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C harging the Opposition with instigating anti-CAA protests and spreading “false- hood”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday warned that agitations against laws passed by Parliament and State Assemblies may lead to “anarchy”. He justified action against PDP and NC leaders in Jammu & Kashmir suggesting that his Government cannot be with those supporting “open secession” and lampooned Congress campaign of “save Constitution”. In a speech laced with humour, “shayari” and verbal wallops at the Opposition lead- ers, Modi quoted the first Prime Minister of the country, Jawaharlal Nehru, to buttress the case for the CAA saying it was he who first spoke of “pressure” on and “safety” of minorities in East and West Pakistan and need to change the law to grant Indian citi- zenship to “minorities” coming from Pakistan. Modi sought to ask the Opposition benches whether Pandit Nehru was “communal” to raise the issue of the plight of “minorities” in the neighbouring country. “This was not only Mahatma Gandhi’s but also Nehru’s sentiments. Was Pandit Nehru communal? Did he dis- criminate between Hindus and Muslims? Did he want Hindu rashtra?” Modi asked, asserting that several reports, including those of parliamentary panels, had recommended a law like the CAA. Modi referred to the 1950 Nehru-Liyaqat agreement on minority security and non- discrimination against “reli- gious minorities”. Why did Nehru not use “all citizens”? he asked to counter protests against exclusion of Muslims in the agreement. He said an year ago before this agreement, Nehru wrote a letter to Assam Chief Minister Gopinath to distinguish between Hindu refugees and Muslim migrants from Pakistan. Modi quoted Nehru’s statement in the Lok Sabha on November 5, 1950 that affected minorities coming to India have right to citizen- ship and “law needed to be changed.” Drawing attention to the persecution of religious minorities in Pakistan from the very beginning, the Prime Minister gave the instance of freedom fighter Upendra Nath Dutta — a member of All India Congress Committee — who had stayed in Pakistan but returned to India after expos- ing abject persecution of minorities in that country. The PM quoted Dutt say- ing in the Constituent Assembly “so far as the side of Pakistan concerned, minorities are practically liquidated. Those who live in East Pakistan live in total frustration”. Modi also gave another instance of Jogendra Nath Mandal, a back- ward caste leader also the first Law Minister in Pakistan who also likewise returned to India after observing that minorities were being successfully driven out of West Pakistan and the same was being done in the East Pakistan. As he accused the Congress of telling “lies” and spreading “false propaganda” on the CAA on account of its vote-bank politics, the Prime Minister assured that the CAA will not “discriminate” between Hindus and Muslims and cause no damage to minorities. Taking a jibe at the Congress on its “save Constitution” pitch, he recalled unconstitutional measures dur- ing Emergency, placing of National Advisory Council above Prime Minister and PMO and recently violating Supreme Court’s advise against violent agitations. Modi also accused the Congress of discreetly insti- gating anti-CAA agitation. “Khoob parda hai, chilman se lage baithe hain, saaf chhupte bhi nahin, samne aate bhi nahin” (Closeted to screen but would not come out in open), Modi recited a romantic poem to nuance his political message. So much criticism of the CAA has been made ironical- ly by those who love getting photographed with the group of people who want “tukde tukde” of India, he said. Modi likened Congress’ stand to that of Pakistan, say- ing Islamabad spoke the same language for decades to mislead and incite Indian Muslims and that task is now being per- formed by those “thrown out of the power”, he said. On Kashmir, Modi quoted PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti, NC’s Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah’s “secessionist” com- ments and their warning against abrogation of Article 370 and asked “can anyone see Continued on Page 4 A 9-judge Constitution bench said Thursday it will answer the contentious legal issue on February 10 whether the Supreme Court can refer questions of law to a larger bench while exercising its limited power under review jurisdiction in the Sabarimala case. The bench, headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde, said it will pronounce the order on Monday as also frame larger issues for evolving of a judicial policy to deal with discrimi- nation against women in vari- ous religions. The 9-judge bench said it would commence day-to-day hearing from February 12 on the issues which were referred by a 5-judge Constitution bench headed by the then Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi (since retired) on November 14, 2019. Besides Sabarimala case, the verdict had also referred issues of entry of Muslim women into mosques and dar- gahs and of Parsi women, mar- ried to non-Parsi men, being barred from the holy fire place of an Agiary, to the larger bench. The bench, also compris- ing Justices R Banumathi, Ashok Bhushan, L Nageswara Rao, M M Shantanagoudar, S A Nazeer, R Subhash Reddy, B R Gavai and Surya Kant, said it would answer preliminary objection raised by some senior lawyers with regard to its power of reference to a larger bench while exercising authority under review jurisdiction. During day-long hearing, senior lawyers like F S Nariman, Rajeev Dhavan, Indira Jaising and Shyam Divan vehemently argued that the 5- judge bench was wrong in making a reference to a larger bench without deciding the review petitions challenging the 2018 Sabarimala verdict, which had allowed women of all age group to enter the hill- top shrine. I n the backdrop of coron- avirus outbreak in China, India on Thursday said it can- consider evacuating Pakistani students from Hubei province "if such a situation arises" and if resources are available. Making this clear, the Ministry of External Affairs, however, said Pakistan had made no request for it till now. Hundreds of stranded Pakistani students in the coro- navirus-hit Wuhan city have made desperate pleas to the Imran Khan Government to evacuate them from China's worst-affected Hubei province, urging his administration to take a leaf out of India's book. Asked about the pleas by the Pakistani students and whether India could help in their evacuation, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said, "No such request has been received by us from the Government of Pakistan. But if such a situation arises and keeping in mind the resources available, we can look into it." However, he did not clarify what would be the specific pre-conditions for considering the request. India airlifted 654 people, including seven Maldivians, on Saturday and Sunday from Wuhan. The Health Ministry said all the evacuees have test- ed negative and no new case has been reported. Watching the Indian stu- dents leave, the Pakistani stu- dents posted videos on social media asking their Government to do the same. In one of the videos, a Pakistani student while show- ing the Indian students board- ing the bus to go to the airport, said while India was evacuat- ing its citizens, the Pakistan government says "you live or die we will not evacuate or facilitate" their journey home. Shame on you Pakistan gov- ernment. Learn from India how it takes care of its people," he said in the video that went viral. Pakistan has more than 28,000 students in China, including 500 in the worst-hit city of Wuhan. China has praised Pakistan for resuming flights to the country, a day after it received special medical kits from Beijing to detect the deadly virus cases. Kumar also said all existing e-visas from China are no longer valid. Similarly, nor- mal visas that have been issued are also no more valid. However, those who have com- pelling reasons to visit India, can contact the Indian embassy or the nearest consulates to apply for visa. As regards reports about restrictions on airlines, the spokesperson said, "I am not aware of any restriction imposed by government on the operation of any commercial flight between India and China." He also said airlines are free to take the decision based on their own assessment on ground. P romising a bright future for youths working in Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that over 35 lakh jobs would be thrown open in the state after projects taken up under DefExpo 2020 and Investors’ Summit took a final shape. “Uttar Pradesh is a land of opportunities and provides immense possibilities and ways of investment. At the same time, this state will provide jobs to edu- cated and skilled workers. In 2018, we organised Investors’ Summit in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced construction of defence manu- facturing corridor. These two events will open up employment opportunities to 35 lakh people,” Yogi said while addressing a seminar organised by UPEIDA and FICCI at DefExpo 2020 here on Thursday. Yogi said that industrialists could succeed in making India self-dependent in defence pro- duction and also help develop their business and the state. “Our policy is much better than of other states and it will attract investment here,” Yogi said. The chief minister said that what made UP important was that the Eastern and Western dedicated freight corridors passed through the state. “The junction of the two is at Burari (UP) and investors who invest here would definitely ben- efit from it. We will develop 17 cities as ‘Smart and Safe Cities’ in UP. In these, integrated com- mand and control centres will be established and there will be huge investment possibilities,” he said. Yogi further said that if an industrial institution had to prove itself, then there were immense opportunities for it too. “Road connectivity of the state is very good because of its direct connectivity to the nation- al capital and it is also connect- ed with the world by air,” he said. Yogi said the UP govern- ment was developing infrastruc- ture facilities in the state at a fast pace. “Expressways are being con- structed on a large scale. Presently, work on Purvanchal Expressway is in progress and it will become operational by the year end. In addition, work on Bundelkhand Expressway will be started from February. Also, sur- vey for Ganga Expressway from Meerut to Prayagraj has been completed and construction will begin by the end of this year,” the chief minister said. Speaking on the occasion, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that UP would play an important role in fulfilling Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of making the country a $ 5-tril- lion economy. “Uttar Pradesh is steadily moving on the path of develop- ment. Rail, air and road connec- tivity has improved here and sin- gle window system is working better in the state,” he said. The defence minister said that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was working as an able captain, so investors would no longer face diffi- culties in UP. I n a tragic incident, seven persons, including three children, were killed when gas leaked in a carpet factory at Jalalpur village of Biswan town of Sitapur in the early hours of Thursday. Confirming the deaths of seven people including three children, Sitapur district administration said that the factory owner absconded after the incident. Biswan Sub-Divisional Magistrate Suresh Kumar said that a team of experts from Lucknow had arrived at the site for investigation and a National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team was pre- sent at the spot. “The affected area has been evacuated. Any input about the tragedy would be given out after investigation. Some dogs were also found dead around the area,” the SDM added. Asked for details of the gas leak, Kumar said, “A tanker of an adjoining acid factory was washed near this carpet fac- tory. Possibly, gas leaked from that and choked the victims.” Taking a serious note of the incident, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced compensation of Rs 4 lakh each to the families of the vic- tims. Expressing grief, Yogi directed officials to provide all possible help to the affected people and initiate stern action against the guilty. Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi said, “The deceased included five of a family, including three chil- dren. They were identified as Atiq (45), his wife Saira (42) and children Ayesha (12), Afroz (8) and Faisal (2). Besides, two others, Motu (75) and Pahalwan (70), also died. All of them were residents of Kanpur.” T he European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Thursday rejected alleged book- ie Sanjeev Chawla’s application for an interim measure on human rights grounds to block his extradition from the UK to face match-fixing charges in India. The legal paperwork process for his extradition will now go ahead through the UK Central Authority, for Scotland Yard officers to hand Chawla over to their counterparts from Delhi Police to be flown back to Indian within days. “We can now confirm that the Court has rejected Mr Sanjeev Chawla’s request for an interim measure,” a spokesperson for the ECHR said on Thursday. Chawla had lost a last-ditch High Court appeal on human rights grounds against former UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid’s extradition order at a hearing in the Royal Courts of Justice in London last month, with a court order dated January 23 setting a 28-day deadline for him to be extradited to India. The 50-year-old British national, a key accused in the match-fixing scandal involving former South African cricket captain Hansie Cronje in 2000, must therefore be extradited from the UK by February 19. Chawla is alleged to have played a central role in con- spiring with Cronje to fix a South African tour to India. He had approached the Strasbourg, France, based ECHR on the basis of the European Convention on Human Rights, to which the UK is a signatory and relied on Article 3, relating to prohibi- tion of inhuman or degrading treatment, of convention in his plea. The ECHR had sought additional assurances from the British High Commission in New Delhi that Chawla’s rights as a British citizen would be upheld, including regular con- sular access. According to offi- cials familiar with the process, the assurances were speedily conveyed. According to experts, demonstrating that such an interim measure suspending extradition is warranted is an Continued on Page 4 D efence Minister Rajnath Singh sought to synchro- nise the export capability of US defence sector with the ever-expanding opportuni- ties in the Indian defence manufacturing sector and pitch the relationship between the two nations towards one of collaboration from tradi- tional relation of ‘buyer-sell- er’. Singh was speaking at a seminar organised in the ongoing DefExpo 2020 by the US-India Business Council (USIBC) in Lucknow on Thursday. “Indo-US relationship will move towards collaboration approach from the tradition- al ‘buyer-seller’. I am confident this relationship will be more dynamic and vibrant in future,” the defence minister said. Singh said, “The US is one of the largest defence exporters to India and the world. At the same time, Indian defence manufacturing sector is grow- ing rapidly. In such a situation, our collaboration can prove to be one of the biggest collabo- rations of this century.” Referring to several key agreements signed during the 2+2 Dialogue during his recent visit to the US, Singh said that he met with US Defence Secretary Mark Esper in December wherein India and the US signed an indus- trial security agreement that would allow the transfer of defence technology. Assuring business leaders that necessary reforms have been made and will continue in the future as well, Singh urged the business communi- ty to take advantage of these reforms and invest in India. Singh appreciated the role played by the USIBC in improving trade relations between the two countries. Appreciating the support extended by the Uttar Pradesh government in organising DefExpo 2020 on such a large scale, the defence minister hoped that investment oppor- tunities in the state would increase with the establish- ment of the defence manufac- turing corridor in UP. Singh said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s aim of making India a $ 5-trillion economy required a focused approach and Uttar Pradesh, being the largest state of the country, had a major role to play in it. Earlier, US Ambassador to India Kenneth Juster said that DefExpo 2020 was a great opportunity to see talent and innovation of India’s defence industry and the US govern- ment was looking forward to pursuing opportunities to expand cooperation as the Indian government was estab- lishing defence manufacturing corridor in Uttar Pradesh. The five-day DefExpo was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Lucknow on Wednesday. It is being attended by defence ministers of 38 countries and top exec- utives of 172 foreign defence majors and 856 Indian com- panies.

˘ˇ ˆ˙ - The Pioneer · PMO and recently violating Supreme Court’s advise against violent agitations. Modi also accused the Congress of discreetly insti-gating anti-CAA agitation

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Page 1: ˘ˇ ˆ˙ - The Pioneer · PMO and recently violating Supreme Court’s advise against violent agitations. Modi also accused the Congress of discreetly insti-gating anti-CAA agitation

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Charging the Oppositionwith instigating anti-CAA

protests and spreading “false-hood”, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Thursdaywarned that agitations againstlaws passed by Parliament andState Assemblies may lead to“anarchy”. He justified actionagainst PDP and NC leaders inJammu & Kashmir suggestingthat his Government cannot bewith those supporting “opensecession” and lampoonedCongress campaign of “saveConstitution”.

In a speech laced withhumour, “shayari” and verbalwallops at the Opposition lead-ers, Modi quoted the firstPrime Minister of the country,Jawaharlal Nehru, to buttressthe case for the CAA saying itwas he who first spoke of“pressure” on and “safety” ofminorities in East and WestPakistan and need to changethe law to grant Indian citi-zenship to “minorities” comingfrom Pakistan. Modi sought toask the Opposition bencheswhether Pandit Nehru was“communal” to raise the issueof the plight of “minorities” inthe neighbouring country.

“This was not onlyMahatma Gandhi’s but alsoNehru’s sentiments. Was PanditNehru communal? Did he dis-criminate between Hindus andMuslims? Did he want Hindurashtra?” Modi asked, assertingthat several reports, includingthose of parliamentary panels,

had recommended a law likethe CAA.

Modi referred to the 1950Nehru-Liyaqat agreement onminority security and non-discrimination against “reli-gious minorities”. Why didNehru not use “all citizens”? heasked to counter protestsagainst exclusion of Muslims inthe agreement. He said an yearago before this agreement,Nehru wrote a letter to AssamChief Minister Gopinath todistinguish between Hindurefugees and Muslim migrantsfrom Pakistan. Modi quotedNehru’s statement in the LokSabha on November 5, 1950

that affected minorities comingto India have right to citizen-ship and “law needed to bechanged.”

Drawing attention to thepersecution of religiousminorities in Pakistan from thevery beginning, the PrimeMinister gave the instance offreedom fighter Upendra NathDutta — a member of AllIndia Congress Committee —who had stayed in Pakistan butreturned to India after expos-ing abject persecution ofminorities in that country.

The PM quoted Dutt say-ing in the ConstituentAssembly “so far as the side of

Pakistan concerned, minoritiesare practically liquidated.Those who live in East Pakistanlive in total frustration”. Modialso gave another instance ofJogendra Nath Mandal, a back-ward caste leader also the firstLaw Minister in Pakistan whoalso likewise returned to Indiaafter observing that minoritieswere being successfully drivenout of West Pakistan and thesame was being done in theEast Pakistan.

As he accused theCongress of telling “lies” andspreading “false propaganda”on the CAA on account of itsvote-bank politics, the Prime

Minister assured that the CAAwill not “discriminate” betweenHindus and Muslims and causeno damage to minorities.

Taking a jibe at theCongress on its “saveConstitution” pitch, he recalledunconstitutional measures dur-ing Emergency, placing ofNational Advisory Councilabove Prime Minister andPMO and recently violatingSupreme Court’s advise againstviolent agitations.

Modi also accused theCongress of discreetly insti-gating anti-CAA agitation.“Khoob parda hai, chilman selage baithe hain, saaf chhuptebhi nahin, samne aate bhinahin” (Closeted to screen butwould not come out in open),Modi recited a romantic poemto nuance his political message.

So much criticism of theCAA has been made ironical-ly by those who love gettingphotographed with the groupof people who want “tukdetukde” of India, he said.

Modi likened Congress’stand to that of Pakistan, say-ing Islamabad spoke the samelanguage for decades to misleadand incite Indian Muslims andthat task is now being per-formed by those “thrown out ofthe power”, he said.

On Kashmir, Modi quotedPDP’s Mehbooba Mufti, NC’sFarooq Abdullah and OmarAbdullah’s “secessionist” com-ments and their warningagainst abrogation of Article370 and asked “can anyone see

Continued on Page 4

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A9-judge Constitutionbench said Thursday it

will answer the contentiouslegal issue on February 10whether the Supreme Courtcan refer questions of law to alarger bench while exercising itslimited power under reviewjurisdiction in the Sabarimalacase.

The bench, headed byChief Justice SA Bobde, said itwill pronounce the order onMonday as also frame largerissues for evolving of a judicialpolicy to deal with discrimi-nation against women in vari-ous religions.

The 9-judge bench said itwould commence day-to-dayhearing from February 12 onthe issues which were referredby a 5-judge Constitution

bench headed by the thenChief Justice Ranjan Gogoi(since retired) on November14, 2019.

Besides Sabarimala case,the verdict had also referredissues of entry of Muslimwomen into mosques and dar-gahs and of Parsi women, mar-ried to non-Parsi men, beingbarred from the holy fire placeof an Agiary, to the larger

bench.The bench, also compris-

ing Justices R Banumathi,Ashok Bhushan, L NageswaraRao, M M Shantanagoudar, S ANazeer, R Subhash Reddy, B RGavai and Surya Kant, said itwould answer preliminaryobjection raised by some seniorlawyers with regard to its powerof reference to a larger benchwhile exercising authorityunder review jurisdiction.

During day-long hearing,senior lawyers like F SNariman, Rajeev Dhavan,Indira Jaising and Shyam Divanvehemently argued that the 5-judge bench was wrong inmaking a reference to a largerbench without deciding thereview petitions challengingthe 2018 Sabarimala verdict,which had allowed women ofall age group to enter the hill-top shrine.

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In the backdrop of coron-avirus outbreak in China,

India on Thursday said it can-consider evacuating Pakistanistudents from Hubei province"if such a situation arises" andif resources are available.Making this clear, the Ministryof External Affairs, however,said Pakistan had made norequest for it till now.

Hundreds of strandedPakistani students in the coro-navirus-hit Wuhan city havemade desperate pleas to theImran Khan Government toevacuate them from China'sworst-affected Hubei province,urging his administration totake a leaf out of India's book.

Asked about the pleas bythe Pakistani students andwhether India could help intheir evacuation, Ministry ofExternal Affairs SpokespersonRaveesh Kumar said, "No suchrequest has been received by usfrom the Government ofPakistan. But if such a situationarises and keeping in mind the

resources available, we canlook into it." However, he didnot clarify what would be thespecific pre-conditions

for considering the request.India airlifted 654 people,

including seven Maldivians,on Saturday and Sunday fromWuhan. The Health Ministrysaid all the evacuees have test-ed negative and no new casehas been reported.

Watching the Indian stu-dents leave, the Pakistani stu-dents posted videos on social

media asking theirGovernment to do the same.

In one of the videos,a Pakistani student while show-ing the Indian students board-ing the bus to go to the airport,said while India was evacuat-ing its citizens, the Pakistangovernment says "you live ordie we will not evacuate orfacilitate" their journey home.Shame on you Pakistan gov-ernment. Learn from Indiahow it takes care of its people,"he said in the video that went

viral.Pakistan has more than

28,000 students in China,including 500 in the worst-hitcity of Wuhan. China haspraised Pakistan for resumingflights to the country, a dayafter it received special medicalkits from Beijing to detect thedeadly virus cases.

Kumar also said all existinge-visas from China are nolonger valid. Similarly, nor-mal visas that have been issuedare also no more valid.However, those who have com-pelling reasons to visit India,can contact the Indian embassyor the nearest consulates toapply for visa.

As regards reports aboutrestrictions on airlines, thespokesperson said, "I am notaware of any restrictionimposed by government on theoperation of any commercialflight between India andChina."

He also said airlines arefree to take the decision basedon their own assessment onground.

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Promising a bright future foryouths working in Uttar

Pradesh, Chief Minister YogiAdityanath said that over 35lakh jobs would be thrown openin the state after projects taken upunder DefExpo 2020 andInvestors’ Summit took a finalshape.

“Uttar Pradesh is a land ofopportunities and providesimmense possibilities and waysof investment. At the same time,this state will provide jobs to edu-cated and skilled workers. In2018, we organised Investors’Summit in which Prime MinisterNarendra Modi had announcedconstruction of defence manu-facturing corridor. These twoevents will open up employmentopportunities to 35 lakh people,”Yogi said while addressing aseminar organised by UPEIDAand FICCI at DefExpo 2020here on Thursday.

Yogi said that industrialistscould succeed in making Indiaself-dependent in defence pro-duction and also help developtheir business and the state.

“Our policy is much betterthan of other states and it willattract investment here,” Yogisaid.

The chief minister said thatwhat made UP important wasthat the Eastern and Westerndedicated freight corridors passedthrough the state.

“The junction of the two isat Burari (UP) and investors whoinvest here would definitely ben-efit from it. We will develop 17

cities as ‘Smart and Safe Cities’ inUP. In these, integrated com-mand and control centres will beestablished and there will be hugeinvestment possibilities,” he said.

Yogi further said that if anindustrial institution had to proveitself, then there were immenseopportunities for it too.

“Road connectivity of thestate is very good because of itsdirect connectivity to the nation-al capital and it is also connect-ed with the world by air,” he said.

Yogi said the UP govern-ment was developing infrastruc-ture facilities in the state at a fastpace.

“Expressways are being con-structed on a large scale.Presently, work on PurvanchalExpressway is in progress and itwill become operational by theyear end. In addition, work onBundelkhand Expressway will be

started from February. Also, sur-vey for Ganga Expressway fromMeerut to Prayagraj has beencompleted and construction willbegin by the end of this year,” thechief minister said.

Speaking on the occasion,Defence Minister Rajnath Singhsaid that UP would play animportant role in fulfilling PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’s dreamof making the country a $ 5-tril-lion economy.

“Uttar Pradesh is steadilymoving on the path of develop-ment. Rail, air and road connec-tivity has improved here and sin-gle window system is workingbetter in the state,” he said.

The defence minister saidthat Chief Minister YogiAdityanath was working as anable captain, so investorswould no longer face diffi-culties in UP.

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In a tragic incident, sevenpersons, including three

children, were killed whengas leaked in a carpet factoryat Jalalpur village of Biswantown of Sitapur in the earlyhours of Thursday.

Confirming the deaths ofseven people including threechildren, Sitapur districtadministration said that thefactory owner absconded afterthe incident.

Biswan Sub-DivisionalMagistrate Suresh Kumar saidthat a team of experts fromLucknow had arrived at thesite for investigation and aNational Disaster ResponseForce (NDRF) team was pre-sent at the spot.

“The affected area hasbeen evacuated. Any inputabout the tragedy would begiven out after investigation.Some dogs were also founddead around the area,” theSDM added.

Asked for details of the gasleak, Kumar said, “A tanker ofan adjoining acid factory waswashed near this carpet fac-tory. Possibly, gas leaked fromthat and choked the victims.”

Taking a serious note ofthe incident, Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath announcedcompensation of Rs 4 lakheach to the families of the vic-tims.

Expressing grief, Yogidirected officials to provide allpossible help to the affectedpeople and initiate stern actionagainst the guilty.

Additional Chief Secretary(Home) Awanish Awasthi said,“The deceased included five ofa family, including three chil-dren.

They were identified asAtiq (45), his wife Saira (42)and children Ayesha (12),Afroz (8) and Faisal (2).Besides, two others, Motu (75)and Pahalwan (70), also died.All of them were residents ofKanpur.”

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The European Court ofHuman Rights (ECHR) on

Thursday rejected alleged book-ie Sanjeev Chawla’s applicationfor an interim measure onhuman rights grounds to blockhis extradition from the UK toface match-fixing charges inIndia.

The legal paperwork processfor his extradition will now goahead through the UK CentralAuthority, for Scotland Yardofficers to hand Chawla over totheir counterparts from DelhiPolice to be flown back toIndian within days. “We cannow confirm that the Court hasrejected Mr Sanjeev Chawla’srequest for an interim measure,”a spokesperson for the ECHRsaid on Thursday.

