feb 1948 — dec 2016 nation mourns as amma laid to rest carrying the chief minister’s body, velu,...

SUSHMA’S KIDNEYSURGERY THIS WEEKENDNew Delhi: External AffairsMinister Sushma Swaraj isexpected to undergo a kidneytransplant at AIIMS this weekend,with the organ being harvestedfrom a living unrelated donor.

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CAPSULE

KUMMAR CHELLAPPAN n CHENNAI

President Pranab Mukherjeeand Prime Minister

Narendra Modi on Tuesday ledthe nation in bidding a tearfuladieu to J Jayalalithaa, theChief Minister of Tamil Naduwho passed away in Chennailate on Monday night. Herbody, which lay at the city’simportant landmark Rajaji Hallthroughout the day, wasinterred with full State and mil-itary honours near the MGRamachandran Memorial inChennai’s Marina Beach alongthe Bay of Bengal by evening.A huge crowd had gathered inChennai to pay last respects tothe star-turned-politician whowas also the superstar of TamilNadu politics for decades.

The last rites of PuraitchiThalaivi (revolutionary leader)Jayalalithaa were performedby her long-time close confi-dante Sasikala Natarajan andthe AIADMK supremo’snephew Deepak.

Even as thousands ofAIADMK cadre chanted,“Puratchi Thalaivi Vaazhga”(long live the revolutionaryleader), the mortal remains ofJayalalithaa, enclosed in a san-dalwood coffin were buried, ina poignant reminder of the

famous saying “you are dust,and to dust you shall return.”Except in this case, it would bestardust.

The Tricolour used forcovering Jayalalithaa’s mortalremains was handed over toSasikala by the soldiers of theIndian Army though the lateChief Minister’s blood rela-tions were around.

Political leaders from allover the country, UnionCabinet Ministers, ChiefMinisters of many States andeven former Prime MinisterDeve Gowda turned up to paytheir last respects to the IronLady of Tamil Nadu, whoendeared herself to the massesthrough the series of welfaremeasures launched by her dur-ing her tenure as Chief Minister.

The largest-ever crowd inits recent history had gatheredat Marina Beach from all overTamil Nadu. “This is anunprecedented crowd, perhapsmany times more than thepeople which had assembledfor the funeral of former ChiefMinister MGR in 1987,” said NKalyanasundaram, TamilNadu’s political chronicler, whohas covered the last journeys ofAnnadurai and MGR.

Continued on Page 7Related reports: P5, 6

Nation mourns asAmma laid to rest

Jaya, Jaya, He!By Chandan Mitra

She spelt charisma in every sense and enig-ma in every footstep. It was impossible notto be mesmerised in her presence. Despiteher populist policies and affection for thedowntrodden, Ms Jayalalithaa Jayaram

exuded class. Although she rarely interacted in per-son with the so-called hoi-polloi, they adored herto distraction.

Covering the 1996 State Assembly elections inTamil Nadu, I was guided to a roadside campaignmeeting in Chennai (then still called Madras). Iwas accompanied by Nirupama Subramanian, myformer colleague in many publications, whose pres-ence helped to translate both the people’s feedbackas also the Chief Minister’s speech. After keepingthe milling crowd waiting for over two hours hercustomised Matador van inched its way to the cen-tre point of the roadside gathering.

She was handed a microphone inside her air-conditioned vehicle which had loudspeakers fit-ted on the bonnet and roof. Without bothering toroll down the windows of her front row passen-ger seat, she waved to hysterical crowds cheering“Amma! Amma!” Then she picked up an index cardfrom a box placed next to her seat and began toread out its contents. Nirupama whispered “Parrotcard”. Later I was told her critics had dubbed theseparrot cards — an allusion to road side quackastrologers getting their pet parrots to pick up sim-ilar cards and read customers’ fortunes!

Amma delivered her speech in a flat monoto-ne. As I had jostled my way close to her vehicle, Icould count that she read out ten such cards, bare-ly looking up from the prepared text. Then dis-appointing the crowds that wanted her to step outof the van, she breezed away, security personnelbrusquely pushing fawning admirers aside. Beforeshe streamed out, I managed a sneak peek of theinteriors of the van which consisted of severaldozen saris neatly arranged in hangers and amakeshift dressing room complete with a make-up kit and portable mirror.

She lost that election in 1996 something I hadpredicted in an article in this newspaper titled“Tarot card or parrot, Amma’s fortunes aren’t shin-ing”. Her arch-rival DMK led by M Karunanidhicame to power and proceeded to torment her withan array of corruption cases that eventually saw herconsigned to prison for a few months.Paradoxically, each time she was sent to jail, shereturned stronger and more popular.

Tamil Nadu elections are fascinating for everyjournalist and student of Indian politics. A pro-gressive and well-administered State from Britishtimes, it is also frightfully caste-riven, socially con-servative and male-dominated. Not many outsideTamil Nadu were aware that Jayalalithaa was nota natïve Tamilian to begin with. She was a HebbarBrahmin from Karnataka but came to lead astaunchly non-Brahmin, Dravidian political party.

While male film actors successfully forayed intopolitics, such as her mentor MG Ramachandran(incidentally a native Malayali), she was the firstfemale star to gain acceptance as a mass leader.With MGR as her hero, both on and off the screen,Jayalalithaa acted in scores of movies which pro-pelled her into the limelight — a position sheretained even after MGR’s death in 1984. The lime-light in fact shone brighter thereafter.

Many also do not remember she starred in asuccessful Hindi film Izzat co-starringDharmendra. One of its songs, composed byLaxmikant-Pyarelal, “Yeh dil tum bin kahin lagtanahin” is considered one of the most melodiousromantic numbers of all time, while an item num-ber “Jagi badan mein jwala” was also a big hit.

I recall this because in a report on a speech sheonce delivered in Hindi at a public rally in UttarPradesh, I had mentioned these numbers topoint out she was a polyglot. One of her party MPs,Dr V Maitreyan sent me a fax copy of her writtenspeech the next day saying Amma wanted me tosee it because she had written it out in Devanagariscript in her own hand!

There was another occasion, this time in 2001,when I went to cover the Assembly polls. Hearingshe would visit the outskirts of Madurai to cam-paign for the controversial MDMK leader Vaiko,I reached the venue around 8 pm. She was due at9 pm, but after waiting till midnight, even thecrowds started to disperse, while Vaiko fretted upand down the stage. Their relations were hardly con-genial and several ADMK politicians had warnedme that she does not campaign for “people she doesnot like”. Vaiko evidently headed her “dislike” list.

But on my journey back to Madurai city’s Tajhotel, I was taken aback by the number of peoplelining both sides of the 15 km stretch, candles,petromax lamps and emergency battery lamps inhand. Many women had newborn children in theirarms. I got down to enquire why they were tor-menting the infants at this ungodly hour.

Continued on Page 7

40 workers used 2 tonnes offlowers to bedeck funeral truck

Chennai: In death too,Jayalalithaa was in her favouritegreen colour saree.

When her body was takenfrom her Poes Garden resi-dence early on Tuesday morn-ing to Rajaji Hall, it was drapedin her trademark green saree,though with a red border.

It was green all the way.When she was sworn in asChief Minister for a sixth timeafter emerging triumphant inthe May 16 Assembly polls, shewas wearing a green saree.

Also, when she took oathas Chief Minister for the fifth time on May 23, 2015, she donned a saree of the same colour.

Continued on Page 7

J JAYALALITHAAFeb 1948 — Dec 2016v v

Chennai: Over two tonnes of flowers from several destinationswere used by about 40 people who worked for over 10 hours tobedeck the Army truck and gun carriage for Jayalalithaa’s finaljourney. The flowers were of two varieties, one being thedecorative kind, including cut flowers like orchids, lillies,carnations, asparagus and daisies and the other, more traditionalvarieties like roses and white marigold (Vellai samandi in Tamil).Working at a brisk pace, knitting garlands to decorate the truckcarrying the Chief Minister’s body, Velu, a senior florist fromKoyambedu market said, “The choice of flowers should be in sync withthe sombre mood of the occasion, that is the most important thing.”

Continued on Page 7

Jaya clad in favourite

GREEN SAREE!

People view AIADMKchief J Jayalalithaa’sfuneral procession onTuesday PTI

A woman supporterof J Jayalalithaa at acondolence prayermeet in Ahmedabadon Tuesday AP

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My brief encounters with an iconic persona

Chennai: A Hebbar Brahmin from Karnataka, lateTamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa was a devoutbeliever who ironically came to lead a staunchly non-Brahmin, Dravidian political party where most lead-ers are atheists. Normally, she would have been con-signed to the flames of the funeral pyre, but Jayalalithaawas buried next to the memorial of her mentor MGRamachandran on Marina beach for more than one rea-son.Unconfirmed reports said that it was Jayalalithaa’swish that her mortal remains be buried just like MGR.

Continued on Page 7

Burial: Jaya’s wishor political design?

Keep off BJP, Maya alerts voters

PNS n LUCKNOW

Charging Prime Minister NarendraModi with pushing the country

into ‘fakiri’ by his dictatorial decisionon demonetisation, Bahujan SamajParty chief Mayawati warned the peo-ple of UP to keep a safe distance fromthe BJP in the 2017 Assembly polls.

She was addressing a function atAmbedkar Samajik and ParivartanSthal on the 61st death anniversary ofAmbedkar on Tuesday.

“The BJP can ruin the future of thepeople by their agenda on KashiVishwanath and KrishnaJanmabhoomi and their anti-Dalitstand have been exposed in the RohitVemula and Una episodes,” Mayawatisaid.

“The BJP government at theCentre and their ideologues at RSSwant to change the Constitution from

its secular structure to hardlineHindutva and convert it into a Hindunation. There is also a conspiracy toend reservation given to Dalits andbackwards,” she said.

The BSP chief also warnedMuslims about a conspiracy hatchedby the Samajwadi Party and others toconfuse them in the coming polls.

Though the meeting was called topay tributes to Ambedkar, it assumedpolitical overtones with Mayawatiannouncing the works to be done oncethe BSP got the chance to form thenext UP government after theAssembly polls.

“The rule of law will be establishedin the state and criminals will be injails. My government will order probeinto all big projects launched duringthe SP regime and how advertisementswere doled out violating all norms.People, who could not file FIRs in this

regime, will be allowed to do so. Alsolands of Dalits and others grabbed bygoons will be given back to real own-ers,” she said stressing on her party’sideology of ‘Sarvajan Hitaya, SrvajanSukhaya’.

In her 80-minute speech,Mayawati attacked Modi for his ‘fakir’(wanderer) statement saying: “Thisperson can go to any extent to woovoters. Now he is claiming himself tobe a fakir after pushing the countrytowards ‘fakiri’ by demonetisationmove. “The move of demonetisationwas a planned and conscious effort ofthe BJP government to divert attentionof the people before Assembly polls infive states in 2017,” she claimed.

Attacking the Congress, she saidthat the party always hated Ambedkarand the BJP was following an ideolo-gy so that Dalits could not get accessto power.

Mayawati paying floral tributes to Ambedkar inLucknow on Tuesday

city 02LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 7, 2016

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Mosque demolition anniv

passes off peacefully

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

No untoward incident wasreported across the state on

the 24th anniversary of thedemolition of the disputedstructure at Ayodhya onTuesday. While some Hinduoutfits celebrated the day as‘Shaurya Diwas’, Muslim groupsobserved it as `Yaum-e-Syah’and mourned the day.

Reports said that Muslimsoffered namaz in differentmosques and prayed for thereconstruction of Babri mosquewhile Hindu outfits offeredprayers at temples and reiterat-ed the pledge to construct aRam Mandir at the disputedplace.

Babri Mosque ActionCommittee district convenor inFaizabad Hazi Afaq AhamadKhan said that then PMNarsimha Rao had promised tothe plaintiff of Babri Mosquecase late Hasim Ansari to recon-struct the mosque at the sameplace but nothing happened. Healso said that the Babri mosquedemolition accused had notbeen punished yet. He stressedthat temple-mosque case was inthe apex court and it’s decisionwould be acceptable to theMuslim community.

Indian Union MuslimLeague protested the mosquedemolition and demanded thatthe then PM’s promise to recon-struct the mosque at the sameplace be fulfilled.

All India Majlis also sent a

memorandum to the Presidentdemanding reconstruction ofBabri mosque by enacting a law.Hazi Mohammad Ismail prayedfor the reconstruction ofmosque and peace for he soci-ety. Most of the shops ownedby Muslims remained closed inAyodhya-Faizabad and the dis-trict administration did notgive permission for taking outof processions.

Meanwhile, Akhil BharatiyaMahasabha took a pledge nearSaryu river to construct a grandRam temple. Vishwa Hindu

Parishad (VHP) organised aHindu awakening conference inKarsevakpuram at Ayodhyaaddressed by many leaders ofthe outfit.

SP (City) in Faizabad UdaiShankar Singh told the mediathat the situation was calm andpeaceful through out the day.Traffic was smooth and nountoward incident was report-ed. Singh said that CCTv cam-eras were installed at manyplaces to monitor the area andmany sensitive areas were putunder strict vigil.

Reports from Gonda dis-trict said Hindu and Muslimoutfits celebrated and observedSahurya Diwas and Yaum-e-Syah respectively. Bajrang Dalregional coordinator RakeshVerma submitted a memoran-dum to the district administra-tion demanding the construc-tion of a grand Ram temple atthe disputed site.

Khaksarane Tahreek Haqstaged a protest by sportingblack arm bands and demand-ed the reconstruction of theBabri mosque.

Shiv Sena activists taking out a motor cycle rally on the occasion of the 26th anniversary of Babri Masjid demolition onTuesday Pioneer

Chinks in SP over ticket distributionPIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Samajwadi Party seems to beheading for another round

of action within its first fami-ly over the distribution of tick-ets for the next Assembly polls.

The latest salvo, indicatingescalation of the sabre-rattling,was fired by SP leader in RajyaSabha Ram Gopal Yadav whosaid that he would take the finalcall in deciding tickets forAssembly polls.

“I will have an importantrole in deciding candidates.The tickets are decided byParliamentary Board of theparty which will need my finalapproval,” said Ram GopalYadav in Etawah on Monday.

Ram Gopal Yadav wasexpelled from the party inOctober but was readmitted

into the party days before thecommencement of the wintersession of Parliament.

On Monday, state SP chiefShivpal Yadav had said thatcandidates for 165 Assemblyseats had been finalised whilethe process for the rest wasunderway. He had said that asurvey was conducted on sit-ting seats and those held byministers and tickets would bedecided as per inputs receivedfrom each Assembly segment.

Shivpal Yadav maintainedthat the winnability would bethe sole criterion for the selec-tion of candidates. Shivpal didnot mention the role of ChiefMinister Akhilesh Yadav inthe selection of candidates.

The categorical assertionby Ram Gopal Yadav has par-ticularly perturbed followers of

state SP president ShivpalYadav. Ram Gopal Yadav issolidly behind CM AkhileshYadav, who is locked in a bit-ter battle with uncle ShivpalYadav over hegemony in theparty.

Akhilesh Yadav was thestate SP chief since June 2009but was removed in Septemberand replaced by his uncleShivpal Yadav. A month later,Akhilesh retaliated and dis-missed Shivpal from theCabinet. The CM had also dis-missed three other ministersidentified as Shivpal loyalists.

Even after being removedas the state chief, the CM hadrepeatedly asserted that hewanted a decisive role in theselection of candidates for theAssembly polls on the groundsthat he was the party’s face in

elections and he would bescrutinised by the people forthe fielding of candidates.

In October, SP chiefMulayam Singh had workedout a formula that Shivpalwould decide candidates inconsultation with Akhilesh andthe matter would be referred tohim for the final approval.

But with election dateapproaching, patience of bothcamps seems to be wearing thinand both seem to be preparingfor yet another round of show-down over selection of candi-dates.

SP sources said that ifimmediate steps were not takenby the party chief then the feudwithin the family could escalateyet again and throw a spannerin the electoral prospects of theparty.

Guvernor, CM mourn Jaya’s death


Governor Ram Naikexpressed condolences on

the demise of Tamil NaduChief Minister Jayalalitha.Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadavalso mourned the passing awayof the TN Chief Minister.

In a message, the Governorsaid that Jayalalitha was a pop-ular leader of Tamil Nadu andreceived support as well as lovefrom the public. “She dedicat-ed a major part of her life to theservice of the state and exem-plified herself for the progressof women. While praying forthe departed soul, I extendheartfelt sympathy to the fam-

ily members,” a Raj Bhawanrelease said.

Expressingd sorrow overthe AIDMK leader’s demise,Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadavsaid: “Jayalalitha was popularas ‘Amma’ among the masses.She had a multi-faceted per-sonality and had taken manyimportant decisions for vil-lagers, poor people, women

and farmers of Tamil Nadu.” “She has left a deep impact

on the life of state denizens andsuch a void is difficult to fill.The public of Tamil Nadu haslost a leader with focus onsocial welfare schemes,” Yadavstressed.

Meanwhile, SamajwadiParty president Mulayam

Singh Yadav also condoledJayalalitha’s death. “Jayalalithahad been very popular amongher supporters and played asignificant role in the politicsof Tamil Nadu. With herdemise, the nation and TamilNadu has lost an influentialand competant leader,”Mulayam said.

‘

She dedicated amajor part of herlife to the serviceof the state

—Ram Naik

Maya worst affected

by notebandi


State BJP president KeshavPrasad Maurya said that

BSP chief Mayawati was frus-trated as demonetisation ofhigh value notes had badlyaffected her and she knew thather party could not return topower.

“There is no secret that BSPtickets for Assembly and gen-eral elections come with a pricetag. The party has extortedseveral thousand crore rupeesby selling tickets to candidates.But in one stroke, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi hasreduced that ill-gotten moneyto trash,” Maurya said whilereacting to BSP’s rally held inLucknow on Tuesday.

The BJP chief said thatMayawati had lost confidenceas she had come to understandthat the BSP would not returnto power and that was reflect-ed from her statements againstthe BJP and the Prime Minister.

“Mayawati always propa-

gated caste-based politics. Shetook poor Dalits for a ride in thename of Baba Saheb Ambedkar.People are fed up with this and,therefore, are looking towardsthe BJP. They want develop-ment. The next elections inUttar Pradesh will be a requiemfor caste-based and family-based politics,” Maurya said ina written statement.

The BJP leader said thatwhen the BJP came to power,the corrupt and criminalswould either be behind bars orwill be thrown out of UttarPradesh.

Meanwhile, BJP spokesmanHridaya Narain Dixit said thatChief Minister Akhilesh Yadavwas trying to lure people bypromising smart phones andfree houses.

“Akhilesh is doing this as heknows that during the last four-and-a -half years, he has notdone any development in thestate. People will not vote for theSamajwadi Party and is, there-fore, trying to lure voters byoffering them freebies,” he said.

“The SP has mala fideintention in offering these free-bies. Akhilesh is saying thatthese projects will be imple-mented only if the SP comes topower. If the CM is keen to helppeople, he should haveannounced them with immedi-ate effect. Why wait for a sec-ond term?” he asked.

Dixit said that people wereintelligent enough to seethrough the malicious designsof Samajwadi Party leaders.“People will teach the SP a les-son in the next polls,” he said.

Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav at the funeral of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha in Chennai on Tuesday

Note ban to hit SP rally turnout


The refusal to accept oldhigh value notes at filling

stations has severely dentedSamajwadi Party’s efforts toensure a huge turnout fromrural areas for Wednesday’srally in Bareilly. The rally onGIC grounds in Bareilly will beaddressed by party chiefMulayam Singh Yadav.

The ban on acceptance ofhigh value notes at petrolpumps effective fromDecember 2, five days beforethe SP rally, has upset all plansof rally organisers, office-bear-ers and Assembly poll candi-dates.

“The refusal by petrolpumps vis-a-vis old notes hascreated a piquant problem.We had kept Rs 500 notes as

reserve for fuel during thepreparations,” said a candi-date, who was assigned the taskof mobilising 25,000 peoplefrom his constituency.

Bareilly division compris-es Pilibhit, Shahjahanpur,Badaun districts. Party office -bearers and candidates fromeach Assembly segment havebeen given a specific target ofmobilising crowd ranging from10,000 to 25,000 people fromtheir respective areas.

“We are in touch with allcandidates. Many are facingdifficulty in purchasing dieselas old Rs 500 notes are notbeing accepted by filling sta-tions. This will hit the crowdturnout from rural areas wherethe party or respective candi-date has to make arrange-

ments for vehicles, mostly trac-tors and buses, to ferry themto the venue,” said district SPchief of Bareilly Virpal SinghYadav.

A former Rajya Sabha MP,Yadav, however, put up a bravefront and said: “People areeager to hear Mulayam SinghYadav and will come on theirown if transport arrangementsfall short.” “The craze forNetaji, especially in villages, isstill high. The crowd turnoutwill be historic even if arrange-ments are hit by the lack of therequired number of vehicles.Currency ban will be one of theissues that Mulayam Singhwill speak on,” said VirpalSingh Yadav

Meanwhile, the rulingSamajwadi Party has geared up

for the second mega rally atBareilly (Rohilkhand region)after the Ghazipur rally ineast UP on November 23.However, like the Ghazipurrally, Chief Minister AkhileshYadav will not be present in therally indicating that the SP firstfamily’s feud is still smoulder-ing.

Bareilly district SP chiefVirpal Singh Yadav said: “Weare in the process of givingfinal touches to the arrange-ments. Senior leaders andoffice-bearers from Lucknowoffice are camping in Bareilly.The entire city has beenspruced up with party flags andbanners put up by the cadresahead of Mulayam Singh’s visitto Bareilly after two years,” headded.

New party named ‘JSP’to contest UP poll

Lucknow: With Assembly elections round thecorner, social outfits with political ambitions aremaking a beeline to contest polls. The latest corol-lary to this phenomenon is Jan Sangh Party (JSP)which has announced to field candidates in all 403seats partnering smaller and regional parties.

The JSP will be contesting elections inalliance with Shiv Sena Hindustan, Ram RajyaParty, Bharatiya Vikas Party, Praja Rajyam andSmarth Insan Seva Sangh.

JSP president Jayendra Singh said in Lucknowon Tuesday that his party would follow the ide-ology of Hindutva and its tradition and cultureduring the elections. “We will highlight regionalissues. Education, health and employment will bethe main poll planks,” he said.

Criticising the BJP and other saffron outfit,Singh made it clear that demolition of theAyodhya structure on December 6, 1992, hasmade the path for a grand Ram temple more dif-ficult. “We will field candidates with clean image,specially those who will not indulge in corrup-tion and other evils,” he said.

Singh said that the JSP would contest around200 seats remaining would be contested by otherallied parties.

UP govt ropes in CSE to

manage faecal sludge


The UP government has roped in‘Centre for Science and Environment’

(CSE), a Delhi-based NGO, to managefaecal sludge in cities along the Gangariver under Swachch Bharat Mission.

“Economic progress and rampantand unregulated development are turn-ing rivers and streams into sewers due toexcessive pollution, especially fromurban settlements. The Swachch BharatMission has targeted 31 cities from UPto become Open Defecation Free (ODF)by the end of 2016. However, the processto achieve a ‘Swachh Bharat’ cannotafford to ignore interventions focusingon faecal sludge management,” Secretaryof Urban Development Sri PrakashSingh said.

Singh said that CSE and the UPUrban Development department hadpartnered to provide hand holding sup-port to cities for preparing their city-widesanitation plans with effective septage

management. Additional director, Urban

Development department, VishalBharadwaj stressed on prioritising sep-tage management in cities as 31 townsof UP had not progressed towardsachieving ODF status by December2016. “This is an opportunity for UP toshowcase end-to-end septage manage-ment. Capital investment for sewerage ishuge and is estimated to be Rs 1,35,000crore, which is near impossible to imple-ment hence septage management shouldbe prioritised,” he said.

Suresh Rohilla from CSE said that 90per cent of onsite sanitation systems inGanga basin towns and cities were con-tributing septage and faecal waste whichwas untreated and improperly managed.“The situation is grim in Chunar, Bijnore,Ramnagar and Gangaghat. At theseplaces, almost 100 per cent of septage andfaecal sludge generated is untreated andunscientifically disposed of,” Rohillasaid.

Couple looted of cash, ornaments

Lucknow: Armed robbersbarged into a house and loot-ed cash and jewellery from acouple in Salvahanpur village inEtah.

The accused beat the cou-ple before escaping with theloot on Monday night, theysaid, adding the victims wereconfined in the house duringthe crime.

They looted around ̀ 2,000cash, and gold and silver orna-ments, police said.

A case has been registeredagainst unidentified persons,they said.



The Meteorological depart-ment has forecast that

foggy conditions are likely toprevail for the next three days.Acting director KB Srivastava,while talking to The Pioneer,said that after three days the fogwould not be as dense as it isat present. The fog whichencompassed the state capitalmade the weather chilly hereand the city recorded a maxi-mum temperature of 17.3degree Celsius, which was ninedegree below normal. The min-imum temperature of 11degrees Celsius was two notch-es above normal.

Srivastava said that for thenext three days, the fog wouldbe more dense in the morningsand evenings. The Met depart-ment has also issued a warningof very dense fog at a few placesin the state in the morning andat night. Srivastava said that onTuesday morning the visibili-ty was 50 metres at theChaudhary Charan Singh(Amausi) Airport, and in theafternoon it was 800 metres.“The visibility keeps changingthroughout the day,” he added.

He said that the easterlywinds coming to the statewhich were moisture-ladenwere causing the foggy condi-tions here. He said that sincethere was no wind to dispersethe fog hence these conditionsprevailed. Srivastava said thatdue to the fog the night tem-perature was high but the daytemperature was impactedbecause of lack of sunlightwhich was blocked on accountof fog.

In the state, Varanasi,Sultanpur and Kanpur record-ed a dip of 10 degrees each inthe maximum temperature.

Meanwhile, flights weredelayed at Amausi airport onTuesday. Acting director APGupta said that the CAT ILS

system, which helps in thelanding of aircraft even whenthe visibility was as low as 50metres, would start functioningfrom December 8.

“There are several reasonsfor the delay in flights. Foggyconditions are prevailing inNew Delhi due to which theplanes are not arriving on timeand hence the late departures.Even if the flights are on thescheduled time from here theycan be redirected somewhereelse but if the fog is dense in thestate capital such a possibilityis remote,” he added.


Aman was battered to deathat a room in Hasanganj

police station area on Tuesdayafternoon. Jitendra KumarYadav (30) of Buddheswarlocality worked withVasundhra Enterprises dealingin women’s wear on Latoucheroad in Naka. A shop ownerNaveen Kumar Srivastava ofRajajipuram had given Yadava room at a godown in ShivNagar area of Hasanganj to live in.

Four days back, Yadav tookleave for attending a functionat his native village in Nigoha.When he did not return bySunday, Naveen called him upto enquire when would he beback, and was told that hewould take some more days ashe had an important work tofinish. Naveen, however, askedhim to return on Monday and

then take leave to complete hiswork and Yadav agreed. In theevening, he left for Nigohapromising to return a daylater. On Tuesday afternoon,Yadav’s wife called up his col-league Jameel enquiring abouthis location. On being told thatYadav had left for Nigoha onMonday evening, she said thathe did not reach there onMonday. A little later Jameelgot another call from Yadav’scousin who also inquired about him.

An apprehensive Jameellater shared this with hisemployer, who sent him tocheck out at the godown inShiv Nagar. When Jameel wentto the godown, he foundYadav’s bike parked under theshed in the premises. But whenhis repeated calls failed toelicit any response, he openedthe door only to find Yadavlying under a quilt.

As Jameel lifted the quilt,he found Yadav lying in apool of blood. The miscreantshad smashed his head withbricks and the blood-stainedbrick was kept near his head.He then informed his employ-er and later the police around4 pm.

Later, a police team and afield unit consisting of fingerprint experts and a snifferreached the place. The sniffermoved out of the room took around of the court yard and theshed and stopped.

SHO, Hasanganj UV Singhsaid the police had recoveredsome empty bottles from theroom and some material whichwere sent to forensic lab fortest. The police said that Yadavwas probably killed during adrunken brawl with his friendsand efforts were on to unrav-el the motive behind the mur-der.


The Forest department isaiming at the Limca Book

of Records for the bird-watch-ing exercise which was carriedout at the recently-concludedBird Festival and is currentlyin the process of collating thefigures for it. Principal chiefconservator, Forests, UmendraSharma confirmed that theywere approaching the LimcaBook authorities for thisrecord.

If the Forest departmentbags this record, it will be thefourth in its kitty. It baggedthe Guinness record for thedistribution of 10 lakhsaplings on November 7, 2015,for the bird-watching exercisewhich was carried out onDecember 4, 2015, and forplanting five crore saplings onJuly 11 last.

Giving details, additionalPCCF Prashant Verma toldThe Pioneer that for the lastbird-watching exercise whichwas carried out in 2015, therecord was bagged for 21,282bird watchers who watchedthem from 300 locationsacross Uttar Pradesh at thesame time getting a headcount of 2,39,625 birds. Hesaid that the locations were

more across the state thistime and they were also esti-mating the head count of thespecies of the birds as anadditional figure. On beingasked why they were notapproaching the GuinnessBook of World Records for it,the official said that theGuinness records had no for-mat for bird-watching.

