16
O ne person was killed and several others injured in Thursday’s dawn-to-dusk strike called by Sabarimala Karma Samithi, an umbrella organi- sation of pro-Hindutva groups, and the Antarrashtriya Hindu Parishad (AHP), to protest the entry of two women of repro- ductive age into the Sabarimala temple on Wednesday. Hurling crude bombs and stones, protesters rampaged through the streets of Kerala, fighting pitched battles with police and political rivals, leav- ing scores of people, including six BJP workers, injured in Thrissur, Kannur and Kasaragod, officials said. In Thrissur, three BJP activists were stabbed during a scuffle with workers of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), the political wing of Popular Front of India, a mil- itant Islamic outfit, police said. The incident occurred when saffron party workers attempt- ed to force a restaurant to down the shutters. Chandran Unnithan, 55, was killed in stone pelting while he was leading a rally late on Wednesday. While hartal supporters alleged that Unnithan died in stone-pelting by CPI(M) activists, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan blamed the violence on “ele- ments” associated with Sangh Parivar and alleged that they were trying to foment trouble in Kerala under the pretext of saving Sabarimala. Governor P Sathasivam has sought a report on the law and order from the Chief Minister following widespread rioting and stone pelting by pro and anti hatrtal activists all over the State. “I appeal to all sec- tions of people to maintain calm,” Sathasivam said. As tempers ran high in Kerala, the Supreme Court on Thursday refused to urgently hear a contempt petition moved by a lawyers’ group against the Sabarimala temple authorities for closing the shrine for purification after two women entered it. A Bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice SK Kaul said that the contempt petition will be heard along with the pend- ing review petitions against the apex court verdict which allowed women of all age groups to enter the Sabarimala temple. Nearly 300 persons, belonging to various Hindutwa outfits have been arrested in the State in connection with wide- spread attacks on buses, pub- lic places and journalists dur- ing the hartal on Thursday. According to sources in police headquarters at Thiruvananathapuram, the number of arrests would be more as some of the attackers and rioters have gone under- ground. Tomin Thachankery, the managing director of the State- owned KSRTC, said in a release late on Thursday that 100 buses belonging to the corporation were damaged in stone pelting by rioters. “We have suffered losses to the tune of Rs 3.35 crore in the attacks by the protesters over the last two days,” said Thachankary. The Kerala Police has launched “Operation Broken Window” to nab the persons responsible for stone pelting and rioting. Though the police had promised protection to those who open shops and business establishments, the help was not forthcoming, thus forcing the owners to pull down the shutters for the day. Mediapersons too came under the attack of the organ- isers of the hartal. Two reporters and a videographer belonging to two new channels were injured in the attack while the camera of one of the chan- nels was damaged. The media persons who were upset over the attacks blacked out the press meets addressed by K Surendran, the general secre- tary of the BJP and Sasikala, the SAC leader. Addressing the media at Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday morning, Vijayan took strong exception to the decision of the Sabarimala Action Committee to call for hartal. He claimed that the two women entered the sanctum of the temple because of the coop- eration extended by devotees and the police had no role in it. “We were asked to provide them with police security and we were bound by the Constitution to do so,” said Vijayan. Vijayan lambasted the Thanthri (chief priest) of Sabarimala for ordering the closure of the temple for per- forming purification rituals after the entry of the two women. “This is rare and unheard of. If the Thanthri was against the verdict of the Supreme Court, he should have quit his job immediately. We will certainly take action against him for conducting the purifi- cation rituals,” said Vijayan. But the Chief Minister’s remarks about the death of Chandran Unnithan, the Ayyappa devotee at Pandalam, caused wide resentment in the State. Vijayan said Unnithan died because of heart attack while autopsy report from Kottayam Medical College stat- ed that the victim died because of the severe injury suffered on his skull. F or years a political “untouchable” within the BJP, its former national gener- al secretary Sanjay Joshi, a skilled hand in micro-manag- ing electoral battles, may make a comeback to assist the party in its tough Lok Sabha fight in Uttar Pradesh where it is like- ly to face a tough challenge from the Opposition “maha- gathbhandan”. Joshi who had fallen out of favour with Prime Minister Narendra Modi is now expected to be given organisa- tional responsibility in the elec- torally key State where BJP has to defend its spectacular record of 2104, winning 71 out of 80 seats. “Joshi’s induction has back- ing of RSS and the top BJP lead- ership,” according to sources. Joshi was forced to resign in 2005 as BJP general secretary in the wake of the appearance of a controversial CD, which was later found to be fake. After being sidelined for years, in 2012 the then BJP president Nitin Gadkari made him in-charge of UP Assembly elections. The same year, after the BJP’s poll debacle in UP, Joshi was forced out of BJP’s nation- al executive when he also resigned from the party. Joshi’s ouster was then attrib- uted to Narendra Modi’s ire against him. In 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the former RSS ‘pracharak’ handled Gadkari’s election in the Nagpur constituency. Post- demonenisation, Joshi praised Modi’s move and looked set for a journey back into a pro-active role in the party, beyond the acrimonious relations with the Prime Minister. In the recent past, Joshi made several visits to Uttar Pradesh where he has been meeting party workers at the ground level. Former Gujarat Minister Gordhan Zadaphia, who had also fallen out with Modi and launched his own party was in December inducted by BJP president Amit Shah as one the three leaders in-charge for the party’s electioneering in UP A day after Shiv Sena aligned with the Opposition on Rafale deal debate, more trou- ble is in store for BJP from its other NDA partners. While JD(U) said it would vote against the Triple Talaq Bill, Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Thursday announced to oppose any Ordinance on Ram temple. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday suggested any decision on an Ordinance on Ram temple in Ayodhya can happen only after the comple- tion of the judicial process. Modi’s comments came amidst heightened demands by Hindutava organisations, including the RSS, for an Ordinance for an early con- struction of the temple. LJP is the second major ally of the BJP to oppose an Ordinance. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had recently said that the con- tentious issue should be resolved either through a court judgment or mutual agree- ment among different groups. Last week, the ruling party in Bihar also announced its dis- agreement in regards to the ongoing contentious Triple Talaq Bill in Parliament. A week after the seat-shar- ing deal with BJP and JD(U), Paswan in a Press conference said he opposed an Ordinance on the Ram temple issue and asserted that the Supreme Court’s decision on the matter should be final. The Supreme Court is scheduled to take up on Friday a batch of petitions for hearing in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute case. The matter is listed before a Bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice SK Kaul. “Whatever judgment the Supreme Court gives on the Ram temple should be accept- ed by everyone, be it Hindu, Muslim or any other commu- nity. Our stand has been con- sistent. When the PM said that we will wait for the SC judg- ment, then all ifs and buts should end,” Paswan, who is also Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) president, said. Asked if he would support an Ordinance on the issue, Paswan said his stand has been consistent and that he would not support it. Paswan added that political parties have dif- ferent views on issues and asked Congress president Rahul Gandhi to make his stand clear on these issues as he seems to be confused. Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) too criticised the BJP, saying the Bill, criminalising instant Triple Talaq, was being “rushed” and if it comes up for passing in Rajya Sabha, it would vote against the Government. The Opposition has closed ranks against the Triple Talaq Bill in the upper house demanding the Bill be sent to a select parliamentary com- mittee for scrutiny. T he Supreme Court on Thursday revived the Government case in National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) against Nestle India seeking damages of 640 crore alleging unfair trade practices, false labelling and misleading advertisements of its Maggi noodles. The top court had on December 16, 2015, stayed the proceedings before the NCDRC and directed the CFTRI (Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysuru) to place its test report before it. A Bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and Hemant Gupta was told by senior advo- cate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Nestle India, that tests reports of the Mysuru lab had been submitted and it found that lead content in Maggi noodles was well with- in the limit. “Why should we be eating Maggi with lead in it?”, Justice Chandrachud asked Singhvi. Detailed report on P10 A fter putting in his papers as the member of Punjab leg- islative assembly, renowned advocate HS Phoolka on Thursday submitted his resig- nation from the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) primary mem- bership. Phoolka, a senior advocate who has fought the legal battle for the 1984 anti-Sikh riots vic- tims, submitted his resignation to the AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The move comes amid speculation over possibility of an alliance between the Congress and AAP for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. In a tweet, Phoolka said that he would explain reason behind the move in a press briefing in Delhi on Friday. “I have resigned from AAP and handed over res- ignation to Kejriwal ji today. Though he asked me not to resign but I insisted. Will be briefing media tomorrow at 4 pm at Press Club, Raisina Road, New Delhi to explain the Reason of leaving AAP and my further plans,” he wrote on Twitter. Phoolka had all along been opposing AAP's any allinance with the Congress. Continued on Page 4 T he absence of Akali patri- arch and Punjab’s five-time Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal from Prime Minister’s Gurdaspur rally on Thursday raised many eyebrows. Senior Badal’s absence at Modi’s first rally to kick-start the party’s election campaign for 2019 Lok Sabha elections has raised questions over rela- tions between the two alliance partners. Even as Punjab BJP presi- dent Shwet Malik cited poor health as the reason for Badal’s absence from the SAD-BJP’s joint rally, former Chief Minister’s continuous appear- ances in the recent past did not give much weight to the same as this was the first time that the senior Badal choose to stay away during Modi’s visit to Punjab. If that was not enough, no Akali leader reached the airport to receive the Prime Minister. However, SAD president Sukhbir Badal, his wife and Union Minister Harsimrat Badal, and other senior leaders attended the rally. Giving credence to the rumours of Akali Dal and BJP relations turning sour are the reports of the Badals refusing to provide their buses to the saffron party for the rally. It has been learnt that the Company, owned by the Badals, have provided the buses after charging fees, while the BJP leaders have claimed that they have been given some concession. Sources informed The Pioneer that Akali Dal, espe- cially the senior Badal, was not happy with the BJP for claim- ing credit for the opening of Kartarpur Sahib corridor, besides other Sikh issues. In fact, SAD leaders were sur- prised at the timing of the Modi’s election rally at Gurdaspur, as the poll panel is yet to announce the dates for the same. It has also been learnt that the BJP may also pressurise the “besieged” and “dispirited” Akali Dal to seek more seats for the Lok Sabha polls. As per current arrangement, SAD contests on 10 out of total 13 seats in Punjab, with just three in BJP’s kitty. P rime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday banked on the past laurels without promising anything for the future to the state during his Punjab visit. Modi’s visit, when the country was switching into an election mode, came amidst speculations of special package for the farmers, among other things. But, Modi pulled the credit out of the Congress party's bag to swing it in his favour after claiming it to be part of his party’s success story. In his 35-minute address to the dhanvad rally at Gurdaspur, Modi ended up counting what BJP-led NDA Government at the Centre did, and the Congress-led UPA did not, without announcing any new development project or any relief package for the State. Targeting the Congress party on the issues ranging from Kartarpur Sahib corridor to 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Modi failed to announce anything as a solution to the problems afflicting the state like farmers’ woes, water and economic cri- sis, among other things. All that Modi said that many projects are going on in Punjab and the Congress-led State Government should ful- fil the central government’s schemes at the earliest. “Centre has taken up con- struction of food processing units, incubation centres, etc, and the lakhs of youth will get jobs. More than 11 lakh women have been given free gas, 28 lakh men have been benefitted through MUDRA, 2.5 lakh through skill development...The State Government needs to be more proactive regarding cen- tral schemes,” said Modi. Finding fault with the Congress Government’s loan waiver scheme, Modi said that the party was cheating farmers in the country in the name of loan waivers. “The Congress earlier cheat- ed the country in the name of ‘garibi hatao’ for years and is now cheating farmers in the name of loan waivers,” said Modi, accus- ing the Congress of indulging in the politics of lies and cheating. “It has done nothing for the farmers. It is misleading farm- ers in the name of waiving farmer loans,” he said. “In Punjab, the Congress promised to waive massive loans of farmers but that was far from truth...The truth is something else. As per their own documents and admis- sion, only loans worth 3,400 crore were waived in one and a half years. Is loan waiver a five-year plan for Congress? Will they give loan waiver after the farmer dies?” he said. Playing the emotional card in the Sikh state, Modi patted his own back for the opening up of Kartarpur Sahib corridor, and convictions of the 1984 anti-Sikh riot victims, while holding the Congress party responsible for the same. Continued on Page 4

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Page 1: ˆ#ˇ ()*+˚ ˜˝(’(˜’ 2 -˜./ 01 ˘ˇˆ˙ ˇ˝˛˚˜ !ˆ #ˇ ˆ˝#˜˘$!#%%#˜˛ˆ˙ %#˙ ˝% · Last week, the ruling party in Bihar also announced its dis-agreement in regards

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One person was killed andseveral others injured in

Thursday’s dawn-to-dusk strikecalled by Sabarimala KarmaSamithi, an umbrella organi-sation of pro-Hindutva groups,and the Antarrashtriya HinduParishad (AHP), to protest theentry of two women of repro-ductive age into the Sabarimalatemple on Wednesday.

Hurling crude bombs andstones, protesters rampagedthrough the streets of Kerala,fighting pitched battles withpolice and political rivals, leav-ing scores of people, includingsix BJP workers, injured inThrissur, Kannur andKasaragod, officials said.

In Thrissur, three BJPactivists were stabbed during ascuffle with workers of theSocial Democratic Party ofIndia (SDPI), the political wingof Popular Front of India, a mil-itant Islamic outfit, police said.The incident occurred whensaffron party workers attempt-ed to force a restaurant todown the shutters.

Chandran Unnithan, 55,was killed in stone peltingwhile he was leading a rally lateon Wednesday. While hartalsupporters alleged thatUnnithan died in stone-peltingby CPI(M) activists, ChiefMinister Pinarayi Vijayanblamed the violence on “ele-ments” associated with SanghParivar and alleged that theywere trying to foment troublein Kerala under the pretext ofsaving Sabarimala.

Governor P Sathasivamhas sought a report on the lawand order from the Chief

Minister following widespreadrioting and stone pelting by proand anti hatrtal activists all overthe State. “I appeal to all sec-tions of people to maintaincalm,” Sathasivam said.

As tempers ran high inKerala, the Supreme Court onThursday refused to urgentlyhear a contempt petitionmoved by a lawyers’ groupagainst the Sabarimala templeauthorities for closing theshrine for purification aftertwo women entered it. A Benchof Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoiand Justice SK Kaul said that the contempt petition willbe heard along with the pend-ing review petitions against

the apex court verdict whichallowed women of all agegroups to enter the Sabarimalatemple.

Nearly 300 persons,belonging to various Hindutwaoutfits have been arrested in theState in connection with wide-spread attacks on buses, pub-lic places and journalists dur-ing the hartal on Thursday.

According to sources inpolice headquarters atThiruvananathapuram, thenumber of arrests would bemore as some of the attackersand rioters have gone under-ground.

Tomin Thachankery, themanaging director of the State-

owned KSRTC, said in a releaselate on Thursday that 100 busesbelonging to the corporationwere damaged in stone peltingby rioters. “We have sufferedlosses to the tune of Rs 3.35crore in the attacks by theprotesters over the last twodays,” said Thachankary.

The Kerala Police haslaunched “Operation BrokenWindow” to nab the personsresponsible for stone peltingand rioting. Though the policehad promised protection tothose who open shops andbusiness establishments, thehelp was not forthcoming, thusforcing the owners to pulldown the shutters for the day.

Mediapersons too cameunder the attack of the organ-isers of the hartal. Tworeporters and a videographerbelonging to two new channelswere injured in the attack whilethe camera of one of the chan-nels was damaged. The mediapersons who were upset overthe attacks blacked out thepress meets addressed by KSurendran, the general secre-tary of the BJP and Sasikala, theSAC leader.

Addressing the media atThiruvananthapuram onThursday morning, Vijayantook strong exception to thedecision of the SabarimalaAction Committee to call forhartal. He claimed that the twowomen entered the sanctum ofthe temple because of the coop-eration extended by devoteesand the police had no role in it.“We were asked to providethem with police security andwe were bound by the

Constitution to do so,” saidVijayan.

Vijayan lambasted theThanthri (chief priest) ofSabarimala for ordering theclosure of the temple for per-forming purification ritualsafter the entry of the twowomen. “This is rare andunheard of. If the Thanthri wasagainst the verdict of theSupreme Court, he should havequit his job immediately. Wewill certainly take action againsthim for conducting the purifi-cation rituals,” said Vijayan.

But the Chief Minister’sremarks about the death ofChandran Unnithan, theAyyappa devotee at Pandalam,caused wide resentment in theState. Vijayan said Unnithandied because of heart attackwhile autopsy report fromKottayam Medical College stat-ed that the victim died becauseof the severe injury suffered onhis skull.

���������������� 23.�43(�1�

For years a political“untouchable” within the

BJP, its former national gener-al secretary Sanjay Joshi, askilled hand in micro-manag-ing electoral battles, may makea comeback to assist the partyin its tough Lok Sabha fight inUttar Pradesh where it is like-ly to face a tough challengefrom the Opposition “maha-gathbhandan”.

Joshi who had fallen out offavour with Prime MinisterNarendra Modi is now expected to be given organisa-tional responsibility in the elec-torally key State where BJP hasto defend its spectacular record of 2104, winning 71 outof 80 seats.

“Joshi’s induction has back-ing of RSS and the top BJP lead-ership,” according to sources.

Joshi was forced to resignin 2005 as BJP general secretaryin the wake of the appearanceof a controversial CD, whichwas later found to be fake. After being sidelined for years,in 2012 the then BJP president Nitin Gadkari madehim in-charge of UP Assemblyelections.

The same year, after theBJP’s poll debacle in UP, Joshiwas forced out of BJP’s nation-al executive when he also resigned from the party.Joshi’s ouster was then attrib-uted to Narendra Modi’s ireagainst him.

In 2014 Lok Sabha polls,the former RSS ‘pracharak’

handled Gadkari’s election inthe Nagpur constituency. Post-demonenisation, Joshi praisedModi’s move and looked set fora journey back into a pro-activerole in the party, beyond theacrimonious relations with thePrime Minister.

In the recent past, Joshimade several visits to UttarPradesh where he has beenmeeting party workers at theground level.

Former Gujarat MinisterGordhan Zadaphia, who hadalso fallen out with Modi andlaunched his own party was inDecember inducted by BJPpresident Amit Shah as one thethree leaders in-charge for theparty’s electioneering in UP

�� �� 23.�43(�1

Aday after Shiv Sena alignedwith the Opposition on

Rafale deal debate, more trou-ble is in store for BJP from itsother NDA partners. WhileJD(U) said it would voteagainst the Triple Talaq Bill,Union Minister Ram VilasPaswan on Thursdayannounced to oppose anyOrdinance on Ram temple.

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Tuesday suggestedany decision on an Ordinanceon Ram temple in Ayodhya canhappen only after the comple-tion of the judicial process.Modi’s comments came amidstheightened demands byHindutava organisations,including the RSS, for anOrdinance for an early con-struction of the temple.

LJP is the second major allyof the BJP to oppose anOrdinance. Bihar ChiefMinister Nitish Kumar hadrecently said that the con-

tentious issue should beresolved either through a courtjudgment or mutual agree-ment among different groups.Last week, the ruling party inBihar also announced its dis-agreement in regards to theongoing contentious TripleTalaq Bill in Parliament.

A week after the seat-shar-ing deal with BJP and JD(U),Paswan in a Press conferencesaid he opposed an Ordinanceon the Ram temple issue andasserted that the Supreme

Court’s decision on the mattershould be final.

The Supreme Court isscheduled to take up on Fridaya batch of petitions for hearingin the Ram Janmabhoomi-BabriMasjid title dispute case. Thematter is listed before a Benchcomprising Chief Justice RanjanGogoi and Justice SK Kaul.

“Whatever judgment theSupreme Court gives on theRam temple should be accept-ed by everyone, be it Hindu,Muslim or any other commu-nity. Our stand has been con-sistent. When the PM said thatwe will wait for the SC judg-

ment, then all ifs and butsshould end,” Paswan, who isalso Lok Janshakti Party (LJP)president, said.

Asked if he would supportan Ordinance on the issue,Paswan said his stand has beenconsistent and that he wouldnot support it. Paswan addedthat political parties have dif-ferent views on issues andasked Congress presidentRahul Gandhi to make hisstand clear on these issues as heseems to be confused.

Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) toocriticised the BJP, saying theBill, criminalising instant TripleTalaq, was being “rushed” andif it comes up for passing inRajya Sabha, it would voteagainst the Government.

The Opposition has closedranks against the Triple TalaqBill in the upper housedemanding the Bill be sent toa select parliamentary com-mittee for scrutiny.

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The Supreme Court onThursday revived the

Government case in NationalConsumer Disputes RedressalCommission (NCDRC) againstNestle India seeking damagesof �640 crore alleging unfairtrade practices, false labellingand misleading advertisementsof its Maggi noodles.

The top court had onDecember 16, 2015, stayed theproceedings before theNCDRC and directed theCFTRI (Central FoodTechnological ResearchInstitute, Mysuru) to place itstest report before it.

A Bench of Justices DYChandrachud and HemantGupta was told by senior advo-cate Abhishek Manu Singhvi,appearing for Nestle India,that tests reports of the Mysurulab had been submitted and itfound that lead content inMaggi noodles was well with-in the limit.

“Why should we be eatingMaggi with lead in it?”, JusticeChandrachud asked Singhvi.

Detailed report on P10

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After putting in his papers asthe member of Punjab leg-

islative assembly, renownedadvocate HS Phoolka onThursday submitted his resig-nation from the Aam AadmiParty’s (AAP) primary mem-bership.

Phoolka, a senior advocatewho has fought the legal battlefor the 1984 anti-Sikh riots vic-tims, submitted his resignationto the AAP national convenerand Delhi Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal.

The move comes amidspeculation over possibility of analliance between the Congressand AAP for the 2019 LokSabha polls.

In a tweet, Phoolka said thathe would explain reason behindthe move in a press briefing inDelhi on Friday. “I have resignedfrom AAP and handed over res-ignation to Kejriwal ji today.Though he asked me not toresign but I insisted. Will bebriefing media tomorrow at 4pm at Press Club, Raisina Road,New Delhi to explain the Reasonof leaving AAP and my furtherplans,” he wrote on Twitter.

Phoolka had all along beenopposing AAP's any allinancewith the Congress.

Continued on Page 4

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The absence of Akali patri-arch and Punjab’s five-time

Chief Minister Parkash SinghBadal from Prime Minister’sGurdaspur rally on Thursdayraised many eyebrows.

Senior Badal’s absence atModi’s first rally to kick-startthe party’s election campaignfor 2019 Lok Sabha electionshas raised questions over rela-tions between the two alliancepartners.

Even as Punjab BJP presi-dent Shwet Malik cited poorhealth as the reason for Badal’sabsence from the SAD-BJP’sjoint rally, former ChiefMinister’s continuous appear-ances in the recent past did notgive much weight to the sameas this was the first time thatthe senior Badal choose tostay away during Modi’s visit toPunjab.

If that was not enough, noAkali leader reached the airportto receive the Prime Minister.However, SAD presidentSukhbir Badal, his wife andUnion Minister HarsimratBadal, and other senior leadersattended the rally.

Giving credence to therumours of Akali Dal and BJPrelations turning sour are thereports of the Badals refusingto provide their buses to thesaffron party for the rally. Ithas been learnt that theCompany, owned by theBadals, have provided thebuses after charging fees,while the BJP leaders haveclaimed that they have beengiven some concession.

Sources informed ThePioneer that Akali Dal, espe-cially the senior Badal, was nothappy with the BJP for claim-ing credit for the opening ofKartarpur Sahib corridor,besides other Sikh issues. Infact, SAD leaders were sur-prised at the timing of theModi’s election rally atGurdaspur, as the poll panel isyet to announce the dates forthe same.

It has also been learnt thatthe BJP may also pressurise the“besieged” and “dispirited”Akali Dal to seek more seats forthe Lok Sabha polls. As percurrent arrangement, SADcontests on 10 out of total 13seats in Punjab, with just threein BJP’s kitty.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi on Thursday banked

on the past laurels without

promising anything for thefuture to the state during hisPunjab visit.

Modi’s visit, when thecountry was switching into an

election mode, came amidstspeculations of special packagefor the farmers, among otherthings. But, Modi pulled thecredit out of the Congress

party's bag to swing it in hisfavour after claiming it to bepart of his party’s success story.

In his 35-minute address tothe dhanvad rally at Gurdaspur,

Modi ended up counting whatBJP-led NDA Government atthe Centre did, and theCongress-led UPA did not,without announcing any newdevelopment project or anyrelief package for the State.

Targeting the Congressparty on the issues rangingfrom Kartarpur Sahib corridorto 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Modifailed to announce anything asa solution to the problemsafflicting the state like farmers’woes, water and economic cri-sis, among other things.

All that Modi said thatmany projects are going on inPunjab and the Congress-ledState Government should ful-fil the central government’sschemes at the earliest.

“Centre has taken up con-struction of food processing

units, incubation centres, etc,and the lakhs of youth will getjobs. More than 11 lakh womenhave been given free gas, 28lakh men have been benefittedthrough MUDRA, 2.5 lakhthrough skill development...TheState Government needs to bemore proactive regarding cen-tral schemes,” said Modi.

Finding fault with theCongress Government’s loanwaiver scheme, Modi said thatthe party was cheating farmersin the country in the name ofloan waivers.

“The Congress earlier cheat-ed the country in the name of‘garibi hatao’ for years and is nowcheating farmers in the name ofloan waivers,” said Modi, accus-ing the Congress of indulging inthe politics of lies and cheating.

“It has done nothing for the

farmers. It is misleading farm-ers in the name of waivingfarmer loans,” he said.

“In Punjab, the Congresspromised to waive massiveloans of farmers but that wasfar from truth...The truth issomething else. As per theirown documents and admis-sion, only loans worth �3,400crore were waived in one anda half years. Is loan waiver afive-year plan for Congress?Will they give loan waiver afterthe farmer dies?” he said.

Playing the emotional cardin the Sikh state, Modi pattedhis own back for the openingup of Kartarpur Sahib corridor,and convictions of the 1984anti-Sikh riot victims, whileholding the Congress partyresponsible for the same.

Continued on Page 4

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Himachal Chief Minister JaiRam Thakur on Thursday

met Union Minister for RoadTransport Nitin Gadkari atNew Delhi and urged for dec-laration of 53 State roadsapproved in principle forHimachal Pradesh as newnational highways for whichalignments have been alreadysubmitted to the Ministry.

The Chief Ministerrequested for sanctioning esti-mates of five remaining nation-al highways approved in prin-ciple besides notifyingSarkaghat-Ghumarwin andRanital–Kotla state roads asnew national highways.

Thakur urged for entrust-ment of Theog-Hatkoti to statePWD for development andmaintenance besides sanction-ing estimates for Theog bypass.He also sought approval ofMinistry for inclusion ofHamirpur-Mandi (NH 70) andPaonta Sahib–Gumma–Fedajbridge (NH 72) under NHIIPPhase 2 and added that roadsare lifelines for the hill state andbest mode of connectivity with-in the state. Hence speedyaction on these projects willpave way for better connectiv-ity.

The chief minister apprisedthe Union Minister about slowprogress of four laning ofKalka-Solan NH project whichis causing traffic congestionand inconvenience to touristsvisiting the state capital. He

informed that there is noprogress on Mataur-Shimla(NH 88) and Pathankot–Mandi(NH 20). He requested forimproving the condition ofNadaun-Hamirpur andBrahmpukhar–Shimla (NH88), Pathankot–Mandi (NH20) as there is no proper main-tenance of these roads.

Thakur also apprised theUnion Minister that work hasbeen stopped on KiratpurSaheb–Ner Chowk (NH 21)and added that there is delay inawarding Pinjore-Baddi-Nalagarh four-laning project.However, he urged for startingthe construction work soon asit is the lifeline for industrialarea which is a big pharma huband 37 percent production ofthe country is taking place.

