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Traffic in parts of Lutyens’Delhi was hit as students of

Jawaharlal Nehru University(JNU) carrying placards andchanting slogans marchedtowards Parliament on the firstday of the Winter Session onMonday demanding the roll-back of the proposed hostel feehike. But they were stopped bythe Delhi Police on the roadoutside the Safdarjang Tomb.

The protesters sat on theroad leading to jam onAurobindo Marg and chokingarterial roads with the cascadingimpact felt till C-hexagon, theIndian Gate roundabout.Vehicles on Nelson MandelaMarg, Aurobindo Marg andBaba Gang Nath Marg moved ata snail’s pace, a senior police offi-cer said. The Delhi Metro closedentry and exit points of three sta-tions near Parliament for a fewhours due to the protest.

Many commuters took toTwitter to vent their ire as theygot stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic for hours due toprotest. Around 100 JNU stu-dents, including students unionpresident Aishe Ghosh, weredetained and released later.Devesh Srivastva, the JointCommissioner of Police,Southern eastern range, saidthat the protest ended around7.30 pm after talks followingwhich students moved towardstheir campus.

Following the students’protest, the Ministry of HumanResource Development onMonday appointed a three-member committee to recom-mend ways to restore normalfunctioning of JNU. The panelincludes former UGCChairman VS Chauhan,AICTE chairman AnilSahasrabudhe and UGCSecretary Rajnish Jain.

“With a view to restore thenormal functioning of JNUthrough dialogue with all stake-holders and to advise the uni-versity administration for res-

olution of contentious issues,the Government has appoint-ed a three-member high powercommittee,” HRD Secretary RSubrahmanyam said.

“The committee will initi-ate dialogue with the studentsand varsity administrationimmediately and submit rec-ommendations. The UGC willprovide required support forfunctioning of the commit-tee,” Subrahmanyam said.

Senior Delhi Police officerskept on appealing the agitatingstudents to maintain law andorder and return to hostel inthe JNU campus but studentsdug in their heels. Despite theadamant students, police offi-cers kept them engaged andfinally succeeded in persuadingthem to leave for their respec-tive destinations.

When asked whether thestudents could return onTuesday to press for theirdemands, Srivastva said thereis no information about this butthey remain vigilant to ensurethat no untoward incidenttakes place in the city.

JNU Students Union, vicepresident Saket Moon said,“The police are telling us theywill take a delegation to meetHRD officials. We will decideon sending a delegation onlyafter our colleagues detained atunknown locations arereleased. We want representa-tion in the HRD panel.”

Meanwhile, the protestingstudents also alleged that policerestored ‘lathi’ charge to dis-perse them in which severalstudents’ sustained injuries.However, police said that theywill look into the allegation oflathi charge and they will speakto the students about it.

“Around 100 students weredetained by police. Despitecontinued defiance by somegroups of students, methods ofpersuasion were resorted to,and there was no use of watercannons, tear gas shells orlathi-charge at any stage of theprotest. Apart from 10 com-

panies of CAPF, around 800Delhi Police personnel weredeployed to handle the protestand ensure maintenance oflaw and order,” said a seniorpolice official.

The students, who wereholding a protest on the uni-versity’s premises for the lastthree weeks, hit the streetsseeking to get the attention ofParliament about theirdemands, asserting they willnot relent until theGovernment withdraws thehike.

Earlier on Monday morn-

ing, section-144 was imposedoutside the JNU campus aheadof the protest. Delhi Policepersonnel and Central ArmedPolice Force (CAPF) stoppedthe students on the BabaGanganath Marg, around 600metres from the main gate ofthe university.

But initially on Mondayafternoon, the barricades out-side JNU’s gates were removedand the students were allowedto march towards Parliamentbut were again stopped onroad outside the SafdarjangTomb. The students sat on

road demanding the release ofstudents detained by the police.

The students also allegedthat the police used baton onthem at Safdarjang Tomb whilethey were marching towardsParliament, however, the samewas refuted by the Delhi Police.Mandeep Singh Randhawa,the Deputy Commissioner ofPolice (DCP), Central districtand Public Relation Officer(PRO) of Delhi Police saidthat police will enquire aboutthe lathi charge allegation.

“It could be possible thatsome of them sustained injuries

when the barricades were bro-ken by the students. Even somepolice personnel got injured,”the Randhawa added. However,Aishe Gosh said they took outa peaceful march from JNU.“The police thought they woulddetain students including twoJNUSU office bearers and themovement would end, butevery student is a leader. We areall fighting together. The DelhiPolice is upset. Till the timethere is not a complete rollbackof the hike and of the IHA man-ual, we will continue our agi-tation.”

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The much-awaited meetingbetween NCP chief Sharad

Pawar and Congress presidentSonia Gandhi on Monday didnot throw up a decisive wordon the future of a Governmentin Maharashtra involving themand the Shiv Sena, which con-tinues to wait in anxiety havingstaked everything in a bid tocorner the Chief Minister’spost.

In an interesting turn ofevents, just ahead of Pawar-Sonia meeting, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Mondayutilised his address during the250th session of the RajyaSabha to praise the NCP fordiscipline in the House.“Today, I want to appreciatetwo parties, the NCP and theBJD. These parties have won-derfully adhered to parlia-mentary norms. They havenever gone into the Well of theHouse (to protest). Yet, theyhave made their points veryeffectively. Every politicalparty, including my party,should learn from them,” Modisaid.

While efforts are on for theShiv Sena, the Congress and theNCP to come together, therehas been a buzz also about theBJP and the NCP exploring analternative possibility forGovernment formation inMaharashtra.

The formation of aGovernment in Maharashtrawill take some more time tobecome a reality as both theCongress and the NCP decid-ed to hold talks with their alliesin Maharashtra before taking afinal decision.

But the BJP, the Congressand the NCP have all opted outof fray for the November 22mayoral poll in the BMC,India’s richest civic body.

While Sena retaining themayor and deputy mayor’s postis thus a mere formality, it has

increased Sena’s importanceand also the suspense overwho will it eventually ally with.

Addressing a press confer-ence after the meeting, Pawarsaid he briefed Sonia about thepolitical situation inMaharashtra but surprisingly,claimed, there was neither anytalk on Government formationin the State nor the CommonMinimum Programme (CMP)for the three parties. Thethree parties had earlier met inMumbai to chalk out a 40-point CMP.

“We have discussed indetail the political situation inMaharashtra,” he said, addingsenior Congress leader AKAntony was also there.

“Certain leaders of both(Congress-NCP) parties willmeet and discuss further andget back to us. We will keep aneye on the situation inMaharashtra. The Congressand the NCP leaders will holdfurther talks on the futurecourse of action,” he main-tained. Sources said the NCPhas called its leaders like AjitPawar and Jayant Patil to Delhito hold the talks.

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On a day the Rajya Sabhaentered its 250th Session

on Monday, the House wit-nessed a makeover of theHouse marshals’ uniforms thathave been redesigned by theNational Institute of Design(NID) — from the traditionalIndian attire comprising a tur-ban to a military-style outfitswith a cap. Customarily, thepresiding officer of the House(Vice-President) is flanked bytwo marshals who march aheadof the Chairman to announcethe commencement of pro-ceedings and also assist thechair in his or her officialfunctions, including organisingthe desk and providing orderdocuments.

The all new Navy blueuniform sported an aiguillette,an ornamental braided cordwith decorative metal tips forthe winter months.

However, it is differentfrom military uniforms. For thesummer months, the uniformwill be all-white on the lines of Navy except the change in design.

Earlier, the marshals sport-ed safari suits during the sum-

mer months and Indian band-hgalas during the winter alongwith turbans as head gear. OnMonday, the first day of the250th session of the House of

Elders, two marshals in mili-tary-style uniforms and capsmarched in ahead of theChairman’s arrival, much to thesurprise of the members.

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As #DilliKaPaniZehrila,trended on Twitter on

Monday, Delhi Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal rejected thereport prepared by the Bureauof Indian Standards (BIS) as“false and politically motivated”.Union Food and ConsumerAffairs Minister Ram VilasPaswan challenged him to nameofficials for a team comprisingcity and Central officials to testthe water quality.

In the first phase of its sur-vey, the BIS had found that all

the 11 samples drawn fromDelhi did not comply with thequality norm and failed on all19 parameters.

Dismissing the BIS report,Kejriwal said, “BetweenJanuary and September 24,Delhi Jal Board (DJB) collect-ed 1,55,302 samples, of which2,222 samples failed to meet thestandard. This means 1.43 percent samples failed.”

“But 98.5 per cent samplesdid meet the standards.Similarly, the data for Octobershowed that out of the 16,502samples, only 658 failed to

meet the specified standard,"the Delhi CM claimed.

Kejriwal argued that as perthe Wealth HealthOrganisation (WHO) stan-dards, the sample needs to becollected for every 10,000 peo-ple and only then can a studycome to a conclusion. In thiscase, at least 2,000 sampleswould have been collected.

Kejriwal also pointed at thecontradictory statement ofUnion Jal Shakti MinisterGajendra Singh Shekawat, whohad said Delhi's water qualitywas better than the European

standards. "Both Shekhawatand Paswan are in the Cabinetof the Central Government. Letthem decide who is correct,"Kejriwal said.

He argued that Delhi waterquality should not be judged on11 samples. The DelhiGovernment said in the com-ing days it would collect fivesamples from each municipalward in Delhi in the presenceof the people, media and theOpposition for testing.

Kejriwal also invitedPaswan to be present on theoccasion. After the BIS report,

posters were put in the national Capital slammingthe Kejriwal Government formaking people to drink "poi-sonous" water.

Earlier, Union HealthMinister Harsh Vardhan hadtweeted about the "poisonous"water in Delhi to hit out at theKejriwal Government.

Tagging Kejriwal, he tweet-ed, "In the name of free water,you are making Delhi residentsdrink poison. A survey in 20 cities in the countryfound the Delhi water to bemost poisonous".

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Without mentioning J&K,which was recently bifur-

cated into Union Territories,Former Prime MinisterManmohan Singh on Mondaysaid as a Council of States, theRajya Sabha should have agreater say in legislations deal-ing with redrawing bound-aries of States. Participating inthe discussion on the "Role ofRajya Sabha in Indian Polityand Need for Reform" on thefirst day of the 250th session ofthe House, Singh said, "Onsome matters, this Houseshould be given greater respectby the executive, that is not thecase now. For example, impor-tant issues like redrawing theboundaries of aState.Converting them intoUnion territories, is such afar-reaching proposal or legis-lation, this House, a Council ofStates, should be given morepowers to deal with theseissues.

"The Government shouldconsult with the council ofStates much more effectivelybefore such drastic measurescan be considered by the Houseas a whole," he added.

On the issue of scrutiny ofbills by parliamentary com-mittees, Singh said, "For ourchamber (Rajya Sabha) to fullyfunction, it is required that wescrutinise the bills more thor-oughly in (parliamentary)committees, where not only themembers can apply their mind,even the opinion of stakehold-ers can be solicited."

He told the House that inthe 16th Lok Sabha, only 25 percent of the bills introduced

were referred to the commit-tees, much lesser than the 71per cent and the 60 per cent inthe 15th and 14th Lok Sabharespectively.

"I would assert that regard-less of what the other Housedoes, it is crucial for our Houseto form select committees toensure that the bills receive thedetailed scrutiny that theydeserve," the Congress leadersaid.

The Rajya Sabha commit-tees had done a commendablejob of improving legislations,he said, adding, "I would urgethat we should follow thispractice for all the bills which

come before this augustHouse."

On the misuse of the pro-visions of money bills, Singhsaid, "Article 110 allows prece-dence of Lok Sabha over thematters in money bills. In therecent past, we have seeninstances of misuse of moneybills’ provisions by the execu-tive, leading to bypassing theRajya Sabha."

"Today, as we celebrate the250th session of the RajyaSabha, it is appropriate for usto reflect on whether we livedup to the expectations of theframers of our Constitution,"he said.

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Protesting over the contin-ued detention of sitting

National Conference MPFarooq Abdullah in J&K,Opposition members onMonday described it as illegaland demanded that he beallowed to attend the Houseeven as the Congress raised theissue of removal of SpecialProtection Group (SPG) secu-rity cover for its presidentand his family.

Congress was upfront fromthe word go with its membersin good strength moving to thewell of the house and chargingthe Government with attackingthe opposition and foistingfalse cases against it.

Their protests continueduntil end of the question hourwhen Speaker Om Birlaallowed Congress leader in theLok Sabha Adhir RanjanChowdhury to make his com-ments on the detention ofAbdullah .

Opposition leaders alsoraised the issue of MPs notbeing allowed to visit Jammuand Kashmir after abrogationof its special status under arti-cle 370 whereas parliamentar-ians from Europe allowed togo there. Chowdhurydescribed the EU delegation as"bhade ke tattu" (hirelings).

"Our leader Rahul Gandhiwas not allowed to visit (J&K),

several MPs were sentback.Whereas bhade ke tatufrom Europe were being takenthere. Isn’t it an insult to allMPs. I want to ask MPs of rul-ing alliance don’t they think itwas their insult," Chowdhurysaid. On the detention ofAbdullah, he said the NCsupremo has been underdetention for 106 days and itis his constitutional right toattend the House.

Raising the issue duringZero Hour, Chowdhury said itwas an "atrocity" not to allow theformer J&K Chief Minister toattend Lok Sabha proceedings.

Giving an account ofsequence of events, theSpeaker said when HomeMinister Amit Shah informedthe House in the previoussession that Abdullah was notunder detention, he was thencorrect. The written informa-tion of his detention wasreceived later by the Lok Sabhasecretariat, he said

He said now he has writ-ten information that Abdullahis under detention. DMKleader TR Baalu sought Birla’sintervention in the matter,saying the speaker is the cus-todian of the House and shouldensure that members areallowed to attend the House.

"What has happened withFarooq is illegal.You are cus-todian of the House.You haveto make intervention," Baalu

said.The DMK leader also said

that same is the case withPeoples Democratic Party(PDP) leader and former J&KChief Minister MehboobaMufti and noted that herdaughter has said that the PDPleader has been manhandled.

National Conference MPHasnain Masoodi said the for-mer Chief Minister was underpreventive custody not underjudicial custody and it can berevoked by the Speaker’s order.

"Farooq Sahab representsSrinagar and it is right of the20 lakh people of Srinagar thattheir voice be heard in theHouse.I have proof that he isnot in judicial custody, he is inpreventive custody.

Your one order can revokeit," Masoodi said whileaddressing the Chair. Similarsentiments on Abdullah’sarrest were made by TMCleaders as well. The issue wasalso raised by RSP leader N KPremachandran when he wasgiven a chance to ask a sup-plementary question related tothe Finance Ministry.

Chowdhury also raisedthe issue of withdrawal ofSPG cover of Former PrimeMinister Manmohan Singhand the Gandhi family. He saidas Former Prime Minister,late Atal Bihari Vajpayeeremained under SPG protec-tion.

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In a departure from conven-tion, the Rajya Sabha on

Monday allowed leaders ofvarious political parties tospeak and pay tributes to fivelate members, Arun Jaitley,Ram Jethmalani, JagannathMishra, Gurudas Dasgupta andSukhdev Libra, instead of justthe Chairman making obituaryreferences.

Usually, the chair in theUpper House reads out obitu-ary references before mem-bers rise as a mark of respect tothe memory of the departed.The House adjourns proceed-ings if a sitting member pass-es away and takes up listedagenda soon after the mourn-ing in case of former members.

But since the obituary wasof Jaitley - a man who had per-

sonally touched political livesof many leaders across thepolitical spectrum, ChairmanM Venkaiah Naidu allowedmembers to speak.

Once leaders had spoken,Naidu adjourned the proceed-ings till 2 pm as a mark ofrespect to Jaitley and RamJethmalani, both sitting mem-bers.

In his obituary reference,Naidu described Jaitley as a"quintessential politician" anda "man of impeccable integri-ty" whose stellar contributionis a matter of record.

An advocate by professionand a member of the UpperHouse since April 2000, Jaitleypassed away on August 24 atthe age of 66, he said. Jaitley, he said, left an inediblemark on all Ministries he head-ed and was the force behind

many landmark legislationsincluding the Goods andServices Tax (GST), Insolvencyand Bankruptcy Code, BenamiAct and the merger of RailBudget with General Budget.

Naidu also mentionedpassing away of Jethmalani onSeptember 8 at the age of 95 aswell as former member

Jagannath Mishra (82) onAugust 19, Sukhdev SinghLibra (86) on September 6 andGurudas Dasgupta (82) onOctober 31.

While Leader of the HouseThaawarchand Gehlot saidJaitley’s death was a personalloss to him, Leader of theOpposition and seniorCongress leader Ghulam NabiAzad said the personal rela-tionship that the deceasedmember shared with othermembers turned political bit-terness into sweetness on mosttense issues.

"We haven’t seen such amedia savvy minister andleader," he said, adding Jaitleydid not stop meeting mediapersonnel and friends evenwhen he was ill during his lastdays.

Derek O’Brien (TMC) said

Jaitley was a mentor to many ofthe new entrants in Parliamentdespite having diagonallyopposite political ideology. Herecalled how Jaitley had takenpositively his comment on himbeing a "plantation managerwho planted stories" in mediasitting in Parliament.

Azad described Jethmalanias perhaps the only practisinglawyer and a player in hismid-90s.

Ram Gopal Yadav (SP)recalled the contribution ofDasgupta and termed him as"sharp leader".

Senior NCP leader SharadPawar recalled the contributionof Jaitley to sports. He saidJaitley often used to discussissues related to cricket withhim.The House observedsilence as mark of respect to thelate leaders.