Chawla had lost a last-ditchHigh Court appeal on humanrights grounds against formerUK Home Secretary Sajid Javid’sextradition order at a hearing inthe Royal Courts of Justice inLondon last month, with acourt order dated January 23setting a 28-day deadline forhim to be extradited to India.

The 50-year-old Britishnational, a key accused in thematch-fixing scandal involvingformer South African cricketcaptain Hansie Cronje in 2000,must therefore be extraditedfrom the UK by February 19.

Chawla is alleged to haveplayed a central role in con-spiring with Cronje to fix aSouth African tour to India.

He had approached theStrasbourg, France, basedECHR on the basis of theEuropean Convention onHuman Rights, to which theUK is a signatory and relied onArticle 3, relating to prohibi-tion of inhuman or degradingtreatment, of convention in hisplea.

The ECHR had soughtadditional assurances from theBritish High Commission inNew Delhi that Chawla’s rightsas a British citizen would beupheld, including regular con-sular access. According to offi-cials familiar with the process,the assurances were speedilyconveyed.

According to experts,demonstrating that such aninterim measure suspendingextradition is warranted is an

Continued on Page 4

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Defence Minister RajnathSingh sought to synchro-

nise the export capability ofUS defence sector with theever-expanding opportuni-ties in the Indian defencemanufacturing sector andpitch the relationship betweenthe two nations towards oneof collaboration from tradi-tional relation of ‘buyer-sell-er’. Singh was speaking at aseminar organised in theongoing DefExpo 2020 bythe US-India BusinessCouncil (USIBC) in Lucknowon Thursday.

“Indo-US relationship willmove towards collaborationapproach from the tradition-al ‘buyer-seller’. I am confidentthis relationship will be moredynamic and vibrant infuture,” the defence ministersaid.

Singh said, “The US is oneof the largest defence exportersto India and the world. At thesame time, Indian defencemanufacturing sector is grow-ing rapidly. In such a situation,our collaboration can prove tobe one of the biggest collabo-rations of this century.”

Referring to several keyagreements signed during the

2+2 Dialogue during hisrecent visit to the US, Singhsaid that he met with USDefence Secretary Mark Esperin December wherein Indiaand the US signed an indus-trial security agreement thatwould allow the transfer ofdefence technology.

Assuring business leadersthat necessary reforms havebeen made and will continuein the future as well, Singhurged the business communi-ty to take advantage of thesereforms and invest in India.

Singh appreciated the roleplayed by the USIBC inimproving trade relationsbetween the two countries.

Appreciating the supportextended by the Uttar Pradeshgovernment in organisingDefExpo 2020 on such a largescale, the defence ministerhoped that investment oppor-tunities in the state wouldincrease with the establish-ment of the defence manufac-turing corridor in UP.

Singh said that PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’s aimof making India a $ 5-trillioneconomy required a focusedapproach and Uttar Pradesh,being the largest state of thecountry, had a major role toplay in it.

Earlier, US Ambassador toIndia Kenneth Juster said thatDefExpo 2020 was a greatopportunity to see talent andinnovation of India’s defenceindustry and the US govern-ment was looking forward to

pursuing opportunities toexpand cooperation as theIndian government was estab-lishing defence manufacturingcorridor in Uttar Pradesh.The five-day DefExpo wasinaugurated by Prime Minister

Narendra Modi in Lucknowon Wednesday. It is beingattended by defence ministersof 38 countries and top exec-utives of 172 foreign defencemajors and 856 Indian com-panies.

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Lucknow (PNS): A total of 14Memorandums of Under-stand-ing (MoUs) were signed at thefifth round of India-RussiaMilitary Industrial Conference(IRMIC) at the DefExpo 2020 inLucknow on Thursday. TheMoUs were signed betweenRussian OEMs and Indian com-panies. The first Request forProposal for manufacturing ofparts in India under provision ofIGA was also handed over byIndian Navy to the identifiedIndian industry.Both sidesacknowledged that this wouldpave way for more cases andcontracts for joint manufactur-ing of spares parts in future.

The conference was co-chaired by Indian DefenceSecretary Dr Ajay Kumar andDeputy Minister of Industryand Trade of Russian Federation,Oleg Ryazantsev.

In his opening remarks,Kumar said that the Inter-gov-ernmental agreement (IGA) onjoint manufacturing of spares inIndia was signed at Vladivostok(Russia) on September 4, 2019.“The IGA provides frameworkfor partnership of RussianOEMs with Indian industry formanufacturing of spare parts ofRussian origin equipment in useby Indian defence forces,” hesaid.

Kumar further said that theIndian side had taken a numberof steps to expedite collaborationbetween Indian and Russiancompanies and looked forwardto expeditious commencementof manufacturing in India.Russian Deputy Minister OlegRyazantsev highlighted that theRussian side would actively par-ticipate in collaborations underthe ambit of the IGA and takeall necessary steps to facilitatemanufacturing of parts in India.

A large number of delegatesfrom Indian and Russiandefence sector companies partic-ipated in the meet and discussedthe way forward to achieveobjectives of inter-governmen-tal agreement under ‘Make inIndia’ initiative.

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Two days after ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath

declared that the Uttar Pradeshgovernment would purchaseDornier civil aircraft, the HALon Thursday received the mod-ification document fromDirector General of CivilAviation for its Dornier-228civil aircraft.

The document was hand-ed over to state-ownedHindustan Aeronautics Ltd byDGCA Joint Director GeneralG Rajshekhar during the ongo-ing DefExpo-2020 in Lucknow.

Two civil Do-228 aircraftwere produced by the aeronau-tical agency for launch underregional connectivity schemeUDAN. But to meet theprospective operator’s require-ment of a transport aircraft fly-able under commercial pilotlicence, their maximum take-off weight (MTOW) had to be

reduced from 6,200kg. The HAL said in a state-

ment on Thursday that itsengineers undertook efforts toreduce the weight below 5,700kg.

“Besides, HAL Do-228-201 (Upgraded) civil aircraftwould also be equipped with adigital cockpit to ensure accu-rate readings, precise informa-tion and ergonomic data dis-plays with feedback loops andcapability for self-check to alertpilot in emergencies,” the HALstatement further stated.

The glass cockpit architec-ture-enabled aircraft will be the

most sought-after ‘new ageaviation technology’, it added.

Also, the incorporation ofcivil-certified turboprop minus10 engine ensures more reliabletorque sensing system, highercomponent life, lighter weightand higher time between over-haul as compared to previousminus 5 engine.

“The integration of fiveblade propeller to the aircraftwould significantly reducenoise levels, aid faster enginestart, less lubrication and bet-ter damping characteristics,”said the statement issued by theHAL.

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Defence Minister RajnathSingh signalled India’s

readiness to take defenceengagements with friendlyAfrican countries to the nextlevel, stressing on cooperationand mutual capabilities in com-bating terrorism and extremism.

Addressing the India-Africa Defence Ministers’Conclave at the ongoingDefExpo 20202 in Lucknow onThursday, Singh said that Indiawould continue to intensify anddeepen engagements.

“It will be a partnershipguided by your priorities, morespecifically on defence cooper-ation. These include strength-ening cooperation and mutu-al capabilities in combatingterrorism and extremism, keep-ing our cyberspace safe andsecure and supporting the UNin advancing and keepingpeace,” the Indian defence min-ister said.

Defence ministers of 38countries participated in theIndia-Africa Defence Ministers’Conclave held on Thursday.

It is the first time thatAfrican nations held a separateconclave in the DefExpo.

Singh said that New Delhi

looked forward to deepercooperation in the domain ofdefence industry throughinvestment, joint ventures indefence equipment, software,digital defence, research anddevelopment, provisioning ofdefence equipment, spares andtheir maintenance.

The defence minister saidthat rapid strides made byIndian defence industry, bothpublic and private, and defenceresearch and development(R&D) had opened up new vis-tas for cooperation to take ourengagement to the next level.

“Indian defence manufac-turing companies are now part-nering with some of the lead-ing names in the business andare part of their global supplychains,” he said.

Singh added, “India isgeared up to provide offshorepatrol vessels (OPVs), fast inter-ceptor boats, body and vehiclearmour, night vision goggles(NVGs), unmanned aerial vehi-cles (UAVs), Dornier aircraftand arms and ammunition toour African counterparts.”

The defence minister alsooffered to share India’s experi-ence in implementing initia-tives like iDEX (Innovations forDefence Excellence) and Make-

II procurement procedure, forsmall, innovative solutions to aplethora of defence needs andchallenges faced by Africancountries.

Singh stressed that India’spartnership with African coun-tries was an open partnershipwith all possibilities andavenues for collaboration tochoose from and decide as pertheir priorities.

Reiterating that the guidingprinciples given by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi forIndia’s engagement with Africahad deepened economic andsecurity cooperation with itsmaritime neighbours, Singhsaid, “Maritime security in theregion is a matter of commoninterest for both India andAfrica, which is highlighted bythe government’s emphasis onSAGAR (Security and Growthfor all in the Region) for Indo-Pacific region.”

Singh said that India’s secu-rity relations with Africannations had centred aroundproviding training to Africanservice personnel, participationin United Nations peacekeep-ing efforts on the continent andalso maritime cooperation.

The defence ministerstressed the importance of safe

and secure seas which were apre-requisite for developmentof blue economy in the region.He said that India recognisedcommon security challenges inthe form of transnationalcrimes of piracy, trafficking ofdrugs, arms and humans andillegal fishing.

“In the light of these chal-lenges there was a call forstronger partnerships forcapacity building, informationsharing and surveillance. India’sincreased engagement in theregion has enabled it to be thefirst responders in providinghumanitarian assistance in cri-sis like Cyclone Idai inMozambique and more recent-ly, Cyclone Diane inMadagascar,” he said.

The conclave adoptedIndia -Africa Declaration onDefence Cooperation.

Minister of State forDefence, Shripad Naik, Chief ofDefence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat,Chief of Naval Staff AdmiralKarambir Singh, Chief of AirStaff Air Chief Marshal RKSBhadauria, Chief of Army StaffGen MM Naravane, DefenceSecretary Ajay Kumar and offi-cials of the Defence andExternal Affairs ministries werepresent on the occasion.

Lucknow (PNS): In a significantstep forward, Airbus India andAdani Defence signed an agree-ment on Thursday to promotesynergies in aerospace and air-craft services, highlighting India’sadvancement in aircraft ser-vices market that is expected togenerate $ 6.3 billion by 2025.

A memorandum of under-standing (MoU) was signed byAirbus India and South AsiaPresident and ManagingDirector Anand Stanley andAdani Defence and Aerospacehead Ashish Rajvanshi.

“Airbus and Adani Defencewould explore opportunitiesfor collaboration in aircraft ser-vices for Indian and SouthAsian markets,” Airbus Indiasaid after signing the pact at theDefExpo 2020 in Lucknow.

“Airbus is not only theworld’s leading civil aviationcompany but also a major inno-vator and provider of aircraftservices. This MoU demon-strates our commitment to sup-porting the development ofIndia as a world-class serviceshub for aerospace products,”Stanley said.

Airbus’ global services fore-cast envisages the Indian aircraftservices market to grow to USD6.3 billion by 2025. “WithAdani’s recent foray into air-ports, this potential collabora-tion will leverage synergiesbetween product and servicesexcellence of Airbus and infra-structure, engineering andmega-project execution capabil-ities of Adani,” Airbus India said.

“India is at the cusp oftransformational growth in air-craft services market. Our col-laboration with Airbus isaligned to our vision of nationbuilding and to indigenise crit-ical technologies and services,thus creating a vibrant ecosys-tem in aerospace capabilities inIndia,” Rajvanshi said.

The Airbus showcased itsbest-in-class military productsand cutting-edge defence tech-nologies at the DefExpo 2020.Models of highly-versatile C295aircraft, as well as H145M andH225M helicopters, wereamong its top exhibits.

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Sensation prevailed in AswaDaudpur village under

Handia police station in trans-Ganga area of Prayagraj whena widow and her three minorchildren were found dead intheir room on Thursdaymorning.

Police said that prima facie,it appeared to be a case of sui-cide.

The deceased included awoman, Manju, and her threechildren Priya (8), Anu (6) andRitik (4). The bodies of thewoman and the children boreinjury marks on the necks.

Manju’s husband, RameshBhartiya, had died four-and-half-year back. Her parents

alleged that after the death ofManju’s husband, her brothers-in-law Mahesh and Dineshused to torture her to force herto leave the house. They allegedthat fed up with the daily tor-ment, Manju ended the lives ofher three children and hangedherself to death.

Police have taken Manju’sfather-in-law Srinath andMahesh into custody for ques-tioning.

The deaths came to lightwhen the villagers spotted thebodies of the four lying in thehouse and informed the policeabout it. On getting informa-tion, SP (trans-Ganga) andCO rushed to the spot alongwith a police force.

Senior Superintendent of

Police Satyarth AniruddhaPankaj said they were investi-gating all angles — suicideand murder — of the case. Heconfirmed that all the fourbodies bore injury marks onthe necks.

When the bodies werebeing sent to mortuary forpost-mortem, Manju’s kinstaged a dharna, demandingaction against the in-laws. TheSSP, however, pacified them,assuring them that the guiltywould soon be booked and sentbehind the bars.

After the death of her hus-band, Manju Devi was living inthe house of her in-laws alongwith her children. She used todo odd jobs to eke out a livingfor her children.

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Uttar Pradesh Congresschief Ajay Kumar ‘Lallu’

started his party’s 40-day ‘KisanJan Jagran Abhiyan’ to highlightfarmers’ problems and demandredressal from the govern-ment, in Lucknow onThursday. Congress generalsecretary Priyanka GandhiVadra is scheduled to join thecampaign soon.

Addressing media personsbefore launching the campaign,Lallu said that the campaignhad been divided into fivephases.

He said in the first phase,25,000 Congress workerswould visit three blocks dailyand meet 300 families perblock and by the end of thephase, they would contact 2.72crore people of the state,including 55 lakh families offarmers. The UPCC chief saidthat they would get formsfilled by the farmers high-lighting their major problemsand demands.

Lallu said that in the sec-

ond phase, party workerswould meet MLAs and MPsand hand over to them thefarmers’ memorandum ofdemands.

“In the third phase,Congress workers along withfarmers and public will gheraotehsil offices on Tehsil Diwasand place those demandsbefore administrative officers.In the fourth phase, partyworkers will agitate at districtheadquarters while in the lastphase, Congress workers will

gherao Vidhan Sabha,” the UPCongress chief said.

Speaking on the occasion,Congress Legislative Partyleader Aradhana Mishra‘Mona’ said the party wouldhold 12,000 street corner meet-ings, 900 press conferencesand stage more than 800demonstrations during thecampaign.

Mona said that theCongress would demand 50per cent reduction in powerbills of farmers, waiver offarmers’ loans, doubling offarmers’ profits and doubleminimum support price aspromised by the BharatiyaJanata Party during the 2014poll campaign, and payment ofcane dues.

The Congress leaderalleged that the BJP govern-ments at the Centre and in UP,were working against farmers’interests and hence the partyhad decided to take up theirfight to a logical conclusionand not leave them to commitsuicide as was being done inthe present BJP rule.

Lucknow:(PNS): Thales andBharat Forge on Thursday wentfor an agreement for developingF90 rifles in India.

Thales Senior ExecutiveVice President (InternationalDevelopment) Pascale Sourisseand Bharat Forge President andCEO (Defence and Aerospace)Col Rajinder Bhatia in presenceof the company’s Chairman andManaging Director BabaKalyani joined hands to devel-op their cooperation for the F90rifles for the defence and lawenforcement sectors in Indiaand abroad.

This cooperation is a testa-ment to the ‘Make in India’ ini-tiative of the Indian governmentand paves the way to a poten-tial licensing agreement, officialsof both the companies said.

Meanwhile, Chief ofDefence Staff General BipinRawat visited Thales stand onthe second Day of DefExpo2020 here on Thursday.

The F90 assault rifle wasdeveloped by Thales Australia,which operated a former

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Lithgow factory. It is a signifi-cantly improved version of aLithgow F88, which is a licence-produced version of the success-ful Steyr AUG and is current-ly a standard-issue infantryweapon in Australia.

Essentially the F90 can beseen as a new-generation ver-sion of the F88. The F90 assaultrifle was first publicly revealedin 2012. Deliveries to theAustralian Army began in 2017.In Australian service this assault

rifle is know as Enhanced F88,or EF88. For export this weaponis being offered as the F90.

The F90 is a gas-operated,selective fire weapon with abullpup layout. It is chamberedfor the standard NATO 5.56x45mm ammunition. It has manydistinctive upgrades andchanges comparing with theoriginal F88. It is better bal-anced, more comfortable touse, lighter and more reliablethan the previous weapon.

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6�'���� �����&������'��"��(�Muzaffarnagar: Threemembers of an inter-state gang of drug traf-fickers were arrestedin Kairana town ofShamli. A police teamwith the help of SpecialTask Force intercepteda motorcycle atKandhala Tiraha onwhich the three menwere riding and seized416 grams of smackvalued at over �60 lakhin the internationalmarket. The policeseized �11,000 in cashand the motorcycle.

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The Instrument Researchand Development

Establishment Institute(IRDE), Dehradun, that comesunder DRDO, has showcasedinnovative and futuristic prod-ucts for defence and paramili-tary forces. Associate directorof the institute Neeraj Bhargavatold this reporter that theyhave come up with opticalproducts for defence in whichthe machines can help locate atank or a group of people at adistance of over 4 kms.

He said that they developelectro optical instruments andalso carry out research anddesign on the same. “We havea workshop for fabricating thesystems, assembling them andthen testing them for use,” saidBhargava. Talking about theequipment which they haveshowcased, he said they haddeveloped a multi-spectralsurveillance system.

“This can be used for sur-veillance in which the equip-ment converts thermal energyinto images which are at a far-off distance at night when theobjects cannot be viewed. Ituses the thermal radiations toget a picture of the object atnight. With the help of thisequipment, one will be able tofigure out that there is some-thing at a distance of 4 kms,identify whether it is tank or a

group of soldiers at a distanceof 2 kms, and shoot at a dis-tance of 1 km,” he explained.

Bhargava said this is ahand-held equipment and theimage that comes will be on ascreen, and can be placed onvehicles. He added that thesame equipment placed on aplatform is called optronic sur-veillance system. “The platformis required because the equip-ment needs to be stable. If thereis movement, the images will beshaky,” he said. Showcasing‘Athermal Laser TargetDesignator’, he said it helps illu-minate the target. “The ammu-nition ‘sees’ the target and hitsit with precision. Here, theseeker, which is the ammuni-tion, will be able to see the tar-get at night, which cannot beseen by human eye, and thenshoot,” he added.

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Those visiting the DefExpo-2020 at Vrindavan Yojana

can actually fly a Sukhoi-30fighter aircraft. The India AirForce pavilion has showcaseda simulating system where vis-itors can have the experience.It is attracting a large numberof visitors.

Wing Commander SnehaSingh gave details of what theAir Force has showcased at thepavilion. “The Indian Air Forcehad last year launched a mobilegame which we have amalga-mated with the simulator sys-tem. The seat, which is placedbefore the game that runs on acomputer screen, has got a 3Dmotion and hence you get a liveexperience even as you play.You actually experience howthe pilot feels while flying aSukhoi-30,” she said.

She said they have show-cased three different dummieswith different Air Force uni-forms. “We have displayed thefighter pilot uniform,” she said.

The fighter pilot uniformsaw several visitors take pic-tures standing before it. Singhsaid they have displayed mod-els of 10 aircraft, includingMIG-29, Jaguar C-17,Chinnok, ALH indigenouslydeveloped, Tejas, Apache,Dornier and SU-30”.

She said that their mainaim was to tell people what Air

Force is all about. “We have alsodisplayed our radar and mis-siles and as a citizen, oneshould know what is thestrength of Air Force. We havebeen carrying out interactionwith students of schools andcolleges on bus simulators,motivating them to be a part ofthe Air Force,” she said.

The pavilion also has acareer counselling session halland another for watchingIndian Air Force movies. “If

people have some queries aboutcareer in Air Force, they can goand talk to trained assessors inthe room,” she said. She addedthat it is a very good careeroption for women to join theAir Force. “What is good aboutthe Air Force is that there is nodifferentiation made betweenmen and women, and what isactually looked into is yourcapability. This is a great factorfor women to work in the AirForce,” she added.

Lucknow (PNS): ‘Dassault Systèmes’, aBengaluru-based digital company, is showcas-ing its prowess in providing digital facilities invarious areas of technology at the Defence Expo.Director (Aerospace and Defense) of the com-pany Ravikiran Pothukuchi told this reporterthat the company facilitates digital technolo-gy in terms of design, manufacture, operationand use of technology in various activities.

“What is unique about our technology is thatwe bring all the stakeholders on the same plat-form because there are different companiesrequired for designing and manufacture,” he said.He added that digital technology has come a longway since the time it was merely about design-ing in the 80’s.“We are now moving onto arti-ficial intelligence in the current era. Althoughthere is a lot of talk about artificial intelligence,a lot still needs to be done. There is a lot of scopein cyber physical area in the digital technolo-gy,” he said. He added that re-imagining aero-space and defense organisations as a connect-ed enterprise will be integral to making the dig-ital transformation targets a reality.

“This is why the 3D experience platformfrom Dassault Systèmes goes beyond digital con-

tinuity to introduce the power of connections,transforming how stakeholders ideate, collab-orate and operate. At the DefExpo, we will bediscussing how the 3D experience platform canhelp defence organisations and aerospace OEMsstrengthen design capabilities, modernize pro-gram execution, enable cross-site continuity,increase manufacturing capacity, improve sup-plier collaboration, and most importantlyenhance end-user experience.” He said thatDassault Systèmes has displays four industrysolution experiences based on the 3D experienceplatform for defence suppliers at the DefExpo,”he added.

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Pune-based company‘Kalyani’ has showcased a

number of products at theDefExpo-2020. President andCEO (Defence and Aerospace)of the company Rajinder SinghBhatia said that defence formsten per cent of the productswhich they manufacture.

He said the aim of being atthe expo was to showcase thetechnology which they havedeveloped and manufactured.“We also want to export becausesome of these products are real-ly unique,” he said. Singling out

an advancedt o w e dartillery gunsystem whichthey haddeveloped,Bhatia said:“It is a verylightweightgun system.This is one of

the unique products in whichthe gun, which originallyweighed around 3 tonnes, hasbeen reduced to one tonne andcan be taken anywhere, whenmounted on a vehicle. It pro-vides great accessibility and can

be a real game-changer as it cango anywhere.”

On being asked if India hasgrown to such an extent that itis exporting defence equipment,he said they are already makingexports worth Rs 100 crore, andwill increase in future. He addedthat their company has six tech-nology centres in India, 7-8design centres and a huge infra-structure. Among the manyproducts which they haveshared, the highlight is ‘Bharat52’, with a long-range 155mmcaliber. It is the first indigenoussolution of its kind developedand designed in India.

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Boeing is showcasing arange of advanced defence

capabilities at the DefExpo-2020. Spokesperson ShwetaMahesh said they are show-casing the F/A-18 SuperHornet, KC-46 tanker, AH-64E Apache and P-8I. Boeingwill also provide visitors avirtual flying experience withthe F/A-18 Super HornetBlock-III simulator to under-stand a wide range of missions,carrier-based aviation andcapabilities the aircraft canoffer the Indian Navy.

“The F/A-18 Super Hornetserves as the frontline multi-

role fighter of the US Navy andair forces of several countries,and is currently on offer to theIndian Navy and Indian AirForce. The combat provenF/A-18 Block-III Super Hornetwill bring the most contem-porary next-generationwarfighter technologies toIndian Navy through battle-space situational awareness,counter-stealth targeting,greater range and improvedsurvivability, reduced radarsignature and room forgrowth,” she said.

“We are honoured to sup-port India’s armed forces withadvanced platforms such asthe P-8I, C-17, AH-64 Apache

and the CH-47 Chinook thatare delivering superior capa-bilities. Additionally, our sup-port and services have playeda significant role in ensuringenhanced operational readi-ness,” said Salil Gupte, presi-dent of Boeing India. “Wecontinue to remain committedto strengthening the Indianaerospace ecosystem and lookforward to engaging with ourcustomers, partners andindustry at the DefExpo-2020,” he said. In addition todefence platforms, Boeing willalso focus on its local sustain-ment and training capabilitiesfor its Indian customers. AsBoeing steadily increases its

sourcing from India andexpands its supplier network,it will highlight its contribu-tion towards ‘Make in India’that fully harnesses India’smanufacturing capability, tal-ent, innovation and produc-tivity. India is a crucial defencepartner for Boeing with someof its most mission-criticalplatforms integrated with theIndian armed forces. Boeing’sexhibit, termed as ‘BuildingThe Future Together’, focuseson its partnerships with India’sarmed forces, and highlightsthe strategic investments thatthe company has made indeveloping India’s indigenousaerospace and defence ecosys-

tem. These include the engi-neering and technology centrein Bengaluru and Chennai, thejoint venture with TataAdvanced Systems, and workwith over 200 suppliers andpartners in support of ‘Makein India’ and ‘Skill India’.

