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CARD PAYMENTS: NO EXTRACHARGE AT PETROL PUMPSNew Delhi: Banks and oil mar-keting companies will beartransaction charges for the fuelbought using cards at petrolpumps, said Oil Minister Dhar-mendra Pradhan on Thursday.“Consumers and petrol pumpswill not be burdened with Mer-chant discount rate,” he said.

AMAZON SAYS SORRY FORTRICOLOUR DOORMAT New Delhi: Following a sternmessage by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj oversale of doormats depicting theTricolour, Amazon on Thursdayexpressed regret for “offending”Indian sentiments and informedher about removal of the productfrom its Canadian website.

DAVID GUETTA’S CONCERTIN BENGALURU CANCELLEDBengaluru: French DJ DavidGuetta’s concert, scheduled inBengaluru for Thursday night,has been cancelled on “law andorder” grounds.

2ND SCORPENE CLASSSUBMARINE LAUNCHEDMumbai: Strengthening India’sunderwater capabilities, ‘Khanderi’,the Navy’s second of six Scorp-ene-class stealth submarines waslaunched on Thrusday.

AI TO RESERVE SIX WOMENSEATS IN DOMESTIC PLANESNew Delhi: Air India will reservesix seats for women on domesticroutes from next week.

CHANDAN PRAKASH/SOUVIK MITRA n NEW DELHI

Traders of Connaught Placeare at their wits’ end. They

are certain that the “illogical”decision of the New DelhiMunicipal Council (NDMC) toban entry of four-wheelers intothe inner and middle circles ofConnaught Place for threemonths starting February willhit their businesses hard.

The Pioneer spoke totraders and their association toknow their concerns. Whatworries them the most is theNDMC’s move in “the name ofreviving” the area will only pro-mote mall culture and kill theirbusinesses. Traders were unan-imous in calling civic agency’splan to make the area vehicle

free zone as an ill-conceiveddecision that is fraught withmiseries for them. The slow-down in the sales post demon-etisation has already hit themhard and in the event of thisCar Bandi, they fear to losetheir only source of livelihood.

Atul Bhargava, the presi-dent of New Delhi Traders’Association (NDTA), said thisis a ridiculous move that willtake away the interest of tradershere. “Connaught Place is acommercial hub which cannotbe turned into a tourist desti-nation. We have already lostour business, firstly due toconstruction of Metro stationat Rajiv Chowk and thereafterre-development of this areaprior to Common WealthGames (CWG). This unprece-

dented move sounds deathknell for all of us,” Bhargavasaid.

A couple of weeks back,NDMC had a meetingregarding the decisionwhere traders opposedthe decision, he said,adding that over 500members, including rep-resentatives from majorestablishments in CP,signed a memorandumstating that they are againstthe move.

“We are soon going tohave a meeting with all stake-holders regarding this, and ifneed be, we will announcefuture course of action, including protest tillthis draconian decision of theNDMC is withdrawn,” said

Bhargava.Criticising the logic to

reduce pollution by the move,

many traders were unanimousin condemning this ill-advised

decision. They said closingvehicle movement in inner

and middle circles willchoke outer circle evenmore as it had hap-pened on June 2 (YogaDay) when traffic jamsat CP from MandiHouse, India Gate,Gole market, Baba

Kharak Singh Marg andMinto road resulted in 80

per cent loss in businesses. Manoj Aggarwal, for-

mer president of NDTA, said asper the NDMC plan, peoplewho are coming to CP will haveto park their vehicles at any ofthe three multilevel parking lotsand take e-rickshaws to reachinner circle.

“But will people who visitthe area in luxury vehicles sitin e-rickshaws to reach innercircle? They will prefer to visitmalls instead. What aboutthose families and people whocome out for drive late in theevening to eat ice-creams?They will avoid the idea of vis-iting Connaught Place alto-gether once these restrictionsare put into place,” lamentedAggrawal.

Paramjeet Kaur, a traderand former vice-president ofNDTA, said, “The parking areawas already reduced substan-tially during the CWG rede-velopment project. Palika park-ing is usually full by 11 am,while Baba Kharag Singh Margparking is too far from the mar-ket. No one will park their vehi-

cle on Hanuman Road, ShivajiStadium, KG Marg and thenwalk to CP for shopping,”

“Why don’t they experi-ment at other market placessuch as Chandni Chowk,Kashmiri Gate, Sadar Bazar,and Karol Bagh? These areasneed pedestrianisation but whyto target CP?” she asked.

“Our business has already been impacted bydemonetisation. Things werelooking better with the increasein the cash flow and wintersales in many shops but thisdecision has come as bolt fromthe blue to all of us and has leftus utterly confused. How willwe sustain businesses that maydrop by 80 per per cent? If theyexperiment with CP like this,

Continued on Page 7

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Central IndustrialSecurity Force (CISF) and

Central Reserve Police Force(CRPF) were in the news onThursday for all the wrong rea-sons. In two separate incidentsinvolving the paramilitaryforces, a CISF personnelopened fire on his colleagues inAurangabad district of Biharfollowing a dispute over leavekilling four people and a CRPFjawan posted a video on thesocial media complainingabout pay disparity with theArmy despite facing similarhardships.

Responding to these inci-dents, the Government said itwas working to ensure betterservice conditions for the per-sonnel of the paramilitary forces.

The fratricide took placeon the campus of NabinagarPower Generating Company, ajoint venture of NTPC and theBihar Government, when theCISF jawan Balbir, upset overa dispute over leave, allegedlyopened fire at his colleaguesfrom his service rifle. Balbirwho hails from Aligarh inUttar Pradesh, had reportedlycome back after a two-monthYoga course and wanted to goon leave.

According to reports,Balbir allegedly used his INSASrifle to shoot his colleagueswho had assembled for the shiftchange. After the first round offiring he was overpowered byother CISF personnel presentthere. Balbir has been arrestedby the police and the CISF hasordered a Court of Inquiry intothe incident.

While two of his colleaguesdied on the spot, two othersdied on the way to hospital.

Continued on Page 7

New Delhi: Over two monthsof Tata Sons board battle inwhich former Chairman CyrusMistry was sacked unceremo-niously, $103-billion TataGroup appointed TataConsultancy Services (TCS)chief N Chandrasekaran as itsnew Executive Chairman of theconglomerate on Thursday.

On his appointment,Chandrasekaran said, “I amhumbled and honoured to bechosen to lead a truly great insti-tution that occupies a uniqueposition in the hearts of peoplein India and the world. I amproud to have been part of theTata family for over 30 years andassuming this position is a greatprivilege. I want to thank theTata Sons Board and Ratan NTata for their confidence in meto lead this trusted institutionthat has a rich heritage.” PNS

Detailed report on P10

DEEPAK KUMAR JHA nNEW DELHI

While the Bullet Train maystill take time to become

reality, the Centre is now focus-ing on running trains at thespeed of 160 km per hourbetween Delhi and Mumbai,Delhi and Kolkata over the nexttwo years. Since there is no sep-arate Rail Budget this year,Union Finance Minister ArunJaitley may announce this megaproject worth ̀ 22,000 crore inthe Union Budget.

At present only GatimanExpress can attain the speed of160 km/hour, covering the 188km distance between Delhiand Agra in one hour 40 min-

utes. The new trains on Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Kolkatatracks will be second such setsof fast train introduced by the Narendra ModiGovernment. Nine 160 kmphcorridors are already scheduledfor introduction by 2019 forwhich feasibility study is beingconducted.

Currently, KolkataRajdhani takes over 19 hours atan average speed of less than 90km to cover 1,500 km, and

Mumbai Rajdhani takes 16hours to cover a distance ofabout 1,400 km at an averageof 88 kmph. It is expected thattravel time will be reduced by4-5 hours when the new trainsare introduced.

The Railways presentlydoes not have any classifiedhigh-speed rail (HSR) corri-dors, which support opera-tional speeds in the excess of200 km/h. The nine proposedsemi-high-speed corridors

(160kmps speed) are Delhi-Agra, Delhi-Chandigarh,Delhi-Kanpur, Nagpur-Bilaspur, Mysore-Bengaluru-Chennai, Mumbai-Goa,M u m b a i - A h m e d a b a d ,Chennai-Hyderabad andNagpur-Secunderabad.

“The Indian Railways aims to increase the speed ofpassenger trains to 160-200km/h on dedicated conven-tional tracks.

Continued on Page 7

J GOPIKRISHNAN n NEW DELHI

The Cabinet Secretariat hasclipped the Home

Ministry’s powers to grantsecurity clearances for settingup or expanding existing busi-ness venture by forming anInter-Ministerial Committee(IMC). The IMC will compriseofficials of Finance, Corporate,Commerce Ministries and NitiAyog and will have powers toveto Home Ministry’s opinions.

The order dated December7 blamed the Home Ministryfor hampering the “Ease ofdoing business” and coming inthe way of inflow of invest-ments by flagging security con-cerns against the promoters,companies and projectsinvolved.

“Though many of the issueshighlighted by the MHA/secu-rity agencies may be important,they may not be so vital as tonecessitate stoppage of the saidinvestment or project. However,the Ministry/Department orthe State Government con-cerned is not able to or willing

to take full responsibility in thisregard. They are also notinclined to either allow or dis-allow the investment or projectin the light of such observationsof security agencies. Result isthat many sizeable investments

and projects having huge poten-tial for creation of employ-ment and rejuvenation of theeconomy are getting held up.This also clearly goes against thespirit of the ‘Ease of DoingBusiness’ on which

Government has been workingseriously for the last two years,”said the two-page order.

“In view of the above situ-ation, it is necessary that thereis a mechanism to take a holis-tic view of the observations

made by security agencies oneconomic, corporate of crimi-nal proceedings involving theproponent company or itsdirectors,” it added.

As per the order, the IMCwill review the remarks of theMHA or security agencies andif the persons or companies arenot threat to national security,the projects will be given clear-ance. “Once this committee hasseen the observations made bythe MHA or the security agen-cies indicating that the invest-ment/projects, its activitiesand/or directors are not athreat to national security, itwill proceed to look into otherobservations.

“If other remarks or obser-vations of the MHA or securi-ty agencies have been found tobe inconsequential or irrelevantwith regard to any othernational or public interest, thenthe committee would recordthe same and recommend theinvestment/project,” said theOrder, providing escape routeto those persons or companiesfacing cases of economic

offences or under thePrevention of Corruption Act.

The MHA and otherMinistries were engaged in abitter tussle two years ago overproposal to grant security clear-ance to Sun TV, when its own-ers Maran brothers werechargesheeted by the CBI andEnforcement Directorate forbribing and corruption inAircel-Maxis scam and for set-ting up illegal telephoneexchange. A series of lettersbetween then I&B MinisterArun Jaitley and HomeMinister Rajnath Singh wereexchanged on this subject, bothholding contradictory posi-tions on the subject. Later, theHome Ministry toned down itsobjections. Earlier, the I&BMinistry had shut many TVchannels on adverse reportgiven by the MHA, but thepowerful South India’s mediatycoons got the clearance forrenewal of TV channel licencesand attending auction of FMradios among other thingsdespite serious case againstthe promoters.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Lucknowites had a chilldown their spines, literally,

with the city recording a min-imum temperature of 1.5degree Celsius, six degreesbelow the normal.

Director of MeteorologicalOffice, JP Gupta, said the mer-cury plunged because of theclear sky. In the past, Lucknowhad recorded -0.7 degreeCelsius temperature in 2013and 0.8 degree Celsius onJanuary 12, 2011. The Metdepartment has forecast coldwave conditions for the nextfew days. Cold conditions pre-vailed across the state and sev-eral districts recorded a lowminimum temperature on

Thursday. Sultanpur recorded1.6 degree Celsius, Agra 1.7degree Celsius, Muzaffarnagar1.9 degree Celsius, Churk andKanpur 2 degree Celsius, andHamirpur 4.2 degree Celsius.

■ Details on Page 3

‘Ease of doing biz’ clips MHA’s wings

By 2019, Centre

plans to hike train

speed to 160 km/hr

between Delhi

and Kolkata also

CRPF jawan vents ire on social media

over pay disparity; Govt ensures better

service conditions for security personnel

At 1.5

o

C, city shivers

in the dead of winter

Delhi to Mumbai in just 11 hrs in train! SC-TN face-off certain

as Jallikattu ban stays

TCS CEOChandrasekarantakes up reinsof Tata Sons

Now, Inter-Ministerial Committee can vetosecurity concerns raised by Home Ministryagainst promoters, companies, projects

businessis business

q The order provides escape routeto those persons or companiesfacing cases of economicoffences or under the Preventionof Corruption Act

q Earlier, the I&B Ministry hadshut many TV channels onadverse report given by theMHA, but the powerful SouthIndia’s media tycoons got theclearance for renewal of TVchannel licences and attendingauction of FM radios amongother things despite seriouscase against the promoters

q Inter-Ministerial Committee(IMC) will comprise officials ofFinance, Corporate, CommerceMinistries and Niti Ayog

PNS n NEW DELHI/CHENNAI

The stage is set for a show-down between the Supreme

Court and the Tamil NaduGovernment after the formerrejected a plea urging it to passjudgement on allowing Jallikattu,the bull taming sport banned bythe SC, before the harvest festi-val of Pongal on Saturday.

Even as the TNGovernment has said that itwould go ahead with Jallikattu,a Bench comprising justicesDipak Misra and R Banumathitold a group of lawyers, whorequested for the verdict, thatit was unfair to ask the Benchto pass an order.

The apex court, however,

said that the draft of the judge-ment had been prepared but itwas not possible to deliver itbefore Saturday when Jallikattuis to be organised.

The uncertainty associatedwith the conducting ofJallikattu has led to an ugly sit-uation with all leading politicalparties in TN coming out in theopen against the BJP-led NDAGovernment at the Centre.

Thousands of youths,including college studentsacross the State protested onThursday shouting slogansagainst the Narendra ModiGovernment and the BJP for itsindifference towards the ban onthe popular sport.

Continued on Page 7

People protestin support ofJallikattu inCoimbatore onThursday PTI

q The IMC will review the remarks of the MHA or security agencies and if the persons or companies are not threat to nationalsecurity, the projects will be given clearance

Livid over leave, CISF man shoots 4 colleagues

PART-IIPART-II

A bolt from the blue for Connaught Place traders

GAINING SPEED

q The new trains on Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Kolkata tracks will be second such sets offast train introduced by the Narendra ModiGovernment

q Nine 160 kmph corridors are alreadyscheduled for introduction by 2019 forwhich feasibility study is being conducted

q Presently, Kolkata Rajdhani takes over 19hours at an average speed of less than 90km to cover 1,500 km, and MumbaiRajdhani takes 16 hours to cover a distanceof about 1,400 km at an average of 88 kmph

q It is expected that travel time will bereduced by 4-5 hours when the new trainsare introduced

The site where a CISF constable opened fire inAurangabad district of Bihar on Thursday PTI

RAISING HIS VOICENew Delhi: After videos of BSFjawan Tej Bahadur Yadav went viralon the social media in which hementioned being victimised by theforce for speaking up, a video invol-ving an Army jawan complainingagainst menial jobs being given tothem has surfaced. Lance NaikYagya Pratap Singh in a video hascomplained about the Army systemsaying jawans were assigned jobsthat were not part of their duty.

Continued on Page 7

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16 VIVACITY

All eyes on EC asboth SP campsready with Plan ‘B’PNS n LUCKNOW

With all eyes on the ElectionCommission of India’s ver-

dict on the split in the 25-year-old Samajwadi Party and itstraditional symbol ‘cycle’, bothfactions of the ruling party havetheir contingency plan ready.

The Akhilesh Yadav factionwants ‘motorcycle’ as symbolwhile the Mulayam Singh Yadavsupporters have approached LokDal to allow them to use its tra-ditional symbol of ‘farmerploughing the filed (‘hal jotatakisan’).

Both factions have filed peti-tions claiming themselves to bethe real Samajwadi Party. Bothhave also staked claim on ‘cycle’as their election symbol.Mulayam Singh Yadav is camp-ing in Delhi while his cousinRam Gopal Yadav is holding forton behalf of Akhilesh Yadav.Sources said that the ChiefMinister could rush to Delhianytime, if required.

The Election Commissionhas called both factions to appearbefore it at 11:30 am on Fridayfor hearing, after which it willpronounce its verdict on thesymbol.

The sources claimed thatMulayam Singh Yadav hasapproached Lok Dal presidentSunil Singh through Amar Singhand has shown interest in con-testing polls on the traditionalsymbol of ‘hal jotata kisan’.

Sunil Singh had admittedthat some leaders close toMulayam Singh Yadav hadapproached him. “I am interest-ed in giving my symbol toMulayam as he is an old follow-er of Charan Singh and was evenelected to the Assembly for thefirst time on this symbol,” he said.

Singh was recognised as therightful representative of Lok Daland was authorised to use the

party’s symbol by ElectionCommission after a long legalbattle with Charan Singh’s sonAjit Singh. The latter had torechristian his party as RashtriyaLok Dal (RLD) with the electionsymbol of ‘hand pump’.

On the other hand, theAkhilesh camp does not lookthat perturbed any more and isnot ready to lose the sleep overthis issue. This faction has madeup the mind to settle for ‘motor-cycle’ — a free symbol availablewith the Election Commission asthe new election symbol of theoutfit.

“We want ‘cycle’ as the elec-tion symbol. By any chance if weare unable to get it, then we willopt for ‘motorcycle’ as it will helpus tell voters about our progressfrom cycle to motorcycle,” asenior SP (Akhilesh group)leader said.

“We know there can besome problem in getting ‘cycle’as the election symbol and theEC may freeze this traditionalsymbol. We have done ourhomework. We are told that‘motorcycle’ is free and available,”the senior SP leader said.

The blueprint of the cam-paign has already been pre-pared and it revolves aroundprogress from ‘cycle’ to ‘motor-cycle’. “Is it not common inevery household? We start withcycle and then switch over tomotorcycle when we progress inlife,” the leader said.

What about conveying tovoters – a good section of thembeing illiterate – about thechange in the symbol ofSamajwadi Party? Here too, theAkhilesh camp has its planready. “We have human andtechnological reach in 98 percent households in UP. In a fewdays, every SP voter will come toknow about the new symbol,” thesenior leader said.

All schools toopen today

Lucknow: In a surprise move, thedistrict administration has rolledback its order for closure of schoolsup to Class 8 till January 14. As perthe new orders, the schools willopen on Friday from 10 am to 2pm. “On orders of the districtmagistrate, schools will open fromJanuary 13 but their timing hasbeen revised,” said Lucknow BSAPM Tripathi.

city 02LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | JANUARY 13, 2017

PNS n LUCKNOW

With speculations rife overa ‘pact’ between Congress

and Samajwadi Party (AkhileshYadav faction) rife, workers andsenior leaders preparing theground to fight the Assemblypolls are annoyed in both par-ties, especially in Congress.

Only the sitting legislatorshave ‘smiles’ on their faces asthey perceive it as an ‘oppor-tunity’ to ride safely to the UPAssembly with each other’shelp.

“I was not upset with thespeculation of a Congress-SPpact. What worries me moreis how we will face the publicwhen we go together afterpublicly criticising AkhileshYadav and his governmentfor lawlessness, underdevelop-ment and the present mess inUP,” quipped a seniorCongress leader seeking tick-et from Lucknow.

“I was surprised thatsenior Congress leaders con-veniently forgot our success-ful ‘27 Saal-UP Behal’ cam-paign in which we criticisedthe Bharatiya Janata Party,the Bahujan Samaj Party andalso the ruling SamajwadiParty, holding them responsi-ble for pushing the statetowards backwardness,” theleader said.

“We may manage to get

some more seats in theAssembly election, but thetruck will do more damage tothe party in the long run andde-motivate the workers,” heopined.

Interestingly, some youthleaders who were upbeat afterRahul Gandhi assured them ofpromoting youngsters in theelections, are now depressedand have even started criticis-ing the party think-tankthrough a newly formedWhatsapp group.

“We do not expect state-ments like the one made byour chief ministerial candidateSheila Dikshit on withdrawingher candidature in favour ofAkhilesh Yadav. She evenpraised Chief MinisterAkhilesh Yadav for his workeven when a coalition is yet totake shape,” posted a frustrat-ed youth leader.

“Rightly said, Sheila willsoon turn out to be anotherRita Bahuguna Joshi for theCongress,” commented anoth-er young leader on the mes-saging site, attacking the lead-ership.

The situation inSamajwadi Party is no differ-ent than the Congress. “Weare hopeful that some seats,where the party is not ingood stead, would be given toSP youth leaders. But after therift between Mulayam Singh

Yadav and Akhilesh Yadavdamaged the party’s prospects,our future has further been hitby the proposed coalition withthe Congress,” asserted ayoung leader from theAkhilesh Yadav camp

Contrary to this, sittingMLAs of both Congress andSamajwadi Party want thetwo parties to join in the bat-tle against the Bharatiya JanataParty.

“It will be wise to go for acoalition with the SP. AfterCongress-SP pact, theCongress will definitely win atleast 50 seats, otherwise wewill not even reach double fig-ures,” said a Congress MLAfrom east UP.

Meanwhile, sources in the Congress confirmed that the party brass was closely watching the develop-ments in Samajwadi Party,particularly the fate of theparty symbol which theElection Commission is like-ly to freeze on Friday.

“If the Akhilesh Yadavgroup succeeds in procuringthe symbol, then the pactbetween the Congress andSamajwadi Party will be madeofficial within this week,” aCongress leader said, addingthat the first list of party candidates was likely to beannounced on comingSunday.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Officials of assistant region-al transport office (ARTO)

in Rae Bareli released a permita year earlier even before thedate of sale of the stamp paperon which it was issued. As aresult of this irregularity, aninsurance company had toclear a ‘claim’.

But when the irregularitywas exposed through a probeby Special Investigation Team(SIT) after intervention by theHigh Court, a case was regis-tered against the ARTO offi-cials, the vehicle owner andstamp vendor at Kotwali policestation of Rae Bareli.

As per reports, on January17, 2014, Ramnath Gaur ofOjha Ka Purwa in Rae Barelidied in a road accident after aspeeding tempo (UP33 T9926)knocked him down at KarhiyaBazaar in Salon police stationarea of Rae Bareli. The localpolice charged-sheeted tempodriver Jai Prakash Sahu in thematter in February, 2016.Ramnath’s wife subsequentlyappealed for an insuranceclaim. The tempo was insuredwith Oriental InsuranceCompany.

The insurance companyrefused to pay the ‘claim’ claim-ing that the permit of thetempo was for 15 km from RaeBareli headquarters and theaccident took place at KarhiyaBazaar which is 50 kilometresaway from the district head-quarters.

After this, tempo ownerMohammed Shariq produced a

temporary permit issued by theARTO in Rae Bareli which per-mitted the vehicle driver to takethe vehicle for repairs toPratapgarh for two days(January 16 and 17, 2014) .

Shariq said that he went toPratapgarh for repairs onJanuary 16 and was returningthe next day when the accidentoccurred.

On the basis of the tempo-rary permit, the court orderedthe insurance company to paya claim of Rs 2.5 lakh to the vic-tim’s wife. The insurance com-pany complied with the courtorder.

However, suspecting foulplay, the company moved theHigh Court which subsequent-ly asked a Special InvestigatingTeam led by ADG (SpecialInvestigation Cell), ChandraPrakash, to probe the matter.

During probe, the SITfound that the stamp paper (ofRs 10 having number33ac0569256) on which thetemporary permit was issuedby the ARTO in Rae Bareli wasissued to stamp vendor RiteshSrivastava from Collectoratetreasury on January 7, 2015.

On demand of the tempodriver, the stamp vendor putthe old date (on which the acci-dent took place) after which thepaper was used to get a tempo-rary permit from ARTO. Theprobe also pointed towardsthe involvement of ARTO clerkRamendra Singh and someother employees. A case hasnow been registered withKotwali police station and fur-ther investigations are on.

PNS n LUCKNOW

The Election Commission ofIndia has published the revised

electoral rolls of Uttar Pradesh for thecoming seven-phase Assembly electionsto be held from next month.

The number of voters in the statehas gone up by around 27 lakh. Therevised electoral rolls have 14.12 crore

voters while earlier this figure was 13.85crore.

State Chief Electoral Officer TVenkatesh said here on Thursday thatthe number of male voters was now7,68,09,778 and that of females6,44,36,122. There are 7,272 voters ofthe third gender.

Venkatesh said names of 32.36lakh voters had been deleted from the

old list, including 14.99 lakh for shift-ing to other places, 11.90 lakh due todeath and 5.53 lakh for duplication.

The revised electoral rolls haveincreased the ratio in comparison withthe Census and the voter list from 60per cent to 63 per cent while the gen-der ratio has also increased from 827women per 1000 males to 839 womenagainst 1000 males.

The presence of females in the voterlist has gone up from 6.26 crore to 6.44crore while their presence in compar-ison with the Census has also gone upto 60.36 per cent from 58.78 per cent .

In the revised voter list, around20.57 lakh new voters in the age groupof 18-19 years have been registered.Now a total of 24.53 lakh voters are inthe age group of 18-19 years.

Lucknow (PNS): Bharatiya Janata Party has announced threecandidates for the UP Legislative Council biennial elections fromgraduate and teachers constituencies. BJP state spokespersonChandramohan released the names of the three candidates afterapproval by party state president Keshav Prasad Maurya. They areJaipal Singh Vasyth from Bareilly-Moradabad graduate seat, ArunPathak from Kanpur graduate seat and Devendra Pratap Singh fromGorakhpur-Faizabad graduate seat. The election will be held onFebruary 3 and the counting will be held on February 6.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Maintaining equidis-tance from the twowarring factions of

Samajwadi Party, UP AssemblySpeaker Mata Prasad Pandeysaid that Akhilesh Yadav had agood image while MulayamSingh Yadav was their leader.

Pandey, a veteranSamajwadi Party leader, skilful-ly avoided questions on theongoing war within the SP inwhich father Mulayam SinghYadav is pitted against hisChief Minister son AkhileshYadav.

“I am the Speaker ofAssembly and will continue tohold the post till a new incum-bent takes over. It is a consti-tutional post. Please try tounderstand and do not embroilme in this political controver-sy,” Pandey told reporters inLucknow on Thursday.

When mediapersons con-tinued to hound him, theSpeaker said: “I have only thismuch to say that AkhileshYadav has a very good imagewhile Mulayam Singh Yadav isour leader.”

Pandey is considered to beclose to Mulayam Singh Yadavand had once even tried tointervene in the matter. Thoughhe is one of the legislators who

have signed affidavit in supportof Akhilesh, but he preferred tostay away from the January 1national convention in whichAkhilesh Yadav was unani-mously elected as national pres-ident of the Samajwadi Party.

The Speaker refused to saywhether the crisis in theSamajwadi Party would blowover or not. “Please spare me,”he said folding his hands.

Pandey instead chose toinform mediapersons about athree-day Mahila Sansad(women’s parliament) to beheld at Amravati in AndhraPradesh where over 400women legislators and 91women parliamentarians areexpected to participate.

“A few women legislatorsfrom UP will also attend theMahila Sansad,” he said.

Printed and Published by Vijay Prakash Singh for and on behalf of CMYK Printech Ltd., 4th Floor, Sahara Shopping Centre, Faizabad Road, Lucknow-226016 and Printed at Tin Tin Printech Pvt Ltd., C-33 Amausi Industrial Area, Nadarganj, Lucknow. Tel: (0522) 2438656 / 9336266608.

Editor: Chandan Mitra. Resident Editor: Vijay Prakash Singh. RNI No. 2016/57. Lucknow Telephones: EPABX: 4036600 Fax: 2345582. Allahabad Office: (95532) 2420818, 2421018, 3290460. Kanpur Office: (95512) 2304006, 2304416. Varanasi Office: (95542) 2414294, 2414295. Delhi

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PNS n LUCKNOW

The Lucknow DevelopmentAuthority (LDA) has

taken the initiative for organ-ising a special camp whichwill be held on weekends toimpart training to its womenstaffers for poll duty. It willcontinue till the conclusion ofthe forthcoming UP Assemblyelections in March this year.

A source said thatThursday was the first day andfrom now onwards it will beheld every Saturday. A largenumber of staffers turned upat the camp and showed theirkeen interest in knowing thepoll procedures.

The initiative to hold aseparate camp for them wastaken by its Vice-Chairman,Satyendra Singh. Its instruc-tors are women officers.

The source said that theseparate camp was being heldto ensure better interactionbetween the instructors andsupervisors where they didnot hesitate in meeting eachother and discussing theirproblems.

The separate camp would

ensure that they did not haveto shy away while makingqueries from their male offi-cers, he said.

The staffers too will havea better concept of the pollprocedures while interactingwith the female instructors.

They are being preparedso that they can be deployedat the women polling booths. It may be recalled thatthe state government hadmade special arrangementsfor the women voters by set-ting up exclusive booths forthem.

They were given lessonson the basics like how tocheck and verify the voters’names and identity cards withthe lists issued by the ElectionCommission.

They were also told onwhich finger they had to markthe ink.

The source said that itsemployees would be kept onstandby election duty. Theywould be deployed at anypolling station of the statecapital where there was short-age of staff or in case ofemergency, he added.

Lucknow (PNS): The dis-trict administration has askedbanks to provide special servicesto candidates of Assembly pollfor opening accounts beforenominations. All poll expendi-ture will have to be made onlythrough these accounts.

In this regard, a meeting withrepresentatives of various bankswas held at Collectorate onThursday. ADM (Executive) anddeputy district electoral officer,Avinash Singh briefed the bankofficers about their duties as perguidelines of ElectionCommission of India (ECI).

“The EC has directed that allcandidates will open a separatebank account before filing nom-inations. All expenditure for pollcampaign will have to be madefrom the account,” said ChiefTreasury Officer (CTO) SanjaySingh. The bank officers wereasked to open accounts of candi-dates and provide all necessaryfacilities to them at the earliest.They were also asked to open spe-cial counters for the candidatesand ensure banking services thereonly. The banks were also direct-ed to issue proper documentswhile transportin

Lucknow (PNS): The coming UP Assemblyelection will be having the electronically-trans-mitted postal ballot for the first time. The JointCEO, Chief Election Office, JP Singh, while talking to The Pioneer here on Thursday saidthat this ballot would be for a specific group ofpeople.

Singh said the electronically-transmittedpostal ballot was a sensitive electronic file whichcould only be downloaded with a specific PINgenerated by the Returning Officer at the timeof issuing it. “The PIN is unique and ensures thatonly the voter for whom it is generated down-loads the ballot paper. The individual receivesthe ballot paper on his/her mail and downloadsit and then sends it to the Returning Officerthrough Postal Department.” He further said theelectronically-transmitted ballot would be a firstin the UP Assembly elections and in the coun-try it was the last used in the Pudducherry bypolla few months ago.

The official said that this would be for twogroups of people. “The services category can votethrough this system including army personnel,people from Central armed forces, army jawans

deployed in other states and armymen in mis-sions abroad. The other category is of peoplewho have registered themselves as voters and areworking under various missions abroad.

The official pointed out that this would onlybe for certain constituencies in the state and notfor all. “We are not having this facility for all theconstituencies because of the infrastructural sup-port which is required since ballot papers fordifferent constituencies will be different. But weintend to take it to all the constituencies of thestate,” he said.

Explaining the modalities of the system, hesaid the list of those in the services category hadto be electronically transmitted to the recorddepartment. “This is because of the sensitiveissue of army locations while the other peopleare reached through the various missionsunder which they are working abroad,” he said.

On being asked why this facility was notopen for the students, senior citizens andother people who wanted to vote but were notpresent in the constituency, the official said thatthey were expected to be present in their respec-tive constituency at the time of voting.

Lucknoe (PNS): There are 35,11,619 voters in all the nineAssembly constituencies in Lucknow district and they will be exer-cising their right to franchise in the coming elections. This fig-ure was released by the district election office after publicationof the revised electoral rolls on Thursday. As per the data, in thethree-month-long revision of the electoral rolls, 37,104 first timevoters have been registered in the voter lists — 21,747 male, 15,356female voters and one third gender voter.

During the revision, names of 1,28,211 voters were added tothe voter list — 62,692 males, 65,514 females and 5 third gendervoters. Besides, 59,917 names were deleted from the voter lists,including 29,378 males, 30,533 females and six third gender vot-ers. In all the nine constituencies, Sarojininagar has the highestnumber (4,95,198) of voters — 2,68,950 males and 2,26,832 female,which is also the highest in comparison to other constituencies.Lucknow West constituency has the highest number (27) of thirdgender voters.

Malihabad constituency has 3,40,190 — 1,83,499 males,1,56,687 females and four of third gender. Bakshi Ka Talab has3,95,200 voters — 2,13,566 males, 1,81,629 females and five ofthird gender. Sarojininagar has 4,95,798 voters — 2,68,950 males, 2,26,832 females and 16 of third gender. Lucknow West has3,87,354 voters — 2,10,634 males, 1,76,693 females and 27 of thirdgender. Lucknow North has 3,98,928 voters — 2,16,048 males,1,82,865 females and 15 of third gender. Lucknow East has 4,21,003voters — 2,24,794 males, 1,96,195 females and 14 of thirdgender. Lucknow Central has 3,66,305 voters — 1,96,750 males,1,69,553 females and two of third gender. LucknowCantonment has 3,66,414 voters — 1,99,605 males, 1,66,789females and 20 of third gender. Mohanlalganj has 3,40,427 vot-ers — 1,81,116 males, 1,59,295 females and 16 of third gender.

There is still a chance for eligible voters whose names are notincluded in the voter list to get themselves registered. They canapply for voter registration till the first day of nomination of can-didates — January 24.

Pandey avoids questions

on ongoing feud in SP

UP Assembly Speaker Mata Prasad Pandey speaking at a conference in TandonHall of Vidhan Bhawan in Lucknow on Thursday Pioneer

Cong workers not too happyabout prospects of tie-up

Fake insurance claim

racket unearthed by

SIT in Rae Bareli

Council polls: BJP announces 3 candidates

27 lakh new voters in revised electoral roll

37,104 first time voters in Lko dist

LDA to organise special

camps for poll duty training

for women staffers

Banks to make special arrangement for A/Csof polls contestants

Electronically-transmitted postal ballot to be used for first time in UP Assembly poll


PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Prime suspect in the rape andmurder of a BA (I) Dalit

student, Isaq confessed to bru-talising the victim as he want-ed to make her his concubinewhich was spurned by the girl.

Isaq made the confessionon being presented beforemediapersons after his arreston Wednesday night by aCrime Branch team led byASP Dr Sanjay Kumar.

Isaq said that he had beenin love with the girl for sever-al years and had even elopedwith her a year back. But afterthe issue snowballed, the vic-tim’s family sought help of vil-lagers elders who ordered Isaqto marry another girl of hiscommunity and leave the vic-tim.

But despite promising tothe Panchayat, Isaq's fancy forthe girl did not wean away. Hecontinued to call her at oddtimes and the girl allegedlyresponded to his calls.

He confessed that he hadthreatened the girl after herparents settled her marriagewith another youth. The inves-tigators found that Isaq hadeven threatened the groom-to-be.

Scared of losing his beauafter her marriage, Isaq start-ed trailing her soon after sheleft for her college on a tempoon the fateful day. On reachinga crossing near the college, Isaqcame close to the tempo andasked her to accompany him.Since the victim feared him, sheallowed his diktat.

On reaching the Link Roadgoing to Jhavar village ofSandila police station ofHardoi, Isaq switched off hiscellphone so that his locationcould not be traced. He latertook her to a forest area wherehe allegedly raped her.

Having streaks of a habit-ual criminal, Isaq tried to throt-tle her but the girl cried forhelp. To snuff out her screams,he gagged her. To defend her-self, the victim bit him on hisright thumb and Isaq retaliat-ed by biting on her cheek caus-ing a deep wound. Finally,after strangling her, Isaqtorched her clothes with alighter and left the scene believ-ing that she would be burnt toashes and the crime will neverbe exposed.

But the body did not burncompletely and her face,although had burns, could beidentified. After her photo-graph went viral, the family

succeeded in ascertaining heridentity and Isaq's lies werenailed.