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Intensifying its steps to ensureclean air in smog-hit Delhi,

the Government on Mondaysaid concerned officials foundguilty of any kind of deliberateomission or negligence in con-trolling pollution in Delhi willbe held responsible and pun-ished.

This was decided at a high-level meeting on air pollutionchaired by Union EnvironmentMinistry CK Mishra andattended by Chief Secretaries ofDelhi, Punjab, Haryana andUttar Pradesh besides repre-sentatives of Central PollutionControl Board and other stake-holders.

"We will act decisively. Theofficials found deliberatelyneglecting action to check thepollution will be held respon-sible and penalize. Also viola-tors will be punished. In thenext fifteen days we will inten-sify the crackdown on violators,illegal constructions and actionwill be taken to reduce emis-sions. New technology is alsobeing worked upon," Mishratold reporters after the meeting.

The northern States havebeen witnessing severe air pol-lution since last month, withthe air quality even touchingthe ‘emergency’ mark, trigger-ing anger among citizens.

The air pollution in thenational capital was so toxicafter Diwali that theEnvironmental Pollution(Prevention and Control)Authority (EPCA) had declareda public health emergency inthe Delhi-NCR and hadadvised people, especially chil-

dren and the aged, to refrainfrom venturing outside theirhomes.

Also, a meeting of a parlia-mentary standing committee todiscuss the rising levels of air pol-lution in the national capital waspostponed as most participants,including Member of Parliamentfrom East Delhi, GautamGambhir, skipped the meeting

The Delhi Governmenthad urged the Centre numer-ous times to take steps to dealwith the air pollution as it hasblamed the stubble burning in

the neighbouring states forthe deteriorating air qualityhere.

A few days ago, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’s prin-cipal secretary PK Mishra hadreviewed the air situation inDelhi and other parts of northIndia wherein it was decidedthat the chief secretaries of theaffected States will monitorthe situation round-the-clockand take steps to tackle themenace.

The Environment Ministryofficial said sprinkling of waterhas been advised in many partsof Delhi to ensure dust settles.Punitive action will be takenover construction activitiesand Delhi has been asked tostop all waste burning in indus-trial areas, he added.

Mishra said he will be per-sonally monitoring the situa-tion on the daily basis. We dis-cussed accepted air pollutionplan while within the nextfortnight, we will intensify ouranti-pollution measure andreview the situation as direct-ed by the Supreme Court.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi on Monday utilised

his address during the 250thsession of the Rajya Sabha tocall for a disruption-freeHouse proceedings and also,perhaps, to reach out to NCPchief Sharad Pawar just aheadof the latter’s meeting withCongress chief Sonia Gandhiover the issue of Govt forma-tion in Maharashtra.

"Today, I want to appre-ciate two parties, NCP andBJD. These parties have won-derfully adhered to parlia-mentary norms. They havenever gone into the well of thehouse (to protest). Yet, theyhave made their points veryeffectively. Every politicalparty, including my party,should learn from them,"Modi said.

His remarks came justhours before Pawar wasscheduled to meet Sonia inview of the Maharashtraimpasse, which has broughtthe ideologically-opposite ShivSena and Congress along withthe NCP on one platform toexplore the possibility offorming a Govt in Maha.

While efforts are on forthe Shiv Sena, Congress andNCP to come together, therehas been a buzz also about theBJP and the NCP exploring analternative possibility for gov-ernment formation.

As for disruptions in Rajya

Sabha in the past hinderingpassage of crucial legislations,Modi said a distinction needsto be drawn between checkingand clogging. "The RajyaSabha is about checks and bal-ances. This is absolutely essen-tial for our democracy.Debates have to be many andeffective. But, there is also adifference between checkingand clogging (and between)balance and blocking," he said.

With some within the rul-ing party questioning the effec-tiveness of Rajya Sabha as cru-cial legislative work got stalledbecause NDA lacked majorityin the House, Modi recalled thethen Prime Minister Atal BihariVajpayee’s words that the UpperHouse "may be the secondhouse but no one should thinkof it as a secondary house."

"Today, I echo the senti-ments of Atal Ji and add thatthe Rajya Sabha must be avibrant supportive House fornational progress," he said,adding makers of theConstitution envisioned abicameral legislative frame-work and this vision hasenriched the democracy. He,however, wanted the House tofunction and not disruptwork."Our Constitutioninspires us to work for aWelfare State. It also motivatesus to work for the welfare ofstates. The Rajya Sabha, as theCouncil of States, enables us tofurther the spirit of cooperativefederalism," he said.

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Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde,who was part of the historic

Ayodhya verdict earlier thismonth, was on Mondayadministered oath as the 47thChief Justice of India byPresident Ram Nath Kovindand started holding court at11:30 am.Bobde, 63, succeedsJustice Ranjan Gogoi whodemitted office on Sunday.

He took oath in English inthe name of God at a brief cer-emony held at the Durbar Hallof the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Justice Bobde will have atenure of over 17 months as theCJI and is due to retire on April23, 2021. Soon after taking theoath, he sought the blessings of

his mother by touching herfeet. She was brought to thepresident house on a stretcher.

VP M Venkaiah Naidu,Prime Minister Narendra Modiand several Senior Ministers

were present at the oath-takingceremony. Former VicePresident Hamid Ansari andFormer Prime MinisterManmohan Singh were alsothere.

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Irked with the frequent face-off between the BJP and

TMC MPs from West Bengal,Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla onMonday warned the membersnot to turn the Lok Sabha intoWest Bengal Assembly. Thewar of words between the MPsstarted during the debate on theChit Fund (Amendment) Bill."Don’t turn the Lok Sabha intothe West Bengal Assembly,"warned Birla.

The war of words broke outwhen BJP member LocketChatterjee alleged that the"entire TMC is involved inchit fund irregularities, dupinggullible investors of their hard-earned money". She allegedthat the West Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerejeewas protecting those who hadrun away with poor people’smoney. Chatterjee also allegedthat 40 per cent of the moneycollected by the various chitfunds in West Bengal had goneto agents, who were membersof the TMC.

Hitting back at Chatterjee,Kalyan Banerjee of the TMCrejected her allegations andsoon started again argumentsand shouting by the MPs. Thisled to the Chair to interveneand urge them against makingpersonal remarks.

The Bill was moved byMoS Finance Anurag Thakur.The Bill proposes to amendcertain definitions to enable theincreased investment in ChitFunds.

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Jailed Former Finance andHome Minister P

Chidambaram on Mondaymoved a bail application in theSupreme Court. The matterwas mentioned before a benchheaded by Chief Justice ofIndia (CJI) SA Bobde wheresenior advocate Kapil Sibalsought urgent listing of theplea. Sibal told the bench thatChidambaram has been in jailfor around 90 days.

"We will see," the benchtold Sibal, adding that the bailplea would come up for hear-ing either on Tuesday orWednesday. Meanwhile in theafternoon the Delhi High Courtclarified that the facts of anoth-er case mentioned in the orderdenying bail to Chidambaramare only for reference. JusticeSuresh Kait said it was nowherementioned in the November 15order that the observationsmade in a particular paragraphare of Chidambaram’s case.The court’s clarification camewhile taking up the matter suomotu (on its own) followingnews articles that there is ‘cutand paste’ work in the judge-ment. The High Court OrderedChief Editors of ‘Indian Express’and ‘The Hindu’ to publish clar-ification on Tuesday itself.

Earlier, the EnforcementDirectorate approached theDelhi High Court seeking rec-tification of an "inadvertent"error in the order denying bailto Chidambaram in the INXMedia money laundering case.

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Taking its new role as an‘Opposition party’ serious-

ly after its recent break-upwith its NDA ally, the BJP, inMaharashtra, the Shiv Senaon Monday raised issues relat-ing to farmers in the State inthe Lok Sabha, staged protestinside Parliament premisesand sought the ‘Bharat Ratna’for social reformer JyotibaPhule.

RSP MP Premchandranraised the death of an IIT-Chennai Girl-student in a sus-picious circumstances andsought a judicial inquiry into itas he said name of professorwas doing round for humiliat-ing her.

While Congress-led oppo-sition protested against thedetention of the house memberFarooq Abdullah in J&K,members of the Shiv Sena, theoldest ally of the BJP which hassnapped its ties with the rulingparty, also raised slogans anddemanded relief for farmers inMaharahtra and later walkedout of the House. Shiv Senamembers were seen sitting inthe opposition benches aftertheir party broke ties with theBJP with one of its member inthe Modi-Cabinet alreadyputting-in his papers.

One of the Shiv Sena MPsduring the zero hour sought‘Bharat Ratna’ for famous socialreformer Jyotiba Phule whohad worked for the upliftmentof dalits and did pioneeringwork for the girl education.

Shiv Sena MPs also

protested inside the Parliamentpremises demanding that theGovernment declare unsea-sonal rains in Maharashtra asnatural calamity. MPs SanjayRaut, Arvind Sawant and oth-ers were present at the protestwhich comes on the first day ofthe Parliament’s WinterSession, which will end onDecember 13.

Unseasonal rains inMaharashtra have damagedcrops on 70 lakh hectares ofland, State MaharashtraFinance Minister SudhirMungantiwar had said a cou-ple of days earlier.

According to Governmentofficials, the loss could be to thetune of over �5,000 crore across30 of the state’s 36 districts.

Navneet Rana , anIndependent MP fromMaharashtra, however, wenthammer and tong against Senafor what she said giving ‘ lipsympathy’ to farmers whilenot allowing a stableGovernment in the state.

Four members -- PrinceRaj (LJP), Himadri Singh (BJP),Shriniwas Dadasaheb Patil(NCP) and D M Kathir Anand(DMK) -- took oath as LokSabha commenced its pro-ceedings for the day . TheHouse paid tributes to 10members, including from theRajya Sabha, who passed awayrecently.

They included formerUnion ministers Arun Jaitley,Sushma Swaraj and RamJethmalani. The House alsostood in silence as a mark ofrespect for the departed souls.

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RAIPUR | TUESDAY | NOVEMBER 19, 2019chhattisgarh 03

Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Monday met Justice Aftab Alam, head of the Chhattisgarh Journalist Protection Act DraftCommittee at Raipur Airport while the later was proceeding to national capital after conducting a series of meetings across thestate with journalists, journalists’ bodies as well as social organization seeking their views over the proposed law to be enacted.

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

Governor Anusuiya Uikeyand Chief Minister

Bhupesh Baghel on Mondaygave away gold and silvermedals to the students at thefirst convocation ceremony ofDr Shyama PrasadMukherjee InternationalInstitute of InformationTechnology, Nava Raipur.

Higher Education andTechnical Education MinisterUmesh Patel, Ex-Director IITDelhi and Ex-Chairman NBAProfessor Surendra Prasad,special guest of the pro-gramme, Chairman IITBoard and Co-Founder HCLAjay Choudhary also attend-ed the ceremony among oth-ers wherein 69 studentsreceived B.Tech. degree.

Speaking at the function,Baghel called upon thestudents to contribute to the

development of Chhattisgarhwith their technicalknowledge.

He said that use ofadvanced technology in pro-cessing of agricultural and

forest produce can generatemaximum employmentopportunities, and farmingcan be made more profitablefor farmers. Research shouldbe done in this context.

Baghel said that in nearfuture, IIIT will become oneof the major institutes to con-tribute tin progress of thecountry, just like BSP andNTPC.

He said that in last 200years, there has been progressin every stream of science,but this progress has comewith its own set of challenges.He said that with all kinds ofdevelopment, air and waterpollution have also emergedas huge problem. He appealedto students to do research inthis sector. Chhattisgarh hasimmense potential forresearch, said Chief Minister.Chhattisgarh is rich in forest

After receiving degree atthe convocation ceremony, itis possible that some studentswould go abroad and somewould stay in the country.

“Wherever we work,wherever we go, we shouldalways strive for glorifyingthe name of our country,” sheadded.

Governor said that 41 stu-dents of IIIT have got jobopportunities with attractivepackages. This includes

Viman Anand Baghel ofKondagaon who has got thepackage of `29 lakh, which iscommendable.

Uikey encouraged theyoungsters for entrepreneur-ship and motivated them tobecome job providers. Shealso encouraged the studentsto utilize their technicalknowledge for furtherresearch in various fields.

Special guest of the occa-sion, Umesh Patel said thatresearch should be encour-aged in engineering and tech-nical institutions ofChhattisgarh.

Professor Surendra Prasadsaid that technical institutesshould focus on both profes-sional skills and wisdom.

Ajay Choudhary alsoaddressed the programme.IIIT Vice-Chancellor andDirector Dr Pradeep KumarSinha presented progressreport of the institution.

‘Technical institutions shouldbecome centers of innovations’1st convocation ceremony of IIIT, Nava Raipur

STAFF REPORTER nDANTEWADA

Two Naxals were arrested bysecurity forces in

Dantewada district and a tiffinbomb planted by them wasrecovered, police said onMonday.

Baman Mandavi (27) andHidma Podiyami (26), bothjan-militia members, werenabbed from the forest nearNadenar village underKatekalyan police station area,around 70 kms from here, onSunday evening, a local policeofficial said.

Personnel of the DistrictReserve Guard (DRG) and theCRPF's 195th battalion wereinvolved in the search

operation, he added."Based on their interroga-

tion, a tiffin bomb planted bythem to harm security forceswas recovered from the areaalong with a detonator and anelectric wire," the official said.

The arrested duo havebeen associated with thebanned CPI (Maoist) since thelast several years, he said.

"Their job involves arrang-ing ration for senior ultras andkeeping an eye on the move-ment of security forces. Theduo were also allegedlyinvolved in plantingimprovised explosive devices(IEDs) and iron spikes totarget security personnel," theofficial explained.

Two Naxals heldin Dantewada


Chhattisgarh State PowerTransmission Company

conducted a mock drill tocounter any black out within20 minutes in case of anyproblem in Korba-basedThermal Power Plants.

The power can berestored through the hydelpower projects. The drill wasconducted at Load DispatchCentre, Dangania in presenceof Chhattisgarh State PowerCompanies chairmanShailendra Kumar Shukla andTransmission CompanyManaging Director TripthiSinha.

During the drill, within20 minutes the power restora-tion was done from Bangobased hydel power plant. It is

a part of the directive toconduct mock drill underIndian Electricity Grid Codeand State Grid Code.

Before going for mockdrill, for Bango Hydel PowerProject 132 KV sub-station toJamnipali, Churikhurd andKorba sub-station, an islandsub-system was made. Ablack out in hydel andthermal project was created,

then restoration process wastriggered by the engineers.

Diesel generator set wasused to restore service ofBango project to charge the132 KV sub-station thenpassing through the createdisland the 20MW load ofhydel power station was takenand within 20 minutes powerwas restored, the engineersinformed.

Western Regional Gridcomprises Chhattisgarh,Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh andMaharashtra. In case of anypower failure from powerplants, it would affect thepower supply in these states.In year 2012, on July 30-31 theNorthern and Eastern Gridblack-out affected power sup-ply of 21 states but WesternGrid remained operational.

Power company conductsmock drill to counter outage

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

Chhattisgarh Chief MinisterBhupesh Baghel

announced that the route inthe state through which LordRam believed to have beentravelled during his exile peri-od will be developed as reli-gious tourist spot and route asthe state is perceived as hismaternal home.

The route is from Koriyato Sukma-Konta as identifiedby the experts.

He also said it is because ofthis that there is a custom forpeople in the state to touch thefeet of their nephew as they seereflection of ‘Lord Ram’ in them.

He was addressing the9-day event concludingceremony organised atDudhadhari Math, Raipur onMonday. The event is organ-ised in memory of MathMahant late Rajeshri VaishnavDasji every year where musical‘Ramkatha’ and ‘Bhakta-Santh’sammelan are held.

Chief Minister also saidthat already a Rs 11- lakhaward has been announced forfinding the date of birth of‘Mata Kaushalya’. After it amassive celebrations will beheld. He also said that in thename of Late Rajeshri MahantVaishnav Das ‘SanskritSamman’ will be given.

‘Ram Gaman Marg’ to bedeveloped as tourist route


Food Minister Bhagat ina review meeting of

food and civil suppliesdepartment on Mondayinstructed the officials totake stern action againstthe illegal transportationof paddy into Chhattisgarhfrom neighbouring states.

Official sourceinformed that in the meet-ing, he instructed the con-cerned officials to checkthe illegal transportation ofpaddy by middlemen andtook information about theavailability of gunny bags

at procurement centres.He instructed in the

meeting to form special

squads to check the arrivalof paddy from neighbour-ing states. The squad must

consist of officials fromdepartments of revenue,forest, food, cooperative,

transport and Mandiboard, he stressed.

The districts situatedat state borders namelyMahasamund, Gariaband,Raigarh, Jashpur,Balrampur, Koria,Rajnandgaon andKawardha need to be alerton the matter, he said.

It is the duty of stategovernment to providemore and more benefit tostate farmers, he said.

Regarding publicdistribution system, theminister took district-wiseinformation about storagefacilities at fair price shopsand its distribution.

Sunil Kujur appointedas Cooperative EC

R A I P U R :Retired ChiefSecretary SunilKujur (IAS) tookcharge as StateC o o p e r a t i v eE l e c t i o nCommissioner,Chhattisgarh onMonday. TheC o o p e r a t i v e

Department issued the order of his appoint-ment in the afternoon. Earlier, the state gov-ernment had made all efforts for his exten-sion as Chief Secretary but the Governmentof India had rejected the extension propos-al. Thus, Sunil Kujur retired on October 31,2019 as chief secretary. It was expected thathe would be accommodated by the stategovernment in a key post after retirement.

Spl squads to check illegal transportation of paddy

STAFF REPORTER nBILASPUR

The Chhattisgarh High Courton Monday sought reply of

the state government over a setof petitions that has challengedthe decision to hold the electionsto the posts of mayors ofmunicipal corporations andchairpersons of other civicbodies in the state throughindirect elections.