Boeing is the world’slargest aerospace companyand leading manufacturer ofcommercial jetliners, defence,space and security systems,and service provider of after-market support. Boeing’sadvanced aircraft and servicesare also playing an importantrole in mission-readiness forthe Indian Air Force andIndian Navy.

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Aclass VIII student, said tobe mentally unstable,

attacked his maths teacher witha knife when the latter was inthe classroom at Ram PrasadBismil Inter College onThursday morning. Police saidShyam Gupta (40) of Talkatorasuffered neck injuries not seri-ous in nature. The police saidthe teacher was admitted to ahospital and action would betaken against the accused.

As per reports, Gupta wasteaching his students when astudent came from behind andattacked him. The student wasirked over being asked to sit atanother place in the classroom.The police said the student useda kitchen knife. However, theyfailed to explain from where thestudent got the knife. TheKakori SHO said he got a callfrom principal of the collegeMohammed Irfan around 10.35

am on Thursday. “We reachedthe scene but the victim hadalready been rushed to a hos-pital. The accused lives inDauna village of Kakori,” theSHO said.

Meanwhile, a 15-year-oldgirl, identified as Komal, wasfound hanging at her house inVishal Khand-III of GomtiNagar police station area onThursday. Reports said a staff ofRML Hospital informed policeabout the incident. Komal wasbrought to the hospital by hermother Mithilesh around 11am. The police said Komal wasfound hanging from the ceilingwith a dupatta tied around herneck.

Meanwhile, a man alleged-ly killed his wife, who used todoubt his loyalty, in Madiaonsome time on Wednesdaynight and later spread thenews that she was killed byrobbers. Residents doubted hisclaim and alerted the police

after which he was rounded uphim. Police said they suspect-ed that the accused, identifiedas Ram Hriday of Sitapur,strangled his wife Munni Devito death. They said they werewaiting for the autopsy report.

As per reports, RamHriday came out of his housearound 10 am while crying thatrobbers had killed his wife.Neighbours reached the sceneand found Munni Devi lyingdead with strangulation marksaround the neck. Initially, hetold the police that he was outfor work and found his wifedead after he returned homearound 10 am. However, aneighbour told the police thathe saw Ram Hriday at thehouse around 6 am. The neigh-bours also told the police thatRam Hriday was not on goodterms with his wife as she sus-pected him to be in relation-ship with another woman inthe locality.

Lucknow (PNS): Twounidentified miscreants pos-ing as policemen duped awoman of her ornaments inGhazipur police station areaon Wednesday evening.Reports said the woman,identified as Prem Lata ofIndira Nagar, was going to arelative’s house in Harihar

Nagar locality by a rickshaw.When she reached near aschool around 4 pm, the bike-borne miscreants got the rick-shaw stopped. According toPrem Lata, the miscreantstold her that they were police-men in civvies. They askedher as to why she was wear-ing ornaments when inci-

dents of loot and snatchingwere being reported in thecity. They asked her to put offthe ornaments. In the mean-time, they also stopped anoth-er man on bike and asked himto put off his gold chain.They give him a sachet andasked him to keep the goldchain inside. They then asked

the man to show the sachet totheir “boss”, pointing towardsa man in civvies standing atsome distance. The man wasgiven the sachet after thatman wrote a number on it.

“I also followed theirinstructions and put off theornaments (a gold chain, tworings and earrings) and

intended to put it in my purse.They asked me to keep theornaments in a sachet and saidit would be returned to herafter a number was written onit by their boss. They changedthe packet and when I openedit, I found it to be filled withsmall pebbles,” the womanstated in her complaint.

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Vishwa Hindu Mahasabhachief Ranjeet Bachchan

was killed for bullying his sec-ond wife who wanted to walkout of the marriage with himfollowing her alleged affairwith a Rae Bareli youth.

Commissioner of PoliceSujeet Pandey disclosed thisfollowing the arrest of Ranjeet’ssecond wife Smriti Srivastava,a native of Gorakhpur present-ly living in Vikas Nagar, heralleged lover Deependra andlatter’s driver Sanjeet Gautam,also of Rae Bareli. Pandey saidthe police had announced acash reward of Rs 50,000 on thearrest of shooter Jitendra, whois Deependra’s cousin.

“The Home departmenthas announced Rs 5 lakh as anaward to the police team thatcracked the case in the recordtime,” the Commissioner ofPolice said. Ranjeet was shotdead on February 2 morning.Pandey said property angle,financial fraud, terror and otherangles did not hold water dur-

ing the investigation.According to the CP, Ranjeetwas not divorcing Smriti aftershe came to know that he wasalready married to KalindiSharma, his colleague duringthe Bharat Yatra campaign.Smriti, whose married life wason the rocks, got emotionalsupport from Deependra andcame closer to him after beingignored by Ranjeet.

The relations betweenRanjeet and Smriti worsenedwith each passing day even asshe lodged three cases, includ-ing one for setting to fire herscooty and motorcycle at herhouse in Vikas Nagar.

“The motive for Ranjeet’smurder was extreme hatredwhich Smriti had for him dueto his conduct and his tenden-cy to cheat on her. On January

17, Ranjeet met Smriti atSikanderbagh crossing andpressured her to attend themarriage anniversary party hewas to throw on January 18. Asshe refused, Ranjeet slappedher and the latter shared thiswith Deependra,” the CPexplained.

Pandey said the policeworked on the case probing allangles. “Angles such as financialfraud (Ranjeet was accused oftaking money from several per-sons for facilitating jobs), terror(a social media post suggestedRanjeet was a right wing leaderand killed for his political lean-ing), and family dispute couldnot go far. In the meantime, wegot a tip-off about Smriti’saffair with another youth, andwe worked on this angle. Itworked and we nabbed theaccused,” he said. The CP saidthe police recovered digital evi-dence and the car in which theaccused reached Lucknow,among other things. “We are yetto recover the weapon(revolver) and our teams areworking on this,” he added.

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The accused involved inVHM chief Ranjeet

Bachchan murder case madetwo attempts to kill him twotimes before they finally execut-ed the crime on the fateful day.On the intervening night ofJanuary 28 and 29, they hadchecked into a hotel in VikasNagar while carrying no bag-gage with them. They did nothave dinner at the hotel andchecked out after their planfailed. They had used a whitecar (Baleno) to conduct a reccebut did not get the chance toeliminate Ranjeet. The secondattempt was made on the inter-vening night of January 30 and31, and it had come a cropper.

On February 2, Deependra,along with shooter Jitendraand driver Sanjeet, reachedLucknow from Rae Bareli.“They were seen enteringLucknow at Nigoha toll plaza inon February 2 morning. Theshooter got down from the carat Capitol cinema inHazratganj, followed byDeependra a little ahead. In aCCTV footage, Ranjeet, Adityaand Kalindi were seen walkingdown towards Hazratganjcrossing while Jitendra andDeependra, having coveredthemselves with shawls, weretrailing them. On reachingHazratganj crossing, Kalinditurned in another directionwhile Aditya and Ranjeetmoved towards ParivartanChowk,” Commissioner ofPolice Sujeet Pandey said.

He said Sanjeet reachedParivartan Chowk via Lalbagh,Gemini hotel and ParivartanChowk, where Deependra andJintendra sat in the car. “Theymoved ahead via Shani Mandir,Chiraiyya Jheel, and LaxmanMela ground. They threw thephones at Baikunth Dhaamon the way and left for RaeBareli. Thereafter, Deependraand Jitendra fled to Mumbai.We arrested Deependra fromUP-MP boarder,” the CP said.

Smriti made WhatsAppcalls to duck surveillance:Smriti had not talked toDeependra since January 25.She initially told the police thatDeependra was in Mumbaiand showed details of aWhatsApp call. However, itlater surfaced that Deependra

was in Vikas Nagar on January25. Her lie was nailed and shecame under police scanner.

The CP said the accusedpurchased a SIM card on thefateful day and it was used onlyfor that day. “We recoveredadequate evidence againstSmriti and others in the case.We recovered two shells and abullet from the crime scene onthe day of the incident,” Pandeysaid.

How Ranjeet got the titleof Bachchan: Ranjeet was astage artiste and used to playthe role of Amitabh Bachchanin plays, hence getting thenickname. He came in contactwith Kalindi several years andshe led the team which carriedout Bharat Yatra. Ranjeet hada son with Kalindi but he dieda few years back. He later mar-ried Smriti of Gorakhpur andkept her in dark about alreadybeing married, and the couplehad a daughter. Sources saidSmriti felt crestfallen after shecame to know that Ranjeet wasalready married. Initially, shetried to fight it out but on find-ing him unrepentant, she fellout with him and came close toDeependra.

Smriti’s meeting withDeependra was also interesting.Deependra’s elder brother isemployed with roadways. Afew years back, she was travel-ing by a bus which developeda snag on the way at night.Deependra’s brother helpedSmriti and this way, she cameto know Deependra and hisfamily.

CCTV footage gave thelead: On February 2, when thepolice were looking for a clueabout the miscreants, a CCTVfootage was obtained in theafternoon and it was madepublic the same evening.However, it was a blind clue asthe mafia doing time in jailfailed to identify those seen inthe footage. Later, the policewere tipped off about similar-looking persons captured by ain a CCTV camera installed ina Vikas Nagar hotel.

The police checked socialmedia profiles of Smriti,Ranjeet and Kalindi.Deependra was spotted amongthe friends of Smriti. The policefocused on Smriti and finallyworked out the case.

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Shashwat Bajpai, a studentof City Montessori School,Rajendra Nagar Campus I,pinned the name of Lucknowon world map by his knowl-edge of mathematics and excel-lence. The InternationalJournal of Science andResearch, one of the best mag-azines of Mathematics andScience, has published themathematics research paperof Shashwat, who has provedthe mathematical formula ofquadratic equation propound-ed by noted mathematicianDharacharya, using complex

numbers.His math-e m at i c a lskills showa promis-ing futureindicatinga clear sig-nal tob r i n g

glory for the country in com-ing years. He has been award-ed a certificate by theInternational Journal of Scienceand Research. CMS founderJagdish Gandhi praisedShashwat for his brilliance andtalent and blessed him for abright future.

���#�����*���them adhering them to theConstitution. “These are peoplewho do not trust people ofKashmir but we trust people ofKashmir and therefore removedArticle 370 and developing it,” thePrime Minister said affirming hisGovernment’s commitment tothe Constitution. Amid thumpingof benches by ruling BJP mem-bers and their allies, the PrimeMinister invoked the Constitutionto warn against street protestsagainst decisions taken byParliament and Assemblies. TheCongress was expected to be aresponsible Opposition, but ithas taken a wrong turn, he said.

“What will then happen? Canthe country run this way? This isroad to anarchy... Such a way canput you (Opposition) in troubleas well. I am giving this warningas we all should be concernedabout the country,” the PrimeMinister said. Modi said hisGovernment and party is deter-mined and decisive and fast-tracking decision as “we are onwalking on a beaten track fol-lowed by the Congress”. “If wewere to take your path of 70 years,we would not have been able toterminate Article 370”.

The Prime Minister said if hisGovernment worked as per theold ways, the Ram Janmabhoomiissue would have remainedunsolved, Kartarpur Sahib corri-dor would not be a reality andthere would be no India-Bangladesh land agreement. Modialso touched on the issues ofeconomy, unemployment andfarmers distress. On the economy,the Prime Minister said theGovernment has kept the fiscaldeficit in check, price rise is alsounder control and there is macro-economic stability. Modi said theagriculture Budget, which wasearlier Rs 27,000 crore, has now

been increased by five times toabout Rs 1.5 lakh crore. Theagriculture budget has risen fivetimes during the tenure of theNDA Government. The PrimeMinister said driven by politics,some States are not allowingfarmers to benefit from the PMKisan Scheme. “I appeal to them,let there be no politics in farmerwelfare. We all have to worktogether for the prosperity offarmers of India,” he said. He saidthe PM-KISAN Samman Yojanais transforming the lives of manyfarmers. Several farmers havebenefited due to this. In thisscheme there are no middlemenand no extra file work. Modi saidthe FDI in April-September 2018stood at USD 22 billion, while inApril-September 2019 it increasedto USD 26 billion. This reflectsconfidence of foreign investors inIndia, he said. Referring to theNorth-East, Modi said for years,distance became a reason toignore this region. Things havechanged now and the region isbecoming a growth engine asgreat work has been done in somany sectors and Ministers andofficials are regularly visiting theNorth-East. “The Bodo Accordsigned now is special because ithas brought all stakeholderstogether and we are movingtowards a more peaceful era,” hesaid.

+��0�����.�!�����enormous task and such pleas arerarely successful. “The Secretaryof State signed the order forSanjeev Chawla’s extradition toIndia in February 2019. Dueprocess will now be followed,” theUK Home Office said. Chawla,who remains on bail, has soughtto argue against his extradition toIndia on human rights grounds inthe UK courts ever since his arrestback in June 2016. Most recently,

at an appeal hearing on January16, a two-member High Courtpanel said they accepted theassurances provided by the Indiangovernment that the accused willbe accommodated in a cell to beoccupied exclusively by him, withproper “safety and security” andcomplying with the “personalspace and hygiene requirements”the court expects. India had alsomade further guarantees on med-ical facilities and protection fromintra-prisoner violence in Delhi’sTihar Jail, where he is to be heldahead of his trial. “Nothing sug-gests that there is any real risk ofinjustice, nor are the circum-stances exceptional. Indeed, thematerial does not even demon-strate reasonably arguablegrounds for contending that therewould be a real risk of ill-treat-ment contrary to Article 3ECHR,” Justices David Bean andClive Lewis said in their judgmenthanded down last month.Chawla’s case will be the firsthigh-profile extradition of itskind under the India-UKExtradition Treaty, signed in 1992.

Following an extradition trialin October 2017, WestminsterMagistrates’ Court in Londonhad concluded that while Chawlahad a prima facie case to answer,his human rights could not beguaranteed in Tihar. This rulingwas successfully challenged in theHigh Court by the CrownProsecution Service (CPS), argu-ing on behalf of the Indianauthorities. According to courtdocuments in the case, Chawla isdescribed as a Delhi-born busi-nessman who moved to the UKon a business visa in 1996, wherehe has been based while makingtrips back and forth to India. Afterhis Indian passport was revokedin 2000, he obtained a UK pass-port in 2005 and became a Britishcitizen.

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Cash-strapped Air India, which is being disin-vested by the government, has outstanding

dues of over Rs 822 crore towards VVIP charterflights, according to latest data provided by thenational carrier to an RTI response. In its RTIresponse provided on Wednesday to CommodoreLokesh Batra (retd), who sought to know the lat-es t data on outs tanding bi l l s of Air India, the carrier said as on November 30, 2019,Rs 822 crore were pending towards VVIP charterflights.

It also said an additional Rs 9.67 crore towardsevacuation operations and Rs 12.65 crore towardsferrying foreign dignitaries were also pending.Under VVIP charter flights, Air India provides itsaircraft to ferry— the President, the Vice-Presidentand the Prime Minister— for which the bills arepaid by the ministries.

If outstanding bills of VVIP charter flights werenot enough, the carrier had also accrued bills ofRs 526.14 crore towards tickets taken on credit bygovernment officials as on March 31, 2019,according to the reply. Out of Rs 526.14 crore, Rs236.16 crore were pending for over three years, AirIndia said in its response. The airlines also saidprovisioned Rs 281.82 crore as an accountingcharge in its account books for “probable non-recovery”. Batra had sought “updated (till the dateof resp onse) , completed and detai led information (including dates and invoices)” ontotal pending dues towards VVIP charter flightsand amounts owed by different public authoritiestowards Air India among other details.

The information under the RTI Act is defined asany record in any form held by or under the controlof public authority which has to be furnished to anapplicant within 30 days subject to exemptions underthe law. According to a response provided by the CivilAviation ministry on December 5, 2019, a net lossof Rs 8,556.35 crore (provisional) was reported byAir India. On Wednesday, the ministry said reasonsfor losses reported by Air India were —high inter-est burden, increase in competit ion especially from low cost carriers, adverse impact ofexchange rate variation due to weakening of theIndian Rupee, and high operating costs.

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Listing out the steps taken inJammu & Kashmir post

abrogation of its special statusunder Article 370, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi onThursday said an anti-corrup-tion bureau has been estab-lished in the Union Territoryfor the first time.

Replying to the debate inRajya Sabha on a motionthanking the President for hisaddress to the joint sitting ofboth Houses of Parliament,Modi said for the first time indecades, people of Jammu &Kashmir got benefits of reser-vation besides putting in placea comprehensive start-up, tradeand logistics policy.

There were BDC (BlockDevelopment Council) pollsand RERA (Real EstateRegulatory Authority) cameinto being there, Modi said.

He attacked the Oppositionfor not offering any "construc-tive suggestion" during thedebate, saying they made a"virtue out of stagnation".

Modi said one membersaid the decision to abrogatethe special status for Jammu &Kashmir in August last yearwas taken without discussion."This observation is not cor-rect. The entire nation hasseen the detailed discussionson the subject. MPs havevoted in favour of the deci-sions."

"People do not forgetthings easily. I want to remindthe Leader of the Opposition inRajya Sabha about the mannerin which proceedings regardingthe creation of Telangana tookplace" when the House was

locked and televised addressstopped when the Bill to bifur-cate Andhra Pradesh waspassed, the PM told the jointsession.

The Prime Minister furthersaid there is "unprecedentedpeace in Northeast" counteringthe Opposition charge of unrestin the region following an

amendment to the citizenshiplaw.

Many Central laws werenot implemented due to thespecial status provided to theerstwhile State of Jammu &Kashmir under the Article 370of the Constitution.

Even the Indian PenalCode (IPC) was implanted in

the style of Ranbir Penal Code.The erstwhile State was theonly one to have a separateconstitution and flag as per theprovisions of Article 370.

However, the status of J&Kchanged after the Article 370was nullified by the Parliamentand the then State was reorga-nized into two Union

Territories-Jammu andKashmir and Ladakh.

Following the reorganisa-tion of the erstwhile State intotwo UTs, a number of theleaders from the Valley wereput under detention as a pre-ventive measure and theOpposition has been cryingfoul over the move.

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Aday after Congress leaderRahul Gandhi's remark

that the "youth will beat upModi with sticks over lack ofjobs in the next six months”,the Prime Minister onThursday countered him wit-tily saying he would increasethe number of suryanamaskars so that his back canbear the beatings.

Modi also took a dig withhis "tubelight" jibe at Rahul forhis delayed reaction during hisreply to a debate on Motion ofThanks to the President'sAddress even as he madesome made tongue-in-cheekremarks at other Oppositionmembers.

Outside the house, Rahulreacted saying the PM did nottalk about the main issue ofunemployment and allegedthat he was distracting peopleby talking about other thingslike Jawaharlal Nehru andPakistan.

Without naming RahulGandhi, the Prime Ministersaid: "In 70 years, no Congressleader has ever become self-

sufficient. I heard one leader's man-

ifesto yesterday. He said 'wewill beat Modi with a stick insix months'. I can imagine thatit is a difficult prospect, so itwill take six months to pre-pare.

"In these six months, I willdo more surya namaskar sothat my back is ready for thebeating. I have been subjectedto abuses in the past 20 years,I will make myself gaali-proof(abuse-proof) and also danda-proof (stick-proof)," Modisaid.

Addressing an electionrally in Delhi, Rahul had onWednesday said, "The PM isdelivering speeches, but sixmonths later, he will not beable to even leave his home.The youth of India will beat him up with sticks and make him understandthat this country will not beable to make progress until jobs are provided tothem."

When Rahul got up fromhis seat and questioned Modion the issue of unemployment,the Prime Minister said he was

waiting for the Congressleader's reaction but it tookhim 30-40 minutes. "I havebeen speaking for 30-40 min-utes but it took this long forthe current to reach. Manytubelights are like this," Modisaid prompting ruling NDAmembers to burst into laugh-ter.

Modi also took severaldigs at leader of Congress inLok Sabha Adhir RanjanChowdhury for frequently ris-ing from his seat and inter-rupting him, saying that he ispublicising 'Fit India' cam-paign of his Government inParliament.

Responding toChowdhury on the issueunemployment, Modi said hewill resolve unemployment inthe country but not his and ofhis party's.

On Congress leaderShashi Tharoor's criticism ofthe Government, Modi sug-gested that Tharoor shouldhave some soft corner forKashmir after all he was "son-in-law" of the region, referringto his late wife SunandaPushkar.

Hitting back at Modi,Rahul said, "All youngsters ofthis country want that afterstudies - school, college uni-versity - they get employ-ment.

We asked the PrimeMinister repeatedly that youhave given a one and a halfhour speech and if for 2 min-utes you can tell the youthabout employment and whatyour Government has doneabout it."

"You would have seen,youngsters saw, that the PrimeMinister could not give areply," the former Congresspresident said while speakingto reporters outsideParliament.

Earlier, the Governmentused to talk about economy,Make in India, USD 5 trillion,but the Prime Minister nowdoes not talk about the biggest issue facing thecountry and is distractingthe people by talking aboutother things, ranging from the Congress and Nehru to Pakistan andBangladesh.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi on Thursday

attacked the Congress for thedelay in implementation of theGoods and Services Tax , say-ing that it was only after hetook office that the outstand-ing issues were resolved,paving the way for the rolloutof the unified tax regime.

"GST has seen a lot ofchanges. It is a big achievementfor the country. If you had thismuch knowledge and a clearvision then why didn't you

implement GST? Why didyou keep it hanging?" PMModi said in Rajya Sabha asthe opposition broke eruptedin protest.

"I had said that you shouldaddress the manufacturingstates issues in order to imple-ment GST.(Arun) Jaitley jiaddressed these issues. Theissues that I raised as a CM(Chief Minister), I have workedon them as a PM," he added.

The Central Governmenthad launched the GST in 2017,its biggest ever tax reform,aiming to replace more than adozen federal and state levies

and unify the sprawling econ-omy.

The move improved eco-nomic efficiency but critics saythe complexities of the newregime have driven manysmall enterprises out of busi-ness and forced hundreds ofthousands out of jobs. TheCongress, which had accusedthe BJP of holding up the GSTwhen it was in the opposition,has been one of the sharpestcritics of the implementationof the tax reform by the PMModi's Government, sayingthat bungled implementationhad hurt the economy.

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The Government onThursday said there is a

misconception about the rightto internet being a fundamen-tal right and emphasised thatthe country’s security wasequally important.

In an effort to clarify theissue, Communications andLaw and Justice Minister RaviShankar Prasad said, "TheSupreme Court has clearlystated that no lawyer arguedthat right to Internet is a fun-damental right. This kind ofmisconception needs to becorrected. What the SupremeCourt has stated is that forcommunication of your ideasand views the use of Internetwill also to be held a part ofyour fundamental right ofspeech and expression."

He also said no one candeny abuse of internet forspreading violence and terror-ism, and Pakistan has beendoing it in Kashmir and ISISprospered because of Internet."While right of Internet isimportant, security of thecountry is equally important"Prasad said adding there havebeen attempts to create unrestin Kashmir from across theborder through Internet.

He made this observationin the Rajya Sabha in responseto a question whether it is a fact

that the apex court declareduse of internet as a funda-mental right and took a seriousview of the internet lockdownin Jammu and Kashmir.

He emphasised that theConstitution which providesrights lays equal stress on itsregulation, saying "Use internetbut you cannot create violence.And weaken unity, integrityand security of nation."

In reply to a supplemen-tary question by Leader of theOpposition Ghulam NabiAzad, Prasad said having beena former Chief Minister ofJammu and Kashmir he hadalso been on the hit list of ter-rorists and was well aware ofabuse of Internet.

Whether it is a BJP gov-ernment or a non-BJP gov-ernment, internet has beenrestricted on several times onaccount of its abuse and "whatthe Supreme Court has done is

they have said temporary sus-pension of rules must be peri-odically reviewed", he said.

The minister said a com-mittee at the Centre compris-ing the Home Secretary, theLaw Secretary and the ITSecretary reviews it periodi-cally while there are commit-tees in states too.

Prasad said law and orderis a state subject and decisionsare taken based on ground sit-uation which are reviewedperiodically. He also said theuse of internet is subjected toreasonable restrictions for pub-lic order, for security andintegrity of India.

On Jammu and Kashmir,he said he had recently visitedKashmir and on demand ofapple growers at Sopore, whichproduces 300 varieties andsends out 450 trucks daily, hadinitiated the process of makingit an e-mandi.

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The Opposition on Thursdayaccused the Modi

Government of putting the econ-omy in a critical State.

Initiating the debate on theBudget in Lok Sabha, CongressMP Manish Tewari said thecountry's economy was affectedwith coronavirus but the Centrewas giving medication for com-mon cold.

Tewari said that BJPGovernment is responsible forthe lowest GDP and acute unem-ployment in the country. Hisremarks were countered by for-mer Union minister Jayant Sinhawho said that the Oppositionwas looking behind whereas thegovernment was looking aheadat a five-trillion dollar economy.