ASP (Crime) SanjayKumar said that Isaq broughtthe school bag and mobile ofthe victim with him. “He threwthe school bag in a river andtook the cell phone to hishome. After searching her con-versation details in the phone,he threw it in a river,” he said.

The ASP said that the vic-tim’s cellphone was active onthe day Isaq killed her and its

location was traced to Piparivillage where Isaq belonged.“We are searching the bag andmobile phone as they will serveas clinching evidences againstthe killer during the trial,” hesaid.

The officer said the chargeof rape will be added after theforensic test report wasobtained. “Circle officer,Malihabad has been asked toprobe the case as the girlbelonged to SC/ST communi-ty,” said the ASP.

Lucknow (PNS):Complaints of fraud againstthe UP’s ‘Natwarlal’ AbhishekNigam continue to pour inwith a steel utensil manufac-turer of Jodhpur and a schoolbag manufacturer of Mumbailodging a case of fraud with theHazratganj police on Thursday.

In their complaint, NakodaSteel Factory owner Jinendraand bag factory owner Dhanrajalleged that they were contact-ed by Abhishek’s men sometime back and informed thatthe UP government was to

purchase steel utensils andschool bags.

“The project was in croreso we got ready for the deal.We were introduced toAbhishek, who claimed to bea minister. Abhishek remainedsurrounded by policemenwhen we met him at differentluxurious hostels in Lucknowand gave him big cash as anadvance sum for facilitating thedeal,” they alleged. Theydemanded action against thefraudster. A case has been reg-istered in this connection.


Taking advantage of the non-existent night patrolling by

the police, thieves made off withgold ornaments weighing 1.5kg(worth Rs 50 lakh) after break-ing a chest at a jeweller’s shopin Indira Nagar on the interven-ing night of Tuesday andWednesday.

As per reports, Krishnahariof Indira Nagar as a jewelleryshop at Munshipulia crossing.He closed the shop around 9pm on Tuesday and did notcome to open it on Wednesdaydue to the weekly closure ofmarket in the area.

When he reached the shopon Thursday morning andupped the shutter, he found thedoor to stairs broken. As hechecked out the almirah, hefound its locks broken.

“The miscreants had bro-

ken the locks and cut the chestin which I had kept the orna-ments,” he told police.

ASP (Crime) Sanjay Kumarsaid that a team of surveillancecell sleuths besides a field unitconsisting of a forensic scientistand sniffer dogs were pressedinto service.

“The sniffers gave us pre-liminary clue about the miscre-ants. The surveillance cell has

been asked for BTS mapping totrack the numbers which werefound active at the time of inci-dent. The suspected numberswill be put on surveillance andwe hope to crack the heft casesoon,” he said. The ASP estimat-ed the heist at Rs 40 lakh. “Thejeweller has been asked to pro-vide details of the gold orna-ments which were stolen. TheCrime Branch sleuths have alsoactivated their informers’ net-work,” he added.

Meanwhile, in Wazirganj,thieves stole goods worth Rs1.24 lakh and Rs 4,800 in cashfrom a grocery shop onWednesday night. Janak RamYadav runs the shop in JawaharNagar (opposite Hathi Park) inWazirganj. He said the thievescut the tin shed over his shopon Wednesday night anddecamped with the goods andcash.


Lucknowites had a chilldown their spines, liter-ally, with the city record-

ing a minimum temperature of1.5 degree Celsius, six degreesbelow the normal. Director ofMeteorological Office, JPGupta said the mercuryplunged because of the clearsky.

In the past, Lucknow hadrecorded -0.7 degree Celsiustemperature in 2013 and 0.8degree Celsius on January 12,2011. The Met departmenthas forecast cold wave condi-tions for the next few days.

Cold conditions prevailedacross the state and several dis-tricts recorded a low mini-mum temperature onThursday. Sultanpur recorded1.6 degree Celsius, Agra 1.7degree Celsius, Muzaffarnagar1.9 degree Celsius, Churk andKanpur 2 degree Celsius, andHamirpur 4.2 degree Celsius.

It has been a long winterfor Lucknowites with foggyconditions being followed byclear skies and biting cold.People were seen wrapped inwoollens and trying to warm

themselves in the sun.Complaints of fingers beingcold throughout the day wascommon on Thursday.

Snowfall in the hillsbrought the chilly north west-erly winds adding to the coldin Lucknow. While sunny skiesbrought some respite in themorning, the state capital

recorded a maximum tem-perature of 18.9 degree Celsiuson Thursday, three degreesbelow normal.

Medical experts advisedintake of warm fluids andavoiding exposure during theharsh conditions. Theyadvised against moving fromwarm interiors to open cold

areas. Senior citizens wereadvised to protect themselvesand cover the ears and head.The Met department predict-ed the sky will be clear onFriday and the minimum tem-perature

likely to drop to 1 degreeCelsius. Cold wave conditionsat a few places and severe cold

wave conditions at isolatedplaces are expected.

Lucknow MunicipalCorporation has arrangedbonfire and shelter homes inthe city to save the homelessfrom the ongoing cold wave.

At present, there are 373bonfire points across the citywhere the LMC drops nearly40 kilograms of wood in theevening. The municipal offi-cials have also placed bannersat the bonfire points. Thesebonfires are lit at public placeslike hospitals, bus and taxistands, railway stations etc.,”said LMC official in-charge forbonfire, Malay Dhar.

Similarly, the LMC hasmade arrangements for thehomeless at 23 shelter homesacross the city. Provision ofdrinking water, blankets, pil-lows and lavatories have beenensured for the people spend-ing the night there.

“We have appointed care-takers in every shelter home toensure that people comingthere get all facilities.Caretakers have been directedto keep the shelter homesopen all day and night for thepeople,” said zonal officer(Zone-1) Ashok Singh.

Mercury plunges as sun shines

Lucknow records lowest temperature at 1.5 deg Celsius

Rape and murder: Accused

confesses to crime

PRABHA SHANKER n LUCKNOW

First time in the pastdecade, a case under

Section 166 (A) was registeredagainst SO (Maal) MustaqimAhmad and Pipari police out-post incharge SurendraSonkar (in connection withthe murder and rape of a BAstudent) for delaying registra-tion of case even though theaggrieved family had namedthe accused.

Locals welcomed thestern move by SSP (Lucknow)Manzil Saini against the twocops on the line of actiontaken against lax police per-sonnel in the Nirbhaya rapeand murder case. They saidthe police would now hope-fully work without bias andprejudice and try to hep peo-ple in distress.

ASP (Crime) SanjayKumar said that after theNirbhaya rape and murdercase in Delhi rocked the coun-try, this section of IPC wasbrought into force to addresscomplaints in which a policeofficer refuses to register acase/entertains a complaint inwhich a woman is a victim.

The officer said that thegovernment had made provi-sions stricter in cases of crimeagainst women, where apolice officer is found lax inhis duty or negligent deliber-ately. “Maal SO and Piparioutpost incharge have beensuspended and a recommen-dation seeking permissionfrom the ElectionCommission has been sent forfurther action,” the ASP said.

Old timers in Lucknowpolice said that they wit-nessed such action beingtaken against supine cops for

the first time in the last onedecade.

“There have been severalcases of rape and murder inthe state capital and the policewere accused of being slug-gish in approach but neverwas such strict action taken.This (action) will prove to bea deterrent for cops who donot register case, shoo awayvictims for ‘unknown rea-sons’ and will definitely helpin making police moreaccountable to crime cases inwhich women are victims,”they said.

The Maal SO was accusedof playing dilly-dallying tac-tics when the victim’s parentswent to him seeking help tolocate their missing daughter.He was also accused of taunt-ing the victim’s family sayingthat the was an adult and thatshe might have eloped withsome person of her choice.

Not only this, the victim’sfamily had named Isaq thevery day when the girl wentmissing. But the station offi-cer dismissed the allegation asbaseless saying that the girlwas in love with the accusedand that the family also knewof it and even confrontedeach other on the issue.

The SO knew that Isaqwas forcing the girl to livewith him but he was notready to marry her. Evensome village elders hadadvised Isaq to leave the girl.

“Isaq had good rapportwith some cops posted at theMaal police station. So whenthe issue cropped up, thepolice sided with him insteadof working as per norms.The cops even did not carethat the girl was a Dalit andwere unsympathetic towards

FIR against two cops

for delaying FIR


The rail traffic on Lucknow-Kanpur route was disrupted

after eight wagons of a goodstrain derailed near Magarwarrailway station on Thursday. At5.40 pm, the goods train carry-ing gravel derailed on the downline. No injury was reported inthe mishap. Senior officials ofNorthern Railway rushed tothe site to assess the damage andclear the route.

Senior DivisionalCommercial Manager, NR,Shivendra Shukla said eightwagons of the goods trainsderailed on Lucknow-Kanpurroute but no one was injured inthe accident. The cause of derail-ment is still unknown.

The NR administration can-celled the seven MEMU trainsbetween Lucknow and Kanpurbesides Kanpur ParatapgarhIntercity Express (14124/23) forThursday and Friday.

Kaifiat Express (12226) andVaishali Express (12554) werediverted on Hapur-Moradabad-Lucknow route while Gwalior-Barauni Mail (11124), BiharSampark Kranti (12566) andSabarmati Express (19165) onKanpur-Allahabad-Prayag-Varanasi route. Lucknow-DelhiGomti Express (12420) wasshort-terminated at Kanpur rail-way station. It will originate fromKanpur until Lucknow-Kanpurrail route gets restored. Thetrack restoration work was start-ed by the NR officials and theroute is likely to be cleared byFriday afternoon.


Adelegation of the LucknowDevelopment Authority

Employees’ Union (LDAEU)met its Vice-Chairman at ameeting here on Thursday andapprised him of the growingnumber of unauthorised struc-tures in the residential areas aswell as at the commercial centres.

The members alleged thatits competent authorities, whowere engaged in planning theanti-encroachment drives, weremore interested in implement-ing the amended BuildingRules-2016 instead of removingthe illegal structures which hadsprung in the city on a largescale. Interestingly, no suchdrive had been launched dur-

ing the past six months.LDA Vice-Chairman

Satyendra Singh accepted thefact that neither any anti-encroachment drive had beenplanned or launched during thepast several months as itsauthorities were engaged inchalking out a strategy forimproving and streamlining itsadministrative structure tobring transparency.

He told this reporter that anintensive drive would belaunched after March this yearafter the completion of the UPAssembly election.

When the members askedthe officers attending the meet-ing why so much importancewas being given to the amend-ed rules the Vice-Chairmanreplied that the main reason for

it was to generate funds for theLDA. But this explanation hadfailed to convince its employees.They said that the entire issuelacked transparency. Describingit as a conspiracy, the membersurged the officers to throwlight on its credibility.

The Vice-Chairman reiter-ated that the amended ruleswere not a part of any conspir-acy and said that they were notbeing revised under the influ-ence of any lobby. The purposebehind their effective imple-mentation was to improve thefinancial status of LDA.

They said that it was bychance that only influentialpersons figured in the first listreleased in November last year.It may be pointed out here thatonly the influential persons

had applied for making achange in the status of their res-idential area so as to make it acommercial one as soon as therules were amended.

A senior officer, who wasattending the meeting, on con-dition of anonymity said thatthe amended rules could berevoked if only the Vice-Chairman took the initiative.He said that the procedure forthis was not that complicated.What they had to do was tosend a proposal to the state gov-ernment that the revised ruleswould not benefit the residentsor the citizens.

Interestingly, this was thefirst time when the employeescame together to oppose thearbitrary rules and joined handswith the residents.

Girls making rangoli at AP Sen Hall on Thursday ahead of Lucknow University’s convocation Pioneer

Another complaint lodgedagainst UP’s ‘Natwarlal’

Thieves make off withornaments worth `50L

Rail traffic disrupted as

goods train derails

LDAEU team concerned over encroachments

Eight wagons ofthe goods trainsderailed onLucknow-Kanpurroute but no onewas injured in the accident

A TEAM OF

SURVEILLANCE CELL

SLEUTHS BESIDES A

FIELD UNIT

CONSISTING OF A

FORENSIC SCIENTIST

AND SNIFFER DOGS

HAVE BEEN PRESSED

INTO SERVICE

Lucknow (PNS): TheArchaeological Survey of Indiawent cashless from Thursday.Superintending archaeologist(ASI) NK Pathak told ThePioneer that they had installedswipe machines at the majormonuments and by the end ofthis month, the machines wouldbe installed at all the monu-ments in Lucknow circle. Headded that the ASI spreadawareness about the cashlessfacility among the youth at thevarious monuments on theoccasion of National Youth Day.He admitted that going cashlesswas helpful for foreign tourists.“This will help the foreigntourists in a big way as they canpurchase tickets with ease. It willalso help ASI become transpar-ent and get other benefits ofcashless transactions,” he said.

He, however, admitted thatin the beginning, they wouldkeep the option paymentsthrough cash open till the timeit was feasible to be totallycashless. Asked if the flow oftourists would get slackened atthe time of the polling season,he said it was not the case.

ISHANT KRISHNA n LUCKNOW

Directives of the Healthdepartment notwithstand-

ing, the facility to connectblood banks online and turnthem into e-blood banks hasbeen delayed by more than ayear. The facility was aimed atcurbing blood wastage andcrackdown on black marketingof the life fluid.

The state has around 230registered blood banks - gov-ernment and private. InLucknow, as many as 47 bloodbanks were to be made onlineincluding blood banks in RamManohar Lohia Hospital,Balrampur Hospital and KingGeorge’s Medical University.

In order to provide infor-mation about these registeredblood banks on a portal, a pro-ject was undertaken under theNational Health Mission.However, the implementationof the project went haywire.

Sources in Health depart-ment said that the project gotstuck as the rate contract forpurchase of bar code printerand scanner along with com-puters could not be finalised.This led to the delay in pur-chase of necessary infrastruc-ture required to operate theproject.

Though the project wasmooted an year ago, virtuallyno progress has been made toconnect blood banks online.When approached, KGMUhospital administration brassclaimed to have written sever-al times to NHM and NACO

but the guidelines were notannounced to streamline pur-chase of necessary equipment.The situation was similar inother blood banks of the state.

As per plan, transfer ofblood and other blood compo-nents was to be permittedamong the blood banks in anysector like public, NGO andprivate under the project.

The Indian MedicalAssociation (Lucknow chapter)had hailed the move, sayingthat online data about blood atthe state and district levelscould be of great help to indi-viduals and families looking forblood. The move was alsointended at controlling themenace of black-marketing ofblood. While admitting thatthere was no guideline for pur-chasing necessary equipmentearlier, the NHM officials saidthat the new guidelines havebeen sent to hospitals alongwith the budget.

Despite Health dept directive,

e-blood banks a far cry

ASI goes cashless


U.P. RAJYA VIDYUTUTPADAN NIGAMLIMITED. OBRATHARMAL POWERSTATION OBRA-

SONEBHADRA SHORT TERMTENDER NOTICE 1. SHORTTERM TENDER NOTICE NO.T- 1 4 / B M D - I ( 3 x 2 0 0 M W ) /BTPS/2016-17 2. OFFICE :Executive Engineer, BMD-I,3X200MW, 'B'TPS, Obra. 3.WORK : The work of Repairingand Servicing of CBD(Continuous Blow Down)Expander tank & safety valveswith replacements of H.P./L.P.valves in Unit no. 11, 3x200 mw, BTPS Obra.4. EARNESTMONEY: Rs. 4,000.00 only (Rs.Four Thousand Only) 5. TEN-DER COST : Rs. 300.00 [email protected]%= Rs. 344.00 only 6.PERIOD : 30 DAYS 7. ESTD.TENDER VALUE : Rs. 1.80Lac approx. 8. DUE DATE OFOPENING OF TENDER :PART-I: 27.01.2017 (16.00Hours) PART-II : 30.01.2017(16.00 Hours) NOTE: - The ten-der documents shall not be sold;Only The downloaded versionsof the tender notice and speci-fication shall be treated as offi-cial and shall have to be essen-tially displayed at the time of ten-der evaluation. EXECUTIVEENGINEERSHORT TERM TENDERNOTICE TENDER NO. : ST-05/CHE.DIV./BTPS/2016-17NAME OF DIVISION :Executive Engineer, ChemistryDivision, OTPS, Obra-Sonebhadra NAME OF WORK: Major overhauling work of clar-ifier of Chemistry division.,BTPS and overhauling/replace-ment of its valves includingmounting of its auxiliaries.EARNEST MONEY: Rs.6950.00 only TENDER COST :Rs. 500.00 + Rs. 75.00 (VAT)PERIOD : Fortyfive Days ESTI-MATED VALUE : Rs. 3.46 LacsTENDER SUBMISION DATE &TIME : 27.01.2017 (13:00 hrs.)OPENING DATE : PART-I:27.01.2017 at 16.00 HoursPART-II : 30.01.2017 at 16.00Hours NOTE: - The tender doc-uments shall not be sold. Onlydownloaded versions of thetender notice & specificationshall be treated as official andshall have to be essentially dis-played & available at websitewww.uprvunl.org. shall be treat-ed and accepted. EXECUTIVEENGINEER CHEMISTRY DIVI-SIONSHORT TERM TENDERNOTICE 1. TENDER NOTICENO. : ST-01/CSD-II/BTPS/2016-17 2. OFFICE : ExecutiveEngineer, Central Store Division-II 'B'TPS, Obra. 3. WORK :Cleaning of open area, CleaningJungle including uprooting ofrank vegetation, Grass, ThickBushes and saplings of girth etc.and Shifting of obstructing Scrapfrom area between switch yard& CW Pump House Canal tomake space to put scrap of dis-mantling boiler of unit no. -12.4. EARNEST MONEY: Rs.6,000.00 5. TENDER COST :Rs. 250.00 +VAT as applicable6. PERIOD : 07 Days 7. ESTD.TENDER VALUE : Rs. 2.95Lacs 8. LAST DATE OFRECEPIT OF TENDER TILL:20.01.2017 (up to 1300 Hrs.) 9.DUE DATE OF OPENING OFTENDER : PART-1 =20.01.2017 (16.00 Hours)PART-2 = 21.01.2017 (16.00Hours) NOTE: - The tenderdocuments shall not be sold;Only The downloaded versions(available in Nigam's website:www.uprvunl.org) of the tendernotice and specification shall betreated as official and shallhave to be essentially displayedat the time of tender evaluation.EXECUTIVE ENGINEER No.14 Date 11.1.2017 "SAVEELECTRICITY IN THE INTER-EST OF NATION"

Lucknow (PNS): With thruston creating a technology platformfor growth and development ofsmall and medium enterprises(SMEs) and startups, UttarPradesh (UP) should aim to cre-ate about 80 lakh new jobs in nextfive years, noted an ASSOCHAMagenda for inclusion in electionmanifesto of political parties infray for upcoming assembly polls.

“UP has recorded impressiveeconomic growth during thecourse of past few years, the stateholds significant potential tobecome front-runner if it carrieson with the momentum and isable to attain double digit growthduring next five years,” noted theASSOCHAM pre-election agen-da which has been submitted toleaders of major political parties.

It should also be noted thatUP’s economic growth not onlysurpassed India’s economicgrowth in FY15 but the state’s con-tribution to India’s economy hasshown consistent improvementowing to stability in economic


General secretary of AllIndia Railwaymen’s

Federation (AIRF), Shiv GopalMishra, said that the meetingof the National Joint Councilof Action (NJCA) had beenscheduled on January 17 todiscuss the future strategy ontheir pending demands.

“Earlier when the strikefor the pending demands wasproposed at a meeting with theRailway Minister it wasassured that within fourmonths they would be ful-filled. But so far no progresshad been made in this regard.We have called a meeting ofthe AIRF on January 16 andNJCA on January 17 afterwhich the Railway Ministrywould be given time for con-ceding the demands,” saidMishra while talking toreporters on the sidelines ofthe Yuva Parv organised by theNorthern Railway Men’sUnion (NRMU) at the DRM’soffice here on Thursday.

The AIRF has demandedthat changes should be madein the new pension scheme,their minimum wages shouldbe increased from Rs 18,000 to

Rs 26,000 and the allowancesgiven to the railway employeesshould also be increased.

Speaking about the recentupdates on the AIRF’sdemands, he said some of themeasures had been taken bythe Railway Ministry in favourof the employees like the tech-nical ones had been givenpromotions which was wel-comed but the matter of con-cern was the privatisation ofIndian Railways which wewould continue to oppose.

Expressing grief over therecent train derailments andthe loss of lives, he said thatthey were making efforts tobring together all the safetycategories.

The then Union Railway

Minister, Nitish Kumar, hadstarted a ‘Safety Samvaad’ toimprove railway safety butlater it was stopped. “There arethree things which have affect-ed railway safety a lot which are vacant safety posts,irregular maintenance and useof poor materials,” he added.

Mishra said that when therailway unions mounted pres-sure, the Central Governmenthad to issue orders for payinggratuity to the railway employ-ees which had now beenincluded in the new pensionscheme. Similarly the produc-tivity-linked bonus was dou-bled for the railway employeesand its arrears too were givento them.


Exhorting youths to followthe ideals of Swami

Vivekananda, Governor RamNaik on Thursday said thatIndia would have the highestyouth population in theworld in 2025 and it wasimportant to show them theright path.

“India is world’s largestdemocracy. The country willhave highest youth popula-tion in the year 2025. Theyouth are a valuable asset forthe country and it is impor-tant to give them the rightdirection. The youth shouldwork on developing theirpersonality along with educa-tion. Swami Vivekanandahad an inspiring personalityand youth could seek inspi-ration from him,” theGovernor said.

“Youths should take aresolve to follow in the foot-steps of Swami Vivekananda,”Naik said while speaking atan event organised to felici-tate youths for their contribu-tion in their respective fieldson the occasion of anniver-sary of Swami Vivekananda,observed as National YouthDay. The programme wasorganised by Guide SamajSansthan at NationalResearch Laboratory for

Conservation of CulturalProperty. Naik felicitatedLucknow’s former DistrictMagistrate Raj Shekhar,young entrepreneur GauravPrakash, Ajit Singh, UjjwalNigam, Harsh Vardhan andothers.

Giving a four-fold pathfor personality development,the Governor said, “Youthshould stay happy and bearsmile on their face. Theyshould also appreciate thegood qualities in others andmake attempt at imbibingsuch qualities. Youth shouldnot make others feel small intheir company and should tryto make efforts for improvingevery work they do.”

The Governor calledupon those having attainedthe age of 18 to vote and per-form their democratic duty.

“The public has the rightto chose eligible candidate aswell as government in theelections,” he said. Naik alsoasked the people to exercisetheir voting rights in largenumber to increase the vot-ing percentage than thatrecorded in the previousAssembly elections.

Former Lokayukta SCVerma, Director General BBKhadbade, organiser InduSubhash and others attendedthe event.

GUV MEETS NAVNEET SEHGAL (PRA3-4)Governor Ram Naik on Thursday visited

the residence of Principal Secretary(Information) Navneet Sehgal to ask about hiswell-being. Sehgal has been advised rest afterhe met with a road accident on November 18last year. Sehgal presented a novel titled‘Ishwarav Se Purv Satya Swarup Ramayan’ tothe Governor. The novel is written by Sehgal’sfather-in-law Shri Ram Verma and designedby wife Vandana Sehgal.

LEOPARD BROUGHT TO ZOO

A male leopard was brought to Lucknowzoo on Thursday. Zoo director AnupamGupta said that the leopard was caught inNaina village of Lakhimpur Kheri by the WTIteam. “The leopard bears injury on right foot.He was in deep stress and has been hospi-talised. The leopard is being kept under med-ical observation at the zoo hospital,” he said.

ARMED FORCES VETERANS’ DAYJanuary 14 has been earmarked as Armed

Forces Veterans’ Day. Accordingly, January 14

will be commemorated as first Armed ForcesVeterans’ Day in Lucknow garrison as mark ofrespect and recognition towards the servicerendered by Field Marshal KM Cariappa,Order of the British Empire (OBE), the firstIndian Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of theIndian Army who led the Indian Forces to vic-tory in the 1947 war. The commemorations atLucknow will start with the wreath laying cer-emony at the Smritika war memorial followedby a veterans’ rally at Surya Auditorium. Inaddition, a medical and dental camp and otherallied veterans’ services are being extendedtowards the welfare of the veterans’ during theday.

LOHRI CELEBRATIONS TODAYThe Punjabi and Sikh community will be

celebrating Lohri on Friday night. Primarilya harvest festival. Lohri will see people gath-er around bonfires and sing and dance. Peoplealso visit gurudwaras in the morning. Theoccasion is akin to Makarsankranti which iscelebrated by Hindus when there is a shift fromwinters to spring.

DIGITAL PAYMENTEco clubs, Paryavaran Mitra schools and

students took the opportunity to educate thesupport staff as also people around them aboutdigital payments on Thursday on the occasionof National Youth Day. Senior project coordi-nator (CEE) Preeti Kannaujia said it was doneout under the initiative of the Ministry ofEnvironment Forests and Climate Change.Youths and organisations were called upon toteach people about digital payments.

CMS STUDENT GETSHONG KONG UNIVSCHOLARSHIP

Arbaaz Qamer, a student ofCity Montessori School, GomtiNagar (Campus I), has got anopportunity to pursue gradu-ation in the Hong KongUniversity. The university willprovide a HK$ 1,86,000 schol-arship per year to Arbaaz.CMS chief PRO HariomSharma said their studentswere creating new records ofselection for higher studies byforeign universities. He saidthat in the past five decades,CMS had been striving hard toimpart material, human anddivine education to its students,making them total quality per-sons and CMS teachers weresteering this mission farther.

activities during the tenure of thepresent regime. UP’s contribu-tion to India’s economy haddeclined from 8.78 per cent in2004-05 to 7.97 per cent in 2011-12, but thereafter it picked upgradually to reach 8.16 per cent in2014-15.

“ASSOCHAM Special TaskForce on Uttar Pradesh has for-mulated a ‘Sustainable ActionPlan,’ to achieve double digitgrowth in the state in next fiveyears to help UP enter the ‘highincome club of states’,” said thechamber’s secretary general DSRawat. UP should aim to sustaincurrent level of workforce partic-ipation rate of about 33 per centfor working age group of 15-30years, about 1.40 crore people arealready a part of the workforce.

Promoting non-crop activitieslike animal husbandry, dairying,fisheries, floriculture, horticul-ture and poultry to create newemployment opportunities,strengthening self-employmentand entrepreneurship develop-ment programs, ensuring ade-quate and timely supply of cred-it at reasonable cost together withreforming existing labour laws arecertain key suggestions to shore upemployment scenario in UP.

Though UP attracted out-standing investments worth aboutRs nine lakh crore registeringcompounded annual growth rate(CAGR) of over 23 per cent dur-ing the nine year period between2006-07 and 2015-16, ensuringeffective implementation shouldbe the key priority of the new stategovernment.

‘Tech platform for SMEs tocreate 80 lakh jobs in UP’

SCHOOLSCAN

CITYBRIEFS

Governor Ram Naik at the residence of Principal Secretary (Information) Navneet Sehgal on Thursday Pioneer

NJCA meet to discuss strategy


Road mishaps claimed asmany as 13 lives in

Azamgarh and LakhimpurKheri during the last 24 hours.

In Azamgarh, half-a-dozen persons, including awoman and two kids, werekilled and two others sus-tained serious injuries when acar rammed into a stationarytruck in Kaptanganj lateWednesday night.

As per reports, two fami-lies were going by a car toAsifganj from LakhimpurKheri on Wednesday night.The car driver failed to noticea stationary truck parked onAzamgarh-Faizabad road nearTerahi power sub-station andrammed into it. The impactleft six occupants dead. WhilePulkesh Charo (32), his wifeShilpi Soni (30), daughter

Chahat Charo (10) andMahesh Soni (30) died on thespot, four others received seri-ous injuries. There wereadmitted to hospital, whereMahesh Soni’s daughter andanother person died duringtreatment on Thursday morning.

The Soni family belongs toKamlapur village of Khajuriaof Kheri. Injured Majana Deviand her eight-month-old sonare being treated at a privatehospital.

In Lakhimpur Kheri,seven persons, including twowomen, were killed and fourothers were critically injuredin two separate road mishaps.

Late on Wednesday night,some people were sitting by abonfire on the Pilibhit-Bastihighway near Maharajnagarvillage when they were hit bya speeding truck. The driver

lost control over the vehicleafter colliding with a tractor-trolley. The mishap left fivepersons dead and four othersinjured.

The decease were identi-fied as Radhey Shyam (40),Kokila (38), Sanjay (25), Pooja(15) and Prahlad (48).

The injured were admittedto the district hospital wherethe condition of Moti’s wifeGuddi is stated to be critical.

In the second mishap atKheri, two persons were killedwhen the car they were trav-elling in collided head-on witha truck on the Bhira-Paliaroad near Malpur. One of thedeceased was identified asLIC employee Atul (30) post-ed at Palia, while the identityof the other was yet to beascertained. A case was regis-tered and the bodies weresent for autopsy.

13 die in separate mishaps

Samajwadi Party MLC Leelawati Kushwaha protested after traffic police stopped her car and slapped fine during a checkingdrive at GPO on Thursday. Later, SSP Manzil Saini talked to the MLC and said action would be taken against cops if they wereat fault. Pioneer

Guv asks youths to follow theideals of Swami Vivekananda

nation 05LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | JANUARY 13, 2017

INSHORT

TOURISM MIN TO UNVEIL AFESTIVAL OF INDIA IN GHANANew Delhi: The Union TourismMinistry will kick-off ‘A Festival ofIndia' in four cities — ccra,Kumasi, Cape Coast, Takoradi inGhana from January 25 to March16, showcasing Indian classicaldances, Sufi & Folk Music, andSaptarang - confluence of sevenclassical dance forms culminatingin Vande Mataram. A food, yogaand meditation sessions besidesfilm festival will also be organisedduring the mega event, said anofficial from the Ministry onThursday.

RATHORE, PARSVNATH INNEGOTIATION OVER FLATNew Delhi: Negotiations oversettlement of disputes with regardto the possession of a flat betweenUnion Minister RajyavardhanSingh Rathore and ParsvnathDevelopers are underway, theSupreme Court was informed onThursday. A two-membercommittee of lawyers appointedby the apex court to look into theallegations of Rathore that the flatgiven to him by the developer isuninhabitable, told a bench ofJustices Dipak Misra and RBanumathi that negotiationsbetween the parties are going on.

PVT FM NEWS: SC SEEKSCENTRE’S REPLYNew Delhi: The Supreme Court onThursday sought the response ofthe Centre on a plea seeking itsdirection for allowing private FMradio stations, includingcommunity radios, to broadcastnews like television channels. Abench comprising Chief Justice JSKhehar and Justice DYChandrachud asked the Ministry ofInformation and Broadcasting tofile its reply within four weeks.

SC TO HC: DECIDE DEATH ROWCONVICT'S PLEA IN 2 MONTHS

New Delhi: The Supreme Court onThursday asked the Delhi HighCourt to decide within two monthsthe plea of a death row convictseeking commutation of hissentence to life imprisonment onthe ground of delay to decide hismercy petition. A benchcomprising Justices Dipak Misraand R Banumathi passed the orderafter taking into account thesubmission of Attorney GeneralMukul Rohatgi who said if theapex court would go into the legalissues concerning jurisdiction ofhigh courts the delay wouldbenefit the death row convict.

RAHUL PUTS OFF CHINAVISIT DUE TO POLLSNew Delhi: Owing to elections infive states, Congress leader RahulGandhi has put off his visit toChina which was to start fromJanuary 15. The visit by Rahul-ledCongress delegation will now takeplace after the assembly electionsat mutually-convenient dates, partyleader Anand Sharma said tonight.He said the Congress hadsensitised the Communist Party OfChina (CPC), which had invited theCongress delegation, toreschedule the week-long visitafter the election dates wereannounced.

DEEPAK K UPRETI n NEW DELHI

Haj quota for Indians hasincreased by 34,500, “the

biggest hike in 28 years”, afterUnion Minister of State forMinority Affairs MukhtarAbbas Naqvi signed an agree-ment at Jeddah this week.

The increase would takethe number of Indian Haj trav-elers from India to 1,70,520 in2017 in comparison to 1,36,020who went for the pilgrimage in2016.

The decision was takenduring signing of annual Hajagreement between India andSaudi Arabia by Naqvi and Hajand Umrah Minister ofKingdom of Saudi Arabia DrMohammad Saleh bin TaherBenten Wednesday.

Naqvi expressed happinessover increased quota for Indianby 34,500. “It is the biggestincrease after 1988 in the quotaof Haj pilgrims from India”, hesaid. About 99,903 people wentto Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for Hajfrom 21 embarkation pointsacross India through HajCommittee of India during

Haj 2016. Apart from this,about 36,000 Haj pilgrims hadproceeded for Haj through theprivate tour operators.

Haj application process hasalready started in India from2nd January 2017. The last datefor submitting applications is24th January, 2017. Haj usuallycommences from July-Aguust.

In his meeting with DrBenten, Naqvi discussedissues relating to the IndianHaj pilgrims and Haj pilgrim-age. Besides Haj quota fromIndia, transport and accom-modation facilities for pilgrims

and their safety during theirstay in Saudi Arabia also fig-ured during the discussion.

Hoping that the relationsbetween the two countrieswould rise to “ a higher level”,Naqvi said “Haj pilgrimage isone of the strongest pillars ofIndia-Saudi Arabia ties.” TheMinister was confident that theforthcoming Haj would be “safe, comfortable and smooth”.

In this reference, he point-ed to the visit of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi toSaudi Arabia April last yearwhich , he said “added new

dimensions to the vibrant rela-tionship.”

It is for the first time thatHaj application process in Indiahas been made digital or onlinewith the launch of “HajCommittee of India MobileApp” on January 2nd , 2017 .

According to Naqvi, theGovernment of India has beenencouraging online applica-tions for Haj 2017 so that peo-ple can get an opportunity forthe pilgrimage with completetransparency and comfort. LastDecember, a new website ofHaj was also launched inHindi, Urdu and English lan-guages which will provide thenecessary information on Haj. The website gives detailedinformation regarding IndianGovernment’s Ministry ofMinority Affairs, HajDepartment, Haj pilgrimage,rules and regulations on Haj,Haj Committee of India andprivate tour operators.

The website also has “Do’sand Don’ts” during Haj pil-grimage and also a film inform-ing about various aspects of thepilgrimage.

Saudi increases India’s Haj pilgrims quota

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Election Commission ofIndia (ECI) on Thursday

“censured” BJP MP SakshiMaharaj on his controversialremarks indirectly blamingMuslims for the populationgrowth and warned him that itwould take stern action againsthim using all powers availableto it if he violates the modelcode again.

Issuing the warning, theCommission said, “You mayalso take a note that in case ofany violation of MCC in future,the Commission shall takestern actions against you, usingall powers available to it.”

The poll watchdog said itdid not find the MP’s reply sat-isfactory, “because in theCommission’s considered view,supported by observations ofthe Supreme Court, any state-ment to the effect of promot-ing enmity between differentclasses of society in connectionwith election on the grounds ofreligion made during elec-tioneering or otherwise is

violative of Model Code ofConduct”.

“Now, therefore, theElection Commission hereby,censures you for violat-ing...MCC and the SupremeCourt decision...And expectsthat you, being a reputed polit-ical leader/MP, shall be morecircumspect in your publicutterances during electiontime. “You may also take a notethat in case of any violation ofMCC in future, theCommission shall take sternactions against you, using allpowers available to it,” theorder said.

Standing by his remarks,Sakshi Maharaj had told theCommission that the state-ment was not made in a pub-lic or an election meeting butat a saints’ conclave and hencecould not be considered viola-tive of the Model Code.

At a ‘sant sammelan’ inMeerut last week, SakshiMaharaj had said there areproblems in the countrybecause of the growth of pop-ulation. “Hindus are notresponsible for that. Thoseresponsible are the ones whotalk of four wives and 40 children.”