In October this year, the stategovernment issued a gazettenotification-- The ChhattisgarhMunicipal Corporation(Amendment) Ordinance, 2019--paving the way for indirectelections of Mayors and chief ofother civic bodies in the state,

state’s Advocate GeneralSatishchandra Verma said.

Janata CongressChhattisgarh (J) MLADharamjeet Singh and five

others filed separate petitionschallenging the decision of thegovernment, terming itunconstitutional, Verma said.

The division bench of ChiefJustice PR Ramchandra Menonand Justice PP Sahu on Mondaytook all six petitions for hearingand directed the state governmentto furnish its response on theissue, he said.

The HC has posted the matterfor next hearing on November 28,he added.

As per the government’sgazette notification, generalpublic will directly electcorporators and then the electedcorporators will elect mayor andchairpersons of municipal bodiesfrom among them.


Under provisions of ChhattisgarhPanchayat Raj Act, the reserva-

tion process for Zila Panchayat chair-man post in 27 districts for three-tierpanchayat general election 2019-20was conducted at local new circuithouse conference hall on Monday.Raipur Zila Panchayat has beenreserved for general woman category.

The lottery was done in presenceof Deputy Secretary cum DirectorPanchayat and rural developmentdepartment Jitendra Kumar Shuklaand public representatives.

As per the process, 13 seats havebeen reserved for Scheduled Tribes, 3for Scheduled caste, seven for OBCand four districts for general categorycandidates. The reservation has beendone on the basis of 2011 Census.

The Scheduled Tribes reserved

seats are Dantewada, Sukma, Bijapur,Narayanpur, Kanker, Kondagaon,Bastar, Sarguja, Balrampur, Koriya,Korba and Jashpsur. The ScheduledCaste reserved seats are Balod,Kabirdham and Dhamtari whileRajnandgaon, Mahasamund,Bemetara, Janjgir-Champa, Raigarh,Balodabazaar-Bhatapara and Durgfor Other Backward Category. Raipur,Mungeli, Bilaspur and Gariyabanddistricts chairman will be from unre-served category (general).

The woman reserved seats for STare Dantewada, Narayanpur, Sarguja,Balrampur, Koriya, Korba andJashpur while SC woman the districtsof Dhamtari and Kabirdham havebeen reserved while for OBC catego-ry woman the seats of Rajnandgaon,Bemetara, Mahasamund and Durghave been reserved.


Troops of tribals from acrossthe state reached the capital

embarking on ‘Van SwarajPadyatra’ on Monday and stageda dharna at Budhapara Dharnasite of Raipur.

Later they also metGovernor Anusuiya Uikey andraised their demands, includingtheir forest rights. Theycommenced the march onNovember 11.

Under the banner of ‘VanAdhikar Sangharsh Samiti’, thetribals reached capital on foot.Their demands include theissues related to Jan Jungle andJameen and to press theirdemand they on Mondayevening also handed over a

memorandum to the Governor.They were in traditional attireand were armed with bow, arrowand small axe.

Chief Minister BhupeshBaghel on the other hand com-menting on the agitation of trib-als said the main demand ofthem about forest right wasactually stayed by the high courtand as the matter was alreadypending with the SupremeCourt the distribution of forestland title was stopped by thestate government.

As far as the matter of mineswas concerned it was under thepurview of the Centre but thestate government assures thetribals that they will safeguardthe interest of tribals, he said.

Tribals across the statestage protest in capital

Raipur Zila Panchayat seatreserved for general woman

HC issues notice to state govtover indirect mayoral elections

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The first full Cabinet meetingof Haryana on Monday gave

bonanza to the ministers withincreased House Rent allowance.

Government has decided torevise the House RentAllowance to the Ministers fromRs 50,000 to Rs 80,000 plus Rs20,000 to cover electricity andwater charges that is totaling Rsone lakh per month.

A decision to this effect wastaken in the meeting of StateCabinet which met under theChairmanship of Chief Minister,Manohar Lal Khattar onMonday.

The new rules will be calledthe Haryana MinistersAllowances (Amendment)Rules, 2019.

All allowances admissible tothe Ministers have been revisedby the government from orafter April 1, 2016 except HouseRent Allowance which was lastrevised on June 2, 2011.

GRAM SABHA EMPOW-ERED TO BAN LIQUORThe Cabinet took an in-princi-ple decision to bring an amend-ment in section 31 of theHaryana Panchayati Raj Act,1994 allowing devolution ofpowers to Gram Sabha to banintoxicating liquor within the

local area of a Gram Panchayat.As per the decision, a GramSabha may, at any time, duringthe period commencing on 1stday of April and ending with the31st day of December instead of30th day of September of anyyear pass a resolution banningthe opening of a liquor vend inthe Sabha area from April 1 oft h en e x tyear. Itwas further decided that thequorum of the Gram Sabhameeting for passing such a res-olution shall be one-tenth of itsmembers.

DEPARTMENT OF FOR-EIGN COOPERATION TOBE CREATED

Haryana Cabinet has decid-ed to create Department of'Foreign Cooperation' to stream-line and provide focus to vari-ous initiatives taken by the stategovernment for the promotion

of investment,employmentfor Haryana

youth and welfare of NonResident Indian (NRI)/Person ofIndian Origin (PIO).

The department will alsowork to enhance international

cooperation with provinces offoreign countries and engage-ment with cities under the sis-ter provinces and twin cities pro-grammes of Ministry of ExternalAffairs, Government of India.

The new department willdeal in formulation of countrywise strategies for promotion ofinvestment, employment in thestate, education and skill devel-opment and promotion ofHaryanavi culture and welfare ofHaryanavi diaspora, participa-tion at bilateral and multilater-al fora with the objective of pur-suing issues of interest to thestate involving cooperation in

public and private sector orga-nization. Apart from this, thedepartment will deal in partic-ipation in bilateral workinggroups with a view to promotestate’s interest in foreign coun-tries in the area of trade andinvestment both in-bound andout-bound in consultation withMinistry of External Affairs.

The department will alsomaintain liaison with IndianMissions abroad/Ministry ofExternal Affairs/ foreign mis-sions at New Delhi on matterspertaining to Haryana withregard to investment, employ-ment, education, skill develop-

ment, and culture and NRI/PIOaffairs. Besides this, it will alsowork for development of glob-al country wise marketing andcommunication strategies toensure strong links withHaryanavi diaspora.

CM AUTHORISED TOADDRESS ISSUES RELAT-ED TO GST

The Cabinet also gaveauthorization to the ChiefMinister for a further period of6 months for all matters per-taining to the implementation ofGoods and Services Tax in theState including framing of newrules and rate of tax, amend-ments thereto and issue of noti-fications under the Act.

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Chandigarh: The HaryanaCabinet on Monday decidedto convene one-day specialsession of Haryana VidhanSabha on November 26 tocommemorate the 70thanniversary of adoption ofConstitution of India. Talkingto reporters after the Cabinetmeeting, chief ministerKhattar informed about thedecision.

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Dedicated to 550th ParkashPurab of Sri Guru Nanak

Dev, Punjab Government incollaboration with the UTAdministration on Mondayorganized a multimedia float-ing light and sound shows atthe Sukhna Lake here.

The 45- minute floatingmultimedia light and soundshow mesmerized audience byshowcasing life journey of SriGuru Nanak Dev Ji throughcolourful visual presentations,ultra-modern laser techniquesand unique acoustics.

During the shows the audi-ence were disseminated themessage of strengthening theethos of communal harmony,peace, compassion, brother-hood, women empowerment,protection of natural resources,and humanity as preached bythe Guru.

The floating multimedialight and sound show show-cased the life of Guru NanakDev Ji and his efforts to pro-mote social equality were alsoshowcased to the audience inthe letter and spirit through theshows.

This event will also beshowcased on Tuesday at 7 pmto 7:45 pm and 8:15 pm to 9:00pm to commemorate the 550thParkash Purab.

The Multimedia floatinglight and sound shows arebeing organized in the state andsuch shows have already beenheld in Jalandhar, Ludhiana,Ropar, Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur,

Moga, Kapurthala, Amritsar,Tarn Taran and Ferozepur atSutlej and Beas rivers.

The initiative of the stategovernment was also aimed atacquainting the younger gen-erations of the state with theteachings of Guru Nanak Devby using the hi-end visual pro-jection and advanced lasertechnology.

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The candidature of rebel BJPleader and former Cabinet

Minister Saryu Roy fromJamshedpur (East) against ChiefMinister Raghubar Das has notonly affected the BJP, but has cre-ated fissures in Grand Alliance(Mahagathbandhan).

Big brother in GrandAlliance Jharkhand MuktiMorcha (JMM) has openlycome up in support of Roy urg-ing all like-minded parties tosupport Roy, while at the sametime Congress after fielding itsnational spokesperson GauravVallabh from the seat said thatit is too late to withdraw its can-didate from prestigious seat.

Jamshedpur East, which islargely an urban constituency, isconsidered as safe citadel of BJPand Chief Minister RaghubarDas has been representing theseat for five times since 1995.Like Raghubar, Roy too had awide experience as MLA andMLCs in Bihar. Roy, the 68-year-old politician who has beenopposing some of the decisionstaken by his own party andGovernment alleging irregular-ities filed his nomination paperas an independent candidatefrom Jamshedpur east onMonday. Roy, who has taken upthe crusade against corruptionnot even sparing his own party,is considered as new darling ofopposition parties. When Royannounced to contest as

Independent candidate againstRaghubar Das, JMM executivepresident Hemant Soren wasfirst to come up in support Roy.Soren asked opposition partiesto support Roy. Later, JMMGeneral Secretary Supriyo

Bhattacharya extending sup-port to Roy said,

“Despite being part of theRaghubar Das Cabinet, Roy aswhistle blower has raised hisvoice against Government inblanket scam, paddy purchase

scam, rain storage scam, healthequipment procurement scam,drug scam and others bringingsleepless nights to Raghubar.” Heappealed to all parties to supportRoy in his fight against thealleged corruption and injustice

in the Government.However, as per the seat

adjustment among GrandAlliance partners, the seat hasgone to Congress and the partyhas already announced the can-didature of its fast nationalspokesperson Gaurav Vallabhfrom Jamshedpur east. Vallabh,a professor at the Xavier Schoolof Management (XLRI) inJamshedpur is new darling ofCongress mostly seen in televi-sion debates.

Sources in state Congressclaimed that by projectingVallabh from prestigious seatagainst Chief Minister the partyhas given one of the best can-didates and his candidature iseven approved by Congresspresident Sonia Gandhi. StateCongress working presidentRajesh Thakur said, “There is nochance of Congress withdraw-ing its candidate fromJamshedpur east. Our candidateGaurav Vallabh has even filledhis nomination.” Thakur alsosaid that Grand Alliance inState is intact.

Vallabh become the newCongress star in social mediawhen few months back withhis ease of knowledge cor-nered the BJP’s spokespersonSambit Patra on a TV debateon the state of the Indianeconomy, asking him if heknew how many zeros are in5 trillion.

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At least 50 troublemakerswere identified and action

has been taken under the Codeof Criminal Procedure (CrPC)Section 107 (security for keep-ing peace) at Chas in Bokarodistrict ahead of Assembly poll.

The Assembly poll sched-uled to be held in the third andfourth phases in four con-stituencies of the districtincludes Bermo and Gomia,Bokaro and Chandankiyari.

Bermo and Gomia will go forpoll on 12 December whileBokaro and Chandankiyari on16 December. Today section 107has been imposed against 43troublemakers while earlier on12 November action were takenagainst 27 (under CrPC 107),informed Chunmun Singh, OCof Chas police station. "Aftergetting instructions from theElection Commission Policeare still preparing a list of suchhabitual offenders. Actionwould be taken against those so

that they do not create troublein this Assembly poll," addedthe OC.

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Former Minister RajendraPrasad Singh and AJSU can-

didate Lambodar Mahto filedtheir nominations papers fromBermo and Gomia seats respec-tively.

Singh accompanied by for-mer Union Minister RPNSingh, Forest minister of MP,Umang Singhar alongwith hisson JaiMangal Singh, GauravSingh, OPLal, Yogendra Giri,Pramod Singh, several tradeunion leaders with familyfriends and around 10,000 sup-porters submitted two sets ofnominations papers at civilSDO office at Tenughat onMonday afternoon.

Singh, who had represent-ed Bermo in Assembly seat fivetimes, filed his nominationpaper along with senior leadersof grand alliance displayingunity and strength. The entireroute through which localCongress leader took out aroad show to reach to the officeof the returning Officer for fill-

ing nomination witnessed apetal shower and the vehicle onwhich Singh was travelling gotcovered with flowers.

Later, the Congress leaderheld a public meeting at JainaMore referral hospital ground.Speaking at the meeting, thesenior Congress leader fromState attacked the NDAGovernment at Centre andState for people misery. Singhsaid, “The Raghubar Das ledNDA Government inJharkhand is full with false andfake ideas. In last five year theRaghubar Das Government hasfailed to address issue such asunemployment, farmers’ dis-tress and growing inflation.

The status Rajendra PrasadSingh enjoys in the Congressparty can be gauged from thefact that in 2014 Bermo assem-bly seat , BJP candidateYogeshwar Prasad Batul defeat-ed Singh by margin of nearly12,000 votes, but the party hasonce again reposed faith on himby giving him ticket from theBermo seat.

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Ascuffle ensued betweenagitating farmers demand-

ing rollback of the token systemin paddy procurement andpolice during a former’s protestin front of the office ofSambalpur Collector onMonday. While protesters weretrying to barge into the premis-es of the Collectorate, thepolice prevented them leadingto the melee.

Earlier in the day, the farm-ers had given an ultimatum till12 PM to withdraw the deci-sion on the token system.

They alleged that only alimited quantity of paddy canbe sold under the token systemintroduced by the StateGovernment. “But this yearbumper crop has been har-

vested. We are in a dilemmawhere to sell the rest of thepaddy,” a farmer said ruefully.

The agitators parked paddyladen tractors in front of theCollectorate gates leading to atraffic jam on three main roads.

Similar protest wasobserved by farmers in Bargarh.They locked up the SubCollector office after a discus-sion with the officials failed onMonday. Farmers in Padampuralso expressed resentmentagainst the token system.

The paddy procurementhas begun in Sambalpur,Bargarh and Balangir fromNovember 15, but farmers areunwilling to sell their paddyunder the token system and aredemanding streamlining of thepaddy purchase process, keep-ing in view the interest of thefarmers.

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Emirates Airline said Mondayit would buy 50 Airbus 350-

900 widebody aircraft in a dealworth $16 billion, with deliveryto begin in May 2023.

"I am happy to announce weare purchasing 50 Airbus 350 for$16 billion," the carrier's chair-man and CEO Sheikh Ahmedbin Saeed Al-Maktoum toldreporters at the Dubai Airshow.

Emirates serves a globalnetwork spanning over 158 des-tinations in 84 countries. Itsfleet stands at 267 large aircraft,including more than 100 Airbus380 superjumbos.

Its move earlier this year toreduce its total A380 orderstriggered Airbus to pull the plugon the costly plane, which air-lines have struggled to fill to itscapacity of 500-850 people.

At the time, Airbus said itwould buy smaller A330 andA350 models instead.

Bangkok: China on Mondayurged the US military to “stopflexing muscles” in the disputedSouth China Sea, a point of per-sistent friction in a relationshipboth sides said was generallyimproving.

A spokesman for theChinese Ministry of Defense,Col. Wu Qian, told reporters inBangkok that the South ChinaSea was among numerous issuesdiscussed earlier in the daywhen US Defense SecretaryMark Esper held his first face-to-

face meeting with the Chinesedefense minister, Gen. WeiFenghe. They met for more thanhalf an hour on the margins ofa broader Asia defense officials’conference.

“We agreed to keep talkingand engaging frequently,” Espertold reporters afterward in a briefexchange. “We continue tomake progress on any number ofissues.” The South China Sea foryears has been a major point ofcontention between Beijing andWashington. AP

Colombo: After swearing-in asthe seventh Executive Presidentof Sri Lanka, GotabayaRajapaksa stressed that SriLanka wants to stay out of con-flicts among the world powersand would remain neutral in itsforeign policy.

“We will maintain friend-ly and cordial relationship withall the nations and we don’twant to be caught betweenpower struggles of interna-tional politics among differentnations,” Rajapaksa said after hetook oath at the historic

Sinahala Buddhist city ofAnuradhapura.

“In maintaining relation-ships with us, we urge allnations to respect our sover-eignty,” he added.

Rajapaksa announced hewould soon form a newGovernment to implement hispolicies.

Former Defence Secretary-turned President had selectedRuwanveli Mahaseya, a massivetemple built by valiant kingDutugemunu in north-centralcity of Anuradhapura, situated

200 km from capital Colombo.He was sworn in besides thestatue of King Dutugemunu(161 BC-137 BC). According tohistorical chronicleMahawamsa, the King unifiedthe country overthrowingTamil prince Ellalan fromChola Kingdom.

“I was able to address thenation as the President in frontof the statue of one of the great-est kings of Sri Lankan kingdomDutugemunu because of thehistorical mandate given by thepeople,” said Rajapaksa. IANS

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President Donald Trump onMonday said he is “strong-

ly” considering answering achallenge from oppositionDemocrats to testify in hisown impeachment investiga-tion.

After the speaker of thelower house, Nancy Pelosi,upped the ante by suggestingthat Trump come forward totell the “truth,” the Republicanpresident said he was keen.

Pelosi suggested “that Itestify about the phonyImpeachment Witch Hunt. She

also said I could do it in writ-ing,” Trump tweeted.