"There is a huge traffic on

the road which necessitatesundertaking the constructionwork at a fast pace", he added,urging the Centre for reim-bursement of funds againstalready submitted utilizationcertificates by the state gov-ernment.

The Chief Minister wasapprised that work onPathankot-Mandi will be start-ed at the earliest and Rs. 27 crorehave already been provided. Itwas also apprised that effortswould be made to start mainte-nance work on Kiratpur Saheb-Nerchowk soon and added thatprojects under central road fundsent by the government will besanctioned soon.

�� �� %�2418*�

To make agricultural landleasing secure and simple

for both land owner and ten-ant, the Punjab RevenueCommission (PRC) has draft-ed ‘The Punjab Land Leasingand Tenancy Bill, 2019’.

The six-memberCommission, headed by Justice(retired) SS Saron, hasuploaded the Bill on RevenueDepartment and PLRs websites— revenue.punjab.gov.in,plrs.org.in — seeking publicsuggestions on the Bill.

Notably, the Chief MinisterCapt Amarinder Singh hadconstituted the RevenueCommission to bring efficien-cy in the working of RevenueDepartment to make it furtherpeople friendly. TheCommission has been man-dated to make new acts andsend its recommendations foramendments in theDepartment’s manuals and acts.

An official spokespersonsaid that any person or unioncan send their suggestions on‘The Punjab Land Leasing andTenancy Bill, 2019’ till January17, 2019.

“The purpose of this Actwas to protect the rights of the

cultivators and the land owner,besides enhancing coopera-tion between them. It wouldalso ensure tenant or farmers tohave access to institutionalcredit without affecting thelandowner's title rights,” saidthe spokesperson.

�� �� %�2418*�

Haryana Police has issuedmore than 28.09 lakh chal-

lans against people violatingtraffic rules last year betweenJanuary 1 and November 30and recovered a penalty ofmore than Rs 62.17 crore fromsuch violators.

Giving details, DirectorGeneral of Police (DGP) BSSandhu said that during thisperiod, highest number of12,54,116 challans were issuedto offenders in districtGurugram followed by 2,51,232challans in Faridabad wherepolice recovered fine of over Rs22.07 crore and Rs 5.66 crorerespectively.

The lowest numbers of14,337 challans have beenrecorded in Charkhi-Dadri, anew district.

On an average, around8,411 people are being bookedevery day for traffic violationsin the state including wrongside driving, parking on wrongside, riding without helmet

and seat belt, over speeding,drunken driving, among oth-ers, the DGP said.

Sandhu said, “We canimpose more penalties on traf-fic violators, but revenue col-lection through fines is not thepurpose. Rather our primeobjective is that people mustfollow traffic rules and savetheir precious lives as well ofothers.”

Apart from bringing downtraffic violations, police is alsosensitizing and making peopleaware about road safety with anaim to ensure reduction ofroad accidents, the DGP said.

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Page 3: ˆ#ˇ ()*+˚ ˜˝(’(˜’ 2 -˜./ 01 ˘ˇˆ˙ ˇ˝˛˚˜ !ˆ #ˇ ˆ˝#˜˘$!#%%#˜˛ˆ˙ %#˙ ˝% · Last week, the ruling party in Bihar also announced its dis-agreement in regards

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Prime Minister NarendraModi on Thursday added

‘Jai Anusandhan’ to his pre-decessors’ famous slogans of“Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, JaiVigyan”.

Modi, speaking on‘Future India: Science andTechnology’ at the 106thIndian Science Congress atLovely ProfessionalUniversity, Jalandhar, added‘Jai Anusandhan’ to the for-mer Prime Minister LalBahadur Shastri’s famous slo-gan ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’ andAtal Bihari Vajpayee's ‘JaiVigyan’.

“Today's new slogan is JaiJawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Vigyanand Jai Anusandhan. I wouldlike to add Jai Anusandhan toit,” said Modi adding that thelife and works of Indian sci-entists are a compelling tes-tament of integration of deepfundamental insights withtechnology development andnation building.

He said that it wasthrough science that Indiawas transforming its presentand working to secure itsfuture.

“2018 was a good year forIndian science. Our achieve-ments this year include pro-duction of aviation grade bio-

fuel, Divya Nayan — amachine for visual lyimpaired, inexpensive devicesfor diagnosis of cervical can-

cer, TB, dengue and a real-time landslide warning sys-tem,” he said.

“We need strong path-

ways to commercialisationthat leverage our researchand development achieve-ments, through industrial

products,” he said.Modi said that the future

is about convergence andconnected technologies. “Weshould catalyse, harness andmanage change for thenation's prosperity. Ourstrengths in research anddevelopment are built on thebackbone of our national lab-oratories, central universi-ties, IIT, IISc, TIFR andIISER. However, over 95 percent of our students go tostate universities and col-leges,” he said.

Modi added that a strongresearch ecosystem must bedeveloped in these universi-ties and colleges. “I call uponthe Prime Minister's Science,Technology and InnovationCouncil to discuss theseissues in detail and formulatean action plan in consultationwith the Ministry of HumanResource Development toboost research in our collegesand state universities,” hesaid.

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Punjab Government is all setto transform the state’s gov-

ernment schools smart. Toimpart quality education to thestudents studying in governmentschools on par with the privateschools, Punjab EducationDepartment has decided to con-vert government schools intosmart schools aimed at stream-lining the education system bydelivering quality education.

Under this program, 261smart schools are being set upacross the state with specialfocus on the rural areas, said thestate Education Minister OPSoni.

He said that these schoolswill be developed as modelschools in which state-of-the-art

facilities be provided to impartquality education. “Smart classrooms, solar energy, and ultramodern sports facilities arebeing provided in these schools,”he said.

Soni said that Rs 2,769.09lakh has been released till datefor the purpose. Around 21,000smart class rooms are being setup in different schools of thestate where education will beprovided with the help of mod-ern ICT tools such as projectorsetc.

“E-content is being sent tothe schools gradually. PICTES,the executive agency, has float-ed the tender to convert 21,319class rooms into digital classrooms covering 5,371 govern-ment schools (3,000 governmentprimary schools and 2,371 gov-

ernment high or senior sec-ondary schools),” said Soni.

To provide the Wi-Fi inter-net connectivity in the govern-ment schools, an expression ofinterest was floated and sixcompanies have submitted theirproposals.

He said that this initiativewould help in curbing the mush-rooming of private school cul-ture in the state. The students,emerging out from these smartclasses, would be able to clearany competitive exam in this cutthroat competition era, he said.

To sharpen the skills ofEnglish, Education Minister saidthat the Department has decid-ed to initiate the English train-ing of IELTS level for the stu-dents of Classs XI and XII ofgovernment schools.

�� �� %�2418*�

Haryana BJP election com-mittee has appointed

Agriculture Minister OPDhankar and national secretarySudha Yadav as supervisors todecide the party’s candidate forJind bypolls.

The election will be held onJanuary 28.

The BJP state election com-mittee which met on Thursdayunder Chief Minister ManoharLal in New Delhi decided toappoint OP Dhankar andSudha Yadav as supervisorswho will visit Jind and meet theparty workers to take feedbackon shortlisted candidates.

The duo will then submittheir report to the party elec-tion committee for finalization

of the candidate.On the other hand, the

Indian National Lok Dal hasdecided to announce its can-didate on January 9. Congresswill also soon meet to decideover its candidate.

The newly-formedJannayak Janta party, which isbreakaway faction of INLDwill also contest the bypollswhile Aam Aadmi party hasannounced not to contest it.

A two-time INLD MLAfrom Jind, Hari Chand Midhahad died in August 2018 lead-ing to bypoll in the Assemblyconstituency.

As per the EC schedule, thelast date of nominations isJanuary 10 and scrutiny ofnominations will be held onJanuary 11.

�� �� %�2418*�

Punjab Agro has received anexport order of 200 MT

fresh kinnow from Punjab tothe United Arab Emirates —fructifying the StateGovernment’s efforts to wooforeign investments.

“UAE-based Lulu Group,the largest retail chains in Asia,has finalized the export orderwith Punjab Agro, whichwould be dispatched shortly,”said Punjab Agro managingdirector C Sibin.

Sibin said that recently, ahigh-level delegation of LuluGroup visited Punjab and helddetailed discussions with theofficers of Punjab Agro regard-ing its products. The agency

had secured this order as thedelegation during its visit hadsought samples of fresh fruits,he said.

“Punjab Agro JuicesLimited (PAJL) had also fixedthe target to process the 200MT Kinnows fruit during thecurrent kinnow season,” hesaid.

Punjab Agro MD said thatPAJL has already exportedmore than 26 containers ofconcentrate pepper mashcayenne (chilli paste) valuingRs 2.52 crore to Saudi Arabiaand Dubai. “The businessenquiries related to chilli pastehave also been received fromother countries like Iran,Mauritius, Dubai, etc,” he said.

�� �� %�2418*�

Former Haryana ChiefMinister Bhupinder Singh

Hooda and senior Congressleader Motilal Vora were onThursday granted bail by aPanchkula CBI court in a casepertaining to alleged illegal re-allotment of land to AssociatedJournals Ltd (AJL) in Panchkulain 2005.

Both Hooda and Vora weregranted bail by CBI judgeJagdeep Singh on furnishing abail bond of Rs five lakh each,said their counsel AbhishekRana while talking to the medi-apersons.

The Congress leaders werehanded over copies of charge-sheet filed against them by theCBI. Rana said.

The next date for hearing in

the case has been fixed forFebruary 6.

The CBI had in Decemberlast year filed charge-sheetagainst Hooda, Vora andAssociated Journals Ltd (AJL),publisher of the National Heraldnewspaper, in special CBI courtin Panchkula, for the allegedillegal re-allotment of land.

The charge-sheet was filedin the CBI court under sections120 B and 420 of IPC andSections 13 (I) (d) read with 13(2) of prevention of corruptionact.

The CBI has charged thethen Haryana Chief MinisterHooda, who was also the chair-man of the Haryana UrbanDevelopment Authority(HUDA), the then chairman ofthe AJL, Vohra, and the com-pany under the Indian Penal

Code (IPC) sections related tocriminal conspiracy and theprovisions of the Prevention ofCorruption Act.

In the chargesheet, the CBIhas alleged that the AJL wasallotted a plot of land inPanchkula in 1982, on which noconstruction took place till1992. The HUDA had subse-quently taken back the posses-sion of the plot.

The same plot was re-allot-ted to the AJL at its original ratesin 2005 by allegedly violating thelaid down norms by the thenHUDA chairman, Hooda, theCBI chargesheet alleged.

The EnforcementDirectorate(ED) has alsoattached under the anti-moneylaundering law the plot of landin Panchkula that was allottedto AJL.

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Page 4: ˆ#ˇ ()*+˚ ˜˝(’(˜’ 2 -˜./ 01 ˘ˇˆ˙ ˇ˝˛˚˜ !ˆ #ˇ ˆ˝#˜˘$!#%%#˜˛ˆ˙ %#˙ ˝% · Last week, the ruling party in Bihar also announced its dis-agreement in regards

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From Page 1Notably, AAP has not denied

alliance prospects with theCongress, saying that its politicalaffairs committee will take a callafter considering opinion of itsleaders and workers from Delhi,Punjab and Haryana. FormerCongress leader Sajjan Kumarwas recently convicted in ananti-Sikh riots case by the DelhiHigh Court, where Phoolka rep-resented the victims.

Sources close to Phoolkaindicated that he has decided toput in his papers to devote histime and concentrate fully on the1984 anti-Sikh riots cases.

As of now, Punjab VidhanSpeaker Rana KP Singh has notaccepted Phoolka's resignation asDakha MLA. Earlier, Phoolka hasleft the post of the Leader ofOpposition to contest cases for1984 riot victims.

From Page 1“Only the Congress party

is responsible for the differenceof four kilometres toGurudwara Kartarpur Sahib.Now, the NDA Governmentwill make a great corridorlinking Kartarpur Sahib,” saidModi.

Coming down heavily onthe Congress over the 1984issue, Modi questioned eleva-tion of Kamal Nath as MadhyaPradesh Chief Minister with-out mentioning his name.

“Jinka itihaas hazaron Sikhbhai behno ko berahmi sehatya ka ho aur jo aaj bhidango ke aaropiyon komukhyamantri pad kapuruskar de rahe hain, unlogon se Punjab samet deshvasiyon ko satark rehne kizarurat hai.

(Those whose historyinvolves the killings of thou-sands of Sikhs and those whocontinue to appoint riot-accused persons as chief min-isters of states, Punjab and the

entire nation should beware ofsuch people),” he said.

Taking a jibe at formerCongress leader Sajjan Kumar,who was recently convicted ina 1984 riots case, Modi said:“Those who were declared saj-jan and their case files wereclosed by a particular familywas brought to the book by theNDA government. We formedan SIT and the results are foreveryone to see.”

In his list of credits, Modiincluded implementation ofSwaminathan Commission’sreport, besides initiatingShahpur Kandi dam project,distributing 11 lakh freekitchen gas connections, andempowering GST to religiousinstitutions like waving of thetax on langar items.

Apart from this, Modideclared that the teachings ofSikhs’ first master, Guru NanakDev, would be disseminatedacross the world on the occa-sion of his 550th birth anniver-sary.

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Setting eyes on party’s‘Mission 2019’, BJP nation-

al president Amit Shah will visitHaryana on January 9 to reviewthe poll preparedness in thestate.

Amit Shah’s one-day visit isscheduled in Hisar on January9, during which he will holdmeetings with Chief Minister,Cabinet Ministers and partyleaders from Rohtak, Hisarand Sirsa. District party presi-dents and party office bearersin Rohtak, Hisar and Sirsa LokSabha constituencies have beenasked to attend Hisar’s meeting.

Notably, the BJP, whichwas riding high on theNarendra Modi wave in the2014 Lok Sabha elections hadlost in these three districts.

In 2014 general elections,the BJP had contested eightseats out of 10 and left Hisarand Sirsa to its alliance partnerat that time, Haryana JanhitCongress (HJC) of former CMBhajan Lal’s son KuldeepBishnoi.

While the HJC lost bothseats to the INLD, the BJP wonseven seats, losing the Rohtakseat to Deepender Hooda ofthe Congress. Two seats ofHissar and Sirsa were won byINLD’s Dushyant Chautala andCharanjit Singh respectively.

“During his one day visit inHaryana, Amit Shah is sched-uled to attend a slew of meet-ings with ministers, party lead-ers to discuss strategies to cap-ture the three Lok Sabha seats,which the party had lost in2014 general elections in thestate,” said a senior party leader.

“Shah will address the dis-trict presidents, incharges andparty office bearers of the threedistricts including Sirsa, Hisar

and Rohtak. Besides, the boothprabhari of Hisar district willalso attend the meeting,” hesaid.

Rohtak, which was the epi-centre of the 2016 violent Jatagitation, is considered astronghold of former ChiefMinister Bhupinder SinghHooda. During Lok Sabhapolls 2014, Congress had man-aged to retain its Rohtak seat,with Deepender Singh Hoodabeing the only Congress can-didate recording victory duringthe polls.

On the other hand, Sirsaand Hisar are consideredstronghold of Indian NationalLok Dal, main opposition partyin Haryana.

Amit Shah’s visit toHaryana comes at a time whenthe BJP has been pushed onthe defensive over allegationsof “biased behaviour” by fourparty MLAs against ChiefMinister Manohar Lal Khattar.Four MLAs from southHaryana, including CabinetMinister Banwari Lal had lastmonth aired their grievancespublicly and levelled allega-tions against the ChiefMinister.

The visit would also be cru-cial as high-stake bypoll for the

Jind Assembly segment isscheduled on January 28. Thebypolls would be a prestigeissue for the ruling BJP, whichregistered victory with a hugemargin for the seats of mayorin five municipal corporationsrecently in Haryana.

Earlier, the BJP chief AmitShah had in February last yearaddressed “Yuva Hunkar rally”in centrally located Jind inJatland-Haryana. Shah had in2016 spent three days inRohtak with an aim to furtherstrengthen party’s base ahead ofpolls.

In 2019 Lok Sabha andassembly polls, Haryana will bewitnessing a rectangular polit-ical battle with BJP, Congressand INLD already kicking offelection campaigns and theAam Aadmi Party (AAP)entering the fray in Delhi ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal’shome state. The breakawayfaction of the INLD known asJannayak Janta Party led byHisar MP Dushyant Chautalais likely to form an alliance withthe AAP.

While the Lok Sabha pollsare due to be held in April-May2019, the assembly polls inHaryana are due to be held inOctober 2019.

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To contain the adulteratedghee makers active in

Punjab, sophisticated equip-ments worth Rs 10 crore hasbeen installed at the State FoodSafety Laboratory at Kharar.

Announcing this, the stateFood Safety Commissioner

Kahan Singh Pannu said thatthe officials of Food and DrugCommissionerate have beenpouncing upon food adulter-ators since the launch ofMission Tandrust Punjab inJune 2018.

“They have been conduct-ing a large number of inspec-tions of food items on dailybasis. The samples seized there-in are analyzed in the State Labat Kharar and requisite actionis taken against the adulter-ators,” he said.

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In a bid to ensure effective implemen-tation of laws related to sexual harass-

ment of women at workplace, HaryanaGovernment has decided to conduct

workshops on the issue.The workshops would be conduct-

ed in both Main Secretariat in Sector 1 and Mini Secretariat in Sector17 here.

A letter in this regard has been sentby Chief Secretary’s office to Joint

Secretaries, Deputy Secretaries, UnderSecretaries, Superintendents, deputySuperintendents, senior secretaries, pri-vate secretaries ( including those posted in CM’s residence) andother officers or officials to attend theworkshop.

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After days of disruptionsand adjournments, the

Rajya Sabha functionedsmoothly for the first time onThursday since the ongoingWinter Session commencedon December 11 last year.Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu,who had ordered the AIADMKand the DMK to leave theHouse on Wednesday for rais-ing a ruckus, thanked all mem-bers for the orderly conduct.

However, he took strongobjection to some MPs blam-ing him for not doing enoughto bring the House in order andsaid he had several occasionsspoken to agitating members tobreak the deadlock.

Making this point as soonas the Upper House met for theday, the Chair appealed to allsections to allow the House tofunction as only three workingdays were left and importantBills, Statutory resolution andordinances are pendingapproval.

Without naming anyone,he read out from a copy of an

interview in the media given bya member where it was said theChair was not doing enough asonly handful of members rushto the Well and hold the Houseto ransom. Naidu said he wassad about the Wednesday orderwhen the AIADMK memberswere suspended for the day butthey continued their protest inthe Well, forcing adjournmentof proceedings for the day.Members, he said, have to fol-low instructions of the Chair.

On efforts to restore orderin the last few days and run theHouse, Naidu said he spoke tothe agitating members indi-vidually more than ten timesadding he had also taken up thematter with several leaders ofthe House. The Congress, hesaid, has stated that the party

was blamed but it wants theHouse to function.

As the Zero Hour com-menced, the AIADMK mem-bers staged walk out after theywere disallowed from raising theissue of planned construction ofMekedatu dam on Cauveryriver in Karnataka. Raising theissue, A Navaneethakrishnan(AIADMK) raised the issue ofthe party’s 24 members in LokSabha being barred from attend-ing the lower house for five days.Naidu ruled that conduct in LokSabha cannot be discussed inthe Upper House.

Demanding that theCentral Government withdrawpermission given for a detailedfeasibility report (DFR) forMekadatu dam project, theAIADMK leaders said peopleof Tamil Nadu are beingadversely affected. The Chairsaid Water Resources MinisterNitin Gadkari came to theHouse on Wednesday to give astatement on the issue butcould not do so due to disrup-tions by the party members.

The issues raised in theRajya Sabha by membersincluded suicides in Navodaya

Vidyalayas, priority to regionallanguages in bank recruitmentand Staff Selection Commission(SSC) and new pension schemecausing problems for retiredGovernment employees.

On suicides in NavodayaVidyalayas, the Governmenthas constituted a committee tolook into reasons for as many as37 students committing suicidein last 10 years, HumanResources DevelopmentMinister Prakash Javadekar said.

The Government was alsoworking on appointing coun-sellors in each of the schools,he said after the issue wasraised through a Zero Hourmention by Viplove Thakur(Congress). She said no attemptwas made to find out the rea-sons behind so many studentscommitting suicide.

Replying to this, theMinister said NavodayaVidyalaya is a highly success-ful model of residential schooleducation with 98 per cent ofstudents passing 12th stan-dard, which was more than theCentral Bureau of SecondaryEducation (CBSE) average of82 per cent.

�� �� 23.�43(�1�

Cracking the whip on noisyand unruly MPs for the sec-

ond consecutive day, SpeakerSumitra Mahajan on Thursdaysuspended 21 Lok Sabha mem-bers belonging to the TDP andthe AIADMK after they creat-ed bedlam in the House andcontinuously disrupted pro-ceedings of the House despitewarned by the Chair.

Mahajan has suspended 45Lok Sabha members belongingto the TDP and the AIADMKsince Wednesday for creatingruckus in the House.

Speaker had suspended 24AIADMK members onWednesday for five consecutivesittings. A day later, she sus-pended 21 members ofAIADMK, TDP and an unat-tached YSR Congress member.The action was taken underrule 374A of Lok Sabha whichsays that they cannot attend theremaining days of the Session,which concludes on January 8.

While AIADMK has 37members, the TDP has 15 inthe Lower House.

In February, 2014, the thenSpeaker Meira Kumar had sus-pended 18 MPs from AndhraPradesh following bedlam inthe House. Those suspendedthen were either supporting oropposing creation of Telangana.

Proceeding in the Lok

Sabha during the Winter Sessionthat commenced on December11 have been repeatedly stalleddue to protests by AIADMK andTDP members over a proposeddam on river Cauvery and spe-cial state status to AndhraPradesh respectively.

While 19 MPs were sus-pended around noon onThursday, two others wereasked to leave the Housearound 2.00 pm.

As soon as the Zero Hourcommenced at noon onThursday, AIADMK and TDPmembers trooped in the Well,raising slogans and carryingbanners. The AIADMK mem-bers flung papers towards thechair several times. Amid thenoisy scenes, ParliamentaryAffairs Minister NarendraSingh Tomar appealed to theagitating MPs to return totheir seats.

However, protests by theunrelenting members of thetwo Southern parties contin-ued. At this, the Speaker ini-tially warned that she would beforced to name the unrulymembers and take actionagainst them.

As the members refused toheed the appeal, the Speakersuspended 11 TDP MPs, sevenAIADMK members and anunattached member underRule 374(A) for the next foursitting of the House.

�� �� 23.�43(�1

The Rajya Sabha saw a briefspat between External

Affairs Minister Sushma Swarajand Congress members onThursday when she said everyissue raised by the party on theRafale deal was clarified by theSupreme Court and there wasno controversy except in theminds of the Opposition partyleaders. The Congress mem-bers protested over it andstaged a brief walk-out, includ-ing former Prime MinisterManmohan Singh.

The face-off between theMinister and the Congressduring the Question Hourensued when Congress leaderAnand Sharma in his supple-mentary query demanded thatthe Government make publicthe minutes of the meeting ofPrime Minister Narendra Modiand former French PresidentFrancois Hollande in 2015 onthe Rafale deal in a bid to set-tle the controversy once for all.

To this, Swaraj said,“Anandji, there is no contro-versy. Controversy is there inyour mind. All the controver-sy issues that you (Congress)raised, the Supreme Court hasclarified on each of them. Pleasedon’t use the word controversyagain.” She also said “the wholecountry knows there is no con-troversy. The Supreme Courthas cleared each issue. If youstill think there is a controver-sy, then no one can reply.”

On the question raised byShiv Sena member Sanjay Rautif there was any discussion on theRafale deal during the recent visitof French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian to India, Swarajsaid there was no discussion.

However, on that day,December 15, the SupremeCourt verdict (on Rafale deal)was pronounced.

He (French Minister) was

very visibly happy and feltthere was no need to have dis-cussion, she said. The Ministeralso said the Rafale deal was noton the agenda though she wasready if the matter came up. Toanother query on the JaitapurNuclear Power project, Swarajsaid an agreement was signedon March 22, 2016, to set up aplant. France’s EDF and India’sNPCL are looking into it.

Allaying apprehensionsabout fate of Indians, mostlyfrom Goa, having migrated toBritain on Portugese passportsafter Brexit, Swaraj said theBrexit task is not yet complet-ed and there will not be anyproblem to Indians till theprocess gets over.

The British Parliament willstart the discussion on this issuefrom January 7 and there will bemore clarity on the relationshipbetween the UK and theEuropean Union in the secondfortnight of this month, sheadded. “It won’t be definite tosay anything at this point of time.The whole process will take twoyears and till then there will notbe any problem,” Swaraj said.

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The Supreme Court onThursday asked veteran

Congress leader Ahmed Patelto face trial in connection withhis election to the Rajya Sabhain 2017 which has been chal-lenged by his rival BJP candi-date Balwantsinh Rajput.

The apex court declined tointerfere with the October 26,2018, order of the GujaratHigh Court which had said thatRajput’s allegations required atrial. “Let the trial go on,” saida Bench comprising ChiefJustice Ranjan Gogoi andJustice SK Kaul.

Patel had challenged thehigh court order which haddismissed his plea questioningthe maintainability of Rajput’selection petition.

Rajput in his election peti-tion had challenged theElection Commission’s decisionto invalidate the votes of thetwo rebel MLAs. Had thesevotes been counted, he wouldhave defeated Patel, the BJPleader had contended.

The apex court said it willhear Patel’s plea next month. Itallowed the parties to file addi-tional documents in the mat-ter. In its order, the Bench also

said that “as contesting partieshave appeared, no notice needbe formally issued. List thematters for final disposal in themonth of February, 2019. In themeantime, the High Courtshall proceed with the trial ofthe Election Petition”.

Patel was declared the win-ner after the ElectionCommission invalidated the

votes of rebel Congress MLAsBholabhai Gohel andRaghavjee Patel, bringing downthe number of votes needed forvictory to 44 from 45.

In the election petitionbefore the high court, Rajputalso alleged that Patel hadtaken Congress MLAs to aresort in Bengaluru before theelection which amounted to“bribing the voters”.

In October 2018, the highcourt for the second timedeclined to give relief to Patel.Earlier, April 20, it had reject-ed Patel’s plea.

Patel moved the SupremeCourt against the April 20,2018 order, contending that the

decision of the poll panel can-not be challenged by an elec-tion petition.

The apex court onSeptember 26 asked the GujaratHigh Court to decide afresh aplea of Patel challenging themaintainability of a petitionfiled by Rajput.

The High Court inOctober dismissed Patel’s plea.

On Thursday, senior advo-cates Kapil Sibal and AbhishekManu Singhvi along with advo-cate Devadutt Kamat appearedfor Patel in the apex court.Senior advocates ManinderSingh and Satya Pal Jain rep-resented Rajput and otherrespondents in the matter.

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The Supreme Court onThursday expressed strong

dissatisfaction over the rescueefforts to trace 15 peopletrapped in a mine in Meghalayafor 22 days, telling the State

Government to bring themout dead or alive.

The tough talk by theapex court came on a daywhen the multi-agency oper-ations to rescue the minersfailed to make any headwaywith efforts to pump thewater out of the mine notyielding any result.

The 15 miners remain

trapped in the 370-foot-deepillegal rat-hole coal mine inLumthari village of East JaintiaHills district since December13 after water from a nearbyriver gushed in.

“For people who aretrapped there, every minutecounts,” the court said andsuggested that the help of theArmy could be also taken.

New Delhi: BJP leaderSubramanian Swamy onThursday urged PrimeMinister Narendra Modi togive directions to FinanceMinister Arun Jaitley to pro-vide sanction for prosecutionagainst five officerschargesheeted by CBI in theAircel-Maxis case. In his letterto Prime Minister, Swamyblamed the Finance Ministry

for holding the prosecution ofthe five officers, who are co-accused with former FinanceMinister P Chidambaram.

