16
B esides the failure of demon- etisation to check the ram- pant use of black money in the just-concluded Assembly elec- tions in the five States, the alarming haul of drugs and narcotics has been the most worrying factor. From heroin to brown sugar to anti-depres- sants, the 17-crore haul indi- cated how deep the rot is. As for the cash recoveries by the Election Commission (EC), barring Chhattisgarh, the seizures — besides gold and sil- ver — almost doubled since the last Assembly elections in the other four States this time round. Of the seizures of over 300 crore, 170 crore was cash, with Telangana leading the way accounting for 115 crore. The Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram was thus one heady mix of cash, jewellery, liquor and drugs/narcotics. Interestingly, Chhattisgarh is the only State where overall seizure of cash, jewellery, drugs and liquor is lower this year as compared to the last Assembly polls in 2013. As per the Commission’s data, apart from the unac- counted money worth over 300 crore from the five States during the election campaign jewellery, gold, silver and plat- inum accounted for 25.39 crore. Booze also flowed freely in the States as the recoveries were whopping 17.29 lakh litres worth 53.51 crore. The value of other items including vehicles and illegal arms stood at 31.35 crore. But then, liquor apart, the new and the most disturbing trend that was observed this Assembly election was the use of drugs and narcotics in the five States during polls. The haul included brown sugar, smack, opium, ganja, cocaine, denatonium benzoate, methamphetamine, heroin, tablets of antidepressants Alprazolam and Tramadol. All this worth 16.85 crore. In Telangana, the Commission’s seizure stood at 137 crore which included 115.16 crore in cash and, 689 gram diamond, 147 gram plat- inum, 18 kg gold,106 kg silver worth 6.70 crore. As much as 3,754 kg drugs (ganja, denato- nium benzoate, cocaine, brown sugar, opium, afeem doodh) were seized since the announcement of election schedule in the first week of October. Former Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat too has pointed out that demon- etisation didn’t reduce the use of misuse of black money in elections. In fact, in some States more seizures were reported compared to previous years. Apart from cash, over 10 lakh litres of liquor worth 15 crore was seized across Telangana over the last one month. T he Uttar Pradesh Government on Saturday transferred Bulandshahr Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Krishna Bahadur Singh to the DGP office in Lucknow, five days after two people, includ- ing police inspector, were killed in violence in Syana police station area in Bulandshahr over the alleged cow slaughter. On Friday night, the UP Government had transferred the Circle Officer of Syana, Satya Prakash Sharma, and Chingravati police outpost in- charge Suresh Kumar. Meanwhile, Armyman Jitendra Malik, known as Jitu Fauzi, who is alleged to be behind the killing of inspector Subodh Kumar Singh, was arrested by the Army’s 22 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) from north Kashmir's Sopore, where he is posted, on Saturday. Malik has been shifted to Srinagar. “The accused soldier will be handed over to UP Police’s Special Task Force for further investigation,” said police. UP Principal Secretary (Home) Arvind Kumar on Saturday said that the Bulandshahr SSP will be replaced by Sitapur SP Prabhakar Chaudhary. Additional Director General (ADG) Intelligence SB Shiradkar had on Friday submitted a report on the Bulandshahr violence. The transfers are understood to be in line with the findings of the report on police handling of the situation. On December 3, Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh and a local youth, Sumit, were killed in violence over the alleged cow slaughter incident in Bulandshahr. The inspector and his team had gone to the village to tackle the violence when they came under attack. The UP Police has arrested nine accused in the Bulandshahr case but the main conspirator, Yogesh Raj, the dis- trict convener of the Bajrang Dal, is on the run. Kolkata: Stepping up efforts to make sure that the Bengal Government does not pose any more hurdles for its “rath yatras” on December 12, the West Bengal unit of the BJP filed caveat in the Supreme Court and the Calcutta High Court on Saturday. The Bengal Government will now have to give notice to the BJP if they move an appli- cation to the apex court against the HC bench order of Friday. Coming down heavily on the State Government for fail- ing to respond to letters of the BJP seeking permission for its “rath yatras”, a Division Bench of the Calcutta HC had on Friday directed Bengal Chief Secretary, Home Secretary and Director General of Police to sort out the yatra imbroglio by December 12 and inform the appellant (the BJP) about their decisions. The decision should be reasonable and not arbitrary, the Judges said. The court’s direction was described as a “big win for democracy” by BJP president Amit Shah. Agencies T he Congress on Saturday jumped into the defence of its leader Sonia Gandhi’s son- in-law Robert Vadra whose associates were raided by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) saying that people in power, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is scared “thinking that the exit polls are right” and worried about defeat in Assembly elections. A battery of top Congress leaders, including Kapil Sibal, Ahmed Patel and Abhishek Manu Singhvi, attacked the Government for the searches by the ED against three persons linked to Robert Vadra on Friday. “The people in power espe- cially PM is thinking that the exit polls are right and are scared. People in opposition are being targeted by sending IT, ED. I want to ask Modi rather blame him why such things are happening in his rule,” Sibal questioned at a Press conference in the evening after Singhvi had already lashed out at the Modi Government earlier in the day claiming that the raids were a reflection of “the highest degree of panic” of the ruling dispen- sation, “awaiting” poll defeats in the Assembly polls. Detailed report on P5 G anja and gold kept India’s anti-smuggling units on toes last fiscal. If the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized 10,000 kg ganja more in 2017-18 than the fiscal pre- ceding it, the seizure of gold more than doubled during the same period. The DRI seized a whop- ping 26,785 kg ganja in 2017- 18 in comparison to 16,197 kg in 2016-17. Incidentally, the seizures of psychotropic sub- stances were mostly made from South India that account- ed for 50 per cent of the haul. As for gold, 3,223 kg of the yellow metal worth 974 crore was seized in contrast to 1,422 kg worth 472 crore in 2016- 17. Majority of gold seizures was from the four metros which are high consumption centres in the country. In fact, the agency carried out a major operation on Thursday and Friday in Lucknow and Siliguri (West Bengal) and seized 66 kg gold worth 21 crore and arrested four persons who are being questioned on the larger net- work involved in the illicit business. The gold was smug- gled from the Indo-Bhutan border. In 2017-18 fiscal, the agency even busted four major factories involved in manu- facturing of synthetic drugs from Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Maharashtra leading to major seizures of Ketamine, Mephedrone, Ephedrine and Alprazolam and neutralised syndicates involved in manu- facture, packaging, transport and possible export of psy- chotropic substances and syn- thetic drugs. “Synthetic drugs pose an emerging threat to South-Asia in general and India in particular,” the agency warned in its latest report. The report, published by DRI, revealed that in case of illicit drugs, the number of seizures in the last fiscal increased to 78, up from 64 in 2016-17. Ganja is mostly transported through com- mercial vehicles by conceal- ments in false partitions, secret cavities and under cover cargo to avoid detec- tion by law enforcement agencies. A rmoured vehicles rolled through central Paris on Saturday as riot police clashed with “yellow vest” demonstra- tors, who set fire to barricades and hurled rocks in the latest demonstrations against President Emmanuel Macron. Shouts of “Macron, resign” mingled with tear gas on the Champs-Elysees avenue, which was the scene of the worst riot- ing in Paris in decades last week. Thick plumes of black smoke from fires could be seen rising high into the sky over the city. Meanwhile, around 70 people were arrested on Saturday in the Belgian capital Brussels during copycat “yellow vest” demonstrations rocking neighbouring France, Belgian police said. The area housing European institutions including the offices of the European Commission and the European Parliament was sealed off as a precautionary measure. Related reports on P7 T he Vice Chief of Army Lieutenant General Devraj Anbu averred that surgical strikes can again be carried out by the Indian Army if the sit- uation so warrants. In reply to a question at Indian Military Academy (IMA) here on Saturday, the officer said that the Army has proved its capabilities of car- rying out surgical strike in the recent past. “If the enemy resorts to some misadventure the army might go again for such strikes,” he affirmed. Quizzed on the role of women in the army and on the training being imparted to them at IMA Dehradun, he said that women are already performing multiple roles in the armed forces. Mentioning that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also laid emphasis on giving the women officers perma- nent commission in the army, Lt Gen Anbu said that the army has undertaken a long- drawn- out process to incor- porate the women in the armed forces and soon they would be seen in their new roles. On the question of making changes in the training of offi- cers in the wake of rising ter- ror strikes, Lt Gen Anbu said that the training is an evolving and continuous process in which the experiences of the past, both good and bad, are incorporated. Earlier on the day, while addressing the passing out con- tingent, Lt Gen Anbu said that the young officers should lead the men under them by show- ing leadership qualities by set- ting before them personal examples. Referring to the Indo-Pak war 1971 the victory day of which is celebrated on December 16, the Vice Chief of Army said that the war was the best example of a military blitzkrieg par- ticularly when the war had been won in 14 days. Exhorting the young offi- cers to take pride in the golden past of the army, he said that the lega- cy of victory must continue. Lt Gen Anbu further said that though the war technolo- gy is fast changing with time it is always the man behind the equipment who counts. He also cautioned the young offi- cers not to fall prey to the infor- mation warfare waged by the enemy which is continuing 24X7. “We must be on our guard and serve the country to the best of our ability,” he added. Lt Gen Anbu congratulat- ed the GDs on successful com- pletion of their training at IMA, and complimented them for the excellent parade, immaculate turnout as well as the crisp and energetic drill movements indicating the high standards of training and dis- cipline imbibed by the young Gentlemen Cadets. He also congratulated the Gentlemen Cadets of friendly foreign countries who also got commissioned.

 · ping 26,785 kg ganja in 2017-18 in comparison to 16,197 kg in 2016-17. Incidentally, the ... yellow metal worth 974 crore was seized in contrast to 1,422

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Page 1:  · ping 26,785 kg ganja in 2017-18 in comparison to 16,197 kg in 2016-17. Incidentally, the ... yellow metal worth 974 crore was seized in contrast to 1,422

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Besides the failure of demon-etisation to check the ram-

pant use of black money in thejust-concluded Assembly elec-tions in the five States, thealarming haul of drugs andnarcotics has been the mostworrying factor. From herointo brown sugar to anti-depres-sants, the �17-crore haul indi-cated how deep the rot is. Asfor the cash recoveries by theElection Commission (EC),barring Chhattisgarh, theseizures — besides gold and sil-ver — almost doubled since thelast Assembly elections in theother four States this timeround.

Of the seizures of over�300 crore, �170 crore wascash, with Telangana leadingthe way accounting for �115crore. The Assembly polls inMadhya Pradesh, Rajasthan,Telangana, Chhattisgarh andMizoram was thus one headymix of cash, jewellery, liquorand drugs/narcotics.

Interestingly, Chhattisgarhis the only State where overallseizure of cash, jewellery, drugsand liquor is lower this year ascompared to the last Assemblypolls in 2013.

As per the Commission’sdata, apart from the unac-counted money worth over�300 crore from the five Statesduring the election campaign

jewellery, gold, silver and plat-inum accounted for �25.39crore.

Booze also flowed freely inthe States as the recoverieswere whopping 17.29 lakhlitres worth �53.51 crore. Thevalue of other items includingvehicles and illegal arms stoodat �31.35 crore.

But then, liquor apart, thenew and the most disturbingtrend that was observed thisAssembly election was the useof drugs and narcotics in thefive States during polls. Thehaul included brown sugar,

smack, opium, ganja, cocaine,denatonium benzoate,methamphetamine, heroin,tablets of antidepressantsAlprazolam and Tramadol. Allthis worth �16.85 crore.

In Telangana, theCommission’s seizure stood at�137 crore which included�115.16 crore in cash and, 689gram diamond, 147 gram plat-inum, 18 kg gold,106 kg silverworth �6.70 crore. As much as3,754 kg drugs (ganja, denato-nium benzoate, cocaine, brownsugar, opium, afeem doodh)were seized since the

announcement of electionschedule in the first week ofOctober.

Former Chief ElectionCommissioner OP Rawat toohas pointed out that demon-etisation didn’t reduce the useof misuse of black money inelections. In fact, in someStates more seizures werereported compared to previousyears.

Apart from cash, over 10lakh litres of liquor worth �15crore was seized acrossTelangana over the last onemonth.

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The Uttar PradeshGovernment on Saturday

transferred Bulandshahr SeniorSuperintendent of Police (SSP)Krishna Bahadur Singh to theDGP office in Lucknow, fivedays after two people, includ-ing police inspector, were killedin violence in Syana policestation area in Bulandshahrover the alleged cow slaughter.

On Friday night, the UPGovernment had transferredthe Circle Officer of Syana,Satya Prakash Sharma, andChingravati police outpost in-charge Suresh Kumar.

Meanwhile, ArmymanJitendra Malik, known as JituFauzi, who is alleged to bebehind the killing of inspectorSubodh Kumar Singh, wasarrested by the Army’s 22Rashtriya Rifles (RR) fromnorth Kashmir's Sopore, wherehe is posted, on Saturday. Malikhas been shifted to Srinagar.

“The accused soldier willbe handed over to UP Police’s

Special Task Force for furtherinvestigation,” said police.

UP Principal Secretary(Home) Arvind Kumar onSaturday said that theBulandshahr SSP will bereplaced by Sitapur SPPrabhakar Chaudhary.

Additional DirectorGeneral (ADG) IntelligenceSB Shiradkar had on Fridaysubmitted a report on theBulandshahr violence. Thetransfers are understood to bein line with the findings of thereport on police handling of thesituation.

On December 3, InspectorSubodh Kumar Singh and alocal youth, Sumit, were killedin violence over the alleged cowslaughter incident inBulandshahr. The inspectorand his team had gone to thevillage to tackle the violencewhen they came under attack.

The UP Police has arrestednine accused in theBulandshahr case but the mainconspirator, Yogesh Raj, the dis-trict convener of the BajrangDal, is on the run.

Kolkata: Stepping up efforts tomake sure that the BengalGovernment does not poseany more hurdles for its “rathyatras” on December 12, theWest Bengal unit of the BJPfiled caveat in the SupremeCourt and the Calcutta HighCourt on Saturday.

The Bengal Governmentwill now have to give notice tothe BJP if they move an appli-cation to the apex court againstthe HC bench order of Friday.

Coming down heavily onthe State Government for fail-ing to respond to letters of theBJP seeking permission for its“rath yatras”, a Division Benchof the Calcutta HC had onFriday directed Bengal ChiefSecretary, Home Secretary andDirector General of Police tosort out the yatra imbroglio byDecember 12 and inform theappellant (the BJP) about theirdecisions. The decision shouldbe reasonable and not arbitrary,the Judges said.

The court’s direction wasdescribed as a “big win fordemocracy” by BJP presidentAmit Shah. Agencies

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The Congress on Saturdayjumped into the defence of

its leader Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra whoseassociates were raided by theEnforcement Directorate (ED)saying that people in power,especially Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, is scared“thinking that the exit polls areright” and worried about defeatin Assembly elections.

A battery of top Congressleaders, including Kapil Sibal,Ahmed Patel and AbhishekManu Singhvi, attacked theGovernment for the searchesby the ED against three persons

linked to Robert Vadra onFriday.

“The people in power espe-cially PM is thinking that theexit polls are right and arescared. People in opposition arebeing targeted by sending IT,ED. I want to ask Modi ratherblame him why such things arehappening in his rule,” Sibalquestioned at a Press conferencein the evening after Singhvi hadalready lashed out at the ModiGovernment earlier in the dayclaiming that the raids were areflection of “the highest degreeof panic” of the ruling dispen-sation, “awaiting” poll defeats inthe Assembly polls.

Detailed report on P5

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Ganja and gold kept India’santi-smuggling units on

toes last fiscal. If the Directorateof Revenue Intelligence (DRI)seized 10,000 kg ganja more in2017-18 than the fiscal pre-ceding it, the seizure of goldmore than doubled during thesame period.

The DRI seized a whop-ping 26,785 kg ganja in 2017-18 in comparison to 16,197 kgin 2016-17. Incidentally, theseizures of psychotropic sub-stances were mostly madefrom South India that account-ed for 50 per cent of the haul.

As for gold, 3,223 kg of theyellow metal worth �974 crorewas seized in contrast to 1,422kg worth �472 crore in 2016-17. Majority of gold seizureswas from the four metroswhich are high consumptioncentres in the country.

In fact, the agency carriedout a major operation onThursday and Friday inLucknow and Siliguri (WestBengal) and seized 66 kg goldworth �21 crore and arrestedfour persons who are beingquestioned on the larger net-

work involved in the illicitbusiness. The gold was smug-gled from the Indo-Bhutanborder.

In 2017-18 fiscal, theagency even busted four majorfactories involved in manu-facturing of synthetic drugsfrom Tamil Nadu, Telanganaand Maharashtra leading tomajor seizures of Ketamine,Mephedrone, Ephedrine andAlprazolam and neutralisedsyndicates involved in manu-facture, packaging, transportand possible export of psy-chotropic substances and syn-thetic drugs. “Synthetic drugspose an emerging threat toSouth-Asia in general andIndia in particular,” the agencywarned in its latest report.

The report, published byDRI, revealed that in case ofillicit drugs, the number ofseizures in the last fiscalincreased to 78, up from 64in 2016-17. Ganja is mostlytransported through com-mercial vehicles by conceal-ments in false partitions,secret cavities and undercover cargo to avoid detec-tion by law enforcementagencies.

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Armoured vehicles rolledthrough central Paris on

Saturday as riot police clashedwith “yellow vest” demonstra-tors, who set fire to barricadesand hurled rocks in the latestdemonstrations againstPresident Emmanuel Macron.

Shouts of “Macron, resign”mingled with tear gas on theChamps-Elysees avenue, whichwas the scene of the worst riot-ing in Paris in decades lastweek. Thick plumes of blacksmoke from fires could beseen rising high into the skyover the city.

Meanwhile, around 70people were arrested onSaturday in the Belgian capitalBrussels during copycat “yellowvest” demonstrations rockingneighbouring France, Belgianpolice said.

The area housingEuropean institutions includingthe offices of the EuropeanCommission and the EuropeanParliament was sealed off as aprecautionary measure.

Related reports on P7

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The Vice Chief of ArmyLieutenant General Devraj

Anbu averred that surgicalstrikes can again be carried outby the Indian Army if the sit-uation so warrants.

In reply to a question atIndian Military Academy(IMA) here on Saturday, theofficer said that the Army hasproved its capabilities of car-rying out surgical strike in therecent past. “If the enemyresorts to some misadventurethe army might go again forsuch strikes,” he affirmed.

Quizzed on the role ofwomen in the army and on thetraining being imparted tothem at IMA Dehradun, hesaid that women are alreadyperforming multiple roles in

the armed forces.Mentioning that Prime

Minister Narendra Modi hasalso laid emphasis on givingthe women officers perma-nent commission in the army,Lt Gen Anbu said that thearmy has undertaken a long-drawn- out process to incor-porate the women in thearmed forces and soon theywould be seen in their newroles.

On the question of makingchanges in the training of offi-cers in the wake of rising ter-ror strikes, Lt Gen Anbu saidthat the training is an evolvingand continuous process inwhich the experiences of thepast, both good and bad, areincorporated.

Earlier on the day, whileaddressing the passing out con-tingent, Lt Gen Anbu said thatthe young officers should leadthe men under them by show-ing leadership qualities by set-ting before them personalexamples. Referring to the

Indo-Pak war1971 the victoryday of which iscelebrated onDecember 16,the Vice Chief ofArmy said thatthe war was thebest example ofa militaryblitzkrieg par-ticularly whenthe war hadbeen won in 14days.

Exhortingthe young offi-cers to takepride in thegolden past ofthe army, he said that the lega-cy of victory must continue.

Lt Gen Anbu further saidthat though the war technolo-gy is fast changing with time itis always the man behind theequipment who counts. Healso cautioned the young offi-cers not to fall prey to the infor-mation warfare waged by the

enemy which is continuing24X7. “We must be on ourguard and serve the country tothe best of our ability,” headded.

Lt Gen Anbu congratulat-ed the GDs on successful com-pletion of their training atIMA, and complimented themfor the excellent parade,

immaculate turnout as well asthe crisp and energetic drillmovements indicating the highstandards of training and dis-cipline imbibed by the youngGentlemen Cadets.

He also congratulated theGentlemen Cadets of friendlyforeign countries who also gotcommissioned.

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Love in the time of catastrophe,especially a disaster as recent inpublic memory as the

Kedarnath tsunami, is pregnant withpossibilities and this RonnieScrewvala production for most partof the film lives up to theexpectations. The brewing inter-religion romance between Sara AliKhan and Sushant Singh Rajput ispeppery enough to hold much ofyour attention even though theimminent deluge that wouldeventually sweep away everything isconstantly knocking the doors ofyour mind.

You get to wait endlessly for thedisaster while unravelling thecommon nuts and bolts of a lovestory between a pandit ki beti and amusalmaan pitthuwala in a BholeyBaba ka pilgrim town. Sushant makeshis presence felt not just with his

dimpled cheeks but also the effort heputs into living the part of a hesitantboy who knows his limits when itcomes to the girl he is romancing.Rajput gives you many moments inthe film as does debutante Sara AliKhan.

She is feisty, full of verve anddisplays a body language which goeswith her bindaas take-it-all attitudewith which she graces the screen withall the pedigree that comes from theKhan khandan of patiala.

Together they stitch up the filmtill the deluge builds up to breach allbarriers of life and take 4300 peopleto their watery grave. The credits tellyou 70000 are still missing since the2013 catastrophe.

Going by that figure alone, onewould have wanted to know moreabout the tragedy than one gets toknow through this big canvas, wellshot, slim on music film whichengages the audience nevertheless.The debate will be on whether thelove angle could have been the sidestory and the disaster notes kept on atidal high. For me, Kedarnath workas a good combination story told anddepicted excellently.

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All the human emotionsof betrayal obsessionanger jealousy and

revenge are the nuts andbolts of this machine centricfreaky post apocalypticaction adventure.

The good news is thateven if you are sparepartsallergic, you will get caughtin marvelling at the superhuman imagination that hasbeen put into the movie toshow you how London is atanker city on wheels headedto collide and destroyanything that comes in itsway.

Hollywood’s cinematicimagination has long beenrunning wild and MortalEngines is a quantum butintoxicating leap in thatdirection. The wheel city of

London looks amazinglysimilar to a pirate ship onTanker crawlies and theentire story of revenge,ambition and survival mixwell into the well-knitscenario which keeps you onthe hook for the entire show.Brilliant localing and specialeffects get you going in amanner that may evensurprise your responses.

A must film to watch andenjoy.

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As possession films go,this one, for once, is ina totally new setting

— the morgue where deadbodies come in withclockwork regularity. It isdark, dingy and spookydespite the gizmotic interiorswhere you can fingerprintthe bodies and pack them offhygienically. But whenHannah Grace is wheeled inall hell and fear break looseand the audience never haveenough of it. A moderatelyfearful horror movie whichcomes with an adult tag.

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The formidable Indian Armyhas got a fillip on Saturday

when living up to its reputationof being a production line ofofficers, the Indian MilitaryAcademy (IMA), Dehradunprovided 347 young officers toit after a spectacular Passing outParade (PoP). Apart fromthem, 80 Foreign GentlemenCadets (FGC) belonging tosome friendly countries alsopassed out from the portals ofthe esteemed academy. Theseofficers were part of 143Regular and 126 TechnicalGraduate Courses of IMA.

Against the backdrop of therising sun, the parade led by theGurvir Singh Talwar marchedto the drill square of the historicChetwode Hall.

The parade marched inperfect harmony to the tunes of‘Col Bogey’ and ‘Sare Jahan SeAcha.’ The synergy and enthu-siasm of the cadets during theparade was regularly applaud-ed by the audience which con-sisted of military officers, theirfamilies, Government officersand the family members of thenewly commissioned officers.