“Even though I did nothingwrong, and don’t like givingcredibility to this No DueProcess Hoax, I like the idea &will, in order to get Congressfocused again, strongly con-sider it!”

Islamabad: Pakistan on Mondaysuccessfully test-fired a nuclear-capable surface-to-surface bal-listic missile which can strike tar-gets up to 650 kilometres, bring-ing many Indian cities under itsrange. The test-firing of theShaheen-I missile by thePakistani military took placeamidst Indo-Pak tensions overNew Delhi revoking Jammuand Kashmir’s special status.

The Shaheen-1 missile iscapable of delivering all types ofwarheads up to range of 650KMs, ISPR tweeted. PTI

London: British Prime MinisterBoris Johnson has revealed thatevery Conservative Party can-didate standing in the country’sgeneral election on December 12has personally pledged to backhis Brexit deal.

In his first major newspaperinterview of the election cam-paign, Johnson told the SundayTelegraph that he has asked all635 of his candidates to sign upto a pledge to back his BrexitWithdrawal Agreement in theHouse of Commons.

“If we get a majorityConservative government, wecan deliver and there will be nomore wrangling or dither ordelay,” Johnson said, Xinhuanews agency reported.

He said he plans to endBritain’s membership of theEuropean Union (EU) inJanuary if he wins a majority that

keeps him at 10 Downing Street.“Of course there will be

many who voted Remain, manywho voted Leave, people withdifferent views, and they willcome together to get it done, andcome together in the interests ofthe whole country.”

The Telegraph commentedthat highly unusual decision byJohnson is designed to helpconvince voters who supportBritain leaving the EU that theConservatives will deliver Brexitif they return to government.

Meanwhile the newspaperreported the latest opinion poll,carried out by Savanta ComRes,puts the Conservatives on 41 percent, the highest level in one ofthe poll company’s surveys sincethe last general election. Labourremains eight points behind, buthas risen to 33 per cent, its high-est level since April. IANS

Hong Kong: A large fire held offan apparent police advance onthe Hong Kong campus wherehundreds of pro-democracyprotesters were holed up onearly Monday, hours after offi-cers warned they may use “liverounds” if confronted by dead-ly weapons in a dangerous esca-lation of the near six-month cri-sis engulfing the city.

Protests have rocked theglobal financial hub since June,with many in the city of 7.5 mil-lion people venting fury ateroding freedoms underChinese rule.

China has repeatedlywarned that it will not toleratethe dissent, and there have beenconcerns that Beijing couldsend in troops to put an end tothe spiralling unrest.

Several loud blasts wereheard around dawn on Mondaybefore a wall of fire lit up anentrance to the Hong KongPolytechnic University (PolyU),AFP reporters said, as whatappeared to be a police attemptto enter the campus was repelledby protesters determined tohold their ground.

Police said they had firedthree live rounds in the earlyhours of Monday at a protest sitenear the university but that noone appeared to have been hit.

Intense clashes throughoutSunday, which saw a policeofficer struck in the leg by anarrow and protesters meet

police tear gas with volleys ofpetrol bombs, rolled overnightacross the Kowloon district, asa call went out to defend thebesieged campus.

There, protesters had hun-kered down under umbrellasfrom occasional fire from policewater cannon and hurledMolotov cocktails at anarmoured vehicle, leaving itablaze on a flyover near thecampus.

Police declared the campusa “riot” scene — rioting is pun-ishable by up to 10 years in jail— and blocked exits asspokesman Louis Lau issued astark warning in a Facebook livebroadcast.

“I hereby warn rioters notto use petrol bombs, arrows,cars or any deadly weapons toattack police officers,” he said.

AFP

Hong Kong: Dozens of HongKong protesters escaped abesieged university campus onMonday by lowering them-selves on a rope from a foot-bridge to a highway, AFP videoshowed. Once on the roadthey were seen being picked upby waiting motorcyclists.

The democracy protestershave been holed up for twodays at the Hong KongPolytechnic University (PolyU)and police have threatened touse deadly force to dislodgethem. AFP

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Cairo: An airstrike slammedinto a biscuit factory in thecapital, Tripoli, on Mondaykilling at least seven workersincluding five foreign nation-als and two Libyans, healthauthorities said.

Tripoli has been the sceneof fighting since April betweenthe self-styled Libyan NationalArmy, led by Gen. KhalifaHifter, and an array of militiasloosely allied with the UN-supported but weak govern-ment which holds the capital.

The Tripoli-based healthministry said the airstrike tookplace in the capital’s Wadi el-Rabie neighborhood, the southof the city center where fight-ing has been raging formonths.

Malek Merset, aspokesman with the ministry,told The Associated Press thatthe dead included five workersfrom Bangladesh, and twoLibyan nationals.

The airstrike also wound-ed at least 15 foreign workers,mostly from Niger andBangladesh, who were taken tonearby hospitals for urgenttreatment.

AP

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The unanimous verdict of theSupreme Court in the RamJanmabhoomi case, which hasbrought conclusion to a vexedissue that has disturbed commu-

nal harmony for early five centuries, as alsothe responsibility and Constitutional correct-ness displayed by Hindu and Muslim lead-ers in the aftermath of the judgment, will cer-tainly make November 2019 a memorablemonth in the history of democratic India.That all of this is happening at a time whenthe nation gears itself up to celebrate the 70thanniversary of its Constitution this month,is indeed a happy coincidence and augurs wellfor our democracy.

The judgment has been well-receivedacross the country in a spirit of harmony anduniversal brotherhood. In fact, while bothsides were apprehensive before the verdict wasdelivered, they committed themselves toaccepting the order, whatever the outcome.Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed tothe people to accept the apex court’s verdict,irrespective of which way it went. UnionHome Minister Amit Shah sent out a simi-lar appeal and supervised the extensivepreparatory work to ensure peace after theverdict. A day after the judgment, NationalSecurity Advisor Ajit Doval invited the topleaders of both communities for a discussionat his residence and secured their unflinch-ing commitment to the maintenance of peaceand communal harmony. All of them sworeby the Constitution and said that theNovember 9 verdict of the apex court mustlay the foundations for a new India built onharmony and universal brotherhood.

Though the one billion-strong Hinducommunity finally got the plot of land, whichit so deeply reveres as the birthplace of LordRam, it conducted itself with utmost sensi-bility and level-headedness. Similarly,although the Muslims lost their case, theyremained committed to the pre-judgmentresolve that they would accept the outcome,whichever way it went.

There can be no doubt that this was theresult of a close coordination between theUnion Government and the leaders of thetwo communities in the weeks before theorder. Can there be a better example of goodgovernance in the most diverse nation in theworld? In fact, India’s response to theAyodhya verdict should be a lesson indemocracy for nations around the world.

The post-verdict scenario has left thedoom-sayers — especially the internationalmedia and some of their cousins in our coun-try — totally flummoxed.

The general acceptance of the verdict hada lot to do with the way the ConstitutionBench of the Supreme Court examined theissues before it and its reasoning vis-a-vis itsverdict. For example, while the Hindus havebeen asserting that it is a matter of faith, thecourt made it clear that this was a dispute overimmovable property and that it does notdecide title on the basis of faith or belief but

on the basis of evidence. It saidin deciding title to a disputedproperty, it applies principles ofevidence.

After weighing the evi-dence, it held that “on the bal-ance of probabilities, there isclear evidence to indicate thatthe worship by the Hindus inthe outer courtyard continuedunimpeded inspite of the set-ting up of a grill-brick wall in1857. Their possession of theouter courtyard stands estab-lished together with the inci-dents attaching to their controlover it.” Further, the court heldthat in the inner courtyard,“there is evidence on the pre-ponderance of probabilities toestablish worship by the Hindusprior to the annexation ofOudh by the British in 1857.”

These two conclusions ofthe court, coupled with the factthat the Muslims offered “noevidence” to indicate that theywere in exclusive possession ofthe inner structure prior to1857 since the date of the con-struction of the mosque in the16th century, weighed heavilyin determining the outcome ofthis litigation.

While holding that the suitfiled on behalf of the deity wasmaintainable, the court direct-ed that a trust be constituted forthe construction of a templeand to deal with related issuesand the allotment of an alter-nate land to the Muslims for the

construction of a mosque andassociated activities.

Significantly, it observedthat the allotment of the land tothe Muslims was necessarybecause “though on a balance ofprobabilities, the evidence of thepossessory claim of the Hindusto the composite whole of thedisputed property stands on abetter footing than the evi-dence adduced by the Muslims”,the fact remained that theMuslims were dispossessed fol-lowing desecration of themosque in December 1949,and later because it wasdestroyed on December 6, 1992.In other words, the court notedthat there was no abandonmentof the mosque by the Muslims.

In view of these facts, thecourt said it would exercise itspowers under Article 142 of theConstitution to ensure that awrong committed is remedied.It said, “Justice would not pre-vail if the court were to over-look the entitlement of theMuslims who have beendeprived of the structure of themosque through means whichshould not have been employedin a secular nation committedto the rule of law. TheConstitution postulates theequality of all faiths. Toleranceand mutual co-existence nour-ish the secular commitment ofour nation and its people.”

Therefore, in order to pro-vide restitution to the Muslim

community, the court used itspowers under Article 142 anddirected that they be grantedfive acres of land within the cityof Ayodhya. This Articleempowers the court to pass adecree or order “for doing com-plete justice” in any cause ormatter pending before it. It canprovide relief where there is“palpable injustice.” In fact, thecourt has held in the past thatit is advisable to leave the powerundefined so that it has the elas-ticity to mould the relief.

This is a power that is usedsparingly and is indicative of thecourt’s desire to go the extra mileto ensure balance. While sever-al key players in this litigation arekeen to apply the closure, the AllIndia Muslim Personal LawBoard (AIMPLB) has decided tofile a review petition. This is alegitimate move because thecourt’s procedure provides for it.

However, it is unfortunate tohear Asaduddin Owaisi, AIMIMchief and MP from Hyderabadsay that the Muslims do notwant this “charity” of five acresof land. Fortunately, such discor-dant notes in the post-judgmentphase are far and few. That iswhy the symphony of democra-cy and constitutionalism acrossthe country has completelydrowned the attempts at cacoph-ony by a few disruptors.

(The writer is an authorspecialising in democracy studies.Views expressed are personal.)

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Sir — Gotabaya Rajapaksa’spresidential win was pretty con-vincing. As for SajithPremadasa’s defeat, it is no doubtpainful for him as it would be forany presidential hopeful. Butthere may be some consolationfor him with the fact that he cannow forget about his electionpromises, which he would havebeen required to fulfil if had hebeen elected.

Gotabaya played his cardswell. In times when Sri Lanka isfaced with several problems,including the state of the econo-my, fears set off by the EasterSunday bombings and not to for-get the revulsion towards corrup-tion, he refrained from taking onhis opponents, especiallyPremadasa, and conducted him-self in a business-like manner.This approach came as a breath offresh air in the electoral politicsthat is generally vitiated by effron-tery and name-calling. Thus, hemust have endeared himself to thevoters, who were fed up with thepresent state of affairs.

Finally, winning the execu-tive presidency is one thing andliving up to the expectations of

the people is another. Politics inSri Lanka is characterised by thelack of military precision. Thebiggest challenge beforeGotabaya or for that matter anypolitician — be it in Sri Lanka orIndia — is to bring order out of

chaos in the public sector if theyhave to carry out their plans.Gotabaya is known for his Chinatilt and hardline views. Heshould allay India’s fears here.

JS AcharyaHyderabad

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Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Three men in a boat”(November 18). The editoriallucidly lays bare the dire existen-

tial needs of the three parties —Shiv Sena, Congress andNationalist Congress Party (NCP)— who have come together toforge a strange, new alliance.

Anybody will agree with thefact that between the BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) and the ShivSena, it was the latter which hadshown a greater and strongercommitment to the concept ofHindutva and Hindu nationalism.

Meanwhile, the Congress hadalways been critical of the Sena’sideology, dubbing it as “extrem-ist”, “fascist” and “chauvinist.”The Shiv Sena on its part treatedthe grand old party as its mostserious opponent. Yet, both par-ties have instantly shed everyinhibition, resentment, repug-nance and ideologies to form aGovernment.

Such forsaking of whateverthey stood for to share power andpelf is business as usual for polit-ical parties. But the least oneexpects is that they do not lofti-ly pretend that it is all pro bonopublico (for public good). Thiswill be tantamount to “hypocrisy.”

NS RajanKolkata

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When the big boys of India Inc. are pushedto the wall in a market slugfest of thekind that’s playing out in the telecom

sector since three years, it’s an area angels fear totread. And, only a collective call by theGovernment comprising a cross-section of stake-holders from the Department ofTelecommunications (DoT), Telecom RegulatoryAuthority of India (TRAI) and the high-poweredCommittee of Secretaries (CoS) has the power tointervene in a timely and judicious way. Becauseit is already a case of “too little, too late” to sal-vage the near-collapse of an erstwhile profitablesector, now laden with debt of over �7 lakh crore.

Telecom as a sector is “too big to (let) fail”, atheory that asserted when certain behemoths thatcomprise a sector “are so large and interconnect-ed, their failure would be disastrous to the greatereconomic system and that they therefore must besupported by the Government when faced withpotential failure.”

With increasing teledensity and internetpenetration, telecom services are today consumeressentials, much like FMCG or pharma goods,and are consumed by every section of society. Andlike power, telecom and internet are deemedessential utilities and the vehicles forwarding thedigital revolution.

India is currently the world’s second-largesttelecommunications market with a subscriberbase of 1.20 billion and is amongst the top fiveemployment generators in the country. Which iswhy there is cause for alarm with the second quar-ter losses posted by listed telecom companies afterthe October Supreme Court (SC) order crossingunsustainable levels of �1 lakh crore in debt, withVodafone-Idea, RComm, Airtel and TATA Telebeing the worst-hit in a descending order.

One shares the Prime Minister’s optimism toaim for a $5 trillion economy, as much as onelauds the Finance Minister’s interactive-resolutionmodus, which is a refreshing departure from herpredecessors in not procrastinating decision-making till the annual Budget to address theindustry’s pain points. And pain points abound,from the beleaguered banking, automobile, real-ity, power and aviation sectors, with the latest cri-sis in telecom having overtaken all others.

While India’s improved ranking in the WorldBank’s Ease of Doing Business index (EODB) isan outcome of the Modi regime’s commitment toreforms, one parameter in the EODB thatrequires improvement is dispute resolution, par-ticularly in the crippled telecom industry.Resolution and relief are very much within theCentre’s discretion, as they are the winners in thiscase and need to make concessions in the over-all interests of the sector. Regulatory uncertain-ties in the distressed sector are casting negativeripple effects on the already subdued business sen-timents within the country. While Indian busi-ness has been reluctant to commit to fresh cap-ital expenditure (CapEx) investments, we can ill-afford a negative perception amongst foreigndirect investors. The National DigitalCommunications Policy 2018 envisaged attract-ing investments worth $100 billion in thetelecommunications sector by 2022, which is onlypossible in an enabling environment, where timeis spent on growth instead of fighting fires. Giventhat the beneficiaries of the trade diversion fromthe US-China trade wars have been Vietnam and

Taiwan in preference to India, for thecountry to make a global impact, weneed a more facilitatory approach sothat multinational corporations (MNCs)view it as a potential centre for makingprofits.

To attract Foreign DirectInvestment (FDI), “India needs to sal-vage even the recent entrants likeFlipkarts from making losses that aregiving nightmares to Walmart, thePaytms to Alibaba and the Vodafonesgiving nightmares to its UK parent.”

Vodafone is the largest foreigndirect investor in the country and itsyear-old joint venture with Idea Cellularis the worst hit, with net losses at�50,922 crore. This is unfairly the sec-ond setback for Vodafone after the UPA-2 had amended its tax laws with retro-spective effect with claims of $2 billionin taxes. The entire sector is today at riskof lowered credit ratings, jeopardisingthe asset quality of banks that have anexposure of �1 lakh crore. This will fur-ther deepen the existing Non-Performing Assets (NPA) crisis, asborrowers become unable to servicedebt due to contingent liabilities.

The distress in telecom is largelyattributed to Reliance Jio’s entry threeyears ago that disrupted the economicsof the sector. Jio’s hyper-competitivepricing triggered massive consumerattrition, giving it a vantage particular-ly in rural areas and eroding average rev-enue per user and user-counts of com-petitors. The problems of the industryhave been compounded by the SC judg-ment that favoured the Government inthe dispute between DoT and telcos.The Government’s demand to includenon-core items while computingAdjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) has hada crippling effect on 15 telcos asked toshell out a staggering �1.3 lakh crore.

Let’s remember that “the SupremeCourt is fair, but not infallible.”

Besides, the Indian telecom market,which is the second-largest in theworld in terms of data consumption, istoo large to be held hostage by eithererstwhile cartels, or the likely emergenceof a duopolistic scenario, or the even-tuality of allowing single-player domi-nance. Which is where we are headedif the Government fails to salvage exis-tential issues facing two out of the threeprivate players, Vodafone–Idea andBharti Airtel.

Ideally, the Government aims atthree non-State players, plus one pub-lic sector telco in the market, becauseIndia needs multiple carriers to ride thedigital revolution forward. That theGovernment is not in favour of amonopoly is a decision in the rightdirection. But to avert monopolisticconditions, or even a duopoly, intentmust be followed through by support-ive action.

So what are the relief measuressought by the industry? They hope forpositive recommendations from theCoS committee to restore the health ofthe sector by the regulator setting min-imum floor tariffs for mobile calls anddata; a moratorium on spectrum pay-ments/a longer tenure to pay up spec-trum liabilities through staggered pay-ments; a waiver on interest and penal-ties on the AGR-related dues; loweringof taxes and levies; freeing up of �7,000crore of blocked Goods and Services Tax(GST) input credits; a favourable reviewof the SC ruling, failing which they plana curative petition before a five-judgeBench that may deliver a better judg-ment than the one on October 24, andlastly that TRAI restore its credibility byplaying neutral.