“This inexplicable delay bythe Finance Ministry could sab-otage the case againstChidambaram since the CBIdesignated Special Court Judgehas already threatened to dis-miss the case on this failure tosubmit the Sanctions for

Prosecution. On December 18last, rebuking CBI, the Judge OPSaini has posted the case toJanuary 11 for production ofSanction for Prosecution againstthe above mentioned five offi-cers, found to be helpingChidambaram in corrupt grant-ing of FIPB clearance in theAircel-Maxis FDI proposal,according to CBI’s chargesheetfiled on July 19,” said Swamy,

blaming the Finance Minister.Swamy said “this delaying

attitude” of the FinanceMinistry was also hamperingfiling of chargesheet againstChidambaram and son andsame officers “in another openand shut INX Media bribery”case, where the ED had seized55 crore worth properties ofChidambaram family in manycountries. PNS

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US President Donald Trumptook a jibe at Prime

Minister Narendra Modi forfunding a “library” inAfghanistan, saying it is of nouse in the war-torn country ashe criticised India and othersfor not doing enough for theland-locked nation’s security.

Though the US has beenpressing India to send troops toAfghanistan, a demand repeat-edly rejected by India, this isthe first time the US adminis-tration has publicly mockedIndia’s developmental worksin the strife-torn country.

In his first Cabinet meetingof the year on Wednesday,President Trump asked India,Russia, Pakistan and otherneighbouring countries to takeresponsibility for the security ofAfghanistan, where he hasordered a troop reduction onan unspecified timetable.

The Trump administra-tion has not denied Americanmedia reports that the USplans to pull out almost half ofthe 14,000-strong force cur-rently deployed in Afghanistan.

Trump in his comments tohis Cabinet colleagues refferedto Prime Minister Modi as anexample of how world leadersare talking about their contri-butions that were nowherenear the “billions of dollars” theUS was spending.

Trump referred to hisfriendly terms with Modi, butappeared critical of a “library”funded by India inAfghanistan. It was unclear towhich “library” project Trumpwas referring to.

India has been activelyinvolved in massive recon-struction efforts in war-ravagedAfghanistan. It has committedabout USD 3 billion in assis-tance to Afghanistan.

“I could give you an exam-ple where I get along very wellwith India and Prime MinisterModi. But he is constantlytelling me, he built a library inAfghanistan. Library! That’slike five hours of what wespend (in Afghanistan),”Trump said.

“And he (Modi) tells me.He is very smart. We are sup-posed to say, oh thank you forthe library. Don’t know who’susing it (the library) inAfghanistan. But it’s one ofthose things. I don’t like beingtaken advantage of,” he said.

“I say this, India. (I have)great relationship with PrimeMinister Modi. He is a greatgentleman and a great man andhe’s done a fantastic job. He hasbrought the country together,”Trump said.

Trump drew a comparisonbetween the expenses beingborne by the US and othercountries in the Afghan peaceefforts. Stating that “massivelywealthy countries” were usingthe US to subsidise their ownforces, he said, “A countrysends us 200 soldiers to Iraq orsends us 100 soldiers from a bigcountry to Syria or toAfghanistan and then they tellme 100 times, ‘Oh, we sent yousoldiers, we sent you soldiers’.”

“Why is not Russia there(in Afghanistan, fighting theTaliban)? Why isn’t India there?Why isn’t Pakistan there? Whyare we (US) there? We are 6,000miles away. But I don’t mind.We want to help our people.We want to help other nations,”Trump told reporters inresponse to a question.

India has been favouring anAfghan-led and Afghan-ownedpeace process to bring peaceand stability in that country.Afghan President Ashraf Ghanihad visted India last year andheld wide-ranging talks withModi on ways to further boostbilateral cooperation.

Prime Minister Modi reit-erated India’s support to anAfghan-led, Afghan-ownedand Afghan-controlled peaceand reconciliation process thatwould enable Afghanistan tocontinue as a peaceful, inclusiveand democratic nation andemerge as an economicallyvibrant country.

Official sources in NewDelhi said India has beenimplementing a range of megainfrastructure projects likedams and highways inAfghanistan. It was also carry-ing out community develop-ment programmes inAfghanistan as per require-ment of its people.

They said such assistancewould go a long way in mak-ing the country economicallyempowered and stable.

The Government of Indiais working with theGovernment of Afghanistanto identify priorities and pro-jects where Kabul needs India’sassistance to be directed.

India has also agreed toimplement some importantnew projects such as theShahtoot Dam and drinkingwater project for Kabul thatwould also facilitate irrigation,water supply for Charikar City,road connectivity to Band-e-Amir in Bamyan Province thatwould promote tourism.

Responding to a question,Trump said he wants India tobe involved in Afghanistan.

Asked if India’s role inAfghanistan was going to besecurity related, Trump said, “Ithink India should be involvedin Afghanistan. I mean I’llgive you an example. You cantalk about our generals. I gaveour generals all of the moneythey wanted, they didn’t dosuch a great job in Afghanistan.They’ve been fighting inAfghanistan for 19 years.”

Trump last month movedto cut by half the 14,000-strongforce in Afghanistan, calling forless spending overseas.Alluding in Wednesday’sremarks to the 1979-1989Soviet occupation ofAfghanistan, Trump said:“Russia used to be the SovietUnion. Afghanistan made itRussia because they went bank-rupt fighting in Afghanistan.”

Without going into details,Trump asserted that he is goingto do work out somethinggood in Afghanistan. “We aregoing to do something that’sright. We are talking to theTaliban, we are talking to a lotof different people,” he said.

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Developmental assistancecan play a major role in

transforming Afghanistan,official sources said Thursday,rejecting US President DonaldTrump’s jibe at Prime MinisterNarendra Modi over fundingof a “library” in the war-rav-aged country.

The sources said also Indiahas been implementing arange of mega infrastructureprojects as well as carrying outcommunity development pro-grammes in Afghanistan asper requirement of its people.They said such assistancewould go a long way in mak-ing the country economicallyempowered and stable.

Trump took a jibe at Modifor funding a “library” inAfghanistan, saying it is of nouse in the war-torn country ashe criticised India and othersfor not doing enough for thenation’s security.

In his first Cabinet meet-

ing in the new yearWednesday, Trump askedIndia, Russia, Pakistan andother neighbouring countriesto take responsibility forAfghanistan’s security as hedefended his push for the USto invest less overseas.

Trump referred to Modi asan example of how worldleaders are talking about theircontributions that werenowhere near the “billions ofdollars” the US was spending.

The sources said Indiamay be building small librariesas part of the communitydevelopment initiative, butmost of its investments inAfghanistan were on megainfrastructure projects includ-ing the 218 km road fromZaranj to Delaram, the SalmaDam and the new AfghanParliament building.

India has also been sup-plying military equipment toAfghanistan besides providingtraining to hundreds ofAfghan security personnel.

The sources said Indiaplays a significant role in thecountry as its developmentpartner and that the partner-ship is built on the specificneeds and requirementsworked out with the Afghangovernment.

“India seeks to buildcapacities and capabilities ofAfghan nationals and its insti-tutions for governance anddelivery of public service, develop socio-eco-nomic infrastructure, securelives and promote livelihood,”said a source.

Besides mega infrastruc-ture projects, India is imple-menting 116 new ‘HighImpact CommunityDevelopment Projects’ in 31provinces of Afghanistan,including in the areas of edu-cation, health, agriculture, irri-gation, drinking water, renew-able energy, flood control,micro-hydropower, sportsinfrastructure, administrativeinfrastructure.

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Renowned jurist, activist andGandhian Chandrashekhar

Shankar Dharmadhikari,known for his landmark judg-ment on human rights deliv-ered during the Emergency,passed away in Nagpur onThursday.

He was 91 and is survivedby daughter Aruna Patil, adoctor, Justice SatyaranjanDharmadhikari, a judge, andAshutosh Dharmadhikari, alawyer.

Coming from the eminentDharmadhikari family centralIndia – most members ofwhich are from the legal pro-fession, Dharmadhikari— likehis father Acharya DadaDharmadhikari and his moth-er Damayanti Dharmadhikariwho took active part in Indianfreedom movement –was afreedom fighter in his youngeryears.

After doing his post grad-uation in Arts, Dharmadhikaridid graduation in law from the

Nagpur University College ofLaw and was enrolled as anadvocate with the Nagpurbench of the Bombay inOctober 1956. He practised asa lawyer in the Bombay HighCourt and Supreme Court forthe next three years. Later on,he worked as an Assistant gov-ernment pleader, Additionalgovernment pleaders and full-fledged government pleaderwith the Nagpur bench of theBombay High Court till 1972.

Appointed as an AdditionalJudge with the Nagpur benchof the Bombay High Court in1972, Dharmadhikari workedin various capacities before hisretirement in November 1989.He was also the acting chief jus-tice of the high court for sometime.

In his widely appreciatedjudgment delivered duringEmergency, Dharmadikari heldthat apart from theConstitutional Right, Right toLife was natural and humanright and therefore, even dur-ing the Emergency, a citizen

had a right to approach theHigh Court, as natural andhuman right to life cannot betaken away. He also deliveredsome landmark judgments onRights of Women, tribal people,children and insane people.

Dharmadhikari, who wasawarded Padma Bhushan in2003, had authored manybooks in the Hindi, Marathiand Gujarati languages.

A Gandhian to the coreand a man of principles,Dharmadhikari was always inkhadis and spoke eloquentHindi.

After his retirement as ajudge from the high court, heworked as the chairman of theMaharashtra AdministrativeTribunal and EducationalRegulatory Authority in thenineties. He was also associat-ed with the National Women’sCommission, Jamnalal BajajFoundation, Global Schools,Gandhi Research Foundationand Dahanu TalukaEnvironment ProtectionAuthority (DTEPA).

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Days after Prime MinisterNarendra Modi told a

national television that there wasno democracy in Bengal, StateChief Minister Mamata Banerjeeon Thursday came back hard onhim for “shouting lies,” andattacked his Government forsnooping on the private lives ofthe people of the citizens.

In a circuitous reference tothe Prime Minister’s statementsthe Chief Minister who wasaddressing a gathering atIlambazar in Birbhum districtsaid that there were some peo-ple who were shouting lieswondering whether these peo-ple were trying to lectureBengal on democratic practiceswithout considering the situa-tion in the BJP-ruled States.

“You are shouting lies to thepeople,” she said in an apparentreference to Modi’s statementand asked “are you trying to lec-ture us on the subject whendemocracy has the biggest pres-ence in Bengal?” she said.

Referring to the Centre’salleged “snooping orders”Banerjee said that “they (NDAGovernment) are trying tothrottle people’s voices bysnooping on their private con-versations” — over phones andvia computers.

“You may ask your hus-band to buy fish from themarket and even that conver-sation is not out of their scan-ner,” Banerjee said adding “peo-ple leave in peace in Bengal” --- which was “the most peace-ful place on earth.” There were

some people who were out tomalign the State, she alleged.

Like the Chief MinisterState Education Minister ParthoChatterjee said the BJP had noright to lecture others as it haddemolished the institution ofdemocracy in India and wastrying to demolish the spiritsenshrined in the Constitution.

The Prime Minister had afew days ago raised questionson the prevailing conditions inBengal alleging how “a politi-cal party (read BJP) is beingdenied basic democratic rights.Our workers are brutally killedin Bengal Kerala and evenKarnataka.” This situation hadto come to an end he had saidadding “all political partieshave to reaffirm their com-mitment to peaceful politics.”

With BJP president AmitShah fixing 22 out of 42 LokSabha seats as his party’s targetin the coming general electionsthe two parties had engagedeach other in a bitter strugglefor supremacy in the State.

Meanwhile, in a develop-ment that could win the ChiefMinister hearts of lakhs ofGovernment employeesMamata Banerjee on Thursdayannounced a 125 percent DA(of their basic salary) for them.The decision would be imple-mented from this month shesaid adding the Governmentwould also clear all the dues bythe end of January.

The Left-backed WestBengal State CoordinationCommittee however downplayed the decision saying thishad been announced by herJune last year and that notwith-standing the announcementthe State would still lag 23 per-cent behind the Centre interms of DA payment.

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Three Hizbul Mujahideenand Jaish-e-Muhammad

militants were killed in a fiercegunfight at Gulshanpora villageof south Kashmir’s Tral sub-district on Thursday. Five sol-diers were wounded, one ofthem critically, in the encounterwhile nearly a dozen protesterswho attempted to disrupt theoperation were injured in secu-rity forces’ action to preventtheir advance towards theencounter site.

This is the first encounterof the year 2019 between mil-itants and security forces in theKashmir Valley. The slain ultraswere local cadre of HizbulMujahideen who got trappedduring a cordon and searchoperation.

A police spokesman saidthat the operation waslaunched on the basis of “cred-ible input about the presence ofterrorists in higher reaches ofTral.” “As the searches were

going on, the search party wasfired upon by the terrorists.The fire was retaliated leadingto a gunfight. In the ensuingencounter, three terrorists wereneutralised and the bodieswere recovered from the site ofencounter,” the spokesmansaid.

During the initial bout ofgunfire, three Rashtriya Riflessoldiers were wounded whowere immediately evacuated tobattalion headquarters atBajwani and later airlifted to 92Base Hospital in Srinagar. Onecritically injured soldier wasshifted to Command Hospitalin Udhampur for advancedtreatment.

Over 250 militants andnearly 90 security personnelwere killed during year 2018 indifferent militancy related inci-dents. Over 100 civilians werealso killed in the previous year.

The slain militants havebeen identified as ZubairAhmad Bhat alias Abu Huraira,Shakoor Ahmad Parray aliasJaffar and Tawseef AhmadThoker alias Abu Talha, all res-idents of two different villagesof Tral area.

“All the three killed terror-ists were wanted by law fortheir complicity in a series ofterror crimes including attackson security establishments andcivilian atrocities. It was acombined group of JeM andHM and as per police recordsZubair was affiliated with pro-scribed terror outfit JeM whileShakoor and Tawseef wereaffiliated with proscribed ter-ror outfit HM,” police said.

The other injured soldiershave been admitted in Army's92 Base Hospital in Srinagar.

At least a dozen civilianprotesters were injured duringtear gas shelling when youthsfrom villages adjacent to theencounter site attempted todisrupt the operation. Even asthe authorities snapped inter-net services in the area, protestswere held at several places.

����� 23.�43(�1;��1((028�

The Supreme Court onThursday expressed strong

dissatisfaction over the rescueefforts to trace 15 peopletrapped in a mine in Meghalayafor 22 days, telling the stategovernment to bring them outdead or alive.

The tough talk by the apexcourt came on a day when themulti-agency operations to res-cue the miners failed to makeany headway with efforts topump the water out of the minenot yielding any result.The 15 miners remain trappedin the 370-foot-deep illegalrat-hole coal mine in Lumtharivillage of East Jaintia Hills dis-trict since December 13 afterwater from a nearby rivergushed in.

"For people who aretrapped there, every minutecounts," the court said and sug-gested that the help of theArmy could be also taken.

Holding that "prompt,immediate and effective" oper-ation is needed to rescue thetrapped people, the court saidthere should not be any delayas it was a question of life anddeath. "We pray to God thatthey all are alive."

A bench comprisingJustices A K Sikri and S AbdulNazeer asked Solicitor GeneralTushar Mehta, representingthe Centre, to apprise it byFriday the steps which thegovernment intends to take inthe matter.

"As the Union, you shoulddo something now. Either youtake the help of Army, which

has not been done yet. They(Army) are ready and theyhave volunteered also," thebench told Mehta, issuingnotice to the Centre on a PILseeking effective and best res-cue measures.

"We are not satisfied (withsteps taken for rescue). It is aquestion of life and death.What has happened in the lastso many days we do not know.

"No matter whether they(trapped persons) are all dead,some alive, few dead or all alive,they should have been takenout by now. We pray to Godthat they all are alive," it said.

Family members of at leastseven trapped miners havealready given up hope to rescuethem alive and requested thestate government to retrieve thebodies for last rites.

The divers of the Navy andthe National Disaster ResponseForce (NDRF) were unable toresume the search operation asthey could not go inside due tothe high water level.

Asked if the divers wouldtake another chance later in theday, operation spokesperson RSusngi told PTI that they wouldwait, but there was a remotechance of the water level reduc-ing so soon.

Fire Service personnelfrom Odisha resumed work at10 am and it was found that thewater level rose again, a dayafter full-day pumping result-ed in the water receding by 16inches, Susngi said.

During the hearing in theapex court, the solicitor gener-al told the bench that severalmembers of the NationalDisaster Response Force(NDRF) were working at thesite and instead of the Army,the government has sent Navypersonnel there as the minewas submerged in water.

"72 members of NDRF arealready there but still no result,"the bench observed, adding,"Why can't you take help of theArmy? He (petitioner) saysthat water pumps were sent to

Thailand. Why cannot it(pumps) be used here also?".

The petitioner said in hisplea that Kirloskar Brothers Ltd(KBL) had offered high-pow-ered water pumps and giventechnical support to the RoyalThai government in June-July2018 for the operation to res-cue a football team trappedinside a cave system inThailand.

KBL offered to providefour specialised high capacityAutoprime de-watering pumps,which were kept ready atKirloskarvadi plant inMaharashtra to be airlifted toThailand.

Mehta, while maintainingthat the petition seeking urgentsteps for the rescue said hewould take instructions in thematter.

He said the Union coalminister had held a meeting,which was attended by thechief minister of Meghalaya,and a nodal officer has beenappointed.

"We have requested solici-tor general Tushar Mehta tolook into it with regard to theurgency involved as it is aquestion of life and death," thecourt said.

The counsel appearing forthe state said adequate stepswere taken and besides 72NDRF personnel, members ofstate disaster response force, theNavy, fire department and CoalIndia Ltd were also involved inthe rescue operations.

At the outset, the counselappearing for Meghalaya saidthey have already taken stepsfor rescue of these persons.

"What steps have youtaken? These miners aretrapped there for long time.You may have taken steps butthey are still trapped. You needsome support from the Centralgovernment," the bench said.

To this, the state's counselsaid the Centre was also lend-ing support to them in the res-cue operation.

"Then why you are not suc-cessful yet? Is it because of thewater?," the bench asked.

The state's counsel saidthe illegal mine where the 15persons were trapped was con-nected with a nearby river.

Senior advocate AnandGrover, appearing for peti-tioner Aditya N Prasad, told thebench that an adjoining minewas connected with a river andthe authorities were using onlypumps of 25 horsepower(hp) toflush out the water.

He said the KBL had sentwater pumps of 100 horse-power(hp) during the rescueoperation in Thailand last year.

"We need a cental coordi-nating machinery to deal withsuch situations," Grover said,claiming that authorities havenot taken appropriate steps.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi on Thursday may

have added Jai Anusandhan(scientific research) to formerPrime Minister Lal BahadurShastri's famous slogan of JaiJawan, Jai Kisan and Atal BihariVajpayee's Jai Vigyan at anevent at the 106th IndianScience Congress in Jalandhar,but a Parliamentary panel in itsreport has slammed the gov-ernment for poor investment inresearch and development(R&D) sector in the country.

In a report highlighting thefunctioning of the Departmentof the Scientific and IndustrialResearch under the Science andTechnology Ministry, the panelheaded by Rajya Sabha MPAnand Sharma pointed outthat the country's investment inR&D is dismal at 0.6 per centof GDP, just a fraction whencompared to investment madeby US (2.8), China (2.1), Israel(4.3), and Korea (4.2) in thesector.

Referring to the EconomicSurvey 2017-18, the committeesaid that in most countries, the

private sector carries out thebulk of R&D even though theGovernment play an importantrole in the area. "However, inIndia, the Government is notjust the primary source ofR&D but also the primary userof the funds, thus Governmentexpenditure on R&D is under-taken almost entirely by theCentre.

"Private investments inresearch have lagged in India,"

said the panel. According to ananalysis (Forbes, 2017) thereare 26 Indian companies in thelist of the top 2,500 global R&Dspenders compared to 301Chinese companies.

Nineteen of these 26 firmsare in just three sectors: phar-maceuticals, automobiles andsoftware. India has no firms infive of the top ten R&D sectorsas compared to China that hasa presence in each of them, said

the report which was tabled inParliament recently.

The Committee stressedupon the Central Governmentto substantially enhance theinvestment in R&D in thecountry.

"The Committee feels thatDepartment must evolve someinstitutional mechanism toinvolve private companies/industries for investing towardsR&D by providing them some

kind of incentives like tax ben-efits etc," as per the report.

Regarding the functioningof the Council of Scientific andIndustrial Research (CSIR), itsaid that the premier researchagency has not been able totranslate its good work done inthe form of research papersinto sustainable technologiesfor use of the masses.

Addressing the 106th IndianScience Congress at Jalandhar,the Prime Minister had said thatthrough science, India was trans-forming its present and workingto secure its future.

He also said the country'sstrengths in research and devel-opment are built on the back-bone of its national laborato-ries, central universities, IIT,Indian Institute of Sciences,Tata Institute of FundamentalResearch & Indian Institute ofScience Education andResearch.

However, noting thatover 95 per cent of the coun-try's students go to state uni-versities and colleges, he calledupon for developing a strongresearch ecosystem in theseinstitutions.

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Former Jammu and KashmirChief Minister Mehbooba

Mufti on Thursday travelled tosouth Kashmir’s Shopian districtto visit the family of a slain mil-itant. Mufti criticized the statepolice for allegedly targeting thefamilies of militants but herstatement evoked sharp criti-cism from her rival and formerChief Minister Omar Abdullahwho described her as the ‘archi-tect of Operation All Out”.

Six months after she wasdismissed as Chief Minister fol-lowing the withdrawal of sup-port by the BJP, Mehbooba hasfor the first time began to ven-ture into south Kashmir, onceher party borough, to reach outto people, especially the kin ofthe militants. Last week she vis-ited Patipora village inPulwama district to meet thefamily members of a militant.

In a video clip recordedinside the militant’s house,Mehbooba is seen urging theGovernor Satya Pal Malik todirect the police and othersecurity forces not to harass themilitant’s family.

She said that police is dis-ciplined force and don’t want toharass the families of mili-tants, but “it seems that thereare directions from somewheredue to which such actions are

taking place.”“When I was Chief Minister,

I also directed the police andother forces in Manigam not toharass the families of militantswhen you are dealing with themilitants,” she said.

Last week, reacting toMufti’s similar utterances,Governor Malik had said thatMehbooba was levelling accu-sations out of political com-pulsions to regain the lostground.

Mehbooba also in a series oftweets decried harassment offamilies of militants. “No moth-er wants her son to pick up agun and lose his life in the primeof his youth. Therefore harass-ing the family is not going tohelp the situation. Had my ini-tiative of cease fire sustainedmany more precious lives wouldhave been saved,” she tweeted.

In her another tweet,Mehbooba said that no force ormilitary can help to win the warwith the people.

“No force or military canhelp us win this war with ourpeople. Only affection of moth-ers and family will help reclaimour own generation in rage,”Mehbooba tweeted.

Reacting over her frequentvisits to the families of mili-tants, former chief ministerand National Conference (NC)Vice President, Omar Abdullahin his tweets said that

Mehbooba Mufti is using deadmilitants to try to appease thevoters.

In his tweet, Omar termedMehbooba as architect of“Operation All-out”, saying thatby visiting the families of mili-tants, she is trying to rehabili-tate a badly damaged reputation.

“The architect of“Operation All-out” & the over-seer of the operations that killedhundreds of militants since2015 is now going from one mil-itant home to the next trying torehabilitate a badly damagedreputation,” Omar tweeted.

Omar further added thatMehbooba appeased BJP by thedeaths of militants and now sheis using dead militants toappease the voters.

“She used militants bysanctioning their deaths toappease the BJP and now sheuses dead militants to try toappease the voter. Just howgullible does she think peopleare?,” Omar tweeted.

The PDP reacted to Omar’stweet. “Very unfortunate that aperson who inherited mas-sacres and whose party isresponsible for pushingKashmiris in uncertainty by rig-ging elections for power is say-ing this all. You should ratheract as party and reach out topeople as it is a collectiveresponsibility,” PDP tweetedfrom its official twitter handle.

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One month after the violencein Bulandshahr that left an

inspector and a youth dead, thepolice on Thursday claimed tohave arrested the main accused,Yogesh Raj, who is district con-vener of Bajrang Dal.

Interestingly, after launch-ing a hunt for the main accusedin the national capital region aswell as in Nepal, the policeclaimed to have arrested Rajfrom Bulandshahr.

Raj was on the run for thepast one month after violencerocked the Siyana tehsil of thedistrict when cow carcasseswere allegedly found from anagricultural f ield onDecember 3.

It is to be seen whether thelocal police, which was alleged-ly trying to shield the rightwing activists so far, will bookRaj for the violence and mur-der or just level charges forblocking road in protest againstcow slaughter.

Senior Superintendent ofPolice of Bulandshahr,Prabhakar Chaudhary, toldreporters on Thursday after-noon that Yogesh Raj, the mainaccused in the Bulandshahrviolence case, was arrestednear a private school in Khurjaearly Thursday morning.

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Page 7: ˆ#ˇ ()*+˚ ˜˝(’(˜’ 2 -˜./ 01 ˘ˇˆ˙ ˇ˝˛˚˜ !ˆ #ˇ ˆ˝#˜˘$!#%%#˜˛ˆ˙ %#˙ ˝% · Last week, the ruling party in Bihar also announced its dis-agreement in regards

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Thursday’s dawn to duskhartal (shut down) in

Kerala called by the SabarimalaAction Committee turned outto be total as well as an unpleas-ant experience. Shops andestablishments remained closedthroughout the State whilepublic transport servicesremained suspended.

The hartal was against theaction of the CPI-M led KeralaGovernment which helped twomiddle aged women to sneakinto the Lord Ayyappa Templeat Sabarimala early Wednesdaymorning as part of imple-menting last year’s SupremeCourt verdict which hadquashed the ban on entry ofwomen into the temple.Interestingly, the call for hartalwas issued by K P Sasikala, thefrail looking president of theSAC who became the firstwoman in South India todeclare a state-wide hartal.

Six persons have beeninjured in incidents of stabbingand fisticuffs at various placesin the State. Three BJP workerswere stabbed at Vadanappilli inThrissur district in clashesbetween the pro and anti har-tal activists in the locality.

K Surendran, BJP secretaryalleged that the BJP workerswere attacked by activists of

CPI-M and SDPI , an Islamistorganisation which has enor-mous strength in the coastaltown of Vadanappali. The dis-tricts of Kannur and Kasargodtoo witnessed pitched battlesbetween the workers of the BJPand the CPI-M who were sup-ported by the Popular Front ofIndia and SDPI activists.

Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan alleged that the SanghParivar ‘elements” were tryingto foment trouble in Keralaunder the pretext of savingSabarimala. Addressing themedia at Thiruvananthapuramon Thursday morning, Vijayantook strong exception to the

decision of the SabarimalaAction Committee to call forhartal. He claimed that the twowomen entered the sanctum ofthe temple because of the coop-eration extended by the devo-tees and the police had no rolein it. “We were asked to providethem with police security andwe were bound by theConstitution to do so,” saidVijayan.

Vijayan lambasted theThanthri (Chief Priest) ofSabarimala for ordering theclosure of the temple for per-forming purification ritualsafter the entry of the twowomen. “This is rare and

unheard of. If the Thanthri wasagainst the verdict of theSupreme Court, he should havequit his job immediately. Wewill certainly take actionagainst him for conductingthe purification rituals,” saidVijayan.

But the Chief Minister’sremarks about the death ofChandran Unnithan, theAyyappa devotee at Pandalam ,caused wide resentment in theState. Vijayan said Unnithandied because of heart attackwhile the latter had been griev-ously injured in stone peltingallegedly by the CPI-M workers.