Prashant said that thebird-watching exercise wouldnot only help in spreadingawareness about the birds ina major way but also in theconservation of those whichwere in the state. The ForestDepartment said that the stu-dents of local schools andcolleges actively participatedin the bird-watching exercise.The students also witnessedthe gathering of internation-al experts, scientists, profes-sionals and birders of inter-national repute. It was anenlightening experience forthem to observe the bird-banding activity to under-stand the behaviour andmigratory habits of theimportant bird species as dis-played by the experts of theBombay Natural HistorySociety.

The Bird Festival whichwas a mega event saw speak-

ers like Otto Pfister, TimAppleton, Bill Thompson andJonathan Meyrav throwinglight on the issues and chal-lenges in avi-faunal speciesconservation across the globe.The talks of David Lindo,Vanessa Palacious, MichelChung Lu and Gehan De SilvaWijeyratne were also appreci-ated.

Many participants satiat-ed their curiosity during thequestion-and-answer session.The conglomeration of vari-ous stakeholders such as gov-ernment institutions, non-governmental organisations,industries and academia pro-vided an excellent platform forthe exchange of ideas andmutual cooperation.

The Bird Festival also pro-vided a great opportunity tothe institutions, NGOs, enter-prises and professionals toshow case their activities,expertise and products at stallsmade for display. Amongstthe officials who participatedin the event were principalchief conservator of Forests(Wildlife) SK Sharma, man-aging director, UP ForestCorporation, SK Upadhyay;and adviser, department ofForests and Wildlife, (UP)Ram Pratap Singh.

Foggy conditions to persist for 3 days

Maximum tempdrops 11degrees below

THE FOG WHICH

ENCOMPASSED THE

CITY MADE THE

WEATHER CHILLY

HERE AND LUCKNOW

RECORDED MAXIMUM

TEMPERATURE OF

17.3 DEGREE

CELSIUS, WHICH

WAS NINE DEGREES

BELOW NORMAL


It was a long wait for pas-sengers as more than two

dozen trains were runningbehind schedule due to foggyweather conditions onTuesday. Lucknow-New DelhiSwarna Shatabdi Expressarrived 3.35 hours late at 4.15pm. As a result, the traindeparted 2.15 hours late fromits scheduled time of 3.35 pm.Kaifiyat Express (12230) wascancelled for the day as it gotdelayed by more than 24hours.

Rajyarani Express arrivedeight hours late at LucknowJunction railway station and itleft for Meerut City five hoursbehind schedule. There weremany trains whose operation

was affected. Jan SadharanExpress (13258) was running22 hours behind schedule,Howrah-Amritsar Express(13005) was running late by7.30 hours late, RaptisagarExpress by 9.30 hours,Amritsar Howrah Express(13006) by nine hours andPratapgarh-Kanpur IntercityExpress (14205) by 11 hours.

Ganga-Sutlej Express(13307), Lucknow-JhansiIntercity (11110), andJallianwala Bagh Express(18103) were running fourhours behind schedule whileArchana Express (12355) andDoon Express (13009) wererunning late by three hours.

The waiting area androoms were full of passengersas they waited for trains to

arrive. Meanwhile, NationalTrain Enquiry System (NTES)proved to be of great help forlocal passengers as they wereable to check real-time statusof trains on the internet.Northern Railway (NR) andNorth-Eastern Railway (NER)have issued instructions tothe staff to ensure cleanlinessin the waiting rooms andavailability of basic amenitiesat the platforms. Railwayemployees deployed oninquiry counters have beenasked to provide informationabout trains to passengers.

Meanwhile, with themaintenance of Lucknow-Kanpur rail section and Gangarail bridge on the verge ofcompletion, Northern Railway(NR) on Tuesday restored the

operations of 26 trains whichwere diverted or short-termi-nated.

On November 11, themaintenance work at Gangarail bridge on Lucknow-Kanpur rail section was start-ed for which the down rail linewas blocked for 27 days.Twenty-six trains were divert-ed or short-terminated while17 trains were cancelled.According to NR officials, asof now, only the diverted andshort-terminated trains havebeen restored. Cancelled trainswill also be resumed soon. Assoon as the maintenance workis completed, speed of trainswill remain limited for somedays. It will be 45 kmph for acouple of days after which itwill be 70 kmph.

Trains continue to run behind schedule


The body of an unidentifiedman was recovered from

Gomti river in Hasanganjpolice station area on Tuesday.

Harishanker, a priest ofMahadev temple located on thebank of river, spotted the bodyfloating in the river as he wentto offer water to the Sun god.He later informed police con-trol room after which a teamof cops reached there. The copspressed some divers into ser-vice and they fished out thebody.

Scotching speculations offoul play, Hasanganj SHO UVSingh said that the body didnot bear any injury mark andseemed a day old. A prescrip-tion issued from RamManohar Lohia Hospital withthe name Ashish (30) wasrecovered from the posses-sion. The deceased was clad ina pair of jeans, a sweater butwas bare footed. Since no oneturned up to identity thedeceased, the body was sent forautopsy to ascertain the causeof death.

Man’s body

recovered

from Gomti

Shop employee battered to death

Forest dept bid to get Limca

record through bird-watching

People sitting around a bonfire in Lucknow on Tuesday Pioneer


Defence Research Development Organization (DRDO) Ministry Of Defence

Aerial Delivery Research & DevelopmentEstablishment, Agra - 282001

NOTICE INVITING TENDER On behalf of President of India, Director (Aerial DeliveryResearch & Development Establishment, Station Road, AgraCantt, Agra - 282001), invite online bids through e - Tenderingmethod from manufactures/ suppliers for following Store/Services:SI. No. 1 Tender Reference No. ADRDE/QMS/MMG/PM/8/ ABS/15RGA Description of Stores BRAKE PARACHUTE (HYBRID)FOR LCA DRG. 1.3.01-00(a) WITH ADDITIONAL SPARESQty 25 SETS Tender Fee (Rs.) 100/- EMD (Rs.) 97,000.00Note: Further details and complete RFP can be accessed fromwebsite http://eprocure.gov.in/eprocure/app. Any corrigendumwill be published on the referred website only.

davp 10301/11/0945/1617

Lucknow (PNS): In comingyears, signal failures affecting railoperations would become partof history as the ongoing NextGeneration Signaling System(NGSS) project by RDSO isbound to overcome these inminutes. The NGSS is underdevelopment at RDSO and itwas up for display in the recent-ly concluded INNO Rail India2016 - an international railwaysexhibition. The system attract-ed attention of railway compa-nies from foreign countries too.

So far the India Railway hasbeen using Relay RouteInterlocking for signal system.But with the introduction of theadvanced system the work ofElectronic Interlocking has beenstarted. In this device, there weretwo important components -Indoor Intelligent SafetyController (IISC) which isinstalled in Signalling Room atrailway stations with a combi-nation of Field Intelligent SafetyController (FISC) in the outdoorlocation boxes. As per interna-tional standards for connec-tions Optic Fiber Cables arebeing used. The IISC could betermed as the brain of thisdevice which collects all infor-mation on safety inputs like levelcrossing, rail tracks, etc. If thereis any problem on the track, itwould not give green signal tothe command from Signalroom.

In case of damage in Signalroom, the operation of railwaysystem can be restored com-pletely from any outdoor loca-tion box within minutes. Theengineer will have to go the boxlocation and with the help ofsoftware, all signaling operationscould be done from there.

The RDSO has installedone prototype at Nishatpurastation near Bhopal and con-tinuous trials are being con-ducted to improve its working.

Lucknow (PNS): A sub-inspector posted at Ghazipurpolice station was accused ofthrashing labourers fixing tilesin his Gudamba house andforcing them to work overtime.

As per reports, RamKishan Chauhan and ShamsherSingh of Ambedkar Nagarwork at a shop selling tiles andalso take up fitting job. Theywere sent to sub-inspectorArjun Dwivedi’s house in AdilNagar to fix tiles. After mea-suring the area, Ram Kishuntold Dwivedi of the charges.

“Dwivedi initially pres-sured me to lower the rate andlater started threatening bothus. He thrashed us up for dar-ing to disobey him. We latercalled our acquaintance NaveenPrajapati to mediate. But whenhe tried to reason, he too wasthrashed by the cop,” RamKishun alleged.

Irked over the cop’s harshbehaviour, a large number ofworkers engaged in tile fittingprotested outside the Gudambahouse and demanded registra-tion of a case. They alleged thatthe local police was favouringthe sub inspector and present-ing a different picture of theincident. SHO Gudamba,

Bhanu Pratap Singh said thatthe labourers had taken anadvance from the sub-inspec-tor and later refused to com-plete the work on time.

TROUBLED BY LOSSES, BIZMAN ENDS LIFE

Suffering losses in his autospare parts business, a shopowner ended his life in Parapolice station area on Tuesday.

Ravi Rathore lived with hiswife Radha and mother MamtaRathore in Laxman Vihar local-ity of Para and ran a auto-partsshop in Charbagh locality.

After demonetisation, hisbusiness dipped and he suf-fered major losses. His broth-er-in-law Ved Prakash told thepolice that Ravi tried but failedto overcome the losses. “Hetook loan from his acquain-tances and invested in thebusiness hoping to make aturn around before theannouncement of demonetisa-tion. But after November 9, thenumber of customers dwindledand his business tanked,” saidVed Prakash.

Due to this, Ravi wasdepressed. The family coun-selled him from time to timewhich probably did not help.

Swine flu: Govt

hospitals asked

to keep

beds reserved

Lucknow (PNS): With themercury dipping, districthealth officials issued an advi-sory to government hospitals inLucknow to reserve beds forswine flu patients and isolatethem from other patients.

Swine flu virus (H1N1virus) commonly spreads dur-ing the winters and is oftentransmitted to others.Government hospitals includ-ing emergency services andpathology have been alerted todeal with swine flu patientswhose numbers are expected torise in the coming months.

Chief Medical Officer DrSNS Yadav said that govern-ment hospitals including CHCsand PHCs have been put onalert for swine flu. The Healthdepartment has also asked hos-pitals to keep adequate stock ofTamiflu medicine, usuallygiven to a patient along withfamily members of the suspect.


Lucknow Mahotsav recordedthe maximum footfalls i.e.

1.25 lakh on Sunday(December 4) which were thelargest-ever on a single daythere during the past threeyears. Talking to The Pioneer,ADM (Finance) NidhiSrivastava said that the 1.25lakh footfalls included 91,000ticket buyers and the remain-ing pass holders. This was thelargest-ever number of peoplethere on a single day. At theprevious Mahotsav which wasorganised in February this yearthe maximum figure on a sin-gle day was 76,000, she said.

The ADM said that therewere several reasons whichcould be attributed to the

crowds being good at theMahotsav on the penultimateday. “The crowds generallyvisit the Mahotsav on a Sundaywhich is a holiday. Also sincethe people get their salaries onthe 1st hence their purchasingpower increases which was thereason why the first Sundayafter the salary day got a goodcrowd. The crowds were sohuge that there were queuesoutside even the pani-puristalls. It was a bumper sale forthe traders on that day,” shesaid.

On being asked about therevenue which the districtadministration would earnthrough the Mahotsav thisyear, the senior official said,“The swings’ tender was for Rs2 crore, from the stalls which

we have rented out the expect-ed earnings should be aroundRs 1.25 crore and through thetickets the earnings willapproximately be Rs 60-70lakh,” she added.

Amongst the greatestcrowd-pullers with their starpower, she said it was thestand-up comedian, RajuSrivastava, who performedbefore a packed audience. “Thecrowds were extremely goodfor singers Kailash Kher,Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and NeetiMohan. We had made a pandalwhich was 150-foot-high which had a central width of100 feet with two galleries oneither side which were 25 feetwide. This was important toprevent any chaos at the venue,”she said.


Governor Ram Naik exhort-ed people to exercise their

right to vote in order tostrengthen the democracy. Hesaid polling booths with 100per cent voting would beawarded.

The Governor was speak-ing at an event organised to paytributes to BR Ambedkar inAmbedkar Mahasabha on his‘Parinirvan Diwas’ on Tuesday.“We should exercise our votingrights provided to us by BabaSaheb. All citizens of the coun-try having attained 18 years ofage should cast votes in largenumbers, which is essential tostrengthen the democracy,” hesaid.

He advised the Centralgovernment to put aside amajor part of the moneydeposited in bank accountsfor the development of back-ward and Dalit people. TheGovernor also said that hewrote a letter to the CM afterJawaharbagh incident ofMathura, advising him to issuea White Paper on governmentland in the state.

The Governor also felici-tated Vidya Gautam andPushpa Valmiki withAmbedkar Ratna in the pro-

gramme. Chief MinisterAkhilesh Yadav also paid floraltribute to Ambedkar. Hereleased a memoir published byAmbedkar Mahasabha.

Meanwhile, teachers, staffand students of BBAU paid richtributes to him on Tuesday.Union Minister of State forHuman Resource Development(Higher Education) MahendraNath Pandey was the chiefguest on the occasion.

He was here to inaugurateBodhi Park but because of thenational mourning declaredon the demise of Tamil Nadu’sChief Minister Jayalalithaa, allthe celebrations were cancelledby the university administra-tion. Paying tribute to

Ambedkar, Pandey said: “Hewas a great son of India whofought for justice and equalityfor the weaker section of thesociety. There are many thingswhich we can learn from hislife”.

Remembering the contri-bution of Jayalalithaa, he saidshe played an important role inIndian politics. “She was avery strong leader who sup-ported weaker people, mainlywomen, and did a lot for theiruplift,” he added.

BBAU Vice-Chancellor RCSobti remembered the contri-bution of Ambedkar andJayalalithaa. Two-minutesilence was also observed topay tributes to Jayalalithaa.

Lucknow (PNS):Lucknow DevelopmentAuthority (LDA) has made itcompulsory for every personto use safety gears while enjoy-ing gondola boat rides inJaneshwar Mishra Park’s lake.This decision was taken onTuesday after state govern-ment asked the authoritiesconcerned to ensure safety ofvisitors.

Sources said that strictaction would be taken againstshift incharge in case of amishap due to security lapse.Besides, boatmen have beendirected to ensure people worebelts before going for gondo-la ride. Boatmen and securityguards have also been direct-ed to wear protective gears sothat they can help people ifneeded. LDA Vice-ChairmanAK Yadav said it was the dutyof the management to ensurethe safety of visitors and effortswere being made to avoid anymishap.

Instructions have beenissued to the technicalincharge to inspect the boatson a regular basis as mainte-nance is a must to keep themin proper condition.

VIJAY DIWASShivaji Vahini observed

‘Vijay Diwas’ to commemoratethe 24th anniversary of Babrimasjid demolition on Tuesday.Vahini’s president Dilip Sahusaid that special prayers andhavan were performed in thememory of those who losttheir lives in pulling down thedisputed structure. He addedthat the sacrifice made by themwould be remembered in daysto come.

RALLY Local unit of Shiv Sena

organised a rally which startedfrom Thakurganj crossing andculminated at Hanuman tem-ple in Hazratganj on the 24thanniversary of Babri masjiddemolition, president AbhishekAgnihotri said in a pressrelease. A havan was also per-formed even as large number ofpeople participated in the rally.

SCIENCE FAIRUnique and creative solu-

tions from students for manyproblems related to environ-ment, water stress and solidwaste management were show-cased at the city-level ScienceFair organised by Regional

Science City on Tuesday. Thefair was inaugurated by direc-tor of Geological Survey ofIndia Anand Prakash Rai whosensitised students and encour-aged them to nurture their crit-ical thinking and creativity.The projects brought by themshowed their interest in subject.The students brought 16 pro-

jects in individual categoryand 19 projects in group pro-ject category. The projects willbe judged by a panel of scien-tists and the best projects willget the opportunity to partici-pate in northern India sciencefair to be held at NationalScience Centre in New Delhi inJanuary next year.

SEMINARIn continuation with the

organisation of a one-day sem-inar on paramedical training,Lucknow-based Army MedicalCorps Centre and College alsohosted Colonel CommandantsConclave on December 3. LtGen MK Unni, DirectorGeneral Armed Forces Medical

Services (DGAFMS) andSenior Colonel Commandant,chaired the conclave. Lt GenVelu Nair, Director GeneralMedical Services (DGMS)(Army) and ColonelCommandant and Lt Gen CSNarayanan, Deputy ChiefIntegrated Defence Staff(DCIDS) (Medical) andColonel Commandant werethe other two ColonelCommandants in the meeting.The conclave takes place everyyear and AMC Centre andCollege has been the traditionalvenue for this meeting. Theconclave was preceded by aguard of honour presented tothe DGAFMS and SeniorColonel Commandant of ArmyMedical Corps Lt Gen MKUnni. It was commanded by LtCol Swagata Banerjee.

HULT PRIZEIIM Jammu hosted the

campus round of Hult Prize onDecember 4 last. Hult is theworld’s largest student compe-tition for social welfare. Thisyear, Bill Clinton hasannounced Hult Prize‘President’s Challenge’ as‘Refugees- ReawakeningHuman Potential.’ The compe-

tition gives an impetus to theyouth to brainstorm someinnovative solutions in order torestore the rights and dignity ofpeople and societies forcedinto motion due to social injus-tices, politics, economic pres-sures, climate changes andwars. It is based on the beliefthat young people and theircollective wisdom is the onlyway forward.

CMS STUDENT WINSPHOTOGRAPHY CONTESTTarun Jaiswal, a Class IX stu-

dent ofC i t yMontessoriS c h o o l ,MahanagarC a m p u s ,won thefirst prizein photog-r a p h y

competition on wildlife. Thecompetition was organisedjointly by Regional ScienceCity and UP State BiodiversityBoard with the objective tomotivate students for wildlifeprotection. Students of variousschools of Lucknow partici-pated in the contest in whichTarun emerged victorious.


Undermining the gravity of anoffence and brushing it

under the carpet has been a badhabit of the Lucknow Police andthis was once again exposed byan incident of assault in whichthe victim’s family was targetedin Kaiserbagh on Tuesday.

The Kaiserbagh policerefused to accept the complaintpertaining to harassment of awoman and that o beating up ofher husband and instead tooksides of the attackers. Left withno option, the couple tried torepresent their case with the SSPat her Daliganj office but theretoo they failed to get a sensitiveresponse and were handed overa yellow slip upon submittingtheir complaint with the PRO.

As per reports, Sushila isnurse working at Balrampur

Lucknow (PNS): AKSingh, deputy director general(Agriculture Extension &Horticulture), Indian Councilof Agricultural Research, NewDelhi, was in the city in con-nection with the participationof Noni Search – 2016Conference held at the ICAR-Indian Institute of SugarcaneResearch.

Delivering the presidentialaddress at the conference, DrSingh told the participants thatproducts obtained from theNoni plant boosted theimmune system in the humanbody and helped one in lead-ing a healthy life. He stressedthe need for undertakingextensive research for increas-ing its production and its pro-tection and also on marketingand post-harvest technologiesso that it could reach the com-mon man of the country and hecould reap its multifarious benefits.

Thereafter, Singh visitedthe Krishi Vigyan Kendra of

ICAR-IISR, Lucknow, andhighly appreciated the worksbeing done by it for the bene-fit of farmers in addition to itsdemonstration units likemushroom production, nutri-tion garden, forage production,medicinal garden, seed pro-duction etc established at theKVK for promoting agricul-tural production.

Dr AK Singh later stressedthe need for establishing vari-ous demonstration units likeplanting of CISH-developedlatest varieties of fruit crops,and use of drip irrigation tech-nique and plastic mulching ingarden and vegetable crops,preparation of value- addedproducts from fruit crops, bee-keeping on a large scale, culti-vation of early-maturing vari-eties of arhar, inclusion of foodcrops in nutritional garden etcat the KVK crop cafeteriabesides developing leaflets onthe latest agricultural infor-mation to upgrade the knowl-edge of farmers.


Sanatkada-Sadbhavna Trustorganised an evening of

thumri, dadra and ghazals topay tributes to the late leg-endary singer, Begum Akhtar ather mazar in the city recently.Continuing a tradition datingback to 2013, the mazar got onceagain filled with music loversand admirers of the ghazalqueen, Begum Akhtar, to listento a performance by the singer,Pooja Goswami Pavan in hon-our of one of Lucknow’s mostinfluential and loved musicians.

Pooja Goswami Pavanbegan her performance with athumri in Raag Behag. She fol-lowed it up with a dadra andthe ghazals of the poets, Zauq,Sudarshan Fakir and MirzaGhalib. On getting the oppor-tunity to perform at the mazar,Pavan said, “It means so muchto me because my teacher, ShantiHiranand, is the senior most dis-ciple of Begum Akhtar. So it isan honour for me to be the thirdgeneration taking forward thismusical tradition.”

Shruti Sadolikar Katkar,Vice-Chancellor of theBhatkhande Music Institute,originally came up with theidea of annually paying homageto the great Begum Akhtarthrough music, giving the firstmusical performance at hermazar in the year 2013. Whilespeaking about the tradition,Sadolikar-Katkar said, “I believe

that any artiste who has respectfor the Begum and especiallythose who had the good fortuneof meeting her would havewanted to perform for her so itwas a god-send for me to havecome to Lucknow and be thefirst artiste to pay my musicalhomage to the great ghazalqueen.”Sadolikar-Katkar saidthat Begum Akhtar was alwaysfull of music and her liferevolved around it. It was indeedunfortunate that we couldn’tsurround her with music all thetime but at least for one day ina year she is remembered,respected and we can payhomage to her through music.”

Renowned musicians likeShubha Mudgal and OmkarDadarkaar carried forward thetradition of paying annual trib-utes to Begum Akhtar and per-forming at her mazar in subse-quent years. Pooja GoswamiPavan is a Minneapolis-basedperformer, composer, teacherand scholar of Hindustani(North Indian classical) music.She was born into a musicalfamily and received her earlytraining in Hindustani classicalvocal music from her father,Surendra Goswami. Pooja isalso trained in semi-classicalmusic by the eminent vocalist,Vidushi Shanti Hiranand, thereigning queen of thumri andghazal and the universally-acclaimed successor of the leg-endary vocalist, the late BegumAkhtar.

CITYBRIEFS

As banks were closed on Tuesday, people waited in long queues outside ATM booths Pioneer

Hospital. Whenever she usedto got to her workplace, someyouths of her locality used topass lewd comments andthis had become routine forthe harried woman.

On Tuesday, Sushila wasgong with her husband on amotorcycle to her work placewhen Ajju Shukla, Rohit andBablu of the locality passedlewd comments on her. Theirked husband on his returnhome, confronted and ques-tioned Ajju about his con-duct. This did not go downwell with Ajju who thrashedhim up.

When Sushila came toknow of the incident, shedialled the police controlroom for help and laterreached the Kaiserbaghpolice station seeking help.

“The policemen presentthere shooed us away fromthere. We reached the SSPoffice but failed to get anaudience from the lady offi-cer. We were told that the SSPwas not there and her PROaccepted the complaint andgave us a yellow slip,” she said.

Sushila also alleged thatthe PRO to the SSP was notsensitive or sympathetic to usand focused more on ques-tioning her husband’s inabil-ity to safeguard her dignityinstead of instructing thepolice to take corrective measures.

Police turning

Nelson’s eye to

sexual overtures

Tributes paid to Ambedkar

CM Akhilesh Yadav paying floral tributes to BR Ambedkar on Tuesday Pioneer

Safety gears a must forgondola rides

Sub-inspector accused

of thrashing labourers

An evening dedicatedto Begum Akhtar

Record number of visitors at Mahotsav

‘Noni products boostimmune system’

Signal failures

affecting rail

ops soon to be

a thing of past

nation 05LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 7, 2016

PNS n NEW DELHI

The mishap-struck warshipINS Betwa will be salvaged

and re-inducted into the IndianNavy as per the original dead-line of 2018. International andIndian salvers are now exam-ining the 4,000-tonne missilefrigate and will give their reportin the next two days.

The ship had tipped over inMumbai dock on Mondayleading to the death of twosailors and injury of 14 others.Incidentally, it is the first acci-dent of its kind in the worldwhen a warship tilted in dockwhile about to float.

Giving the informationhere on Tuesday about the sal-vage amongst apprehensionsthat the ship may be written offdue to difficulties involved insetting the vessel upright anddamage incurred, Navyspokesperson Captain DKSharma said, “We are going tosalvage and make it ready. Theship will be battle ready in thesame time frame in which theongoing refit was to be com-pleted.”

The `600-crore frigate,commissioned into the Navy in2004, was dry docked inCruiser Craving Docks,Mumbai in April this year fora two-year medium refit andscheduled to be seaworthy in2018. The mishap occurredwhen INS Betwa was ready togo out for sea trials on Mondayand slipped over dock blocks.The ship’s foremast, the tallestprojection on the deck, crashedon the ground alongside andthe ship is now tilted at 90

degrees. International and Indian

salvers were now assessing theways to make the ship uprightthereby enabling the Navalengineers to examine the extentof damage.

Navy chief Admiral SunilLanba took stock of the situa-tion in Mumbai, officials saidadding a Board of Inquiryheaded by Rear AdmiralDeepak Bali, Flag-OfficerOffshore Defence AdvisoryGroup, will soon start probe toascertain the cause of accidentand fix responsibility. The Navyis taking it “very seriously,” offi-cials said.

Allaying apprehensionsthat many sophisticated equip-ment and guns on the shipwere damaged beyond repair,officials said most of the equip-ment was removed from thefrigate when it came for medi-um refit in April.

“Since the ship will not sailfor next two years, most of thesophisticated equipmentincluding sensors and elec-

‘INS Betwa will be re-inducted as plan’

Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba with a Board of Inquiry headed by RearAdmiral Deepak Bali, Flag-Officer Offshore Defence Advisory Group, willsoon start probe to ascertain the cause of accident and fix responsibility

ARCHANA JYOTI n NEW DELHI

Over one crore housesplanned to be constructed

under the Pradhan MantriAwas Yojna (PMAY) in therural areas across the States maywell be lit with solar power withthe Centre pitching in for thelow-cost micro solar domes“Surya Jyoti” — indigenouslydeveloped by Union Scienceand Technology Ministry.

It is billed as world’s firsthybrid device with the illumi-nation level of the light going ashigh as a 15W LED bulb. Fieldtrials have been conducted and300 gadgets are being installedin the slums of Delhi, Mumbai,Kolkata, and Bengaluru.

The cost-effective deviceshave drawn the attention of theUnion Rural DevelopmentMinistry which recently askedall the State Governments toconsider installing the tech-nology for the households inremote areas where electricityis still a challenge.

Under the Central flag-ship scheme which waslaunched by Prime MinisterNarender Modi in Agra lastmonth, the Ministry has plansto develop one crore affordablehouses by March 2019.

“This technology developedby the Union Science andTechnology Ministry could playan important role in meeting the

lightening needs of the ruralhouseholds. The adoption of thesame can be advantageous inarea with connectivity problemas this technology is based onrenewable energy source andhence will not involve any recur-ring monthly expenditure,”Prashant Kumar, Joint Secretary,RD, wrote to the States.

He said that the technologyhas already got a thumbs upfrom the Group of Secretaries on‘Energy efficiency and energyconservation’ constituted by thePrime Minister for large scaledeployment ie in 10 millionhouseholds in the rural areas.

An official from the UnionScience and TechnologyMinistry said, “Surya Jyoti”, alow cost gadget, captures sun-light through a transparentsemi-spherical upper domeand concentrates it inside adark room. Light passesthrough a sun-tube having athin layer of highly reflectivecoating on the inner wall of thepassage.

Developed by Kolkata-basedNB Institute for RuralTechnology (NBIRT), it alsocontains a lower dome which hasshutter at the bottom that can beclosed if light is not required inthe daytime. It is leak-proof andworks for almost 16 hours daily.

The technology waslaunched in April this year byUnion Minister for Science andTechnology and Earth Sciences,Dr Harsh Vardhan. The Ministersaid that the technology if adopt-ed in 10 million households hasthe potential of saving 1750 mil-lion units of energy. It would alsolead to an emission reduction ofabout 12.5 million ton of CO2equivalent.

The photo-voltaic inte-grated micro solar dome whichis priced at ̀ 1,200 and the nonphoto-voltaic version at `500has undergone extensive test-ing at TERI University, IITMumbai, Indian Institute ofEngineering Science andTechnology, Kolkata.

Low-cost micro solar domes

to light up rural areas soon

New Delhi: The Chief Justiceof India TS Thakur hasrecommended Justice JSKhehar as the next Chief Justiceof India in a letter addressed tothe Government. The letterwas received by the Centre onTuesday. Justice Thakur, who isdue to retire on January 3, 2017,bowed to the tradition fol-lowed by each outgoing CJI torecommend the name of hissuccessor in order for theGovernment to process theformalities required to issue theofficial warrant. The Centrehad written to the CJI office lastmonth reminding him to ini-tiate the process of recom-mending his successor at leasta month prior to his date ofretirement. With the official let-ter out, it has paved the way forappointment of the next CJI.Justice Khehar, who will takeoath on January 4, 2017, willhave a tenure of over sevenmonths (to be precise till

August 27, 2017). He had head-ed the five-judge ConstitutionBench which struck down theNational Judicial AppointmentsCommission as unconstitu-tional and revived the col-legium system of appointingjudges, rendered redundant byCentre following aConstitutional amendment.

PNS

PNS n NEW DELHI/CHENNAI

Leaders across the politicalspectrum on Tuesday paid

glowing tributes to late TamilNadu Chief Minister JJayalalithaa, describing her asa towering figure in Indian pol-itics and whose demise was anirreparable loss.

President PranabMukherjee, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, Congress vicepresident Rahul Gandhi, ChiefMinisters Arvind Kejriwal andNaveen Patnaik besides a hostof other leaders reachedChennai to pay their lastrespects to the departed leader,while the Centre accorded aState funeral and observed aone-day mourning.