A ceremonial Guard ofHonour was presented to the

Chief Guest and ReviewingOfficer (RO), the Vice Chief ofArmy Staff, LieutenantGeneral, D Anbu, the IMACommandant Lt Gen S K Jhaand the Deputy CommandantIMA, Major General J S Nehra.

In a departure fromnorms, retired officers likeCol Rakesh Nayar, Major GenRajendra Singh, Lt General KK Khanna and Lt Gen G S Negiwere also provided ceremoni-al welcome in recognition fortheir services to the academy.

After the parade, the ROpresented awards to the GCs.The prestigious Sword ofHonour and Gold medal forstanding first in the order ofmerit in Regular Course werepresented to Arjun Thakurwho also commanded theparade.

The Silver medal forclinching the second slot in theoverall merit in RegularCourse was handed over toGurvir Singh Talwar while theBronze medal for GC standingsecond in order of merit fromthe Regular Course was pre-sented to Guruvansh SinghGosal.

In Technical GraduateCourse, Harsh Bansiwal waspresented with the Silver medal

for emerging first in the over-all merit.

Bishal Chandra Wajee ofBhutan was bestowed with theSilver medal for being the bestForeign Gentlemen Cadet(FGC) of the PoP. The Chief ofArmy Staff banner was hand-ed over to the SangroCompany for standing firstamong 16 companies of acad-emy in the autumn term-2018.

Audience were thrilledwhen three Cheetah helicoptersflew past the drill square,throwing petals over themarching contingent when itentered the Chetwode buildingfor the ceremonial Antim Pag(last step). This step markstheir metamorphosis into offi-cers of the Indian Army fromthe cadet of the academy.

After the PoP, the contin-gent headed to sprawlingSomnath stadium for pippingceremony where proud parentsput epaulets of officers on theshoulders of the young officers.After this ceremony was over,the young officers took oath toserve the nation while the sta-dium erupted in celebration asthe young officers celebratedtheir new status as officers ofthe India Army following anarduous training.

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The sprawling SomnathStadium witnessed medley

of emotions flying around afterthe passing out parade was overas the proud parents putepaulets on the shoulders oftheir equally proud sons afterthey embarked on a new chap-ter in their lives.

Tears of joy, smiles reflect-ing years of untiring hard work,

warm hugs and wild celebra-tions coalesced as the newofficers accompanied by theirfamily members resolved toserve the country till the lastdrop of their blood.

Eyes of Gulam Mustafa, abutcher from Sitamadhi Bihar,turned moist when asked abouthis feeling when his sonMohammad Qumrulzaman isbeing commissioned in theIndian Army. He said that it is

dream come true for the entirefamily. “I have five daughtersand one son. I wish I have moresons so that all of them canserve the country by joining thearmy.’’ His son said that he hadjoined the Army as a sepoyafter passing class XII. “Theacademy is the place whichinspired me to become an offi-cer. My dream was fulfilledwhen I was selected for ArmyCadet College (ACC),” he said.

While Qumrulzaman was

the first officer in his familyserving in the Army as officersis a norm for Joon family fromRohtak Haryana.

On the day Aaryaman Joongot commissioned in Jammuand Kashmir Rifles which hap-pens to be the unit of hisfather Brigadier S S Joon. Thefather looked excited to see hisbeing commissioned into hisown unit. “It is indeed greatthat the tradition of serving inthe army continues in the fam-

ily,” he said beamingly.Interestingly, his daughterAkanksha Joon too passedfrom IMA in 2015 and she isnow serving in the IndianArmy. To add to the family’stradition, Akanksha is marriedto Major Prerak Joshi ofGarhwal Rifles.

Mayank Joshi, a native ofDwarahat in Pithoragarh dis-trict of Uttarakhand, had beeninspired when he had seen the

army officers from close quar-ters at Defence ServicesOfficers Institute (DSOI),Dhaulakuan in New Delhiwhere his father, Hansa DuttJoshi served as a civilian staff.He said that after completinghis B.Tech from PetroleumUniversity Dehradun, he hadlanded in a job in a big privatefirm. “But I was not happywithin. The Army beckonedme,” he said. The joy was writ

large on the faces of octoge-narian Balbir Singh Rawatand his wife Sunpati Devi astheir grandson Vivek Rawatbecame the first officer oftheir village Sarnol locatednear the Indo-China borderin Uttarkashi distr ict .Similarly, Rahul Bisht ofRaipur in Dehradun has alsobecome the first officer in the

family.By becoming an officer,

Navdeep Sharma made hisfamily, living in Narnaund ofHissar in Haryana engaged infarming, proud. His fatherMahavir Prasad said, eyestwinkling in pride, that hissecond son too is undergoingtraining at Officers TrainingAcademy (OTA) in Chennai.

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Mercury is likely to dipfurther across the State

with the possibility of groundfrost forming in the hills andmist forming in the plains ofthe State during the morninghours on Sunday. However,the climate would remain gen-erally dry across the State onthe day, said the regional mete-orological centre in its weath-er forecast.

The long-awaited processof mercury dip has already setin, bringing the feel of real, bit-ing winter. The weather officerssaid that the mercury wouldcontinue to dip now for somedays.

As per the weather forecastissued by the centre onSaturday, ground frost mightform at places in the hills dur-ing the morning hours while

the morning would be gener-ally foggy in the plains of thestate. The sky would be partlycloudy to generally clear,though there is little likeli-hood of rain anywhere in theState on Sunday.

Though the climate wouldremain generally dry inDehradun on Sunday mistmight envelop a large swatheof the district during the earlymorning hours of the day,according to the forecast. The

weather men further said thatthe narrowing of the gulfbetween the maximum andthe minimum temperaturesaccounts for the real winterfeel. The less the gulf themore the chill, they said andadded that both the maximumand the minimum tempera-tures would progressivelycome down in the comingdays.

Dehradun might wake upto a foggy morning and the

minimum temperature is like-ly settle at around 6 degreeCelsius. On Saturday too, theminimum temperature hov-ered in the neighbourhood of6 degree Celsius, a little belowthe normal.

In Dehradun, while themaximum temperature set-tled at 22.8 degree Celsius,normal, the minimum was6.7 degree Celsius, one notchbelow the normal.

Elsewhere in the state, inPantnagar, the maximum andminimum temperatures wererecorded at 23.1 degree Celsiusand 4.8 degree Celsius, respec-tively. In Mukteshwar, themaximum and minimum tem-peratures were recorded at12.9 degree Celsius and 3.9degree Celsius. In New Tehri,the maximum and minimumtemperatures recorded were16.5 degree Celsius and 5degree Celsius respectively.

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“The training here is one ofthe toughest in the world,

but I wish it were even tougherbecause it brings the best outof one,” said a beaming ArjunThakur, the recipient of pres-tigious Sword of Honour. Sonof a college lecturer inHamirpur Himachal Pradesh,Thakur had been admitted atthe prestigious RashtriyaIndian Military College (RIMC) Dehradun in class VIII.After which he had joinedNDA Pune and completed histraining at IMA with flyingcolours.

Thakur said buoyantly thatthe Indian Army binds thenation with its character beingnon-communal. Like Thakur ,the recipient of silver medal,Gurveer Singh Talwar too hasRIMC as his alma mater. Hesaid that the regime here fol-lows the rule ‘the more you

sweat in peace the less youbleed in war’. He also exhort-ed the youth to join the armedforces as it is the noblest of allprofessions.

While the gold and silvermedalists had RIMC back-ground, the bronze medalistGurvansh Singh Gosal on theother hand had his schoolingfrom Ropar in Punjab. He

joined the armed forcespreparatory school, an enter-prise of Punjab Government,from where he received theimpetus to join the IndianArmy as an officer.

He said triumphantly thathe has been commissioned inthe unit of Sikh Regimentwhich had won the momen-tous Saragarhi war.

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Away from the limelight,the instructors of the

Indian Military Academy(IMA) conveyed their bestwishes to the young officersthey had trained over the pasttwelve months. They justlyprided themselves on the factthat they have succeeded inthe tough task of transform-ing the boys into invinciblemilitary professionals andleaders.

A veteran who hadtrained over 3000 youngstersduring his stints in NationalDefence Academy (NDA)Khadakwasla, Pune and IMADehradun, Subedar Major(SM) Sultan Singh Shekhawatsaid that an instructor must besupremely fit and motivated tojustify their monumental role.“ We are like mothers wholove, care and scold her chil-dren when they grow up,’’ hesaid.

The young officers tooappreciate the role played bythe instructors in new-makingthem in the desired mould.“The instructors of the IMAare doubtless the best men inthe field. They are really hardtask masters. We learn a lotfrom them,’’ said a GC.

The instructors are select-ed by an elaborate process.The IMA has a drill course forthe instructors and the threeto four selected candidatesfrom each regiment are sentfor this course.

After the completion ofthe course, the instructorsare placed for a period of threeyears in the prestigious train-ing academy.

After they are transferredfrom IMA they are taken backin their respective regimentsat regimental training centres.The IMA has Drill Instructors(DI), Physical Instructors (PI),Weapon Instructors (WI) andField Instructors (FI).

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The Vidhan Sabha SpeakerPrem Chand Agarwal said

that the just-concluded WinterSession of UttarakhandAssembly had functionedsmoothly for four days sans anywork adjournment. He wasaddressing the media personsat his office at Vidhan Sabha onSaturday, a day after the sessionended.

He said that the formergeneral secretary of Lok SabhaG C Malhotra had also appre-ciated the proceedings ofUttarakhand Vidhan Sabha.“The House functioned for 16hours and 17 minutes duringthe winter session. Four billswere presented in the House incourse of the session. In all, 70petitions under Rule 300 werereceived during the sessionout of which 11 were accepted.Besides, in the course of thesession, the chair gave directionto review the idea of setting updistrict development authority

in the wake of problems beingfaced by the people in con-struction of houses in the ruralareas,” he said.

He further said that thechair had directed theGovernment to act on thecomplaint that the Governmentofficers are not inclined torespond to the questions placedin Vidhan Sabha under Rule300. “This is a serious com-plaint and it must be lookedinto seriously,” the Speaker

added.

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Dehradun:The State Congresswould celebrate the 72nd birth-day of the former Congresspresident and the chairperson ofUnited Progressive Alliance(UPA) Sonia Gandhi as‘Communal Harmony Day’ onSunday. Informing the State party vice-president Surya Kant Dhasmanasaid on Saturday that thePradesh Congress Committee(PCC) president Pritam Singhhas taken the decision to cele-brate birthday of Sonia Gandhiin an appropriate manner inview of the BJP’s desperate bidto polarise the people on thecommunal lines. He furthersaid that Singh has directed allthe district party chiefs to organ-ise seminars on the occasion.

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A‘Legal Aid cum LegalAwareness Camp’ was

organised by the ‘Legal Aid Celland ADR Association’ of theUPES School of Business (SoB)in collaboration with theDistrict Legal Authority,Dehradun for the benefit of theresidents of village Dunga(Prem Nagar) in Dehradun.The camp held at Dunga villagewas themed on ‘ChildrenRights: Child Education Rights.’The former district judge andregistrar general of the HighCourt, Uttarakhand V KMaheshwari presided over thecamp.

Arun Dhand, senior direc-tor, Public Affairs, UPES,shared that the camp was heldto assist the residents of its

adjoining vil-lages with theirlegal issues. “Theagenda of thiscamp wasfocused on thef u n d a m e n t a lright of childeducation,” hesaid.

In hisa d d r e s s ,R a d h e s h y a mPrasad, associateprofessor and faculty coordi-nator, Legal Aid Cell said,“The Legal Aid Cell has beenestablished to provide appro-priate legal aid to and raiseawareness among the localswithout any charge for thesame. The cell is functionalevery Tuesday and Thursday atthe Kandoli campus of the uni-

versity.” Thereafter, a skit by the

cultural committee on the‘Child Education & itsImportance’ was held. Thetheme of the skit revolvedaround eradicating financialindifference as regards thechildren’s basic preliminaryeducation.

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The top leadership ofShiromani Akali Dal, led

by former chief ministerParkash Singh Badal, his sonand party president SukhbirSingh Badal and former min-ister Bikram Singh Majithia onSaturday performed “JodaSewa” service (cleaning ofshoes of devotees) as part of aSikh ritual after the Ardas atAkal Takht for seeking for-giveness for the past mistakes.

The leaders, who reachedAmritsar on Saturday to seekapology from the highest Sikhtemporal seat for mistakescommitted knowingly andunknowingly during their 10years tenure in Punjab, alsoperformed the service ofcleaning utensils at GoldenTemple.

An Akhand Path (three-day long uninterrupted recit-ing of Sri Guru Granth Sahibji) also commenced at GoldenTemple on behalf of the partyand many SAD leaders ,including members of the corecommittee of the party, werepresent on the occasion.

The decision to seek for-

giveness was taken by theparty's core committee meet-ing held on Thursday in thebackdrop of the party facingsevere criticism over severalincidents pertaining to sacri-lege of Guru Granth Sahib andpolice firing incidents in 2015that had taken place duringSAD-BJP regime.

The Badal family is in theeye of strorm following theirindictment by the Justice(Retd) Ranjit SinghCommission which wasformed to investigate over 100cases of sacrilege of holy GuruGranth Sahib and police firingon the Sikhs who were protest-ing against inaction in sacri-lege cases. Two Sikh youthwere killed in police firing atBargari and several got injuredin police action at Kotkapurain 2015. The commission hadheld Parkash Singh Badalresponsible for the sacrilegeand firing incidents.

Akali Dal was also in theeye of storm over the issue ofgranting pardon to Dera SachaSauda Chief Gurmeet RamRahim Singh in a 2007 blas-phemy case and which (par-don) was later withdrawn bythe Akal Takht. Even Taksali

(old guard) leaders includingRanjit Singh Brhampura,Rattan Singh Ajnala and SewaSingh Sekhwan, who had beenexpelled from the primarymembership of Akali Dal, hadblamed the party's leadership

for causing “irreparable dam-age” to the party.

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Soon after the apology,

Punjab Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh ridiculedthe SAD leadership forindulging in political theatricsin the name of religion withtheir farcical display of regretover the misdeeds committed

during their 10-year misrule.In a statement, the Chief

Minister lambasted the Badalclan and other party leaders &MLAs for misusing religion togarner public support, whichthey had completely lost overthe past two years.

He expressed shock overthe failure of former chiefminister Parkash Singh Badaland SAD president SukhbirSingh Badal to admit theirmistakes even now, when theyhad approached the AkalTakht for forgiveness. TheBadals know very well whatwere the mistakes they hadcommitted during their tenureand yet had chosen to call theirmisdeeds `any inadvertenterrors’, pointed out CaptAmarinder Singh, flaying theAkali leadership for once againtaking refuge in religion to fur-ther their political interests.

It was obvious that theBadals had their eyes on theforthcoming Lok Sabha elec-tions and the apology dramahad been enacted for thatpurpose, said the ChiefMinister. Had they been sin-cere in their apology, theywould not have chosen to givetheir misdeeds the garb of`inadvertent errors’ but wouldhave had the decently andcourage to admit to their

crimes of omission and com-mission, he added.

He cited the massive crit-icism faced by the Badals fromtheir own senior party leaders,who had been expelled fromthe Akali primary leadershiprecently. With their party splitwide open, and faced withtotal alienation from the dis-illusioned people of Punjab,the Badals were now resorting,once again, to political gim-mickry in a desperate bid toregain some of the lost polit-ical ground in the run-up tothe parliamentary elections,that are less than six monthsaway, the Chief Ministeradded.

Capt Amarinder chal-lenged the Badals to come outopenly to acknowledge theirmistakes to prove their sin-cerity to the people, if theyreally wanted to be forgiven fortheir misdeeds.

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Aam Aadmi Party MPfrom Sangrur, BhagwantMann on Saturday lashed outat Badals for again trying tobefool people of state by cre-ating drama of seeking apolo-gy for their past mistakes. Hecalled the move of Badals to

visit Sri Darbar Sahib andperform seva as their biggestever political drama.

In a statement, Mann saidthat the almighy bestow bless-ings on those who commitmistakes unknowingly butBadals have destroyed thestate knowingly by lootingthe wealth of Punjab. He saidanticipating the end of theirpolitical career, they are tryingto again befool the people ofstate by using religious tools.

Asking Badals to explainto people of state about theirmistakes for that they areseeking apology, Mann saidBadals have now accepted thatthey are responsible for dese-cration of Sri Guru GranthSahib, suicide of farmers andgrabbing the control overresources of state. He saidBadal duo are shrewd politi-cians and have always usedreligion to divert the attentionof people from core issues.

Mann said that Badalshave now been exposed in thecourt of people and can notbefool the people with theircheap tactics. He said thatdrama of Badals can not bringback the Sikh yougsters killedby police at Bargari, farmerscommitted suicide and thosedied with the drugs duringAkali rule.

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Defence experts on Saturdaycalled for development of

more indigenous equipment ofInformation Warfare in thecountry to build an edgeagainst adversaries in the bat-tlefield.

Participating in a discus-sion on ‘Information Warfare-the new face of war’, Lt General(Retd.) Vijay Oberoi saiddespite major advancements inthe field, India was still bank-ing on Information WarfareTechniques imported fromother countries, which could bevery fatal. He said that at a timewhen all forms of weapons,whether nuclear, conventionalor sub conventional, were beingmanaged by computers it wasnot good that we were stillbanking on equipment madeby others.

In his address, Lt General(Retd.) RS Panwar said thatwhile countries like US, Chinaand Russia had already takenconcrete steps to strengthentheir Information Warfaretechniques, India was still totake an appropriate call on it.He said that like Army, Navy,

Air force, Space and CyberDomain, it was also a part ofthe modern warfare.

Addressing the gathering,Lieutenant General (Retd.) SPKochar said that InformationWarfare must be seen as anenabler to support theCommander during the waroperations. He also advocatedthat every Jawan who enters thetraining centre be IT qualified.

Meanwhile, the major fac-tors which triggered the 1962-Indo-China war were discussedat length during a panel dis-cussion - Over Hang Of TheSino-India War Of 1962 AndToday--by former top armyofficials, film-makers and mil-itary authors.

The panelists includedMajor General (retd) G.G.Dwivedi who retired asAssistant Chief IntegratedDefense Staff (strategic), MajorGeneral P.J.S Sandhu (retd)veteran of 1971 Indo-Pak war,Lieutenant General J. S.Cheema (retd), film-makerand military historian ShivKumar Verma and ClaudeArpi, author of –The Fate ofTibet.

Another session saw

experts advocate a level playingfield for private entrepreneursfor boosting Defence produc-tion in the country in order tomake the country self reliant inmilitary hardware.

Taking part in a discussionon Military Industrial Baseand Make in India, formerChief of Indian Army General(Retd.) VP Malik said thatIndia was importing 14% of thetotal arms and ammunition

globally, which was more thanwhat China and Pakistanimport collectively. He saidthat in 1992, the DefenceReseasrch and DevelopmentOrganisation had chalked outa 10-year plan under which thethen trend of 80% import ofweapons and 20% export wasto be reversed within ten years.However, General Malik saidthat in 2005 it was found thatexports had increased to just

30% and imports haddecreased to 70%.

In his address, Lt General(Retd.) KJ Singh also laid stresson status check and formulat-ing future strategies on pro-ducing weapons under Make inIndia.

Vice Admiral (Retd.) HSMalhi called for a paradigmshift in Defence Production.

During a discussion on“Armour Operations of the

1965 War”, Lt Gen TS Shergill(Retd) said a mix of cohesivestrategy and aggression paiddividends for India during the1965 war with Pakistan.

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To ensure better interfacebetween public and the armedforces, defence experts onSaturday emphasised the needto bring far more openness indefence matters to mobilisepublic opinion in the largerinterest of national security.

They were also of the opin-ion that there should no politi-cisation of the defence forces,which was gradually creepinginto the system.

This came out during aninteractive session on `Valour,History, Politics and Media’with columnist Vir Sanghvion the second day of MilitaryLiterature Festival-2018 here atthe Lake Club.

The panalists included Lt.Gen (Retd) N S Brar, Lt.General (Retd) T S Shergill, UKbased Brig. Justin Maciejewski,NDTV Channel Head Arati

Singh, besides Actors SonuSood and Gurmeet Chaudhary.

The defence experts alsounderscored the need to havedirect connect between com-mon masses and armed forcesto realise the hardships faced bythe army personal and their24X7 arduous nature of duty tosafeguard our borders frominternal as well as externalaggression.

Lt Gen. (Retd) N S Brarunderlined the need for generaldebates in the public domainon matters related to NationalSecurity and defence forces.Thus, intimate interface wasrequired more frequentlybetween the Government anddefence forces on issues ofhigher defence management,he added.

The panelists felt that reg-ular media interaction shouldbe held to dispel misconcep-tions while reporting militaryaffairs far more accurately toensure its credibility on the onehand and achieve the ultimateobjective of national securityon the other.

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Dwelling on the role of cin-ema in portraying valour of thearmed forces, the panalists andaudience largely appreciatedthe contribution of Bollywoodin producing films like Haqiqat,Border, Lakshay and therecently launched ‘Paltan’ toshowcase the gallantry deeds ofour brave soldiers.

Participating in the dis-cussions, actor Sonu Sood andco-star Gurmeet Chaudhary ofHindi movie ‘Paltan’, directedby JP Dutta, gave a briefaccount about an action-wardrama based on incident of1967 Indo-China. Sonu said thefilm vividly presented the real-time war account, thus por-traying the patriotic spirit ofIndian soldiers with the objec-tive of imbibing the spirit ofnationalism amongst the coun-trymen, especially the young-sters.

Several serving and retiredmilitary personnel, historians,foreign military delegates, aca-demicians and students active-ly participated in the session.

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The Second NationalConference of the

Computer Committees of theHigh Courts was inauguratedon Saturday at ChandigarhJudicial Academy in the pres-ence of Justice Hemant Gupta,Judge, Supreme Court of India,

Justice Krishna Murari, ChiefJustice, High Court of Punjaband Haryana and Justice SuryaKant, Chief Justice, High Courtof Himachal Pradesh.

The two days conferencewith the theme “e-CourtsProject – Exploring NewHorizons”, would provide aplatform for deliberations

amongst all the stake holders ofe-Courts Project i.e.Department of Justice, e-Committee of the SupremeCourt of India, ComputerCommittees of High Courts,Central Project Coordinators(CPCs) of the High Courts andthe Government Agencies likeN.I.C. on the various issues

concerning the implementationof eCourts Project and theallied matters.

Addressing the conference,Justice Hemant Gupta dwelledupon the journey of judicialsystem from ‘Courts to e-Courts’. He highlighted theinitial resistance to the infusionof information and communi-cation technology into the judi-cial system. He also spokeabout the success of the e-Courts project and the benefitsbeing reaped by the publicfrom e-Services. Justice Guptaalso impressed upon gettingfeedback from Advocates andlitigants regarding the systemso as to further improve thesame.

Chief Justice KrishnaMurari elaborated that the judi-cial system has become moretransparent as detailed infor-mation regarding case statusand history is now available onthe electronic platform which iseasily and promptly accessible.

Terming the e-Courts pro-ject as a big leap towards thefulfillment of Constitutionalobligation of providing justiceto the citizens at theirdoorsteps, he appreciated the

efforts of ComputerCommittee of High Court ofPunjab and Haryana in bring-ing the High Court amongstthe front runners in the matterof Computerization.

Justice Surya Kant, whileemphasizing the necessity ofthe use of information andcommunication technology formaking the judicial systemmore effective and efficient,also cautioned against over-dependence over technology inthe arena requiring applicationof mind.

All the Speakers acknowl-edged the contribution madeby Justice Madan B. Lokur,Judge, Surpeme Court in mak-ing the e-Courts Project agreat success.