PTI n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court onThursday asked the

Government to set up a statu-tory mechanism for redressal ofcomplaints against contents ofprivate TV channels and radiostations and accord due pub-licity to the measures to enablecitizens approach it with theirgrievances.

A bench, comprising ChiefJustice J S Khehar and JusticeD Y Chandrachud, howeverrefrained from commentingon the submission of NewsBroadcasters Association andAssociation of Radio Operators

for India that self-regulatorymechanism has worked effec-tively for electronic media andradio channels.

Referring to section 22 ofthe Cable Television Networks(Regulation) Act, the benchasked the Ministry ofInformation and Broadcastingto constitute a body under theprovision to deal with citizens'complaints against televisionchannels and radio stationsregarding their alleged objec-tionable contents.

"We cannot ask them(Centre) to monitor the contentof the channels. How can we dothat? You can approach us or

the authority concerned aftertelecast or airing of objection-able contents only," the benchobserved at the outset whenlawyers Prashant Bhushan andKamini Jaiswal sought estab-lishment of an independentregulatory authority to governbroadcast media.

"If something happens andyou find them obnoxious, thenwe will certainly deal withthem. Generally speaking, wecannot interfere with it and docontent regulation," it said.

It also said the issue per-tained to the right of mediaenshrined under Article19(1)(a) of the Constitution on

freedom of speech and expres-sion.

The court asked theMinistry to use the powerunder section 22 of the CableTelevision Networks(Regulation) Act to set up themechanism and rules to "for-malise the complaint redressalmechanism" and accord "ade-quate publicity" to it so as toenable the public approach itwith their complaints.

It asked the Centre todevise procedures with regardto the time limit for filing anddeciding complaints and filingof appeals by the aggrived par-ties, among other things.

ARCHANA JYOTI n NEW DELHI

In spite of the constitutionalprovision and rising number

of people with disability in thecountry, many States are yet toset up a separate departmentfor implementation of welfareschemes for the sector. Theyhave either appointed a fulltimecommissioner or handed overadditional charge to officers todo the job.

Just four States — UttarPradesh, Odisha, Tamil Naduand Karnataka — have so farcreated the separate depart-ments. People with disability inthe country constitute morethan 2.21 per cent of the total population.

Taking serious note of thenegligence by the States, a par-liamentary panel recently said

that "no country or society canever progress ignoring theneeds and aspirations of morethan 2.70 crore persons withdisabilities". It has asked theUnion Social Justice andEmpowerment Ministry toimpress upon the state gov-ernments and UT administra-tions to have separate disabil-ity department to address theconcerns, problems of the dif-ferently-abled.

The setting up of the sep-arate department becomes allthe more important as theCentre is in the process offraming rules for the newRights of Persons withDisabilities (RPwDs) Act, 2016,which was notified late lastyear. It has many landmarkprovisions which would deliv-er results only if States have

dedicated department for theirimplementation.

A senior official from theDepartment of the People withDisabilities (PwDs) under theMinistry said that theStates/UTs which have not yetappointed independentCommissioner for PwDs havebeen asked to do so on prior-ity basis. They were alsorequested to provide adequatesupport staff to theCommissioner for PwDs toenable him to discharge hisfunctions effectively."

Besides many benefits, theAct also provides for setting upconstitution of district levelcommittees by the StateGovernments to address localconcerns of PwDs as well asspecial courts for speedy trial.The Act makes the discrimi-nation, assault or insult to thedisabled punishable withimprisonment for a term,which shall not be less than sixmonths but which may extendto five years and with fine.

Population remarks: ECcensures Sakshi MaharajPoll panel warns stern action if he repeats

PNS n NEW DELHI

The suspense over cricketer-turned-politician Navjot

Singh Sidhu joining theCongress continues despite hissecond round of talks withCongress vice-president RahulGandhi on Thursday. Sidhu issaid to have pressed for some“significant” role in the partyand particularly in poll-boundPunjab. The former BJP MPfrom Punjab has conveyed tothe Congress leadership that he“risked” his political careerand even resigned as the RajyaSabha member anticipating a“larger” role due to his “cleanimage” in the State.

AICC sources, however,maintained that Sidhu is expect-ed to join the party anytimesoon and is likely to play a cru-cial role in Punjab which goesto poll on February 4. Sidhu'swife Navjot Kaur has alreadyjoined Congress, along withPargat Singh, a former Akali Dallegislator who had joined handswith Sidhu to form the outfitAwaaz-E Punjab.

The party also released alist of 23 candidates whichinclude leaders who switchedover to the party from Akali

Dal. The total number of can-didates announced by the partyhas gone up to 100 out of total117 seats.

The meeting between theRahul and Sidhu lasted foraround half-an-hour duringwhich the modalities of hisjoining as well as his future rolein the party were discussed.This is the second meetingbetween the two who had ear-lier met in early December.Sources said Sidhu is likely tocontest from the Amritsar Eastassembly constituency which isat present represented by hiswife Navjot Kaur, who has alsosaid this a few days ago.

There are talks of himvying for the Deputy ChiefMinister's position, but PunjabCongress chief AmarinderSingh has denied this sayingSidhu will be joining the

Congress unconditionally.Singh had, however, said thedecision on deputy chief min-ister would be taken by partypresident Sonia Gandhi andvice president Rahul Gandhi atan "appropriate time".

The Punjab list was clearedlast night by the CentralElection Committee of theparty headed by Sonia Gandhi.Rajwinder Kaur Bhagikay, whowas a sitting MLA from AkaliDal and joined Congress fewdays ago, has been given tick-et from Nihal Singhwala con-stituency while former LokSabha MP Mohinder SinghKay Pee has been fielded fromAdampur seat.

Deepinder Singh Dhillon,who had unsuccessfully con-tested against Punjab Congresschief Amarinder Singh's wifePreneet Kaur in the 2014 LokSabha polls as a Akali nominee,has been given ticket fromDara Bassi seat.

Akali leader Kamaljit SinghKarwal, who switched alle-giance to Congress from AkaliDal, will fight the polls fromAtam Nagar seat whileHarminder Singh Jassi, a rela-tive of Dera Sacha Sauda chiefGurmeet Ram Rahim Singh,

has been fielded from the Maurseat. Devinder Gubaya, son ofAkali sitting MP from Firozpur,Sher Singh Gubaya, has beengiven ticket from Fazilka seat.

Former CPI leader NathuRam, who also switched over toCongress, will contest fromBalluana while Karamjit KaurChaudhary, wife of Lok SabhaMP from Jalandhar SantokhSingh Cahudhary has beenfielded from Phillaur seat.

Former Minister JoginderSingh Mann will contest fromprestigious Phagwara seat andfive-time MLA Rakesh Pandeywill fight the polls fromLudhiana North constituency.Rajinder Singh, son of formerMinister Lal Singh, has beengiven ticket from Samana con-stituency. The candidature forSanour seat, where Lal Singh isa sitting MLA, has not beenannounced. The party hadannounced that only one mem-ber from a family will get tick-et and that there will be nocompromise on it. Congresshad announced the first list 61candidates on December 15and and second list of 16 nom-inees on December 23. Hecticlobbying is underway for theremaining 17 seats.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Photographs of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi

on hoardings at petrol pumpsin poll-bound Goa and on cer-tificates issued by oil companiesin Uttarakhand are violative ofthe Model Code, the ElectionCommission has maintained.

In a letter to CabinetSecretary PK Sinha, the ElectionCommission said it had receivedcomplaints about hoardings withphotographs of the PrimeMinister being displayed at petrolpumps in poll-bound Goa. It alsoreferred to a news story in aHindi daily that certificates withthe photos of the Prime Ministerwere being distributed by oilcompanies to LPG consumerswho have surrendered gas sub-sidy in Uttarakhand.

The Commission has askedthe Cabinet Secretary to ensurecompliance of its instructionsduring elections.

“This is not permissibleunder Model Code of Conductand Election Commissioninstructions” (issued afterschedule for Assembly polls toUttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand,

Goa, Punjab and Manipur wasannounced on January 4), theletter said. The Commissionhas requested Sinha to ensurethat its instructions “arebrought to the notice of all con-cerned for strict compliance inletter and spirit.”

The ECI had earlier sent anotification to all states toclear the photos of Politicalleaders from Hoardings beforethe polls. It said that the pollmachinery in the five poll-bound states has to clear orcover the political leader's pho-tos on all the Hoardings andadvertisements.

PM’s photos at petrolpumps in Goa violatemodel code, says EC

The EC has prohibited tele-cast of election-related

issues by TV and other mediaduring the prescribed period of48 hours before polling in con-stituencies in the five stateswhere assembly elections arescheduled. Violation of thismay entail 2 years’ imprison-ment and fine or both.

EC prohibits telecast ofelection-related issues

p Issuing the warning, the Commission said, You may also take a notethat in case of any violation of MCC in future, the Commission shalltake stern actions against you, using all powers available to it

p The poll watchdog said it did not find the MP’sreply satisfactory, ‘because in the Commission’sconsidered view, supported by observations of theSupreme Court, any statement to the effect ofpromoting enmity between different classes ofsociety in connection with election on the groundsof religion made during electioneering or otherwiseis violative of Model Code of Conduct’

Suspense over Sidhu joining Cong continues

PNS n NEW DELHI

Aday after External AffairsMinister Sushma Swaraj

ordered Amazon to withdrawsale of doormats with Indianflag in Canada, the companywithdrew the items from itswebsite and issued an apology.

In a letter to Swaraj, vice-president and CountryManager of Amazon IndiaAmit Agarwal wrote: “I amwriting in connection withthe products that carried theIndian flag, as referred to inyour tweet... Amazon India iscommitted to respectingIndian laws and customs. Tothe extent that these itemsoffered by a third-party sellerin Canada offended Indiansensibilities, Amazon regretsthe same. At no time did weintend or mean to offendIndian sentiments.”

In his letter, Agarwal alsoexplained that a third-partyseller, not Amazon, had listedthese products for sale inCanada. “These products werenot available in India. Afterlearning of the products’ list-ing, we immediately removedthem from the Canadian web-

site and implemented mea-sures to ensure that theseproducts could not be sold onany of our other marketplacesor websites,” he said. Agarwalalso offered to meet Swaraj todiscuss the issue and Amazon’sbroader relationship withIndia.

Agarwal added thatAmazon remains committed toIndia, which was evident byCEO Jeff Bezos’ announce-ment last year of company’splans to invest $5 billion inIndia. “We value immenselyour relationship with the

Indian Government, the coun-try’s entrepreneurs and inno-vators, an most importantlyour Indian customers andemployees,” Agarwal said.

Following a complaint onWednesday about AmazonCanada selling doormatsdepicting Indian flag on its site,Swaraj asked the company toimmediately withdraw theproducts and tender an uncon-ditional apology, or face visaban for its officials. TheMinister had also asked theIndian Embassy to take up thematter with Amazon Canada.

Amazon says sorry, pulls

out Triclour doormats

Only 4 States have separate

depts for disables’ welfare

* Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu andKarnataka are those States* People with disability in the country constitutemore than 2.21 per cent of the total population

PTI n MUMBAI

Upset over MahatmaGandhi’s picture missing

on the calendar of the Khadi andVillage Industries Commssion, asection of its workers here stageda protest on Thursday, andsought to know as to why theimage of the father of the nationwas left out, while featuringPrime Minister Narendra Modi.

In a brief protest, dozens ofworkers associated with KVICwho gathered at SuburbanVile-Parle, said they were rais-

ing the issuesince Gandhihad been thedriving forcebehind theKhadi move-ment.

“We are notagainst inclusionof Modiji’s pic-ture on the dairies and calendars,but pained not to find Gandhiji’spicture. We simply want toknow why Gandhiji has notbeen given the space here ? IsGandhi ji no more relavant for

Khadi industry?” said one ofthem.

The protestors alsodemanded reprinting of thecalendars with Gandhi's picturebeing featured on them.

Modi in, Mahatma Gandhi out from

Khadi Gram Udhyog calendar

PNS n NEW DELHI

Defying age, new IAF chiefBirender Singh Dhanoa on

Thursday flew a Mig-21 soloduring a visit to Utarlai forwardairbase in Rajasthan. Rare for asenior officer to fly a fighter jetdue to inherent risks involved,he undertook the sortie fornearly 30 minutes and toucheddown in a smooth manner.

Having assumed charge ofthe IAF on December 31 lastyear, Dhanoa flew the planeduring his first visit to the for-ward operational base.Normally, senior officers refrainfrom combat flying solo due tovarious factors brought aboutby age, officials said Dhanoawas found flying fit to under-take the sortie.

Incidentally, Dhanoa, whostarted his career 40 years backby flying MIG-21s, the oldestfighter planes in the IAF inven-tory, had flown the same typeof aircraft during Kargil oper-ations in 1999 and carried outmany night strike missions inthe difficult and dangerousmountainous terrain. He was

awarded Yudh Sewa medal forthese gallant acts.

He is also the first IAF chiefto fly solo since then top bossAY Tipnis under took similarsolo sorties in a MIG-21 atBareilly airbase more than 15years back. At that time, IAFwas facing flak for flying MIG-21s which had seen a spate ofmishaps.

Then Defence MinisterGeorge Fernandes also flew ina two-seater MIG-21 at Ambalaairbase in those days in a bid to

allay apprehensions about thesafety record of MIG-21s.President APJ Abdul Kalamand Pratibha Patil also flew ina twin-seater SU-30, the front-line fighter jet of IAF.

Dhanoa flew the MIG-21on Thursday during his firstvisit to a forward operationalairbase since taking over as IAFchief, officials said here. He willbe there till Saturday to takestock of operational readinessof the IAF in the western sec-tor facing Pakistan.

Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa in cockpit before the flight of MiG-21 Type 96 aircraftsolo at a Forward Base in Rajasthan sector on Thursday Pioneer photo

IAF chief Dhanoa fliesMig-21 fighter jet solo

Set up complaint mechanism against TV, radio contents: SC

LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | JANUARY 13, 2017 nation 06

SAUGAR SENGUPTA n KOLKATA

After Rose Valley comesNarada. There was more

embarrassment for the MamataBanerjee Government with theCalcutta High Court onThursday questioning the Stateas to why the investigationinto the Narada sting andbribery case would not behanded over to the CBI.

The ruling TrinamoolCongress was currently underimmense pressure after theCBI arrested senior partyleader and MP SudipBandopadhya in the RoseValley chit fund case.

In what could give addi-tional goose bumps to at leasta dozen of Trinamool MPs andMinisters-already smartingunder the chit fund pressure-acting Chief Justice NishitaMatre asked Trinamool MPand senior counsel KalyanBanerjee as to why the case

should not be handed over tothe CBI throwing out the pleaof advocate’s plea that the Statepolice was capable enough toprobe the case.

A sting video tape aired inMarch 2016 showed a galaxy ofTMC leaders including MPsSougato Roy, Aparupa Poddar,Prasun Banerjee, Kakoli GhoshDastidar, Sultan Ahmed andMinisters Subroto Mukherjee,Firhad Hakim, SovanChatterjee, Subhendu Adhikaryapart from a senior IPS officeraccepting bundles of cash fromNarada journalist MathewSammuel who presented him-self as a prospective investorseeking favours.

While Banerjee pointedout that the timing of thevideo referred to 2014 where-as it was aired just before the2016 Assembly elections prov-ing conspiracy angle the Courtsaid it was more concernedabout the content of the footage

than character or intent of theperson who shot it.

Hence the Court said a CBIinvestigation was more necessarythan the anything else to ascer-tain the truth of the matter. Thegenuineness of the footage hadalready been ascertained by theChandigarh-based forensic lab-oratory vide a HC order.

Meanwhile the Rose Valleycase tended to take a new turnwith the investigators havingcome to know about a newmethod through which theTrinamool leaders includingministers and MPs extortedfavours from jailed chit fundMoghul Gautam Kundu.

Sources said a jailed MPand some of Ministers-whohad met Kundu several timesin 2013-14 at a five star facili-ty off the EM Bypass in Kolkata-had told him that it wasincreasingly becoming diffi-cult for them to handle somuch of cash taken from him.Hence he was requested topay them in gold.

Kundu bad by that timeinvested hugely in jewellerybusiness in the name of hisdaughter. The gold outlets setup then were still doing busi-ness.

Mamata Govt to face

more embarrassment

Calcutta High Court asks State Govtwhy investigation into the Naradasting and bribery case should not behanded over to the CBI

PNS n KOLKATA

The Kolkata Police onThursday refused to give

permission to RSS for holding arally at the celebrated BrigadeParade Ground in Kolkata,sources said. The rally to beaddressed by RSS chief MohanBhagwat was to be held onJanuary 14. While the policerefused permission on groundthat the time would coincide withthe Makar Sankranti Mela, RSSsources found “narrow politics”behind the denial of permission.The organisation is planning tomove the High Court, sourcessaid. Meanwhile, in a similardevelopment the TrinamoolCongress ruled AsansolMunicipal Corporation onThursday got a resounding rebuffin the High Court when its deci-sion to not allow Sansad Mela tobe organised by MP BabulSupriyo at the local RailwayStadium was set aside.

KUMAR CHELLAPPAN n

CHENNAI

The uncertainty associatedwith the conducting of

Jallikattu, the rural sport of bulltaming, has led to an ugly situ-ation with all leading politicalparties in Tamil Nadu comingout in the open against the BJP-led NDA Government at theCentre. The Congress and theDMK have succeeded in direct-ing the ire of the masses towardsthe BJP-led Government at theCentre though the SupremeCourt ban on Jallikattu wasbased on the affidavit submittedby the UPA Government led byManmohan Singh.

Thousands of youth includ-ing college students across theState came out in the open onThursday shouting slogansagainst the Narendra Modi gov-ernment and the BJP for its indif-ference towards the ban onJallikattu. “This is a sponta-neous arising of students. Therewere no leaders to lead them butthe youth took to the streets ontheir own. This is a strangephenomenon as this is the firsttime in recent history a demon-stration of this kind is happen-ing in the State,” said GK Nagaraj,president, KongunaduJananayaga Katchi, who is aprominent educationist in southwest Tamil Nadu.

Tamil nationalist parties likethe DMK, MDMK, DMDK,PMK and the Tamil separatistentities like Dravida Kazhakam

led by K Veeramani and NaamTamizhar led by Seeman Francishave seen this as an ideal oppor-tunity to arouse anti-Hindi sen-timents all over Tamil Nadu. MKStalin, the DMK working pres-ident, had exhorted his cadre tostage protests all over TamilNadu to oppose the move by theBJP to saffronise Tamil Nadu bynot allowing the Jallikattu to hap-pen in the State.

“The common man is notaware of the fact that Jallikkattuwas banned by the SupremeCourt following the affidavitprepared and submitted duringthe tenure of the Congress at theCentre. The DMK and theCongress have succeeded in cre-ating an impression that the banon Jallikkattu is a handiwork of

the Modi government,” saidNagaraj. He also pointed out thatthere is a possibility of a Centre-State stand off in the name ofJallikattu.

Though Jayanthi Natarajan,the former Union Minister forenvironment during the UPAregime squarely had blamedJayarama Ramesh, her successorin the Ministry for the ban onJallikkattu, the people of TamilNadu are yet to understand it.The media in Tamil Nadu playeddown the statement byNatarajan.

There was expectationamong the people that the banon Jallikattu may be lifted in thelast hours to Pongal (which fallson Saturday) and preparationswere underway all over Tamil

Nadu for conducting the tradi-tional sport. But the announce-ment by the apex court that itwould not be able to take up thematter before Pongal dampenedthe spirit of the people.

“Whether there is court banor not, we will have Jallikattu onall days during the Pongal fes-tivities,” said a group of farmersat Tirupur, a south west district.Villages in Madurai and Torupurare ready with the infrastructureto host the sport. “Whoeverprepared the affidavit that wasgiven to the SC has done it withulterior motives. Either they areignorant about the true sport orthey want to finish off the Indiannative bulls,” said Jayakumarwho owns half-a-dozenKangeyam bulls.

ANUP SHARMA n GUWAHATI

AShillong court onThursday sent arrested

Meghalaya MLA JuliusDorphang for 14 days’ judicialcustody. The rebel-turned-politician, Dorphang had rapeda 14-year-old girl in a guesthouse in December. The vic-tim, who had filed an FIR onDecember 16, had accused atleast eight people of sexuallyexploiting her.

The independentLegislator, had gone into hid-ing after the FIR was filed bythe victim and he was arrestedfrom the Inter State BusTerminus (ISBT) in Guwahationly last week and taken intopolice custody.

“The accused had admittedhis involvement in the sexualassault to the girl. He is coop-erating with us and there is noneed for further interrogation.His police custody ended todayand so we produced him in thecourt today and the courtremanded him in 14 days judi-cial custody,” saidSuperintendent of PoliceShillong (City) Vivek Syiem onThursday said.

It may be mentioned herethat the Meghalaya capital hadwitnessed noisy protests in thepast few days over the issue ofsexual assault to the minor girland demanding exemplarypunishment to those involvedin the crime. Some NGOs andsocial organisation had alsoaccused the police of trying toshield the independent MLAand protested opposing bail tothe arrested legislator.

Dorphang is the founder-chairman of banned rebel out-fit Hynniewtrep NationalLiberation Council (HNLC).He surrendered and came overground in 2007 following dif-ferences with other leaders ofthe outfit.

TN RAGHUNATHA n MUMBAI

The majestic “Khanderi” slidgracefully into the Arabian

Sea on Thursday, thus markingthe launch of second of theIndian Navy’s Scorpene-classstealth submarine and paving theway for her sea trials.

Minister of State for DefenceSubhash Bhamre “launched”Khanderi into the sea in the pres-ence of Chief of the Naval StaffAdmiral Sunil Lanba and a hostof other dignitaries at a ceremo-ny held at the Mazagon DockShipyard Limited (MDL) here.

Khanderi is the second of sixKalvari-class submarines built bythe MDL in collaboration withMessrs DCNS of France. She isexpected to be delivered to theIndian Navy by the end of thisyear. She has been christenedafter her illustrious predecessor,an erstwhile ‘Foxtrot’ class sub-marine decommissioned in1989, which is as per the tradi-tions of Indian Navy.

The first of the Kalvari-class submarine is currentlyundergoing sea trials and likelyto be commissioned into Navyby mid 2017. These submarines,post induction, would form thecore of Navy’s conventionalSubmarine Arm.

Speaking on the occasion,Bhamre said that Project 75

Kalvari was a key milestone inself reliance and indigenisationfor the country.

Admiral Lanba, during hisaddress, said that the fact thatSubmarine ‘Khanderi’ comparedwith the best in the world and itslaunch spoke highly of the expe-rience and expertise the country’sshipbuilders have gained over theyears. “Since the Indian Navy cel-ebrates Golden Jubilee of the sub-

marine arm in 2017, the induc-tion of Project 75 submarineswill mark the beginning of a newchapter in our submarine capa-bilities,” he said.

Khanderi’s launch alsomarks a critical milestone eventfor the Shipyard which earlier hasdelivered two Shishumar classsubmarines in the 90’s and hasnow strengthened its position asa submarine building yard forIndian Navy.

Started as a small dry dockfacility for East India Company,MDL has established itself as aforefront Defence Public SectorUndertaking, with indigenousconstruction of several shipsand submarines for Navy such asP 15B destroyers and P 17A classstealth Frigates being the latest.

KESTUR VASUKI n BENGALURU

Aftermath of the allegedmolestation on the new

year’s eve, the concert ofFrench DJ David Guetta’sscheduled in Bengaluru forThursday night, has beencalled off with the organisersciting “law and order situation”.He was on a four-city tourwhich was expected to beginfrom Bengaluru and thenmove to Mumbai, Hyderabadand New Delhi.

“Due to the present law andorder situation in Bengaluru fol-lowing the events that tran-spired around new year’s eve,the authorities have recom-mended against holding theDavid Guetta concert scheduledtoday in the city,” Karan Singh,CEO, Sunburn, said in a state-ment. “We at Sunburn tried ourvery best to make it happen butthe authorities understandablyare not prepared to take anychances. Hence, today’s concertunfortunately stands cancelled,”

he added. But the police said they

have suggested that the eventbe rescheduled, not because oflaw and order fears, butbecause permission for theevent was sought too late bythe organisers and a local elec-tion was already being held inthe area on Thursday.

Bengaluru rural

Superintendent Of Police AmitSingh said, “A big event hap-pened here, in the same district.I don’t have enough force tohandle 20,000 people. Keepingthe elections in mind we havenot given permission. If youorganise such a big event, alllogistical arrangements shouldbe looked into and authoritiesshould be spoken with as well.”

Howeverorganisers saidGuetta’s othershows inMumbai, NewDelhi andHyderabadwould go on asscheduled.Bengaluru was David Guetta’s first stopon his four-city tour. He performs inMumbai on Friday, in Hyderabad onSaturday and in Noida on Sunday

Post molestation David Guetta’sBengaluru concert cancelled

Political parties of TN join handsto protest against Centre

Though the SC’s banon Jallikattu was

based on affidavit byUPA Govt, yet Cong

and DMK have turnedthe masses’ ire on NDA

Kolkata Policerefuses RSSpermission forBhagwat rally

Arrested MeghalayaMLA sent tojudicial custody

Dorphang had rapeda 14-year-old girl in a

guest house inDecember. The

victim, who had filedan FIR on December16, had accused atleast eight people

of sexually exploiting her

Indian Navy’s second Scorpene-classsubmarines ready for sea trials

Khanderi during its launch at theMazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited inMumbai on Thursday PTI

Hundreds of youths who have gathered fromsouthern districts, participating in a protestdemanding the Central Government to lift theban on Jallikattu, in Madurai on Tuesday PTI

MAYABHUSHAN n PANAJI

Goa's two major politicalparties, the ruling BJP and

the Congress, on Thursdayreleased their first list of can-didates for the February 4Assembly elections.

While the Congress list of27 candidates includes namesof four Chief Ministers and sev-eral fresh faces as candidates,the BJP list of 29 candidatesincludes the names of 19 sittingMLAs including Chief MinisterLaxmikant Parsekar anddeputy Chief Minister FrancisD'Souza and six CabinetMinisters.

The Congress candidate listissued by All Indian CongressCommittee general secretaryMadhusudan Mistry's includesthe names of Pratapsingh Rane(Poriem), Ravi Naik (Ponda),Digambar Kamat (Margao) andLuizinho Faleiro (Navelim) allof whom have served as ChiefMinisters of the State over thelast two decades.

Incidentally, Kamat was oneof the main accused in the LouisBerger scam and was chief min-ister when the controversial ten-der to build sewerage and watersupply infrastructure was award-ed to the international consul-tancy company.

The Congress also appearsto have gone back on its own

promise not to promote 'familyraaj' by giving tickets to the hus-band-wife duo of ChandrakantKavlekar (Quepem) and SavitriKavlekar (Sanguem) and thefather-son duo of PratapsinghRane (Poriem) and VishwajitRane (Valpoi).

Out of the list of 27 candi-dates, the Congress list alsoincludes 11 candidates, who areeither contesting State

Assembly polls or are contest-ing on the Congress ticket forthe first time.

Party sources said, that theremaining seats would beannounced soon and would bedependent on the alliance talkswith regional parties like GoaForward and United Goans.“The rest of the names will bereleased in a few days,” partysources said.

GANDHINAGAR: With over25,500 MoUs across all majorsectors during the past threedays, the eighth edition ofVibrant Gujarat concluded onThursday evening amid ChiefMinister Vijay Rupani claimthat success of the event wouldestablish Gujarat as gateway toIndian economy.

Though Gujarat is goingfor assembly polls in 2017, theChief Minister indirectlyexpressed confidence over vic-tory of his party indirectly byinviting all the delegates presentat the valedictory function for theninth edition of Vibrant Gujaratto be organised in January 2019.CM Rupani said that the flagshipbiennial event of Gujarat gov-ernment would be organizedcontinuously in coming years.

“Delegates came from acrossthe globe to attend VibrantGujarat would go back to theirrespective countries as brandambassador of the State. Afterseeing the reality of the state, theywould definitely speak well aboutGujarat and India,” he said.

Talking about the success of

PM’s pet project GujaratInternational Finance Tec-City(GIFT City), he claimed that theestablishments to be set up atGIFT City would generate 10lakh jobs in future.

“Today is 154th birthanniversary of SwamiVivekananda and it is being cel-ebrated as National Youth Day.I am hopeful that VibrantGujarat would create lakhs ofnew employment opportuni-

ties,” said Union Minister ofDefense Manohar Parikar at thefunction.Gujarat’s Deputy ChiefMinister Nitin Patel gave sectorwise figures of MoUs andinformed that of the total 25,578MoUs signed during the pastthree days as many as 52 MoUswere amounting `4000 andabove. According to Patel com-pared to last edition of VibrantGujarat, this time 2,500 moreMoUs were signed. PNS

GANDHINAGAR: Training her gunson All India Congress Committee(AICC) Vice-president RahulGandhi, Union Minister of TextilesSmriti Irani on Thursday remarkedthat the scion of Nehru-Gandhifamily iss disturbed over risingpopularity of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi. The textile Ministerlaunched scathing attack onGandhi over the Congress leader’sremarks that first time in thehistory the Prime Minister of Indiawas being ridiculed the world over.During a brief interaction withmedia personnel on the sidelinesof a seminar at Vibrant Gujarat2017, she said that the AICC vicepresident was trying hard to savehis legacy by targeting Modi. Irani,who fought Parliamentaryelections against Rahul fromAmethi constituency in 2014 wasin Gandhinagar to attend a seminaron textile industry as part ofVibrant Gujarat 2017. PNS

NAYAN DAVE n GANDHINAGAR

Stressing on to increase con-vergence of interest between

United States and India on eco-nomic, defense and regionalissues would lead the dawn ofa new era in US-India bilater-al ties, said the United States’ambassador to India RichardVerma on the sidelines ofVibrant Gujarat Summit 2017.

As one of the partner coun-tries for the eighth edition ofVibrant Summit, USA sent thelargest non-Indian delegationcomprised of Government offi-cials and executives representing

over 100 US companies. Theofficial US Government delega-tion to Vibrant Gujarat was ledby US Assistant Secretary ofState for South and CentralAsian Affairs Nisha Desai Biswaland US Ambassador to IndiaRichard Verma.

The US business delegationwas led by John Chambers,Executive Chairman of CiscoSystems and Chairman of theUS-India Business Council,and included a number ofother American CEOs whotravelled from the UnitedStates. This is the second timethat the United States has

served as a Partner Country forVibrant Gujarat, a level of parUS Government’s commitmentto engage through such eventswith the Government, businesscommunity, and people ofGujarat and of India as a whole.

At the US CountrySeminar at the event a memo-randum of understandingsigned between Amazon Indiaand the Government of Gujaratunder which tribal entrepre-neurs would be educated,trained and enabled to direct-ly sell their products toAmazon customers in Indiaand across the globe.

VIBRANT GLOBAL GUJARAT

Richard Verma for stronger ties

Global Gujarat summit ends

GANDHINAGAR: With plethora ofprivate companies planning to setup manufacturing units in theState, Gujarat is poised to becomemajor defense hub of the nation,said Union Minister for DefenseManohar Parikar on Thursday.Speaking at a seminar Parikar saidthat the defense sector isencouraging products that aredesigned and developed in India.He insisted private sectorcompanies to take advantage of‘Make in India’ initiative bymanufacturing world classcompetitive products. He alsostressed on building, enhancingand promoting designingcapabilities of Indianmanufacturers. PNS

PVT SECTORS MUST USE

MAKE IN INDIA PROG BY

MAKING WORLD-CLASS

PRODUCTS: PARRIKAR

‘SCION OF NEHRU-GANDHI

FAMILY IS DISTURBED

OVER MODI POPULARITY’

Goa election: Congress, BJP

release first list of candidates

FAIZAN AHMAD n PATNA

JD(U) national presidentNitish Kumar has planned

for the expansion of his partyout of Bihar in order to makeit a national party.

The core committee meet-ing of the party called onJanuary 23 is likely to discusshow to realize this plan andchart out strategies for con-testing polls in other States.

The meeting called byChief Minister Nitish Kumarassumes significance as itwould be held after the jointmeeting of the grand alliancepartners the same day wherethe RJD and Congress leadersare expected to raise certainimportant issues on which theyhave differences with theJD(U). The most importantamong them would be demon-etisation issue which has beensupported by Nitish but vehe-mently opposed by other twoconstituents of the BiharGovernment.

Nitish and former JD(U)president Sharad Yadav aresupposed to share their viewson note ban experienced dur-ing the Nishchay Yatra by theCM and coordination withother parties on the same issueby Yadav respectively.