Empirical evidence in economic

history points to signs of distress show-ing up much before a cancer turns fullblown and incurable. Even the globaleconomic crisis of 2008 was precededby symptoms like bubbles in assetvalue of stocks and real estate. Nations,sectors or corporates don’t collapseovernight but show symptoms ofmalaise much ahead of an impendingcrisis.

Governments play an importantrole in gauging the declining health ofsectors ahead of time by assessingrisks, whether they are caused due tocorporate misgovernance, faulty poli-cies, or bought on by cyclical marketconditions, or a slowdown caused by de-globalisation. A case in point is the time-ly intervention by the Union Ministerfor Commerce when he recently chid-ed e-commerce companies indulging inpredatory pricing which adverselyimpacted small retailers, a regulatoryrole TRAI should have played threeyears ago by setting a floor price.Because predatory pricing is as damag-ing as surge-pricing.

India’s private sector players arecapable of delivering quantum“Winning Leap solutions” if regulators,courts and Government policies makeit easy to do business. While no coun-try has struck the perfect balancebetween regulation and free enter-prise, it is imperative to find a way outof the impasse, as all interlinkages in themodern industrial supply chain getaffected and risks that beset one sectorcascade through the rest of the econo-my. And if unresolved, the disruptionscould extend for years, destroying valuefor all involved.

(The writer is an author, columnist,Chairperson for the National Committeeof Financial Inclusion at Niti Aayog andmember of RSS Ladies Intellectual cell.)

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The Finance Minister has indi-cated that BPCL (BharatPetroleum Corporation

Limited) and Air India are likely tobe privatised by March 2020. This isan extremely significant develop-ment as India hasn’t seen big ticketprivatisation since the Atal BihariVajpayee Government between 1999-2004. Although, there were attemptsto privatise Air India in the previoustenure of the Narendra ModiGovernment, however, the termsdidn’t generate adequate interest.Things have changed since then andwe’ve seen many investors expressinterest in acquiring Air India.Privatisation of Air India is not just

about freeing critical taxpayerresources that are deployed to keepthe debt-ridden airline alive but it ismore about a signal to the world, thatthe Indian Government is finally backon track to gradually move out frombusinesses. This implies a greater rolefor the private sector in the Indianeconomy — a welcome sign for therest of the world that is looking atIndia as the next driver of globalgrowth.

The fact that we’re looking at pri-vatisation should not come as a sur-prise given that Modi himself men-tioned how the Government has nobusiness to be in business. Therefore,a mandate of 303 gives him the nec-essary political capital to denation-alise many of our public sector assets.The sale of BPCL is perhaps more sig-nificant as unlike other Public SectorUndertakings (PSUs), it is not exact-ly a loss-making enterprise funded bytaxpayer largesse.

However, its operations in an oli-gopolistic setting mean it is yet one

of the least-efficient companies in thesector. Therefore, clearly, the new rulefor privatisation is not just about get-ting rid of loss-making PSUs butinstead getting rid of any inefficientunit that can be better operationalisedin the hands of the private sector.

This renewed approach towardsprivatisation is indeed required inorder to transform the Indian econ-omy and therefore, while politicalopposition may persist to the move,the potential benefits from such amove will overshadow any suchresistance. It is important to recog-nise that a major share of wealth cre-ated in India happened post-1991reforms where the IndianGovernment removed the policy oflicensing.

In fact, ever since such require-ments began to be muted in the1980s, we see a sharp increase inIndia’s growth rates. All of this revealsan undeniable fact that India’s growthhas accelerated ever since weembraced private capital. Therefore,

getting rid of these companies willresult in an overall value creation, notjust for these firms but also for the restof the economy.

The biggest advantage of privati-sation over disinvestment is that itfacilitates the change in managementof these PSUs. A major reason whythe PSUs are not as efficient as the pri-vate sector is their management andthe lack of an incentive structure thatfocuses on economic efficiency andgeneration of private profits.

Therefore, while disinvestmentswould result in non-tax revenues forthe Government, the managementremains largely the same. However,the management remains largely thesame. Therefore, there are limitedimplications for broader wealth cre-ation for these companies throughdisinvestment.

The timing of privatisation is alsocritical as it comes at a juncture whenour growth has slowed down.Therefore, privatisation will havetwo positive implications for the

economy. First, it will revive the sen-timent and since economics is aboutself-fulfilling prophecies, a positivesentiment is critical towards acceler-ating the process of growth recovery.The second aspect is more transac-tional as it is to do with publicfinances.

During an economic slowdown,a Government’s tax revenues don’tgrow as per expectation. We see someof this in the current financial yearas there’s a major revenue shortfallwhich is likely to affect the financialsof the Government. The other aspectis that since deficit is reported as apercentage of the Gross DomesticProduct (GDP), slow growth willamplify the amount of deficit duringslow growth years.

However, privatisation can bridgethe deficit through non-tax revenuesand its positive impact on sentimentwill also have a muted, yet importantsecond order effect on growth rates.Just as the Government is looking toprivatise Air India and BPCL, it is also

looking to revive BSNL (BharatSanchar Nigam Limited) and MTNL(Mahanagar Telephone NigamLimited). The plan to introduce a vol-untary retirement scheme and tomerge these two enterprises is good.However, it will succeed only if wescale down their operations signifi-cantly. That is, the Governmentshould downsize the merged entityand retain only the strategic opera-tions of the company while the restof it and its assets can be sold off toprivate players.

With a Government that is look-ing at the sale of PSU assets includ-ing under-utilised plants and land, itmakes sense to look at rapid privati-sation, thereby creating a vibrantspace for the private sector. The exitof the Government from productionwill free up critical resources that itcan then devote to enhancing Statecapacity and provisioning of thepublic goods and services.

(The writer is a New Delhi-basedpublic policy researcher)

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The Lord Ayyappa templehere received over � 3.30

crore as revenue on the first daywhen it opened on Saturday ascompared to the � 2.04 crorelast season which was marredby protests by a section of devo-tees and right-wing outfits overthe women’s entry issue.

Over 70,000 devotees haveoffered prayers at the hill shrinesince the temple opened onNovember 16 evening for thetwo-month long Mandala-Makkarvilakku puja.Travancore Devaswom BoardPresident N Vasu on Mondaysaid there was an increase ofover 50 per cent in the revenuewhen compared to last year andthe pilgrimage season this yearhas been going well.

“There is a huge increase inthe number of devotees thisyear. We got � 3.32 crore rev-enue on the first day comparedto � 2.04 crore last year.

The devotees who visitedthis year are satisfied with the

facilities we have arranged,”Vasu told the media.

Unlike last year when thetemple complex witnessed vio-lent protests after the StateGovernment decided to imple-ment the September 28, 2018verdict of the apex court allow-ing women of all ages to enter

the shrine, this year the devo-tees expressed happiness asthere were no restrictions.

Vasu also said ‘Annadanam’for around 40,000 people havebeen arranged.

Annadanam is offering offood for the devotees. “Wehave stored enough drinking

water to cater to the needs ofthe devotees. We aim to makeSabarimala plastic free pilgrimcentre.

We have started a cam-paign to avoid plastic from theirumudikettu (sacred bundlecontaining offerings toAyyappa),” Vasu said.

Though the apex court didnot stay its September 2018order allowing entry of womeninto the Ayyappa temple, theLDF Government in Keralathis time said the shrine wasnot a ground for activism andmade it clear it would notencourage women who want tovisit the temple for publicity.

A five-judge Constitutionbench of the Supreme Courthad on November 14 in a 3:2verdict decided to refer to alarger bench to re-examinereligious issues including thosearising out of its 2018 verdictlifting a centuries-old ban onwomen of menstruating agevisiting the shrine.

The TDB, which adminis-ters the shrine, and the templeitself suffered huge loss last sea-son due to the protests by theright-wing outfits.

The shrine and adjacentareas, including Pamba andNilackal, were on high-alert lastyear due to the Supreme Courtorder on women’s entry.

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Protests were held in the north east-ern States on Monday opposing the

proposed Citizenship (Amendment)Bill and effigies of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi were burnt in Assam.

The protest rallies coincided withthe first day of the winter session ofParliament during which the bill is pro-posed to be introduced.

Sit-ins were also launched in vari-ous places of Guwahati and effigies ofAssam Chief Minister SarbanandaSonowal were burnt by youth organi-sation AJYCP in different parts of thestate as a mark of protest against theCAB.

The protests were held by theNorth East Students Organisation(NESO), the region’s umbrella organi-sation of students unions, its con-stituents, farmers’ body Krishak MuktiSangram Samiti, youth body AssamJatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad(AJYCP) and Left-Democratic Mancha,Assam among others.

NESO submitted a memorandumto Prime Minister Narendra Modi andUnion Home Minister Amit Shahagainst CAB through the governors ofthe north eastern States.

The NESO and AASU along withother organisations took out a large rallyfrom its headquarters at Uzan Bazar inGuwahati to the Raj Bhawan shoutingslogans and waving banners and plac-

ards against the CAB.“Assam and the north east are not

dumping grounds for illegalBangladeshis. As per the Assam Accordwe have already accepted allBangladeshis - both Hindu and Muslimswho entered Assam illegally upto 1971.We will not accept those who enteredAssam after that year,” NESO andAASU chief advisor SamujjalBhattacharyya said.

“The Central Government is tryingto impose on Assam all the illegalBangladeshis who entered the countryin the next 43 years by fixing the cut offyear as 2014. We won’t accept that. We

oppose it,” he iterated.“This movement in Assam and the

north east region will continue”, heasserted. Commenting on the con-tention of Assam Minister HimantaBiswa Sarma and other BJP leaders thata lot of problems will be solved if theCAB is enacted, Bhattacharya said“The Bill will safeguard the vote bankof BJP. They(BJP) want the votes of ille-gal Bangladeshis. They have the num-bers in Delhi (Parliament) and they willimpose the CAB on us.

“We will not accept CAB and thatis why we have launched our agitationagainst the Bill,” he added.

AASU president Dipanka Nathsaid, “The CAB is the death knell for theAssamese community. It will make theAssamese people extinct. It will open thedoor for more Bangladeshis to enterAssam.”

Claiming that Assam has rejectedthe CAB, Nath said “We will oppose tillour death this Bill, which is harmful tothe existence of the Assamese commu-nity”.

AASU general secretary LurinjyotiGogoi said that Assam and Tripura havetaken the largest burden of illegalBangladeshis.

“Imposition of CAB in the northeast is unacceptable to its people as theirsentiments have been ignored despitethe public rejecting the bill,” he added.

In neighbouring Meghalaya KhasiStudents Union, an influential stu-dents body in the State, held a sit-in nearthe third secretariat here protestingagainst the contentious bill, which itsaid, will have a negative impact on thepeople of the entire region.

A group of anti-CAB protesters willlaunch a stay off the road protest from7 pm on Monday till 6 am Tuesday.

State Chief Minister ConradSangma had met Shah last week andurged the Centre to consider with-holding passing of the CAB in its cur-rent form.

A rally was taken out in Aizawl bythe Mizoram apex students body MizoZirlai Pawl (MZP) on Monday inprotest against the CAB.

Siliguri (WB): Expressinganguish over West Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee notinforming him about the loss-es incurred by the State due tocyclone ‘Bulbul’, GovernorJagdeep Dhankhar on Mondaysaid he expects the CM to briefhim on it within a few days.

Dhankhar said as per theConstitution, it is the duty ofthe Chief Minister to brief theState’s governor on importantdevelopments.

“And, ‘Bulbul’ is certainlyan important developmentwhich calls for the ChiefMinister to keep the governorabreast of developments withregard to it,” he told reportershere. “I am sure she will briefme within a few days,” the gov-ernor said.

In a report to the visitingcentral team, the West BengalGovernment on Saturday saidthe State incurred a loss of

� 23,811 crore in the devasta-tions caused by ‘Bulbul’ that hasaffected around 35 lakh peoplein three districts.

Dhankhar also noted thatthere have been several impor-tant developments in the statein the over 100 days since hetook over as governor on July30, but Banerjee “has notbriefed him” on any of these,despite Constitutional obliga-tions.

The governor reiteratedhis denial of the TrinamoolCongress chief ’s accusationthat he is running a parallelGovernment in the State. “TheCM has never written to methat the governor has exceed-ed his powers”.

The TMC had recentlyslammed the governor forallegedly exceeding his briefand wondered whether heunderstood his “constitutionalbindings”. PTI

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The Uttar Pradesh Power CorporationLimited (UPPCL) employees on

Monday began their 48-hour workboycott against the provident fund scamand sought a Government guarantee forthe safe return of their money invested inthe DHFL.

Over � 2,600 crore of the State poweremployees’ provident fund (PF) wasreportedly invested in the scam-hit DewanHousing Finance Corporation Limited(DHFL), prompting the State Governmentto order a CBI probe.

However, the units generating powerhave been exempted from the protest toprevent grid failure.

Led by Vidyut KaramchariSanyukt Sangharsh Samiti (VKSSS), a

joint forum of power employees and engi-neers, about 45,000 employees of thepower department began theirprotest at 8 am on Monday for 48 hours,its convenor Shailendra Dubey said.

The employees are demandingissuance of a notification by the

Government taking responsibility forsafe return of their money, invested inDHFL by the Uttar Pradesh Power SectorEmployees’ Trust.

The employees are also demandingarrest of the former chairman of the corporation and other IAS officersresponsible for the scam, Dubey said,adding that they converged at the Shakti Bhawan in Lucknow while inother districts also they held protestmeetings.

The State’s Power Minister ShrikantSharma, while terming the work boycottas politically motivated, said thatGovernment was taking full care of theemployees.

“The employees are like a family forus. We are taking full care of them toensure that they do not face any problems.The work boycott is politically motivat-ed,” Sharma said.

The home department has also direct-ed all district magistrates and policechiefs to ensure proper security of allemployees who are not taking part in thework boycott and vital installations intheir areas.

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The Nirmohi Akhara, a main lit-igant in the Ayodhya case, has

decided to meet Prime MinisterNarendra Modi this week over itsdemand to be part of a trust for theRam Temple construction here, theorganisation has said.

In its judgment in the BabriMasjid-Ram Janmabhoomi titlecase, the Supreme Court onNovember 9 had cleared the way forthe construction of the temple at thedisputed site here, and directed theCentre to allot a 5-acre plot to theSunni Waqf Board for building amosque.

It had also said the mosqueshould be constructed at a “promi-nent site” and a trust should beformed within three months for theconstruction of the temple at thesite many Hindus believe LordRam was born.

The akhara’s chief seers andmembers of the executive body methere on Sunday and decided to

meet the Prime Minister this weekover its demand for “important”posts in the trust’s management, itscounsel and spokesman Ranjeet Lal Varma said.

These post may be that ofpresident or secretary, he said,adding the akhara also demandsthat the right to worship the dietyRam Lalla be given to theRamanandiya Vaishno Sect, to

which the akhara belongs. Varma said hence, the right to

worship the deity historicallyremains with the akhara.

“The Nirmohi Akhara will meet the Prime Minister andafter meeting the PM , its executivebody will again be meeting inAyodhya to discuss whether wehave been given appropriate placeas mentioned in the verdict,” hesaid.

Hyderabad: Leaders of strikingemployees of Telangana StateRoad Transport Corporation(TSRTC) continued their fastin a State-run hospital here onMonday even as doctorsadvised them to end theirprotest in view of their healthcondition.

Aswathama Reddy andRaji Reddy, both hypertensiveand diabetic, were developingketone bodies, and have beenadvised to call off their fast asits continuance may lead tohealth complications, the hos-pital sources said.

On Sunday, police upAswathama Reddy from hishouse and shifted him to theOsmania General Hospital fortreatment, where Reddy said hewould continue with the fast.

Ashwathama Reddy beganthe hunger strike on Saturday.Similarly, another TSRTC JointAction Committee leader RajiReddy was also taken into cus-

tody from his house on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the indefinitestrike by the RTC employeesover various demands enteredthe 45th day on Monday.

The employees began theirstrike on October 5, and havesince been making variousdemands, including merger ofthe corporation withGovernment, pay revision andrecruitment to various posts.

The employees unionshave recently announced that

they are ready to set asidetheir main demand of mergerwith the Government.

The unions demanded thatthe Government hold talkswith them to resolve the issue.

The State Governmenthad earlier said the employees’stir was illegal as they causedimmenseinconvenience to thepublic.

The Government hasengaged the services of tem-porary drivers and conductorsto operate buses. PTI

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Jaipur: Rajasthan Chief Minister AshokGehlot on Monday asked the Centre totake steps to control the “deterioratingeconomic condition” in the country.

He alleged that the UnionGovernment did not implement theGoods and Services Tax (GST) properly,resulting in reduction in revenue col-lection of the Centre and States were fac-ing its repercussions.

“The economic condition of thecountry is deteriorating. Both theCentre and States are heading towardsa crisis situation. The Centre should takesteps to control this in time,” Gehlot toldreporters in Ajmer.

“They are being arrogant that

everything is going well. Their thoughtis that when people are travelling by air,in cars, paying toll tax, where is the eco-nomic slowdown. But our thought isthat the economy is suffering.

“Economists are saying this too.Even the husband of the Union financeminister is saying that the Governmenthas no understanding of the economy,”the Chief Minister said. He reiteratedthat the Government should follow theeconomic policies of former primeministers PV Narasimha Rao andManmohan Singh.