"India's economy is in verycritical stage...The economy hasbeen affected with coronaviruswhile the government was giv-ing the medication for commoncold," Tewari said initiating thediscussion on Union

Budget 2020-21. He accusedthe government for the PSU sell-ing spree to meet the fiscaldeficit target, blaming theGovernment's move to divestBPCL, Air India and LIC.

He claimed India's economywould be affected due to the

National Register of Citizens(NRC), Citizenship AmendmentAct (CAA) and NationalPopulation Register (NPR), andurged the government to riseabove

partisan politics. Sinhacountered the attacked of theOpposition, stating that theCongress is seeing through therear view mirror and lookingback and "we (BJP) are lookingahead at five trillion dollar econ-omy".

Claiming that crony capital-ism was at its peak during theUPA rule, he said that under therule of the Congress there was"billionaire raaj". "We removedthe UPA era 'billionaire's raj' andreplaced it with 'people's raaj',"he said. Stating tha budget wasfor the common man and a "feelgood" budget, he said, "We haveto look forward."

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Issues like contaminateddrinking water in many

part of the country due tounchecked industrial wasterin rivers, arsenic problemand check on online businessin food delivery sector fig-ured prominently in theRajya Sabha on Thursday.

Besides these matters,Elders, especially fromTrinamool Congress(TMC)demanded the Governmenttake adequate steps to curbmisuse of antibiotics.

Raising the issue, ManasRajan Bhunia said the centralGovernment should conducta survey to ascertain the sit-uation. A recent studyshows that India is the topvictim of misuse of antibi-otics and micro-biologicals.The West BengalGovernment is already scru-tinising the matter, he said.

On the issue of arseniccontent in water, AhamedHassan(TMC)called for aproper solution to addressthis problem and demandedadequate funds to under-take research in this area.Around nine districts areaffected in West Bengal.Similarly in Bihar, groundwater in 17 districts hasarsenic content beyond thepermissible limits, he said.

Expressing concern overquality of portable water,Vijay Pal Singh Tomar (BJP)urged the Government todirect all bodies concerned toensure monitoring of watertreatment plants and ensurethey run in full capacity.

He said 80 per cent of thesource of potable water ispolluted including Yamunaand Ganga in Delhi-NCRregion and causing variousdiseases like cancer andtuberculosis.

Tomar attributedunchecked industrial wastedumped in rivers as one ofthe main causes of unfitwater. Mahesh Poddar (BJP)expressed concern over risein cancer cases in the coun-try and urged the govern-ment to create more aware-ness in this regard.

Drawing the attentionof the house to food deliverybusiness through e-com-merce, K Somaprasad(CPM)said it was uncontrolled andthere was no check on thequality and hygiene of food.It was causing a grave dangerto the consumers and calledfor regulations. Chairman MVenkaiah Naidu alsoexpressed concern and CivilSupplies and ConsumerAffairs minister Ram VilasPaswan said he will summona meeting soon in this regard.

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The Delhi Assembly elec-tion campaign which

started as a three-corner fightamong the incumbent AAP,the BJP and the Congresshas now narrowed down to adirect fight between the AAPand the BJP with theCongress appearing to havegiven up hope with its low-key canvassing for theFebruary 8 election.

Hardselling its five yearsof development works andfreebies provided to Delhiites,AAP convener and DelhiChief Minister Ar vindKejrwial is hopeful of retain-ing power.

However, the AAP is fac-ing a stiff challenge from theBJP under the stewardship ofUnion Home Minister AmitShah. Besides promising free-bies like �2/kg atta, the BJPtried to capitalise on the anti-CAA protests in ShaheenBagh.

The AAP throughout thepoll campaign played safe bynot getting drawn into theShaheen Bagh debate andkept its focus on developmentworks and freebies. It usedother tactics to corner the BJPby raising the question of thesaffron party’s inability innot announcing its CM can-didate.

It is too early to jump toany conclusion about the elec-tion outcome, poll punditsthink the AAP is likely toretain majority in theAssembly.

However, observers feelthat aggressive campaigningby the BJP is likely to help itimprove on its 2015 tally ofthree seats. A few even predictthat the saffron party may getcloser to the half-way mark inthe Assembly.

The Congress, whoseprospects are dim, is likely toincrease its vote share in fiveboroughs, including DelhiCant, Kasturba Nagar, andMuslim-majority Mustafabad,where party workers hope togain strength.

The action packed polit-ical battle of the nationalCapital's turf has transformedinto rich versus poor as theBJP's trump card —Citizenship Amendment Act(CAA) has not been acceptedby the majority populace.

Despite different social

demography — nationalCapital has been divided inthree groups which are:Higher income group, middleand lower. As per the dataanalysis of previous results ofthe Lok Sabha and the VidhanSabha elections both, it isestimated that 60-70 per centvote share will of higherincome group may go to BJP,20-25 per cent with AAP and5-10 per cent to the Congressand other parties. In the mid-dle income group, 50-60 percent of voters appear to beinclined towards the BJPwhile 40 per cent are withAAP and 5-10 percent withCongress and others.However, in lower incomegroup, a high 85 percent ofvote is very likely to go toAAP, 10 percent to BJP andfive percent with congressand others.

Delhi plays host to peoplefrom 'different socio-eco-nomic background and fromdifferent region of the coun-

try. What is pretty discerniblein the highly surcharges polit-ical arena, is the changed innarrative among the com-mon people.

Previously, Delhi was pri-marily a city of Punjabis,Sikh, Baniya, Muslims,Scheduled Castes, ScheduledTribes and,Hindi speakingPoorvanchalis from UttarPardesh and Bihar ) .Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)Badal is not fighting electionswith the BJP, due to its dif-ferences on CAA, the hard-core Sikhs and Punjabi(Khatri) voters appear to havetilted towards AAP.

According to Delhi SikhGurdwara ParabandhakCommittee, Sikhs have glori-ous past of battles withMughals, and at the commu-nity has this confidence totake on Muslims if there wasa need. Sikh sangat is miffedwith the thought of RashtriyaSwayam Sevak Sagh (RSS)that Sikhs are part of

Hinduism. With statementsof BJP's political leaders, like- 'shoot the traitors' havedeveloped a sense of fearamong Punjabi Sikhs andrefugees too. PunjabAssembly had recently passeda resolution against CAA.Hari Nagar, Rajouri Garden,Tilak Nagar , Jangpura andfew other Punjbai dominatedseats are witnessing a toughbattle. Baniya plays a crucialrole in Dehi's politics but thelow cash flow in market, seal-ing of shops in market areashave broken local economy instreets. While watching thiscontest a close fight betweenModi and Kejriwal, Baniyashave maintained the subtlebalance with Kejriwal forDelhi and Narendra Modi inCentre. Moreover - Kejriwalwho himself is a Baniya, hasa strong networking with thecommunity here.

Thirdly, the Poorvanchalfactor has become dominantin Delhi elections. AAP had

won 13 seats by fieldingPoorvanchali leaders in 2015elections. Analysis of theavailable trends indicate thatthe 'upper caste ' among poor-vanchali migrants to Delhihave shown their uncondi-tional support to the BJP inLok Sabha elections and thistime also, Barhamins andupper castes may go withBJP. Poorvanchalis other theupper castes may go the AAP.

Kejriwal's 'governancemodel' and his ability to con-vince the people by the deliv-ery of the promises made inthe party manifesto.Construction of more than 12attached community bath-rooms/washrooms whichwere one or two in ShielaDikshit's regime, free elec-tricity and water, availabilityof doctors for primary healthservices in Mohalla clinics,improvements in Delhi gov-ernment run hospitals ,accreditation of parents ingovernment school as a vital

board member have strength-ened AAP and people areshowing unconditional sup-port to the party irrespectiveof national concern as a fam-ily is saving Rs 2000 -3000 permonth with free DTC travelin buses plus water/electrici-ty. Another important factorwhich is expansion of EWSquota in high end privateschools possible due to activeparticipation of Deputy ChiefMinister Manish Sisodia.

While BJP's stakes arehigh in these elections but noprojection of Chief Ministerialcandidate has put voters indilemma who are unwilling tocast their vote to Congress andKejriwal is the only choice forthem and keeping this fightbetween class versus class aslike Modi in Center , Kejriwalalso has ended caste politics inDelhi. The elections resultswould provide fodders of thepollsters as they sit back toanalyse the overall poll data ofDelhi.

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Patna: The BJP on Thursdayaccused RJD leader Tej PratapYadav of misogyny for hisremarks berating ChiefMinister Nitish Kumar andDeputy Chief Minister SushilKumar Modi and asking themto replace Kumar in theirnames with ‘Kumari’, oftenused with the names of girls.Yadav, the elder son of RJDsupremo Lalu Prasad, put hisfoot in the mouth at an anti-CAA, NRC, NRP rally wherehe flayed the JD(U), which isheaded by Kumar and BJP, towhich Sushil Kumar Modibelongs, for the dramaticrealignment of the two partiesin July, 2017.

“I therefore say NitishKumar, whom my father hadaptly named palturam (turn-

coat), can also be called NitishKumari. And his companionSushil Kumar Modi, the bear-er of the saffron flag, calledSushil Kumari Modi. Theycannot take us head on ...They sit in their homes wear-ing bangles,” Yadav jeeredbefore the crowds.The RJDrally was held at Masaurhi inrural Patna late on Wednesdaynight and video clips of it werebeamed by local TV newschannels.

BJP spokesman NikhilAnand reacted angrily,demanding an apology fromthe RJD leader. He remindedYadav of the allegations ofdomestic violence that hisestranged wife has levelledagainst him.

“Was Tej Pratap trying tosay that those whose names are

suffixed with Kumari and whowear bangles deserve norespect? His tasteless remarksand the applause they receivedfrom his supporters are proofthat misogyny runs deep in theRJD,” Anand said.

He said Yadav’s “misogy-nistic” remarks lend credenceto the charges his wife has lev-elled against him. He demand-ed that the RJD leader apolo-gize to the chief minister andhis deputy.

“If he is trying to emulatehis uncouth father, he mustbeware he may similarly landin jail one day, the BJPspokesman said.

Yadav had tied the knotwith Aishwarya Roy, daughterof RJD MLA Chandrika Roy, inMay 2018 but filed a divorcepetition six months later. PTI

Guwahati: One suspected anti-talk ULFA(I) cadre was arrest-ed on Thursday for plantingtwo improvised explosivedevices in the State Capitalahead of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s day-long visitto Assam.

Modi is scheduled to visitAssam on Friday and addressa public rally at Kokrajharafter the Bodo peace agree-ment, which was signed inNew Delhi on January 27.

Guwahati PoliceCommissioner Munna PrasadGupta told PTI that the twoIEDs were found in the busyPaltanbazar and Panbazar areasof the city late on Wednesdaynight.

“The bomb squad took the

IEDs away from the populouslocation and those were deto-nated safely later. We suspect itis the handiwork of ULFA(I),”he added.

The police team immedi-ately launched an operationand arrested one suspectedcadre of ULFA(I), Gupta said.

To queries whether thesebombs were planted targetingModi’s visit to the state, Guptasaid, “We cannot say immedi-ately that the IEDs were plant-ed targeting to the PM’s visit.We are investigating”.Police had recovered anotherfive IEDs from Panikhaiti area,near here on the same day.

Modi during his visit toAssam has no programme inthe city. PTI

Puducherry:The BJP inPuducherry on Thursdayopposed the CongressGovernment’s move to table ananti-CAA resolution in theAssembly in the coming sitting,claiming such a course would be violative ofConstitution.

A delegation of BJP MLAs,led by its leader V Saminathan,submitted a petition in theoffice of assembly Speaker VPSivakolundhu urging him notto permit the Government totable any motion to protest theCitizenship Amendment Act(CAA) in the House scheduledto meet on February 12.

The petition was signed byall the three legislators—Saminathan, S.Selvaganapathyand KG Shankar. Saminathanlater told reporters that boththe Houses of Parliament hadalready passed the CitizenshipAmendment Bill which hadsince become an act with thePresident’s assent.

Puducherry functionedunder the direct administrative

control of the Union HomeMinistry and therefore therecould be no tabling of anymotion againstCAA in theassembly and any debate there-to will be violative of theConstitution, he said.

Besides, the UnionTerritory Act 1963 also laiddown that theterritorial assem-bly can debate only matters thatfell in the domain of the Stateor concurrent lists of theSeventh schedule of theConstitution.

As citizenship fell underthe purview of the Central list,the territorial assembly has nopower to discuss it,he saidadding any motion toopposethe CAA would be aninfringement on theConstitution under which allthe MLAs had taken the oathand pledged to uphold it. ChiefMinister V Narayanasamy hasrecently said the governmentwould move a resolutionopposing the CAAin theassembly on February 12`come what may`. PTI

Thiruvananthapuram: KeralaChief Minister Pinarayi Vijayanon Thursday assured the StateAssembly that the NationalPopulation Register will not beimplemented, but the Statewill go ahead with the censusprocess.

As the Congress-ledOpposition UDF and the trea-sury benches sparred over theNPR, Vijayan said the Statecannot cancel the Centre’s noti-fication asking officials to startthe enumeration process.

“But we can stay it. Wehave stayed the NPR process.Since the opposition leader isinsisting, the Government willlook into it.

We stand by the decisionthat census will go on. We willnot implement NPR. The ques-tionnaire for that is different,”the Chief Minister told theHouse.

The Government had inDecember itself ordered stop-page of all activities in con-nection with NPR in the stateconsidering ‘apprehensions’ ofthe public that it would lead toNRC in the wake of theCitizenship Amendment Act(CAA).

The Opposition troopedout of the House after SpeakerP Sreeramakrishnan refusedto allow a notice for adjourn-ment motion urging theHovernment to temporarilyhalt the census activities untilconcerns related to theNational Population Register(NPR) were cleared.

The UDF MLAs left thehall even as the chief ministerassured the House that allactivities related to NPR wasput on hold and the StateGovernment had issued direc-tion to the district collectors tostop all NPR related works.

“The census work is nothing new to the State. It isa normal process. Informationwill only be collected for thecensus.

The chief secretary hasalso issued directions to districtcollectors in this regard,”Vijayan said, replying to anadjournment motion moved byIndian Union Muslim League(IUML) MLA K M Shaji.

According to Shaji, NPRand the census require similardata and it was a huge mistaketo say that only the censusactivities will take place.

“The State Governmenthas claimed that it has decid-ed to avoid two questions fromthe census data questionnaire.But the centre itself has saidthey don’t require answers tothose questions.

The census officials havebeen appointed and now theywill directly report to the cen-tre and not the state govern-ment,” Shaji said.

However, Vijayan coun-tered Shaji saying opposition’sattempt to raise the matter inthe House was part of “someagenda” as the StateGovernment had made it clearthat it will not allow NPR inState. “I would like to make itclear that no detention campswill be opened in Kerala.Enumeration with regard toNPR will not be implemented.

We have issued specificdirection on the matter and ifany official goes beyond suchdirections, strong action will betaken,” Vijayan said.

Leader of the Oppositionin the Assembly RameshChennithala said they under-stand the importance of thecensus process, but cannotallow it to held without

addressing the concernsregarding it. “We can-not halt census proceedings.But we cannot simply moveforward without addressingthe concerns.

Until the confusion andthe concerns are cleared, weneed to stop the censusprocess,” Chennithala said.

The Congress leader alsosaid even though the chiefminister and his party were ofthe opinion that the UnlawfulActivities (Prevention) Act(UAPA) should not be imple-mented, two students are nowin custody and were beingprobed by the NIA underUAPA. The veteran leader latertold reporters that they werenot against the census.

“The President of Indiasays NPR will be implemented,Prime Minister says it will notbe implemented, while theHome minister says it will beimplemented. It is totally con-fusing. We need clarity in thismatter first,” he said. The statehad on January 16 directed allits officials to ensure that NPRwas not mentioned while send-ing the communication onCensus 2021. PTI

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The TMC women’s wingtook out a protest rally in

the city on Thursday in protestagainst the amendedCitizenship Act.

Carrying posters and plac-ards against the BJP govern-ment at the Centre on theissue of CAA-NRC-NPR, sev-eral senior TMC leadersincluding ChandrimaBhattacharya and Shashi Panjawere seen shouting slogansdemanding immediate repealof the contentious law.

The TMC women’s wingtook out the rally fromGariahat to Hazra More, aboutfive km away.

The CitizenshipAmendment Act has been thelatest political f lash point in West Bengal, withChief Minister MamataBanerjee, who is among themost vocal critics of the saffronparty, opposing it tooth and nail and the BJP keenon implementing it in the State.

Bengaluru: Karnataka ChiefMinister BS Yediyurappa onThursday rewarded withCabinet berth 10 defectors,who helped the BJP bringdown the Congress-JD(S)coalition and come to power.

The Cabinet expansion ledto dissatisfaction among a sec-tion of ‘native’ BJP leaders whowere left out of the exercise asthe party sought to contain dis-sidence in the face of intenselobbying for berths by severalcontenders.

The then disqualifiedCongress-JD(S) MLAs whohad shifted loyalty to the BJPand won the December by-elections, were sworn-in at asimple ceremony at the RajBhavan with the GovernorVajubhai Vala administeringoath of office and secrecy.

The ten are: STSomashekar (Yeshwantpur

constituency),Ramesh Jarkiholi(Gokak), Anand Singh(Vijayanagar), KSudhakar(Chikkaballapur), ByrathiBasavaraj (KR Puram),AShivaram Hebbar (Yellapur),BC Patil (Hirekerur), KGopalaiah(MahalakshmiLayout), KC Narayana Gowda(KR Pet) and ShrimantBalasaheb Patil (Kagwad).

Thursday’s much-awaitedexpansion takes the strength ofthe Cabinet to 28, with sixvacancies now.

In the first expansion, lastAugust, 17 Ministers wereinducted. The latest exercisewasn’t a smooth affair for theChief Minister and it was notwithout a twist.

Yediyurappa hadannounced on Sunday that 13aspirants,including the 10 whowere sworn-in on Thursdayand three BJP old-timers wouldbe inducted.

The three who wereexpected to get Cabinet berthswere Umesh Katti, ArvindLimbavali and CP Yogeshwar.

A section of the BJP hadopposed making Yogeshwar aMinister, pointing out that hehad lost the Assembly electionsand not a member of eitherHouse.

Late on Wednesday,Yediyurappa said induction ofBJP old-timers had been put offfollowing directions from theparty’s central leadership.

The decision to take noneof the ‘native’ BJP leaders intothe Cabinet in the currentround came after intense lob-bying from several aspirantswhich threatened to go out ofhand at one stage, party sourcessaid.

The ten newly-inductedMinisters were among the then16 Congress-JD(S) MLAs whobrought down the coalition

Government headed by HDKumaraswamy.

Among these disqualifiedMLAs, 13 had contested the by-polls in December and 11 hadwon.

The one who had been leftout in the Cabinet expansion-is Athani MLA MaheshKumathalli who has beenpromised by theChief Minister“some other big responsibility.”

Apparently displaying their

resentment, Katti andKumathalli skipped the swear-ing-in ceremony.

While Katti’s name wasdoing rounds ever since theChief Minister announced onSunday that three old-timerBJP leaders would be inductedin his Cabinet.

Health and Family WelfareMinister B Sriramulu, who hadmade no secret of his ambitionto become a Deputy Chief

Minister, was also conspicuousby his absence, along withYogeshwar.

Kumathalli was aggrievedthat he didn’t secure theberth.

“It is difficult to make him(Mahesh Kumathalli) Ministernow. I will call him and discusswith him. We will try to givehim some other big responsi-

bility,” Yediyurappa had said onWednesday night.

Sriramulu later clarifiedthat there was no discordin theparty and Yediyurappa was hisleader.

He also said he was busydistributing invitations for hisdaughter’s wedding and hadsought the approval of theparty leaders to skip the swear-ing-in ceremony.

“There is no discord in theparty. As some people are-building the narrative of nativeand outsider, I don’t believeinsuch differentiation,” Sriramulutold reporters.

There was a section with-in the BJP, especially MPRenukacharya, whichopposed induction ofYogeshwar.

As the Thursday’s exercisewas meant to honour thepromise made to those whohelped BJP come to power

and make Yediyurappa chiefminister, the caste considera-tion did not matter much.

Reacting to Cabinet expan-sion, former Chief Minister andCongress leader Siddaramaiahsaid he is not happy that thosewho defected from Congressand the JD(S) became ministersbecause it was “anti-democra-cy” and they had betrayedtheir parties.

“They had won the electionand now became Ministers, soI will congratulate them. Iwant them to do pro-peopleworks,”Siddaramaiah, however,added.

When asked that his ‘good-old friends’ have become min-isters, former Chief Ministerand JD(S) leader HDKumaraswamy said, “I amhappy. They had put in lotsofefforts to fulfill their aspira-tions. Let them do some goodwork for the people.” PTI

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Aligarh (UP):District author-ities are issuing notices toabout 1,000 people sitting on ananti-CAA dharna here, warn-ing that they may lose theirproperty if they do not give asatisfactory explanation on whythey are violating prohibitoryorders.

In addition, police aresending out “red notices” tosome local leaders, cautioningthem against disrupting lawand order.

Senior Superintendent ofPolice Akash Kulhari said thenotices being sent to about1,000 people say that if they donot give a satisfactory reply, theformalities for attaching theirproperty will start.

The process of sending outthese notices to identified indi-viduals has begun, authoritiessaid.

“If they do not give a sat-isfactory reply to the noticewithin seven days, legal actionwill be taken against themunder relevant sections of theIndian Penal Code,” CityMagistrate Vineet Kumar Singhsaid.

Hundreds of women havebeen sitting on dharna roundthe clock near Eidgah in DelhiGate area for the past oneweek in protest against theCitizenship (Amendment) Actand the proposed NationalRegister of Citizens.

Authorities have imposedprohibitory orders that banassembly of people withoutpermission.On Wednesday,there was bedlam at the protestsite when a stray bull bargedinto the crowd of protesters.

A policeman posted theremanaged to push out the strayanimal from the crowd ofwomen protesters, many ofwhom were carrying children.

A 20-year-old woman wasrushed to hospital by police formedical aid. Some others alsoreceived minor injuries.

Some protesters reported-ly raised slogans against thepolice alleging that the bull hadbeen let loose deliberately toharass the protesters. Policedenied the charge. PTI

Azamgarh (UP): Police havebooked 135 people protestingagainst the CitizenshipAmendment Act for seditionand arrested 20 of them in thecity’s Bilariaganj area.

In the FIR, only 35 peoplehave been named and the restare unidentified, police said.The FIR lists sedition amongthe charges.

The protesters accused thepolice of thrashing them.Police, however, said they usedtear gas shells to tackle the pro-testers when they becameunruly.

“The FIR has been regis-tered against 35 named andover 100 unidentified personsinvolved in anti-CAA protestson Tuesday near Jauhar park inBilariaganj area. Of them 20have been arrested,”Superintendent of Police,Triveni Singh, said

He said Tuesday’s protestagainst the CAA was led byUlema Council national gen-eral secretary Tahir Madni,who was arrested onWednesday.

The officer said a reward of�25,000 each has beenannounced on abscondingUlema Council leaders NurulHuda, Mirza Shane Alam andOsama.

He alleged that the pro-testers used foul languageagainst Hindus and PrimeMinister Narendra Modi.

An NGO in Azamgarh hasalleged that nineteen peopleincluding minors were beatenup and arrested fromBilariaganj area when theywere ‘peacefully’ protestingagainst the amended citizenship law.

“The women were peace-fully protesting at Mohd Ali

Park. When the women got up from the spot tooffer namaaz, the policemenstarted hurling abuses at them.They even threatened them.The policemen started creatingtensions. They beat up theprotestors and also peltedstones at them,” Zakir from AlFalah Front, the NGO, saidhere.

“Women have been beatenup severely, pulled by their hair.One Sharavari Bano was bru-tally beaten up in front of pro-testors. She is under treatmentat Azamgarh hospital now,” hesaid.

The NGO claimed thatMaulana Tahir Madani wasallegedly pressurized to stop theprotests and threatened withdire consequences.

The 135 people have beenbooked under various sectionsof IPC , SP said. PTI

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Page 7: ˘ˇ ˆ˙ - The Pioneer · PMO and recently violating Supreme Court’s advise against violent agitations. Modi also accused the Congress of discreetly insti-gating anti-CAA agitation

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Pune: A defence lawyer in theElgar Parishad-Maoist linkscase argued on Thursday thatonly the High Court can trans-fer the case to the special NIAcourt. A sessions court in Puneis hearing an application filed bythe National InvestigationAgency (NIA) to transfer thecase.

The agency moved thecourt after the UnionGovernment transferred theprobe to the central agency.

The NIA lawyer onThursday sought transfer ofcase papers, seized data, courtrecords and proceedings to thespecial NIA court in Mumbai. Advocate SiddharthPatil, one of the defence lawyers,argued that as per section 407of the Code of CriminalProcedure, a case can be trans-ferred from one district toanother only by the high court.

“Not only the (main)charge sheet but supplementarycharge sheet has been filed andwe are in the middle of fram-ing charges,” he said. PTI

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The construction of Ramtemple in Ayodhya will

commence either on RamNavmi or Akshaya Tritiya inApril, Swami Govind DevgiriMaharaj, a trustee of Shri RamJanambhoomi Teertha KshetraTrust said here on Thursday.