On this occasion, the HighCourt of Punjab and Haryanalaunched Case InformationSoftware 1.0 for better con-nectivity with the NationalJudicial Data Grid. A Souvenircontaining articles from all theHigh Courts and a book com-piled by Justice Rajesh Bindal,highlighting the I.T. initiativestaken by High Court of Punjaband Haryana were alsoreleased.

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Haryana Chief MinisterManohar Lal on Saturday

said the establishment of ‘KisanKalyan Pradhikaran’ will play avery important role in doublingfarmers income by integratingdifferent schemes and poli-cies.

Presiding over a meeting of‘Kisan Kalyan Pradhikaran’constituted under Agricultureand Farmers’ WelfareDepartment here, he said thatthe Pradhikaran has been setup with the purpose of under-taking a humanistic and holis-tic welfare based approach toaddress the difficulties faced bythe farmers of the state and toprovide relief to distressedfarmers in varying and chal-lenging situations.

Manohar Lal said facilitiesfor branding and food pro-cessing should be made avail-able to the farmers for addingvalues to their produce.

Agriculture and Farmers’Welfare Minister, O.P. Dhankar

said farmer’s welfare is one ofthe most important agenda ofthe Government. Emphasisingthat Pradhikaran will makefarmer centric policies, he saidefforts are being made to pro-tect farmer market risks.

He said that thePradhikaran will provide aplatform for exchange of ideasacross departments, farmersand experts.

Additional Chief Secretary,Agriculture and Farmers’Welfare Department, Navraj

Sandhu made a presentationabout the basic functions,objective and latest station ofPradhikaran.

Others present in the meet-ing included Minister of Statefor Food, Civil Supplies andConsumer Affairs Karan DevKamboj, MLA, Jasbir Deswal,Principal Secretary to ChiefMinister, Rajesh Khullar,Additional Principal Secretaryto Chief Minister, V.Umashankar, amongst others.

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Haryana Government onSaturday said it has accorded

administrative approval to threeprojects of widening with hardshouldering, construction andstrengthening of roads in three dis-tricts-- Jind, Ambala andKurukshetra.

Proposals to this effect have

been approved by the ChiefMinister Manohar Lal, an officialspokesman said, adding that thegovernment has also accordedadministrative approval to Rs112.04 lakh for widening with hardshouldering and construction ofroad from Dalamwala Hotel toHUDA Sector 7 and 8 up toWestern Yamuna Canal at Jind indistrict Jind. The total length of pro-

posed road is 1.01 km.The government has also

accorded administrative approval toRs 116.38 lakh for widening withhard shouldering and strengthen-ing of link road from StateHighway-01 to Meerpur via Barauliin district Ambala. The total lengthof this road is 3.31 km.

The spokesman said that thegovernment has also accorded

administrative approval to Rs 15.16lakh for widening with hard shoul-dering of Thanesar Jhansa road toAjrana Khurd in districtKurukshetra. The total length of thisroad is 0.750 km.

Similarly, the Government hasaccorded administrative approval ofRs 104.76 lakh for providing paverblock of link road from NH-73 toPHC Pathereri in district Ambala.

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Cold weather conditions pre-vailed in most parts of Punjab

and Haryana on Saturday withBathinda being the coldest place at4 degrees Celsius.

In Punjab, Amritsar, Ludhianaand Patiala braved cold weather at5.6, 7.6 and 7.9 degrees Celsius,respectively, MeT Department offi-

cials said on Saturday.Adampur, Halwara and

Pathankot recorded their minimumtemperatures of 4.3, 5.4 and 7.2

degrees Celsius, respectively.UT Chandigarh, joint capital of

Punjab and Haryana, recorded aminimum temperature at 7.1 degreesCelsius.

In Haryana, Ambala, Hisar,Karnal and Narnaul recorded theirminimum temperatures at 8.6, 6.5,6 and 7.2 degrees Celsius, respec-tively, up to three degrees below nor-mal.

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External Affairs MinisterSushma Swaraj on Saturday

held wide-ranging talks withher counterpart from IcelandGudlaugur Thor Thordarsonon ways to deepen bilateral tiesin areas of trade, investmentand energy.

Thordarson arrived hereFriday on board the inauguralflight between New Delhi andReykjavik, the capital ofIceland.

At the meeting, Swarajsaid Iceland is a world leaderin geothermal energy andcooperation in this sectorcould benefit India's transitionto greener energy mix and helpit in achieving ambitiousrenewable energy targets,according to MEA spokesper-son Raveesh Kumar.

"EAM @SushmaSwarajand Iceland Foreign Minister@GudlaugurThor discussedenhancing cooperation in trade& investment, renewable ener-gy, specially geothermal ener-gy, blue economy with a focuson fisheries, tourism and cul-ture at the delegation-leveltalks," he tweeted.

India's ties with Icelandhave witnessed steady progressin the last few years.

Iceland was the f irstNordic country to publiclyextend support to India's can-didature for permanent mem-bership of the United Nations

Security Council.It was one of the countries

co-sponsoring India's resolu-

tion at the UN to declareJune 21 as the "InternationalDay of Yoga".

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India's Mahatma GandhiNational Rural Employment

Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) -the world's largest wage-basedsocial protection programme-has been cited, in a first-everUN report on Disability andDevelopment, as one of thegrowing number of good prac-tices being implemented bythe countries that can create amore inclusive society in whichpeople with disabilities (PwDs)can live independently.

"One example of a publicemployment program withmeasures to effectively includepersons with disabilities is pro-vided by India," says the reportwhich was launched on theInternational Day of Personswith Disabilities last week.

It further noted that"through this programme,which guarantees 100 days ofwage employment in a finan-cial year to every household,state governments in Indiahave to make efforts to ensurethat PwDs are provided workopportunities close to theirplace of residence, as well aspaid wages equal to PwDs.

"This public employmentprogramme also seeks to ensurea stigma-free environment at the

workplace, so that workers withdisabilities are not looked downupon or face any form of dis-crimination. In 2015-16, abouthalf of the 130,420 persons withdisabilities registered under thisprogramme engaged in workunder the scheme," says thereport. Countries that have start-ed to explicitly take disability intoaccount in their public employ-ment services include India,Ivory Coast, Mexico, Peru,Philippines and Vietnam, saidthe report.

However, the report at thesame time also points out that,in India as also in Cameroon,awareness of health servicesamong PwDs is extremely low.In India, only 49 per cent haveeven heard of any generalhealth services, whereas inCameroon only 73 per cent

have, it adds.Overall, the UN's flagship

report in disability and devel-opment, paints a gloomy pictureon the state of the affairs of thePwDs, noting that the sector isat a disadvantage as far as therealization of the SustainableDevelopment Goals (SDGs) isconsidered across the countries.

The SDGs are a collectionof 17 global goals set by the UNin 2015, which include endingglobal poverty and hunger,implementing sustainable envi-ronmental practices and more.UN Secretary-General AntónioGuterres emphasized that the2030 Agenda represents acommitment to reduceinequality and promote thesocial, economic and politicalinclusion of all, including thosewith disabilities.

"In many societies, PwDsoften end up disconnected,living in isolation and facingdiscrimination," he said, high-lighting that more than one bil-lion people in the world livewith some form of disability.

The report demonstrateshow disability-based discrim-ination has severe effects ontransport, cultural life, andaccess to public places andservices, and thus, the reportleads with a push to changeurban environments to makethem more accessible.

The above challenges oftengo unseen as a result of insuf-ficient questions relevant to dis-ability, and consequently, anunderestimation of the numberof persons living with disabil-ities and affected by discrimi-nation, and other barriers.

Javier Vasquez, who helpshead up the health division atSpecial Olympics Internationalin his role as Vice President,echoed the issue of gaps ininclusion and representation.On average, PwDs die 16 yearssooner than those living withoutdisabilities, however: "A lot ofpeople think people with intel-lectual disabilities die earlierbecause of their disabilities, andthis is not true," he said accord-ing to reports.

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Taking note of a viral videopurportedly showing an

electronic voting machine lay-ing unattended at the house ofa BJP candidate, the ElectionCommission (EC) has orderedthe removal of returning offi-cer of Pali Assembly seat inRajasthan

The EC ordered removal ofPali returning officer Mahaveer,who has been transferred, andRakesh from Jodhpur has beenasked to take the charge, thecommission said. The EC saidthat a section officer carryinga reserve machine had gone tothe BJP candidate's house fol-lowing which the officer wasremoved and the EVM takenout of election system.

Adding to the headache ofthe EC a ballot unit ( BBAUD41390) was found lying on theroad in Rajasthan's Kishanganjconstituency, hours after vot-ing ended for the high-stakeelections in the State. Theincident prompted ElectionCommission to suspend twopoll officials on grounds ofnegligence .

"During transportation itwas fell down on the way, wasreported to Returning OfficerKishanganj. He examined thematter and found guiltytheofficials accompanying duringtransportation. AbdulRasheeq and Patwari NavalSingh were suspended withimmediate effect on Fridayafter the unit was near a high-way found in constituency'sShahabad area in Baran dis-trict", an EC order said.

It is not just in Rajasthan,but in other state like MadhyaPradesh and Chhattisgarhwhich also went to the polls theconduct of some election offi-cials have caused the opposi-tion crying foul play. A num-ber of incidents, mostly relat-ed to Electronic VotingMachines took place this yearin five assembly polls.

Earlier, in Chhattisgarhthree men with laptops weredetained by police from near astrong room in Bastar undersuspicious circumstances.

The men had claimed thatthey were employees of RelianceJio. The company, however,refuted the claims and said that

the men were not employees ofReliance Jio, but technicians of alocal vendor who had gone to thesite to carry out regular mainte-nance work after an outage wasreported with one of their mobiletower located at the MahilaPolytechnic College Jagdalpur.

In Madhya Pradesh, a set ofvoting machines reached thestrong room in Sagar, 48 hoursafter voting ended. Accordingto reports the EVMs were keptat a police station in Khurai cityin the district, where statehome minister BhupendraSingh, the sitting MLA wasseeking re-election. The EC inits report said that the EVMs inquestion were not used for vot-ing, were kept on standby. In asimilar incident, an EVMstrong room in Bhopal suffereda blackout for nearly one anda half hours on Friday. It is alsoreported that the CCTV cam-eras at the strong room wereswitched off. Even in this case,the EC admitted that thatCCTV cameras in the strongroom did not work for over anhour but there was no dis-crepancy in EVMs found as itwas reserved voting machines.

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New Delhi: Union MinisterKiren Rijiju on Saturday askedthe youths of Indian diasporato be part of the country’sgrowth story and becomeambassadors to spread themessage of development here.

Interacting with a group of40 Indian-origin youths fromeight countries, Rijiju said theyshould participate in India'sgrowth and development storyand share it with the diasporain their respective countries.

"I urge you to give feed-back to the Governmentthrough voluntarily sparingtime by sharing your thoughts,experience, knowledge, andtechnology and to suggestwhat steps the government ofIndia should take to improvethe environment and helpplay a role in building a newIndia," he said.

The youths are touringIndia to feel a sense of connectwith their motherland and getexposure to its art, heritage andculture, an official at the HomeMinistry said.

The tour has been organ-ised under the 'Know IndiaProgrammes (KIP)' which is akey initiative of the central gov-ernment.

The initiative has beentaken with an aim to engage andmake students and young pro-fessionals of Indian diaspora inthe age group of 18 to 30 feel a

sense of connect with theirmotherland and to be motivat-ed and inspired by transforma-tion taking place in India.

The youths are from Fiji,Suriname, Guyana, Myanmar,the Netherlands, South Africa,Sri Lanka and Trinidad andTobago.

The participants will visitplaces l ike ParliamentMuseum Library, President'sHouse, Red Fort, Raj Ghat andwill meet senior functionariesin the central and StateGovernments in order to havethe first hand experience ofthe contemporary develop-ment in India. They will alsobe going to Agra. PTI

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The Congress on Saturdayjumped into the defence of

its leader Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra whoseassociates were raided by theEnforcement Directorate (ED)saying that people in power,especially Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, is scared"thinking that the exit polls areright" and worried about defeatin assembly elections.

A battery of top Congressleaders, including Kapil Sibal,Ahmed Patel and AbhishekManu Singhvi, stepped out toattack the Government overthe searches by theEnforcement Directorateagainst three persons linked toRobert Vadra on Friday.

"The people in power espe-cially PM is thinking that theexit polls are right and arescared. People in oppositionare being targeted by sendingIT, ED. I want to ask Modirather blame him why suchthings are happening in hisrule," Sibal questioned at apress conference in the eveningafter Singhvi had alreadylashed out at the ModiGovernment earlier in the dayclaiming that the raids were areflection of "the highestdegree of panic" of the rulingdispensation, "awaiting" polldefeats in the assembly polls.

Sibal further scaled up thedegree of attack saying the EDbarged into the offices of Vadraassociates without any warrant."There was no FIR, ECIRagainst Vadra and people of EDreached his offices without anywarrant. They don't say theirnames and when asked to waitby the people in the office to getkeys to the office, they broke

into the office," Sibal said.The senior Congress

leader, who is also a top lawyer,wondered at what he called"hooliganism" by the lawenforcement agencies andsought to know as to whowould rein in them if they wereto be backed by theGovernment itself.

"What kind of Governmentis it? If law enforcement agen-cies start hooliganism thenwho will question them? Ifthey're supported by the PM,then who'll question it? Whereis the law and order in thecountry," he sought to arguewhile defending Vadra.

Earlier, Singhvi, who alsoaddressed a press conferencehere at the party headquarters,alleged that there was neversuch a "terror raj" in the "con-stitutional rule" of India.

"We fought the British Rajand the BJP would do well toknow that the day of judgementwill come for it," he said adding"They are afraid of theCongress and its values, so theyare threatening people andusing high-handed tacticsagainst those who are relativesof our leaders or are associat-ed with them".

"This is called characterassassination by innuendosand insinuations. When theydo not have facts, this is whatthey will do," he said.

The Congress spokesmanclaimed that the BJP was in a"state of panic of the highestdegree", sensing rejectionfrom the people in the just-concluded Assembly polls infive States.

"The word 'panic' wouldbe an understatement and allthese raids and searchesagainst various people are

nothing but a ploy to divert theattention of the people fromthe real issues and the BJP'sfailures," he said.

The results of the MadhyaPradesh, Chhattisgarh,Rajasthan, Telangana andMizoram Assembly polls willbe announced on December11, on a day when the one-month-long winter session ofthe Parliament would alsocommence. The poll-resultsare expected to set the tone fornot only the Parliament session, the last of the 16th Lok Sabha,but also that of the 2019-General Elections, only fewmonths away. BarringRajasthan where exit-polls haveuniformly given Congress anedge over the BJP, opinions aredived on Madhaya Pradesh,Chattisgarh, Telangana andMizoram.

The ED had carried outsearches against the three per-sons in connection with itsprobe into alleged "commis-sions received by some suspectsin defence deals" and illegalassets stashed abroad, officialshad said Friday.

Singhvi claimed that thesearches were carried out inviolation of laws, adding, "Wehave nothing against any par-ticular person, but we are talk-ing about principles.... NoEnforcement Case Information

Report (ECIR) of the FIRhas been shared, no searchwarrant issued, no access tolawyers, and detained per-sons were also physicallyroughed up."

"All of this is happeningbecause the BJP feels the cer-tainty of the rejection by thepeople and is desperate todivert people's attention fromthe real issues," he said.

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Aday after former NorthernCommand chief Lt General

(retired) DS Hooda said con-stant hype around the surgicalstrikes in Pakistan OccupiedKashmir (POK) in 2016 wasunwarranted, Congress presi-dent Rahul Gandhi on Saturdayattacked Prime MinisterNarendra Modi over the issueand charged that the PrimeMinister used the militaryaction for “political capital”.

Responding to a questionduring the Military LiteratureFestival in Chandigarh onFriday, Hooda, who was thecommander when the surgicalstrikes were carried out, hadsaid in hindsight, it wouldhave been better had “we doneit (surgical strikes) secretly”.He had also said it was natur-al to have initial euphoriaabout the success but the con-stant maintenance of hypearound the military operationwas unwarranted.

Taking to Twitter, Rahulsaid: “Spoken like a true soldierGeneral. India is so proud ofyou. Mr 36 has absolutely noshame in using our military asa personal asset. “He used thesurgical strikes for politicalcapital and the Rafale deal toincrease Anil Ambani's realcapital by 30,000 Cr.#SurgicalStrike (sic).”

On the same issue,

Congress leader PChidambaram said it washeartening that persons whowere in key posts in theGovernment were “sheddingtheir fear and breakingsilence” on important policiesand decisions.

In a series of tweets,Chidambaram said it was for-mer Chief Economic Advisor(CEA) Arvind Subramanian,who first broke his silence byterming demonetisation a"massive monetary shock".

The former FinanceMinister said that afterSubramanian, the recently-retired Chief ElectionCommissioner O P Rawat saiddemonetisation had no impacton the use of black money inelections.

Now, it is Hooda, who has"decried the hype over the so-called 'surgical strike' and itspoliticisation by Government",Chidambaram said, adding,"Glad to see important persons

shedding their fear and break-ing their silence".

Congress' chief spokesper-son Randeep Surjewalathanked Hooda for "exposingthe petty politicisation by PMModi". "No one can use the val-our & sacrifice of our brave sol-diers to score cheap politicalpoints Modiji is squarely guiltyof compromising NationalSecurity & Strategic Interests byunwarranted chest thumping!"he wrote on Twitter.

Last month, Subramanianhad raised concerns related tonote ban. Six months afterresigning as CEA, he describeddemonetisation as a "massive,draconian, monetary shock".

Two days after his retire-ment, Rawat had said the noteban didn't reduce the misuse ofblack money in elections but infact in some states moreseizures were reported com-pared to previous years. Thegovernment had banned old�1,000 and �500 notes onNovember 8, 2016.

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����������E���(��F� The2016 surgical strikes were asuccessful tactical operationwhich conveyed a clear mes-sage to Pakistan to stop anymisadventure along the Lineof Control (LoC), Army'sNorthern Command Chief LtGen Ranbir Singh said onSaturday.

His comments came a dayafter Lt Gen (retd) D S Hooda,who was associated with theoperation, said it was natural tohave initial euphoria over thesuccess but the constant hypearound the surgical strikes wasunwarranted.

In hindsight, it would havebeen better had we had kept ita secret, he had said on Fridayat an event in Chandigarh.

On September 29, 2016,Indian Army commandos hadcarried out surgical strikesagainst terror launch padsacross the LoC in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

"From military point ofview, these were successful tac-tical operations, which con-veyed a very strategic messageand the Indian Army was ableto convey a very clear messageto Pakistan that should they notstop any kind of misadventurealong the LoC, they shall begiven befitting reply," Singhtold reporters here on the side-lines of his visit to SainikSchool, his alma mater.

The then Director General

of Military Operations(DGMO), who had announcedthe operation at a press con-ference, refused to commenton the politicisation of surgi-cal strikes.

Singh said all actions carriedout by the Army along the LoCwere carried out in an extreme-ly professional manner to meetthe national aspirations andachieve the military objectives.

He said there are manyother options to check infil-tration of terrorists from acrossthe border.

Surgical strike is only oneof the options through whichwe stop infiltration. Thearmed forces have a range ofoptions and they are beinganalysed at all times and thebest course of action is putinto effect, he said.

Responding to a questionabout possible attempts torevive militancy in Punjab,Singh said Pakistan was tryingto extend the "arc of terrorism"beyond Kashmir and the Armywas taking all measures toarrest the spread.

The armed forces inJammu and Kashmir are fullycapable of carrying out anytask, he said. This, he said, isthe reason that the situation inthe state is completely stable.

If any untoward incidenttakes place, the armed forcesact quickly to restore peace andstability, he added. PTI

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In a major relief to flat buy-ers, the Ministry of Finance

made it clear that Goods andService Tax ( GST) will not belevied on buyers of real estateproperties for which comple-tion certificate is issued at thetime of sale.

However, Goods andServices Tax (GST) is applica-ble on sale of under-construc-tion property or ready to movein flats where completion cer-tificate is not issued at the timeof sale.

The ministry also asked thebuilders to reduce the prices ofproperties by passing on thebenefit of lower GST rate.

"It is brought to the noticeof buyers of constructed prop-erty that there is no GST onsale of complex/ building andready to move in flats wheresale takes place after issue ofcompletion certificate by thecompetent authority," theministry said in a statement.

It further said affordable

housing projects like JawaharlalNehru National UrbanRenewal Mission, Rajiv AwasYojana, Pradhan Mantri AwasYojana or any other housingscheme of State Governmentsattracts 8 per cent GST, whichcan be adjusted by the buildersagainst its accumulated inputtax credit (ITC).

For such (affordable hous-ing) projects, after offsettingITC, the builder or developerin most cases will not berequired to pay GST in cash asthe builder would have enoughITC in his books of account topay the output GST," theMinistry said. It said cost ofhousing projects or complex-es or flats, other than those inaffordable segment, would nothave gone up due to imple-mentation of GST.

Presently, residential con-struction services, will inviteGST at the rate of 12 per cent,which will apply to developersselling residential units beforecompletion of construction tothe home buyers.

/������)���������������46��������� ����� Jammu: Several political

activists from Kishtwar, includ-ing a Congress leader, onSaturday joined the BJP hereand pledged to work forstrengthening the party atgross-roots level, a partyspokesperson said.

Congress leader PardeepSingh Parihar, former tradeunion leader Suresh Sharmaand eight NC and PDP activists,including former sarpanchesNoor Hussain and JoginderDhar, were welcomed into theparty fold by senior leaders."Today every nationalist personis joining the BJP influenced bythe strong policies of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi-ledCentral Government," saidUnion Minister Jitendra Singh.

He said the Centre is work-ing on every loophole thathas been "left in the systemsince Independence" and allefforts are being made to upliftthe status of neglected andrejected sections of society.

"Under the strong leader-ship of Modi, India has wit-nessed phenomenal increase inits graph on global platform,"he said.

Welcoming the newentrants into the party fold,Jammu & Kashmir BJP presi-dent Ravinder Raina said theparty's policy of "Sabka Saath,Sabka Vikaas" was attractingprominent persons from vari-ous political parties.

"The people from everysection have a strong beliefthat as a worker of the BJP,they will be in better positionto serve society and thenation with a clean and clearmind," he said.

Meanwhile, Raina chaireda meeting of the party leadersin connection with theupcoming Lok Sabha andassembly polls and asked theparty leaders to frame con-stituency-wise teams to reachout to the people.

"Involve senior leaders inthe teams which will work inunison with ground levelworkers to secure a win for theparty in the upcoming elec-tions," he said. PTI

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Page 6:  · ping 26,785 kg ganja in 2017-18 in comparison to 16,197 kg in 2016-17. Incidentally, the ... yellow metal worth 974 crore was seized in contrast to 1,422

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New Delhi: The FinanceMinistry has extended the lastdate for filing annual GSTreturn forms by three monthsuntil March 31, 2019.

The annual returns form inwhich businesses registeredunder the GST have to provideconsolidated details of sales,purchases and input tax cred-it (ITC) benefits accrued tothem during 2017-18 fiscalwas notified in September. Thelast date for filing was set atDecember 31, 2018.

In a statement, the CentralBoard of Indirect Taxes andCustoms (CBIC) said, "thecompetent authority has decid-ed to extend the due date for fil-ing Form GSTR-9, GSTR-9Aand GSTR-9C till March 31,2019.

The requisite Forms shallbe made available on the GSTcommon portal shortly”.

GSTR-9 is the annualreturn form for normal tax-payers, GSTR-9A is composi-tion taxpayers, while GSTR-9Cis a reconciliation statement

Trade and industry playershave been seeking an extensionof the deadline for filing theannual returns.

EY Tax Partner AbhishekJain said industry players have

been struggling to collate theinformation required to bedisclosed in GSTR-9 andGSTR-9C.