Both Houses of Parliamenttoo paid tribute to Jayalalithaaand adjourned for the day as amark of respect. Many StateAssemblies in Session likeMaharashtra and MadhyaPradesh also paid tribute to thedeparted leader.

“One of India’s most charis-matic and popular leaders,Jayalalithaa was a visionaryand able administrator. Her lifewas dedicated to the socio-eco-nomic transformation of TamilNadu and its people,” thePresident Mukherjee said.

“In her passing away, thenation has lost an icon whowas loved and admired bymillions. Her contribution tothe progress and developmentof Tamil Nadu will be longremembered,” he added..

In a series of tweets, thePrime Minister, who enjoyed agood personal equation with thelate leader, said he was “deeplysaddened at the passing away ofSelvi Jayalalithaa. Her demisehas left a huge void in Indianpolitics.” “I will always cherishthe innumerable occasions whenI had the opportunity to inter-act with Jayalalithaa ji. May hersoul rest in peace,” he tweeted.

The Parliament condoledher death saying the countryhas lost a courageous andcharismatic leader, before

adjourning the proceedingsfor the day as a mark of respectfor the departed soul. Afterpaying tributes to Jayalalithaa,who was also a Rajya Sabhamember from 1984-89, mem-bers in both Houses stood insilence for a brief while.

Rajya Sabha ChairmanHamid Ansari said that in thepassing away of Jayalalithaa,the country has lost a promi-nent leader, distinguishedParliamentarian and an ableadministrator. “We deeplymourn her passing away,”Ansari said.

Expressing grief at the pass-ing away of Jayalalithaa, LokSabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajansaid the country has lost ahighly popular, courageous andeminent public persona. “SelviJayalalithaa was a true leader ofthe masses and her followersfondly called her ‘Amma’, mean-ing mother, and ‘PuratchiThalaivi’ meaning a revolu-tionary leader,” Mahajan said.

Lauding the leadershipqualities and administrativeabilities of Jayalalithaa as “out-standing”, Congress PresidentSonia Gandhi said that asleader of AIADMK and asChief Minister of Tamil Nadu,Jayalalithaa had a “unique anddeep empathy with the needsand hope of people”.

“Congress Party, my fami-ly and I personally share thegrief and pain of the people ofTamil Nadu and her devotedsupporters in AIADMK, whohave lost their beloved Amma.”Sonia said Jayalalithaa lived herentire life with the sameindomitable courage with whichshe battled her last illness.

“Whether it was her wel-fare schemes for the rural andurban poor or her swift mea-sures in the aftermath ofTsunami or her vision for TN’sindustrial development, herleadership qualities andadministrative abilities weretruly outstanding,” she said.

Condoling on her demise,Congress Vice President RahulGandhi said, “We lost a great

leader. Women, farmers, fish-ermen and the marginaliseddreamt through her eyes. Wewill miss Jayalalithaaji, Ammato millions”.

Mourning the demise of hisTamil Nadu counterpart, BiharChief Minister Nitish Kumarannounced a one-day Statemourning in the State as amark of respect to the depart-ed leader. Kumar saidJayalalithaa’s demise has causedan irreparable loss in the fieldsof politics, society and art andculture not only in the State ofTamil Nadu, but the entirecountry. Paying rich tributes toJayalalithaa, RJD supremo LaluPrasad described her as a pro-poor, popular, bold and result-oriented leader of the country.

“Very sad to hear thedemise of Amma. A very verypopular leader. Aam admi’sleader. May her soul rest inpeace,” Kejriwal tweeted.

Expressing grief, BJP veter-an LK Advani said Jayalalithaawas a dominant political per-sonality from Tamil Nadu anda very popular and dynamicleader of the poor and down-trodden.

“She had tremendous willpower and carved a specialniche for herself in the politics,”he said, recalling that the formerfilm actor was referred as “thequeen of Tamil cinema”.

Union Minister KalrajMishra termed the departedleader as a symbol of womenempowerment and champion ofmasses, citing her series of suc-cessful projects for the welfareof the poor.

Describing Jayalalithaaas “people-friendly charis-matic leader”, West BengalChief Minister MamataBanerjee said her demise is a“big loss”. She urged the peo-ple of Tamil Nadu andAIADMK to face this big losswith courage and greatness.“Popular, strong, bold, effi-cient, Amma. Always at theheart of people . I amshocked, saddened,” Banerjeesaid in her message.

Indigenously developed‘Surya Jyoti’ is billed as

world’s first hybrid devicewith illumination level as

high as 15W LED bulb

Parliament, leaders pay tribute to Amma

President Pranab Mukherjee paying his last respects to J Jayalalithaa at Rajaji Hall in Chennai on Tuesday PTI

tronic warfare systems aretaken off and cannibalised onto other operational ships forcontinuous use. Once the refit-ted ship is ready for sailing, the

equipment is re-installed,” theysaid.

At present, 25 per cent ofthe frigate is submerged inwater, they added.

Malfunction of dock blocksystem or error in calculatingweight distribution besidesmistake in releasing water inthe dock to let the ship floatcould be reasons for the acci-dent, they said.

Explaining the system oftaking the ship to sea from thedry dock after refit, they saidwater is released through heavyduty pumps into the dock to letthe ship float. Till then, the shipis resting on blocks builtaccording to the length of thesurface and weight of the ship.

The blocks are made of 80 percent steel and rest is soft woodso the ship can literally “sit” onthem without damaging itshull.

Since the mishap tookplace when water was gettingreleased into the dock and thefrigate was nearly floating, theenquiry will also look into thepossibility of wrong calculationof weight distribution on theship. The ship obviously couldnot stabilize after floatingthereby indicating that therewas mismatch in distributionbalance, officials said. The shiptipped on its side as there wasmismatch in the centre of grav-ity and centre of buoyancy, theyadded.

JUSTICE KHEHAR

TO BE NEXT CJI

6LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 7, 2016

Nation bids goodbye

PNS n KOCHI

Kerala on Tuesday paid homage to Tamil NaduChief Minister J Jayalalithaa who passed away in

Chennai late Monday night with the State Cabinetadopting a condolence resolution and declaring three-day official mourning, keeping educational institutionsand Government offices closed for a day and top lead-ers participating in the funeral.

“Jayalalithaa was a leader who showed extraor-dinary administrative skills and sincere commitmentto people,” said the condolence resolution adopted bythe Cabinet at a special meeting held on Tuesday

morning. Marxist CM Pinarayi Vijayan described thedeath of the neighbouring State’s CM as a heavy losssuffered by the entire nation.

Tuesday was declared a holiday for educationalinstitutions including professional colleges,Government offices and public sector undertakings.The Kerala and Mahatma Gandhi universities post-poned their examinations scheduled for Tuesday tolater dates. The Kerala High Court also suspended itsusual functions.

Terming Jayalalithaa as an extraordinary politi-cal genius, Pinarayi said she had always kept a spe-cial affection for Kerala. “She strived to promote friend-

ship between the Tamil people and Keralites. Therehave not been many CMs who had influenced theminds of people like she had,” said Pinarayi.

While Governor P Sathasivam, hailing from TamilNadu, described Jayalalithaa as a strong woman leader,Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala said she wasliterally the Amma of the ordinary people. “She wasloved by lakhs of people even when she was a rulerwith a strong commanding power. Her contributionsto her State’s progress were unparalleled,” he said.

Former CM Oommen Chandy paid homage say-ing that he was fascinated by the projects she had intro-duced for the welfare of the people while nonagenarianMarxist leader and former CM VS Achuthanandandescribed her as a leader who worked with a clearunderstanding of the people’s needs.

The Government had ordered tight security atplaces on the border between Kerala and Tamil Naduin the particular circumstance of the demise of

Jayalalithaa. Inter-State border check-posts, especial-ly at Valayar in Palakkad, remained deserted. Therewas a fall in the number of pilgrims to coming fromTamil Nadu to shrine at Sabarimala on Tuesday.

Security had been beefed up on Monday itself atSannidhanam, the abode of Lord Ayyappa atSabarimala, Pamba, the base camp for the hill shrine,and the paths leading to the temple from Tamil Nadu.The police had cordoned off Azhi, the fire-mound atSannidhanam.

Security arrangements would remain extremelytight at Sabarimala till Wednesday morning fearingemotionally-charged responses from Tamil pilgrims.Till then, the security arrangements would be con-trolled by personnel from the Rapid Action force,Disaster Response Team and police commandos.

The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation(KSRTC) had suspended all of its Kerala-Tamil Naduinterstate bus services on Tuesday.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n KOLKATA

Bengal Chief Minister MamataBanerjee on Tuesday showered

praises on her departed Tamil Naducounterpart J Jayalalitha even as herGovernment declared a day’smourning on Tuesday.

Banerjee wrote in the Twitter“with deep sense of grief and sor-row” that she was “eager to attend”her funeral in Chennai but “flightavailability timings from Kolkatanot making it possible. Sending outtwo MPs Derek O’ Brien and KalyanBanerjee from Delhi on my behalf.”

Tamil Nadu Chief Ministerwho suffered a severe heart attackon Sunday evening passed away onMonday mid-night. She was inhospital for the past 75 days.

Remembering her first meet-ing with the departed leader“when we were part of NDA in thenineties” Banerjee said, “her polit-ical stature could be fathomed

from the fact that even a greatleader like Atal ji (AB Vajpayee)would leave his chair for her.”

In her death the nation lost agreat politician and an administra-tor Banerjee said adding, “there aresome deaths which not only makeus sad but also reap our hearts. Thisis one such death.” Like her own selfJayalalitha was a disciplined leader

who was dedicated to the people ofher State and who worked overtimefor their uplift, the Bengal CM said.

Wondering whether herhealth started deteriorating aftershe went to jail Banerjee said “Iunderstand how she had to fightagainst conspiracies hatchedagainst her as I am also a victimto such conspiracies.”

VR JAYARAJ n KOCHI

Malligai, a 40-year-old womanresident of Vathuruthy, a

Kochi colony of over 6,000 Tamils,gave out a long, shrill cry each timeshe looked at a portrait of TamilNadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaawho passed away late Mondaynight, which was kept covered in afloral mound in the colony’s mainsquare for followers to pay homage.

“How would I come to termswith this reality? For the past 70days, I have been asking God tobless Amma with long life andsomehow I had a feeling that awoman like her is not meant to die.Amma was 68 years old but that isnot perhaps the age for one like herto surrender to death,” whispersMalligai as she continues to stare atthe portrait with tear-welling eyes.

The grown-ups in the colony,both men and women, skipped aday’s work on Tuesday to be in frontof Jayalalithaa’s portrait in thecolony square, singing her praises,lighting the incense sticks, filling oilin Nilavilakku, the traditional lampplaced before it and waving offswarms of flies from the portraitusing palm-frond fans.

“What kind of people we will beif we cannot do at least this for agoddess-like lady who had done somuch for us and our relatives backthere in Tamil Nadu. She had givenus whatever we had asked for. Butwhat is the use in my telling you allthis. The reality is that Amma hasleft for a world from where there isno comeback,” said Murugappan, afather of three.

The scene was not very differ-ent in Vandanmedu and Kumily,spice centres in the eastern moun-tains of Kerala. The cardamomtrade centres did not function onTuesday. In the tea gardens ofMunnar and Peerumed, emotionsof the Tamil workers were no dif-ferent but they did their day’s workthough with minds shrouded inuncontrollable grief.

As reports of her countless fol-lowers lining up in Chennai to havea glimpse of the Amma filled all thebulletins of even Kerala TV chan-nels, devotees and office-bearers oftwo Kerala temples rekindled mem-ories of the special poojas and offer-ings Jayalalithaa, who had proved

herself to be different from otherleaders of Dravidian politics withher belief in God, had made yearsback.

“It was 2001 and she was facingserious allegations. At that time sheturned to the deities of the templesof Thalipparamba in Kannur and

Alathiyur in Malappuram for divinesuccor. Several top leaders havemade offerings in these shrines butJayalalithaa was primarily respon-sible for the fame they enjoy today,”said EV Krishnan of Malappuram,a specialist in temple affairs.

Her visits to the Kerala templeswere on the basis of advices fromastrologers. She reached the SreeRajarajeswara temple ofThalipparambu on July 3, 2001 andoffered silver and golden pitchers,a special ritual in that shrine. Shehad also offered a 15-year-oldtusker, Krishna, to the LordKrishna temple at Guruvayur inThrissur district.

“She left the Rajarajeswaratemple after 8.00 pm that day say-ing she would come back later butthis did not happen. However,Jayalalithaa had kept the relation-ship with the shrine all these years.She never forgot to send her mes-sengers here every month for mak-ing offerings to the deity on herbehalf. They had come here for thiseven last month,” saidNeelakanthan, an office-bearer ofthe Thalipparamba temple.

TERMINGJAYALALITHAA AS AN

EXTRAORDINARYPOLITICAL GENIUS,

CHIEF MINISTERPINARAYI SAID SHEHAD ALWAYS HAD

SPECIAL AFFECTIONFOR KERALA

Grief floods Kerala’s

Tamil hamlets

Trinamool Congress members at a rally to pay tribute to former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in Kolkata on Tuesday PTI

Supporters paying tribute to AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa in Madurai on Tuesday PTI

Tamils place candles in front of a photograph of Jayalalithaa during a condolence and prayer meeting in Ahmedabad on Tuesday AP

PM Narendra Modi consoles O Panneerselvam after paying his last respects to Jayalalithaa at Rajaji Hall in Chennai on Tuesday. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi pays his respects to the late AIADMK supremo during her funeral ceremony at MGR Memorial. Actor Rajinikanth paying his respects PTI

Supporters of late Tamil Nadu Chief MinisterJayaram Jayalalithaa pay tributes near herphotograph outside their party office inMumbai on Tuesday AP

Didi praises departed Jaya, declares a day’s mourning

Kerala pays homage

nation 07LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 7, 2016

B.NO.64, SUBHASH CHANDRA BOSE MARG,KANPUR CANTT, UTTAR PRADESH - 208004

EMAIL ID : [email protected] Phone : 0512-2381285 Fax : 0512-2383600

CorrigendumReference Tender notice No.CBK/AE/K-837/2 Dt. 16.11.2016,published in Newspaper DainikJagran/Hindustan/ Pioneer Dt.17.11.2016In BOQ Sr. No.9 (a)For :- 100 cm thick.Read as :- 10 cm thick.

Chief Executive Officer,Cantonment Board, Kanpur.

CANTONMENT BOARD KANPUR

MOUSHUMI BASU n NEW DELHI

For the British couple TanyaBalcar and Robert W

Stewart, a chance encounterwith patches of Shola landscapeas tourists on the Palni Hills ofWestern Ghats has turned outto be a life changer. Shola is arare and endemic ecosystem,comprising thickets of stuntedevergreen trees interspersedwith carpets of rolling grass-lands occurring on the heightsof Western Ghats.

In 1986, having fallen inlove with the enchanting land-scape, the young couple fromLondon decided to make PalniHills their home. During 30years, the duo has transformedover 1,235 acres of barren anddegraded land, expanding thepristine Shola grasslands andforests having over 1,000 nativespecies. The Royal Bank ofScotland recently honouredthe couple with the prestigiousEarth Guardian Award for theirexemplary work on this lesserknown threatened ecosystem.

Unfortunately, TanyaBalcar is no more today. Shepassed away in September thisyear. Her memories continue tothrive on the Palni Hills thatshe restored with Robert.

Shola (a name derivedfrom the Tamil word Cholaimeaning groves) has uniquewater retention capacity andhas been the traditional sourceof major rivers in the region.

Shola grows above a heightof 1,400 metres on the shelteredfolds and glades of the globalbiodiversity hotspot of the

Western Ghats and its sur-rounding ranges in SouthIndia. However, down the ages,this ecosystem has diminishedby over 50 per cent.

“Three decades ago, wewere shocked to see how thetrees were being cut by the localcommunities for timber andfuel, and how the slopes ofPalni were getting dry anddenuded,” said Robert.

Today, their restored Sholagrasslands and forests have alush tree canopy of above 15metres high. The efforts of thecouple began with setting up aShola nursery in their back-yard. It was developed fromrescued seeds of plants pickedup from scattered locationsaround Palni Hills. These werefirst grown and personallylooked after in the nursery forfive years, before being trans-ferred for plantation.

“These plants have beendeveloped from seeds and notcloned and hence their success

rate of survival is much high-er. Today, there are two Sholanurseries that hold 400 endem-ic and native species of forestvegetation -- including woodyplants, climbers among others.The other holds 600 species ofShola grasslands -- 100 speciesof grass, 500 species of herbs,ferns, orchids and sedges,” saidFrancis John, a Shola expert,working with the couple sincelong. A major challenge hasbeen to induce the local com-munities of wood cutters totake up tree planting. “Webegan hiring them as labourersfor the project to plant trees.Slowly, they were made awareof its ecological importance andits necessity as an importantsource of water conservation,”says Robert. Two large vil-lages, Vattakanal andPambarpuram, in the vicinityof their restoration sites, soonbecame a part of their SholaMission. In 2001, the duo start-ed the Vattakanal ConservationTrust. Since then, they haveplanted more than 35,000 slowgrowing Shola plants. The trust

has restored, improved andmaintained above 500 acres offorests in Palni Hills. It has alsorestored nearly 750 acres ofgrasslands by planting of grassand allied species.

The couple had to alsodeal with invasive trees such assilver oak, eucalyptus, whichwere planted for their timberand fuel wood value at the pro-posed plantation sites. With thehelp of local experts andbotanists, the couple saga-ciously dealt with them -- notnecessarily pulling them allout, but using them effective-ly to propagate the growth ofShola forests and grasslands. Itwas found that the Shola forestsoverpowered the invasive plan-tation, destroying them natu-rally in their process of self-sus-tained growth.

These restored forests aretoday teeming with wildlifeendemic to Shola habitat. Theseinclude species as Blue Robin,Laughing thrush, Nilgiri Pipit,Nilgiri Tahr, Nilgiri Martenbesides varieties of frogs andsnakes.

SAPNA SINGH n NEW DELHI

Thick smog blanket engulfedDelhi and National Capital

Region on Tuesday with a highlevel of air pollutants and mistfog. According to IndianMeteorological Department(IMD), dense fog afterDecember 9 with high pollutantvalues will cause “moderate”visible conditions. National AirQuality Index (NAQI) hasmarked “hazardous” to Delhi’sair quality. The average valuesof prominent pollutants, par-ticulate matter (PM) 10 and 2.5were recorded at 346 μgm-3and 174 μgm-3 that is three-fold higher than the prescribedlimit of IMD.

According to Met depart-ment, dense to very dense fogis all set to make a comebackover Delhi-NCR. This will notonly curtail the day maximumsbut will also increase the air pol-lution manifolds. “Thick fog hasbeen evading the northernplains including Delhi for thelast few days, leading to good

visibility conditions. This hasbeen on account of flow of coldand dry north westerlies withincreased wind speed. Now,weather conditions are all set tochange during the next fewdays. Wind pattern is likely tochange to easterlies from northwesterlies during the next 24hours. Humid winds have beenblowing from the fresh well-marked low pressure area inSoutheast Bay of Bengal. Windspeed is also likely to drop tolight to very light,” the Metdepartment officials said.

The minimum tempera-ture is recorded 9.4 degreesCelsius, normal for this time ofthe year even as poor visibilityconditions affected rail and airtraffic. Foggy weather contin-ued to disrupt train operationwith 64 north-bound trainsincluding Rajdhani andShatabdi running behindschedule by several hours while12 trains were cancelled onTuesday. Besides, departuresof 30 trains were rescheduledand four trains were diverted

due to bad weather condition.As per the Federal Aviation

Administration (FAA), UnitedStates (US) the smoky condi-tions have affected the visibili-ty factors in the flight opera-tions. The Flight Delay Index(FDI) of FAA has marked “red”to major international airportsof India. The federation hasmeasured one mile visibility onIndira Gandhi InternationalAirport (IGIA) while atMumbai airport, the visibilitywas just two miles.

While, the delay rate offlight operation was three with“moderate” status on FDI, theDelhi International Airportlimited (DIAL) has made theextensive arrangements to min-imise inconvenience to pas-sengers and ensure continuityof flight operations during LowVisibility Period (LVP).

Along with the Air TrafficControl (ATC), DIAL has intro-duced Pre-Departure sequenc-ing tool as part of the DelhiAirport-Collaborative DecisionMaking (DA-CDM) process.

I Prabhakara Rao, DIALCEO said that we are fully pre-pared to handle flight opera-tions this year. “The CAT-IIIBsystem installed at DelhiAirport is capable of handlingflight arrivals with RunwayVisibility Range of up to 50Meters. The Metrologicaldepartment has installed 18RVR devices at Delhi Airportwith full redundancy on mainRWYs 11/29 and 10/28 andpartial redundancy on RWY27,” said Rao.

“We aim to reduce delaysand congestion due to fog, bydevising a plan that wouldensure smooth flow of flightinformation, on an almost realtime basis, to the passengers,” headded. On other hand, DelhiEnvironment Minister ImranHussain directed various landowning agencies in the city tospeed up vigil at sites undertheir jurisdiction to prosecuteoffenders who violate norms byburning leaves, garbage etc inthe open during winter months.

British couple transforms over 1,235 acres ofbarren land into pristine grasslands, forests

Delhi-NCR in smog blanket;

dense fog to come back

Labour of love! Shola reborn on bare Palni Hills

NATION MOURNS...The capital city of Chennai

looked more like a ghost townas the State mourned the pass-ing away of its most loved andfeared leader by observing a vol-untary shut down.

M Venkaiah Naidu, UnionMinister for Information &Broadcasting, spent the whole ofMonday and Tuesday inChennai to express the Centre’ssolidarity and respect to thedeparted Chief Minister.

O Panneerselvam, the newChief Minister and his Councilof Ministers who were sworn inat 1.30 am on Tuesday, stoodwith grim faces near the mortalremains of Jayalalithaa. Thenew Chief Minister was seenbreaking down when PrimeMinister Modi put his handsover his shoulders to consolehim. What stood out during theinterregnum between the visitsof the VIPs to pay their homageto the departed leader was thebody language of SasikalaNatarajan. Sasikala Natarajan,her husband Natarajan and closefamily members (popularlyknown as the MannargudiMafia) were seen calling theshots. An occasion which shouldhave been a solemn functionturned out to be an event to pro-claim to the people that hereafterthe AIADMK and theGovernment would be con-trolled by them.

Jayalalithaa’s neice DeepaDeepa Jayakumar, who was notallowed to meet her at ApolloHospitals twice in the last 74days, finally got to see her pow-erful aunt to pay tribute but aftershe was beaten up and chasedout of Veda Nilyam early onTuesday. Though Deepa, daugh-ter of Jayalalithaa’s late brother

Jayakumar, lives at T Nagar inChennai, the former was notallowed anywhere near PoesGarden or in the ApolloHospitals following the orders ofChinnamma (Small Mother, asSasikala is addressed).

Two days ago, Deepa,daughter of Jayalalithaa’s latebrother Jayakumar, had causeda flutter in Tamil Nadu politicswhen she opened up to a Tamilmagazine accusing Sasikala andher family members of oustingher from Poes Garden and viti-ating the relations she had withJayalalithaa. Speaking to JuniorVikatan, a popular Tamil week-ly, Deepa who lives at T Nagarin Chennai had said, “I was stay-ing with my aunt till I reachedthe age of ten. It was with thearrival of Sasikala and her fam-ily members I was ousted fromVeda Nilayam, the residence ofJayalalithaa.”

To the bewilderment of allthose present at the venue, a BJPMP was seen introducingNatarajan, Sasikala’s husbandto Prime Minister Modi.Natarajan is known as a sym-pathiser of the LTTE and its slainleader Prabhakaran. PonRadhakrshnan, Union Minister,was seen pulling Chief MinisterPanneerselvam for introducingone of his acolytes and that tostanding close to the body of thedeparted Jayalalithaa. “This isvery indecent and a majorembarrassment to the BJP,” asenior BJP leader told ThePioneer.

The AIADMK leaders andcadre lost a good opportunity tomend fences with theOpposition DMK on Tuesday as

they looked the other way whenLeader of the Opposition MKStalin accompanied by otherparty leaders paid floral tributesto Jayalalithaa. BothPanneerselvam and Sasikalachose to ignore the DMK’s heirapparent when he came to RajajiHall. Late Jayalalithaa remaineda spinster throughout her lifethough there were reports insome film weeklies that she wasmarried to Sobhan Babu, aTamil and Telugu actor. But ithas not been substantiated byJayalalithaa at any point of time.

JAYA CLAD IN...According to some

AIADMK workers, green wasJayalalithaa’s lucky and favouritecolour. The AIADMK supremohad chosen to retain the samegreen colour and embroidereddesign as her attire while mak-ing her first public appearancein nearly eight months when shereturned to power after beingforced to quit over corruptioncharges.

The Madras UniversityCentenary Auditorium whereshe took oath had shiny greenbackdrop decorations. The bou-quet of flowers which wasoffered by her to the thenGovernor K Rosaiah also hadgreen outer covering sheets.

The green pen with whichshe signed the papers after beingsworn in as Chief Minister lastyear and the glittering greenstone in her ring had also stoodout. At that time, Jayalalithaa’sclose aide Sasikala was in thefront row dressed in all green.

Some women party workerswere also seen in green sarees

then. PTI

BURIAL: JAYA’S WISH...However, no AIADMK leader ison record either to confirm ordeny this. It is also said that theburial became necessary sinceshe did not have any close bloodrelative to light the funeral pyre.However, according to Hindurituals, even distant blood rela-tives can carry out the cremationritual. Jaya did have someone toperform the ritual, her niece,Deepa Jayakumar, who is thedaughter of Jayalalithaa’s broth-er. Deepa reportedly tried to seeAmma when she was hospital,but was not allowed to meet her.Political circles in Tamil Naduare abuzz with speculation thatshe was not given the opportu-nity to carry out the last rites tonip in the bud the possibility heremerging as the political heir toJaya’s legacy now or sometime inthe future.

40 WORKERS...He said a total of “well over

2,000 kilos of flowers” wereused for making garlands andflower hangings. The garlandswere used to on the Army truck,the gun carriage and the memo-rial site for Jayalalithaa, headded.

Cut flowers and marigoldwere sourced from differentdestinations, includingBengaluru, he said.

“Forty of us have beenworking since 3 am today knit-ting the flower garlands, piecingtogether cut-flowers and givingit the required shape and look.”

Although the task was quitelaborious, he said, “We are sat-isfied to see that it soothes peo-ple who are grieved over thedemise of Amma.” PTI

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

From Page 1The reply was stan-

dard: “If Amma stops tobless the child and per-haps name it, the childwould grow up to be suc-cessful”. Some added:“For us she is God and weare here to seek herDivine blessings.”

Our vehicle wasflagged down every 100metres or so, with anx-ious men and womenquerying if we wereAmma’s advance party.On reaching the hotel, Ifound it had been takenover by security person-nel although she was justan Opposition leader inthe State at that time.Predictably, she did notattend Vaiko’s meeting.Anyway it was nearly 2am and she had notreturned to the hotel tillthen. Judging by the pop-ular upsurge I had wit-nessed, I sat down withmy typewriter at that

hour and hammered outmy impressions which Ititled: “TN voters say‘Jaya, Jaya Hey!’” This went completelyagainst the grain ofreporting in the rest of the print media(there were no privatechannels those days).Jayalalithaa recorded alandslide victory in thatelection.

I had the occasion tomeet her face-to-face ononly one memorabletime. This was in 2005when in response to arequest for a meeting Iwas invited to her officeat Fort St. George inChennai. Fortunately, Ihad carried a silk shawl atthe last minute, remem-bering it was customary.As soon as I was usheredinto the VIP WaitingRoom, a minion came upand aggressively queried:“Gift? Where gift?” Ifumbled and handed thepacket which waspromptly sent for being

X-Rayed. After the exchange of

pleasantries, I got tongue-tied, not a usual conditionwith me. To break theembarrassing silence inthe room, I exaggeratedto resume the conversa-tion; “Madam, I thinkyour Opposition, DMK,is imploding.” Furthersilence followed while Isat tremulously. Then shebroke into a loud, heartylaugh. My abiding mem-ory of our meeting wasthat uproarious laughter:“Imploding? You saidimploding…They havei m p l o d e d … H a ,ha…Imploded!” Moreguffaws followed. Notsure what I was expectedto do, I joined the laugh-ter.

An engaging conver-sationalist, she spokeimpeccable ConventEnglish. Courteousdespite her imperiouspersona, she stood up tosay good-bye at the end ofmy allotted 15 minutes.

Covering my last elec-tion in Tamil Nadu in2011, I came across hermotorcade, with Ammaaddressing a throng of lis-teners at a Chennaisquare. Trying to get closeto her car, I was metwith a rude shove of apolice lathi. As I loudlyprotested, I saw her look-ing in our direction. Ifolded my hands respect-fully, not sure if she hadeven seen, leave alonerecognised me.

To my utter surprise,she waved and smiled.Sheepishly, the copsvamoosed from my side.I reciprocated her waveeven as she bestowed her beatific smile uponme. My knees felt weak asI left the venue. It was impossible not tobe mesmerised by her.Not just Tamil Nadu butthe whole of India will miss her for long.And I won’t ever forgether smile or hearty laughter.

Jaya, Jaya, He!