The exact date, however,will be finalised in the firstmeeting of the Trust, he said.

Swami Devgiri Maharajwas talking to reporters here, aday after the Modi governmentconstituted an independent15- member Trust, includinghim, to oversee the construc-tion of Ram temple inAyodhya.

“I welcome Modi govern-ment’s decision to form a trustfor the establishment of Rammandir in Ayodhya. The con-struction of the temple willcommence either on RamNavmi (April 2) or AkshayaTritiya (April 26) this year asdiscussed during a meeting atPrayagraj,” he said.

Ayodhya: Muslim litigants ofthe Ram Janmabhoomi-BabriMasjid case here expresseddissatisfaction over the locationof the site granted for buildinga mosque to replace the demolished Babri Masjid, say-ing it is too far from the citycentre.

The UP Government hasgiven the allotment letter to theSunni Waqf board for the landin Dhannipur village inSohawal tehsil in Ayodhya onthe Lucknow highway, about 18km from the district head-quarters, state governmentspokesperson Shrikant Sharmatold reporters on Wednesday.

Speaking to PTI onThursday, litigant MohammadUmar said the site was not aprominent place.

“The Supreme Courtdirected that land should beallotted at any prominent placein Ayodhya, but the allottedland is 25 kilometers away in avillage and off the road, so thisis not prominent place,” hesaid.Another litigant,Hasbullah Badshah Khan, said,“The 1994 Supreme Courtjudgment in the Ismail Faruqicase clearly mentioned that

the mosque and temple will beinside the 67-acre precinct.According to the November2019 SC judgment, land for themosque was to be given at animportant place in Ayodhya.The plot identified is underRaunahi police station and inSohawal tehsil, it is not even inAyodhya.”

Reacting to the allotmentof the land by the Uttar PradeshGovernment, Zafaryab Jilani,executive member of All IndiaMuslim Personal Law Board,said renaming a town andextending its municipal limitsdoes not mean that the landoffered is still in Ayodhya.

“The Uttar PradeshGovernment had renamedFaizabad district as Ayodhyaduring Diwali celebrations lastyear. In all court documentspart of the litigation all thiswhile, Ayodhya was a smalltown, a town of Faizabad. ThisAyodhya cannot be equated tothe new district created by thegovernment now,” he said.

“Merely renaming a townand extending its municipallimits do not mean the landoffered is still in Ayodhya,”Jilani said.

He claimed that though theland was being given to theSunni Waqf Board, Muslimorganisations, including theAIMPLB, as also the Muslimcommunity, have denouncedaccepting the alternate land forBabri Masjid. The SupremeCourt in a historic verdict onNovember 9 last year in thepolitically sensitive RamJanmabhoomi-Babri Masjidland dispute case backed theconstruction of a Ram templeby a government trust at thedisputed site in Ayodhya, andruled that an alternative five-acre plot must be found for amosque in the Hindu holytown.

Based on this verdict, theCentre had asked the UttarPradesh government to allocate5 acres of land to the SunniWaqf Board.

The dispute over the site ofBabri Masjid, a three-domedmosque built by or at thebehest of Moghul emperorBabur, dates back centurieswith Hindus contending thatthe invading Muslim armieshad razed an existing Ramtemple to erect the mosque. PTI

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Sleuths of the Income TaxDepartment seized unac-

counted cash of about �77 crore from hideouts pur-portedly belonging to afinancier of Tamil films inChennai and Madurai insearches held on Wednesday.

This was revealed by a pressrelease by the official spokesper-son of the Central Board ofDirect Taxes on Thursday.

The Pioneer had reportedon Thursday that Tamil cinema’sreigning superstar Joseph Vijay(Thalapathy to fans and fol-lowers) was picked up by theIncome Tax Department froma location in Neyveli, taken tohis residence in East CoastRoad in Chennai and was ques-tioned about certain financial

dealings for hours.Though no names were

furnished by the CBDTspokesperson, the release saidthe searches were held ‘in thecase of four major players in thefilm industry including a pro-ducer, a prominent actor, hisdistributor and financer basedin Tamil Nadu’.

The release said that thecommon thread among all theseentities were the success of arecent film which was a boxoffice hit collecting around�300 crore. “About 38 premis-es of the group were covered insearch and survey actionsspread over Chennai andMadurai”, said the release.

The release issued by theCBDT on Thursday was silentabout the name of the actor. Butit said that the prominent

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Pune: The Indian armed forcesare maintaining a tight vigilalong the borders with Chinaand Nepal in view of the coro-navirus outbreak in China,Armed Forces Medical Services(AFMS) Director GeneralAnup Banerji said on Thursday.

The Government has sanc-tioned 10 research laboratoriesto screen and test samples ofvarious pathogens, includingthe coronavirus, Lt Gen Banerjisaid.

He was talking to reportersduring a conference at theArmed Forces Medical Collegein Maharashtra’s Pune city.

To a question, he said thearmed forces were taking strin-gent and foolproof action toprevent the outbreak of coro-navirus infection on the coun-try’s borders adjoining China

and Nepal.“We are keeping a tight

vigil at check-posts along theNepal and China borders, asthese areas are very porous,” hesaid.

He said the AFMS hasresponded to this national calland all stakeholders in thegovernment and the defenceare also pitching-in.

He also said that severalIndians evacuated from Wuhanin China’s Hubei province werebeing provided all medicalhelp at the quarantine facilitiesset up by the Army and ITBP.

The government hasalready sanctioned 10 labs tocarry out research on virusesand these could also be used forscreening and testing samplesfor coronavirus, if required, LtGen Banerji said. PTI

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In what came as a big relief tohim, the Bombay High Court

on Thursday granted bail toformer media baron and primeaccused Peter Mukerjea in theSheena Bora murder case, afterobserving that prima faciethere was no evidence to provehis direct involvement in thecrime.

Justice Nitin W Sambre ofthe High Court granted bail toMukerjea on a surety of �2 lakh, after restraining himfrom travelling abroad withoutprior permission from thecourt and directing that heshould not contact his childrenRahul Mukerjea and VidhiMukerjea and other witnessesin the case. The court orderedMukherjea to deposit his pass-port with the CBI.

65-year-old Mukherjea willnot be able to walk out of theprison immediately, as Justice

Nitin W. Sambre of the highcourt has stayed his ordergranting bail to the former fora period of six weeks to enablethe CBI to appeal against theorder.

The bail order is of signif-icance to Mukherjea, consid-ering that the Judge observedthat there was no evidence toinfer that Peter Mukerjea wasinvolved in the commission ofthe crime. “When the incidenttook place, the applicant (PeterMukerjea) was not in India.The trial in the case is alreadyunderway. The applicant is injail since over four years andhas recently undergone bypasssurgery,” Justice Sambreaverred.

In another importantobservation that comes as arelief to Mukherjea, the Judgenoted: “Except for statement ofthe approver in the case,Shyamwar Rai, there is no ref-erence to Peter Mukerjea in any

evidence. There is no other evi-dence to show his involve-ment in the conspiracy.”

The Prosecution’s case isthat key accused Indrani, alongwith her first husband SanjeevKhanna and her driverShyamvar Rai — who laterturned an approver in the case—had allegedly “kidnapped”Sheena Bora between 6.30 pmand 7.30 pm on April 24, 2012,from Bandra (west) in their car.Sheena was allegedly strangu-lated in the car on the sameevening and that on the fol-lowing morning they carriedthe body of the deceasedpacked in a bag (which hadthey kept in the rear side of thecar) to the jungles GogadeKhurd village off the Khopoli-Pen Road, where they dousedthe bag with petrol and set it onfire.

Sheena was daughter ofIndrani from her first live-inrelationship with Siddhartha

Das.Peter, who was not present

at the site of crime, has beencharged with having beeninvolved in a conspiracyhatched by Indrani to eliminateher daughter. He has also beencharged with destruction ofevidence in the case.

Virtually pulling up theinvestigators for arraigningMukherjea as an accused in thecase that too after six months

after the arrest of two keyaccused, the Judge said that onApril 24, 2012, on whichSheena was murdered, therewas the direct involvement ofIndrani Mukerjea and her pre-vious husband Sanjeev Khannain the offence, as alleged by theCBI.

Refusing to accept theProsecution’s contention thatMukerjea had conspired to killhis step-daughter Sheena as he

was unhappy with the rela-tionship between her and hisson Rahul Mukerjea, JudgeSambre noted: “This court hasperused various emailsexchanged between the appli-cant and Rahul Mukerjea. It isdifficult to infer there was anycriminal intent on part of PeterMukerjea to indulge in thecrime in question... The appli-cant was only trying to coun-sel his son, being a responsiblefather”

Having taken into consid-eration that the trial is currentlyunderway in the case, the Judgenoted in his order granting bailto Mukerjea: “The applicant isin jail since more than fouryears and has recently under-gone bypass surgery.Considering these circum-stances, this court is grantingbail”

Indrani, who was arrestedon August 25, 2015 for heralleged role in the murder of

her daughter Sheena, is the keyaccused in the Sheena Boramurder case.

The CBI — which tookover the investigations intothe Sheena Bora murder casefrom the Mumbai police onSeptember 29, 2015 — had onNovember 19, 2015 filed acomprehensive charge-sheet,running into 1,000-odd pages,against Indrani, her formerhusband Khanna and driverShyamvar Rai.

On the same (November19,2015) evening, the CBIarrested Peter Mukherjea inconnection with the sensa-tional crime.

Initially, there were fouraccused in the Sheena Boramurder case – Indrani, her for-mer husband Sanjeev Khanna,her driver Shyamvar Rai andPeter Mukherjea. Of them, Raiwas granted pardon and madean approver in the case on June20, 2016.

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With no love lost betweenChief Minister Mamata

Banerjee and GovernorJagdeep Dhankhar the BengalAssembly may on Friday turnout to be an arena of confrontation between RajBhavan and Nabanna (StateSecretariat).

This particularly becameclear after Dhankhar onThursday dropped hints of ahistory being created “when Iwill address the Assemblytomorrow.” The Governor hasalready drawn flak from theTrinamool CongressGovernment for reportedlyexpressing his desire to gothrough the Budget before its

being laid on the table.“I have been in politics for

the past several decades butnever saw a Governor actinglike this. Never saw a Governorwanting to read the Budgetbefore its being tabled in theHouse. It seems that he isworking with some purpose,”State Law Minister ChandrimaBhattacharya said on Friday.

Though the StateGovernment had been tryingfor the past a few days to reachout to Dhankhar with seniorMinister Partho Chatterjeemeeting him at the Governor’sHouse and the Governmentoffering him the State chopper—which it had refused on ear-lier occasions — for a short tripto Shantiniketan the Governor

tended to be in no mood to for-get previous altercations.

“There were learned gov-ernors before me, they all wereiconic people but when Iaddress the Assembly tomor-row I will be making history.My predecessors were all bornbefore Independence and I amthe first Governor to be bornafter the Independence. I willcreate history tomorrow,” theGovernor said raising eyebrows.

According to establishedpractice the Governor reads outthe speech prepared by theState Government whichincludes its own policies in thesaid speech.

However, Dhankharreminded that he too was with-

in his rights to put in his ownviews.

The State Government waswell within its rights to putforth its achievements in theGovernor’s address to theHouse, he said. “But asGovernor, as constitutionalhead of the state, I have also myown rights and I have given mysuggestions (accordingly). Iwon’t disclose what those sug-gestions were. I think it will beincorporated in my speech. Iwill act as per the Constitution,”he maintained.

His comments came a dayafter he had said that he mightmake changes to the speech heis scheduled to read out at thebeginning of the Budget sessionon February 7.

The TMC promptly react-ed with Bhattacharya accusingthe Governor of deliberatelytrying to create problems. “Weall know he is deliberately try-ing to create trouble and that iswhy he has crossed his brief onseveral occasions. He is actingas per orders of the centralGovernment,” the Ministersaid.

The State Government andthe Governor had not been ingood terms ever since he tookcharge last year. The face offcommenced after Dhankharalleged ignored theGovernment’s advice and per-sonally went to rescue UnionMinister Babul Supriyo toJadavpur University where hewas gheraoed by the agitating

students.Thereafter on a number of

occasions both sides tradedcharges alleging non-coopera-tion and interference in eachother’s domain.

The Chief Minister oftenalleged that the Governor wasacting as a BJP’s agent and wasrunning a parallel Governmentat the instance of New Delhi.

However the ChiefMinister extended olive brancha few days ago offering the statehelicopter —which was earlierdenied to him — for trips toShantiniketan and Farakka.“We hope things pass off peace-fully keeping in view the loftytradition of our State,” said aMinister.

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Two former ChiefMinisters, Omar Abdullah

and Mehbooba Mufti, cur-rently under political deten-tion for last six months, wereboth booked under contro-versial and stringent PublicSafety Act (PSA) that allowsdetention of any individual forup to two years without a trial.The move was necessitated astheir six-month preventivecustody was ending onThursday.

Official sources privy tothese developments in Srinagarclaimed, the PSA order wassigned late night by the con-cerned authorities after whichboth the leaders were dulyinformed about the same.

Three other leaders AliMohd Sagar, Bashir AhmedVeeri of National Conferenceand Sartaj Madni of PDP were

also booked under PSA by theconcerned authorities onThursday.

Sitting MP fromSrinagar,and former CM andUnion Minister Dr FarooqAbdullah, is already detainedunder PSA act by the J&Kadministration. He is current-ly lodged in his residence locat-ed on the Gupkar road inSrinagar.

Though no formal state-ment was issued by the officialspokesman of Jammu &Kashmir Government till lateevening but highly placedsources claimed, PSA’s werefirst slapped on NationalConference General SecretaryAli Mohd Sagar, former NCMLC Bashir Ahmed Veeri andPDP leader Sartaj Madni and inthe end PSA orders of bothOmar Abdullah and MehboobaMufti too were signed onThursday.

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The Shiv Sena on Thursdaytook a swipe at Prime

Minister Narendra Modi, say-ing the announcement of atrust to build a Ram temple inAyodhya was aimed at layingthe “foundation” for theupcoming Delhi Assemblypolls and it will be complet-ed during the 2024 Lok Sabhaelections. It was expected thatthe Ram temple issue will notbe politicised, an editorial inSena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’said.

Elections to the 70-mem-ber Delhi Assembly will beheld on Saturday. PrimeMinister Narendra Modi onWednesday announced in theLok Sabha formation of a 15-member autonomous trust toconstruct the temple atAyodhya in Uttar Pradesh.“Modi gave the slogan of ‘JaiShri Ram’ just four days aheadof polling for the DelhiAssembly. Will be happy if(the number) goes up by two-four seats with the help of ShriRam,” the Shiv Sena said.

“It was expected that theissue of Ram temple will notbe politicised, but its ‘foun-dation’ was laid for the Delhi

Assembly (election) and willbe completed on the occasionof 2024 Lok Sabha (polls),” itsaid in cryptic remarks. It isexpected that a “Ram Rajya”(welfare state) will be realisedin a true sense in the countryby then, it added. There iscr it icism that the BJP“brought in” Lord Ram asAam Aadmi Party leaderArvind Kejriwal has causedrestlessness in the saffronparty ahead of the DelhiAssembly polls, the Marathidaily said.

“ This (cr it icism) isbecause the prime ministerannounced formation of thetemple trust four days aheadof polling. It is importantthat the prime minister madethe announcement in the LokSabha,” it said. The Shiv Senasaid the Supreme Court willhave to be thanked first forthe prime minister’sannouncement about thetrust, as the apex court hadordered construction of thetemple in November lastyear.It also thanked Modi fordischarging his duty as theprime minister in the light ofthe Supreme Court order.

The Shiv Sena, which hadlong campaigned for the tem-

ple construction, said howautonomous the trust is goingto be will be known only afterthe appointment of its mem-bers. It said the trust shouldhave representation of all theorganisations which cam-paigned for the temple con-struct ion, i f it is an“autonomous body”.TheUddhav Thackeray-led partysaid it was active in the cam-paign for temple constructionfrom day one. “The BJP itselfhad then admitted that theShiv Sainiks landed hammerson the Babri (mosque) andthe (then) Shiv Sena chief(late Bal Thackeray) said hewas proud of the Shiv Sainikswho brought down theBabri,” it pointed out.

Hundreds of Shiv Sainiks“laid their lives” in the vio-lence after the Babri mosquedemolition, it claimed. “Thosewho gave the slogan of ‘JaiShri Ram’ should keep this inmind,” it said. Recalling LKAdvani’s role in the cam-paign, the Shiv Sena said theBJP would not have attainedthe current position in coun-try’s politics had the veteranleader not taken out a ‘rathyatra’ in the name of Shri Ram(in 1990).

The construction of Ramtemple had been part of theBJP’s poll manifesto for years,and it was expected that thepromise would be fulfilledwhen the Narendra Modigovernment was formed atthe Centre in 2014 will fullmajority, it said. During theprevious term of Modi gov-ernment, the Shiv Sena - apartner of the BJP till last year- called for bringing an ordi-nance for temple construc-tion, but the government didnot do so, the editorialrecalled.

“Eventually, hearing tookplace in the Supreme Courton the Ram temple issue for40 days in a row and the itgave verdict in favour of theRam temple (construction)...the trust is being formed dueto that court order,” it said. “Itis binding on any governmentto implement the courtsorder. Prime Minister Modifollowed that order,” theMarathi publication added.

While making announce-ment about the trust onWednesday, the prime minis-ter also said the governmenthas decided to transfer 67.70acres of land acquired underthe Ayodhya Act to the trust.

Page 8: ˘ˇ ˆ˙ - The Pioneer · PMO and recently violating Supreme Court’s advise against violent agitations. Modi also accused the Congress of discreetly insti-gating anti-CAA agitation

When the Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP)-led NDAGovernment won the 2019Lok Sabha election, therewas an air of inevitability

about who would occupy the HomeMinister’s chair. Rumours and reports werecirculated weeks prior to the officialannouncement that the man in the hot seatwould likely be Amit Shah, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s right-hand man, the onehe often looks up to for guidance. This aspectwas most visible during his first and onlypress conference last year. Therefore, it was-n’t surprising that Prime Minister Modi gavesuch an important post to arguably his mosttrusted cadet.

On taking over the post of the HomeMinister, Shah stated and projected his viewsthat he wanted to establish a strong coun-try during his tenure and that he intendedto protect the citizens from threats — bothexternal and internal. Indeed, this was a love-ly thought: A strong India where citizens feelsafe. The problem, however, is that this ideahas all but been yet rhetoric of the ModiGovernment. Words were either left hang-ing in the air or were forgotten after beingprinted on a saffron pamphlet. The perfor-mance of the Home Minister ever since hisappointment last year has been egregious,even by the most liberal benchmark. I wouldgo so far as to say that it has been an unmit-igated disaster.

The reasons for his unequivocal failureto fulfil his responsibilities can be attributedto “incompetence” or “negligence” border-ing ineptness. In this week’s article, I willhighlight some of the major failings of theHome Minister ever since he took charge.I will also suggest some ideas and the pos-sible causes of the prevailing situation on theground.

The most obvious and visible exampleof Shah’s failure has been on account of theperformance and conduct of the DelhiPolice, which falls under the Home Ministry.With elections in Delhi nearing, the policeconducted itself in the most “irresponsible”manner. A perfect example of the police’sshocking behaviour and the Home Ministry’sinexplicable silence was the events thatunfolded on December 15, 2019, when itforcefully entered the premises of the JamiaMillia Islamia university and allegedlyassaulted students after a mob set severalbuses on fire near the college. The policealleged that they entered the university cam-pus to identify the agitators. However,ground reports stated that the police forciblyentered the university campus without anypermission from the administration andlobbed tear gas inside the campus even asthe students were studying inside the library.

The Jamia incident was indeed shame-ful but at least the police forwarded an argu-ment that they barged into the university to“identify the agitators.” A few weeks later,even this pretence of impartiality and fair-

ness was done away with. OnJanuary 5, an armed mobentered the Jawaharlal NehruUniversity (JNU) campus andattacked both the students andthe teachers. At least 23 peoplewere injured during this incidentand one of the images thatstood out from the entireepisode was of a “helpless”police standing outside the uni-versity campus even as the mobran rampant inside. What wasall the more shocking was thata month after this attack, thespecial investigation teamunearthed precious little aboutthe violence and the police’s“muted” response. This despitethe fact that a leading televisionchannel carried out a stingoperation and unmasked someof the prime instigators of theviolence, who happened to bemembers of the Akhil BharatiyaVidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), aRight-wing student’s organisa-tion associated with theRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh(RSS) and the BJP. Despite theseobvious leads and evidence, noarrests have been made by thepolice. What a shocker!

The image of a “helpless”police force came to the foreonce again when a man, armedwith a gun, fired shots at aprotest while shouting sloganslike “kisko chahiye azaadi, maindoonga azaadi.” This incidenthappened right in the centre of

the capital. All of these incidentsdo raise some uncomfortablequestions for the HomeMinister. However, what was allthe more deplorable was that thevideos and images that were cir-culated widely on social mediashowed visuals where the policestood by and just observed theshooter brandishing a gun as ifit was a regular day in the parkand the police wanted to bask insome sun. What was even moreunbelievable was that the shoot-er featured a live video onFacebook moments before theincident. Loudly and proudly heclaimed how he was going totake action against protesters.

How ironical it is that thepolice acted with alacrity whileentering the Jamia universitycampus to identify miscreantsbut showed bamboozling levelsof helplessness while dealingwith the incidents of violence atJNU and then with the shooter.It boggles one’s mind as to howthe police can blow so hot andcold depending on the event.But then what can they do?After all, they take orders fromthe Home Ministry and, there-fore, Shah is the captain of theirship. The police cannot actagainst the instructions of itscaptain or any other privilegeddeputies even if party membersraise slogans like “Desh kegadaaron ko, goli maaro saaloko.” A free and fair police would

have registered an FIR againstBJP MP Anurag Thakur for rais-ing such disgusting and vile slo-gans. A competent HomeMinister would have comedown strongly against suchstatements, which have visiblydeteriorated the law and ordersituation in Delhi for which thebuck stops with Shah.

But we must not forget thatwe live in interesting timeswhere the Home Minister of thecountry is actually the face of theBJP for the Delhi elections. Allhis time and effort has beenspent on disparaging the AamAadmi Party (AAP). The HomeMinister spent all his energyfighting this election on hatred,even if the consequence of thisapproach is that the safety of reg-ular everyday citizens of Delhihas been put at risk.

The BJP tried to tilt thiselection by inflaming peoplerather than by talking about“work” (as AAP has done).Shah has been too busy tonotice that while the BJP hasbeen flinging lit matches tocreate a fire in Delhi, it is hishome, ie, the Home Ministry,that has lost most. However,when all the din and noisefinally settles on February 11, thedamage done to his prestigiouspost will be lost on no one.

(The writer is a former IPSofficer, a former MP and current-ly a member of the AAP)

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Sir — All eyes are on the Delhi elec-tion. The AAP and BJP are the keycontenders and it looks like a Davidversus Goliath contest. The momentof decision has arrived for Delhi’svoters. It all boils down to a vote foror against Arvind Kejriwal. TheAAP seeks re-election on the basisof its performance during its firstterm in office and its promises fora hoped-for second term. The AAPstands to benefit from the tangiblebenefits provided to the aam aadmi.Its honest intentions and its com-mitment to politics of deliveryenable people to identify themselveswith the primarily Delhi-basedregional party and give it an advan-tage over the mightier Hindutva-oriented Right-wing BJP.

Sadly, the BJP has run its elec-tion campaign on “religious hatred”and harped on the Shaheen Baghprotest to polarise the voters. Theinnumerable violations of the ModelCode of Conduct by BJP’s leadershave shown the party’s scant regardfor the sanctity of the electionprocess at the heart of a represen-tative democracy. This is a cryingshame.

David MiltonTamil Nadu

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Sir — The BJP seems to be pullingall stops to win the forthcomingDelhi elections. Apart from com-munalising the political narrativejust before the Assembly pollsthrough “hate speeches” beingspewed by its leaders on a regularbasis, the party has hardly beenplaying by the rules. Isn’t the PrimeMinister Modi’s announcement ofa trust for temple construction inAyodhya right now a violation of theModel Code of Conduct? Isn’t theEnforcement Directorate’s disclo-sure of Popular Front of India’s rolein the Shaheen Bagh protest in thenick of time not misuse of officialmachinery? Aren’t all these last-ditch attempts to avoid coming adistant second to the AAP? It is toAAP’s credit that it has refused torespond to BJP’s politics of polari-sation and perverse provocationsand stuck to its narrative of makingDelhi a better place to live in. TheBJP has no answer to Kejriwal’sargument that “better schools, notCAA, will build 21st century India.”