PwC Partner and Leader(Indirect Tax) Pratik Jain said,"Industry, as well as consul-tants, were struggling withDecember 31 deadline, giventhe volume of work involvedincluding preparing a virtualP&L at a State level". PTI

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New Delhi: The FinanceMinistry on Saturday said GSTwill not be levied on buyers ofreal estate properties for whichcompletion certificate is issuedat the time of sale.

However, Goods andServices Tax (GST) is applica-ble on sale of under-construc-tion property or ready to movein flats where completion cer-tificate is not issued at the timeof sale, it said.

The Ministry also askedthe builders to reduce theprices of properties by passingon the benefit of lower GSTrate.

"It is brought to the notice

of buyers of constructed prop-erty that there is no GST onsale of complex/ building andready to move in flats wheresale takes place after issue ofcompletion certificate by thecompetent authority," theMinistry said in a statement.

It further said affordablehousing projects like JawaharlalNehru National UrbanRenewal Mission, Rajiv AwasYojana, Pradhan Mantri AwasYojana or any other housingscheme of State Governmentsattracts 8 per cent GST, whichcan be adjusted by the buildersagainst its accumulated inputtax credit (ITC). PTI

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New Delhi: Taking positiveleads from the global marketamid firm demand from localjewellers, gold prices surged�890 to �32,350 per 10 gramsat the bullion market duringthe week.

Similarly, silver climbed�1,940 to �38,500 per kg onhigher demand from industri-al units and coin makers.

Traders said a positivetrend in the overseas marketlifted gold prices here.

Globally, gold ended theweek at $1,247.46 per ounceand silver at $14.62 an ounce inNew York.

A considerable increase in

demand from jewellers andretailers at the domestic spotmarket added to the momen-tum, they said.

In the national Capital,gold of 99.9 per cent and 99.5per cent purity started theweek on a positive note. Except

Tuesday and Friday, gold pricesmoved northwards throughthe week to end at �32,350 and�32,200 per 10 grams respec-tively, climbing �890 each.

Sovereign ended at �25,000per piece of 8 grams, showinga rise of �100.

In line with the overalltrend, silver ready traded in thegreen zone and ended at�38,500 per kg with an increaseof �1,940. Weekly-based deliv-ery gained �3,153 to close at�38,500 per kg during the week.

Silver coins also gained�1,000 to end at �74,000 forbuying and �75,000 for sellingof 100 pieces for the week.

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New Delhi: The National Bankfor Agriculture and RuralDevelopment (Nabard)Saturday signed an agreementwith Green Climate Fund(GCF) to infuse $100 millioninto the project designed tounlock private sector initiativesfor creation of rooftop solarpower capacity across India.

The $250 million project,to be executed by TataCleantech Capital Ltd, willreceive the GCF supportthrough Nabard, which is theNational Implementing Entity(NIE) for the UNFCC-pro-moted Fund that supports the

efforts of developing countriesto respond to the challenge ofclimate change, the bank saidin a statement.

The agreement with GCFwas signed at an event held onthe sidelines of ongoingCOP24 in Katowice, Poland, itsaid.

Notably, India, which hostsInternational Solar Alliance,has an ambitious vision of cre-ating 100 gw solar powercapacity it said, adding Nabardhas been financing solar powerprojects and installations invarious other programmes aswell.

Washington: India will retainits position as the world's toprecipient of remittances thisyear with its diaspora sendinga whopping �80 billion backhome, the World Bank said ina report on Saturday.

India is followed by China($67 billion), Mexico and thePhilippines ($34 billion each)and Egypt ($26 billion), accord-ing to the global lender.

With this, India has retainedits top spot on remittances,according to the latest edition ofthe World Bank's Migration

and Development Brief.The Bank estimates that

officially-recorded remittancesto developing countries willincrease by 10.8 per cent toreach $528 billion in 2018.This new record level follows arobust growth of 7.8 per cent in2017.

Global remittances, whichinclude flows to high-incomecountries, are projected to growby 10.3 per cent to $689 billion,it said.

Over the last three years,India has registered a signifi-

cant flow of remittances from$62.7 billion in 2016 to $65.3billion 2017. In 2017, remit-tances constituted 2.7 per centof India's GDP, it said.

The Bank said remittancesto South Asia are projected toincrease by 13.5 per cent to

$132 billion in 2018, a strongerpace than the 5.7 per centgrowth seen in 2017.

The upsurge is driven bystronger economic conditionsin advanced economies, par-ticularly the US, and theincrease in oil prices having apositive impact on outflowsfrom some GCC countriessuch as the UAE which report-ed a 13 per cent growth in out-flows for the first half of 2018.

Bangladesh and Pakistanboth experienced strongupticks of 17.9 per cent and 6.2

per cent in 2018, respectively,the Bank said.

For 2019, it is projectedthat remittances growth forthe region will slow to 4.3 percent due to a moderation ofgrowth in advanced economies,lower migration to the GCCand the benefits from the oilprice spurt dissipating.

The Gulf CooperationCouncil (GCC) is a regionalinter-governmental politicaland economic bloc of Bahrain,Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, SaudiArabia and the UAE. PTI

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New Delhi: Axis Bank onSaturday inducted AmitabhChaudhry as additional direc-tor on its board, three weeksahead of his taking over as thenew managing director andCEO of the private sectorlender.

He will replace incumbentShikha Sharma whose fourthterm has been curtailed by theRBI by nearly two-and-halfyears.

In a board meeting heldSaturday, Axis Bank approvedthe appointment of Chaudhryas additional director. Theboard also gave its nod for thereappointment of Samir Barua,Som Mittal and Rohit Bhagat asindependent directors.

"The Board ...Has appoint-ed Amitabh Chaudhry as anAdditional Director of theBank and to hold office as suchtill the conclusion of the ensu-ing Annual General Meeting...,"Axis Bank said in a regulatoryfiling.

The appointment is subjectto approval of the shareholders,it added.

Chaudhry, the former MD

and CEO of HDFC StandardLife Insurance Company, wasin September named the MDand CEO of Axis Bank for aperiod of three years, witheffect from January 1, 2019.

Chaudhry, 54 years, willtake over from Shikha Sharmaafter she demits office onDecember 31, 2018.

He started his career incorporate banking with theBank of America in 1987,where he worked in diverseroles.

In July 2017, the board ofAxis Bank had approved thereappointment of Sharma,who was to start her fourthterm as MD and CEO fromJune 2018. PTI

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Beijing: China's trade surpluswith the United States bal-looned to a record $35.6 billionin November, official datashowed on Saturday, as exportsacross the Pacific remainedstrong despite a raft of US tar-iffs while imports shrank.

Relations between theworld's top two economiescontinue to be tense despite atrade war truce struck betweenUS President Donald Trumpand his counterpart PresidentXi Jinping last week.

Trump and figures in hisadministration have said Chinawould immediately start buy-ing US goods in bulk, butBeijing has refrained from con-firming those claims.

The increasingly lopsidedtrade in goods between the twonations threatens to furtherderail prospects for a trade dealduring a 90-day negotiationperiod.

The ballooning tradedeficit with China is a partic-ularly sore point for Trump,who campaigned on turningaround the situation.

China's exports to the USrose 9.8 per cent for Novemberon-year, while imports for themonth fell 25 per cent on-year,

the data from China's customsadministration showed.

American farmers havebeen hit particularly hard bythe trade tensions. Trumptweeted this week that Chinawould begin buying productsfrom US farmers "immediate-ly".

Usually Chinese buyershave snapped up Americansoybeans in the final months ofthe year as the harvest hits themarket and beans from com-petitor Brazil dry up.

But this year, Chinese buy-ers have passed on US soybeanswhich face a 25 per cent bor-der tax upon import, part of the$50 billion in US goods Beijinghit with higher duties thissummer in retaliation for UStariffs.

China's soybean importsfell 38 per cent on-year, to 5.4million tonnes for the month,the data showed.

The trade surplus with theUS expanded to $293.5 billionfor January-November, upfrom $ 251.3 billion during thesame period last year.

China's overall trade —what it buys and sells with allcountries, including the US —logged a $44.7 billion surplus

in November, up from $35billion the previous month,the data showed.

But growth of exportsand imports slowed fromOctober, with exports rising5.4 per cent for November on-year, short of the 9.4 per centforecast by Bloomberg News,and imports rising 3.0 percent on-year, also below theforecast.

The sagging export andimport growth is another badsign for China's economy,which grew at its slowest pacefor nine years in the thirdquarter, expanding 6.5 percent on-year for July-September.

While exports to the UShave held up so far thisautumn, the row has sappedconfidence.

The Shanghai compositestock index has fallen by aboutone-quarter from its Januaryhigh, while the yuan hasslipped about nine per centagainst the dollar.

The trade tensions withWashington come at a toughtime for Beijing, which is battlingto tackle a mountain of debt ascredit tightens and infrastructureinvestment falls. AFP

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Vadodara (Guj): Public sectoroil companies Indian Oil, BharatPetroleum and HindustanPetroleum have an ambitiousplan to open nearly 4,500 fueloutlets across Gujarat, an offi-cial said on Saturday.

Talking to reporters here,Indian Oil chief regional man-ager Sunil Vikramsingh said,"To meet the increasing require-ments of customers on high-ways, agricultural sector prod-ucts and industries, it wasobserved necessary to opensuch fuel outlets in the state."

"IOCL, BPCL and HPCLhave an ambitious plan to opennearly 4,500 fuel outlets in thestate," he said.

About 3 to 4 fuel outlets willbe opened near the Statue ofUnity, dedicated to SardarVallabhbhai Patel and theworld's tallest statue, at Kevadiyain neighbouring Narmada dis-trict, he added.

More than three lakh visi-tors have already visited the site.Therefore, opening of three tofour fuel outlets will help thetourists, the official said.

The OMCs (oil marketingcompanies) plan to expand in

tier II and III cities as well asrural areas, interior areas andremote areas as they lack pres-ence in these geographies.

The Indian Oil will set up128 retail outlets, with BharatPetroleum 50 and HindustanPetroleum 49 in Vadodara dis-trict of Gujarat.

"All these OMCs are set toexpand their fuel retail networkafter a gap of nearly four years,which is due to eight per centannual growth in sale of petroland four per cent in diesel,"Vikramsingh said.

The OMCs have formallyannounced their plans and bid-ding process for inviting tendershas also started, he said, addingthat each fuel outlet will costbetween �60 lakh to �3 croredepending on their location.

"The OMCs for the firsttime have come together towork on such a scale to avoidduplication and eating into eachother's business," he added.

Retail outlets opened after2014 were largely through therevival of old stations or restora-tion of dealerships that had beenterminated because of non-performance since 2005. PTI

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Mumbai: Lending major StateBank of India (SBI) on Fridaysaid it has received sharehold-ers' approval to raise up to�20,000 crore.

According to the SBI, theapproval for its proposal to"create, offer, issue and allotsuch number of equity sharesof �1 for an amount notexceeding �20,000 crore ..." wasgiven at a general meeting ofshareholders held here.

The proposal is subject tothe condition that theGovernment of lndia share-holding in equity share capitalof the bank does not fall below52 per cent at any point oftime.

As per a BSE regulatory filing by the bank, the amountcan be raised by the way ofpublic issue or private placement, includingQualif ied InstitutionsPlacement (OIP), GlobalDepository Receipt (GDRs),American Depository Receipt(ADRs) "and or any othermode(s) or a combination(s)thereof, as may be decided bythe Board". IANS

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Jammu: The Jammu & KashmirTax Department Friday nightmade it clear that the drivelaunched by it for inspectingbusinesses and checking e-waybills in the state is to preventlarge-scale tax evasion noticedunder GST and it will continue.

The department alsoappealed to general public toinsist for proper bill against anypurchases made by them and beaware that while they are pay-ing legitimate GST, the sameshould reach the governmentaccounts.

“While the share of J&KGST to total GST of all the statesis 1.2 per cent, the compliancelevel in the state is only 0.27 percent," a spokesperson of theState Tax Department in astatement issued here.

"The departmental assess-ment has revealed around 30per cent leakage in the process,"he said.

The spokesman said thatout of the total registered 92,000dealers in the GSTN, till lastmonth only 52,000 trade andbusinesses were filing GSTreturns regularly.

"With the increasedenforcement activities by thedepartment, now 72,000 tradeand businesses have filedreturns for the month ofOctober 2018,” he said andadded that in 70 per cent of the

cases, where inspections havebeen carried out by the depart-ment, gross violation and taxevasion have been detected.

“Sustained efforts of thedepartment against defaultershas resulted in a substantialincrease in the monthly IGSTsettlement of the state.

The state received an IGSTsettlement of �225 crore on anaverage during the previousmonths.However, with theaction against the defaulters, theIGST settlement for the monthof October has gone up to �265crore,” he said.

The spokesperson furtherreiterated that investigation ofrecords and checking of e-waybills would continue till suchtime the trade and businessesstart complying the GST law, filereturns in time, generate prop-er invoices and deposit the taxto the department timely.

He said that the Chambersof Commerce have wronglymisinterpreted toll tax as if it islevied in contradiction of GSTregime. “Toll tax is levied con-sciously to promote industrialdevelopment in the state as apolicy tool,” he said.

He also said the Chamberhas wrongly accused the StateTax Department of interferingin cross-LoC trade while it hasnot interfered in any mannertill date. PTI

%��� �������������(� )��� ����������� /�( ���0�,67�& /�!��� Panaji: Union Minister Suresh Prabhu has

sought to link the availability of cheapbeverages in Goa with "creativity andbusiness opportunities", a remark theCongress said was projection of thecoastal State as a "liquor destination".

Prabhu, while participating in theGlobal Venture Summit in Goa on Friday,said the state government had reducedtaxes on some beverages that help calmthe mind and lead to creativity, which canbe converted into business opportunities.

"Ideas are there, but to make ideas intoa form that actually be converted into abusiness opportunity is some sort of cre-ativity.

"And creativity comes when yourmind is calm. And when it comes to Goa,mind becomes calm. And to make bodycalm, Goa government has reduced tax-ation on some of the beverages, which canmake your mind soft," the commerceminister had said.

Prabhu's statement did not go downwell with some of the political parties.Congress' spokesperson SiddhanathBuyao condemned the statement, sayingit was wrong to link the state's culture andcreativity to the availability of liquor atlower rates.

"Goa is known for its scenic beautyand warm people. Creativity is in theDNA of Goans right from the beginning.May it be in the field of science, art, cul-ture, music and even entrepreneurship,Goans have contributed immensely to thecountry," Buyao said.

He said it is the same calm nature andcreativity that draws Prabhu to Goaoften.

"Does Prabhu come to Goa to enjoycheap beverages and then get the creativeideas?" Buyao taunted the Minister. PTI

"� ������ ����� �(��������������������������� ����(�� ������-� New Delhi: The US health regulator has

recommended a regulatory or adminis-trative action after the inspection ofRoorkee manufacturing facility of drugfirm Jubilant Life Sciences, according to aregulatory filing.

The FDA has classified the inspectionof the Roorkee plant as 'Official ActionIndicated', which means approvals ofpending applications or supplements fromthis site maybe withheld, the company saidin a BSE filing on Saturday.

According to the FDA, Official ActionIndicated means regulatory and/or admin-istrative actions will be recommendedagainst a facility after an inspection.

In response to the USFDA inspectionconducted at the Roorkee facility of soliddosage formulations during August 2018,

"the agency has informed to classify theinspection as OAI and that approvals ofpending applications or supplements fromthis site maybe withheld," Jubilant Life said.

However, this will not have any impacton the existing revenues from operationsfrom this facility, it added.

"We believe that this letter has beenissued as part of USFDA initiative torespond to the company within 90 days ofthe inspection, regarding the status," it said.

As per the guidelines, the company canengage within 40 days to get the agency'sdecision downgraded from classifying asOAI, it added.

The company "is in the process ofsending further update of its correctiveactions and remains hopeful of a positiveoutcome, " it said. PTI

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Gurugram: The Central InformationCommission (CIC) has directed authori-ties to reveal how many �2,000 and �500notes were printed daily after demoneti-zation till November 30, 2016, an RTIactivist said on Saturday.

Gurugram-based Right ToInformation (RTI) activist HarinderDhingra had sought the informationregarding the number of notes printeddaily from November 9, 2016 to November30, 2016.

Dhingra applied for the informationthrough RTI Act on February 23, 2017.

The Central Public InformationOfficer (CPIO) earlier refused to share theinformation, Dhingra told IANS. The

second appeal was filed on August 16,2017.

Dhingra said that after a hearing onNovember 30, 2018, InformationCommissioner Sudhir Bhargava onDecember 5, 2018 issued an order to pro-vide the information.

"Number of notes printed on dailybasis from November 9, 2016 to November30, 2016 was not so sensitive as to attractthe exemption provisions under section8(1)(a) of the RTI Act, therefore CPIO hasbeen directed to provide the informationsought," the order read. Orders on banningthe then existing �1,000 and �500 noteswere implemented from the midnight ofNovember 8, 2016. PTI

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Paris police detained nearly300 people on Saturday

ahead of fresh anti-Government “yellow vest”protests which authorities fearcould turn violent for a thirdweekend in a row.

Clad in their luminousroad safety jackets, dozens ofdemonstrators — who accusePresident Emmanuel Macronof only looking out for the rich— gathered at dawn on theChamps-Elysees, the scene last

on Saturday of the worst riot-ing in Paris for decades.

“We had to come to Paristo be heard,” said protesterHerve Benoit, arriving withthree friends from theDordogne in western France.

He called on the govern-ment to boost people's spend-ing power and increase taxes onthe wealthiest.

By 8.40 am (0740 GMT)police had already detained 278people.

Some 8,000 police weredeployed, carrying out checks

on people arriving at train sta-tions and at protest hotspotssuch as the Champs-Elyseesand Bastille monument.

A source close to the oper-ation told AFP that at least 34people were arrested for car-rying masks, hammers, sling-shots and rocks that could beused to attack police.

Shops, museums, the EiffelTower and many metro stationswere closed as much of the city-centre went on effective lock-down.

Top-flight football match-es and concerts were cancelled.

Last weekend's violence,which saw some 200 carstorched and the Arc deTriomphe vandalised, shookFrance and plunged Macron'sgovernment into its deepest cri-sis so far.

Interior MinisterChristophe Castaner said heexpected “only a few thousandpeople” to descend on Parisafter the 8,000 protesters count-ed last weekend, “but amongthem are ultraviolent individ-uals”.

“These past three weekshave produced a monster thatits creators no longer control,”Castaner said, vowing “zero tol-

erance” towards those aimingto wreak further destruction.

Prime Minister EdouardPhilippe on Friday eveningmet a delegation of self-described “moderate” yellowvests who have urged peoplenot to join the protests.

After the meeting aspokesman from the move-ment, Christophe Chalencon,said Philippe had “listened tous and promised to take ourdemands to the president”.

“Now we await MrMacron. I hope he will speak tothe people of France as a father,with love and respect and thathe will take strong decisions,”he said. Philippe said some89,000 police were beingmobilised nationwide, with adozen armoured vehiclesdeployed in Paris for the firsttime in decades.

Shops around the Champs-Elysees boulevard boarded uptheir windows and emptiedthem of merchandise on Friday,while the Louvre, Museed'Orsay and other museumswere shut.

Department stores werealso staying closed due to therisk of looting on what wouldnormally be a busy shopping

weekend in the run-up toChristmas.

Foreign governments arewatching developments close-ly in one of the world's mostvisited cities.

The US embassy issued awarning to Americans in Paristo “keep a low profile andavoid crowds”, while Belgium,Portugal and the CzechRepublic advised citizens plan-ning to visit Paris over theweekend to postpone theirvisit.

In a warning of impendingviolence, an MP for Macron'sparty, Benoit Potterie, receiveda bullet in the post on Fridaywith the words: “Next time itwill be between your eyes.”

Calls on social media forprotesters to attack the policeor march on the presidentialpalace have especially rattledthe authorities.

Macron this week gave into some of the protesters'demands for measures to helpthe poor and struggling middleclasses, including scrapping aplanned increase in fuel taxesand freezing electricity andgas prices in 2019.

But the “yellow vests”, someof whom who have become

increasingly radicalised, areholding out for more. Many arecalling on Macron to resign.

The protesters beganblocking roads, fuel depotsand shopping centres aroundFrance on November 17 oversoaring petrol prices that havehit people in the provinces whoget around by car.

Since then the movementhas snowballed into a widerrevolt against former invest-ment banker Macron.

Protests at dozens ofschools over university reforms,and a call by farmers fordemonstrations next week,have added to a sense of gen-eral revolt.

The hardline CGT union,hoping to capitalise on themovement, has called for railand metro strikes next Fridayto demand immediate wageand pension increases.

Macron's decision early inhis presidency to slash taxes onFrance's wealthiest is particu-larly unpopular with the pro-testers.

Arguing that such a movewas necessary in order to boostinvestment and create jobs, hehas so far ruled out re-impos-ing the “fortune tax”.

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Around 70 people werearrested on Saturday in

the Belgian capital Brusselsduring copycat “yellow vest”demonstrations rockingneighbouring France, policesaid.

The area housingEuropean institutions includ-ing the offices of the EuropeanCommission and theEuropean Parliament wassealed off as a precautionarymeasure. Police put up barri-cades there and both vehiclesand pedestrians were deniedaccess.

The protesters gatheredin two districts of the city -Arts Lois and Porte de Namur- but there were no incidentsof violence.

“There have been around70 arrests following checkscarried out as a preventivemeasure,” Brussels policespokeswoman Ilse Van De

Keere told AFP.According to Belga news

agency, young protestersblocked a highway linkingBrussels to the town ofRekkem in Flanders, locatednear the French border.

They also put up a barri-cade near the Franco-Belgianborder close to Adinkerque,Belga said.

The “yellow vest” move-ment in France originallystarted as a protest aboutplanned fuel hikes but hasmorphed into a mass protestagainst President EmmanuelMacron's policies and top-down style of governing.

It has spilled over to someother countries, includingBelgium and especially in thecountry's French-speakingregion.

On November 30, a “yel-low vest” protest by some 300people in Brussels degenerat-ed into violence in which twopolice vehicles were torched.

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Iran's President HassanRouhani said US sanctions

were “economic terrorism”, ashe sought to foster a unitedfront from visiting regionalofficials on Saturday.

Washington has reimposedan oil embargo and other dam-aging sanctions on Iran sincepulling out in May from a land-mark 2015 nuclear dealbetween Tehran and majorpowers.

“America's unjust and ille-gal sanctions against the hon-ourable nation of Iran have tar-geted our nation in a clearinstance of terrorism,” Rouhanisaid in a televised speech.

He was speaking at a con-ference on terrorism andregional cooperation attendedby parliament speakers fromAfghanistan, China, Pakistan,Russia and Turkey.

“We are facing an all-outassault which is not only threat-ening our independence andidentity but also is bent onbreaking our longstanding ties,”he added.

Rouhani drew parallelswith the sanctions and otherpressure faced by the countriesattending the conference.

“When they put pressureon China's trade, we are allharmed... By punishing Turkey,we are all punished. Any timethey threaten Russia, we tooconsider our security to beendangered,” he said.

“When they impose sanc-tions on Iran, they deprive allof us of the benefits of inter-national trade, energy securi-

ty and sustainable develop-ment. And in fact, they imposesanctions on everyone.

“We are here to say that wedon't intend to tolerate suchinsolence.” Rouhani alsowarned Europe - which hasstrongly objected to the USwithdrawal from the nucleardeal - that much is at stake inits efforts to bypass US sanc-tions and maintain trade withIran.

“They should know that bysanctioning Iran, they wouldharm our ability to fight drugsand terrorism,” Rouhani said,referring to Iran's efforts tocombat smuggling, particular-ly from Afghanistan.

The European Union isworking on a payment system,known as the “special purposevehicle”, to keep money flowinginto Iran, but has struggled tofind a host since many coun-tries fear repercussions fromthe Trump administration.