Unnithan was participating

in a rally at Pandalam town toprotest against the entry ofwomen devotees in the templewhen activists of CPI-M pelt-ed stones at the protestors.The autopsy report fromKottayam Medical College stat-ed that Unnithan died becauseof the severe injury suffered onhis skull.

Though there were resis-tance to the forced shut downfrom various traders organisa-tions in the State who cameforward to open the shops onThursday morning , the SACsent out a warning that peoplein Kerala would boycott theshops which do not cooperatewith the hartal. The messagewas issued after the chief min-ister’s statement that Unnithandied of heart attack.

P Rajan, a prominent civilrights activist told The Pioneerthat this was the first time theorganisers of a hartal sendingout message that they wouldboycott shops daring to openon Thursday. “Nobody canblame them because they havethe right to call for hartals andask people to cooperate withthem. Moreover Kerala is hometo hartals and it is too late toresist calls for shut down. Willthey come forward and resistthe 48-hour hartal scheduledfor January 8 and 9 by the CPI-M”? asked Rajan.

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It is an open secret that Keralais no more the God’s Own

Land as claimed by the pro-moters of the State’s tourismpotential. Over the last twodecades, the State has degen-erated into Devil’s OwnParadise if the words of socialscientists and activists are to bebelieved. Thursday’s hartal isone of the few reasons whichplayed significant role in mak-ing the State a difficult place tolive.

According to K P Sasikala,president, Sabarimala ActionCommittee, who called forThursday’s hartal, the year2018 has seen many closedowns and one more hartalwould not make any differenceto the lives of the people.

Ramesh Chennithala,Leader of the Opposition andformer President of theCongress said that the monthof December 2018 saw three orfour hartals, all in the name ofSabarimala and this does notaugur well for the State.

Hartals and bundhs havebecome a part and parcel of thedaily life in Kerala. It is difficultto point out a month in whichthere were no hartals. People in

Kerala have started enjoyingthe hartals. “The moment thepolitical parties call for hartals,they stock the kitchen withmeat, other commodities andof course sufficient bottles ofspirit. Hartals are occasions ofcelebrations,” said SubramanianSasidharan, a businessmanbased in Perumbavoor. He saidit was not with joy he was sum-ming up the scenario. “Whenyou are left with no alternatives,what else you will do? It is thedaily wage earners who bearthe brunt,” pointed outSasidharan.

Though described as abarbaric act, forcing people tostay away from work and bringnormal life to a standstill, har-tals have become the easiesttool for political and apoliticaloutfits to make their state-ments heard by the authorities.The year 2018 saw Kerala shut-ting itself down 97 times,which means that there were 97hartals. The year 2016 was nobetter. There were 120 hartalsin Kerala in 2016.

M M Hassan, former pres-ident of the Congress in Kerla,had staged a one-day fast in2016 at Thiruvananathapuramagainst the frequent hartals. Butthe same Hassan was the per-

son who gave for a hartal in2017 for some reason.Interestingly, the CPI-M andthe Congress would rub shoul-ders on January 8 and 9 tomake the all-India hartal (48-hour long shut down ) a majorsuccess. The reason for nextweek’s hartal? No prizes forguessing. Anti-people policiesof the Narendra Modi-led gov-ernment!

The 24X7 entertainmentchannels, booze and the com-bination of paratha and beefmay be an “exhilarating expe-rience” to some. But for hun-dreds of thousands of immi-grant Bengali and Assameseworkers toiling in the State ascasual labourers , it is a majorsetback as they stand to loss Rs1000 per person because ofthese shut downs. Residents inKerala have started asking theorganisers of hartals andbundhs to organise the shut-downs either n Fridays orMondays. “These would helpus to get an extended week-end. The shut-downs in themiddle of the week upset ourtravel programmes,” saidSuresh Kumar, an auditor inKochi. He is demanding peo-ple-friendly hartals.

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Thursdays dawn to dusk har-tal called by the Sabarimala

Action Committee to protestagainst Wednesday’s entry of thetwo women devotees in thesanctum of the Sabarimala tem-ple turned out to be total inKerala.

The hartal claimed the lifeof 55 year old ChandranUnnithan at Pandhalam whowas killed in stone pelting by theCPI-M activists while he wasleading a SAC rally lateWednesday evening.

Six BJP activists got injuredin stabbing incidents at Thrissur,Kannur and Kasaragod .According to sources in Police,the attacks were the handiworkof the CPI-M and the SDPI, anIslamic extremist outfit.

P Sathasivam, Governor ofKerala, has sought a report onthe Law and Order from ChiefMinister Pinarayi Vijayan fol-lowing widespread rioting andstone pelting by pro and antihatrtal activists all over theState. “I appeal to all sections ofpeople to maintain calm andpeace,” Sathasivam said in hisposting while confirming thereport that he has sought thereport from the chief minister.

Nearly 300 persons, belong-ing to various Hindutwa outfitshave been arrested in connec-tion with widespread attacks onbuses, public places and jour-nalists during the hartal onThursday. According to sourcesin Thiruvananathapuram, thenumber of arrests would bemore as some of the attackersand rioters have gone under-ground.

Tomin Thachankery, themanaging director of the KSRTCsaid in a release late Thursdayevening that 100 buses belong-ing to the corporation weredamaged in stone pelting by riot-ers. “We have suffered losses tothe tune of �3.35 crore in theattacks by the protesters over thelast two days,” said Thachankaryin a release on Thursday.

The Kerala Police havelaunched a mission “OperationBroken Window” to nab thepersons responsible for stonepelting and rioting. Though thePolice had promised protectionto those who open shops andbusiness establishments, thehelp was not forthcoming whichforced the owners to pull downthe shutters for the day.

Media persons too cameunder the attack of the organis-ers of the hartal. Two reporters

and a videographer were injuredin the attack while the cameraof one of the channels was dam-aged. The media persons whowere upset over the attacksblacked out the press meets.

Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan alleged that the SanghParivar ‘elements” were trying tofoment trouble in Kerala underthe pretext of saving Sabarimala.Addressing the media atThiruvananthapuram onThursday morning, Vijayan tookstrong exception to the decisionof the Sabarimala ActionCommittee to call for hartal. Heclaimed that the two womenentered the sanctum of the tem-ple because of the cooperationextended by the devotees andthe police had no role in it. “Wewere asked to provide them withpolice security and we werebound by the Constitution to doso,” said Vijayan.

The CM’s remarks about thedeath of Chandran Unnithan,the Ayyappa devotee atPandalam , caused wide resent-ment in the State. Vijayan saidUnnithan died because of heartattack while autopsy report fromKottayam Medical College stat-ed that the victim died becauseof the severe injury suffered onhis skull.

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One month after the vio-lence in Bulandshahr that

left an inspector and a youthdead, the police on Thursdayclaimed to have arrested themain accused, Yogesh Raj,who is district convener ofBajrang Dal.

Interestingly, after launch-ing a hunt for the mainaccused in the national capitalregion as well as in Nepal, thepolice claimed to have arrest-ed Raj from Bulandshahr.

Raj was on the run for thepast one month after violencerocked the Siyana tehsil of thedistrict when cow carcasses wereallegedly found from an agri-cultural field on December 3.

It is to be seen whether thelocal police, which was alleged-ly trying to shield the rightwing activists so far, will bookRaj for the violence and mur-der or just level charges forblocking road in protestagainst cow slaughter.

Senior Superintendent ofPolice of Bulandshahr,Prabhakar Chaudhary, toldreporters on Thursday after-noon that Yogesh Raj, the mainaccused in the Bulandshahrviolence case, was arrestednear a private school in Khurjaearly Thursday morning.

“The arrest was made onthe inputs from intelligence andon basis of all the informationwe have. Questioning of YogeshRaj is underway and his state-ments are being recorded. Wewill go for a medical examina-tion of the accused before pro-ducing him in the court by late

afternoon,” the SSP said. Raj was later produced in

the court which sent him on 14days’ judicial custody remand.

Altogether 37 people havebeen arrested so far in the case.On Wednesday, Satish andVineet, accused of violence,and Azhar, accused in the cowslaughtering case, had surren-dered in the local court inBulandshahr.

Meanwhile, Bajrang Dalactivist Praveen Bhati claimedthat Yogesh Raj was innocent

“We will provide him legalassistance. We will do whatev-er is good for him. We will pre-sent everything before thecourt and we are sure he willbe acquitted of all the charges,”Bhati said.

Raj had been abscondingsince December 3 when mobviolence reared its ugly head inBulandshahr. The clashesbroke out when some local res-idents were protesting againstalleged cow slaughter at illegalslaughterhouses. The protest-ers pelted stones and set sev-eral motorcycles on fire.Inspector Subodh KumarSingh and 20-year-old Sumitdied in the violence.

In a video clip released onDecember 6, Raj had claimedinnocence even as he remainedin hiding. “I have nothing to dowith it. I have full faith in God.I will be cleared of all accusa-tions,” he had said in the videoclip, adding that he was notpresent at the site of the inci-dent when Kumar and Sumitreceived gun shots.

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Late in the last week of December2018, for a full one week, reverber-ations from US President DonaldTrump’s surprise announcementto cut 14,000 American troops

from Afghanistan by half continued to rockKabul like serial suicide attacks by theTaliban. Trump’s decision (including the with-drawal of 2,000 combatants from Syria) wasmotivated by getting most troops backhome to defend the US’ borders; though itwas more related to the 2020 presidential elec-tions. Besides, Defence Secretary JamesMattis’ resignation, this announcement cre-ated an uproar among the US allies. Thenafter a week, suddenly, a White HouseNational Security Council spokespersonannounced that Trump had not made anydecision to cut troops in Afghanistan. Both,Chairman, Joints Chiefs of Staff, Gen JosephDunford and Commander of the US forcesin Afghanistan, Gen Scott Miller, said thatthey had received no orders for troop cuts inAfghanistan. But if they do — and they hadbeen working on it — it would be all right.Trump has remained silent, so esoteric is deci-sion-making in the White House.

Any hint of de-induction of the USforces — at a time when the peace processin Afghanistan is uncertainly poised —would amount to a partial victory for theTaliban, whose prime demand is the exitof foreign forces; and also destabilisationof US Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad’s vigorousattempts for face-to-face talks betweenKabul and the Taliban. The last time suchtalks were wrecked was in 2016, under thePakistan-sponsored newly-constitutedQuadrilateral Coordination Group, com-prising the US, China, Pakistan andAfghanistan, as the Taliban failed to showup. The Taliban’s absence meant Pakistansignalling its centrality to the peace process.This outraged the then US PresidentBarack Obama so much that Talibansupremo Mullah Akhtar Mansour wastaken out in a drone strike in May 2016.

Was the now rescinded Trump decisiona fallout of the failed peace talks at AbuDhabi, once again sponsored by Pakistan, lastNovember? This time around, the Talibanrefused to meet the 12-member Kabul del-egation after three meetings with Khalilzadin the last six months. Pakistan and theTaliban have again publicly let down the US.Remember, Trump had written to PrimeMinister Imran Khan in December after his“all we’ve got from Pakistan is lies and deceit”jibe and sought his help. Khalilzad then flewto Islamabad to meet Gen Qamar JavedBajwa.

It is a truth, universally acknowledged,that the road to Kabul passes through theGeneral Headquarters, Rawalpindi. Khalilzadmet a four-member Taliban delegation,asked for a six-month ceasefire and namemembers of a future care-taker Government.The Taliban rejected a ceasefire, adding thatits nominee be appointed to head a care-taker

Government and if the UAE,Saudi Arabia and Pakistan standguarantors, a ceasefire could beconsidered. The new Abu Dhabidialogue format included theabove-mentioned countries thatthe Taliban demanded and theonly ones which had recognisedthe Taliban Government in 1996.Never earlier had all the boxes fortalks with the Taliban been tickedas before Abu Dhabi. Still, Trumpin double entendre, said, “We arein very strong negotiations buthave little confidence talks willsucceed”. Khalilzad met theTaliban for a third time in AbuDhabi where he was told, accord-ing to Taliban spokesmanJabidullah Mujahid: “We willtalk to the US only when foreignforces leave Afghanistan.” Theofficial outcome at Abu Dhabiwill never be known, but in sum,Khalilzad met with the Taliban,who in turn rejected the idea ofturning proximity dialogue intoface-to-face talks with Kabul (asit is a US puppet).

Afghanistan PresidentAshraf Ghani has also beenunder immense pressure,domestically and by Trump, totalk to the Taliban. He hasbeen most earnest in his effortssince he became the Presidentin a controversial election in2014. Ghani met the then ArmyChief, Gen Raheel Sharif, in2015, which led to the Murreetalks in July 2015. The talks werederailed as Rawalpindi tried tohoodwink Kabul with a MullahOmar-recorded statement whenhe had died two years earlier.Then the 2016 fiasco happened.

Still, in February 2018, Ghanioffered unconditional talks andceasefire, which were acceptedfor only three days during Eidby the Taliban. The Afghansremain hopeful of some agree-ment to end violence before thepresidential elections in April2019. Khalilzad wants the elec-tions to be postponed to accom-modate the Taliban.

Despite the onset of winter,Taliban suicide attacks in Kabulcontinue with deadly precisionand regularity. One of the rea-sons for Trump’s decision to pullout was US combat deaths,which have risen to doubledigits in the last six months. Inthe UN last November, Ghanisaid that 30,000 Afghan soldiersand police had been killed since2015. This is much lower thanthe actual number. Civiliancasualties ranged between 800and 900 in 2018, which is a 40per cent increase over 2017 fig-ures. US Central Commandchief Gen Kenneth Mackenziesaid that combatant death ratecannot be sustained unlesstraining, recruitment and deser-tion issues are fixed. The latestreport (November 30, 2018) ofthe Special Inspector Generalfor Afghanistan Reconstructiondescribed the present conditionas an “impasse.”

After parroting for yearsthat India has no legitimate rolein Afghanistan, it was surprisingthat Pakistan Foreign MinisterShah Mohammed Qureshi saidon December 10 that India alsohas stakes in Afghanistan and itscooperation will be needed as

Pakistan alone cannot bringpeace to Afghanistan. InSeptember 2017, Pakistan hadaccused India of being a spoilerin Afghanistan. Briefing themedia after Mattis’ visit to India,the Pakistan Foreign Affairsspokesperson noted: “Under thegarb of development assistance,India has been using Afghanistansoil to carry out subversive activ-ities against Pakistan”.

So why this strategic benev-olence? Is Pakistan making avirtue out of necessity? For itsfailure to do US bidding —bringing the Taliban aroundfor direct talks with Kabul —Islamabad in the past used thealibi it has limited influence andcontrol over the Taliban. This ispatently untrue and only a bar-gaining ploy.

Qureshi’s suggestion, thatbringing the Taliban for talks isa shared responsibility, explainsthe lean on India which has someinfluence on Kabul. Rawalpindiis telling the US “we can bring thehorse to water but we cannotmake it drink.” Mattis’ resignationover troops pullout may be lessjustified than his abject failure tomake his “last chance” threat forPakistan work. He had assuredUS Congressmen in the contextof Afghanistan in 2017 that itwould work. BecauseRawalpindi, if it wants, can makethe horse drink water.

(The writer is a retired MajorGeneral of the Indian Army andfounder member of the DefencePlanning Staff, currently therevamped Integrated DefenceStaff)

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Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “The Modi view” (January 3).The entire discussion, with easyand non-controversial questions,enabled the Prime Minister tofield replies with absolute ease.The interviewer very carefullyavoided controversial questions.It sounds reasonable thatspokespersons of the Congresshave reason to be critical.

Tharcius S FernandoChennai

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Sir — Team India scored anexceptional victory in the thirdTest match against the Aussies,played at the Melbourne CricketGround. The victory is laudable.With an unassailable 2-1 lead inthe four-match series, team Indiawill now definitely seek to accom-plish what no Indian team hasever done — a triumph in a Testseries on Australian soil.

Neither a wet outfield nor thesledgings of the Australian skip-per behind the stumps are goingto affect the performance of teamIndia. Indian fans are now antic-

ipating a grand victory in the finalclash, at the Sydney CricketGround.

Tushar AnandBihar

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Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Have a little faith” (January 3). Theentry into the Sabarimala Ayyappa

temple in Kerala by two daringyoung women under police coverin the early hours of Wednesday,has triggered anti-Governmentprotest across the State.

Soon after the young womengot darshan of lord Ayyappa, thetemple chief priest closed thedoors of the sanctum sanctorum,to perform ‘purification’ rites. Theaction of the temple chief priestmay amount to using the concept

of impurity and pollution to vio-late the women’s right againstuntouchability.

But it is sad that followingtheir visit to the temple, wide-spread violence and protestsbroke across the State. Last year,when the Supreme Court hadallowed young women to enterthe Sabarimala temple, peoplereceived the verdict with muchpleasure. Now, these very people

have been flouting the top court’sorder by opposing the entry ofyoung women to the Sabarimalatemple. People must show somerespect and comply with theapex court’s verdict so as tomaintain a peaceful atmosphere.

TK NandananChennai

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Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Why we need Hasina”(January 1). With the SheikhHasina-led Awami Leaguealliance romping home with alandslide victory, the BangladeshNationalist Party’s game-planwent horribly wrong.

In the true sense, Hasinaboosted the economic growth ofher country and also earnedgoodwill for accommodatingRohingya refugees who fled fromneighbouring Myanmar. Resultsin Bangladesh will be most wel-comed by India, which will belooking to further cement itsties with Bangladesh.

ShivanshVia email

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Page 9: ˆ#ˇ ()*+˚ ˜˝(’(˜’ 2 -˜./ 01 ˘ˇˆ˙ ˇ˝˛˚˜ !ˆ #ˇ ˆ˝#˜˘$!#%%#˜˛ˆ˙ %#˙ ˝% · Last week, the ruling party in Bihar also announced its dis-agreement in regards

Agnes Kharshiing and AmitaSangma, two well-known envi-ronmentalists from Meghalaya,

were brutally attacked last year by agroup of 30-40 people, suspected to bemembers of the coal mining mafia inMeghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills district.Reports of illegal rat-hole coal miningbeing carried out in defiance of a banimposed by the National GreenTribunal (NGT) had taken them to thearea for an on-the-spot verification.

Even as the two activists wererecovering from injuries, an accidentthat trapped 15 coal miners in the rat-hole mine was reported from that veryarea. While there has been very littleprogress in the rescue operations, thefactum of illegal mining being carriedout in sub-human conditions stood

fully exposed.While imposing the ban some four

years ago, the NGT had taken into con-sideration unsafe mining practicesalong with other environmental con-cerns. For instance, earlier reports hadpointed out that mining activitiesdirectly impact water quality of theregion and its colour changes complete-ly. Later, as a relaxation to the completeban, the already extracted coal lying atthe pit heads was allowed to be trans-ported. However, over a period of time,this virtually became an excuse for acontinuing and never-ending stream ofillegal activities. It is, therefore, impor-tant that the matter is taken up afreshto put an end to the farce of transporta-tion of the extracted coal. Besides strin-gent regulations must be framed andimplemented for maintenance of safe-ty and preservation of environment.

Admittedly, coal mining is a veryimportant contributor to the economyof the small State. And for some polit-ical parties, the lifting of the NGT banon mining became a top agenda. Butthis is in complete contrast with the pre-vailing situation in the neighbouring

district of Nongstoin, where theKy e l l e n g - P y n d e n g s o h i o n g ,Mawtahbah uranium project (KPMuranium project) by the UraniumCorporation of India Ltd (UCIL) hasbeen lying in a limbo for over adecade.

Despite receiving all the necessaryclearances, including those from theMinistry of Environment, Forest andClimate Change, after a public hearingat Nongbah Jynrin, the project hasfailed to take off. This due to stiff oppo-sition from a section of local tribals as

well as the Khasi Students’ Union(KSU).

The UCIL, on its part, seems tohave undertaken extensive awarenesscampaigns to counter the motivateddisinformation. Diverse groups of peo-ple — consisting of NGOs, legislators,Khasi Students’ Union and mediapersons — have been taken to the pro-ject site by UCIL to observe its opera-tions at Jaduguda in Jharkhand in orderto convince them of the safety. Similarly,in the past, several teams of medicalexperts, even from the All India

Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS),New Delhi, have visited Nongstoin,Pambriew and adjoining areas. Theyfound nothing abnormal about the gen-eral health of the people in the vicini-ty of the mines, particularly new-borns.

Thus, on the one hand, we have aset of mining activities, which contin-ue in defiance of court orders, and onthe other, we have the much-neededuranium, whose mining remainsobstructed. A recent parliamentarypanel report recommended that nec-essary steps be undertaken for theopening up of new mines to reduceIndia’s dependence on imported ura-nium. Currently, India imports this pre-cious raw material from Canada,Russia and Kazakhastan.

According to estimates, there arereserves of over 20,000 tonnes ofhigh-grade uranium ore inDomiasiat, Wahkyn and Wahkutbesides other areas of Nongstoin.Most of our requirement, to createreserves of uranium for productionof atomic energy, could, thus, be metfrom the resources available inMeghalaya.

In this context, someConstitutional issues also needfocussed attention. According tothe Union List (Schedule VII) entry6, atomic energy and mineralresources necessary for its produc-tion are in the domain of the UnionGovernment. The entries 54 and 55pertain to mining regulations in gen-eral besides their safety aspects.

At the same time, AutonomousDistrict Councils have also beenempowered through Schedule VI of theConstitution on certain related matters.As per Section 12A (b) of Schedule VI,the President may, with respect to anyAct of Parliament, by notification,direct that it shall not apply to anautonomous district or an autonomousregion in the State of Meghalaya, orwith such exceptions or modifica-tions… et al. This provision of ScheduleVI needs to be interpreted in unam-biguous terms so that narrow localinterests are not able to hold to ransomissues of vital national importance.

(The writer is a retired DelhiPolice Commissioner and formerGovernor of Meghalaya)

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Leadership topics have gained interest forhundreds of years now — from the earlyGreek philosophers, such as Plato andSocrates, to a plethora of management andbehavioural experts — all have discussed

them threadbare. Seldom, however, has the need foreffective leadership been voiced more strongly thanin present times of a changing global environment.Leadership holds an answer for not only the suc-cess of an individual or an organisation, but also forsectors, regions and nations. Despite the recogni-tion of its importance, mystery remains as to whatit actually is or how do we define it. Leadership isdefinitely not a ‘one-size-fits-all’ concept; it is oneof those words that is ceaselessly debated and typ-ically elicits a spectrum of individual opinions —from describing personality attributes, position char-acteristics to even behaviours. Whatever the arena— sports, politics, religion, business — a leaderimpacts and influences organisational effectiveness.

But the question is: How does leadershipimpact an organisation’s effectiveness? In fact, howdoes a leader’s behaviour have a direct relationshipwith the overall perception of the organisation’s willto perform? Employees trust their leader’s capa-bilities. They expect him/her to provide (i) a com-pelling vision of where the organisation is going(ii) consistency in pursuing and achieving goals(iii) clear, concise communication, whether in gen-eral or in conveying their ideas and organisation-al direction (iv) team-building and orchestration(v) credible proof — a solid track record — of per-formance accomplishments. A capable leader, whois competent, with a strong personal sense of effi-cacy and an ability to ‘stay the course’ in the midstof a group of people, has considerable effects onthe confidence of others.

This is why it is significant for leaders to under-stand how their behaviour impacts their employ-ees. While considering the likely impact of leader-ship and management on performance, a numberof effects can be identified. The initial effect is like-ly to be at an individual level. Following develop-ments, it is expected of the individual leader tobecome more effective. This can be revealedthrough hard measures, such as enhanced produc-tivity, technical competence and/or knowledge,which is more likely to be demonstrated throughsoft measures, such as improved self-awareness,communication and strategic thinking.

The next level is likely to be at a group level,whereby an individual leader’s behaviour begins toaffect his/her colleagues/subordinates. As before, thischange may be revealed in hard productivity or out-put measures. However, it is more likely to be exhib-ited, at least in the initial stages, through improvedcommunication, motivation, morale and team work.Related measures that may be affected includedecreased absenteeism and staff turnover, increasedwillingness to work overtime and enhanced partic-ipation, accountability and providing relevant feed-back. The third effect can be seen at the organisa-tional level. Indeed, improving organisationaleffectiveness is often the key driver behind invest-ment in management and leadership development.At this level, it is intended that through developmentof a critical mass of effective leadership in differentparts of the organisation, the firm as a wholebecomes more successful. These impacts may wellbe revealed in hard measures, such as improved prof-

it, turnover and share value and reducedwastage. However, a wide array of othermeasures could be considered, includingcustomer satisfaction, relationship withsuppliers, organisational culture andinnovation.

Although the most important con-sideration of the impact of leadershipdevelopment stops at the organisation-al level, the commitment of national andregional Governments, to enhance lead-ership capabilities, indicates that thepotential impact of effectiveness can tra-verse organisational boundaries. Bybuilding the capability and performanceof organisations within a specific geo-graphic area — be it regional, nationalor international — larger scale impactsare possible, including economic, socialand environmental.

Another key issue to consider whileattempting to monitor the performanceimpact of the management and leader-ship is the time delay for visible improve-ments. For example, it will be far easierto measure the impact of a leadershipdevelopment initiative in terms of staffattitudes rather than changes in produc-tivity. The latter will be slow to achieveand subject to a much wider range ofinfluencing factors.

It is widely assumed that leadershipdevelopment will enhance individualcapability and subsequently performancebut evidence shows a more complex inter-action. The key challenge is that the cur-rent supply of leadership developmentmay not address the right skills, improvecapability or enhance performance. In fact,the impact of off-the-job managementeducation or generic management cours-es may be negligible. Instead, the most use-ful kind of development relates to work-based activities, such as giving and receiv-ing detailed feedback, goal-setting andaction planning.

Another concern for organisations isthe mere existence of leadership compe-tencies that does not guarantee usage.Therefore, leadership development shouldaim to encourage and support people to

take on leadership roles and responsibil-ities rather than simply equipping themwith necessary skills.

There are two key factors that increasethe impact of leadership development onindividual capability and performance:The inclusion of opportunities for receiv-ing and discussing individual feedbackand the quality of management process-es preceding, supporting and reinforcingdevelopment activities. Thus, it appearsthat providing leadership developmentalone is insufficient to ensure an increasein individual capability and performance.Rather, it needs to incorporate appropri-ate opportunities for feedback and discus-sion, and be accompanied by supportivemanagement processes.

The problem in demonstrating therelationship between leadership develop-ment, capability and performance islargely a result of the difficulty in untan-gling a series of interwoven debates,including the appropriateness of leader-ship development, and whether it address-es the right skills for the right peoplethrough an appropriate and effectivepedagogy. Undoubtedly, not all leadershipdevelopment activity is equal. It is morethe quality than the quantity that matters.

In a vein similar to individual devel-opment, capability and performance,despite the tendency of many manage-ment and leadership gurus to make cat-egorical statements about the character-istics of leaders of successful organisations,more reliable empirical evidence is hardto come by. In one of the studies, Searsstore in the US found employee attitudestowards their job to be positively linkedto customer attitudes and business results,with the line manager emerging as a keylink in this chain.

A similar study of 100 stores of amajor UK retailer found employee satis-faction and commitment to be positive-ly related to sales increases. In both thesestudies, the quality of line management,as perceived by staff, was an important linkin the chain between capability andorganisational performance via its impact

on employee commitment and motiva-tion.

In addition, management competencehas a greater influence on performance ina dynamic environment than in a staticenvironment, thus implying that effectivemanagement and leadership are morenecessary in times of change than in peri-ods of stability. Positive relation betweenmanagement, leadership developmentand organisational performance is evidentfrom the example of British Telecom thatsaved GBP 270 million as the result of amanagement-training programme result-ing in the reduction of errors by untrainedjunior managers and waste caused bymissed deadlines, customer complaintsand so on. Therefore, organisationsinvolved in management developmentactivity can identify an impact of this onbusiness performance — primarily viaimproved staff morale and response,flexibility and improvements in quality,which in turn, could lead to greater cus-tomer loyalty and new business.