PNS n NEW DELHI

Facing cash shortage due todemonetisation, Russian

Ambassador AlexanderKadakin has shot off a letter tothe External Affairs Ministry(MEA) complaining that restric-tions on withdrawals of Indiancurrency is hampering thenormal functioning of theembassy.

He has urged the IndianGovernment to withdrawrestrictions for diplomatic staffat the earliest while threateningto take counter steps in Moscowwhich may include restrictingcash withdrawals for Indiandiplomats posted there.

In his letter sent to MEA onDecember 2, Kadakin saidembassy’s normal functioningwas getting impacted with theinadequate amount limit of`50,000 per week. “State Bank ofIndia has informed the embassythat the cash withdrawal limit

available to the embassy is now`50,000 per week under theGovernment of India directiveswith no exceptions unless oth-erwise advised by the RBI. Suchan amount is totally inadequateas regards the Embassy’s salaryand operational expenditurerequirements. We are awaiting areply from the MEA and hopethat this is resolved quickly.Otherwise, we will be forced toexplore other options whichmay include raising the issue inMoscow with your embassy bysummoning Indian MinisterCounsellor,” the Russian envoywrote in a letter to MEA. TheRussian embassy has nearly 200persons working in it.

In his letter, Kadakin saidthe present limit of `50,000 isnot even enough to pay for a

decent dinner. He asked, “Howcan such a big embassy in Delhifunction without cash?”

Interestingly, there are acouple of dinners lined up bysome other embassies this week.The German embassy is hostinga media reception on Wednesdayand the US embassy will hold acocktail reception on Thursday.

The MEA has referredKadakin’s letter to theDepartment of EconomicAffairs (DEA). Sources saidRussia is not alone, the entirediplomatic community in Indiais facing this crisis and has sub-mitted similar letters to theMEA. In fact, the Dean ofDiplomatic Corps had raised theissue with MEA on behalf of theentire community within daysafter the restrictions regarding

demonetisation were imposed.The diplomats have termed thepresent curbs as a violation ofinternational charters.

However, there are a fewembassies that are managing bycheque or card payments. “Thereason we are coping up isbecause we do not pay cash andmost of the payment is madethrough electronic mode.Though our day to day work isaffected to some extent, I amnot complaining,” one ambas-sador told The Pioneer.

The Indian Governmenthad formed an inter-Governmental committee tolook into the requests of thediplomats who need highercurrency in hand for day to dayfunctioning of the embassies.The committee has submittedit report to the DEA more thana week back but the depart-ment is yet to respond on this.

While the MEA may be infavour of lifting restrictions onthe diplomats, there is little it cando as the final decision and anynotification in this regard has tobe given by DEA. “We are dis-cussing the matter with thePrime Minister’s Office (PMO)and very shortly we will take adecision in this regard,” sourcesin DEA said.

SBI has informed the embassy that thecash withdrawal limit available to the

embassy is now `50,000 per week underthe Government of India directives withno exceptions unless otherwise advised

by the RBI. Such an amount is totallyinadequate as regards the Embassy’ssalary and operational expenditure

requirements

Russian Ambassador Alexander Kadakin

Cash withdrawal limit irks Russian envoyLetter to MEA sayscash crunch hitsnormal functionings ofembassy, threatenscounter action

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court onTuesday asked the Ansal

brothers not to leave the coun-try till next Wednesday whenit will take up the review peti-tions filed by CBI and UphaarTragedy Victims Associationfor deciding the quantum ofsentence to be awarded to thetwo brothers.

Both Gopal Ansal andSushil Ansal were convicted forcausing rash and negligentdeath of 59 persons in theUphaar fire tragedy but therewas confusion on whetherthey would undergo two yearssentence or get benefit of anearly release from jail on pay-ment of `30 crore each.

A three-judge Bench ofJustices Ranjan Gogoi, KurianJoseph and Adarsh K Goelissued notice on the tworeview petitions challengingthe September 22, 2015 orderof the SC. The Bench fixed thecase for hearing on December14 indicating that a decisioncould be pronounced thesame day.

This is the third round oflitigation in the case before theapex court. In the first round,a two judge Bench had con-victed the Ansal brothers butdiffered on the quantum of

SC asks Ansal brothers not to leave country

punishment. While one judge wasof the view that the brothers mustsuffer one year rigorous impris-onment, another judge was of theview that they must suffer twoyears imprisonment. However, thejudge added that the accused canobtain release on payment of a sumof `50 crore each.

The difference of opinion onpunishment led the case to bereferred to a three judge benchwhich pronounced its order onSeptember 22 last year subscribingto the latter view. But the three-judge bench reduced the quantumof fine to ̀ 30 crore each. Aggrievedby this order, both CBI andAssociation of Victims of UphaarTragedy (AVUT) filed review peti-tions that was heard in open courtby a Bench headed by Justice

Gogoi.On Tuesday, as the victims’

kin had apprehended based ona news report that the accusedplans to leave the country, theBench asked the counsel for theaccused if their clients areready to undertake not to leave

the country. Senior advocateSalman Khurshid volunteeredthat his clients will remain inIndia till disposal of the reviewpetitions. The bench recordedthe undertaking in its order andposted hearing for Wednesdaynext.

Third round of litigation before SC

The sixth Heart of Asiaconference on econom-ic connectivity anddevelopment coopera-tion was held in

Amritsar last week. The decade-and-a-half long internationalattempt to bring peace and securi-ty to Afghanistan has resulted in astrategic stalemate with intense tac-tical turbulence due to terrorism,mostly from Pakistan. AfghanPresident Ashraf Ghani was at hisfrank best in Amritsar in his inau-gural speech. He said Pakistan hadlaunched an “undeclared war” onhis country by covertly supportingseveral terror networks, includingthe Taliban. “There should be anAsian or international regime,whatever is acceptable to Pakistan,in place to verify frontier activitiesand terrorist operations. We do notwant blame games, we want veri-fication”, he said. The time is rightto operationalise a UN-monitorednon-interference mechanism tocurb cross-border terrorism..

The political, economic andsecurity transitions have not con-verted into a positive process oftransformation, mainly because ofthe adverse security situation.Despite investing $800 billion andthe lives of 2,380 American soldiers,the Taliban have not been weak-ened, because the US and its alliesfought the wrong war relying onPakistan. Worse, Kabul has notbeen endowed with either confi-dence of capacities to resist theTaliban on its own. The Talibancontrol more people and land thanin 2001, with estimates varyinghugely from half to one-third of thecountry under their influence orcontrol. But as per General JohnNicholson, 70 per cent Afghans livein Government-held areas.

The June 2015 Department ofDefence Report on OperationResolute Support, underestimatedthe Taliban threat and inflatedAfghan National Security Forces(ANSF) capabilities and the KabulGovernment’s capacity to drive thereconciliation process. In July 2011,President Barack Obama had saidthat by 2014, Afghanistan will beresponsible for its security, addinglater that the war in Afghanistanwould be over by 2014. But for thefall of the provincial capital Kunduzin 2014 and the collective urging ofthe strategic community inWashington, Obama would havewithdrawn bulk of US forces.Instead, ‘preventing strategic col-lapse of the Government’ wasadded to the mission.

In 2009, before returning toAfghanistan, President Ghani, ascholar, historian and intellectual,

co-authored with Claire Lockharta book, Fixing Failed States: aFramework for rebuilding aFractured World. With his pivot toPakistan, few believed he would fixAfghanistan. The National UnityGovernment (NUG) of PresidentGhani and CEO AbdullahAbdullah was brokered onSeptember 30, 2014 by USSecretary of State John Kerry fortwo years. It was to have consideredelectoral and constitutional reformsand have the Loya Jirgah-institu-tionalised CEO as Prime Minister.But the Ghani-Abdullah differenceshave hit the ceiling, with Abdullahcalling Ghani unfit to run the coun-try. The Taliban threat, Westerndonors and Kerry’s certification thatthere is no deadline for the NUG,have kept the alliance intact.

The economy is propped up byforeign donors. Kabul earns $900million from tax and duty alongwith an annual revenue of two mil-lion dollars, whereas it needs$10 bil-lion to run the country. The Brusselsconference on Afghanistan thisOctober 4 — the day after theTaliban mounted twin attacks onKunduz and Helmand and capturedparts of them — pledged $15.2 bil-

lion till 2020, which includes onebillion dollars committed by India.One donor said: “We are buyingfour more years for Afghanistan”.

It is the vulnerable security sit-uation which robs the GhaniGovernment of its sleep. Holdingthe 34 provincial capitals and keydistrict headquarters along with airbases at Kabul, Kandahar andShindand, and retaining control ofthe Ring Road and other lines ofcommunication, are essential forthe security and stability of thecountry. While the Taliban manageto capture and temporarily hold keycentres, they cannot hold themindefinitely against assaults by17,000 Afghan Special Forces assist-ed by 13,000 US and Nato forces.Gen Nicholson has attributed therecent debacles of the ANSF to thefailures of police and military lead-ership. A bulk of the $4.3 billionrequired to sustain the ANSF ispaid by the US. Russia, US andChina. India and Nato are helpingto strengthen the ANSF with armsand equipment, especially logisticsand air support. The Afghan AirForce has some 100 aircraft, main-ly attack helicopters, old MiGfighters and AN-32 transport air-

craft. Hundred insurgents and 25soldiers are being killed daily. Thisis unsustainable. For the first time,Afghan forces will launch a winteroffensive in 17 Provinces.

The Taliban, under the newleadership of cleric SheikhHubaitullah and the bannedHaqqani network leader SirajuddinHaqqani, who is the supreme com-mander of all military forces, areunder the direct control of theInter-Services Intelligence (ISI)regardless of the strenuous clarifi-cation Pakistan makes betweencontrol and influence. The Talibanhave so far escaped listing as abanned terrorist group (it calls itsjihad as armed struggle) to enablethem to join the reconciliation dia-logue. The two-year old reconcil-iation Quad of US, China, Pakistanand Afghanistan is dead after thedroning of Mullah Mansoor andRawalpindi leading the US andPresident Ghani up the gardenpath. Afghanistan’s NationalSecurity Advisor Hanif Atmar said,“Pakistan lied to us about peacetalk.” In September, Kabul engagedin two rounds of talks with theTaliban at their Doha office with aUS representative present, butnone from Pakistan. It seems theTaliban have decided to wait out theexit of foreign forces.

Disillusioned with Pakistan,the US has stopped coalition sup-port funds of $300 million toIslamabad, for the latter’s failure toact against the Haqqani network.For the first time, the US has askedIndia to get more proactive in sup-plying military hardware to Kabul— a big taboo in the past. Followingthe last Heart of Asia conference inIslamabad, India despatched toKabul the first of four Mi25 attackhelicopters. Afghanistan’s militarywish-list has been pruned and willbe delivered shortly.

India has also shown consider-able flexibility on the Taliban —from outright rejection of reconcil-iation and reintegration to accom-modating the rebels in the peaceprocess provided they renouncedviolence and accepted theConstitution, to now merely follow-ing democratic norms and abjuringviolence. Earlier India’s focus was oneconomic and developmental assis-tance. As a regional net securityprovider, New Delhi has to step onthe security pedal to live up toPrime Minister Narendra Modi’sassurance to Afghans in Kabul: That1.25 billion Indians will alwaysstand with Afghanistan for itspeace and prosperity.

(The writer is a retired IndianArmy officer and a strategic affairs analyst)I

n what can be called an upgradation of defence ties between India and Vietnam,both the countries, represented by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and hisVietnamese counterpart General Ngo Xuan Lich, inked a long-pending deal

this week, where India agreed to coach 30 Vietnamese Air Force pilots to fly Sukhoifighter jets. This is the second such training exercise between the two countries.Indian forces have successfully trained Vietnamese submariners to operateRussian-built Kilo-class submarines. Bilateral ties between India and Vietnamare traditional and historic. Since time immemorial, India has stood by Vietnamin times of crises — be it during the Liberation War against the United Statesin the 1960s and 1970s; or when Beijing declared military intervention againstit in 1979, which propelled Atal Bihari Vajpayee to cut short his China visit inprotest. India has since then been consistent in its support to Vietnam — diplo-matically, politically and morally. The bonding between the two countries grewby leaps and bounds, so much so that from just providing political and diplo-matic support, they entered into trade agreements in defence and security coop-

eration. With the Modi Governmentassuming power, the relation reachednew heights as bilateral ties wereupgraded — from “strategic partner-ship” to “comprehensive strategicpartnership”. There have been sever-al high-level visits since then. Themost historic of them was when PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, during hisvisit to the G20 summit in China,made a short trip to Vietnam to signnumerous agreements, especially ondefence and security sectors. Militaryengagements now include sale ofhardware, intelligence-gathering andexchange, training in warfare etc.

But there must be a reason for therecent increased focus on arms salesand defence cooperation between NewDelhi and Hanoi. And it's not just India,

but Japan and the US too have found strategic congruence with Vietnam. The‘China factor' has been the common thread which has propelled the three coun-tries to increase diplomatic outreach to Vietnam. New Delhi and Hanoi have theirconcerns — both are on the same page as far as China's assertiveness in theAsia Pacific region is concerned. Vietnam is engaged in a bitter territorial dis-pute with the Middle Kingdom over navigation rights in the South China Sea andwants India, along with Japan and the US, to stand up to the Chinese threat.India’s concern on the other hand, has to do with China taking control of someof the world's busiest sea lanes where it is engaged in oil exploration activities.China, of course, is not happy with the new India-Vietnam bonhomie and war-ily eyeing the development. In view of the rising defence needs, it is importantthat both India and Vietnam nurture the ties further for mutual benefits.Nevertheless, India must not get bogged down. Remember, Vietnam may havestrained political equations with China, but it also has a robust trade relation.

Tamil Nadu has had many Chief Ministers, but there was none like J Jayalalithaa.Revolutionary leader (Puratchi Thalaivi) and Amma to the masses; a womanof substance and a politician of steel to those who dealt with her or crossed

swords with her; aloof to the world but tender and compassionate to the fewwho were close to her, she was an enigma. Her charisma was enough to keepthe AIADMK from sinking in the worst of crises and soaring in the happiest ofmoments. She fought many battles, both political and personal, in her journeyto the top. There were moments when the less resolute would have given up.But Jayalalithaa was made of a different mettle. She lived by her norms, and byher definition, and used these qualities to be a step ahead of her rivals and insync with the masses whose loyalty to her bordered on the hysterical. She oncefamously remarked in a media interview, “I give as good as I get or even morethan I get.” Anything less than this determination (call it arrogance or ruthless-ness or pragmatism), would have long extinguished her political career. This ismore so, given that her struggle to the pinnacle was both personal and profes-sional. Who can forget the scenes of humiliation she suffered when her men-tor and founder of the AIADMK, MG Ramachandran (MGR), passed away. She

had been rudely pushed out of the car-riage holding MGR’s mortal remains,by people close to his family. She hadbeen snubbed and abused. She wasjust MGR's protégé then, and the cabalclose to his family believed it couldnow show the lady her place. But theobvious sincerity in her grief and theinsults she braved with dignity won hermillions of followers and catapultedher to the top within the party.

It was not the first time she hadfaced personal slight. For somemonths, a rift had developed betweenthe mentor and the student and itreflected when MGR took ill and washospitalised. He had by then complete-ly cut her off. But she bounced back,no doubt because the charismaticMGR was impressed by her dedica-

tion and had possibly seen through the shenanigans of her opponents withinthe party. When she took over the mantle after MGR's death, few believed shewould be able to keep the flock together — more so being a woman in a male-dominated party, being born and brought up in Karnataka and speaking Kannadamore fluently than Tamil, and a Brahmin in an anti-Brahminical party. But shedid it splendidly. Along the way, though, experiences which personal turmoilbrought, turned her into an introvert and wary. This is paradoxical because withher party cadre and the people, she was all charm and warmth, and supremelyconfident when it came to political matters. In her own words, the personal andpolitical upheavals had made her into a “very different person”.

Her political legacy is difficult to define in a sentence. But if there is one aspectthat stands out tallest amongst her many achievements, it was her remarkableability to connect with the concerns of the ordinary citizen, and offer them relief.The hugely popular ‘Amma’ brand of welfare measures is testimony to this. Shefitted to a ‘T' John C Maxwell's observation: “A leader is one who knows theway, goes the way, and shows the way.”

Woman of substance

J Jayalalithaa redefined politics of Tamil Nadu

opinion 08LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 7, 2016

Getting to the heart ofAfghanistan’s problemAs a regional net security provider, New Delhi has to step on the security pedal to live up to Prime MinisterModi's assurance to Afghans in Kabul. It must get proactive in building Afghanistan's military capacities

South China Sea equation

Growing India-Vietnam ties good for the region

Shamed again

Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “The heart of terrorism”(December 6). The editorial hasaptly talked about the Heart ofAsia summit, which concludedin Amritsar on Sunday, wherePakistan was cornered yet againas a state-sponsor of terrorism.

Pakistan-based terror outfitslike the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba andthe Jaish-e-Mohammed werespecifically named. They oper-ate from Pakistan’s soil. Thenaming was done in presence ofSartaj Aziz, who is virtuallyPakistan’s Foreign Minister. EvenIran, which had until now sup-ported Pakistan on several occa-sions, didn’t object. While Chinawas the missing factor, Russiawas muted.

The Pakistani Government,the military and the Inter-Services Intelligence can nolonger hide their complicity asan epicenter of terrorism in theSouth Asian region. Its manip-ulation in coordination withseveral interested parties can nolonger come to Pakistan’s rescue.It’s time for Islamabad to changeits nefarious ways, now that it isisolated and exposed.

PN SaxenaVia email

Forced patriotism

Sir — This refers to the article,“National symbols bind, notdivide, the people” (December 6)by A Surya Prakash. The apexcourt’s intention behind theorder to play the NationalAnthem before screening offilms, cannot be doubted. Butcan it be made legal? Patriotismmust be an in-built character,which requires effort and educa-tion from childhood —inschools and at home.

One cannot force others tothink or behave in a certain wayor challenge their love for thecountry. Therefore, widespreadpropaganda on singing andrespecting the National Anthemwill be a better option.

M Kumar Via email

Being sensible

Sir — This refers to the article,“Neta, media disconnect withpeople’s mood” (December 5) byBalbir Punj. It seems the publichas learnt its lessons and hasbecome sensible enough to takemature decisions.

Thanks to the media boom— good or bad — the public

cannot be swayed by mereempty slogans and electionrhetoric. People are now in theprocess of analysing the reportcards of political parties. Theresults will be delivered in duecourse of time.

Sanjeev Sharma Via email

Beyond demonetisation

Sir — This refers to the article,“Neta, media disconnect withpeople’s mood” (December 5) byBalbir Punj. It is understood thatpolitical parties opposed toPrime Minister Narendra Modi’sdemonetisation move, areindulging in wrong ways tochange public mood which sup-ported this drive.

On the other hand, the ModiGovernment must also ensurean environment where prefer-ence is given to ‘merit’ in vari-ous sectors, besides having eco-nomic reforms. TheGovernment should launch adrive against corruption andend the bribe-giving-and-takingculture in Government offices.

Uttam BhowmikTumluk

www.dailypioneer.com

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

ASHOK K MEHTA

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Nitish Kumar should

ask Lalu Prasad about

the funding behind

construction of Rabri

Bhawan in Delhi at a

cost of `100 crore.

Senior BJP leader

—Sushil Kumar Modi

Daughters are the best

gift. My daughter is the

most beautiful in the

world. Every daughter is.

Love her, give her respect.

Legendary actor

—Amitabh Bachchan

Jayalalithaa was a

leader dearly loved by

her people. I express

my condolences to her

loved ones and to

people of Tamil Nadu.

Sri Lankan President

—Maithripala Sirisena

THE DECADE-AND-A-HALF LONG

INTERNATIONALATTEMPT TO BRING

PEACE ANDSECURITY TO

AFGHANISTAN HASRESULTED IN A

STRATEGICSTALEMATE WITHINTENSE TACTICALTURBULENCE DUE

TO TERRORISM

SOUNDBITE

Heart of Asia sent a firm

message to Islamabad

This refers to the editorial, “The heart of terrorism” (December 6). It isheartening that the Heart of Asia (HoA) summit has been taking rapidstrides ever since it was conceptualised, by shaping into a robust opin-

ion-moulding, inter-governmental body. The latest summit in Amritsar wassignificant in the wake of a surge in global terror and augmented hostilitiesbetween two estranged neighbours — India and Pakistan. It is appropriate,therefore, that the HoA conference adopted a strong anti-terror resolution.

Pakistan's proclivity for sheltering terror, and its loathness to controlterror emanating from its soil, was condemned by Afghanistan’s PresidentAshraf Ghani and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Ghani mocked Islamabad'spropensity to provide financial assistance to Kabul on the one hand, and infuseterror on the other. This must have ruffled a few feathers in Islamabad's high-er echelons. Modi too aptly observed that terror had no adjective — goodor bad. After Saarc, Pakistan's isolation now looks almost complete.

Ganapathi BhatAkola

Send your feedback to: [email protected]

SANJU VERMA

M MADHUSUDAN

Modiji ko boliye ye lineclear karayein ,” apantry boy of the

Bhubaneswar RajdhaniExpress quipped, only to seean instant counter comingfrom his own colleague:“Ismein Modiji kya karenge,aise bhi wo abhi busy hainraeeson ka kaala dhannikalwane mein.” Somehow,one could sense a feeling ofelation within the latter as hespoke about the action againstthe moneybags.

With dense fog playingmayhem, forcing the Delhi-bound train, just like hundredsof others, to make longstopovers at undesignatedplaces and alongside fields inUttar Pradesh, the pantry boyswere indulging in some chit-chat with passengers who hadalighted to find out the reasonfor the inordinate delay. It hadbeen over a two hours’ halt forthis train as it awaited a green

signal to move forward on theAllahabad-Kanpur stretch.Turned out, there were othertrains stuck up ahead along theroute, which the pantry boywanted Modi to get it cleared.

The matter-of-fact remarksof the staffers indicated at theexpectations from PrimeMinister Narendra Modi tocorrect every wrong in the sys-tem, and also the perceptionamong the lower strata of themasses about the intended aimof the demonetisation drive.

A section of passengerschipped in, sarcastically sug-gesting that Modi put the exist-ing railways system on track first,before venturing into the bullettrain project. Its refrain: “Fog orno fog, Indian Railways hasn’tchanged despite the hyperbole.”

Not without reason.Notwithstanding the railways’publicised thrust on improve-ment, there aren’t any markedchanges in the quality of on-

board services being offered tothe passengers by India’s largestpublic transporter.

The train’s pantry manage-ment was supposedly alertedabout a possible delay, due tofog conditions, that couldextend to dinner time. It wasthus asked to be ready to serveboth the unscheduled lunch andthe dinner to passengers.Passengers weren’t left highand dry, but the food servedwasn’t enough for grown-upadults: Four pooris and aloosabzi for lunch, two parathasand aloo sabzi for dinner. Andyes, you have to pay for yoursecond bottle of water even ifyour national carrier is 16.5hours behind schedule.

One can understand thedifficulties faced by IndianRailways and the pantry manage-ment in such situations. But, whatabout the daily routine servicesthat still leave a lot to be desired?

The menu is as old as the

Rajdhanis, with the omelette(with countable onions) retain-ing its tastelessness over theyears; cockroaches continue tohave a free run; the woollenblankets now have a cover, atleast in Rajdhani, but havestains; the used white pillowcovers are changed by the coachattendant only after a firminsistence by the passenger con-cerned; and toilets, perhaps, thebenchmark for cleanliness, con-tinue to stink like the good olddays, even in this time ofSwachch Bharat Abhiyan. AndRajdhani is a premium train!

The Rajdhani experienceapart, one wonders what madethe railways have one-minutestoppages at certain stations. Tocite an example, the Delhi-bound Telangana Express has aone-minute stoppage at a sta-tion called Manchiryal inTelangana, and a two-minutestoppage time on its return.

Though the coach-posi-

tioning display boards helppassengers place themselvesaccordingly ready with their bagand baggage, it is not often thatthe train stops exactly at the des-ignated place. In such a sce-nario, the move towards theshifted goalpost itself consumesmore than half the designatedtime of one minute.

Now imagine a mother car-rying an infant, or a disabled, ora senior citizen, or a patient, orfor that matter, a family— allwith luggage — having to boardat such stations, with just a sin-gle overworked coolie in sight.If there are passengers who haveto alight at that station, then thescheduled boarders would haveto wait for them to disembarkbefore showing all their super-human swiftness to board.Their plight is anyone’s guess.

The relatively lesser impor-tance of the station and the sizeof traffic there could be a rea-son for the short stoppage time.

But, even so, the one-minutetime-frame defies logic.

In Union Minister NitinGadkari’s turf in Nagpur, there’sa minor chaos at the stationplatforms teeming with passen-gers. Being cleaned around 9.30am, they are all wet. Wetnessapart, passengers even had atough time negotiating the wiresof the cleaning machine. Onone platform, water was beingsprinkled with a mug and pas-sengers were being alerted at thelast moment to move away, lestthey got drenched. A scrambleensued with every alert. AndIndians do not travel light.Normally, one sees such clean-ing exercises in the wee hourswhen there are fewer passengersat the stations.

If Indian Railways reallyintends a transformation, thenit needs to get its people-cen-tric basics right.

(The writer is Deputy Chiefof Bureau, The Pioneer)

If Indian Railways really intends a transformation, then it needs to get its people-centric basics right. The UnionGovernment's aim to transform rail travel experience for the better, requires a lot more effort than is visible today

Modinomics vs Manmohanomics

3rdeye 09LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 7, 2016

Prime Minister Modi is not only TIME Person

of the Year, but is also Person of the Century.

His agenda is of peace and development.

—Union Minister

UMA BHARTI

Prime Minister can be happy with the TIME

certification, but what about the certificate

from the people of this country?

—Senior CPI leader

D RAJA

Singh and naysayers

of his ilk would do

well to know that

Keynes was

amongst the biggest

proponents of

demonetisation. He

advocated lower

taxes and increased

Government

spending. In other

words, he stressed

on the need for a

benign fiscal policy

by the state, to

boost growth and

that is precisely

what the Narendra

Modi Government

is doing

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

The difficulty lies not so muchin developing new ideas as inescaping from old ones”, saidJohn Maynard Keynes. Keynesmust have turned in his grave

when former Prime Minister ManmohanSingh invoked him in Parliament recent-ly, quoting his famous idiom, “In the longrun we are all dead”. Singh used this quoteto protest against the Modi Government’sgame-changing demonetisation drive,aimed at curbing black money menace inthe country, which is estimated at any-where between 20 per cent to 30 per centof gross domestic product, if not more.

The former Prime Minister, notknown for his oratorial skills or politi-cal acumen, gave yet another glaringproof of how the insipid bureaucrat inhim is all that is left of a man who start-ed off as an economist and ended up asa servile figure-head, presiding for 10long years over the most corrupt dispen-sation in the country.

Coming back to Keynes, Singh andnaysayers of his ilk, would do well toknow that Keynes was, in fact, amongstthe biggest proponents of demonetisa-tion. The essence of Keynesian econom-ics is that while free markets and the pri-vate sector have to be the guiding force,state intervention is a must to raise aggre-gate demand because the private sectoralone cannot be the balancing mecha-nism to provide jobs or growth.

Keynes advocated lower taxes andincreased Government spending. Inother words, he stressed on the need fora benign fiscal policy by the state, to boostgrowth and that is precisely what theNarendra Modi Government is doing.

Demonetisation will reduce/eliminatefiscal deficit, lower inflation, make avail-able more funds with the Government forinfrastructure and social spending. By ‘for-malising’ the informal sector, which is esti-mated at between 20 per cent to 30 percent of the overall economy, demonetisa-tion will also boost jobs.

Few know that more than 70 per centto 90 per cent of the jobs created in India,in most sectors, are those created withinthe informal sector, with many workersover-worked but under-paid.Demonetisation will re-balance theseglaring anomalies, giving growth and jobs,the much-needed impetus, Keynes style.

Keynesian economics relies heavi-ly on two pillars. First, the investmentmultiplier effect and second, avoidingthe ‘liquidity trap’. The investment mul-tiplier theory can be best explained byan example. For instance, if theGovernment spends/invests additional`100 crore, the additional jump inincome, output and employment, willnot be limited to `100 crore, but couldbe `300 crore or `400 crore or maybemore, depending on whether the mul-tiplier is three or four or even higher.Higher the marginal propensity to con-sume/save, higher the ‘multiplier’ andhigher the impact on overall GDP, of anyfresh spending by the Government.

Demonetisation is an ode to Keynesand will, in the medium term, essential-ly, via the multiplier effect, boost GDPin a manner than can alter the entiregrowth paradigm in India to far high-er than eight per cent, notwithstandingthe interim hiccups.

Speaking of ‘liquidity trap’, well, it issimply a situation where low interest ratesfail to stimulate consumer spendingbecause of poor velocity of money,which means money does not changehands often, due to overall slack in theeconomy. Post the global financial melt-down of 2008, much of the developedworld, including the US and Europe, gotinto a ‘liquidity trap’, wherein despitezero/negative interest rates, growth fal-tered and how. No wonder that despitethe US Fed expanding its balance sheetby more than four trillion dollars in thelast eight years, US GDP averaged at just2.4 per cent in 2014 and 2015.