Ashmit AaronJammu

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Page 9: ˘ˇ ˆ˙ - The Pioneer · PMO and recently violating Supreme Court’s advise against violent agitations. Modi also accused the Congress of discreetly insti-gating anti-CAA agitation

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There is an ongoing fierce debate in the coun-try about successful strategies of naturalresources management. At one end of the spec-

trum, we have the moral and political contract ofRousseau, where the Government has all the polit-ical legitimacy. Then there are views inspired byHobbes, that individual actions are influenced onlyby their personal power and conscience. In the samevein today, we have staunch advocates of the predom-inant role of individuals vs the state in matters of man-agement of forests, land, water bodies and other nat-ural resources. The fact remains that poor forest gov-ernance can have significant negative impacts indevelopment of outcomes on all the pillars of strat-egy, the environment, poverty-reduction and socialdevelopment.

SD Richardson, late Chairman of ForestEducation in the UN, once observed, “The greatestchallenge in conservation is not the conservation ofthreatened or vanishing species or even biologicaldiversity, it is the enhancement of soil fertility toenable sustainable development in a world reluctantto accept the steady state economics.”

One would like to add that there is no bettermeans to maintain, sustain or enhance the produc-tivity of the soil but for trees or perennial vegetation.Proper trees at the proper place are the key to main-taining, sustaining and enhancing soil productivity.This is also the answer to job-creation, reducing thedisparity of income and for maintaining, or decel-erating the rate of climate change, due to their uniquecapacity to sequester carbon.

Land is a finite and fragile resource in India. Itrequires a careful husbandry. The cost of soil ero-sion and degradation is seldom perceived becauseit is in various scales and magnitude. On site and offsite, the cost of soil erosion can be loss of produc-tive potential, reduction of infiltration rates, reduc-tion in water holding capacity, loss of nutrients,increased tillage operation cost, reduced storagecapacity of dams, reduced water supply and deple-tion of wildlife and so on. In case of rivers, health offorest greatly determines the quality and quantity ofwater. Riparian vegetation impacts metabolic func-tioning of biota. Branches and twigs often work asdebris dams and often serve as important habitat.

There are large areas in India where sustainableagriculture is only possible with the aid of trees,whether as a part of crop rotation, shade providersor as a fodder. Trees have an important part to playin land restoration/reclamation. There are large areasin the country, particularly the so-called dry landswhich have been so badly misused in the past thatthey are no longer capable of growing food and fod-der for people who live and depend on them. In allthese critical situations, their contribution will be deci-sive. This is about the most important job that treeshave to do in India today.

Technological innovation in agriculture is oftenadvanced as an answer to deteriorating productivi-ty. Most “agricultural innovation” theses fail to explainwhy in many parts of the country, completely dif-ferent technologies are being applied on lands, whichare similar but adjacent. Small, independent farm-ers may be applying a traditional technology to sus-tain themselves right next to an adjoining stretch ofland where modern, sophisticated technology is pro-ducing cash crops.

Similarly, it is oversimplification to regarddeforestation/degradation as a consequence of pop-ulation. Any incisive study or analysis of history willshow that deforestation is nothing but manifestationof unjust social relations. In such a scenario, an areawhich promises great hope but also requires carefulscrutiny is social forestry.

This connotes many concepts to many people,forests for socio-economic development, agro-forestry, urban forestry, recreation forestry and

forestry for rural development. These dif-ferent names signify different functions oftrees under different settings. But thesereflect a growth of social consciousnessabout trees. But first what does socialforestry mean? Though there is no clearor agreed meaning, it has come to coverany kind of forestry activity directed tosocial needs.

Agroforestry: A forester will often saythat agroforestry has changed the land-scapes in western UP, certain parts ofHaryana and or Punjab. Yamunanagar inHaryana is a hub of forest-based industri-al activity which served as a showcase ofwhat agroforestry can do. The fact remainsthat the drylands of India constitute aunique challenge for development plan-ning, observes economist Mihir Shah.

Biologists advanced various claims infavour of agroforestry like controlling soilerosion, maintaining organic matter,improving and maintaining the physicalproperty of soil, addition of nitrogen, addi-tion of mineral nutrition, reduction in soilacidity and alkalinity, addition biomassthrough tree root system, enhancement ofmycrorhizal associations, imputed captureof rainfall and sunlight, control of damagefrom disease and so on. All can be true oruntrue unless the choice of components,their arrangements and their managementare optimised within an environmentalconducive to it.

Agroforestry for sustainable agricul-ture: Agroforestry systems can provide sev-eral products, requiring different yardsticksfor their measurements. They occur in dif-ferent ways and on different scales of timeand space. Different products may requiredifferent units of measurement. For exam-ple, crop per season, timber or poles afterseveral years, non-timber forest productsin different units; or tonnes of top soilsaved, rainfall conserved. In short, bothshort and long-term benefits occur fromdifferent agroforestry systems (with tree-crop mixture). Short-term benefits occurin the shape of mulch and litter that affectroot growth and the soil’s physical prop-erties. Farmers need to be exposed to thefact that to measure a lasting benefit in nat-ural capital, we shall have to consider timeand space scale. Agroforestry can add toboth efficiency, stability and resilience forsustainable agriculture, provided the ben-

efits are considered in scale of time andspace. Trees can influence beyond theirimmediate environment. Their roots mayextend well outside their plots and trees onthe upper side of the watershed affectdownside farms, while trees in the valleyaffect the hydrology. Hence, while count-ing benefits of agroforestry, both goods andservices need to be considered and thereis no doubt that a right combination oftrees and crops can be both efficient,resilient and sustainable. But agroforestryis not simply limited to a matter of solv-ing technical problems. It is also necessaryto understand the socio-economic andhence political context within which agri-culture is practised. Research of this kindhas become all the more importantbecause day by day the area of land undertraditional agriculture is dwindling andsuitable use of trees can do so much toimprove soil productivity. Such areas ofresearch are just beginning to receive atten-tion. Agroforestry at present is largely con-fined to the prosperous pockets of fertileland and the benefits are mostly accruingto rich farmers. How these benefits orgains get distributed among the landless,small farmers and contract labourersremain to be analysed with location-spe-cific hard data.

There are various issues and innumer-able location-specific problems and solu-tions that need to be addressed for whichthere is neither effective institution, norcapacity or proper policy instrument.The rural poor, who have either no landat all or insufficient land to support them,are increasing in number every year. Theproblem will not go away by ill-conceivedschemes or absence of schemes. They canbe mobilised to restore the land, water bod-ies or for the conservation of local biodi-versity. City-trained extension purveyingorders and advice to farmers often findtheir advice ignored. It makes more senseto convey new ideas through individualschosen to represent them at their level ofknowledge or literacy. What is required istotal revamping or rejuvenation of the van-quishing ecosystem.

Recreation forestry: This is anotherdimension of social forestry, which requirescareful nurturing, because its users are byand large opinion makers of society. Theyare influential, with ability to mobilise pub-

lic/political opinion. The demand foroutdoor recreation and social cohesion iscatching speed and city dwellers love to getfirst-hand experience of forests. Forestedlandscapes in India are few and far fromthe reach of city and village dwellers.Hence, there is great demand for forestedlandscape for city dwellers like Kukrail inLucknow, or other big cities. It requiresskill, experience in anticipating the clearaim and the demands of the people or spe-cial interest groups, the finance to be putin and the returns.

Urban forestry: Is another conspic-uous kind of social forestry, which hasshown great potential and which is anoth-er pointer to social consciousness abouttrees. The main purpose of the urban for-est is shade, screening and aesthetic. Thecomposition of urban forested landscapeis also often on socio-economic strata.Hardy and economically useful species areselected (such as moringa, neem, jamuns,eucalyptus) for slums or for low-incomeareas. People living in the slums are gen-erally not bothered with trees except fora few species that provide fodder orshade for their temporary shops or homes.Urban forests of affluent areas generallyhave well-planted, well-tended trees.Urban trees are important for their ben-efits to city dwellers, climate ameliorationand engineering, architectural and aesthet-ic uses. But except a few cities, managementof urban areas generally reflects a lack ofskill and experience, in addition to financ-ing and proper monitoring and, of course,information, education and training ofstakeholders.

Trees have manifold roles to play.Forest policy expert Bjorn Lundgren hadrightly observed that there is a range oflocal problems that requires solutionsbased on different strategies. This is whythe key person may or may not be a foresterbut the one who links the local commu-nity to the store of expertise and acts as acatalyst in getting things on the way. It mat-ters little whether he/she is called anactivist, village representative or what haveyou. It is through such people that forestersor others can gain an understanding ofproblems and suggest feasible solutions.

(The writer is former Principal ChiefConservator of Forests, UP and Advisor,Amity)

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There are two things everyoneshould know about sexually trans-mitted infections (STIs). First,

almost all STIs can be preventedthrough the use of a highly-effectivetechnology — condoms. The four mostcommon STIs — chlamydia, gonorrhea,syphilis and trichomonas vaginalis —can be cured by antibiotics. Second, STIsdon’t always show symptoms. Untreatedgonorrhea and chlamydia can causeinfertility. Syphilis in a pregnant woman

can cause foetal and neonatal illness anddeath while human papillomavirus(HPV) can cause cervical cancer. Whenaccess to appropriate products andservices is provided, they are greatlyempowering: Practise safe sex, get test-ed and where necessary, use effectivetreatment. By working to ensure all peo-ple can access the products and servicesneeded to prevent, detect and treat STIs,member states of the WHO South-EastAsia Region have made significantprogress against them. In the mid-’90sthe region accounted for more than athird of all new STI infections global-ly. By 2012, it accounted for an estimat-ed 11 per cent. In 2016, Thailand elim-inated mother-to-child transmission ofsyphilis and HIV. In 2019, Maldives andSri Lanka achieved the same. FromBangladesh to Indonesia and on toMyanmar, the region’s member stateshave rolled out innovative policies to

tackle STIs. India in particular has madesignificant inroads against them, withstrong success at the sub-national level.However, the region’s battle against STIscontinues as new challenges haveemerged. As a recent WHO report out-lines, several gaps and constraints —including inattention and a lack ofresources — are undermining STI con-trol and causing diseases to increase inspecific areas and communities. Thiscannot continue. As health authoritiesand donors increasingly promote HIVservices, it is imperative that STIs aregiven the attention, resources and ener-gy required to sustain and accelerate theregion’s advances and promote healthfor all.

Our goals are clear. By 2030 wemust reduce the incidence of syphilisand gonorrhea by 90 per cent based onthe 2018 levels. Congenital syphilisshould amount to no more than 50 cases

per 100,000 live births. All countriesshould achieve and sustain 90 per centcoverage of the HPV vaccine. To makethe necessary progress, which will helpend STIs as a major public health prob-lem, several areas should be of focus.

To start with, STI control should berepositioned as a public health priori-ty. Resources, staffing and planningshould be allocated independent of HIVprogrammes. Public awareness, engage-ment and participation should be pro-moted. The common ground andpotential synergies in STI and HIV con-trol efforts should be better grasped andprogrammes should be integrated. Aclear line should be drawn from whereeach country is, to where it needs to be.To help do that, we must share and learnfrom member state successes. All coun-tries in the region have implementedsuccessful policies aimed at a range ofoutcomes, from eliminating mother-to-

child transmission of syphilis and HIVto increasing STI testing among keypopulations. Each country has much tooffer. Together we must leverage exper-tise to overcome barriers and drivedown the STI burden. Crucially, all gapsin STI data must be filled. To that end,basic STI surveillance must be carriedout, with all pregnant women andpatients from key populations screenedfor STIs routinely. Standard case report-ing procedures should be developed andfollowed, allowing authorities to trackthe efficacy of interventions and recal-ibrate them as and where needed.

To protect against HPV, which is acause of cervical cancer in women, twodoses of the HPV vaccine should reachall girls between the ages of nine and 14.To date, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Thailandand Maldives have introduced the vac-cine nationally, while in India, Sikkimis the only State to make it part of its rou-

tine schedule. Bangladesh, Indonesia,Nepal and several Indian States haveconducted pilot projects. We mustclosely guard the region’s progressagainst STIs. We cannot afford for it tobe reversed. As together we strive toreduce the incidence of syphilis andgonorrhea by 90 per cent by 2030 andachieve and sustain 90 per cent cover-age of the HPV vaccine, all stakehold-ers must refocus their attention,resources and energy on the task athand. WHO will continue to supportMember States in their efforts to do that,and to ensure all people are empoweredto practise safe sex, get tested and, wherenecessary, use effective treatment. Theend of STIs as a major public healthproblem is possible. Together we mustact.

(The writer is Regional Director,WHO South East Asia. Views expressedare personal)

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Mumbai (PTI): India’s riceexports is expected to witnessaround 20 per cent decline thisfiscal, due to heightened geopo-litical tensions in the MiddleEast and tighter trade norms, areport said on Thursday.

According to a report by theUS-based trade finance com-pany Drip Capital, export of ricehas witnessed a significantdecline across the world owingto heightened geopolitical ten-sions in the Middle East — oneof the biggest export market.

Following this, India’s riceexports is likely to go down by18-20 per cent in 2019-20, thereport said.

“Exports so far are lookingbleak with Iran, the biggestexport market, seeing a 22 percent fall in shipments. Otherexport markets like the UAE (33per cent), Nepal (23 per cent),Yemen (2 per cent), Senegal (90per cent) and Bangladesh (94per cent) have also seen a fall inrice shipments from India,”Drip Capital co-founder and co-CEO Pushkar Mukewar said.

On the other hand, exportsto certain nations defied thebroader trend and registered anincrease. Saudi Arabia wit-nessed a 4 per cent rise, whilefor Iraq it was 10 per cent, Benin(8 per cent) and the USA (4 percent), he added.

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Economists and financialexperts have welcomed

RBI’s widely expected statusquo on repo rate, and otherannouncements to spur eco-nomic growth and ensuremoney supplies effectively.

The RBI on Thursday keptthe key policy rate unchanged at5.15 per cent. This follows acumulative 135 basis points(bps) cut in repo rate sinceFebruary to December 2019.The six-member MonetaryPolicy Committee (MPC) head-ed by RBI Governor ShaktikantaDas unanimously decided tokeep the repo rate unchanged.

Bank of India MD andCEO AK Das termed the RBIpolicy quite progressive andforward looking. “Notwith-standing unchanged policy rates,introduction of Term Repoopens up ways to transmit thesignal rate changes,” he said.

“Measures like DCCOextension for realty, MSME win-dow expansion for restructuringand CRR exemption for incre-mental funding to key segmentsare growth oriented and promiseto provide the much neededimpetus to bank lending,” Dassaid.

According to Rajni Thakur,economist, RBL Bank, MPC’sdecision was on expected lines.

“The changes in develop-

ment and regulatory policieshowever were a positive surpriseand could potentially turn out tobe a big support to the troubledsectors in the economy,” Thakursaid.

Specific announcements interms of CRR relief or long-termdurable liquidity for banks pushthe overall credit availability inthe financial system. Whetherthese steps manage to improvedemand conditions is anotherquestion all together, she added.

Upasna Bhardwaj, econo-mist, Kotak Mahindra Bank,said very aptly, MPC hasaddressed the growth concernsthrough pushing transmissionvia tweaking the liquidity frame-work, providing long term liq-uidity operations and incen-tivising credit to select sectors.“We expect these measures toaid transmission with the short-er end of the yield curve expect-ed to rally meaningfully. Thesemeasures should help availabil-ity of funds at lower costs and aidsectors in stress,” Bhardwaj said.

ICRA economist AditiNayar said: “The tone of theMPC’s statement was ratherdovish, especially given the reit-eration that policy space is avail-able for future action.

“The accommodative stancewill be maintained for as long asnecessary to revive growth, inspite of the headline inflationhaving breached the upper

threshold of the MPC’s mediumterm target.”

The RBI also raised upwardsthe retail inflation projection forlast quarter of this fiscal to 6.5per cent citing high input costfor milk and pulses besidescostlier crude oil prices amid ris-ing geo-political tensions. Nayarsaid the statement suggests thenear certainty of at least oneadditional rate cut, even if itsmagnitude is modest, the tim-ing of which will depend on howquickly inflation appears to bereverting towards 4 per cent.

Umesh Revankar, MD andCEO, Shriram TransportFinance said the attention-grab-bing aspect of the policy ismarginal improvement in IIP,manufacturing index (PMI) andservice index. These numbersdepict beginning of increasingactivity though still under waitand watch radar to bring in anyfurther excitement, he said.

“We believe that all the pol-icy decisions along with pro-consumption budget corrobo-rates that there would be betterdemand from the consump-tion side. Once that increases,automatically there will be bet-ter credit demand,” Revankarsaid.

The expansionary monetarypolicy stance was necessary andis an assurance that there will beno reversal of easing and that theRBI will not hike rates immedi-

ately, opined Rumki Majumdar,economist, Deloitte India.

Engineering Exports andPromotion Council (EEPC)Chairman Ravi Sehgal said RBImeasures to provide one-timerestructuring window foradvances to MSMEs would helpgrowth revival in the employ-ment-oriented sectors.

“With global markets beingsubdued, exporters, particular-ly those in the SMEs are facingchallenges. The RBI measuresthrough loan restructuring andproviding CRR incentives tothe banks to lend to MSMEswould certainly help the export-ing sector,” he said.

Ample liquidity with thebanks should lead to lowering ofinterest rates as part of effectivetransmission of earlier reduc-tions, he added.

Anarock PropertyConsultants Chairman AnujPuri said the extension forrestructuring of project loans bya year is a major relief to the realestate sector. “Loans for projectsthat have been delayed for rea-sons beyond the control of theirpromoters have been extendedby another one year withoutdowngrading the asset classifi-cation. This is a big move andwill bring the much-neededrelief to the cash-starved realestate sector - and to both devel-opers and HFCs from the liq-uidity perspective,” Puri said.

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Equity indices marched high-er for the fourth session on

the trot on Thursday after theRBI left the policy ratesunchanged but maintained itsaccommodative stance to shoreup growth.

The 30-share BSE Sensexsettled 163.37 points, or 0.40per cent, higher at 41,306.03.The broader NSE Nifty rose48.80 points, or 0.40 per cent,to 12,137.95.

In the sixth bi-monthlymonetary policy review of2019-20, the six-memberMonetary Policy Committee(MPC) unanimously voted tokeep the repurchase or reporate unchanged at 5.15 percent while retaining its accom-modative stance.

The central bank also keptthe GDP growth estimateunchanged for the current fis-cal at 5 per cent but projecteda pick up to 6 per cent in thenext financial year.

To boost credit growth, italso relaxed cash reserverequirement for banks for everynew loan extended to loans forautomobiles, residential hous-

ing and small businesses tillJuly 2020.

Rate-sensitive financial,banking and auto stocks rallied,with BSE Finance spurting upto 1.21 per cent. However,realty settled in the red.

IndusInd Bank was thetop gainer in the Sensex pack,climbing 4.85 per cent, fol-lowed by SBI, Bajaj Finance,Bharti Airtel, HDFC, AxisBank and Hero MotoCorp.

On the other hand, Infosys,Titan, ITC, Kotak Bank andAsian Paints slipped up to 1.73per cent.

Broader BSE midcap andsmallcap indices rose up to 0.81per cent.

“Monetary policy actionfrom the central bank on ratescame on expected line whilemeasures to spur growth incredit came as a surprise.Removal of CRR for loansmade to specific sector andopen market operations willsupport the economy withmore credits at lower rates.

“Inflation rate is forecast-ed to subsequently reduce inthe coming months and pro-vide more room for RBI to cutinterest rates as and when nec-essary,” said Vinod Nair, headof research at Geojit FinancialServices.

RBI Governor ShaktikantaDas said while the pause deci-sion may be on expected lines,

the central bank has severalinstruments up its sleeves, hint-ing at use of unconventionaltools such as the ones used bythe US Fed after the globalfinancial crisis in 2008.

Global markets darted upafter China slashed tariffs onsome US imports.

Bourses in Shanghai, HongKong, Tokyo and Seoul settledup to 2.88 per cent higher.

Stock exchanges in Europetoo opened on a positive note.

Meanwhile, Brent crudeoil futures advanced 0.25 percent to USD 55.42 per barrel.

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On the currency front, theIndian rupee on Thursday roseby 6 paise to close at 71.19against the US dollar.

Investor sentimentsstrengthened after the ReserveBank of India signalled to con-tinue with accommodativestance, while low crude oilprices, weakening of the US dol-lar and gains in domestic equi-ty market supported the domes-tic currency, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreignexchange market, the localcurrency opened on a positivenote at 71.22. During the day,it saw a high of 71.11 and a lowof 71.30 and finally settled at71.19, higher by 6 paise againstits previous close.

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Script Open High Low LTPASIANPAINT 1865.50 1882.80 1846.30 1861.00IBULHSGFIN 274.50 326.30 268.20 319.00TCS 2155.00 2174.25 2116.00 2128.70ICICIBANK 539.90 546.90 536.20 541.65SBIN 311.05 323.60 310.25 322.00INFY 784.50 786.55 770.00 770.95KOTAKBANK 1682.05 1698.30 1668.00 1675.15RELIANCE 1453.00 1466.45 1440.20 1457.65TATASTEEL 477.30 487.25 471.85 477.95ZEEL 230.50 241.00 230.10 235.75TATAMOTORS 182.70 183.20 175.80 178.85BLUESTARCO 820.00 823.00 805.00 808.60PEL 1472.00 1614.55 1449.25 1570.80INDUSINDBK 1272.00 1340.00 1263.10 1334.55JINDALSTEL 192.30 198.60 191.20 197.75EICHERMOT 19659.60 20633.70 19250.00 20507.05SRTRANSFIN 1130.00 1234.80 1130.00 1220.00BAJFINANCE 4530.05 4678.85 4529.50 4666.00YESBANK 37.90 39.50 37.85 38.55MOTHERSUMI 136.20 139.00 135.20 136.70BHARTIARTL 533.60 552.85 533.60 546.75DMART 2250.05 2360.75 2250.05 2294.45HDFCBANK 1248.00 1248.30 1237.45 1239.85ADANIENT 238.45 243.60 234.15 234.55L&TFH 119.90 129.55 117.50 128.00LICHSGFIN 407.50 441.50 403.75 437.65ITC 217.05 219.80 211.85 213.50DLF 247.00 254.55 243.45 246.20HDFC 2390.00 2447.40 2370.95 2435.50RBLBANK 318.50 340.00 318.50 332.05AXISBANK 726.00 744.80 722.95 737.00NETWORK18 25.90 26.40 24.85 26.40LUPIN 730.00 738.40 706.05 720.50HDFCAMC 3201.00 3334.00 3169.00 3320.45ESCORTS 856.05 864.80 846.85 854.60MARUTI 7070.40 7120.25 6980.00 7010.00SUNPHARMA 428.00 438.20 424.35 430.95ULTRACEMCO 4476.15 4518.30 4446.80 4467.20BRITANNIA 3262.00 3292.05 3239.35 3248.60BPCL 503.00 510.00 492.40 494.00CANBK 184.60 194.40 184.10 189.60AUROPHARMA 508.30 514.50 505.75 511.20CAPPL 338.00 383.75 338.00 345.95DIVISLAB 1939.95 2079.75 1933.25 2021.00BANKBARODA 88.70 92.50 88.00 91.65HINDPETRO 235.80 244.90 233.10 243.35HEROMOTOCO 2382.00 2425.10 2379.10 2411.90HINDUNILVR 2160.60 2195.85 2134.80 2161.50BAJAJFINSV 9595.00 9700.00 9560.05 9612.20LT 1320.00 1325.00 1309.50 1317.35VEDL 144.90 146.80 142.95 143.85PNB 57.00 59.25 57.00 58.60PNBHOUSING 425.10 464.25 424.60 444.50HAVELLS 626.00 633.70 623.85 631.75DRREDDY 3138.00 3176.45 3138.00 3162.95MANAPPURAM 169.90 174.25 168.75 170.95TITAN 1285.00 1294.40 1252.50 1258.70JSWSTEEL 271.00 277.40 267.85 276.35TATAGLOBAL 398.00 398.00 387.50 392.15JUSTDIAL 528.05 541.70 521.70 530.10POWERGRID 190.00 193.60 188.95 192.35UJJIVAN 403.70 414.40 399.15 402.80BANDHANBNK 432.00 436.00 421.50 425.50CADILAHC 273.50 288.40 270.70 273.10RECLTD 152.40 153.40 150.15 152.70IDEA 5.32 5.50 5.10 5.18CIPLA 460.00 462.85 435.60 439.70STAR 494.00 503.85 488.70 490.00ICICIPRULI 480.00 500.40 479.85 488.10ASHOKLEY 80.75 81.85 79.60 80.95SRF 3988.20 4054.40 3977.40 4020.00PFC 123.75 124.50 121.75 123.80DISHTV 12.65 12.78 12.08 12.26ABFRL 239.40 260.65 232.15 254.40JAICORPLTD 115.40 118.45 112.15 113.55INDIGO 1446.00 1455.30 1387.80 1404.35ADANIGREEN 191.00 202.20 190.45 202.20ADANIPOWER 62.00 62.50 60.50 60.75MINDTREE 912.40 949.30 899.00 902.95BIOCON 295.80 300.75 293.90 296.10WOCKPHARMA 355.45 360.75 338.25 341.60M&MFIN 390.00 399.90 384.45 391.40HDFCLIFE 586.00 598.35 586.00 593.30AJANTPHARM 1252.00 1322.85 1250.95 1305.60BERGEPAINT 581.00 585.70 568.95 575.30AVANTI 599.00 629.00 598.00 624.00COALINDIA 180.50 181.50 178.30 179.80EMAMILTD 309.90 324.00 299.70 302.95JUBLFOOD 1940.80 1940.80 1857.65 1865.00IGL 516.00 527.00 515.00 522.25SAIL 49.05 49.70 48.40 48.70HEG 1099.80 1161.00 1081.00 1143.50NCC 52.70 53.65 52.05 52.85IOC 115.50 117.45 115.15 117.00TVSMOTOR 463.50 480.55 463.40 473.05NOCIL 96.00 100.85 93.85 98.15FEDERALBNK 91.20 93.65 90.55 92.35IBREALEST 90.50 93.00 86.70 91.35NMDC 115.40 117.40 112.20 116.30NESTLEIND 16385.10 16547.60 16166.00 16345.00IDFCFIRSTB 41.30 42.65 40.90 42.00CHOLAFIN 345.00 348.85 329.75 339.80HCLTECH 598.20 612.80 596.40 599.35FORCEMOT 1343.00 1414.00 1318.20 1394.00MUTHOOTFIN 760.55 772.15 749.50 764.45UBL 1320.00 1355.90 1317.05 1351.20JMFINANCIL 108.80 120.90 107.60 119.75