The positive outcomes of manage-ment development investment couldlargely be attributed to the manner inwhich an organisation made its policychoices, with particular importance beinggiven to the company’s commitment totraining activity. The use of external con-sultants in management development ofsmall and medium-sized enterprises islikely to improve the business perfor-mance. It is now a widely accepted fact thatthe relationship between management,leadership and performance is the keyingredient in the effective performance ofindividuals, groups, organisations, regionsand nation states.

The manner in which improvedmanagement and leadership leads toenhanced performance is highly complex,and thus when considering the benefitsarising from interventions, a much broad-er notion of performance needs to beembraced than mere enhanced produc-tivity or profit.

(The writer is Assistant Professor,Amity University)

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Page 10: ˆ#ˇ ()*+˚ ˜˝(’(˜’ 2 -˜./ 01 ˘ˇˆ˙ ˇ˝˛˚˜ !ˆ #ˇ ˆ˝#˜˘$!#%%#˜˛ˆ˙ %#˙ ˝% · Last week, the ruling party in Bihar also announced its dis-agreement in regards

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The Supreme Court on Thursdayrevived the Government case in

National Consumer Disputes RedressalCommission (NCDRC) against NestleIndia seeking damages of �640 crorealleging unfair trade practices, falselabelling and misleading advertisements ofits Maggi noodles.

The top court had on December 16,2015 stayed the proceedings before theNCDRC and directed the CFTRI(Central Food Technological ResearchInstitute, Mysuru) to place its test reportbefore it.

A bench of Justices DY Chandrachudand Hemant Gupta was told by senioradvocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appear-ing for Nestle India, that tests reports ofthe Mysuru lab had been submitted andit found that lead content in Maggi noo-dles was well within the limit.

“Why should we be eating Maggi withlead in it?”, Justice Chandrachud askedSinghvi, who replied that lead content inthe noodles was well within the permis-sible limit and there was some amount oflead in various other products.

The bench said the report of CFTRI,where the samples of Maggi noodles weretested following earlier orders of thecourt, will form the basis for the pro-ceedings before the NCDRC.

“We are of the view that CFTRIreport be evaluated by the NCDRC in thecomplaint before it. It will not be appro-priate for this court to pre-empt the juris-diction of NCDRC... All the rights andcontentions of the parties will remainopen,” the bench said.

During the hearing, AdditionalSolicitor General Vikramjit Banerjee,appearing for Centre said that in the wakeof the Mysuru lab report the matter

should go back to NCDRC and stay on theproceedings should be vacated.

Singhvi said the matter has nowbecome infructuous as the report is in myfavour and presence of MSG (monosodi-um glutamate) was not found.

He along with senior advocate ArvindDattar opposed sending the matter backto NCDRC saying nothing remains to bedecided after the lab report.

“Why should we usurp the power ofNCDRC. We will send the lab reports tothe commission and them ask to disposeof the complaint filed before it,” the benchsaid adding that the appeal against theBombay High Court order which had in2015 quashed the Food Safety StandardsAuthority of India (FSSAI) ban orderagainst Nestle’s Maggi noodle will beheard at a later stage.

The Consumer Affairs Ministry hadin 2015 filed a complaint against NestleIndia before the NCDRC using a provisionfor the first time in the nearly three-decade-old Consumer Protection Act.

It had filed a complaint against Nestlefor causing harm to Indian consumers byallegedly indulging in unfair trade prac-tices and false labelling related to the Magginoodles product.

It was for the first time that theGovernment had taken action underSection 12-1-D of the ConsumerProtection Act, under which both theCentre and states have powers to file com-plaints.

In the petition filed before theNCDRC, the Ministry had charged thatNestle India has misled consumers claim-ing that its Maggi noodle was healthy —“Taste bhi healthy bhi”.

Nestle had to withdraw its instant noo-dles brand Maggi from the market overallegations of high lead content and pres-ence of MSG.

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FMCG major Nestle on Thursdaywelcomed the Supreme Court’s order

that allowed NCDRC to proceed with athree-year-old suit with regard to Maggifiled by the government only on thebasis of laboratory test reports byCFTRI.

The apex court was hearing a casefiled by the company against two inter-im orders passed by the NationalConsumer Disputes Redressa lCommission (NCDRC) in a suit filed bythe Ministry of Consumer Affairs seek-ing damages of �640 crore.

The government had movedNCDRC after Nestle’s popular instantnoodles Maggi was banned by the FoodSafety and Standards Authority of India(FSSAI) in June 2015 for allegedly con-taining lead beyond permissible limits,forcing the company to withdraw theproduct from the market.

“Nestle India welcomes the orderspassed by the Supreme Court in MaggiNoodles matter today (Thursday),” thecompany said in a statement.

A bench headed by Justice D YChandrachud said the report fromCFTRI (Central Food TechnologicalResearch Institute, Mysuru), where thetesting of the Maggi noodle samples wasconducted, will form the basis for theproceedings.

According to Nestle, CFTRI "analy-sis results showed that samples (ofMaggi Noodles) were compliant forlead and other relevant parameters".

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Shares of Dena Bank andVijaya Bank on Thursday

tumbled up to 20 per cent afterthe Cabinet approved theiramalgamation with Bank ofBaroda.

The scrip of Dena Bankplunged 19.78 per cent to set-tle at �14.40 on BSE.

Vijaya Bank tanked 6.76per cent to end at �47.60.Intra-day, it tumbled 8.12 percent to �46.90.

The scrip of Bank ofBaroda closed unchanged at�119.40.

“As per January 2 closingprice and based on announcedswap ratios, Vijaya Bank’s 1,000shares value stands at �51,050against which its shareholdershave been awarded Bank ofBaroda’s shares worth �47,939,translating into a loss of 6 percent.

“Likewise, in case of DenaBank, 1,000 shares of the bank,

value stands at �17,900, and onswap, they receive BoB’s sharesworth �13,118, translating intoa loss of 27 per cent,” ElaraSecurities Research said in areport.

Paving the way for the firstever three-way merger of pub-lic sector lenders, the CabinetWednesday approved amalga-mation of Dena Bank andVijaya Bank with Bank ofBaroda (BoB), a move thatwould create the country’s thirdlargest lender.

The boards of the threebanks have also cleared theshare-swap ratio for the pro-posed amalgamation.

As per the Scheme ofAmalgamation announced byBoB, shareholders of VijayaBank would get 402 equityshares of BoB for every 1,000shares held in the bank.

In case of Dena Bank, theshareholders would get 110shares of BoB for every 1,000shares owned in the bank.

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Benchmark Sensex plum-meted over 377 points

Thursday, tracking lacklustreglobal cues amid concerns overthe fiscal impact of the pro-posed package to woo farmersahead of the general elections.

The 30-share BSE indexcracked 377.81 points, or 1.05per cent, to end at 35,513.71.

Similarly, the broader NSENifty plunged 120.25 points, or1.11 per cent, to settle at10,672.25.

Asian and European equi-ties tripped following a suddensell-off on Wall Street afterApple cut its revenue forecastfor the first time in nearly 12years.

Global investor sentimentalso turned choppy after theWhite House meeting betweenUS President Donald Trumpand top Congressional leaderson resolving the ongoing par-tial government shutdownended in a stalemate onWednesday.

The biggest losers in theSensex pack were Vedanta,M&M, ONGC, Tata Steel, L&T,HDFC, NTPC and Axis Bank,falling up to 3.04 per cent.

Among the gainers wereHCL Tech, Bajaj Auto, HULand Asian Paints, rising up to0.50 per cent.

Sectorally, auto, pharmaand metal indices took theworst hit, falling over 2 percent.

Trading mood was sub-dued after reports said theGovernment was contemplat-ing direct transfers worth�4,000 an acre per season forfarmers, among other incen-tives, which will likely have asubstantial financial implica-tion on the exchequer.

Investors also remainedon the sidelines ahead of thecorporate earnings scheduledto begin next week, traderssaid, adding that heavy sellingby foreign as well as domesticfunds weighed on local equi-ties.

On a net basis, foreignportfolio investors (FPIs) soldshares worth �621.06 croreWednesday, while domesticinstitutional investors (DIIs)were net sellers to the tune of�226.18 crore, provisional dataavailable with BSE showed.

Meanwhile, the rupee wastrading marginally weakeragainst the US dollar at 70.26.

Brent crude futuresdropped 0.15 per cent to USD54.83 per barrel.

Elsewhere in Asia, Korea’sKospi ended 0.81 per centlower, while Hong Kong’s HangSeng fell 0.26 per cent andShanghai Composite Indexslipped 0.03 per cent.

Japanese market remainedshut on account of New Yearholiday.

In Europe, Paris CAC wasdown 0.58 per cent, whileFrankfurt’s DAX fell 0.63 percent.

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The rupee weakened for thesecond straight session

Thursday, slipping by 2 paise to70.20 against the US dollar onrobust foreign fund outflowsamid rising trade deficit wor-ries.

Meanwhile, the yen surgedto multi-year highs on safe-haven buying following a ‘flashcrash’ that spooked the globalcurrency markets.

Forex traders said risingdomestic fiscal deficit worries,firming crude prices and sus-tained foreign fund outflowsweighed on the local unit.

At the Interbank ForeignExchange (forex) market, therupee opened lower at 70.30and fell further to touch theday’s low of 70.53.

The domestic currency,however, pared some lossesand finally ended at 70.20 perdollar, down by 2 paise againstits previous close.

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State-owned Power GridCorporation Thursday said

its board has approved invest-ment proposals worth �379.45crore.

“Board of Directors intheir meeting held on January3, 2019 have accorded approval

for investment approval for‘Implementation of 500MVArThyristor Controlled Reactorat Kurukshetra 400kV bus’ atan estimated cost of �267.33crore with commissioningschedule of 30 months fromthe date of investmentapproval,” the company said ina BSE filing.

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The UIDAI is mulling allowing CommonService Centres (CSCs) to provide non-bio-

metric assistance for Aadhaar enrolment andupdation services, including helping public in fill-ing online forms, according to a Governmentsource.

Village-level Entrepreneurs or VLEs, whorun CSCs, have been asking the government toallow them to restart Aadhaar enrolment andupdation services, after UIDAI restricted thesecentres and private operators from doing so toensure security and safety of biometric data of120 crore Aadhaar holders.

A person familiar with the ongoing delib-erations at the Aadhaar-issuing body saidallowing CSCs to carry out public assistance ser-vices for filling online Aadhaar forms for enrol-ment and updation activities, without involvingany biometrics, is under consideration.

This service could be particularly helpful tousers in rural areas or those not familiar withthe online system, and CSCs can be allowed tocharge a small fee for offering the assistance, theofficial said. A final decision is yet to be taken

on the matter.The proposal also dovetails into Unique

Identification Authority of India’s (UIDAI)ongoing plans to offer more services online.

The Government had earlier promised tolook into CSC’s appeal that they be allowed tocarry out Aadhaar-related work such as enrol-ment and updation of services.

IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, whileaddressing VLEs at an event in November, hadsaid the Government will make all efforts to lookfor a solution to the ongoing imbroglio.

VLEs have been unhappy with UIDAI’s deci-sion to stop Aaddhar services, contending thatthey had invested money in purchasing equip-ment and in training manpower for Aadhaar-related work.

Making a strong pitch on behalf of these cen-tres, CSC Chief Dinesh Tyagi had earlier saidAadhaar has helped people in rural India get anidentity, and that the 12-digit identifier shouldbe allowed to remain the ‘aadhaar’ or founda-tion for CSCs as well.

CSCs act as access points for delivery of dig-ital services and there are nearly three lakh suchcentres operating across the country today.

Apart from delivering essential Governmentand public utility services, this flagship rural out-reach program also delivers a range of social wel-fare schemes, financial services, education andskill development courses, healthcare, agricul-ture services and digital literacy.

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As many as 94 aerodromesowned and managed by the

Airports Authority of India(AAI) were in losses in the lastfinancial year, according to theGovernment. Civil AviationMinister Suresh Prabhu said theAAI has taken steps to enhancerevenue and reduce losses.

“AAI owns and manages129 airports out of which 94were running in loss in thefinancial year 2017-18.

“The losses are mainly dueto low revenue generation tomeet the total expenditure of therespective airports,” he said in awritten reply to the Lok Sabha.

Meanwhile, Minister ofState for Civil Aviation JayantSinha said that incidents oftheft at airports havedecreased.

There were 28 cases oftheft “reported/ registered”across 17 airports in 2018 tillJune, as per data provided byhim in a written reply. Thiscompares to 59 and 64 suchcases in 2017 and 2016, respec-tively. In another written reply,Sinha said that no unique iden-tification number for RemotelyPiloted Aircraft System (RPAS)has been issued by theDirectorate General of CivilAviation (DGCA) till date.

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India would not impose anti-dumping duty on coated

paper from China, EuropeanUnion and the US as theCommerce Ministry’s investi-gation arm DGTR has notfound any impact on thedomestic industry due to thealleged dumped imports.

After concluding its anti-dumping probe, the DirectorateGeneral of Trade Remedies(DGTR) has said “there is nocausal link between thedumped imports” from thesecountries and “injury to thedomestic industry”.

The directorate in a notifi-cation has said it “does not con-sider it appropriate to recom-mend levy of anti-dumpingduty” on the papers fromChina, European Union andthe US.

It has also said there is asubstantial increase in theimports from these counties inabsolute terms but the increasewas necessitated due to thedecline in production of thedomestic industry.

The Indian Paper

Manufacturers Association onbehalf of BILT Graphics PaperProducts, subsidiary ofBallarpur Industries, filed anapplication before the DGTR inJanuary to initiate anti-dump-ing investigation on imports ofcoated paper from these coun-tries.

The directorate recom-mends duty only when it estab-lishes that dumping has causedmaterial injury to domesticplayers.

The paper is primarily usedfor printing of magazines, cat-alogues, books and manuals,calendars, brochures, labelsand flexible packaging.

Countries carry out anti-dumping probe to determinewhether their domestic indus-tries have been hurt because ofa surge in cheap imports.

As a counter measure, theyimpose duties under the mul-tilateral regime of the WorldTrade Organization.

The duty is aimed at ensur-ing fair trading practices andcreating a level-playing field fordomestic producers withregard to foreign producersand exporters.

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Page 11: ˆ#ˇ ()*+˚ ˜˝(’(˜’ 2 -˜./ 01 ˘ˇˆ˙ ˇ˝˛˚˜ !ˆ #ˇ ˆ˝#˜˘$!#%%#˜˛ˆ˙ %#˙ ˝% · Last week, the ruling party in Bihar also announced its dis-agreement in regards

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New Delhi (PTI): Concernedover the misuse of gift route for duty-free imports, the government is con-sidering removing the duty exemptionfor gift items up to �5,000 or limitingthe benefit to a single consignor, anofficial said.

It is also mulling limiting the max-imum number of such consignments

to four per person per year, amongother steps, the official said. Importof gift items worth up to �5,000 isexempt from customs duties, at pre-sent.

According to experts, someChinese app-based and e-commerceplayers are misusing a rule in the for-eign trade law of India under which

import of products worth up to�5,000 is permitted as gift and isexempt from customs duties.

The issue was deliberated in detailduring a meeting of a standing groupof secretaries on e-commerce inSeptember 2018. The 18-membergroup is headed by the secretary in theDepartment of Industrial Policy and

Promotion.The standing group has asked the

department of revenue to examineoptions such as tracking the sourcecountry and consignors/consignees toidentify suspicious activities; completeremoval of exemption provided forgifts to avoid ambiguity; and limitingthe maximum number of such con-

signments at four per person per year,the official revealed.

The existing limit of �5,000 can belimited to a single consignor or to aparticular Aadhaar/KYC-compliantentity, said the official. The otheroptions include carrying out samplechecking by customs authorities ofsuch consignments.

New Delhi (PTI): TheFinance Ministry has allowedbusinesses to claim input taxcredit benefit for the first finan-cial year of Goods and ServicesTax rollout, till March 2019, pro-vided it matches with the returnfiled by their suppliers. Thedeadline for claiming input taxcredit (ITC) ended on October25, 2018.

Tax experts said that ITCclaims were allowed to busi-nesses earlier provided busi-nesses had generated invoice,paid taxes and filed returns.However, in the recent order theCBIC has mandated that ITCclaims would have to bematched with GSTR-2A. TheGSTR-2A is auto-generated bythe systems based on salesreturns filed by suppliers.

The Central Board ofIndirect Taxes and Customs

through a gazette notificationissued an order stating that ITCclaims for the maiden year ofGoods and Services Tax rollout(July 2017 to March 2018) willbe allowed till March 31, 2019.GST was rolled out from July 1,2017. Besides, the CBIC has alsoallowed businesses to correct anyerror or omission in filing offinal sales return or GSTR-1 forthe period July 2017-March2018. Now businesses can cor-rect the errors in the returns tobe filed for January-March 2019.

AMRG & AssociatesPartner Rajat Mohan said “thisrelaxation would find favourwith millions of taxpayers whowould collectively claim taxcredit worth billions of rupees.This respite together with recentrationalisation of tax rates isexpected to mark a dent in taxcollection of next 3 months”

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Benchmark indices spi-ralled lower for the sec-ond straight session on

Thursday as investors frettedover the fiscal impact of thegovernment’s proposed farmpackage while a rare cut in rev-enue forecast by Apple took itstoll on global equities.

The 30-share BSE Sensextumbled 377.81 points, or1.05%, to end at 35,513.71. Thebroader NSE Nifty plunged120.25 points, or 1.11%, to10,672.25.

Asian and European mar-kets tripped following a suddensell-off on Wall Street afterApple cut its revenue forecastfor the first time in nearly 12years, highlighting risks to cor-porate earnings amid slowingglobal growth.

Investor sentiment alsoturned choppy after the WhiteHouse meeting between USPresident Donald Trump andtop Congressional leaders onresolving the ongoing partialgovernment shutdown endedin a stalemate on Wednesday.

The biggest losers in theSensex pack were M&M,ONGC, Vedanta, Tata Steel,L&T, HDFC, NTPC and AxisBank, falling up to 3.04%.

The gainers included HCLTech, Bajaj Auto, HUL andAsian Paints, rising up to 0.50%.

Sectorally, auto, pharmaand metal indices took theworst hit, falling over 2%.

Trading mood was sub-dued after reports said thegovernment was contemplatingdirect transfers worth �4,000 anacre per season for farmers,among other incentives, which

will likely have a substantialfinancial implication on theexchequer. Investors alsoremained on the sidelines aheadof the corporate earnings sched-uled to begin next week, traderssaid, adding that heavy sellingby foreign as well as domesticfunds weighed on local equities.

According to Hemang Jani,head (advisory), Sharekhan byBNP Paribas, with general elec-tions around the corner, onecan expect the volatility in theIndian markets to continue.

“The auto sector remainedin the limelight as growth forDecember 2018 remained slug-gish. This was the second con-secutive month of subduedperformance by the industry.Weak consumer sentimentsdue to mandatory insurancecosts and increased lendingrates continued to impact

demand,” he added.On a net basis, foreign

portfolio investors (FPIs) soldshares worth �621.06 crore onWednesday, while domesticinstitutional investors (DIIs)were net sellers to the tune of�226.18 crore, provisional dataavailable with BSE showed.

Meanwhile, the rupee wastrading marginally weakeragainst the US dollar at 70.26.Brent crude futures dropped0.15% to USD 54.83 per barrel.

Elsewhere in Asia, Korea’sKospi ended 0.81% lower, whileHong Kong’s Hang Seng fell0.26% and Shanghai CompositeIndex slipped 0.03%. Japanesemarket remained shut onaccount of New Year holiday.

In Europe, Paris CAC wasdown 0.58%, while Frankfurt’sDAX fell 0.63%. London’s FTSEslipped 0.29%.

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New Delhi: HDFC Mutual Fund has pipped ICICI PrudentialMF to become the country’s largest asset management compa-ny after a gap of over two years. As of December-end, HDFC MFmanaged assets to the tune of �3.35 lakh crore, while those of ICICIPrudential MF stood at �3.08 lakh crore, as per the latest dataavailable with Association of Mutual funds in India (Amfi). Theassets under management (AUM) of HDFC MF have grown over9 per cent in October-December quarter from the previous three-month period, however, ICICI Prudential MF’s AUM slipped by0.6 per cent during the period under review. HDFC MF was thelargest asset manager since October 2011 and it held the numerouno position till March 2016, when ICICI prudential MF had over-taken the top spot. On month-on-month basis, ICICI PrudentialMF had surpassed HDFC MF in terms of AUM in February 2016and had reached the top position. SBI MF is at the third slot withAUM of �2.64 lakh crore, followed by Aditya Birla Sun Life MF(�2.42 lakh crore) and Reliance MF (�2.36 lakh crore).

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New Delhi: Volvo Car India on Thursday reported 30 per centincrease in its retail sales at 2,638 units in 2018. The companyhad sold 2,029 units in 2017, Volvo Car India said in a statement.Cars from the company’s Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) andCompact Modular Architecture (CMA) platforms have gainedmomentum in the market with healthy sales contributions com-ing from XC60, XC40, XC90 and S90, it added. Commenting onthe performance, Volvo Car India managing director CharlesFrump said it was a record year for the company in India in 2018.

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New Delhi: Coffee exports from India declined 7.36% on ayear-on-year basis to 3.50 lakh tonnes in 2018 owing to a fall inshipment of robusta and instant coffee varieties, according to CoffeeBoard. In terms of value also, coffee exports dropped to �5,770.48crore in 2018 from �6,091 crore in the previous year. Italy was thetop export market for India in 2018, as 76,437.56 tonnes of coffeewas exported to the country followed by Germany (28,582 tonnes)and Russia (21,397 tonnes). As per the Board’s latest data, the coun-try exported 3,50,280 tonnes of coffee in 2018 calendar year. PTI

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Script Open High Low LTPRCOM 13.85 13.85 13.40 13.51JETAIRWAYS 261.00 261.30 245.00 246.85TATASTEEL 493.85 493.85 480.10 481.05JPASSOCIAT 7.45 7.45 7.25 7.28SUNPHARMA 442.70 443.55 433.10 435.35M&M 742.60 744.70 716.90 718.95BANKBARODA 121.80 123.35 118.20 119.40JINDALSTEL 157.70 157.70 146.20 146.90RELIANCE 1108.05 1114.45 1089.65 1091.75YESBANK 185.65 186.00 183.20 183.90VEDL 193.80 195.00 187.65 188.00AXISBANK 621.00 622.85 604.65 607.95ASHOKLEY 99.95 100.40 97.90 98.10IBULHSGFIN 840.20 847.70 811.50 816.50EICHERMOT 21125.00 21125.00 20180.30 20253.75SBIN 294.75 295.75 290.20 291.05INFY 670.90 677.00 663.80 667.55HINDPETRO 253.70 255.00 244.45 248.00MARUTI 7282.45 7350.55 7184.05 7203.90LT 1426.50 1428.20 1390.25 1393.95TIINDIA 356.40 391.45 352.80 356.60SUZLON 5.36 5.42 5.30 5.32UJJIVAN 275.70 288.00 272.75 285.05ICICIBANK 365.00 367.35 362.00 363.25IOC 137.10 137.10 132.05 132.50PCJEWELLER 84.70 85.25 82.00 82.50DHFL 241.95 244.30 233.60 234.90TCS 1913.50 1944.00 1891.70 1897.00BPCL 353.30 356.90 348.45 352.90L&TFH 150.70 151.25 145.00 145.50WIPRO 327.00 327.95 323.10 325.40JSWSTEEL 288.30 290.15 281.05 282.90ONGC 145.15 145.55 141.80 143.20DENABANK 14.60 15.00 14.40 14.40BEML 927.90 930.00 881.05 887.15RELCAPITAL 221.80 223.00 212.60 214.65HDFC 1989.00 1989.00 1932.40 1935.80COALINDIA 239.70 239.70 233.35 235.00TATAMOTORS 169.30 170.10 165.40 166.20ESCORTS 709.95 727.50 708.95 720.80ASIANPAINT 1382.00 1392.00 1379.95 1386.00BAJFINANCE 2615.00 2648.00 2575.95 2587.95JISLJALEQS 68.70 68.80 64.50 64.80MPHASIS 990.05 990.75 945.00 948.10FRETAIL 469.90 476.95 454.90 459.85RELINFRA 306.20 308.20 288.00 289.30ITC 280.65 282.25 277.80 278.90BANKINDIA 104.70 107.15 104.10 105.75NTPC 146.55 147.10 142.80 143.40NMDC 97.05 97.20 93.75 94.00PFC 104.85 107.85 104.00 105.65SPICEJET 87.05 87.80 84.50 84.70NESTLEIND 11133.45 11499.00 11050.00 11191.10TITAN 936.50 944.70 926.80 928.70NCC 89.60 91.05 88.45 88.80PNB 78.20 79.00 77.05 77.80HINDALCO 215.00 215.65 208.10 209.10FINCABLES 456.00 457.95 445.05 446.05HDFCBANK 2126.00 2126.80 2105.90 2112.25HINDUNILVR 1784.00 1802.60 1783.25 1787.35WESTLIFE 409.00 409.00 391.10 404.70TECHM 711.00 715.25 686.10 691.05REPCOHOME 388.80 406.80 386.60 397.45BHARTIARTL 312.00 315.45 308.15 313.15DMART 1560.05 1593.00 1557.25 1573.55BHARATFORG 495.20 500.45 486.10 491.00UNIONBANK 88.80 89.80 87.55 88.85CGPOWER 44.50 44.60 42.65 43.25DLF 173.00 175.15 171.30 172.60BEL 90.05 90.80 88.10 88.45BLISSGVS 162.00 166.85 158.20 160.45NBCC 57.85 59.15 57.75 58.10PEL 2360.00 2360.00 2270.00 2288.10TORNTPOWER 255.20 263.70 255.20 260.00RECLTD 119.10 122.85 118.75 121.05IDEA 35.80 36.25 34.90 36.05BHEL 73.20 73.20 70.65 70.90FEDERALBNK 95.75 95.75 91.60 92.00LUPIN 843.70 843.70 818.60 820.05LTTS 1727.00 1727.00 1611.00 1621.90KOTAKBANK 1245.90 1251.20 1229.75 1233.30SOUTHBANK 15.60 15.60 15.25 15.25VIPIND 502.20 514.60 502.20 511.95HEROMOTOCO 3040.00 3077.90 3004.10 3012.25BANDHANBNK 551.95 552.75 530.00 534.45DELTACORP 248.70 251.70 246.35 248.45TVSMOTOR 540.00 547.00 533.85 538.60NATIONALUM 63.75 63.75 62.55 62.80INDUSINDBK 1578.40 1580.00 1552.00 1561.45IBVENTURES 404.90 413.15 390.35 393.35INDIACEM 93.70 94.65 90.05 90.45BAJAJFINSV 6397.70 6477.00 6337.30 6381.45HCLTECH 948.20 959.95 945.30 950.60VIJAYABANK 48.00 48.25 46.90 47.60PVR 1587.00 1611.00 1518.50 1532.35TORNTPHARM 1767.30 1820.00 1764.30 1809.90ADANIPORTS 386.00 386.00 377.40 377.70KAJARIACER 489.95 504.50 489.95 499.90ZEEL 469.65 472.95 458.30 462.65NAUKRI 1442.00 1517.00 1430.00 1496.50AUBANK 618.70 630.25 618.70 626.45DRREDDY 2592.00 2614.30 2565.10 2574.00ABCAPITAL 99.45 101.00 97.70 98.60BAJAJ-AUTO 2694.00 2722.65 2685.00 2700.40MINDTREE 852.00 865.00 823.95 834.95SRTRANSFIN 1196.00 1207.00 1145.00 1156.00HEG 3680.00 3710.00 3651.00 3661.00BATAINDIA 1105.00 1127.80 1105.00 1108.25

