarunder jurisdiction of Electricity TransmissionDivision Ayodhya. Earnest Money Rs.2000/-. Cost of Tender document Rs. 236/-(including GST). Tender Documents maybe uploaded up to 05:00 PM on07.02.2019. Opening of Tender Bid Part-I at 12:30 PM on 08.02.2019. eTenderNo.256/ETCS /2018-19:- Supply of jaw andblades suitable for M/s Rama make 36KVisolators at 132KV S/S Bachhrawan underjurisdiction of Electricity TransmissionDivision Raebareli. Earnest Money Rs.2000/-. Cost of Tender document Rs. 236/-(including GST). Tender Documents maybe uploaded up to 05:00 PM on07.02.2019. Opening of Tender Bid Part-I at 01:00 PM on 08.02.2019Superintending Engineer ElectricityTransmission Circle Sultanpur No. 25 Dt.3.1.19 ‘Save Energy in National interest.’


Abdul Kalam TechnicalUniversity (AKTU) will

soon come up with two state-of-the-art fabricating and pro-totypes labs on Lucknow &Noida campuses. AKTU mediaspokesperson Ashish Mishrasaid the labs were being con-structed under Technical

Education QualityImprovement Programme ofthe Central government.

He said the labs, to be setat the cost of Rs 50 lakh each,would be used by the studentsof AKTU and affiliated col-leges. “While the Noida cam-pus lab will be more design-ori-ented, the one in Lucknowwill be more focused on fabri-

cation,” he added.Mishra said though most

of the labs at the institute hadprovisions for fabrication, theydid not have provisions for cre-ating a prototype. “Creating adesign on software is easy butconverting it into actualmachinery requires a workshopwhich we are providing in thelab. This can be used by stu-

dents pursuing BTech and alsoby PhD scholars and studentsof affiliated colleges,” he said.

Mishra pointed out that thelabs were already existing andnow they were collecting theequipment for the same. Hesaid it was an initiative toboost research and credit wentto TEQUIP coordinator VineetKansal.

THEFTA group of miscreants

committed a theft at the med-ical store located at Usri cross-ing under the Ashiyana policestation by breaking the locks.They also made an attempt tobreak the shutter of theadjoining shop but failed inthe bid. Medical store ownerRajesh Kumar Ratra said thata group of unidentified bur-glars took away Rs 20,000kept from the cash box. It issaid three or four unidentifiedpersons were spotted there inthe footage of CCTV camera.He lodged a complaint at thepolice station in the morningand a case of burglary was reg-istered.

BODY FOUNDA body of an unidentified

youth was found near thetemple situated in the com-pound of Malhaur railwaystation. The station masterinformed the police aboutthe body lying there.Interestingly, no externalinjury marks were found onthe body. The police calledpeople from the adjoiningvillage to identify the bodybut no one recognised him.The police stated his age wasin mid-30s.

MYSTERIOUS DEATHA 35-year-old farmer died

under the mysterious cir-cumstances at his house locat-ed in Tamolia village underNagram police station in themorning. He was identified asParmeshwar Rawat. His elderbrother Dinesh Rawatinformed the police about themysterious death of his broth-er at 10.30 am. He told thepolice that Parmeshwar hadgone to attend a feast at hisfriend’s house in the adjacentvillage on Thursday after-noon. He returned at nightand went to the first floor forsleep and bolted the doorfrom inside. The family mem-bers got worried that he didnot wake up till 8 am. There

was no response from insidethe room. Dinesh and hisfather Ram Charan brokeopen the door and foundParmeshwar lying on the bed.He was rushed to a nearbycommunity health centrewhere doctors declared him“brought dead”. He was mar-ried 12 years ago and was hav-ing three daughters and a sonfrom the wedlock. The policesaid there were no marks ofexternal injuries.

MINI-TRUCK SEIZEDThe police seized a mini

truck (HR-66/7376) from theNaharia Road bridge underthe Para police station in thewee hour on Friday. Thirty-nine cartons and 45,000pouches of the country-madeliquor worth Rs 35 lakh werefound in the mini truck. Parapolice station incharge RanjitSingh Bhadauria was on nightpatrolling when noticed amini truck coming towardsPara. The driver stopped thevehicle at least 200 metresaway from the police partyand his accomplice escapedand disappeared in the pitchdarkness. When the vehiclewas searched, it was foundcarrying bottles and pouchesof country-made liquor.

STRIKE POSTPONEDSGPGI Mahasangh of

Employees has postponed itsstrike till January 25.Mahasangh president SatishMishra said the strike (picabove) was observed till 3 pmon Friday after which a collec-tive decision was taken to post-pone the stir. The Mahasanghobserved strike because of thestate government’s recentefforts to curb their salarieswhich they get at par with theircounterparts at AIIMS, NewDelhi. The partial strike heldby the employees hit the OPDservices. Mishra said they hadpostponed the strike becauseof the assurance in writingreceived by the director of themedical institute from the stategovernment assuring them thatthings were in process and adecision would be taken soon.He said Principal Secretary,Medical Education, RajneeshDubey had also met membersof the Mahasangh on Thursdaynight. “We have given the gov-ernment time till January 25and if we do get the decision inour favour, we will launchstrike work,” he said.

LECTUREBirbal Sahni Institute of

Palaeosciences (BSIP) organ-ised the 6th Dr BS Venkatchalamemorial lecture on Friday.The programme was inaugu-rated by director of NationalInstitute of Oceanography(Goa) Sunil Kumar Singh, whois also a Shanti SwaroopBhatnagar awardee. BSIP direc-tor Rakesh Mehrotra intro-duced speaker, citing his con-tribution to geosciences. Thefunction was attended by geol-ogists, palaeo-botanists, geo-chemists and research scholarsof the institute. Singh deliveredthe lecture on role of biogeo-chemistry of trace metals inevolution of life and atmos-phere. He laid emphasis on theimportance of distribution oftrace metals in ocean water forsustenance and evolution of lifeand atmosphere. He also dis-cussed the importance of osmi-um and molybdenum in track-ing the oxygen concentration inearths’ atmosphere over geo-logical time and showed the seawater sampling technique forvarious analysis related ocean-atmosphere study.


Tourists from UK, USA andAustralia have shown keen

interest in Kumbh Mela whichwill be held at Allahabad fromJanuary 15 to March 4, say theLucknow Tour and Traveloperators. Chairman of IndianAssociation of Tour Operators(IATO), Lucknow chapter,Prateek Hira said they hadintroduced it in the itinerary ofLucknow- Varanasi for gettinga better response.

Talking to The Pioneer,Hira said that they hadapproached the state govern-ment in terms of carrying outextensive publicity for it internationally which wouldhelp in attracting a large num-ber of tourists.

Hira, who operates from

Lucknow, said that they weregetting all kinds of queriesfrom the tourists from thesecountries. “Some of them areasking whether they can takea portrait of a sadhu or take aphotograph of the akharas,” hesaid. He admitted that theircompany had got over 200bookings for the season.

“We promoted Kumbh inthe various itineraries statingthat they had a chance toenjoy this mega event thisyear and it was coming afterfive years so most of them whowere planning to come thenext year decided to come thisyear only,” he added. He saidthat most of these touristscame not for the purpose ofreligion but for having anexperience of the goings-onwhich took place there. “They

want to see the buzz which pre-vails around the whole area,the gathering and the sadhus etal,” he added.

He further pointed outthat they had not fixed themain ‘snan’ dates for thetourists considering the rushwhich was expected at thattime. He said that they hadtaken up areas which were a lit-tle away from the bathing area.“We have a tie-up with theakharas in whose areas thetourists are kept,” he added.

Hira pointed out that mostof the tourists who were com-ing were in the age group of 40and included both men andwomen. “We expect that mostof them will be coming till themonth of February startingfrom this month onwards,” hesaid.


Through the initiatives takenby CISH ( Central Institute

for Subtropical Horticulture)with the local community ofYachuli near Itanagar,Arunachal Pradesh has turnedinto a prime production areafor red guavas.

Director Shailendra Rajansaid that about one lakh plantsof CISH varieties like Lalit,Shweta and Dhawal were plant-ed in 2017 for starting the ven-ture. “Interestingly, Lalit, a saf-fron yellow variety at Lucknow,out performed in an excep-tional way by producing red-coloured attractive fruits likeAllahabad Surkha (appleguava). The variety has a pink-coloured pulp and inArunachal these fruits are pinkboth in and outside. Lalitguava grown in Arunachal hasbecome important because ofits quality and the plants aresurviving without irrigationon the hilly terrain where othercrops are difficult to grow,” hesaid. He further pointed outthat disease and pest pressureon guava was negligible in thestate which helped in produc-

ing organic fruits without failensuring a premium marketprice. “Purple red leaves ofguava during winters alarmedthe farmers who apprehendedthat some disease had attackedthe plants. Interaction withCISH made them realise that athigher altitude, the leaves mayturn purple-red because of lessabsorption of phosphorus fromthe soil due to low temperature.Promising varieties of guava arenew for the locals in the area asthe existing trees there,although few in number, bearinferior quality fruits and theyremain barren most part of the

year. They never thought thatguava had such a high poten-tial for cultivation. The inter-net helped the farmers to con-nect with CISH and interac-tions with scientists gave sev-eral tips to them for guava cul-tivation,” he said. Youths werealso trained at Lucknow forguava cultivation technology.The training at Lucknowhelped in maintaining theorchard and performing vari-ous cultural activities in time.He said that Arunachal Pradeshis far away from Lucknowtherefore learning by doingprinciple helped the farmers.


For producers, both in agri-culture and industry, com-

pliance of standards is no longeran option but a compulsion.These views were expressed bythe Cabinet minister SatyadevPachauri at the inauguration ofthe progranme of CII on Friday.

The department ofCommerce, in collaborationwith the Confederation ofIndian Industry, the ExportPromotion Bureau, UP gov-ernment, along with the Bureauof Indian Standards, NationalAccreditation Board ofCertification Bodies, ExportInspection Council and Centrefor Regional Trade organisedthe 11th Regional StandardsConclave in Lucknow onFriday. Delivering the keynoteaddress, Pachauri pointed outthat while UP was the numberone producer in many farmproducts such as dairy, rice,

wheat but the state was laggingin exports because of non-compliance of standards byproducers.

Pachauri also reiteratedUttar Pradesh’s full commit-ment to the Prime Minister’svision of Zero-Defect-Zero-Effect. He promised support tolocal MSMEs which wouldcomply with international stan-dards. Additional secretary,department of CommerceSudhanshu Pandey spoke ofhow essential standards were inthe international trading envi-ronment as well as to meet ourdomestic trade and welfaregoals.

“For compliance cost ofstandards to come down, thereneeds to be a robust standardssystem in the country,” headded. Speaking about thepotential of export in UP, heexplained that standards exist-ed all along the value chainfrom the initial production to

the method of processing. TheRegional Standards Conclavehas been envisioned to spreadawareness about the same inevery part of the country.

“Standards are necessaryfor the safety and health of oursociety”, said deputy directorgeneral (Certification), Bureauof Indian Standards, MVSDPrasada Rao. “BIS has about20,000 standards. It is availablefor industry to adopt and imple-ment for better production andeventual exports,” he said.Former chairman, CII, UP StateCouncil, Atul Mehra said: “Fordomestic standards to be in linewith international ones, bothindustry and government needto interact on a regular basis forthe continual evolution of thedomestic standards regime.”The conclave saw the partici-pation from more than 150 rep-resentatives from diverse indus-tries, accreditation bodies,exporters and associations.

DGP, CS inspect Kumbh Mela area

Foreign tourists keen on visiting Kumbh

SCHOOLSCAN

CITYBRIEFS

CRIMELINE

FIRST PRIZEAishwarya Pant, a class VI

student of City MontessoriSchool, Indira Nagar CampusI, bagged the first prize inBrainobrain Regional Fest,organised under the aegis ofeducational instituteBrainobrain. Aishwarya wasawarded a trophy, certificate

and otherg i f t s .Students ofs e v e r a ln o t e dschools ofL u c k n o w

participated in the competitionin which Aishwarya show-cased her talent in varioussubjects and walked away withthe first prize. The organiserswere all praise for her talentand wished her a happy andbright future. The competitionwas aimed at helping the stu-dents focus on their mentalcapabilities to find quick solu-tions to the problems.

Tents for visitors have come up at Kumbh Mela area

Compliance of standards

a must, says minister

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n ALLAHABAD

Chief Secretary Anup Chandra Pandey andDirector General of Police (DGP) OP

Singh inspected the Kumbh Mela area onThursday evening. The DGP reviewed securi-ty arrangements and preparations being madefor the mega event and expressed his satisfac-

tion with them. He also gave a ‘thumbs up’ tothe officials for their works. The Chief Secretaryand DGP reviewed the security arrangementsvia a motorboat in Sangam. Thereafter theyaddressed the officials and employees at thePolice Lines parade by lighting the ceremoniallamp. He said that the policemen should treatthe pilgrims coming to the mela politely whiledischarging their duties.

The DGP said that we all should be com-mitted to ensuring a safe Kumbh. Different typesof technical services were being used in KumbhMela so that action could be taken promptly ifany rumour was floated or false information wasprovided. Along with foreigners and non-resi-dent Indians (NRIs), special attention was alsobeing paid to the safety of the common manhere, he pointed out. Thereafter both the seniorofficers inspected the Central Hospital and theIntegrated Command and Control Centre(ICCC) and held a meeting there. Naga sadhus during Anand Akhara procession going towards Sangam in Allahabad


A21-year-old student sus-tained serious injuries on his

left hand and the back when agroup of desperadoes hurled twocountry-made bombs in front ofthe main gate of Sahara Statesunder the Jankipuram police sta-tion on late Friday evening. Inthe incident, more than eightvehicles were damaged. Theculprits escaped after hurling thebombs.

He has been identified asAbhishek Yadav alias Shiv, a res-ident of Sikandarpur area. He isa student of a local college andis preparing for Civil Services.The incident occurred at 8.30pm when he came to the mar-ket situated near Sahara State onhis two-wheeler. A group of mis-creants were already there beforeAbhishek reached the market.Initially, they passed provocativeremarks and then resorted toviolence. One of them hurledcountry-made bombs twice inwhich Abhishek sustainedinjuries. The vehicles whichwere parked in and around thearea were damaged. Panic

gripped the area and people,who were buying goods fromthe market, ran for safer shelterand shop-keepers downed theirshutters as a precautionary mea-sure. Manish Soni and RamNand rushed Abhishek to theCivil Hospital in Mahanagar ona scooter. The police were alsoinformed about the incident. Hewas referred to Trauma Centrewhere the doctors said that hiscondition is serious due toexcessive blood loss. However, acomplaint was not lodged at thetime of going to the press. Thepolice said the injured studentwas not having good relationswith his neighbour VikrantSingh who is engaged in realestate business. Vikrant Singhallegedly used to extort moneyfrom locals.

CISH initiatives make Arunachal a

prime production area for guava

Panic gripped thearea and people in market ran forcover even asshop-keepersdowned theirshutters

Bombs hurled, student hurt

2 state-of-the-art labs in AKTU soon

King George’s Medical University Vice-Chancellor Dr MLB Bhatt inaugurating a multi-facility centre at Clinical Haematologydepartment on the fourth floor of Shatabdi (phase-2) building on Friday Pioneer

LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | JANUARY 5, 2019 nation 05

PTI n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court onFriday directed the Centre

to place on affidavit steps takentill date for Lokpal’s appoint-ment and expressed its dis-pleasure over the tardy progressmade in this regard.

The apex court askedAttorney General KKVenugopal to file an affidavit byJanuary 17, when the matterwill be taken up again forhearing, explaining in detail thevarious steps, including thesetting up of a search commit-tee by the competent authori-ty for recommending namesfor the appointment.

The search committee willforward the names to the selec-tion committee members com-prising the Prime Minister, theleader of the single largestOpposition party, the LokSabha speaker and an eminentjurist.

A Bench comprising ChiefJustice Ranjan Gogoi andJustice SK Kaul said everythingon the issue has to come onrecord through an affidavit.

The attorney general had

submitted that progress hasbeen made since Septemberlast year over the appointmentof Lokpal and wanted to placebefore the Bench a preparednote.

However, the Benchdeclined to accept the note andsaid, “Bring everything onrecord what you have donesince September 2018”.

After making some oralremarks, the Bench in its ordersaid, “We request the attorneygeneral to ensure that the stepstaken till date are brought onrecord by means of an affidavitof the competent authoritywhich shall be filed withintwo weeks from today. List thematter again on January 17.”

PTI n NEW DELHI

The Centre told the SupremeCourt on Thursday that it

was facing difficulties in res-cuing 15 miners trapped sinceDecember 13 in an illegal coalmine in Meghalaya as there wasno blueprint of the 355-feetwell which has “maze of ratholes”.

The Government told aBench comprising Justice AKSikri and S Abdul Nazeer thatthe illegal mine was locatednear a river and seepage ofwater from the river was hin-dering the rescue operation.

The Bench observed thatinitially “no serious efforts”were made to rescue thesetrapped persons but now itseems that the authorities aremaking efforts.

The court directed theCentre and MeghalayaGovernment to file on January7 a status report detailing thesteps taken and also theprogress made in the rescueoperation.

The top court was hearinga public interest litigation (PIL)which has sought urgent steps

for rescuing these miners.Solicitor General Tushar

Mehta, representing the Centre,told the court about the stepstaken by the authorities, includ-ing Central Government offi-cials, for undertaking swiftrescue operation in Meghalaya.

He said that since the minewas illegal, no blueprint wasavailable and they were facingdifficulty in rescue operation as“a maze of rat holes have beencreated and nobody knowswhere this goes”.

He said the 355-feet wellwas like having a 20-storeyedbuilding beneath the land.

The rat-hole mine, atop ahillock fully covered with treesin Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hillsdistrict, was flooded whenwater from the nearby Lyteinriver gushed into it, trapping 15miners.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Issues, including possibility ofproviding agricultural bonus

to tenant farmers, ensuringsafety on unmanned level rail-way crossings thereby reducingaccidents, small boat ownerssuffering due to cruise by bigcompanies in Ganga inVaranasi and opening up a bor-der post in Gujarat withPakistan to provide access tomarkets there for agriculturalproduce figured in the RajyaSabha on Friday.

Tamil Nadu parties-AIADMK and DMK staged awalkout on the Cauvery issueswhile the Left parties did thesame to protest against violencein Kerala following a row overentry of women in Sabarimalashrine. However, the Housefunctioned smoothly withChairman M Venkaiah Naidumaking a witty remark thatmembers have every right to“walk out, talk out but notbreak out.”

Earlier, the House wit-nessed banter when somemembers complimented Naidufor his attire. The Chair in turnsaid leader of House ArunJaitley, Derek O’Brien (TMC)and T Subirami Reddy(Congress) always come tothen House well dressed. Theentire House had a good laugh.

Later, during the QuestionHour appreciating the con-cerns raised by several MPsover the plight of farmers,Naidu asked the Governmentto study the possibility ofensuring that bonus ifannounced on rice or wheatprocurement reaches even thesub-tenant farmers.

The issue was raisedChhaya Verma (Congress) whosaid tenant farmers are not get-ting bonus and sought to knowif the Centre will put in place

some mechanism to protectsuch farmers. Minister of Statefor Food CR Chaudhary said,there is no provision (to trans-fer bonus to bank accounts of)for sub-tenant farmers. If two-three tenant farmers togetherregister one bank account, thenpayment is distributed pro-portionately, he said.

Expressing concern overthe issue, Naidu asked FoodMinister Ram Vilas Paswan totake action in this regard.“This is a practical and sensi-tive issue. You please study onthis. You know what happensin villages,” Naidu said. Paswanagreed and said, “I will meetyou in this regard.”

Fielding questions aboutsafety on unmanned railwaycrossings after some MPsexpressed concern over acci-dents, Railway Minister PiyushGoyal said almost such cross-ings have been eliminated.

As a result, the number ofaccidents has come down tothree in the last nine monthsfrom 50 a year ago, heinformed the House.

Giving figures, he said therailways has eliminated 3,451

unmanned railway level cross-ings up to December 2018. Inthe next few weeks, theRailways will be free fromthese crossings on broad gaugetrack, Goyal added. Withregard to compensation, theMinister said that whereverthere is responsibility ofRailways, the compensation isprovided to the families of thedeceased. Trespassers are notgiven compensation

Highlighting the plight ofsmall boat owners, VishambarPrasad Nishad (SP) said theintroduction of cruise ownedby some big companies onGanga in Varanasi had hit thelivelihood of the small owners.He urged the Government totake immediate steps to addressthis issue.

Madhusudan Mistry(Congress) urged the centralgovernment to open a borderpost with Pakistan in Gujarat toenable the farmers there toexport their produce to thatcountry. At present, they haveto transport produce like toma-toes to Wagah border in Punjabfor this purpose thereby caus-ing losses, he said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Cutting across party lines,women MPs in the Rajya

Sabha on Friday urged theGovernment to ensure passingof the Women’s Reservation Billin the Lok Sabha to providewomen adequate representa-tion in legislative bodies anddecision making. The Bill waspassed by the Upper House in2010.

Participating in a briefdebate on the issue, almost allthe women MPs urged theBJP-led Government to use itsmajority in the Lower House topass the Bill. The Constitution(108th Amendment) Bill iscommonly known as theWomen’s Reservation Bill andis awaiting nod of the LokSabha.

Initiating the discussion,Jaya Bachchan (SP) said herparty was not against the Billbut favoured sub-reservationfor other backward classes(OBC) and Dalits. Termingthe present Bill as “cosmetic,”she also said it caters to only tothe privileged section ofwomen. The SP member saidpolitical parties should be givenright to choose the seats or con-stituencies from where theywish to field 33 per centwomen, she said.

Jharna Das Baidya (CPM)said the BJP has absolutemajority in the Lok Sabha buthas not got the Bill passed. VThota Seetharama Lakshmi(TDP) said her party supportsthe legislation and appealed tothe Government to ensure itspassage in the Lower House.

Shanta Chhetri (TMC) saidher party gave one-third oftickets to women in the 2014Lok Sabha election and WestBengal has already provided 50per cent reservation to womenin local bodies.

Vijila Sathyananth(AIADMK) urged theGovernment to bring the Billand ensure its passage it in LokSabha. “You have enormousmajority” to pass the legislation,she said.

Kanimozhi (DMK) saidthe Right, Left and Centre aresupporting the bill, yet it hasnot been passed in Lok Sabhafor nine years. “It is very sadthat women have to put up withdecisions made by menthroughout their lives. Evenhere men are making decisionfor women,” she said, asking thegovernment to bring theWomen’s Reservation Bill inLok Sabha.

Backing the Bill, SonalMansingh (nominated) saidthe rotational provision in thebill needs attention and detail-ing adding women in legisla-tures will bring “grace, wisdomand harmony.” However, theBill should not be a handdowns by males and theyshould do it with grace.

Congress member ViploveThakur said there cannot bewomen empowerment untilthey become decision-makers.She said the ruling BJP hadpromised reservation forwomen in Parliament and nowthe Lok Sabha should pass thebill already cleared by theUpper House.

Asserting that her partyfavours the Bill, KahkashanParween (JD-U) said Biharhas already implementedwomen reservation in localbodies. She said several womenare heading Zila Parishads andare also mayors. BJP memberSampatya Uikey said her partyis empowering women.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) on Friday

said it has attached a factory inThailand worth ̀ 13.14 crore ofa Gitanjali group company,owned by absconding diamondjeweler Mehul Choksi, in con-nection with the alleged`14,000 crore PNB credit fraudcase.

In a separate case, the EDalso attached an amount equiv-alent to `41.87 crore lying inbank accounts in Hong Kong ofshell companies in JNPT-OBCbank fraud case.

The agency said it hasissued a provisional order forattachment, under the PMLA,of the factory premise ownedby Abbeycrest (Thailand)Limited which is a group com-pany of the Gitanjali group ofcompanies.

“Investigations underPMLA revealed thatAbbeycrest (Thailand) Limitedis the beneficiary of the LoUs(Letters of Undertaking) issuedfraudulently and unauthoris-edly from the PNB to the tuneof `92.3 crore. During probe,this overseas property has beenidentified and after gathering

concrete evidence of ownershipit has been attached,” the EDsaid in a statement.

The ED is probing this caseunder the Prevention of MoneyLaundering Act (PMLA) aftertaking cognizance of the CBI

case.Officials said ED investi-

gators will soon get issuedLetters Rogatories (judicialrequests) for legal formalisationof the attachment of the foreignbased asset.

Choksi, his nephew anddiamond jeweller Nirav Modi,and others are being probedunder various criminal lawsafter the fraud came to light,following a complaint fromthe Punjab National Bank(PNB) that they allegedlycheated the public sector bankto the tune of over `13,000crore in alleged connivance

with its employees.“With this attachment, the

value of attachment/seizure inthe PNB scam is to the tune ofof `4,765 crore (approx).Further investigation is inprocess,” the ED said.

In the JNPT-OBC bankfraud case, the accused RajeshBangawala allegedly conspiredwith bank officials, and fraud-ulently transferred FixedDeposit worth `180 croredeposited by Jawahar LalNehru Port Trust to a privateentity on the basis of forgeddocuments, the ED said.

The amount was furthertransferred to various accountsand part of which was siphonedoff to Hong Kong in theaccounts of shell companiescontrolled by the accused. Anamount of `109 crore has beenrecovered till and returned toJNPT

“Investigation in India andoverseas revealed that anamount of $5.29 million andHKD 4.76 million (`41.87crore) is lying in the accountsof shell companies controlledby accused and accordingly thesame is provisionally attachedunder PMLA,” the agency saidin a statement.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Members of Parliament andState Assemblies from

Karnataka, Rajasthan, Gujarat,Haryana, Madhya Pradesh,Maharashtra and Bihar besidesactivists have alleged that fundshortage under MNREGA iscausing a grave situation ofrural distress in the country. Ina letter to Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, they urgedhim to renew his Government’spolitical commitment to therural job flagship scheme.

On Friday, MPs includingKaran Singh Yadav, RajeevGowda and K Raju, MLAs likeJignesh Mewani and PrithivirajChavan and members of thePeoples’ Action forEmployment Guarantee,NREGA Sangharsh Morcha,Samruddha Bharat Foundationand prominent economists andactivists like Jayati Ghosh,Prabhat Patnaik, Aruna Royand Harsh Mandar shared withmedia persons their concernsand measures needed forstrengthening MGNREGA as aconcrete response to the gravesituation of rural distress in thecountry.

They pointed out that asper the ManagementInformation System (MIS), 99per cent of this year’s allocationis already exhausted and noadditional funds have beenapproved. With the lean agri-cultural season beginning,demand for work will increasebut the programme is starvedof funds.

Deepender Singh Hooda,Lok Sabha MP from Haryana,pointed to the severe decline inthe scale of work as a conse-quence of fund shortage whileK Raju from the Congressparty said that the scheme willbe implemented in a mission

mode in the States headed byhis party. Hooda said, “Thedecline in MGNREGA work isastronomical. This year, only 26households got work of 100days”.

According to theGovernment’s own estimates,the allocation of MGNREGAas a percentage of GDP hasdeclined from 0.51 per cent in2010-11 to 0.38 per cent in2017-18. Rajeev Gowda, RajyaSabha member from Karnatakadwelled on payment of wagessaying that the State govern-ment is yet to get the centralfund `1,500 crore to be paid tolakhs of workers.

Contrary to the govern-ment's claims of more than 90per cent of wages paid within15 days, a recent study hasfound that only 21 per cent ofpayments in 2016, and 32 percent of payments in the firsthalf of 2017 were made with-in 15 days, the members said.

“If there were adequatefunds and payments were madeon time, lakhs of more work-ers would demand employ-ment. In fact, FIRs are beingfiled against us to discourageworkers from demanding workunder the programme,” allegedSanjay Sahni, an activist fromMuzaffarpur, Bihar.

PNS n NEW DELHI

In a move to encourage large-scale citizen participation,

ensure sustainability of initia-tives taken towards garbage freeand open defecation free cities,the Ministry of Housing andUrban Affairs (HUA) on Fridaylaunched the ‘SwachhSurvekshan (Cleanliness sur-vey) 2019’, the fourth edition ofthe annual nationwide cleanli-ness survey of urban India. Thesurvey will cover 40 crore peo-ple across over 4,237 towns andcities between January 4 and January 28.

To make the data moreauthentic, inspection will beconducted without giving anyprior information to the con-cerned official for real-timecheck and survey will be basedon people’s feedback by anindependent third party. Inthe last three years, Mysuru andIndore had been ranked as the

“No. 1” city in SwachhSurvekshan 2016, 2017 and2018 respectively. TheSwachchh Bharat Mission(SBM) is one of the flagshipprogramme of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi.

Launching the survey,Union HUA Minister HardeepSingh Puri said that people maycontribute to their city’sSwachchhata scores by segre-gating their waste at source,adopting home compostingand coming up with innovativesolutions for waste manage-ment and creating short videosand jingles to support theirrespective Urban Local Bodies

in Swachh Survekshan 2019. The cleanliness survey

aims to evaluate the achieve-ments in the cleanliness level inurban areas of the country.Expected to be larger than theprevious cleanliness surveys,survey 2019, completely digitaland paperless survey, will becompleted in a record time of28 days.

Puri claimed that 83 per-cent of wards in the country arecovered by door-to-door col-lection while 53 per cent wardsare practicing source segrega-tion and 46 per cent of thewaste generated is now beingscientifically processed.

“If claims of a cityGovernment about any para-meter are found to be incorrectby independent assessors, it willget zero marks for that para-meters. Also, it will attract 33per cent negative marking onthe total obtained marks,” saidofficials.

Walk out, talk out but

not break out: Naidu

Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu speaks in the Rajya Sabha during WinterSession of Parliament in New Delhi on Friday PTI

RS women MPs urgeGovt to ensure passage ofwomen's quota Bill in LS

MPs, MLAs write to

PM over MNREGA

funds shortage

They pointed out that asper the ManagementInformation System

(MIS), 99 per cent ofthis year’s allocation isalready exhausted and

no additional funds havebeen approved. With thelean agricultural seasonbeginning, demand forwork will increase but

the programme isstarved of funds

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Sabrimala temple entryissue was raised by mem-

bers in the Lok Sabha on Fridayas Congress MP KK Venugopalvoiced concern over the tensesituation in Kerala.

Speaking during the ZeroHour, Venugopal, wearing ablack arm band, said incidentsof violence were reported dur-ing the BJP’s call of bandh andasserted that steps should betaken so that there is peace inthe State.

Apex court had recentlyallowed entry of women in thetemple which is being opposedby a section of people in Keralawith the BJP also wanting thattemple traditions of restrictingentry of menstruating womenin the famous religious shrine.Two women this week enteredthe shrine with the help of Stateadministration.

Welcoming the StateGovernment’s handling of theissue, CPI MP P Karunakaransaid that according to the coun-try’s Constitution each andevery citizen has the right toenter their respective holyplace.