The conference in Tehranwas the second regional meet-ing on terrorism — the first washeld last December inIslamabad.

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President Hassan Rouhanion Saturday warned

Western countries that they willface a massive influx of drugsif Iran becomes weakened byUS sanctions.

Rouhani spoke in Tehran ata six-nation conference onfighting terrorism attended byparliament speakers ofAfghanistan, Iran, Pakistan,Turkey, China and Russia.

In remarks broadcast onstate TV, Rouhani said a weak-ened Iran would be less able tofight drug trafficking.

“Weakening Iran by sanc-tions, many will not be safe,” hesaid. “Those who do notbelieve us, it is good to look atthe map.”

Iran lies on a major drugroute between Afghanistan andEurope and the Persian Gulfstates. Afghanistan is theworld's largest producer ofopium with its HelmandProvince being the biggestopium-producing region.

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Special Counsel RobertMueller has filed a new set

of papers in court that mayincrease the legal woes of USPresident Donald Trump inconnection with the allegedRussian interference in the2016 election and possible con-tacts between the Trump's pres-idential campaign and Moscow.

While the court papersdoes not answer the centralquestion of whether Trump orhis associates conspired withthe Russians, the documentssuggest that the president'slegal woes are far from over andreveal a previously unreportedcontact from a Russian toTrump's inner circle during thecampaign, according to areport in the Washington Post.

The Court papers directlyimplicated Trump in plans tobuy women's silence as farback as 2014 and offering newevidence of Russian efforts toforge a political alliance withTrump before he became the

president — disclosures thatshow the deepening politicaland legal morass envelopingthe administration, said thereport.

In his filings before a USfederal court in WashingtonDC, Muller said that PaulManafort, the former Trumpcampaign manager lied to pros-ecutors about his contacts withthe White House and an asso-ciate with suspected ties toRussian intelligence.

The president and theWhite House denied of anywrongdoings.

New York: US prosecutors askeda New York court Friday to handdown a “substantial” prison sen-tence to President DonaldTrump's former personal lawyerMichael Cohen, rejectingCohen's request for leniencybased on his cooperation withlaw enforcement officials.

“Cohen, an attorney andbusinessman, committed fourdistinct federal crimes over aperiod of several years. Hewas motivated to do so by per-sonal greed, and repeatedlyused his power and influencefor deceptive ends,” New York'sUS Attorney Robert Khuzamisaid in a court submission.AFP

Washington: US President Donald Trumpon Friday lambasted his former secretary ofstate Rex Tillerson, describing him as“dumb as a rock” and “lazy as hell”, after theex-diplomat alleged the president regular-ly pushed him to take decisions that were“illegal”. On the same day, Trump praisedSecretary of State Mike Pompeo for doinga great job. “Mike Pompeo is doing a greatjob, I am very proud of him. His predeces-sor, Rex Tillerson, didn't have the mentalcapacity needed,” Trump said in a tweet.

“He (Tillerson) was dumb as a rock andI couldn't get rid of him fast enough. He waslazy as hell. Now it is a whole new ballgame,great spirit at state!” he said.

Trump's angry tweet on Tillerson cameafter the former secretary of state, in aninterview to CBS News, was critical of thepresident.

“I think he grew tired of me being theguy everyday that told him, 'You can't dothat, and let's talk about what we can do,'”Tillerson said in his interview.

“He acts on his instincts, in somerespects it looks like impulsiveness… But…it's not his intent to act on impulse. I thinkhe really is trying to act on his instincts,” hesaid.

“It's challenging for me coming from thedisciplined, highly process-orientedExxonMobil Corporation… to go to workfor a man who is pretty undisciplined, does-n't like to read, doesn't read briefingreports, doesn't like to get into the detailsof a lot of things.

“But rather just kind of says, 'Look, thisis what I believe and you can try to convinceme otherwise,' but most of the time you'renot going to do that,” Tillerson said. PTI

Washington: Former FBIdirector James Comey, sackedby President Donald Trump in2017, testified Friday before USlawmakers for the first time inover a year, but this time out ofthe camera glare.

The hours-long CapitolHill grilling comes amid tur-bulence at the White House,and mounting intrigue overSpecial Counsel RobertMueller's investigation intoRussian interference in the2016 election and possible con-tacts between Trump's presi-dential campaign and Moscow.

AFP

San Francisco: A divided USappeals court late on Fridayrefused to immediately allowthe Trump administration toenforce a ban on asylum for anyimmigrants who illegally crossthe US-Mexico border.

The ban is inconsistentwith an existing US law and anattempted end-run aroundCongress, a panel of the 9th USCircuit Court of Appeals saidin a 2-1 decision.

“Just as we may not, as weare often reminded, 'legislatefrom the bench,' neither may theExecutive legislate from theOval Office,” 9th Circuit JudgeJay Bybee, a nominee ofRepublican President George WBush, wrote for the majority.

A spokesman for the USDepartment of Justice, StevenStafford, did not have comment.But he referred to an earlierstatement that called the asylumsystem broken and said thedepartment looked forward to“continuing to defend theExecutive Branch's legitimateand well-reasoned exercise of itsauthority to address the crisis atour southern border.”AP

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Six people, including five teenagers, died and 120 wereinjured in a stampede when panic broke out during

a rap concert at a packed Italian nightclub early onSaturday. The suspected use of a pepper spray-like sub-stance is thought to have sparked the chaos at the venuein the town of Corinaldo, near Ancona in central Italy,the fire service said in a statement on Twitter.

But carabinieri police spokesman Cristian Carrozzalater said they were still “trying to ascertain what hadcaused the youths to rush out”, adding: “There are threeexits and one of these was used.” The victims include threegirls and two boys aged between 14 and 16 and a 39-year-old woman who accompanied her daughter to the con-cert. Some 10 people are in a critical condition, doctorssaid, with at least 120 injured in total.

“Around 1,400 tickets were sold for the concert andthe place could only accomodate 870 people,” said MonicaGarulli from the prosecutor's office in Ancona.

The exit used led to a small bridge and the car park.The force of the fleeing crowd made a railing collapseand dozens of people fell, crushing those at the bottomof the pile, according to a preliminary investigation.

Grainy mobile phone footage appeared to show partof a walkway collapsing, sending dozens of people tum-bling down.

Kuala Lumpur: Thousands ofbanner-waving Muslimsdressed in white rallied in theMalaysian capital on Saturdaydemanding protection of theirrights, at a time of growingracial tensions in the multi-eth-nic country.

Big crowds gathered indowntown Kuala Lumpur,chanting “God is great” andwaving banners that read“Long live the Malays”, an AFPreporter said. Large numbers ofpolice were on the streets andmajor roads were closed.

Race and religion are sen-sitive in Malaysia, which ishome to sizeable ethnic Chineseand Indian communities, andthe Muslim Malay majorityappears to be feeling increas-ingly insecure under a new gov-ernment that is more repre-sentative of minorities. AFP

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The sun took a break but India shone to stayahead of Australia in the opening Test aftersporadic rain intrusions, K L Rahul's enter-

prise and Cheteshwar Pujara's obduracy culmi-nated in a 166-run lead here on Saturday.

Virat Kohli was dismissed late in the final ses-sion as India reached 151 for three at stumps onday three at the Adelaide Oval.

The Indian skipper lunged forward to defendoff Nathan Lyon (1-48) but was caught at shortleg for an uncharacteristic knock of 34 (104 balls).At close of play, Cheteshwar Pujara was unbeat-en on 40 runs, while Ajinkya Rahane was battingon 1 not out. India led by 166 runs.

Post tea, Kohli and Pujara took their third-wicket partnership to 71 runs, albeit it was lowon strike-rate, coming off 197 balls.

Pujara survived early in the last session, cour-tesy DRS again, as the ball seemed to miss thestumps on account of bounce in the 40th over byLyon.

At the other end, Kohli became the fourthIndian batsman after Sachin Tendulkar, VVSLaxman and Rahul Dravid to score 1000-plus runsin Test cricket against Australia.

The hosts though cut off most of his scoringopportunities, and Kohli was happy to play fortime as he didn't dominate the bowling for once.Their third-wicket partnership crossed 50 off 149balls.

India's lead swelled past 150 shortly thereafter,and just when it appeared to be smooth sailingfor the visitors, Lyon struck to remove Kohli beforestumps and put the match in balance again.

Earlier, K L Rahul scored a quick-fire 44 off67 balls as India reached 86 for two at tea. Rainhad further caused delays post lunch and anoth-er 23 minutes were lost before play could finallyget underway, with 61 overs remaining for the day.

As opposed to the first innings, Rahul andMurali Vijay (18) were more careful and negoti-ated the Australian pace battery without much dis-comfort. They left well and looked to cut out anyhigh-risk shots as India were placed at 19 for noloss in 10 overs.

Vijay was the first to go, out driving again, andcaught at second slip off Mitchell Starc (1-18). Itfizzled out the Indian momentum, even as Rahulcontinued playing his shots.

Pujara survived a scare in the 24th over, usingDRS to overturn a caught-behind decision offLyon. But two balls later, Australia's desperationfor a wicket paid off as Rahul edged behind offJosh Hazlewood (1-25).

Kohli walked out to boos from the Australianfans but made sure there was no further loss untiltea as India's lead crossed 100.

Earlier, rain hampered play on day three asIndia took a 15-run lead in the first innings afterAustralia were bowled out for 235 in reply to thevisitors' 250.

Inclement weather first delayed play by 45minutes in the morning session, and then therewere two more delays in the first session beforelunch was taken.

During the first 20 minutes of play, startingfrom overnight 191 for seven, Australia crossed200 in the 91st over but India managed to sneakin a breakthrough before rain came again.

Mitchell Starc (15) was caught behind off JaspritBumrah (3-47) as covers came on.

Play was held up for 55 minutes thereafter, andthe number of overs for the day were reduced to79. On resumption, the remaining one-hour ses-sion was cut short again after 40 minutes but thistime India made good used of the overs.

Both Bumrah and Ishant Sharma (2-47) wereguilty of bowling shorter to the tail-enders, andit didn't change this morning either. Nathan Lyon(24 not out) made good use of this, hitting twofours and a six, as he put on 31 runs for the ninthwicket with Travis Head (72).

Head's immaculate knock came to an endwhen he edged Mohammed Shami (2-58) behind,and the very next ball, the pacer finished thingsoff with Josh Hazlewood out caught similarly fora first-ball duck.

Wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant finished with sixcatches, while Head faced 167 deliveries in all,inclusive of six fours.

Australia were then happier of the two sideshaving added 44 runs in just 10.4 overs of play.In their bid to get the lower order out quickly, Indiawere guilty of leaking easy runs.

On day one, Pujara's 16th Test century savedIndia the blushes. The Indian bowling attack thenworked hard to restrict the Australian batsmenwith Head the only one to cross the 50-mark.

$������ ��Virat Kohli was booed by a small section of

the Adelaide Oval crowd when he stepped out tobat in the second innings against Australia, an actthat has been criticised by rival batsman TravisHead and former skipper Ricky Ponting.

Travis Head wasn't impressed by the behav-iour of the crowd.

"He's a pretty good player and probably does-n't deserve to be booed but that's how it is. It'sprobably not needed but that's the crowd," he said.

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Disgruntled coach Mickey Arthur demand-ed his players toughen up and seize key

moments in Test matches after sloppy battinghanded New Zealand an away series win overPakistan for the first time in 49 years.

New Zealand pulled off a come-from-behind 123-run victory in the third and final Testin Abu Dhabi on Friday to end their long waitfor a 2-1 series win.

"We missed opportunities and despite win-ning most of the sessions in the two losses wecould not grab the moments to force a win,"Pakistan coach Arthur said.

"It was our series to win but we ended upas the losing side and that's highly disappoint-ing."

Arthur said Pakistan not gaining big leadsin the first and third Tests was crucial.

"We have to have a look at our batting onthe last day and that is tough in the UAE," saidArthur.

Pakistan lost all ten wickets on the final dayin both the defeats. They have now lost all tenwickets on the final day six times since Arthurjoined in May 2016.

Arthur said he backs his players, especiallyunder-fire senior batsmen Azhar Ali and Asad

Shafiq. "The quality is there as they are the bestplayers in Pakistan who are working very veryhard and I back them to the hilt," said Arthur.

Arthur now hopes Pakistan can do well inSouth Africa, a country where they have wononly two Tests and were thrashed 3-0 on theirlast tour in 2013.

"I reckon we can go to South Africa and dowell," said Arthur. "We need to nail down ourgood positions which we are not doing and that'sthe problem area."

The first of three Tests starts in Centurionfrom December 26.

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The West Indies are looking to endtheir four-year wait for a one-day

international series win when theytake on hosts Bangladesh starting onSunday.

Stand-in skipper Rovman Powellsaid winning the three-match seriesin Bangladesh would give his side theperfect boost ahead of the World Cupnext year, for which they had to qual-ify after failing to secure one of theeight automatic berths.

"We haven't won an ODI seriesin a long time," Powell told reporterson Saturday ahead of the first gamein Dhaka.

"The guys are upbeat and raringto go. No better opportunity tochange it in Bangladesh."

"It will be good to get the serieswin under our belt" before the WorldCup, Powell added.

The Caribbean side last won anODI series in 2014 when they beatBangladesh 3-0 at home.

They have since lost 11 series anddrew against minnows Afghanistanlast year. The streak includes a 2-1loss to Bangladesh in July at home

and a 3-1 loss to India in October.Powell, who will be leading the

side in the absence of the injuredJason Holder, said the Test defeats toBangladesh are in the past.

"We are focused on white-ballcricket. (The) guys are motivated andupbeat and hopefully we can get bestpossible result," he said.

"Both teams have good spinners,fast bowlers and batters. It will be avery competitive series."

Bangladesh have been boosted bythe return of batsman Tamim Iqbaland all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan,who both missed the ODI seriesagainst Zimbabwe in Octoberbecause of injury.

Shakib played in the Tests againstthe West Indies and was named man-of-the-series, while Tamim show-cased his abilities with a blistering 107off 73 balls in Thursday's 51-runwarm-up match win over the visitors.

"Obviously having Shakib,Tamim in the team is a big advantagefor us," said Bangladesh captainMashrafe Mortaza.

"In the practice game, Tamimplayed brilliantly which is a greatrelief for Tamim as well as for us,"added Mashrafe, who is set to becomethe first Bangladeshi to play 200 ODIson Sunday.

The second and third matches ofthe series will be played on December11 and 14 in Dhaka and Sylhet.

The West Indies will wrap up theBangladesh tour with three Twenty20internationals.

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Gautam Gambhir scored the 43rd andfinal first-class century of his career

as Delhi ensured at least three points byvirtue of first innings lead against Andhraon the third day of a group B encounter.

At stumps, Delhi ended the day at 409for 7 in reply to Andhra's 380 but everyother details was of little consequencebecause of one man playing his last game.

The entire focus was on Gambhir, whois set to hang his boots on Sunday, madeit memorable for the 500-odd spectators,who were present at the Feroz Shah Kotlato cheer every run that he scored.

A streaky boundary through the slipstook him to 98 and then he square drovepacer Bandaru Ayappa to scamper homefor a double to complete one of his moreemotionally exhausting hundreds.

While the 100-odd youngsters sport-ing "Miss you Gauti' T-shirts were over-whelmed with emotion, the former India

opener was muted in his celebrations ashe didn't even bother to open his helmet.

He added 113 runs for the secondwicket with skipper Dhruv Shorey (98)before India A keeper Kona Bharat final-ly held onto an edge with off-spinnerShoaib Mohammed Khan being thebowler.

It wasn't a smooth innings but no onecared for the details like 10 boundaries and185 balls as he got a generous applause.

The Delhi players gave him a 'Guardof Honour', the spectators gave a standingovation and the entire Andhra team cameup to congratulate him.

He strode back to pavilion in a mat-ter of fact manner as the interest in theday's proceedings suddenly waned.

However, it was Shorey, Delhi's mostconsistent batsmen over past two seasons,who played with a lot of confidence, wear-ing the Andhra attack on a low and slowtrack.

He batted patiently playing 259 balls,

hitting six fours, adding 86 with VaibhavRawal (33) after century stand withGambhir.

After Rawal was dismissed, Dhruv was

stuck and left-arm spinner ManishGolamaru trapped him with a short mid-off fielder. Sai Krishna stationed at the par-ticular position took a smart low catch.

But debutant Jonty Sidhu (30), LalitYadav (29) and Anuj Rawat (28) took theirteam past Andhra's first innings score toensure three points.

���������������������������� Hosts Maharashtra bundled outMumbai for 273 to take the crucial firstinnings lead in their Elite Group A game.

Mumbai, who resumed on the penul-timate day at 196/6, had their hopes onstand-in skipper Siddhesh Lad, who wasunbeaten on 70.

But the right-handed batsman couldadd only 23 runs to his overnight tally.

Young Shubham Ranjane remainedunbeaten on 54, but lacked support fromthe other end as wickets kept tumbling andMumbai fell well short of the hosts' tallyof 352.

However, Mumbai fought back toreduce Maharashtra to 112 for 5 in secondinnings at close of play at the MCAStadium.

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Nathan Lyon has beenusing the rough patches

effectively during the ongoingIndian second innings whichis an indicator thatRavichandran Ashwin willhave a bigger role to play dur-ing Australian second innings,reckons pacer Jasprit Bumrah.

"Ashwin will obviouslyplay a more crucial now rolebecause with the rough, wesaw Nathan Lyon using therough to his advantage. He isan experienced bowler andknows what he has to do. Sohe will probably work on itand he will play a crucial rolefor sure," Bumrah said at theend of the second day's play.

India dismissed Australiafor 235 in their first inningsand it was a collective effortfrom the bowlers, who sharedthe spoils.

"We were trying to figureout the lengths that are usefulover here. In South Africa andEngland, there was a lot of lat-eral movement. Here thewickets are slightly flatterbecause you get bounce, butyou have to be consistent.

"That's the thing we haveread over the years. We weretrying to focus on that, that ifwe don't give runs, we are cre-ating pressure from both endsand then we could get wick-ets," said Bumrah.

Bumrah is confident thatIndia will take a substantiallead on day four.

"I think it is slightly in ourfavour because the late wick-et (Kohli) was a good thing forthem. But we have a goodlead. First session on Sundaywill be a very important. If wecapitalize on that, that willleave us in a very good placein this match," the pacer said.

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Young Rishabh Panton Saturday took six

catches during Australia'sfirst innings to equal pre-decessor MahendraSingh Dhoni's record ofmost catches by anIndian wicketkeeper in aTest innings.

The 21-year-old Panthad a hand in dismissingUsman Khawaja, Peter

Handscomb and TimPaine on the second daybefore pouching on toedges off Mitchell Starc,Travis Head and JoshHazlewood's willow onSaturday.

He equalled therecord after takingHazlewood's catch offMohammed Shami's ballin the first innings here.

In 2009, Dhoni hadachieved his record feat

during the WellingtonTest against NewZealand. Pant, who isplaying his sixth Test,was selected in the Indianteam following the injuryof Wriddhiman Saha andretirement of Dhoni in2014.

He has so far scored346 runs with an averageof 43.25 with the highestscore of 114 againstEngland.

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If someone had forecasted four years agothat I would celebrate my PhD submis-sion in English Literature at Cambridgewith an extraordinary trip to Pakistan, Iwould have laughed at the strangeness of

the idea. But the idea is now a reality, and thetrip is done and dusted and firmly imprintedon my mind as one of the most beautiful expe-riences of my life. In the middle of this year, Iwas selected to present a paper at a conferenceon the theme of ‘Art, Democracy andTolerance’ organised by the Trust for Heritage,

Art andArchitecture ofPakistan(THAAP) in thecity of Lahore. Iwas to speak onthe politics of aes-thetics in SanjayLeela Bhansali’smost controversialfilm Padmaavat,on which I hadalready articulatedsome ideas in this

very newspaper way back in April. At the timeof my selection, I found myself in a frenzy ofwriting, since my PhD on British fantasy fic-tion was just a few months away from theOctober deadline. Nonetheless, the opportu-nity from the city of Lahore came with a senseof excitement and wonder, paving way for adramatic turn of events that would keep meon my toes and eventually usher in a newsense of vitality and being. For as the oldPunjabi saying goes: “Jinhan Lahore nahiwaikhaya o jammia hi nahi” (“One who hasn’t seen Lahore has not been born yet”).

The notion and process of acquiring a visafor Pakistan as an Indian citizen has developedan incredulous appeal about itself in popularconsciousness. More than one person believedthat, “Indians were not allowed to travel toPakistan”, a near de-facto utterance thatpopped up when I told them that I ‘might’soon be travelling to our neighbouring coun-try. Other more knowledgeable folks averred:“How would I get the visa”? ‘Visa’ was mostlywhat I heard when I mentioned ‘Pakistan’ toany South Asian around me. Of course, thereason for such reactions was well-known,given the history of relations between the twocountries. But it was still somewhat off-puttingto experience the negativity inherent in thatquestioning, even though, on the other hand, Iknew equally well that this querying was prin-cipally an expression of concern and genuineinterest. Just a month before receiving my owninvitation in July, media across the world wassplashed with reports on India banning severalPakistani origin academics from attending aseminar in the country. I, therefore, had rea-sons enough to think the same way as myinterrogators (“how would I get the visa”), but

I still hoped that it all might just work out.There were five other Indians as well whosenames appeared in the preliminary confer-ence list, but unlike me, they would all betravelling from India to Lahore. Since Iwould be flying from and returning to theUK, some sympathetic souls imagined that Icould be especially lucky. And so, luck diddawn, albeit with some additional drama.

On the day I received the visa from one ofthe private outlets of the Pakistani HighCommission in London, I discovered that mypassport booklet had got loosened from thespine of the cover, possibly in response tosome unsophisticated handling during itschecks and scans. At the moment of receivingthe document, however, I was too elated bythe fact that I had finally, really ‘won’ a visaafter so much paperwork and coordination,which seemed nothing short of a challengingvictory, given the countless tales that sur-rounded its procurement and the mountingpressure of the PhD. The receptionists at thecollection centre for their part didn’t considerthe physical deformation of my passport a bigan issue either, when I made them aware of itscondition. It was only later that I confirmedfrom relevant authorities that the passport hadindeed been damaged. Annoyance and irrita-tion entered me while another part of myselftried to keep the wildness of my imaginationat bay as to ‘why’ and ‘how’ had the visa book-let got loosened. After all, I had a doctoral dis-sertation to submit within a month’s time, andthat required its own mental energy. Applyingfor a new ‘tatkaal’ passport further took itstime and expenses, but despite the persistentadvice of well-wishers to altogether drop theidea of going, I couldn’t quite settle with theirproposition, for this still seemed too preciousan opportunity to lose. The greatest assuranceand decisive factor, however, came from myconference organisers themselves, who notonly apologised for all the unnecessary andunforeseen trouble I had to undergo, but alsopromised to refund me for the new passport inaddition to paying for the entirety of the con-ference travel and accommodation. It is easyto let annoyance and irritation transform intoanger, and to let that anger mutate into para-noia (to be honest, such metamorphosis isoften subconscious). But here I was, havingthe choice to forgive the drama of damage andcontrol, and accept the incredible generosity ofmy hosts, that sowed the seeds of reorientingmy perspective. And in retrospect, I am onlytoo glad that better sense prevailed andwarmth won over worry.

I like to believe that the beginnings of mymusical sensibilities as an amateur pianist liein Pakistan. More than 25 years ago, my fatherhad bought me a small toy keyboard from hisfirst and only trip to Lahore, that I taughtmyself to play over the years following the ageof five. That was a small ‘Casio’ model, and

like so many people around me, ‘Casio’ always(and only) denoted a keyboard and nothingelse, although it essentially referred to a full-fledged electronics company. Years later, theassociation of my neighbouring country with arefined sense of music would only intensify,and there is hardly a day now when I don’t lis-ten to one or two numbers from the extraordi-nary productions of Coke Studio Pakistan (as Iwrite this piece, the transcendental composi-tions of Ustad Farid Ayaz and Ustad AbuMuhammad play in the background for theumpteenth time, whom I first got to knowthrough Coke Studio).