GUJGAS 298.95 305.00 297.00 301.95TATAELXSI 1026.00 1048.00 1015.00 1036.50ACC 1478.10 1492.95 1460.40 1489.55CGCL 208.00 214.05 206.20 207.10M&M 589.50 589.50 576.35 580.00ONGC 107.00 107.80 106.35 107.25AUBANK 1095.30 1113.00 1079.60 1082.00VOLTAS 694.40 694.80 678.00 685.15BAJAJ-AUTO 3199.95 3209.15 3140.30 3150.75MFSL 482.00 487.25 472.10 480.20AIAENG 1773.00 1844.45 1773.00 1817.60

TECHM 812.50 825.50 811.35 817.60GRAPHITE 303.00 312.00 301.30 309.15RAJESHEXPO 719.80 722.35 706.50 708.10INFRATEL 246.50 251.00 240.95 244.90BOMDYEING 88.85 90.60 88.20 89.10CANFINHOME 479.50 498.80 479.00 489.55GLAXO 1389.15 1400.55 1327.40 1343.00HONAUT 34780.00 35180.25 34195.50 34500.00GODREJCP 662.95 666.00 648.35 650.75UPL 539.00 545.25 533.90 536.65RELINFRA 20.00 21.75 19.75 21.75BEL 87.40 87.95 85.70 86.90MCX 1314.00 1316.00 1275.05 1288.60ADANIPORTS 370.00 373.15 367.75 370.00BHEL 39.80 40.20 39.45 39.55EXIDEIND 189.50 189.50 181.90 182.95RITES 316.70 321.00 308.00 314.75EQUITAS 114.75 116.50 112.75 114.45APOLLOTYRE 171.05 171.05 163.40 165.05SPICEJET 92.70 93.45 91.50 91.75ITI 88.50 94.70 88.50 89.80DCBBANK 176.25 178.20 175.05 178.00SPARC 191.50 195.70 187.35 189.60SBILIFE 911.00 924.70 911.00 919.60OMAXE 158.10 158.45 154.40 156.50NTPC 111.00 112.50 110.55 112.00BHARATFORG 522.00 527.50 510.50 511.70NATIONALUM 44.40 45.15 43.90 44.50PAGEIND 25150.00 25150.00 23900.00 24062.75ABCAPITAL 96.00 98.80 94.50 96.45NAUKRI 2993.75 3095.70 2962.35 3072.25BEML 989.00 1003.50 972.75 978.00MASFIN 1106.40 1112.30 1069.00 1092.00VIPIND 469.70 488.15 469.70 474.00PIDILITIND 1563.90 1563.90 1524.05 1558.30GRANULES 153.60 162.55 153.35 161.25MGL 1195.25 1212.05 1184.70 1191.50GAIL 123.00 124.35 121.50 123.55GRASIM 800.10 806.80 793.75 800.10APOLLOHOSP 1681.00 1681.00 1621.45 1653.70POLYCAB 1010.00 1063.60 1010.00 1057.85SCHNEIDER 90.00 94.35 89.40 94.35NIITTECH 1953.00 1960.10 1882.00 1909.75BALRAMCHIN 158.45 169.05 157.95 168.15MRF 72330.00 72894.60 71365.30 71646.90SHREECEM 25000.00 25252.00 24755.75 25000.00GODREJPROP 1151.00 1177.00 1143.80 1173.60MARICO 311.40 311.70 303.30 306.05HINDALCO 196.25 197.15 192.90 194.00DABUR 515.00 518.25 506.00 509.65ADANIGAS 174.70 174.70 169.20 170.25COLPAL 1389.00 1389.00 1368.50 1384.90CONCOR 599.70 601.95 582.70 584.10WELCORP 192.00 199.00 191.90 198.35PETRONET 268.60 274.75 268.60 273.25EDELWEISS 91.05 96.00 89.55 93.15NAM-INDIA 361.00 364.90 357.15 362.30GPPL 85.10 99.30 84.90 89.60BATAINDIA 1877.15 1883.10 1849.10 1853.25RADICO 407.00 412.25 401.75 407.05TATAMTRDVR 75.60 75.60 72.70 73.20SUDARSCHEM 505.00 505.95 478.00 479.85LUXIND 1515.00 1515.00 1474.85 1505.00SIEMENS 1497.95 1520.75 1496.00 1504.95ENGINERSIN 97.45 99.30 92.75 92.95STRTECH 124.80 126.70 123.75 125.45LALPATHLAB 1687.45 1687.45 1608.00 1615.45TATACHEM 754.30 756.70 746.80 752.85WIPRO 242.30 245.80 241.70 243.60HEXAWARE 373.50 378.95 372.80 378.60VMART 2170.00 2510.00 2170.00 2398.85SUNTV 482.00 493.40 479.40 490.85JBCHEPHARM 524.55 559.00 524.55 542.00INDIANB 96.00 99.70 95.90 96.40RAYMOND 645.80 645.80 632.30 635.00TATAINVEST 919.95 960.00 905.00 934.00GNFC 174.00 178.80 173.10 174.40RPOWER 1.65 1.70 1.61 1.70BALKRISIND 1100.00 1113.40 1085.50 1096.70

DHFL 10.09 11.14 10.08 11.14BANKINDIA 65.95 67.20 64.50 64.95TORNTPOWER 318.20 319.15 307.65 307.65RAIN 110.10 114.50 108.50 113.30WHIRLPOOL 2462.10 2531.00 2444.85 2500.00OIL 130.85 135.60 130.45 135.50DBL 385.25 398.00 384.00 392.30ADVENZYMES 174.10 182.00 171.00 173.35NIACL 146.90 159.30 146.50 151.30GODFRYPHLP 1268.10 1289.60 1251.70 1256.85AMBUJACEM 207.55 209.10 204.65 207.55PVR 2049.90 2065.45 2034.30 2045.30ITDCEM 61.90 69.25 61.35 63.20WESTLIFE 471.05 476.70 450.00 452.10REDINGTON 113.85 118.80 113.85 118.55PRESTIGE 376.95 386.35 368.55 381.20ICICIGI 1343.00 1380.55 1341.45 1376.95BOSCHLTD 13974.00 14179.15 13865.90 14118.70PHILIPCARB 123.55 129.70 123.55 128.30DEEPAKNI 413.00 413.35 395.70 397.40TORNTPHARM 1984.40 2028.15 1976.00 1996.35TATAPOWER 57.30 58.15 56.85 57.75ASTRAZEN 2513.40 2536.45 2416.60 2456.75GMRINFRA 22.95 23.40 22.75 23.20HINDZINC 193.90 198.40 192.00 192.45JINDALSAW 90.00 91.65 89.35 90.25SWANENERGY 136.00 141.00 132.70 134.05CHENNPETRO 118.80 127.00 118.80 121.90METROPOLIS 1658.00 1672.00 1521.80 1600.00VENKYS 1616.00 1648.00 1607.00 1609.65PCJEWELLER 20.65 21.75 20.35 20.70INTELLECT 168.95 169.00 164.35 165.10KEC 342.90 353.50 334.00 348.15DIXON 4660.00 4798.40 4650.00 4662.50GLENMARK 321.00 323.00 317.80 318.00LTI 1942.00 1946.35 1901.10 1914.00DELTACORP 174.20 176.50 172.70 173.55NBCC 33.20 33.40 32.80 32.95REPCOHOME 335.10 358.80 332.15 350.80CYIENT 486.00 514.00 486.00 486.75GICRE 255.35 266.10 253.50 255.40INDIACEM 78.50 79.00 77.30 77.70BDL 286.75 308.00 283.10 301.85INDHOTEL 141.00 141.95 140.55 141.35AMARAJABAT 772.00 793.50 772.00 781.25CARERATING 689.00 704.20 683.25 685.70SCI 62.80 63.05 60.40 61.15UNIONBANK 48.80 50.65 48.50 48.95SUZLON 2.18 2.28 2.14 2.26CASTROLIND 147.60 149.75 146.40 147.853MINDIA 23389.00 23826.30 23100.00 23425.00TRENT 598.50 598.50 590.50 596.05BAJAJCON 216.55 243.20 216.00 219.00SUNTECK 395.00 398.10 391.10 394.05RALLIS 237.40 240.95 234.00 235.40EIDPARRY 231.90 240.00 230.00 238.45APLLTD 632.50 651.20 632.50 640.40CROMPTON 286.25 286.50 279.30 284.00OBEROIRLTY 537.70 549.95 529.20 538.30RVNL 25.50 25.80 25.10 25.20VINATIORGA 1055.05 1093.40 1053.00 1065.05RELCAPITAL 8.45 8.58 7.92 8.58PNCINFRA 204.80 205.00 193.75 195.00ALKEM 2390.00 2422.75 2380.00 2391.95QUESS 614.00 623.10 601.40 614.05ISEC 460.00 468.35 458.75 466.20JUBILANT 575.00 575.00 565.60 568.60RAMCOCEM 796.20 799.40 783.55 793.15BLISSGVS 144.10 144.10 137.80 139.85GODREJAGRO 564.95 566.10 551.05 559.95HUDCO 37.95 39.80 37.60 38.70CUMMINSIND 572.60 577.00 564.80 568.00IRB 109.90 110.30 107.60 108.90IPCALAB 1220.65 1252.00 1220.65 1236.00JCHAC 2454.00 2490.00 2415.20 2475.00UCOBANK 15.95 16.70 15.20 15.80SOBHA 408.00 415.95 407.50 412.15J&KBANK 22.60 23.50 22.10 23.05JSWENERGY 63.00 63.75 61.90 63.00CCL 246.90 248.70 236.70 238.15DEEPAKFERT 95.65 99.00 95.45 97.35MOTILALOFS 809.40 826.00 806.00 806.20NHPC 24.60 24.60 24.15 24.30AEGISLOG 236.95 236.95 224.50 227.85ORIENTELEC 245.45 258.90 243.65 245.20ITDC 298.00 310.80 295.45 296.30BAJAJHLDNG 3868.65 3887.00 3759.05 3777.05GSKCONS 9340.10 9451.00 9197.65 9226.15COCHINSHIP 354.00 360.10 348.00 353.85IDBI 34.25 35.25 33.90 34.60ATUL 5050.00 5050.00 4905.00 4920.05KTKBANK 73.00 76.75 72.95 74.85MOIL 149.50 157.25 149.50 152.95AMBER 1570.00 1607.00 1560.35 1560.35HSCL 64.75 64.80 62.00 63.00CHAMBLFERT 170.00 170.05 166.00 166.30IRCON 465.05 471.00 465.05 466.55FSL 43.95 43.95 42.50 42.50LEMONTREE 56.05 56.55 54.80 54.85GET&D 159.05 179.45 159.05 170.80TRIDENT 6.00 6.05 5.90 5.99TV18BRDCST 24.20 25.50 24.20 25.35PTC 56.70 56.70 54.80 55.10PFIZER 4135.35 4136.00 4051.85 4063.30MPHASIS 929.40 947.90 928.00 940.00RESPONIND 88.50 88.60 85.25 87.80ABBOTINDIA 13127.20 13194.95 13017.55 13100.95DALBHARAT 885.45 898.40 882.40 893.10

MINDAIND 403.00 403.10 383.35 393.30GICHSGFIN 145.75 152.55 145.45 147.95IDFC 36.35 36.85 35.70 36.65NAVINFLUOR 1142.80 1150.00 1140.00 1141.55ORIENTBANK 48.15 48.95 47.80 48.35IEX 181.25 181.65 174.15 177.65BBTC 1150.35 1158.00 1140.20 1142.65BRIGADE 231.50 242.10 231.45 239.70IBULISL 106.90 111.60 104.75 109.25BIRLACORPN 769.15 769.15 750.00 758.00KEI 546.60 546.70 535.00 537.30FRETAIL 331.20 343.70 329.40 339.05LAOPALA 184.00 200.00 182.80 199.00HINDCOPPER 43.50 44.25 42.40 42.50LAURUSLABS 439.00 442.00 435.90 436.75SHILPAMED 371.05 390.00 364.40 372.10SOUTHBANK 10.14 10.20 10.06 10.12CREDITACC 818.00 844.90 816.40 820.25FORTIS 156.30 156.30 153.70 155.50RCF 47.80 48.05 47.20 47.25GALAXYSURF 1609.50 1609.50 1592.70 1603.00NESCO 780.00 782.65 761.50 765.65VBL 804.60 806.00 772.00 780.95MIDHANI 159.35 161.20 157.85 160.30BAYERCROP 4475.00 4557.05 4462.25 4500.00SUPREMEIND 1380.60 1380.60 1347.60 1348.00JKTYRE 74.25 74.45 73.00 73.20SANOFI 6687.60 7000.00 6665.00 6804.20VAIBHAVGBL 1020.00 1028.00 994.50 996.00ASHOKA 114.70 116.00 113.00 113.70GSFC 77.20 78.90 76.70 77.00INFIBEAM 57.75 57.75 56.20 56.20TIINDIA 524.55 540.00 505.05 535.10KANSAINER 506.65 509.00 496.70 506.50NATCOPHARM 651.00 651.90 638.90 641.00IIFL 165.90 174.30 163.20 172.75RATNAMANI 1298.00 1348.00 1265.00 1274.50PIIND 1533.00 1548.90 1526.85 1546.00GEPIL 700.10 741.35 700.10 730.20MEGH 58.40 59.00 57.50 57.80RELAXO 749.95 749.95 736.05 741.25BAJAJELEC 414.25 418.95 409.65 412.55VGUARD 216.00 216.50 213.45 214.05TATACOFFEE 100.05 100.05 98.10 98.25KALPATPOWR 441.30 456.80 438.60 450.05GULFOILLUB 810.60 810.60 772.00 795.00FINEORG 2383.90 2417.45 2354.95 2380.85ADANITRANS 342.00 343.95 336.00 339.10SKFINDIA 2195.75 2200.00 2146.25 2162.60SHANKARA 389.00 409.45 386.10 409.45CENTURYPLY 173.65 174.70 170.00 171.90CESC 727.90 729.60 718.80 722.30GRINDWELL 678.00 678.05 645.00 670.50

AAVAS 1950.85 2000.00 1940.00 1960.00CEATLTD 989.10 989.10 975.00 975.00MAXINDIA 88.55 91.45 87.55 89.40PARAGMILK 125.50 126.00 124.50 125.45APLAPOLLO 2004.00 2017.75 1995.05 2003.55DCMSHRIRAM 378.00 378.00 356.85 367.15HAL 820.00 825.25 799.40 801.10OFSS 3010.00 3025.10 2891.85 2901.00MRPL 42.85 43.55 42.70 43.20GILLETTE 6489.85 6489.85 6377.45 6408.95THYROCARE 619.45 625.00 605.45 610.75ALBK 16.30 16.50 16.10 16.10JYOTHYLAB 145.00 147.00 142.70 143.20GREAVESCOT 139.60 142.90 138.75 138.95JSL 42.30 42.80 41.60 42.20GUJALKALI 384.65 384.80 378.75 379.25HFCL 16.95 17.15 16.90 16.95JKCEMENT 1386.00 1417.85 1380.00 1391.15GESHIP 308.35 323.45 308.10 318.70SJVN 25.80 25.95 25.75 25.75KRBL 270.00 279.00 268.80 275.05UFLEX 224.15 224.95 219.60 221.65IOB 10.10 10.10 9.67 9.77GSPL 242.00 247.50 241.45 245.00LTTS 1694.00 1710.00 1662.00 1670.00TIMKEN 991.90 1008.50 979.70 981.35CHOLAHLDNG 550.45 551.40 524.80 548.00FDC 231.80 238.00 230.85 236.00WABAG 216.75 218.65 215.10 215.90KNRCON 283.10 285.90 280.25 284.00MMTC 20.20 20.75 20.05 20.15COROMANDEL 625.80 630.00 619.45 626.65TVTODAY 235.40 240.70 234.00 237.90LAXMIMACH 3219.65 3243.95 3179.40 3179.40SYNDIBANK 24.00 24.50 23.85 24.00

JAMNAAUTO 41.60 42.00 40.90 41.15VRLLOG 275.70 275.80 264.55 265.70WELSPUNIND 43.45 43.90 42.85 43.10JKLAKSHMI 359.55 361.80 350.65 359.00MAHSCOOTER 4492.95 4539.00 4465.00 4518.40BALMLAWRIE 120.00 120.10 118.00 118.40PGHH 11475.60 11733.35 11475.00 11475.00GHCL* 184.50 186.55 181.95 182.85PHOENIXLTD 885.15 898.00 874.80 874.80LINDEINDIA 731.00 738.50 729.40 730.45FCONSUMER 22.65 22.90 22.35 22.55TEJASNET 79.50 84.00 78.10 78.70PGHL 4446.00 4457.00 4382.10 4400.00ASTRAL 1199.00 1203.25 1187.00 1198.75SOLARINDS 1265.00 1284.75 1250.00 1281.65ERIS 526.00 527.80 512.25 514.70DCAL* 86.85 86.85 86.85 86.85NH 360.00 360.05 353.15 355.30SYMPHONY 1235.00 1267.45 1233.10 1239.90AKZOINDIA 2079.95 2079.95 2024.65 2035.00TATAMETALI 622.75 626.00 606.00 606.50CORPBANK 22.65 23.85 22.65 23.25TCIEXP 886.40 899.95 879.00 890.75INDOSTAR 289.95 296.95 285.00 290.00SYNGENE 314.85 318.10 311.60 315.45JISLJALEQS 6.75 7.06 6.74 6.93THERMAX 1061.15 1062.05 1047.95 1050.00IFCI 6.29 6.29 6.05 6.12PERSISTENT 705.25 707.85 700.60 707.85ZYDUSWELL 1480.00 1487.80 1454.85 1463.35DHANUKA 525.00 525.00 502.80 516.10SONATSOFTW 336.00 344.25 336.00 343.70GODREJIND 415.00 427.95 415.00 427.95ANDHRABANK 16.25 16.85 16.25 16.25ENDURANCE 1125.00 1125.00 1090.05 1093.00CUB 230.00 234.75 230.00 233.00WABCOINDIA 6770.00 6770.00 6735.40 6735.40HIMATSEIDE 127.95 129.90 126.40 127.80SUNDRMFAST 493.20 497.15 483.90 489.00MAGMA 60.30 60.30 57.50 59.00MAHLIFE 408.10 414.00 400.55 400.95NLCINDIA 56.70 56.70 56.00 56.60CENTRALBK 17.60 18.25 17.60 18.10KPITTECH 98.15 98.15 94.25 95.75NBVENTURES 71.50 73.60 70.65 71.10ARVINDFASN 349.00 356.65 340.15 351.50IFBIND 578.65 607.55 577.95 580.15JSLHISAR 77.25 78.05 76.70 77.15BASF 976.50 989.15 974.55 975.25HEIDELBERG 201.35 201.70 198.20 198.95CARBORUNIV 334.00 334.00 325.50 329.30INOXWIND 40.05 40.45 38.80 38.80FINOLEXIND 560.50 560.50 553.45 553.45ZENSARTECH 163.75 165.55 162.95 164.10TAKE 92.00 96.30 92.00 94.50BLUEDART 2818.60 2859.10 2779.50 2802.15ESSELPRO 188.15 188.15 178.20 178.20FINCABLES 381.50 398.00 381.50 396.60VARROC 459.50 465.65 445.80 449.65MINDACORP 103.90 105.45 101.40 101.85VSTIND 4290.00 4441.00 4245.15 4402.80PRSMJOHNSN 64.00 66.70 64.00 66.65STARCEMENT 85.80 92.40 85.80 91.65KAJARIACER 568.50 572.00 559.10 561.00INOXLEISUR 416.60 416.60 410.65 414.00SOMANYCERA 214.75 227.95 214.75 223.05SHK 112.50 112.90 110.00 110.75TTKPRESTIG 5888.25 5915.20 5811.10 5823.45CERA 2592.60 2669.00 2550.00 2575.80MAHLOG 403.40 418.20 397.00 418.20GMDCLTD 61.55 62.05 61.20 61.65UNITEDBNK 8.64 9.02 8.64 8.87ASTERDM 166.65 166.80 163.55 164.20TNPL 187.15 187.90 182.45 183.00ECLERX 635.00 643.80 630.00 635.00ALLCARGO 116.00 116.00 112.40 112.40MAHSEAMLES 384.80 390.00 379.80 385.00GDL 131.05 132.60 127.30 127.30HATHWAY 18.60 19.30 18.60 19.00SIS 520.00 538.00 515.25 533.25MHRIL 225.90 231.90 225.90 229.35FLFL 409.95 415.60 403.45 403.45GARFIBRES 1577.15 1577.30 1530.40 1537.20CRISIL 1670.00 1702.80 1670.00 1685.25TIMETECHNO 54.45 56.20 53.75 53.75HERITGFOOD 346.45 352.10 346.05 348.00MAHABANK 12.39 12.47 12.30 12.38JAGRAN* 69.80 69.80 69.00 69.65SHRIRAMCIT 1400.00 1472.10 1375.40 1394.85TEAMLEASE 2456.25 2467.40 2429.00 2448.00LAKSHVILAS 15.15 15.35 14.75 15.05TVSSRICHAK 1686.00 1721.00 1680.00 1698.00SFL 1530.05 1595.00 1460.10 1564.60DBCORP 132.70 133.00 132.00 132.05ORIENTCEM 80.45 80.95 79.15 80.50MAHINDCIE 174.70 176.35 173.60 174.70SADBHAV 118.25 118.25 116.10 116.50CENTRUM 21.00 21.60 20.80 21.55SHOPERSTOP 402.25 403.35 399.30 399.35NILKAMAL 1415.00 1431.30 1397.45 1415.40EIHOTEL 138.45 139.00 135.60 136.30KPRMILL 639.15 646.05 639.15 640.25GAYAPROJ 41.90 41.90 41.90 41.90SCHAEFFLER 4755.55 4798.00 4743.70 4745.25TCNSBRANDS 581.50 588.45 579.00 582.35SUPRAJIT 200.35 201.00 198.90 199.85VTL 1022.65 1025.00 1013.00 1025.00CHALET 327.40 336.00 327.25 335.60

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 12120.00 12160.60 12084.65 12133.65 44.50EICHERMOT 19625.00 20641.60 19261.00 20530.00 1042.95INDUSINDBK 1280.00 1339.40 1262.40 1331.00 58.20ZEEL 231.00 241.10 230.10 235.50 8.85SBIN 311.20 323.50 310.10 321.05 10.05BAJFINANCE 4528.20 4677.85 4525.00 4664.00 135.80BHARTIARTL 535.05 552.80 534.10 547.00 13.65GAIL 121.45 124.40 121.40 124.00 3.05YESBANK 37.90 39.50 37.80 38.50 0.90JSWSTEEL 271.10 277.50 267.75 275.35 6.10HEROMOTOCO2395.00 2427.00 2355.00 2419.00 45.75IOC 115.50 117.50 115.40 116.80 2.10AXISBANK 727.45 745.00 723.00 736.70 12.65HDFC 2390.00 2447.80 2369.65 2433.00 41.35POWERGRID 189.95 193.75 188.65 192.45 3.10DRREDDY 3167.60 3176.80 3136.60 3165.00 31.65NTPC 110.50 112.50 110.50 112.30 1.10ADANIPORTS 370.00 373.20 367.65 370.10 3.50HCLTECH 598.95 613.00 598.00 601.00 5.40ONGC 106.80 107.80 106.30 107.50 0.70SUNPHARMA 428.20 438.00 424.00 428.80 2.55WIPRO 242.75 245.95 241.65 243.65 1.40LT 1322.90 1325.00 1309.05 1317.00 6.95RELIANCE 1454.10 1467.00 1440.10 1455.00 6.50VEDL 144.85 146.80 142.70 143.70 0.60TATASTEEL 478.00 487.25 471.60 476.80 1.75ICICIBANK 540.35 547.00 536.25 541.10 2.00TECHM 812.70 825.95 810.05 817.00 2.95COALINDIA 180.20 181.60 178.25 179.70 0.45BAJAJFINSV 9600.00 9709.00 9560.00 9610.00 18.60HINDUNILVR 2166.00 2196.25 2134.05 2160.00 -0.30GRASIM 802.40 806.65 793.30 799.50 -0.40UPL 537.05 545.20 533.60 536.90 -0.55BRITANNIA 3260.35 3293.00 3236.35 3248.50 -7.45NESTLEIND 16399.00 16549.45 16157.80 16337.00 -47.85MARUTI 7075.00 7120.35 6976.80 7014.20 -26.70HDFCBANK 1244.65 1248.70 1237.20 1239.95 -4.70ULTRACEMCO 4480.00 4519.05 4442.00 4453.65 -18.15INFRATEL 246.00 251.00 240.60 245.00 -1.05BAJAJ-AUTO 3170.00 3211.00 3141.40 3148.00 -13.50M&M 585.00 589.15 576.05 580.60 -3.75ASIANPAINT 1878.00 1882.40 1845.00 1861.00 -12.50TCS 2145.00 2174.20 2115.50 2129.45 -17.10KOTAKBANK 1693.90 1697.90 1668.00 1675.75 -14.00HINDALCO 196.40 197.35 192.65 194.00 -2.30BPCL 503.30 510.00 492.20 494.80 -6.90ITC 218.00 219.90 211.80 213.40 -3.05INFY 784.35 786.80 770.00 772.00 -12.55TITAN 1284.95 1294.20 1252.05 1259.30 -20.55CIPLA 462.50 464.35 435.35 438.55 -9.00TATAMOTORS 182.00 183.40 175.75 178.50 -5.25