He also claimed that sev-eral BJP MPs had hailed theapex court judgement, whichallowed entry of women of allages in the Sabarimala shrine.

BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhiclaimed that people who don’tunderstand Hinduism weretrying to set a wrong narrative.

“These people are not wor-shippers of Lord Ayyappa andare anti-religious,” she alleged.

Sabarimala:

Congress MP

voices concern

over situation

BJP MP MeenakshiLekhi claimed thatpeople who don’t

understand Hinduismwere trying to set a

wrong narrative

Almost all the women MPsurged the BJP-led Govt to use

its majority in the LowerHouse to pass the Bill

ED attaches Thailand factoryof Choksi's group company

ED also attached `41.87 crlying in bank accounts in

Hong Kong of shellcompanies in JNPT-OBC

bank fraud case

Home Minister Rajnath Singh poses for a group photograph with the awardees during the 13th edition of Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards in New Delhi on Friday PTI

SC directs Centre to file

affidavit on steps taken

for appointment of Lokpal

Facing difficulties inrescuing trapped miners inMeghalaya, Centre tells SC

Govt kicks off SwachhSurvekshan 2019

The survey will cover

40 crore people

across over 4,237

towns and cities

between January 4

and January 28

The apex court asked AttorneyGeneral KK Venugopal to filean affidavit by January 17,

when the matter will be takenup again for hearing,

explaining in detail thevarious steps, including the

setting up of a searchcommittee by the competentauthority for recommendingnames for the appointment

The agency said it has issueda provisional order for

attachment, under the PMLA,of the factory premise owned

by Abbeycrest (Thailand)Limited which is a groupcompany of the Gitanjali

group of companies

LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | JANUARY 5, 2019 nation 06

PTI n SILCHAR (ASSAM)

Prime Minister NarendraModi Friday assured the

people of Assam that no gen-uine citizen will be left out ofthe NRC and said the citizen-ship bill will soon be passed inParliament to make amends forpast injustices.

Flagging off BJP’s LokSabha poll campaign in theNortheast, he told the VijaySankalp Rally at Kalinagar nearhere that he is aware of theproblems, concerns and diffi-culties faced by many duringthe NRC process.

“I assure you no injusticewill be done to any genuineIndian citizen... A problemhanging for decades is reachingits conclusion and this hasbeen possible due to your sac-rifices. Continuous effort isbeing made to ensure that allpeople are heard and they faceleast difficulty in the process,”he said.

The Government in a bidto simplify the entire NRCprocess had made a specialappeal before the SupremeCourt to accept the relief eligi-bility certificate and other relat-ed government documents.

“I am happy the SupremeCourt has accepted theGovernment’s appeal and thishas benefitted lakhs of peoplein making their claims,” Modisaid.

On the Citizenship(Amendment) Bill, 2016, hesaid the BJP-led NDA govern-ment is moving ahead with it.

“It (the bill) is linked toemotions and related to peo-ples’ lives. It is not for the ben-efit of anyone but a penance forthe injustices done in the past,”he said.

He continued, “Where willa persecuted person anywhere

in the world having faith inMother India go? Does thecolour of the passport matteronly and not any blood rela-tion? The country was parti-tioned, people believed in thosewho divided it and some stayedback for the love of their landand home but their hopes andaspirations were crushed.

“Will Mother India notembrace them under such cir-cumstances? Will their criesnot be heard? Mistakes mayhave been made in the pastduring Partition - I do not wantto dwell on those but penancefor past injustice is necessary,”he said.

The Citizenshp Bill was

introduced in the Lok Sabha toamend the Citizenship Act,1955. It seeks to grant citizen-ship to people from minoritycommunities — Hindus, Sikhs,Buddhists, Jains, Parsis andChristians from Afghanistan,Pakistan and Bangladesh aftersix years of residence in Indiainstead of 12 even if they do notpossess any proper document.

It has been opposed by alarge section of people andorganisations in the Northeastsaying it will nullify the provi-sions of the Assam Accordwhich had fixed March 24,1971 as the cut off date fordeportation of all illegal immi-grants irrespective of religion.

Modi said the bill wasbrought in 2016 after deepthinking and long discussions.“I hope that the bill will bepassed as soon as possible inParliament. There is immenseresponsibility on those havingfaith in Mother India to keepin mind the interest of all con-cerned”.

The prime minister said hisgovernment has also decided toimplement Clause 6 of AssamAccord that was “hanging” for35 years.

“Now the road is clear tosafeguard social, cultural andlinguistic identity of peopleAssam”, he said adding that ahigh-level committee will talk

to the stakeholders and preparea road map for implementingthe clause.

The clause aims to provideconstitutional, legislative andadministrative safeguards topreserve and promote the cul-tural, social, linguistic identityand heritage of the Assamesepeople.

Hitting out at the Congress,he said some political partiesdid nothing for the people ofAssam and the country despiteruling for long years and treat-ed them only as their votebanks.

“Our Government has puta halt on corruption, installedhonesty and removed middle-

men... The Congress govern-ment had made dalals (brokers)a part of all deals,” he said.

Without mentioningAgustaWestland scam accusedmiddleman Michel Christian,Modi said Congress lawyersrushed to the jail to his aid andletters were exchanged.

“Should the nation’s lootedmoney not come back, shouldthey not be punished, shouldModi not ensure this? ... Is thisnot the responsibility of thechowkidar? ... Some peopleare disturbed by the chowkidarand so they have resorted to

raving and ranting (aanap-shanap),” he said.

Modi said after NDAGovernment came to power forthe second time in 2014, allstalled infrastructure projectswere expedited and are beingcompleted during the last fourand half years.

Referring to his visit toinaugurate the rail-cum-roadbridge at Bogibeel in the statein December, he said, “I am for-tunate to be with the people ofAssam for the second time in10 days. The Barak andBrahmaputra are a source of

inspiration not only for thestate but also for the country.

“I am indebted to the peo-ple of Assam for voting for theBJP in the just concluded pan-chayat elections and I am com-mitted to repay this debt byensuring the development ofthe State,” he said.

Modi arrived at Silchar inCachar district from Imphal asa part of his first phase of pollcampaign, wherein he is sched-uled to address rallies in 20states in 100 days before themodel code of conduct comesinto force.

NO ‘INDIANS’ TO BE LEFT OUT OF NRC: PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launches developemnt projects, in Imphal, Friday, Jan 4, 2019. Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh is also seen

PTI n GUWAHATI

The Congress on Friday accused NarendraModi of trying to divide Assam on religious

and linguistic lines, hours after the prime min-ister announced that the citizenship bill wouldbe passed in the Parliament soon.

State Congress president Ripun Bora toldreporters that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)did not know what it wants, as implementationof the Assam Accord and the Citizenship(Amendment) Bill, 2016, cannot be donesimultaneously.

“Modi came today to divide Assam on reli-gious and linguistic lines. He wants to bringHindu Bangladeshis to Assam only for vote-bank politics,” Bora said.

Earlier in the day, Modi told an election rallynear Silchar in Assam’s Barak Valley that theCitizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, would bepassed soon in the Parliament as a “penanceagainst the injustice and many wrongs done inthe past”.

The bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha toamend the Citizenship Act, 1955, to grant citi-zenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains,Parsis and Christians, who fled religious perse-cution in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan

and entered India before December 31, 2014.Modi also spoke of implementing Clause 6

of the Assam Accord, which states all immigrantscoming after March 24, 1971, were illegal.

“So, they (BJP) do not know what they aresaying. It’s completely contradictory. Basically,Modi and the BJP are blackmailing people withthe bill,” Bora said.

The Lok Sabha MP clarified that there wereno “double standards” between the Congressleaders of Bengali-dominated Barak Valley andrest of the state regarding the bill.

“Our Barak Valley leaders are just sayingthat people coming from Bangladesh should begiven citizenship as per the Assam Accord. Thatmeans, all those who came before March 24,1971, should be accepted,” he said.

Bora said the joint parliamentary commit-tee (JPC) for the bill would submit its reporton Monday, a day before the Winter Session ofthe Parliament is scheduled to end.

“In one day, nobody can prepare a bill, dis-cuss and pass it in both Houses of Parliament.It proves that Modi cannot pass the bill now.They (BJP) are just seeking votes by indirect-ly saying, ‘if you (people) vote for us (BJP), thenthe bill will be passed by the next BJP-led gov-ernment’,” he added.

Modi trying to divide Assam onreligious, linguistic lines: Cong

A Sadhu rides a camel during ‘Peshwai’ ceremony (Royal entry) for the Kumbh Mela 2019 in Prayag on Friday PTI

PTI n GUMLA(JHARKHAND)

Army Chief GeneralVipin Rawat on

Friday remembered thesupreme sacrifice madeby Lance Naik AlbertEkka, a recipient of thecountry’s highest mili-tary award Param VirChakra, during the 1971Indo-Pak war.

Expressing his grat-itude to the war hero’swidow Baldina Ekka,Rawat said he was for-tunate that he could paya visit to Chainpur,Ekka’s paternal village inGumla district.

Rawat honouredBaldina with a shawland handed over acheque of Rs 51,000 andsaid the country wasproud of Ekka and hisfamily.

He narrated howEkka had destroyed thePakistani army’s bunkerat Gangasagar in the Battle ofHilli despite sustaining injuriesas a part of 14th Guard battal-

ion. He was posthumouslyawarded the Param VirChakra.

Rawat also paid tribute atEkka’s bust situated inChainpur Bazar Tand.

The Army chief wasin Gumla to takepart in a rally organ-ised to remember thearmymen who madesupreme sacrificeswhile serving for thecountry, as well asformer armymenand their families.

Addressing thegathering at BarwayHigh School groundin Chainpur, Rawatsaid, “We shouldrespect their sacrifice.”

The army jawansfrom Jharkhand havemade the forceproud with their sin-cere and hard work,he said.

Rawat alsohailed the patience ofthe families of thejawans and called onthe retired army per-sonnel to inspire the

youths and guide thesociety.

He also honoured18 jawans and three physical-ly handicapped former jawanson the occasion.

PTI n CHENNAI

DMK Friday urged theTamil Nadu government

to enact a law to ensure thecontinued closure of Vedanta’scopper plant Sterlite atTuticorin.

Citing the National GreenTribunal (NGT) setting asidethe State Government’s closureorder, saying it was non-sus-tainable, DMK MLA P GeethaJeevan said it was the wish ofthe people that theGovernment take a policydecision to ensure that theplant continued to be shut.

Participating in the debateon the motion of thanks to theGovernor’s address, she saidSterlite cannot stake a claim toreopen the plant and urged thegovernment to enact a law forthe “permanent closure” ofthe plant.

On December 15, theNational Green Tribunal hadset aside the Tamil NaduGovernment order for clo-sure of mining companyVedanta Ltd’s sterlite copperplant at Tuticorin, which wasat the centre of massive

protests over alleged pollution,saying it was “non sustainable”and “unjustified”.

Thirteen people werekilled in police firing on May22-23 and several injured afterthe protests against Sterliteturned violent in Tuticorin.

She demanded enactmentof a law similar to that passedby the state government toallow the bull taming sportJallikattu.

In January 2017, TamilNadu amended the Preventionof Cruelty to Animals Act toensure that the sport was heldwithout any hindrance.

Though no prohibitiveorders are now in place atTuticorin, the DMK MLA saida sense of unease prevailed andpolice were not granting per-mission to hold meetings.

On the ban on single useplastic items like carry bagsthat came into force in TamilNadu from January 1, shewondered why popular snackbrands of multinationals werespared and demanded thatthe state ban them too.

Intervening, EnvironmentMinister KC Karuppannansaid the government has notfavoured any multinationalfirm and pointed out thatonly 14 types of single useplastic items, which cannot be

recycled and are non-biodegradable, had beenbanned.

When Jeevan referred toboats of Tamil Nadu fishermenleft to rot after they wereimpounded by Sri Lanka,Fisheries Minsiter DJayakumar said the govern-ment bore the expenditure ofbringing them back ensuringthat fishermen did not spendeven a Rupee for it.

Replying to CongressMLA H Vasantha Kumar, whosought expansion of Tuticorinairport, Information andPublicity Minister KadamburC Raju said 601 acres havebeen acquired and handedover to the airport onDecember 31, 2018 for thepurpose.

Initiating the debate,Deputy Speaker Pollachi VJayaraman urged the govern-ment to provide coconutsaplings free of cost to thefarmers.

He wanted the govern-ment to come up with saplingvarieties that would reach aheight of only about 5-10 feetand provide good yield in ashort time and withstandcyclones as well.

He also wanted a separatedistrict with Pollachi as itsheadquarters.

Army chief remembers Albert Ekka’s sacrifice

Army chief General Bipin Rawat hands over a cheque of `51, 000 to Balam Deen Ekka, wife of Param VirChakra awardee late Naik Albert Ekka at Chainpur village in Gumla district on Friday PTI

Enact law to ensure Sterlite’s

closure: DMK tells TN GovtThirteen people were

killed in police firing

on May 22-23

Jharkhand HC reserves order on Lalu’s bail plea

Walls of hatred erected in name of religion: NaseeruddinPTI n NEW DELHI

Walls of hatred are beingerected in the name of

religion in India and those whostand against this "injustice" arebeing punished, actorNaseeruddin Shah on Fridayclaimed in video released bythe Amnesty India againstalleged government "crack-down" on NGOs.

In the 2.13-minute soli-darity video for the humanrights watchdog Amnesty,Shah said those who demandrights are being locked up.

“Artistes, actors, scholars,poets are all being stifled.Journalists too are beingsilenced,” he said in the video

message.“In the name of religion,

walls of hate are being erected.Innocents are being killed.The country is awash with hor-rific hatred and cruelty,” heclaimed. He said that thosewho stand against this “injus-tice” are having their officesraided, licenses cancelled andbank accounts frozen to silencethem so that they are deterredfrom speaking the truth.

“Is this where our countryis headed? Had we dreamt ofa country where there was nospace for dissent, where onlythe rich and powerful areheard and where the poorestand most vulnerable areoppressed? Where there once

was law, there is now onlydarkness,” he said in the videoin Urdu.

Under the hashtag of#AbkiBaarManavAdhikaar, theAmnesty claimed India haswitnessed a massive crack-down on freedom of expres-sion and human rights defend-ers. “Let’s stand up for ourconstitutional values this newyear and tell the Indian gov-ernment that its crackdownmust end now,” the Amnestysaid.

Aakar Patel, a member ofthe Amnesty India, said it mayseem that the odds are againsthuman rights defenders andcivil society in India at thismoment, but human rights

have always won and will thistime also.

“The arc of the moral uni-verse is long, as Dr MartinLuther King said, but it bendstowards justice. The wide-spread crackdown on civilsociety organisations andhuman rights defenders bythe government of India mustend immediately,” he said.

Shah stoked a controversylast month when he had saidthat the death of a cow hadmore significance than that ofa police officer.

He was speaking in thewake of a mob violence thatbroke out in Uttar Pradesh'sBulandshahr on December 3over alleged cow slaughter in

the Mahaw village. The violenceled to the death of two men,including police inspectorSubodh Kumar Singh.

“I feel anxious for my chil-dren because tomorrow if amob surrounds them and asksif you are you a Hindu or aMuslim, they will have noanswer,” Shah had said.

Last year, five prominentactivists were arrested overtheir alleged involvement in theBhima Koregaon violence.

The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) in Octoberconducted searches at two loca-tions of Amnesty InternationalIndia here in connection witha foreign exchange contraven-tion case.

PTI n RANCHI

The Jharkhand High CourtFriday reserved judgement

on the bail petition of RJDpresident Lalu Prasad in themulti-crore fodder scam cases.

After hearing arguments ofthe petitioner’s lawyer as wellthat of the Central Bureau ofInvestigation, Justice ApareshKumar Singh reserved hisorder. Earlier, on December 21last, the bench had deferred thehearing on Prasad’s bail pleafor January 4.

The RJD chief is languish-ing in Ranchi jail sinceDecember 2017 after convic-tion in the multi-crore fodderscam cases.

Noted lawyer andCongress leader Kapil Sibal,representing Prasad, cited hisbad health and also his needfor distributing election sym-bol to candidates in the capac-ity of being RJD presidentwhile seeking bail. CBI’s coun-sel Rajeev Kumar said Prasadshould not be given regular

bail and referred to denial ofbail to him previously in thecase related to Deogarh trea-sury. He further said thatPrasad is also being treated incustody and hence bail shouldnot be given to him.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal isan important component ofthe mahagathbandhan ofopposition parties in Biharand Prasad’s approval on seat-sharing holds significance.Prasad has also been playing arole in bringing anti-BJP par-

ties on one platform inJharkhand too in the cominggeneral elections. Recently,leaders like Sharad Yadav,RLSP chief UpendraKushwaha, actor-politicianShatrughan Sinha, Congressleader Subodh Kant Sahay andPrasad’s son and RJD leaderTejashwi Yadav met him inRanchi jail reportedly as partof the seat-sharing exercise.

On December 11, Prasadhad filed petition in the highcourt requesting bail in three

fodder scam cases in which hehas been convicted, citing oldage and poor health.

In his petition, Prasad saidhe was now 71 and sufferingfrom diabetes, blood pressureand other ailments and that hehad already obtained bail inone of the fodder scam cases.Prasad has been convicted inthe fodder scam cases per-taining to fraudulent with-drawal of money fromDeoghar, Dumka and twoChaibasa treasuries.

nation 07LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | JANUARY 5, 2019

Section 1 Office of the Executive Engineer U.P.R.E.D.Mau Address:- 1ST FLOOR.VIKASH BHAWAN MAU

e-Procurement Notice Letter No.: 1602/RED/Tender/Fiile No.................../BondClerk/..................... dated : 20.12.2018

The Executive Engineer, U.P.R.E.D.Mau on behalf of Governor of Uttar Pradesh invites the percentagerate bids through e-tendering system from the eligible and approved Contractors registered with UP RED, inappropriate class A, B, C, and D as the case may be. The Bidder may-Submit bids for any or all of theworks1 Name of Works as per table.S.No. Name of Name of work Total Bid security Cost of bid Period of

District estimated (EMD) in document completioncost (in Lakh including GST includingLakh) (in Rupees) rainy

season1 2 3 4 5 6 71 MAU Painting and interlocking work on 21.19 0.44 944.00 3 Months

both side of Sadgurudev Ashram invillageSarsena block-Ranipur

2 MAU Construction of Rainbasera Near 7.83 0.16 767.00 1 Monthsto DeiSthan inSiriyapur

2. Date of availability of BId documents on website:-20.01.2019 3. Last Date/ Time for receipt of bids through e-procurernent: 28.01.2019 up to 12.00 Noon 4. Date of opening of bids through e-procurement: 28.01.2019 at 12:30 pm. 5. The Employer has right to issue addendum/corrigendum as per ITB clause-9 on-line which will not be pub-

lished in any news paper. All prospective bidders are advised to keep regular watch and visit e-tender por-tal regularly.

For further details please log on to https://etender.up.nic.in and down load the bid documentExecutive Engineer

Rural Engineering Department Division-Mau

On behalf of Governor of UP

UP-135958 Dt. 1.1.19foKkiu osclkbV www.upgov.nic.in ij miyC/k gS

KUMAR CHELLAPPAN n KOCHI

Closely on the heels ofThursday’s Kerala hartal

called by the Sabarimala ActionCommittee to protest againstthe entry of two middle agedwomen into the SabarimalaTemple on Wednesday, theTravancore Devaswam Board,the Government agency thatadministers the temple, hastightened its noose around thechief priest.

The Board which met atSabarimala on Friday demand-ed an explanation fromKantararu Rajeevaru, thethantri (chief priest) of the tem-ple for ordering purificationPooja and yaga in the templeon Wednesday following theentry of the women.

This was announced by APadmakumar, president, TDBwho is also a prominent CPI-M leader. “The purificationceremony ordered by theThantri was like insulting theSupreme Court verdict andwe have asked him to furnishan explanation for the same in15 days,” said Padmakumarwhile speaking to reportersafter the board meeting onFriday.

Chief Minister Pinarayivijayan had said on Thursdaythat the Thantri’s action was

rare and unheard of. “He isbound to respect the SupremeCourt verdict. Id he does notaccept the verdict, he shouldquit immediately,” the chiefminister had said while speak-ing to reporters on Thursday.

The tone of the statementsby the chief minister and theboard president is being seen asa message to the Thantri thathis tenure is nearing the end.The Thantri was not availablefor comments.

Meanwhile in a late nightdevelopment on Thursday, a46-year-old Sri Lankan womanentered the Sabarimala Templeand offered prayers. Sasikalawas escorted to the sanctum bypolicemen who had accompa-nied her from Pamba. Speakingto reporters she said she hadbooked for darshan making useof the in-line facilities and shereached the temple as per themessage received from theTemple authorities.

The CCTV visuals ofSasikala , accompanied by herfamily members and escortedby the police, were released bythe Kerala Government lateThursday night. But theThantri (the chief priest) andthe head priest denied theclaims made by theGovernment. The Templeauthorities did not order any

purification ceremony as atone-ment unlike after the entry ofBindu and Kanakadurga lastWednesday. Police officials saidthat the Sri Lankan woman hadbooked on-line for the darshanand she was given the policeescort.

The decision of theThanthri not to press with thepurification ceremony is beingportrayed as a fall out of thenotice issued to him by theTravancore Devaswam Board.

Meanwhile tension ismounting all over Sabarimalaas the Makara Vilakku (theMakara Jyothi) festival is fastapproaching. The event falls onJanuary 14 and marks the endof the festival season at theshrine. Since the Makara Jyothidraws hundreds of thousandsof devotees from all over thecountry, both the police andthe Sabarimala ActionCommittee are apprehensive ofwomen entering the templepremises.

“If the season passes ofwithout any untoward inci-dent, it is all because of theblessings of Lord Ayyappa,”said a police officer posted atSabarimala who agreed thatthe law enforcement agencywas having sleepless nightsbecause of the stand- off withthe devotees.

Devaswam Board issues

notice to chief priestKUMAR CHELAPPAN n KOCHI

Even before the cacophonycaused by Thursday’s hartal

called by Sabarimala ActionCommittee against the entry ofwomen in Sabarimala Templesubsided, the KeralaGovernment claimed late lastnight that a Sri Lankan womanhad entered the sanctum of thetemple and offered her prayers.

The CCTV visuals ofSasikala (46), a Sri Lankanwoman, accompanied by herfamily members and escortedby the police, were released bythe Kerala Government lateThursday night. But theThantri (the chief priest) andthe head priest denied theclaims made by theGovernment. The Templeauthorities did not order anypurification ceremony as atone-ment unlike after the entry ofBindu and Kanakadurga lastWednesday. Police officials saidthat the Sri Lankan woman hadbooked on-line for the darshanand she was given the policeescort.

The decision of theThanthri not to press with thepurification ceremony is beingportrayed as a fall out of thenotice issued to him by theTravancore Devaswam Board,the authority that administersthe temple, seeking an explana-

tion for Wednesday’s ceremo-ny.

A Padmakumar, president,Travancore Devaswam Board,told reporters on Friday thatthe Thantri has been asked tofurnish an explanation for hisaction as it amounted to theviolation of the September 28Supreme Court verdict. Thepresident said that the Thantrihad informed him about thepurification ceremony whichhe had ordered immediatelyafter the entry of the two mid-dle aged women.

Meanwhile tension ismounting all over Sabarimalaas the Makara Vilakku (theMakara Jyothi) festival is fastapproaching. The event falls onJanuary 14 and marks the endof the festival season at theshrine. Since the Makara Jyothidraws hundreds of thousandsof devotees from all over thecountry, both the police and theSabarimala Action Committeeare apprehensive of womenentering the temple premises.

“If the season passes ofwithout any untoward inci-dent, it is all because of theblessings of Lord Ayyappa,”said a police officer posted atSabarimala who agreed that thelaw enforcement agency washaving sleepless nights becauseof the stand- off with the devo-tees.

Sri Lankan womanenters Sabarimalasans any furore Hyderabad: The CPI Friday

alleged that the BJP and otherSangh Parivar outfits were try-ing to expand their base inKerala by exploiting the issueof entry of women of menstru-al age into Sabarimala temple.

CPI General Secretary SSudhakar Reddy accused theBJP and Sangh Parivar peopleof perpetrating violence in thename of opposing the entry ofwomen into Lord AyyappaSwamy temple.

Speaking to reporters here,he said they were trying toexpand their base in Kerala byexploiting the issue of entry ofwomen of menstrual age intoSabarimala temple.

“They are against women..As per Manu dharma shastra,they are trying to suppresswomen in the country. As partof it, they started this type ofattacks,” he said.

Alleging that BJP-RSS ele-ments were trying to takeadvantage of the sentiments ofsome people in the name of tra-dition, he said, “They say it isa tradition. But this started onlyin 1991.”

“Prime Minister NarendraModi said it is a question of tra-dition. That means he is sup-porting it.

He should have appealed tothe people to accept the genderequality and respect the SupremeCourt judgment,” he added.

Kerala witnessed massive

protests by BJP and Sanghparivar outfits after two womenin the menstrual age enteredthe hill shrine early Wednesday.

On the nation-wide strikecalled by central trade unionson January 8 and 9 against theNDA government's “anti-labour policies”, price rise andothers, he said the CPI wouldsupport it.

The CPI demanded thatthe NDA government addressthe issues highlighted by thetrade unions.

“They (trade unions) arenot fighting for some salaryincrease.. They want price riseto be controlled.

Public sector is gettingdestroyed.. Disinvestment istaking place.. Labour laws arenot being implemented.Employment potential is notincreasing,” he said.

On the Rafale jet deal,Reddy demanded a JointParliamentary Committee toprobe the alleged scam in it.

“If they are honest, whythey should be afraid of JPC?”Reddy asked.

India had inked an inter-governmental agreement withFrance in September last yearfor procurement of 36 Rafalefighter jets at a cost of aroundRs 58,000 crore, nearly one-and-half years after PrimeMinister Narendra Modiannounced the proposal duringa visit to Paris. PTI

Chennai: Actor-politicianKamal Haasan has squarelyblamed the right-wing for “incit-ing” violence in Kerala afterHindu fringe groups ran riot inKerala on Thursday over entryof two women into the LordAyyappa shrine at Sabarimala.

They went on the rampageduring the dawn-to-dusk'Hartal' called by SabarimalaKarma Samithi, an umbrellaorganisation of pro-Hindutvagroups, and the AntarrashtriyaHindu Parishad, to protest theentry of two women of repro-ductive age into the hill shrineon Wednesday.

“Violence has been incitedby the right wing,” the veteranactor and Makkal NeedhiMaiam chief told reporters atChennai airport last nightwhen asked about the issue.

Asked about the suspen-sion of 24 AIADMK MPs fromthe Lok Sabha for stagingprotests over the Cauvery issue,he merely said “good.”

On Prime MinisterNarendra Modi's statements onJanuary 1 expressing opennessfor an alliance with him (Haasan)and 'superstar' Rajinikanth, hesaid “that is his stand.”

“But will we go...Is some-thing we have to decide. Wewill announce it at a meetingseparately,” he said. PTI

CPI on Sabarimala: BJP,

Sangh parivar outfits

trying to exploit issue

Kamal Haasanblames rightwing forincitingviolence

ORDERING ATONEMENT POOJA @ SABARIMALA

KHURSHEED WANI n SRINAGAR

Normal life came to a haltin Kashmir Valley due to

incessant snowfall that dis-rupted air and ground traffic,snapped power supply andforced most of the residents toretire earlier to secure hous-es. The divisional administra-tion issued an avalanchewarning for nine districts ofKashmir division in view ofthe inclement weather andsnowfall. The warning wasissued for the avalanche-proneareas in district Anantnag,Kulgam, Budgam, Baramulla,Kupwara, Bandipora,Ganderbal, Kargil and Leh.

The snowfall began in theafternoon, strictly accordingto the weather predictions,and intensified by the eveningcausing road blockades at var-ious places. Commutersbetween Srinagar and north

Kashmir said that they werestranded for several hours onthe highway due to snowfall.

The authorities closedSrinagar-Jammu Nationalhighway for vehicular trafficdue to fear of avalanches andshooting stones in severalvulnerable areas. The aerialtraffic was also snapped due toheavy fog and poor visibility.

Divisional CommissionerBaseer Khan asked the deputycommissioners of all districtsto advise the people living inavalanche prone areas not toventure out during the snow-fall.

The DC’s have beendirected to take all the precau-tionary measures to keep theSDRF, Police and Para-med-ical staff with ambulances inreadiness to deal with anyuntoward incident

Jammu and KashmirPolice also issued an adviso-

ry to the people. “It is snow-ing in the plains of Valley.Roads have become slippery.

Drive your vehicles carefully& slowly. If you need any helpor assistance contact your

nearest Police Station or PCRKashmir,” Police wrote on theofficial twitter handle.

Snowfall in Kashmir valley, normal life hit Mamata strikes to avertLeft’s two-day bandh

Women walk past cars parked along a pavement during snowfall in Srinagar on Friday PTI

SAUGAR SENGUPTA n KOLKATA

In an apparent followup of ageneral no-bandh policy of

Chief Minister MamataBanerjee the BengalGovernment on Friday choseto strike at the two-day “gener-al strike” called by the Left par-ties with a Finance Departmentdirective making attendancemandatory in all Governmentand Government-fundedoffices on January 8 and 9.

A memorandum issued onFriday by HK DiwediAdditional Chief SecretaryGovernment of West Bengalsaid, “All State Governmentoffices including those provid-ed with grant-in-aids by theState Government shall remainopen (on January 8 and 9) andall the employees shall report

for duty on those dates.”In pursuant to the order

the Government also “decidedthat no casual leave for absence… shall be granted to anyemployee on the said dates.”Salary will be deducted leadingeven to breakage in service ifthe circular was not compliedby the government employees,officials said even as the oppo-sition Left and the Congresslambasted the Chief Ministerfor “tacitly backing theNarendra Modi Government.”

CPI(M) politburo memberBiman Bose said “we havealready stated that the bandh isnot against the BengalGovernment and that it hasbeen called by the Left partiesagainst the general anti-peoplepolicies of the BJP-led centralGovernment. We even asked

for Trinamool Congress’ sup-port. “But it seems that like onearlier occasions MamataBanerjee does not want to takeon the BJP in real terms. Sheonly talks loud against this anti-people Government but has nogenuine feeling for the peoplewho are suffering at the handsof the Modi Government.”

The Congress leaders whohad earlier given a “moral sup-port” to the bandh said, “theirpary would not descend on thestreets but are “support thisbandh,” wondering “why theTMC Government wants topreserve the interests of the BJPin Bengal.” CPI(M)’s SamikLahiri dared the Governmentto foil the strike with popularsupport instead of controllingit through government orders.