In the early days of television, my parentswould enthusiastically record musical showsaired from Pakistan via PTV, and I still remem-ber the countless times they viewed those pro-grammes in the grainy, pixelated format thatwas then the order of the day. But if thoseshows, along with Coke Studio productions,demonstrated a palpably sophisticated and lib-erating sensibility of music entrenched inPakistan’s cultural ethos, then Shoaib Mansoor’sexquisitely crafted 2007 Pakistani drama film,Khuda Ke Liye (In the Name of God), alsoshowed another facet of the country, wheresome circles were extremely conservative aboutthe place of music and musical joy in society. Itwas this duality of dispositions that eventuallygreeted me as I landed in Lahore within thewee hours of the beginning of November.

An hour before taking off fromHeathrow in London, I learned fromthe conference organisers about the

historic judgment on the Asia Bibi blasphemycase, that had thrown the country in turmoiland forced the cancellation of the conferenceinauguration on the first day, since the venuelay in a “high risk area”. Meanwhile, myaccommodation had also been changed, andmobile networks had been completely shutdown for two days. I could sense that thedrama that had begun with my passport hadno plans of abating, and so I entered thecountry to find it in a storm of anger andviolence. Islamist hardliners raged across dif-ferent parts of Lahore, protesting against theacquittal of the Christian woman over a nine-year-old alleged profanity, and with this, Ireceived a slice of fundamentalism that typi-cally characterises much popular opinionabout Pakistan the world over. But after thecancellation of the inauguration, the confer-ence nonetheless began on the second day,and along with it evolved a completely differ-ent image of the nation and its citizens, onethat was rooted in congeniality, kindness, anda hospitality that simply has no parallel.

As extremists took over the streets outside,not very far from our venue, a motley group ofspeakers predominantly from Pakistan andhandful from other countries (Austria,Australia, Indonesia, and India) discussed a

wide array of ideas and practices under theselected theme of ‘art, democracy, and toler-ance’, in what has to be the most intimate of allconferences I have ever attended. It took sometime to adjust to the fact that the event wasbeing held in the beautiful drawing room ofmy hosts, Professor Pervaiz Vandal and hiswife Professor Sajida Haider Vandal, for I wasused to the rather impersonal settings that typ-ically define academic assemblages. Not sohere. The papers ranged from topics concen-trating on the beginnings of liberal and secularthought in both the West and East, to com-mentaries on Sufi saints, Mughal emperors’secular practices, contemporary conservationstrategies in architecture and heritage manage-ment, and creative methods of engaging com-mon audiences in developing artistic anddemocratic consciousness in a variety of con-texts. Throughout the event, I couldn’t help butthink of the irony springing from the imbal-ance between what we were all collectivelyengaged in versus what was happening outside.After every two presentations, a sprawling lay-out of food and beverages greeted us in theleafy backyard of the Vandal home, where Iwas greeted with a warmth that is hard todefine. I learned that I was the only Indian tohave got the visa after 2015, even thoughTHAAP (the organisation) had been selectingnumerous Indians every year. It was then that Itruly realised how lucky I was to be presentthere. But this sense of good fortune increasedmany times over once I mingled with thesundry Pakistanis present at the event (whichwas open to the public), from students to lec-turers and other professionals. Before leavingfor the conference, I had heard several talesalmost bordering on the legendary about thelove and respect that Lahoris had for Indians,but it was only when I found myself in theirpresence did I realise the truth of that claim.

As Pervaiz sa’ab introduced me to thegathering as the sole Indian present (whohad managed to get a ‘visa’, for the word‘visa’ was still circulating), a number of peo-ple from all ages stood up to welcome meindividually, shaking hands and hugging melike a long lost friend now returning home. Iheard several other visa-related stories toofrom this side of the border, even as thePakistanis expressed heartfelt concern andgenuine sympathy for what had transpiredwith regard to my passport. During lunchesand teas, some students conveyed theirdesire to share food from the same plate asmine as a mark of respect and love, whileanother, after my presentation, became visi-bly emotional and offered his watch as a giftof brotherhood in addition to apologising fornot having anything “proper” to give me.

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Then, owing to the theme ofmy paper, yet anothergroup of students happily

approached me to ‘guide’ themon a film assignment, and I hada rather joyful time holding animpromptu session there andthen. While making such con-nections, every second personintoned his or her sadnessregarding the political enmitybetween the two nations, a vis-ceral emotion that also seemedto erupt as a desire to prove thattheir country had another side toit that had nothing to do withthe largely negative, ‘terrorist’image that still floated so freely.At such moments, I was remind-ed of many similar testimoniesfrom Pakistani youth whosewritings I was privileged toexamine as a final panel jurymember of the Queen’sCommonwealth Essay WritingCompetition in 2016 and 2017,the world’s largest literary con-test for school children (inciden-tally, this year’s senior winnerfrom a total of 12,000 youngpeople across 53 countries hailsfrom Lahore). With this enor-mously profound culture ofwarmth and bonhomie thatnever ceased to move me, all myapprehensions regarding my ownpaper also got dispelled, for Iwas to argue against the inter-pretations that renderedBhansali’s Padmaavat and thedirector himself as Islamophobicand misogynist — a position Ihad already chalked out in aconcise form in this newspaper.

This is not to say that thereweren’t people who disagreedwith my analysis, but rather topoint out that the setting I foundmyself in was as liberal and con-ducive to my ideas as any other.Even though I had read articlesearlier this year on how a num-ber of Pakistanis were deeplyoffended by the filmmaker’s por-trayals of Islamic culture, myown experiences at the confer-ence proved otherwise, for withits diversity of people, the eventdemonstrated that there simplywas no ‘one’ Pakistani identitythat informed an opinion, andthat fresh analytical standpointsalways held the power to initiatenewer ways of thinking(notwithstanding the disagree-ments) if provided a safe andpeaceful environment (like theconference itself).

I had been drawn toBhansali’s cinema for a long timebefore Padmaavat, not because ofits grandiosity but because of itseclecticism that I could trace inevery film of his oeuvre. Myfavourite was and still remains thebox-office flop Saawariya, and Icontinue to get enchanted by itsmarvellous juxtaposition of multi-faith imagery, with Buddhist stat-ues sitting comfortably in thepresence of Islamic calligraphyand Christian architecture. It was

precisely this microcosm of inter-religious aesthetic that I experi-enced when I visited Cooco’s Den,one of the most famous restau-rants of Lahore that is located inthe city’s famous Food Street,which I randomly chanced uponwith a newly made conferencefriend Adnan, who was extremelyexcited to show me around thecity and introduce me to otherLahoris. Reaching the restaurant’sterrace left me speechless for awhile as I soaked in the grandnessof the 17th Century BadshahiMosque sitting majestically at adistance, while the architectureand décor of the eatery itself paidhomage to Buddhism,Christianity, and Hinduism. Aswe walked through the FoodStreet, the connections withSaawariya became even moreapparent as I learned that the areahistorically served as Lahore’s redlight district where erstwhileprinces and aristocrats wouldcome to learn tehzeeb (manner-isms) from courtesans, a pointwell illustrated in several earlyHindi films and then memori-alised by Bhansali’s venture.Returning to the hotel, I was fur-ther thrilled to read the news thatthe director might be eyeing theHeera Mandi area for his nextfilm, for that was the other nameof the place I had visited only a

few hours earlier. In retrospect, itfeels nothing short of magical thatI had come to Pakistan to delivera paper on Padmaavat and wouldleave it having taken a slice of theinspirational context for myfavourite director’s next venture.

It was in the setting of Cooco’sDen that I had a long conversa-tion with Adnan and anotherfriend of his on religious identity.This other friend was a Hindu,who had recently shifted toLahore from Sindh, and it was

instructive to learn the disturbingstories of discrimination he hadbeen facing in the new city. Hetold me about the times that hehad to hide behind his religion-neutral surname to avert discrim-ination on the basis of his first,Hindu-sounding name. But afterspeaking poignantly about hisplight, it was equally moving tohear him narrate a number ofother stories as well which shedlight on some extraordinarymoments when his close Muslimfriends and teachers had come tohis defence in order to combatbigotry from other Muslims. Onesuch friend was sitting in ourmidst itself (Adnan), patiently andsympathetically listening to hisfriend’s experiences, and hisdemeanour was a living testimonyto the idea of tolerance that wehad been debating in the confer-ence. In this short, one-week visitthen, I had got the rare opportu-nity to interact with the minoritycommunities of Pakistan as well,which included the conferencedriver who was ferrying me backand forth from the event, whohad similarly expressed fear as aChristian, particularly in light ofthe recent judgment’s aftermath.But like the Hindu man’s bondingwith Adnan, this driver tooshared a wonderfully convivialrelationship with other members

of THAAP, all mostly Muslim,and that friendship again gave mehope and happiness.

In the days that followed, itwas this practice of friendshipthat continuously got intensifiedwith all the people I met. Afterthe conference, I shifted to anoth-er beautiful location where I wasbeing hosted by my wonderfulfriends, Sahar and Fazal Khan,whom I had first met inCambridge three years ago. Likethe people at the conference,Sahar and Fazal’s hospitality toomoved me to tears as they left nostone unturned to make my stay amost comfortable one. It was withthem that I ‘formally’ celebratedmy PhD submission dinner,which they grandly organised atthe Lahore Gymkhana, as well asthe Diwali meal. When Fazaldrove me across the lanes ofLahore in his car, just like Adnanhad driven me on his bike, therewere countless moments when Icouldn’t quite pinpoint whether Iwas in Pakistan or India: It wasall so like home. Connectionscontinued to mushroom as mywalk outside the Lahore Museumbrought back the introductorypages from Rudyard Kipling’sKim that I had first read in ClassV, and the gorgeous murals andstonework at the Lahore Fort andJahangir’s Tomb evoked the finecraftsmanship of the Mughalsand Sikhs in India. I was also for-tunate to meet Ryan, a youngBritish whom I had known onlycursorily in Cambridge, who haddecided to devote two years of his

life teaching in a local schoolhere, for he had fallen in lovewith Lahore when he first visitedit. Like him, I too had assimilat-ed myself in the people aroundme, and by the middle of myweek-long stay, I was comfort-able doing a gesture that oddlycombined Namaste with As-Salaam-Alaikum (‘Peace be untoyou’). As I got ready for myfarewell in the early hours ofNovember 8, Sahar and Fazalprepared a delicious Diwali din-ner, and I happily WhatsApped aphotograph of the BadshahiMasjid to my friends and familyin the manner of a festival card.

After my father had returnedfrom Lahore a quarter of a centuryago, he often used to say: “Unhonehumein palkon par hi bitha karnahi rakha, unhone palkein jhap-kaai tak nahi”, something which Ifind difficult to translate, butwhich loosely means that “notonly did the Lahoris treat us withexquisite care, their treatment alsonever wavered for a bit”. Yearslater, I can safely say that the say-ing holds incredibly true, andthat my visit does feel like arebirth of sorts (Jinhan Lahorenahi waikhaya o jammia hi nahi).I am privileged to have travelledto the ‘Land of the Pure’, and inthe hope of peace and friendship,here’s to Lahore, with love. &���$��������)��������"�!���.������ ��

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Ruskin Bond is one ofthose children’s authorthat most adults still

can’t resist reading. And ifone looks at the author’s jour-ney, this reader tendencymakes perfect sense. WhenBond had first started writingprofessionally, he had notplanned it for children. It washis publishers who thoughtthat Bond’s consciously sim-ple style of writing will makehis books perfect for theyoung readers. It reflectsrather well on the author,then, that decades down theline, children obviously adorehim, and even the grown-upscan’t get enough of his shortstories and novellas. The rea-son is probably that eventhough he consciously keepshis sentences short and hisideas graspable, one still has alot to cherish and ponder overwhen reading Bond.

Most of the author’s storiesare written in first person,whether he is sharing a slicefrom his own life or taking onthe persona of an imaginedcharacter. In StumblingThrough Life, one of his latestbooks, he takes the readersthrough various stages of hisown life while sharing humor-ous, sometimes tragic, andsometimes even spooky inci-dents with them. The eventsdon’t necessarily followchronology, but they certainlygive the readers a better senseabout Ruskin Bond, the per-son. There are parts that makeone chuckle and parts that

make one laugh out loud, too.By the end of the book, onefeels all the more enamouredwith the author.

Bond expresses his opinionon a wide range of topicsthrough this book. Selfies, pri-vacy in the modern society, thehill culture, the changing sizeof books, and the hangover ofcolonialism are some of them.The book is divided into smallchapters, each of them dedicat-ed to one such topic.

The reader finds that theauthor has a strong sense ofattachment to certain ‘old fash-ioned’ ways as makes an apolo-gy for them. He argues thateven though modern day pub-lishing has moved miles ahead,he just can’t seem to say good-bye to the writing process that

involves good old handwrittenmanuscripts. “The power ofthe pen” seems to become allthe more real when one putspen to paper and creates adraft, he says. Chapters dedi-cated to such personal opin-ions are intertwined withintriguing tales about celebrat-ed authors that Bond himselfgrew up reading. For instance,the readers get a peep into aunique writing experiment

conducted by Mark Twainwhere he would write a letterto a person and see if the mes-sage reaches them even if hedoesn’t post it. Luckily forTwain, it did!

Making lighthearted obser-vations about the activities ofpeople around him in histrademark style, the authorsays that the selfie culture ishardly the devil it is beingmade out to be as long as the

human being clicking it hashis/her head on the shoulders.He also comments on the cul-ture of getting other authors towrite an introduction for one’sbook as it has often put him ina spot. His commentary onLandour Bazaar, the impor-tance of postmen in his life,the difficult search for solitudeeven on the hills, and thechildish ways even 70-year-oldpeople tend to adopt just in

order to save a childhoodmemory — the book is filledwith priceless narratives.

Even though its such ashort book, Bond has managedto fill selected sections withelements of the gothic. In achapter titled “The Troublewith Jinns,” he dabbles in thegenre as he writes about aschoolmate who had the pow-ers of a jinn. He concludes thatone is better off appreciatingand utilising his/her powers asa regular human being. Hilllegends about old lady ghostsare also given a curious twistin the compilation.

The best one out of these isprobably the part where Bondis visited by the spirit ofRudyard Kipling, an author hehimself admires. The spirit ofKipling then talks about thewhite man’s burden — how hewas young and could not helphimself while calling imperial-ism glorious.

Bond takes the readersthough a period of dilemma inhis personal life when he feltlike more of an Indian evenwhen in England, and finallydecided to return to the homehe felt a stronger sense ofbelonging with .The author’sviews on why he celebratesHoli, and how he feels towardshis Indian friends and neigh-bours, how he ‘found’ a familyto call his own, and how everyday with them in Landour,which is not far away from hisgranny’s old house inMussoorie, adds up to just theidyllic journey he had alwayshoped to “stumble” through,fill the reader with the kind ofhappiness and peace one expe-riences while looking at happy,childhood pictures.

“And I enjoy writing. It’snot a burdensome task. I maynot have anything of earth-shattering significance to con-vey to the world, but in con-veying my sentiments to you,dear reader, and in telling yousomething about my relation-ship with people and the natur-al world, I hope to bring a littlepleasure and sunshine intoyour life,” the author writestowards the end of the book.And that’s exactly what hedoes. Needless to say, he does itexceedingly well as always.

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Kaushik Basu currentlyteaches Economicsand InternationalStudies at CornellUniversity in the US.

He has had an illustrious career,with distinguished stints as chiefeconomist and senior vice presi-dent at the World Bank, and later,in this neck of the woods, Basuwas chief economic adviser to theGovernment of India during UPArule. Basu mostly leans Left in hiseconomic ideas, and is a formerstudent, amongst several others,of Nobel Laureate and “Welfare”economist Amartya Sen — who isalso from India and a fellowBengali too.

This latest, extensivelyresearched book, that quotesmany thinkers to illustrate hispoints, has Kaushik Basu explor-ing the co-relationship betweenlaws and economics. It tries, to anextent to speak to the ordinaryreader, but is, in fact, quite anacademic tome. Still, some of itsbasic premises are readily gras-pable. Why are some laws bothobeyed and enforced, he asks,while others stay quite ineffectiveon the statute books? In India, hepoints out, there are, in fact, manylaws that are rarely used orenforced. Basu writes, that inorder for a law to be properlyimplemented and used, it mustintersect at a “focal point” withsociety and its economic ideas.

In other words it must makesense both to the enforcers of thelaw and the people it is intendedfor. Otherwise, both are likely tocollude in its subversion or leav-ing it on the shelf.

“The most important ingredi-ents of a republic, including itspower and might, reside in noth-ing more than the beliefs andexpectations of ordinary peoplegoing about their daily lives andquotidian chores. It is in thissense that we are all citizens of

the republic of beliefs,” writesKaushik Basu. He goes on towrite: “The focal point is a some-what mysterious concept thatemerged from modern game the-ory”. This concept of intersectingbeliefs however, is the main pointof this book, and Basu’s sugges-tions towards a more effectivesocio-legal environment essentialfor orderly progress, are predicat-ed upon it.

Basu believes one of the pur-poses of law, which is an instru-ment of the State as a collective, is

to influence and alter the collec-tive behavior of its people towardspreset objectives. In this, he goesbeyond the more usual objectiveof an “orderly society” so thateconomics can do its stuff inpeace. He actually wants to influ-ence the populace via the lawsadopted. He writes, “The focalpoint approach relies on theexpressive function or suggestivepower of the law and not on anyhuman irrationality. It is purely adevice that uses suggestion tofacilitate coordination”. Basu clari-

fies further: “What the focalapproach to law and economicsdoes is to take on the full econo-my game, including the policeand the judge, and then tries toexplain how and why the lawworks”. In other words, you needall the ingredients to be in someform of tacit agreement on thepremises assumed by both thegiven law, and the economic con-text it operates in, for it to bewidely adopted and used.

But, quite often, “It is not evi-dent what constitutes a focal point

for different groups of people”. Ina highly diversified country likeIndia this becomes doubly rele-vant and even more difficult toarrive at. Traditional laws, he says,were less inclusive in theirapproach, and usually were madeup based on the consensus of afew, and then, sometimesimposed, when they were vigor-ously enforced, upon the many.He states that is why they oftendid not work, even though hisoutright demoting of the tradi-tional approach without very

much ado, is less than convincing. However, for a left-leaning

thinker, inclusiveness must appearfar more attractive as a basis tobuild upon, rather than a top-down approach to economicorder and law-giving. Even if thelatter method goes back to theHammurabi Code and Moses’ TenCommandments.

Basu is an admirer of theancient Greek City States, and theway they went about their busi-ness. He wants to see the princi-ples enunciated then, spreadacross a 21st century global can-vas to the extent possible. But thistends to be an impossible seduc-tion, as the many self-contradic-tory effects in Democracy show.The idea is pleasant, but it is noteasy to remain democratic in aso-called Democracy!

Focal points can be arrived atvia custom, and tradition, writesBasu, as in the “tenacious” Indiancaste system. They can also bearrived at by discrimination. That

is, by giving advantages to a spe-cific group over another or sev-eral others. But predictably, Basuis not for allowing free play to itwith its overtones of apartheid.

He writes: “The popularview is that if you leave it all tothe market, with noGovernment regulations andintervention, discriminationwill go away, is not valid.Discrimination arises from afree market. If you want to stopdiscrimination, you may, in fact,need regulation and consciousaffirmative action”.

Kaushik Basu is certainlynot for rank Capitalism. Hewrites: “Once we move beyondpayoff-focused critiques to gen-eralised ones, many challengesopen up. Human beings areguided not just by their ownpayoffs but also by habit, fair-ness, altruism, empathy, envyand many other emotional and

psychological proclivities...Conservative economists , whocondone selfishness by believingAdam Smith’s concept of theinvisible hand will invariably leadsuch a society to optimal results,end up creating failed societies”.

Is Basu right? That dependson your own politics and eco-nomics. But he certainly puts outan entertaining variation onNash’s Game Theory to supporthis plumping for the old econom-ic concept of the Focal Point.

Is such a thing rather theoreti-cal when it comes to Law andEconomics? My view is that it cer-tainly is. And also it is not the jobof Law so much as Justice to setSociety on the right track.Economics marches to its owndrummer. Recent progressiveSupreme Court judgements onHomosexuality, Triple Talaq, andwomen between the ages of 12 and50 being allowed to go to a reveredtemple that kept them out for mil-lennia, are all cases in point.

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On December 10, the UniversalDeclaration of Human Rights

(UDHR) of the UN is completing its70th anniversary. At this juncture,our planet has seen numerousinstances of horrendous violation ofthe basic human rights of the mil-lions. While looking at thesetragedies, many of us have com-pletely overlooked how humanrights of the indigenous people, theneedy and the poor are violated bygiant multinational corporations(MNCs) in the guise of protectingtheir prized Intellectual PropertyRights (IPRs).

It has happened mainly in thefield of traditional knowledge,health, food and GeographicalIndications (GI) in several parts ofthe developing world. This does notbear the fact that human rights andthe IPRs are two antagonistic polesby nature. However, ironically, thetwo of them have been put in par-allel lines by many to serve theirvested interests.

The interface between humanrights and IPRs draw the attentionof the governments, policy makers,civil society organisations (CSOs),and a number of individual activists.

The irony is that these actorsadvance human rights arguments ascounterweights to the massiveextension and the enforcement ofthe global IPR regime from theWorld Intellectual PropertyOrganization (WIPO) through theWTO-TRIPS (Trade RelatedAspects of Intellectual PropertyRights) to the Trans-PacificPartnership (TPP) of our time in thefields of health, education, freedomof expression, privacy and the rightsof indigenous people.Simultaneously, innovators andowners of IP are offering humanrights justification for seeking legalprotection of their exclusive rights.

But then it is possible to envi-sion the connection between humanrights and IPRs as kind of massiveexpansion of the horizons of bothdomestic and international legalinstruments over the years. In fact,the growth of global institutions andawareness about them has sup-ported the coming of human rightsand IPRs to a point of conversion.

Needless to say, initially, thewhole journey of IPRs started withdiscrete bilateral agreementsbetween nations of Europe and

mostly restricted to the developedcountries. The harbinger of itsmodern form came along with twotrendsetting multilateral treatieswhich took place by the end of the19th century: The Paris Conventionof Industrial Property (1883) andthe Berne Convention of Literaryand Artistic Works (1886).

This has literally laid the foun-dation stone of the international IPRregime much before the onset of thetwo World Wars which largelyaffected the conception of the glob-al human rights framework. Onlyafter 65 years of the starting of theParis Convention, the first UNsponsored human rights declarationsaw its beginning. Thus the incep-tion of an international human

rights perspective is of recent originthan IPRs, though concern andstruggle for basic rights is as old ashuman civilisation.

From these humble beginnings,both human rights and IPRs terrainevolved much faster than one couldimagine in their geographic scope,substantive reach and in prescrip-tive detail. Thus, issues multiplied,with the advancement of the infor-mation revolution and population,accompanied by an array of actorsmostly heralded by globalisationand technology. It is realised that theform and pattern of the juridicalboundary, as well as a mature inter-face between human rights and theIPRs are yet to crystallise.

Now let us see how human

rights and IPRs go together andwhere they come in conflict.Notwithstanding their long periodof separation or non-interaction,there are ample juridical evidencesthat they converge both on con-ceptual and practical grounds. And,it is precisely mentioned in theInternational Bill of Rights. TheArticle 27 of the UDHR provides:

A) Everyone has the right freelyto participate in the cultural life ofthe community, to enjoy the arts andto share in scientific advancementand its benefits.