Expressing concern over the issueof adulteration in the State, he assuredthat his Government will look into whatcan be done. PTI

Jaipur: Nearly 17,000 migratorybirds have died so far at thecountry’s largest inland watersaltwater lake near Jaipur due tobotulism, a serious and fatal illness that affects thenerves, a forest official said on

Monday.The deaths were reported in

Jaipur, Nagaur and Ajmer districtsof Rajasthan, he said.

“The death toll has increasedto nearly 17,000,” Chief WildlifeWarden of the Forest Department,Arindam Tomar, said.

Jaipur collector Jagroop SinghYadav informed that carcasseshave been disposed.

Nearly 8,500 birds havedied so far in Jaipur itself, Yadavsaid. Initially, it was suspected thatthe birds died due to avian flu but the report from a lab-oratory in Bhopal has ruled thisout.

On November 10, thousandsof birds, including NorthernShoveler, Ruddy Shelduck,Plovers, Avocets, were found deadin the 5-7 km area aroundSambhar Lake.

This was the second such inci-dent in the State within a week.

On November 7, 37 demoi-selle cranes were found dead inJodhpur’s Khinchan area. PTI

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Like she did during theimplementation of National

Register for Citizens in Assam,Mamata Banerjee on Mondaycried out against the proposedCitizen’s Amendment Bill call-ing it a “trap” laid down by theBJP to target the Bengali-speaking population — Hindusand Muslims — and implicat-ed All India Majlis-e-IttehadulMuslimeen chief AsauddinOwaisi for conspiring with thesaffron outfit to vitiate thepolitical climate of Bengal.

Like it did in Assam whereit implemented NRC to throwout lakhs of Bengalis from thatState the Centre wasplanning to introduce CAB as a“trap” which it would use againstthe Bengali people, she said.

Addressing a meeting atNorth Bengal town ofCoochbehar bordering Assam,Banerjee said, “Let me tell youthat the Centre is bringingCitizen’s Amendment Billwhich is another trap like NRCto cast out the Bengalis from

the list of legal citizens andmake them refugees in theirown country.”

She asked, “Where is aneed of granting new citizen-ship to people when there areenough documents like landdeeds, voter cards, ration cards,driving license, birth certifi-cates, Kanyashree and othergovernment documents,” ask-ing the people to remain alertand united against the BJP’nefarious designs.

The Centre proposes tobring the CAB in the WinterSession of Parliament. The Billproposes to grant citizenship toHindus, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs,Parsis and Christians who hadmigrated from Pakistan,Afghanistan and Bangladeshprovided they have alreadyspent seven years in India.

In the wake of alleged

faulty implementation of NRCin Assam that omitted thenames of more than 19 lakhpeople from citizenship regis-ter a possible implementationof NRC in Bengal had createda panic claiming 11 lives in thestate during the past twomonths.

Though she would notname any Hyderabad leaderopenly Banerjee apparentlyopened a new battle frontagainst All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief andMP Asauddin Owaisi callinghis party an “agent” of the BJPthat had conspired with the saf-fron outfit to destroy thehealthy political climate ofBengal.

Aware that the MIM wasexpanding its activities in theState which has about 30Muslim votes, Banerjee said,“some minority groups fromHyderabad are taking moneyfrom the BJP with an offer toprotect them. But I ask you notto fall in their trap because theyare coming here to divide youand help the BJP.”

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Dynamics of Tamil Nadupolitics are undergoing

changes on a weekly basis withhomecomings and deserts byone time loyalists of partysupremos. The last to join thebandwagon of cadre desertingthe Amma Makkal MunnetraKazhakam (AMMK) an outfitlaunched by TTV Dhinakaran,nephew of the jailed V KSasikala, is V Pugazhendi, aclose associate of the former.

Pugazhendi declared onSunday that he would join theAIADMK, his parent organi-zation, once deputy ChiefMinister O Panneerselvamreturns from a foreign tour.Last week saw Former MinisterPatchaimal and loyalists whowere with the AMMK staginga homecoming by rejoining theAIADMK.

But what has surprisedpolitical commentators inTamil Nadu is his announce-ment that Sasikala, who isserving a jail term in ParappanaAgrahara Central Jail inBangalore in connection with

the Disproportionate AssetCase too would re-join theAIADMK once she completesher imprisonment which isexpected to end in 2020.

“Having been part of theAIADMK for more than 30years, Sasikala will take a deci-sion on rejoining the party her-self,” Pugazhendhi toldreporters at Thanjavur. He wasall praise for Chief MinisterEdappadi Palaniswami whomhe described as “Hero of TamilNadu”.

The AMMK has been jolt-ed by the number of seniorleaders ditching the party tojoin the parent body. Only oneleader, Thanga Tamilchelvan,

has joined the DMK muchagainst the wish of the cadrebelonging to the Dravidamajor. The weakening of theAMMK because of the switch-ing over of party leaders to theAIADMK is being seen as a set-back for Dhinakaran.

“Things are not moving asper the expectation ofDhinakaran. Over the last twoyears, Edappadi Palaniswamihas consolidated his position inthe party as well as in theGovernment. Panneerselvam,the one-time challenger to thechief minister too has fallen inline and as on date, Dhinakaranis not in a comfortable posi-tion,” said T Ramakrishnan,

author and columnist.Ramakrishnan, who has beena keen observer and analyst ofthe Dravidian politics for morethan three decades said it wasdifficult to say something aboutthe future of the AIADMK. “Itall depends on how OPS andEPS handle the situations asthey unfold,” he said.

Though he said that TamilNadu is doing well in economy,particularly in agriculture, taxmobilization and realization,and inviting investment forrapid industrialisation, it wasnot an indication that theAIADMK would win the nextAssembly election due in May2021.

“That depends on how theAIADMK succeeds in patchingup an effective electoral allianceat the time of the Assembly

election. We may be able to saysomething only after the localbody polls due next month,” hesaid.

Veteran commentators areof the view that any kind ofcohesion and unity seen in theAIADMK will not be in theinterest of the DMK, which ishaving a dream run by winningthe Lok Sabha polls and major-ity of the by-polls held in April2019. “There is no doubt thatthe AIADMK Government isdoing some good work for thefarmers in the State by helpingthem with the Prime Minister’sCrop Insurance Scheme andstrengthening of irrigationprojects. But that need notlead them to an electoral vic-tory”, said KattumannarkoilKannan, farmers leader andauthor.

Ramakrishnan said thepossibilities of Dhinakaranjoining hands with the DMKcould not be ruled out. “Vaikowho was the number oneenemy of Stalin had no qualmsin joining hands with the lat-ter. A similar situation mayemerge in course of time,” hesaid.

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With the BJP backing out ofthe contest, the Shiv Sena

was on Monday poised toretain power in theBrihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation (BMC), the coun-try’s richest civic body, after itsvictory in the mayoral anddeputy mayoral electionsbecame a foregone conclusion.

While Shiv Sena’s KishoriPednekar was set to get elect-ed unopposed as the MumbaiMayor at the elections sched-uled for November 22, whilethe election of Sena’s SuhasWadkar as the Mumbai’sdeputy Mayor became a mereformality.

Pednekar and Wadkar werethe only candidates who hadfiled nominations for theNovember 22 Mayoral anddeputy Mayoral electionsrespectively, when the deadlinefor nominations ended onMonday.

The BJP, which has a

strength of 83 corporators asagainst the Shiv Sena’s strengthof 94 corporators in the 227-member BMC, pulled out ofthe prestigious mayoral race,saying that it did not have thesufficient numbers to bag theprestigious post. Similarly, theBJP did not put up any candi-date for the deputy mayoralpoll.

Interestingly, the changedpolitical equations in the statehave had a fallout on the BMCMayoral elections. In the pre-vious polls to the posts of

Mayor and deputy Mayorheld in 2017, the BJP hadthrown its weight behindthe Shiv Sena, the RajThackeray-led MNS (with then seven mem-bers) had boycotted thepolls and 16 corporators — including15 of those belonging toNCP and SamjawadiParty had chosen toremain neutral in thepolls.

However, this timearound, the BJP — with havingsnapped its ties with its oldestally at the state level — is notsupporting the Shiv Sena in theBMC’s Mayoral and deputymayoral polls.

The Congress — whichhad put up candidates againstthe Shiv Sena nominees in themayoral and deputy mayoralpolls in 2017 — has chosen notto field candidates for the twinpolls, thus making matters easyfor the Shiv Sena.

The Congress, which has astrength of 29 corporators in

the BMC, will be indirectlysupporting the Shiv Sena in thetwin polls of November 22. TheCongress’ decision to extendcovert support to the Shiv Senastems from its growing proximity with the Congress atthe state-level.

Ahead of the expiry of thedeadline for the filing of nominations to the November22 polls, BJP’s former Mumbaiunit president and ministerAshish Shelar said:

“We don’t have therequired numbers in the BMC.We do not to enter into an ille-gitimate alliance with opposingideologies. But, in 2022, weshall win the Mumbai Mayorpost on our strength and numbers”.

It may be recalled that theBMC polls held in 2017 hadthrown up a hung house. TheShiv Sena had emerged as thesingle largest party with 84seats in the 227-member BMC,followed by BJP- 82, Congress-31, NCP- 9, MNS- 7 and oth-ers-- 14.

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Hundreds of people havethronged in Mallapura , a

tiny town on the river Kali val-ley in Uttara Kannada districtin Karnataka to protest againstthe expansion of Kaiga Nuclearpower plant in the sensitivewestern ghats on Sunday.Mallapura is an adjacent townnear the nuclear plant.

The protest was led bypowerful religious pontiffs inthe area which includeVishwesha Theertha Swamiji ofthe pejawar mutt in Udupi.Addressing the huge gatheringhe called on the people toresist the expansion plans of theKaiga Nuclear plant. He said“Scientists have explained what

will happen here and we mustresist the expansion of thispower station.”

Environmental activists,religious leaders, communityleaders, political activists havedemanded government to stopits expansion of Kaiga nuclearplant on the banks of river Kaliwhich flows in the eco sensitiveregion of the Western Ghats.

The Kaiga plant had start-ed commercial operations inNovember 2000, after beingcommissioned in 1989. Theplant set up 56 km away fromKarwar, currently has fourfunctional units generating 220MW of power. 33% of thepower generated is reserved forKarnataka. This protest wasorganised after the authoritiesgot all environmental regula-

tory hurdles were cleared at thestate and Centre level onAugust 29. Kaiga Nuclearplant currently has four unitsbut the Nuclear PowerCorporation Ltd. under theDepartment of Atomic Energyhas proposed a fifth and sixthunit.

The protesters argue thatexpanding the Kaiga plant will

take up 54 hectaresof forests in the eco-sensitive WesternGhats in the bufferzone of Kali TigerReserve. Theyurged theGovernment toconsider replacingit with other saferand cheaper powergenerating options

like solar and wind energy.They also fear with lack of safe-ty protocol the project will putthe lives of the people sur-rounding villages in danger.

According to ShankarSharma a power policy expertthis would lead to over depen-dency on water and has alwaysthe danger of contamination.According to him these units

once commissioned will con-sume 7500 cubic metres ofwater per hour which is suffi-cient for the livelihood of 15lakh people.

The protesters refer a TataMemorial Centre report in2010 had said there was aspurt in cases of cancer over thepast two decades in Kaiga.Experts insist that this isbecause of the radioactive pol-lution caused by the nuclearpower plant.

The Government has nei-ther acknowledged suchreports, nor has it carried outany assessment on its own.

Professor TVRamachandra, an expert inwater management from IISC,a premier Scientific researchInstitute in Bengaluru, who

took part in the protestsaid”Today, science, spiritual-ity and the culture of thisregion has come togetherbecause we have not received aresponse from the Indian gov-ernment.”

In December 2018, localenvironmental groups —Uttara Kannada Zilla PsrisaraSamrakshana Samiti, BedtiAghanashini Kolla Samiti andVruksha Laksha and residentsof the area — had also opposedthe expansion of the powerplant during the mandatedpublic consultation process.Recently, evenGangadharendra SaraswatiSwamiji, the seer of SondaSwarnavalli Mutt, had alsoopposed the nuclear plant’sexpansion.

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Despite suffering heavy loss-es in strong retaliatory fir-

ing from the Indian side,Pakistan is bent upon escalat-ing tensions along the line ofcontrol in Jammu & Kashmir.

A day after, an Indian sol-dier lost his life in a suspectedIED blast along the LoC inAkhnoor sector, the PakistanArmy on Monday targetedseveral forward areas ofRajouri and Poonch districtswith mortar shelling.

The Pakistan Army mayhave provided cover firing to the

heavily armed group of infiltra-tors to sneak inside the Indianterritory, official sources said.

In Jammu, Defence PROLt-Col Devender Anand said,“The Pakistan Army initiated‘unprovoked’ ceasefire violationin Sunderbani sector of Rajouriaround 4.15 p.m”. He said,“The Pakistan Army fired mor-tar shells in the forward areas”.“The Indian Army retaliatedstrongly and effectively”, headded.

Late evening, the PakistanArmy also targeted forwardareas of Shahpur and Kirni inPoonch sector.

According to groundreports,Pakistan army wasindulging in intense mortarshelling in the area till the timelast reports came in.

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Apatrolling party of theIndian Army, guarding the

highest battlefield in NorthernSiachen Glacier in Ladakhregion, was stuck under snowafter an avalanche hit an Armypost, at an altitude of over 19000feet, late Monday afternoon.

According to initialreports, at least 8 Army per-sonnel were part of the patrolparty which was hit by anavalanche around 3.30 pm ofwhich four died.

The Indian Army hadimmediately launched searchand rescue operations withsophisticated equipment totrack down the foot prints ofthe soldiers.

On February 3, 2016, 10soldiers were swept away by an

avalanche in Northern Siachenglacier.

Lance NaikHanamanthappa Koppad of 19Madras Regiment was extri-cated from his fibre-reinforcedhut, buried under the 35 feetdeep snow wall after a gap of140 hours, but he could notsurvive even after he was air-lifted to Armys’ Research andReferral hospital in New Delhifor specialised medical care.

Meanwhile, the rescueteams were reportedly workinground the clock and observingall precautions since the unsta-ble ice and snow in the regioncould trigger fresh avalanches.

The rescue teams, armedwith sophisticated equipment,have been camping in the areato rescue members of the patrolparty, official sources said.

Bengaluru: Asserting thatCongress would win two-thirdsof the 15 Assembly seats goingto bypolls on December 5,state party President DineshGundu Rao on Mondayclaimed the outcome would notbring stability to the BJPGovernment in the State.

He also said the Congresswas prepared to face a mid-term poll if the situation arose,adding none of the parties,however, wanted a snapp elec-tion to the Assembly.

Rao claimed BJP would getonly lesser number of seats inthe bypolls and the outcomewould make the Governmentinstable while expressing con-fidence that Congress wouldwin 10-12 seats.

“You (BJP) destabilise aGovernment and then youwant to form a stable

Government, it is not going tobe possible. There will be nostability in this Government,”he told PTI.

The Congress and JDShave accused the BJP of engi-neering the rebellion by 17 oftheir MLAs that led to the fallof the Government headed byH D Kumaraswamy in July.

The BJP, which came topower following the fall of theCongress-JDS coalitionMinistry, needs to win at leastsix of the 15 Assembly seats inthe bypolls, necessitated by thedisqualification of the 17 MLAs,to keep its majority in tact. Ina democracy, when no stablegovernment can be formed,ultimately we will have to goback to the people. Let us seewhat happens after the bypollresults, how things works, whatall happens, Rao added. PTI

Jammu: Light to moderatesnow and rain are likely to hitthe Union territories of Jammu& Kashmir, and Ladakh onThursday evening, the meteo-rological department said.

The mercury marked adecline in Jammu and Ladakhregions, while it continued anupward trend in the KashmirValley, a weather departmentofficial said. PTI

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Jammu: Security forces havelaunched a search operationon the basis of a tip-off aboutthe movement of suspectedmilitants in Jammu andKashmir’s Poonch district,officials said on Monday.

The Army and policelaunched a search operationon Sunday following the infor-mation provided by some vil-lagers about the suspiciousmovement in a forest area ofSurankote, they said.

The operation is on totrack down the suspected mil-itants, they added. PTI

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NITI Aayog is mullingbuilding up a healthcare

system for the middle classwhich is still not covered underany public healthcare system,the Government think-tanksaid on Monday.

The healthcare systemwould exclude those coveredunder the newly-launchedAyushman Bharat scheme thatmainly caters to the bottom 40per cent population of thecountry.

India has low level and veryfragmented risk pooling, withhousehold out-of-pocket fund-ing at 64 per cent of totalexpenses dominating the over-all system financing, NITIAayog said at the launch‘Health System for a New India:Building Blocks — PotentialPathways to Reform’ report.

The report was released byNITI Aayog Vice-ChairmanRajiv Kumar in the presence ofBill Gates, the co-chairman ofBill and Melinda GatesFoundation.

NITI Aayog Adviser(Health) Alok Kumar said thereport intends to prepare theroad-map to build a health sys-tem in the medium — to long-term for those belonging tomiddle class as the poor havebeen taken care of now throughAyushman Bharat while thosein the top have the capacity tobear their medical exigencies.

“So nearly 50 per cent arestill not covered under anypublic healthcare system andthe idea is to pool their riskassets which will cater to thehealth care needs of the mid-

dle class,” Kumar said.Kumar opined that people

falling under the middle classwill not bother if they have topay nominal �200 or �300towards building a good pub-lic healthcare system in thecountry and the plan looks fea-sible.

Bill Gates said India’s futureis very bright because of itsyoung population, and high-lighted that human capital ofany country is the sum total ofits healthcare, educational andnutritional investment for itscitizens.

“Our vision for a healthyIndia and quality health for allrequires us to holistically trans-form the delivery of healthcareservices in both the public andprivate sectors across all levelsof care,” said Rajiv Kamar, ViceChairman, NITI Aayog.