Nitish on pathto make JD(U)national party

Former Chief Minister Digambar Kamatvisits a temple before filing hisnomination papers from Margaoconstituency for Assembly polls in Goaon Thursday PTI

Dignitaries at the valedictory function of Vibrant Gujarat Investment Summit inGandhinagar on Thursday PTI

nation 07LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | JANUARY 13, 2017

U.P. RAJYA VIDYUTUTPADAN NIGAM LIMIT-ED TENDER NOTICESealed & separated tendersare invited from qualified,

experienced and financially soundParties for the following supply/workitems, in two parts, Part-I shall containthe following documents. (i) Earnestmoney in the form FDR/DD/ CDR/BankGuaranty (in cash of Rs. 5000=00 ormore) in the prescribed format in favourof concerned Dy. GM (F) “B” TPS/DTPS(Const) or Dy. CAO, CFA & BO “A” TPS,Anpara. (ii) Documentary evidence ful-filling all pre qualifying conditions men-tioned in the tender Document. Part-IIof the tender will have the “Price bidonly” of tendered items, Both Part-I &II shall be kept in separate and sealedenvelopes subscribed each with words“Tender” Offer Part-I or II “and also”Tender Specification No. .......................& Due date of opening ................... oneach part. The amount of earnestmoney deposit cost of tender docu-ments, due date of opening of Part-I &II of tender are indicated in the enclosedsheet. Tender document may be down-loaded from the internet from the Nigamwebsite. 1. Short Term Tender No:06/ECMD-I/ATPS/2016-17, Office:Executive Engineer, ECMD-I, ATPSAnpara, Sonebhadra. Work: SpecialM&R of boundry wall & disposal of wastematerial near MGR bridge APTS,AnparaThermal Power Project Anpara. EarnestMoney: 4,000.00 (Rs. Four ThousandOnly), Tender Cost: 500.00+ VATExtra, date of Opening part-I:09.09.2016, Part-II: 13.09.2016,Extended date of opening part-I:15.10.2016, Part-II: 19.10.2016,Extended date of opening part-I:16.11.2016, Part-II: 21.11.2016, IIIrdExtended date of opening part-I:27.12.2016, Part-II: 30.12.2016, IVthExtended date of opening part-I:02.02.2017, Part-II: 07.02.2017, Period:25 Days. 2. Tender No: 94/EPD-I/ATPS/2016-17, Office: ExecutiveEngineer, EPD-II, ATPS Anpara,Sonebhadra. Procurement: Supply ofvarious types of valves. Earnest Money:8,000.00 (Rs. Eight Thousand Only),Tender Cost: 500.00+ VAT Extra,Extended date of opening part-I:07.02.2017, Part-II: 09.02.2017. 3.Tender No: 28/EPD-III/DTPS/2016-17,Office: Executive Engineer, EPD-III,DTPS, Anpara, Sonebhadra.Procurement: Supply of Gate valve andglobe valve, flange discharge & Flangesuction. Earnest Money: 2,000.00 (Rs.Two Thousand Only), Tender Cost:200.00+ VAT Extra, date of openingpart-I: 20.02.2017, Part-II: 23.02.2017.4. Tender No: 10/ECMD-IV/ATPS/2016-17, Office: Executive Engineer, EPD-IV,ATPS, Anpara, Sonebhadra. Work:providing & fixing stainless steel kitchensink in type-III quarters, ATPS, Anpara.Earnest Money: 13,000.00 (Rs.Thirteen Thousand Only), Tender Cost:500.00+ VAT Extra, date of openingpart-I: 25.02.2017, Part-II: 03.03.2017,Period: 04 Months. 5. Tender No:20/CHD- VI/BTPS/2016-17, Office:Executive Engineer, CHD-VI, BTPS,Anpara, Sonebhadra. Work: Repairingof track chain of bull dozer no. BD-155with all consumables of CHP-2X500MW,BTPS, Anpara. Earnest Money:15,000.00 (Rs. Fifteen Thousand Only),Tender Cost: 500.00+ VAT Extra, dateof opening part-I: 22.02.2017, Part-II:27.02.2017, Period: 04 Months. 6.Tender No: 04/0&MSD/BTPS/2016-17, Office: Executive Engineer,O&MSD, BTPS, Anpara, Sonebhadra.Work: Transportation of empty hydro-gen cylinder per trip from ATPS Anparato M/s Grasim industries renukoot andfilled hydrogen cylinder from M/s Grasimindustries renukoot to ATPS Anpara for12 months as when require basis.Earnest Money: 5,000.00 (Rs. FiveThousand Only), Tender Cost: 500.00+VAT Extra, date of opening part-I:28.02.2017, Part-II: 03.03.2017, Period:One Year. 7. Tender No: 13/BMD-I/BTPS/2016-17, Office: ExecutiveEngineer, BMD-I, BTPS, Anpara,Sonebhadra. Work: Replacement of col-lecting electrodes and Rectification/replacement/alignment of damaged/mis-aligned portion of collection electrodestructure of ESP in different passes ofunit 5, 2x500MW, BTPS, Anpara.Earnest Money: 4,700.00 (Rs. FourThousand Seven Hundred Only),Tender Cost: 500.00+VAT Extra,Extended date of opening part-I:15.02.2017, Part-II: 17.02.2017, Period:One Year. 8. Tender No: 19/C&IMD-III/ATPS/2016-17, Office: ExecutiveEngineer, C&IMD-III, ATPS, Anpara,Sonebhadra. Work: Disconnection,removal of old & damaged junctionboxes, reinstallation of new junctionboxes & recommissioning of associat-ed C&I equipments of auto control sys-tem and sequential control system of unitno# III of 3x210 MW, ATPS, Anpara.Earnest Money: 3,140.00 (Rs. ThreeThousand One Hundred Forty Only),Tender Cost: 500.00+VAT date ofopening part-I: 16.11.2016, Part-II:18.11.2016, Extended date of openingpart-I: 05.01.2017, Part-II: 09.01.2017,Re-Extended date of opening part-I:06.02.2017, Part-II: 09.02.2017, Period:

One Year. 9. Tender No: 12/CHD-V/BTPS/2016-17, Office: ExecutiveEngineer, CHD-V, BTPS, Anpara,Sonebhadra. Work: Handling & upkeep-ing of site stores and shifting of scrapin CHD-V, BTPS,, Anpara. EarnestMoney: 11,000.00 (Rs. ElevenThousand Only), Tender Cost:500.00+VAT Extra, Previous date ofopening part-I: 02.12.2016, Part-II:08.12.2016, Extended date part-I:07.01.2017, Part-II: 11.01.2017, Re-Extended date part-I: 13.02.2017,Part-II: 18.02.2017, Period: One Year.10. Tender No: 20/AHMD/BTPS/2016-17, Office: Executive Engineer, AHMD,BTPS, Anpara, Sonebhadra. Work:Preventive & break down maintenanceof ash slurry pumps, ash water pumps,GSW pumps, sump pumps & otherassociated equipments of Unit No. 4&5fo 2x500 MW, BTPS, Anpara. EarnestMoney: 13,000.00 (Rs. ThirteenThousand Only), Tender Cost:500.00+VAT Extra, date of openingpart-I: 20.02.2017, Part-II: 25.02.2017Period: One Year. 11. Short TermTender No: 22/AHMD/BTPS/2016-17,Office: Executive Engineer, AHMD,BTPS, Anpara, Sonebhadra. Work:Enamel painting of complete outer sur-face of reconditioned ash slurry disposalpipes with one coat of red oxide primer& two coat of enamel paint. EarnestMoney: 8,500.00 (Rs. Eight ThousandFive Hundred Only), Tender Cost:500.00+VAT Extra, date of openingpart-I: 07.02.2017, Part-II: 10.02.2017Period: 06 Months. 12. CorrigendumTender No: 19/AHMD/BTPS/2016-17,Office: Executive Engineer, AHMD,BTPS, Anpara, Sonebhadra. Kindly beread as opening of Part-I is 20.02.2017and part-II is 23.02.2017 instead of31.02.2017 & 03.02.2017. consequenceupon the issuance of this corrigendumthe date of opening of this tender isextended and its rescheduled to beopened its bid part-I & Part-II on dt.20.02.2017 & 23.02.2017 respectively.All other contents of the tender noticeas well as tender specifications willremain unaltered. 13. Short TermTender No: 16/TCD/DTPS/2016-17,Office: Executive Engineer, TCD, DTPS,Anpara, Sonebhadra. Work:Cleaning/De-scaling of entire condensertubes of one unit of 2x500 MW, DTPS,Anpara through bullet shot method.Earnest Money: 16,000.00 (Rs. SixteenThousand Only), Tender Cost:500.00+VAT Extra, date of openingpart-I: 08.02.2017, Part-II: 10.02.2017Period: One Year. 14. Tender No:02/MMD-II/ATPS/2017-18, Office:Executive Engineer, MMD-II, ATPS,Anpara, Sonebhadra. Work: Up keep-ing of fuel oil pump house air blowerroom ash water pump house ash slur-ry pump house and chimney etc. ofMMD-II, 3x210MW, ATPS, Anpara.Earnest Money: 10,000.00 (Rs. TenThousand Only), Tender Cost:500.00+VAT Extra, date of openingpart-I: 28.02.2017, Part-II: 03.03.2017Period: One Year. 15. Tender No:03/MMD-II/ATPS/2017-18, Office:Executive Engineer, MMD-II, ATPS,Anpara, Sonebhadra. Work: Preventive(routine) mechanical maintenance of fueloil pressurizing pump, LDO unloadingpump, Drain pump sump pump etc.Filters & valves of MMD-II, 3x210MW,ATPS, Anpara. Earnest Money:12,000.00 (Rs. Twelve Thousand Only),Tender Cost : 500.00+VAT Extra, dateof opening part-I: 01.03.2017, Part-II:04.03.2017, Period: One Year. 16.Tender No: 04/MMD-II/ATPS/2017-18,Office: Executive Engineer, MMD-II,ATPS, Anpara, Sonebhadra. Work:Breakdown maintenance of HP/LPwater pipeline & associated valves etc.3x210 MW, ATPS, Anpara. EarnestMoney: 18,000.00 (Rs. EighteenThousand Only), Tender Cost: 500.00+VAT Extra, date of opening part-I:02.03.2017, Part-II: 06.03.2017, Period:One Year. Tender Notice & specifica-tion are available in Nigam's websitewww. uprvunl . org; bidder may down-load tender document and submit thesame enclosing tender cost other sup-porting document. However, in suchcase tender cost must be enclosed withtender part-I remitting the requisitecost +14% VAT in the form of demanddraft in favour of Dy. GM (F) "B"TPS/DTPS (Construction) of Dy. CAO),CFA & BO 'A'TPS Anpara payable at SBIAnpara or in case in Concerned A/C.Section. Tender document Part-I & II oftender shall be received latest upto 13-00 hrs. On the date of opening of part-I, In case Part-I is found to be securedwith all the desired documents, Part-IIof only qulified bidder shall be openedon the schedule date, in case the duedate of opening happens to be a holi-day the part-I, II of the tender shall beopened on the next working day.Tenderer are advised to send their offerdirectly to the concerned ExecutiveEngineer of the division, who reservesthe right to reject any or all the tenderswithout assigning any reason thereof.Executive Engineer (W) forChief Engineer Anpara ThermalProject Anpara, Sonebhadra (U.P)No. 70 Date 11.1.2017 "SAVEELECTRICITY ENHANCE NATIONALPRODUCTIVITY"

PNS n NEW DELHI

A35-year-old, self-styledCommander-in-Chief of a

Manipur terrorist organisation andhis two associates, including awoman, were arrested by the DelhiPolice Special Cell on Thursday.The accused were identified asKhoirom Ranjit, commander-in-chief of KangleiPak CommunistParty (KCP) and his two associatesare Pukhrihongbamibomcha andInugbam Sanatombi Devi.

Special Cell DCP SanjeevYadav said they are involved in alarge number of cases of terroractivities like lobbing of grenades,shoot-outs, killings, planting ofbombs, running extortion net-work by intimidating businessmenand politicians. One 9 mm pistoland two hand grenades have beenrecovered from their possession.

“Information was receivedfrom Manipur Police about thepresence in Delhi of KhoiromRanjit. Sources were deployed andtechnical surveillance was mount-ed to apprehend the terrorist. OnJanuary 12 the accused andInugbamsanatombi Devi werenabbed from Mayur Vihar area,”

Yadav said. During the initialinterrogation of Khoirom Ranjitthe whereabouts of his close aidePukhrihongbamibomcha who isinvolved in cases of planting ofgrenades in hospitals in Imphalwas revealed. Accordingly , thejoint team of Special Cell, Delhi

Police and Manipur Police con-ducted a raid and arrested him inManipur. “A 9 mm pistol and 2hand grenades were recoveredfrom his possession. KhoiromRanjit aka Great Macha aka Rockywas subjected to sustained inter-rogation wherein he disclosed

that initially he became an OGW(Over Ground Worker) of KangleiYawol Kanna Lup (KYKL) outfitand was involved in delivering theextortion letters, ferrying vehicles,accompanying the KYKL cadresfor arranging food/lodging, andsupplying the information aboutthe deployment of Security Forcesin the Manipur State,” police said.

Police said in 2007, he wasapprehended by 15 Assam Riflesbut was released allegedly due tohis political influence withoutregistering any case.

“We have found his close rela-tionship with Shyam Kumar, whois a sitting MLA of Congress fromAndro in Manipur State,” policesaid. Kumar was in 2006 arrested bythe Special Cell when he was themember of Manipuri militant out-fit United National Liberation Front(UNLF),” said Yadav. In 2008 he wasarrested by a combined team of 34-Assam Rifles and Manipur Policecommandos from a liquor vend atYairipok Shanta Bazar, Yairipok.After his release from jail, hemigrated to Nepal where he set uphis extortion network base underthe banner of KCP-KK, NigambaGroup. The accused carried out

several extortion activities inwhich he was supported by theMLA and some part of the moneywas sent to the MLA’s close aides.

Police claimed that after hisrelease from jail in 2014, heentered into a dispute with theKCP-Nigamba and hence floatedhis own cadre under the banner ofKCP-Poirei Meitei. He has beeninvolved in various terrorist activ-ities like lobbing and firing ofgrenades, running extortion net-work, threatening people, busi-nessmen and politicians and mur-dering them for refusing to meethis demands.

Meanwhile, Khoirom Ranjit isin seven-day custody of the DelhiPolice after it said that his custodi-al interrogation was required as thegroup was allegedly planning tocarry out terror attack here and alsofor apprehending his other associ-ates. Additional Sessions JudgeReetesh Singh also sent InugbamSanatombi Devi, arrested alongwith Ranjit, to two-day police cus-tody while allowing the agency’splea, which claimed that the accusedhad shifted the terror outfit’s baseto Delhi and were planning to carryout terror strike here.

Manipur terrorists nabbed

Commander-in-Chief of KCP Poirei Meitei cadre Khoirom Ranjit (L), along with onewoman, has been arrested by police from Mayur Vihar in New Delhi on Thursday PTI

Common people will be beneficiary: Manoj Tiwari

SOUVIK MITRA n NEW DELHI

Delhi Police CommissionerAlok Verma at a recent

high-level meeting took stockof the security measures for theRepublic Day celebration anddecided to take strict actionagainst cyber cafes who arecaught for allowing their cus-tomers to use internet withoutproviding their identity proof.

Verma directed the DeputyCommissioner of Police(DCP’s) of all districts of thenational Capital to keep a con-stant check on the register andlogs at hotels, bars, restau-rants, guest houses and motelsto keep track on suspicious per-sons and immediately reportabout their movements to thelocal police.

“In the 42-point directive,Verma has asked his men tokeep a tap on hotels, bars,restaurants, guest houses andmotels to keep track on all thesuspicious persons and reportthe same to their nearest policestation,” said a senior policeofficial.

Apart from that, all hotelshave also been told to makearrangements for CCTVrecording facility as per rules.Parking of vehicles onmain/arterial roads or placeswhere there is high footfall havebeen directed to be discour-aged. The police chief alsoasked unattended vehicles inparking lots to be checked.

Verma emphasised hisfocus on getting the registers ofthe shops selling chemicals intheir respective areas checked.The task has been given to therespective Station HouseOfficers of all police stations.

Door Frame MetalDetectors have also been askedto be checked. Verma has alsodirected DCPs to keep a strictvigil on high-rise buildings intheir districts.

“Adequate police force willbe deployed in all high risestructures especially in theNew Delhi district. Rooms fac-ing the Republic Day paradearea in hotels and other placeswill be sanitised every day tillcelebrations are over,” said thepolice official.

Verma reportedly directed

the snipers to practice in shoot-ing range on a daily basis.

He also told his officers toensure that all personnelassigned for security duty forthe Republic Day celebrationsshould familiarise themselvesby verifying each other’s iden-tity cards and know them per-sonally in their respective dis-tricts for quick action responseor clarification to deal with anyuntoward incident.

The officers have beendirected to be very carefulabout the movement of vehiclescoming across the Yamunariver in Outer, East, Shahdaraand Northeast districts. Theywere also directed to put upbarricades on all roads leadingto New Delhi.

The police chief told theofficers to hold meetings withtruck associations so thatrestrictions, which are put inplace on movement of heavyand light medium vehicles areconveyed to them and theirconcerns, if any, are addressedon time. Verma also directedthat a list of vehicles stolenfrom Delhi .

Secretariat and Ministriesand Defence and Home shouldbe provided to police person-nel manning pickets and bar-ricades in the city. He has alsorequested his officers to makea request to the ElectionCommission to exempt one ofthe two DCPs from doing elec-tion duty.

R-Day celebration: Stockof security measures taken

KANIKA MEHTA n NEW DELHI

A41-year-old businessman alleged-ly committed suicide by slitting his

wrist inside his Toyota Corolla vehicleinside the highly secured premises ofPusa Institute on late Wednesday night.Police said they have found a suicidenote from the possession of thedeceased, which claims that “he tookthe extreme step of ending his life dueto work pressure resulting fromdemonitisation”

According to a senior police offi-cer, privy to the investigation, thedeceased- Hemant Dhall, was alleged-ly depressed due to demontisation. Ina suicide note, recovered from the pos-session of Dhall, it was mentioned in thesuicide note that “I am depressedbecause I am not able to pay salary tomy staff. moreover, I have not been ableto earn anything since the demonitisa-tion came into implementation.”

The incident came to light ataround 10:30 am on Thursday morn-ing when officials of the Governmentoffices within the Indian AgriculturalResearch Institute (IARI) located onPusa Road, found the body of a man at

an empty spot inside the premises.Police reached the spot and found

that Dhall, who ran an electronic shopin Patel Nagar, had slit his wrist.

According to a police officer, Dhallwas currently residing in Gurgaon withhis family. Police sources said prior shift-ing to Gurgaon, Dhall lived in the PatelNagar neighbourhood. “Since he knewthe area well, he allegedly entered thehigh security area of the Institute late onWednesday night. Police are probing thematter from all angles. A senior policeofficer said, “Since the area is a highsecurity zone, we are questioning if theguards saw him with someone.”

Meanwhile, Dhall’s body has beensent for post-mortem at the DeenDayal Upadhyay hospital mortuary.

Police said Dhall’s family has beeninformed. In the preliminary investi-gation, it appears that the family ofDhall knew that he was depressed forsome time, owing to no work, therefore,they kept a watch over him,” Dhall’sfamily too will be questioned in thematter. Police have registered a caseunder Section 174 of the CrPC (InquestProceedings). Further investigation ison.

Man kills self, blames

note ban in suicide note

From Page 1The four CISF personnel

killed by Balbir have beenidentified as Bachcha Sharma,N Mishra, Arvind Kumar andGS Ram.

In the second incident, avideo of a CRPF ConstableJeet Singh went viral in whichhe has demanded pay andbenefits for paramilitary per-sonnel at par with the IndianArmy. This comes just daysafter another video of aBorder Security Force (BSF)jawan Tej Bahadur Yadavcomplaining about the badquality of the food served tothe force went viral on thesocial media.

While saying that this was

an old video, the CRPF onThursday said it had alreadytaken cognizance of the issuesraised by the jawan. Jeet Singhhad raised these issues whenthe One-Rank, One-Pensionprotests were taking place lastyear.

“This is an old video. Thejawan has service-relatedgrievances and is seeking par-ity in pay and other benefits.An Inspector-General rankofficer of the force has alreadygot in touch with him. Wehave made it clear that if thetroops are facing any problemswe will address them imme-diately,” said CRPF DirectorGeneral K Durga Prasad.

He added, “You always

want a better life than what youhave. That is what he is asking.He has no complaints from theforce. The CRPF has brought allthese issues to the knowledge ofthe 7th Pay Commission.”

Meanwhile talking to themedia, Minister of State forHome Affairs Kiren Rijijusaid Government was takingsteps to improve the condi-tions of jawans in paramilitaryforces. “Several things havecome to light and we are tak-ing them seriously. It is theresponsibi l ity of theGovernment to work for thewelfare of the jawans, who areits priority. We are takingsteps to ensure better condi-tions,” he said.

Livid over leave, CISF

man shoots 4 colleagues

From Page 1It intends to improve their

existing conventional lines tohandle speeds of up to 160km/h, with a goal of speedsabove 200 km/h on new trackswith improved technology. Inthe near future, only twoidentified corridors fromDelhi to Mumbai and Kolkataare practically possible and itwill be ready in two-year time.The average time of Rajdhaniand other capable Expresstrains on both the routes willsave up to three hours,” said aRailways official.

The two important corri-

dors require only certain tech-nological enhancement liketrack strengthening, modernsignaling, train protectionwarning system and fencing atimportant stretches. This isbeing given priority nowbecause Bullet Train, even ifeverything goes on track, willtake another five years, whileother nine proposed highspeed corridors will also taketime.

During the trial-run,Spain’s Talgo trains, whichclocked an average speed of117.5 kmph, can reach a peakspeed of 150 kmph on Delhi-Mumbai route, observing laid-down speed cautions and halt-ing at the usual stoppagesjust as the Mumbai Rajdhani.

In other major decision,

the Railway Ministry hasadvanced the 10-year deadlineto three years for providingsafe coaches by altering andretrofitting the existing oldtrain coaches of less than 20years following a series ofderailments leading to humanloss recently.

This means the country’sfirst Integral Coach Factory(ICF) Kapurthala in Punjabwill have to discontinue themanufacturing of its stereo-typical model Coaches.“During the next three years,all these 53,000 coaches willbe converted into LHB(Linked Hofmann Busch) typecoaches, which are fare saferin case of accidents or derail-ments.

“The ICF will stop manu-

facturing the present coachesand thereafter only LHB typecoaches will be made atKapurthala,” said a seniorRailway official.

Delhi to Mumbaiin just 11 hrs in...

From Page 1Our business will be gone

forever,” said Vikram Badhwar,a trader at CP’s Inner Circle.

In a caustic criticism, amanager of Levis store in Dblock, who did not wish to benamed, said, “If car bandi isimplemented, our customerswill shift their attention tomalls which will result in thereduction of footfall and storesin CP will start closing down.Our only benefit then will bethat our rent will reduce but ingeneral our business will beruined beyond redemption.”

A bolt fromthe blue forConnaughtPlace...

From Page 1“This is a spontaneous protest by students.

There were no leaders to lead them but theyouth took to the streets on their own. Thisis a strange phenomenon as this is the firsttime in recent history a demonstration of thiskind is happening in the State,” said G KNagaraj, president, Kongunadu JananayagaKatchi.

Earlier, the apex court had observed thatthe country cannot “import a RomanGladiator-type of sport” as it is against the cul-ture of compassion towards animals.

The court in its 2014 judgement had saidthat bulls could not be used as performing ani-mals, either for Jallikattu events or for bullock-cart races in the States of Tamil Nadu,Maharashtra or elsewhere in the country, andhad banned their use across the country.

The apex court had also dismissed thereview petition against its 2014 verdict. TheSC had also earlier declared TN Regulation ofJallikattu Act, 2009 as constitutionally void,being violative or Article 254(1) of theConstitution.

On January 8, last year the Centre hadissued a notification lifting a ban on Jallikattuin TN with certain restrictions, which waschallenged in the SC by the Animal WelfareBoard of India, People for Ethical Treatmentof Animals (PETA) India, a Bangalore-basedNGO and others.

On July 26, last year the SC had said thatjust because the bull-taming sport of Jallikattuwas a centuries-old tradition, it could not bejustified.

It had said if the parties were able to con-vince the court that its earlier judgement waswrong, it might refer the matter to a largerBench. The SC had on January 21, last yearrefused to re-examine its 2014 judgement ban-ning use of bulls for Jallikattu events or bul-lock-cart races across the country. The apexcourt had also stayed the January 8 notifica-tion of the Centre.

SC-TN face-off

certain as...

From Page 1 Posted in Rajputana Rifles

Regimental Centre inFatehgarh, Singh complainedabout jawans being made topolish boots of officers, washtheir clothes, take dogs forwalks and help wives of officersin the kitchen. He added thatwhen he complained aboutthis to the Prime Minister'sOffice he had to face disciplinary action. PNS

Raising...

Delhi shivers at 2 deg C

New Delhi (PNS): The nationalCapital continued to reel under a coldwave on Thursday as the city experiencedthe coldest morning this season with mer-cury dropping further to 2 degreesCelsius at various places fromWednesday’s 4 degrees Celsius.

At the Safdarjung observatory, thetemperature stood at 3.4 degrees Celsius,four notches below the season’s average,while at Lodhi Road the temperaturerecorded was at 2 degrees Celsius, said anIndia Meteorological Department (IMD)official. The temperature at Safdarjung is

considered the official reading for the city.The temperatures recorded at variousplaces were 4.4 degrees at Palam, 4.9degrees at Aya Nagar and 5.5 degreesCelsius at Delhi Ridge observatory, saidthe official. Since January 7, the mercuryhas been dipping steadily and hasdropped more than 10 degrees in just fivedays as the cold wave engulfed severalregions of north India. The weather officealso said the cold wave like situation willcontinue in Delhi at least till Sunday andthe minimum and maximum tempera-tures may increase after January 15.

New Delhi: While addressing a publicrally at Kirari village, Delhi BJP presi-dent Manoj Tiwari said common peo-ple will be the ultimate beneficiary ofthe transformation of Indian economyfrom a cash rich economy to a bank ori-ented economy.

“As in a cash dominated economythe opportunities of development werecornered by those who had resources to

buy the opportunities be it by payingcapitation fees in schools and colleges orby bribing the development and pro-gramme related officials,” said Tiwari.

He further said the biggest need ofthe common people is housing, evenafter 70 years of the Independence bothin the cities and rural belt a home ofown remains a distant dream for thecommon man.

Culture, tradition andadherence to some ofour time-tested valueshave to become anessential part of Indian

life and economic behaviour. Weshould adopt some of the mostdesirable traits of Western cultureand civilisation, but we must shunsome of its more pernicious andundesirable characteristics, such asthe obsession with consumingmore and more.

What is of deep concern is thegrowing power of the large corpo-ration on decision-making at everylevel on Governments all over theworld, including those in thiscountry, and their huge influenceon human behaviour. Equally ofconcern is the power of advertis-ing, which reaches our homesthrough television and radio andincreasingly everywhere, now thatwe carry our telephones with us.Advertising was largely responsiblefor the increase in tobacco con-sumption during the 20th century.Hollywood in particular had a veryimportant part to play in creatingiconic images of stars who appearedin movies seldom without a ciga-rette or cigar between their lips.

The relevant question to answertoday, or at least to be debated, iswhether India should abandon itscultural roots and time-tested val-ues while adopting the Westernobsession with consumerism or weshun the appeal of “voluptuous con-sumption” (a term that formerPresident of India, KR Narayananused in his inaugural address at TheEnergy and Resources Institute’s sil-ver jubilee conference in 2000).Those who reach upper middleclass status or higher in India aredriven by a fixation to consume atthe same levels as their counterpartsin the developed world.

However, the richest of the rich,particularly in the US, have estab-lished a remarkable record of pri-vate philanthropy, where so manybillionaires have given away theirentire riches for the benefit of soci-ety. Have any of our billionairesshown even a fraction of thatbenevolence by genuinely con-tributing towards good causes?Have they emulated the remarkablerecord of innovation and thinkingout-of-the-box that has createdunprecedented economic success inthe developed countries?

If one looks at our record ofpatenting and innovation, we arelight years apart from the capacityand achievement attained in theWestern world. There are someislands of excellence such as ourspace programme which continueto demonstrate the inherent capa-

bilities of Indian society, but thisreality is sadly accompanied byinnumerable examples of institu-tions which may have reachedgreat heights through hard workand perseverance but destroyedovernight through bureaucraticcontrols and approaches.

It takes years of blood andsweat to build an institution ofexcellence, but an extremely shortperiod of time to bring it to a levelof ridiculous mediocrity throughbureaucratic management. Theresult is that even our knowledgeorganisations widely follow culturesderived from bureaucratic systems.They gather large numbers ofpeons and clerks, distorting what isreferred to as the teeth to tail ratio.

After 70 years of indepen-dence, India still exhibits a colonialmindset and a fascination for val-ues and preferences prevalent in thedeveloped world. But we have stillnot created a culture of innovationand efficiency which is the hallmarkof Western society, and which ifgenuinely imbibed by us, wouldhelp the average person on the streetand help alleviate widespreadpoverty. This is perhaps an appro-priate moment for us to introspecton the totally alien lifestyles and val-ues which we have adopted by emu-lating the West, while shutting our

eyes to its strengths. In the US, for instance, one sel-

dom finds the destructive envy thatis so common in India towardsthose who excel in society despiteall odds. Typically, even when twopersons in those societies dislikeeach other, one seldom finds hur-dles and obstacles being placed inthe path of achieving benefits to anorganisation or society, and thusensuring that if a job had to be doneeveryone facilitates it even if the per-son responsible is unpopular.

And, in the developed worldthere are often distinct differenceswhich reflect differences in values,ethics and a concern for environ-mental protection. Why shouldwe not emphasise the way of life inthe Nordic countries rather thanNorth America or other opulentsocieties which consume and wasteon a large scale?

In this world of instant com-munication and particularly inpopulous countries like India, weunderestimate the extent to whichour actions could have an impacton the rest of the world. If India pur-sued a more culture and traditionbased pattern of development, thatwould clearly provide a powerfulmodel for the rest of the world tofollow. In essence, in today’s world,it is inevitable that there is a con-

vergence between developed anddeveloping economic systems.There is already a powerful sectionof thinkers and economists who areemphasising what is labelled as thephilosophy of degrowth.

A more appropriate term, andcertainly more appealing, would beto regard the transformationrequired as redevelopment.Essentially, the desired transforma-tion that the world needs is reallymore about substitution than reduc-tion. Fossil fuels would give way torenewable forms of energy; metalsand minerals would be replaced bybio based materials; and even dietswould move towards much loweramounts of animal protein, revers-ing the increasing trends whichhave been pushed in recent decadesby advertising the ‘virtues’ of exces-sive consumption of meat.

At the pain of repetition, itwould be necessary to remind our-selves of what Mahatma Gandhisaid when he was asked whether hewould not want India to reach thesame level of prosperity as Britain.He responded by stating that Britainhad reached its level of so-calledprosperity by using half theresources of this planet, therefore,“how many planets would a coun-try like India require?”

It is time that we created a trulysustainable pattern of growth, anda meritocracy which displaces thecancer of bureaucratic systems thatare common through different lev-els of Government, the public sec-tor and knowledge organisations,including research institutions.Comparisons with China are oftennot valid, but I know intimately howChinese institutions have evolvedover the last four decades.

In the early 1980s, Chineseuniversities and centres of researchwere way behind ours, particular-ly since they had suffered the rav-ages of the cultural revolution.Today, China has some of the bestinstitutions in the world, and theirrecord of innovation and technol-ogy development is second tonone, and that too in a communistsociety. But centralised systems arenot allowed to suffocate the localautonomy of institutions that areagents of change. Our annual sci-ence congress emphasises Indiantraditions in science, we havefailed to create a scientific cultureto suit today’s challenges, withoutwhich our claims of greatnesswould remain hollow.

(This is the second and finalpart of a two-part series on over-consumerism)

(The writer is a formerchair-man, Intergovernmental Panel onClimate Change, 2002-2015)T

he Government’s intent to launch a new Target Olympic Podium (TOP) schemethis month is welcome. Importantly, the focus of this renewed scheme isto improve upon timing and purpose so that our prospective sportspersons

hone their skills well in advance for the next three Olympics and also other majorevents like the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games. Though this schemewas in force for the 2016 Rio Olympic games, but since it was launched bare-ly a year-and-half before the games, it could not really help many of our sportsper-sons. The unfolding of the scheme, way ahead of the next Olympics, will raiseIndia's chances of winning more medals. Needless to say, the Union Governmentis trying to set the timing of the programme right so that various technicalitiescan be addressed. Simultaneously, an attempt has also been made to bring sportsunder the Concurrent List of the Constitution. This move has been in the pipelinefor a long time, but has failed to see the light of the day due to lack of consen-sus among the States. Currently, sports is a subject that comes under the StatesList of the Constitution. The inclusion of sports into the concurrent list is desir-

able because this will further stream-line the process of selection, prepa-ration and raising of funds for varioussports events across the country.Some sports experts and veterans inthe field feel that this step will providea new dimension to India's sports.While preparing for world-classgames like the Olympics, AsianGames and the CommonwealthGames, combined efforts of theStates and also the Centre will elim-inate many hurdles.

Before unfolding the TOP scheme,certain issues need to be addressed.The Ministry concerned and depart-ments must ensure that the sportsper-sons get early approval of basic min-imum facilities required to startpreparation. When we talk about

providing world-class facilities to our players, we need to remind the authori-ties that during the run up to the Rio Olympics, many of the players complainedabout the lack of funds and facilities. Sadly, some of them were receiving fatcash awards after winning medals and were promoted to the level of nationalheroes overnight. Besides, there was a big tug of war among top sports bod-ies, when one or two athletes failed the drug test hours before the beginning ofthe Rio games. It is good that the Union Government is talking with respectiveStates to nurture sportspersons in specific fields. Such efforts will not only helplocate fresh talent, but will also provide state-of-the art facilities to the players.Meanwhile, the Government is also planning to enter into a partnership with acad-emies, run by prominent sportspersons like P Gopichand, Ashwini Nachappa,PT Usha and Mary Kom, for assisting players in various fields. Strengtheningthe national sports fund and its proper utilisation should make a significant dif-ference to India’s performance in the coming Olympics.

Now that the Supreme Court has rejected a petition demanding an investi-gation into the Sahara-Birla diaries which mentioned the names of a hostof politicians, the earthquake that Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi

wished to bring upon the ruling party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, willhave to wait for another day! It's clear that the Congress and its leader eitherdon't do their homework or are so obsessed with their anti-Modi campaign thatthey cannot see the writing on the wall. What the two-judge apex court Benchsaid about the material before them, applies to the Congress as well. The courtobserved that “loose sheets of paper” cannot form the basis of “admissible evi-dence”. Similarly, loose talk cannot be a ground for demanding answers fromthe country's Prime Minister. Caught on the back foot after the court rejected aplea by non-governmental organisation Common Cause with connections withthe Modi-baiter activist and lawyer Prashant Bhushan to order a probe into thenames of certain politicians including Prime Minister Modi in the dairies seizedduring a raid by authorities from the Sahara and the Birla groups, Congressspokespersons have now begun demanding answers from the Prime Ministeron grounds of propriety. But what is there for the Prime Minister to respond to

when the highest court of the land hasstated there is no substance in thematerial to even order an investigation,let alone hold anyone accountable? It'stime for the Congress to give up itsfutile attempt to box Modi into a cor-ner. The Congress and its leader RahulGandhi will have to look for someother issue. However, given the bank-ruptcy of ideas that both suffer from,coupled with their desperation toembarrass Modi, it is unlikely that theycan come up with anything cogent,more so in time for the upcomingAssembly elections.

Meanwhile, the likes of PrashantBhushan too must abandon a questthat has neither credibility nor sub-stance. Bhushan may have his agen-da which he is at liberty to pursue. But

he is a reputed activist and lawyer too, and he must have known that he was onslippery ground. The flimsiness of the material he had became evident duringan earlier hearing itself when the Supreme Court had advised Common Causeto withdraw the plea if it could not bring forward credible material. Clearly theNGO, and Bhushan despite his attempts at digging dirt, failed to satisfy the Bench.In throwing the petition out of the window, the court said that “such materialsdo not classify as evidence as required under Sections 65 and 65A”. Nor wasthe so-called proof the petitioner offered “cogent”. The Bench observed that, ifcourts were to begin cognizance of such “random entries”, the process of lawcould be “abused easily to achieve the ulterior objectives”. ‘Ulterior objectives'is exactly what Bhushan and company had in mind when they brought the case.Having failed to malign the Prime Minister through dubious material, PrashantBhushan is now lamenting about ‘failure of justice'. His remark that the verdictwas a “setback to the whole campaign against corruption”, is laughable; demon-etisation was a campaign against corruption, but did Bhushan back it? And hiscomment that the judgement is a “black mark” on the apex court, is shocking.

The failed earthquake

Politics of accusation against Modi must end

opinion 08LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | JANUARY 13, 2017

Indian culture andWestern dynamismCulture and tradition are and must be an essential part of Indian life. But we must also adopt some desirabletraits of Western culture and civilisation. The pernicious and undesirable characteristics must be shunned

New hope for Olympians

TOP scheme will hopefully make a difference

Stark contrast

Sir — It is normal for a person toseek power and wealth. If wealthcomes first, then his next quest isfor power. If power comes first,wealth follows naturally. I ruminateon this subject of power and pelfafter listening to Barack Obama’sfarewell speech as the outgoing USPresident. Obama came from alower middle class family with thedisadvantage of being bi-racial,and made it to the highest office asthe US President.

In contrast, incomingPresident Donald Trump is a bil-lionaire, and arrogant, which is adeadly combination. For Trump,humility is anathema; in contrast,Obama is a great humanist.Coming back to Obama’s farewellspeech, he made himself moreloveable after the speech thanwhen he was in the White House.

K Ravi Bhubaneswar

Great statesman

Sir — Outgoing US PresidentBarack Obama will be rememberedas a great statesman in world’s his-tory. What he has represented andhow he has borne himself in officemust be seen as more significant

and striking than what he hasdone or achieved during his eight-year stint in the White House.Obama’s public image is not differ-ent from the real person. He hasembodied the essential goodness ofhuman nature in his public life andpersonal life alike.

An impressively tall, lankyblack American President sportinga disarming smile, exuding ebul-lience and talking sense in his sten-torian voice like Nelson Mandela’s,Obama has been a world leader. Nowonder, thousands braved theharsh winter in Chicago to hear himdeliver the farewell speech and mil-lions were glued to the TV to hearhim one last time as President.

G David MiltonMaruthancode

Soldiers’ grief

Sir — There has been much hulla-baloo over a series of videos post-ed by a Border Security Forcejawan Tej Bahadur Yadav about thetroops going hungry due to mal-practices. The jawan has requestedthat this video be shared by every-one so that it gets media attention.

This message, he said, shouldbe heard in newsrooms across thecountry as a message of grief.Martyrdom is not the only timeto respect or pay tribute to a

jawan. The many sacrifices hemakes before that should benoted. But it’s a pity that the mediaspeaks about the soldier only atthe time of his martyrdom.

Politics aside, if a soldier has toimplore the Prime Minister for basicdaily meals, perhaps the meal plansneed a little re-looking. This isn’tasking for much. Coupled withunforgiving weather conditions,an empty stomach isn’t pleasant.