UNLIKE YOU, WE...Nirmala alleged that

Congress was only shedding“crocodile tears” on theHindustan Aeronautics Limited(HAL) not getting the offsetcontract as it did nothing toscale up the capacity of theState-run firm. Whereas theBJP-led NDA Government gave`1 lakh crore worth of contractsto HAL, she said. Referring tonegotiations of the Rafale dealduring the rule of the Congress-led UPA, the Minister said,“You stopped the deal, forgettingAir Force was suffering. Youdidn’t conclude the deal, becauseit didn’t suit you. The deal did-n’t get you money,” she alleged.

They did not intend to buythe aircraft till something elsewas done. There is somethingdifferent between defence dealand deal in defence,” she said,asserting that Prime MinisterNarendra Modi-ledGovernment gave priority tonational security. You are mis-leading the country by sayingthe NDA Government reduced126 Rafale jets to 36. Congresswas supposed to buy 18 in fly-away condition, the NDA raisedthat to 36,” she said.

Talking about AnilAmbani’s Reliance Group,which got the offset contract forthe fighter jet deals, the Ministersaid the company obtained 53waivers and concessions duringthe Congress-led UPA regime.While countering Congresspresident Rahul Gandhi’s claimthat a French leader had toldhim that there was no secrecyclause in the deal, Nirmalaasked Rahul to authenticate hisclaim on the floor of the house.Questioning the seriousness ofCongress in discussing the factsof the Rafale deal, Nirmala saidwhen Finance Minister andformer Defence Minister ArunJaitley was speaking in theHouse on Wednesday, theOpposition party memberswere clicking pictures andthrowing paper airplanes.“Nobody has a right to call meor the Prime Minister a thiefand a liar. We came from a nor-

mal or middle class back groundand we deserve dignity like thepersons belong to dynasties,”said a visibly angry DefenceMinister while ending herspeech.

DILIP KUMAR...“The CM saheb has been

repeatedly saying he will help usand after the builder comes outof jail, he would do the needful.But it is three months now sincethe builder is out and nothinghas moved from the CM’s side.There is no reaction even fromthe PM’s side. We hope they dosomething soon,” rued SairaBanu.

The couple’s lawyer, ChiragShah, pointed out that Bhojwanihad been arrested in this mat-ter last year by the MumbaiPolice for making false docu-ments, and a police report tothis effect was submitted to acity court.

Saira Banu said it is indeeda sad state of affairs that a glob-ally renowned celebrity likeDilip Kumar, who was once theSheriff of Mumbai (1980) andits First Citizen, has to under-go this torture when he’s notwell and virtually bed-ridden.

“If this is the fate a personlike Yusuf saheb, awarded thePadma Vibhushan and who issynonymous with acting inIndia, and has to undergo allthis, imagine the plight of acommoner. We are hoping andpraying that PM sa’b and CMsa’b will do something on pri-ority,” Saira Banu added.

Chirag Shah said that tak-ing advantage of the couple’s oldage (96/74), Bhojwani hashatched a “well-planned con-spiracy” with the intention of“grabbing” the prime property,a dilaphdated two-storey bun-galow in the posh Pali Hillneighbourhood of suburbanBandra, to construct a multi-storied building there.

“The builder wants to throwout the couple claiming that hisfather purchased the property in1980 for a mere Rs 25,000.However, the Property Card ofthe plot clearly mentions the sale

deed agreement of the plotdated Sep 25, 1953, for Rs140,000, in the name of DilipKumarji. The property stillstands in his name as per theProperty Card,” Shah told IANS.Shah claimed that in collusionwith officials of the RegistrationOffice, Bhojwani allegedly got aDeed of Confirmation regis-tered claiming his father, whodied in 2002, had bought theproperty from Dilip Kumar in1980. Since Dilip Kumar’s icon-ic bungalow, No 16 on a 1,600sq. metre plot, was in a dilapi-dated state, he shifted to hiswife’s bungalow No. 34 in thesame area in in 2003. Saira Banuhas already announced that shewill build a museum in honourof Dilip Kumar at the No. 16site, which is the subject matterof a controversy for severalyears.

RAHUL VOWS...There will be a criminal

investigation and the peopleresponsible will be punished,”Rahul said. He added that theSupreme Court had said in itsjudgment that inquiring into theRafale deal is not in its jurisdic-tion, but nowhere did it say thatan inquiry should not be held.“We and the entire Oppositionwant that when the DefenceMinister speaks on the PrimeMinister’s behalf, the questionsraised by us should beanswered,” the Congress chiefsaid. Rahul said his questionswere what the youngsters wereasking Modi.

ANTI-POACHING...As the new drone policy

equates NTCA and WII withany common flyer, it will makeits task difficult to use thedrones for anti-poaching effortsand habitat management. “Wewant that we should be allowedto fly during night time, whenpoaching usually occurs. Thepresent policy doesn’t allowdrones near international bor-ders. But in our case, surveil-

lance is required along suchareas also, especially in reservessuch as Dudhwa, Pilibhit,Valmiki, Buxar andSundarbans,” the official says.

The drone policy has intro-duced a ‘No Permission- NoTakeoff ’ (NPNT) clause. Itmeans drone hardware have tobe configured in such a way thatunless regulatory permission isgiven, the drone cannot take off.It has demarcated the Indianspace as Red (no-fly zones),Yellow (restricted permissions),and Green (all access). Also,drones must only be flownduring daylight, while main-taining full visual line of sightat all times. The policy has alsodesignated test sites acrossStates to experiment. Just a fewagencies engaged in securityhave been kept out of its ambit.

MAKEN EXIT...again (to be relieved as DelhiPradesh Congress Committeechief). I said DPCC presidentshould be 100 per cent fitbefore elections. I would nowwork for the party and prepareit for the Lok Sabha election,” hetold PTI. When he was asked ifhis resignation has been accept-ed, Maken said, “Yes, Yes. Thathas happened” and added hewas undergoing treatment foran orthopaedic ailment. TheAICC incharge of the Delhiunit, PC Chacko, also con-firmed Maken’s resignation,saying a search is on to find hissuccessor. The party sourcessaid former chief ministerSheila Dikshit could replaceMaken as Congress’s Delhi unitchief. She has maintained thatthe party high command’s deci-sion on sealing an alliance inDelhi will be acceptable to her.The AAP and the Congresshave not yet denied the specu-lation of tie-up. Congress lead-ers Yoganand Shastri, RajkumarChauhan, Haroon Yusuf andChatar Singh could also beconsidered as Maken’s replace-ment, the sources said.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

PTI n NEW DELHI

Minutes after transfer ofJoint Director V

Murugesan was reported, theCBI issued a fresh order statingthat he would continue to beincharge of probe againstSpecial Director RakeshAsthana, officials said on Friday.

The agency had issued anorder on Friday transferringMurugesan from Anti-Corruption wing which wasprobing the case againstAsthana to Economic Offenceswing. Within minutes thetransfer was reported in themedia, the agency issued asubsequent order stating thatMurugesan will continue to“supervise” case againstAsthana, officials in the knowof development told PTI.

The earlier order accessedby PTI shows that Murugesan,who was deputed by Director(in-charge) M Nageswara Raoto probe Asthana, was trans-ferred as part of efforts to givean “impetus to expeditiouscompletion of coal scam cases”.

The order said Murugesanwas “bogged down” by addi-tional charge of Joint DirectorAC(HQ)-I zone, which being a“heavy zone” takes away muchof his “time and attention”.Murugesan's charge has nowbeen given to Joint Director GK Goswami, who in addition tohis responsibility of theLucknow zone will also lookafter AC (HQ)-I zone, where acase against Asthana is regis-tered. The order also states thatanother Joint Director VineetVinayak looking after anti-corruption wing, Delhi Zone,has been transferred. Hischarge has now been given toadditional director PraveenSinha.

CBI U-turn: JtDir Murugesanto continue toprobe Asthana

India has every reason to be happyover the Awami League’s over-whelming victory in Bangladesh’srecent parliamentary elections.Sheikh Hasina has been a steadfast

friend. She has unfailingly recognisedIndia’s crit ical contribution toBangladesh’s liberation in 1971 and hon-oured Indians for it. Her Governmentposthumously conferred the BangladeshFreedom Honour to Prime MinisterIndira Gandhi for “her contribution toBangladesh’s Liberation War” which “willbe remembered for ever.” She has been theonly recipient of the honour which is thehighest state award for any foreigner.Former Presidents Pranab Mukherjee andFakhruddin Ali Ahmed, former PrimeMinisters, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and IKGujral, and former Union Home Ministerand twice acting Prime Minister,Gulzarilal Nanda, have been among theIndian recipients of the BangladeshLiberation War Honour given to formerHeads of State or Government or peoplewho have held key Government offices.

Besides, Sheikh Hasina honoured thefamilies of seven martyrs of the Indianarmed forces in the 1971 war during hervisit to India in April 2017; the families of12 more were honoured by the BangladeshGovernment in Kolkata on December 16— celebrated every year as Vijay Divas(Victory Day) — 2018. More honour andrecognitions are on the cards.

The Bangladesh Government underSheikh Hasina has institutionalised thegrant of awards with a committee head-ed by a well-known historian, ProfessorMuntassir Mamoon of Dhaka University,which selects the recipients after metic-ulously examining each case. There arealso individual efforts. For example, Lt-Col (Retd) Quazi Sajjad Zahir, Bir Protik,founder and executive director ofShudhui Muktijuddhao (only theLiberation War), has a project for writ-ing about the martyrdom of every Indiansoldier. He tries to locate and keep intouch with their families and ensure thatthey are honoured by the BangladeshGovernment. Simultaneously, he docu-ments the roles of Liberation War fight-ers, experiences of civilians and investi-gates war crimes of Pakistanis and theirBangladeshi collaborators.

In sharp contrast, the military dicta-torships headed by Generals Zia-urRahman and HM Ershad and the civilianGovernments led by Begum Khaleda Ziaas Prime Minister, were intensely anti-Indiaand pro-Pakistan, and had tried strenuous-ly to minimise — if not totally ignore —India’s contribution to the Liberation War.They had, besides allowing several seces-sionist insurgent groups of north-easternIndia to establish camps in Bangladesh,helped them with funds, arms and train-ing. Sheikh Hasina has destroyed these

camps and handed over toIndia several notorious andwanted ULFA leaders.

A striking example of thebitterly anti-India sentimentof the BNP-Jamaat coalitionGovernment, that ruledBangladesh from 2001 to 2006with Begum Zia as PrimeMinister, was provided by thethen Foreign Minister,Morshed Khan’s outburstagainst this country whileinaugurating the ‘India-Bangladesh Dialogue ofYoung Journalists’ at Dhakaon September 7, 2004.Debunking India’s claim thatNorth-East Indian insurgentshad 195 camps in Bangladesh,he had said, “The list of insur-gent camps from their sideincreases at every meetingbetween us. But they have notbeen able to provide a singletelephone number or addressof these camps.” ThreateningIndia, he had said in the samespeech that thoughBangladesh was “India-locked”, Delhi had “also toremember that its North-Eastern States” were“Bangladesh-locked.”

Further, reflecting theKhaleda Zia-ledGovernment’s policy offomenting discontent andsecessionism in India, he hadsaid, “It costs 40 per cent morefor North-Eastern India’s

States to buy most construc-tion goods from Kolkata orother western cities than itwould have cost them to buythose from Bangladesh.” Healso blasted the “Central Bankof India” (the Reserve Bank ofIndia?) for acting unilateral-ly against the interests of thecommon people of North-Eastern States by imposingnon-tariff barriers such asnot allowing individual Statesto open Letters of Creditwithout Delhi’s permission.

The BNP-JamaatGovernment also tried toblame India for the dastardlygrenade attack on an AwamiLeague’s rally in Dhaka onAugust 21, 2004, addressed bySheikh Hasina, then president,Awami League, and the leaderof the Opposition inBangladesh’s Jatiya Sansad orNational Parliament, andattended by all importantleaders of the party. In thefinal count, the attack, a cold-blooded slaughter, killed 24people and wounded over300. The aim was to hobblethe Awami League by wipingout its top leadership. SheikhHasina had a close shave buther hearing was impaired.

Facing sharp criticism athome and abroad, the BNP-Jamaat Government orderedan inquiry. Joinul Abedin, aformer High Court judge and

BNP leader, was appointed tohead it without any consulta-tion with the Opposition. Hisreport was never made pub-lic. He, however, said at aPress briefing just before sub-mitting it that neither theBNP nor the Awami Leaguenor Jamaat, nor any other fun-damentalist Islamist organisa-tion, was responsible for theattack; agents of a foreigncountry were. Abedin did notidentify any country or itsagents but suggested, throughinnuendoes and false associ-ations, that it was India.

Subsequent investigationsconcluded that the terroristorganisation Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI) Bangladeshhad carried out the attack,which, according to the chiefprosecutor in the case that fol-lowed, was orchestrated byPakistan’s Inter-Ser vicesIntelligence (ISI) Directorateand the BNP-Jamaat coalitionGovernment, which used theBangladesh’s Ministry ofHome Affairs, Directorate-General of Forces’ Intelligence(DGFI), National SecurityIntelligence (NSI) and theBangladesh Police, to imple-ment the plot.

The BNP-Jamaat alliancewas routed in the parliamen-tary elections of 2008, in whichAwami League and its allieswon 263 out of the 300 direct-

ly-elected seats. Sheikh Hasinacould not fully implement hersecular and democratic agen-da and bring to justice the warcriminals and collaborators,who had perpetrated the mosthorrific atrocities, during herfirst tenure as Prime Ministerfrom 1991 to 1996; she lackedadequate parliamentary major-ity and was hamstrung by theadministration which washeavily staffed by BNP andJamaat supporters.

She could not only do sopost-2008 elections and bringwar criminals to belated jus-tice but also take strong actionagainst fundamentalistIslamist terrorist organisa-tions in Bangladesh and ful-fill her promise of not allow-ing her country’s territory tobe used for terrorist strikesagainst any other country.India-Bangladesh relationshave soared and economic,strategic and security-relatedties between the two countrieshave become deeper sincethen. Bipartite agreementshave led to cooperation in anumber of areas like security,trade, connectivity, energy,defence, civil nuclear agree-ment and bus and train ser-vices. Mutual ties are now setto become even more fruitful.

(The writer is ConsultantEditor, The Pioneer, and anauthor)

Just when the dust had settled after the

Indian branch of Swiss food giant

Nestle suffered a brand hit with Maggi

noodles being declared unsafe four years

ago, it has run into fresh trouble. Taking cog-

nisance of matters related to public health,

the Supreme Court ordered the revival of

a `650-crore worth class-action suit filed

by the Government that had pulled up the

noodle manufacturer for indulging in unfair

trade practices, false labelling of products

and misleading advertisements. Not only

that, Justice Chandrachud has questioned

the presence of lead, even within traceable limits, and sought good reason why

it should be fed to children. Though the sample test report from the Central Food

Technological Research Institute, Mysuru — that had indicated lead in permis-

sible limits — will form the genesis of the case, additional solicitor-general Vikramjit

Banerjee said the matter should be sent to the National Consumer Disputes

Redressal Commission which can decide on the merits independently.

The court’s circling of the presence of lead has again raised the issue of

food safety standards in the country. Post-Maggi controversy, food companies,

regulators, the Government and the consumers alike became more concerned

about deconstructing food than being indifferent about it. The court’s observa-

tion points to the fact that ingredients, even if they are within legally permissi-

ble limits, are never marked out clearly on the food label. The problem with man-

aging lead concentration is that the heavy metal is largely present in the envi-

ronment, in soil or plants, and cannot entirely be eliminated by washing or pro-

cessing. It is also possible for lead to enter the food supply chain through man-

ufacturing processes, leaching into the water that passes through metal pipes

or vessels. According to the USFDA, although lead levels in the food supply

decreased dramatically between the 1970s-1990s, low traces of lead continue

to be detected in some foods simply because they remain in the environment.

And for that it ensures a strict regulatory framework of monitoring and testing

at frequent intervals, something that is far cry in India yet. Lead does impact our

children’s health and development, vulnerable as they are in their early years,

causing neurological problems, learning disabilities and lower IQ levels. Food safe-

ty, therefore, should not just be limited to packaged products but the raw ones

as well. High levels of cadmium and arsenic are routinely found in vegetables

and fruits we procure from the market. The milk we consume is heavily adul-

terated with detergents. Compromising on standards is often a mistake that con-

sumers make and this is the real concern that must be addressed by the guardians

of public health. Even with the case of Maggi, our laboratories itself stood divid-

ed — while Government laboratories found excess levels of lead and MSG, other

labs found otherwise. This raises questions about the sampling procedure itself,

which is not foolproof. This would require strict enforcement of the Food Safety

and Standards Act, 2006, else meeting public health indices will remain elusive.

Clearly, US President Donald Trump

doesn’t quite believe that rebuilding

humanitarian and civil institutions does

enough good in Afghanistan unless the mil-

itary boots pace up and down to police order

the way he wants. But his jibe about India

building a library of no consequence that

would be equivalent to just five hours of US

operations — though India is not building

a library but the Afghan Parliament — is cer-

tainly no friendly poke and points to his larg-

er egoistic belief that though he has made

India a geo-strategic ally, he feels it is not

doing enough in Afghanistan in return. India is certainly not going to engage mil-

itarily just because Trump wants, our policy being to aid UN peacekeeping oper-

ations only. Besides, India has held itself in abeyance given the strategic dis-

comfort to another of US’ long-term allies in the region, Pakistan, which was

not willing to acknowledge India’s stakes in the Afghan peace process until very

recently. Now that Trump has not managed to get Pakistan to deliver the goods,

he is asking India and other allies to pull in their weight. He has also dangled the

threat of US troop pullout though one assumes that would happen in a phased

manner and not plunge the region into a chaos, triggering an unwanted exodus

of refugees to neighbouring countries. And just because he has ended an annu-

al aid of $1.3 billion to Pakistan because it provides safe havens to the Taliban,

doesn’t mean India will radically alter its Afghanistan strategy and eat out of US

hands. India is still steadfast about direct talks between the Afghan government

and the Taliban unlike the model proposed by Russia and the US. Besides if it

comes to rebuilding Afghanistan in the truest sense and not just erect compli-

ant regimes, then India has done quite a bit in that direction, something that can-

not be belittled as a token effort at restoring peace.

Since 2001, India’s bilateral assistance to Afghanistan has been $3 billion

which has been used to build the Afghan Parliament, restore the Stor palace,

build dams for hydropower projects, roads, power lines and upgrade existing

infrastructure. Then there are smaller community development projects and train-

ing programmes to ensure economic rehabilitation of the locals. In fact, India is

the biggest donor in the region for initiatives that help in rebuilding and chang-

ing lives in the war-torn country. It has never been about imposition. Till now

there is no official mention of a library and though Prime Minister Modi met Trump

at a trilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the G20 sum-

mit recently, it is highly unlikely that the particularities of India’s engagement with

Afghanistan ever came up. Trump’s latest missive against India over Afghanistan

follows his earlier one in 2017, when announcing an increase in troops, he sought

greater economic assistance from us on the ground that “India makes billions

of dollars in trade from the United States and we want them to help us more

with Afghanistan.” This means that there has actually been no change in the

American perception of Indian involvement in the region as not being congru-

ent with US design. And though we have made no libraries yet, the US must not

frown upon such efforts either, considering the Islamic State (IS) militants have

defaced heritage in their contempt for culture and higher education. A global cam-

paign is already under way to rebuild the Mosul University in Iraq, which had a

precious collection of manuscripts. The efforts are being coordinated by an inde-

pendent historian who is seeking donation of books and archives to restore its

formal glory under the slogan: “Let it be a book, rising from the ashes.”

A rebuttal to Trump

India is not only one of the biggest donors in Afghanistanbut is also transforming lives beyond politics

Tangled noodles

The SC, by reviving a class action suit againstMaggi, has brought back focus on food safety

Confident interviewee

Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “The Modi view” (January3). Prime Minister NarendraModi, during his recent inter-view to a media agency, forth-rightly and very eloquentlyreplied all questions asked by theinterviewer. He addressed issueson which the Oppositionaccused him and hisGovernment of remaining silent,including the Rafale deal,demonetisation and Goods andServices Tax among others. ThePrime Minister seemed confi-dent of his report card and of thepeople’s capability to make asound judgement. Therefore,he left the evaluation of the workdone by his Government to thecitizens.

MC JoshiLucknow

Uphold secularism

Sir — This refers to the article,“BJP’s victory, Congress’s loss”(January 1) by A Surya Prakash.Viewed from former PrimeMinister Jawaharlal Nehru’s atti-tude, outlook and temperament,

it can well be assumed that hehad a natural inclination for thepreservation, protection andwell-being of the minority com-munity. Did he not venture topass the Hindu Marriage Act inParliament without the intro-duction of the MuslimMarriages Act? In someinstances, he was even resentfulof Sardar Patel’s statement.Nehru believed that the latter

was lenient to Hinduism. ButPatel was a firmly secular andimpartial nation-builder and aprominent freedom fighter sec-ond to only Mahatma Gandhi.

Was it not a breach of secu-larism when the then PrimeMinister Rajiv Gandhi opposedthe Supreme Court’s ruling,which upheld the grant of main-tenance to Shah Bano, adivorced Muslim woman who

filed the petition for justice in asecular democracy? By an Act ofParliament, Rajiv Gandhi over-turned the apex court’s ruling.

Now, the present Congresschief Rahul Gandhi has adopt-ed the same policy of pleasingand appeasing the minoritycommunity to secure votes atthe cost of ignoring the meritsof the Muslim Women(Protection of Rights on

Marriage) Bill, 2017. Is this atrue democracy governed bythe rule of law and secularism?

Nimai Charan SwainBhubaneswar

Class act

Sir — In the death of veterandialogue-script writer and actorKader Khan, the Hindi filmindustry has lost one of itsrenowned personalities. Whilethe famous writer duo, Salim-Javed, based veteran actorAmitabh Bachchan’s career asthe ‘angry young man’, whichbegan with Zanjeer, Kader Khannourished the latter’s image as aforceful youth who foughtagainst all evils. Kader Khan’speculiar dialogues studded with‘Bambaiya Hindi’ became pop-ular with Bachchan’s fantasticacting skills. In the later stage,Kader Khan switched over toacting and went on to becomethe most sought-after comedyking. The void created by hisdeparture is difficult to fill.

Anil TMaharashtra

P A P E R W I T H P A S S I O N

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op nionLUCKNOW | SATURDAY | JANUARY 5, 2019

08

Return of a friend

HIRANMAY KARLEKAR

Sheikh Hasina’s reinstatement as Prime Minister bodes well for Indo-Bangla ties.

The mutual relationship is now set to become even more fruitful

Bofors was a scam,Rafale is not. It is a deci-sion in national interest.Congress lost an electionbecause of Bofors. Rafalewill bring Modi back.

Defence Minister—Nirmala Sitharaman

Government organisa-tions cannot work in theentire gamut of techno-logical innovations. Youthmust come out with ideasin niche areas.

DRDO chairman—Dr G Satheesh Reddy

Under the strategic guid-ance of the two leaders,China-India relations haveshown a sound momen-tum of improvement withhigh-level exchanges.

Chinese spokesman—Lu Kang

What I believe is a musi-cian has to send visualcues to their listeners inorder to lend characterto the music they arerepresenting.

Singer —Shalmali Kholgade

S O U N D B I T E

L E T T E R S T O T H E E D I T O R

After farmers, nobody has a heart for miners

This refers to the article, “The politics of mining rich-es” (January 4) by KK Paul. It is horrifying that author-ities have moved at a snail's pace in rescuing the poor

coal miners. Fifteen miners remain trapped in a coal minein Meghalaya since December 13. The mine was gettingflooded with water seeping through from the nearby Lyteinriver. The two 25-horse-power suction pumps availablewith the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) res-cue team were allegedly inadequate for the task at hand.One 100-horse-power pump was not available to pumpthe water out from the mine. With NDRF playing the sup-portive role, the Odisha Fire Service and Indian Navy teamsbegan the rescue operation only on the 18th day(December 30) since the tragedy happened.

Unfortunately, there has been little or no public out-cry over such sluggish rescue effort. Poverty and lack ofsocial security compel poor miners to go inside a rat-holemine. Even scavengers take a dip into the sewer water to

do life-threatening jobs. They take the risk to keep theirbody and soul together without having minimum disas-ter response. This is the ground reality amid our otherextravagant feats. While Governments spend gargantu-an amounts on huge statues, they do not really care aboutthe sufferings of the poor coal miners or farmers.

Sujit DeKolkata

Ask any Pakistani about Pak-China relations and it is likelythat they would respond by say-

ing that the Pak-China friendship hasbeen a reality from the moment theChinese communists defeated thenationalists and set up a communiststate in 1949. Indeed, in 1951, Pakistanbecame the first Muslim country torecognise communist China (People’sRepublic of China or PRC). But beforethat, Pakistan had also set up diplomat-ic relations with the Republic of China(ROC) which was formed by thedefeated Chinese nationalists andwould be known as Taiwan.

It was the ROC that was recognisedby the US, and a majority of WesternGovernments kept the PRC out of theUN for over a decade. Yet, it was Indiawhich had recognised communistChina almost a year before Pakistan didso. What’s more, India was also one of

the first countries to snap ties with theROC, something Pakistan would do ayear later. According to Professor ofModern Chinese History ArunabahGhosh, in his article for HarvardUniversity’s Centre of History &Economics, relations between commu-nist China and India remained cordialthroughout the 1950s. Despite the factthat in 1956, Pakistan’s then PrimeMinister Huseyn Suhrawardy signed afriendship treaty with the PRC, com-munist China remained neutral in thecold war between India and Pakistan.

But it is the period between 1958and 1962 which is not only the mostintriguing in the context of Pak-Chinarelations, it is also one which has beencompletely forgotten, or maybe evensystematically erased. Farhat Mahmudin his 1991 book, A History of US-Pakistan Relations, wrote that after tak-ing over power in 1958 through a mil-itary coup, Field Marshal Ayub Khanwas quick to consolidate the country’srelations with the US. According toMahmud, Ayub signed a bilateralsecurity agreement with the US inMarch 1959 allowing the US to set upmilitary bases in Pakistan.

The PRC launched a protest

against Pakistan because it believed thatthe bases were to be used against com-munist China and in support of theROC. Mahmud writes that Pakistan“was following the US plot to create twoChinas.” He then adds that, in April1959, Ayub offered India a defenceagreement for the joint defence of Indiaand Pakistan against external threats.This further heightened the concernsof PRC, he says, which feared that theUS was planning to surround Chinawith the help of Pakistan and India.

Anwar H Syed in Diplomacy of anEntente Cordiale wrote that in July 1959,a group of Chinese Muslims who hadstopped over in Karachi on their wayto perform umrah, were encouraged bythe Pakistan Government to makestatements against the communistregime in China. China again launcheda strong protest with the PakistaniGovernment. Unmoved by Chineseprotests, the Ayub regime went a stepfurther. According to a report inDawn, Ayub is quoted as saying that thePakistan Foreign Office had receiveda map showing some areas of Pakistanas part of the PRC.

In the same report, Ayub was citedas saying that Pakistan was willing to

peacefully resolve territorial issueswith China, but was also ready todefend its territory through other lessfriendly means. It is thus interesting tonote that even though China wouldfight its first war in this region againstIndia in 1962, it was the PakistanGovernment, which was willing to goto war with China almost three yearsbefore the Indo-China conflict.According to Syed, the Chinese clari-fied that the map was not officially sanc-tioned. But Pakistan insisted that it was.Relations between the two countriesremained tense till January 1961.

Pakistan’s former Foreign MinisterManzoor Qadir was a respected judgewho had been inducted by Ayub in hisCabinet as an additional foreign min-ister to aid the Minister of ForeignAffairs, Muhammad Ali Bogra. The lat-ter was overshadowed by the morearticulate Qadir, who shared Ayub’senthusiasm for his pro-US policies.However, hot on Qadir’s heels was theintellectually robust ZA Bhutto. Eventhough Qadir had worked closely withBhutto in authoring Ayub’s 1962Constitution, relations between the twoweren’t cordial.

Feroz Khan, in his 2012 book

Eating Grass, wrote that Bhutto hadnothing to do with the foreign ministrybut would not hold back in givingadvice to Qadir. This greatly botheredQadir but Bhutto at the time was afavourite of Ayub. Phillip E Jones inPakistan People’s Party: Rise to Power,wrote that Qadir and Bhutto oftenclashed over the issue of China, withthe latter advocating a rapid review ofPakistan’s relationship with communistChina, and the much older Qadir advis-ing a cautious approach to avoidstraining relations with the US. WhenQadir left to become a High Courtjudge in 1962, Ayub immediatelyreplaced him with Bhutto.

M Iqbal and Sargodha University’sFalak Sher in their essay, “Political,Economic and Cultural Relationsbetween Pakistan and China during theAyub Era,” wrote that as tensionsincreased between Pakistan and China,in 1961 Ayub received a visit from theChinese Ambassador, who wantedPakistan to facilitate communist China’sentry into the UN. Ayub said thatPakistan was willing to do that as longas China agreed to demarcate bordersbetween the two countries. In his auto-biography Friends, Not Masters, Ayub

wrote that after some hesitation, theChinese Ambassador agreed. Duringthe 1962 armed conflict between Indiaand China, the Ayub regime issued arather subdued diplomatic statement,hoping for the conflict’s peaceful res-olution. The Indian troops were deci-mated. Later that year, both Pakistanand China claimed that they hadfinally reached an agreement on bor-der issues. In March 1963, Bhutto vis-ited China and signed a ‘boundaryagreement’.

According to Iqbal and Sher, theagreement gave Pakistan 750 squaremiles of disputed land, while 2,050square miles of the same area was givento China. This further deteriorated rela-tions between India and China, andPakistan and India. But Pakistan hadfinally found an ally to counter-balanceIndian influence in the area. Eventhough its relations with the US beganto deteriorate, these saw a reinstatementof sorts when, during the China-Soviet split in the communist world, theUS approached China through thePakistan Government in 1971. TheROC was eased out of the UN and thePRC was given a permanent seat.

(Courtesy: Dawn)

Need for course correction

LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | JANUARY 5, 2019

THE SANGH PARIVAR IS TRYING TO MAKE

SABARIMALA A CLASH ZONE. PEOPLE HAVE SEEN

HOW THEY HAD LAUNCHED ATTACKS IN THE PAST.

—KERALA CHIEF MINISTER

PINARAYI VIJAYAN

WOMEN WHO ENTERED SABARIMALA WERE

DISGUISED AS TRANSGENDERS. IT IS VIJAYAN WHO

HAS CONVERTED THE SHRINE INTO A CLASH ZONE.

—BJP MP

MEENAKSHI LEKHI

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

The employees were at leisure inJawahar Bhawan, the building inLucknow housing over a dozenGovernment departments, when theother day discussions veered to the

Congress’ performance in three States whereAssembly election results were announcedrecently. They were seen animatedly analysingthe figures of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan andChhattisgarh where the Congress wrestedpower from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) andthe broader implications for the parliamentaryelection which is around the corner.