Unemployment rate in the US isless than five per cent, not because morejobs have been created, but becausemore people stopped looking for a job.More than 48 million people in the USsurvive on food stamps. If Japan hadtwo lost decades from 1991-2010, theUS has in the last eight years straddledbetween disinflation and recession,because Obamanomics relied on mere-ly low interest rates and quantitativeeasing to do the trick. That one trickpony, obviously, failed.

By opting for demonetisation andnot rampant deficit financing,Modinomics has in one fell sweep, avert-ed the liquidity trap and the problemsthat Obamanomics could not. Deficitspending certainly increases moneysupply but may or may not increasegrowth whereas demonetisation increas-es the velocity of money, which meansmoney exchanges hands more fre-quently within the formal channels ofthe economy, ultimately boostingnational income, output and employ-ment, with no ‘ifs or buts’, whatsoever.

Again, you don’t need to be a rock-et scientist to know that in a country of1.27 billion people and counting, if lessthan 500 million people are regularincome tax payers, there is somethinghorribly wrong and that neededfixing...that “something” is whatManmohanomics miserably failed todo...and that “something” is precisely whatModinomics chooses to do, via demon-etisation, GST, benami transactionsamendment, bankruptcy code, Aadhaar,Jan Dhan Yojana, merging ForwardMarkets Commission with Sebi, amend-ments in Double Taxation AvoidanceAgreement agreements with Cyprus,Luxembourg, Mauritius et al and the like.And yes, that “something” is nothing butthe political spine to bell the cat.

Modinomics trumpsManmohanomics on virtually everycount. Despite a strong dollar rally inNovember, the rupee lost only 2.5 percent, compared to say the Chinese yuanwhich recently touched a eight-year low.In August 2013, in the wake of a dollarrally then, the rupee had plunged by8.1per cent in a single month! Also,India’s forex chest has soared from 289billion dollars in 2013 to a robust 367 bil-lion dollars, as on 11th November. Thisis not all. Consumer inflation, CPI, hasfallen by more than 50 per cent fromfrom 11.16 per cent in November 2013to 4.2 per cent in October, with foodinflation in the same period fallingfrom 14.72 per cent to just 3.32 per cent.

Inflation is the most regressive taxthat hits the poorest the hardest and bydramatically reining in inflation viaAPMC reforms, Modinomics hasundone the inept legacy of Singh and theerstwhile corrupt Congress-led UPA

Government that faltered betweenNehruvian Leftism and Fabian socialism.

Even on other parameters like CAD,current account deficit, Manmohanomicspaints a grim picture. For December 2013quarter, India’s CAD came in at a danger-ous 6.7 per cent, with overall CAD for2012-2013, coming in at 4.8 per cent,pushing India to the precipice of disaster,on the external front. Even fiscal deficitin 2011-2012 and 2012-13, were hugelyworrisome at 5.7 per cent and 4.9 per cent.Due to India’s pathetic track record on theCAD and fiscal deficit fronts, India’s glob-al standing and international credit rat-ings, suffered a huge jolt in those years.

Thanks to Modinomics, more than$300 billion has come into India by wayof sticky long-term FDI inflows in the last2.5 years and for good reason! India’s CADin September quarter was just 0.1 per centof GDP and for 2016-17,it is expected tobe a mere 0.5 per cent of GDP.

Even on the fiscal front, the ModiGovernment has,without compromis-ing growth, reined in the fiscal deficitto a mere 3.9 per cent of GDP in 2015-16, on-course to fall further to 3.5 percent in 2016-17.

The most exemplary performance ofthe Narendra Modi Government isreflected in the fact that, while India’sexternal debt rose from $409 billion inMarch 2013 to $486 billion in March,India’s debt service ratio during this peri-od improved by leaps and bounds fromjust 5.9 to a solid 8.8. Short-term debt tototal debt fell from 23.6 per cent in March2013 to barely 17.2 per cent this year. RIPNehruvian socialism! RIPManmohanomics! Hail Modinomics!

(The writer is an economist and chiefspokesperson for BJP, Mumbai unit)

Fog or no fog, rail service hazy thinknowA

s spiritual searchers we

need to become freer and

freer of the attachment to

our own smallness in which we

get occupied with ‘me-me-me’.

Pondering on large ideas or

standing in front of things which

remind us of a vast scale can

free us from acquisitiveness and

competitiveness and from our

likes and dislikes. If we sit with

an increasing stillness and

attune our mind to the sky or to

the ocean, or any other

indicators of vastness, the mind

gradually stills and the heart is

filled with quiet joy.

— Ravi Ravindra

Author

Graded response to

tackle air pollution

The Supreme Court-backed grade system to tackleair pollution emergencies in the capital has comeas a big relief to the people, especially the children

Manmohan Singh, while quoting Keynes, gave yet another proof of how the insipid bureaucrat in him is all that is left of a man who startedoff as an economist and ended up as a servile figure-head. With demonetisation, Modinomics has in fact undone the inept legacy of Singh NAVNEET ANAND

RIGHTANGLE

In what will come as a big relief to many who have been bat-tling the sever onslaught of worsening pollution levels in theNational Capital Region (NCR), the Union Government has

come up with a new graded responsibility action plan which pro-poses to have in place, a pollution notification model.

According to this plan, the severity of pollutants present inthe air will be put into four categories — moderate to poor, verypoor, severe and very severe or emergency — and will involveissuing of appropriate advisory to people. A series of interven-tions will automatically be enforced to contain pollution accord-ing to the level of its severity. This plan was long overdue fora city which has acquired notoriety for being among the worstaffected by pollution in the world.

Delhi and adjoining areas have reported increased incidenceof diseases caused by pollution and has exposed its populationto grave health risks. Beijing has a similar pollution notificationmodel where regular colour-coded alerts are issued based onthe level of toxic particles in the air.

This new plan came in the wake of deadly smoke that hadengulfed the capital region, and after the apex court asked theCentral Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to submit a graded actionplan and also sough suggestion from Centre For Science AndEnvironment (CSE).

According to CSE, “Besides suggesting setting up of con-trol rooms in State pollution control boards and municipal bod-ies of NCT Delhi, the report stressed upon the need to reducethe response time of the task force so that people's exposureto toxic pollutants is reduced.” While ‘severe’ is the worst cat-egory of air quality index (AQI), with PM2.5 at 250 microgramper cubic meter and above and PM10 401 g/m3 and above, the‘health emergency’ is a new addition to the list of categories.The threshold decided for this category is 300 g/m3 for PM2.5and 500 g/m3 for PM10.

According to this plan, measures proposed for the air qual-ity index categories of ‘severe’ and ‘very poor’ should be imple-mented all through the winter (October 15 to February 15). Duringan emergency situation, the CPCB-headed task force will haveto suggest special measures to quickly bring down the air pollution levels. “The task force will meet at least once a weekor daily, if necessary, during peak winter months, to review airquality status, including weather and air quality forecast,” thereport said.

When the air pollution level crosses PM2.5, emergency levelof 300 micrograms per cubic metre for 48 hours at a stretch,the odd-even formula for private cars can be automaticallyenforced and all construction activities halted. The Centre's reportalso recommends banning diesel generator sets and increasingparking fee by three to four times in case of ‘very poor' air qual-ity, when PM2.5 is between 121 and 250. It said that schoolsshould suspend all outdoor activities and sports events duringsevere and very poor levels of pollution.

In fact, elderly and children are the worst sufferers of pol-lution. According to a report by Unicef, Clear the Air for Children,almost one in seven of the world's children, 300 million, live inareas with the most toxic levels of outdoor air pollution — sixor more times higher than international guidelines. The reportis based on satellite imagery to show for the first time how manychildren are exposed to outdoor pollution that exceeds globalguidelines set by the World Health Organisation, and where theylive across the globe.

“Air pollution is a major contributing factor in the deathsof around 600,000 children under five every year — and it threat-ens the lives and futures of millions more every day,” said UNICEFExecutive Director Anthony Lake, while releasing the report inOctober this year. “Pollutants don't only harm children's devel-oping lungs — they can actually cross the blood-brain barrierand permanently damage their developing brains — and, thus,their futures. No society can afford to ignore air pollution.” Thenew plan offers some hope to the future of NCR children.

(The writer is a strategic communications professional)

money 10LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 7, 2016

Soon, Ola cabs will drive to your doorstep with cash

PTI n NEW DELHI

Extending their partnership,taxi aggregator Ola and

private lender Yes bank arejointly working on a mobilesolution wherein cabs willbring cash to your doorstep viamicro ATMs powered by thebank.

“This is part of our com-mitment to serve as many cus-tomers as possible. We areworking on a mobile solutionwith Ola, which means the cabwill come to you to dispensemoney. We are in advancestages of closing out and are

hopeful of launching the ser-vice in a week to 10 days max-imum,” Rajat Mehta, seniorpresident & country head,Brand & Retail Marketing, YesBank told PTI.

Yes Bank and Ola yesterdaylaunched a mobile ATM ser-vice where customers of anybank can withdraw up to`2,000 per card from PoS ter-minals from Ola cabs locatednear Yes Bank branch/ATMacross 30 locations in 10 citiesof the country.

“Right now, people have tocome to the cab, here the cabwill come to you. That will be

another sort of customer expe-rience we want to give to peo-ple. Through this, we will beable to reach a large customerbase,” Mehta said, explainingthe rationale behind it beingcustomers are finding it diffi-cult to stand in long queuesbefore banks/ATMs for longwhen cash has become a scarcecommodity. He said Yes Bankwants to maximise its connectwith the general public andensure that there are as manytouch points as possible. “Ourcurrent campaign is about sta-tionary cabs, that will be nearand outside our ATM and

branches. These will be sta-tioned at high footfall areas.They will also move a little bithere and there through theday,” he added.

When asked if customerswill be charged if an Ola cabreaches them to dispensemoney, he said the idea is notto charge the customers as it isa service gesture.

“With Ola, we are workingon multiple initiatives. At stagetwo, we will actually go to acustomer who is in the cab andI don’t think we will charge theconsumer any extra,” Mehtasaid. Both Yes Bank and Ola

Cabs are working on that solu-tion and it requires systemand technology integration.

The entire drive is to servenot only Yes Bank customersbut the general public, he said,adding the bank is servicing itsown customers well throughATMs and branch network.

“Because we want to gobeyond our own customers, weare partnering for these kind ofinitiatives...so going beyondthe normal touch points of 960branches and 1,800-odd ATMs.This is an important initiativefor creating solutions for thepublic,” Mehta said.

MPC meeting starts, may go for 0.25 pc rate cut

PTI n NEW DELHI

The six-member MonetaryPolicy Committee (MPC)

began its deliberations onTuesday amid widespreadexpectations of at least 0.25 percent (25-basis point) cut in thepolicy rate to cushion theimpact of demonetisation.

This is the second meetingof MPC headed by RBIGovernor Urjit Patel after thefirst in October, when it had cutrepo, or the short-term lendingrate, by 0.25 per cent to 6.25 percent.

RBI has reduced the poli-cy rate by 1.75 per cent sinceJanuary 2015.

This will be the first mon-etary policy review afterdemonetisation of old `500

and ̀ ,000 banknotes, followingwhich banks witnessed a surgein deposits.

“Very difficult to predictbecause the MPC now decides.Maybe, like 25-50-basis pointcut is what everybody isexpecting and no rate cut willbe a bigger surprise,” SBIManaging Director RajnishKumar said.

Canara Bank MD andCEO Rakesh Sharma said thatwith softening of inflation, “weexpect that RBI may go for a25-basis point rate cut in theupcoming policy”.

According to BandhanBank MD Chandra ShekharGhosh, there is expectation ofa 0.25 per cent cut in repo rateas the October inflation hasshown decline and the demon-

etisation drive is furtherexpected to lower inflation inNovember.

In October, retail inflationstood at 4.20 per cent whilewholesale inflation eased to3.39 per cent. “0.50 per cent cutis not feasible this time aroundas there are still uncertaintiessurrounding US Fed rate hike,”Ghosh added.

Echoing the views, IDBIBank CFO R K Bansal said thecentral bank would ease therepo rate to 6 per cent.

“The new two quarters arevery important and they wouldlike to see the impact ofdemonetisation,” Bansal said.

Bankers said that with theincrease in Market StabilisationScheme (MSS) ceiling to Rs 6lakh crore from ̀ 30,000 crore,

RBI is unlikely to continue toapply the incremental cashreserve ratio.

In order to manage liquid-ity conditions, RBI onNovember 28 had asked banksto maintain an incrementalCRR of 100 per cent ondeposits accrued betweenSeptember 16 and November11, 2016. The temporary hikein CRR due to high depositswith banks is not a concern, butRBI should cut repo by 0.25 percent to 6 per cent in the nextpolicy review in December toadjust balance between highliquidity and interest rates, YesBank said.

According to SBI, there isan expectation that inflation inNovember will be below 4 percent.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Hiring activity in Novembersaw a 10 per cent growth,

registering the highest month-on-month rise this year, pri-marily led by the travel andhospitality sector, says a survey.

According to the latestTimesJobs RecruiteX report,travel & hospitality sector post-ed a 21 per cent jump in hiring,followed by infrastructure 18per cent, petrochemicals 17per cent and IT and telecomsector 12 per cent increaseduring the month.

“It is refreshing to see apositive change in recruitmenttrend as RecruiteX year-on-yeardata trends show this

November spike is quite excep-tional, as November had beena slow hiring month since2011,” Nilanjan Roy, Head ofStrategy, Times BusinessSolutions, said.

The report said demand forhospitality professionals report-ed a 13 per cent rise inNovember 2016. IT and tele-com professionals posted a 5per cent rise, accounting,finance, entertainment, mediaand journalism profiles alsosaw a 3 per cent rise in demandduring the month. “The dataalso shows a remarkableincrease in travel and hospital-ity segment – showing thelarge potential the tourism sec-tor can play in boosting jobs

and the Indian Economy,” Royadded. In terms of cities, talentdemand saw the highest growthin Chandigarh. The city post-ed a rise of 12 per cent in tal-ent demand during November2016. Lucknow followed withan 11 per cent rise in talentdemand. Among states,Chhattisgarh and Haryana saw20 per cent and 18 per cent risein talent demand, respectively,during the month. “As the dig-ital economy removes geo-graphic barriers, the rise indemand for professionals incities like Chandigarh andLucknow shows a change in thedemographics of these markets.This is a clear indication for jobseekers to explore career oppor-

tunities in these upcoming jobhubs,” Roy said.

The report noted that thedemand for professionals withover 20 years of experiencereported an 8 per cent rise dur-ing November 2016, while pro-fessionals with 10-20 years ofexperience saw 3 per centincrease and those with lessthan 2 years of experiencereported a 2 per cent rise.

Hiring activity up 10 pc in Nov: TimesJobsThe report saiddemand forhospitalityprofessionalsreported a 13 percent rise inNovember 2016

Gold tumbles to 6-mth lowNew Delhi: Gold extend-

ed its slump for the second dayas it slipped below the Rs29,000 mark by falling ` 250 toan over six-month low of`28,800 per 10 grams in thebullion market today, trackinga subdued global trend.

Moreover, reduced offtakeby jewellers owing to a con-siderable fall in demand at thedomestic spot market in viewof the prevailing cash crunchfollowing demonetisation ofhigh-value notes hurt senti-ment.

Silver too declined by `100

to `41,100 per kg on reducedofftake by industrial units andcoin makers.

Traders said sentimentwas downbeat, largely in syncwith a weak global trend, wheregold closed at near 10-monthlows as investors shrugged offthe ongoing political turmoil inItaly that boosted appeal ofequities and other riskier assets.

Globally, gold price fell0.60 per cent to USD 1,170 anounce and silver by 0.06 percent to USD 16.71 per ounce inNew York on Monday.

The government on

November 8 had scrapped 500and ̀ 1,000 rupee notes to flushout black money, leading to acash crunch in the market.

In the national capital, goldof 99.9 per cent and 99.5 percent purity plunged Rs 250each to `28,800 and `28,650per 10 grams, respectively — alevel last seen on May 31 whenit had closed at `28,850. Theprecious metal had lost ̀ 200 inMonday’s trade.

Sovereign followed suitand traded lower by Rs 100 at`24,300 per piece of eightgrams.

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CESC 587.95 7.75 1.34CHAMBLFERT 66.75 -0.9 -1.33CHENNPETRO 264.9 -3.75 -1.4CHOLAFIN 919.9 -3.35 -0.36CIPLA 574.95 1.75 0.31CLNINDIA 718 -4.45 -0.62COALINDIA 306.45 0.65 0.21COFFEEDAY 203.6 1.45 0.72COLPAL 920 -5.45 -0.59CONCOR 1111.25 -9.65 -0.86COROMANDEL 253.1 1.75 0.7CORPBANK 45 -0.1 -0.22COX&KINGS 170.95 5.75 3.48CRISIL 2218 13.6 0.62CROMPGREAV 66.3 -2.7 -3.91CUB 139.65 2.45 1.79CUMMINSIND 783 9.4 1.22CYIENT 497.5 0.75 0.15DABUR 280.7 -4.5 -1.58DALMIABHA 1527 -23.1 -1.49DBCORP 348.1 -12.25 -3.4DCBBANK 108.25 -0.45 -0.41DCMSHRIRAM 213 3.2 1.53DEEPAKFERT 187.05 1.45 0.78DELTACORP 109.25 1.5 1.39DEN 62.1 -1.05 -1.66DENABANK 34.45 0 0DHANUKA 708.8 14.05 2.02DHFL 252.55 2.8 1.12DISHMAN 233 -0.6 -0.26DISHTV 86.95 1.15 1.34DIVISLAB 1148 13.2 1.16DLF 116 2.65 2.34DRREDDY 3199.9 28.65 0.9DYNAMATECH 2910 -50.1 -1.69ECLERX 1491.5 6.85 0.46EDELWEISS 95.3 -0.1 -0.1EICHERMOT 22489 -252.9 -1.11EIDPARRY 247.8 2.25 0.92EIHOTEL 100.05 -0.15 -0.15ELGIEQUIP 176.55 -1.65 -0.93EMAMILTD 1026.7 -5.9 -0.57

ENGINERSIN 293.85 -5.6 -1.87ENIL 705 -5.65 -0.8EQUITAS 160.8 -0.4 -0.25EROSMEDIA 170 7 4.29ESCORTS 319.15 -0.75 -0.23ESSELPRO 245.4 0.8 0.33EVEREADY 215 0.6 0.28EXIDEIND 177.05 0.65 0.37FAGBEARING 4073.35 49.85 1.24FCONSUMER 20.85 -0.05 -0.24FDC 223.8 0.5 0.22FEDERALBNK 69.35 1 1.46FINCABLES 410 0.4 0.1FINOLEXIND 419.35 2.45 0.59FORCEMOT 3861.2 -17.8 -0.46FORTIS 169.3 -0.3 -0.18FSL 36.25 -0.2 -0.55GAIL 430 2.85 0.67GATI 118.25 0.05 0.04GAYAPROJ 612.1 -8.15 -1.31GDL 229.5 -1.1 -0.48GEOMETRIC 235.9 -2.35 -0.99GEPIL 501 22.3 4.66GESHIP 371.65 8.7 2.4GET&D 315.85 4.55 1.46GHCL 242.15 3.05 1.28GICHSGFIN 285 9.7 3.52GILLETTE 4335 6.25 0.14GLAXO 2760.8 -10.8 -0.39GLENMARK 870.2 -3.3 -0.38GMDCLTD 98.15 -1.95 -1.95GMRINFRA 12.01 0.05 0.42GNFC 207.75 -0.15 -0.07GODFRYPHLP 912.1 -6.8 -0.74GODREJCP 1464 -8.6 -0.58GODREJIND 386.05 7.85 2.08GODREJPROP 301.6 5 1.69GPPL 141.25 2.1 1.51GRANULES 111.65 -0.5 -0.45GRASIM 875.1 1.8 0.21GREAVESCOT 125.9 -1.4 -1.1GREENPLY 256.25 -2.15 -0.83GRINDWELL 327.95 4 1.23GRUH 305.75 0.3 0.1GSFC 90.25 1.05 1.18GSKCONS 5000 10.2 0.2

GSPL 149.7 0.7 0.47GUJFLUORO 476.5 -1.55 -0.32GUJGAS 540 1.55 0.29GULFOILLUB 712.2 -17.6 -2.41GVKPIL 5.7 0.05 0.88HATHWAY 35.1 -1 -2.77HATSUN 344.15 -2.8 -0.81HAVELLS 332.05 -4.9 -1.45HCC 39 -0.75 -1.89HCL-INSYS 56.5 0.85 1.53HCLTECH 790.5 -2.05 -0.26HDFC 1243.8 25.25 2.07HDFCBANK 1193.2 -2.5 -0.21HDIL 63.3 1.25 2.01HEIDELBERG 115.45 5.55 5.05HEROMOTOCO 3203 -21.4 -0.66HEXAWARE 202.45 -1 -0.49HFCL 12.25 -0.05 -0.41HIMATSEIDE 289.1 2.05 0.71HINDALCO 175.15 0.7 0.4HINDCOPPER 61.35 1.75 2.94HINDPETRO 437.1 5.95 1.38HINDUNILVR 835.35 -10.45 -1.24HINDZINC 276 0.55 0.2HMT 35.5 -0.15 -0.42HMVL 260 -0.25 -0.1HONAUT 8350 -57.25 -0.68HSIL 284.5 6.35 2.28HTMEDIA 70.6 -0.7 -0.98IBREALEST 69.25 0.1 0.14IBULHSGFIN 730.8 -11.9 -1.6ICICIBANK 261.2 0.45 0.17ICIL 156.25 2.55 1.66ICRA 3917.9 -4.05 -0.1IDBI 68.2 0.1 0.15IDEA 74.4 1.7 2.34IDFC 56.3 0.2 0.36IDFCBANK 66.25 -0.05 -0.08IFCI 23.05 0.1 0.44IGL 835.4 19.6 2.4IIFL 262 -7.15 -2.66IL&FSTRANS 99.8 -0.55 -0.55INDHOTEL 98.65 0.15 0.15INDIACEM 114.55 2.3 2.05INDIANB 241.7 -0.85 -0.35INDIGO 848.6 -0.65 -0.08INDOCO 255.4 -2.2 -0.85INDUSINDBK 1080.95 -0.85 -0.08INFIBEAM 1141.8 -7.35 -0.64INFRATEL 378.45 -9.05 -2.34INFY 966.95 5.55 0.58INGERRAND 661.5 1.05 0.16INOXLEISUR 218 -1.15 -0.52INOXWIND 199 10.9 5.79INTELLECT 146.45 2.05 1.42IOB 25.05 0.2 0.8IOC 295.35 4.4 1.51IPAPPM 312.05 -6.4 -2.01IPCALAB 556.65 1.65 0.3IRB 187.15 -0.55 -0.29ISGEC 4499.95 59.6 1.34ITC 230.25 -2.2 -0.95ITDCEM 146.8 -0.05 -0.03J&KBANK 60.7 0.65 1.08JAGRAN 170.85 -1.15 -0.67JAICORPLTD 68.25 0.5 0.74JBCHEPHARM 349.15 -0.6 -0.17JBFIND 199.35 1.6 0.81JCHAC 1340 -23.7 -1.74JETAIRWAYS 372.75 -5.8 -1.53JINDALPOLY 369 26.3 7.67JINDALSTEL 70.9 2.25 3.28JISLJALEQS 87.05 -0.5 -0.57JKCEMENT 734.95 8.95 1.23JKIL 187.6 -0.1 -0.05

JKLAKSHMI 379.45 5.5 1.47JKTYRE 122.3 4.7 4JMFINANCIL 70.1 4.85 7.43JPASSOCIAT 7.78 0.1 1.3JPINFRATEC 7.66 0.06 0.79JPPOWER 4.17 0.09 2.21JSWENERGY 58.35 1.85 3.27JSWSTEEL 1642 -7.65 -0.46JUBILANT 693.15 -7.35 -1.05JUBLFOOD 855.4 2.9 0.34JUSTDIAL 381 0.15 0.04JYOTHYLAB 367 -1.8 -0.49KAJARIACER 536.6 5.5 1.04KALPATPOWR 237.8 -4.2 -1.74KANSAINER 332.95 1.25 0.38KEC 141.45 3 2.17KESORAMIND 139.4 0.5 0.36KIRLOSENG 326.55 5.05 1.57KITEX 392.15 -9.2 -2.29KOTAKBANK 732.2 4.25 0.58KPIT 132 1.4 1.07KPRMILL 594.95 7.9 1.35KRBL 272 -2.5 -0.91KSBPUMPS 602 1.4 0.23KSCL 418.35 8.6 2.1KSK 20.45 -0.55 -2.62KTKBANK 107.6 0.7 0.65KWALITY 126.1 0.6 0.48L&TFH 86.25 0.55 0.64LAKSHVILAS 144.35 -1.4 -0.96LALPATHLAB 1163.05 16.15 1.41LAOPALA 505 -10.6 -2.06LAXMIMACH 3859 -11.95 -0.31LICHSGFIN 561.3 -4.3 -0.76LINDEINDIA 356.4 -3 -0.83LT 1362.35 4.25 0.31LUPIN 1528.05 -8.55 -0.56LYCOS 9.91 0.16 1.64M&M 1175.2 -6.25 -0.53M&MFIN 277 6.1 2.25MAGMA 103.9 1.7 1.66MAHABANK 29.5 -0.3 -1.01MAHINDCIE 187.7 -1.45 -0.77MAHLIFE 350.35 -6.5 -1.82MANAPPURAM 74.25 2.8 3.92MARICO 254.25 -0.3 -0.12MARKSANS 43.9 0.1 0.23MARUTI 5141.7 -62.6 -1.2MCLEODRUSS 147.15 0.1 0.07MCX 1242 44.85 3.75MFSL 544 -0.9 -0.17MHRIL 396.55 -5.45 -1.36MINDAIND 301.9 -0.05 -0.02MINDTREE 460.9 11.7 2.6MJCO 385.25 -8.25 -2.1MMTC 49.75 0.3 0.61MOIL 354.1 -1.8 -0.51MONSANTO 2260 -12.2 -0.54MOTHERSUMI 312.05 -0.45 -0.14MOTILALOFS 519.05 -6.7 -1.27MPHASIS 515 -7 -1.34MRF 50299.05 -190.3 -0.38MRPL 100.05 -4.4 -4.21MTNL 17.55 0.25 1.45MUTHOOTFIN 298.55 5.85 2NATCOPHARM 596.8 5.2 0.88NATIONALUM 61.75 5.4 9.58NAUKRI 870.15 -8.45 -0.96NAVINFLUOR 2346.85 48.75 2.12NAVKARCORP 175.5 -0.55 -0.31NAVNETEDUL 108.15 0.05 0.05NBCC 234.3 7.7 3.4NCC 80.15 1.05 1.33NESTLEIND 6263.95 15.1 0.24NETWORK18 38 0.05 0.13

NH 335 -5.15 -1.51NHPC 27.3 0.05 0.18NIITLTD 76.45 0 0NIITTECH 423.6 3.65 0.87NILKAMAL 1340.6 7.65 0.57NIRLON 187.5 2.3 1.24NLCINDIA 77.45 0.6 0.78NMDC 123.5 0.95 0.78NOVARTIND 692.95 0.5 0.07NTPC 163.4 1.25 0.77OBEROIRLTY 295.8 13.1 4.63OFSS 3026.95 -1.65 -0.05OIL 436.8 1.6 0.37OMAXE 160 2.55 1.62ONGC 298.5 3.2 1.08ONMOBILE 87.2 -0.4 -0.46ORIENTBANK 118.65 0.1 0.08ORIENTCEM 129.5 -2.9 -2.19PAGEIND 13200 -182.55 -1.36PCJEWELLER 359.6 -3.2 -0.88PEL 1670 1.55 0.09PERSISTENT 601.2 7.4 1.25PETRONET 382.85 7 1.86PFC 130.35 0.8 0.62PFIZER 1851.9 -14.9 -0.8PFS 39.2 0.45 1.16PGHH 6682.1 -42.35 -0.63PHOENIXLTD 363.5 -18.55 -4.86PIDILITIND 637.3 3.1 0.49PIIND 831.65 2.45 0.3PNB 134.3 -1.35 -1PNCINFRA 111.45 1.6 1.46POLARIS 160.85 -1.05 -0.65POWERGRID 182.9 -2.05 -1.11PRAJIND 73.85 -0.5 -0.67PRESTIGE 145.85 0.25 0.17PRISMCEM 89.05 0.15 0.17PTC 75.1 1.35 1.83PUNJLLOYD 20.05 -0.1 -0.5PVR 1085.2 16.75 1.57RADICO 118.6 -0.65 -0.55RAIN 56.15 2.9 5.45