JS AcharyaHyderabad

Respecting nation

Sir — The National Flag is sym-bolic of one’s respect for thenation. However, there has been anew trend to sell flags, made ofpaper and plastic, as independenceday or Republic Day approaches.With a sense of national pride,people buy such flags but the verynext day, we find these flags beingtrampled on roads, in dustbins andelsewhere. By allowing this to hap-pen, people forget that they areinsulting the National Flag. Thisdisrespect towards our flag mustcome to an end.

Jubel D’CruzMumbai

www.dailypioneer.com

p a p e r w i t h p a s s i o n

RK PACHAURI

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Rahul's comments

show that he is worried

about the Prime

Minister's growing pop-

ularity and is desper-

ately looking to save

his political legacy.

Union Minister

—Smriti Irani

He (Hrithik) is a simple

person who wants to give

his best and help others

also get their best in the

most selfless way.

Actor

—Yami Gautam

Several things have

come to light and we

are taking them

seriously. We are

taking this issue

(CRPF) seriously.

Union Minister

—Kiren Rijiju

INDIA STILL EXHIBITSA COLONIAL MINDSETAND A FASCINATION

FOR VALUES ANDPREFERENCES

PREVALENT IN THEDEVELOPED WORLD.BUT WE HAVE NOT

CREATED A CULTUREOF INNOVATION ANDEFFICIENCY WHICH IS

THE HALLMARK OFWESTERN SOCIETY

SOUNDBITE

Relentless rant against

Prime Minister must end

This refers to the report, “Cong will end ‘rule of fear': Rahul” (January12). One had hoped that after his holiday in Europe, Congress vice pres-ident Rahul Ganhi would be more sober and thoughtful, and less juve-

nile, while commenting on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But the Congressscion continues to be mired in muck. Despite the Supreme Court's rejec-tion of Birla-Sahara diaries' corruption charges against the Prime Minister,he has kept on repeating them. He added that it was for the first time thatthe Prime Minister was being “ridiculed world over” for demonetisation.

On the other hand, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee crossedall limits of dignified and cultured discourse by calling Modi a “Ravan” whosemen tried to “crash my plane”; she and her MP Kalyan Banerjee also labelledhim “a rat who will return to Gujarat” in the face of “country-wide protests”on note ban. Is it not time for the judiciary to take suo motu notice to stopmalicious, unethical attacks on the elected head of Government?

M RatanVia email

Send your feedback to: [email protected]

THE PIONEER | PAGE 9 ✦ LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | JANUARY 13, 2017

The Constitution of India is aliving document. Since its adoption by the ConstituentAssembly on November 26,1949, the text of the

Constitution has been amended severaltimes by the Parliament. AlthoughParliament represents the popular willof the people, yet when it comes to win-ning public trust, the judiciary enjoysmore credibility over the executive orthe legislature.

One reason could be that for an average citizen, accessing courts to redressgrievances is more prompt and convenientthan to approach the concerned electedrepresentative. Second, judicial process follows the principles of natural justicewhere no citizen can be denied justicewithout being heard. And lastly, the judiciary’s task to fiercely defend the constitutional ideals of the Preamble anduphold the Fundamental Rights of citizens, gives it a high moral place in thehearts and minds of citizens. When everything fails, there is hope that thejudiciary will never fail its citizens.

It is this hope that has led the judi-ciary to attain an important place in the development of law in the country. Butthere is a flip side to it too. Judiciary’spowers are restricted by the concept ofseparation of powers. Though the judiciary, executive and legislature oper-ate in separate compartments, yet func-tionally, the Supreme Court and HighCourts have got extraordinary powers bywhich they can nullify decisions of theexecutive and quash laws passed byParliament. This power of judicial reviewhas led the judiciary to hold an overarch-ing presence over the remaining organs,giving it some sort of a superiority,which the Constitution did not envisage.

This has come to mould even the pub-lic opinion. For instance, the SupremeCourt recently assured to ease inconve-nience faced by public due to demonetisa-tion of `500 and `1,000 currency notes. Atthe end, when the matter was decided, nointerim orders were passed. But the judgeswere not accused of letting down the public. Perhaps, nobody will. Since in theabsence of a Lokpal, on which the Centrehas been dragging its feet, the judiciary isseen as the lone sentinel to punish corrup-tion in public life. This is amply evidentthrough the court-monitored investiga-tions into the recent 2G spectrum scamand Coalgate. But the question one mustask is: Has the judiciary lived up to thetrust placed by the public.

In October 2015, the Supreme Courtstruck down The National JudicialAppointments Commission Act that waspassed by both Houses of Parliament andratified by about 20 State Assemblies. Inone stroke, the new system was out and

the old, existing collegium system wasrevived. The judges did admit that thecollegium system was opaque and needed reform. It allowed the Centre toamend the procedure under collegiumsystem. When the Centre insisted onmaking appointments as per theamended procedure, the SupremeCourt in a PIL threatened to summonthe Prime Minister’s Office official rais-ing this objection. By a judicial order ina PIL, the Supreme Court has refusedto honour the verdict pronounced byits Constitution Bench. By their ownact, the judiciary has caused furthersuspicion over a closed-door mecha-nism to select judges.

While talking of transparency, thejudiciary undertook an exercise toreform the richest cricket body of theworld, the Board of Control forCricket in India (BCCI) by making itsfunds accountable in the interest ofthe game. The court constituted aCommittee of three judges headed byformer CJI RM Lodha, who interactedwith veterans and experts of the gameand proposed a slew of reforms. It wasimplemented by way of a Court order.Since BCCI President Anurag Thakurand Secretary Ajay Shirke refused tocomply, they were thrown out byanother judicial order. A panel ofadministrators will now run theBoard, the names of which are to beproposed by two senior lawyers —Anil Divan and Gopal Subramanium.Following the court’s verdict, Thakurreplied, “If the Supreme Court feelsthat the BCCI will do better underretired judges, I wish them good luck.”One needs to ask whether judgesshould become administrators.

Explaining the boundary of judicialreview, a five-judge Constitution Benchin the famous Bachan Singh vs State ofPunjab case, decided on August 16,1982, said: “The primary function ofthe courts is to interpret and apply thelaws according to the will of those whomade them and not to transgress intothe legislative domain of policy-mak-ing.” It quoted Lord Devlin of the Houseof Lords, as saying, “Judges are thekeepers of the law and the keepers ofthese boundaries cannot, also, beamong out-riders.”

There is a growing feeling that judicial activism is gradually taking theshape of judicial adventurism. Take forinstance, a recent diktat of the SupremeCourt asking cinema halls in the coun-try to play the national anthem beforescreening of a movie. By the same order,the courts declared that all present in thehall should stand up. All this was anexercise in constitutional patriotism.

So what if a citizen fails to stand up.Is he to be treated as a criminal? Is theidea of patriotism to be practiced insidea cinema hall alone? When the SupremeCourt, as the final arbiter of justice, failsto think of these questions, and decidesto enforce a law that the majority fails torelate with, there is a danger of a dis-connect, that is certain to impact thepublic trust reposed in the judiciary. n

The Constitution ofIndia accepts the doctrine of ‘separation

of powers’. The basic grammar of this doctrinesuggests that one organ ofGovernment should not control or interfere with theexercise of its functions byanother organ. ‘Separation ofpowers’ ensures that thethree independent branches(judiciary, legislature andexecutive) follow a constitu-tional culture founded onnorms of mutual respect.

Unfortunately, immedi-ately after the advent of independent India, institu-tional conflicts arosebetween the three organsand gradually mutual disregard amongst branchesincreased. Due to the failureof successive Governments,both at the Centre and inStates, and in the conflict oncustodianship of theConstitution, the Supreme

Court was forced to eventually stretch its ambit toworks assigned to otherbranches. Three conceptsemerged here: Judicialactivism, judicial overreachand judicial self-restraint.

The Supreme Court initially adopted an activistapproach in the field ofproperty laws in view of a‘social revolution’. Duringand around Emergency(1975-77), two major eventshappened. First, two dramatic supersessions happened in view of form-ing a ‘committed judiciary’.Second, the 42ndConstitution Amendmentwas passed with a clear agenda of eroding judicialpower. To save its indepen-dence and to perform it’sduties to constitutional sat-isfaction, the SupremeCourt had to strengthen theactivist approach.

It was realised that

dependency on theGovernment was not healthyfor its existence and theSupreme Court decided toallow a citizen to knock itsdoors directly in form ofPublic Interest Litigation(PIL). A sense of securitydeveloped and independenceof judiciary was given in thehands of ‘primacy’ of Chief

Justice of India at the verythreshold of appointing ajudge to constitutional courts.

After the initial applaud,the apex court has, for quitesome time, been heavily criticised for judicial over-reach for stepping into fieldswherein its expertise did notlay. TR Andhyarujina calledit a ‘disturbing trend’ and

Soli Sorabjee termed it ‘judi-cial authoritarianism’. To balance judicial activism andjudicial overreach, judicialself-restraint was suggestedas to where and upto whatextent should the apex courtextend its powers.

Judicial activism can bedivided into positive andnegative. Positive activism isprogressive in nature anduses principled interferencewhile negative activism isreactionary and unwarranted.While I agree that judicial activism must beexercised delicately, I stronglyassert that to cure defects inthe largely defective system,positive judicial activismmust be saved and respected.

Positive judicial activismis necessary since it reinforces the strength ofdemocracy and reaffirms thefaith of the people in the ruleof law. The judiciary hasplayed a pro-active role in

ensuring that India developsas a strong democratic repub-lic. Timely interventions invarious matters, ranging fromcorporate frauds running intocrores to undertrials lan-guishing in jails, the judiciaryhas stepped out of the robe toprotect the rights of citizens.

The argument that judiciary is subordinate tolegislative wisdom as an actis passed after extensivedebates by parliamentarianswho represent the ‘direct will’of the subjects and judiciarybeing the ‘indirect will’ has alimited role, is incorrect. As amatter of fact, the SupremeCourt has multiple timesdeclined to participate inpurely political questions andpolicy matters not involvingdecision of a core legal issue.

The Supreme Court didnot come out of its comfortzone to massage its ego. It hadto boldly take the step ofassuming wide reviewing

powers to assist the state ineffective governance. Thisremarkable shift in the work-ing pattern has been a cau-tionary exercise and judges atthe highest level workedmeticulously to make surejustice is seem to be done. Inits adopted wider role, theapex court propounded theenvironmental law, labour lawand human rights jurispru-dence as we know today.

Judicial activism is a system of checks and bal-ances. Had the SupremeCourt not intervened legiti-mately and even supplantedthe Constitution vide variousdoctrinal supplements, jus-tice would have become adistant dream by now, wealthwould have concentrated infew hands and feudal set upwould have prevailed.Judiciary must be given itsdue credit. Judicial activism,the positive one must be, andI repeat — must besavedl. n

My Lords, this isjudicial adventurism

BIGST RY

When the apex court enforces a law that the majority fails to relate with, there is a disconnect

ABRAHAM THOMASSPECIAL CORRESPONDENTTHE PIONEER

NAMIT SAXENAPRACTISING ADVOCATE INTHE SUPREME COURT

JUDICIAL ACTIVISMIS A SYSTEM OF

CHECKS ANDBALANCES. HAD THE

SUPREME COURTNOT INTERVENED SO

OFTEN, JUSTICEWOULD HAVE

BECOME A DISTANTDREAM

BY NOW

To cure a largely defective system, positive interventions by way of bitter pills are necessary

Three cheers for judicial activism

NATIONAL

ANTHEM

Important point isn't order SC has

issued on #NationalAnthem but with

the fact it entertained thus petition and

invested judicial time in it

—Shekhar Gupta

Hope Supreme Court orders Indian

Parliament to sing our Nation Anthem

before each session. Often its drama

too is movie like #nationalanthem

—Shekhar Kapur

Shouldn't #NationalAnthem be printed

on every newspaper everyday on its

front page before we start reading the

news from 2nd page onwards?

—Ram Gopal Varma

NJAC

Surprised by the verdict of the

Supreme Court on NJAC. NJAC was

completely supported by Rajya Sabha

and Lok Sabha; it had 100 per cent

support of the people

— DV Sadananda Gowda

It is a flawed judgment ignoring the

unanimous will of Parliament,

half the State Legislatures and the

will of the people for transparency

in judicial appointments

—Mukul Rohatgi

Historic day for democracy. Law

officers should resign

— Ram Jethmalani

Ill-conceived legislation by the

NDA Govt. Arun Jaitley has to

concentrate more on his ministry

than other ones

—Kapil Sibal

The SC is giving a message

that the power is with them

—Harish Salve

I am disappointed. As someone in the

parliament said this is the tyranny of

the unelected over the elected

—KTS Tulsi

Good sign that the SC has called for

further discussions on Collegium

system. It shows that it has accepted

there are defects in the system.

That there is opacity.

Second, it has stopped the interference

of the executive. It has stood by the

basic principle. It is the most

remarkable judgment after

Keshavananda Bharti

— Gopal Subramanium

I wonder if the collegium system had

“produced judges” of the “same

calibre” as some of the older,

“legendary” judges. #NJAC #CJI

—Veer Savarkar

BCCI

Supreme Court cleans bowls BCCI top

brass. Anurag Thakur declared out.

Batsmen wondering why there's no

third umpire review here.

—Rahul Kanwal

This is a revolution the kind of which I

haven't seen in all the years I have

followed Indian cricket. Await the calm

beyond the storm.

—Harsha Bhogle

Not the best of starts to the year, if you

are the BCCI.

—Prem Panicker

LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | JANUARY 13, 2017 money 10

BY PRANAY LEKHI

No less than sixteen politicalparties have over the past

few days attempted to scuttle thepresentation of the Budget onthe 1st of February as decided bythe Government of India. Thisproposition has found reso-nance far beyond the politicalspectrum with eminent jurists aswell as former ElectionCommissioners claiming thischallenge as valid. However, asthis article will attempt to sug-gest - all such criticism, shouldit be challenged in law wouldcement its status as a frivolityattempted to mask the possibledebate on issues of relevance forthe poll-bound states.

In order to answer the ques-tion of the validity of theGovernment’s move to bring for-ward the Budget it is essential toprimarily understand the natureof the Budget itself.

As noted by theConstitution itself, specifically inArticle 112, the AnnualFinancial Statement has the pri-mary objective to reveal com-prehensive information to show-case the financial position of theGovernment and enable theParliament to debate the impactof such a program on the nation’seconomy. It is common knowl-edge that the Rajya Sabha has asubordinate role with respect tofinancial matters but what isoften overlooked is the prima-cy given to the Executive in ourConstitutional scheme. In morespecific terms, the Governmentmust table all financial propos-als and the Legislature itselfwould have no power to increasesuch proposals. As exemplifiedin Article 113(3) of ourConstitution, if such anamendment of increase were tobe passed, it would be tanta-mount to a vote of no confi-dence.

Furthermore, the primacyof the Government’s role inbudgetary procedures is furthercemented by the scheme of theannual financial statement itself.The estimates of expenditureincluded in the Budget have toshow separately the sumsrequired to meet expenditure:(1) which the Constitution hascharged on the ConsolidatedFund; and (2) the sums from theConsolidated Fund requiredmeeting other expenditure. Eventhough the expenditure con-tained in the first category canbe discussed in both Houses, thesame cannot be submitted to avote, thereby remaining theexclusive domain of theGovernment. Thus, ourConstitutional scheme itselfgives the Executive widespreadif not absolute powers in the callfor finances. This position is per-fectly summed up in Sir ErskineMay on Parliamentary Practiceas: “The Crown demandsmoney, the Commons grant itand the Lords assent to thegrant.”

This brings us to the ques-tion of “When?” Criticism hasbeen leveled at the identifieddate on two points: firstly, on theissue of procedure as to the abil-ity of the Government to tablea Budget that would adequate-ly represent the position of thepreceding year and second onthe propriety of the Governmenttaking such an action threedays before Uttar Pradesh goesto polls.

The first criticism suffersfrom a logical gap as to what theBudget is in fact meant for in thefirst instance and the absolutediscretion of the FinanceMinister to make this decisionin the second. Taking the first,as per the Constitution itself, thefinancial statement is prospec-tive, that is, estimate of receiptsand expenditure are always ofthe coming year. Similarly, Rule213 of the Rules of the House ofPeople makes it very clear thatthere is no bar on the presenta-tion of more than one Budget ina year. This entails that if theGovernment so feels, it has dis-cretion to table an InterimBudget when all information isnot at its disposal. In fact, asnoted in the treatises onConstitutional Law by DD Basu,during election years it is com-mon for the Budget to be pre-sented twice a year, even as avote on account is obtained inthe first set of Budget prior to theGeneral Election. This presen-tation before the Lok Sabhaelections is not an inviolable cus-tom and was done in the veryrecent past by the previousGovernment’s presentation ofthe Interim Budget in February2014. In terms of state electionstoo, the Election Commission in2013 allowed for the UnionMinistry of Agriculture toannounce a new MinimumSupport Price, despite electionsin Karnataka. An argument tosay that the Budget should notbe presented before an electionwould be tantamount to arguingby extension, in an electionyear there shouldn’t be a Budgetpresentation at all, which wouldcreate an absurdity.

Additionally, the primaryrole of the Finance Minister inmaking such a decision is estab-lished by clause 2 of Article 112of the Constitution itself. Theclause specifically provides thatthe Finance Minister may pre-sent the Budget in any form helikes subject only to two condi-tions that he must show sepa-rately the sums charged and notcharged on the ConsolidatedFund as well as the expenditureon revenue account. The day forthe presentation of the Budgethas not been specified by anyprovision but on the contraryRule 204 of the Lok Sabha pro-vides for such presentation onany day as the President, boundby the Council of Ministers, maydirect. In this light, the onlybody of individuals mandated toinfluence such a decision is the

Estimates Committee of theHouse, which may guide theMinister by making “sugges-tions”. Thus, constitutionally thedecision of presentation is notone of information availablebut rests with the appropriate-ness to be decided by theFinance Minister.

Finally, the meat of the crit-icism directed at the date ofBudget presentation is the ques-tion of propriety of such amove. In civilized societies pro-priety is judged on the legalityof such actions. Although judg-ing the propriety of actionsbefore they have taken place issuspect, the law as it stands bothin terms of the Representationof Peoples Act as well as theModel Code of Conduct allowfor the presentation of theBudget as scheduled. In 2013,the Supreme Court in S.Subramaniam Balaji declaredthat promises made by a politi-cal party could not constitute ascorrupt practice, more so if theModel Code of Conduct doesnot include such practice. Withrespect to Model Code, the pro-vision cited to criticize theBudget date is as follows -“Ministers and other authoritiesshall not announce any financialgrants in any form or promisesthereof”. This provision cannotcover the Budget on multiplegrounds. Firstly, it is not pro-vided in the Constitution as towho will present the Statementin the two houses, therefore, theBudget itself goes beyond indi-viduals. Secondly, the Codelooks to outlaw the announce-ment of financial grants specif-ically; the Budget on the otherhand is not a financial grant butan all-encompassing statementof a nation’s future economic sta-tus. Thus, most importantly,the Code is applicable to the pollbound states, which entails thata Constitutional mandate of thepresentation of the Budget hasa national character to it. This initself makes it fall outside thescope of the ElectionCommission’s purview.

Any question on the date ofpresentation would not onlyquestion constitutional integri-ty but also more importantlybring into doubt such nationalcharacter of the democratic set-up. Therefore, the Opposition tothe bringing forward the date ofthe Budget is a red herring in thenational political spheres. Therecan be no doubt the move islegal and mandated, the onlyquestion remains whether thevoter in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab,Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goabelieves so and much like thepropriety of the Budget that is aquestion which the majorityshall leave to the future.

(The author is a student ofthe West Bengal NationalUniversity of Juridical Sciences,Kolkata and the IndianRepresentative at the WorldAssembly of Youth.)

How do you demonstrate youruniqueness in a market that is notgrowing as fast as you think. How doyou make yourself multi cultural? AsChandra has demonstrated to all ofus, at TCS, as long as you are able toinspire your people to doextraordinary things, then I think youwill be in a position to handle thesechallenges

IT INDUSTRY VETERAN NR NARAYANA MURTHY

You are now custodian of an Indian

Icon. You have broad enough shoulders to assume

that responsibility!

Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra

CHANDRASEKARAN

ON

BUZZ

Challenging the Budget-an attempt at frivolity

PNS n NEW DELHI

Over two months of TataSons board battle in

which former ChairmanCyrus Mistry was sackedunceremoniously, $103-bil-lion Tata Group appointedTata Consultancy Services orTCS chief N Chandrasekaranas its new ExecutiveChairman of the conglomer-ate on Thursday.

On his appointment,Chandrasekaran said, “I amhumbled and honoured to bechosen to lead a truly greatinstitution that occupies aunique position in the heartsof people in India and theworld. I am proud to havebeen part of the Tata familyfor over 30 years and assum-ing this position is a greatprivilege. I want to thank theTata Sons Board and Ratan NTata for their confidence inme to lead this trusted insti-tution that has a rich her-itage.”

“At the Tata group, we areat an inflection point. I amaware that this role comeswith huge responsibilities. Itwill be my endeavour to helpprogress the group with theethos, ethics and values thatthe Tata group has been builton,” he added.

C h a n d r a s e k a r a n ’ sappointment as Tata SonsChairman comes at a timewhen the company is fightinga legal battle at the NationalCompany Law Tribunal withMistry, who has challengedhis ouster. On Wednesday,Mistry family-owned twoinvestment firms had filed acontempt application atNCLT against move by TataSons to remove him as direc-tor and sought an order torestrain the company fromgoing ahead with its plannedEGM on February 6 called toremove him.

The 54-year-oldChandrasekaran will takecharge at the helm of Tata

Sons, the main holding com-pany of the salt-to-softwareconglomerate from February21.

Announcing his appoint-ment, Tata Sons board said instatement: “The Board ofDirectors of Tata Sons, at itsmeeting on Thursday,appointed N Chandrasekaranas Executive Chairman. Thisis as per the unanimous rec-ommendation of the SelectionCommittee.”

“Mr Chandrasekaran hasdemonstrated exemplaryleadership as the ChiefExecutive Off icer andManaging Director of TataConsultancy Services. Webelieve he will now inspire theentire Tata group to realise itspotential acting as leaders intheir respective businesses,always in keeping with ourvalue system and ethics andadhering with the practices ofthe Tata group which havestood it in good stead,” addedthe statement.

Chandrasekaran, who ispopularly known as Chandra,was chosen to step into theshoes of interim ChairmanRatan Tata, who took over onOctober 24 last year after theremoval of Mistr y. Theannouncement did not men-tion Chandrasekaran’s tenureat the top. It also had no wordon what role the group wouldgive to Ratan Tata, who wasmade interim chairman afterMistry’s ouster.

At TCS, Chandrasekaranwould be succeeded by RajeshGopinathan, currently thecompany’s chief financial offi-cer. Announcing his appoint-ment, Tata Sons board said,“Mr Chandrasekaran hasdemonstrated exemplary lead-ership as the Chief ExecutiveOff icer and ManagingDirector of Tata ConsultancyServices. We believe he willnow inspire the entire Tatagroup to realise its potentialacting as leaders in theirrespective businesses, always

in keeping with our valuesystem and ethics and adher-ing with the practices of theTata group which have stoodit in good stead.”

Chandrasekaran was theCEO and MD of TCS, thecash-cow for the group, since2009. A Tata lifer, he hadjoined the company in 1987.He was appointed as aDirector on the board of TataSons on October 25, 2016, justa day after Mistry’s removal.

The decision to appointChandrasekaran followed afive-member search commit-tee comprising Ratan Tata,TVS Group head VenuSrinivasan, Amit Chandra ofBain Capital, former diplomatRonen Sen and Lord KumarBhattacharya zeroing in onChandrasekaran. The searchpanel was given four monthsto find the new head of thepromoter company of themajor operating firms of theconglomerate, but the decisionhas been reached even before

that.In one of the biggest board

room battles in history ofIndia Inc, Tata Sons board hadremoved Mistry as Chairmanciting loss of faith in his lead-ership and for the good of thefuture of the group, while hispredecessor Ratan Tata wasbrought back as an interimChairman.

Mistry, on the other hand,had alleged that Tata andother trustees of the TataTrusts ran alternate powercentre and he was reduced toa ‘lame duck Chairman’.Chandrasekaran had joinedTCS after completing Mastersin Computer Applicationsfrom Regional EngineeringCollege, Trichy, Tamil Nadu.

Under his leadership, TCSgenerated consolidated rev-enues of $16.5 billion in 2015-16. The company remains themost valuable company inIndia as of 2015-16 with amarket capitalisation of over$70 billion.

MADHUSUDAN SAHOO n

NEW DELHI

In order to boost financial inclu-sion in the competitive conven-

tional banking system, AirtelPayment Bank will offer at a muchhigher and the lucrative interest rateof 7.25 per cent per annum as com-pared to 3-4 per cent offered byother conventional banks, be it pri-vate or public sector banks in thecountry, to its savings bank accountholders. Besides, the payment bankalso offers personal accidental insur-ance of `1 lakh with every savingsbank account and free talk-timeequaling the amount deposited inthe payments bank-saving account.

The Airtel Payments Bank - thefirst payments bank of the country- was officially launched onThursday at an event in the capital.Finance Minister Arun Jaitley inau-gurated the launch of AirtelPayments Bank owned by BhartiEnterprises, which is being rolled outacross the country with an invest-ment of ̀ 3,000 crore. “As more andmore telecom companies enterinto the fray, I think we will hope-fully, see competition not onlyamongst telecom companies whichwe read a lot about these days, butprobably see a competition betweenconventional and new mode ofbanking,” Jaitley said at the launch.

Airtel Payments Bank offers allthese services and just like any tra-ditional bank and it will offer allAirtel customers with an interest rateof 7.25 per cent per annum, whichis much higher than any other con-ventional banks. We also offer per-sonal accidental insurance of ̀ 1 lakhwith every savings account and free

talk-time equaling the amountdeposited in the payments bank-saving account,” Bharti EnterprisesChairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said,adding that just as mobile telepho-ny leapfrogged traditional telecomnetworks to take affordable telecomservices deep into the country.

Mittal added that Bharti holds80 per cent stake in the paymentsbank, while the rest is held by KotakMahindra Bank. “We have invest-ed around `1,000 crore. We arelooking at total investment of`3,000 crore over a period of time.We will look at getting some moreequity partners but there is noimmediate plan as of now,” Mittaladded.

Airtel Payments Bank aims totake digital banking services to theunbanked over their mobile phonesin a quick and efficient manner.With this payment bank, we are

starting another important chapterin our journey, with the potential totruly transform lives and con-tribute to financial inclusion in thecountry,” Mittal said.

However, Airtel PaymentsBank Managing Director and CEOShashi Arora said that the bank willlook at reaching out to customersacross 6 lakh retail outlets in a year.Our payment bank would be fullydigital and paperless banking andcustomers would be able access ser-vices over their mobile phones,including all feature or basic mobilephones. Savings accounts areopened using Aadhaar based e-KYC. This requires no documentsat all, only the customer’s Aadhaarnumber is needed,” Arora added.

According to Airtel, now theAirtel Payments Bank is officiallylive across all 29 states, with over250,000 Airtel retail stores which

will function as digital paymentbanking centres across the country.Earlier in November, Airtel hadlaunched a pilot payments bankprogram in Rajasthan, across10,000 Airtel retail outlets in thestate.

“In December, Airtel extend-ed its footprint to south India byrolling out pilot services in AndhraPradesh and Telangana. The launchin Delhi is aimed at spreading ser-vices in the nearby states of Delhisuch as UP and Haryana, eventu-ally leading to a pan-India roll-out,”Mittal added.

The new Airtel PaymentsBank is different from the AirtelMoney wallet, which was alreadyavailable. “The Airtel PaymentsBank is not just a wallet, whichmeans that it allows you to trans-act more easily with other banks,and also Airtel pays an interest onthe money you deposit, which itcould not do with the Airtel Moneywallet. Users of Airtel Money willbe given the option of transferringtheir balance from the wallet intotheir Airtel payments bankaccounts,” Airtel said.

Airtel Payments Bank alsoplans to develop a nationwidemerchant ecosystem of over 3million partners that will includesmall kirana stores, small shops andrestaurants etc.

“These merchant partners willaccept digital payments for goodsand services from Airtel PaymentsBank customers over mobilephones. The payment bank will notcharge any processing fee frommerchants and this facility wouldbe totally free for the customers aswell as the merchants,” it added.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Sahara group chiefSubrata Roy could be in

for serious trouble again,with the Supreme Court onThursday toughening itsstand and refusing to extendtime beyond February 6 forhim to deposit `600 crore,saying he would have to goto jail in case of a default.

“This court has given somuch indulgence to you.This is the worst. If youdon’t pay the amount, youwill have to go back to jail,”the newly constitutedbench, comprising JusticesDipak Misra, Ranjan Gogoiand AK Sikri, said the newbench scrutinised therepeated extension of Roy’sparole and said too muchindulgence has been givento him, more than any otherlitigant by the court.

“Parole is granted for aspecific purpose and limit-ed period. You (Roy) weregiven parole for performingthe last rites of your moth-er. But you have been out fornine months. The specificpurpose is over and this iscontinuing,” it said.

The bench asked SEBIcounsel Arvind Dattarwhat would happen if theSahara chief does not paythe amount to the marketregulator. Dattar said therewere 87 plus propertieswhich would be attached,a receiver could beappointed and the proper-ties sold through auction,if the company fails to paythe amount.

Airtel rolls out first-ever payments bank Pan India

Airtel Payment Bank with over 2.5L Airtel retail stores to offer 7.25% interest,insurance cover of `1L in every S/B Acc; to invest `3,000 crore in the project

No extension of

deadline for Sahara

to deposit `600 cr: SC

TCS chief Chandrasekaran named Tata Sons Chairman

PNS n NEW DELHI

Despite demonetisation andconsequent cash crunch

Industrial production grew at a13-month high of 5.7 per cent inNovember while retail inflationremained subdued at multi-yearlow of 3.41 per cent in December,Government data showed onThursday.

The industrial output duringNovember, when the govern-ment announced demonetisa-tion of high value currency notesof ̀ 500 and ̀ 1000 effective from9th of the month, showed over-all improvement in manufactur-ing, mining and electricity sectors,according to the figures releasedby the Central Statistics Office(CSO).

As regards the retail inflationmeasured in terms of ConsumerPrice Index (CPI), it slipped to amulti-year low of 3.41 per cent inDecember reflecting cash crunch.This is the lowest level at leastsince January 2014.

CPI-based inflation stood at3.63 per cent in November 2016as per data released by the gov-ernment. A year ago, inDecember 2015, retail inflationwas at 5.61 per cent.

“Given the reduction in lend-ing rates announced by severalbanks, we hope to see an increasein both consumption and invest-ment which will hopefully havea positive impact on manufac-turing growth in coming months.We look forward to an accom-modative monetary policy stancefrom RBI to sustain momentum,”industry body FICCI said whilecommenting on twin macro eco-nomic data released today.

According to the IIP data,the highest level of industrialproduction growth was record-ed in October, 2015, at 9.9 percent.

Following demonetisationof `1,000 and `500 notesannounced on November 8,2016, it was feared that cashcrunch will hit all the sectors.

PNS n MUMBAI

Country’s largest softwareexporter on Thursday beat

the street estimates by announc-ing a 10.9 per cent rise inDecember quarter net profit at`6,778 crore on the back ofgrowth in digital and tradition-al financial sectors, but flaggedissues surrounding the H1-Bvisas in the US as a key headwindgoing forward.

The Tata Group’s crownjewel had reported a net profit of`6,110 crore under the Ind-ASaccounting system for the cor-responding period last fiscal.

Revenue rose to `29,735crore, up 8.7 per cent over theyear-ago period and 1.5 percent from the precedingSeptember quarter. The net prof-it growth is up 2.9 per cent on asequential basis.

In the wake of a new Billbeing introduced to regulatevisas in the US, which con-tributes over 65 per cent of its

revenues, amid a fear of a rise inprotectionist tendencies in theDonald Trump regime, manag-ing director and chief executiveN Chandrasekaran acknowl-edged visas as a potential head-wind.

Exuding confidence ofmaintaining pre-tax margins--which came in at 26 per cent forthe reporting quarter --in the 26-28 per cent target band, heexplained that the problem isboth on account of the fees forevery visa and also the numberof visas which companies canget.

Expecting such a move inthe future, TCS has applied foronly 4,000 visas in 2016 whichis far less than 14,000 in the pre-vious year and was granted onlya third of those applied for, hesaid, stressing that it has beenable to protect margins in targetrange despite that.

On the Trump presidency,he said the US presents a “mixedbag” with positives like a rise in

GDP and also the president-elect’s focus on pushing localmanufacturing, but the visa-related issues are the headwinds.

The results came on a daywhen its chief NChandrasekaran was madechairman of the group holdingcompany Tata Sons. He will besucceeded by Rajesh Gopinathanas TCS CEO.

Angel Broking termed thenumbers as “slightly better thanexpected, on the sales and EBITfront, another brokerage EmkayGlobal said the net is above itsestimate but the overall numbersare in line with operational per-formances supported by highersales. The net income jump isaided by forex gains.

The market too lapped upthe TCS stocks announced afterthe market hours. The TCScounter jumped 0.9 per cent onthe BSE at ̀ 2,343.30 after touch-ing `2,359.75, while the bench-mark Sensex closed up 0.4 percent.

TCS beats steet, net profit

soars 11% to `6,778 cr

v Natarajan Chandrasekaran isthe first non-shareholder anda truly non-family person tochair the group

v He pips others includingRatan Tata’s stepbrother NoelTata, group company JLR’Ralph Speth, PepsiCo’sIndira Nooyi, ex- Vodafoneglobal chief Arun Sarinamong others

v He inherits a slew ofproblems across diversesectors for which theconglomerate is in the newssince October 24 last yearwhen it removed CyrusMistry as the Chairman

v In the past three monthsunder Interim Chairman

Ratan Tata, Chandra was thechosen one to represent thesalt-to-software Group’s casebefore global investors

v This work paid-off as most ofthe institutional shareholderseither supported the group orabstained from voting at aslew of shareholder meets todismiss Mistry fromdirectorship of groupcompanies, eventuallyleading Mistry to give up onthe fight

v Chandra has been active invoicing the $150-billionsoftware industry’s wishesand also serves as a memberon the board of the ReserveBank

F A C T S H E T

AT THE TATA GROUP, WE ARE AT AN INFLECTIONPOINT. I AM AWARE THAT THIS ROLE COMES WITH

HUGE RESPONSIBILITIES. IT WILL BE MY ENDEAVOURTO HELP PROGRESS THE GROUP WITH THE ETHOS,

ETHICS AND VALUES THAT THE TATA GROUP HAS BEEN BUILT ON

TATA SONS CHAIRMANN CHANDRASEKARAN

Demonetisation fails to pulldown industrial growth, IIP at 13-month high in Nov

(L-R) Mr. Gopal Vittal, MD & CEO (India & South Asia), Bharti Airtel; Sunil BhartiMittal, Chairman, Bharti Enterprises; Arun Jaitley, Union Minister of Finance andCorporate Affairs; Uday Kotak, Executive Vice Chairman & MD, Kotak MahindraBank; and Shashi Arora, MD & CEO, Airtel Payments Bank; together launch AirtelPayments Bank’s national operations marking a major milestone in the history ofIndia’s financial services sector

money 11LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | JANUARY 13, 2017

New Delhi (PTI): Continuing uptrend for the third straightsession, gold prices on Thursday rose by another `150 to tradeat an over one-month high of `29,250 per 10 grams at the bul-lion market here on persistent buying by local jewellers and firm-ing trend overseas.

However, silver fell by `50 to `41,250 per kg on reduced off-take by industrial units and coin makers.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Rating agency Crisil 0nThursday announced the

launch of a new credit ratingframework for infrastructureprojects that would facilitategreater participation from long-term investors and lenders.