Expectedly, the discussion soon shifted tothe BJP Government’s performance in UttarPradesh and the possible scenarios in the 2019general election. Surprisingly, all of them unan-imously felt that the Yogi AdityanathGovernment’s performance in the State was dis-mal. They were of the view that the UttarPradesh Government had inflicted more harmto the Government employees than doing anygood. Some even believed that the YogiAdityanath Government was more concernedabout lord Ram, Ayodhya and the safety of thecow than party workers or the aam aadmi.

It was an amazing sight as none can eventhink of Government employees bashing the rul-ing party, that too during duty hours. Generally,State employees avoid discussing the function-ing of the Government out of fear that some-one might report them to their seniors or thatthey might earn the wrath of the establishmentand its supporters. But the way these staffers con-tinued with discussions reflected brewingresentment against the Government.

Is this rising discontent limited toGovernment employees? The answer is no. Eventraders are angry because of the impractical waythe Narendra Modi-led BJP Government imple-mented the Goods and Services Tax (GST).There is even talk of people losing jobs due todemonetisation, during which 86 per cent of theIndian currency was culled in one go. The Centrefor Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) in itsrecent report claimed that 3.5 million people lostjobs because of demonetisation. Not to mentionthe small traders who had to shut shop.

It would be wrong to say that theGovernment has not done anything for the peo-ple and the farmers. But the impact has clearlybeen diluted by pressing economic concerns.The government has launched many people-wel-fare schemes as well as a minimum support price(MSP) to insure agricultural producers againstany sharp fall in farm prices. Wheat and paddypurchase centres have been opened all across theState and a record purchase of food grains hasbeen reported. This is the first time in the last10 years that Uttar Pradesh has purchased over45 lakh metric tonnes of wheat whereas the pre-vious Government used to purchase only sevento eight lakh metric tonnes of wheat.

Nakal-viheen pariksha (cheating-free exam-ination) conducted at basic, secondary and Stateuniversity levels is another feather in the cap ofthe Yogi Government. Not just that, in a bid toestablish a model for quality education, it alsoworked towards the introduction of NCERTcourses at the secondary level. All of these could

prove to be a defining moment for the educa-tion system in the State. One must also acknowl-edge the sincere efforts made by the Governmentto ensure doorstep health services. It launcheda massive immunisation campaign to vaccinateover 86 lakh children up to 15 years againstencephalitis. The result is for everyone to see.The number of encephalitis deaths has droppeddramatically. To cap it all, prices of essential com-modities like pulses, rice and sugar, too, areunder control.

Despite so many positives, why is it that theYogi Government is facing flak? Is it because theruling BJP, and the State Government in partic-ular, has harped more on Hindutva? Has this beendone on purpose because the BJP wants to cap-italise on the support of the majority communi-ty as there is a thinking in the party that Muslimsnever vote for it, hence it is better to consolidatecore votes than trying to affect an image change?Probably this is why Yogi Adityanath, who is themahant of the prestigious Gorakhnath temple inGorakhpur, was appointed as the Chief Ministerof the state. Yogi is also a star campaigner of theruling party and was given prominence after PrimeMinister Narendra Modi and BJP national pres-ident Amit Shah. He campaigned aggressively inpoll-bound Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh andRajasthan. People close to him claim that he hada good strike rate in the election campaign. Headdressed 74 election meetings in MadhyaPradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and the partywon 49 seats. Some say his ‘strike rate’ was bet-ter than Prime Minister Narendra Modi butnobody is ready to officially accept this.

The bigger question is, if Yogi Adityanathindeed has such a charisma, why is he failing todeliver? Why is he losing his grip over the Statebureaucracy which is time and again failing todeliver? It goes without saying that UttarPradesh has never had such a hard-workingChief Minister, who has been on his toes all thetime. He keeps reviewing projects from time-to-time and does not hesitate to reach ground

zero, as and when required. He is the first ChiefMinister of Uttar Pradesh to visit all 75 districtsin the 16 months of his tenure.

The only plausible reason could be that theChief Minister is looking at developmentthrough the prism of religion. He has been amahant for the past 30-odd years, so his think-ing revolves around religion and Hindutva. Hebelieves that entrenching Hindutva deep in theminds of the majority community would havea cascading effect and strengthen social votebas-es. So, Ayodhya has taken a centrestage eversince Yogiji came to power while the cow hasbecome a political motif.

This thinking, however, has proved to be analbatross around the neck of Yogi Adityanath andhis Government. In the name of cow protection,self-promoted cow vigilante groups have startedharassing people on the slightest pretext of abus-ing the animal and creating their own sense ofrelevance. This has further alienated religiousminorities and made them more vulnerable toHindu nationalist groups. As a result the tradi-tional cow melas, where cattle was traded for agri-cultural purposes, have vanished suddenly.Farmers, too, are facing stray cattle, which nolonger milch, but are devouring the ready crop,giving a body blow to the farm economy. In west-ern Uttar Pradesh, farmers have started lockingstray cattle inside schools, PHC compounds orin any Government building to protect their crop.

In this scenario, the work for the YogiGovernment as well as the BJP leadership hasbeen cut out. Both need to not just deliver butwin back the confidence of the people. With theBJP and its Government raising the aspirationsof the people by several notches, through slo-gans like achche din, the masses clearly do notsee any improvement in the promised quality oflife, particularly in cities. The need of the houris for the BJP Government in Uttar Pradesh tolook beyond Ram temple, Ayodhya and the cow.

(The writer is Executive Director, News, ThePioneer, Lucknow)

How two countries became close allies

With the BJP raising aspirations through slogans like achche din, the people in UP have not seenmuch improvement in the promised quality of life. Yogi’s Ayodhya tilt isn’t working

A history of early Pakistan-China relations shows that India and the US were key players and catalysts in forming ties that exist today

William James had once said, “A chain is no stronger than

its weakest link, and life is after all a chain.” This phrase

best describes the food safety scenario in India. Post inde-

pendence, rapid growth and the consequent scramble for scarce

resources revived the Malthusian catastrophe, which represents

poor agricultural production in times of tipping population growth.

India today produces about 280 million tonnes (MT) of foodgrains,

175MT of milk while our horticultural output stands at around

320MT. India remains the second largest producer of rice in the

world but is heavily dependent on oil imports. We are slowly shift-

ing from a quantitative approach to qualitative considerations about

what we eat. And this is where a farm-to-table approach becomes

significant to understand the food safety circle. For example, what

is the nutritive value of milk? One could just Google the answer

and be satisfied with emerging tables. But going deeper, one would

understand that the quality of milk depends on a number of fac-

tors like the breed of cow, quality of cattle feed, kind of urea that

was used in the feed, whether antibiotics were given in their feed

or whether oxytocin was used for milk let-down. These should

actually turn the table.

The mere nutritive value of calorie, protein, fat or carbohy-

drates cannot satisfy questions related to health. Antibiotic and

hormonal residues, mycotoxins, heavy metals and the like can

mar the nutritive value — it is like highly nutritious food with traces

of pesticides. Studies by the Centre for Disease Dynamics,

Economics and Policy showed that India is fast becoming a hotbed

for antibiotic resistance and emergence of superbugs due to the

use of fourth generation antibiotics in animal and poultry feed-

ing. A majority of antibiotics used by the pharmaceutical com-

panies is actually used by growth promoters in animal feed. Any

pathogen exposed to antibiotics in the environment will develop

resistance. When they fall sick, the same antibiotics administered

will not work. Today about four lakh people in India die due to tuber-

culosis, mainly drug resistance.

Of the 232 pesticides our country uses, nearly 52 have not

been studied for their maximum residue limit. Food safety con-

cerns are not simplistic like adulterating milk with water, cheap-

er dalda for ghee, papaya seeds for pepper, as was the case ear-

lier. Hi-tech adulteration like the use of melamine to boost protein

went undetected even in the US for a long time. New tools and

techniques had to be evolved to detect the adulterant. In the same

way, there are genetically modified organisms creeping into our

food system through imports and illegal seeds. We would rarely

be able to detect them given the current situation. In food pro-

cessing, safety is given a go-by due to excessive handling, removal

of nutrients, usage of food additives that can actually erode nutri-

ent value. At present, the list of food additives is unending. Refined

sugar and salt being added in excess in all processed food are

the source of addiction to certain flavours and choices. Refined

nutrients are today killing more people than toxic residues.

Ecological sensitivity, sustainability and food safety will be

the trends as millennials look for better health and wellness.

Consumers are now looking for sustainable solutions. Ethics is

always contextual. For instance, being vegetarian or vegan can

be ethical for some and extremely ethical for animal activists.

But this isn’t universal. What is sauce for the goose should also

be sauce for the gander. Ethical food has to be acceptable to

all and the universal has to basically focus on reducing the eco-

logical footprint. This calls for humane handling of animals in

farming and even at slaughter houses.

The loss of biodiversity is the biggest bane for agriculture. Above

all, access to food and equity in nutrition security is the fundamen-

tal ethical aspect of society. As for food companies, ethics about

profit can simply be as a producer of foods that do not make peo-

ple unhealthy, sick and obese. In this context, organic food has

seen a great deal of growth in the past decade. More and more

people are opting for organic foods because of its true form and

content. People are asking for minimally processed diverse vari-

eties rather than the routine run-of-the- mill foods that come even

under the organic label. Conscious consumers are today raising

questions, thanks to public opinion, created through debate and

discussions in the media and consumer forums. Ecological sen-

sitivity, increased disease burden and abundant health information

are driving people to make better choices. Apart from enjoying food,

they are making sure that they do not compromise on health. Good

food can indeed prevent most of the ills that society confronts today

and can pave the way for a healthy and happy life.

(The writer is founder and MD of a leading food

manufacturing company)

analysis 09F I R S T C O L U M N

A food

safety net

KC RAGHU

NADEEM PARACHA

Access to food and equity in nutrition security isfundamental. But safety is given a go-by due toexcessive processing and removal of nutrients

BISWAJEET BANERJEE

F O R E I G N E Y E

The Supreme Court rulingin India on Sabarimalatemple — the latest ofseveral commendablejudgements — makes itclear that it is preciselyabout the right of Hindus, inthis case women, topractise their religion asthey believe they should.Conflicting and deeply heldbeliefs are not quicklyreconciled. Yet the supremecourt gave politicians anopportunity to advancemuch-needed social reform.

(The Guardian editorial)

LIFTING BAN: DOING

THE RIGHT THING


IF YOGI HAS SUCHCHARISMA, WHY IS HEFAILING TO DELIVER?

EVEN AFTER BEING THEBJP’S TRUMP CARD,

WHY IS HE LOSING GRIPOVER BUREAUCRACY

AND HAS FAILED TO CUTMUCH ICE WITH THE

VOTERS? IT GOESWITHOUT SAYING THATUTTAR PRADESH HASNEVER HAD SUCH A

HARD WORKING CHIEFMINISTER WHO IS ON

HIS TOES ALL THE TIME.THE ONLY PLAUSIBLE

REASON COULD BE THATHE IS LOOKING AT

DEVELOPMENT THROUGHTHE PRISM OF RELIGION,

AND HIS THINKINGREVOLVES AROUNDHINDUTVA POLITICS

money 10LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | JANUARY 5, 2019

PTI n NEW DELHI

The government on Fridaysaid there was no propos-

al to ban telecom gear andequipment made by Chinesecompany Huawei.

“At present, there is noproposal before the govern-ment considering banning tele-com gear and equipment madeby Huawei,” Telecom MinisterManoj Sinha said in a writtenreply to Rajya Sabha.

His statement comes aftertelecom export body TEPClast month requested NationalSecurity Advisor Ajit Doval toban purchase of equipmentfrom Chinese companies likeHuawei, ZTE and Fiberhomefor government networks,claiming that they could posea serious national securitythreat.

TEPC has been set up bythe government to promotetelecom export from India.

Sinha told the House thattelecom operators were free toprocure equipment from anyvendor based on their techno-commercial interests providedthey adhered to the securityprovisions given in the licence.

The US, Japan, Canada, theUK, Germany, Australia andNew Zealand have alreadytaken steps to block purchase

of equipment from Huaweiand ZTE.

Sinha acknowledged thatmodern age telecom equip-ment, irrespective of its source,may at times be susceptible tospyware or malware etc.

“These, spyware/malwareetc. are potential threats, ifembedded in any of the tele-com network elements by ven-dor or any other third partysource, which may damage theconcerned network elementcausing disruption in services,infecting other network ele-ments or leakage of informa-tion to unintended user,” theminister said.

He, however added, that toaddress security concerns,including of the security threatsposed by telecom equipmentinducted into networks, irre-spective of its source, elaboratesecurity conditions have beenlaid down in the licence.

Under telecom licence con-ditions, telcos are required tocreate facilities for monitoringof all intrusions, attacks andfrauds on their technical facil-ities and provide reports on thesame to the licensor, Sinha said.

These facilities are requiredto be created by the serviceproviders within 12 months ofeffective date of getting autho-risation.

PTI n MUMBAI

Reversing two days ofsharp declines, bench-mark indices finished

with smart gains on Friday onbargain hunting in telecom,metal and banking stocks amida global relief rally triggered byUS-China trade talks.

After swinging over 350points intra-day, the 30-shareBSE Sensex finally settled 181.39points, or 0.51%, higher at35,695.10. Similarly, the broad-er NSE Nifty jumped 55.10points, or 0.52%, to 10,727.35.

However, during the week,the Sensex fell 381.62 points, or1.05%, and the Nifty shed132.55 points or 1.22%.

The biggest gainers in theSensex pack in Friday’s sessionwere Yes Bank, Bharti Airtel,Tata Motors, Vedanta, SBI andAxis Bank, spurting up to 3.05%.

The losers included HCL

Tech, TCS, Infosys, HeroMotoCorp, IndusInd Bank andSun Pharma, falling up to 1.55%.

Sectorally, telecom, metal,utilities and finance indices ral-lied the most, jumping over 2%.

PSU bank stocks, led byPNB, Union Bank, Bank ofIndia, Andhra Bank and SBI,surged up to 4%.

Global investor sentimentwas upbeat after Chinaannounced new trade talkswith the US. A US governmentdelegation will visit China earlynext week for the first face-to-face talks since PresidentDonald Trump and his Chinesecounterpart Xi Jinping agreedon a temporary truce in thetrade war, China’s commerceministry said.

Meanwhile, on a net basis,foreign portfolio investors(FPIs) sold shares worth`972.81 crore on Thursday,while domestic institutional

investors (DIIs) were net buy-ers to the tune of `34.52 crore,provisional data available withBSE showed.

“PSBs led the gains todaydue to consolidation andincrease in capital infusionwhile IT underperformed dueto appreciation in INR,” saidVinod Nair, head of research,Geojit Financial Services.

The rupee was trading 33paise higher against the USdollar at 69.87. Brent crudefutures rose 1.59% to USD56.84 per barrel.

Elsewhere in Asia, Korea’sKospi ended 0.83% higher,Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rallied2.24% and Shanghai CompositeIndex jumped 2.05%. Japan’sNikkei, on the other hand,dropped 2.26%. In Europe,Paris CAC was up 1.17% whileFrankfurt’s DAX gained 1.72%in their early deals. London’sFTSE rose 1.14%.

New Delhi (PTI): There are no specificmeasures or mechanism to fix a single daily pricefor gold in India, the world’s largest consumerand importer of the precious metal, the gov-ernment said in Parliament on Friday.

“Gold is widely traded in local marketsacross the country. At present, there are no spe-cific measures or mechanism to fix a single dailygold price in the country,” Minister of State forConsumer Affairs CR Chaudhary said in a writ-

ten reply to the Rajya Sabha. He said that the price generally depended

on import rate, basic customs duty, tax and logis-tics cost, purity among other reasons. The pricesalso vary depending on location, the ministeradded.

With regard to hallmarked gold, Chaudharysaid that presently sale of both hallmarked as wellas non-hallmarked gold and silver ornament ispermitted in the country.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Large e-commerce market-places could approach the

government seeking extensionof the February 1 deadline ascompliance with the recentchanges would require at least4-5 months at operational level,according to multiple sources.

A senior executive at one ofthe big e-commerce companiessaid at least 4-5 months wouldbe needed for players to re-work the operational aspectsand February 1 deadline doesnot provide adequate time.

The rules were announcedon December 26, giving com-panies just a month to executethese changes, which in manycases would require re-workingexisting partnerships and even,overhauling business models,the executive added. Anotherofficial said companies werestudying the recently announcedamendments in detail and werelikely to approach the govern-ment in coming weeks. Theserepresentatives did not wish to be identified as the matter issensitive. Emails sent toAmazon and Flipkart did notelicit any response.

The government’s move totighten norms has hit Amazonand Flipkart the hardest as thenew regulations bar onlinemarketplaces with foreigninvestment to sell products ofcompanies where they holdstakes as well as ban exclusive

marketing arrangements.Another provision states

that the inventory of a vendorwill be seen as controlled by amarketplace, if over 25 percent of the vendor’s purchasesare from the marketplace enti-ty, including the latter’s whole-sale unit. The move is aimed atensuring that the marketplaceentity or its related companiescannot control inventory underthe FDI rules.

Another industry watcherpointed out that clarity isrequired on this provision as itwould be difficult to find outwhether a vendor is, indeed, incompliance.

The executive explainedthat the vendor may not bewilling to share the books andaccounts with the marketplaceand in such a scenario, the lat-ter will find it difficult to deter-mine if the rules are beingadhered to.

The government, onThursday, had clarified that pri-vate labels were not bannedfrom being sold on e-commercemarketplaces. One of the bigplayers, however, stated that pri-vate labels were a small compo-nent of the business and that thegovernment needs to address thelarger issues at hand. Privatelabels — often sold at lowerprices — allow e-commercecompanies to control qualityand even offers better marginsthan big, established brands.Over the last few years, e-com-

merce players have introducedprivate labels across a variety ofcategories including apparel,home furnishing and grocery.

Overall, the amendment ofthe e-commerce norms havedrawn a mixed reaction. WhileFlipkart had suggested thatgovernment should follow aconsultative process in framingrules that have long-termimplications, Amazon had saidit had “always operated incompliance with the laws of theland” and was evaluating thenew guidelines “to engage asnecessary with the govern-ment to gain clarity”.

The US-India StrategicPartnership Forum (USISPF)had dubbed the rules as“regressive” and said thechanges would harm con-sumers, create unpredictabili-ty and have a negative impacton the growth of fledglingonline retail in India.

The USISPF had also assert-ed that “it is not the govern-ment’s business to micromanagebusinesses” and alleged thatthe amendments announcedcame out without any consul-tation and are akin to changingrules in the middle of the game.

Smaller players such asShopClues and Snapdeal had,however, welcomed the movesaying the development will“close the back door” that hasbeen “blatantly exploited” bylarger companies and providea level-playing field for all.

Markets regain footing on

value buying, global cues

New FDI rules: Large e-commerce cos

may seek extension of Feb 1 deadline

No proposal to banHuawei telecomequipment: Sinha

No mechanism to fix single daily price for gold in India: Govt

Script Open High Low LTPRCOM 13.45 14.19 13.29 14.00YESBANK 184.55 190.25 181.50 189.50JPASSOCIAT 7.35 7.63 7.13 7.56SUZLON 5.36 5.49 5.16 5.42JETAIRWAYS 244.00 250.40 236.20 245.15TATASTEEL 481.05 492.85 479.30 487.70TCS 1901.00 1901.05 1841.50 1873.95INFY 671.10 674.00 651.15 660.75RELIANCE 1098.00 1104.35 1081.25 1099.05DHFL 235.75 239.30 230.70 237.70TATAMOTORS 168.10 171.90 168.10 170.75LT 1401.00 1407.00 1373.85 1389.30L&TFH 145.95 146.75 142.40 144.30SBIN 293.80 298.95 291.45 297.50MFSL 427.45 443.70 423.00 441.50IBULHSGFIN 817.00 836.00 814.20 830.30RELCAPITAL 211.00 218.40 207.85 216.55MARUTI 7249.90 7309.95 7168.55 7237.40ICICIBANK 361.50 368.55 358.05 365.55ASHOKLEY 98.50 98.75 95.95 96.80VEDL 187.10 194.45 186.85 193.00JINDALSTEL 148.50 153.80 145.00 152.25PNB 78.20 81.75 77.70 81.30M&M 721.00 728.70 713.00 726.15SUNPHARMA 437.85 439.90 431.70 432.80AXISBANK 610.00 624.70 609.85 619.85BEML 893.00 896.30 860.80 881.40BANKBARODA 121.00 122.15 118.50 121.55MINDTREE 847.00 847.00 793.10 815.25PCJEWELLER 82.80 82.90 80.20 81.10NBCC 59.00 59.85 58.10 58.95EICHERMOT 20380.00 20622.35 20030.15 20128.95TATAELXSI 1030.05 1034.50 985.50 1003.70RELINFRA 289.70 298.20 286.80 296.95BHARTIARTL 313.00 324.40 313.00 322.60KOTAKBANK 1234.60 1250.00 1230.15 1246.70UNIONBANK 89.05 92.90 88.25 92.20TITAN 931.25 938.75 920.45 928.55BHEL 70.80 71.85 70.10 71.35ITDCEM 114.55 123.55 113.65 114.35BEL 89.35 92.70 88.50 91.85UJJIVAN 285.60 289.00 278.30 283.65IOC 133.35 134.90 132.50 133.60DELTACORP 249.00 260.60 245.85 258.75BPCL 353.00 361.90 351.55 360.15BANKINDIA 106.50 109.20 105.40 108.75INFRATEL 274.75 288.00 272.50 284.00HINDALCO 208.05 212.20 207.70 210.90WESTLIFE 399.15 402.85 390.00 394.05ITC 279.50 282.80 279.50 280.75BAJFINANCE 2587.95 2612.00 2564.85 2579.25HINDPETRO 247.90 251.10 246.50 248.90FRETAIL 470.00 470.00 441.00 449.15NCC 89.00 90.95 87.60 88.90ESCORTS 724.60 729.25 715.20 724.15TECHM 695.35 696.10 672.95 681.25INDUSINDBK 1563.90 1569.65 1541.10 1547.95JUBLFOOD 1242.00 1250.00 1201.30 1214.30IDFCBANK 43.20 45.40 42.85 45.15HEXAWARE 331.65 333.65 319.30 331.70ASIANPAINT 1388.00 1401.30 1380.05 1385.30MOTHERSUMI 162.15 165.25 158.00 159.00LICHSGFIN 469.50 490.65 468.00 488.05JSWSTEEL 282.85 289.50 280.60 288.10CANBK 276.10 285.25 274.35 282.90SAIL 52.70 53.45 51.75 53.15PFC 105.80 107.45 105.80 106.80HDFC 1940.00 1974.95 1939.90 1971.15GRAPHITE 743.00 747.25 722.00 729.75SPICEJET 84.60 86.00 83.55 85.20DLF 173.55 176.35 170.95 175.15ONGC 142.00 146.20 141.70 145.65HCLTECH 950.00 950.40 925.00 933.30TORNTPOWER 263.50 264.75 259.75 261.20NESTLEIND 11200.00 11200.00 10666.90 10878.30TIINDIA 360.00 368.95 345.50 350.15HDFCBANK 2111.15 2127.00 2111.15 2117.75HINDUNILVR 1792.00 1800.75 1773.00 1780.25DMART 1577.00 1589.00 1551.00 1575.75MPHASIS 955.00 958.15 917.00 930.10FEDERALBNK 93.00 95.15 92.20 94.75PEL 2302.00 2368.45 2296.80 2352.90COALINDIA 234.05 237.15 234.00 235.70PTC 89.00 91.45 88.75 90.90RPOWER 27.45 27.85 27.05 27.70KTKBANK 110.60 115.10 110.50 114.85RECLTD 122.00 122.70 119.90 121.35INFIBEAM 45.25 45.65 44.30 45.20SRTRANSFIN 1150.00 1171.35 1133.70 1164.40RBLBANK 564.80 575.00 564.70 571.15ORIENTBANK 96.00 99.15 95.15 98.70JUSTDIAL 488.00 501.65 480.40 496.55DCBBANK 168.25 175.40 166.95 173.85BANDHANBNK 539.00 541.85 527.50 528.65STAR 458.00 459.95 448.40 456.55ADANIPOWER 50.00 50.65 49.70 49.95ADANIPORTS 380.50 383.65 376.20 381.50WOCKPHARMA 510.80 512.40 501.10 509.50PERSISTENT 615.20 615.20 567.10 581.20STRTECH 292.00 294.00 285.20 286.20HEROMOTOCO 3045.00 3045.00 2977.35 2992.55EDELWEISS 177.00 184.05 176.30 182.15ACC 1463.00 1475.00 1438.80 1471.65PAGEIND 23949.95 23949.95 22550.05 22675.70HAL 789.00 828.00 783.10 813.30ZEEL 462.65 468.75 455.70 464.80PETRONET 230.50 230.50 220.10 221.10WIPRO 325.70 326.75 319.95 323.60

TATAMTRDVR 90.95 92.15 90.30 91.50SPARC 185.40 187.45 179.00 185.60GAIL 350.05 355.00 348.45 353.45DABUR 424.70 425.00 416.80 419.75NIITTECH 1132.65 1143.25 1109.85 1122.65HEG 3666.00 3687.00 3640.00 3644.90MANAPPURAM 94.60 95.60 93.00 95.05INDIGO 1135.05 1154.95 1134.00 1140.45NMDC 94.80 94.95 93.25 94.30JAICORPLTD 112.30 113.20 110.10 111.75BAJAJ-AUTO 2713.05 2740.50 2703.95 2734.65IBREALEST 87.50 87.70 86.20 86.90PVR 1540.00 1577.80 1502.00 1573.50ITI 92.00 94.50 90.35 92.80JISLJALEQS 65.80 66.60 64.35 66.30INDIACEM 91.70 93.00 90.60 92.70NOCIL 163.50 164.00 160.40 161.70EQUITAS 122.90 124.20 119.30 120.25BALKRISIND 905.95 908.40 880.00 889.65IDEA 36.05 36.55 35.60 36.25LTTS 1648.50 1648.50 1589.00 1618.95BAJAJFINSV 6410.00 6449.00 6360.00 6413.60CGPOWER 43.60 44.60 43.15 44.30RAIN 129.55 131.35 126.30 127.15BHARATFORG 491.00 494.15 483.85 488.10DENABANK 14.40 14.60 14.15 14.35NATIONALUM 62.80 64.25 62.75 63.90ULTRACEMCO 4000.00 4000.00 3851.20 3911.60BOMDYEING 110.00 114.90 109.20 111.15VIPIND 510.00 523.00 508.05 518.95HAVELLS 689.95 689.95 673.10 680.20NTPC 142.25 146.35 142.25 145.65INDIANB 249.00 251.60 244.00 250.05DISHTV 38.00 40.40 37.60 39.10BIOCON 612.55 619.85 608.00 618.35SREINFRA 33.75 34.25 32.65 32.90AUROPHARMA 716.45 727.40 708.90 725.40

TORNTPHARM 1805.45 1825.00 1800.00 1813.50SIEMENS 1048.00 1068.30 1035.60 1064.55ALBK 45.65 46.90 44.50 46.55MUTHOOTFIN 497.95 508.50 490.15 502.65IGL 274.60 279.20 273.05 277.85RADICO 398.05 401.60 387.70 394.15WABAG 260.95 265.50 259.15 261.60BATAINDIA 1117.05 1124.00 1094.95 1116.10LTI 1737.50 1750.00 1680.00 1696.80SYNDIBANK 38.75 41.00 38.60 40.55SUNTV 594.50 595.05 585.45 592.70JINDALSAW 81.80 82.75 81.30 82.20CENTURYTEX 904.35 910.40 884.65 908.15AMARAJABAT 710.50 726.90 710.50 724.10APOLLOTYRE 226.40 234.35 226.30 233.05IBVENTURES 395.00 400.35 391.40 392.95GODFRYPHLP 877.25 899.00 850.10 892.40POWERGRID 193.05 196.50 192.10 195.55LUPIN 829.60 832.10 820.35 828.80CEATLTD 1294.20 1315.00 1269.05 1307.55AMBUJACEM 218.50 218.50 211.20 216.05KAJARIACER 503.65 508.45 499.75 505.50M&MFIN 458.00 469.55 457.50 464.35IDFC 42.50 43.75 41.60 43.35TVSMOTOR 539.50 545.65 536.55 540.55AJANTPHARM 1157.10 1157.95 1112.55 1132.55UCOBANK 21.90 22.00 21.30 21.60TATAPOWER 74.00 75.50 73.80 75.15ABFRL 197.90 202.50 195.40 198.05JSWENERGY 69.20 69.75 68.30 68.95GRASIM 805.10 810.35 792.00 806.30UPL 754.95 759.50 743.60 756.80FORCEMOT 1596.00 1610.00 1585.00 1602.70KPIT 213.10 213.10 206.30 210.10CUMMINSIND 848.00 848.00 827.55 831.50WELSPUNIND 61.00 61.50 60.40 60.65LALPATHLAB 915.25 944.00 915.25 938.70GSFC 111.30 113.00 110.00 112.50KSCL 562.30 565.75 536.95 550.05DRREDDY 2599.00 2606.40 2562.70 2601.65APOLLOHOSP 1261.00 1296.90 1261.00 1291.15NAUKRI 1492.65 1577.20 1492.65 1554.15ABCAPITAL 98.85 98.85 97.50 98.20RCF 62.55 63.25 61.80 62.50HDFCLIFE 392.30 393.50 387.40 392.50CIPLA 512.00 515.30 508.25 513.40RALLIS 174.15 175.40 171.00 171.70TATAGLOBAL 212.00 214.75 210.05 214.00TRIDENT 67.40 67.85 66.30 66.65CHOLAFIN 1201.00 1225.00 1192.05 1208.75BAJAJHLDNG 2993.20 2993.25 2940.05 2954.05BLISSGVS 160.10 164.70 159.20 162.40GODREJCP 819.15 819.15 796.05 805.25