RAJESHEXPO 446.5 -5.8 -1.28RALLIS 201.7 2.1 1.05RAMCOCEM 574 4.5 0.79RAMCOSYS 328 3.8 1.17RAYMOND 486.85 -0.1 -0.02RCF 48.2 -1.2 -2.43RCOM 36.2 0.05 0.14RDEL 53.1 0.4 0.76RECLTD 133.1 -0.35 -0.26REDINGTON 91.7 -1.3 -1.4RELAXO 410.15 -0.1 -0.02RELCAPITAL 429.15 1.3 0.3RELIANCE 1003.35 9.25 0.93RELIGARE 270 1.3 0.48RELINFRA 477.05 4.25 0.9RENUKA 13.76 -0.13 -0.94REPCOHOME 562.85 -12.55 -2.18RKFORGE 306.5 0.8 0.26ROLTA 52.55 0.05 0.1RPOWER 42.15 0.8 1.93RTNPOWER 7.02 -0.42 -5.65SADBHAV 273.15 -2.9 -1.05SAIL 51.15 0.15 0.29SANOFI 4240 -31.25 -0.73SBBJ 710 4.2 0.6SBIN 259.15 2.45 0.95SBT 558 2.2 0.4SCHNEIDER 141.4 -0.05 -0.04SCI 60.2 2.15 3.7SEQUENT 110.5 2.55 2.36SFCL 97.9 -1.1 -1.11SHARDACROP 430 -2.6 -0.6SHILPAMED 648.1 -7.75 -1.18SHK 298.9 -3.1 -1.03SHOPERSTOP 290 -9.1 -3.04SHREECEM 15550 477.75 3.17SHRIRAMCIT 1860.45 -21.95 -1.17SIEMENS 1125.55 32.8 3SIMPLEXINF 293.5 -4.1 -1.38SINTEX 75.75 0.45 0.6SITINET 34.8 -0.05 -0.14SJVN 31.75 -1.5 -4.51SKFINDIA 1270 12.1 0.96SMLISUZU 1077.9 -2.85 -0.26SOBHA 257 8 3.21SOLARINDS 659.7 7.7 1.18

SONATSOFTW 157.8 3.35 2.17SOUTHBANK 21.2 0.05 0.24SPARC 331.95 0.3 0.09SPICEJET 62.3 -0.55 -0.88SREINFRA 80.8 1.7 2.15SRF 1516 -18.95 -1.23SRTRANSFIN 921.2 23.65 2.63STAR 1087.45 7.95 0.74STRTECH 94.35 0.2 0.21SUNDRMFAST 290.8 5.1 1.79SUNPHARMA 706 -7.05 -0.99SUNTECK 196 -1.8 -0.91SUNTV 474.5 -18.6 -3.77SUPREMEIND 872.05 -33.2 -3.67SUVEN 184.8 5.05 2.81SUZLON 14.61 -0.01 -0.07SWANENERGY 170.45 3.75 2.25SYMPHONY 1161.8 -18.3 -1.55SYNDIBANK 66.5 0.3 0.45SYNGENE 575.75 -0.2 -0.03TAKE 136.7 -0.65 -0.47TATACHEM 494.45 19.2 4.04TATACOFFEE 119.75 1.8 1.53TATACOMM 639.5 2.8 0.44TATAELXSI 1379.8 36.2 2.69TATAGLOBAL 123.45 -0.1 -0.08TATAINVEST 597.1 29.7 5.23TATAMOTORS 441.35 1.75 0.4TATAMTRDVR 291.25 0.65 0.22TATAPOWER 75.25 2 2.73TATASPONGE 595.75 69.4 13.19TATASTEEL 418.35 4.8 1.16TCS 2190.45 4 0.18TECHM 464 1.75 0.38TECHNO 304 0.1 0.03TEXRAIL 105.85 0.9 0.86THERMAX 828 -1.05 -0.13THOMASCOOK 188.65 -1.95 -1.02TIMKEN 581.2 -2.75 -0.47TITAN 323.45 -2.05 -0.63TNPL 337.25 -1.2 -0.35TORNTPHARM 1344.6 9.9 0.74

TORNTPOWER 182.3 7.85 4.5TRENT 197.8 -1.65 -0.83TRIDENT 56.2 0.2 0.36TRITURBINE 115.5 0.6 0.52TTKPRESTIG 5230 12 0.23TUBEINVEST 571.75 -1.8 -0.31TV18BRDCST 37.45 -0.2 -0.53TVSMOTOR 355.55 -1.6 -0.45TVSSRICHAK 3315.2 -70.95 -2.1TVTODAY 288.9 -3.7 -1.26TWL 111.55 0.45 0.41UBL 854.6 1 0.12UCOBANK 33.65 0.05 0.15UFLEX 265.95 6 2.31ULTRACEMCO 3580 -9.45 -0.26UNICHEMLAB 263.85 -3.85 -1.44UNIONBANK 143.3 -1.2 -0.83UNITDSPR 1919.5 -17.8 -0.92UNITECH 4.7 0.17 3.75UPL 673 10.45 1.58VAKRANGEE 281.75 0.25 0.09VEDL 229 2.35 1.04VGUARD 171.55 -0.35 -0.2VIDEOIND 103.5 0.1 0.1VIJAYABANK 44.75 0.5 1.13VINATIORGA 581 4 0.69VIPIND 122.2 3.6 3.04VOLTAS 304.05 -0.6 -0.2VRLLOG 264 -2.15 -0.81VSTIND 2200 11.2 0.51VTL 1105.25 -2.55 -0.23WABAG 488 -3 -0.61WABCOINDIA 5000.1 -44.85 -0.89WELCORP 77.9 0.3 0.39WELSPUNIND 68 -1.2 -1.73WESTLIFE 175 0.8 0.46WHIRLPOOL 872.35 -11.55 -1.31WIPRO 459 2.55 0.56WOCKPHARMA 695.2 7.8 1.13WONDERLA 326.05 -5.1 -1.54YAMNINV 27.3 -1.1 -3.87YESBANK 1193 9.8 0.83ZEEL 444.3 0.95 0.21ZENSARTECH 982.95 0.45 0.05ZYDUSWELL 843.75 -11.45 -1.34

NIFTY 50

SCRIP OPEN HIGH LOW LTP CHANGETATAPOWER 74.9 75.8 74.35 75.25 2.1HDFC 1,218.05 1,259.80 1,218.05 1,240.60 25.05IDEA 72.65 74.65 72.65 74.15 1.5BPCL 608 615.95 605.1 612.55 8.35ADANIPORTS 274 274.5 270.1 272.3 3.6ONGC 297.3 299.75 296.65 298.7 3.3TATASTEEL 414 420.7 412 418.1 4.6SBIN 258.5 260.15 256.35 259.7 2.8RELIANCE 996 1,006.55 994.6 1,003.25 9.4DRREDDY 3,181.00 3,211.95 3,179.85 3,198.00 29.85AUROPHARMA 730 735.35 726.45 730.9 6.7ACC 1,341.25 1,357.40 1,340.00 1,352.00 12HINDALCO 176.95 177.85 174.2 175.95 1.45GAIL 430 436.2 429.1 430.95 3.5GRASIM 876.35 884 866.5 878.35 6.4INFY 961.8 979.5 961.65 968.55 6.9KOTAKBANK 731 737.7 730.25 735 5.2TECHM 463 469.5 462.4 465.5 3.1YESBANK 1,187.70 1,206.45 1,177.40 1,191.00 7.45ZEEL 445 453.7 443.55 444.8 2.25ULTRACEMCO 3,600.00 3,617.80 3,556.45 3,599.75 17LT 1,358.15 1,374.00 1,357.80 1,361.10 4.95CIPLA 575 580.45 570.95 575 2NTPC 163 165.55 162.3 163 0.55AMBUJACEM 210.9 212 209.3 210.7 0.55TATAMTRDVR 291.7 296 290.15 291.2 0.7INDUSINDBK 1,090.00 1,091.95 1,073.05 1,086.00 2.25TATAMOTORS 441 445.9 438.1 440.1 0.8WIPRO 456 462.85 455.9 457 0.35COALINDIA 306.55 309.5 304.55 305.5 0.15HDFCBANK 1,195.00 1,202.85 1,190.20 1,196.95 0.6BANKBARODA 163.3 164.15 161.9 162.35 -0.15BHARTIARTL 326.9 331.95 324.75 326 -0.75ICICIBANK 262.25 262.65 259.55 260.2 -0.65BAJAJ-AUTO 2,745.30 2,754.75 2,725.00 2,734.00 -6.75ASIANPAINT 940.9 944.7 924.15 934.5 -3.15BHEL 128.8 129.5 127.5 128 -0.65HEROMOTOCO 3,239.00 3,243.30 3,189.85 3,208.00 -16.35LUPIN 1,546.90 1,548.00 1,523.05 1,526.00 -9.85TCS 2,190.00 2,203.95 2,169.90 2,170.85 -15.15M&M 1,186.00 1,192.45 1,172.05 1,172.90 -8.4SUNPHARMA 716.55 721.7 704.15 707.75 -5.35ITC 233 233 229.15 230.1 -2.45EICHERMOT 22,845.0022,988.0022,380.1022,479.95 -268.4HINDUNILVR 845.4 849.8 833.2 834.1 -10.8AXISBANK 461.8 463.2 454.35 454.75 -6POWERGRID 185.4 186.6 182.5 182.6 -2.5MARUTI 5,220.00 5,261.00 5,118.05 5,132.00 -70.95HCLTECH 798 801.5 778.4 779.35 -14.05BOSCHLTD 20,990.0020,998.0020,400.5020,415.00 -435.8INFRATEL 386.55 388.95 377 377.15 -8.9

se 500B

VITAL STATS

GOLD SILVERMumbai 29946 41055Delhi 29839 41055Kolkata 29401 41055

BSE: SENSEX

OpenHighLowCurrent valuePrevious close Change (Pts) Change (%)

68.03

86.73

73.11

0.60

NIFTY NEXT 50

SCRIP OPEN HIGH LOW LTP CHANGESHREECEM 15,170.0015,627.3015,112.0515,627.30 522SIEMENS 1,092.45 1,142.75 1,092.45 1,127.00 34.6BHARATFORG 895.15 907.9 891.5 898.4 25.1SRTRANSFIN 904.8 928.9 900.95 918.8 22.3BEL 1,444.00 1,477.00 1,435.00 1,465.35 33.9DLF 115.05 117 114.4 116.05 2.45DIVISLAB 1,136.00 1,163.45 1,136.00 1,155.00 22.65APOLLOHOSP 1,204.00 1,227.00 1,198.00 1,220.00 21.1UPL 667.3 680 660.95 673.9 10.25ASHOKLEY 77.7 79 76.35 78.3 1.1HINDPETRO 434.95 443.35 433.7 437.8 5.75VEDL 228 230.45 226.05 229.4 2.8NMDC 123.75 124.9 122.95 124 1.35IOC 292.55 298.9 290.95 294.05 3.1CUMMINSIND 772 782.7 760 781 7TORNTPHARM 1,336.00 1,362.35 1,336.00 1,344.00 8.05SAIL 51.3 51.7 51.05 51.3 0.3ABB 1,059.75 1,059.80 1,042.00 1,048.90 6.1HINDZINC 276.8 278.5 274.9 276.5 1.35CASTROLIND 397 402.1 395.65 399.2 1.3MARICO 254.15 255.9 252.85 255 0.85PFC 130 131.45 129 129.8 0.25GSKCONS 5,002.00 5,078.00 4,971.35 5,000.00 8.75PEL 1,671.05 1,688.00 1,664.05 1,670.05 2.3PIDILITIND 637.85 647.95 633.2 636 0.7INDIGO 852.1 854.85 845.1 850 0.35OIL 438.25 440 434.85 436.85 0.15NHPC 27.6 27.75 27.15 27.25 0COLPAL 923 926.4 917.9 923.45 -1.1UBL 858 859.55 843.55 853.1 -1.1GLENMARK 877 886.75 867.25 869.3 -2.25BAJFINANCE 903.3 923.9 893.3 899.75 -2.5GLAXO 2,779.95 2,780.00 2,740.50 2,765.00 -8.5OFSS 3,010.10 3,060.00 2,990.00 3,020.00 -10.05GODREJCP 1,483.00 1,495.20 1,461.45 1,468.90 -5.85JSWSTEEL 1,652.00 1,661.70 1,633.00 1,642.00 -6.55EMAMILTD 1,035.00 1,040.00 1,020.00 1,026.20 -4.55CADILAHC 398.9 401 393 396 -1.85MOTHERSUMI 311.2 317.15 310 311.5 -1.7MCDOWELL-N 1,937.00 1,949.80 1,912.00 1,920.00 -13.45LICHSGFIN 566.6 567.75 559 560.05 -4.9PGHH 6,720.10 6,769.80 6,675.00 6,677.10 -60.35TITAN 325.8 327.25 321.05 322.75 -3.1PNB 136.95 136.95 133.75 134.25 -1.4BAJAJFINSV 3,029.00 3,044.00 2,990.00 3,000.00 -31.65CONCOR 1,130.00 1,130.00 1,105.00 1,110.05 -12.35HAVELLS 340.7 340.85 330.6 332.5 -4.7IBULHSGFIN 745 754.95 728.7 731.25 -11.5BRITANNIA 3,069.60 3,074.00 2,997.10 3,009.00 -57.4DABUR 285 285 279.05 279.3 -7.15

26403.6226502.4326356.0226392.7626349.1043.660.17

BSE: GAINERS

NATIONALUM 61.75 (9.58)

CARERATING 1485.00 (6.15)

OBEROIRLTY 295.80 (4.63)

TORNTPOWER 182.30 (4.50)

BEML 877.00 (4.28)

Current (Chng %)NSE: GAINERS

TATAPOWER 75.25 (2.87)

HDFC 1,240.60 (2.06)

IDEA 74.15 (2.06)

BPCL 612.55 (1.38)

ADANIPORTS 272.30 (1.34)

Current (Chng %)BSE: LOSERS

RTNPOWER 7.02 (5.65)

SJVN 31.75 (4.51)

MRPL 100.05 (4.21)

CROMPGREAV 66.30 (3.91)

SUNTV 474.50 (3.77)

Current (Chng %)NSE: LOSERS

INFRATEL 377.15 (2.31)

BOSCHLTD 20,415.00 (2.09)

HCLTECH 779.35 (1.77)

MARUTI 5,132.00 (1.36)

POWERGRID 182.60 (1.35)

Current (Chng %)

SENSEX NIFTY

world 11LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 7, 2016

GLOBE TROTTING

Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie reach

temporary custody agreement

Los Angeles: Actors Brad Pitt and AngelinaJolie have come to a temporary custody agree-ment and the couple’s six children will remainin Jolie’s custody. According to the court doc-uments, Pitt will continue to have “therapeu-tic visitation” with his kids, as well as attendweekly individual therapy sessions, reported E!Online. Pitt, 52, will also have to attend grouptherapy and must submit to random drug tests.Their children Shiloh Jolie Pitt, Maddox Jolie-Pitt, Vivienne Jolie-Pitt, Zahara Jolie-Pitt,Knox Jolie-Pitt and Pax Jolie-Pitt will also con-tinue their individual counseling. The tempo-rary custody agreement comes after the FBI offi-cially closed its investigation into Pitt’s childabuse allegations.

Reese Witherspoon is a cool

mother, says her kids

Los Angeles: Oscar-winning actress ReeseWitherspoon’s children find her cool as she usesphoto-video sharing application Snapchat.The 40-year-old star, who has Ava, 17, andDeacon, 13, with ex-husband Ryan Phillippeand four-year-old Tennessee with spouse JimToth, feels that her kids are impressed withher knowledge of the social media as “mostmoms” do not know how it works, reportedEntertainment Tonight. “At least I know howto work Snapchat. I think, you know, mostmoms don’t. (My kids) are like, ‘You actuallyknow what Snapchat is and you’re actually send-ing us a lot of Snapchats.’ So, maybe that’s kindof a cool thing,” she said. Meanwhile,Witherspoon, who picked up an Oscar for hermusical turn as June Carter Cash in “Walk theLine” loves to sing, she insists her latest movie“Sing” hasn’t madeher want to embarkon a musicalcareer. “I’msupposed tobe the momsinging thesongs, sothey don’thave any-thing tow o r r yabout. I’mnot cut-ting ana l b u many times o o n ,”s h esaid.

Cazeneuve named French PMAFP n PARIS

French Interior MinisterBernard Cazeneuve was

appointed as the new primeminister on Tuesday afterManuel Valls resigned to seekthe Socialist nomination inthe presidential election, thepresidency said.

Cazeneuve, who has over-seen the security forces’ reac-tion to a string of jihadistattacks that have killed morethan 230 people in France overthe past two years, will takecontrol of the Socialist gov-ernment until legislative elec-tions in June.

He was named prime min-ister after Valls presented his

resignation to PresidentFrancois Hollande early today.Hollande’s office said Valls’

resignation had been accepted.“The President of the

Republic has appointed

Bernard Cazeneuve as primeminister and asked him toform the new government,”the statement said.

Valls, who had been primeminister for the past two and ahalf years, announced yesterdayhe would step down to try torally the fractured French leftahead of a primary in January.

In a combative speech, 54-year-old Valls vowed to take thefight to the conservative oppo-sition and the far-right NationalFront, who are both leading theSocialists in election polls.

His announcement camefour days after Hollande said hewould bow out after a singleterm, paving the way for Vallsto try to become the left’s newstandard bearer.

File Photo of Bernard Cazeneuve

Rouhani: Trump won’t be

able to harm nuclear deal

AFP/ PTI n TEHRAN/ WASHINGTON

Iran’s president said on Tuesday that hiscountry will not allow incoming US

President Donald Trump to “tear up”Iran’s landmark nuclear deal with worldpowers and also warned Tehran will reactto any extension of American sanctions.

The comments by Hassan Rouhanicame during a speech at the Universityof Tehran commemorating the killings ofIranian students protesting a visit bythen-US Vice President Richard Nixon in1953. Rouhani’s remarks show the high-wire stakes he faces after Trump’s inau-guration in trying to defend the dealstruck by his moderate administration.The timing during an annual remem-brance of the students’ killing at thehands of the US-backed Shah RezaPahlavi’s security forces also shows theinternal challenges he faces from hard-liners already suspicious of America’sintentions.

“The US is our enemy,” Rouhani said.“They want to put pressure on us as muchas they can.” Rouhani never mentionedTrump by name in his speech, though heprefaced his remarks with noting that“some man ... elected in the US”

“Whatever plans he has, it will berevealed later,” Rouhani said. “He maydesire to weaken the nuclear deal. He maydesire to rip up the deal. Do you supposewe will allow this? Will our nation allowthis?”

On the campaign trail, Trump calledthe multi-nation deal “catastrophic” andvowed to renegotiate it, without explain-ing how.\ Rouhani also warned Iran “willshow a reaction” if outgoing PresidentBarack Obama signs a law extendingsome of America’s sanctions authority by10 years. The law, first passed byCongress in 1996 and renewed severaltimes since then, allows the US to sanc-tion companies for doing business withIran. Rouhani has described extending

the sanctions as a violation of the nucleardeal. The White House deemed the billunnecessary but said it didn’t violate theinternational accord. TRUMP CAN HELP IN SOLVING

WORLD PROBLEMS: PENCEDonald Trump can deploy his extra-

ordinary “deal-making skills” to bear onlessening tensions and solving problemsin the world, US Vice President- electMike Pence has said in the backdrop ofthe President- elect offering to play “anyrole” in helping Pakistan address its prob-lems. “Well, clearly there’s been great ten-sion between India and Pakistan inrecent days. It’s resulted in violencealong the Kashmir region,” Pence said.

“And I think what the President-electexpressed in conversations with leadersfrom both countries was a desire for con-tinued US engagement on building therelationship with both of those countries,”he told NBC News. When asked about

whether Trump can be a mediator indeciding Kashmir, Pence said, “Well, Ithink...President-elect Donald Trumpyou’ve got someone who, who is preparedto advance America’s interests here athome, to rebuild thiseconomy, to fight forAmerican jobs.

“But I think you’re also going to seean energetic leadership in the world, pre-pared to engage and to look forways thathe can bring those extraordinary deal-making skills to bear on lessening ten-sions and solving problems in the world.”

Pence was reacting to the telephon-ic conversation between Trump andPakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifduring which the President-elect had saidhe was ready to play any role in resolu-tion of Pakistan’s problems.

Pence said the President-elect ismaking sure that “we intend to be fullyengaged in the region and fully engagedwith both nations to advance peace andsecurity.”

Hijab-clad worker pushed down stairs

New York: Hijab-clad New York CityTransit employee was pushed down thestairs at a subway station by a man whocalled her a “terrorist”, the latest in a seriesof incidents in which headscarf-wearingwomen have been targeted in the US fol-lowing Donald Trump’s win.

Soha Salama, a 45-year-oldMetropolitan Transportation Authority(MTA) station agent who was wearing ahijab with her uniform, was injured whenshe was pushed down the stairs at GrandCentral Terminal by a man.

She was on her way to work yesterdaywhen the man confronted her, the NewYork Post reported. “You’re a terrorist andyou shouldn’t be working for the city,” thehate-monger spewed at her while the twowere on a subway train, as he jabbed at herMTA patch. He followed her off the trainand pushed her down the stairs. Her ankleand knee were injured and she was takento NYU Langone Hospital by a goodSamaritan passerby, police said. She was

nursing a twisted knee and a swollen ankle.Salama, a mother of four, told WABC-TVthat it is “my first time I faced somethinglike that.”

“I wasn’t able to say anything. I wasafraid he was going to throw me down thetracks or do more bad to me than healready did. He was like pushing me down,”she was quoted as saying by media reports.

“This is the great state of New York —we welcome people of all cultures, customsand creeds with open arms,” GovernorAndrew Cuomo said in a statement aboutthe incident that also outlined other

attacks involving the MTA, includinghate graffiti and literature on trains.

“We do not allow intolerance or fearto divide us because we know diversity isour strength and we are at our best whenwe stand united,” he was quoted as saying.His comments mirrored those made ear-lier by Mayor Bill de Blasio over a stringof bias crimes, including one against ahijab-clad Muslim police officer who wasthe victim of a hate crime over the week-end. The attack on the transit employeecomes just days after a Muslim student wasassaulted aboard a US subway train bythree drunk white men who repeatedlyscreamed “Donald Trump!” and hurledanti-Islam slurs before trying to rip herhijab off. The incidents are among a seriesof such cases of intimidation and assaultthat have been reported across the coun-try against hijab-clad women followingTrump’s win. Earlier this month, a Hijab-clad Muslim student was allegedly struckin the face with a glass bottle in broad day-light at the University of Washington cam-pus in Seattle.

... called terrorist

Saudi condemns 15 to death for spying Riyadh (AFP): A Saudi court onTuesday sentenced 15 people todeath for spying for the king-dom’s rival Iran, local media anda source close to the case said, ina move likely to heighten region-al tensions.

The source said that most ofthe 15 Saudis were members ofthe kingdom’s Shiite minority.Their trial opened in February,a month after Riyadh cut diplo-matic ties with Tehran over theburning of the Saudi embassyand a consulate by Iraniandemonstrators protesting thekingdom’s execution of Shiitecleric Nimr al-Nimr.

The most serious charge lev-elled against them was hightreason. Prosecutors alsoalleged the accused had divulgeddefence secrets, tried to commitsabotage, to recruit moles in gov-ernment departments, to sendcoded information, and sup-ported “riots” in the Shiite-dom-inated eastern district of Qatif,Saudi media reported.The 15were among a group of 32 peo-ple tried over the espionage alle-

gations, Alriyadh newspaper saidon its website.

Some of the defendants wereaccused of meeting Iran’ssupreme leader Ayatollah AliKhamenei. The death sentenceswill be appealed, said the sourceclose to the case, who cannot beidentified due to its sensitivity.

Two of the group wereacquitted while the rest receivedjail sentences of between six

months and 25 years. Apartfrom one Iranian and an Afghan,all of the defendants were Saudis.The source said that one of thetwo acquitted was a foreigner.

Adam Coogle, a Middle Eastresearcher for New York-basedHuman Rights Watch (HRW),told AFP that the trial was“flawed from the beginning.” Itwas tainted by allegations thatthe accused did not have access

to lawyers during interrogation,Coogle said. They were alsocharged with offences that do notresemble recognisable crimes,including “supporting demon-strations,” attempting to “spreadthe Shia confession,” and “harm-ing the reputation of the king-dom,” he said.

“Criminal trials should notbe merely legal ‘window-dress-ing’ where the verdict has beendecided beforehand,” he said.HRW earlier cited a lawyer whorepresented some of the accuseduntil March as saying the timingof the case “may relate to ongo-ing hostility between Iran andSaudi Arabia”. All but one of theaccused had been detained since2013.

The region’s leading Shiiteand Sunni powers are at oddsover a range of issues includingthe wars in Syria and Yemen.Saudi Arabia has also expressedconcern over an internationalagreement that lifted sanctionson Iran in\ exchange for guar-antees it would not pursue anuclear weapons capability.

Park’s impeachment looks certain

Seoul (AFP): The impeach-ment of South Korea’s scandal-hitpresident, Park Geun-Hye, lookedcertain on Tuesday as dissidentlawmakers in her ruling party saidthey would support an oppositionmotion calling for her ouster. Thenational assembly is slated to voteon the impeachment motion onFriday, with the backing of around30 Saenuri Party MPs needed toreach the required two-thirdsmajority. The ruling party had ini-tially insisted that Park be allowedto step down voluntarily, and hadproposed a timeline that would seeher resign in April — 10 monthsshort of her full presidential term.

But a series of massive anti-Parkprotests — the latest of which sawup to 1.6 million take to the streetsof Seoul on Saturday — appeared tohave swayed the mood of the party’santi-Park faction. “Following roundsof discussion, we’ve concluded thatthe card of the president leaving heroffice in April has already beenrejected by the people,” said a mem-ber of the faction, lawmaker HwangYoung-Cheul. “All preparations have

been made that are necessary toensure the impeachment motion bepassed,” Hwang was quoted as say-ing by the Yonhap news agency.

According to Hwang’s count,around 35 Saenuri Party MPs wouldsupport the motion which, if adopt-ed, would still require approval bythe Constitutional Court — aprocess that could take up to sixmonths. Accused of colluding witha close friend, Choi Soon-Sil, whofaces embezzlement charges, Parksaid last month she would be will-ing to step down in the face of theweekly mass protests. But the oppo-sition said Park’s offer, which put themanner and timing of her resigna-tion in the hands of parliament, wasan effort to buy time and avoidimpeachment. Prosecutors say theyhave evidence that Park colluded inChoi’s efforts to coerce SouthKorean companies to “donate” tensof millions of dollars to foundationsshe used for personal gain. Park hasbeen named as a formal suspect inthe investigation, making her thefirst sitting president to be subjectto a criminal probe.

Putin approves new

cyber-security doctrine

AFP n MOSCOW

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesdaysigned off on a broad-ranging plan aimed

at bolstering the country’s defences againstcyberattacks from abroad and cracking downon perceived foreign influence. The Kremlin’snew “information security doctrine” comes asattention has focused on the rise in state-spon-sored hacking after the US blamed Moscow forcyberattacks aimed at influencing last month’spresidential election.

The document — an update of the coun-try’s last policy from 2000 — details a raft ofthreats that the Kremlin is worried about, fromforeign hacking and negative media coverageabroad to the “erosion of tradit ionalRussianspiritual and moral values”. The vagueplan offers few concrete steps but does set outthe general aims of the new policy includingbolstering the military’s propaganda output andratcheting up controls over the internet inRussia.

Over the past few years the Kremlin hasincreasingly pulled up the drawbridge as tieswith the West have plunged to their lowest pointsince the end of the Cold War over the Ukrainecrisis. Russia has splashed vast sums on state-funded channels and outlets broadcastingKremlin propaganda across the globe.

Bro, cousin charged withkilling Qandeel BalouchPTI n LAHORE

The brother and cousin ofPakistani social media star

Qandeel Baloch were amongthree persons charged by acourt in Punjab province forher murder in July, an ‘honourkilling’ incident that shockedthe Muslim-majority country.

Additional District andSessions Judge Saeed AhmadRaza of the district court inMultan city yesterday indictedthe three accused — Qandeel’sbrother Waseem, her cousinHaq Nawaz and taxi driverAbdul Basit.

However, the suspectsdenied committing the crime.The fourth co-accused, ZafarHussain Khosa, has beendeclared an absconder by thecourt.

Police claimed thatWaseem had made a confes-sion of killing her sister in thepresence of an area magistrate.But the counsel for the accuseddenied any such confession.

The court fixed December8 as next date of hearing whileissuing directions to the wit-nesses to appear before it. Onthe other hand, Lahore HighCourt, Multan bench, grantedbail to driver Abdul Basit.

25-year-old Qandeel wasfound strangled in her house inMultan, some 350km fromLahore, on July 16. Her faatherhad alleged that she was killedby her younger brother,Waseem, in the name of hon-

our. Waseem had confessed tohaving killed his sister ‘in thename of honour’.

In his confession video,Waseem expressed no regret inkilling his sister. “I am proudof what I did.

I drugged her first then Ikilled her. She was bringingdishonour to our family,”Waseem said.

Qandeel rose to fame dueto her bold videos and pictures

many considered as ‘obscene’she posted on her Facebookaccount.

Honour killing is com-mon in Pakistan and everyyear hundreds of women arekilled by male relatives forallegedly dishonouring thefamily.

In October PakistanParliament passed a bill seek-ing to curb murders in thename of honour.

Battle over early

elections grips

Italy in limbo

Rome (AFP): A fight over whether to hold early electionsgripped Italy on Tuesday after Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s res-ignation left the eurozone’s third largest economy in politicallimbo.

Renzi’s exit yesterday after a crushing referendum defeat overconstitutional reforms unleashed the political hounds, with allparties vying to take advantage of the power vacuum. “Italy isnow entering into troubled waters,” Giovanni Orsina, politicalscience professor at the Luiss University in Rome, told AFP.