“Crisil, in consultation withthe Ministry of Finance andother stakeholders, has devel-oped a new credit rating frame-work for infrastructure projectsthat would facilitate greaterparticipation by long-terminvestors and lenders,” the rat-ing agency said in a statement.

The new rating system isbased on the ‘expected loss’(EL) methodology. Whichmeans, the rating will be anexpert judgement on EL overthe life of the debt instrumentby taking into account the two

pillars of credit risk — theprobability of default (PD),and the prospects of recovery,the statement said.

Crisil had recently assessedthat India’s infrastructure sec-tor needs `43 lakh crore invest-ments over five years endingMarch 31, 2020, and domesticcorporate bond market willhave to chip in with at least ̀ 11lakh crore because of capitalconstraints at public sectorbanks.

“Crisil believes that there isa need for new innovativestructures such as infrastruc-ture debt funds, and creditenhancement mechanismssuch as partial guarantees, thatwould enable long-terminvestors such as insurers andpension funds to pitch in andbridge the funding gap,” thestatement said.

PTI n MUMBAI

Continuing the winning runfor the third straight day,

Sensex rose nearly 107 points tofinish at an over two-monthhigh of 27,247.16 and Niftybreached the key 8,400-mark —fuelled by power, IT and bank-ing stocks rally, but the gainswere restricted by battered phar-ma counters.

Shares of power, IT, teck,utilities and capital goods firmedup on good buying enquiries,while those of pharma, FMCG,auto and realty declined on sell-ing pressure.

Among the laggards, phar-ma stocks were worst hit fol-lowing US President-electDonald Trump’s strong remarkson pricing of medicines, indi-cating tougher working envi-ronment for Indian drug firmsgoing ahead in the US.

Lupin was battered the mostby falling 2.03 per cent.

Anand James, chief marketstrategist, Geojit BNP ParibasFinancial Services Ltd, said,“Markets opened the day on afirm note but could not sustaingains, as Trump’s commentsduring Wednesday’s press con-ference held pharma stocksback. With key macros as wellas Q3 numbers expected to beannounced shortly, marketswere not in a mood to chaseprices higher anyway.”

The Sensex opened higher

at 27,171.66 and hovered in arange of 27,166.69 and 27,278.93before ending at a two-monthhigh of 27,247.16, showing again of 106.75 points, or 0.39 percent.

The 30-scrip bundle hasgained 520.61 points, or 1.95 percent, in three days. The Sensexhad last seen this level onNovember 10, 2016, when itended at 27,517.68.

The NSE 50-share Niftyalso rose by 26.55 points, or 0.32per cent, to close at a two-monthhigh of 8,407.20. It had alsoended at 8,525.75 on November10 last year.

Domestic institutionalinvestors (DIIs) bought sharesworth a net ̀ 1,116.15 crore onWednesday while foreign fundssold shares worth a net ̀ 627.30crore on Wednesday, as perprovisional data released by thestock exchanges.

In the broader markets,BSE Mid-Cap index provi-sionally rose 0.19 per cent.Small-Cap index provisionallyfell 0.16 per cent. Both theseindices underperformed theSensex.

Of the 30-share Sensexpack, 13 scrips ended higherwhile 17 closed lower.

Major gainer was NTPC asit advanced by 5.69 per cent afterthe company signed a non-binding pact with RajasthanRajya Vidyut Utpadan andRajasthan Urja Vikas Nigam fortake-over of Chhabra thermalpower plant stage-I (4x 250MW) and stage-II (2x660 MW)of Rajasthan Urja Vikas Nigam.

It was followed by PowerGrid 4.14 per cent, Infosys 3.20per cent, L&T 2.57 per cent,Wipro 1.52 per cent, Cipla 1.44per cent, ICICI Bank 1.30 percent and TCS 0.87 per cent.

However, Lupin fell by 2.03per cent followed byHindunilver 1.76 per cent, ITC1.29 per cent, Coal India 1.28 percent, Dr Reddy 1.19 per cent andM&M 1.12 per cent.

Among BSE sectoral andindustry indices, utilities rose by3.22 per cent, followed by power3.19 per cent, IT 3.22 per cent,teck 1.55 per cent, capital goods1.51 per cent and industrials 0.45per cent.

While FMCG fell by 0.96per cent, healthcare 0.73 percent, bankex 0.19 per cent andrealty 0.06 per cent.

The market breadth turnednegative as 1,575 stocks endedlower, 1,193 closed higher while155 ruled steady.

The total turnover on BSEamounted to `3,166.79 crore,lower than turnover of ̀ 3,662.68crore registered during the pre-vious trading session.

Market gains for 3rd session;

pharma stocks hold back

Crisil launches newcredit rating systemfor infra projects

Gold gains sheen

Script Last Abs ChangeTraded Price Change %3MINDIA 12575 28.35 0.238KMILES 673.5 -4.5 -0.66AARTIIND 702.2 1.6 0.23ABAN 243 -0.15 -0.06ABB 1122.1 -10.05 -0.89ABBOTINDIA 4491 -49.3 -1.09ABFRL 139.75 -1.45 -1.03ABIRLANUVO 1269.5 -7.4 -0.58ACC 1341 -8.35 -0.62ADANIENT 80.35 -0.5 -0.62ADANIPORTS 293.15 -2.55 -0.86ADANIPOWER 36.5 1.35 3.84ADANITRANS 58.85 -1.45 -2.4ADVENZYMES 1843.2 -26.95 -1.44AEGISLOG 139.1 -0.05 -0.04AIAENG 1401 87.65 6.67AJANTPHARM 1791.3 -10.35 -0.57AKZOINDIA 1358 -31.45 -2.26ALBK 65.8 0.35 0.53ALKEM 1677 -17.75 -1.05ALLCARGO 182.85 5.05 2.84AMARAJABAT 896.6 -10.35 -1.14AMBUJACEM 214.75 -1.1 -0.51AMTEKAUTO 34.15 -0.3 -0.87ANDHRABANK 49.5 -0.15 -0.3APLAPOLLO 992 34.85 3.64APLLTD 601.05 -4.05 -0.67APOLLOHOSP 1199.25 1.4 0.12APOLLOTYRE 194.7 -2.3 -1.17ARVIND 360.35 -2.75 -0.76ASAHIINDIA 201 3.45 1.75ASHOKA 159.5 5.15 3.34ASHOKLEY 84.35 -1.25 -1.46ASIANPAINT 932.75 -1.35 -0.14ASTRAL 387 -2.95 -0.76ASTRAMICRO 119.15 -1.8 -1.49ASTRAZEN 970.5 4.7 0.49ATUL 2180 54.3 2.55AUROPHARMA 693.85 -10.7 -1.52AVANTI 531.45 -22.35 -4.04

AXISBANK 455.2 1.65 0.36BAJAJ-AUTO 2725.55 8 0.29BAJAJCORP 376.5 5.05 1.36BAJAJELEC 227.55 -2.7 -1.17BAJAJFINSV 3014.95 -6.45 -0.21BAJAJHIND 15.06 -0.39 -2.52BAJAJHLDNG 1891 -22.55 -1.18BAJFINANCE 891.85 -3.8 -0.42BALKRISIND 1101.2 0.45 0.04BALMLAWRIE 232.05 -3.2 -1.36BALRAMCHIN 136.85 -3.05 -2.18BANKBARODA 158.65 -1 -0.63BANKINDIA 114.1 -0.1 -0.09BASF 1158.55 -11.55 -0.99BATAINDIA 484.7 8.45 1.77BAYERCROP 4087.5 -22.45 -0.55BBTC 542.9 -4.75 -0.87BEL 1547.35 21.15 1.39BEML 1224 5.2 0.43BERGEPAINT 215.05 -3.5 -1.6BFUTILITIE 396.1 0.45 0.11BHARATFIN 662.95 6.9 1.05BHARATFORG 953 1.35 0.14BHARTIARTL 322.5 -0.35 -0.11BHEL 127.9 -0.95 -0.74BIOCON 1009.7 7.85 0.78BIRLACORPN 699 -5.15 -0.73BLISSGVS 152.15 -3.85 -2.47BLUEDART 4528 33.8 0.75BLUESTARCO 500 4.25 0.86BOMDYEING 53.95 -1.05 -1.91BOSCHLTD 21350 167.6 0.79BPCL 659.2 -1.6 -0.24BRITANNIA 2946.9 -24.1 -0.81CADILAHC 350.45 -6.75 -1.89CANBK 275.2 -1.15 -0.42CANFINHOME 1697.55 0.7 0.04CAPF 621.7 12.25 2.01CAPPL 378.9 -5.45 -1.42CARBORUNIV 259.45 -5 -1.89CARERATING 1377.2 -4.25 -0.31CASTROLIND 397.2 5.1 1.3CCL 269.95 2.45 0.92CEATLTD 1204.3 -26.95 -2.19CENTRALBK 83.65 -0.15 -0.18CENTURYPLY 178 -0.25 -0.14

CENTURYTEX 818.85 -22.4 -2.66CERA 2091.85 2.65 0.13CESC 664.95 -2.05 -0.31CHAMBLFERT 80.6 -1.55 -1.89CHENNPETRO 328 -0.5 -0.15CHOLAFIN 946.3 -6.9 -0.72CIPLA 586.15 8.3 1.44COALINDIA 312.6 -4.05 -1.28COFFEEDAY 198.85 -0.6 -0.3COLPAL 888.15 -6.4 -0.72CONCOR 1216.65 30.3 2.55COROMANDEL 327.4 -7.85 -2.34CORPBANK 42.95 -0.2 -0.46COX&KINGS 193.45 -0.05 -0.03CRISIL 2182 -34 -1.53CROMPGREAV 64.4 2.2 3.54CROMPTON 154.85 -1.6 -1.02CUB 137 -1.95 -1.4CUMMINSIND 842.05 2.65 0.32CYIENT 498.85 6.75 1.37DABUR 278.9 1.4 0.5DALMIABHA 1700.5 25.4 1.52DBCORP 380.05 10.1 2.73DBL 243 0.4 0.16DCBBANK 119.1 2.95 2.54DCMSHRIRAM 264 -8.55 -3.14DEEPAKFERT 240 2.5 1.05DELTACORP 129 -3.3 -2.49DEN 72.8 0.35 0.48DENABANK 34.85 0 0DHANUKA 769 -17.2 -2.19DHFL 266.85 2.35 0.89DISHMAN 240.45 -13.2 -5.2DISHTV 87.25 -0.1 -0.11DIVISLAB 736.3 -4.3 -0.58DLF 125.2 -0.05 -0.04DRREDDY 3011.2 -36.15 -1.19DYNAMATECH 2973 12.25 0.41ECLERX 1432 -2.2 -0.15EDELWEISS 105.75 4 3.93EICHERMOT 22816 -358 -1.54EIDPARRY 280.4 -1.8 -0.64

EIHOTEL 96.7 -0.55 -0.57ELGIEQUIP 189 2.5 1.34EMAMILTD 1061.5 23 2.21ENGINERSIN 155.05 -1 -0.64ENIL 762.8 -7.45 -0.97EQUITAS 149.75 -1 -0.66EROSMEDIA 177.5 2.8 1.6ESCORTS 356.4 -3.05 -0.85ESSELPRO 249.8 2.9 1.17EVEREADY 233.3 0.1 0.04EXIDEIND 184.3 -2.15 -1.15FAGBEARING 3885 29.95 0.78FCONSUMER 21.1 -0.55 -2.54FDC 218.05 -2.7 -1.22FEDERALBNK 72.35 -0.05 -0.07FINCABLES 414.4 -2.5 -0.6FINOLEXIND 440.5 -3.45 -0.78FORCEMOT 4406.15 20.15 0.46FORTIS 195.9 -1.8 -0.91FSL 38.05 -0.1 -0.26GAIL 442 -2.3 -0.52GATI 117.4 -2.05 -1.72GAYAPROJ 643.8 -1.45 -0.22GDL 243 -4.5 -1.82GEOMETRIC 255.05 1.65 0.65GEPIL 535.05 -0.45 -0.08GESHIP 387.85 4.4 1.15GET&D 314.35 7.1 2.31GHCL 267.1 -4.85 -1.78GICHSGFIN 270.2 -1.45 -0.53GILLETTE 4220 9.15 0.22GLAXO 2715 -7.35 -0.27GLENMARK 889.95 -14.2 -1.57GMDCLTD 107.8 1.75 1.65GMRINFRA 12.65 -0.05 -0.39GNFC 252.25 -4.4 -1.71GODFRYPHLP 1066.45 15.35 1.46GODREJCP 1571.1 -1.95 -0.12GODREJIND 442.5 -1.25 -0.28GODREJPROP 333.75 9.8 3.03GPPL 136.1 -0.5 -0.37GRANULES 103.5 -1.15 -1.1GRASIM 856.45 0.5 0.06GREAVESCOT 122.15 0.05 0.04GREENPLY 253.6 -1.25 -0.49GRINDWELL 321.9 -3.25 -1

GRUH 339.05 4.25 1.27GSFC 113.2 -2.35 -2.03GSKCONS 5135 6.55 0.13GSPL 139.55 2.6 1.9GUJFLUORO 478 0.2 0.04GUJGAS 540 -1.65 -0.3GULFOILLUB 635 -11.25 -1.74HATHWAY 36.4 0.05 0.14HATSUN 391.95 6.35 1.65HAVELLS 365 -4.45 -1.2HCC 43.25 0.3 0.7HCL-INSYS 59.55 -1.5 -2.46HCLTECH 845.25 12.55 1.51HDFC 1220.1 -8.85 -0.72HDFCBANK 1234.5 1.9 0.15HDIL 63 -0.6 -0.94HEIDELBERG 114 -1.7 -1.47HEROMOTOCO 3070.15 -16.85 -0.55HEXAWARE 203.15 3.75 1.88HFCL 13.77 0.15 1.1HIMATSEIDE 325.7 -8.3 -2.49HINDALCO 176.65 2.2 1.26HINDCOPPER 69.45 2.05 3.04HINDPETRO 493.35 3.25 0.66HINDUNILVR 825.75 -14.8 -1.76HINDZINC 275.55 -1.95 -0.7HMVL 282.1 7.05 2.56HONAUT 9153.75 220.55 2.47HSIL 291.5 3.2 1.11HTMEDIA 77 3.75 5.12IBREALEST* 80.8 -1.4 -1.7IBULHSGFIN 726.4 10.65 1.49ICICIBANK 268.4 3.45 1.3ICICIPRULI 334.6 -2.95 -0.87ICIL 170.55 5.1 3.08ICRA 4016.8 -48.9 -1.2IDBI 74.4 0.3 0.4IDEA 72.2 -2.4 -3.22IDFC 57.65 0.65 1.14IDFCBANK 63 -0.1 -0.16IFCI 28.1 0.05 0.18IGL 928.3 -5.6 -0.6IIFL 262 1.25 0.48IL&FSTRANS 116.85 -3.55 -2.95INDHOTEL 100.9 3.2 3.28INDIACEM 133.9 0.3 0.22INDIANB 248.9 0.4 0.16INDIGO 876.3 10.3 1.19INDOCO 272 -2.3 -0.84INDUSINDBK 1215.7 -17.75 -1.44INFIBEAM 1143.1 -36.35 -3.08INFRATEL 357.8 5.15 1.46INFY 1000.05 31.05 3.2INGERRAND 669.75 1.2 0.18INOXLEISUR 228.8 0.7 0.31INOXWIND 183.7 -0.15 -0.08INTELLECT 144.6 -1.95 -1.33IOB 25.1 -0.05 -0.2IOC 354.45 5.5 1.58IPCALAB 547.5 -8.85 -1.59IRB 213.1 -3.3 -1.52ISGEC 4727.25 -88.5 -1.84ITC 244.3 -3.2 -1.29ITDCEM 162.25 -2.15 -1.31J&KBANK 62.2 1.1 1.8JAGRAN 184.3 4.95 2.76JAICORPLTD 72.4 -0.85 -1.16JBCHEPHARM 344.7 0.3 0.09JBFIND 223.4 -2.1 -0.93JCHAC 1439.45 2.95 0.21JETAIRWAYS 391.1 3.5 0.9JINDALPOLY 346.55 -4.5 -1.28JINDALSTEL 80.65 -1.25 -1.53JISLJALEQS 94.35 -1.3 -1.36JKCEMENT 687 -16.1 -2.29

JKIL 227 0.15 0.07JKLAKSHMI 367 8.1 2.26JKTYRE 125.05 0.35 0.28JMFINANCIL 71.4 0.1 0.14JPASSOCIAT 10.28 -0.08 -0.77JSWENERGY 65.45 1.1 1.71JSWSTEEL 188.4 0.85 0.45JUBILANT 679.3 -26.85 -3.8JUBLFOOD 842.75 -5.75 -0.68JUSTDIAL 373.85 -8 -2.1JYOTHYLAB 333.95 1.45 0.44KAJARIACER 514.3 -3.35 -0.65KALPATPOWR 265.7 -1.75 -0.65KANSAINER 335.45 -4.95 -1.45KEC 141.85 -2.2 -1.53KESORAMIND 143.85 -0.15 -0.1KIRLOSENG 328 -3.2 -0.97KITEX 424.05 -4.95 -1.15KOTAKBANK 724.9 -1.5 -0.21KPIT 139.55 1.25 0.9KPRMILL 565 -1.9 -0.34KRBL 320.3 3.65 1.15KSCL 433.2 -3.35 -0.77KTKBANK 119.25 -0.1 -0.08KWALITY 138.8 0.1 0.07L&TFH 95.8 -0.85 -0.88LAKSHVILAS 137.4 -4.35 -3.07LALPATHLAB 1094.05 -10.8 -0.98LAOPALA 470.9 -2.35 -0.5LAXMIMACH 3958.6 -10.95 -0.28LICHSGFIN 526.4 -6.4 -1.2LINDEINDIA 356.45 -4.65 -1.29LT 1449.1 36.3 2.57LTI 678.65 1.1 0.16LTTS 802.2 -2.5 -0.31LUPIN 1489.45 -30.85 -2.03M&M 1215.2 -13.75 -1.12M&MFIN 281.9 -1.9 -0.67MAGMA 92.45 -4.3 -4.44MAHABANK 29.55 0 0MAHINDCIE 195.9 -0.65 -0.33MAHLIFE 359 -1 -0.28MANAPPURAM 73.8 0.3 0.41MANPASAND 541 0.55 0.1MARICO 260.75 -0.25 -0.1MARKSANS 40.05 -0.85 -2.08MARUTI 5790 37.8 0.66MCLEODRUSS 148.45 -0.35 -0.24MCX 1222.3 -17.7 -1.43MFSL 553.95 -3.95 -0.71MGL 841.65 -2.55 -0.3MHRIL 398.9 -1.6 -0.4MINDAIND 328.05 -2.6 -0.79MINDTREE 492.3 4.15 0.85MJCO 403 -3.15 -0.78MMTC 71.45 2.1 3.03MOIL 417.95 1.25 0.3MONSANTO 2251.55 -14.25 -0.63MOTHERSUMI 329.45 -0.5 -0.15MOTILALOFS 530 0.9 0.17MPHASIS 528.4 -1.95 -0.37MRF 54856.55 -483.95 -0.87MRPL 110.3 -0.9 -0.81MTNL 21.35 1.4 7.02MUTHOOTFIN 290.7 1.65 0.57NATCOPHARM 640.4 -0.55 -0.09NATIONALUM 72.3 0.15 0.21NAUKRI 851.7 -0.95 -0.11NAVINFLUOR 2827.35 -8.95 -0.32NAVKARCORP 176.3 0.05 0.03NAVNETEDUL 118.8 -7.25 -5.75NBCC 272.2 -0.75 -0.27NBVENTURES 119.1 -2.25 -1.85NCC 83 0.1 0.12NESTLEIND 5840 -63.3 -1.07

NETWORK18 37 1.1 3.06NH 340.4 -0.6 -0.18NHPC 29.9 2.5 9.12NIITLTD 85.7 -0.6 -0.7NIITTECH 429 0 0NILKAMAL 1499.3 0.65 0.04NLCINDIA 91.5 7.5 8.93NMDC 139.1 -1.3 -0.93NOVARTIND 685 -3.7 -0.54NTPC 173.75 9.35 5.69OBEROIRLTY 310.8 1.85 0.6OFSS 3204.95 55.7 1.77OIL 348.15 -13.8 -3.81OMAXE 160.05 -0.1 -0.06ONGC 199.2 1.65 0.84ONMOBILE 88.95 -1.25 -1.39ORIENTBANK 114.65 -0.9 -0.78ORIENTCEM 129.2 -1.5 -1.15PAGEIND 13961 -289 -2.03PARAGMILK 271.7 -0.2 -0.07PCJEWELLER 399.65 -5.85 -1.44PEL 1791 45.95 2.63PERSISTENT 635.25 1.4 0.22PETRONET 370.6 3.8 1.04PFC 135.9 3.55 2.68PFIZER 1788 -7.7 -0.43PFS 40.85 1.5 3.81PGHH 6780 -26.1 -0.38PHOENIXLTD 360.05 1.85 0.52PIDILITIND 634 1 0.16PIIND 824.05 8.15 1PNB 125.8 2.15 1.74PNCINFRA 105.75 0.6 0.57POLARIS 159.9 0.3 0.19POWERGRID 197.6 7.85 4.14PRAJIND 84 -1.5 -1.75PRESTIGE 174 -2.6 -1.47PRISMCEM 90.5 -0.25 -0.28PTC 83.1 2 2.47PUNJLLOYD 20.8 -0.15 -0.72PVR 1183.35 -37.05 -3.04RADICO 115.75 -2.15 -1.82

RAIN 55.8 -1.25 -2.19RAJESHEXPO 500.35 -7.5 -1.48RALLIS 207.65 -0.15 -0.07RAMCOCEM 613.25 -4 -0.65RAMCOSYS 382.3 -0.35 -0.09RAYMOND 506.1 -5.3 -1.04RBLBANK 368.15 -1.3 -0.35RCF 54.9 -1.4 -2.49RCOM 32.5 -0.55 -1.66RDEL 57.35 -0.65 -1.12RECLTD 136.95 3.5 2.62REDINGTON 102.9 2.05 2.03RELAXO 426.7 23.6 5.85RELCAPITAL 452.95 -2.05 -0.45RELIANCE 1083.15 -0.95 -0.09RELIGARE 248.95 -1.35 -0.54RELINFRA 509.9 3.4 0.67RENUKA 15.1 -0.33 -2.14REPCOHOME 645 5.55 0.87ROLTA 63.3 -0.65 -1.02RPOWER 45.2 0.7 1.57RTNPOWER 7.11 -0.02 -0.28SADBHAV 272 -2.9 -1.05SAIL 57.2 1.1 1.96SANOFI 4220 37 0.88SBBJ 678.45 -3.65 -0.54SBIN 251.1 -0.8 -0.32SBT 530.05 -2.7 -0.51SCHNEIDER 143 1.05 0.74SCI 66.35 0.55 0.84SEQUENT 123.7 -4.9 -3.81SFCL 101.9 0.8 0.79SHARDACROP 479.5 -1.35 -0.28SHILPAMED 700.9 -2.65 -0.38SHK 317.55 -6.3 -1.95SHOPERSTOP 291.95 -4.2 -1.42SHREECEM 15000 -33.85 -0.23SHRIRAMCIT 1848 3.7 0.2SIEMENS 1174 -3.5 -0.3SINTEX 86.05 1.6 1.89SITINET 37.45 -0.05 -0.13SJVN 32.3 2.25 7.49SKFINDIA 1294.95 -2.3 -0.18SMLISUZU 1186.45 -5.2 -0.44SOBHA 260.55 -1.1 -0.42SOLARINDS 696.2 -1.6 -0.23

SONATSOFTW 197.85 -1.5 -0.75SOUTHBANK 21.35 -0.05 -0.23SPARC 307.4 -1.2 -0.39SPICEJET 63.9 -1.3 -1.99SREINFRA 81.95 -2.1 -2.5SRF 1635.85 -15.05 -0.91SRTRANSFIN 942.5 -24.25 -2.51STAR 1155.7 -17.8 -1.52STRTECH 103.1 -0.55 -0.53SUNDRMFAST 310 -0.45 -0.14SUNPHARMA 643.9 -3.8 -0.59SUNTECK 254 1.2 0.47SUNTV 539.3 3 0.56SUPREMEIND 877 1.25 0.14SUVEN 177.95 -3.65 -2.01SUZLON 15.18 -0.18 -1.17SWANENERGY 170.4 -0.95 -0.55SYMPHONY 1164 -8.4 -0.72SYNDIBANK 64.8 -0.75 -1.14SYNGENE 605.75 2.2 0.36TAKE 142.25 -3.35 -2.3TATACHEM 515.15 -2.8 -0.54TATACOFFEE 115.65 0.25 0.22TATACOMM 672.65 38.4 6.05TATAELXSI 1403 3.8 0.27TATAGLOBAL 125.2 -2.15 -1.69TATAINVEST 578.9 -3.85 -0.66TATAMOTORS 518.35 -0.55 -0.11TATAMTRDVR 325.55 -0.65 -0.2TATAPOWER 79.35 2.3 2.99TATASPONGE 606.35 -9 -1.46TATASTEEL 447.75 -0.35 -0.08TCS 2343.3 20.25 0.87TECHM 481.2 7.65 1.62TECHNO 346.5 5.25 1.54TEXRAIL 113.85 -0.2 -0.18THERMAX 833.3 11.95 1.45THOMASCOOK 195.9 -1.15 -0.58THYROCARE 696.75 -3.45 -0.49TIMKEN 628.2 -1.55 -0.25TITAN 363.2 2.85 0.79TNPL 344.7 -2.95 -0.85

TORNTPHARM 1328.95 -32.9 -2.42TORNTPOWER 185.95 7 3.91TRENT 196.55 -1.55 -0.78TRIDENT 60.2 -1.8 -2.9TRITURBINE 118.05 -0.75 -0.63TTKPRESTIG 5600 56.1 1.01TUBEINVEST 575.85 -2.15 -0.37TV18BRDCST 38.9 -0.3 -0.77TVSMOTOR 388.6 7.65 2.01TVSSRICHAK 3262.05 -16.35 -0.5TVTODAY 269.75 -4.05 -1.48TWL 128.55 1.3 1.02UBL 812.2 -6.65 -0.81UCOBANK 34.25 0.05 0.15UFLEX 277.75 -6.3 -2.22UJJIVAN 334.2 2.6 0.78ULTRACEMCO 3338 -13.5 -0.4UNICHEMLAB 272.25 -3.05 -1.11UNIONBANK 136.35 -4 -2.85UNITDSPR 1910.75 -7.75 -0.4UNITECH 4.54 -0.03 -0.66UPL 685.55 16.5 2.47VAKRANGEE 283.25 12.95 4.79VEDL 240.35 3 1.26VGUARD 165.9 -3.7 -2.18VIDEOIND 104.7 0.85 0.82VIJAYABANK 51.9 0.2 0.39VINATIORGA 690.45 21.25 3.18VIPIND 121.6 0.6 0.5VOLTAS 339.85 -3.5 -1.02VRLLOG 283.45 -2.55 -0.89VSTIND 2455 0 0VTL 1110 5.8 0.53WABAG 497.1 6.6 1.35WABCOINDIA 5288.4 -97.25 -1.81WELCORP 81.65 -0.8 -0.97WELSPUNIND 71.45 0.9 1.28WESTLIFE 167.25 -1.9 -1.12WHIRLPOOL 933.75 1.45 0.16WIPRO 483.35 7.25 1.52WOCKPHARMA 687.45 -11.3 -1.62WONDERLA 353.5 -2.65 -0.74YAMNINV 24.2 -0.75 -3.01YESBANK 1324.75 6.95 0.53ZEEL 475.95 -3 -0.63ZENSARTECH 922.5 -6.85 -0.74ZYDUSWELL 858 -16.95 -1.94

NIFTY 50

SCRIP OPEN HIGH LOW LTP CHANGENTPC 165 174.35 164.5 173.9 9.4POWERGRID 190 199.75 190 198.35 8.55INFY 977.55 1,004.40 977.55 1,001.50 32.4TATAPOWER 77 80.25 77 79.15 2.3LT 1,414.90 1,454.30 1,414.00 1,449.90 37.55INFRATEL 357.8 361.05 353.9 359.5 6.25HINDALCO 175.6 178.6 172.4 178 3.05HCLTECH 830.05 849.9 830.05 846.05 12.8TECHM 475 486.8 472.2 481 6.95ICICIBANK 266.6 269.5 265.45 268.5 3.8WIPRO 476 484.25 474.25 483 6.8CIPLA 573.95 587.8 567.3 585.15 8.2BOSCHLTD 21,194.4021,570.0021,105.3021,490.00 295.6TCS 2,324.40 2,360.00 2,304.00 2,347.00 22.6ONGC 198.5 201.7 198.5 199.35 1.7YESBANK 1,319.00 1,343.50 1,318.00 1,326.00 8.15BAJAJ-AUTO 2,715.00 2,743.45 2,707.65 2,734.90 16.35MARUTI 5,770.00 5,795.00 5,742.00 5,794.90 32.55AXISBANK 454.2 461.4 452.6 455.8 2.2TATAMTRDVR 328.7 329.4 322.65 326.7 0.35HDFCBANK 1,235.00 1,243.70 1,225.50 1,235.00 1BPCL 662 668.7 657.15 661 0.1TATAMOTORS 521.7 524 513.2 519.15 -0.1ULTRACEMCO 3,370.00 3,395.00 3,336.05 3,350.00 -3.1TATASTEEL 449 451.15 443.25 447.65 -0.6KOTAKBANK 732.45 732.45 723.05 727.25 -1.15BHARTIARTL 323.45 325.35 320 322 -0.75HEROMOTOCO 3,100.00 3,112.15 3,070.00 3,076.00 -8.25ASIANPAINT 935 939.35 926.3 931.75 -2.9SBIN 252.9 254.45 250.55 251.15 -1SUNPHARMA 629 646.9 629 645.15 -3.05RELIANCE 1,087.00 1,090.35 1,079.80 1,080.45 -5.6ZEEL 480.5 485.5 473.6 475.5 -2.8ACC 1,357.00 1,361.00 1,332.35 1,340.00 -8.7GAIL 445 449 441.2 441.55 -3.15GRASIM 858.1 863.6 850.65 851.55 -6.35AMBUJACEM 217.1 217.9 213.3 214.2 -1.65BHEL 129 129 126.15 127.65 -1BANKBARODA 160 160.65 158 158.25 -1.35HDFC 1,234.00 1,242.95 1,217.60 1,219.20 -10.85INDUSINDBK 1,234.10 1,235.00 1,208.35 1,220.95 -12.85DRREDDY 2,977.00 3,019.10 2,943.00 3,010.00 -32.45ADANIPORTS 297 298.85 289.55 292.45 -3.2ITC 247.7 247.7 244.15 244.75 -2.8COALINDIA 318 318.65 310.5 313.05 -3.8EICHERMOT 23,276.2523,341.7522,785.0022,849.00 -312.35AUROPHARMA 690 699.45 678.4 694.4 -10.5M&M 1,235.00 1,235.15 1,210.20 1,212.55 -19.45HINDUNILVR 843.7 843.7 824.7 827.95 -13.55LUPIN 1,495.00 1,521.00 1,485.10 1,494.00 -27.75IDEA 74.45 74.5 71.35 72.1 -2.5

se 500B

VITAL STATS

GOLD SILVERMumbai 30278 41295Delhi 29839 41295Kolkata 29914 41295

BSE: SENSEX

OpenHighLowCurrent valuePrevious close Change (Pts) Change (%)

68.08

83.19

72.23

0.59

NIFTY NEXT 50

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CMD of BHEL, AtulSobti, was honouredas one of thecountry's eminentengineeringpersonalities by theThe Instituition ofEngineers (India) forhis meritoriouscontribution andachievements to theengineeringprofession. He wasfelicitated with aplaque and citation atthe 31st IndianEngineeringCongress, held inKolkata on Thursday.

There is need for architects to work on enhancing the durability of buildings by incorporating the features of ancient buildings,especially the temple architecture and dams which have withstood the test of time even after 1000 years, Chancellor of VITUniversity, Vellore, Dr G Viswanathan said on the last Wednesday. He was inaugurating a 9-day Vertical Studio and ArchitecturalDesign Workshop on ‘Spatial Exploration of Experiential and Generative Geometries as Follies in the Urban Context', organised bythe V-SPARC School of Architecture, VIT University in collaboration with Vellore Lab-Auckland at the VIT campus.

world 12LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | JANUARY 13, 2017

Madonna wants to

make music forever

London: Queen of Pop Madonnais adamantshe’ll continue to makemusic forever because she’s soob-sessed with her art. The 58-year-old pop icon can’t imagine a timein her life when she doesn’t wantto make songs anymore but hasadmitted her ex-husband could-n’t understand why she was soobsessed with her talent and art,reported Contactmusic. “It’s inex-

plicable; it’s like breathing, and Ican’t imagine not doing it. That isone of the arguments I would getinto with my ex-husband, whoused to say to me, ‘But why do youhave to do this again? Why do youhave to make another record?Why do you have to go on tour?Why do you have to make amovie?’ And I’m like, ‘Why do Ihave to explain myself?’ “I feel likethat’s a very sexist thing to say ...I’ll stop doing everything that I dowhen I don’t want to do it any-more. I’ll stop when I run out ofideas. I’ll stop when you kill me.How about that?”

Casting Fiennes as

my dad is shameful

says, MJ’s daughter

Los Angeles: Paris Jackson hasblasted Joseph Fiennes’ portrayalas her father, singer-musicianMicheal Jackson. Paris expressedher anger in a series of tweets aftershe along with fans around theworld saw the first trailer of“Urban Myths”, a 30-minute spe-cial on Sky Arts, reported People.The story of the film focuses onan alleged road trip that Jacksontook with veteran actors Elizabeth

Taylor and Marlon Brando, afterflights were grounded in the wakeof 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001.When asked what she thoughtabout the trailer, Paris wrote,“@TheMJCast I’m so incrediblyoffended by it, as I’m sure plentyof people are as well, and it hon-estly makes me want to vomit.@TheMJCast it angers me to seehow obviously intentional it wasfor them to be this insulting, notjust towards my father, but mygodmother liz as well.”

GLOBETROTTING

Pumping iron may cut riskof diabetes, heart disease

Trump admin will send ‘clear

signal’ to China on SCS: Rex

PTI n WASHINGTON

The US will send a “clear sig-nal” to China that it must

abandon its artificial islands inthe South China Sea, DonaldTrump’s secretary of state pickRex Tillerson has warned, hit-ting out at the communistgiant for its “extremely worri-some” activities in the disput-ed waters.

“We’re going to have tosend China a clear signal thatfirst, the island-building stops,and second, your access tothose islands also not going tobe allowed,” the 64-year-oldformer ExxonMobil CEO toldthe Senate Foreign RelationsCommittee during his confir-mation hearing on Wednesday.

“China’s activity in thisarea is extremely worrisomeand I think, again, a failure ofa response has allowed themjust to keep pushing the enve-lope on this,” he said inresponse to a question.

The former oil executivesaid China’s island-buildingactivities in the disputed watersand its declaration of an airdefence identification zoneover the Japanese-controlledSenkaku islands in the EastChina Sea were “illegalactions”.

“They are taking territoryor control or declaring controlof territories that are not right-fully China’s,” he said, assert-ing that “building islands andthen putting military assets onthose island is akin to Russia’staking of Crimea.”

He said it is a “threat to theentire global economy” ifChina is allowed to somehow“dictate” the terms of passagethrough these waters.

“So this is a global issue ofgreat importance to many,many of our important allies,but certainly to people in theregion,” Tillerson said.

“We find we are where weare and we just have to dealwith it, and the way we’ve gotto deal with it is we’re going tohave to show back up in the

region with our traditionalallies in Southeast Asia and Ithink use some existing struc-tures to begin the re-engage-ment,” he said, adding thatthere is USD 5 trillion of eco-nomic trade going throughthose waters every day.

Throwing enough hintsthat the US will adopt a strongstance against China under aTrump Administration, hesaid, “I think part of where westruggled with China is we dohave important economic rela-tionships. Our economies areintertwined. But we’ve got to

step back and look at all ofChina’s activities.”