INDHOTEL 143.00 149.30 142.45 143.60MAHABANK 15.30 15.50 15.20 15.44CYIENT 621.35 621.35 605.05 608.70BBTC 1302.45 1308.10 1284.00 1287.75MCX 725.95 728.45 714.50 724.45ICICIPRULI 320.00 325.70 316.00 324.10OMAXE 213.85 215.05 212.00 213.75OIL 172.50 174.75 171.90 174.00JAMNAAUTO 63.20 64.80 63.20 63.70MARICO 382.80 383.15 375.60 378.45MGL 891.95 902.80 886.00 897.35COLPAL 1315.05 1327.40 1309.90 1311.75ENGINERSIN 125.25 127.40 124.00 126.30IFCI 14.35 14.78 14.19 14.69AVANTI 381.00 382.05 373.00 374.55CONCOR 670.00 681.80 668.80 678.05SOUTHBANK 15.50 15.50 15.20 15.30GRUH 322.00 324.35 316.05 318.50TATACOFFEE 97.00 99.45 95.70 97.55VOLTAS 540.70 540.70 527.85 536.60SUNTECK 348.90 349.60 342.90 348.00INTELLECT 222.50 222.50 216.00 217.70GNFC 343.00 343.95 338.55 342.95MRPL 72.60 72.80 71.40 72.00SOBHA 457.20 457.20 439.30 441.30VIJAYABANK 47.35 48.20 47.15 48.00GODREJPROP 681.80 690.00 670.00 679.15CANFINHOME 279.00 281.80 273.70 280.35AARTIIND 1431.80 1465.00 1431.80 1463.35COROMANDEL 455.00 471.90 452.00 468.80SRF 1995.00 2005.10 1950.15 1995.60MAHINDCIE 245.10 245.35 242.25 243.40CHENNPETRO 268.05 289.60 268.05 287.35ICICIGI 870.00 872.30 854.00 866.90GMRINFRA 15.65 15.90 15.40 15.85PHILIPCARB 205.70 208.05 202.40 203.75SOMANYCERA 365.00 371.70 357.95 359.85J&KBANK 38.75 38.95 37.65 37.85ASTRAL 1145.05 1181.00 1141.90 1175.30DIVISLAB 1452.85 1469.95 1429.30 1458.70UBL 1350.00 1378.00 1350.00 1372.00RAYMOND 819.60 825.00 802.25 821.75TATACOMM 532.95 542.25 523.05 532.80OBEROIRLTY 450.65 463.45 447.45 461.90BRITANNIA 3141.10 3159.80 3107.00 3121.60KEI 357.00 358.25 352.35 356.10NHPC 25.60 25.65 25.30 25.55MANPASAND 86.15 86.80 85.00 85.25AUBANK 623.95 633.95 620.95 622.70EXIDEIND 257.10 260.00 255.05 258.50FSL 47.65 47.65 46.25 46.70SBILIFE 597.95 614.00 597.95 602.35GLENMARK 660.95 665.55 656.25 663.80PIDILITIND 1112.00 1119.00 1105.00 1107.40KNRCON 221.25 225.85 215.50 217.65VGUARD 217.20 219.55 214.30 217.25HINDCOPPER 50.25 50.60 49.55 50.15BOSCHLTD 19378.95 19505.00 19190.00 19445.20SUVEN 234.30 236.95 231.30 232.55CADILAHC 344.10 345.40 339.50 344.65QUESS 723.00 734.20 706.10 725.05ISEC 263.95 264.10 260.80 262.45REPCOHOME 400.80 401.05 387.35 395.00CHAMBLFERT 150.50 155.75 150.20 154.50LEMONTREE 73.00 73.00 68.10 68.75CENTRALBK 36.50 36.95 35.70 35.85TATACHEM 695.95 704.65 695.45 698.20BAJAJELEC 500.80 500.80 485.95 491.15CROMPTON 229.10 231.50 223.95 226.05MMTC 29.65 30.30 29.40 29.50TATAINVEST 898.30 910.00 894.40 897.45INOXLEISUR 246.00 264.35 244.30 261.80HFCL 20.95 21.25 20.95 21.10EIDPARRY 205.95 211.15 205.00 209.35KEC 291.75 294.15 287.40 291.35JKTYRE 104.00 104.90 102.50 103.40VENKYS 2370.05 2385.00 2340.00 2344.05GMDCLTD 88.00 89.30 87.50 88.95GODREJIND 536.00 543.30 530.55 539.90IRB 156.50 159.20 154.45 157.75EMAMILTD 427.00 427.00 414.20 417.60HATSUN 650.00 672.90 644.00 654.45DEEPAKNI 218.95 223.00 218.95 220.90HINDZINC 270.40 272.15 268.00 271.45BERGEPAINT 325.75 327.00 320.90 323.05DEEPAKFERT 145.85 145.85 141.25 142.95ADANIGREEN 41.30 41.35 40.20 40.75FCONSUMER 44.25 44.95 44.00 44.40IPCALAB 788.00 793.00 776.10 787.05THERMAX 1130.00 1156.80 1129.05 1135.10TV18BRDCST 37.10 37.65 36.50 37.45MHRIL 208.25 208.25 199.30 201.15WELCORP 133.75 134.90 130.60 133.75BHARATFIN 995.90 999.00 984.00 989.30PRESTIGE 230.10 237.00 230.10 231.65GSPL 170.10 170.45 167.75 169.60ITDC 324.00 328.05 319.10 322.10DCMSHRIRAM 344.75 352.00 343.65 346.70ZENSARTECH 232.00 234.10 223.85 229.90DBL 418.90 422.00 412.00 413.90MRF 66759.40 67315.00 66249.95 66558.60PARAGMILK 241.40 248.90 241.35 243.05IDBI 61.95 61.95 61.25 61.40TRITURBINE 113.05 113.05 109.00 109.30SONATSOFTW 299.65 299.65 294.70 295.50NAVKARCORP 54.30 54.95 53.00 53.80SHANKARA 545.00 545.00 535.25 537.15PNBHOUSING 920.10 925.00 910.50 916.00CASTROLIND 147.50 149.25 146.40 148.20

ESSELPRO 108.00 110.45 106.85 107.45IBULISL 355.05 365.00 355.00 357.20ABB 1312.30 1315.55 1299.00 1305.00KANSAINER 481.20 482.40 476.25 480.45JMFINANCIL 90.00 91.00 88.80 89.95JSL 32.90 33.30 32.45 33.10AEGISLOG 207.25 211.00 204.55 209.10BLUESTARCO 624.10 627.00 617.20 621.15MAHLIFE 399.85 408.50 390.00 393.25GRANULES 89.60 90.55 88.70 89.85MERCK 2979.35 3146.00 2979.25 3049.05UFLEX 279.50 283.50 274.00 275.80ENDURANCE 1249.00 1258.00 1225.60 1234.50JUBILANT 706.00 711.50 699.00 706.90CUB 194.20 196.85 193.00 194.20SYMPHONY 1140.05 1174.20 1122.05 1146.35WHIRLPOOL 1372.95 1400.05 1371.40 1395.80PFIZER 2797.85 2807.65 2756.00 2771.85JYOTHYLAB 201.20 205.55 200.60 203.90HSCL 132.00 132.00 128.90 130.20GREAVESCOT 117.05 118.20 116.45 117.85GESHIP 316.95 322.00 310.20 318.25MINDAIND 328.65 338.00 327.00 331.35GODREJAGRO 505.00 505.00 494.00 497.95NAVINFLUOR 730.00 730.00 690.70 698.40ASHOKA 124.90 127.25 123.60 126.00NATCOPHARM* 687.05 717.40 687.05 702.95TIMETECHNO 103.50 109.90 102.40 103.15JKLAKSHMI 316.70 322.00 310.40 312.75MAXINDIA 84.35 84.35 82.95 83.30GLAXO 1481.35 1481.80 1441.00 1445.80PRSMJOHNSN 92.85 92.85 89.00 90.30ADANITRANS 200.00 201.10 197.60 199.30CENTURYPLY 172.00 172.60 169.30 171.80HUDCO 43.05 43.25 42.40 42.65RAJESHEXPO 579.50 579.50 570.00 571.05KRBL 287.25 287.25 278.55 280.30AIAENG 1670.05 1676.00 1611.00 1647.20SWANENERGY 98.30 99.85 97.80 99.10GICRE 259.25 264.00 258.30 262.15MOIL 167.65 167.85 166.10 167.10FORTIS 140.00 141.25 139.40 140.40HSIL 230.00 232.40 227.95 231.15JSLHISAR 85.90 85.90 83.65 85.25NBVENTURES 119.75 119.75 115.00 117.90RNAM 155.00 157.90 153.40 155.00ASAHIINDIA 271.90 271.90 261.15 262.15EIHOTEL 185.70 192.00 184.25 187.70MEGH 58.65 59.65 58.15 59.00SHREECEM 16978.95 17043.75 16650.00 16711.70ANDHRABANK 29.00 30.00 28.80 29.75RAMCOCEM 633.00 633.00 622.25 627.10ORIENTCEM 87.90 88.05 81.00 83.55SFL 1410.10 1412.00 1388.00 1399.35OFSS 3602.00 3616.50 3551.45 3594.45SHOPERSTOP 515.20 523.75 508.00 517.40CORPBANK 28.85 29.35 28.75 28.95HEIDELBERG 150.00 151.50 149.55 150.50BASF 1543.00 1560.00 1533.00 1544.10ADVENZYMES 175.00 175.00 170.00 170.50TRENT 348.00 351.00 344.00 349.30LAXMIMACH 5696.00 5735.00 5665.00 5721.00GSKCONS 7507.10 7518.25 7420.25 7471.85SCI 45.15 46.25 45.15 45.55AKZOINDIA 1782.45 1817.00 1757.70 1800.20GET&D 293.80 304.80 289.45 301.853MINDIA 19980.00 20520.40 19980.00 20392.90SUNDRMFAST 529.30 532.25 527.00 528.00SCHNEIDER 100.00 100.70 97.00 100.15TATAMETALI 610.00 624.00 609.10 621.95INDOSTAR 341.00 357.00 329.00 342.80TAKE 148.00 149.05 142.20 145.85REDINGTON 88.00 88.00 86.10 86.50NILKAMAL 1453.00 1468.95 1443.00 1462.85VBL 792.65 815.00 792.65 803.70DCAL 232.00 236.00 230.80 235.70THOMASCOOK 231.60 239.05 231.50 238.30SUPREMEIND 1106.40 1106.40 1082.00 1086.55NETWORK18 40.00 40.60 39.95 40.40NIACL 182.90 182.90 178.10 180.10GEPIL 829.95 829.95 799.05 810.55TIMKEN 599.00 603.50 585.00 594.10CERA 2370.00 2485.00 2360.00 2473.70TTKPRESTIG 7475.00 7494.95 7370.05 7445.55CENTRUM 36.15 36.15 35.30 35.45TEJASNET 201.80 202.95 199.00 200.70GHCL 243.85 247.20 240.70 245.05ERIS 690.95 708.75 671.75 679.00VINATIORGA 1627.40 1627.40 1593.80 1620.15JBCHEPHARM 313.25 313.65 300.10 306.30BDL 275.00 278.00 273.55 275.65PHOENIXLTD 582.65 590.00 576.85 584.70INOXWIND 76.10 77.30 75.55 76.55THYROCARE 554.95 554.95 537.60 545.10MINDACORP 149.10 150.50 147.95 150.25SJVN 25.55 25.60 25.10 25.50KALPATPOWR 383.05 383.50 374.00 379.70CARBORUNIV 364.90 369.15 364.90 365.30MAGMA 108.00 109.70 106.45 109.55DHANUKA 431.55 434.50 423.05 430.50ASTRAZEN 1409.65 1472.65 1409.65 1464.70COCHINSHIP 370.35 370.45 367.15 369.00LAURUSLABS 379.90 384.80 378.10 383.55MOTILALOFS 687.00 687.00 666.00 670.55GDL 124.00 124.00 121.25 122.15IOB 14.56 14.76 14.45 14.60HERITGFOOD 517.50 525.00 516.70 521.50KPRMILL 554.10 554.10 545.00 547.10GULFOILLUB 826.20 830.00 819.80 824.95

BIRLACORPN 587.35 591.00 582.00 588.05ALKEM 1955.95 1961.00 1918.80 1946.90PGHH 9882.00 9882.00 9766.60 9797.20TIFHL 509.90 509.90 494.00 494.80LUXIND 1335.00 1335.00 1307.00 1320.55GUJALKALI 535.15 538.00 533.60 534.70NLCINDIA 68.15 68.35 68.00 68.10GICHSGFIN 255.60 259.00 254.10 258.15SADBHAV 215.00 220.00 212.20 216.90RELAXO 753.60 754.00 736.00 744.15FORBESCO 2359.95 2364.00 2295.00 2318.15PNCINFRA 149.10 151.65 147.65 150.75BALMLAWRIE 198.85 202.95 197.00 200.60ISGEC 4977.00 5055.00 4941.00 5028.60IEX 165.75 165.75 161.30 161.60ATUL 3424.95 3472.75 3422.00 3451.05BAJAJCORP 382.00 383.75 373.85 382.05SHARDACROP 300.05 310.00 300.00 306.80CRISIL 1646.25 1646.30 1607.00 1625.35WABCOINDIA 6813.40 6813.40 6715.00 6734.30CARERATING 979.65 983.00 974.00 979.15JCHAC 1635.00 1760.00 1635.00 1727.50SYNGENE 546.75 546.95 541.20 544.00VMART 2550.90 2550.90 2500.00 2521.50SANOFI 6264.80 6270.95 6114.00 6134.95HIMATSEIDE 215.00 216.95 210.00 214.05GUJGAS 669.35 670.00 657.65 662.75TVSSRICHAK 2477.80 2480.60 2435.05 2450.35GREENPLY 138.15 138.15 135.50 136.45ALLCARGO 107.10 108.00 106.50 107.10ZYDUSWELL 1347.65 1354.80 1333.90 1339.25GRINDWELL 555.00 555.00 540.00 547.35LINDEINDIA 678.15 680.00 676.00 677.95DBCORP 167.00 168.85 165.45 167.55ASTERDM 158.15 161.85 158.10 160.90SOLARINDS 1077.80 1077.80 1052.15 1056.05EVEREADY 182.00 183.85 180.95 181.70CAPPL 380.95 381.00 377.50 380.70BAYERCROP 4190.00 4263.00 4190.00 4240.60COFFEEDAY 272.30 272.30 267.75 269.75APLLTD 579.45 584.90 577.40 578.15MONSANTO 2615.35 2615.35 2551.00 2567.50KIOCL 154.40 155.20 150.05 150.15FINCABLES 452.00 454.00 451.80 452.85JAGRAN 117.00 117.00 113.20 114.80JKCEMENT 718.90 724.75 715.00 716.05PIIND 859.55 862.45 848.10 849.15IFBIND 840.00 841.65 822.75 828.75SCHAEFFLER 5698.95 5700.00 5555.00 5680.00FLFL 392.00 400.00 387.50 388.95APARINDS 650.50 650.50 644.00 645.05ABBOTINDIA 7500.00 7547.00 7500.00 7522.25FDC 171.90 173.90 171.90 173.05LAKSHVILAS 86.45 86.95 85.00 86.35APLAPOLLO 1166.00 1200.00 1165.00 1179.45ELGIEQUIP 252.45 256.10 250.80 252.20FINOLEXIND 535.40 535.40 530.00 530.00GPPL 102.50 102.50 100.00 100.70GILLETTE 6497.90 6497.90 6448.50 6481.60NH 190.60 191.75 187.25 187.95RATNAMANI 927.00 927.90 905.10 910.05SHILPAMED 383.55 387.90 380.50 382.10NESCO 452.20 452.20 442.00 445.70GUJFLUORO 909.95 915.00 902.00 909.80TEAMLEASE 2888.75 2897.50 2824.30 2835.55SUPPETRO 207.50 208.25 202.45 203.95TVTODAY 364.60 364.60 362.00 362.95SKFINDIA 1903.00 1908.75 1900.00 1900.05SUDARSCHEM 343.55 349.20 343.55 346.35LAOPALA 216.50 217.00 214.40 215.50SHK 171.95 173.10 171.15 171.15SIS 751.00 761.85 744.05 751.10NAVNETEDUL 109.40 109.45 108.70 108.85TNPL 244.10 246.90 243.00 245.70GALAXYSURF 1214.00 1224.00 1202.70 1212.05HONAUT 21750.00 21750.00 21560.00 21616.95CCL 269.50 270.90 269.20 269.70SUPRAJIT 226.00 227.90 225.00 225.40MAHLOG 513.65 513.90 509.60 512.00SUNCLAYLTD 3470.15 3550.00 3440.00 3445.00BLUEDART 3315.00 3359.95 3307.05 3353.30VTL 1100.00 1104.00 1095.00 1095.20ECLERX 1074.45 1083.00 1074.45 1078.30SHRIRAMCIT 1609.20 1609.20 1580.65 1591.65STARCEMENT 101.50 101.90 101.50 101.50

NIFTY 50

SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 10699.70 10741.05 10628.65 10727.35 55.10INFRATEL 273.00 288.50 272.00 287.00 15.40YESBANK 184.85 190.30 181.55 190.00 5.90VEDL 188.00 194.45 186.65 193.90 5.95TATAMOTORS 169.00 171.95 168.50 171.15 5.10BHARTIARTL 312.45 324.70 312.45 322.00 8.50ONGC 142.05 146.20 142.05 146.05 3.65JSWSTEEL 281.90 289.45 280.70 289.40 6.75TATASTEEL 481.00 492.85 479.55 492.70 11.45SBIN 292.10 299.00 291.50 297.30 6.20AXISBANK 612.00 624.75 609.50 620.00 12.05BPCL 351.80 361.70 351.50 359.45 6.95HDFC 1948.00 1976.00 1942.00 1973.00 36.15NTPC 143.95 146.30 142.25 146.00 2.60IBULHSGFIN 817.50 838.70 814.00 830.00 13.35ADANIPORTS 378.65 383.95 375.85 383.50 5.40UPL 748.80 759.25 743.10 756.00 9.35M&M 720.00 728.30 712.50 726.70 8.40POWERGRID 193.30 196.75 191.40 195.25 2.20GRASIM 802.10 810.80 793.00 808.00 8.30GAIL 350.25 353.90 347.55 353.55 3.60IOC 132.65 134.95 132.50 133.90 1.25BAJAJ-AUTO 2714.00 2742.00 2702.10 2725.50 24.15ICICIBANK 361.85 368.80 358.05 366.35 3.10KOTAKBANK 1238.00 1252.00 1230.00 1245.10 9.85DRREDDY 2580.00 2606.00 2562.00 2596.20 18.85ITC 279.15 282.95 279.15 280.80 1.95HINDALCO 210.00 212.40 207.55 210.65 1.45MARUTI 7239.00 7309.00 7161.20 7249.95 46.00RELIANCE 1097.40 1104.45 1081.10 1099.60 6.85BAJAJFINSV 6419.95 6460.00 6357.00 6418.00 34.70COALINDIA 234.10 237.70 233.75 236.25 1.25ULTRACEMCO 3928.00 3928.00 3853.00 3913.50 13.45HDFCBANK 2115.25 2128.50 2110.35 2118.85 7.05CIPLA 513.00 514.90 508.05 512.25 -0.15HINDPETRO 247.00 251.25 246.35 248.20 -0.10ZEEL 463.00 468.70 455.60 460.90 -0.55TITAN 934.00 938.90 920.20 928.70 -2.50EICHERMOT 20325.00 20648.05 20001.00 20149.00 -62.45ASIANPAINT 1388.00 1401.40 1381.40 1383.00 -5.30BAJFINANCE 2601.00 2611.90 2563.65 2575.00 -11.20WIPRO 324.50 326.85 319.65 324.00 -1.50HINDUNILVR 1798.90 1802.00 1772.15 1780.00 -8.40LT 1401.90 1407.60 1373.55 1386.90 -8.10SUNPHARMA 439.10 439.90 432.20 433.40 -2.70TCS 1900.00 1901.20 1841.00 1882.00 -17.95INDUSINDBK 1560.80 1571.00 1540.20 1545.30 -14.80HEROMOTOCO 3030.00 3045.00 2972.05 2985.00 -29.65INFY 671.75 673.90 651.00 660.25 -8.90TECHM 694.45 697.05 672.50 681.40 -9.85HCLTECH 946.00 950.55 925.00 932.00 -16.35

SE 500B

NIFTY NEXT 50

SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 27707.20 27842.75 27533.90 27719.50 44.85LICHSGFIN 470.60 490.80 467.70 488.00 17.80BEL 88.90 92.15 88.50 92.00 3.20PEL 2298.00 2371.40 2295.70 2363.00 76.40ICICIPRULI 316.95 326.30 316.05 324.25 8.00BANKBARODA 120.40 122.40 118.50 121.85 2.55SAIL 52.45 53.45 51.90 53.40 0.95SIEMENS 1045.00 1067.40 1035.20 1063.55 18.65DLF 173.05 175.80 170.65 175.50 3.05OIL 172.05 174.95 172.05 174.55 2.55BHEL 70.80 71.85 70.05 71.80 1.05SUNTV 589.45 595.95 585.40 593.35 8.25AMBUJACEM 214.50 216.95 211.20 216.65 2.80AUROPHARMA 714.00 728.00 708.25 724.50 8.60ACC 1458.00 1473.00 1437.55 1469.00 16.75CONCOR 670.70 681.85 668.20 677.05 7.05LUPIN 824.00 832.00 820.30 828.50 7.45BIOCON 613.10 619.85 607.25 617.10 5.10HDFCLIFE 392.00 394.95 387.75 394.50 3.20HINDZINC 269.30 272.45 268.00 271.65 2.15GICRE 261.15 264.00 260.85 263.00 1.85SRTRANSFIN 1150.00 1171.95 1133.00 1161.00 8.10IDEA 36.10 36.55 35.60 36.30 0.20NMDC 94.00 95.00 93.00 94.35 0.45BOSCHLTD 19300.00 19493.25 19217.30 19386.75 86.90MARICO 380.40 383.20 375.10 379.50 1.45CADILAHC 345.00 345.00 339.00 344.90 1.25HAVELLS 683.20 688.90 672.95 683.00 1.60NHPC 25.50 25.70 25.30 25.60 0.05L&TFH 145.40 146.75 142.20 145.65 0.25SBILIFE 603.00 615.00 600.00 600.35 0.30OFSS 3606.00 3623.45 3551.35 3595.00 0.35DMART 1583.00 1585.70 1561.05 1575.90 0.00ABCAPITAL 98.50 98.85 97.20 98.10 -0.15COLPAL 1314.05 1328.30 1308.10 1311.00 -3.25PIDILITIND 1109.30 1118.40 1103.30 1105.00 -4.25MRF 66999.70 67349.90 66201.05 66560.00 -258.25BRITANNIA 3137.95 3159.20 3105.55 3120.00 -15.90ABB 1314.90 1318.95 1295.60 1302.00 -6.95ICICIGI 862.10 874.00 850.50 862.75 -5.45DABUR 423.00 425.45 416.90 418.90 -3.10PGHH 9803.00 9879.00 9711.35 9775.00 -75.00NIACL 182.50 182.50 178.40 178.50 -1.85BANDHANBNK 534.25 541.70 527.05 528.05 -5.75INDIGO 1156.20 1156.55 1133.40 1141.75 -14.80SHREECEM 16850.10 17020.00 16609.40 16730.40 -218.00ASHOKLEY 98.15 98.75 96.00 96.70 -1.45GODREJCP 814.35 817.00 795.10 802.50 -12.40MOTHERSUMI 161.50 165.35 157.60 158.40 -2.85MCDOWELL-N 620.00 620.00 601.35 604.00 -16.10PETRONET 228.95 230.35 220.00 220.90 -7.90

world 11LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | JANUARY 5, 2019

It is useless fight to stop ‘deepfake’

porn, says Scarlett Johansson

Los Angeles: “Avengers: Infinity War” starScarlett Johansson believes fighting deepfake pornvideos, which she has often fell victim to, is a “lostcause”. In an interview with The washington Post,the 34-year-old actor said she can do nothingabout the deepfakes, a type of explicit contentwhere anonymous users can insert people’s facesonto the bodies of others, creating seeminglyauthentic-looking videos, and therefore she is isnot bothered about them. “Clearly this doesn’taffect me as much because people assume it’s notactually me in a porno, however demeaning it is.I think it’s a useless pursuit, legally, mostly becausethe internet is a vast wormhole of darkness thateats itself. “There are far more disturbing thingson the dark web than this, sadly. I think it’s upto an individual to fight for their own right to thetheir image, claim damages, etc,” Johanssonsaid. The newspaper reported that of the sever-al hundreds, one fake movie featuring Johansson’sface is available on a major porn site and has beenviewed over 1.5 million times. “It’s a fruitless pur-suit for me but a different situation than some-one who loses a job over their image being usedlike that.” The actor explained that it is impossible to target such sites as there are differentlaws governing porn distribution in each country. “Even if you copyright pictures with yourimage that belong to you, the same copyright laws don’t apply overseas. I have sadly been downthis road many, many times. “The fact is that trying to protect yourself from the internet andits depravity is basically a lost cause, for the most part,” she added. Johansson said not just thecelebrities but many vulnerable people have been targeted with fake porn. “The Internet isjust another place where sex sells and vulnerable people are preyed upon. And any low levelhacker can steal a password and steal an identity. It’s just a matter of time before any one per-son is targeted. “People think that they are protected by their internet passwords and that onlypublic figures or people of interest are hacked. But the truth is, there is no difference betweensomeone hacking my account or someone hacking the person standing behind me on line atthe grocery store’s account. It just depends on whether or not someone has the desire to tar-get you,” she said. In 2011, Johansson’s phone was hacked and private nude photos of the starwere leaked onto the internet. The hacker was later arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison.“There are basically no rules on the internet because it is an abyss that remains virtually law-less, withstanding US policies which, again, only apply here,” she added.

GLOBE TROTTING

China develops ‘Mother

of All Bombs’: Report

PTI n BEIJING

China has developed a mas-sive bomb, said to be the

country’s answer to the US-built ‘Mother of All Bombs’, themost powerful non-nuclearweapon, official media report-ed on Friday. China’s defenceindustry giant NORINCO forthe first time showcased theaerial bomb, the country’slargest non-nuclear bomb,state-run Global Times report-ed.

It is dubbed as the Chineseversion of the “Mother of AllBombs” due to its hugedestruction potential that isclaimed to be only second tonuclear weapons, the dailysaid. The bomb was airdroppedby an H-6K bomber andcaused a gigantic explosion,showed a promotional videoreleased by China NorthIndustries Group CorporationLimited (NORINCO) on itswebsite at the end of December.

This is the first time thenew bomb’s destructive powershave been shown in public,state-run Xinhua News Agencyreported. Last year, while wag-ing war against militants inAfghanistan, the US militarydropped a GBU-43/B MassiveOrdnance Air Blast (MOAB)weapon, more commonlyknown as the “Mother of AllBombs,” on the Islamic State.

Although China is usingthe same nickname for its

bomb, said to weigh severaltonnes, the Chinese weapon issmaller and lighter than itsAmerican counterpart.Judging from the video and thesize of the H-6K’s bomb bay,the bomb is approximately fiveto six meters long, Beijing-based military analyst WeiDongxu told the Global Timeson Thursday.

“The massive blast caneasily and completely wipe outfortified ground targets such asreinforced buildings, bastionsand defence shelters,” Wei said.

It can also be used to cleara landing zone for troops onhelicopters to rappel down, incase the area is covered byobstacles such as forests, Weinoted. Wei said that theChinese bomb is smaller andlighter than the US one,enabling it to be deployed on

the H-6K bomber.“The US bomb is so large

that it has to be carried by alarger transport aircraft ratherthan a bomber,” Wei said, not-ing that a bomber can fly fasterand is better at targeting thana transport aircraft, and theChinese bomb’s designer musthave had this in mind when itproduced the bomb to fit theH-6K.

To match the US weapon,Russia developed the “Father ofAll Bombs” which is both big-ger and thermobaric, meaningit uses gas to create a huge fire-ball rather than a shockwave,Wired reported.

A NORINCO representa-tive clarified that the bombshown in the video is not athermobaric weapon, but didnot provide additional details,the Global Times report said.

‘Sino-India cooperation on a fast track’ PTI n BEIJING

China on Friday said “prac-tical” cooperation with

India is on a fast track since thelast year’s Wuhan summitbetween Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and PresidentXi Jinping and expressed readi-ness to work with New Delhi touphold the rights of the twocountries at a time of globaluncertainty.

Chinese Foreign Ministryspokesman Lu Kang during amedia briefing here said theinformal summit betweenPresident Xi and PrimeMinister Modi in Wuhan hasopened up new prospects for

the bilateral ties. “You can seethat under the strategic guid-ance of the two leaders, China-India relations have shown asound momentum of improve-ment with frequent high-level

exchanges in all areas andpractical cooperation hasentered a fast track,” Lu saidresponding to a question onSino-India ties.

He said a sound and steady

China-India relations serve theinterests of the two countriesand people and contribute toworld peace and development.

“Now the world is facinguncertainties and destabilis-ing factors and in such back-ground China is willing towork with India to enhancecoordination and communica-tion in international affairsand jointly uphold legitimaterights and interests of our twocountries and developing coun-tries,” he said. He said the twocountries cannot let differ-ences become disputes andhave been making efforts to usebilateral dialogue mechanismto conduct mutual and benefi-

cial cooperation in all areas.Last month, External

Affairs Minister Sushma Swarajand her Chinese counterpartWang Yi held extensive talks inNew Delhi under a newly setup framework and agreed on“ten pillars” of cooperation toenhance cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

The setting up of the ‘HighLevel Mechanism on Culturaland People-to-PeopleExchanges’ was decided uponduring the Wuhan summit.

Since the resolutionof the Doklam face-off in 2017,the two countries have taken aseries of measures to enhanceoverall ties.

Dhaka (PTI): The Jatiya Party,a key partner in the AwamiLeague-led Grand Alliance ofBangladesh Prime MinisterSheikh Hasina, Friday decidedto occupy the oppositionbenches in Parliament afterthe main opposition BNPrejected the results of Sunday’sgeneral election in which theparty was routed.

The BNP has rejected theelection outcome, demandedfresh polls under a non-partycaretaker government and itslawmakers did not take theoath on Thursday when Hasinaalong with her party legislatorsand Grand Alliance partnerswere sworn in. “Being thechairman of Jatiya Party, Ihereby inform its leaders,

workers and supporters thatJatiya Party will dischargeresponsibility as the mainopposition party in the 11thJatiya Sangsad (parliament),”party chief and formerBangladesh president H MErshad said in a statement.

The Jatiya Party itselfsecured 22 seats and emerged

as the second largest party interms of seats even as Ershad’sstatement indicated the partywould now sever ties with theAwami League-led GrandAlliance.

Ershad, a former militaryruler-turned-politician, saidhis party members would notjoin the Cabinet as ministerswhile his brother and JatiyaParty co-chairman G MQuader would act as deputyleader of the opposition.

The 88-year-old Ershad,nominated himself as chief ofthe opposition “in line with hishighest position within theparty” while he requested theSpeaker “to take necessarysteps on this matter”.

Ershad was ousted from

power following a massupsurge in 1990 after he ruledthe country for nearly a decade.He was largely absent frompublic view during the electionand spent several days inSingapore, citing his “ill health”.

The announcement drewan end to a dilemma over whowould act as the opposition inthe 300-seat House as jailed ex-premier Khaleda Zia’sBangladesh Nationalist Party,which has twice ruled thecountry since 1991, declined tojoin Parliament after its disas-trous poll defeat while Zia isserving a 10-year prison termon corruption charges.

The BNP and its allies inthe National Unity Front(NUF) led by prominent lawyer

Kamal Hossain bagged onlyseven seats compared to 288 forthe Awami League and itsGrand Alliance partnersincluding the Jatiya Party.According to the Constitution,elected lawmakers have to takethe oath of office within 90 daysafter the election to retain theirparliamentary membership.