Under the PM Jan ArogyaYojana (PM-JAY), the bottom40 per cent of the populationgets �5 lakh cover for sec-ondary and tertiary care againstnearly 1,350 disease condi-tions.

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Market benchmark Sensexdropped by 72 points to

close at 40,284.19 on Mondaydue to losses in private banks,IT and energy stocks amidconcerns over the economicslowdown.

The 30-share index hadopened on a firm note butturned negative in afternoonsession due to profit booking inIT, banking and oil and gasstocks.

Similarly, the broader NSENifty slipped 10.95 points, or0.09 per cent, to end at11,884.50. As many as 29 of itsconstituents advanced while20 dropped.

Yes Bank was among thetop losers in the Sensex pack,falling up to 4.08 per cent, fol-lowed by Bajaj Auto, M&M, Hero MotoCorp,HDFC Bank, ONGC and TCSwhich declined up to 2.05 per cent.

On the other hand, BhartiAirtel, Tata Steel, Sun Pharma,PowerGrid, IndusInd Bank,Axis Bank, SBI, Vedanta andTata Motors rose up to 4.60 percent. Broader BSE midcap and

smallcap indices outperformedbenchmarks, rising up to 0.44per cent.

Despite positive cues fromglobal markets, sentiment inthe domestic market was sub-dued on account of multiplereports suggesting that thepace of India’s economicgrowth may falter further,traders said.

“Post Q2 results, marketseems to have entered an inde-cisive period of trade havingrallied well in the last twomonths and lack of major datareleases this week. Globally,investors are awaiting triggerson resolution of US-Chinatrade tension and future inter-est rate trajectory of US centralbank. In the short-term volatil-ity may stay but banks areexpected to do well given a newlife to distressed asset,” VinodNair, Head of Research, GeojitFinancial Services said.

Markets remained flatthroughout the day as investorswere cautious, Paras Bothra,President of Equity Research,Ashika Stock Broking said.

Sectorally, BSE capitalgoods, auto, energy, FMCG, ITand industrials indices fell upto 0.68 per cent.

While BSE telecom, metal,

basic materials, healthcare andutilities indices rose up to 3.42per cent.

Metal stocks closed higheras the sentiment turned posi-tive for base metals with thenews that US and China areprogressing gradually and in amore constructive manner ontrade tariff front, KotakSecurities Senior Vice-President, Equity TechnicalResearch, Shrikant Chouhansaid.

NSE Metal index rose by1.79 per cent, led by gains inTata Steel (4.41 per cent),Hindalco (3.33 per cent) andSAIL (2.75 per cent).

Market breadth was nega-tive as 1,404 stocks declinedwhile 1,154 gained on BSE.

Bourses in Hong Kong,Tokyo and Shanghai settled ona positive note amid optimismabout US-China trade talkswhile those in Seoul ended inthe red. European equities weretrading on a mixed note intheir respective early deals.

Meanwhile, the Indianrupee depreciated marginally to71.79 against the US dollarintra-day.

Brent crude futures, theglobal oil benchmark, rose 0.09per cent to $63.36 per barrel.

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The number of Indiansstudying in the United

States increased by almost threeper cent to over 2 lakh in the2018-19 academic year, accord-ing to a report.

Indians make up over 18per cent of all international stu-dents in the US and the num-ber of foreign students is at anall-time high in 2018-19, thefourth consecutive year withmore than 10 lakh internationalstudents, according to the 2019Open Doors Report onInternational EducationExchange. The Open Doorsreport, conducted by the US-based Institute of InternationalEducation (IIE), is an annualsurvey of foreign students andscholars studying in the coun-try and American studentsstudying abroad in credit-bear-ing courses.

“Student exchangesbetween our two countrieshelp strengthen the foundationupon which our strategic part-nership is built,” CharissePhillips, US Embassy ministercounsellor for consular affairs,said at the launch of the reportin Delhi on Monday.

“Indian students are look-ing for a great education andthe United States offers the bestreturn on this investment,”Phillips said.

According to the report,data from the US Departmentof Commerce stated that inter-national students contributed $44.7 billion to the economy in2018, an increase of 5.5 per centfrom the previous year.

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Debt-ridden telecom opera-tor Vodafone Idea on

Monday said it will raise mobileservices rates from December1 in the wake of ongoing finan-cial stress.

“To ensure that its cus-tomers continue to enjoy worldclass digital experiences,Vodafone Idea will suitablyincrease the prices of its tariffseffective December 1, 2019,”Vodafone Idea said in a state-ment. Vodafone Idea did notdisclose the quantum of hike intariff it is planning fromDecember 1. The company atpresent provides monthly

mobile services at starting priceof Rs 24 without data, and planswith data service starts from Rs33 onward. Vodafone Idea lastweek reported consolidatedloss of Rs 50,921 crore - high-est ever loss posted by anyIndian corporate - for the sec-ond quarter ended September30, on account of liability aris-ing out of the Supreme Courtorder in the adjusted grossrevenue case.

The Supreme Court lastmonth ruled in favour of thegovernment and directed tele-com companies, includingVodafone Idea, to pay dues asdemanded by the Departmentof Telecom. Vodafone Idea said

that its ability to continue busi-ness will depend on reliefssought from the governmentand positive outcome of thelegal option it has.

“The acute financial stressin the telecom sector has beenacknowledged by all stake-holders and a high levelCommittee of Secretaries (CoS)headed by the CabinetSecretary is looking into pro-viding appropriate relief,” thestatement said.

Both Vodafone India andIdea Cellular merged their tele-com business to handle the tar-iff war in the sector, triggeredby the new entrant Reliance Jioin 2016.

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India’s information technolo-gy services companies may

shed 30,000 to 40,000 middle-level employees this year asgrowth slows down, IT indus-try veteran TV Mohandas Paisaid Monday.

The former Chief FinancialOfficer of IT major Infosys Ltdtermed these job losses asonce-in-five-years normal phe-nomenon with maturing ofthe industry.

“As in all sectors in theWest, in India too when a sec-tor matures so many peoplewill be there in the middle levelwho will not be adding value tothe salary they get,” Pai toldPTI.

Promotions are okay whencompanies are growing fastbut when it slows down, peo-ple getting fat salaries willaggregate at the higher level,prompting companies to peri-odically reset their pyramids,and shedding people, he said.

“It’s going to happen againand again and again every fiveyears,” said Pai, Chairman ofAarin Capital and ManipalGlobal Education Services.

“Nobody is entitled to a fatsalary and high-paying jobunless you perform, right? Youhave to deliver value”.

“All across industry, may be30,000 to 40,000 in a year...,” hesaid when asked about thenumber of middle-level staffwho would lose their jobs.

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India is not facing 5 per centeconomic slowdown and

continues to be the fastestgrowing economy in the world,Union Minister AnuragThakur said in Lok Sabha onMonday.

During Question Hour,Thakur also said that a numberof steps are being taken by thegovernment to strengthen theeconomy that includes mergerof banks and tax concessions toindustries.

“There is no 5 per centslump. Where did you get thefigure. Show us,” he counteredwhen Aam Aadmi Party MPBhagwant Mann said the coun-try is facing slump in the economy.

The Union minister of statefor finance said India contin-ues to the fastest growing econ-omy in the world even thoughmany countries in the world arefacing economic slowdown.

“By 2025, India will be afive trillion dollars economy,”he said.

Highlighting series of stepstaken by the government tostrengthen the economy,Thakur said tax concessionshave been given to industries,foreign direct investments andMSME sector.

The minister said severalbanks have been merged withbigger banks and ultimate aimof the government is to keepfour strong banks with solidfooting and ensure increasedeconomic activities.

��

Heavy Industries and PublicEnterprises Minister

Prakash Javadekar on Mondaysaid a total of 11.7 million vehi-cles of all categories were soldthis year as against 14.1 millionunits in the April-September2018 period, but festive demand this year ledto a 0.3 per cent growth in thepassenger vehicles segment.

“There are cyclical slow-downs in many economies.11.7 million vehicles (all cate-gories) were sold in this year asagainst 14.1 million vehiclesduring April-September of2018. But the festival demandhas shown year-on-year growthat 0.3 per cent in the passenger vehicle segment,”Javadekar said in a writtenreply to a question in the RajyaSabha.

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Indian-American formerPepsiCo head Indra Nooyi

and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezoshave been inducted into theprestigious SmithsonianNational Portrait Gallery fortheir accomplishments andpositive impact on America’sshared history, developmentand culture

Founded by Congress in1962, the Smithsonian NationalPortrait Gallery tell the story ofAmerica by portraying thepeople who have made signif-icant contributions to the his-tory, development, and cultureof the people of the US.

Through the visual arts,performing arts and newmedia, the Portrait Gallerypresents poets and presidents,visionaries and villains, actorsand activists whose lives formAmerica’s national identity.

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India has slipped 6 places to59 rank on a global annual

list of 63 countries, due to lowquality of life and expenditureon education, according to thelatest edition of IMD WorldTalent Ranking, which wastopped by Switzerland.

The ranking, which isbased on the performance inthree main categories — invest-ment and development, appealand readiness, noted that Indiais also lagging behind fellowBRICs countries — Chinaranked 42nd on the list, Russia(47th) and South Africa (50th).

Mumbai: The Reserve Bank isin the process of setting up a“college of supervisors” to aug-ment the supervisory skills ofits key personnel, governorShaktikanta Das has said.

The development can beattributed as a response to themassive scam at Punjab &Maharashtra Cooperative(PMC) Bank, which for threeyears hoodwinked the regula-tor with cooked up books-something the annual inspec-tion by the RBI supervisorscould not notice and take pre-ventive action.

The RBI has already creat-ed a unified department ofsupervision and a unifieddepartment of regulation fromNovember 1 this year, whichwill strengthen the oversight ofcommercial banks, cooperativebanks and NBFCs, Das hassaid.

The governor was address-ing a closed-door conferenceon ‘50 years of bank national-isation’ organised byAhmedabad University overthe weekend.

“It is our endeavour toupdate the knowledge and skilllevels of supervisors on a con-tinuous basis. We are adoptinga multi-pronged approach inthis aspect. We are in theprocess of setting up a collegeof supervisors to augment andreinforce supervisory skillsamong regulatory and super-visory staff,” Das was quoted assaying in a statement issued byAhmedabad University. PTI

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Cristiano Ronaldo scored his99th international goal as

reigning champions Portugalsecured their place at the Euro2020 finals with a 2-0 victory awayto Luxembourg, while Franceended their qualifying campaignwith victory.

Bruno Fernandes struck theopening goal on 39 minutes onSunday before Ronaldo tapped ina scrappy second late on to clinchsecond place in Group B behindwinners Ukraine, who drew 2-2 inSerbia.

Iranian striker Ali Daei holdsthe world record with 109 interna-tional goals scored in 149 appear-ances between 1993 and 2006.

“All records must be brokenand I will beat that record,” saidRonaldo.

Portugal became the 17thnation to qualify for next year’smulti-host tournament, whichkicks off in Rome on June 12, join-ing the likes of world championsFrance, Spain, Italy and England.

“We can’t give the match highmarks for style,” said Portugalcoach Fernando Santos, whoadmitted the heavy pitch made lifechallenging for his team.

“I’m very happy for myplayers because the qualifyingcampaign has been more dif-ficult than we expected.

“We’re through to the finals ofa major tournament for an 11thstraight time. You’ve got to believein these players.”

Portugal knew they wouldbook their place at Euro 2020 witha win or by matching Serbia’s resultfrom their game in Belgrade.

But they were made to workhard by a Luxembourg teamranked 96th in the world thatnotably held France to a 0-0 drawin 2018 World Cup qualifying.

Sporting Lisbon midfielderFernandes broke the deadlockbefore half-time, controllingBernardo Silva’s pinpoint passexpertly before lashing in from 20yards.

Ronaldo, who smacked in ahat-trick in Thursday’s 6-0 thrash-ing of Lithuania, moved to thebrink of his international centuryfour minutes from time.

Silva’s far-post cross was forcedtowards goal by Diogo Jota, withLuxembourg goalkeeper AnthonyMoris getting a hand to the ballbefore Ronaldo turned in from thegoalline.

FRANCE SIGN OFFLater on Sunday, world cham-

pions France wrapped up top spotin Group H as goals from CorentinTolisso and Antoine Griezmannsealed a 2-0 win over Albania inTirana.

“I’m very dependent on theplayers,” French World Cup-win-ning coach Didier Deschampssaid after his 100th game in charge.

“It’s a personal pride. But it’sgood to see what the players do

together. At times, it can be a bitmore difficult with changes tothe players, injured players, but

the spirit is there.”The visitors made a quick

start on the pitch, though, asBayern Munich midfielder Tolissoheaded Griezmann’s free-kick intothe bottom corner.

The Barcelona star slotted inthe second himself on the half-hour mark, before the dead rub-ber petered out in the second peri-od, with Olivier Giroud goingclosest to a third by striking thepost.

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Max Verstappen underlined hispotential as a champion of the

future on Sunday with a command-ing victory for Red Bull in an aston-ishing and crash-hit Brazilian GrandPrix at Interlagos.

The 22-year-old Dutchmantwice passed newly-crowned six-timeworld champion Lewis Hamilton ina thrilling contest that had two safe-ty car interventions and saw theFerraris of Sebastian Vettel andCharles Leclerc clash and retire,before clinching the eighth victory ofhis career.

His third win this season alsomade up for his disappointment inlast year’s race in Brazil when helooked certain to win before a lateaccident wrecked his hopes of victo-ry.

He made the most of pole posi-tion and finished a dominant winnerahead of his former Red Bull team-mate Pierre Gasly, now with ToroRosso, as they delivered a Honda-powered one-two for the Japanesecompany for the first time since theheyday of local hero Ayrton Senna.

Frenchman Gasly came home0.062 seconds ahead of Hamilton,who finished third for Mercedes butwas demoted to seventh following apost-race stewards’ investigationafter crashing with luckless Thai dri-ver Alexander Albon, the man whoreplaced Gasly at Red Bull, in thefinal laps.

Hamilton’s demotion giftedMcLaren’s Carlos Sainz his firstFormula One podium, subject to sev-eral other stewards’ inquiries.

“Lewis was very quick,” saidVerstappen. “So I had to keep push-ing all the time. He pitted early so we

had to be on top of our pit-stops andwe had a good move on him.

“I could control the race with thetyres I had, so, for me, it was unbe-lievable. It was a lot of fun out thereand great to win the race.”

VETTEL, LECLERC SUMMONEDFerrari team boss Mattia Binotto

has called drivers Sebastian Vettel andCharles Leclerc to a clear-the-airmeeting after their collision wreckedthe team’s hopes in Sao Paulo.

The pair, who collided whilefighting for fourth place, were forcedto retire from the race, leaving Ferrariembarrassed and pointless and thedrivers arguing about who was toblame. “There will be time (for us all)together at Maranello to understandwhat happened,” said Binotto.

“It’s not for me to blame them, it’sfor them to recognise it.”

Both cars were damaged andforced to retire in the incident, whichcame after a Safety Car restart whenVettel ‘closed the door’ on a challeng-ing Leclerc.

It resulted in Ferrari’s first score-less race since the 2017 SingaporeGrand Prix and refocused criticism onthe team’s habit of generating self-inflicted damage — and the fractiousrelationship between their drivers.

“I have not reviewed yet, I don’twant to do it yet,” insisted Binotto. “Ithink doing things in the heat of themoment, we may have the wrong con-clusion.

“I heard both drivers, but they willcome as well together to discussagain what happened and there willbe time for the team to analyse all thevideo and the data.

“Whatever will be the judge-ment, more important is we are dis-appointed and sorry for the team.

“But first, the two drivers shouldbe sorry for the team — as it has beena very small crash with big conse-quences...

“They are silly things that shouldnot happen.

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Winless in four games so far in anincreasingly disappointing cam-paign, the Indian football team

faces higher-ranked Oman in a do-or-dieWorld Cup qualifying round match heretoday.

A first half strike from Sunil Chhetrigave India hopes of beating Oman in thefirst leg in Guwahati in September but itultimately turned out to be so-near-yet-so-far as the Gulf nation struck twice in thefinal 10 minutes to outwit the home side.

Oman are coming into this match afteran emphatic (4-1) win over Bangladesh onNovember 14.

India, on the other hand, are strug-gling after an impressive goal-less drawagainst Asian champions Qatar as theyneeded late equalisers in their identical 1-1 draws against lower-ranked Bangladeshand Afghanistan.

After three draws and a defeat, Indiaare fourth in the Group E table with threepoints while Oman are second with ninepoints from four matches. Qatar are on topwith 10 points from four matches.

An upset win over Oman will certain-ly keep Igor Stimac’s side in the hunt fora next round berth but a loss will virtual-ly send India out of reckoning as far as the2022 World Cup qualification is con-cerned.

If India lose, they will trail Oman bynine points and have only three matches— maximum nine points — left to play inthis second round of the qualifiers.

Even the runner-up sides from theeight groups are not guaranteed an auto-matic spot in the third round of the qual-ifiers.

A draw against Oman will also makeit difficult for India to qualify for the nextround. Their last three matches — all tobe played next year — are against Qatar(at home on March 26), Bangladesh(away, June 4) and Afghanistan (at home,June 9).

But getting a least a point againstOman may prove crucial as it will makeit easier for India to get an automatic thirdround berth for the 2023 Asian Cup qual-ifiers.

This campaign is also a joint qualify-ing round for the 2023 Asian Cup and thethird-placed teams and the best four fourthplaced teams from the eight groups auto-matically get a spot in the third round ofthe qualifiers of the continental champi-onships.

Stimac’s side has struggled not just indefence but four matches into this cam-paign, it is also clear that its offence is alsonot in the best of form.