JSLHISAR 89.15 89.50 84.55 84.85GRAPHITE 752.95 759.75 733.10 739.10CANBK 275.90 278.25 273.50 276.30TATAPOWER 75.80 76.20 73.90 74.15STRTECH 293.50 296.90 289.30 289.55JUBLFOOD 1241.00 1257.00 1235.15 1238.60DABUR 415.90 425.85 414.00 421.90SAIL 55.30 55.30 52.15 52.35GRASIM 818.00 818.85 799.00 801.05INFIBEAM 46.50 46.50 45.10 45.40ADANIPOWER 50.10 51.00 48.85 50.40INDHOTEL 143.00 146.50 142.00 144.20MOTHERSUMI 166.00 166.00 160.50 161.30INFRATEL 263.95 273.50 263.15 271.05SIEMENS 1055.00 1074.55 1039.85 1044.75UBL 1356.95 1382.00 1353.40 1366.75JAICORPLTD 113.45 115.00 111.05 111.55BOMDYEING 113.50 114.45 109.65 110.30SUNTV 609.85 609.85 584.35 587.00TATAELXSI 1028.95 1039.50 1025.55 1030.00KEI 360.50 363.25 351.25 353.20MARICO 374.70 381.15 373.70 378.40PETRONET 228.00 230.85 226.75 228.40WOCKPHARMA 519.20 521.80 506.00 507.65STAR 458.30 462.80 453.20 455.70EQUITAS 123.10 124.95 121.15 123.35GSFC 112.00 113.00 110.05 110.70FSL 48.95 48.95 46.45 47.00SPARC 191.00 191.55 182.00 183.30BRITANNIA 3115.80 3177.45 3094.00 3125.55KNRCON 217.50 229.00 217.50 219.50ORIENTBANK 95.05 96.65 94.50 95.50EDELWEISS 180.20 180.20 176.00 176.70BIOCON 623.80 626.50 610.20 612.40RPOWER 27.95 27.95 26.95 27.10TATAMTRDVR 92.00 92.00 88.60 89.20IDFCBANK 42.70 43.40 42.45 42.95

MANAPPURAM 92.25 94.20 92.15 92.70OIL 172.95 175.55 170.55 171.80HATSUN 649.00 693.95 636.10 642.55JINDALSAW 83.20 83.85 81.35 81.55IBREALEST 87.50 88.05 86.75 87.10SUNTECK 349.05 354.00 344.35 349.00AUROPHARMA 722.30 723.40 711.05 711.55TRITURBINE 116.40 116.60 110.00 111.65ITI 93.30 93.70 91.70 92.05COLPAL 1304.50 1320.00 1289.25 1315.55LICHSGFIN 479.90 480.90 469.05 470.80PIDILITIND 1111.00 1119.50 1100.45 1111.25JUSTDIAL 495.45 497.80 483.25 485.35CIPLA 513.20 520.00 511.90 512.90RCF 64.20 64.40 61.50 62.30TATAGLOBAL 214.20 215.25 210.10 210.35PRSMJOHNSN 91.00 93.90 89.10 90.40M&MFIN 465.30 473.45 454.90 458.70HDFCLIFE 392.00 394.90 389.50 389.50FORCEMOT 1614.45 1614.45 1590.05 1596.60PERSISTENT 617.35 621.35 607.45 615.00LTI 1736.00 1756.00 1729.80 1732.00NIITTECH 1151.00 1162.75 1128.15 1129.00HAVELLS 692.60 697.40 677.90 681.00GODREJCP 817.65 823.95 792.10 811.00TATACHEM 702.40 705.35 692.10 693.00MAHABANK 15.50 15.60 15.00 15.12GAIL 350.00 352.40 347.10 350.20UPL 753.25 757.00 744.55 746.45PAGEIND 24800.00 24989.00 23502.10 23655.00ACC 1485.00 1493.00 1447.55 1452.60VOLTAS 536.70 543.80 533.00 537.40QUESS 710.15 725.10 698.00 715.00CENTURYTEX 907.00 919.95 892.70 896.85GNFC 344.25 347.85 341.00 341.60MANPASAND 86.30 88.05 85.70 86.05SHANKARA 539.90 553.80 535.40 537.80ABFRL 193.40 199.75 193.40 197.50RAYMOND 816.00 829.00 805.80 811.60INDIANB 246.15 249.05 243.95 245.30CROMPTON 230.85 237.25 226.50 228.40HEXAWARE 332.80 334.70 326.20 330.00NOCIL 164.05 164.85 162.40 162.85AMBUJACEM 219.75 220.50 213.50 214.00CUMMINSIND 846.35 857.00 830.25 835.70CASTROLIND 147.35 148.55 146.00 146.55ULTRACEMCO 4000.30 4013.00 3875.00 3894.80MFSL 430.00 434.70 421.05 424.50CEATLTD 1286.55 1307.30 1282.00 1289.85MCX 723.95 736.50 720.00 723.40DIVISLAB 1474.55 1481.90 1432.20 1433.35TRIDENT 68.00 68.55 65.75 67.15GMRINFRA 16.00 16.10 15.60 15.65

CADILAHC 346.00 348.95 340.00 343.20PRESTIGE 231.20 237.30 228.95 232.80INDIGO 1162.00 1170.45 1145.80 1159.00ICICIPRULI 318.05 320.45 315.45 315.95APOLLOHOSP 1259.15 1272.50 1253.15 1257.05BBTC 1300.00 1325.50 1292.35 1298.55KPIT 216.70 217.20 210.00 210.95CHOLAFIN 1239.30 1249.20 1197.00 1200.85BAJAJHLDNG 2960.00 2972.40 2920.00 2966.80GODREJIND 538.30 545.00 528.25 533.50VGUARD 221.65 221.70 217.00 217.35TATACOMM 522.35 539.00 522.25 533.00HINDZINC 275.00 275.00 268.05 269.10IGL 276.00 276.15 272.15 274.10FCONSUMER 45.30 45.75 44.60 44.60FORTIS 140.55 141.50 140.30 140.60HFCL 21.30 21.35 20.85 21.10CONCOR 671.10 673.00 667.95 669.10AMARAJABAT 730.00 733.00 706.45 713.55RALLIS 176.00 178.85 174.00 174.15DEEPAKFERT 147.50 148.60 141.75 142.85DCBBANK 169.15 170.25 167.35 167.80BALKRISIND 912.25 921.00 900.00 900.30MRPL 73.50 73.65 71.80 72.00CANFINHOME 282.50 284.20 275.40 276.40ALBK 45.00 45.60 44.50 44.75RBLBANK 569.40 573.00 561.10 562.45GLENMARK 680.35 681.65 660.55 662.30ITDC 322.00 332.55 316.25 318.50ICICIGI 858.60 882.60 858.60 867.00ABB 1318.95 1330.15 1305.25 1308.00EXIDEIND 261.05 262.80 257.00 258.75UCOBANK 21.80 21.80 21.00 21.15GODREJPROP 671.25 686.25 668.25 675.85AVANTI 382.90 384.25 371.00 379.35APOLLOTYRE 230.60 232.45 227.00 228.05BOSCHLTD 19497.10 19660.00 19200.00 19300.00ZENSARTECH 230.55 238.75 228.50 232.65ASAHIINDIA 262.95 272.00 261.00 266.90PHILIPCARB 207.90 208.85 205.00 205.70WELSPUNIND 61.20 62.00 60.50 61.00JAMNAAUTO 64.50 64.60 62.80 62.85PTC 90.25 92.50 88.90 89.25HINDCOPPER 50.65 50.85 50.00 50.45WABAG 259.00 264.25 254.45 255.60MGL 900.00 903.90 885.00 890.50IDFC 43.00 43.00 41.90 42.10SRF 1966.00 2011.00 1966.00 1970.00VENKYS 2405.00 2418.90 2350.20 2368.75J&KBANK 39.00 39.40 38.60 38.80KSCL 566.70 575.80 558.40 561.65SYNDIBANK 39.00 39.25 38.55 38.70ITDCEM 111.85 117.90 111.85 113.00INTELLECT 223.25 226.20 219.05 221.30ENGINERSIN 124.35 126.20 124.05 125.25NAVINFLUOR 696.10 710.00 694.00 694.05RAIN 133.15 133.15 129.75 130.60KEC 300.00 300.00 290.00 291.75THERMAX 1142.00 1174.00 1130.00 1135.75SREINFRA 34.70 34.90 33.75 33.95CHAMBLFERT 154.15 155.90 150.80 151.75SUVEN 235.85 238.40 232.55 234.30IFCI 14.74 14.74 14.25 14.37JKTYRE 104.50 104.95 103.50 103.75SOBHA 475.00 483.00 453.00 453.00MOTILALOFS 676.00 688.65 671.05 680.95NHPC 25.80 25.85 25.50 25.60OMAXE 214.20 214.30 212.40 212.70MMTC 30.15 30.70 29.75 29.85GRUH 324.00 324.00 320.00 321.25PARAGMILK 246.00 246.75 243.75 244.00MEGH 59.15 60.30 58.75 59.00BERGEPAINT 326.95 331.00 324.10 324.50JMFINANCIL 89.60 92.20 89.00 89.55MAHINDCIE 248.70 249.45 243.80 244.00POWERGRID 195.40 195.40 192.80 193.80JSL 33.65 33.65 32.75 32.95IRB 160.00 160.30 155.05 155.05MUTHOOTFIN 503.00 505.95 493.85 493.85SOMANYCERA 348.00 365.00 337.00 358.95OBEROIRLTY 451.60 454.05 446.00 449.00RADICO 401.00 404.50 399.00 399.05SWANENERGY 99.00 99.50 97.90 99.00LEMONTREE 71.00 71.55 68.00 69.55AJANTPHARM 1163.80 1174.50 1146.20 1146.20NATCOPHARM* 700.00 708.00 690.10 694.05SONATSOFTW 300.55 301.35 295.00 295.00SBILIFE 600.00 601.00 590.00 601.00KANSAINER 487.00 488.10 475.00 482.00BAJAJELEC 500.00 508.60 497.55 498.25GODFRYPHLP 866.00 878.95 862.20 878.90KTKBANK 112.10 112.80 109.65 110.10DISHTV 38.30 38.90 37.70 37.70CENTRALBK 37.50 37.50 36.50 36.50DEEPAKNI 220.40 223.20 218.05 219.40MERCK 3038.00 3080.05 2955.00 2967.95JSWENERGY 70.65 70.65 69.50 69.90TV18BRDCST 39.00 39.00 37.00 37.10NAVKARCORP 55.45 56.30 54.00 54.10KRBL 291.70 294.85 281.55 286.00TATAINVEST 901.00 906.55 897.10 901.50PNBHOUSING 918.95 929.00 917.10 917.10ISEC 262.60 264.65 258.15 262.00GRANULES 89.30 90.80 89.20 89.70CUB 192.65 195.60 191.55 192.00DBL 422.55 423.15 415.00 418.85JKCEMENT 721.40 738.00 721.00 721.00IPCALAB 803.15 815.00 780.10 787.30AARTIIND 1446.00 1446.00 1421.50 1421.50

OFSS 3700.25 3700.25 3581.95 3607.25ADANIGREEN 41.95 42.15 40.90 41.20EMAMILTD 422.10 429.50 418.40 420.15TATACOFFEE 96.10 97.40 95.60 96.75GICRE 257.35 262.05 257.35 259.80GREAVESCOT 116.80 117.40 116.50 117.00AEGISLOG 203.05 207.00 201.50 205.75HUDCO 43.45 43.55 42.90 42.95ADANITRANS 199.95 202.75 199.10 201.10VINATIORGA 1600.60 1631.85 1600.00 1615.50WELCORP 136.20 136.80 132.50 133.15IDBI 61.25 61.50 61.20 61.35HSIL 233.50 236.30 229.00 229.90ATUL 3479.00 3482.00 3380.05 3406.90GHCL 243.40 249.05 241.00 241.95GLAXO 1496.40 1500.00 1450.40 1465.00VBL 805.20 808.80 796.45 805.25MAXINDIA 84.25 85.70 82.00 83.90LAXMIMACH 5700.10 5735.00 5680.00 5699.05CHENNPETRO 286.40 286.40 279.65 281.60RAJESHEXPO 572.00 580.00 569.50 579.00THOMASCOOK 232.20 232.45 230.00 231.95ASTRAL 1134.70 1149.50 1128.00 1142.20KALPATPOWR 380.30 388.90 380.00 381.85GUJFLUORO 909.85 918.85 905.60 910.00REDINGTON 87.25 88.45 87.25 88.35RNAM 157.50 159.95 156.15 156.85SUPREMEIND 1121.55 1132.00 1098.00 1098.00SCI 46.90 47.20 45.25 45.50SHILPAMED 381.95 388.20 380.00 385.00JYOTHYLAB 204.85 206.75 197.15 200.00IBULISL 361.00 368.60 355.10 355.20EIHOTEL 186.25 188.65 183.40 184.20MOIL 170.40 170.45 167.10 168.25FLFL 395.25 398.65 386.50 390.40PFIZER 2790.05 2833.20 2764.95 2769.00UFLEX 279.60 280.85 275.60 277.30GSPL 175.40 175.40 169.20 170.70TATAMETALI 613.00 615.20 605.10 605.20BHARATFIN 995.00 1004.85 990.00 990.00RAMCOCEM 638.00 641.05 624.20 624.20CORPBANK 28.80 29.60 28.50 28.90EIDPARRY 204.00 208.90 204.00 205.50BAJAJCORP 380.00 382.55 371.05 374.10APLAPOLLO 1206.10 1206.10 1180.00 1180.00NILKAMAL 1455.00 1466.65 1445.15 1453.05COCHINSHIP 370.50 373.15 368.00 368.05ALKEM 1946.30 1966.15 1941.60 1955.25DCMSHRIRAM 344.80 347.95 342.55 342.75JUBILANT 712.90 712.90 702.00 703.00MINDAIND 330.05 331.00 324.60 330.00COFFEEDAY 277.00 281.00 271.00 271.00GMDCLTD 89.90 89.90 88.05 88.05ALLCARGO 108.45 108.45 105.55 106.90LUXIND 1350.05 1363.00 1312.65 1349.90NIACL 182.50 186.15 180.00 181.45SYNGENE 564.15 564.15 544.30 548.00ANDHRABANK 29.10 29.75 28.70 28.95GUJALKALI 541.80 544.65 535.00 536.00SHREECEM 16885.05 17299.90 16820.00 16978.95GODREJAGRO 500.25 502.90 497.50 501.25APLLTD 580.00 593.35 578.00 580.80PHOENIXLTD 575.00 588.55 568.85 584.95WHIRLPOOL 1390.00 1401.00 1385.45 1400.95CYIENT 618.00 623.00 615.05 623.00SJVN 26.35 26.35 25.50 25.80TRENT 352.10 354.55 347.10 349.75ASHOKA 124.00 124.45 123.35 124.45TVTODAY 369.40 369.40 362.50 363.00AIAENG 1639.55 1699.50 1635.00 1694.00GESHIP 317.25 320.00 314.80 316.30TIMETECHNO 105.60 105.60 100.65 101.45MRF 66435.50 67422.45 66300.05 66743.75NAVNETEDUL 107.80 109.65 106.00 108.75JKLAKSHMI 325.00 325.00 312.25 316.90NLCINDIA 68.75 68.75 67.90 68.45IEX 163.05 166.55 162.00 163.00CARERATING 979.50 984.00 972.80 976.90TEAMLEASE 2854.05 2930.00 2854.05 2923.00AKZOINDIA 1785.00 1810.80 1771.00 1799.00LALPATHLAB 905.00 914.80 900.30 910.25GICHSGFIN 260.25 263.00 253.50 253.50GET&D 290.45 296.20 289.60 293.05ASTRAZEN 1424.95 1425.00 1400.10 1400.10BASF 1535.30 1569.30 1522.60 1545.60CENTURYPLY 173.65 175.95 171.50 171.85KIOCL 156.10 158.00 149.95 151.40BALMLAWRIE 200.05 201.50 196.90 198.00NETWORK18 40.45 40.65 40.00 40.00COROMANDEL 449.95 452.45 448.85 450.05SADBHAV 210.50 217.40 210.40 210.40CENTRUM 36.25 36.80 35.75 35.753MINDIA 20000.00 20063.65 19900.00 19950.00HSCL 130.45 131.80 130.45 131.50SIS 760.55 760.55 737.80 757.35HAL 803.90 803.90 792.00 792.65GSKCONS 7483.05 7579.00 7450.05 7475.00GPPL 102.90 103.10 100.60 101.00ADVENZYMES 174.00 176.15 173.15 173.95ABBOTINDIA 7532.00 7550.00 7450.00 7480.00NBVENTURES 120.00 120.25 118.40 119.25MINDACORP 150.60 151.00 147.95 150.00JAGRAN 116.95 116.95 114.00 114.00SHK 177.00 177.00 171.00 172.00JBCHEPHARM 311.70 315.05 305.60 309.00TIMKEN 605.10 613.25 594.90 594.90SYMPHONY 1152.75 1159.75 1140.00 1140.05SUNDRMFAST 537.00 537.80 525.20 525.60GDL 124.10 124.50 123.00 123.95

IOB 14.80 14.80 14.55 14.55BLUESTARCO 614.45 628.00 614.45 623.00GREENPLY 137.50 138.55 135.80 138.55JCHAC 1787.95 1790.00 1670.00 1679.65MAHLIFE 407.65 407.65 390.40 394.50GULFOILLUB 835.85 845.00 835.70 838.00EVEREADY 183.40 183.85 181.00 182.05INOXLEISUR 247.10 247.50 244.00 246.85ASTERDM 160.00 162.80 157.25 159.25VMART 2546.95 2580.15 2525.00 2559.95TTKPRESTIG 7480.00 7550.00 7474.40 7475.05ECLERX 1095.00 1107.90 1073.20 1084.00CAPPL 384.50 384.50 379.05 384.00BDL 281.35 281.35 275.00 275.95FDC 174.10 174.10 170.00 172.35TEJASNET 207.50 207.50 200.00 202.30CRISIL 1635.00 1655.00 1619.90 1619.90SUDARSCHEM 349.90 349.90 344.80 346.05FORBESCO 2340.00 2355.00 2311.10 2320.05FINOLEXIND 539.85 540.55 530.00 535.10GUJGAS 668.95 673.50 665.95 667.00LINDEINDIA 680.25 681.00 675.05 675.05ESSELPRO 110.00 110.00 106.00 107.50DHANUKA 435.90 442.15 430.25 431.90HEIDELBERG 151.25 151.85 148.00 148.00ORIENTCEM 83.40 85.55 81.50 85.55DCAL 224.00 233.65 224.00 231.00SUPRAJIT 231.10 231.55 225.00 225.00INDOSTAR 339.65 345.00 338.35 345.00SCHAEFFLER 5720.45 5720.45 5555.00 5650.00PGHH 9899.95 9924.40 9822.25 9850.00CARBORUNIV 364.50 366.60 362.00 364.60SCHNEIDER 100.70 101.65 99.00 99.10PIIND 860.60 870.00 854.05 863.00INOXWIND 76.30 77.30 76.00 76.45TAKE 148.35 149.25 148.00 148.00LAKSHVILAS 86.50 87.00 86.15 86.70MHRIL 210.05 210.40 206.35 209.00ZYDUSWELL 1359.25 1374.00 1352.85 1365.00BIRLACORPN 585.00 594.95 582.95 586.50SHARDACROP 306.00 309.60 300.00 303.60WABCOINDIA 6812.15 6838.85 6760.00 6761.25MAHLOG 520.20 520.20 505.00 507.10PNCINFRA 151.00 151.00 147.85 149.70LAOPALA 218.00 220.85 217.05 217.05ISGEC 5087.35 5087.35 4990.00 4990.00DBCORP 170.55 170.55 166.05 167.10RELAXO 764.00 764.00 736.70 746.00IFBIND 850.20 850.20 829.35 834.90CCL 270.45 270.45 267.40 268.50GILLETTE 6458.00 6499.00 6439.55 6499.00TNPL 250.90 251.00 246.00 246.00SANOFI 6255.00 6277.00 6221.05 6225.00SHOPERSTOP 523.50 528.00 512.00 512.00APARINDS 664.60 664.60 657.95 659.00HIMATSEIDE 215.00 217.00 214.35 215.00THYROCARE 549.00 549.45 539.20 545.05ENDURANCE 1244.80 1249.65 1240.00 1240.00VTL 1112.05 1112.05 1100.00 1100.55TVSSRICHAK 2483.20 2507.00 2466.05 2471.70CERA 2371.95 2408.30 2347.00 2408.30KPRMILL 553.05 560.00 553.05 555.00GRINDWELL 559.90 562.00 545.25 548.00SFL 1443.00 1450.00 1418.00 1440.00BAYERCROP 4225.00 4250.00 4170.05 4170.05SKFINDIA 1907.90 1915.00 1898.40 1900.00GEPIL 819.45 821.95 811.00 811.00SUPPETRO 207.00 209.55 205.05 205.95HERITGFOOD 525.85 526.00 517.20 523.00HONAUT 21775.00 21867.00 21625.00 21625.00LAURUSLABS 380.20 382.20 378.00 379.40ERIS 673.90 680.15 671.00 672.45MONSANTO 2565.10 2608.75 2502.00 2608.75SUNCLAYLTD 3470.05 3519.95 3440.00 3519.10MAGMA 108.25 108.80 107.55 108.80TIFHL 507.00 514.30 501.30 502.50NESCO 437.05 449.00 433.90 447.95NH 194.15 194.15 192.00 192.50BLUEDART 3348.00 3348.00 3340.00 3340.00SOLARINDS 1070.00 1080.65 1070.00 1071.25ELGIEQUIP 252.75 259.20 252.75 254.00RATNAMANI 936.55 936.55 921.05 925.00GALAXYSURF 1216.10 1224.30 1211.90 1213.90SHRIRAMCIT 1627.95 1627.95 1580.35 1580.45STARCEMENT 103.15 103.15 102.00 102.00

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 10796.80 10814.05 10661.25 10672.25 -120.25INFRATEL 265.00 273.40 263.60 273.00 8.75TITAN 936.00 944.95 928.00 935.00 2.85HCLTECH 950.00 960.00 945.00 949.00 2.65ASIANPAINT 1381.80 1393.85 1378.00 1387.00 3.70BAJAJ-AUTO 2690.10 2723.85 2682.10 2695.00 3.00BHARTIARTL 312.50 315.50 307.95 313.00 0.35BAJAJFINSV 6439.00 6479.90 6331.65 6390.00 6.00HINDUNILVR 1782.60 1803.45 1782.60 1785.00 0.40GAIL 350.30 352.45 346.95 350.00 -0.30INFY 672.00 677.00 663.10 668.00 -1.05YESBANK 185.25 186.00 183.50 184.30 -0.35WIPRO 327.00 327.95 323.05 324.35 -1.20CIPLA 516.50 520.50 511.20 512.20 -2.35KOTAKBANK 1240.00 1251.00 1227.65 1233.00 -7.60ITC 280.60 282.45 277.75 278.90 -1.70ICICIBANK 365.00 367.30 362.05 362.10 -2.50COALINDIA 238.70 238.70 233.20 235.05 -1.65HDFCBANK 2124.20 2128.25 2103.00 2110.00 -18.50BAJFINANCE 2612.00 2648.00 2575.30 2590.00 -24.05SBIN 295.00 295.55 290.10 291.05 -2.85POWERGRID 194.90 195.00 192.00 193.30 -1.95MARUTI 7280.00 7350.00 7185.60 7191.00 -76.85DRREDDY 2605.00 2614.80 2564.00 2573.00 -28.05ADANIPORTS 382.40 385.30 376.60 376.95 -4.35HEROMOTOCO 3032.00 3078.00 3006.30 3011.15 -35.40TCS 1919.00 1944.95 1893.10 1901.00 -22.30SUNPHARMA 442.05 443.60 434.00 434.90 -5.15INDUSINDBK 1573.00 1580.00 1555.65 1557.85 -18.75UPL 755.00 757.95 744.25 746.00 -10.50RELIANCE 1107.50 1114.60 1090.10 1090.30 -16.10TATAMOTORS 169.00 170.15 165.10 165.70 -2.85BPCL 352.00 354.80 348.15 351.80 -6.15AXISBANK 621.40 622.00 603.65 609.00 -11.05LT 1426.00 1429.00 1391.00 1400.00 -25.50NTPC 147.00 147.40 142.85 144.10 -2.90GRASIM 818.00 819.00 798.00 799.25 -16.25ZEEL 472.50 472.90 457.65 460.60 -9.65JSWSTEEL 287.50 290.60 280.30 282.70 -6.00HDFC 1984.05 1987.10 1931.85 1937.00 -43.65VEDL 193.70 195.00 187.55 188.50 -4.65TATASTEEL 493.00 493.15 480.25 480.90 -12.75HINDALCO 214.30 215.70 208.10 208.95 -5.60TECHM 715.05 716.00 685.25 693.00 -19.05M&M 743.40 744.85 716.20 718.00 -23.70ULTRACEMCO 4010.00 4015.00 3875.95 3877.20 -128.90IOC 137.20 137.20 132.15 132.70 -4.55IBULHSGFIN 840.00 847.80 813.60 814.00 -28.30ONGC 145.00 145.65 141.60 142.00 -5.05HINDPETRO 253.30 253.90 247.20 247.65 -8.90EICHERMOT 21040.00 21040.00 20151.00 20269.00 -893.30

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 27874.05 28045.30 27630.20 27674.65 -202.30GICRE 258.00 262.00 258.00 261.35 3.95DMART 1567.60 1593.30 1555.50 1582.00 21.75MARICO 373.45 381.40 373.45 378.00 5.15DABUR 416.40 426.00 413.50 422.10 5.70COLPAL 1301.00 1320.90 1291.05 1313.85 12.05GODREJCP 809.40 824.40 790.90 813.00 6.35MRF 66750.00 67400.00 66458.70 67000.00 364.50BRITANNIA 3116.85 3177.00 3097.40 3130.00 13.15PETRONET 228.00 231.40 226.70 229.35 0.55SBILIFE 598.40 603.00 590.00 602.95 1.25BANKBARODA 121.40 123.40 118.10 119.60 0.25MCDOWELL-N 616.00 625.35 615.15 619.80 0.05CONCOR 671.90 672.90 667.05 669.00 0.05PIDILITIND 1102.40 1119.40 1100.50 1107.15 -0.50HDFCLIFE 392.65 395.50 389.50 390.85 -0.30NHPC 25.75 25.90 25.50 25.60 -0.05OIL 172.80 175.70 171.50 172.00 -0.40INDIGO 1162.65 1171.95 1145.55 1156.10 -4.90PGHH 9928.95 9940.00 9819.00 9850.00 -45.00SHREECEM 16870.00 17331.40 16800.00 16850.00 -89.95DLF 173.10 174.95 171.15 171.95 -1.15BOSCHLTD 19510.00 19701.55 19211.10 19348.00 -129.80ABB 1318.90 1330.00 1302.20 1308.90 -10.35ICICIGI 875.00 884.00 860.00 867.70 -7.75ICICIPRULI 318.05 320.85 315.45 316.90 -2.90ABCAPITAL 99.45 101.00 97.30 98.20 -1.05LUPIN 836.00 840.75 818.30 822.40 -10.40BEL 90.10 90.85 88.35 88.55 -1.15LICHSGFIN 478.05 481.75 468.30 470.00 -6.15SIEMENS 1051.25 1074.90 1038.55 1042.80 -13.75HINDZINC 271.25 274.70 269.00 269.05 -3.70CADILAHC 345.05 348.80 342.00 342.05 -4.70MOTHERSUMI 163.00 165.90 160.50 161.20 -2.55AUROPHARMA 721.00 723.40 710.55 712.80 -11.55HAVELLS 693.00 697.45 677.80 680.30 -11.50ASHOKLEY 99.75 100.30 97.90 98.25 -1.70BIOCON 622.75 626.55 611.00 612.00 -10.80IDEA 35.75 36.30 34.85 36.05 -0.70PEL 2343.85 2360.40 2267.55 2290.00 -53.75AMBUJACEM 219.00 220.90 213.15 213.70 -5.25ACC 1483.95 1492.70 1445.40 1446.00 -37.95OFSS 3697.00 3730.00 3575.65 3609.00 -101.95SUNTV 609.45 609.45 583.05 587.00 -17.60SAIL 53.90 54.05 52.30 52.40 -1.60NMDC 97.30 97.40 93.70 93.90 -2.90NIACL 185.90 185.90 179.05 179.10 -5.70BHEL 73.00 73.00 70.40 70.70 -2.30L&TFH 150.55 151.25 144.80 145.25 -5.25BANDHANBNK 551.00 554.00 530.00 532.05 -20.10SRTRANSFIN 1195.00 1206.00 1141.25 1144.10 -51.30

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Sheikh Hasina was onThursday invited by

Bangladesh President AbdulHamid to form the nextGovernment, hours after shewas elected as the AwamiLeague’s Parliamentary partychairperson.