Across the political spectrum, parties were plotting the nextmove in a high-stakes game with the country’s top job as prize.Renzi, 41, has been asked by the president to stay on for a fewdays to pass the 2017 budget in a bid to reassure Europe and themarkets that the heavily debt-laden country is not the eurozone’snext nightmare. The government has already won a vote of con-fidence on the budget in the lower house of parliament, but needsthe senate’s nod. After that, President Sergio Mattarella will con-sult with party leaders before naming a new prime minister,though whoever it is will have to have the backing of Renzi’s cen-tre-left Democratic Party (PD). The crisis could see the 2018 elec-tions brought forward by a year and potentially see the populistFive Star movement - which wants to quit the euro - seize power.Italy’s mainstream parties on the left and right share a commoninterest in keeping the Five Stars out, but disagree on how to doit.The issue is complicated by the fact that a recent reform to theelectoral law only applies to the lower house of parliament nowthat the constitutional reform bid has failed.

As a result an election now would create different majori-ties in the upper and lower house, scuppering any possible gov-ernment. “There are many forces in play, pulling in different direc-tions,” Orsina said. Renzi wants elections as soon as possible toprevent potential competitors from growing stronger, while theFive Stars and the anti-immigrant Northern League party are alsokeen to vote early and capitalise on the “No” vote momentum,he said. But parts of Renzi’s PD, Silvio Berlusconi’s centre-rightForza Italia party and centrists are against a vote for fear of los-ing, he added. “ What we’ll have now is a compromise with anambiguous government which at the start will present itself asa simple bridge government to take the country to elections inthree or four months, but which could strengthen over time,” hesaid.

In this photo released by official website of the office of the Iranian Presidency, President Hassan Rouhani speaksat a ceremony marking Student Day at Tehran University, in Tehran, Iran on Tuesday. AP

File Photo of Qandeel Balouch

world 12LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 7 , 2016

Merkel draws up battle lines

ahead of 2017 election bid

AFP n ESSEN

German Chancellor AngelaMerkel will outline her

battle strategyon Tuesday tocounter a wave of populismthat has consumed key alliesabroad, as she launches intocampaign mode for next year’selections.

Merkel, who has ledGermany for 11 years, lastmonth confirmed she wouldrun for a fourth term butacknowledged that the elec-tion would be “more difficult”than any other she has con-tested. Party faithful from hercentre-right ChristianDemocratic Union (CDU)gathering for a two-day annu-al congress in the western cityof Essen are expected to over-whelmingly re-elect Merkel asparty chief, rallying behindher bid to stay in power.

During the last party votein 2014, Merkel garnered 96.7per cent of support and thisweek’s ballot will be closelyscrutinised for any sign of dis-sent. “I’m counting on an

honest result,” she told publicbroadcaster ARD, as nationalmedia suggested that anyscore below 90 per cent wouldbe a slap in the face. Crucially,she will also be grilled on howshe plans to stop the populistanti-Islam AfD from furthereroding the party’s supporterbase. The CDU has sufferedsetbacks in five consecutive

state polls as voters punishMerkel for her liberal refugeepolicy, with more than a mil-lion people seeking asylum inGermany last year.

There have been ques-tions about whether the 62-year-oldhas fresh ideas tooffer in a world upended byBrexit, the surprise election ofDonald Trump and the depar-

ture of Italian Prime Ministerfollowing a crushing referen-dum defeat championed bypopulists.

There is concern withinCDU rank and file, becauseMerkel has said she “willstand again, without sayinghow she will change her poli-cies in the future”, HansPistner from the Thuringiaregional government toldregional broadcaster MDR.Merkel’s CDU and itsBavarian sister party CSUsecured a decisive win of 41.5per cent at the last election in2013 — its best result sincenational reunification in 1990,on the back of strong approvalfor her tough stance on aus-terity for debt-stricken EUnations.

Three years on, there arerumblings of discontent —even within her own party —following her September 2015decision to let in refugeesfleeing war in mostly-Muslimnations, in a move that hasdeeply polarised Europe’sbiggest economy.

IOM: 21K Rohingya flee

to B’desh from Myanmar

AFP n DHAKA

Around 21,000 Rohingyahave fled to Bangladesh in

recent weeks to escape violencein neighbouring Myanmar, anofficial of the InternationalOrganisation for Migrationsaid on Tuesday.

Bangladesh has steppedup patrols on the border to tryto stem the tide of refugeesfleeing a bloody crackdown byMyanmar’s army in the west-ern state of Rakhine sinceearly October.

But Sanjukta Sahany, headof the IOM office inBangladesh’s southeastern dis-trict of Cox’s Bazar borderingRakhine, said around 21,000members of the stateless eth-nic minority had crossed overin the past two months. Thevast majority of those whoarrived took refuge inmakeshift settlements, officialrefugee camps and villages,said Sahany.

“An estimated 21,000Rohingya have arrived in Cox’sBazar district between October

9 and December 2,” she toldAFP by phone.

“It is based on the figurescollected by UN agencies andinternational NGOs” (non-governmental organisations).Those interviewed by AFPinside Bangladesh told horri-fying stories of gang-rape, tor-ture and murder at the handsof Myanmar’s security forces.

Analysis of satellite imagesby Human Rights Watch foundhundreds of buildings inRohingya villages have beenrazed.

Myanmar has denied alle-gations of abuse but hasbanned foreign journalists andindependent investigators fromaccessing the area.

Myanmar’s Nobel peacelaureate and de facto leaderAung San Suu Kyi has faced agrowing international back-lash for what a UN official hassaid amounts to a campaign ofethnic cleansing against theRohingya, a Muslim grouploathed by many of Myanmar’sBuddhist majority.

Last week she vowed to

work for “peace and nationalreconciliation”, saying hercountry faced many challenges,but did not mention the vio-lence in Rakhine state.

Bangladesh has reinforcedits border posts and deployedcoastguard ships to try to pre-vent a fresh influx of refugees.

In the past two monthsBangladeshi border guardshave prevented hundreds ofboats packed with Rohingyawomen and children fromentering the country.

The Bangladesh govern-ment has been under pressurefrom Muslim groups and theopposition to open its borderto the fleeing Rohingya.

On Tuesday police stoppedthousands of hardline Muslimsfrom marching to theMyanmar embassy in Dhaka toprotest at the ongoing “geno-cide” of Rohingya.

Shiblee Noman, an assis-tant commissioner of Dhakapolice, told AFP about 10,000Muslims joined the march,which was halted at centralDhaka’s Nightingale Crossing.

In this Dec. 2, 2016 photo, Rohingya from Myanmar make their way in an alley at an unregistered refugee camp in Teknaf, nearCox's Bazar, a southern coastal district about, 296 kilometers (183 miles) south of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Some 15,000 Rohingyahave arrived in Bangladesh over past month, often brought in by smugglers, according to police and intelligence officials,speaking on condition of anonymity. They have joined up to 500,000 undocumented Rohingya who have been living inBangladesh after arriving from Myanmar in waves since the 1970s. In refugee camps in Bangladesh, survivors of a wave ofviolence that has swept Myanmar in recent weeks say government forces have targeted minority Rohingya villages, burning manyto the ground, killing the innocent and raping women.

Situation in

Aleppo is a

‘disgrace’ for

West: Merkel

Essen (Germany): GermanChancellor Angela Merkel saidon Tuesday it was a “disgrace”that the international commu-nity had been unable to allevi-ate the suffering in Syria’sbesieged city of Aleppo.

“Aleppo is a disgrace,” shesaid in a speech to her conser-vative Christian DemocraticUnion (CDU) party, slammingRussian and Iranian support forthe bombardment by Bashar al-Assad’s regime. “It is a disgracethat we have been unable toestablish humanitarian corri-dors, but we must continue tofight for it.”

Merkel said she wasshocked to see tens of thou-sands of Germans hitting thestreets to demonstrate againstfree trade deals but virtually noprotests against the bloodlettingin Syria.

“There is something wrongthere,” she said.

Merkel added that theworld needed a coordinatedinternational fight against the“asymmetrical threat of Islamistterrorism”.

German Chancellor and Chairwomen of the CDU, Angela Merkel, gestures after herspeech as part of a general party conference of the Christian Democratic Union(CDU) in Essen, Germany, on Tuesday. AP

14 suspects killedin shootout withMexico police

Coatzacoalcos (AFP): Mexican police working with mili-tary troops killed 14 suspected criminals in a shootout in thecrime-plagued state of Veracruz, officials have said.

Authorities have stepped up antidrug patrols in the Gulf coaststate, where cartels are responsible for a spike in crime. Officialssaid police patroling the region came under fire from a crimi-nal gang hidden behind a small hill in the town of Suchilapan,

a mountainous area on the border of Veracruz state and Oaxacato the south.

Marine troops were enlisted after the assault to help flushout the attackers, and an ensuing gunfight resulted in the deathsof the 14 suspected criminals, a government statement said. Thevillage of Suchilapan is along the route frequentlyused by CentralAmerican migrants attempting to make the dangerous crossingthrough Mexico to the United States.

It also has been the scene in recent days of various skirmishesbetween armed forces and criminal drug gangs,includingMexico’s notorious Zetas and the Jalisco New Generation, twoof the country’s most powerful cartels.

People watch a statue of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as it falls at Rabin square in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, Dec.6, 2016. Tel Aviv residents have woken up to an unusual site: a golden statue of their prime minister featured prominently in frontof City Hall. Itay Zalait, the artist behind the protest says he placed the 4.5 meter (15 foot) statue to test Israel's freedom ofexpression, making also a reference to the biblical golden calf, and a dig at some Israelis' idolatry of Netanyahu.

Police officers stand guard outside the Greek parliament during a protest in Athens,on Tuesday . Hundreds of high school and university students participated in a rallyto mark the eighth anniversary of the fatal police shooting of an unarmed teenager.

Syria rebels reject Aleppo exit Aleppo (Syria): Russia said itwould hold talks withWashington on Tuesday on atotal rebel withdrawal fromSyria’s Aleppo, where the armyhas made sweeping advances,but opposition factions haverejected any evacuation.

President Bashar al-Assad’sforces have seized two-thirds ofthe former rebel bastion in eastAleppo since they began anoperation to recapture all of thebattered second city in mid-November. The assault hasraised an international outcry,but Russia and China yesterdayvetoed a UN Security Councilresolution calling for a seven-day ceasefire in the city.

Tens of thousands of eastAleppo residents have fled toother parts of the city to escapethe fighting, which has raisedwidespread international con-cern. The rapid regime gainshave left opposition fightersreeling and come ahead oftalks in Geneva on Tuesday ona rebel evacuation.

“During the Russian-American consultations theconcrete route and timeframefor the withdrawal of all fight-ers from eastern Aleppo will beagreed upon,” Russian ForeignMinister Sergei Lavrov saidearlier yesterday. “As soon asthese routes and timeframes areagreed on, a ceasefire can comeinto effect.” Russia’s UN ambas-sador Vitaly Churkin said the

two sides “are close to an agree-ment on the basic elements”.

But deputy US envoyMichele Sison suggested therewas no deal, saying “we will notlet Russia string along theSecurity Council”.

“We will continue bilater-al negotiations (with Russia) torelieve the suffering in Aleppo,but we have not reached abreakthrough because Russiawants to keep its militarygains,” she added.

Rebel groups swiftly reject-

ed any talk of an evacuation.Yasser al-Youssef of theNureddine al-Zinki faction, aleading rebel group in Aleppo,described any such proposal as“unacceptable”. “It is for theRussians to leave,” he told AFP.Moscow is a close ally ofAssad’s government, andlaunched a military interven-tion in support of Damascuslast year. Government troopshave also been bolstered byIranian forces, fighters fromLebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah

movement and Shiite fightersfrom other countries. “Therevolutionaries will not leaveAleppo and will fight theRussian and Iranian occupationuntil the last drop of blood,”said Abu Abdel Rahman al-Hamawi of the Army of Islam,another smaller rebel groupactive in Aleppo. Rebels havebeen forced to evacuate sever-al of their strongholds in Syriaduring the conflict, including astring of areas near Damascusin recent months.

Syrian army soldiers prepare for battle with rebels at the Ramouseh front line, east of Aleppo, Syria, on Dec. 5, 2016. Thegovernment seized large swathes of the Aleppo enclave under rebel control since 2012 in the offensive that began last week.

Maryam in focusas Pak SC hears‘Panamagate’ case

Islamabad (PTI): PakistanPrime Minister Nawaz Sharif ’sdaughter and heir-apparentMaryam Nawaz was the focusof Tuesday’s hearing of the‘Panamagate’ case in theSupreme Court which askedabout her finances and legalstatus.

The case deals with allegedmoney laundering by Sharif tobuy properties in Londonwhich came into focus afterPanama papers revealed thatflats in London were managedthoughoffshore companies runby his children.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf(PTI) chief Imran Khan andfive other petitioners haveapproached the apex court toprobe the alleged scandal. Thecourt on Tuesday raised sev-eral questions about Maryam’sfinances and legal status ofdependency on her father, theoffshore companies andwhether the Prime Ministerhad cheated the nation.Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf ’scounsel Naeem Bokhariexplored Maryam’s financialsituation and said that the pre-mier’s daughter had been gift-ed Rs 50 million and Rs 31.7million ontwo separate occa-

sions by her father. He arguedin court that Sharif ’s tax returnsfrom 2011 showed thatMaryam was his dependent. AsBokhari concluded his argu-ments, Sharif ’s council SalmanAslam Butt will respond tocharges in the next hearing.Later, advocate Akram Sheikh,the lawyer representing NawazSharif ’s children — Hasan,Hussain and Maryam — willpresent his argument. It is notclear whether the court willissue a direct verdict or form acommission to probe thecharges.

Men tend to overeat in social events: Study

PTI n NEW YORK

Gorging at a holiday meal or aBBQ might have more to do

with men’s ego than the quality offood, as eating more than friends isseen as a show of virility andstrength, a new study has found.

Researchers recruited collegeaged students of similar weight toparticipate in either a competitivechicken wing eating challenge withcheering spectators, or a competi-tivechicken wing eating challengewith no spectators.

“Even if men are not thinkingabout it, eating more than a friendtends to be understood as a demon-stration of virility and strength,”said Kevin Kniffin from the CornellUniversity in the US.

The prize for eating the mostwings was a worthless plastic medal,but competitors still ate about fourtimes more food than normal.

Men who ate in front of specta-tors ate 30 per cent more thant hos e w it hout sp e c t ators anddescribed the experience as chal-lenging, cool and exhilarating.

Women, on the other hand, ateless with spectators than withoutthem and described the experienceas slightly embarrassing.

“If you want to prove howmacho you are, challenge yourfriend to a healthy arm wrestleinstead of trying to out-eat him,”said lead author Brian Wansinkfrom Cornell.

The study was published in thejournal Frontiers in Nutrition.

Missing 1-2 hours of sleep doubles crash risk: Study

Washington (PTI): Drivers who missbetween one to two hours of the recommend-ed seven hours of sleep may nearly double theirrisk for a crash, a new study warned.

The study shows that drivers missing twoto three hours of sleep in a 24-hour period morethan quadrupled their risk of a crash. T h i sis the same crash risk the US National HighwayTraffic Safety Administration associates with dri-ving over the legal limit for alcohol, researcherssaid.

“You cannot miss sleep and still expect tobe able to safely function behind the wheel,” saidDavid Yang from American AutomobileAssociation (AAA) Foundation for TrafficSafety, a non-profit dedicated to traffic safetyresearch and education. “Our new research

shows that a driver who has slept for less thanfive hours has a crash risk comparable to some-one driving drunk,” said Yang.

The report found that in a 24-hour period,crash risk for sleep-deprived drivers increasedsteadily when compared to drivers who slept therecommended seven hours or more. The riskincreases as the sleep duration is reduced, as fourto five hours of sleep ups the risk by 4.3 timesand less than four hours of sleep takes up it to11.5 times. While 97 per cent of drivers said theyview drowsy driving as a completely unaccept-able behaviour that is a serious threat to theirsafety, nearly one in three admit that at least oncein the past month they drove when they wereso tired they had a hard time keeping their eyesopen.

LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 7, 2016

Kitchen District at Hyatt Regency, Gurgaon, will betransformed into a street food paradise every

Saturday as it's bringing together the best street fooddishes from around the world under one roof. Clearlya culinary extravaganza for all theglobetrotting foodies, ournewly curated fast-casualmenu not only fills thebowl, but also feeds thesoul. Right from OldDelhi's tantalizing Chaat tothe flavourful Dosa delightsof the South to Mumbai's iconicMisal Pav to Kolkata's dreamboat Frankie - the bestof India can be discovered at Kitchen District.Pricing: `1,750 plus taxes

Indulge your taste buds in authentic Thaiflavours with the Street Foods of Thailand at

Thai Pavilion, the award-winning Thai restaurantat Vivanta by Taj, Gurgaon. This culinarycelebration of the vibrant food culture and piquantgastronomic delights of Thailand promises toteleport you to the bustling streets of Siam, wellknown for its sumptuous and mouth-wateringofferings. Indulge your taste buds in authenticThai flavours with the street food of Thailand.Pricing: A la carte

Winter musings andchampagne

immersions with a lavishand delectable foodspread. Pamper yourtaste buds while youspend your lazy Sundayafternoons at TheClaridges Garden. Acurated menu of countless Indian and Oriental disheshandcrafted by our chefs accompanied with selectbeverages is in the offering from November 2016. It’s asimple yet classic menu made exclusive as the culinarymasters know just what will make your palate feelcoddled. Escape from the din of the city as you relax andunwind in the expansive lush green garden lined with arow of palm trees. Pricing: `4,195 plus taxes

vivacity {food} 13

WinterTadka at

Nukkad Caféand bar bringstogetherflavours of theworld in eachcategory ranging from finger food,salads, mains and our very owndessert specials In true cafe spirit, theall-day section of the menu featurescomfort food to indulge every cravingat any hour of the day. Pamper yourtaste buds with delicacies like NukkadBhelpuri, Vada Pav, Samosas andmore. Pricing: `1,200 plus taxes

gorge usS

ink into the lush green woods of

Fio Country

Kitchen and

relish a

gastronomic

journey with the

extravagant

Sunday brunch

this winter.

Basking in the calm warmth of the

winter sun, enjoy delicacies from

Europe and India with the lavish

buffet spread at Fio Country Kitchen. Pricing: ` 1,099 plus taxes

They’ve been called severalthings; hybrid foods, foodportmanteaus, hipster foods

and more inventively, mutantmunchies; whatever the collectivenoun, the season’s trend in food, isto mix it up, innovate and abandonthe box altogether. While dishes likethe pav bhaji fondue, cheesy broc-coli tandoor grilled and the gheeroast mutton boti dared to mixaround some flavours and ingredi-ents, these new dishes were allabout hooking up two completelydifferent dishes in one. While someof these were carefully thought outinnovations, others were simplyaccidental discoveries that struck achord.

Giant wheels and warriorshields add a touch of funk to theplace. Tables are laid out in thebreezy open air space under theshade of a tree decorated withcolourful bird cages all around.India Bistro at Hotel Diplomat is aplace where not only the food butalso the interiors talk about Indianculture. When asked about theirUSP in fusion food as the bistro isclose to Connaught Place which hasa number of cafés and eateriesfalling under the same genre, thechef said, “We serve authentic Indian foodwhich has only the desi flavours. Wearen’t mixing Indian and westernflavours together. And even most ofour presentation is in bamboo bas-ket.”

Since most of the dishes were inthe list of our favourites, we were ata loss regarding what to order.Realising our dilemma,the chef suggested thatwe try out a little each ofthe bistro’spopular dish-es, which wehappily accept-ed. Within no time,the chef came witha plate of paanipuri served with twoinjections of sweet and sourwater respectively. Thoughwe prefer street foods in thestreet itself, this presentation gave usa sophisticated feel. Well, thepuri, injected with the spicygreen water filled to its brim,is stuffed with potatoesand chana dal. Wegulped it down;the spicy panicreated ad e l i g h t f u l l ywarm sensation inour throat. And, webarely had time tobreathe before we were servedwith one more puri; this time filledwith the sweet red pani. “The secretof good pani puri lies in the flavourof the water and the right balanceof masalas. It varies from one city to

the other”, explained thechef. Moving next to thecocktail menu, weordered turmeric marti-

ni which had the baseof vodka withIndian ingredi-ents. “We have

infused turmericand saffron with atouch of pineapple inthis vodka based cock-tail. This is our innova-

tion,” smiled the bar ten-der. The drink really hit the rightchord with a sweet taste.

The main course came with thenorthern delight, pav bhaji. The

buns perfectly cut into smallcubes which were buttery, light,soft and just warm enough;

they looked like littlebrown moons on the

plate. And the bhajiwas smooth witha flavour ofcheese andcream added to

it. When slatheredwith the green chutney

and the tangy, cardamom-lacedsweet chutney made of aamchur (notthe powder, but sun-dried mangoflown down from Mumbai), this

dish is something you’ll not forgetin a hurry. In between, the ice golamargarita was brought to the table.The kala khatta, made of jamunsyrup, is tart and served with iceslush and a sprig of mint in a salt-rimmed serving bowl. The ice is notgrated or shaved, but ground in themixer, and there’s a lovely smooth-ness to it. This was followed by thesoft and crispy bhatura which tast-ed well with the paneer makhni. Wesimply could not have enough of thesoft paneer chunks. The dahi bhal-

la was as good as it could get, likethe creamy yoghurt with an inter-esting medley of mint and tamarindsauces. For the sweet toothed, thebistro did not disappoint. The chefplayed around with familiar tastesand flavours to create unexpectedcombinations. The cold rabri in asteel container with lychee chunksmade it taste a bit sweeter. We choseto eat only the rabri part which wascreamy and soft and it tingled ourtaste buds just the right way.

WHAT YOU NEED

● 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, atroom temperature

● 1/2 cup dark brown sugar● 1/4 cup light molasses or

dark corn syrup● 1 tablespoon cinnamon● 1 tablespoon ground ginger● 1 1/2 teaspoons ground

cloves● 1 teaspoon baking soda● 2 cups all-purpose flour● 2 tablespoons water

For assemblage and dec-oration:

Melted white chocolate orRoyal Icing (recipe follows)

Gumdrops, licorice andpeppermint, as desired

Royal Icing:● 1 pound (3-3/4 cups) pow-

dered sugar, sifted if lumpy● 1 to 2 large egg whites, or

substitute 4 teaspoonspackaged egg whites and1/4 cup water

● 1 teaspoon almond extract,vanilla or lemon juice

HOW TO MAKEIn a large mixing bowl, creamthe butter, brown sugar,molasses, cinnamon, ginger,cloves and baking soda togeth-er until the mixture is smooth.Blend in the flour and water tomake a stiff dough. Chill atleast 30 minutes or until firm.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

● Cut out the following paperpatterns for the ginger-bread house template: Tworectangles, 3 by 5 inches, tomake the front and back ofthe house. Two rectangles,3 by 5 1/2 inches for theroof. Two pieces for theends of the house, 3 inch-es wide at the base, 3 inch-es to the roof line, andslanted to a peak 5 1/2 inch-es from the bottom. Foursmaller rectangles, 1 1/2 by1 inch for the roof and sidesof the entryway. And onepiece, 2 inches wide at thebase, 1 1/2 inches to theroof line, and slanted to apeak 2 1/2 inches from thebottom for the front of theentryway.

● Roll gingerbread dough out

to edges on a large, rimlesscookie sheet. Place paperpatterns onto the rolledout dough. With a sharp,straight edged knife, cutaround each of the pieces,but leave pieces in place.

● Bake at 375 degrees F forabout 15 minutes untildough feels firm.

● Place patterns on top of thegingerbread again and trimshapes, cutting edges witha straight-edged sharpknife. Leave to cool onbaking sheet.

● Place royal icing into pas-try bag with a writing tipand press out to decorateindividual parts of house,piping on decorations, win-dows, door, etc., as desired.Let dry until hardened.

● Glue sides, front and backof house together at corners

using royal icing. Place anobject against the pieces toprop up until icing is dry (itonly takes a few minutes).Glue the two roof pieces tothe pitched roofline of thehouse. Then, similarly, gluethe sides and roof of theentryway together withicing. Attach the entrywayto the front of the house.Continue decorating thehouse, glueing on gum-drops, licorice and pep-permint, as desired.

● Royal Icing: Mix all of theingredients together usingan electric hand mixer,until the icing is smoothand thin enough to bepressed through a pastrybag with a writing tip. Addmore lemon juice, if neces-sary.Courtesy: Courtyard Marriott, Agra

Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces hasannounced the revamp of its Epicure

programme which is a part of one of thelargest guest recognition programmes inIndia - Taj InnerCircle. Epicure is an exten-sion of the Taj InnerCircle programmewhich allows frequent diners to earn andredeem points for Taj dining, relaxationand stay experiences at 250+ restaurants,100+ bars, 80+ hotels and 60+ spas inIndia and other Taj destinations world-wide.

The new Epicure programme isvalid across all bars and restaurants of Tajglobally, offers more earning options andalso includes many other benefits includ-ing a complimentary night at Taj Hotelsin India and Sri Lanka subject to terms andconditions. A new feature whereby mem-bers earn 50% points credit on the firstthree dining transactions is industry-lead-ing; with it, members can earn up to a freenight’s stay just by dining thrice.

Some key highlights of the programare:

Epicure goes global – The currentEpicure program is now a global pro-gramme to give our guests a chance toearn rewards at our restaurants and spasaround the world from the flagship TajMahal Palace, Mumbai to The Pierre, NewYork and Taj Dubai. Epicure becomes allencompassing – The programme offers atruly all-encompassing experience as nowyou can earn and burn as you dine anddrink at bars and restaurants, relax at spasand redeem amazing benefits; Epicurebrings together all services in one com-pelling offering

Complimentary night – Epicuremembership comes with one complimen-tary night at any Taj hotel in India and SriLanka (with the exception of its GrandPalaces and Safari Lodges), subject toterms and conditions.

Earn a quick free stay – Epicure is oneof the only programmes worldwide thatallows members a chance to “Dine thriceand earn up to a night.” Chinmai Sharma,Chief Revenue Officer, Taj Hotels Resorts& Palaces said, “Over the past century, Tajhas been ahead of its times in all aspectsof the culinary arts. As part of our con-stant endeavour to enhance guest experi-ences, we have redesigned the Epicure pro-gramme to make dining more rewardingat some of the most sought-after restau-

rants in the world. Based on insights fromour members, the programme has beenredesigned to offer a compelling valueproposition that goes beyond dining andopens up the world of Taj to our members.We have award winning bars, restaurantsand spas in our portfolio offering distinc-tive experiences and Epicure will serve toshowcase these to the new breed ofemerging consumers.” Taj had relaunchedInnerCircle in 2015 with augmented fea-tures and enhancements, applicable acrossall hotels globally. The revamped pro-gramme has no blackout dates, an easyredemption process with myriad oppor-tunities ranging from accommodation,restaurants and spas, and no expiry ofpoints for active members.

Spread across three floors, Capsuleis a newbie in a now not-so-hap-

pening Hauz Khas Village. While thefirst two floors are segmented intoquirky pods themed on Marvelcomics, DC comics, Snapchat,Spider-man, only-for-smoking cap-sules and several others, the thirdlevel is the bar and the rocky gravelfloor terrace. Unlike the other restau-rants in the vicinity, which have overthe top rock music almost slicing theear drums, the music at Capsules wasnot as loud. Also, the quirky carica-tures on the walls make it quite aplace for youngsters.

Going for the drinks that theplace serves, the menu took us backto our childhood days. The name ofcocktails were inherited from thefamous 90s cartoon shows. And notjust the names but also the taste ofthe drinks was captivating. From thebar menu, we asked for the signaturecocktails. The two signature drinkson our table were Tom and Jerry andDexter. Our absolute favourite showstoo. Tom and Jerry was a rose andginger mojito- mix of two complete-ly distinct flavours. While the initialtad sweet taste of rose soothed thetongue, the last taste of gingerplayed for a much longer time on thetaste buds. Also, the garnish of rosepetals gave the drink a good aroma.The second drink, Dexter, however,was little out of balance. The rose-mary infused gin with sparklinglemonade lacked sweetness at first.We asked for a remake but again itdidn't come good. All in all, the drinksimply tasted like ice chilled lemon-ade with gin.

Going over to the starters, weordered Cocktail Dip, Chutney filledCroquettes and shredded chickenstuffed mushrooms. The cocktail dipwas cigar rolls with the filling ofsweet American corn and cheeseserved with Thousand Island sauce.The cheese was stuffing was appro-priate and didn't unnecessarily fellout while eating. The thousandisland sauce - mix of olive oil,lemon juice, orange juice, paprika,mustard and Worcestershire sauce -made the starter all the more appetis-ing. Next on our plates was Chutneyfilled Croquettes. Small pieces of rawmango and mashed potatoes mixedwith sour mango chutney werecoated by crunchy bread crumbsserved with mayo. The coating of thecrumbs was quite thick but that didnot mess with the taste of the stuff-

ing. Apart from the mashed potatoesand mango slices, the tad sournessof the chutney made the dish for agood starter which could be accom-panied well with drinks. Lastly, thechicken stuffed mushrooms wereone the best from all. The shreddedchicken was stuffed in the mush-room cups, topped melted cheese.The chicken, well marinated in lightspices, was bit greasy. The slightgreasiness of the chicken and cheesemade the bites even more scrump-tious.

For the main course we ordereda Punjabi style chicken curry and aLamb Bolognaise. The chicken in themain course was tender and thecurry had high taste of Indianspices. The chicken was prepared toperfection and was not at all chewy.The dish had soaked all the flavoursof the gravy, thus accomplishing themain goal of the recipe. The lambdish was one of the best bolognaisewe had in a long time. The aroma ofthe spices of the semi-gravy lambwith garlic breads on the side was adefinite winner.