In a strange political sce-nario, Jatiya Party had actedsimultaneously as the mainopposition and also a partnerof the ruling alliance with sev-eral of its lawmakers inductedin Hasina’s Cabinet during thelast parliament as the BNPboycotted the 2014 electiondemanding a neutral non-partygovernment to oversee thepolls.

China’s Chang’e-4 lunar rover leavesfirst-ever ‘footprint’ on moon’s far sidePTI n BEIJING

China’s lunar rover has leftthe first-ever “footprint” on

the far side of the moon, offi-cials said Friday, hours after therobotic spacecraft successfullysoft-landed on the mysteriousand previously unexploredregion of the Earth’s satellite.The Chang’e-4 spacecraftscripted history on Thursdaywhen it made the first-ever softlanding on the far side of themoon. Named after a Chinesemoon goddess, the spacecraftcomprises a lander and a rover.

“Lunar rover Yutu-2 orJade Rabbit-2, left the first-ever‘footprint’ from a human space-craft on the far side of themoon late at night onThursday, after it separatedfrom the lander smoothly,”state-run Xinhua news agencyreported.

The rover touched thelunar surface at 10:22 pm (localtime) on Thursday, leaving atrace on the soft, snow-like sur-face. “The process was record-ed by the camera on the landerand the images were sent backto the Earth via the relay satel-lite ‘Queqiao’,” the report said,quoting China National SpaceAdministration (CNSA).

After the successful land-ing, experts verified the con-ditions of “Queqiao”, meaningMagpie Bridge, which waslaunched in May of 2018 to setup the communication link

between the Earth and themoon’s far side.

They also verified the envi-ronment parameter of the land-ing area, the conditions of theprobe’s equipment as well as theangle of incoming sunshine tomake preparations for the sep-aration of the lander and rover,the CNSA said in a statement.

The experts then sent theseparation order to the space-craft via “Queqiao”.

After receiving the order,Yutu-2, atop the spacecraft,extended its solar panel,stretched out its mast andstarted to drive slowly to thetransfer mechanism, accordingto the Beijing AerospaceControl Center. The Yutu-2rover has six wheels that all

have power, so it can continueto operate even if one wheelfails. It can climb a 20-degreehill or an obstacle up to 8 inch-es tall. Its maximum speed is200 metres per hour.

In Chinese folklore, Yutu isthe white pet rabbit of Chang’e,the moon goddess who lent hername to the Chinese lunarmission. Legend has it thatChang’e, after swallowing amagic pill, took her pet andflew toward the moon whereshe became a goddess and haslived with the white jade rab-bit ever since.

The Chang’e-4 probe whichhas already sent back its firstclose-up pictures from the sur-face is carrying instruments toanalyse the unexplored region’s

geology and will conduct bio-logical experiments.

The pioneering achieve-ment is another demonstrationof China’s ambitions to be aspace power. The country aimsto land a crewed flight on themoon in the coming decade.The successful landing for-mally inaugurated the world’sfirst expedition to the far sideand is expected to fulfil scien-tists’ long-held aspiration toclosely observe the enormousregion.

Since the moon’s revolutioncycle is the same as its rotationcycle, the same side alwaysfaces the Earth.

The other side, most ofwhich cannot be seen from theEarth, is called the far side ordark side because most of it isuncharted. Chang’e-4 includestwo main parts: the main lan-der weighing about 1,088pounds and a 136-kilogrammerover.

By comparison, NASA’sOpportunity rover on Marsweighs about 181 kilogrammes,and the Curiosity rover there ismuch bigger, at 908 kilo-grammes. The spacecraft islargely a clone of Chang’e-3,which landed on the moon in2013.

The first Chang’e spacecraftwas launched in 2007 to veri-fy China’s lunar probe tech-nology, obtain lunar imagesand perform scientific sur-veys.

China’spopulation toexperiencenegative growthfrom 2030Beijing (PTI): China’s popula-tion, the world’s largest, is expect-ed to experience continuousnegative growth from 2030 afterreaching a peak of 1.44 billion in2029, a leading Chinese think-tank has said. The country’spopulation is expected to shrinkto 1.36 billion in 2050, and 1.25billion in 2065, the ChineseAcademy of Social Sciences hassaid.

The study has also warnedthat if the total fertility rate, whichmeans the number of childrenthat would be born to a womanover her lifetime, remains at 1.6,negative population growth islikely in 2027 with a potentialtotal population of 1.17 billion,which is equivalent to the year1990, according to media reports.The World Bank estimated thatafter 1996, China’s fertility ratewas lower than 1.6, rising back upto 1.6 in 2013 and 1.62 in 2016.

The report noted that ifChina could maintain thismomentum in growth, China’sfertility rate would return to a rel-atively safe level, the People’s Dailyreported. The report came afterChinese demographers saidChina’s three-year-old two childpolicy failed to make any impacton the low birth rate as the num-ber of new-borns dropped by twomillion last year and the declinewas expected to continue.

Chinese demographers saidthat the number of new-borns in2018, the third year after thecountry has fully implementedthe two-child policy, may havedropped by more than two mil-lion and the country’s birth pop-ulation will continue to fall,state-run Global Times reported.“Although the national data forthe birth of new-borns have notbeen publicised yet, data revealedby local health departmentsshowed that the number of new-borns in 2018 decreased by atleast 15 per cent from the previ-ous year,” He Yafu, a demogra-pher and author of a book on theimpact of China’s populationpolicy, was quoted as saying bythe paper.

Mike Pompeo expects Trump-Kim

summit soon, but not final deal

AFP n WASHINGTON

Secretary of State MikePompeo on Thursday again

voiced optimism that a secondUS-North Korea summit wouldtake place soon but said hedoubted it would seal a land-mark deal. US PresidentDonald Trump, who held ahistoric summit with Kim JongUn in June in Singapore, onTuesday revealed that he hadreceived a “great letter” from the

North Korean leader and boast-ed of their relationship. “Lots ofwork that is left to be done, butI am confident that in the nextshort period of time PresidentTrump and Chairman Kim willget the chance to meet again,”Pompeo told Fox News hostSean Hannity, a prominent sup-porter of Trump.

He said the summit wouldwork to “truly create a muchbetter, safer America with less

threat of not only nuclearweapons being launched at usbut nuclear proliferation aswell.” But asked if the nextsummit would lead to a lastingdeal, Pompeo said: “I’d be sur-prised if we get all the way homein this meeting, although itwould be fantastic if we did.”

Trump and Kim, in the firstsummit between the longtimeadversaries, agreed to worktoward the Korean peninsula’s

denuclearisation but with littleapparent agreement on whatthat means.

The United States has beenpressing for North Korea to getrid of its nuclear weapons beforeany easing of economic pres-sure. Kim, whose family hasruled North Korea with an ironfist for 70 years, wants imme-diate economic benefits and aformal end to the 1950-53Korean War.

PTI n ISLAMABAD

Pakistan and the US are dis-cussing plans to hold a

maiden meeting between PrimeMinister Imran Khan andPresident Donald Trump but ithinges on the “positive out-come” of the Pakistan-brokeredtalks to strike a peace deal inAfghanistan, a senior officialhere said.

In his first comments in2019, President Trump onWednesday said that he wantsa “great relationship” withPakistan and is looking forward

to meeting the new leadership.“The proposal for a summitmeeting is being discussed butthe final decision hinges on thepositive outcome of the ongo-

ing efforts to strike a peace dealin Afghanistan,” a seniorPakistani official was quoted assaying by The Express Tribune.Khan, who took over as the

Prime Minister in August, islikely to travel to the US if “allgoes well”, the official said on thecondition of anonymity. Trumptold his Cabinet colleagues onWednesday that Pakistan hasnot been fair to the UnitedStates.

“We want to have a greatrelationship with Pakistan, butthey house the enemy. They takecare of the enemy. We just can’tdo that,” Trump said. “So, I lookforward to meeting with thenew leadership in Pakistan. Wewill be doing that in the not toodistant future. But I ended USD

1.3 billion that we paid. I thinkit was water, we were just pay-ing to Pakistan. So, I ended that.”

When asked to commenton the Trump’s statement andwhether there was any chanceof the meeting between thetwo leaders, Foreign Officespokesperson MuhammadFaisal said Pakistan looked for-ward to “positive engagement”with the US at the leadershiplevel. “President Trump’sremarks are indeed a departurefrom his tweet of January 1,2018,” Faisal told a weekly newsbriefing.

Newly-empowered House Dems pass funding plan without wallAP n WASHINGTON

On their first day in themajority, House

Democrats have passed a planto re-open the governmentwithout funding PresidentDonald Trump’s promised bor-der wall. The largely party-linevotes Thursday night cameafter Trump made a surpriseappearance at the White Housebriefing room, pledging tokeep up the fight for his sig-nature campaign promise.House Speaker Nancy Pelosisaid Trump and SenateRepublicans should “take yesfor an answer” and approve theborder bill, which was virtual-ly identical to a plan the Senateadopted on a voice vote lastmonth.

“We’re not doing a wall.Does anyone have any doubtthat we’re not doing a wall?”Pelosi told reporters at a newsconference Thursday night.Pelosi, who was elected speak-er earlier Thursday, also took ashot a Trump, calling his pro-posal “a wall between realityand his constituents.” Trumpstrode into the White Housebriefing room Thursday — the13th day of the partial govern-ment shutdown —and declared

that “without a wall you cannothave border security.” He thenleft without taking questionsfrom reporters. The appearancecame hours after the newCongress convened, withDemocrats taking majoritycontrol of the House andreturning Pelosi to the speak-ership after eight years of GOPcontrol.

The Democratic legisla-tion to re-open the governmentwithout funding the wall isgoing nowhere in the Senate,where Republicans wantTrump’s endorsement beforevoting on a funding package.

Trump is demanding bil-lions of dollars to build his wall

along the U.S. border withMexico, which the Democratshave refused. Asked if shewould give Trump $1 for a wallto reopen the government,Pelosi said: “One dollar? Yeah,one dollar. The fact is a wall isan immorality. It’s not who weare as a nation.” Congressionalleaders from both parties metwith Trump at the WhiteHouse Wednesday, but failed tomake progress during theirfirst sit-down in weeks. TheWhite House has invited theleaders back Friday for anoth-er round of talks that officialshave suggested might be moresuccessful now that Pelosi hasbeen sworn in.

Trump-Imran summit proposal being discussed: Official

Jatiya Party’s Ershad to lead main opp in B’desh Parl

world 12LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | JANUARY 5, 2019

PTI n WASHINGTON

Veteran Democratic leaderNancy Pelosi, an ardent

supporter of strong US-Indiaties, has been elected as Speakerof the House of Representativesfor the second time, becomingthe most powerful electedwoman in the US. The 78-year-old California Democratreplaces Republican leader PaulRyan, in the new Congress. Shewon the speakership by 220-192 vote on Thursday overRepublican leader KevinMcCarthy, who is now theHouse Minority Leader.

Pelosi took the gavel asDemocrats regained controlof the House of Representativesin the 116th Congress after themid-term elections inNovember. With 235 seats,Democrats now enjoy majori-ty in the 435-member House ofRepresentatives while theRepublicans has 199 seats.

The Speaker is second inthe US presidential line of suc-cession, after the Vice Presidentand ahead of the President protempore of the Senate. Pelosialso makes history as shereclaims a title she previouslyheld when she served as thefirst and so far only femaleHouse Speaker from 2007 to2011. She seized the gavel as theHouse welcomed more womenthan ever before in the 116thCongress.

As of Thursday, 102women serve in the House, anall-time high, including 36newly elected members and arecord 43 women of colour.“We enter this new Congresswith a sense of great hope andconfidence for the future, anddeep humility and prayerful-ness in the face of the chal-lenges ahead,” she said accept-ing the gavel as Speaker of theHouse.

“I’m particularly proud tobe a woman Speaker of thehouse of this Congress, whichmarks the 100th year of womenhaving the right to vote,” Pelosisaid. “And, that we all have theability and the privilege toserve with over 100 womenmembers of Congress - thelargest number in history,” shesaid. In 2017, Pelosi leading a

bipartisan Congressional dele-gation visited India and heldtalks with Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and others forstrengthening bilateral eco-nomic and security relations.

Pelosi said she had a pro-ductive conversation withPrime Minister Modi on theimportance of the US-Indiarelationship and the sharedvalues which bind our twocountries. “We exchangedviews on our security cooper-ation and the terrorist threat,India’s leadership addressingthe climate crisis, and ourmutual priority of respectingthe human rights of all peoplein our countries.”

Pelosi, known for advocat-ing the cause of the Tibetans,also visited Dharamshala andmet Tibetan spiritual leader theDalai Lama. Her victory cameas the US governmentremained partly shut down ina row over funds for PresidentTrump’s controversial borderwall with Mexico. As Housespeaker, Pelosi will regularlyface off against PresidentDonald Trump.

She said she wants to end

the government shutdown butwill not support the wall. Pelosisaid Trump and SenateRepublicans should “take yesfor an answer” and approve theborder bill, which was virtual-ly identical to a plan the Senateadopted on a voice vote lastmonth.

“We’re not doing a wall.Does anyone have any doubtthat we’re not doing a wall?”Pelosi said Thursday night.Pelosi also took a shot atTrump, calling his proposal “awall between reality and hisconstituents.”

Earlier, referring to theNovember mid-term elections,in which the Democrats gainedmajority in the House, Pelosisaid that Americans want aCongress that delivers resultsfor the people, opening upopportunity and lifting up theirlives. “When our new Memberstake the oath, our Congress willbe refreshed, and ourDemocracy will be strength-ened by the optimism, idealismand patriotism of this trans-formative Freshman Class.Working together, we willredeem the promise of the

American Dream for everyfamily, advancing progress forevery community. We must bepioneers of the future,” she said.

Pelosi on Thursday invitedPresident Trump to deliver theannual State of the UnionAddress to a Joint Session of theCongress on January 29.Trump in an interaction withreporters at the White Housecongratulated Pelosi on becom-ing the Speaker.

“I just want to start off bycongratulating Nancy Pelosion being elected Speaker of theHouse. It’s a very, very greatachievement, and hopefullywe’re going to work togetherand we’re going to get lots ofthings done, like infrastructureand so much more,” he said.

“I know they want to dothat very badly, and so do I. So,hopefully, we’re going to havea lot of things that we can getdone together. “I think it’sactually going to work out. Ithink it’ll be a little bit differ-ent than a lot of people arethinking. So I congratulateNancy. Tremendous, tremen-dous achievement,” PresidentTrump said.

... as Democrats take control of US House of Representatives

Nancy Pelosi elected Speaker

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, surrounded by children, speaks from the dais at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, onThursday. Children gathered around Pelosi when she was sworn in as House Speaker. AP

Massive data leak targets MerkelAFP n BERLIN

Hundreds of German politi-cians, including

Chancellor Angela Merkel,have fallen victim to a massiveonline leak of private data, thegovernment said Friday.“Personal data and documentsbelonging to hundreds ofpoliticians and public figureswere published on the inter-net,” government spokes-woman Martina Fietz toldreporters. “The government istaking this incident very seri-ously.”

She said the political offi-cials included members of theBundestag lower house of par-liament, the EuropeanParliament as well as regionaland local assemblies. Deputiesfrom all parties represented inthe Bundestag were affected,she added. But Fietz said thata preliminary investigationindicated that “no sensitiveinformation or data” fromMerkel’s office had beenleaked.The stolen data, whichcomprised personal addresses,mobile phone numbers, letters,invoices and copies of identi-ty documents, was published

online via Twitter in Decemberbut inexplicably only came tolight this week. Beyond politi-cians, who also includedPresident Frank-WalterSteinmeier, celebrities andjournalists were also targeted.The daily Bild and publicbroadcaster RBB first report-ed the leak. Bild said the theftof the data continued until theend of October but it was notclear when it started.

“At first glance it does notseem that politically sensitivematerial was included,” RBBsaid. “However the damage islikely to be massive given thevolume of personal data pub-

lished.” Given the vast range of

data hoovered up, RBB said itseemed unlikely that it wastaken from a single source.Parliamentary group leaderswere notified of the attack lateThursday and the FederalOffice for Information Security(BSI) and the domestic intel-ligence service said they wereinvestigating.

“According to our currentinformation, government net-works have not been targeted,”BSI tweeted.The Twitter account @_0rbitpublished the links daily in thestyle of an advent calendar,

with each entry representing a“door”, behind which was a linkto new information.

The account, calling itselfG0d, was opened in mid-2017and purportedly has morethen 18,000 followers. Itdescribed its activities as “secu-rity researching”, “artist” and“satire and irony” and said itwas based in Hamburg.

The domestic intelligenceservice, the Office for theProtection of the Constitution,reported repeated cyberattackslast year against MPs, the mil-itary and several embassiesallegedly carried out byRussian cyber espionage group“Snake”. Also known as “Turla”or “Uruburos”, the group,which targets state depart-ments and embassies world-wide, is believed to have linksto Russian intelligence.

Last March, computer net-works belonging to theGerman government cameunder sustained attack anddata from foreign ministrystaff were stolen.

The Russian governmentat the time denied that Russianhackers were involved.

Another Brexit referendum would be a mistake: Lord PaulAFP n LONDON

Leading Indian-origin entre-preneur and parliamentar-

ian Lord Swraj Paul has dis-missed calls for another refer-endum over the Britain’s deci-sion to exit the EuropeanUnion (EU) as a “mistake”that would undermine democ-racy. The founder and chief ofUK-based Caparo Group saidthe focus should be on gettingthe best deal throughParliament before the March 29Brexit deadline as per the willof the British electorate, whichvoted for Brexit in June 2016,and ending the current uncer-tainties for the economy.

“I am a European but firstI am a believer in democracy.In my view, even the thoughtof a second referendum is amistake because it blurs thelines and could lead to calls forsecond elections in future if theresult of a particular vote is notacceptable to a section,” Paul

said, ahead of the UKParliament resuming its sessionafter Christmas recess onMonday.

British MPs will returnfrom their holiday to resumetheir debate over Theresa May’scontroversial WithdrawalAgreement, a vote on which theBritish Prime Minister hadpostponed last month amidcertain defeat in the face ofmany of her own Conservative

Party members refusing toback it. The deal has provedhighly contentious, especiallyover the issue of Britain’s rightsaround an open border withEU member-country Ireland.The crucial vote is now sched-uled for the week of January 14,even as pressure has beenbuilding up on the Oppositionparties to more decisively backa second referendum, dubbedthe “People’s Vote”, in an effort

to avert a chaotic no-deal exit.“The deal Prime Minister Mayhas struck feels reasonable. It isnot an easy task to get 27 otherEU countries to agree on termsunanimously, but she hasachieved a consensus. Now, wemust finalise the best deal pos-sible and leave in an orderlyway,” said Paul.

“It is not as if the EU isshutting the door on us orthrowing us out. We are choos-ing to leave. Five or 10 yearsdown the line, we can alwaysrevisit the issue of member-ship,” noted the senior peer inthe House of Lords.

The London-based indus-trialist with business interestsacross the UK and Indiadescribed the year 2019 as asignificant one for both coun-tries, with India set for gener-al elections and the UK set forits formal exit from the EU. Heexpressed confidence that theimpact on bilateral ties wouldbe positive following both

developments.“I don’t think governments

have much to do in the India-UK relationship. The people topeople ties are very strong.There needs to be a betterunderstanding in Britain aboutthe realities of India today andthat this is a relationship ofequals,” he said.

In reference to the upcom-ing Indian elections, the par-liamentarian called for a head-to-head television debatebetween the potential PrimeMinisterial candidates, alongthe lines of the UK and USelection campaigns.

He said: “With all the dif-ferent channels in India, thiswould be the ideal way toreach out to the voters.”“Everyelection in India has only madeit stronger and I am confidentthis will not be very different.In India, we cannot afford forthe economic progress to takea hit and the Indian electoratealways votes wisely.”

AFP n OTTAWA

Thirteen Canadians havebeen detained in China

following the arrest onDecember 1 of a senior execu-tive from Chinese telecomsequipment giant Huawei,Ottawa said Thursday, witheight subsequently released.

Global Affairs Canadaspokesperson GuillaumeBerube confirmed the deten-tions to AFP, adding the figuresexcluded Hong Kong. The thir-teen include former diplomatMichael Kovrig and consultantMichael Spavor, arrested onDecember 10, for activitiessaid to threaten national secu-rity, as well as Sarah McIver,who was subsequently freedand returned to Canada. China“safeguards the security andlegitimate rights and interestsof foreign citizens” in the coun-try, said spokesman for China’sMinistry of Foreign Affairs LuKang on Friday at a regularpress briefing, adding that hedidn’t have information on thespecific cases.

There are approximately200 Canadians overall whohave been detained in Chinafor a variety of alleged infrac-tions and continue to faceongoing legal proceedings, andthe number has remained rel-atively stable in recent years.

By way of comparison,

there are almost 900 Canadiansin a similar situation in the US.Some observers believe thedetentions of Kovrig, whoworks for the InternationalCrisis Group, and Spavor, whois frequently consulted on mat-ters linked to North Korea,were retaliatory actions fol-lowing the arrest in Vancouverof Huawei’s Chief FinancialOfficer Meng Wanzhou, whofaces extradition to the UnitedStates.

Washington has accusedher of fraud for helping evadeUS sanctions against Iran. She was later released on bailpending her extradition hear-ing. Backed by the US and sev-eral European countries,Canada’s foreign ministerChrystia Freeland has repeat-ed called for the immediaterelease of Kovrig and Spavor,whose arrests Ottawa hastermed arbitrary.

‘13 Canadians held in China since arrest of Huawei executive’

Indian-originbanker held inUK over $2 bnfraud schemesLondon (PTI): An Indian-ori-gin banker is among threepeople arrested in the UK andface extradition to the US overtheir alleged role in a USD 2billion fraud schemes linkedwith companies inMozambique.

Surjan Singh, 44, wasarrested along with AndrewPearse, 49 and Detelina Subeva,37, on Thursday in London andcharged in an indictmentissued by a US District Courtin New York, according to theUS authorities.

The three men, all formerCredit Suisse bankers, havebeen released on bail and now

face extradition to the US onthe charges.The schemeallegedly involved loans tostate-owned companies inMozambique, according to aBBC report.The US indict-ment says that through a seriesof financial transactionsbetween approximately 2013and 2016, more than USD 2billion was borrowed throughloans guaranteed by theMozambican government.

It claims over the course ofthe transactions, the co-con-spirators acted to defraudinvestors.

They created maritimeprojects as fronts to raisemoney to enrich themselves,and “intentionally divertedportions of the loan proceedsto pay at least USD 200 millionin bribes and kickbacks tothemselves, Mozambican gov-ernment officials and others,”the indictment reads.

In a statement, Swissinvestment bank Credit Suissesaid the three former employ-ees were accused by the USauthorities of “circumventingour internal controls” in afraud connected to theMozambican government.

“No action has been takenagainst Credit Suisse.

The indictment alleges thatthe former employees workedto defeat the bank’s internalcontrols, acted out of a motiveof personal profit, and soughtto hide these activities from thebank,” the statement said.

7 killed after fiery crashon Florida highway

Fort Lauderdale (AP):Two big rigs and two passengervehicles collided and spilleddiesel fuel across a Floridahighway Thursday, sparking amassive fire that killed sevenpeople, authorities said.

The wreck happened onInterstate 75 about a mile (1.6kilometers) south of Alachua,near Gainesville.

The flames were fed byabout 50 gallons (189 liters) ofdiesel, authorities said. Severalothers were taken to the hos-pital, some with critical injuries,the Gainesville Sun reported.Authorities initially said sixhad died but late Thursdaynight revealed a seventh victimhad perished.

Emergency crews extin-guished the fire and said theywere treating the crash as ahomicide investigation, but did-n’t say why.

The fire was so intensethat authorities said it damagedparts of the road.

A spokesman for theFlorida Highway Patrol toldThe Associated Press in a phoneinterview that their top priori-

ties were to conduct a thoroughinvestigation and to identify thedeceased victims.

“There’s going to be fami-lies that need to be notified thattheir loves ones have perished,”said Lieutenant PatrickRiordan. It’s unclear whetherthe victims were killed in thewreck or whether they burnedin the fire, which would makeidentification more difficult,he said.

The aftermath closed partof the highway in both direc-tions, causing massive delays.The crash was in the north-bound lanes, but southboundlanes were closed for hours tokeep a route open for firstresponders, according to a tweetfrom the Alachua CountySherriff ’s office, which said theemergency “required all handson deck.”

Authorities opened thenorthbound lanes around 8p.m. but said southbound lanescould be closed until morning.Debris including personal prop-erty and vehicle parts was scat-tered across the road, theFlorida Highway Patrol said.

Muslims attack Ghana churchover pastor’s doom prophecyAccra (AFP): Angry youngMuslims attacked a charismat-ic church in Ghana’s capitalAccra after its pastor predict-ed the country’s chief imamwould die this year, religiousleaders said on Friday.Wielding clubs and machetes,they attacked a security guardat the entrance to the GloriousWord and Power Ministrychurch then began hurlingstones at its windows andsmashing up the musicalinstruments and furnitureinside.

The incident came after itscelebrity pastor, Reverend IsaacOwusu-Bempah, prophesiedthe deaths of Muslim spiritualleader Sheikh Osman NuhuSharubutu and Ghana’s Muslimvice president, Dr MahamuduBawumia, in a New Year’s Evesermon.Sheikh Sharubutu con-demned the violence and calledfor calm. “Ghana has gainedrespect in the eyes of the world

because of the peaceful co-exis-tence between Christians andMuslims. We’re all brothersand nothing must divide us,”Sheikh Sharubutu told AFP athis residence in Accra.

“We must all restrain our-selves and pray for life. Ghanais all we have. Religion is sup-posed to unite us and notdivide us,” he said, speakingthrough an interpreter. TheGhana Pentecostal andCharismatic Council, which is

the umbrella body supervisingcharismatic churches, hasraised red flags over theprophecy.

“It is the Council’s consid-ered opinion that propheciesthat concern individuals mustbe given to such individualspersonally and privately... inorder not to create fear andpanic in the entire nation,”said council presidentReverend Paul Frimpong-Manso in a statement.

‘Asylum-seeking North Korea envoy from diplomatic family’S e ou l (AFP): A NorthKorean diplomat in Italy saidto be seeking asylum is froma “prestigious diplomaticfamily” with both his fatherand father-in-law havingworked in Pyongyang’s for-eign ministry, according to asenior defector. Jo Song Gil,the North’s acting ambas-sador to Rome, went into hid-ing with his wife inNovember and is seeking asy-lum, according to Seoul’sintelligence authorities.

It would be the first high-profile defection of a NorthKorean diplomat since 2016when the then deputy ambas-sador to London, Thae YongHo, switched sides to settle inSeoul. Thae said Jo is the sonof a late former diplomat,while his father-in-law servedas ambassador to Thailand inthe 1990s and once handleddiplomatic protocol for theruling Kim family at the for-eign ministry.

“I worked with Jo in thesame department atPyongyang’s foreign ministry

for so long but never imag-ined that he would seek asy-lum,” Thae told Seoul’sChannel A. “ The newsshocked me. “I also workedfor years with his father-in-law, a well-known, veterandiplomat in Pyongyang whoalso served as consul-gener-al in Hong Kong in the2000s,” Thae added in theinterview late Thursday.

Jo’s wife graduated fromPyongyang’s prestigious med-ical school, with both familiesenjoying privileged lives asmembers of the North’s“wealthy, prestigious elite”,according to Thae.

The couple have onechild, he added.

South Korea’s Joong AngIlbo, which broke the news ofthe defection, reported thatthey went into hiding withtheir children, althoughSouth Korean intelligence didnot confirm that during abriefing Thursday with law-makers. Jo, who is in his 40sand known to be fluent inFrench and Italian as well as

English, came to Rome inMay 2015.

He became temporaryact ing ambassador inOctober 2017, after Italyexpelled the then ambassadorMun Jong Nam in protest ata nuclear test Pyongyangstaged a month earlier inviolation of UN resolutions.

Italy is an impor-tant diplomatic mission forPyongyang, as it handles rela-tions with the Rome-head-quartered UN Food andAgriculture Organization andNorth Korea suffers fromchronic food shortages.

Jo has not contactedSeoul’s spy agency since hewent into hiding, said Seoullawmakers briefed by theintelligence authorities, sug-gesting he was seeking asy-lum in a third nation in theWest.

The Kim dynasty hasruled the impoverished butnuclear-armed North forthree generations with littletolerance for dissent and apervasive personality cult.

Flames engulf vehicles after a fiery crash along Interstate 75 on Thursday about a mile south of Alachua, near Gainesville, Fla.Highway officials say at least six people have died after a crash and diesel fuel spill sparked a massive fire along the Floridainterstate. AP

vivacity {48 hours} 13LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | JANUARY 5, 2019

GALLERIA 60 MINUTES MELODY 25 MINUTES

Even though the beginning of dig-ital art can be traced to the 1950s,many critics still believe that it is

a relatively new and an unfamiliargenre.

Curator and art connoisseur MuktaAhluwalia believes that with the con-stant change and development of tech-nology, it can be used in art.

The art exhibition, titled Priya’sMirror, brings together a range of art-works and augmented reality installa-tions by four different artists that aimsto invoke in people a sense of respon-sibility towards the society.

The artworks, divided into fourchapters, feature India’s first femalesuperhero, Priya Shakti, the rape sur-vivor, and how she helps a group of acidattack survivors to find their strengthsand overcome their fears — findingsimilarity with the way she had con-quered her fears after a brutal rape.

Ahluwalia talks about how sheconceptualised the show. “For me, it ismore about art that creates a socialimpact. There are a number of galleriesand art spaces today which are com-mercialised and made for profitablepurposes. They hardly showcase anyartwork that is driven by societalchange. You don’t come across such arttoday,” says the curator who relocatedto India recently.

She explains that, for her, perceiv-ing art through a social lens is alwaysimportant hence, many of her previousart shows have also been based on areflection of society. For instance, herprevious art show talked about grow-ing pollution in rivers and how urban-isation is impacting current lives.

Among the four chapters, the firstis a comic book about Priya, second isa remix film showcasing GoddessParvati as the saviour of the world,

while the third is the augmented real-ity (AR) where the viewers can inter-act with the comic book. The fourthand the most “striking” chapter is a doc-umentary showcasing interviews withfour victims of acid attack.

No matter how different they seemto be from each other, all the four chap-ters narrate one large story of survival,confrontation, pride and of conqueringfears.

Artist Ram Devineni says that theexhibition brings back the horrors of thebrutal gangrape that took place in a busin December 2012 in the capitalthrough a comic book series. “The exhi-bition is a powerful way to understandgender-based violence and challengepatriarchal views,” says Devineni.

Along with the artist, the otherthree artists, namely, Paromita Vohra,Shubhra Prakash and Dan Goldman,together tell about the storyline. Itfocusses on Priya, an ardent devotee ofGoddess Parvati who has experienceda brutal rape, and the social stigma andisolation that accompanies it.