B) Everyone has the right to theprotection of the moral and mate-rial interests resulting from any sci-entific, literary or artistic productionof which he is the author.

Besides, Article 25.1 of theUDHR states, “Everyone has theright to a standard of living adequateto the health of himself and his fam-ily, including clothing, housing andmedical care and necessary socialservices.” While offering clear legalbacking to these provisions of theUDHR, the International Covenanton Economic, Social and CulturalRights (ICESCR) of 1966 in itsArticle 12.1 says State parties to theCovenant recognises the “right ofeveryone to the enjoyment of thehighest attainable standard of phys-ical and mental health”.

Today, overall impression isthat the global IP regime directlysupervised by the WTO and post-TRIPS WIPO truly caters to the

demands of the rights holders thanserving common man on the road.

Far beyond this, much contro-versial TPP (minus America) isincreasingly becoming a grave threatto human rights protection in sev-eral fields. Even way back in 2016,an independent UN expert onhuman rights, Dr Alfred de Zayas,warned that the TPP is a seriousthreat to human rights and nocountry should sign it. Further hecommented that the Investor StateDispute Settlement (ISDS), a uniquebuilt-in mechanism in the TPP, arbi-trations are fundamentally imbal-anced and unjust, adding that thehistoric agreement conflicted withguarantees of human rights andState sovereignty in the UN Charter.

He said, “The last 25 yearshave delivered numerous examplesof abuse of rights by investors andunconscionable arbitral awards thathave not only led to violations ofhuman rights, but have engendereda ‘regulatory chill’ or even a ‘regu-latory freeze’.” In a nutshell, what hascome around and making headlinesin popular perception today is thatbusiness treaties, particularly megadeals like the TRIPS or the TPP,pose harm to basic freedoms andrights such as access to water, food,medicine, education and very seri-ously to a clean environment. Aboveall, these trade treats make povertyeven worse on this planet.

It is widely argued that theWIPO, the nodal and specialisedagency of the UN, needs to walk anextra mile for turning the existingglobal IPR regime into a morehuman rights friendly one. Equallythe WTO-TRIPS framework is tosee that the developing and the leastdeveloped nations should not losetheir valued resources in the handsof the MNCs of the developedworld in the name of research,development and creation of moreemployment opportunities forlocals.

The WIPO and the WTO pol-icy-making and implementationare to ensure that the needy andpoor are away from the clutches ofthe giant corporations whileexpanding and promoting the newIPR network. Some researchershave already had their opinions thatthere has been a serious lack ofemphasis of basic or human rightsin the works and all treaties of the

WIPO. It is believed that a humanrights perspective of the WIPOwould provide greater accessibilityand participation of society. It isinteresting to note that there is noth-ing in the WIPO mandate that pre-vents the organisation from stress-ing human rights to a greater extent,the integration of human rights intoexisting IPR policies and pro-grammes into the future develop-ment of the WIPO DevelopmentAgenda. This would finally beadvancement in building up ahuman rights framework for theWIPO.

With the Doha Declaration of2001, the lingering doubts over thejurisprudential grounding or theinterface between human rightsand the IPRs should have been over.Because this declaration tried tomoderate the TRIPs Agreement tobe responsive to the developmentimperative that it alleged to havesidelined or rather ignored. But thensince 2001, the emergence ofnumerous post-TRIPs bilateral andmultilateral treaties has furtherraised the concern of violation ofhuman rights.

At this point, when the entireworld is fast moving towards an eraof “intellectual capitalism”, such anadvanced system of social relationsis defined not more by social divi-sions of labour but by social divi-sions of knowledge.

These divisions are widelyreflected in continuous creation ofknowledge pools, clusters and net-works both at global and local lev-els which have become irresistibletoday. What holds the key of thismarauding expansionist regime isthe centrality of the intangible formof property than the age-old tangi-ble properties such as land andindustrial assets. Simply put, it is aphenomenal change and a paradigmshift. At this hour, a sustained guar-antee of the protection of our basichuman rights while promoting andexploiting the IPRs is to be ensuredby the international watchdogs suchas the WIPO, the WTO andthrough an overall supervision ofthe UN by sticking to the cardinalprinciples of the UDHR with theassistance of an array of civil rightsgroups and activists.

(The writer is an expert onInternational affairs)

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1������������������ ������� There are many reasons to

refuse the resumption ofdialogue with Pakistan. Indiahas been reiterating talks andterror cannot coexist. This pol-icy has been conceived withclarity based on realism andsubsequently pursued withconsistency.

Since 2015, India has seenan upsurge in cross-border fir-ing, ceasefire violations alongthe Line of Control and inter-national border in Jammu &Kashmir. There are clear signsthat the Pakistan Army and theISI are doing everything todestabilise Kashmir.

But in a friendly gesturetowards India, the Imran KhanGovernment in Pakistanopened Kartarpur SahibCorridor. However, it is notenough to resume the stalledbilateral talks. Former PrimeMinister Atal Bihari Vajpayeehad first advocated for thecorridor when he took the bustrip to Lahore in 1999. PrimeMinister Narendra Modiapproved the corridor.Pakistan’s decision to agree tothe Kartarpur Corridor wasdriven by a desire to emergeout of its current state of iso-lation and to cash in on theopportunity to radicalise thepilgrims from India. Andtherefore, a leader of the dead

Khalistan movement was seenwith Imran Khan during theinauguration.

After coming to power,Imran said, “My Governmentis not to be blamed for the exis-tence of terror structures inPakistan.” This looks a blatantlie. His ministers share thepublic chair with the master-minds of the terror groups.Earlier, he wrote a letter to hiscounterpart in India, saying,“Pakistan and India haveunderstandably challengingrelationships. We, however,owe it to our people, especial-ly the future generation topeacefully resolve all out-standing issues, including theJammu & Kashmir dispute, tobridge differences and achievea mutually beneficial outcome.”

Pakistan is not seen to beacting against the perpetratorsof terror. It has yet not saidgoodbye to terror as foreignpolicy. 26/11 Mumbai terrormasterminds Hafiz Saeed andLakhvi roam free in Pakistanand publicly spew venomagainst India.

It is an open secret thatPakistan is run by its military.Policies are structured by theArmy. And most likely, Imranwas supported to becomePrime Minister so as to act asa rubber stamp of the Army.

Therefore, if Imran is harpingon the resumption of bilateraldialogue, in fact it is thePakistan Army’s proxy move.

A key objective forPakistan in reaching out toIndia is to unlock trade barri-ers, which would give Pakistanmore access to regional mar-

kets. India sees Imran’s out-reach as the desire of thePakistan Army and believes hewill present General Bajwa’sdemands.

The Pakistan Army hasrealised country’s batteredeconomy as a security threatthat may aggravate insurgency

situation in the country. TheBajwa Doctrine has linkedPakistani economy to theregional security. In despera-tion, the Pakistan Army chiefapproached Indian Army ChiefBipin Rawat, but the overturesproved futile. Perhaps, GeneralBajwa forgot that India has a

deep-rooted democratic set-up.Pakistan outreach is also

due to the Chinese pressure.Those who know Chinese pol-icy understand it better thatBeijing’s interests in Pakistanare of paramount interest. ForBeijing, China-PakistanEconomic Corridor is the

lynchpin for all ties withPakistan. Beijing has proddedPakistan to stabilise its borderwith India, hoping for greaterstability as it pursues its region-al economic ambitions.

Harsh American cut-offin military aid and economicbailout from the InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF) are theunstated objectives guidingPakistan’s eagerness for peace.

But why should India takethe bait? Pakistan continues tohurt India. Recently Pakistanreleased 20 special stamps insolidarity with Kashmiri ter-rorism, which glorify BurhanWani, the Hizbul Mujahideenterrorist killed by securityforces in 2016.

The true face of Imran hasbeen exposed in his first fewmonths in office, said ExternalAffairs Ministry SpokespersonRaveesh Kumar, adding thattalks under the circumstanceswere meaningless. HizbulMujahideen terrorists arepressing local policemen ofJ&K to resign, failing whichthey are brutally killed. Allthese are happening at behestof Pakistan.

Dialogue between Indiaand Pakistan has been sus-pended since 2015 over a seriesof attacks, especially the terrorattack on Army camp in Uri

that left 19 soldiers dead.The Pakistan Army has

emerged as the self-designatedcustodian of Pakistan’s des-tiny, unity and ideology. It hassustained its grip on power andinfluence because of the wide-spread perceptions and propa-ganda that India is an existen-tial threat.

In 2015 when Modi flew toLahore and embraced thenPrime Minister Nawaj Sharif,there was a sense that relationswill improve. But India was dis-appointed. The good gestureswere rewarded with the Uriattack and intensified insur-gencies. The current game planof Pakistan is two-fold. First,Army doctrine is to open thepeace gate through civilianGovernment and it will run itsown game of infiltrations.Second, if talks fail, India willbe blamed. Unless the PakistanArmy abandons the use of ter-ror as it security doctrine,resumption of dialogue is notpossible. India is now a decisivepower, and diktats of externalpowers do not work any longer.

(The author teachesPolitical Science and IR atMMH College Ghaziabad.Earlier, he was Head of theDepartment of Political Science,Central University of Haryana)

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Mexico’s new President hasunveiled a plan toaddress US-bound

migration, signing an agreementwith Central American leaderswithin hours of donning thepresidential sash. Andres ManuelLopez Obrador was alwaysexpected to hit the ground run-ning — but even so, the speed ofthe announcement surprised all.

In a deal that will likelydelight Donald Trump, LopezObrador agreed with thePresidents of Honduras andGuatemala, and the Vice-President of El Salvador, to cre-ate a fund to stem the US-boundflow of migrants. Leaders of thefour countries have agreed toask their finance ministries, inthe first quarter of 2019, tocome up with a plan whichincludes “programmes, projects,and specific actions, for the sakeof jobs generation and fightingpoverty in the region”.

The programmes will be sup-ported by an “integral develop-ment plan”, aimed at making theCentral American nations a bet-ter place to live, and thus reducethe number of those leaving. Itwill be backed by CEPAL — theeconomic commission for LatinAmerica and the Caribbean. Thedeal was Lopez Obrador’s firstofficial act, and a highly signifi-cant one, likely to curry favourfrom his northern counterpart.And Lopez Obrador continuedhis conciliatory tone throughoutthe presidential ceremonies,thanking Trump for sending hisdaughter Ivanka to represent him

as a gesture of goodwill, andthanking Mike Pence, the Vice-President, for being there.

He then moved on to thankKing Felipe of Spain and theassembled Presidents for theirpresence — then giving a specialmention to Jeremy Corbyn, hisfriend and ally of many years.“Present today is my friendJeremy Corbyn, leader of theLabour Party of Great Britain,”Lopez Obrador told the packedChamber of Deputies, asCorbyn stood up from his seatbehind Ivanka to wave andaccept the applause.

More controversial to theassembled deputies and digni-taries was Nicolas Maduro, theVenezuelan President, who wasforced to stay away from the cer-emony owing to massiveprotests. When his name wasmentioned, politicians yelled“Dictator!” and marched to thefront of the podium, unfurling abanner which read: “NicolasMaduro, you are not welcome”.Maduro did, however, attend thelunch at the National Palaceafter the ceremony — arrivingwith a huge entourage, who werenot permitted to enter, and thenscuffled with security outsidethe building.

Inside the National Palace,Maduro took a happy photoseated beside Cuba’s leader,

Miguel Diaz-Canel, and EvoMorales of Bolivia — who earlierthat day held a bilateral meetingwith Corbyn. The VIPs thenfeasted on huitlacoche soup — aclassic Mexican fungus — fol-lowed by ribs with corn,

Mexican spices and plantain,and a selection of Mexicandesserts.

While the official celebra-tions were continuing, anotherof Lopez Obrador’s policies wasbeing enacted. The presidential

palace, Los Pinos, flung open itswrought-iron green gates and,for the first time in 80 years, wasopened to the public.

Lopez Obrador fulfilled hispromise to turn it into a culturalcentre — he will not live there,

unlike his predecessors — andthe sound of traditional musicand orchestras flowed throughthe sprawling compound.Mexicans poured in to pose infront of the imposing gates,besides flower signs welcomingthe public. Queues snakedthrough the lush gardens to getinto the house where, until theday before, Enrique Pena Nietoand his family had lived andworked. “I mean, I know theyhave to live well,” said onewoman, entering the atriumbeneath a huge chandelier. “Butthis is ridiculous.”

With more than a passingresemblance to the Iraqis, whowandered freely through thedeposed Saddam Hussein’spalace, Mexicans, jaws agape,passed through what was PenaNieto’s office, poked their headinto his now unfurnished suiteof bedrooms, and took selfies inhis kitchen. “This place is sohuge, if I were hungry I’d faintbefore I reached the kitchen,” alittle girl told her mother.

The new President proudlymentioned the development inhis speech, addressing tens ofthousands in Mexico City’s mainplaza, the Zocalo. “From thismorning, we’ve opened thedoors of Los Pinos, which hasceased being a presidentialpalace, and is now a cultural

space,” he said. Next, the presi-dential jet is going. And all theflotilla of helicopters.”

He then listed the multitudeof ways in which, from now,public servants will be held toaccount. His entire, extensive,social welfare plan is based onthe simple idea of ending cor-ruption. “A lot of people are ask-ing where we are going to get themoney from,” he said. “We aregoing to free up so much funds,because corruption is over.There will no longer be luxuryin Government.”

Trips abroad will be strictlycurtailed, and chauffeursremoved for all but the mostsenior officials. Bodyguardswill only be provided to thoseworking in security; there willbe no more private medicalcare, and computer systems andfurnishings of offices can notbe updated for at least the firstyear. “No public servant canhave servants paid for by thestate,” he said. “No public ser-vant can close streets, or parkwhere they want,” he added —to rapturous applause.

Before beginning his 90-minute speech, he received ablessing from representatives ofMexico’s indigenous communi-ties — an unprecedented andprofoundly moving gesture. Hepromised Mexicans he wouldnot let them down, but he urgedthem to give him time. “Havepatience, and trust me,” he said.“Because they are handing me abroken country.”

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In 1912, senior Congressleader and a prominentmember of the ViceroyCouncil, Gopal KrishnaGokhale, was coming to

South Africa for a month.Mohandas considered him hispolitical guru. Actually, it was onhis insistence that Gokhale wascoming to South Africa to see thecondition of the Indians there. Heshould see how the Governmentwas applying anti-Girmitiya lawsand making life very difficult forthe Indians. Gandhi Bhai wouldupdate him regularly about what-ever was happening in SouthAfrica, so he knew quite a lot.Being a distinguished member ofthe Viceroy Council, he was givenan official red carpet welcome inCape Town.

British and Indians, bothwere present in the welcome cer-emony. The way the Governmenthad publicised his arrival led to asurge of hope among the Indiansthat their demands would beapproved. But Kasturba was notamong the optimists. She knewthat after Gokhale leaves, Indianswould be victims of officialneglect once again.

The Government had put arailway car at his disposal.Mohandas and Kallenbach wereon call for him. Gokhale hadtravelled extensively by railwaycar. Meeting almost all sectionsof society, he had taken detailedinformation and notes personally.He had two meetings with thehighest officials of the SouthAfrican Government. After themeeting, he told Mohandas thatall matters had been settled. TheBlack Law will be abolished,

racial discrimination will end andthe three pound tax will beremoved. Mohandas was notreassured by the promises givenby the Government to Gokhale.He said, “I know the Governmenthere very well. I understand themindset of the Ministers. Havethey given anything in writing?”

Gokhale said with completeassurance, “Whatever I have saidwill definitely happen. GeneralBotha has promised me.” He gaveMohandas further personalassurance, “Brother, you see afterone year... you will have seeneverything go right and you willcome to India, no excuses then...”Mohandas said with polite firm-ness, “Forgive me, but I am not ashopeful as you are. Before Ireturn, many Indians would havegone to jail.” It is hard to knowwhether Gokhale tookMohandas’s words amiss or not,but he held his peace.

One day, very politelyGokhale ji criticised Mohandas’shard stance and domineeringnature, “You always do thingsyour own way.” Based on hisexperience at Tolstoy Farm, hewarned his disciple and friendthat his personality, with its inex-orable discipline and ruthless selfsacrifice, becomes autocratic foreverybody else. He said this like abrother citing his own example.But upon his return to India,when he heard that theGovernment of South Africa hadgone back on its word, he sawlight in Mohandas’s strong con-victions and his moral leadership.He accepted before the public ofBombay, that Gandhi had anamazing spiritual energy to makeeven his ordinary functionary asacrificing leader.

In 1913, Mohandasannounced that he was movingthe centre of the Satyagrahamovement from Tolstoy Ashramto Phoenix. This made Kasturbahappier than she had been inmonths. She was not in the leastbothered that it meant movingher household again. This was areturn home.

One day, Mohandas said toKasturba, “Do you know that verysoon I will not be your husband oryou, my wife?” This conversationwas taking place in the kitchenand Kasturba was making prepa-rations for dinner and Mohandaswas cutting vegetables. She was

taken aback. She thought that per-haps she had not heard him prop-erly. “What are you saying?”

“I was telling you that verysoon you will not be my dulymarried spouse. You will be con-sidered my mistress.” Kasturbathought he was teasing her.“What an inauspicious thing tosay... sometimes the things yousay have no head or tail.”

“I am not saying this,’ saidMohandas very calmly,“General Smuts says that ourmarriage is not legal.” “He ismad. He does not know whatnonsense he is spouting.Where does he get his weirdideas from?” She was not will-ing to talk about the General’sfoolish pronouncements. “Upto you,” said Mohandas, “Buthe and the Government arequite serious about this.”

A Muslim woman had comefrom India to join her husband.She was stopped at the port. Shehad challenged this in court. TheSupreme Court judge, Mr Surley,had given a judgment that a mar-riage that had not been conduct-ed in the Christian tradition andif there was no certificate of mar-riage, it cannot be consideredlegal. In one fell swoop, ten thou-sand Muslims, Hindus, and Parsimarriages had been declared ille-gal and the children illegitimate.The children could not be legalheirs to the property of their par-ents. Wives would be banishedfrom the country. Any soldiercan come and sleep with anywoman in the household.

Mohandas had written toGeneral Smuts that the marriagesin India, as per their religion,should be considered legal asthey have all been conductedaccording to religious customsand tradition. South Africa is acolony of the British empire andthe British officialdom recognisesthem. Therefore, the court’s judg-ment should be rejected. Hisrequest was not accepted.

Kasturba was deeply troubledby this whole episode. “What willwe do now?” she asked. “Womenwill have to raise their voicesagainst this humiliation. Theywill have to oppose it.” Hepaused, “You should go to jail,like the men.” Kasturba thoughthe was joking. The idea ofwomen going to jail was laugh-able, so she recovered her poise,

“You will send your wife to jail?”“Shouldn’t women be part-

ners to the men in whatever hap-pens? Sita took part in Ram’sstruggles. Taramati took equalpart in Harishchandra’s troubles.They bore incredible pain fortheir self respect and to protectwhat was good and true.”

“They were divine beings, weare ordinary mortals,” counteredKasturba. “They are still wor-shipped today. Would that be so,if they hadn’t sacrificed so muchfor the truth?” Mohandas wasenjoying this discussion, “We arethe descendants of Ram and Sita.If we do the same, we will beknown in the same way.”

“How will I live on jail food?”“That is not a big problem,” saidhe in a neutral manner.” Ask forfruits and manage.” “After all thatI have heard from you about theofficials in jail, how can I believethat they will make fruits avail-able to me when I ask for them?”

“Perhaps not,” said Mohandaslooking hopeless, “There is onlyone way — hunger strike.”

“First you will send me to jailand then you want me to die in ahunger strike. What sort of hus-band are you?” “If you die, I willworship you like a Goddess.”

“If that is the case, I will go tojail so that you get a chance toworship me.” Both of themlaughed like friends do.

Mohandas had mentionedthe possibility of her being calledhis mistress in jest, as the finaljudgment had not come untilthen. But now it was permeatingthe environment. There waswrath among the public.Kasturba was agitated. Mohandashad brought up childhood mem-ories with the mention of Sitaand Taramati. Even then, sheused to wonder if girls could belike these heroic women? Animage of Rani Laxmibai wouldcome up. She remembered howher mother used to say that RaniLaxmibai was a modern heroineborn a little before our times. Shehad proved that all those wholoved her were under her protec-tion. She was as brave as anyman can be. Kasturba hadaccepted that the battle thatMohandas was fighting was nec-essary. Her responsibility wasequal to her husband’s.

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An Ohio pumpkin artist turned someautumn art festive when she trans-

formed a giant Kanye West pumpkininto a Christmas decoration. JeanetteParas, the artist behind Paras Pumpkins,shared a video showing her Kanye WestChristmas pumpkin, which is deckedout in a Santa hat reading: “MakePumpkins Great Again.” “We wish‘Ye’ a Merry Christmas,” Paras saysin the video. The Kanye pumpkin,which was originally decorated forfall, weighs in at 315 pounds.

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AMinnesota church has ended its70-year tradition of serving a

dinner of lutefisk, a Nordic dish of driedcod soaked in lye, and the pastor haspenned a eulogy for the dinner’s end.Faith Lutheran Church in Forest Lake,Minnesota, would serve aScandinavian dinner featuring thepungent, jellylike fish the first Tuesdayin December. But the Rev JohnKlawiter wrote an obituary for the

annual dinner in the community news-paper last month.

Klawiter wanted the obit to read as atribute to the seven decades the church

in east-central Minnesota hasserved hundreds of pounds oflutefisk at the annual dinner,dubbed “Holy Tuesday,” the

Minneapolis Star Tribunereported . “There was alot of pride that thismade it to 70 years,” saidKlawiter, a self-described“lutefisk convert”. Thedinner would requireabout 190 volunteers.Planners had to findways to fill gaps left byvolunteers who haddied or grown too frail.

This fall, the groupalso wondered how theevent could draw moreyoung families from thecongregation and fromForest Lake, a town of

about 20,000 about 40km northeast of

Minneapolis. Most ofthe 500 people who

went to the church andwaited their turn for the $20meal were not members ofFaith Lutheran or even res-idents of Forest Lake.

Planners wondered if a turkey din-ner would be a better option, but decid-ed a menu change would not makethings easier for the volunteers. Whileno immediate replacement wasannounced, the pastor says the focusnow will be on creating a new tradition.And the obit notes that lutefisk loversstill have other options nearby, withScandinavian dinners in other areatowns listed as “survivors.”

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Burger King hopes its new food inno-vation is a doggone good one. On

Wednesday, the fast-food chain unveileda new meal deal that includes a treat fordogs called the Dogpper, which “is thefirst flame grilled bone offered at BK foryour best friend,” according to a newsrelease. Burger King said the offer is away for customers to enjoy their order athome without interruption from their

begging pets. “This dog-friendly alternative to theWhopper sandwich is abone-shaped treat withflame-grilled beef taste for

the dogs of these generous owners,”Burger King said in a news release.Guests who order a Whopper sandwichwill receive one dog bone for free. Butthis isn’t available for pickup or dine-in,and only through the DoorDash fooddelivery service. DoorDashers deliverfood and other items from local mer-chants to customers across the UnitedStates and Canada. New delivery cus-tomers can get a no-fee delivery with a$10 order at DoorDash through Tuesday.The news release notes the product is“not for human consumption.”

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Police in Florida said a 17-year-oldplaying around in an abandoned

bank ended up needing to be rescuedfrom inside the former business’ vault.Hollywood police said two teenagersentered the former Bank of Americabranch Wednesday and one of them, a

17-year-old boy, ended up locked insidethe vault about 1.30 pm.

“Unfortunately, there were two juve-niles that were playing around inside anabandoned bank and they didn’t knowthat the vault was still active,”Hollywood police OfficerChristian Lata told WPLG-TV. “[While] playing insidethe vault, one of them gottrapped inside and, luckily,the other one was outsideand was able to call 911.”