He said there are interna-tional processes for dealingwith that and China shouldrespect those internationalprocesses.

“Some of their actions havealready been challenged at thecourts in the Hague and theywere found to be in violation,”he noted.

China claims almost thewhole of the resource-richSouth China Sea (SCS). Itsclaim, however, is stronglycontested by the Philippines,

Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei andTaiwan.

An international tribunal— whose jurisdiction Beijingrejected — ruled last year thatthere was no legal basis to suchclaims.

Responding to questionsfrom lawmakers, Tillersonadvocated for a “newapproach” towards China.

“I think a lot of our trou-bles today are that we do notenforce. We make commit-ments we say we’re going to dosomething and then we don’tenforce it.

Samsung heir Lee quizzed as suspect in Park scandalPTI n SEOUL

Samsung heir Lee Jae-Yong was grilledby South Korean prosecutors today after

becoming a criminal suspect in the cor-ruption scandal engulfing impeachedPresident Park Geun-Hye.

Lee, chairman of Samsung Electronicsand the son of the Samsung Group chair-man Lee Kun-Hee, was to be questionedin connection to allegations of bribery,prosecutors said on Wednesday.

He is also accused of committing per-jury during a parliamentary hearing lastmonth into the affair, Yonhap news agencyreported.

“I am sorry for causing concernamong the people over this incident”, Leesaid as he arrived at the office of the spe-cial prosecutor investigating the case.

Lee and his lawyer were greeted byscores of journalists as well as dozens ofprotesters waving banners and chanting“arrest Lee immediately” and calling hima “co-culprit” in the scandal.

The likelihood of prosecutors seekinga court warrant to formally arrest Lee was“high”, an unidentified investigator wasquoted by Yonhap as saying.

The scandal centres on Park’s secretconfidante Choi Soon-Sil, who is accusedof using her ties to Park to coerce top firmsinto “donating” tens of millions of dollarsto two non-profit foundations which Choithen used as her personal ATMs.

Samsung was the biggest contributorto the foundations. It is also accused of sep-arately giving millions of euros to Choi tobankroll her daughter’s equestrian train-

ing in Germany in a bid to curry favour.Prosecutors have for months ques-

tioned Lee and other senior Samsung offi-cials. The officials reportedly argued thatalthough they were coerced to offermoney, they sought no favours in returnand thus the payments were not a bribe.

Lee was named a criminal suspect inthe widening investigation on Wednesday.

Prosecutors are investigating whetherSamsung bribed Choi in order to win stateapproval for a controversial merger which

it sought in 2015. The merger of two Samsung group

units — Cheil Industries and SamsungC&T - was seen as a crucial step towardsensuring a smooth third-generation powertransfer to Lee Jae-Yong.

It was criticised by many, who said itwilfully undervalued Samsung C&T’sstocks. But the National Pension Service— a major Samsung shareholder — votedin favour of the deal and it eventually wentthrough.

Tillerson opposes blanket ban on Muslims’ entry into USAWashington: Donald Trump’ssecretary of state pick RexTillerson has said he does notsupport blanket travel banagainst Muslims even as heasserted that the US must winthe war against Islamic ter-rorists not just on the battle-field, but in the war of ideas.

“I think what’s importantis that we are able to make ajudgement about the peoplethat are coming into the coun-try. And so no, I do not sup-port a blanket type rejection ofany particular group of peo-ple,” the 64-year-old formerExxonMobil CEO told theSenate Foreign RelationsCommittee during his confir-mation hearing onWednesday.

“But clearly, we have seri-ous challenges to be able to vetpeople coming into the coun-try particularly, under the cur-rent circumstances because ofthe instability in the parts ofthe world that it’s occurring,”he said.

“It’s a huge challenge andI don’t think we can just closeour eyes and ignore that. Wehave to be very clear-eyedabout recognising that threat

and developing a means todeal with it,” Tillerson said.

President-elect DonaldTrump had vowed to tem-porarily ban Muslim travel andimmigration to the countryafter a wave of terrorist attackscarried out or inspired by theIslamic State in Europe and theUS.

He has since walked backthat promise, instead saying hewould ban immigration fromcountries where terrorism isprevalent.

Tillerson, however, said

he would require more infor-mation on how the govern-ment would approach con-structing a registry of Muslimsbefore he would consider lend-ing his support to creating one.

“I would need to have a lotmore information around howsuch an approach would evenbe constructed. And if it werea tool for vetting, then it prob-ably extends to other people aswell — other groups that arethreats to the US,” he said.

Tillerson said the US mustwin the war against Islamicterrorists not just on the bat-tlefield, but must triumph inthe war of ideas.

Tillerson said that becauseof his past work, he has trav-elled extensively to Muslimcountries.

“I’ve gained an apprecia-tion and recognition of thisgreat faith. That’s why I madea distinction that we shouldsupport those Muslim voicesthat reject this same radicalIslam that we reject,” he noted.

“Now, this is part of win-ning the war other than on thebattlefield. I mentioned wehave to win it, not just on thebattlefield.

Lee Jae-yong, center, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, arrives to be questioned as a suspect in bribery casein the massive influence-peddling scandal that led to the president's impeachment at the office of the independentcounsel in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday. AP

Trump nominee for Attorney Genpromises curbs on H1B visas

Washington: The Trumpadministration will take steps,including pushing legislativemeasures to curb “abuse” of H-1B and L1 visas by foriegnworkers, President-electDonald Trump’s nominee forthe post of Attorney Generalhas assured US lawmakers,moves that could significantlyhurt Indian IT firms and pro-fessionals. “It’s simply wrong tothink that we’re in a totallyopen world and that anyAmerican with a job can bereplaced if somebody in the

world is willing to take a job forless pay,” Senator Jeff Sessionstold members of SenateJudiciary Committee during hisconfirmation hearing for theposition of US AttorneyGeneral.

“We have borders. We havea commitment to our citizensand you have been a champi-on of that. I’ve been honouredto work with you on it,”Sessions said in response to aquestion from Senator CharlesGrassley, Chairman of theSenate Judiciary Committee.

Trump has made tougherimmigration policy a centraltheme since the day heannounced he would run forpresident. In the past, bothSessions and Grassley haveworked together to bring leg-islations on H-1B visas thatbadly hit Indian IT companies.The Office of Special Counselfor immigration related unfairemployment practices is anoffice within the JusticeDepartment which would beheaded by Sessions if he is con-firmed by the US Senate.

China confirmsits aircraftcarrier passedthrough TaiwanPTI n BEIJING

China on Thursday con-firmed that its naval for-

mation led by its sole aircraftcarrier Liaoning passedthrough the Taiwan Strait enroute to South China Sea formilitary drills, which prompt-ed Taiwan to scramble its F-16fighter jets.

“A naval formation con-sisting of the aircraft carrierLiaoning on Thursday passedthrough the Taiwan Straits enroute to the South China Seafor drills and tests,” said LiangYang, spokesperson with thePeople’s Liberation ArmyNavy.

“The Liaoning and othernaval vessels in the formationwere scientifically organisedand meticulously operatedduring the navigation,” he wasquoted as saying by the state-run Xinhua news agency.

This is the first officialreaction from China sinceTaiwanese media reported onLiaoning’s activities onTuesday, which prompted theisland’s military to dispatch F-16 fighter jets to monitor themovements of China’s only air-craft carrier.

Notably, the developmentcomes just days after Taiwan’sPresident Tsai Ing-wen visitedthe US en route to CentralAmerica, despite protests fromBeijing, and met with SenatorTed Cruz, who lost to DonaldTrump in the Republican pres-idential primary contest.

Republican-led Senate takes 1st step to repeal ‘Obamacare’PTI n WASHINGTON

The Senate on Thursday passed ameasure to take the first step for-

ward on dismantling President BarackObama’s health care law, responding topressure to move quickly even asRepublicans and President-elect Trumpgrapple with what to replace it with.

The nearly party-line 51-48 votecame on a nonbinding Republican-backed budget measure that eases theway for action on subsequent repeallegislation as soon as next month.

“We must act quickly to bring reliefto the American people,” said SenateMajority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

The House is slated to vote on themeasure on Friday, though someRepublicans there have misgivingsabout setting the repeal effort inmotion without a better idea of thereplacement plan. Trump oozed con-fidence at a news conference onWednesday, promising his incomingadministration would soon reveal aplan to both repeal so-called

Obamacare and replace it with legisla-tion to “get health care taken care of inthis country.”

“We’re going to do repeal andreplace, very complicated stuff,” Trumptold reporters, adding that both ele-ments would pass virtually at the same

time. That promise, however, will be

almost impossible to achieve in thecomplicated web of Congress, whereGOP leaders must navigate complexSenate rules, united Democratic oppo-sition and substantive policy disagree-

ments among Republicans.Passage of Thursday’s measure

would permit follow-up legislation toescape the threat of a filibuster bySenate Democrats. Republicans arenot close to agreement among them-selves on what any “Obamacare”replacement would look like, however.

Republicans plan to get legislationvoiding Obama’s law and replacingparts of it to Trump by the end ofFebruary, House Majority Leader KevinMcCarthy, R-Calif., said Wednesday on“The Hugh Hewitt Show,” a conserva-tive radio program. Other Republicanshave said they expect the process totake longer.

The 2010 law extended healthinsurance to some 20 millionAmericans, prevented insurers fromdenying coverage for pre-existing con-ditions and steered billions of dollarsto states for the Medicaid health pro-gram for the poor. Republicans foughtthe effort tooth and nail and voteropposition to Obamacare helped carrythe party to impressive wins in 2010,2014, and last year.

26 North Koreans

rescued as cargo

ship sinks off Japan

PTI n TOKYO

Japan rescued 26 NorthKoreans after they aban-

doned their sinking cargo ves-sel in the East China Sea, thecoast guard said on Thursday.

Japan Coast Guard patrolboats plucked the ship’s entirecrew out of the water in theearly hours of the morningafter they had abandoned thevessel and taken to life boats.

A distress signal wasreceived on Wednesday fromthe 6,558- tonne Chong Genwhich began sinking about 60kilometres southwest of Fukueisland in Nagasaki prefecture,the spokesman said.

The ship finally sank beforedawn some 27 kilometres from

the island.The coast guard cited the

crew as saying the ship wastransporting rice from NorthKorea’s port of Nampo on itswest coast to the east coast cityof Wonsan.

That route entails travellingaround the southern end of theKorean peninsula.

“We rescued all the crewmembers safely and no one wasinjured,” the coast guardspokesman said.

“We are investigating thecause of the accident by inter-viewing them on our patrolship offshore,” he added.

The spokesman said nodecision has been made onwhat to do with the crew as thetwo countries have no diplo-matic relations.

Washington: In some goodnews for gym-goers, scientistshave found that just one sessionof interval weight-training maydecrease the risk of Type 2 dia-betes and cardiovascular dis-ease. A new study demon-strates that a series of simple legexercises, involving weights,can improve blood vessel func-tion of people with and with-out diabetes.

“Individuals with Type 2diabetes are up to four timesmore likely to develop cardio-vascular disease than thosewithout,” said Jonathan Little,an assistant professor at theUniversity of British Columbia(UBC) in Canada.

“After completion of justone bout of exercise, we saw animprovement in blood vesselfunction, an indicator of hearthealth and heart attack risk.

“With further study, thisinformation could provide anew safe and cost-effectivetool to help people managetheir disease,” said Little.

In the study, Little and histeam compared the effect oftwo types of interval training—resistance (leg press, exten-sions and lifts) and cardiovas-cular (stationary bicycle) exer-

cises - on blood vessel function.Both of these alternated peri-ods of high- and low-intensityeffort, in a one-to-one work restratio.

Thirty-five age-matchedstudy participants wereassigned into one of threegroups; people with Type 2 dia-betes, non-exercisers, and reg-ular exercisers without dia-betes.

Each group performed a20-minute exercise routine,which included a warm up andseven one-minute, high-inten-sity efforts with a one-minuterest between each interval.

“All exercisers showedgreater blood vessel functionimprovement after the resis-tance-based interval training,”said Monique Francois, a UBCgraduate student.

“However, this was mostprominent in the Type 2 dia-betes group,” said Francois.“Resistance training was intro-duced to this group because itis relatively easy and canaccommodate individuals whoare new to exercising.

“This study shows thatresistance-based interval train-ing exercise is a time-efficientand effective method withimmediate effects,” saidFrancois. The study was pub-lished in American Journal ofPhysiology : Heart andCirculatory Physiology.

Man tries to rip offMuslim woman’s hijab at eatery in UK

London (PTI): A hijab-clad British woman eating ata London fish and chips shop was allegedly attackedby a fellow diner who tried to rip off her headscarf andaccused her of “killing people”, a media report has said.

The incident prompted anti-racism campaignersto stage a vigil after the assault which took place lastweek in the restaurant close to Hammersmith TownHall in West London. The man told the woman, whowas having dinner, she “should not be here” and hadher hijab grabbed at, The Sun quoted an anti-racismorganisation Stand Up to Racism as saying.

The victim, visiting from Manchester, was report-edly eating with friends when she was attacked by afellow diner who also accused her of “killing people”,the report said. The perpetrator grabbed her by thecoat and attempted to drag her outside, saying he “wasnot going to tolerate it” before other customers at therestaurant and the victim’s friends intervened, it said.

After the attack, restaurant staff called police butthe suspect fled the scene. The group has organised aprotest vigil in Lyric Square, Hammersmith yesterday.

world 13LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | JANUARY 13, 2017

Take up with India ‘ill-treatment’

of ‘Compassion’: US lawmaker

PTI n WASHINGTON

An influential US law-maker has urged US

Secretary of State nomineeRex Tillerson to take upwith India “ill-treatment” ofCompassion Internationaland get its license restored,alleging that the Christiancharity has been target of“mult iple co ordinatedattacks”.

“Since 2014, Compassion(International) has been thetarget of multiple coordi-nated governmental attacksbecause of its unapologeti-cally Christian belief, but ithas been delivering human-itarian services to hundredsof thousands of Indian chil-dren,” Republican SenatorC or y Gardner f romColorado said during theSecretary of State confirma-tion hearing of Tillerson onWednesday.

“But due to restrictionsby the Indian government,they have been unable tofund its India operationsince February of 2016,despite having broken nolaws. I believe the StateDepartment should takenotice that this ill treatment

of Compassion Internationalshould stop, and it is part ofa broader pattern by thegovernment of India, whereother NGOs have seen sim-ilar problems,” he said.

Last month, the HomeMinistry said it is unlikely toreconsider its decision ban-ning the US-based donorfrom funding Indian NGOsnotwithstanding consistentappeals by American author-ities. The NGO was putunder ‘prior permission cat-

egory’ in May last. When adonor organisation is putunder this category, it isbarred from funding anyIndian NGO without thenod from the government.

Gardner said the StateDepartment should insistthe Indian governmentrelease Compassion funds,res tore i t s Fore ignContribution (regulation)Act (FCRA) licenses andp ermit C ompass ion toimmediate ly resume its

humanitarian operations.“We would just appreciateyour assistance on that. Thisis a pattern that is very dis-turbing as an organisationthat does nothing more thantry to help children in pover-ty,” he said. Responding tothe question, Tillerson, how-ever, did not make any com-mitment and said, “Senator,I appreciate you bringing itto my attention and look for-ward, if I am confirmed, todiscussing it further withyou”. Senator Bob Corker,Chairman of the SenateFore ign Re lat ionsC ommittee supp or tedGardner and said the HouseFore ign Re lat ionsCommittee Chairman EdRoyce is also very concernedabout this issue.

The faith-based groupin Colorado has served near-ly two million children livingin extreme poverty aroundthe world, Gardner said.

The NGO, which is oper-ating in India since 1968, hascontributed nearly USD 50million in aid to India,Gardner said, adding thatthey have provided one-to-one scholarships for 145,000Indian children.

Hate crimes against South Asiansspiked during US polls: ReportPTI n WASHINGTON

South Asian community in the US borethe brunt of a spike in hate violence and

xenophobic political rhetoric during thepresidential election similar to levels seenthe year following the 9/11 terror attack,according to a report.

The report “Power, Pain and Potential”released by South Asian AmericansLeading Together (SAALT), a leadingnational South Asian American advoca-cy organisation, said from November 15,2015 to November 15, 2016 (between theParis attacks and the week after thePresidential elections), SAALT docu-mented 207 incidents of hate violence andxenophobic political rhetoric aimed atSouth Asian communities.

As many as 140 incidents of hate vio-lence and 67 instances of xenophobicpolitical rhetoric have been reported in theUS against the South Asian communityduring the 2016 election cycle, it said.

“An astounding 95 per cent of inci-dents were motivated by anti-Muslim sen-timent,” SAALT said, adding that itsfindings are consistent with the FBI’s 2015hate crimes statistics, which disclosed a 67per cent increase in hate crimes againstMuslims from the previous year.

Notably, President-elect DonaldTrump was responsible for one in five (21per cent) xenophobic political statementsSAALT documented, a media releasesaid. SAALT’s findings come at a timewhen South Asian Americans are amongthe fastest growing demographic groups

in the country.According to the 2010 Census, 2.84

million Asian Indians lived in the UnitedStates, up from 1.67 million in 2000.

“I think that the hate violence statis-tics that we have tabulated ... really typi-fies, unfortunately, the growinggroundswell of hostility many of ourcommunity members continue to expe-rience, even as our communities contin-ue to grow rapidly (nationwide),”Raghunathan said.

“The unprecedented violence we sawfollowing the September 11 attacks hasreturned, electrified by a hostile 2016 pres-idential election,” said SumanRaghunathan, executive director ofSAALT.

“With over 4.3 million South Asiansin the US, policymakers must make it a

first priority to address and dismantle theparadox of our communities living at theintersection of growth and hate,” she said.

In its report SAALT said since 2000,unauthorised immigration from Asia hasgrown at rates much faster than fromMexico.

“India is the country of origin with thegreatest increase in unauthorised immi-grants to the US with a 914 per centincrease since 1990,” it said.

The lack of comprehensive immigra-tion reform worsens conditions for undoc-umented immigrants, their families, andAmericans at large, it said, adding thatundocumented individuals and otherswith an uncertain immigration status faceunique barriers when interfacing withpublic safety and law enforcement pro-grammes.

AS MANY AS 140

INCIDENTS OF HATE

VIOLENCE AND 67

INSTANCES OF

XENOPHOBIC POLITICAL

RHETORIC HAVE BEEN

REPORTED IN THE US

AGAINST THE SOUTH

ASIAN COMMUNITY DURING THE 2016 ELECTION

CYCLE “AN ASTOUNDING 95 PER CENT OF INCIDENTS

WERE MOTIVATED BY ANTI-MUSLIM SENTIMENT

Republican Senator Cory Gardner

More Sikhs now

planning to join US

Army after new rule

PTI n WASHINGTON

Sikhs in America are nowplanning to join the US

Army in large numbers after itissues a new regulation onreligious liberty to accommo-date people who sport turbansand beards for religious rea-sons.

In a significant move toenable all religious minoritiesin America, including theSikhs, the US Army last weekissued new regulations on reli-gious liberty to accommodatepeople who wear beards, tur-bans or hijabs.

The new set of rules allowsreligious accommodations tobe approved at the brigade-level. Previously it was at thelevel of Secretary.

“This is a historic day forSikhs in the US,” said RajwantSingh secretary of the GuruGobind Singh Foundation,which organised an event tocelebrate the US Armyannouncement in this regard.

Sikhs are now planning tojoin the US Army in largenumbers, he said.

“This is a well-timed pol-icy change that theDepartment of Defence andthe White House made for theSikh community since it alignswith the auspicious occasion ofthe 350th birth-anniversaryof Guru Gobind Singh, the10th Sikh Guru, who taught usto stand up for who you areand work for the religiousfreedom of all,” Singh said.

Sikhs have been cam-paigning for quite some timeto get the restrictions removedand we were pressing theWhite House to push thechanges in the waning days ofthe Obama Administration.

“We are thankful to PresidentBarack Obama and theSecretary of Army EricFanning for making sure thatthese restrictions against reli-gious articles are removed.Sikhs are thrilled and there aremany young people who areeager to serve. This will pro-vide an opportunity to peopleof faith who are loyal andpatriotic Americans to servethis country with dignity andwithout compromising theirfaith,” Singh said.

“We must realise that therecan be no dagger into theheart of bigotry and divisive-ness than to see all of theworld’s cultures, standing vis-ibly in one formation, unitedagainst hate,” said RaviChaudhary, a former Pentagonofficial and who served as amember of the President’sAdvisory Commission onAsian Americans and PacificIslanders.

Joining the celebration,Dilpreet Kaur Sidhu, an officialfrom the National SecurityCouncil at the White House,said, there is lot of work to bedone.

“The administrationworked really hard to achiev-ing in what they did and therea lot more to be done.

There are not too manySikhs working in the Federalgovernment. It is importantthat we encourage Sikh youthto opt for career in public ser-vice,” he said.

“This is the result of thatcontinued struggle but weneed to continue. Only oneagency has changed the rulesand we need to work on otheragencies. This would be pos-sible only with the support ofthe community,” he said.

China commissions sophisticatednaval reconnaissance shipPTI n BEIJING

China’s Navy has commis-sioned a sophisticated

electronic reconnaissance ship,capable of conducting all-weather, round-the-clockobservation on multiple tar-gets, the latest addition toBeijing’s expanding fleet amidtensions over its assertivenessin the disputed South ChinaSea.

The People’s LiberationArmy (PLA) now operates sixelectronic reconnaissance ves-sels, the state-run China Dailynewspaper said today.

In a rare move, PLA Navymedia outlet made public thecomposition of the nation’selectronic intelligence fleetcomprising of six ships,including the new one.

The new ship CNSKaiyangxing, or Mizar, withhull code 856, was delivered toa combat support flotilla of theNorth Sea Fleet on Tuesdaymorning in Qingdao,Shandong province, the dailyreported. The Kaiyangxing iscapable of conducting all-weather, round-the-clockreconnaissance on multiple

and different targets, the dailyquoted an official PLA Navymedia adding that the ship isso sophisticated that only a fewcountries, such as the US andRussia, are capable of devel-oping it.

As per the details released,the PLA Navy now operatessix electronic reconnaissancevessels - Beijixing (Polaris),Tianwangxing (Uranus),Tianlangxing (Sirius),Haiwangxing (Neptune),Kaiyangxing (Mizar) andanother whose name has notbeen revealed and is onlyknown by its hull code of 855.

The report also gave spe-cific information about theships such as their capabilitiesan functions.

Until now, the PLA Navyhas never made public somany details about its intelli-gence collection ships.

The Kaiyangxing is a Type815A electronic reconnais-sance ship, which has a fulldisplacement of 6,000 metrictons and a maximum speed of20 knots, or 37 kilometers perhour, according to the ModernNavy report, which added thatit is equipped with three small-caliber naval guns.

UN distances itself from Ban

relatives corruption scandal

AFP n UNITED NATIONS

Corruption charges against the relatives offormer UN secretary-general Ban Ki-

moon do not concern the United Nations, theUN spokesman has said.

Ban’s brother and nephew, respectively BanKi Sang and Joo Hyun Bahn, have been indict-ed in a US court over an alleged attempt tobribe a Middle Eastern official regarding thesale of a building in Vietnam.

A 39-page indictment unsealed on Tuesdaylists charges of corruption, money launderingand conspiracy against the relatives of the for-mer UN chief, who stepped down onDecember 31.

“The indictment that was unsealed onWednesday is not one that concerns theUnited Nations, and I have no comment on it,”UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

US prosecutors allege that the conspiracytook place between March 2013 and May 2015over the attempted sale of a commercial andresidential complex in Hanoi, built and ownedby Keangnam Enterprises, a South Korean con-

struction company.The UN spokesman noted that when

reports began to surface about the allegations,Ban Ki-moon said he had “no knowledge ofhis nephew’s activities and whereabouts.”

The plot focused on an attempt to get anofficial from an undisclosed Middle Easternkingdom to purchase the building in Hanoiusing a sovereign wealth fund.

The pair tried to secure a meeting with thekingdom’s head of state while he was in NewYork for a UN General Assembly meeting.

Also charged is US citizen Malcolm Harris,accused of masquerading as a go-between withthe Middle Eastern official but instead pock-eting a $500,000 bribe which he frittered awayon personal luxuries.

The United Nations was rocked last yearby a scandal involving a former GeneralAssembly president, John Ashe, accused of tak-ing bribes from Chinese developers to secureUN support for a conference center in Macau.

Ashe, who was the UN ambassador fromAntigua and Barbuda, died in June in a weight-lifting accident.

Texas carries out1st US execution of2017 amid disputeAFP n WASHINGTON

Texas prison authorities havecarried out the first US exe-

cution of 2017, as controversycontinued to swirl around thedrugs used to conduct suchlethal injections.

Christopher Wilkins, 48,was executed on Wednesday atthe Texas state penitentiary atHuntsville after the USSupreme Court denied him alast-minute reprieve.

Wilkins was convicted of adouble murder in 2005,sparked when he said a dealerand his friend sold him a USD20 dose of crack cocaine thatturned out to be a rock, thenlaughed at him.

During his trial he alsoadmitted to killing a man a dayearlier in a dispute over a payphone, and driving a stolen carinto two people on a sidewalkbecause he thought one hadstolen his sunglasses.

During his 2008 trial,Wilkins told jurors that thedeath penalty would be “no bigdeal,” according to the FortWorth (Texas) Star-Telegram.

But in his subsequentappeals, Wilkins, a formertruck driver, insisted that hewas poorly represented by hislawyers, including one whohad already accepted a job

with the prosecutor’s office.In most years, Texas exe-

cutes more convicts than anyother state, though last yearGeorgia surpassed it (with nineexecutions, to Texas’s seven).

Nationwide, capital pun-ishment has been falling foryears — last year’s total of 20executions was a 30-year low,according to the Death PenaltyInformation Center, aWashington-based nonprofit.

Texas, like other death-penalty states, has faced a seri-ous shortage of the drugs usedin lethal injections, as majorpharmaceutical firms - partic-ularly in Europe — haverefused to provide them.

In fact, last week Texassued the US Food and DrugAdministration (FDA) forimpounding a shipment ofsodium thiopental that the bigsouthern state had intended touse in executions.

In October 2015, bothTexas and Arizona hadattempted to secretly importvials of that drug from a sup-plier in India.

The FDA seized the drug,saying the use of the barbitu-rate in executions was illegal. Inrecent years, Texas has usedonly the drug pentobarbital inexecutions, according to theTexas Tribune.

Belgium charges

two new suspects

over Paris attacks

Brussels: Belgium has chargedtwo new suspects in connec-tion with the November 2015Paris attacks claimed by theIslamic State group which left130 people dead, federal pros-ecutors said today.

The two — identified asFarid K and Meryem E B — are“suspected to have providedKhalid El Bakraoui with thefalse documents afterwardsused in preparation of theParis attacks,” a statement said.

Bakraoui blew himself upat a Brussels metro stationwhile his brother Ibrahim andanother suicide bomberattacked Brussels airport intwin attacks that killed 32 peo-ple on March 22 last year.

Some 20 people have beencharged in Belgium in con-nection with the investigationinto the Paris attacks.Investigators say the Paris andBrussels attacks were carriedout by the same cell.

Farid K has “been chargedwith participation in the activ-ities of a terrorist group, falsi-fication of documents and useof false documents,” the pros-ecutor’s office said.

Meryem EB “has beencharged with falsification ofdocuments and use of falsedocuments,” it said.

Farid K has been placed inpolice custody while MeryemEB was released under “strict”conditions, it added.

People demonstrate against Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan outside the "Place des Nations" in front of the Europeanheadquarters of the United Nations, where the Cyprus conference takes place in Geneva, Switzerland on Thursday. AP

Puppies respond more readily to ‘baby talk’

PTI n WASHINGTON

Puppies respond more read-ily than adult dogs when

people talk to them just likethey would with babies - moreslowly and with a higher tone,a new study has found.

When talking to dogs,human adults use pet-directedspeech similar to infant-direct-ed speech which is known toengage infant attention andpromote language learning.

Researchers led by NicolasMathevon of Hunter College,City University of New York(CUNY) in the US showed thatpuppies are highly reactive to

dog-directed speech but thatolder dogs do not react differ-entially to dog-directed speechcompared to normal speech.

Yet, human speakersemploy dog-directed speechwith dogs of all ages, suggest-ing that this register of speechis used to engage interactionwith a non-speaking, ratherthan just a juvenile, listener.

Not only might peopleconsciously or unconsciouslywish to make themselves bet-ter understood through dog-directed speech, they may alsobe promoting word learning indogs when doing so,researchers said.It remains an

open question whether puppiesreact innately to dog-directedspeech and exactly why adultdogs showed a lack of prefer-ential reactivity to dog-direct-ed speech.

People seem to considerdogs non-verbal companionsand speak to them as theywould to human infants.

We use similar strategies inother situations where webelieve our listener may notfully understand us, such aswhen speaking to elderly peo-ple or linguistic foreigners.

The study was published inthe journal Proceedings of theRoyal Society B.

Amazon removes offensive Indianflag doormats from its sitePTI n WASHINGTON

After strong protest byIndia over Amazon selling

doormats depicting Indianflag, the e-retail giant todayremoved the offensive articlefrom its Canadian website.

A spokesman for Amazonbased at its headquarters inSeattle told The WashingtonPost that the doormat was nolonger for sale on its website.

Taking strong exception toAmazon Canada selling door-mats depicting Indian flag,

External Affairs MinisterSushma Swaraj on Wednesdayasked the e-retailer to with-draw the products and tenderan unconditional apology, fail-ing which no official ofAmazon will be grantedIndian visa and the onesissued earlier will also berescinded.

The minister also askedthe Indian Embassy to take upthe matter with AmazonCanada.

In a series of tweets,Swaraj had expressed her

anger at the sale of such anoffensive doormat byAmazon, which is seeking abig presence in India. “IndianHigh Commission in Canada: This is unacceptable. Pleasetake this up with Amazon atthe highest level.

“Amazon must tenderunconditional apology. Theymust withdraw all productsinsulting our national flagimmediately. “If this is notdone forthwith, we will notgrant Indian Visa to anyAmazon official.

LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | JANUARY 13, 2017sport 14

singles‘NOT THOUGHT ABOUT ANYTHING’KOLKATA: Sourav Ganguly on Thursdaysaid that he has not thought about hisfuture plan as yet after the Lodha Panelmade it clear that he will have to serve acompulsory 'cooling off' period of threeyears after June if he wants to becomean office bearer of the BCCI or the stateunits. "I have not thought about anything.We will see what needs to be done," saidGanguly who is currently holding thepost of Cricket Association of Bengal(CAB) president. The former India captainalso dismissed reports that he hasresigned from the CAB President's post."I have not done so," he replied curtly,when asked whether he has quit CABchief's post. The Lodha Committee onThursday made it clear that Ganguly willhave to go for a compulsory 'cooling off'period of three after June as by then hewill complete three years at the state unitas secretary and president.

‘INDIA HUGE CONTENDER IN 2018 WC’NEW DELHI: German internationalChristopher Ruhr, who is one of the high-est paid players of Hockey India League(HIL) feels that the current Indian team'schances of a podium finish at the 2018World Cup is bright. "I think India andArgentina developed most of all big hock-ey nations over the past 2-3 years. I likethe style India plays and I think they are ahuge contester on winning an Olympicmedal in 2020. Also a medal at the WorldCup in 2018 - especially because theWorld Cup takes place in India and thecrowds in India are always amazing,which gives the home team another per-centage point in motivation," said Ruhr,who was roped in for a whopping$75,000 by MS Dhoni-owned RanchiRays.

BAGAN FACE LAJONGKOLKATA: Former champions MohunBagan will look to continue their winningmomentum when they take on a strug-gling Shillong Lajong FC in their secondround I-League football match, which willbe back at their original home venueRabindra Sarobar Stadium after a legaltussle. "We had appealed at the NationalGreen Tribunal and the verdict has comein our favour," Mohun Bagan managingdirector Anjan Mitra said. Acting on aplea, the NGT did not allow their openingmatch in the eco-sensitive stadium nearRabindra Sarobar lake as Barasat hadhosted their match against Churchill.Boosted by the verdict, Mohun Bagan willlook to rule the roost against Lajong whodid not have the best of starts to the 10thseason after a 3-0 hammering inBangalore. Agencies

AP n MADRID

Lionel Messi came through forBarcelona again, scoring with aperfectly struck free kick to give

the defending champions a 3-1 winover Athletic Bilbao and a spot in thequarterfinals of the Copa del Rey onWednesday.

Messi fired a remarkable lowstrike into the right corner in the 78thminute at Camp Nou to help theCatalan club reverse a 2-1 first-leg lossand advance 4-3 on aggregate.

It was Messi's third decisive freekick goal in the last three Barcelonamatches. In addition to scoring in thefirst leg against Athletic, the Argentinaplaymaker saved Barcelona from a lossin the Spanish league on Sunday byfinding the net with a 90th-minute freekick at Villarreal .

Neymar scored in the second half— ending a goal drought of nearlythree months — after setting up a bril-liant scissor kick goal by Luis Suarezin the first half. Athletic scored a goalthat could have taken the game intoextra time with a firm header by EnricSaborit in the 51st, making it 2-1 onthe night.

But Messi's strike from the edge ofthe area kept his team alive in Spain'ssecond-most important club compe-tition after the league.

Just like he did against Villarreal,Messi caught the goalkeeper wrong-footed by sending his shot away fromthe wall. His left-foot strike barely leftthe ground before dropping into thebottom corner. The ball hit the postbefore crossing the line.

It was Messi's 26th freekick goal for Barcelona,tying Ronald Koeman'srecord for the club. Itwas also the first timeMessi had netted freekick goals in threeconsecutive matches.

Neymar endedan 11-game scorelessstreak - his worstsince joiningBarcelona three yearsago - by converting a48th-minute penaltykick. It was the first goalfor the Brazil striker since agame against Manchester Cityin the group stage of theChampions League in October.

He almost added another after get-ting past several defenders with beau-tiful moves inside the area in the 80th,but his close-range shot struck the post.

Neymar had helped Barcelona open

the scoring in the 35th with a perfectcross for Suarez's remarkable volley fromthe right side of the area. The Uruguaystriker timed his shot perfectly, sendinga low drive into the far corner for his300th goal with Barcelona.

The team's attacking trio of Suarez,Messi and Neymar have scored 302goals in total since they started play-ing together.

Barcelona is seeking its thirdstraight Copa title, and 28th overall.

"Our team played well, we had thecalm to create our scoring opportuni-ties," Luis Enrique said. "They scoredwith the only chance they had."

On Tuesday, Atletico Madridbecame the first team to reach thequarterfinals despite a 3-2 home lossto Las Palmas. Diego Simeone's teamadvanced 4-3 on aggregate after a 2-0first leg win in the Canary Islands.

Elsewhere, in the matchupbetween the second-division clubsleft in the competition, Alcorconadvanced thanks to a come-from-behind 2-1 victory at Cordoba after a0-0 draw in the first leg, while RealSociedad drew 1-1 at Villarreal toadvance 4-2 on aggregate.

Alaves held on to a 1-1 home drawagainst Deportivo La Coruna toadvance on away goals after a 3-3aggregate score, reaching the quarter-finals for the first time since 2003-2004.

BOLT, RONALDO NOMINATEDMONTE CARLO: The contest for theLaureus World Sportsman of the Yearaward promises to be one of the mostcompetitive ever with the likes of UsainBolt, Cristiano Ronaldo and AndyMurray contesting for top honours.

The nominees for the WorldSportsman of the Year award alsoinclude 5k and 10k Olympic champi-on Mo Farah, basketball duo StephenCurry and LeBron James, besidesBolt, already a three-time Laureus win-ner, Ronaldo and Murray, following aballot by the world's media. Ronaldois involved in three nominations —both individually and through histeams Portugal and Real Madrid.

A glittering collection of theworld's greatest Olympic andParalympic stars from Rio de Janeirohave also been nominated for the pres-tigious awards in various categories.