Finally, for the desserts, we wereserved the red velvet ice-creamsandwich. The dessert was not toocreamy. It had a perfect sweetness.As for the texture, it was soft, freshand served with a lot of sauce. Soagain, the combination was brilliantand the dish left its flavor lingeringin our palate for a while.

A FUSION FARE

Drive down Chanakyapuri to discover INDIA BISTRO that explores

the new trend of fusion food. ANKITA JAIN reports

A good medicineUnlike the other restaurants in the vicinity,CAPSULES lures you with quirky decor, goodfood and even better drinks. By Jigyasu Joshi

THE KALA KHATTA,MADE OF JAMUNSYRUP, IS TART

AND SERVED WITHICE SLUSH AND A

SPRIG OF MINT IN ASALT-RIMMED

SERVING BOWL.THE ICE IS NOT

GRATED ORSHAVED, BUT

GROUND IN THEMIXER, AND

THERE'S A LOVELYSMOOTHNESS TO IT

R E C I P E

GINGER BREAD HOUSE Beyond dining

LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 7, 2016 sport 14

DELHI AIM FOR ANOTHER OUTRIGHT WINVADODARA: Delhi's batting heavyweights would liketo get their act together when they take on Saurashtrain their final group league encounter in the RanjiTrophy here on Wednesday. Jharkhand with 32 pointsand Karnataka with 30 in their kitty are safely throughto the next round while Odisha (22 points), Delhi andMaharashtra on 21 each are fighting for that final slot.Playing Saurashtra, who have had a poor season andhave just about managed to save relegation with 12points will be an advantage for the Delhi boys. A lotwill depend on how India discard Gambhir andcurrent international Shikhar Dhawan perform in thismatch. Not to forget Ranji Trophy's current top-scorerRishabh Pant (903), who can be a game-changer on agiven day.

SOUTH CENTRAL RAILWAY IN FINALMUMBAI: South Central Railway, Secunderabad,drubbed last year's runners-up Comptroller andAuditors General of India, Delhi, 6-1 to storm into thefinal of the 51st All India Bombay Gold Cup HockeyTournament at the MHAL Mahindra Stadium onTuesday. SCR will meet Punjab National Bank, whooutclassed former champions and fancied Indian Oil3-1 in another semifinal, in the title clash onWednesday. Gagadeep Singh Jr. Scored two goals, offa penalty stroke and a penalty corner, while teammateArun Singh scored the other goal to secure the winfor the Punjab bankers. Indian Oil pulled one backthrough Raghunath midway through the second half.

SUDAMERICANA TITLE GIVEN TO CHAPECOENSEASUNCION: South American football confederationCONMEBOL has agreed to award the CopaSudamericana to Brazilian club Chapecoense, whoseteam was wiped out in a plane crash while heading tothe final. "CONMEBOL awards the title for the 2016Copa Sudamericana championship to Chapecoense,"including the $2.0 million in prize money, theconfederation said in a statement. The unsung club washaving a fairy tale season until the charter plane flying itto the biggest match in its history ran out of fuel andsmashed into the mountains in northwestern Colombiaa week ago, killing 71 people. The side was heading toplay the first leg of the final against Colombian clubAtletico Nacional in the city of Medellin.

NO FEDERER, SERENA IN IPTL THIS YEARNEW DELHI: Already struggling to get star power thisyear, IPTL has been hit further as neither Swiss iconRoger Federer nor American legend Serena Williamswill be part of the popular league this season, due toprevailing "economic climate" in India. InternationalPremier Tennis League (IPTL) founder MaheshBhuapthi, India's one of the most successful doublesplayer, confirmed the absence of the two star players."We have had challenges this year and we are hopingto get past them. With current economic climate inIndia and uncertainty of spending money, I reachedout to both Roger (Federer) and Serena (Williams) toexplain the situation. They have been very supportiveof the IPTL the first two seasons and we look forwardto bring them in Futures," Bhupathi said in astatement. Agencies

singles

PTI n MUMBAI

India's chief coach Anil Kumble feels that it is"unfair" to pinpoint senior opener Murali Vijay'srecent spate of dismissals to "short deliveries" as

his "weakness"."Vijay has been one of our most consistent bats-

men in the last couple of years. He has started offthe series very well with a 100 at Rajkot and yes, hehas got out to similar deliveries, which probably youcan start pinpointing as his weakness, but I don'tthink that's fair. He is someone we believe is justround the corner to get a big score," Kumble wasfirmly behind the seasoned opener.

The coach said that the team management is try-ing to help him out during nets, but there was noneed to delve deeper into the issue. "When we go outthere at the nets, we try and help him (Vijay) withthat kind of delivery. But I don't think we need togo too deep into why he's getting out that way. It'sjust a matter of time where he will start scoring runs.We certainly believe it's just round the corner."

India's opening woes have continued in thishome season with Shikhar Dhawan losing form andthen getting injured. KL Rahul had an injury lay-offwhile Gautam Gambhir also failed miserably.

Kumble said he is happy for the fact that the teamhas been doing well without a settled opening pair.

"That's not in our control as injuries are part andparcel of the game. Ideally yes, we would like a set-tled pair, but I think under the circumstances we havedone really well. Unfortunately (KL) Rahul gotinjured (shoulder) while fielding in Vizag (in the sec-ond Test against England). Parthiv (Patel) came in,in the last game (at Mohali) and did a fantastic job,"said Kumble, ahead of the fourth game of the seriesagainst England commencing here two days later.

According the coach, he is confident that theMangalore lad will make it in the final team.

"I am sure Rahul will have a hit today and heshould be fine. Let's see how it goes. We had threedifferent opening pairs against New Zealand (in theprevious home series won by India 3-0) and even inthe West Indies (Murali) Vijay got injured. ThenShikhar (Dhawan) got injured against New Zealand.Gautam had a freak injury in Indore against NewZeland, but he could bat. So I think something ishappening with openers in terms of injury and I hopethat it does not go on. There should be some stopat some stage," he said.

Kumble was all praise for the bowlers and alsothe astute captaincy by Virat Kohli with his immac-ulate field placings.

"It is a tribute to our bowling attack and fieldplacements Virat has set as captain. And also bowlin partnerships according to the field. In the last fewTest matches, all bowlers have had significant roles,either in getting just that one break-through or pick-ing up a fifer — (Ravichandran) Ashwin did that.

"That there has been only one five-for in theseries goes to show all bowlers have contributed real-ly well. We hope we are able to continue irrespec-tive of surfaces - all three surfaces were different. Wechanged those lengths, adjusted accordingly and alsobowled aggressively."

Kumble however refused to be drawn into a com-

parison between Indian pace duo of Umesh Yadavand Mohammed Shami with England attack.

"I am not someone who likes to compare. Forme, the two fast bowlers have been brilliant rightthrough I have come back as coach from the WestIndies. Not just those two, but Bhuvi (BhuvnesharKumar) and Ishant (Sharma) too. All of them havecontributed significantly."

"Credit to Umesh and Shami. We are constant-ly monitoring their workload - especially Shami, whohas come back after a gap of 18 months, it's not easyfor any cricketer. It is important these guys are givenenough breaks. What is really creditable is the waythey have come back and bowled in the last hour ofthe day - their third or probably fourth spells — real-ly rattling batsmen and picking up wickets."

He also praised the lower-order led by Ashwinfor contributing with the bat too.

"I was really pleased with the three spinners whenthey each contributed with a fifty when we wereunder pressure at 150 for five. Scoring 400 from thatposition was pleasing. I was really pleased for(Ravindra) Jadeja as well because he's someone whois really capable of scoring big runs.

"He (Jadeja) has showed that in domestic crick-et. For him to get to 90 for the first time (in Mohali),will give him the confidence to do it again. Jayant(Yadav) - if you look at him you don't really thinkhe is playing in only his second Test match (atMohali). Ashwin has led the way of helping the lowerorder realize their potential," the coach explained.

Kumble was also happy with the waythe team has handled the DRS situations,in vogue for the first time in a home bilat-eral series.

"It's been a really good experimentwhich is happening in the series. Overallthe players are satisfied with the out-come. I don't think it is a matter of score-keeping — of saying which team has gotit better. "What is important is whetherat that point of time did we take theright call. I think we have done so inthe last three Test matches. It hasadded balance that you would expectin international cricket."

He, however, did not totallyagree with the view of former Indiacaptain Dilip Vengsarkar that theextra work put in by players ingymnasium led to injuries.

"All I can say is that the fit-ness parameters of the currentIndian team is the best that hasever been. I played in the 1990'swhen fitness and strength con-ditioning were personal andnot team choices. Post 2000,the culture changed and youcan see the difference now;it's part and parcel of team,"he added.

PTI n MUMBAI

Uncapped opener Keaton Jenningson Tuesday conceded that

England is under pressure after being0-2 down in the five-Test series againstIndia but said he is hopeful that hisside will throw some punches back atthe hosts in the fourth game startinghere on Thursday.

"It's pressure but I have alwaysbeen taught that pressure is a privilege,sort of a thing my dad tried to infuseinto me as a kid. I like to think that Ibring positive energy and a smile to thegroup. I am generally quite a happyguy (person). But again, it's 2-0 downand gets into a tougher position. So,hopefully we can throw a few jibes andthrow some punches back," saidJennings here ahead of the must-wingame for England.

Jennings, son of well-known coachRay Jennings, is South Africa-born andhas qualified to play for his adoptedcountry following a four-year resi-dence in England. He has replacedteenage opener Haseem Hameed, whois out of the remainder of the serieswith a finger fracture.

Asked how he would cope with thespin threat posed by India's attack,Jennings said if he can come out on topof the Indian spinners it would a hum-bling experience for him.

"I leave that to you to answer in acouple of days of play. There is no bet-ter place to come and challenge your-self. If I can play and come out withsome sort of success, that would behumbling," the left-handed batsmansaid.

"If I don't play then I will carrydrinks, but I am looking forward to

getting involved."Having coached the Royal

Challengers Banglore in the IndianPremier League, Jennings senior hasgood experience of the Indian condi-tions and he has given his son sometips ahead of the series.

"I have got quite a good relation-ship with my dad (Ray Jennings), fromthe playing point of view, my dadasked me to enjoy the process and cul-ture of India. I have been told to drinklot of water and to ensure that the bot-tle is closed," Jennings said.

PTI n LONDON

Limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan willreturn to lead England in the One-Day

International and Twenty20 series againstIndia, which starts next month.

The 30-year-old Morgan will be joinedin both the squads by top-order batsmanAlex Hales.

Both the players are back in the inter-national set-up after having opted out of theODI series in Bangladesh in October dueto security concerns.

Middle-order batsman Joe Root alsoreturns to the 15-member squad havingbeen rested for England's ODI series vic-tory over Bangladesh.

Pacer Ben Duckett, Steven Finn andJames Vince will return home after the Testseries.

Under Morgan and head coach TrevorBayliss, England have won nine of their last12 ODIs.

England will play three ODIs and threeT20s during the three-week tour with theODI opener taking place on January 15 inPune.

Before the start of the limited oversseries, England are scheduled to play awarm-up matches (50 overs) against IndiaA on January 10 at the CCI ground in

Mumbai.Indian limited-overs captain Mahendra

Singh Dhoni might get some game timeduring this warm-up game. Dhoni has notbeen playing since the home series againstNew Zealand in October.ODI SQUAD: Eoin Morgan (Captain),Moeen Ali, Jonathan Bairstow, Jake Ball,Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Liam Dawson,Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, JoeRoot, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey,Chris Woakes.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Cricket Association ofBengal president Sourav

Ganguly on Tuesday said thathe will be taking up the issueof revocation of Bengal'srescheduled Ranji Trophyencounter against Gujarat withthe BCCI brass including pres-ident Anurag Thakur and sec-retary Ajay Shirke.

It has been learnt fromCAB sources that they will senta formal letter to the BCCIregarding the current move.

"I am aware of the situa-tion. I will be taking up thisissue at the appropriate forumwith president Anurag Thakurand secretary Ajay Shirke,"Ganguly told PTI today.

Asked if the morale of theteam will be down due to thisdecision as they play an impor-tant match against MadhyaPradesh, starting onWednesday, the former Indiacaptain said "I have told theboys that they should just focuson the match and not think

about anything else. Their goalshould be to win the match."

Bengal's smog-hit Ranjiencounter against Gujarat hit(November 7-10) was resched-uled when two days went with-out a ball being bowled. Thematch was rescheduled toDecember 15-18 inVisakhapatnam but MumbaiCricket Association and TamilNadu Cricket Association(TNCA) took up the matterwith BCCI citing it as an "unfairadvantage" for the two teams.

Shirke's explanation is thatthere was some ambiguity andthe prerogative of reschedulinglay with the tournament com-mittee and not the technicalcommittee, which Gangulyheads.

AFP n CANBERRA

David Warner slammed his sixth one-daycentury of the year to lead Australia to

a crushing 116-run victory to reclaim theChappell-Hadlee Trophy series off NewZealand here on Tuesday.

Warner smashed 119 off 115 balls topropel theAustralians to animposing 378 forfive after beingsent into bat andthen bowled outthe Black Capsfor 262 off 47.2overs. New Zealand had to win in Canberrato keep alive their hopes of retaining the tro-phy after losing by 68 runs in the openinggame. Warner led the way in Australia'sthird-highest ODI total and was support-ed by skipper Steve Smith's 72 off 76 ballsand Travis Head's 57 from 32 balls, whileMitchell Marsh scored an unbeaten 76 offjust 40 balls.

KUMBLE BACKS VIJAY

Morgan to lead Eng in ODIs, T20s Keaton admits pressure ahead of 4th Test

MUMBAI: Taking into accountthe sensitive situation after JJayalalithaa's demise, the BCCIhas decided to "wait and watch"before deciding on a possibleshift of venue of the fifth Testbetween India and Englandscheduled to be held fromDecember 16-20 in Chennai.

"As you all know andthere are some news reportstoday about the next Testmatch, which is scheduled inChennai. It has been a veryunfortunate incident inChennai, passing away of thehonourable Chief Minister.So, rather than media debateor speculation, we are makingit clear that BCCI has nottaken any decision with regardto the Chennai Test match,"BCCI secretary Ajay Shirketold reporters.

"We are keeping a closewatch on the situation and weare taking the inputs from thelocal host association as towhat is the mood and senti-ment of the people and basedon what evolves, the finaldecision on the (Test) matchwill be taken. I just wanted toclarify that, because often(when) there is no clarity,there can be some speculationand such speculation can beoften counter-productive andit might not, ever had been theintention of BCCI to take anysuch decision," he added.

Meanwhile, a Group BRanji Trophy match betweenOdisha and Jharkhand, whichwas suppose to take place inDindigul, from December 7,will be rescheduled.

PTI

‘Will speak to Thakur,Shirke on revocation’

‘No decision taken

on Chennai Test’

Warner’s ton helps

Aus clinch series

Unfair to pinpoint Vijay's dismissals to short deliveries as his weakness, says chief coach

PTI n NEW DELHI

With India wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha stillrecovering from a strain in his left thigh, comeback-

man Parthiv Patel is set to play the fourth Test againstEngland starting in Mumbai on December 8.

Patel, who impressed with scores of 42 and 67 in thetwo innings at Mohali on his comeback into the side aftereight years, got another chance to impress the team man-agement. "Parthiv Patel will continue to be part of theIndian Test team for the 4th Test of the five-match PaytmTest Series to be held in Mumbai from December 8, 2016,"BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke said in a release.

Saha, who had suffered the niggle during the secondTest at Visakhapatnam, has been rested for the upcom-ing Test. "The BCCI med-ical team has confirmedthat wicketkeeperWriddhiman Saha is stillrecuperating from thestrain in his left thigh,which he sustained duringthe second Test match atVizag," the release said.

"As a precautionarymeasure, Saha has beenadvised rest. The BCCImedical team is monitoringthe wicketkeeper-batsman'sprogress."

Delhi seamer IshantSharma, who has been partof the squad for the firstthree Tests, has beenreleased for his wedding.

Meanwhile, Indiacoach Anil Kumble heapedpraise on wicketkeeper-batsman Parthiv Patel, whois on comeback trail after agap of eight long years, for shouldering the responsibil-ity of opening the innings in the previous Test at Mohaliand doing the job "brilliantly".

"Parthiv came in after eight years and did not reallyshow nerves you would expect, although he is a seasonedcampaigner. He was asked to open he did that brilliant-ly and also kept wickets very well. He was not worriedabout failing," Kumble told reporters here today.

"I was really pleased that he could walk into that matchand not just keep wickets and bat at six or seven. Whenyou are making a comeback after eight years you alwayswant to do well for yourself and here is Parthiv who waswilling to put his hands up when asked to open. Thatshows his character. I am pleased with that," he added.

Parthiv struck 42 and 67 not out in the two inningsat Mohali and Kumble felt he had never lost faith thatcould make a comeback.

Saha rested,

Parthiv to play

AP n RIO DE JANEIRO

Brazil will play Colombia ina friendly match at the end

of January to help victims of theair crash that killed most of theplayers, staff and directors offootball club Chapecoense lastweek. Spokesman DouglasLunardi also said on Mondaythat the Brazilian football con-federation will donate about $1.5 million to Chapecoense.

Nineteen of Chapecoense'splayers were killed in the crashjust outside Medellin,Colombia, as the Brazilianteam headed to the first of two

matches against Colombianclub Atletico Nacional to deter-mine the champion of theCopa Sudamericana - LatinAmerica's No. 2 club tourna-ment. Earlier, South America'sfootball confederationConmebol officially gave thetitle of the 2016 edition toChapecoense, as AtleticoNacional requested.

Lunardi said the venue willbe decided by Chapecoensedirectors and that all the tick-et office revenues will go to thefamilies of the victims. Themost obvious choices, he said,are the historic Maracana sta-

dium in Rio de Janeiro andChapecoense's Arena Conda.

"The decision will bebetween making that tribute athome or get a bigger revenuefor the victims," Lunardi toldThe Associated Press. "We willlet them take their time tomake that decision."

Maracana has a capacity of78,000 and has hosted twoWorld Cup finals as well as theopening ceremony of the lastOlympic Games in August.

Arena Conda is a 22,000-seater. It hosted a memorial ser-vice on Saturday for 50 of the71 victims. Chapeco, the city ofthe club impacted by thetragedy, has 200,000 residentsand sits about 800 miles (1,300kilometers) south of Rio.

LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 7, 2016sport 15

PTI ■ NEW DELHI

The Junior Hockey WorldCup not only provides

India a chance to end their 15-year-old title drought in theevent, but also gives the colts anopportunity to enter the seniorcore group which will bereformed soon, said the seniorside’s chief coach RoelantOltmans.

Oltmans, who is the chiefcoach of the senior Indianhockey team till 2020 TokyoOlympics, however, asked thejunior players to fully concen-trate on the job at hand as theirperformances in the WorldCup and next HIL will betaken into consideration whileforming the new core group.

“I believe in quality andtesting new players. I havetold the junior players that anew core group will be formedafter the 2017 HIL and every-one has a chance to get into itbut that will depend on theirperformances in the WorldCup and HIL,” Oltmans, whois overseeing the preparationsof the junior team alongsidechief coach Harendra Singh,told PTI.

“But I have also told themnot to burden themselvesthinking about the senior side

now. Their main task at presentis to play as a team in the WorldCup,” he said.

Regarded as a hardtaskmaster, Oltmans feels thehosts are among the most bal-anced in the Junior WorldCup to be played in Lucknowfrom December 8 to 18.

“We have a balanced teamand that is our strength. Wehave more experience thanothers because of playing inHIL. We have performed wellin the last two years and wealso have key players in everyline,” the legendary Dutchmanpointed out.

“We will play as a team andaim for consistency. We will beplaying attacking hockey.”

Having said that, Oltmans,however, refused to predict

India’s chances in the event,which according to him, will befull of “surprises” and “unpre-dictable”. “I know in Indiaeveryone wants to see the teamwin gold medal but this is notmy style of working. Everyteam will come into the tour-nament expecting podium fin-ish. But I always take onematch at a time and my presenttarget is our first game againstCanada,” he said.

“The interesting part aboutthe Junior World Cup is that itis always full of surprises. If youlook at the past, the tourna-ment is very unpredictable.”

Asked who would be thetoughest opponents for India inthe tournament, Oltmans said,“It is very difficult to saybecause most of the teams areon the same page. Australia,Germany, Argentina,Netherlands, England all willbe out to prove a point.”

India have been placed inPool D alongside England,Canada and South Africa in the16-team tournament. Thehosts will open their cam-paign against Canada on theopening day on Thursday.

The only time India wonthe Junior World Cup was wayback in 2001 in Hobart,Australia.

Hockey colts have plenty at

stake in Jr WC: Oltmans

LUCKNOW: Hoping to make the most of theopportunity they got, after Pakistan ouster dueto visa issue, the Malaysian national team arrivedin Lucknow to participate at the Uttar PradeshHockey Junior World Cup to be played here atthe Major Dhyan Chand Stadium.

"We have just played a U-21 tournament inNovember and the team has been practicingtogether for a while. But when we were told bythe FIH that we would be participating in theWorld Cup, the team was obviously excited andthis is a huge opportunity for them. Some ofthem are also part of the development programand this experience will help them improve in

a great way," stated Malaysian head coachWallace Tan.

Malaysian team's recent performance at the2016 Sultan of Johor Cup was encouraging andthey will be aiming at improving their recordin the Junior World Cup where they have fin-ished fourth on four occasions. Speaking aboutPool B where they are grouped with TheNetherlands, Belgium and Egypt, the coachadmitted that it will be a tough challenge forthem. "We are in a difficult group as all teamsare tough but we are prepared for the challenge,"he said. Malaysia will play their first matchagainst the Dutch on December 9.

AP n MADRID

It could be a night of records at SantiagoBernabeu Stadium on Wednesday.

In addition to trying to win theirChampions League group, Real Madridand Borussia Dortmund will also belooking to make history when they meetin their final Group F match.

One draw and Madrid will equal theclub's longest unbeaten run of 34 gamesin all competitions. One goal andDortmund will match the most goals everscored in the tournament's group stage -20.

On a personal level, Cristiano Ronaldocan become the first player to score 100times in European competitions if he isable to score twice.

Madrid is in position to equal theunbeaten record set under coach LeoBeenhakker in the late 1980s. It would thenbe five short of Barcelona's Spanish recordof 39 consecutive games without a loss, setlast year.

Madrid hasn't been defeated sinceApril at Wolfsburg in the quarterfinals oflast season's Champions League.

Dortmund has a chance to become thefourth club to score 20 goals in the groupstage. And if it scores two or more goals,it will surpass the mark set by Madrid in2013-14, Barcelona in 2011-12 andManchester United in 1998-99.

Dortmund scored at least once inevery group game so far, and it has a shotat the record thanks mostly to routsagainst Legia Warsaw - 6-0 in Poland and8-4 in Germany.

Ronaldo's 100th goal has eluded himfor some time - he hasn't scored inChampions League play since a 2-2 drawat Dortmund in September. Madrid scored10 goals in the three matches since then,but none came from Ronaldo.

The Portugal forward has averaged agoal per game in the Champions League

while playing with Madrid, with 80 goalsfrom as many matches. He has scored onlytwo in this season's group stage, his worstmark since joining the Spanish club.

GROUP EMonaco has secured first place and

Bayer Leverkusen is guaranteed second,but Tottenham needs at least a drawagainst CSKA Moscow at WembleyStadium to finish third and earn a spot inthe Europa League.

"We haven't won yet at Wembley, wewant to finish with a win and give some-thing back to the fans," Tottenham mid-fielder Christian Eriksen said.

The English side routed Swansea 5-0in the Premier League this weekend torebound from two consecutive losses.

Leverkusen will be without injuredmidfielder Kevin Kampl for the homematch against Monaco.

"We would like to finish the groupundefeated, which would be a first for us,"

Bayer coach Roger Schmidt said.

GROUP FMadrid hosts Dortmund trailing the

German side by two points, so only a vic-tory will secure first place in the group.

But the defending champions arriveboosted by an eight-game winning streakat the Bernabeu in the European compe-tition.

Madrid has won 28 of their last 32home matches in the tournament, with theonly loss coming against Schalke in the2014-15 season.

Dortmund will be without MarioGoetze because of a minor injury.

"(Winning the group) would top offthis outstanding opening round,"Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorcsaid. "It would be the icing on the cake."

In the other match, Sporting Lisbonneeds at least a draw at Legia Warsaw tosecure third place and a spot in the EuropaLeague.

AP n MILAN

Chievo Verona drew 0-0against Genoa in Serie A

on Monday, thanks in part toValter Birsa's terrible penaltyfor the home side.

Birsa should have putChievo ahead in the 37thminute after RiccardoMeggiorini was fouled byEzequiel Munoz, but he blazedthe spot kick over the crossbar.

Moments earlier,Meggiorini almost scored astunning goal but saw hisoverhead kick come off thebar. Genoa, which beatJuventus 3-1 in the previousround, also hit the woodworkwith Nikola Ninkovic's effortcrashing off the right post inthe 71st.

The two teams remainedin mid table, separated by apoint, although Genoa hasplayed a match less than near-ly all the other teams.

UDINESE 1-0 BOLOGNA Udinese marked its 120th

anniversary with a last-gaspvictor y against 10-manBologna. Bologna defenderErick Pulgar was sent off inthe 68th following two yellowcards in 10 minutes.

It looked as if Bologna wasgoing to take a vital point,despite its numerical disad-

vantage, but Udinese captainDanilo acrobatically volleyedSilvan Widmer's cross in offthe underside of the crossbarin stoppage-time.

It was a magnificent strikeno doubt appreciated byUdinese's record goalscorerAntonio Di Natale, who wasamong a number of formerplayers in the stands at StadioFriuli.

Stipe Perica should haveput Udinese in front earlier butfired over the bar from a goodposition and also had a head-er from point-blank range bril-liantly stopped by Bolognagoalkeeper Antonio Mirante.Udinese moved up to 13th,while Bologna slipped to 16th,eight points off the relegationzone.

DEPORTIVO LA CORUNA WINRomanian striker Florin

Andone scored a goal in eachhalf as Deportivo La Corunarouted Real Sociedad 5-1 inthe Spanish league to moveout of the relegation zone.

The result snappedDeportivo's six-game winlessstreak and moved the team to16th in the 20-team standings,one point above the bottomthree. In the next round,Deportivo faces leader RealMadrid at the SantiagoBernabeu Stadium.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Delhi Dynamos defenderSouvik Chakraborty has

registered a commendableachievement as he emerged asthe only player to feature inevery minute of his side's play-ing time in the ongoing IndianSuper League football.

Chakraborty, who has beenpart of the Delhi side since theinception in 2014, has played1260 minutes in 14 matches,making him the player to havespent the maximum minuteson the field.

Not only Chakraborty,other Indian players have alsodone well in the ISL regarding

the amount of time they wereon the field. Chakraborty is fol-lowed by Kerala Blastersdefender Sandesh Jhingan, whoclocked 1248 minutes and wasreplaced only once in theleague stage, to be the overallsecond in the playing timelist. There are two other Indianplayers —Debjit Majumder(Atletico de Kolkata) andMehrajuddin Wadoo(Chennaiyin FC) —in the top10.

Among the top 15 players,seven are Indians while theIndian players representationgoes up to 12 in the top 25 list,reflecting on the equal oppor-tunity ISL presents to the

domestic players.Chakraborty has been a

favourite of Delhi Dynamoscoach Gianluca Zambrotta andoccupied the right-back slot forall the matches. He did not justmake up the numbers but alsoput up impressive perfor-mances, making him an inte-gral part of Delhi Dynamos.

Jhingan has been the lead-ing performer for KeralaBlasters since the start and wastrusted by Steve Coppell indefence. Jhingan formed astrong central-defensive part-nership with Cedric Hengbartwhenever marquee playerAaron Hughes was not avail-able. When the Northern

Ireland international was onthe field, Coppell used Jhinganon the flanks.

Chennaiyin FC defenderMehrajuddin Wadoo andAtletico de Kolkata goalkeep-er Debjit Majumder were alsonever substituted wheneverthey were fielded for 13 out ofthe 14 matches their respectiveteams have played so far.

They only sat out of theirconcluding league clashes astheir respective coaches optedto give others a chance withnothing at stake. Atletico deKolkata had already qualifiedfor the play-offs before the lastleague game and ChennaiyinFC were out of the race.

Record-breaking night awaits

Brazil will play Colombia in friendly

Dynamos’ Souvik tops chart on maximum mins on field

Chievo draw 0-0 against

Genoa, Udinese win

Malaysia look to capitalise on opportunity

PNS ■ LUCKNOW

Sports Minister Ram SakalGujjar on Tuesday said that

all arrangements for FIH JuniorHockey World Cup had beendone by the organising com-mittee and state governmentwas also taking every possible

step to make this grand eventa huge success in order to putLucknow on world’s sportingmap. The minister urged thepeople of Lucknow and hock-ey lovers to reach the venues inlarge numbers to cheer theteams.

On this ocassion, Hockey

India CEO Elena Norman saidthat Lucknow had a rich pastas far as hockey was concernedand the event would definite-ly take the sport forward.

Governor Ram Naik willinaugurate the event at DhyanChand Stadium on Thursdayevening.

‘Make Hockey WC a grand sucess’

16LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 7, 2016the pioneer

feb 1948 — dec 2016 nation mourns as amma laid to rest carrying the chief minister’s body, velu,...

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