India is no longer dependent on onlyChhetri to score the goals but the inabil-ity to convert the chances has cost the teamdear.

Stimac has no illusion about who is thefavourite today but he is also hoping thathis players will convert the chances which

come their way andscore goals.

“Oman aremuch better nowthan the team weplayed against in Guwahati. They are thefavourites. We know for a fact that matchis going to be very difficult for us,” the highprofile Croatian coach said.

Historically too, India are the under-dogs, having not won any of the 11 match-es they have played against Oman whohave emerged victorious on eight occa-sions.

Before the Guwahati match inSeptember, the two sides played out a 0-0 draw in the run-up to the 2019 AsianCup in the UAE. In the two legs of the 2018World Cup qualifiers played in 2015, Indiahad lost to Oman 0-3 in Muscat before a1-2 defeat in Bangalore.

India will still be without senior cen-tral defender Anas Edathodika as hereturned home before the Afghanistanmatch due to a family emergency, dealinga further blow to a team which has lost theservices of Sandesh Jhingan, RowlingBorges and Amarjit Singh due to injuries.

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�� #��!�� 8� ��!��= India are not looking atrevenge but full points against Oman,skipper Sunil Chhetri said on Mondayas they gear up to take on the hosts.

Oman had beaten India 2-1 inGuwahati in September but Chhetridismissed talks about India gunning fora revenge.

“We won’t think about revenge oranything closer to that, absolutely not.At the end of the day, the points mat-ter. It’s not a derby as they are not ourneighbours,” Chhetri said during atraining session.

“These are the qualifiers and wehave only one thing in our mind, to goout and give everything that we haveand take the result. I mean the impor-tant point is to go and play well, espe-cially in the away matches.”

Oman striker Al Mandhar hasalready scored four goals in fourmatches during the qualifiers butPritam Kotal felt everyone should bedealt with equally to come out with afavourable result.

“It’s not only Al Mandhar, otherattackers like Al Alwai, Al Ghassanieveryone can impose equal danger toa defence line. They are quick, theyswitch positions fast and can score fromlong. We have to be extra cautious oftheir long-range shots,” Kotal opined.

Custodian GurpreetSingh Sandhu pickedthat staying unbeatenon the road is the pri-ority now and Omanis going to be a difficultopponent to playagainst.

“It’s alwaysdifficult play-ing away fromhome and werecognise thet h r e a t s( f r o mO m a n )given theirability andstrength. We have tomake sure we dealwith them well.” PTI

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With no internationalassignment till next

year, the Indian men’s hockeyside will focus on individualimprovement rather thanteam tactics during the ongo-ing national camp, chief coachGraham Reid said onMonday.

After securing a 2020Olympics berth in the quali-fiers against Russia, the teamis currently undergoing athree-week training and con-ditioning camp which willconclude on December 8.

“Given there is no tourna-ment immediately followingthe three-week camp in

Bhubaneswar, it is a perfectopportunity for us to changefocus from team tactics tomore about individualimprovement,” Reid said as

the national camp of 33 coreprobables which began at theKalinga Stadium here onMonday.

“We will do this through

detailed analysis and reviewfrom our performances lastseason including the FIHHockey Olympic Qualifiers inOdisha. This will provide agood road-map for us in ourquest to squeeze as muchimprovement as we can in thenext nine months,” the 53-year-old Australian added.

The Indian team recent-ly secured its place at the 2020Olympic Games by defeatingRussia 11-3 on aggregate at theFIH Hockey OlympicQualifiers here.

India’s next assignmentwill be the twin home legmatches of the FIH ProLeague against theNetherlands in January next

year. Meanwhile, Bhubaneswar

will host India’s home match-es during the 2020 HockeyPro League, the sport’s gov-erning body announced onMonday.

The first team that Indiawill host is the Netherlands onJanuary 18. The Pro Leaguewill feature 144 matches in thecoming season.

Australia's home match-es will be played in Perth andSydney, while England will beplaying its share in London.

The first match will fea-ture the Netherlands andChina on January 11, 2020 atthe Wujin Hockey Stadium inChangzhou.

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The series already in their pock-et, India women continued their

domination over the West Indieswomen by notching up afive-run win in the rain-truncated fourth T20International in Guyana.

India women now leadthe five-match series 4-0 after sealing theseries in the thirdgame here.

In the rain-marred fourth T20I n t e r n a t i o n a lwhich was reducedto a nine-over-a-sideaffair, India womenmade 50 for the lossof seven wickets afterbeing sent into bat.

Pooja Vastrakar(10) was the lone

Indian to reach double digit score.Hayley Mathews (3/13) scalped

three wickets for the hosts, while AfyFletcher (2/2) and ShenetaGrimmond (2/10) picked up two

wickets apiece.The Indians then bowled

and fielded with discipline torestrict the West Indies women to

45 for five in their nine overs.India skipper Harmanpreet

Kaur completely relied on herspinners and they did not disap-point her as off-spinner AnujaPatil (2/8), Deepti Sharma (1/8)

and Radha Yadav (1/8)kept the Windies on atight leash throughout

to ensure the win.Mathews (11) and Chinelle

Henry (11) top-scored for thehome team.

The fifth and final T20 of theseries will be played here on

Thursday.

�� &-�&��

Australia captain Tim Paine onMonday said the upcoming Test

series against Pakistan and New Zealandcould be the last time he leads the sideat home.

“It might be (my last summer), I’mnot too sure,” Paine told reporters. “But...I’m enjoying doing it. I feel good physi-cally (and) mentally. So while that con-tinues, I’m scoring enough runs andkeeping well enough, then I’d like to con-tinue.

“I know when you get to my age thatcan change really quickly. I’m really look-ing forward to this summer, beyond thatI haven’t looked too far. I know what Iwant to do and what I want to achieve.

Wicketkeeper Paine, 34, took overthe reins after former skipper Steve Smithwas handed a one-year suspension lastyear for his role in the ball tampering

scandal.There have been talks of restoring

Smith as captain as his exceptional per-formance at the Ashes where he amassed774 runs.

Asked about his aim as skipper, Painesaid Australia’s top priority is to reclaimtop spot in ICC test rankings and win theWorld Test Championship (WTC) wherethey are right now placed fifth in thepoints table.

“Our goal is to get back to that num-ber one ranking and we want to win thatTest Championship,” he added. “To dothat we’re going to have to be goodenough to win in India and we’re goingto have to be good enough to beat every-one, everywhere.

“It’s the only way we’re going to getto where we want to get to. It’s an excit-ing period and I’m looking forward tobeing part of the start of that and thereis no end point at the moment.”

�� 5-�4�

All-rounder Lalit Yadavclaimed three wickets with

his off-breaks as Delhi notchedup a comprehensive 20-runwin over Odisha in their finalGroup E match to qualify forthe Super League of the SyedMushtaq Ali Trophy here onMonday.

Electing to bat, Delhi post-ed 149 for six and then returnedto dismiss Odisha for 129 in18.1 overs to complete the winand top Group E with 22 pointsfrom seven matches.

Going through a roughpatch, Shikhar Dhawan top-scored with a 33-ball 35 whichcomprised three fours and a six.However his struggle wasapparent against an unfanciedOdisha attack. He failed to getgoing.

Earlier, Delhi batsmen,including opener Hiten Dalal(20) and first-down DhruvShorey (26), got starts but nonecould convert them into bigscores but they did enough tohelp the team post a decentscore on board.

For Odisha, Abhishek Raut(2/21) took two wickets, whileGovinda Poddar (1/18),Suryakant Pradhan (1/31),Pappu Roy (1/35) and SubhamNayak (1/29) accounted forone wicket each.

Defending the total, Yadavreturned with impressive figuresof 3.1-1-10-3 and he was ablysupported by Pawan Negi (2/38)and Nitish Rana (2/6) as the trioderailed Odisha’s chase.

Odisha had a disastrousstart and were looking down the

barrel at 36 for 5 in 7.2 overs.Down the order, Suryakant

Pradhan smashed a 20-ball 48laced with six hits to the fencebut it was not enough.

In another Group E match,Chintan Gaja (4/15) snappedfour wickets before Kshitij Patelblasted a 36-ball 44 as Gujaratthrashed Jammu and Kashmirby 8 wickets.

Sent to bat, J & K folded fora paltry 101 in 18.3 overs,thanks to Gaja and HardikPatel (3/17), who shared sevenwickets between them.

Piyush Chawla (2/19) andAxar Patel (1/23) also con-tributed with the ball.

Chasing the total, Kshitijtop-scored with an unbeaten 44off 36 balls, while ChiragGandhi (32) and Urvil Patel (22)chipped in with useful contri-butions as Gujarat scored 102for 2 in 13.3 overs.

HARYANA MAUL MEGHALAYA!�!�� Powered by an all-round show by Harshal Patel,Haryana ended their leaguestage campaign on a high witha 99-run win against Meghalayain a Group D match.

Put into bat at the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) in thesuburbs, Haryana rode on aquick fire 82 off 40 balls byopener Patel to amass a compet-itive 202/6.

The chase was an uphilltask for Meghalaya, who strug-gled to get going and wererestricted to 103/9.

Patel, a right-arm mediumpacer, then shone with the ballto return with fine figures of3/22.

�� %5�

Back in form after a string ofbelow-par performances,

Kidambi Srikanth would lookfor another good outing whileSaina Nehwal pulled out of theKorea Masters World TourSuper 300 tournament, whichstarts with the qualifiers heretoday.

After going through a tough

phase since his final finish atIndia Open this year, Srikanthboosted his confidence with asemifinal appearance at theHong Kong Open last week.

It was his first appearance atthe last four stage since the IndiaOpen and the Indian ace wouldlook to continue the good runwhen he opens against HongKong’s Wong Wing Ki Vincentin the men’s singles.

Overall, world number 13Srikanth enjoys a 10-3 head-to-head record against Wong WingKi, who is on a comeback trailafter suffering the personaltragedy.

World number 9 Saina, whohas made early exits in a seriesof tournaments recently, decid-ed to skip the event but she islikely to feature at the SyedModi International World TourSuper 300 in Lucknow nextweek.

With Saina’s withdrawal,there is no Indian participationin women’s singles.

Among other Indians inthe fray, world number 16Sameer Verma will take on topseed Chinese Shi Yu Qi in theopening round, while his elderbrother Sourabh Verma willface a qualifier.

Subhankar Dey, who hadclaimed the SaarLorLux Openlast year, will need to fight it outagainst Olympic champion andsecond seed Chen Long ofChina.

No Indian is taking part inany doubles competition.

�� 0��0�

Rafael Nadal was con-firmed as the year-

end world number onefor the fifth time after theATP released its season-closing rankings onMonday.

The Spaniard didnot make it beyond thegroup stage of last week’sATP Finals in Londonbut Novak Djokovic’sfailure to reach the semi-finals meant Nadalclosed the year with9,985 points, 840 clear ofthe Serb.

Nadal draws levelwith rivals Djokovic andRoger Federer, who havealso finished the year intop spot five times, andmoves one behind six-time end-of-year num-ber one Pete Sampras.

Nadal and Djokovichave been this year’s twodominant players afterwinning two Majorseach.

D j o k o v i cwon the

Australian Open andWimbledon with Nadalcleaning up at RolandGarros and the USOpen.

Federer ends theseason at number threefor the second year run-ning. The Swiss, whoturned 38 in August, hascut down his Tour com-mitments to focus onevents around GrandSlams.

He reached thesemi-finals of the

French Openwhere he lost

to Nadal and the lasteight at FlushingMeadows where he lostin five sets to worldnumber 20 GregorDimitrov.

In between he lostan epic Wimbledon finalagainst Djokovic, thefirst to be decided by atie-break in the fifth set,suggesting that he stillhas hopes of a 21st majortitle in 2020.

Dominic Thiem,who took a set off Nadalin the final of the FrenchOpen, moves up tonumber four.

The 21-year-oldGreek Stefanos Tsitsipascloses the year at numbersix, just behind DaniilMedvedev, after his tri-umph in London.

Former world num-ber one Andy Murraybegan the year ranked at240 and the prospect ofretirement.

As he struggled withsurgery on a hip injuryand the subsequent recu-peration he had slippedto 503 in Septemberbefore a dramatic returnto the courts, which pro-duced a remarkable vic-tory at the EuropeanOpen in Antwerp, liftedhim to a year-end 126.

�� 0��0�

Stefanos Tsitsipas battled backfrom a set down against

Dominic Thiem to win the ATPFinals title on Sunday night,emphatically staking his claim asthe leader of the next generation ofaspiring global superstars.

The Greek 21-year-old, whowon, 6-7 (6/8), 6-2, 7-6 (7/4) is theyoungest champion since LleytonHewitt in 2001 and the fourthfirst-time champion at the season-ending event in as many years.

It is Tsitsipas’s third title of theseason and comes a year after hewas crowned champion at the NextGen ATP Finals in Milan.

He has charmed the crowd atLondon’s O2 Arena all week andearned his place in the final with animpressive straight-sets win againstsix-time champion Roger Federer.

“I can’t sum up my emotionsright now,” said Tsitsipas. “It’s amaz-ing to be remembered as the 2019champion. It is a dream come trueand the best way to end this match.

“I did get nervous at somepoints in the match but I managedto forget about how I felt and I hadmomentum in the tie-break whichwas really tight.

“My fighting spirit and meconstantly trying to push myself todo better got me there in the end.”

Defeat is a bitter disappoint-ment for Thiem, who won five titlesthis year, including the IndianWells Masters, and reached a sec-ond successive French Open final.

There was little to choosebetween sixth-seed Tsitsipas andAustria’s world number five Thiemin the first set as a total of five breakpoints went begging.

Both players had impressedon serve during the tournament,with Tsitsipas’s figures especiallystriking — 44 service games wonout of 47 leading into the final.

In an inevitable tie-breakTsitsipas saved a set point at 5/6 but

Thiem clinched his second setpoint with a powerful serve that theGreek returned into the net.

TSITSIPAS BREAKSBut Tsitsipas regrouped and

within minutes Thiem, who beat hisopponent in three sets in the Beijingfinal last month, was under pres-sure, spraying a forehand wide toconcede first break of the match.

Tsitsipas held with ease andthen produced a forehand down theline to break again, with Thiemthreatening to unravel. Tsitsipas hadwon 12 out of 14 points in the set.

Thiem, who like Tsitsipas playswith a single-handed backhand,stemmed the tide but could makelittle impression on his opponent’sserve and lost the set 6-2.

Thiem was rocking again at thestart of the deciding set. He savedtwo break points in the first gamebut looked increasingly shaky andwas broken to trail 1-2.

The Greek was now well on topbut out of nowhere Thiem was levelat 3-3 after Tsitsipas put a backhandwide.

The Austrian was now playingwith much more confidence,unleashing a series of blisteringwinners and edged ahead 5-4 afteranother service hold but the rest ofthe set went with serve.

In the deciding set tie-breakTsitsipas took a 4-2 lead but waspegged back to 4/4.

But on the next point Tsitsipasearned a mini-break, giving himthe chance to serve out for the

match and he made no mistake,closing out the biggest victory of hiscareer.

Tsitsipas has competitionamong his peers as the new gener-ation attempt to dislodge Federer,Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal,who have dominated the men’sgame for the past 15 years.

World number four DaniilMedvedev won two Masters titlesthis year and reached the US Openfinal while Alexander Zverev wasin London defending the title hewon last year.

But Tsitsipas, who has beatenevery member of the “Big Three” in2019, will go into the new seasonwith the belief he can take the nextstep towards the apex of the men’sgame.

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�� Prime Minister Imran Khanhas advised sacked Pakistan captainSarfaraz Ahmed to focus on domesticcricket to get back to the national team.

Khan, the patron-in-chief ofPakistan Cricket Board and a formercaptain, also backed the appointmentof Misbah-ul-Haq as head coach andchief selector.

“I don’t think the performance andform of a player should be judged byT20 cricket but through Test and One-day cricket. He can come back to thenational team, he should focus ondomestic cricket,” Khan said whenasked about Sarfaraz.

The wicketkeeper-batsman wasremoved as captain and dropped from

the team in all three formats by the PCBlast month after Pakistan were white-washed 0-3 in a T20 series at home.

Regarding the appointment ofMisbah as head coach and chief selec-tor, Khan said, “It is a constructive moveto appoint Misbah as he is an honestand unbiased personality who hasloads of experience behind him.

“I think Misbah will turn out to bea good choice and Pakistan will improveand do well in Test and ODI cricketunder him. He has this talent in himthat he can groom the players and alsoimprove their performance,” he added.

Khan also supported the newdomestic first-class season in whichonly six provincial teams are compet-

ing on home and away basis and saideventually this will lead to a better crick-et system in the country.

He noted that there was alreadysome improvement in domestic crick-et and hoped it will get better.

“If our domestic cricket improves,then Pakistan cricket will also move for-ward.” PTI

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Andy Murray will do a “greatjob” when he continues his

comeback from injury at nextweek’s inaugural Davis Cup Finalsin Madrid, British captain LeonSmith said on Sunday.

Murray, who inspired Britainto the 2015 Davis Cup title, willline up alongside his older broth-er Jamie, Dan Evans, KyleEdmund and Neal Skupski at theCaja Magica.

“Andy feels great,” said Smith.“He’s obviously extremely happy tobe back in tennis.

“He’s training unbelievablyhard to get back to his best position,with great focus.

“If he’s picked to play, then Iknow he will do a great job on thecourt. That’s not ego, that’s confi-dence of course.

“He’s still a very good tennisplayer, he’s pushing (the other) guysahead. And at the same time, yourealise what he’s gone through.”

Britain, who were handed awildcard for the first tournamentsince the old World Group wasscrapped, will be favourites toprogress from a Group E.

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