Police responded with theHollywood Fire Department, aBroward Sheriff Fire Rescue tech-nical rescue team and at least twoprivate vault technicians toattempt to free the boy bank heiststyle, but an attempt to drill intothe wall of the bank to reach theboy failed. Lata said the boy wasreleased from the vault aftermore than three hours when aBank of America employee fromthe branch’s new location wasable to come to the scene and giveauthorities the combination toopen the door.

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Agroup of Chicago-area momspulled off a complicated Christmas

photo when they got 23 total sets oftwins to pose together with a mall

Santa. The moms, members of theChicago Twin Moms group, saidthey have long sought to pulloff the busy Santa photo, but

the closest they came wasgathering 18 sets of twins

to pose with the EasterBunny earlier this year.The 23 mothers, eachwith a set of twins and

some with spare children,converged on the WoodfieldMall in Schaumburg this weekto get the near-perfect photo.“Pretty chaotic right now,”

mother Courtney Polite toldWLS-TV. “You’re never [going

to] get all these kids to notbe crying or all looking atthe same time.” Mall offi-cials said they were pleasedto be able to host such anunusual photo.

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Ol’ Blue Eyes is going on theauction block. Personal itemsbelonging to singer Frank

Sinatra and his wife Barbara went ondisplay in New York, before an auc-tion of Barbara Sinatra’s estate set fornext month at Sotheby’s. The collec-tion — expected to fetch at least$3.5m — includes the engagementring Sinatra gave his wife, trinketsfrom US Presidents he palled aroundwith, and a Norman Rockwell paint-ing of Sinatra that he commissioneddirectly from the artist.

Barbara Sinatra was his fourthwife, and they were married for 22 years until his death. She died last year, and the items up for salecome from the couple’s three homes in Palm Springs, Los Angeles and Malibu.

“You see many facets of Sinatrayou wouldn’t normally see as a fan,”said Mari-Claudia Jimenez, a seniorvice-president at Sotheby’s. “Peoplethink of him as a singer or an actor,but here you learn that he was apainter. You learn that he was a friendto every US President from Trumanto Clinton. You see that he’s an avid

art collector. You see that he’s aromantic husband who likes to giftbeautiful things to his wife.”

The priciest piece is the 20-caratdiamond engagement ring Frank usedto propose to Barbara, a formershowgirl, slipping it into her cham-pagne glass when they were out todinner. Sinatra lavished his wife withexpensive jewellery, with many piecesincluded in the sale. “He would put$100,000 necklaces in her pockets tofind,” Jimenez said.

Beyoncé, Oprah Winfrey, NaomiCampbell, Pharrell Williams,Usher and other international

stars gathered in Johannesburg for acharity concert honouring NelsonMandela a century after he was born.Thousands poured into the SouthAfrican city’s FNB stadium for GlobalCitizen Festival: Mandela 100. SingerBob Geldof, who organised the LiveAid concerts for Africa, was alsothere. Global Citizen, an advocacygroup, campaigns for an end toextreme poverty, and other causes. Itsays many people won tickets toSunday’s concert through charitywork and petition-signing.

World leaders previously gatheredat the stadium in 2013 for a memorialafter the death of Mandela, the anti-apartheid leader who was also SouthAfrica’s first black president. The fes-tival gave a platform to Governmentleaders, CEOs and others whopledged more funding for healthcareand other social programmes. In arecorded video message, Kenya’s pres-ident, Uhuru Kenyatta, promisedmore money in the national budget.

Canada PM Justin Trudeau tweeted a$50m pledge for education for girlsand women around the world.

“This is amazing!” the festivalhost, Trevor Noah, said as Trudeau’stweet was shown on a big stadiumscreen. Noah had earlier highlighteda comment by Mandela that povertycould be overcome through deter-mined action. South Africa is strug-gling with one of the world’s highestrates of income inequality.

When a tornado carriedDorothy off to a land ofwitches and talking scare-

crows it was not only Oz that she andher companions ended up taking bystorm: new research suggests theworld of movies was never the sameagain either. Researchers in Italy havedeclared the Wizard of Oz the mostinfluential film ever made, outstrip-ping others in how much it hasinspired and been referenced in thefilm industry. The research team cameto their conclusion after analysingmore than 47,000 films across 26 gen-

res, using references noted in theonline movie database IMDb. Theauthors note that the database isbiased towards films from the west,with the majority produced in the US.The team did not consider short films,adult films and those with no link orreference to other movies. They used acombination of four different mathe-matical approaches to explore the con-nections between movies, taking intoaccount factors including the numberof references a film received andwhether the films that referred back toit were themselves influential.

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Her autobiography Becomingwas part of the biggest pub-lishing deal in history(worth over $60 million)and sold an eye-watering

1.4 million copies in its first week onsale. Her 10-city book tour of the US hasbeen billed as “a once-in-a-lifetimeopportunity to see and hear the firstAfrican American First Lady of theUnited States” and features A-list hostslike Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon,and Sarah Jessica Parker and has sold outstadium-sized venues. Recently, she hitLondon’s South Bank Centre with ticketschanging hands on the black market for£7,000. So what is it about MichelleObama? She’s an exciting, glamorous fig-ure with the kind of First Lady mystiqueand feelgood factor we haven’t seen sinceJackie O. Yes, she has been a campaignerfor causes no one could disagree with(the “Let’s Move” health campaign, girls’education globally, all the Mom-in-Chiefrole model stuff). And, of course, she hasbeen a champion for American designersand secured — eventually — theapproval of the fashion world, with thelatest cover of US Elle showing her in ablack leather Dior corset.

But there is something more herethan window dressing and the usual FirstLady responsibilities: She has become atotemic figure for women, a sort ofBeyonce of unelected politics; a globalambassador who can do no wrong. As aless controversial figure than her hus-band, she also represents — in the sameway Oprah Winfrey does — the fulfil-ment of the promise of the Americandream. The idea that with hard work,inspiration and dedication, you can doanything with your life. It’s an extraordi-narily powerful and hopeful message,especially in our divided times.

Her London visit is principally topromote Becoming, in conversationwith novelist Chimamanda NgoziAdichie in front of an audience of 2,900(with 300 tickets held back for localcharities and schools.) But there’sanother item on this week’s UK to-dolist: Dinner at the Berkshire home ofGeorge and Amal Clooney, with PrinceHarry and the Duchess of Sussex.

The Obamas were invited to Harryand Meghan’s wedding but did notattend reportedly because of securityconcerns. According to a widely-report-

ed source Michelle was “instrumental inintroducing” the couple and so is keen tocheck up on their status as newlywedsand parents-to-be. At the moment, theClooneys are reportedly on the list ofpotential godparents. Perhaps this visitwill bump the Obamas up that list, too.

Where Michelle has the mostimpact, though, is on those of us whowill never meet her — let alone invite herround for ricotta with raspberries(favourite pudding of the Clooneys’young twins). I recently witnessed first-hand the effect that “MO”, as fans callher, has on her greatest devotees. As shelaunched the memoir in her hometownof Chicago mid-November, in Londonwe had to make do with a tribute event:Letters to Michelle at Waterstone’s GowerStreet, where audience members couldread out their accounts of how the for-mer First Lady has changed their lives.Around 150 women gathered to cele-brate a woman they would never meet,and emotions ran high. They sobbed,wept and were often so moved justthinking about MO that they could bare-ly speak. That night I realised the weightof her appeal: She has shown women thatthey are worth more. The winner of thebest letter was a 10-year-old girl, whosaid that two women had made her feelthat she was capable of anything in life:“My mum and Michelle Obama.”

Tobi Oredein is the founder of web-site Black Ballad and a recipient of acoveted golden ticket to the Obamaevent. Michelle Obama’s inspiration liesin the fact that “she was so unapologeticand original in how she approached herrole as First Lady,” she explains. “Shewasn’t afraid to be silly to get kids to eat,or use social media to say that she hadno interest in politics. She endured con-stant ‘misogynoir’ and dealt with itgracefully and never let that stop herfrom being outspoken.”

Michelle ignited a debate aroundthe term ‘misogynoir’ — a uniquelyunpleasant blend of misogyny andracism that saw the former First Ladycriticised for her hair, her choice ofclothes, her “athletic” build and her sup-posedly “angry” moments. As her stylistMichelle Koop has said: “You have toanticipate every avenue of attack andevery possible outcome.”

Oredein adds: “She has changedmy life, because before most of the

black women the world loved or cele-brated were usually of a lighter skintone. To see a darker skinned womanbe celebrated made me feel good aboutmyself. She made the world open theireyes to see different black womencould be seen as intelligent, beautifuland graceful. Furthermore, she hasbeen forthright in championing blackwomen and women of colour and thathas given me confidence.”

As a public speaker, Michelle hasalso done something that goes waybeyond any definable constituency: Shehas shown that anyone can talk with pas-sion, insight and warmth without havingan explicit political agenda.

If you look at public speakers of thepast 50 years, it would be hard to findanyone who has her cut-through or uni-versal appeal. As a performance coach, Iam repeatedly asked to help women —and men — “be more Michelle”. Herspeaking style is defined by natural poise,authenticity and candour.

In my book How to Own the Room:Women and the Art of Brilliant Speaking,inspired by Michelle Obama’s “Whenthey go low, we go high” moment, Iexplain how she embodies the quality of“happy high status”. She occupies aspace with charisma and grace, withoutever making anyone feel that you areabove them or below them.

Oprah has described MO as a“mighty force” whose signature style is“palpable ease” — and this ease is per-haps the key to her enduring appeal. Shecomes across as humble, without beingfake, and has been open about the strug-gles of life in the spotlight, without thiscoming across as playing the tiniest vio-lin in the world. The designer NarcisoRodriguez has worked closely with herand says: “She is matter of fact aboutwhat she needs and lets you do yourthing.” It strikes me that this is a messageshe has sent to the entire world andwomen in particular have picked up on itinstinctively: “I’m doing what I need todo. Now you go do your thing.”

Perhaps the message is all the strongerfor the fact that she is clear — including inher memoir — that she is not standing foroffice either as Mayor of Chicago or asPresident: “I’ll say it here directly: I haveno intention of running for office ever.”Intentions can change, though.

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God is omnipresent, omnipotent andomniscient. These qualities distin-guish God from us souls. We can

never be present everywhere; we are limit-ed to our presence where our physicalbodies are located. Similarly, we areextremely limited in how much ‘shakti’ orpower we inherently have. Some peoplelike big leaders or kings have lots of powerbut that is not inherent in them. Suchpower, like that of Hitler, is external. Onceit was gone, Hitler was a defeated man andcommitted suicide. Likewise, we can neverbe all-knowing. We can know a lot aboutsome subject. For instance, Einstein pos-sessed knowledge about physics. But we,human beings, can never see the big pic-ture in its totality, ie the past, the presentand the future. Therefore, we are severelyhandicapped when it comes to makinginformed decisions.

Is the cosmic design, then, defective?Have we been unfairly dealt? No, this isthe only way the creation would have beenpossible. God could not have createdclones of Himself. This would have thencreated parallel power centers. Can weimagine what that would have done? As itis, if someone amongst us gets a littlepower, then, it is highly likely that he orshe will be drunk with it.

Therefore, the Lord had to limit ussouls. Regarding presence, we are limitedto one place, but we can be at other places

as well in the virtual sense with the help ofscientific gadgets like cell phones. Thesedays, people hold video conferences withthe participants being present at differentplaces. Additionally, we can travel to far offplaces with our minds; we can imagineourselves to be somewhere else or at anyplace we choose to be.

As regards power, God has allowed usthe choice of gaining more power thanwhat is inherent in us with the help ofother people by becoming their leaders.This way, we can pool individual powersunder our control. There is another way.One can do severe austerities, please divineauthorities and gain material siddhis orweapons. Persons like Arjuna had obtaineddivine weapons, which were very potent.Individual power is a sum total of physical,mental and intellectual powers.

Now coming to knowledge, one cangather as much knowledge as time permits.But time is the biggest constraint in this.Our brains are created for much more than

what we can imagine. It is said that the bestof us use a maximum of 10% of our brains’capacities. This is also very rare. God hasbeen very generous in this regard.

Therefore, we can see that the cosmicdesign is well suited for us human beings to

be able to exist well. Yes, there are manylimitations which have been pointed outearlier but they can also be overcome if wefollow the guidelines of our scriptures. Thefirst way in to seek guidance from Godwhenever we are confused about anything.

God is willing to guide as Lord Krishna haspointed out at several places in the Gita.The second way is to be willing to do ourduties as guided by God. Here again, Godhas offered to help if we are aligned withHim, ie we have become God conscious.Rather, God promises to help out in all sit-uations which are challenging to ourresources. Similarly, we can achieve almostanything like harnessing natural energy forcommon good by coming together.

Yes, we are incomplete without God,but God is ever willing to help. An objec-tion may be raised about the requirementof us surrendering to God. God will neverforce us to do that. We will only depriveourselves of what is available, ie God’s help,if we choose not to surrender. Suppose aperson decides not to use his eyes to see;can we blame God for that? There is nodoubt that we are incomplete in ourselves,but are we really in the larger sense?

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Avery senior retired bureaucrat once requested meto review his book. After going through the book,which was a decent account of the socio-political

scenario during the long tenure the author had served inseveral positions in the State and Central Governments,I came across a factual error. That was the only lapse inthe voluminous book. Out of curiosity, I asked himwhere he got that information from. His answer wasthat it was from the Google. It would be futile to arguethat everything posted on the search engine is wrong.But certainly, everything given there is not right either.And that’s what needs to be understood. In today’s ageof easy access to astronomically large volume of infor-mation, authenticity is the first casualty. There is an oldsaying — little knowledge is dangerous. Well, we nowrealise that more knowledge has become even moredangerous because what we consider knowledge in com-mon parlance these days is not knowledge in the rightsense of the term. It is just information and this infor-mation can be both misinformation and disinformationdepending on the intention of the post. It is against thisbackdrop that we need to think about a recent researchfinding in the UK on internet searches for serious healthconditions commissioned by Perkbox Medical. It hasbeen found that the searches on the net for serioushealth conditions have risen manifold in the last fewyears. Curiosity is obviously not bad. But what is hap-pening is that access to information is giving a wrongsense of empowerment. In searches for medical condi-tions, people get to know the ailments, their etiologyand symptoms and their treatment also. The problem isthat this makes them think that they can substitute thedoctor. Many go for self-medication, many buy anxietyin the process and many turn into hypochondriacs. Infact, hypochondriasis is a major problem these days asany one carefully observing outpatient departments inhospital can find out. In India, which is still a develop-ing country where healthcare facilities are still not asstreamlined, this tendency creates a fertile ground forquackery. As a result, even sales persons at local phar-macies have the temerity to overrule the doctor’s advice.This is not the case with just medicine. In areas otherthan heath, too, such situations have become prevalent.Students in teaching institutions have started consider-ing the internet as substitute for teachers and are notkeen to attend classes. In specialised subjects likePsychology where the dividing line between so calledcommon sense and scientific conclusion is thin, this canlead to a lot of confusion. With such easy access toinformation, everyone considers himself/herself to be apsychologist. So it has become a major problem thesedays as street level generalists are replacing experts in abig way and this leads to a lot of misplaced assumptions.Francis Bacon opined that knowledge is power, buthardly did he realise that a time will come when infor-mation will become knowledge. More so, he could notfigure out there will be a social media monster thatwould change opinions, create opinions and evenreplace scientific knowledge with whims and fancies.We have, thus, come to a state where Goebbelsianhypotheses is pushing truth to the back seat. It is nolonger about repeating a lie often. It is just about postinga lie on the net and the rest will follow.

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Once we open the doorwayto the soul, we can learnto balance our life in theinner and outer worlds.Exploring our soul while

fulfilling our purpose in the outerworld is an art that we can master.

Spirituality means love in action.It means enjoying our spiritual richesand sharing them with all we meet.We can learn to balance our spiritualpractices with our worldlyresponsibilities, enjoying the fruitswithin ourselves and sharing ourgifts with humanity.

� �����������Looking inward means that we are ina state of inner spiritual bliss. We areconscious of our soul’s connectednesswith God and all life. We arestrengthened by the fearlessness thatcomes with identifying with our soul.We live in the knowledge that we areimmortal. Just as a computer monitoris connected to the hard drive and canreceive the data from it, we areplugged into and receive a continuousstream from the source all wisdom,unconditional love, and bliss. Wedevote specific time to meditationdaily, but even when not inmeditation, we are in tune with oursoul. Throughout the day, as we goabout our work, the bliss poursthrough us, the knowledge is availableto us, the fearlessness and strengthsustains us, and we are empowered toact on the basis of spiritual values. Thestream sustains us from within at alltimes, enriching every moment of ourlife. When we are in love with anearthly beloved, the whole world takeson the colour of love. We see things asrosy and blissful. Similarly, when in astate of bliss from within, it coloursthe world as bliss. We then see ecstasywherever we look.

� ����� ������While we need to invert to find God,we need not be introverted whendealing with the people around us.Looking outward means that we canalso be highly attuned and aware ofwhat is happening in our outer

environment. We can place ourattention where we choose. Ourawareness of the needs of others, ourconcentration, our sensitivity, and ourcompassion grow along with ourspiritual development. The more weinvert, we become aware of the needsof others. One sign that we havegrown spiritually is that we are lessself-absorbed and selfish and morehumanity-absorbed and selfless. Themore attuned we are to the soul withinus, the greater our love, compassion,and service for our fellow beings.

When we see the outer worldthrough the eyes of our soul, we seethe light of God shining even in plantsand animals, and we start to live ourlives in such a way as to preserve allliving things. As we grow spiritually,we become more receptive to others,including animals and plants. Webecome more giving and caring whenwe deal with other people and allforms of life.

� �����������/ �������When we examine the lives of thesaints and mystics, we find that theydevoted their lives to helping others.They were like the swan that lives inwater but flies with dry wings. Whileall the time they are in tune with theCreator, they still live amongst others,participating fully in life.

The Christian mystic, JohnRuysbroeck, has said that “the trulyinward man should flow out to all incommon.” St Catherine of Genoa,born in the 15th century, had amystical experience in which she wastransported to a state of pure andpurifying love from God. Hermystical revelation was followed by alife of selfless service to others. Shebegan working to help the sick andthe poor. At the age of thirty, shefounded the first hospital in the cityof Genoa. For the next twenty-twoyears, she lived in a state of continuedconsciousness with the divinepresence of the Lord filling her withjoy, love, and bliss. Yet while sheexperienced perpetual ecstasy, shecontinued managing the hospital.

She was punctual and efficient in

her duties at the hospital and never lether spiritual absorption keep her fromfulfilling her worldly responsibilities.When a plague swept through Genoa,she formed a group to nurse thevictims. Thus, she showed her love forGod through love for her fellowbeings and all forms of life, includingplants and animals. It was said of her:“If an animal were killed or a treewere cut down, she could hardly bearto see them lose the life that God hadgiven them.”

In the four stages of ardent love,St Richard of Victor describes thestages of betrothal, marriage, wedlock,and the fruitfulness of the soul. In thebetrothal stage, the soul thirsts forGod. It has a ruling passion toexperience higher reality. The soul istouched by the spirit of God and isbathed in sweetness. This is the stageof the soul’s awakening. In the secondstage, the soul is burning with desirefor God and is taken as the bride ofthe Lord. The soul ascends, sees thesun of righteousness, and takes themarriage vows to God. In the thirdstage, the soul has union with theLord. The soul is in communion withGod, is fully concentrated on God,and caught up in the divine Light. Inthe fourth stage of ardent love, wefind the crux of the life of a truemystic: giving of one’s spiritual wealthto humanity. The union of the soulwith the Lord is not a childless union.The soul takes on the responsibilities,duties, and pains of parenthood tobring forth children. The childrenhere are represented by good andnoble works in the world that servehumanity. The empowered soulsbecome centers of spiritual energyand are conscious co-workers of thedivine plan. They live out their livesspreading spiritual love to all theymeet, inspiring and uplifting othersby their example.

We, too, can attain this state. Byspending time daily in meditation, wecan discover the power of our soul,enriching our lives with wisdom,immortality, love, fearlessness,connectedness, and bliss.

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Evolutionary urge is intrinsic to thehuman spirit. It is this very inher-ent urge, which has been carrying

forward progressive civilisational evolu-tion down the ages through conscioushuman efforts. It is again, this very nat-ural impulse in a being, which induces abeing dream of making it big in life.Dreams are necessary for people toreach heights they are capable of, as theyoffer us with a purpose to work uponwith all sincerity and determination.Since time immemorial, the Moon hasfascinated and evoked man’s curiosity. Itwas seen every day, yet it was unknown.A longing to know and understand it ledscientists to send man on the Moon.But not everybody’s dreams get fulfilled,non-realisation of which often bringingin frustrating experiences. Why? Are weso helplessly fated? I am often confront-ed with this question. It thereforedeserves attention.

For the answer, the question needsto be looked at on three grounds: First,the premise on which the theory ofKarma stands. Second, how does Karmiccarryover from the past, which definesthe course of destiny, come into effect?Third, the chemistry of mind, which dri-ves all actions on the part of a being.

Remember, our life is bound bycause-effect chain. A cause precedes aneffect, which in turn, sets the groundover which the next course of actiontakes off. This way, we invariablyremain trapped in the circuitous web ofnever ending self-created cause-effectchain. This chain gets carried over evento our successive lives — from one birthto the other — as the theory of reincar-nation would imply.

The question now is: Why are onlyhuman beings bound by cause-effectchain? In this context, it is pertinent tonote that all living organisms, but forhuman beings, have no choice than tostrictly follow the pre-laid, nature-drivendesign parameters underlying their exis-tence. They don’t enjoy any scope formaking exception. All their actions areprimarily guided by their food and secu-rity concerns, instinctively arisingmoment by moment. They lack the fac-ulty of discriminate intelligence, and soare devoid of the capacity of judgment.Therefore, their acts are not wilful andso, there remains no scope for accrual ofany karmaphal.

On the contrary, human beingsenjoy the exclusive privilege to guidetheir action by choice. But, whenever

there is choice, it carries equal probabili-ty of use and misuse. To overcome thisvulnerability, a human being is alsoarmed with the faculty of discriminateintelligence, which enables them tojudge the choices in hand, and pick upthe right lead. So, all human actions arewilful. Evidently, imperative to thisempowerment tool is the call to ownresponsibility for the choices made.Ostensibly, therefore, one becomes duefor consequences of the choices made. Itis on this ground on which the theory ofKarma stands, and which holds the keyto being beholden to cause-effect chain.

If the above script has a meaning,would it not be fair to reason out thatthe privilege of making a choice wouldalso carry the scope to make suchchoices as could interfere with andmodify the imprints of doings and un-doings in the past? Particularly when ahuman being is armed with the facultyto dispassionately weigh his optionsbeforehand. Now, suppose that a causeis conscientiously created purported tomodify the imprints of past doings.Would it not change the course of des-tiny implications to follow?

To make things clear, it needs to befirst understood and underscored that interms of nature’s design, there remains a

continuum in time and space. In thisscheme of things, doings in the past cul-minate in the present moment, which inturn sets the premise on which the nextmoment takes off. It implies that thepresent moment carries imprints ofdoings and un-doings in the past inseed-form, which serves as the blueprint of the future course of action tofollow. So, the course of life needs to beseen in continuity - not simply thegoings in the present life but also theimprints of those carried over from thepast. In fact, human course of life, goingthrough all the twists and turns in theway, runs through successive cycles ofbirth and death. It is something like awater stream emanating from a snow-bound mountain which carries on itsrun till it meets the ocean. All throughthe way and also out of the ocean, sur-face water evaporates, turns into cloud,and then rains, again to recharge thewater resources.

The issue continues.&���$$������� �� ����������(( ������������ ���

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