Olympians fill all six nominationplaces for the Laureus WorldSportswoman of the Year award, includ-ing Americans Simone Biles, KatieLedecky and Allyson Felix, Germanworld tennis No1 Angelique Kerber,Jamaican sprint star Elaine Thompsonand British cyclist Laura Kenny.

AP n SOUTHAMPTON

Liverpool endured more cup frustration when Southamptonwon the first leg of their League Cup semifinal 1-0 on

Wednesday.Nathan Redmond capitalised on a mistake by Ragnar

Klavan to score the only goal in the 20th minute andSouthampton could rue not building a stronger lead to taketo Anfield in two weeks' time.

"I should have had four today, on another day they mightgo in," Redmond told broadcaster Sky Sports. "I'll take thosemistakes and try to put it right in training and the next game."

Liverpool was struggling against a Premier League rival -unlike on Sunday, when fourth-tier side Plymouth drew 0-0at Anfield in the FA Cup to force a replay.

Liverpool is competing for silverware on three frontsdomestically in Juergen Klopp's first full season in charge, withLiverpool second in the Premier League and pursuing a firstEnglish title since 1990. Klopp guided Liverpool to the finallast year but lost to Manchester City.

This week's difficulties in the cups have come ahead of oneof the biggest games of the club's season on Sunday againstnorthwest rival Manchester United in the league.

Southampton, which ended a four-match winless run, isin the last four of a major competition for the first time since2003. The hosts looked to be in for a bleak night, being forcedto defend deeply in the opening stages and failing to find anyreal attacking outlets.

Jay Rodriguez was looking overwhelmed as Saints' focalpoint yet there was a flash of life in the 19th minute as Redmondcollected a cross from the right and got away a shot that goal-keeper Loris Karius smothered well.

Redmond was caught out by the goalkeeper's reactions, butmade amends within a minute as Klavan's inability to deal witha simple ball forward cost his side.

Rodriguez was alert to capitalize on the botched attemptto clear, beating former teammate Dejan Lovren with a deftpass to put Redmond through. This time, Redmond did notfalter, keeping his composure to direct past Karius.

That blow after such a comfortable start threw Liverpooloff kilter, with the visitors failing to attack with any intensitybefore halftime.

PTI n SYDNEY

Sania Mirza has closed in on hersecond title of the season in as

many tournaments after reachingthe final of the WTA ApiaInternational with Czech partnerBarbora Strycova, here on Thursday.

The top seeds thrashedAmerica's Vania King and YaroslavaShvedova from Kazakhstan 6-1, 6-2 in just 51 minutes.

Sania and Barbora saved all fivebreakpoints in the semifinal matchand broke the rivals twice in each set.

They will clash for the title withTimea Babos and AnastasiaPavlyuchenkova, who defeatedAndreja Klepac and María JoséMartínez Sánchez 6-3, 6-4 in theother semifinal.

After splitting with MartinaHingis last year in August, it isSania's sixth final in eight tourna-ments. She won the Cincinnati andTokyo events with Strycova and theNew Haven tournament withMonica Niculescu. It's only at theUS Open (Quarterfinals) andBeijing (2nd round) events that shemade an early exit.

Last week, Sania had won theseason-opener Brisbane event with

Bethanie Mattek-Sands but ironi-cally lost her world number onerank to the American, who jumpedfive places to dislodge the Indianfrom the top spot.

YUKI CLOSE TO MAIN DRAWMELBOURNE: Yuki Bhambri inchedcloser to the Australian Open sin-gles main draw after getting the bet-ter of Serbian Pedja Krstin 6-3, 6-4 in the second round of the qual-ifying event, here on Thursday.

24-year-old Yuki, who wonthe junior Australian Open title in2009, saved all the three break-points in the match that lasted 68minutes.

The Indian youngster broke hisrival once in each set, and remainedsolid throughout.

His next opponent is 21st seedAmerican Ernesto Escobedo, whobrushed aside Tatsuma Ito fromJapan 6-1, 6-3 in his second roundmatch.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Jaipur Ninjas triumphed over UPDangal 4-3 to seal a spot in the semi-

finals of the Patanjali Powervita ProWrestling League Season 2 at the K DJadhav Indoor Stadium on Thursday.

The evening commenced with atight bout between two Georgianwrestlers, Tariel Gaphrindashvili fromUP and Jakob Makarashvili fromJaipur. The experienced Makarashviliheld his nerve to keep an attackingGaphrindashvili at bay to win 6-4 inthe 74 kg Men's category.

Jaipur's Pooja Dhanda took onUP youngster Manisha in the 58 kgWomen's category and ended with adominant 8-4 victory.

UP Dangal's Geeta Phogat wasruled out of Thursday's tie on med-ical grounds.

UP made a comeback in thematch as Andrey Kviatkovski prevailedover Jaipur's Rahul Mann in a close-

ly fought 65 kg Men's category bout.Jaipur retorted strongly as Venezuelanwrestler Betzabeth Arguello handed a8-1 defeat to UP's Pinki, who hasreplaced Babita Kumari for theremainder of the league.

Jaipur Captain Elizbar Odikadzeclinched the tie in his team's favouras he defeated UP's Mausam Khatri5-2 in the 97 kg heavyweight Men'scategory and continued his unbeat-en run in the tournament so far.

AFP n MELBOURNE

World number ones AndyMurray and Angelique

Kerber were named the top seedstoday for next week's AustralianOpen with organisers aligningwith the current rankings.

Scotland's Murray is chasinghis first title at Melbourne Parkafter losing in the final five times,including in 2011, 2013, 2015 and2016 to Serb rival NovakDjokovic, who is seeded two.

Kerber will be defending herfirst Grand Slam having upsetSerena Williams, seeded two thisyear, in the decider last year.

Big-serving Canadian MilosRaonic, who lost to Murray in the2016 semi-finals, is the thirdmen's seed with 2014 championStan Wawrinka fourth andJapanese hope Kei Nishikori fifth.

Swiss legend Roger Federer

starts at 17 as he makes a come-back after six months out with aknee injury. His old foe RafaelNadal, also returning from injury,is ninth. Serena Williams, gun-ning for a 23rd Grand Slam titleto beat Steffi Graf 's Open-erarecord, is scheduled to again

meet Kerber in the women's final.But there are a host of dan-

gerous players looking to stop her,with Poland's AgnieszkaRadwanska seeded three andRomania's Simona Halep four. USOpen finalist Karolina Pliskovarounds out the top five.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Olympic gold medallistCarolina Marin and nation-

al champion Sameer Vermanotched up contrasting victoriesto guide Hyderabad Hunters tothe semifinals of PremierBadminton League season 2 witha 5-2 win over Delhi Acers in anexciting contest here on Thursday.

Saina Nehwal's AwadheWarriors were the first to qualifyfor the knockout stage andChennai Smashers and MumbaiRockets also had joined them inthe semi-finals but the door wasstill open for Hyderabad and theygrabbed the last spot after topplingBengaluru Blasters today.

Needing three points to earna place at the semifinals, theHyderabad team was led bySameer, mixed doubles pair of

Chau Wah Hoi and SatwiksairajRankireddy and two-time worldchampion Marin, who took themhome after winning their respec-tive matches. In the semifinals, itwill be a mouth-watering contestwhen Saina's Awadhe Warriorswill fight against P V Sindhu'sChennai Smashers whileHyderabad will face off MumbaiRockets in a double header at theSiri Fort Stadium here on Friday.

Starting the proceedings,Sameer fought back from a gamedown to snuff aside the challengethrown by young Siril Verma, a sil-ver medallist at 2015 World Juniorchampionship, 8-11 11-3 11-2 inopener. Hong Kong's Chau Wahand India's Satwiksairaj thendished out a superlative perfor-mance to outclass the famed pairof Jwala Gutta and Russia'sVladimir Ivanov 11-3, 11-4 in

mixed doubles to make it 2-0 infavour of Hyderabad Hunters.

China Open champion andWorld No 2 Jan O Jorgensen thenbrought Delhi back into the con-test with a dominating 11-5 11-7win over 2010 CommonwealthGames silver medallist RajivOuseph of England in their TrumpMatch to level the score 2-2.

European champion and 2015All England winner Marin thentook the court in Hyderabad'sTrump Match amid huge cheersand and sealed the match for herteam with a hard-fought 15-14 11-4 victory over World No 16 ThaiNitchaon Jindapol.

In the inconsequential fifthrubber, Boon Heong Tan andWee Kiong Tan then defeatedVladimir Ivanov and IvanSozonov 11-9 13-11 to completethe proceedings.

MESSI KICKS BILBAO OUT

Argentine’s free-kick guides Barca to 3-1 win & reach Copa del Rey quarters

Saints edge Reds1-0 in EFL Cup S/F

Sania-Strycova enter Final Murray, Kerber top seeds

Marin guides Hunters to S/FNinjas advance to S/F

ITWAS MESSI'S

26TH FREE KICKGOAL FOR BARCELONA,

TYING RONALD KOEMAN'SRECORD FOR THE CLUB. ITWAS ALSO THE FIRST TIMEMESSI HAD NETTED FREE

KICK GOALS IN THREECONSECUTIVE

MATCHES

Jaipur’s Pooja Dhanda fights UP’s Manisha

Federer slips to 17th in AusOpen seedings

sport 15

PTI n MUMBAI

Flavour of the season Rishabh Pantsizzled in his first ever match forIndia A and his smashing 59 off

only 36 balls overshadowed senior proAjinkya Rahane's compact 91 as a new-look India A side cruised to a six-wick-et victory over England in the secondwarm-up game, here on Thursday.

Chasing a target of 283, India Aknocked off the runs in 39.4 overs.Sheldon Jackson 59 off 56 balls also didhis bit adding 119 runs for the open-ing stand with Rahane.

Senior pro Suresh Raina did the fin-isher's job with a 45 off 34 balls.

However it was Pant, whose per-formance was awaited and he didn't dis-appoint the CCI crowd as he hit eightfours and two huge sixes.

Such was his dominance that hiscontribution was 59 out of the 78 runsin only 8.4 overs that he added for thesecond wicket with Rahane. Rahanealso showed no signs of rustiness hit-ting 10 fours and a six in 83 balls.

It was Deepak Hooda (23) andIshan Kishan(5) at the crease whenIndia A reached their target.

Earlier, opting to bat first theEngland innings was nurtured in themain by half centuries from openerAlex Hales (51) and Jonny Bairstow (64)before it got into the mire against thehome side's spin attack. They were final-ly revived by the last wicket pair of AdilRashid and David Willey who put on71 runs.

Strangely Pant, who is a regularopener for Delhi in ODIs and T20salong with IPL was demoted to No 3but it did not dampen his spirits.

The left-handed Pant, whoslammed pacer Jake Ball for two foursand a short-arm pulled six in three suc-cessive balls, raced to his half centuryin just 32 balls before impetuosity costhim his wicket.

In trying to cart leggie Adil Rashid,who he had hoisted over long on for hissecond six off his previous delivery, theupcoming Delhi lad was caught at thesame position after adding 78 runs in8.4 overs for the 2nd wicket with

Rahane who watched the youngsterblast his way from the other end.

These first two partnerships thatcame at a rate above the asking rate andpushed the total very close to the 200mark were enough to put the hometeam in sight of overhauling theirrivals' score.

After Rahane's dismissal when heplayed on in trying to clip Willey, Rainaand Deepak Hooda took the total pastthe 260-mark when the left-hander wascaught in the deep off Ball.

Earlier, choosing to bat first on win-ning the toss, England sailed along mer-rily and were 116 for one when theystarted losing wickets in bunches main-ly against the home team spinners to beleft struggling at 165 for six three overspast the halfway mark of their allottedquota.

Openers Jason Roy (25) and AlexHales (51) got the visitors off to anoth-er good start of 42 and then the latterand one-down batsman Jonny Bairstow(64) took the score past the 100-markbefore the slump began.

In 12 overs, England squandered

five wickets - including that of captainEoin Morgan for a duck, his second suc-cessive flop in two games.

Only Ben Stokes stood solid amongthe middle order in making 38 and heand Chris Woakes (16) took the scoreclose to 200 before another in anotherslide England lost three more wicketsbefore the 40th over with only 211 onthe board.

The last wicket partnership of 71 injust under ten overs between AdilRashid (39) and left handed DavidWilley, who remained unbeaten on 38and struck the only two sixes of theentire innings, helped England advanceto a competitive score in the end.

In spite of the last wicket pair's halfcentury stand the England inningsended with seven balls remaining. Forthe hosts, off-spinner Parvez Rasool wasthe most successful bowler with figuresof 3 for 38 off 10 overs, while left-armslow bowler Shahbaz Nadeem pickedup a brace along with medium pacersAshok Dinda, who took his wickets intwo balls in two separate overs, and leftarmer Pradeep Sangwan got one.

PTI n PUNE

MS Dhoni had a phenomenalcareer as captain and one of the

highlights of his leadership tenurewas the apt handling of senior play-ers in the team, said current Indiacoach Anil Kumble who himself hadmade way for the wicket-keeperbatsman to be Test captain in 2008.

Dhoni succeeded Kumble asTest captain after the leg-spin legendannounced his retirement midwayinto home series against Australia in2008.

Kumble recalled the time whenDhoni was made captain in all threeformats.

"The first phase was probablyeasy for me because I was old, it waseasy for me to say 'MS take over'. Itwas difficult for me to continue atthat time, the body was not willingbut I thought it was the right time forme to leave as well. MS (Dhoni) wasready to take over Test captaincy,"said Kumble ahead of the first ODIagainst England here on Sunday.

Dhoni's glorious tenure as cap-tain began with the World T20 tri-

umph in 2007."From there to 2007 to 2017, 10

years of captaincy is phenomenal. Itgoes to show the capabilities of MSas a leader and also what he has beenable to achieve during the transitionphase and also when the seniors leftas well, it is not easy coming into theteam as captain and having so many

senior players. He managed themreally well.

"He (Dhoni) not just got the bestout of them but also got the best forthe team. Both as number one Testside and later on winning the WorldCup and then Champions Trophyand many other victories, he has beenpart of," he said referring to the time

when the likes of Sachin Tendulkar,Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman,Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravidplayed under Dhoni.

Kumble lauded Dhoni for thetiming of stepping down from cap-taincy.

"In this team, besides Yuvi,everybody else has started theircareers under MS. So that is the kindof transition he has seen. It has beenphenomenal to be able to achievewhat he has been able to achieve. Weall know the value that he brings asa player and as a batsman and keep-er and of course his value on the field.

"It is never easy to take a call.Hats off to him. That shows how self-less he is and he probably thought itwas the right time for Virat to takeover. Like how I felt back then it wasthe right time for MS to come in, itis great for the team to have MS onthe field with Virat leading the side.

"Like I mentioned, Virat cameinto the side when MS was captain,so the bonhomie and bond that theyshared will only help Virat grow asa leader. And Virat has shown thathe has exceptional quality.

PTI n INDORE

Middle-order batsman Shreyas Iyermade a fine half-century to keep mul-

tiple-time champions Mumbai in the huntafter the title holders conceded the firstinnings lead to Gujarat in the summit clashof the Ranji Trophy cricket tournament hereon Thursday.

Iyer made 82 off 137 deliveries with thehelp of nine boundaries and two sixes asMumbai reached 208 for three in their sec-ond innings to take a handy lead of 108 runsat stumps on day three of the five-dayencounter.

Besides Iyer, young Prithvi Shaw, whomade 71 in the first innings, smashed aquickfire 44 off 35 balls upfront.

Shaw and Akhil Herwadkar (16) gotMumbai off to a quick start in the secondessay with 54-run opening stand beforemedium pacer Chintan Gaja (3/54) pickedup both the Mumbai batsmen in quick suc-cession.

Gaja first accounted for Herwadkar inthe 10th over and then induced an edgefrom the dangerous-looking Shaw in the14th over which Gujarat skipper ParthivPatel accepted with both hands.

Then, Iyer and Surya Kumar Yadavjoined hands and stitched a 127-run part-nership for the third wicket to bring

Mumbai back into the game after the for-mer champions conceded the first inningslead to their opponents.

But Iyer, who was batting confident-ly till then, fell in similar fashion like Shaw,giving a straight-forward catch to Patelbehind the stumps off Gaja in the 60thover with Mumbai scoreboard reading193.

At stumps, Yadav was batting on 45along side Mumbai skipper Aditya Tare

(13 not out).Earlier, resuming their first innings on

291 for six in reply to Mumbai's 228 allout, the remaining four Gujarat batsmencould add just 37 runs before beingbowled out for 328 in 104.3 overs.

Paceman Shardul Thakur (4/84)picked up four wickets for Mumbai whileBalwinder Sandhu (3/63) and AbhishekNayar (3/101) shared the remaining sixwickets between them.

AFP n JOHANNESBURG

Hashim Amla made a centuryin his 100th Test match as

he and JP Duminy put SouthAfrica in command on the firstday of the third and final Testagainst Sri Lanka on Thursday.

South Africa reached 338 forthree at the close of play, withAmla unbeaten on 124 at theWanderers Stadium.

Duminy made 155 before he wascaught at second slip off LahiruKumara in the penultimate over ofthe day, ending a third wicket part-nership of 192.

Amla became the eighth playerand second South African after for-mer captain Graeme Smith tomark 100 Tests with a hundred.

After a lean run of form, Amlastruggled early in his innings.

The left-handed Duminy wasthe dominant partner as he shep-herded Amla, who was dropped byDhananjaya de Silva at gully offSuranga Lakmal when he had five.

Amla only scored six in thepair's first 50 runs together.

Gradually, though, Amla found histiming and he reachedhis first half-century in11 Test matches short-

ly before tea. He had faced109 balls and hit seven fours.

He blossomed to hit hissecond half-century off only60 balls, reaching his 26th Testhundred when he skippeddown the wicket and loftedRangana Herath over mid-offfor his 14th four.

Duminy, by contrast,cruised to his half-centuryoff 62 balls with ten bound-

aries and went on to his sixthTest century after facing 140

deliveries and adding four moreboundaries. Duminy's previous

highest score in three previousTests at the Wanderers was 29.

Amla and Duminy came togeth-er when both opening batsmen,Stephen Cook and Dean Elgar, were

dismissed within six balls when thetotal was on 45. Cook and Elgar sur-vived the first hour before both were

out soon after the mid-morning drinksbreak.

AP n WELLINGTON

Adominant innings of 56 by Tamim Iqbaland a patient unbeaten 64 by Mominul

Haque on Thursday steered Bangladesh to 154-3 at stumps on a wet and windy opening dayof the first test against New Zealand.

Rain allowed only 40.2 overs of play beforebad light ended play following a day on whichgale force winds battered the stadium, makinglife uncomfortable for batsmen and bowlers.

Tamim played a key role after Bangladeshwas sent in to bat on a green but spongy wick-et at the Basin Reserve.

He raced to his 20th test half century - hisfourth in six innings against New Zealand inNew Zealand - from 48 balls from which hehit 10 fours.

When he posted his half century,Bangladesh was 56-1, of which he had scored52.

While the pitch had bright green hue thatsuggested aid for seamers, it was softer thanexpected which negated their pace.

Iqbal scored freely from the outset but losthis opening partner, Imrul Kayes, who hookeda short ball from Tim Southee directly to TrentBoult on the fine leg boundary.

After lunch, Tamim rushed quickly to hishalf century.

He was especially hard on Boult who strug-gled to find his length as he bowled with thegale force wind as his back. Tamim took sixboundaries from the first 19 balls he faced fromBoult whose first spell of three overs cost 26runs.

But Boult had his revenge when hetrapped Tamim lbw for 56 when Bangladeshwas 60. The prospect of play in the final ses-sion looked bleak. But at 5.40pm, in fadinglight, the players took the field again andanother 11.2 overs were bowled.

In that time Mominul reached his halfcentury from 79 balls with nine fours and asix. And Mahmdullah fell to a catch by wick-etkeeper B.J. Watling off Neil Wanger whofinished with 1-28 from 11 overs.

Shakib Al Hasan was dropped by MitchellSantner off Watling and ended the day 5 notout.

Rahane, Pant star

in commanding win

BANGLA STEADY

ON RAIN-MARRED

DAY VS KIWIS

‘Dhoni managed senior players well’PTI n MUMBAI

England batsman JonnyBairstow conceded that

facing up to the twin threatfrom the Indian spin duo ofRavichandran Ashwin andRavindra Jadeja would con-tinue to pose a big challengeto his side in the One-DayInternational series starting atPune on January 15.

"I have faced Ashwin andJadeja in Test matches (thatpreceded the limited over partof the visit). We know theyhave got skills which are welldocumented.

“It's a great challenge,"said Bairstow after the secondwarm-up game lost by thetourists to an India A side ledby Ajinkya Rahane onThursday.

Off spinner Ashwinsnapped up 28 wickets, twomore than his left arm spinpartner who spun the visitorsto their doom in the former's

home venue in Chennai witha seven wicket haul in the lastinnings to help India completea 4-0 triumph over England inthe five-Test rubber.

He was pleased with hisinnings, although he wanted itto be bigger, but was under noillusion that he will be preferredto Joe Root, who has joined theteam late, despite it.

ROOT JOINS ENGLAND SQUAD

England were bolstered bythe arrival of their top batsmanJoe Root here in time for trav-elling with the squad tomorrowto Pune for the first of threeODIs on January 15. Root hadstayed back for a few days forthe birth of his first child.

Bairstow wary of

spin challenge

AMLA HITS TON IN 100TH TEST

Iyer's 82 keeps Mumbai in hunt

LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | JANUARY 13, 2017

Such was Pant’sdominance thathis contributionwas 59 out ofthe 78 runs inonly 8.4 oversthat he addedfor the second

wicket withRahane. Thecaptain also

showed no signsof rustiness

India A’s batsmen make light work of challenging 283 target

LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | JANUARY 13, 2017vivacity 16

SHAH RUKH KHAN,who is gearing up forthe release of hisforthcoming filmRaees, says hisco-starNawazuddinSiddiqui is agem of anactor.“Nawazuddinbhai is a gem ofan actor and toomuch fun to workwith,” Shah Rukhposted on his microblogging handle. Inthe film, Shah Rukhessays the title roleof Raees, a bootleg-ger. Directed byRahul Dholakia,Raees is slated torelease on January 25.

‘You have tobe verycareful aboutwhat youassociateyourself withon television,because I feel

today it has a largerreach than movies andit's not going to spareyou if you make amistake. I'm in talks witha couple of productionhouses (for) both fictionand non-fiction (shows).—NEHA DHUPIA

A rousing reception with tradition-al dhol, tutari and tilak wasaccorded to VIN DIESEL, wholanded in India lately on a two-daypromotional tour of his forthcom-ing release xXx: Return of XanderCage. On his maiden trip to India,Diesel says his dream to explorethe country has come true. TheAmerican actor was accompanied

by his co-star DEEPIKA

PADUKONE.“So honoured to be

here in India forthe first time.The xXx Globaltour has beengreat andnow I andDeepikaPadukone aregoing to sharethis film with her

country today. As achild, I alwaysdreamed of visitingIndia. Thank youParamount for mak-ing this dreamcome true. Xander,”Diesel posted onsocial media.

After Priyanka Chopra’s stunningdebut on international television,it’s the turn of Indian-origin direc-tor TARSEM SINGH to take on thenetworks as he helms EmeraldCity. Known for his uniqueapproach, Singh has directed cultmovies such as The Cell (starringJennifer Lopez), Immortals (star-ring Henry Cavill) and MirrorMirror (starring Julia Roberts).Tune in to Colors Infinity to watchEmerald City every Saturday 8pm onwards.

Diesel’s desiwelcome in India

KUSHAN MITRA

Ford took their own sweet timeto launch a Mustang in a right-

hand drive version. A really longtime. Fifty-two years and six gen-erations. But when they launcheda right-hand drive model, theydidn’t take very long to launch thecar in India. And once theybrought their most iconic car toIndia, they decided that it deservedto see a bit of this vast country. Sofor the last month or so, Ford Indiahas been taking a Mustang GTaround the Golden Quadrilateraland giving several motoring jour-nalists such as myself, 300-400 kmlong stretches to gallop down ahighway.

Ford India had penned medown for a stretch during the third- south-to-east leg of the trip. Thisleg deviated a bit from the classicquadrilateral route by going viaHyderabad, but given a choice ofseveral legs I chose the leg betweenVisakhapatam and Bhubaneswar.This stretch of road down nation-al highway 16 while not exactly onthe coast did allow for access toseveral beaches on the Bay ofBengal. India’s eastern coastline isthe more neglected coastline fortourists, and after this drive andseeing some of the wonderfulbeaches in Andhra and Odisha, forthe life of me I cannot figure outwhy, because the beaches we sawat Bheemli outside Visakhapatnamand Gopalpur-On-Sea in Odishahad stunning stretches of sand andsurf.

But I wasn’t in this wonderfulpart of India to get my feet wet inthe Bay of Bengal, which was apity. However, the reason I washere more than made up for thatdisappointment as I was going tobe driving the Mustang GT. I haddriven this car soon at its launchevent at the Buddh InternationalCircuit, and despite misgivingsabout an American muscle car ona racetrack, this is a highly capa-ble sportscar. It may lack theagility of a modern Europeansportscar, but the Mustang GT cango plenty fast and it was surpris-ingly good around the bendsbecause Ford has developed awhole new independent rear sus-pension for this car. This isn’tEuropean, but this is no red-neckAmerican musclecar, this is anAmerican muscle-car marriedinto New England aristocracy.

But then again, with a five-litr-er V8 motor under that long snoutwhich mashed petrol and air to givefour hundred brake horsepower,this is a car designed to go fast (thatsaid, the Indian variant is slightlydetuned down from 435 horsepow-er on the American-spec MustangGT). And while it has beencivilised, it is a bit tail heavy, andbecause Indian highways oftendemand rapid changes of directionas you try and sneak in betweentwo trucks, this is not a car youshould ever drive with just onehand on the steering. In fact, ifthere is one thing the Mustang canadopt, it could be the high-gripsuede finish on Mercedes-AMGsteerings. A couple of times, whilefitting in between twenty-ton Tatas,there was the sensation that the tailwanted to go out, but thanks to theelectronic aids and a light right foot,nothing ever got out of hand.

For the most part, NH16 is arelatively straight road with sever-al wide-sweeping turns, with onlya couple of ghat stretches thrownin. Thus the Mustang GT was inits natural habitat, with ‘Sports+’drive mode selected which keptthe revs up coupled with ‘Sports’steering, which made the steeringa bit heavier. You could at timesfloor the accelerator. It isn’t just thesheer acceleration that stuns youwhen you do that, it is the wall ofnoise from the huge V8 engine.Again, the noise isn’t like thehigh-pitched noise from anEuropean sportscar, this is athroaty baritone, you can feel the

power in front of you. But the best thing about a

road trip in a nice car is not justthe car, it is the road itself. Andwhat a road! National Highway 16between these two growing citiesis in immaculate condition, it isa four-lane road throughout,mainly with a asphalt top with ashort stretch of concrete. Thereare quite a few toll booths which,sadly are quite slow, although itdid give me an opportunity tocatch up on social media whilewaiting. But some of the bestsights on this road are actuallyslightly off the highway.

Beginning with the INSKursura museum on theRamakrishna Mission beach inVisakhapatnam. Commissionedin 1969, this Kalvari-class boatwas India’s fourth-ever submarineand served the Indian Navy for 31years and is unique as the onlysubmarine museum in this part ofthe world. Unfortunately, ourearly start meant that we couldnot visit the ship, but we carriedon down the coast road, avoidingthe main highway as weapproached the small fishing vil-lage of Bheemli a half-hour out-side Vizag. The roads to this vil-lage with its beautiful beachoffered stunning vistas of the Bayof Bengal from the ghats, the red,iron-rich earth of the Deccanmerging with the blue of the seawith strips of yellow sand andgreen palm trees in between.

After Bheemli, we joined thehighway and despite the massivejam of trucks at the Andhra-Odisha border which was anadvertisement for why this coun-try needs the Goods and ServicesTax (GST) we soon reached thetown of Bhramapur where we tooka right turn to Gopalpur-On-Sea.This is one of the most beautifulbeaches in India, as tourism to theeastern coast is several orders ofmagnitude lesser than that to thewest coast, Gopalpur does not feellike a tourist trap. And unlikeKonark-Puri, there is no immedi-ate religious or archaeologicalreason to visit either, just a won-derful stretch of sand. There isonly one major five-star hotel, thelovely Mayfair resort, which wasformerly an Oberoi property, andthe property retains that colonialcharm. The small centre is onlythree hours away fromBhubaneswar, and really, this is abeach you must visit.

Back on the highway, passingthrough some village marketswhere the day’s catch and driedfish were being sold, the road toBhubaneswar was relatively unre-markable. Well, other than the fewidiots who tried to make danger-ous maneuvers to overtake the car.Yet, the drive passed smoothly andas the sun set and Odisha’s capi-tal beckoned, traffic settled downinto its chaotic rhythm as in mostIndian cities. The Ford MustangGT is a great highway cruiser, well,more of a battlecruiser really, butit can move around cities fairlycomfortably as well.

After a whole day spent dri-ving this American icon, yourealised that it did not feel veryout of place in India. Sure, itreturned just 6.5 km per litre, butthat is more due to the constantacceleration and braking, when Idrove the car gently, it easily aver-aged 8.5 km per litre.

Befitting a car wearing a ‘GT’(Grand Tourer) badge, it wascomfortable, the music systemsounded great although this par-ticular car lacked navigation.Newer cars, however, will havenavigation pre-installed. So whileit costs Rs 65 lakh (ex-showroom)if you do end up buying one ofthese things, don’t keep it in agarage and drive it inside a city,take it on the open road. Like theMustang itself, this car demandsthe open road.

Not long ago, if you were toask what EDM was, most

people wouldn’t have a clue, butthere’s one man who’s beencoaching the entire world on thebreakout of a genre that’s beenflourishing in clubs for decades.From his early work at the smallclubs in Paris to being one of themost prominent artistes in theindustry, the Frenchman DavidGuetta, unquestionably changedthe game for many DJs and pro-ducers. For years he has beensoaring over the lines oncedrawn between dance and otherstyles of music. David Guetta willbe performing in Delhi thisSunday.

As one of the most powerfulambassadors between electron-ic and pop music, what was theturning point?

I started DJing in the Broad Clubin Paris. It was the beginning ofsomething beautiful. Shortlyafter that, I hosted my own clubnights. It all evolved naturally.From France, I went to the UK,where the scene was even biggerand then to Ibiza. But I alwaysloved producing music, andwhen my songs got picked up bymainstream names, thingschanged fast. But I still love whatI do as much as I did years ago.Music is my life.

You used to take your DJ equip-

ment to Ibiza and throw partieswhen you were 14-years-old.Describe that experience.

My love of Ibiza comes from myupbringing. And representingIbiza from the very early dayshas helped me a lot in my DJcareer and it’s still a key point ofmy career. Before I had thesehits, I was that guy, the Ibiza DJ.I think the hippy heritage ofIbiza left something that is veryunique, I love the fact there’s ahippy heritage. I love that theunderground scene is still verystrong and I love the fact thatthere’s still so many differenttypes of music in Ibiza and thatpeople are so open-minded.

Your roots were in vinyl as aclub DJ in Paris and then pro-moter; how has house musicdeveloped from where youstarted to where you are now?

The EDM scene has grown sorapidly that I don’t dare predictwhat will be next. I never expect-ed it to explode like it did in the

first place so the way I thinkabout it, the sky is the limit fordance music. When I started, alldance music was underground.If you were going to play house,you had to be undergroundbecause it wasn’t the type ofmusic that was crossing over. Myevolution also came with theevolution of the scene in gener-al.

What genres and sounds are youinspired by currently?

I’ve been listening to all differentkinds of music lately. Recently alot of new music has been releasedin the electronic music sceneand there are some really cooltracks! Other than that I try to lis-ten to as many genres as possiblebecause you never know whereinspiration might come from.

What do you look forward tomost when performing in Indiaas you have a huge fan base here?

I love the dedication of the Indiancrowd and how they embrace the

dance music culture. I’m alwayslooking forward to rekindling myrelationship with Indian fans.

What other new developmentsare we going to expect fromyou in 2017?

I would love to release a newalbum. I’m working on newmusic, so that will definitely bereleased in 2017.

Words of encouragement forthe aspiring DJ’s and produc-ers.

Talent is what everything else isbased upon. Authenticity needstalent. And true creativity alsomeans taking a leap of faith -being unafraid of failure. Onceread a quote by Salvador Dali:‘Have no fear of perfection,you’ll never reach it!’ Wellthat’s what creativity is about:it’s about daring, being authen-tic to yourself, trying newthings. There will be failuresalong the way, but if you neverdare you can never be truly cre-ative.

That’s what I have alwaystried to do with my music:bring unexpected combina-tions together, like when I firstbrought urban and electrosounds together.And that’s what I admire the most from other artists or talents.

That people love to talk andknow about other people isamply proved by the success of

wax museums around the world andthe crazy visitors who love to see

replicas of celebrities cast in wax andget unlimited fan moments of posingfor pictures without so much as awrinkle on their skin or an upturnednose. Little wonder then that selfie-

crazy India is all set to join the band-wagon with the 23rd edition ofMadame Tussauds opening inDelhi this June.

The first museum willcome up at Delhi’s ConnaughtPlace at the heritage buildingRegal Cinema, which oncehoused the famous StandardSweets. In the first look ofthe museum, lifelike waxfigures of AmitabhBachchan, Lady Gaga andMarie Tussaud wereunveiled. The museumwill open with 50 figuresof which, 60 per cent of

the figures will be localcelebrities and rest global.

“Generally, we work ona 40:60 model, wherein 40 percent figures are local and therest are international, butIndian market is different, sowe are working on a different

model,” said Anshul Jain,General Manager, and Director,Merlin Entertainments IndiaPrivate Limited.

While the presence of manywax-form Indian celebrities isexpected at the museum, Jainsaid that some new names mightadd in the list as per the responseof the public. “The wax attrac-tion will provide an immersiveand exhilarating experience ofthe glittering world ofrenowned celebrities and per-sonalities of the likes of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, Godof Cricket Sachin Tendulkar toglamourous divas like KimKardashian to the Indianaudience. However, theremight be add-ons as per thepublic response.” “MadameTussauds has always had a sig-

nificant appeal for the Indianconsumers. This is ever

since the wax

structure of Amitabh Bachchan waslaunched in the London museum in2000,” said Marcel Kloos, DirectorNew Openings Europe & EmergingMarkets. Why did they choose Delhiand not Mumbai or any other city?“The establishment is not just for thesake of entertainment but it also rep-resents important personalities fromdifferent walks of life. So it was notnecessary to open up at some enter-tainment hub or anything. And sinceit is the capital city, what place elsecould be better?” he chuckled. Eachwax figure is created with the exper-tise of over 20 international and localartists working at a time to ensure anauthentic visitor experience worth inan excess of `1.5 crores each.Looking to tap into the growingIndian market, the company plans toinvest as much as 50 million poundsover the next decade in India.

Come June 2017 and Delhiites will get a chance to click selfies

with the wax statues of their favourite celebrities at the first

MADAME TUSSAUDS museum. TEAM VIVA reports

IN THE HOUSE OF WAX

French DJ, musicproducer and two

times Grammywinner, DAVID

GUETTA shows ushis side of the

world, talks of beinga change-maker inhis genre, ahead of

his show in India.By JIGYASU JOSHI

‘HAVE NO FEAR OF PERFECTION, YOU'LLNEVER REACH IT. WELL THAT'S WHAT

CREATIVITY IS ABOUT: IT'S ABOUTDARING, BEING AUTHENTIC TO

YOURSELF, TRYING NEW THINGS’‘Nawazuddin is agem of an actor’

Galloping

down the coast

The Ford Mustang GT is a great highway cruiser,well, more of a battle cruiser really, but it canmove around cities fairly comfortably as well

Wax replica of Lada Gaga

Wax statue of Marie Tussaud

‘You’ll never reach perfection’

established 1864 - the pioneer n new delhi the central industrial security force (cisf) and central...

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