Hasina, 71, is set to formthe government for the thirdconsecutive term. She won thehistoric fourth term as primeminister, becoming the coun-try’s longest-serving leader.

The invitation came whenHasina visited theBangabhaban to meet the pres-ident on Thursday evening.

“The president invited herto form the government,” apresidential palace spokesmantold PTI.

On Thursday morning, shetook oath of office and waschosen as the leader of theHouse for the fourth time.

Hasina, the daughter ofBangladesh’s founderBangabandhu Sheikh MujiburRahman, is termed by many asthe country’s iron lady.

Officials said the new gov-ernment was expected to besworn in on January 10, amiduncertainty over the oppositionstructure in the 300-seat par-liament.

Hasina’s Awami Leaguewon 258 seats and her allyJatiya Party got 22 while jailedex-premier Khaleda Zia’sBangladesh Nationalist Party(BNP) secured just five seatsand its partners in the NationalUnity Front (NUF) got two inthe recently concluded 11thgeneral elections.

The NUF, with BNP beingits key partner, has rejected theelection, calling it a “farce”and demanded fresh pollsunder a non-party caretakergovernment. The seven MPs-elect of NUF boycotted the

oath-taking ceremony onThursday.

Former president HMErshad’s Jatiya Party earlierhinted they could emerge as theparliamentary opposition.

But Jatiya Party Co-Chairman GM Quader said onThursday that they would jointhe Awami League-led gov-ernment in line with partyMPs decision. “Since we par-ticipated in the election underthe banner of Awami League,we want to join the govern-ment,” he told reporters.

Legal experts said the doorwas now open for the BNP andits allies with seven seats to grabthe opposition status in theHouse. The Communist Partyof Bangladesh and several otherleft-wing parties on Thursdaystaged a protest with theiractivists covering their faceswith black ribbons demandingas well the cancellation of thepolls.

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AChinese lunar rover suc-cessfully landed on the far

side of the moon on Thursday,becoming the world’s firstspacecraft to survey the moon’suncharted mysterious side, agiant leap in cosmic explo-ration and a major boost to theCommunist giant’s quest tobecome a space superpower.

The lunar explorerChang’e-4 probe touched downon the far side of the moon andhas already sent back its firstpictures from the surface,which were shared by statemedia.

The probe, comprising alander and a rover, landed atthe preselected landing area at177.6 degrees east longitudeand 45.5 degrees south latitudeon the far side of the moon at10:26 am (local time), ChinaNational Space Administration(CNSA) announced.

The robotic spacecraft is

carrying instruments to analysethe unexplored region’s geolo-gy and will conduct biologicalexperiments.

The first-ever soft landingis being seen as a major mile-stone in space explorationbecause unlike previous moonmissions that have landed onthe Earth-facing side, this is thefirst time any craft has landedon the unexplored and ruggedfar side of the moon.

The successful landing for-mally inaugurated the world’sfirst expedition to the far sidethat never faces the Earth andis expected to fulfil scientists’long-held aspiration to closelyobserve the enormous region,state-run China Daily reported.

Though the far side hasbeen extensively photographedby spacecraft, starting with aSoviet probe in 1959, no probehad ever made a soft landingonto it. Scientists around theworld have not been able toconduct close observations and

surveys of the region fordecades.

The probe was launched bya Long March-3B carrier rock-et on December 8 from theXichang Satellite LaunchCentre in Sichuan Province.

It landed on the VonKarman crater in the SouthPole-Aitken basin and thensent back a picture of the land-ing site shot by one of the mon-itor cameras on the probe’s lan-der, marking the world’s firstimage taken on the moon’s farside.

The picture, published bythe China National SpaceAdministration, shows theplace where Chang’e 4’s roverwill be heading to roam andsurvey.

Tidal forces on Earth slowthe moon’s rotation to thepoint where the same sidealways faces Earth. The otherside, most of which is never vis-ible from Earth, is the far sideof the moon.

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President Donald Trump hassaid he wants talented

people who can help Americancompanies to grow to enter the US, asserting that a wallalong the Mexico border is theonly way to check illegal immi-gration.

Chairing the first Cabinetmeeting of the year, Trump saidon Wednesday there was aneed to fix the “crazy” loopholesin the immigration system.

“We want to end all of thisnonsense, the visa lottery sys-tem. So, they pick them out ofa jar,” he said in his remarks atthe meeting which was domi-nated by the issue of illegalmigration and border security.

“We want to pick people tocome into our country on thebasis of merit and talent so thatall of the companies that aremoving in, we have large num-bers of companies, many, manycompanies, and more thanwe’ve seen in many years, thecompanies that have left ourcountry are coming backbecause of what’s going on,” hesaid.

“You see, our job numbersare great. We need people tocome in but we can’t have theseloopholes. These loopholes are

crazy,” Trump said.He reiterated his wish to

end loopholes in the legalimmigration system so as toattract more people based onmerit.

Trump said his adminis-tration wants people to comeinto the country legally and onmerit.

“We need people to comein to our country. But they haveto do it through the system,they have to do it legally and wewant people that can help ourcountry - where it can be basedon merit and achievement,people that are going to behelped, the companies that aregoing to be coming into ourcountries, which are so many,”he said.

Trump said every day bor-der patrol encounters roughly2,000 illegal immigrants tryingto enter the US.

Every week, 300 Americansare killed by heroin, the vastmajority of which comes acrossthrough our southern border.

“Our southern border islike a sieve. It just poursthrough our southern border.And unless we’re going to havephysical barriers, it’s nevergoing to be able to be stopped.Too much money is beingmade,” he said.

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North Korea’s top diplomatin Italy has gone into hid-

ing, a Seoul lawmaker toldreporters after a closed-doormeeting with South Koreanintelligence officials onThursday.

“Acting ambassador Jo SongGil’s term was ending in lateNovember last year and heescaped the diplomatic com-pound in early November” withhis wife, Kim Min-ki toldreporters. The spy agency brief-ing to lawmakers came afterSouth Korea’s JoongAng Ilbo daily reported that Jo hadsought asylum in an unidenti-fied Western country with hisfamily.

“He sought asylum early last

month,” the JoongAng quoted adiplomatic source in Seoul assaying.

Italian authorities were“agonising” over what to do, theofficial was cited as saying, butadded that they were “protect-ing him in a safe place”.

The last senior NorthKorean diplomat to defect wasThae Yong Ho, who abandonedhis post as deputy ambassadorin London in 2016.

Jo, 48, has been actingambassador in Rome sinceOctober 2017 after Italy expelledthe then ambassador Mun JongNam in protest at a nuclear testby the North a month earlier inviolation of UN resolutions.

Italy is an important diplo-matic mission for Pyongyang, asit handles relations with the

Rome-headquartered UN Foodand Agriculture Organizationand North Korea suffers fromchronic food shortages.

Jo is “known to be a son orson-in-law of one of the high-est-level officials in the North’sregime”, the JoongAng cited anunnamed North Korea expert assaying. Most North Koreandiplomats serving overseas arenormally required to leave sev-eral family members -- typical-ly children -- behind inPyongyang to prevent theirdefection while working abroad.

Jo however came to Romein May 2015 with his wife andchildren, suggesting he may befrom a privileged family, theJoongAng said, adding thereason for his defection bid wasstill unclear.

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The provincial KhyberPakhtunkhwa Government

in northwest Pakistan has declared the ancient Hindu religious site of PanjTirath in Peshawar as nation-al heritage.

Panj Tirath, which got itsname from the five pools ofwater present there, also con-tains a temple and a lawn withdate palm trees.

The five pools of the her-itage site now come under theambit of Chacha Yunus Parkand Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Chamber of Commerce andIndustry.

The KP Directorate of Arcahaeology and Museums issued a notifica-tion under the KP AntiquitiesAct 2016 declaring the land inthe Panj Tirath park as a her-itage site.

It is believed that Pandu, amythical king in theMahabharata, belonged to thisarea and Hindus used to cometo these pools for bathing during the month of Karteekand worship for two days underthe trees.

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The White House meetingbetween President Donald

Trump and top Congressionalleaders on resolving the ongo-ing partial Government shut-down ended in a stalemateWednesday, with Republicansand Democrats sticking totheir respective positions overthe presidential demand for aUS-Mexico border wall.

The President is seeking$5.2 billion in funding for thewall which according to him isa must to prevent flow of ille-gal immigrants into the US.

The Democrats assert thatsuch a move is a “waste” of tax-payers’ money.

Following their inconclu-sive Situation Room meeting,

Congressional leaders andTrump agreed to meet againon Friday.

Newly elected membersof the Congress are scheduledto be sworn in Thursday; thefirst day of the 116th Congress.Democratic Leader NancyPelosi is all set to be elected asthe Speaker of the US House ofRepresentatives.

“Important meeting todayon Border Security withRepublican and DemocratLeaders in Congress. Bothparties must work together topass a Funding Bill that pro-tects this Nation and its peo-ple – this is the first and mostimportant duty of govern-ment,” Trump said in a tweetafter the meeting.

“I remain ready and will-

ing to work with Democrats topass a bill that secures our bor-ders, supports the agents andofficers on the ground, andkeeps America Safe. Let’s get itdone!” said the US President.

Pelosi told reporters at theWhite House after the meetingthat she plans to go ahead withthe Democratic legislation ona spending bill without fund-ing for a border wall.Beginning Thursday,Democrats would enjoy major-ity in the House ofRepresentatives.

“We are asking the presi-dent to open up the govern-ment. We are giving him aRepublican path to do that.Why would he not do it?”Pelosi told reporters at theWhite House.

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Pakistan’s incarcerated for-mer premier Nawaz Sharif

will maintain his jail room onhis own as the Punjab provincegovernment on Wednesdayrefused to provide him a pris-oner who could serve as hisorderly, according to a mediareport.

Sharif, 69, has been servinga seven-year jail term inLahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail in theAl-Azizia Steel Mills graft caseand being a former prime min-ister he is entitled to betterfacilities including an orderlywho is from prisoners.

Punjab’s Inspector Generalof Prisons Shahid Saleem Begsaid on Wednesday that Punjabgovernment decided that itcould not provide a prisoner toSharif who could serve as hisorderly and that he would haveto maintain his room on hisown, the Dawn reported.

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The Supreme Court’s historic ver-dict has decriminalised homo-

sexuality and paved the way forsame-sex couples to legally cohabitand conduct their personal affairswithout fear of persecution. Therehas been a new focus now in mak-ing the LGBTQ community morevisible through cinema and the arts.

Two Hindi feature films areslated to be released in theaters early2019 — Evening Shadows directed bySridhar Rangayan on January 11 andEk Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Lagadirected by Shelly Chopra Dhar onFebruary 1.

While Evening Shadows starringMona Ambegaonkar, AnanthMahadevan and new comersDevansh Doshi and ArpitChaudhary is a heartwarming dramahighlighting the struggle by a moth-er to accept her gay son.

The film Ek Ladki Ko Dekha TohAisa Laga starring Sonam Kapoor,Rajkummar Rao and Anil Kapoor issaid to be a coming-of-age roman-tic comedy-drama. Both films seemto focus on the challenges faced byfamilies in accepting their childrenwho have a different love interest.

The film appears like any otherregular love story, has a beautifultwist. Sonam, for the very first timewill play a lesbian character in thespace of mainstream cinema. Theplot of the film is placed within a reg-ular North Indian Punjabi home,where the concept of homosexuali-ty is still taboo.

“It is a good time for Indian cin-ema to push boundaries and spot-

light issues which have been hiddenand buried till now. Bringing it tomainstream theaters for the largeraudience to see the films with theirfamilies, will remove prejudices andpave way for an equal society”, saidSridhar Rangayan who is hopefulthat his film Evening Shadows willmake an impact on mindsets.

Filmmaker Onir, who has han-dled complex stories of same-sex lovein his path-breaking films My

Brother Nikhil, I Am and Shab said,“Post the Supreme Court ruling onIPC 377, the New Year begins witha beautiful gift to LGBTQ cinema inIndia. Evening Shadows will hopeful-ly start a new episode of more suchnarrative in our theaters. It’s a filmabout acceptance and celebratinglove.” It remains to be seen how cin-ema going audiences will react tothese films.

“While Evening Shadows has

won 13 audience and jury awards,and screened at more than 50 inter-national film festivals around theworld, the real test would be howmass audiences in India embrace ourfilm”, said Rangayan who has beenchampioning for LGBTQ cinema inIndia for over two decades with hisfilms (Gulabi Aaina, Purple Skies,Breaking Free) and also organising‘Kashish’ Mumbai’s LGBTQ filmfestival.

As Vikas Khanna’s directorial debut The LastColour is set to have its world premiere at the

30th Annual Palm Springs International FilmFestival 2019, he is glad Hollywood is paying atten-tion to his film. However, he says he will contin-ue to keep his head down with humility.

The Michelin star chef had given a glimpseof the film’s first look at the Cannes Film Festivallast year. Now, Khanna is excited about the recog-nition at a film fest in the US.

“I am humble and excited about the recogni-tion the film is getting in the fraternity. It’s like -‘Okay, so Hollywood is paying attention to myfilm’,” I will just keep my head down, Khanna said.

The film, starring Neena Gupta, centresaround the widows of Vrindavan.

“I just think I was too moved by a story. Thestory is inspired by the real events. I was inspiredby two stories which run parallel. One is a rope-walker whom I met in the Kumbh Mela, who wassuch a brave girl. She really inspired me to write

the story of Chhoti.“And then I was really inspired by Holi played

by the widows in Vrindavan. It’s such a victory andan achievement and something that can be calledas reincarnation which needs to be celebrated on

a great scale... (I am) Not suggesting that I madethe film on a great scale. I am not a big produc-er or something. I knew this story had to comefrom me in a most honest way,” Khanna said.

The Last Colour will be screened thrice dur-ing the Palm Springs International Film Festival,being held from January 3-14, 2019. It is underthe competition category New Voices NewVision.

The movie marks Khanna’s debut not just asa director but also as a screenwriter. He says hismost favourite part of the film would be the vic-tory of taking the artistes and placing them incharacter.

“Neenaji is a rare artiste. She just fit into thecharacter so beautifully. She knew I am not adirector, but I was looking at all the frames in anew perspective with new eyes. There was no pre-set or template to follow. She just believed in thestory so much that she continued with us.

“She was such a support. I remember whenI showed her the film, she was like this is one ofthe best films I have ever worked on. I think it’shonesty that worked for us. It is an honest story,”he said.

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National Award winningactor Anupam Kher, whoessays the character of for-

mer Prime Minister ManmohanSingh in The Accidental PrimeMinister, says cinema and politicscannot be separated since onereflects the other.

The film, even before itsrelease, has grabbed a lot of eyeballsand faced criticism for the projec-tion of its central character and forbeing timed to hit the screensbefore the 2019 general elections.

Not surprisingly, on account ofthe controversies associated withthe film, a case has been filedagainst actor Anupam Kher andothers associated with the film, ina Bihar court for damaging theimage of some people. LawyerSudhir Kumar Ojha filed the casein Muzaffarpur’s Chief JudicialMagistrate (CJM) court. The courthas admitted the case and fixedJanuary 8 to hear the case in SubDivisional Judicial Magistratecourt.

Ojha in his petition com-plained that Anupam Kher andAkshaye Khanna, who have playedthe role of Manmohan Singh andhis press advisor Sanjaya Baru inthe film, have damaged the imageof both of them. “It hurt me andmany others,” he said.

But Anupam explained histake on it and said, “Look, when theaudience is going to the theatre towatch a film, they are regularcine-goers and movie lovers. Theyare not entering the hall as a voter.

“But yes, when they come out,the film might linger in theirmind. But then, cinema and poli-tics cannot be separated, becausethey are a reflection of each other.”

The actor further said, “Afilmmaker or an artiste really can-not figure out why people are vot-ing for a political party. Some vot-ers are loyalists; some are makinga list of good and bad to choose aparty and the government. Howmuch can a film could contributeto that?

“Having said that, I personal-ly believe that when people go tovote for choosing a government,they do not decide anything basedon the impact of a film.”

The movie is based on aneponymous book which wasreleased during the 2014 electionswhen the political transformationhappened and the nation voted the

Bharatiya Janata Party govern-ment over the Congress-led UPAgovernment.

Does the film intend to influ-ence the voters to form an opinionon the Congress party by showingSingh in a critical light?

“It is ridiculous to say that peo-ple choose a political party and achange happened in the govern-ment because of Sanjay Baru’sbook. Similarly, it would be silly tosay that this film will change the

result of the election thisyear,” replied the actor.

Directed by VijayRatnakar Gutte, the film alsofeatures Akshaye Khanna,Aahana Kumra and ArjunMathur.

The book gives an insightof the Prime Minister Office(PMO) as well as the personaljourney of Singh. And thefilm’s trailer gives a glimpsehow the narrative will

emphasise on the contradictionand difference of opinion betweenthe PM and the Congress Party,especially its then president SoniaGandhi. In fact, such elements inthe book also received some criti-cism in 2014.

Asked if highlighting on theconflict between the former PMand Congress party president is thecore content of the film, Anupamsaid, “No, no, the story is a veryhumane tale of a man, who wasborn into a middle-class family andwith his merit, he excelled and

became a Prime Minister.“He is a man with all

heart, a true patriot, well read,humble man who wentthrough a huge struggle and

felt vulnerable as a PrimeMinister of the coun-try.”

Commenting onthe party presidentand PM conflict, theactor added, “It wasnever a secret. Itwas rather an opensecret that has comeout. It was there in

the book as well.“Everyone knew

that he was chosen tobecome a Prime

Minister by the Congressparty and he was the leastexpected candidate. Ourfilm is shown from thepoint of view of a mediaadvisor in the PMO. Itwould be appreciated if theaudience watches the film as

a story.”The film is slated to release

on January 11.H��������

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First, Happy New Year to all of you, but let me tem-per my good wishes with a sobering thought. In

2019, another 150,000 Indians, possibly more aregoing to die on the roads of this country. Although,to be honest there are times that one wonders whymore people do not die on the roads every year.Indian traffic after all is like classical Brownianmotion of particles, moving around in random direc-tions but never seeming to touch each other.Everyday while driving in India, actually no matterwhere in this country, you notice hundreds of motor-cyclists without helmets, others triple-rising withimpunity, folks on cars and motorcycles making callswhile driving, heavily overloaded public transport andwhat not.

It is a madhouse out there and I will be honest,in such a madhouse I also fall foul of the rules some-times. When it comes to using my phone, I do notphysically use my handset anymore thanks to tech-nologies like Apple CarPlay and Android Autowhich are controlled through voice assistants. Thatsaid, there are studies out there that prove that usinga phone even through a hands-free technology candistract you. And that is something I understand.Imagine if you have a fight with someone on the phonewhile driving? How can you possibly be paying fullattention to the act of driving? And it is getting worse.A few weeks ago I noticed someone making a videocall while driving. It all seems hunky-dory until thatsplit second where something unexpected happensand well, your life, as you know it, is over.

Sure, there will be a lot of interesting new carscoming to India this year which I am looking forwardto drive and I’m sure there will be some interestingexperiences with cars on foreign shores as well, butthis year I genuinely wish for another thing. That weall resolve to drive a bit better, drive gentler, be moreconsiderate to others on the roads and generally benicer road users. I understand that there are days thatare frustrating and that driving in this country canbe an extremely irritating experience and we can carryon saying ‘what about them’. But whataboutery willnot improve the roads, better behaviour will, becauselet us be honest, I really doubt that traffic enforce-ment is going to dramatically improve other than thecore areas of some major cities. I really hope it does,but it is contingent on us to be better ourselves.

So if you make just one resolution for 2019 let itthis, be a better driver, be the better driver.

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Bacon and black coffee for breakfast, or oat-meal and bananas? If you’re planning to

try to lose weight in 2019, you’re sure to finda fierce debate online and among friends andfamily about how best to do it. It seems likeeveryone has an opinion, and new fadsemerge every year.

Two major studies last year provided morefuel for a particularly polarising topic — therole carbs play in making us fat. The studiesgave scientists some clues, but, like other nutri-tion studies, they can’t say which diet — if any— is best for everyone.

That’s not going to satisfy people whowant black-and-white answers, but nutritionresearch is extremely difficult and even themost respected studies come with big caveats.People are so different that it’s all but impos-sible to conduct studies that show what real-ly works over long periods of time.

Before embarking on a weight loss planfor the new year, here’s a look at some of whatwas learned last year.

FEWER CARBS, FEWER POUNDS?It’s no longer called the Atkins Diet, but

the low-carb school of dieting has been enjoy-ing a comeback. The idea is that the refinedcarbohydrates in foods like white bread arequickly converted into sugar in our bodies,leading to energy swings and hunger.

By cutting carbs, the claim is that weightloss will be easier because your body willinstead burn fat for fuel while feeling less hun-gry. A recent study seems to offer more sup-port for low-carb proponents. But, like manystudies, it tried to understand just one sliverof how the body works.

The study, co-led by an author of bookspromoting low-carb diets, looked at whethervarying carb levels might affect how the bodyuses energy. Among 164 participants, itfound those on low-carb diets burned moretotal calories than those on high-carb diets.

The study did not say people lost moreweight on a low-carb diet — and didn’t try tomeasure that. Meals and snacks were tightlycontrolled and continually adjusted so every-one’s weights stayed stable.

David Ludwig, a lead author of the paperand researcher at Boston Children’s Hospital,said, it suggests limiting carbs could make iteasier for people to keep weight off oncethey’ve lost it. He said that this might workbest for those with diabetes or pre-diabetes.

Ludwig noted the study wasn’t intendedto test long-term health effects or real-worldscenarios where people make their ownfood. The findings also need to be replicatedto be validated, he said.

Caroline Apovian of Boston University’sSchool of Medicine said the findings are inter-esting fodder for the scientific community, butthat they shouldn’t be taken as advice for theaverage person looking to lose weight.

DO I AVOID FAT TO BE SKINNY?For years people were advised to curb fats,

which are found in foods including meat, nuts,eggs, butter and oil. Cutting fat was seen asa way to control weight, since a gram of fathas twice as many calories than the sameamount of carbs or protein.

Many say the advice had the oppositeeffect by inadvertently giving us license to gob-

ble up fat-free cookies, cakes and otherfoods that were instead full of the refined carbsand sugars now blamed for our wider waist-lines.

Nutrition experts gradually moved awayfrom blanket recommendations to limit fatsfor weight loss. Fats are necessary for absorb-ing important nutrients and can help us feelfull. That doesn’t mean you have to subsist onsteak drizzled in butter to be healthy. BruceY Lee, a professor of international health atJohns Hopkins, said the lessons learned fromthe anti-fat fad should be applied to the anti-carb fad: don’t oversimplify advice. “There’sa constant look for an easy way out,” Lee said.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?Another big study this past year found

low-carb diets and low-fat diets were aboutequally as effective for weight loss. Results var-

ied by individual, but after a year, people inboth groups shed an average of 12 to 13pounds. The author noted the findings don’tcontradict Ludwig’s low-carb study. Instead,they suggest there may be some flexibility inthe ways we can lose weight. Participants inboth groups were encouraged to focus onminimally processed foods like produce andmeat prepared at home. Everyone was advisedto limit added sugar and refined flour.

“If you got that foundation right, for many,that would be an enormous change,” saidChristopher Gardner of Stanford Universityand one of the study’s authors.

Limiting processed foods could improvemost diets by cutting down overall calories,while still leaving wiggle room for people’spreferences. That’s important, because for adiet to be effective, a person has to be able tostick to it. A breakfast of fruit and oatmeal maybe filling for one person, but leave anotherhungry soon after.

Gardner notes the study had its limita-tions, too. Participants’ diets weren’t con-trolled. People were instead instructed on howto achieve eating a low-carb or low-fat in reg-ular meetings with dieticians, which may haveprovided a support network most dieters don’thave.

SO, WHAT WORKS?In the short term you can probably lose

weight by eating only raw foods, or goingvegan, or cutting out gluten, or followinganother diet plan that catches your eye. Butwhat will work for you over the long term isa different question.

Zhaoping Li, director of clinical nutritiondivision at the University of California, LosAngeles, says there is no single set of guide-lines that help everyone lose weight and keepit off. It’s why diets often fail — they don’t fac-tor into account the many factors that driveus to eat what we do.

To help people lose weight, Li examinesher patients’ eating and physical activity rou-tines to identify improvements people will beable to live with. “What sticks is what mat-ters,” Li said. H��

While planning the new menu atRadisson Blu MBD, Noida,Master Chef Mohammed

Khursheed decided that he wouldbe traversing beyond the realm ofthe usual. “So if patrons ask forsomething like butter chicken,which is available everywhere, wecoax them to try other dishes,” hesays.

The other thing that was keptin mind was to have dishes thatrepresented the Walled City of thecapital. They had dabbled withHyderabadi as well as Rampuri cuisineduring the curation of the menu but decid-ed to stick with recipes from Delhi-6.

Care is taken to get the basics right.So Khursheed makes sure to source thespices from Old Delhi, dry roast them andthen grind them in a mill. “The spices aremixed keeping in mind the clientele.While the ratio of the spices is the same,the amount that is added is reducedbecause the flavours are a little robust,especially for the expats,” he says.

The specially-curated menu tookmore than a year of research and develop-ment. There are several entrants on themenu and the array, both in the starterssegment as well as the main course, doesthrow up some stellar preparations. Butinterestingly, it was in the vegetarian sec-tion that the envelope was pushed furtherand with spectacular results. For once, thecarnivores can feel deprived, if they decide

not todig into theirvegetarian friend’s plate. In texture, tasteas well as the complexity of flavours, thevegetarian dishes were way ahead of thenon-vegetarian section.

We started with Bharwan paneer,which is an in-house speciality marinat-ed with deep-fried gram flour and spices.The crisp cover made it unusual but it wasthe succulent pineapple inside that madefor a sweet and tangy surprise. It wasindeed a hint of things to follow.

Next up was Khumb gilawate, mush-room kebab with spices, which lived up toits description of mouth-melting. It bare-ly touched my tongue to become a gooeymass. Bonus came in the balance offlavours, which was spot-on. There was nota single one that dominated the taste.

Slightly sweet with a tinge of garammasala, this could be compared with thebest of mutton gilawati and be none theworse for it.