The chapter showcasing GoddessParvati signifies a concept much biggerthan women empowerment. TitledParvati saves the world, the film takesseveral old mythological films from the

1970s and 80s, re-cutting them into astoryline that focusses on gender-basedviolence.

“The story shows how Parvati,along with Priya, save the world byshowing the people their own demon-ish reflections in a mirror. It shows thatwe don’t need any other male deitywhen she is there,” says Ahluwalia.

She highlights the villain or demon-king, named ‘Ahankar’ signifying atyrannical hold and ego that Priya’s‘mirror’ aims to show to the people inthe society.

Here, the mirror acts as a metaphorfor two broad things, “First, it is a reflec-tion of an acid attack survivor whoseface has been disfigured and attackedshown by a rape victim. The mirror istrying to help them overcome theshocks and the physical, mental andsocial trauma that they are goingthrough.”

She adds that the second factoraims to hold a mirror against the“society that has forgotten to regard itswomen with respect. It ridicules shameand indignity towards women. It is forthe society to observe its own actions.”

Ahluwalia believes, “Comics aregenerally used to depict a comedy. Thisis the first of its kind and isn’t funny at

all. Rather it is something that needspublic attention.”

When asked about how the ARaspect works in this comic book?

She explains that there are manyways in which technology can beapplied to art. “The audience just needto install a free application in theirphones, named Blippar. After openingthe app, they need to use their phonecamera to scan the book images. Theapp will activate the digital programmein various ways for them to interact withthe comic book image. The viewer canthen select what and how s/he wants tointeract with the mural.”

The visuals, where Priya is dis-guised like a goddess, show her hold-ing a mirror and saying, ‘Use this mir-ror of love to show others their owncourage.’ She sits on the tiger’s back likethe Goddess and says, ‘I refused to betrapped in my fear.’ In another mirror,a group of people stand with candles intheir hand in support of Priya and herstruggle.

There is yet another striking visu-al where a young girl, in a quiet andpeaceful land, sits on the back of a tigerand flies away.

Another visual, titled Heroes, showsanimated figures of four acid attack sur-vivors, the interviews of which are alsofilmed in a documentary, who nowstand strong, determined and unshak-en in their approach. As Ahluwaliaexplains, “It signifies how they haveovercome their fears against miserablesituations.”

In yet another comic book visual,a woman cried after being rejected fora job due to her disfigured face, eventhough she had secured the first posi-tion in her class.

(The show is on display till February 9.)

Actor Anil Kapoordescribed Manisha Koirala

in the film 1942: A Love Storywith the song Ek Ladki KoDekha Toh Aisa Laga... Theiconic RD Burman numberfrom the film which released in1994 will once again feature inthe film Ek ladki ko dekha tohaisa laga, which incidentallystars Anil and that too after 24years. The glimpses of thesong can be seen in the trailer.

A source reveals that, “AnilKapoor who is playing SonamKapoor’s father in the film isexcited to once again recreatethe same song in the currentfilm after 24 years. The song isvery close to the actor and isone of his all-time favourites.The makers of the film alongwith Anil Kapoor will launchthe song on January 8.”

Anil is one of the rare

actors who is getting an oppor-tunity to recreate his own songon a big screen with his movie.

Apart from this, Anilkapoor also recreated magicwith the song Badan Pe Sitaarein the film Fanney Khan, thesong which originally starred

dancing sensation ShammiKapoor.

Fox Star Studio has pro-duced the film alongwithVidhu Vinod Chopra which isdirected by Shelly ChopraDhar. It is slated to release onFebruary 1.

Among Delhi’s hotels the Imperial atJanpath stands tall and alone like a

monarch of all precisely because it has a col-lection of British Raj paintings and aquat-ints that belong to the haunts of history.

LORD AND LADY WILLINGDON

This Hotel was inaugurated in 1936 byLord Willingdon and Lady Willingdon whonamed it The Imperial and honoured thehotel with the Insignia or Symbol of a Lion.It became an integral part of the imperialBritish rule and serviced numerous digni-taries and visitors from England and othercountries. The hotel consumed all theItalian marbles of two shops when it wasbeing constructed. Exquisite deco, antiquefurniture marked by wood carvings anddressed with hand knotted Persian carpetsall dating back to the 17th century werebought to decorate it lavishly. A restaurantin this hotel bears the name ‘1911’ to paytribute to the historical significance of thehotel when the owner was awarded his titleand medal during the Coronation of theDurbar in the same year.

BRITISH WATERCOLOURS AND AQUATINTS

The hotel can take you back in historyas you look at the paintings from the BritishRaj which will blow your breath away. It dis-plays historic originals of the works ofWilliam Simpson, Thomas Daniells, WilliamDaniells, Charles D’Oyly, William Hodges,John Zollony, J. B. Fraser, James Fergusonand Emily Eden to name a few. It also dis-plays an epic collection of gallantry awardsreceived by Indian, Burmese, Bhutanese,Chinese and Afghanistan soldiers.

Start your tour anywhere — the lobby,the nooks and crannies and crevices — andfeast your eyes. While some floors havemonochromatic splendours others havecoloured spectacles. Among them myfavourite belongs to the Himalayan regionsas well as a montage that celebrates‘Hindusthan’. From left to right each elementand detail celebrates the iconicity of the truemeaning of India both in terms of social aswell as ethnic cultural symbolisms. Whileit carries with it deep nostalgia — it is theaccuracy of detailing, the intricate layers ofembellishment and the truth to materialsand time — that is most evocative in termsof what is poignant and perfection-orient-ed.

BEAUTY OF HIMALAYAS

Assemblage of Hillmen in the Himalayasand Gungotree, the Holy Shrine of Mahadeoare two of my favourites. If Assemblage ofHillmen has a number of people all dressedidentically the Shrine of Mahadeo is a treatfor the eyes in terms of detailing and the den-sity of observation and finesse. It was cre-ated by James Baillie Fraser (1783-1856). Hewas the eldest son of a landed Scottish fam-ily. He travelled to India and became a mer-chant in Calcutta in 1814. Whilst in Indiahe studied painting under the tutelage of theeminent artist George Chinnery. He visit-ed the Himalayas in 1815-16 where hisbrother, William, was the then political agentto Major General Martindell. William wasappointed to visit local chiefs in those partsof the Himalayas to the north-west ofGarhwal and between the rivers Sutlej andJumna (Yamuna) in Bashahr and James went

with him. During the course of this trip,James reputedly became the first Europeanto reach Gangotri, the source of the Ganges.

FRASER AND LOVE FOR HIMALAYAS

Fraser wrote of the place which is thesource of the Ganges, “We were now in the

centre of the stupendous Himalayas, theloftiest and perhaps the most ruggedrange of mountains in the world. We wereat the source of that noble river, equallyan object of veneration and a source offertil ity, plenty and opulence toHindustan; and we had now reached the

holiest shrine of Hindu worship whichthese holy hills contain.”

In 1815, following the end of the warwith Nepal, Fraser and his brotherWilliam, spent two months on a tour ofthe Himalayas. Their journey took thebrothers along the river valleys of theHimalayas, with occasional sorties tohigher latitudes and as far as the sourcesof both the Jumna and Ganges rivers.

Gungotree, the Holy Shrine ofMahadeo displays spectacular views of theHimalayas and contains 20 of Havell’smasterly plates worked up from sketch-es made on the spot by Fraser. In style,the plates are similar to, and very mucha match for Henry Salt’s and the Danielbrothers’ large scale views published 10and 20 years earlier. This was a deliber-

ate strategy by the publishers who drewattention to the similarities in theiradvertisements which describe the workas being uniform with Daniell’s OrientalScenery, and Salt’s Views in Abyssinia.

LEAVES OF HISTORY:

The Imperial Hotel dates back to 1934with the inception of a concept to build acolonial style hotel in India by Bloomfieldalong with the financial support of RaiBahadur Sardar Narain Singh who wasresponsible for building the Patiala Tunnelon the orders of the Maharaja of Patiala,building the city of Dehradun, Mussoorieand spiritual centres in Rishikesh andHardwar. He was also commissioned tobuild the Doon School, Prince of WalesCollege, Forest Research Institute of Indiaincluding all the bridges seen today in thevalley. After completion of these prestigiousassignments, R B S Singh was also award-ed the contract to construct the road toKoeta and the Sirhind Canal. Pleased withhis work, King George V and EmpressQueen Mary made a mention of it whenthey visited Delhi to lay the foundation stoneof New Delhi on December 12, 1911. MajorCrookshank then awarded a Certificate ofRecognition to Singh including the title of‘Rai Sahib’ and a ‘Durbar Medal’ for allimpeccable work completed by him.

AN IMPERIAL RECORD

A collection of British Raj paintings and aquatints that belongs to the haunts of historycan be seen at the hotel which takes you back in time, says UMA NAIR

Through a comic book series, curator MUKTA AHLUWALIA’s art show, titled

Priya’s Mirror, is a reflection of the devilish society and urges acid attack and

rape survivors to overcome their fears. By CHAHAK MITTAL

With Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga, another old Hindi film

song makes a comeback in a new avatar, yet again. By TEAM VIVA

Flashback Fridays

Remix (Simmba)Original (Tere Mere Sapne)

The Aankh Maare songfrom Simmba is explosive, tosay the least. The fun track ispicturised on Ranveer Singhand Sara Ali Khan and fea-tures a cameo from ArshadWarsi (who was in the orig-inal song as well), TussharKapoor, Shreyas Talpade andKunal Kemmu. Also, KaranJohar.

Sung by Mika Singh andNeha Kakkar, it is quite slowon beats when compared tothe high on energy originalversion which featuredWarsi. While the new versionfelt like a bit of drag, the goodpart was the presence ofGolmaal gang. SeeingTusshar Kapoor’s Luckysinging the same song isquite hilarious. But the icingon the cake was to seeArshad Warsi shaking a legand lipsync to Kumar Sanu’svoice — the singer of theoriginal 1996

Remix (Raees)Original (Qurbani)

In the remixed version ofLaila main laila, SunnyLeone’s electrifying dancemoves and SRK’s fightsequence, managed to cap-

ture the magic of the origi-nal song to some extent.Since both are picturised asclub dances, the effect wasnot diluted.

Remix (Badrinath kiDulhaniya)Original (Thaanedar)

In case of Tammatamma loge, the situation isa club scene where this retronumber is being played.This seems to justify theinclusion of the remix ver-sion of the original and ourcurrent stars get to danceand pay a ‘tribute’ to theoriginal song. In fact, afterwatching Varun Dhawan’spleasing moves, SanjayDutt’s awkward dancemovements in Thaanedardo look funny.

Remix (Queen)Original (Anhonee)

Another song whichbecame a rage was theremixed version of the AshaBhonsle number Hungamaho gaya from the filmAnhonee which was includ-ed in the 2012 super-hitQueen. The remix song hassome lines from the originalsong and soon became aninstant hit when released.

MIRROR TELLS A STORY

Nicholas Sparks’s romantic novel-turned-hit film The Notebook is nowset to become a Broadway musical.

Producers Kevin McCollum and KurtDeutsch in association with Sparks are com-ing up with the musical production, report-ed variety.com.

Published in 1996, the book was turnedinto a 2004 film starring Ryan Gosling, RachelMcAdams, James Garner and GenaRowlands.

The story opened with Garner’s charac-ter reading from his notebook to Rowlands’scharacter, who is suffering from Alzheimer’sdisease, about the 1940 romance between apoor quarry worker and a 17-year-oldheiress, played by Gosling and McAdams.

Bekah Brunstetter and Ingrid Michaelsonare developing the musical adaptation.

Sparks said, “I am thrilled to work withBekah and Ingrid in order to make The

Notebook a reality on Broadway. They areamazingly talented, and obviously, the storyis near and dear to my heart.”

—IANS

The saga continues

IMMERSIVE 30 MINUTES

S H O R T C I R C U I T S

I think a musician has to sendvisual cues to their listeners tobring character to the music.For me, a music video mustspeak the vibe of the song —that is to say, it should highlightwhat the lyrics and productionof the composition is saying.There’s not so much a need toace the fashion game as it is tocomplement the music visually.

It is a lot of fun playing a con-

man. A conman is a very inter-

esting and an amazing charac-

ter in real life, making people

believe in something that is

not there is an art. In the film,

(Fraud Sayiaan), I am playing

a romantic conman, which is a

whole new challenge for me as

well as exciting.

SHALMALI KHOLGADEJESSIE J

Starting my new year with

some unexpected heavy per-

sonal stuff has only made me

want to be more present in my

life. I’ll be spending more real

time with people I love and

myself. When sadness hits, it’s

important to embrace it. I am

taking a solid break from

social media for some time.

ARSHAD WARSI


I remember how amazing itwas when he (AbhishekBachchan) proposed. And ithappened really suddenly. Ididn't even know there'ssomething called a roka cere-mony. I belong to south Indiaand I didn’t know what aroka was and suddenly therewas a call from them tellingus, “we are coming.”

ENCOUNTER 30 MINUTES

There is a balance to be struck

in our engagements with social

media. There are positives to

enjoy and inevitable negatives

that are best when avoided. It's

a balance I have struggled with

for a while and in the interest of

my mental health, I feel the time

has come to change my rela-

tionship with social media.

WILL POULTER

FACTOID 20 MINUTES

vivacity {48 hours} 14

Where do we find Lara at the endof season two? Where does the sea-son three sort of pick up for her?Well, she has been pretty muchdeceived by her husband. So muchthat there have been a few incidentsleading up to this finale, where shehad to forgive and come back and tryto mend things for the sake of thefamily, but by the last episode, it’s justthe straw that broke the camel’s back,where he is... There’s that momentwhere they have the phone call andhe just says, “you know, of course I’mcoming home to give you a hug,” andit was a setup. He used his wife in asetup. And that’s not okay. So, as weknow, Lara’s not a pushover, so obvi-ously that’s going to lead to some-thing at the beginning of seasonthree.

Wendy agrees to help Axe recover.Where does that leave Lara in sea-son 3? She doesn’t know the fulleffect of what’s going on, but she isalready mad over the Wendy’s sit-uation.Absolutely, and that’s why Axe knowshe can’t ever really tell her the truth,but again these are all the things that

are leading up to ultimately, youknow, this is going to be a really bigrebuild for them but, him lying to herabout Wendy it was almost the endof them. That’s how big that is and thefact that this is going on, luckily shedoesn’t know to what extent.

It’s funny because we had somepeople asking, “Are Axe and Wendygoing to get together?” Because itfeels really intimate, it feels like ona really emotional level, he needs herand isn’t that really truly the intima-cy in a relationship? If you don’t havethat, you’re really just having abooty call on the side. I think that’sbeen Lara’s biggest problem is, he’ssharing things with Wendy that hewon’t share with Lara and that feelsway more intimate than if she wereto find out that he went off and sleptwith someone. Which, of course wedon’t want to see that guy either but,this is so much more-

It’s a really special relationshipbut, it’s really threatening for Lara.

Is Wendy a real threat to Lara?For Lara it feels real, absolutely andI think that up until this point Larafeels pretty confident about where her

relationship is with Axe. I don’tthink that she’s threatened in a senseof it becoming a physical relationshipbetween Wendy and Axe. I think thatit’s almost like, if anything, if we’rereally going to go back to the psycheof Lara, I think her being a womanwho’s grown up street smarts andgrown up fighting to get to where she’sat. And you have Wendy who’s grownup going to really fancy schools andis really intelligent and intellectual. It’sa bit of a slap to the face to Lara say-ing, “maybe you’re not equippedenough for me to have these conver-sations with you... maybe you’re notsmart enough/intelligent enough.” It’s

just sort of a ... if we’re going to sortof dive into her psyche, it might stemfrom her own insecurities -

There is a scene in season 2 whereshe’s trying to get a little IPO goingand she’s setting up her own busi-ness. And it falls apart. And Axebasically goes...“You weren’t ready.”

“You weren’t ready.” It was like apoignant moment in a way, it’s likehe almost took pleasure in slappingher down. But his downfall is that he also getscaught up in the whole power-hun-gry environment that he lives in andeven with Lara, “you’re not going tolisten to me?” Because everybody lis-tens to Axe; he’s the man with all theanswers. And then his wife is chal-lenging him and saying “no, I’mready.” And she believes that she isready. He may know that she’s not, butthat’s not the way to go about things.He’s pulling his sort of macho poweryou know, forcing his power on hiswife, where that’s not never a goodidea. You know you have to be ableto have the conversation and ... I think

that was a really tough one. Again itjust puts a little bit of that insecurityback into Lara and the whole Wendytriangle of “I can’t do that right in myhusband’s eyes. He won’t come to mewith his problems.” She’s losing sortof her partner because that’s what theyare really, true partnership, and if thatstarts to go, then “where are we/whatdo we have?”

What do you think her motivationis in season 3 is? Is it money or is itthe family? Is it respect? Is it all ofthe above?Listen. She’s not innocent in this.She’s equally as money hungry andpower hungry, but she ... it doesn’tgo unbeknownst to her. She under-stands what has happened and sheactively tries to ground everyoneevery now and then and to checkthemselves and go “alright, check thekids. They’re getting too spoiled” orwhatever it is. But, there is a self-real-ization in season 3 where you know,she’s at a point in her life where 300million dollars isn’t enough and shecatches herself even saying it. In say-ing “I can’t believe I’m about to saythis, but 300 million dollars doesn’tsound like enough.” So she’s gottento that point, and still has the aware-ness which is always a good thing.Because that means you can alwaysgo back and you can fix things. It’sthe people who are unaware that youare most scared of that are so in it.

What is it like to play somebodywhose psyche has gotten to the pointwhere she believes that she needsridiculous amounts of money tosurvive?It’s great to play. It’s interestingbecause it’s so hard to wrap your headaround. I mean if someone said “Youonly have 300 million dollars,”... Didyou just put “only” in front of that?That’s crazy. I think it’s an interestingplace to be because I think about itjust in comparison when I came outto L.A. and literally had 40 dollars tomy name, to where I am now and Ican support myself and my son andhave a healthy lifestyle. If that wastaken away from me and I had to goback to 40 dollars and not knowing

when my next job was, that scares mebecause you’ve established your lifea certain way. So I understand it inthat sense, if they’ve been living a cer-tain life. There overhead for monthsis different. It’s very different, andthere are things where you go “Youdon’t need the private jet and youdon’t need the 12-bedroom mansion.I mean you’re going to be fine with-out it, you have been in the past.” Butyour life is just different.

Will we see Lara developing herbusiness?To be honest with you, I don’t knowyet. Right now it’s more relationshipbased or should I say, partnership-based. How Bobby and Lara are goingto move forward after what happenedin season 2. Where do they start?How do they rebuild? What type ofrelationship are they going to rebuild?Are they? I mean what’s that going tolook like. That’s where we’re at rightnow. Not so much about business, it’smore about the marriage and the kids.

What was your take on the way theyconstructed the end of the seasonand how it set up the new season?I kept telling people, “you’re not goingto believe the last episode.” I mean,the fact that Bobby gets caught.You’re like, “He can’t, but he can getcaught.” It’s Bobby Axlerod, that’simpossible. This is what I love aboutthis show. Every episode we come inand we read an episode. We sit downat a table and read the episode aloudand you go, “How are they going totop this? What can they do that’sunsuspected? What’s the twist goingto be?” And they always come upwith it. They always come up withsome kind of twist that blows yourmind. Again, we all try to be the writ-ers and go, “Oh I know what’s com-ing. Oh I know.” That’s what you dowhen you watch shows. And mostshows deliver and you go, “I’m sosmart, I figured it out.”

It’s so much better when you’resurprised. And that’s what Brianand David, it just goes to show howsmart they are and how brilliant theyare in their way of thinking. And also,I feel like it seems very true to life. I

think that these guys that we’re deal-ing with in this show, if we comparedthem guys in real life for depicting,you’ve got to be on top of your game.You’ve got to be this smart. You’ve gotto have things that you don’t see, thatnobody else sees coming. Otherwisethey wouldn’t be up there. You know?

What’s your take on how Lara’sevolved since we first met her on 101two years ago, the evolution ofher? Is she the same person? I don’t know about her evolving perse, I mean I think we as an audienceare just getting to see more of her, ofwho she is and what she means inAxe’s life and Bobby’s life. Becausethere really isn’t... It’s more just abouther struggle with going from A to B,where they started and where they arenow, and keeping that in check. I feellike we’ve seen more of that, just sortof, who she is in relation to Bobby.What she does for him behind thescenes, what she does for the family.Again I think it’s more of an uncov-ering.

I think we’re seeing her in dif-ferent situations and how she’s han-dling them and that in turn is giv-ing us more information on who sheis, for me as well. So that’s my uncov-ering, but there isn’t really muchgrowth as far as a person. I think sheis who she is.

Could tell us why you think fans aregoing to love what’s to come in sea-son 3?Well, if you like all the twists andturns in the first two seasons, justwait ‘til season 3. There’s already inepisode one...there are unbeliev-able moments where you go “Really?This is what”.... I mean I was pissed.First episode that I read, in a goodway, it just evoked a lot of emotionsso I think we’re going to see a lotmore of the cat and mouse gamebetween Bobby and Chuck.But we’re going to see more devel-opment in characters and morebreaks and new partnerships that area bit dangerous, that makes it excit-ing.

(Watch Billions Season 3 everyTuesday at 10 PM only on AXN.)

India is one of the fastest-growing economies in theworld and many experts

believe that the country’swomen hold the key to unlock-ing its full growth potential.The question is, do the coun-try’s nearly 600 million womenwant to step outside theirhomes and pursue their entre-preneurial dreams and if yes,what holds them back?

A food products corpora-tion has found through itsfirst ever Britannia Marie GoldIndian WomenEntrepreneurship surveyreport that homemakers do, infact, hold aspirations ofembarking on an entrepre-neurial journey and findingfinancial independence, how-ever, there are many barriersthat they must cross to getthere. The survey was conduct-ed by Nielsen, among 1,267non-working house-wives in cities ofDelhi, Lucknow,Mumbai, Pune,Kolkata, Asansol,Chennai, andCoimbatore in the agegroup of 25-45 years.

It reveals that 69 percent find thelack of suffi-cient funds asthe biggestbarrier forp r o s p e c t i v ewomen entrepre-neurs while homeresponsibilities largelycome in the way of 63per cent as these take upmost of their time and 36per cent reported that it’sa mere lack in confidence.

According to the report,nearly half (48 per cent) ofIndian homemakers had

dreams and aspirations to starta business or pursue a hobbyto make money when theywere young.

Out of the homemakerswho have aspirations to starttheir own ventures, the topbusinesses that they wouldlike to launch were — tailoring(36 per cent), beauty parlours(28 per cent) and 26 per centhousewives said that starting aboutique or a shop would be agreat option for them where as20 per cent said yes to work-ing as home tutors.

Among homemakers withdreams, 64 per cent said the rea-son was to gain financial inde-pendence, while 54 per centsaid they wanted to create theirown identity. Fifty-one per centsaid self-confidence is whatthey would need the most forstarting their own ventures.

Significantly, nearly all, 92

per cent of Indian homemakerssaid that it would make themhappy to see their daughtersand the next generation ofwomen run their own business-es.

And they had varied rea-sons for this. Sixty-one percent said that it was because itwould give them more self-esteem, 64 per cent said becauseit would help them gain finan-cial independence and 62 percent said because it would helpthem create their own identities.

Ali Harris Shere, VP,Marketing, Britannia Industries,said, “Homemakers are con-stantly caught up in the dailyresponsibilities of looking afterfamily and too often their ownambitions fall by the wayside.The new generation of home-makers, however, seek to ensuretheir personal interests so that

they do not take aback seat.

“ T h i sresearch studyproves our

observations andidentifies barriers

— financial support,guidance and confidence,

that we want to helpaddress. My ini-

tiative aims tohomemakerswho have theability to findr e s e r v e s

within them todo more and bemore.’ It fuels themto go ahead andlaunch their ownventures, con-tributing to their

families and to theoverall economy,” Ali added.

It wasn’t long back when actor ShahRukh Khan got candid about hislong-lived association with food

and its variations. On master chefShipra Khanna’s chat show, Startruck,which premiered on a music channel— 9xm, SRK talked about how hismother and father, hailing fromHyderabad and Peshawar respective-ly, were both great cooks. He evenboasted with pride, “Nobody couldcook biryani like my mother.”

Food is something that binds peo-ple and things together, or so believesShipra. For her, “Bollywood and foodturned out to be a fantastic combina-tion.”

While conceptualising such a showbased on food and celebrities in equalmeasure, she felt that even if the starshave done a million interviews andchat shows, people hardly know abouttheir personal food preferences, thekind of food that they like to cook andtaste, and past experiences with food.“Hence, the show aims to explore this.”

She recalls her interview with theBollywood legend, “SRK talked abouthow he loves Italian food and wants tolearn and cook it for his family. Hetalked about how his mother used tocook his favourite biryani. The actorsgenerally do not talk about all thesethings in any interviews. So, the entireconcept was built on this, whichturned out to be really different.”

She believes that the actors in suchan atmosphere share their little secretswhich anyone hardly knows. “Even Ihaven’t seen such a show where aBollywood celebrity has been inter-viewed about food and it is beingcooked by the chef there itself,” she

says.The chef and show host, Shipra, in

the show, steps inside her foodtruck toprepare delicacies for the show guest,and serves them with utmost attentionto details while embarking upon a foodjourney through conversations. Thechef believes that it is “one-of-its-kind”since nothing like it has ever been for-matted “nationally or internationally.”

Talking about other food aspects,she discusses whether the gender ofa chef affects the kind of dish that s/heprepares. “Women’s cooking is defi-nitely better. To them, food comes nat-urally. Even if a male chef is cookingsomething, he will always tell you thatthis was his grandmother’s recipe orhis mom’s. It is even then a woman’srecipe after all. Men can’t cook, they

can only occupy wherever they thinkwomen are taking over,” she laughs.

The chef, who “loves to work withfresh local ingredients,” says thatglobal food trends are really pickingup in India. “Since I won Masterchef,from that time to now, it has becomeamazing. We have cuisines from allover the world. We have a global audi-ence that welcomes all new things.The Indian food outside the countryhas picked up so well. Indian cuisinein itself has become a global phenom-enon. People are crazy about it,” shesays.

Talking about how cooking foodis an art form, she says, “It’s first con-ceptualised, then you think how theplate should look like and how itshould taste. Food should alwayslook pretty to the eyes first, just likea painting, and then it should alsoappeal to the tastebuds. Food is closeto everybody’s heart. Everyone makesit in their own manner. The recipecould be the same but the taste wouldalways be different. It is now morethan the traditional authentic cuisinethat we used to cook earlier.”

The chef says that if she is at a for-eign place, she would prefer pickingup ingredients that are “locally grownrather than taking my own or thingsthat I want.” She explains her foodapproach, “That is the thing thatmakes food really different. Fusioncomes naturally then, which is whatbeing a chef is all about — being nat-ural. It’s not just about a picture-per-fect plate but also about how the dishwas created and presented.”

A customised study reveals the biggest hurdles that holdback home-makers from pursuing their dreams ofstarting their own ventures. By TEAM VIVA

Break down the barriers

DIALOGUE 40 MINUTES

Actress MALIN AKERMAN

gets candid about what it is

like to play a character who

needs a huge amount of

money for survival in the

show, Billions.

By TEAM VIVA

withinHero

The

AISHWARYA BACHCHAN

Unloading the food truck

Masterchef SHIPRAKHANNA talks about

how Indian cuisinehas become a global

phenomenon. By TEAM VIVA

LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | JANUARY 5, 2019 sport 15

AFP n MANCHESTER

Manchester City won a "final"according to manager PepGuardiola to remain in the

title race by inflicting Liverpool's firstPremier League defeat of the seasonwith a 2-1 victory at the Etihad.

City's recent shock back-to-backdefeats to Crystal Palace andLeicester had allowed Liverpool toamass a commanding lead in theirquest to win a first title since 1990.

But the champions now trailJurgen Klopp's men by just fourpoints thanks to Leroy Sane's winner18 minutes from time after RobertoFirmino had cancelled out SergioAguero's first-half opener for thehosts.

"It was a final for us, because los-ing today it was almost over," saidGuardiola on Thursday.

"We are four points behind themand they are the leaders. We have tofight a lot, but this gives us a lot ofconfidence.

"I am proud of them (the play-ers), but not just today. We lost twogames in four days but you can't for-get what they have done for 16months."

With no more league meetingsbetween the sides to come,Liverpool's destiny is still in their ownhands, but they will now have thepressure of having a City side thatromped to the title with a record 100points last season on their tails.

"If somebody had toldme after both games againstMan City we would be 4points up, I would have paidmoney," said Liverpool bossJurgen Klopp.

"We never won it as ateam so we want to finish theseason as strongly as possi-ble and we are still in a pret-ty good position."

City also had fortune on theirside in a pulsating contest, particu-larly before the break.

Only the finest of margins deniedLiverpool the lead on 19 minuteswhen Sadio Mane burst ontoMohamed Salah's pass and saw hisshot come back off the inside of thepost.

John Stones then smacked hispanicked clearance into City goal-keeper Ederson but the England

international redeemedhimself by clearing justbefore all of the ball hadcrossed the line.

City were also handed areprieve by referee AnthonyTaylor when captainVincent Kompany only sawa yellow card for a wild two-footed lunge on Salah.

"I really like Vincent Kompanybut how on Earth is that not a redcard?" Klopp added. "If he hits Momore he is out for the season."

At the other end Virgil van Dijkwas again justifying his tag as theworld's most expensive defender tokeep City's array of attacking talentquiet with the Dutchman standingtall to block David Silva's effort.

However, a Liverpool defencethat had not conceded twice in thesame game all season in the league

before kick-off was breached whenCity managed to free Aguero fromVan Dijk's shackles.

The Argentine beat Dejan Lovrento Bernardo Silva's cross before fir-ing into the roof of the net to scorefor the seventh time in seven homeleague games against Liverpool.

Despite a combination of nervesand fatigue at the end of a gruellingfestive period, the game swung fromend to end in the second-half.

One Liverpool full-back pickedout another as for the visitors'equaliser when Trent Alexander-Arnold's cross was met perfectly byAndy Robertson to square forFirmino to head into an empty net.

Guardiola had his head in hishands when a slack pass from Saneset Liverpool free on the counter-attack moments later, but withinseconds the German showed what he

is capable of as he latched onSterling's pass before firing in off thefar post.

Alisson demonstrated whyLiverpool spent a then world record67 million pound for a goalkeeper inJuly to bolster their title chances witha brilliant save from Aguero as theArgentine tried to round him at theend of a blistering City counter-attack.

Seconds later it was the turn ofhis understudy in the Brazil side tomake a huge save as Ederson deniedSalah as tempers f lared withGuardiola furious a free-kick wasn'tawarded City's way before theEgyptian broke clear.

Sterling then wasted a greatchance to ensure City didn't have tosee out a tense five minutes of stop-page time, but the hosts held out toput the title back up for grabs.