This was followed by two more —Hare mutter ke kebab (green pea kebabs)and Zameeni Hayat (shredded beetrootpatties) which were equally succulent. Butthe honours must certainly go to the mush-

room ones which took the flavours and ele-vated them beyond the usual. Khursheedsays, “The vegetables are blanched andthen mixed with the spices. These arethen fried in desi ghee which brings outthe flavours. If you compromise on thequality of the ingredients, the dish toowould not live upto the expectations.”

In the non-vegetarian starters, while

the flavours were balanced and the meattender, it was essentially a replication ofthe existing Gosht ke Shammi, which ismutton mince galette cooked on slowheat.

Next up was Tala murgh that remind-ed one of the fired chicken which is soldat innumerous street shops that dot OldDelhi’s Matia Mahal and Urdu Bazaarareas. Crisp on the outside, the flavoursof the masala that coated it had seepedinside. This is bound to find favour withthe locals who love their chicken spicyand fried.

There was also Sultani seekh, whichentailed some drama as it was brought tothe table still plastered on to the skewer.While the flavours were mild, the dish,as compared to the really tender seekhsthat are the norm, was a little tough.

For those who love fish, there isSalmon tikka which is ideal for those wholike their spices mild and the flavour ofthe flaky fish to come through.

In the main course, a walled city spe-ciality, Murgh Estew, was certainly the go-to dish. For those who are familiar withthe way it is cooked in Delhi homes, thiswas the closest that the dish came to inany hotel outside the precincts of the

walled city. However, the same cannot besaid about the Mutton qorma. The con-sistency was unlike that of a typicalqorma. Moreover, the balance of thecaramelised onions, curd and masalaveered in favour of the first making itstaste alien in sensibility.

In the vegetarian section, it was theKhubani bharey kofte, cottage cheesedumplings stuffed with apricot and sim-mered in a blend of almonds and milkwith its mildly sweet in taste and soft kof-tas that made for a really rich dish.

For those who abhor any hint ofsweetness in the main course, there wasalso Paneer mirchi ka keema which hadgrated cottage cheese with capsicum.

A sweet dish is essential to round offany meal. Here we had a choice of four— a carrot halwa, a phirni, gulab jamunand home-made malai kulfi. I preferredthe first and the last options. The halwawas not as decadent as some of the hotelstend to make it, so after a large meal, itseemed just right. Moreover, it was per-fectly sweetened — not too intense tomake me want to leave it after the first biteas often happens. The malai kulfi, on theother hand, was smooth, which made fora perfect ending to the meal.

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Cheteshwar Pujara played theanchor's role yet again with his thirdmasterful hundred of the series,

helping India dominate Australia on theopening day of the fourth and final Testhere at Sydney Cricket Ground.

Leading 2-1 after the 137-run win inthe Melbourne Test, India made a strongstart by ending at 303/4 in 90 overs onThursday. Opener Mayank Agarwal wasanother solid performer, continuing hisgood form with a 77-run knock.

At stumps, Pujara (130) and HanumaVihari (39) were holding fort for the vis-iting side, which is in pursuit of a maid-en Test series triumph on Australian soil.Virat Kohli's men have already secured theBorder-Gavaskar Trophy with their unas-sailable lead.

At the SCG, Pujara faced 250 balls, hit-ting 16 of them for fours, and added 75runs for the unbeaten fifth wicket standwith Vihari.

Post tea, Australia was able to make aquick breakthrough as Virat Kohli (23) wascaught down leg. They had consistentlybowled towards the leg-stump against theIndian skipper, cramping him for roomand the ploy worked as he gloved behindoff Josh Hazlewood (2-51) in the first overafter the break.

It brought Ajinkya Rahane (18) to thecrease, who faced the same tactic. Unlikehis counter-attacking style in the first threeTests, Rahane was subdued on this occa-sion as he looked to settle down. ButMitchell Starc (1-75) had him caughtbehind in the 71st over with a sharp-ris-ing unplayable bouncer.

India crossed 200 in the 63rd over, butneeded a partnership at this juncture.Vihari proved to be a handy partner forPujara as the duo put on 50 runs in 72balls.

Vihari kept the scoreboard ticking withminimum fuss. He took pressure offPujara at the other end, who was solid asever, and celebrated his 18th Test hundredoff 199 balls. In doing so, he went past 438runs against England in 2012-13 as themost he had scored previously in a Testseries.

This was also the fourth time he faced200-plus deliveries in the current series,

going past Sunil Gavaskar's record of threesuch instances back in 1977-78.

Earlier, Pujara put on 54 runs withKohli as India reached 177-2 at tea. Postlunch, Agarwal and Pujara continuedtheir second-wicket partnership to 116runs. The duo put on an attacking showafter the break, with their 100-run standcoming off 178 balls.

Agarwal reached his second Test half-century off 96 balls, inclusive of two sixesagainst Nathan Lyon (1-88) as the two bats-men rotated strike well and kept the score-board ticking.

He looked good for a hundred butthrew it away when he holed out in thedeep off Lyon in the 34th over and walkedback shaking his head at an unnecessaryshot.

Kohli then walked out to boos for thefourth Test running, but got going imme-diately with an immaculate cover drive.Australia resorted to more conservativebowling and kept his scoring rate in check.

But they had no response to Pujara'sgrounding knock again, albeit with a dif-ferent pace. Another 44 runs were addedin the second hour of play, with Pujarareaching his half-century off 134 balls,including three fours in an over from legspinner Marnus Labuschagne (0-25) beforethe tea break.

In the morning, India were placed at69-1 at lunch. This was after India won thetoss and opted to bat. R Ashwin didn't passthe fitness test and was ruled out of thismatch. The visitors then made twochanges, with KL Rahul and KuldeepYadav coming in for Rohit Sharma andIshant Sharma.

Australia too made two changes withPeter Handscomb and MarnusLabuschagne replacing Aaron Finch andMitchell Marsh.

Things didn't change much for Rahul(9) despite missing the Melbourne Test, ashe edged twice in the first four balls facedonly for the ball to go to the boundary.

He didn't last long however, edgingHazlewood to first slip in the second over,and his nightmare run on this tour con-tinued.

This was the sixth opening pairing forIndia in 12 overseas Tests since January2018, and only averages 21.56 in 23 over-seas innings.

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Jimmy Neesham made a dream returnto international cricket on Thursday,

crushing Sri Lanka with bat and ball asNew Zealand won the opening one-dayinternational by 45 runs in Tauranga.

Neesham, recalled after 18 months inthe wilderness as New Zealand look totrial all-rounder options before the WorldCup, flayed the Sri Lankan bowling withan unbeaten 47 off just 13 deliveries.

He then took three for 38 to share thespotlight with man-of-the-match MartinGuptill who set the New Zealand inningsalight with 138 off 139 deliveries.

On a placid wicket favouring the bats-man and on a ground with short bound-aries, Kusal Perera also reached three fig-ures with 102 for Sri Lanka while NiroshanDickwella added 76.

But in reply to New Zealand's 371 forseven, Sri Lanka were all out for 326 withsix balls remaining.

Free-scoring Sri Lankan openersDickwella and Danushka Gunathilaka hadbeen on track to chase down the targetwhen they reached 119 off 17 overs.

But when Neesham came into theattack he had Gunathilaka caught behindfor 43 and Dickwella bowled in the spaceof four deliveries.

Neesham returned for his second spellto dismiss Dinesh Chandimal for 10,before more success for spinner Sodhi whohad Asela Gunaratne caught in the deepfor 11. Trent Boult eventually dismissedthe stubborn Perera as Sri Lanka's last fivewickets fell for 53 runs.

New Zealand had elected to bat firstand after the early loss of Colin Munro,Guptill and Kane Williamson put on 163

for the second wicket.Guptill cracked five sixes and 11 fours

to celebrate his return to the New Zealandside with his 14th ODI century in his160th match, becoming the ninth-fastestplayer to pass 6,000 runs in the format.

After Williamson was bowled byNuwan Pradeep for 76, Ross Tayloradded a quick 54 off 37 balls beforeNeesham's closing salvo.

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India opener Mayank Agarwalwas livid with himself after

squandering a golden opportu-nity to score a maiden Test hun-dred on day one of the fourth Testbut hopes to quickly learn frommistakes in his fledgling career.

"I am quite disappointed formissing out on a big score. Withthat said, it's a learning curve. IfI don't make this mistake again,it will be a good learning. I waslooking to dominate NathanLyon and it didn't work out.Really disappointed that I threwmy wicket," he said on Thursday.

India lost KL Rahul early andthe duo faced a testing spell ofshort bowling from the

Australian pacers. Agarwal saidthat their focus was on buildingpartnerships, and he was talkingwith Pujara for the same through-out.

"The plan was always to get asmall partnership after each wick-et and that's the same thing wespoke about. We said to each otherthat let's try to play close to thebody and not give them wickets.Even if we are not getting too manyruns too quick, it's alright; let's tryget a partnership and take it fromthere onwards," he added.

Talking about the course of thisTest on the second day, Agarwalsaid, "We are very happy, we wouldhave liked to be just three down butthat said 303-4 on first day afterchoosing to bat, I think we are in

a great position."

F�����1�����7Mayank Agarwal's coach Irfan

Sait is heart broken that his wardmissed out on a century for the sec-ond time in the ongoing Test series,but is happy that he is cementing hisplace in the team. "I am heartbro-ken at his dismissal, but I amhappy Mayank has almost cement-ed his place in the team. Look at hisconsistency. He has now two halfcenturies and a good 42 in the threeinnings he had played so far DownUnder," Sait said.

Asked if Agarwal would makeway for Prithvi Shaw once theMumbai youngster returns frominjury, Sait said openers who fail toperform should be dropped.

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Renowned cricket coach Ramakant Achrekar,who died due to age-related ailments, was

cremated here on Thursday with his mostfamous ward Sachin Tendulkar in attendance fora tearful adieu.

Archrekar, the childhood coach ofTendulkar, passed away at 87 on Wednesday athis Shivaji Park residence in Dadar in CentralMumbai.

His body was kept at Shivaji Park, where hecoached aspiring cricketers, and then taken toa nearby crematorium.

When the body was taken outside theground, young boys, who practice there, gave aguard of honour amid chants of 'Amar Rahe'.

Tendulkar, along with Achrekar's otherwards like Vinod Kambli, Balwinder SinghSandhu and Chandrakant Pandit, took part in

the procession to the crematorium, where hisbody was consigned to flames.

Earlier, the body was kept at his residencefor people to pay their last respects to theDronacharya and Padma Shri award-winningcoach.

Mumbai cricketers such as Atul Ranade,Amol Mazumdar Ramesh Powar, ParasMhambrey, Ranji coach Vinayak Samant,Nilesh Kulkarni, Vinod Raghvan, were also therealong with fans.

Former Rajasthan coach PradeepSundaram, office-bearers of the Mumbai CricketAssociation, veteran cricket administrator ProfRatnakar Shetty also paid their last respects.

Among politicians, MaharashtraNavnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, MLA andBJP leader Ashish Shelar, Mayor VishwanathMahadeshwar also paid tributes to the decoratedcoach.

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Duanne Olivier led anotherfast bowling assault on

Pakistan's batsmen as SouthAfrica took control on the firstday of the second Test atNewlands on Thursday. Oliviertook four for 48 as Pakistan werebowled out for 177 after beingsent in on a hard, green-tingedpitch.

Aiden Markram struck anassured 78 as South Africareached 123 for two at the close.

Olivier followed up a match-winning performance in thefirst Test in Centurion, whileDale Steyn took three for 48.

Captain Sarfraz Ahmed hit56 and Shan Masood made 44to lift an otherwise poorPakistan batting performance.

South Africa's decision topick an all-pace attack paid div-idends with all four fast bowlerspicking up wickets, with most ofthe Pakistan batsmen lookingvulnerable against fast, short-pitched deliveries.

As at Centurion, where hehad match figures of 11 for 96,Olivier lived up to the "enforcer"tag given him by captain Faf duPlessis, regularly landing the ballin his own half of the pitch andmaking it rear up towards thebatsmen.

Pakistan's batting was putinto perspective when Markramand Dean Elgar put on 56 for thefirst wicket at almost five runsan over.

Mohammad Amir put abrake on the scoring by havingElgar caught behind during asecond spell in which he con-ceded only eight runs in fiveovers but Markram and HashimAmla steadily built a secondwicket stand of 67 off 109 balls.

Sarfraz provided the bright-est interlude for Pakistan aftercoming in with his team in dan-ger of a total collapse at 54 forfive. Sarfraz put on 60 for thesixth wicket with Shan Masood(44) and 42 for the seventh wick-et with Mohammad Amir (22not out).

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����� (02402

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's ManchesterUnited made it four wins out offour in the Premier League,

beating Newcastle to close the gap onfourth-placed Chelsea, who was held athome by Southampton.

United have been transformed sincetheir former striker replaced JoseMourinho, scoring 12 goals in his firstthree games in temporary charge butwere forced to dig deep to emerge witha 2-0 win against a disciplined Newcastleside at St James's Park on Wednesday.

The victory leaves them in sixth spotin the table with 38 points, just threebehind Arsenal and six adrift of Chelsea.

Substitute Romelu Lukaku broke thedeadlock just 38 seconds after comingon midway through the second half,pouncing after Newcastle goalkeeperMartin Dubravka had spilled a fierceMarcus Rashford free kick and Rashfordhimself made sure of the points in the80th minute.

Manchester United bossed posses-sion but a resolute Newcastle defencekept clear-cut chances to a minimum,prompting Solskjaer to throw on Lukakuand Alexis Sanchez shortly after the hourmark.

The changes bore fruit immediate-ly and the interim boss will be equallypleased that United managed just theirthird clean sheet of the season in thePremier League.

"Finally we kept a clean sheet,"Solskjaer told Sky Sports.

"A very professional per-formance. We didn't hit theheights that we can do but wewere in control, kept pluggingaway and got the goals.

"A good first touch froma sub. When you see big RomeluLukaku running towards you, as akeeper you might take your handsaway. We were sluggish in the first half,it was like a testimonial, too many squarepasses."

Solskjaer is only the second managerin Manchester United history to win hisfirst four league games in charge of theclub, after Matt Busby in 1946.

�� ����������� ��It was a frustrating evening for

Chelsea, who dominated possessionbut lacked any cutting edge, maintain-

ing a worrying sequence forMaurizio Sarri's team.

His side failed to score for thethird time in their past fivePremier League games at StamfordBridge, raising more questionsabout Chelsea's need for a top-

class striker in the January transfer win-dow.

With Olivier Giroud sidelined aftersuffering an ankle injury in Sunday's winat Crystal Palace, Sarri opted to recallmisfiring striker Alvaro Morata.

���� 3*#�

Roger Federer relied on his trusted serve to beatStefanos Tsitsipas 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4) on Thursday and

give defending champion Switzerland a spot in theHopman Cup final.

The victory assured Switzerland's advancement,but Greece claimed a consolation 2-1 victory whenMaria Sakkari beat Belinda Bencic 6-3, 6-4 inwomen's singles.

Greece also won the mixed doubles 4-3 (4), 2-4,4-3 (3) in the Fast4 format.

The 37-year-old Federer's precision went upagainst Tsitsipas' power in the first set of the men'ssingles match, and not much separated the two. Eightgames were held at love.

"There was very little unforced errors and it wasreally good quality tennis," Federer said. "It could haveeasily gone three sets. For me it is about maintaininga good level of play and I am happy with my game."

Federer will be going for a record third HopmanCup title when the Swiss team faces either hostAustralia or Germany in Saturday's final.

"I will be excited to watch ittomorrow and see who we playin the final," Federer said. "Thisformat lends itself to some excit-ing tennis."

Federer lost only sevengames in wins over CameronNorrie and Frances Tiafoe butfound it tougher in his first match against Tsitsipas.

Federer trailed 4-1 in the first tiebreaker beforereeling off consecutive forehand winners to claw backinto it. Tsitsipas double-faulted at 5-5 and Federer thenwon the set with an ace.

The serve continued to dictate play until Federerhad break points in the ninth and 11th games but wasunable to convert. The 23-time Grand Slam cham-pion, however, raised his game in the tiebreaker witha perfect drop shot to take a 6-3 lead. He closed it outshortly after.

Federer's appearances at the past two HopmanCups were followed by Australian Open titles.

Earlier, Serena Williams beat Katie Boulter 6-1,7-6 (2) to complete an unbeaten Hopman Cup cam-paign in singles. With daughter Alexis Olympia inattendance, Williams was made to work in the sec-ond set before prevailing.

The winless United States, however, lost toBritain 2-1. Norrie upset Tiafoe 7-6 (4), 6-0 in men'ssingles and Britain won the mixed doubles 3-4 (2),4-3 (4), 4-1.

The 37-year-old Williams' hopes for a record thirdHopman Cup title ended when the United States waseliminated after losses to Greece and Switzerland.

Williams has slowly built momentum in her firsttournament since the US Open in September as sheeyes a record-equaling 24th Grand Slam singles title

in Melbourne."It was definitely good to play three singles match-

es here, and the mixed (doubles)," Williams said on-court after her singles match.

�����C �5��� ��� ������ ���Naomi Osaka called in her coach for advice on

how to swing momentum after losing the first set toAnastasija Sevastova, and it did the trick.

The US Open champion responded by conced-ing only five points in the next set on her way to a 3-6, 6-0, 6-4 win Thursday that secured her spot in theBrisbane International semifinals.

Kei Nishikori worked his own way out of a jamagainst 2017 champion Grigor Dimitrov when he wasdown a break in the second set of their quarterfinalmatch, winning six of the last seven games to clinchit 7-5, 7-5.

And so after the back-to-back matches on PatRafter Arena, two players from Japan, both seeded No2, were into the semifinals.

Bajin, a former hitting partner for SerenaWilliams, really just gave her a reality check. He toldOsaka to stay calm and wait for her opportunities.

"She's one of the best players in the world. I justhave to stay in there, and hopefully I'll get a chance,'"Osaka said. "I did, so I just kept trying to roll withit. He literally told me that."

On-court coaching is allowed at WTA events,but it is banned at Grand Slam tournaments.

The 21-year-old Osaka will play Lesia Tsurenko,a 7-5, 6-3 winner over Anett Kontaveit, in the semi-finals. She could rise to No 3 in the rankings nextweek - which would be a record high for a playerfrom Japan.

Nishikori, who became the highest-rankedmale player from Asia when he got to No 4 in thewake of his run to the US Open final in 2014, lostthe 2017 Brisbane final to Dimitrov. That is so fara one-off, with Nishikori now extending his careerrecord to 5-1 against the Bulgarian.

He will next play Jeremy Chardy, who beatJapanese qualifier Yasutaka Uchiyama 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (4) to reach the semifinals.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga got an easier path to thequarterfinals than expected, avoiding a second-round contest with 17-time Grand Slam championRafael Nadal, who withdrew with a thigh musclestrain.

Tsonga then beat Taro Daniel 7-6 (5), 6-3.

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Indian goalkeeper GurpreetSingh Sandhu feels the key to

India's success in the upcom-ing AFC Asian Cup will be inapproaching the games smart-ly, one at a time.

The continental tourna-ment is set to begin fromJanuary 5 in the UAE.

India have been clubbed inGroup A alongside Thailand,Bahrain and hosts UAE. Theyplay their first match onSunday against Thailand, fol-lowed by games against UAEand Bahrain on January 10 and14, respectively.

"No team will come intothe Asian Cup without doingtheir homework. I am sure theother three teams will hold usin high regards as well. All ofour three opponents are bigchallenges to face," Gupreet wasquoted as saying by the AllIndia Football Federation(AIFF) website.

"We have to be smart inour approach. We have to takeit one game at a time, look toget the best possible result inthe first game, and thenapproach the second matchaccordingly," he added.

Ranked 15th in Asia, Indiaplayed against three qualitysides — China, Oman andJordan — in their build-up tothe Asian Cup. The StephenConstantine-coached side drewgoal-less against China and

Oman and lost to Jordan 1-2.Sandhu insisted that for a

team to be successful, com-munication between defendersand goalkeepers is vital.

"Communication betweenthe defenders and goalkeeper isa hallmark of a strong team andin my opinion, we have donewell in that respect. Once youplay with each other and gainconfidence, it gets better. Themore you play together, thetrust level increases."

The goalkeeper also ratedthe current squad, that includesseveral young players, abovethe 2011 side.

"The 2011 side was filledwith a number of legends, all ofwhom were incredibly talent-ed, and played under an incred-ible coach. However, in termsof team development and play-ing under the same system fora long time, I feel the batch of2019 has the upper hand. Thedesire and the fire to learndefines our squad."

"I was the youngest playerin the 2011 team at 18, and thistime we have so many U-23players in the squad. It high-lights the development of thesport at the grassroots level inthe last 7-8 years," he said.

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Commonwealth Games Goldmedallist shooter Anish

Bhanwala is meticulously planninghis path to the 2020 Olympics andsays the first step in the "process"will be to secure a quota for TokyoGames in the upcoming WorldCup.

The 16-year-old Indian shot aCWG Games record score of 30 toclaim the top prize in the men's25m rapid fire pistol event last year.The victory made Anish, then 15,the country's youngest-ever Goldmedallist at the quadrennial event.

The Haryana-born shooter hasbagged several International titles including theCommon Wealth Shooting Championship 2017(Brisbane), ISSF World Cup 2018 (Guadalajara)and ISSF Junior World Cup 2018 (Sydney).

In 2017, the teenager made heads turn whenhe won the 25m standard pistol gold with aworld record score of 579 at the ISSF JuniorWorld Championships.

"My target is to do well in the World Cupsthis year, where quotas for the Olympics will beon offer. The main one is the World Cup in Delhiin February, it's in my home ground," Anish said.

"It's a step by step process, I am focusing onqualifications for the time being, once that isdone then I will think about the Olympics," headded.

The Shooting World Cups begin in Februarywith New Delhi hosting the first one for rifle andpistol events.

It will offer Indian shooters a chance tosecure Olympic quotas on their home turf. Tillnow only Apurvi Chandela and Anjum Moudgil

have managed to secure quotasfor the Olympics, both in thewomen's 10m air rifle event.

Asked about the disap-pointment of the Asian Games,where he failed to qualify forthe final event, the unfazedshooter said he wasn't toobothered by it.

"There is always pressureon us during the games, notjust the Asian Games. Mytraining was good and my firsthalf went well but the secondhalf was a little down. I missedthe finals by 2-3 points only,"Anish said.

The teenager had produceda fine performance in the qualifications but onthe second day, he could not reproduce that per-formance and finished ninth overall with a scoreof 576 at the Asian Games.

"I tried my best but I feel my performancewasn't that bad, you can miss out by a slightestof margins on certain days, it is a part and par-cel of the sport," he added.

Unlike other sports, shooting allows theyoungsters to participate in both the senior andjunior events. Such exposure has benefitted theyoung Indian brigade, including Anish, ManuBhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary.

"The number of participants has increased,youngsters taking part have also increased, it hasbecome very competitive now at the junior aswell as the senior level."

"It's good that we get to compete more —in the junior as well as the senior events. Ourconfidence also increases once we compete atthe senior competitions and after that juniorevents seem simpler," Anish said.

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Youth Olympic Silvermedallists Salima Tete and

Lalremsiami were included ina 33-member core probablegroup for the women's hock-ey national camp, beginning inBengaluru from Friday.

The camp to be held aheadof India's tour of Spain start-ing January 24 will be con-ducted under the watchfuleyes of chief coach SjoerdMarijne.

"We will be working ongetting to the right fitnesslevel in a short 20-day camp toplay matches during the team'stour to Spain. We also want to

train some new things wewant to implement in ourgame," Marijne said.

The Indian women's teamproduced some improved per-formances last year andjumped up the world rankingsto No 9. They also broughthome the Silver medal fromthe Asian Champions Trophyand Asian Games.

They also put up animpressive performance at theCommonwealth Games lastyear, where they lost toAustralia in semifinal.

Asked about the areas theteam needs to improve thisyear as they attempt to winOlympic qualification, Marijne

said: "Better finishing and cre-ating more scoring opportu-nities are the two key areas weneed to improve.

"Having someone likeAustralia's Glenn Turner wasgood but we can't expect thatwe will now score more goalsbecause of that 10-day camp.

"Every input will onlyimprove the process of scoringmore goals and this camp withGlenn was one of them. Heshared his experience fromhis career and those things canhelp players," he added.

Apart from Tete andLalremsiami, several seniorplayers retained their place inthe core group.

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Gujarat Fortunegiants pro-duced an impressive per-

formance on Thursday inMumbai as they beat UPYoddha 38-31 to enter the finalof Vivo Pro Kabaddi League sea-son 6.

Sachin was the star of thenight for Gujarat as he scored 10points and gotample supportfrom hisdefence.

For UPYoddha Nitesh Kumar scored 6tackle points and became thefirst defender in the history ofVIVO Pro Kabddi League toscore 100 tackle points in singleseason.

His fine effort went in vainas UP Yoddha raiders couldn'tproduce enough points andcrashed out of the tournament.

Prashanth Kumar Rai made

a two-point raid in the firstminute to give UP Yoddha 2-1lead. Sachin responded with atwo-point raid for GujaratFortunegiants to give his team 4-

2 lead. No tackle point was scored

in the first five minutes as bothteams were level at 5-5.

Prapanjan got into the act as

he made a two-point raid in the8th minute as GujaratFortunegiants opened a four-point lead.

Nitesh Kumar made a cou-

ple of successful tackles for UPYoddha as they came back tolevel the match at 11-11 in the15 th minute. GujaratFortunegiants inflicted the firstall out of the match to lead 19-14.

Gujarat Fortunegiants start-ed the second half in an impres-sive fashion as Sachin andPrapanjan picked up the raidpoints.

In the first 8 minutes of thesecond half Gujarat didn't let UPscore a single point as they wenton a 10-point run to lead 29-14.This included an all-out whichwas inflicted in the 27th minute.

Shrikant Jadhav tried toignite UP Yoddha's hopes of acomeback with a couple of suc-cessful raids.

In the 36 th minute UPYoddha trailed by five points butGujarat Fortunegiants showedcalm and composure to securea place in the final.

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But once again the formerReal Madrid star looked com-pletely bereft of touch and con-fidence.

"If you can score the firstgoal, you can find spaces so it'seasier," said a frustrated Sarri.

"We need to solve theproblem of the last 20 metres.In the last matches, we were infull control but it's not easy inthis moment to score the firstgoal."

Chelsea earlier on

Wednesday announced theyhad agreed terms withBorussia Dortmund for thesigning of US winger ChristianPulisic for a reported 58 mil-lion euros ($73 million). Hewill link up with the clubahead of the 2019/20 season.

In an astonishing game atBournemouth, the home sideshared six goals with Watfordin a helter-skelter first half butthere was no addition to thescoreline in the second half.

Andy Carroll was namedin the West Ham team to faceBrighton -- a year to the daysince he last started a matchbut Marko Arnautovic wasthe star for the London side,scoring a quickfire double torescue a 2-2 draw.

Elsewhere on Wednesday,10-man Huddersfield lost 2-1at home to Burnley, who alsofinished with 10 men, whileCrystal Palace beat Wolves 2-0 away from home.

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�����Top seeds Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharansaved six match points in an edge-of-the-seat thrilleragainst Leander Paes and Miguel Angel Reyes-Varelato move to the semifinals of the Tata OpenMaharashtra, here on Thursday.

After splitting the two sets, the Super TieBreaker turned out to be a cliffhanger in which Paesand his Mexican partner had as many as six chancesto close the match but the Asian Games Gold medal-lists held their nerves to remain alive.

At 8-8, Paes appeared to have served a double faultbut the chair umpire and the linesman did not calland a livid Bopanna began an argument with thematch official but to no avail.

The match had all the ingredients of a thriller inwhich the top seeds eventually prevailed 6-7(4), 6-4,17-15 after one hour and 45 minutes.

Bopanna and Sharan are playing their first tour-nament together on the Tour as a team. They joinedforces, keeping in mind the Tokyo Olympics. PTI

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