AFP n MADRID

Former Arsenal star Santi Cazorla scored twice as Villarrealdrew 2-2 with Real Madrid in La Liga with the pint-sized mid-

fielder producing a late header for a share of the spoils.This was Madrid's first game since winning the World Club

Cup in Doha in December and the draw leaves Santiago Solari'soutfit seven points off top placed Barcelona, four behind AtleticoMadrid and two adrift of Seville.

The home side gave Madrid a guard of hon-our as they ran out but that was where the wel-come ended as the 34-year-old Cazorla openedthe scores on four minutes with a snap shotfrom 18-yards out that caught Thibaut Coutoiscold.

It was the first Liga goal of 2019 andCazorla's first ligue goal since 2012.

But the Frenchmen Karim Benzema and Raphael Varane bothbagged flashing headers as Real swept back into the lead withBrazilian midfielder Casemiro and Ballon d'Or Luka Modricpulling the strings in midfield.

Benzema latched on to an inch perfect Lucas Vasquez crossto head home unmarked from the back of the six-yard box.

German midfielder Toni Kroos was at the origin of Madrid'sgo ahead goal as he picked out Raphael Varane at the far postand the Frenchman finished with a towering header.

Cazorla was to have the last word when he ran from deepto produce an unmarked header of his own and level the scorewith the clock running down in the Estadio de la Ceramica.

PTI n ABU DHABI

India enter the biggest ever Asian Cup,starting here on Saturday, hoping to

exorcise the ghosts of a disastrousouting in 2011 and using it as

a stepping stone to realise thedream of making the 2026World Cup.

The Asian FootballConfederation's continentalshowpiece, which has seenan increase in the numberof finalists from 16 to 24,kicks off with hosts UnitedArab Emirates taking onBahrain in a Group A fix-

ture at the Zayed Sports CityStadium.

India, placed in the samegroup as the host nation, will begintheir campaign with a game againstThailand at the Al Nahyan Stadium,the home ground of Al Wahda club,on Sunday.

The Blue Tigers last participatedin the tournament eight years ago,which ended with a forgettablegroup stage exit following heavydefeats at the hands regional pow-erhouses Australia, South Korea andBahrain.

The 17th edition of the quadrennialevent will be India's fourth-ever appear-ance. While they brought to an enda 24-year wait by making the 2011edition, India missed qualification tothe 2015 tournament, which was wonby hosts Australia.

Though not as dominant as theKoreans or the Australians, India willstill have their task cut out against well-oiled teams such as Bahrain, Thailandand UAE.

While speculation can be a futileexercise, an unbeaten run of 13 match-es, during which the country qualifiedfor the tournament and achieved its sec-ond best ranking in the FIFA chart,gives chief coach Stephen Constantinereasons to be optimistic.

India arec u r r e n t l yranked 97th, a

far cry from the day a fewyears ago when theyslipped to their worst-ever 173rd position.

India also enduredthe humiliation of losing

to Guam, a tiny Pacific island with apopulation of 1.5 lakh, in a World CupQualifier.

The revival began after that as India,under Constantine and the talismanicSunil Chhetri's prolific form in front ofthe goal, learned to win matches.

The Asian Cup will be a dif-ferent ball game, and the teamis aware of that.

"We are looking forward tothe massive tournament. Wehope these 23 boys will do agood job for us," Constantinesaid ahead of the tournament.

Bidding to defend the titlewon on home soil in 2015,Australia come into the tourna-ment as one of the contendersafter head coach GrahamArnold put his players throughthe grind. They will be enteringa new era without stalwarts

Tim Cahill and Mile Jedinak.Neighbours South Korea and Japan

will resume their rivalry with bothteams having their eyes trained at thetrophy. Led by free-scoring Tottenhamforward Son Heung-min, favouritesSouth Korea will fancy their chances ofending more than 50 years of wait.

Japan, having given the 2018 WorldCup semifinalists Belgium a run fortheir money in a Round of 16 game inRussia, have the team to go all the wayin the UAE. Iraq, who won the tour-nament in 2007 and finished along thelast four four years ago, will be anoth-er to watch out for.

NEW DELHI: Last season's run-ner-up Gujarat Fortunegiants willclash with Bengaluru Bulls in thefinal of the sixth season of the ProKabaddi League in Mumbai onSaturday. Interestingly, BengaluruBulls led by Rohit Kumar, haddefeated Gujarat by 12 points inthe first qualifier to directly booka place in the summit clash.

Gujarat, on the other hand,led by Sunil Kumar overcame aresurgent UP Yoddha in the sec-ond qualifier on Thursday, tobook a place in the final. The twofinalists have played thrice beforewith both sides winning a gameeach and one ending in a tie.

Gujarat will have their hopespinned on star raider SachinTanwar, who has been consistentthrough the campaign. He hasaveraged 8.2 raid points through-out the season and is in the top 10raiders in the entire league. Evenin the win against UP Yoddha, heplayed a key role clinching 10points. He will require supportfrom other raiders mainly KPrapanjan, who has 118 points tohis credit. But the two need to fin-ish the game on a high. And theraiding heavy side like Bulls,Gujarat needs to maintain pacethroughout the 40 minutes. OtherGujarat players Parvesh Bhainswal(84 points), skipper Sunil Kumar(72 points) and Rohit Gulia (56points) will also have to competeat their best of abilities if Gujarathave to clinch their maiden title.

PTI n CHENNAI

India goalkeeper P R Sreejeshon Friday said focussing only

on youth is not going to bringthem success but backedHarendra Singh to stay on ascoach despite their quarterfinalexit in the hockey World Cup.

Veterans S V Sunil andRuipinder Pal Singh were exclud-ed from the WCup team owingto injury and lack of form.

Asked if the focus will nowprimarily be on picking youngplayers, Sreejesh said, "See whatdo you mean by youth, if ayoungster comes into the teamand he gets three or four moreyears experience, does it mean heis an old guy. You can't win tour-naments just with youngsters. Inimportant matches we needexperience."

The experienced player, whohas led India in the past, added,"When you play big matchesthere is a lot of pressure. Theseniors will come in handy astheir experience is valuable.Experience plays a big role.

"If you see Argentina,when they won the OlympicGold, their average age was 32-33. You need a unique com-bination, youth as well as hav-ing some players with theexperience of having played inhigh pressure matches."

Asked about his thoughtson Harendra, Sreejesh said heneeds to be given more oppor-tunities to build a good team.

"I have known Harendra sirfor the last 14-15 years. EveryIndian player knows him for along time. It is easy for players tobe with him. You can't expect acoach to come in and just changeeverything overnight. "He needsmore opportunities and time tobuild a good team and focus onthe Olympics because that is thebiggest challenge coming ahead."

UAE vs Bahrain

Live from 9:30pm IST

STAR SPORTS 3

Manchester City's Sergio Aguero celebrates after scoring the opening goal of the game during their English Premier League match between Manchester City and Liverpool at the Etihad stadium AP

Real and Villarreal players battle for possession during La Liga game La Liga

Chinese players train during practice session AFC

Cazorla spoils

Real's Liga return

AFC ASIAN CUP WINNERSTEAM WINNERS

Japan 4 (1992*, 2000, 2004, 2011)

Saudi Arabia 3 (1984, 1988, 1996)

Iran 3 (1968*, 1972, 1976*)

South Korea 2 (1956, 1960*)

Israel 1 (1964*)

Kuwait 1 (1980*)

Australia 1 (2015*)

Iraq 1 (2007)

*hosts

Asian Cup starts today, India to play on Day 2

Gujarat take on

Bulls in final

Youth only policy will not

bring success: Sreejesh

PTI n PUNE

Rohan Bopanna and DivijSharan came back from the

brink for the second match in arow to reach the final of the TataOpen Maharashtra, taming SimonBolelli and Ivan Dodig in a thrillerhere on Friday.

The top seeded Indians, play-ing first time on Tour as a team,knocked out the Italian-Croatiancombine 6-3, 3-6, 15-13 in onehour and 33 minutes after savingtwo match points in the Super TieBreak.

They had saved six matchpoints on Thursday againstLeander Paes and Miguel AngelReyes-Varela before winning.

It was tough test for the newIndian team as it was up againstplayers, who have aGrand Slam crown eachto their credit, and thehome team played bet-ter than its previousclash.

Bolelli, a top-50singles player in 2009, had won the2015 Australian Open doubleswith fellow Italian Fabio Fogniniwhile Dodig also won his first andonly men's doubles Grand Slamcrown in the same year at FrenchOpen with Marcelo Melo.

Bopanna as usual was solidwith his returns while left-handerSharan put up a better show thanThursday.

It will be the first final on the

ATP World Tour for boththe players. Bopannalast played a final whenhe won the Vienna eventin October 2017 with

Pablo Cuevas and Sharan won theAntwerp title with Scott Lipksy inthe same month.

"We played a better matchtoday, happy to ride the wave. Itwas completely different fromyesterday, these guys were return-ing stronger," said Bopanna.

"To have an Indian team backon tour is good and we areimproving. But it will take sometime to set patterns. We have not

played much together and needsome off-court practice together,"he added.

Sharan, who struggled with hisserve, said he it's a work inprogress but he still has "spots"where he can get points.

"I am not putting much spin tothe ball. Conditions were differentfrom yesterday and I was notfinding my rhythm. Tomorrow, thekey will be to play freely and fightfor every point," the Delhi lad said.

They will now fight it out forthe title with the British pairing ofLuke Bambridge and Jonny OMara.

Tata Open Maharashtra


STAR SPORTS SELECT 2

Defending championsbeat Liverpool 2-1 to

hand leaders their firstdefeat of the season

Bopanna, Sharan enter Pune decider

AUCKLAND: Canadian teen BiancaAndreescu stunned VenusWilliams in the WTA AucklandClassic quarter-finals to continueher giantkilling run on Friday,while defending champion JuliaGoerges survived a match-pointscare.

The 18-year-old Andreescu,ranked 152nd in the world, beatWilliams, 20 years her senior anda seven-times Grand-Slam winner,6-7 (1/7), 6-1, 6-3.

The come-from-behind vic-tory came a day after she elimi-nated top seed and world numberthree Caroline Wozniacki.

Andreescu will now meetHsieh Su-Wei in the semi-final.

Defending champion Goerges,who will play Viktoria Kuzmova inthe other semis, fought back fromfacing match point to overpowerCanadian Eugenie Bouchard in thethree-set cliffhanger 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(8/6). AP

Andreescu sends

Williams packing

Rohan Bopanna (R) and Divij Sharan celebrate after win during the Tata Open Maharashtra PTI

LUCKNOW COLTS WIN TOURNEY

Lucknow Colts defeated Lifecare Club by three wickets to win the RBGupta Memorial Cricket Tournament at Microlit Gymkhana on Friday.BRIEF SCORES:Lifecare Club: 122 (Mukul 31, Akash 18, Gaurav 18, Kulpratap 17; Abhishek24/3, Vinay 27/2)Lucknow Colts: 125 (Bhushan 32, Anurag 23; Shyam 8/1, Gaurav 10/1)

EKLAVYA, VANSHITA EMERGE WINNERSEklavya Singh of Jharkhand beat Drona Walia 6-0, 2-6, 7-6 (3) to emerge

champion in the 1st Professional Tennis Academy All-India RankingTournament on Friday. In the women’s category, Vanshita Pathania pippedAvantika Reddy 6-0, 6-0 to bag the title.

HOCKEY TRIALSTrials to select Uttar Pradesh’s Senior men team will be held at Padma

Shri Mohammad Shahid Hockey Stadium on January 7. Uttar Pradesh Hockeysecretary RP Singh said that the selected team would participate in the 9thHockey India Senior Men’s National Championship 2019, scheduled to beheld at Gwalior from January 31 to February 10. Trials to select the seniorwomen’s and junior women’s team would be held at the same venue on January8 and 9 respectively.

BHOMIL SCORES HAT-TRICKBhomil scored a hat-trick to help AMC enter semifinal of the 20th

Mansarovar Football Cup, beating New Boy’s FC 5-0. Bhomil goals camein the 47th, 50th and 57th minute while Afzal netted in the 15th and 26thminute. In another quarter-final match, Mansarovar FC beat DPS Eldeco4-1.

LOCAL EVENTS

sport 16

PTI n SYDNEY

India buried a dispirited Australia undera mountain of runs with Rishabh Pant andRavindra Jadeja adding a dash of stroke-

ful aggression to the sedate proceedings inthe fourth and final Test on Friday.

India put together their second highestteam total on Australian soil, piling up 622/7declared on the second day of the match.Their highest team total, 705/7 declared, wasalso incidentally scored at this venue, in 2004.

In reply, Australia were 24/0 in the 10overs that the deflated side had to face aftertoiling all day on the field.

This was after series top-scorerCheteshwar Pujara missed out on whatwould have been a well-deserved double hun-dred, ending at 193 off 373 balls, adding 63runs to his overnight score.

Pant became the first Indian wicket-keeper to claim a hundred Down Under withan unbeaten 159-run effort that came off 189balls on the second day of the match. Thiswas his second Test hundred, the first beingin England earlier this year.

The Australian bowlers were also tor-mented by Jadeja (81) and the home team'sdesperation for a breakthrough resulted ineven top-order batsman Usman Khawajabeing pressed into the attack.

Pant, who struck 15 fours and a six, puton 204 runs for the seventh wicket withJadeja.

For Australia, Usman Khawaja wasdropped on nought by Pant off MohammedShami (0-9) in the third over, and he wasunbeaten on 5 runs, with Marcus Harris (19not out) keeping him company.

Post tea, the hosts simply waited for thedeclaration to come as India crossed 500 inthe 149th over.

There was no signal forthcoming fromthe balcony and Pant and Jadeja kept battingon. The 21-year-old Pant then reached hishundred off 137 balls, and became the firstIndian keeper-batsman to score a Test cen-tury in Australia.

India continued batting on, seemingly aploy to break the Australian spirit, with Jadejascoring his 10th Test half-century off 89 balls.

The duo scored aggressively and broughtup their 200-run partnership off 221 balls, thehighest for India's seventh wicket against thisopposition, after Pujara and WriddhimanSaha's 199 in Ranchi (2017).

Australia took their third new ball of theinnings and Nathan Lyon (4-178) bowledJadeja in the 168th over in search of his hun-dred and Virat Kohli called the batsmen in.

This was after Pujara was dismissed fora mammoth 193 runs, facing 373 balls andhitting 22 fours as India were placed at 491-6 at tea.

Post lunch, there were no signs of Indiaspeeding up the run-rate in order todeclare quickly as the two batsmen battedas resolutely as in the morning.

India crossed 400 in the 123rd overwith the dup bringing up their 50-part-nership off 74 balls. In all, they added 89runs for the sixth wicket.

Pujara got a life on 192 when Khawajadropped him at slip off Lyon in the 126thover. But the batsman couldn't score his firstoverseas Test double hundred and offereda tired return catch to Lyon four overs later.

He walked off to a standing ovationfrom the SCG ground, as Jadeja took guard.

Earlier, India reached 389-5 at lunchafter starting at overnight 303-4. Pujaratook his fifth-wicket partnership withHanuma Vihari (42) to 101 runs.

In contrast to how they went about onday one, the duo came out with the intentto grind down the Australian bowlingattack and looked content with batting fortime.

It backfired as Vihari's hard work wentwaste when he was caught at short leg offLyon in the 102nd over. There was thefaintest blip on snickometer and the deci-sion stayed in Australia's favour despiteVihari's DRS review.

Pujara crossed a few more milestonesduring this morning session. Firstly, he wentpast 153, his previous highest overseas Testscore, against both South Africa(Johannesburg, 2013) and Sri Lanka (Galle,2017).

He also became only the third Indianbatsman to score 500-plus runs in a Testseries against Australia, after Rahul Dravidin 2003-04 and Virat Kohli in 2014-15.

In doing so, he also batted 1200-plusdeliveries thus far in the four matches, themost for an Indian batsman againstAustralia in a Test series, ahead of Dravid's1203 balls faced in 2003-04.

PTI n SYDNEY

Rishabh Pant felt the "nervous 90's syndrome"on Friday but said that Ravindra Jadeja's pres-

ence at the other end helped him play with free-dom unlike previous Test matches, when the youngkeeper had to bat with the tail.

Pant, who became the first Indian keeper onAustralian soil to hit a hundred, added 204 runswith Jadeja (81 no) for the seventh wicket to almostbat the home team out of the contest.

When asked if anything changed as he was get-ting out in 20's and 30's, Pant replied: "I don't thinkanything changed from my side. The main thingwas that I was playing with a batsman (Jadeja) thistime. Most of the time, when I got a start, I wasplaying with the tail.

"If I am batting with the tail, I have to thinkdifferently because most of the time, I have to scorethe runs. But when you are batting with a batsman,that's a different thing. You have seen it today," Pantsaid on his superb 159 off 189 balls.

He has been given complete "freedom toexpress himself" by the team management and thathas helped his batting.

"The best part of my batting is that everyonein the team has given me freedom to expressmyself. Every time when I go to bat, I just enjoymyself, that's the only thing I love to do," said Pant.

He admitted that getting out on 90's againstWest Indies did work on his mind. "To behonest, I was a little nervous, because in India whenwe were playing West Indies, in the last two innings,I got out on 92 and 92. So I was scared slightly butI got through that phase quickly," Pant said.

The obvious question about comparisonbetween his hundred against England at the Ovaland the one at the SCG was asked.

"Every hundred I score in international crick-et is special for me because I have just started mycareer. But the main thing is that I don't think abouthundreds. I just always think about only one thing- what the team needs from me. That's the onlygoal I have."

Pant dropped a sitter given by Usman Khwajaoff Mohammed Shami's bowling but he wants toremain positive rather being disappointed.

"As a wicketkeeper, we look forward to onlyone thing - to be positive because this is not a one-ball game. You have to be on the field till you getthe opposition out. So you have to positive all thetime," he stated.

KULKARNI BACK IN MUMBAI SQUADMumbai: Experienced pacer Dhawal Kulkarni, whowas left out of the game against Vidarbha, has returnedto the Mumbai Ranji Trophy squad for theirinconsequential last group A tie against Chhattisgarh.The match will be played at the Wankhede Stadiumhere from January 7 to 10. Experienced wicketkeeperAditya Tare and batting mainstay Shreyas Iyer havebeen left out of the 15-member squad. Mumbai arealready out contention for a quarterfinal berth and willbe playing to avoid relegation to Group C. Middle-orderrookie batsman Yashashwi Jaiswal has made acomeback to the squad.

SIXTH EDITION OF BPL STARTS TODAYNew Delhi: After successfully completing 5 seasons,the action-packed Bangladesh Premier League (BPL)is all set to enthrall audience with some spectacularcricketing action in the 6th season kicking off on 5thJanuary 2019. The much awaited BPL to be playedbetween 5thJanuary — 8th February 2019 will bebroadcast on DSPORT. The 6th edition will comprise ofteams namely Rangpur Riders, Dhaka Dynamites,Comilla Victorians, Chittagong Vikings, Khulna Titans,Rajshahi Kings and Sylhet Sixers, with each teamrepresenting a different province of Bangladesh. Thetournament will be played in a Double Round Robinformat followed by playoffs.

DSPORT TO BROADCAST COUPE DE FRANCE New Delhi: One of the most exciting footballKnockout competitions in the world 'Coupe de France'Round of 32 will kick-start from 5th January onwards(to be telecasted on DSPORT). The winner of 'Coupede France' will get a direct qualification for the groupstage of UEFA Europa League. The Live broadcast for'Coupe de France' round of 32 will take place from 5thJanuary 10:30 PM. Top French football clubs like ParisSaint Germain (PSG), Olympique de Marseille, ACMonaco FC, Olympique Lyonnais, Red Star FC,Football Club des Girondins de Bordeaux will battle itout to reserve a spot in the UEFA Europa League.

SPURS EXTEND ALDERWEIRELD CONTRACTLondon: Tottenham Hotspur have triggered anextension clause in veteran Belgian international TobyAlderweireld's contract which ties him to the PremierLeague highflyers until the summer of 2020. The 29-year-old central defender — capped 88 times and anintegral part of Belgium's best ever performance at theWorld Cup last year where they finished third — has a25-million (USD 31.7m) release clause should a suitorcome in for him. "The club can confirm that we haveactivated the option to extend Toby Alderweireld'scontract until 2020," Tottenham said in a statement ontheir website.

VIKAS SET FOR PRO DEBUT IN US ON JAN 18New Delhi: Indian boxer Vikas Krishan will make hisprofessional debut on January 18 in New York againstAmerican Steven Andrade. The welterweight bout willtake place at the Stone Resort Casino and will form theunder-card of Olympic Silver-medallist ShakurStevenson's IBF Intercontinental and WBC ContinentalAmericas featherweight title contest against Jessie CrisRosales in a 10-rounder, an official associated withVikas said. Vikas' bout will be a six-round contest andmark his foray into the pro circuit after signing up withthe legendary Bob Arum's Top Rank Promotions. Hisopponent, Andrade, is six fights old on the circuit witha 3-3 record. He will go into this contest after threeconsecutive losses, the last being in November 2017.

HARYANA PUGILISTS DOMINATE NTN'LVijayanagara: As many as nine pugilists fromHaryana stormed into the semifinals, ensuringthemselves medals at the 3rd Elite Women's NationalBoxing Championships here on Friday. They wereclosely followed by the Railways as eight of theirboxers made it to the medal round while All IndiaPolice (AIP) had seven of their players advancing.Chandigarh and Punjab had two pugilists eachentering the semifinals in all the 10 categories withother state boxers just filling the vacant slots. All topboxers, including World Championships participantsand medallists - Lovlina Borgohain, Pinki Rani Jangra,Simranjit Kaur, Manisha Moun, Seema Poonia - wontheir bouts, mostly with RSC verdicts.

SHARATH, SATHIYAN RETAIN POSITIONSCuttack: Star table tennis players Sharath Kamal andG Sathiyan have retained their career-high positions,30 and 31 respectively, in the latest world rankings.The two players are way above the third Indian,Harmeet Desai, the only other paddler to be among top100 in the ITTF rankings. Manika Batra has just gaineda spot and is placed at No 51 and the lone Indianwomen figuring in the top-100. In Under-21 Men andUnder-21 Women, there are as many as four male andthree female players with Manav Thakkar at No 17,having gained three places from his previous No 21.

MUGURUZA BEATS CORNET IN HOPMAN CUPPerth: Spain's Garbine Muguruza collected her firstsingles win of the new season, but also picked up aninjury concern at the mixed teams Hopman Cup inPerth on Friday. The dual Grand Slam champion andworld number 18 had lost her two previous singlesmatches in Perth to top 20 duo Angelique Kerber andAshleigh Barty. However, she overcame a thigh injuryto beat Frenchwoman Alize Cornet, herself troubled bya back injury throughout the match, as Spain won theirfinal tie 2-1. The Spanish team of Muguruza and DavidFerrer were already out of contention for the final.

Agencies

SINGLES

PTI n SYDNEY

Veteran seamer Peter Siddlewas included in Australia's

revamped 14-member squad forthe three-match ODI seriesagainst India starting fromJanuary 12.

The 34-year-old pacer onFriday made a comeback to theODI squad for the first time since2010, while Usman Khawajaand Nathan Lyon were alsorecalled to the team, led byAaron Finch.

Off-spinner Lyon hadmissed the ODI series againstSouth Africa at home earlier inthe season, while Khawaja too ismaking the ODI squad afteralmost two years.

Mitchell Marsh and keeperAlex Carey will be the two vice-captains in keeping with CricketAustralia's new policy after theball-tampering saga.

The experienced trio of Testspeciallist Mitchell Starc, JoshHazlewood and Pat Cummins,however, have been rested keep-ing the Test series against SriLanka in mind.

Batsmen Travis Head, DarcyShort and Chris Lynn have beenleft out owing to recent poorform in ODIs, while fast bowlerNathan Coulter-Nile has beenrested owing to lower backissues.

Australia's selection panelchairman Trevor Hohns saidthe decision to revamp the squadwas taken due to the team's poorshow against South Africa andalso keeping the World Cup inmind.

"With this in mind and theWorld Cup looming, we'veselected players we feel provideus with the flexibility to play avariety of roles at different stagesof a match," he said.

"The upcoming three-matchseries against India and the ODItours of India and the UAE areimportant windows to put thisinto practice and to build a

squad to help defend our WorldCup title."

The other two matches ofthe three-ODI series will beplayed in Adelaide (on January15) and Melbourne (January18).

SQUADAaron Finch (C), UsmanKhawaja, Shaun Marsh, PeterHandscomb, Glenn Maxwell,Marcus Stoinis, Mitch Marsh,Alex Carey (WK), JhyeRichardson, Billy Stanlake,Jason Behrendorff, PeterSiddle, Nathan Lyon, AdamZampa.

AFP n WELLINGTON

Tim Southee on Friday was namedto captain New Zealand in next

week's one-off Twenty20 matchagainst Sri Lanka.

Regular skipper Kane Williamsonis to be rested along with Trent Boultand Colin de Grandhomme.

Southee, who has captained NewZealand twicebefore, admit-ted that lead-ing a side inc r i c k e t ' sshortest form can be a bit of a gam-ble.

"It's about trying to stay a stepahead of the game and a little bit ofguessing," he said.

"The way T20 cricket goes it's(about) trying to take a bit of a punton what you think is going to happen."

All-rounder Jimmy Neesham andopener Martin Guptill, who starredwhen New Zealand won the first one-day international on Thursday, arealso in the Twenty20 squad.

SQUADTim Southee (capt), LockieFerguson, Martin Guptill, ScottKuggeleijn, Colin Munro, JimmyNeesham, Henry Nicholls, GlennPhillips, Seth Rance, MitchellSantner, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi, RosTaylor.

AFP n CAPE TOWN

Faf du Plessis ground out a century andput South Africa in a commanding posi-

tion on the second day of the second Testagainst Pakistan at Newlands on Friday.

Du Plessis made 103, his ninth Test cen-tury, as South Africa reached 382 for six atthe close, a lead of 205 runs.

The South African captain shared a fifthwicket partnership of 156 with TembaBavuma (75), which sapped the energy fromthe Pakistan bowlers and fielders.Wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock benefittedfrom the wearing down of the bowlers, hit-ting a breezy 55 not out off 71 balls late inthe day.

Du Plessis, out for a pair during SouthAfrica's six-wicket win in the first Test inCenturion, showedpatience and resolve in aninnings lasting six minutesshort of six hours. He faced226 balls and hit 13 fours.

He gave a chance on 96 when SarfrazAhmed, the Pakistan captain and wicket-keeper, could not hold a faint glance down

the leg side off MohammadAbbas.

Abbas bowled a probingline and length but had a

largely luckless day. It started well enoughwhen he bowled Hashim Amla with his fifthdelivery of the morning with a ball which

deviated sharply off a crack outside the right-handers' off stump and sent the leg stumpflying.

Abbas appeared to have had Bavumacaught by Azhar Ali at first slip when thebatsman was on three. The on-field umpiresgave a "soft" signal of out but asked for tele-vision umpire Sundaram Ravi to checkwhether there had been a clean catch. Ravidecided the ball had made contact with theground while the catch was being taken.

The left-armed Mohammad Amir beatthe outside of Du Plessis's bat on severaloccasions but Du Plessis batted on dogged-ly, prepared to wait for rare loose deliveriesbefore playing attacking shots.

Bavuma, who hit a solitary Test centu-ry against England , made his 13th half-cen-tury before being caught behind off left-armer Afridi, bowling around the wicket.Bavuma faced 162 balls and hit ten fours.

Afridi was the most expensive of thePakistan bowlers, conceding 112 runs, buthe picked up three of the four wickets thatfell during an attritional day, including thatof Du Plessis on review after umpire JoelWilson failed to detect a faint edge.

HIGHEST INDIVIDUAL SCORES BY INDIAN WK IN TESTSScore Wicket-keeper Opponent Venue Season

224 Mahendra Singh Dhoni Australia Chennai 2012-13

192 Budhi Kunderan England Chennai 1963-64

159* Rishabh Pant Australia Sydney 2018-19

152 Nayan Mongia Australia Delhi 1996-97

148 Mahendra Singh Dhoni Pakistan Faisalabad 2005-06

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STAR SPORTS SELECT 1

Pant deflates Australia at SCG

Rishabh smashes unbeaten 159 and adds 204 runs for seventh wicket to help India post 622/7

Marcus Harris and Usman Khwaja prepares to bat during the third session of second day in Sydney BCCI

Rishbah Pant watches ball after playing short on Day 2 ICC

Austrlian pacer Peter Siddle poses for a photograph ICC/File Picture

Tim Southee reacts while bowling in 2nd Test APTemba Bavuma celebrates with Faf after scoring fifty AP

CHETESHWAR PUJARAMISSED OUT ON WHAT

WOULD HAVE BEEN A WELL-DESERVED DOUBLE HUNDRED,

ENDING AT 193 OFF 373BALLS, ADDING 63 RUNS TO

HIS OVERNIGHT SCORE

PLAYING WITHPROPER BATSMENHELPED ME: PANT

Southee to lead NZ in T20

Aus announce squad for India ODIs

‘Ridiculous selections must stop’SYDNEY: Spin legend ShaneWarne on Friday criticisedthe Australian team pickedfor the three-match ODIseries against India, termingthe selections ridiculous andsenseless for not keeping inmind the upcoming WorldCup. "Just saw the Aus ODIsquad that was announced& was absolutely staggeredat some of the players thatwere left out & some of theinclusions - they don't makeany sense whatsoever.These ridiculous selectionsmust stop in all forms ofAustralian cricket - end of!"Warne tweeted.Shortly after, Warne namedhis own ODI side on Twitter.The 49-year-old put hisweight behind all-rounderD'Arcy Short. "I cannotbelieve that D'Arcy Shorthas been left out of the side.I don't know what he's donewrong. He can bowl and hisbatting at the top isdynamic. He's in terrificform, and he and Finchmake an awesomepartnership at the top,"Warne was quoted as sayingby foxsports.Com.Au.Warne insisted that the

correct combination ofplayers should have beenselected keeping in mind theconditions the side will facein England during the WorldCup in May-June this year.Apart from Short, Warnenamed Aaron Finch,wicketkeeper Alex Carey,Shaun Marsh, GlennMaxwell, Marcus Stoinis,either Ashton Agar orMitchell Marsh dependingon conditions followed byJames Pattinson, JhyeRichardson, Riley Meredith,Adam Zampa."I would have liked to seethem go with a bit moreyouth and a bit more pacewith the ball in Meredith andPattinson to add to JhyeRichardson, I think thosethree are very good.Behrendorff with his left armis okay, but I think there'sbetter options." Completing Warne's 14-mansquad are spinner NathanLyon and Chris Lynn."Lynn is there if you need abit more power at the top,then I've got Nathan Lyonthat I'd like to see with thewhite ball as well at somestage." PTI

SA RIDE ON DU PLESSIS’ TON