SE 500B

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 28625.30 28934.70 28599.95 28890.65 352.85IBULHSGFIN 272.90 326.40 268.20 319.75 43.05L&TFH 119.25 129.65 117.50 128.30 9.85SRTRANSFIN 1132.50 1234.50 1130.40 1225.00 92.05PEL 1472.00 1615.00 1447.60 1576.10 117.10NIACL 146.50 159.50 146.50 152.45 9.80HDFCAMC 3205.00 3335.00 3165.60 3328.00 138.20BANKBARODA 88.60 92.50 88.00 91.55 3.40DIVISLAB 1950.00 2079.40 1930.00 2024.00 61.35UBL 1318.70 1356.00 1318.70 1353.00 39.95PNB 57.35 59.30 56.90 58.60 1.70ICICIGI 1340.50 1380.00 1340.00 1375.00 38.70ICICIPRULI 480.20 500.55 480.00 489.90 12.60HINDPETRO 234.05 245.00 233.00 242.95 6.00BOSCHLTD 13879.00 14198.80 13822.50 14111.15 317.45PETRONET 268.50 274.50 268.40 274.40 6.00NMDC 114.55 117.45 112.20 116.05 2.15MOTHERSUMI 135.70 139.00 135.05 137.80 2.45DMART 2255.00 2360.00 2255.00 2288.35 39.45HDFCLIFE 587.00 598.70 587.00 593.50 10.05HAVELLS 626.80 633.85 623.70 631.40 10.30ACC 1477.10 1493.70 1460.20 1490.10 20.30ASHOKLEY 80.75 81.90 79.55 81.20 0.85SBILIFE 916.10 925.00 912.05 920.00 9.45COLPAL 1373.50 1388.90 1367.00 1386.30 13.80HINDZINC 193.70 198.70 191.90 192.60 1.85AUROPHARMA 508.85 514.70 506.10 511.90 3.90LUPIN 731.50 738.75 706.00 728.00 5.50SIEMENS 1502.00 1521.00 1493.75 1506.65 9.00SHREECEM 25048.00 25274.95 24750.25 25005.00 111.55MCDOWELL-N 657.00 661.70 646.05 655.70 2.95PIDILITIND 1551.30 1558.75 1523.50 1556.00 5.05CADILAHC 274.20 288.60 270.40 272.50 0.85AMBUJACEM 207.25 209.25 204.55 206.95 0.55PGHH 11562.00 11710.20 11460.00 11546.95 19.15PFC 123.65 124.50 121.70 123.05 0.15DABUR 514.40 518.00 505.30 510.65 -0.50GICRE 257.05 266.00 254.00 254.25 -0.85BIOCON 295.50 301.00 293.85 294.00 -1.25MARICO 311.00 311.90 303.25 306.30 -2.05NHPC 24.60 24.70 24.15 24.35 -0.20BANDHANBNK 431.75 436.25 421.00 425.25 -3.95GODREJCP 664.40 665.00 647.85 650.45 -10.90IDEA 5.35 5.55 5.10 5.15 -0.10CONCOR 599.45 602.20 582.30 582.55 -11.95BERGEPAINT 587.95 587.95 569.00 574.90 -13.75BAJAJHLDNG 3872.00 3909.90 3761.05 3771.15 -94.35OFSS 3008.00 3027.00 2890.00 2905.00 -76.60PAGEIND 24840.00 24896.95 23903.65 24050.00 -666.75INDIGO 1450.00 1458.35 1387.00 1408.00 -42.35DLF 247.00 254.70 243.40 245.90 -7.55

Page 11: ˘ˇ ˆ˙ - The Pioneer · PMO and recently violating Supreme Court’s advise against violent agitations. Modi also accused the Congress of discreetly insti-gating anti-CAA agitation

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President Donald Trumpwon impeachment acquit-

tal in the US Senate, bringingto a close only the third presi-dential trial in American his-tory with votes that split thecountry, tested civic normsand fed the tumultuous 2020race for the White House.

With Chief Justice JohnRoberts presiding, senatorssworn to do “impartial justice”stood and stated their votes forthe roll call — “guilty” or “notguilty” — in a swift tally almostexclusively along party lines.Trump, the chief justice thendeclared, shall “be, and is here-by, acquitted of the charges.”

The outcome Wednesdayfollowed months of remarkableimpeachment proceedings,from Speaker Nancy Pelosi’sHouse to Mitch McConnell’sSenate, reflecting the nation’sunrelenting partisan dividethree years into the Trumppresidency.

What started as Trump’srequest for Ukraine to “do us afavor” spun into a far-reaching,28,000-page report compiled

by House investigators accus-ing an American president ofengaging in shadow diploma-cy that threatened U.S. foreignrelations for personal, politicalgain as he pressured the ally toinvestigate Democratic rivalJoe Biden ahead of the nextelection.

No president has ever beenremoved by the Senate.

A politically emboldenedTrump had eagerly predictedvindication, deploying the ver-dict as a political anthem in hisreelection bid. The presidentclaims he did nothing wrong,decrying the “witch hunt” as anextension of special counselRobert Mueller’s probe intoRussian 2016 campaign inter-ference by those out to get himfrom the start of his presiden-cy.

Trump’s political campaigntweeted videos, statements anda cartoon dance celebration,while the Republican presi-dent himself tweeted that hewould speak Thursday fromthe White House about “ourCountry’s VICTORY on theImpeachment Hoax.”

However, the Senate

Democratic leader ChuckSchumer said there will alwaysbe “a giant asterisk next to thepresident’s acquittal” because ofthe Senate’s quick trial andRepublicans unprecedentedrejection of witnesses.

A majority of senatorsexpressed unease with Trump’spressure campaign on Ukrainethat resulted in the two articlesof impeachment. But two-thirds of them would have hadto vote “guilty” to reach theConstitution’s bar of highcrimes and misdemeanors toconvict and remove Trumpfrom office. The final tallies inthe GOP-held Senate fell farshort.

On the first article ofimpeachment, abuse of power,the vote was 52-48 favoringacquittal. The second, obstruc-tion of Congress, also pro-duced a not guilty verdict, 53-47. Only one Republican, MittRomney of Utah, the party'sdefeated 2012 presidentialnominee, broke with the GOP.

Romney choked up as hesaid he drew on his faith and“oath before God” to vote guiltyon the first charge, abuse of

power. He voted to acquit onthe second. All Democratsfound the president guilty onthe two charges.

Both Bill Clinton in 1999and Andrew Johnson in 1868drew cross-party support whenthey were left in office afterimpeachment trials. RichardNixon resigned rather thanface sure impeachment, expect-ing members of his own partyto vote to remove him.

Ahead of Wednesday’s vot-ing, some of the most closelywatched senators took to theSenate floor to tell their con-stituents, and the nation, whatthey had decided.

Influential GOP Sen.Lamar Alexander of Tennesseeworried a guilty verdict would“pour gasoline on the fire” ofthe nation’s culture wars overTrump and “rip the countryapart.”' He said the Houseproved its case but it just did-n’t rise to the level of impeach-ment.

Other Republicans sidingwith Trump said it was time toend what McConnell called the“circus” and move on.

Most Democrats, though,

echoed the House managers'warnings that Trump, if leftunchecked, would continue toabuse the power of his office forpersonal political gain and tryto cheat again ahead of the the2020 election.

Even key Democrats fromstates where Trump is popular— Doug Jones in Alabama andJoe Manchin in West Virginia— risked backlash and voted toconvict. “Senators are elected tomake tough choices,” Jonessaid. Several senators trying towin the Democratic Party'snomination to face Trump —Bernie Sanders, ElizabethWarren and Amy Klobuchar —dashed back from early pri-mary state New Hampshire tovote.

During the nearly three-week trial, House Democratsprosecuting the case arguedthat Trump abused power likeno other president in historywhen he pressured Ukraine toinvestigate Biden and his son,Hunter Biden, ahead of the2020 election.

They detailed an extraor-dinary effort by Trump lawyerRudy Giuliani that set off

alarms at the highest levels ofgovernment. After Trump’s July25 call with Ukraine, the WhiteHouse temporarily halted USaid to the struggling ally bat-tling hostile Russia at its bor-der. The money was eventual-ly released in September asCongress intervened.

When the House probedTrump’s actions, the presidentinstructed White House aidesto defy congressional subpoe-nas, leading to the obstructioncharge.

Questions from theUkraine matter continue toswirl. House Democrats mayyet summon former nationalsecurity adviser John Bolton totestify about revelations fromhis forthcoming book that offera fresh account of Trump’sactions. Other eyewitnessesand documents are almost sureto surface.

In closing arguments forthe trial, the lead prosecutor,Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.,appealed to senators’ sense ofdecency, insisting “right mat-ters” and “truth matters” andTrump “is not who you are.”'

Schiff told The Associated

Press he hoped the votes toconvict “will serve as a con-straint on the president’swrongdoing.” “But we’re goingto have to be vigilant,” he said.

Pelosi was initially reluc-tant to launch impeachmentproceedings against Trumpwhen she took control of theHouse after the 2018 election,warning against a partisanvote.

But a whistleblower com-plaint of his conversation withUkraine President VolodymyrZelenskiy set off alarms. Thepresident’s call was placed theday after Mueller announcedthe findings of his Russia probe.

When Trump told Pelosi inSeptember that the call wasperfect, she was stunned. Dayslater, the speaker announcedthe formal impeachmentinquiry.

The result was the quickest,most partisan impeachmentin U.S. history, with noRepublicans joining the HouseDemocrats to vote for thecharges. The Republican Senatekept up the pace with thefastest trial ever, and the firstwith no witnesses. Seventeen

ambassadors, national securi-ty officials and others had tes-tified in the House.

Trump’s star attorney AlanDershowitz made the sweep-ing, if stunning, assertion thateven if the president engaged inthe quid pro quo as described,it is not impeachable, becausepoliticians often equate theirown political interest with thenational interest.

McConnell braced for dis-sent, but with a 53-47Republican majority he refut-ed efforts to prolong the trialwith more witnesses, arguingthe House should have done abetter job.

Roberts, as the rare court ofimpeachment came to a close,wished senators well in “ourcommon commitment to theConstitution,” and hoped tomeet again “under happier cir-cumstances.” Secretary of StateMike Pompeo, who had beendrawn into the Ukraine affair,signed off on the Senate judg-ment later Wednesday.“Tonight, it was my pleasure tosign President@realDonaldTrump’s fullacquittal,” he tweeted.

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Pete Buttigieg clung to aslight lead over Bernie

Sanders in a new batch of votetotals released by the IowaDemocratic Party onWednesday, two days after thestate hosted its first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses.

But the race remained tooearly to call with 96% ofprecincts reporting.

Much of the political worldhas already shifted its attentionto next-up New Hampshire,which holds the first primaryelection in the Democrats’2020 nomination fight onTuesday. Iowa officials attrib-uted their delay to technicalproblems. The chaos sur-rounding the reporting break-down has undermined theimpact of Iowa’s election, whichtypically rewards winners witha surge of momentum headinginto subsequent primary con-tests.

The two early leaders —Buttigieg, the former mayor ofSouth Bend, Indiana, andVermont Senator Sanders —are separated by 40 years in ageand conflicting ideology.

Sanders, a 78-year-old self-described democratic socialist,has been a progressive power-house for decades. Buttigieg, a38-year-old former municipal

official, represents the moremoderate wing of theDemocratic Party. Buttigieg isalso the first openly gay can-didate to earn presidential pri-mary delegates.

Wednesday’s updatedresults show MassachusettsSen. Elizabeth Warren, formerVice President Joe Biden andMinnesota Senator AmyKlobuchar trailing.

The Democrats’ primaryfight intensified in NewHampshire on Wednesday asBiden took aim at both Iowafront-runners.

The former vice presidentsuggested that Sanders wasunelectable and would hurtother Democrats on the ballotthis fall should he represent theparty in the general election.Biden also charged that it

would be “a risk” to nominateButtigieg because he hasn’tbeen elected to a higher officethan South Bend mayor.

Speaking at a candidateforum in New Hampshire,Buttigieg was focused on theissues. He said a shift in emo-tion from “guilt and doom” topride is needed to propel thenation forward on climatechange.

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Viewership was sharply downfor President Donald

Trump’s State of the Unionaddress on most of the top tele-vision networks - except for FoxNews Channel.

The Nielsen company esti-mated that 37.2 million peoplewatched Trump’s speech liveacross 12 TV networks Tuesdaynight. That’s down from 46.8million people who saw hisspeech last year, and the small-est audience for his presidency.Fox News had by far the biggestaudience for a speech that waswidely viewed as a kickoff to thepresident’s reelection campaign.Nielsen said 11.6 million peoplewatched on Fox, up 2% from lastyear’s State of the Union.

But there were big viewer-ship tumbles for other networks- 41% down from last year onMSNBC, 33% down on NBCand 30% each on CBS andABC, Nielsen said.

NBC’s total of 4.8 millioncame in second to Fox News.

State of the Union viewer-ship tends to fall off the longera president is in office; PresidentBarack Obama’s last suchaddress in 2016 had 31 million.

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Ireland goes to the polls onSaturday, with Prime

Minister Leo Varadkar toutinghis successful handling ofBrexit, but facing pressure overhousing and healthcare.

A late surge in support forthe republican Sinn Fein party,once the voice of the IRAparamilitary group, also threat-ens to shake up the politicallandscape.

Varadkar’s Fine Gael partyhas led a minority govern-ment with the main oppositionparty, Fianna Fail, since the2016 election.

Just a few months afterthat, Britain voted to leave theEuropean Union — and Brexithas dominated Irish politicssince.

Britain’s exit on January 31,under the terms of a last-minute EU divorce deal, easedimmediate fears of a damagingsplit between London and thebloc, which includes Ireland.

It set up a transition peri-od during which trade tiescontinue, and maintainedIreland’s open border withNorthern Ireland, which suf-fered decades of violence overBritish control.

Varadkar won plaudits forhis role in securing the agree-

ment, but has warned of moreuncertainty to come, as Britainseeks a longer-lasting tradedeal with the EU by December.

And he has presented him-self as the man to deliver on thenext stage.

“A failure to secure a tradedeal would be a major threatand an existential threat to oureconomy in 2021,” he said lastmonth. Both centre-right par-ties, Fianna Fail agreed to propup Fine Gael during the uncer-tainty of Britain’s prolonged EUdeparture, but the formerargues that it should now takethe lead.

“The idea that Ireland can-not change its governmentbecause of Brexit is cynical anddesperate in equal measure,”said Fianna Fail leader MichealMartin.

Fianna Fail says the gov-ernment’s efforts to shock-proof the economy from Brexitneed to “rapidly increase” inpreparation for the risk thattrade talks with Britain fail.

But there is little real dif-ferentiation between the par-ties, driving voter apathy.

“The approach to phasetwo of the Brexit talks — tradetalks — is not going to be sub-stantially different regardless ofwho wins this election,” saidJonathan Evershed, from

University College Cork.“I think basically people

know that and there was verylimited political capital in it forthe Irish government,” he toldAFP.

Fine Gael may yet be fac-ing a bigger issue — domesticcrises in health and housing.

“The housing crisis hasbeen real and tangible andthat has been an experience ofyoung people in Ireland for along time,” Evershed said.

“It seems to come as a bitof a surprise that this hasbecome the issue in this elec-tion but I don’t think it oughtto have.”

The Irish economy hasrecovered from the ruinousrecession it suffered in 2008,and grew by 0.7 percent in thesecond quarter of 2019.

However, a housing short-age has pushed rent and prop-erty prices out of the reach ofmuch of the middle class.

There were 9,731 homelessacross Ireland over theChristmas week, according tocharity Focus Ireland, out of apopulation of 4.9 million.

The issue came dramati-cally to the fore when a manliving in a tent in Dublin wasseriously injured when work-men attempted to remove itwith heavy machinery.

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NASA’s Christina Kochreturned to Earth safely on

Thursday having shattered thespaceflight record for femaleastronauts after almost a yearaboard the International SpaceStation.

Koch touched down at0912 GMT on the Kazakhsteppe after 328 days in spacealong with Luca Parmitano ofthe European Space Agencyand Alexander Skvortsov of theRussian space agency.

Dmitry Rogozin, head ofRussia’s Roscosmos spaceagency, said the crew had

returned safely. “All is well onboard, the crew are feelingwell,” Rogozin wrote on Twitter.

Koch, a 41-year-oldMichigan-born engineer, beatthe previous record for a sin-gle spaceflight by a woman —289 days, held by NASA veter-an Peggy Whitson — onDecember 28, 2019.

She had already made his-tory by that point as one half ofthe first-ever all-woman space-walk along with NASA coun-terpart Jessica Meir in October.

Koch told NBC on Tuesdaythat she would “miss micro-gravity” as she spoke to jour-nalists ahead of the three-and-

a-half hour journey back toEarth. “It’s really fun to be in aplace where you can justbounce around between theceiling and the floor whenev-er you want,” she said, smilingas she twisted her body aroundthe ISS.

Koch called three-timeflyer Whitson “a heroine ofmine” and a “mentor” in thespace programme after shesurpassed the 59-year-old’srecord. She also spoke of herdesire to “inspire the next gen-eration of explorers”.

Koch’s return comes afteran advert produced by theskincare brand Olay ran during

an intermission in theAmerican football Super Bowlwith a call to “make space forwomen”.

The advert featured NASAastronaut Nicole Stott and sawthe company promise to donateup to $500,000 to the non-prof-it Women Who Code, whichworks with young women seek-ing careers in tech and scien-tific fields.

This year’s Super Bowl waswatched by over 100 millionpeople while advert time costsmore than USD 5 million for a30-second commercial.

The first woman in spacewas Soviet cosmonaut

Valentina Tereshkova whosespaceflight in 1963 is still theonly solo mission carried outby a woman. But the cosmo-nauts Russia has sent to the ISSsince expeditions began in2000 have all been men withthe exception of Yelena Serova’slaunch in 2014.

Both Tereshkova andSerova are now lawmakers inthe Russian parliament, wherethey represent the rulingUnited Russia party.

Unlike Koch, whose stayaboard the ISS was extended,Parmitano and Skvortsov arerounding off regular six-monthmissions. Parmitano handed

over command of the ISS toRoscosmos’ Oleg Skripochkaon Tuesday.

The 43-year-old Italianposted regular shots of theEarth while aboard, highlight-ing the plight of the Amazonrainforest and describing theAlps as “like a spinal column,never bending to time”.

Four male cosmonautshave spent a year or longer inspace as part of a single missionwith Valery Polyakov’s 437days the overall record.

Scott Kelly holds the recordfor a NASA astronaut, posting340 days at the ISS before hereturned home in 2016.

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Venezuelan opposition leaderJuan Guaidó on Wednesday

scored a long-sought meetingwith President Donald Trump,a high point on an internation-al tour aimed at bolstering sup-port for Guaidó’s US-backedcampaign to oust PresidentNicolas Maduro.

But Guaido left the WhiteHouse without the one thingcoveted by every leader who vis-its: an Oval Office photo oppor-tunity with the American pres-ident.

Soldiers lined the WhiteHouse driveway as Guaidóarrived for the afternoon meet-ing. Trump stepped onto a redcarpet and into a damp chill towelcome Guaidó and escorthim to the Oval Office for a pri-vate meeting after a stroll alongthe colonnade. Guaidó sporteda red tie, just like Trump.

A day earlier, Guaidó was aguest at Trump’s State of theUnion address. Lawmakersapplauded as Trump introducedGuaidó as Venezuela’s “true andlegitimate” leader and calledMaduro a “tyrant.”

In a statement lateWednesday, the White Housesaid Trump emphasized the UScommitment to end Maduro’s“corrupt and violent dictator-ship.” Trump and Guaidó dis-cussed “the importance of secur-ing the return of freedom for allVenezuelans that will promoteand safeguard a democratic andprosperous future for theWestern Hemisphere,”spokesman Judd Deere said.

Vice President Mike Penceand Guaido met at the Capitolbefore Pence left on a trip to

Pennsylvania. Also attendingwere Sens. Marco Rubio andRick Scott, both FloridaRepublicans.

The U.S. and nearly 60other governments say Maduro’s2018 election was illegitimateand that Guaidó, as leader of thecountry’s National Assembly,should be named interim pres-ident under Venezuela’s consti-tution. These countries blameMaduro’s socialist policies for apolitical and economic crisisthreatening regional stability.

Maduro, however, remainsin control, having faced down afailed military uprising, a briefrenewal of mass anti-govern-ment protests, and sanctions andother U.S. efforts to force him toleave office.

Guaidó slipped out ofVenezuela at a time when he hadfew options left and was strug-gling to draw significant num-bers of people into the street toprotest against Maduro.

Guaidó’s momentum saw aslight upturn in early January,when he was seen in widely pub-lished images tussling witharmed riot police while attempt-ing to jump a fence and enter theNational Assembly legislativebuilding.

“Mr. President, please takethis message back to your home-land,” Trump told Guaidó dur-ing Tuesday’s speech. “AllAmericans are united with theVenezuelan people in their right-eous struggle for freedom.” TheWhite House said the US willcontinue to work with countriesin the region to “confront theillegitimate dictatorship inVenezuela” and ensure a “demo-cratic and prosperous” future forits people.

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Maldives police arrestedthree suspected Islamic

extremists on Thursday overthe stabbing of three foreignersin the upmarket tourist desti-nation.

Two Chinese men and anAustralian were in a stablecondition after being stabbedTuesday, just two months aftersecurity officials warned of thepresence of violent radicalsinspired by the Islamic Stategroup.

Authorities said wereinvestigating a video releasedon social media claiming theattack had been carried out bya local group sympathetic to IS.

“The Maldives police ser-vice has arrested three suspectsunder a court warrant in rela-tion to the stabbing of three for-eign nationals,” police said in a

statement.They were not identified.Late last year the Maldives

arrested a local man describedby the United States as arecruiter for IS in Syria andAfghanistan.

He was also suspected ofbeing involved in a crude bombattack in the capital Male inSeptember 2007 which injureda dozen tourists.

In June last year the nationof 340,000 Sunni Muslimscalled for international help torehabilitate up to 160 of itsnationals thought to be held inSyrian detention camps.

Maldives parliamentarySpeaker Mohamed Nasheedhas said that the Maldives waskeeping a close watch on anyattempt to radicalise its popu-lation, which practises a liber-al form of Islam and reliesheavily on luxury tourism.

Page 12: ˘ˇ ˆ˙ - The Pioneer · PMO and recently violating Supreme Court’s advise against violent agitations. Modi also accused the Congress of discreetly insti-gating anti-CAA agitation

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China on Thursday finishedbuilding a second new hos-

pital to isolate and treat patientsof a virus that has killed morethan 560 people and continuesto spread, disrupting traveland people’s lives and fuelingeconomic fears.

A first group of patientswas expected to start testing anew antiviral drug, as Chinaalso moved people with mildersymptoms into makeshift hos-pitals at sports centers, exhibi-tion halls and other publicspaces.

The health care system inthe central city of Wuhan,where the outbreak was firstdetected in December, hasbeen overwhelmed with thethousands of ill patients. A new,1,500-bed hospital speciallybuilt for virus patients openeddays after a 1,000-bed hospitalwith prefabricated wards andisolation rooms began takingpatients.

Other treatment centershad tight rows of simple cotslining cavernous rooms. AndWuhan had another 132 quar-antine sites with more than12,500 beds, according to theofficial Xinhua News Agency.

Chinese health authoritiesreported 563 deaths and anoth-er sharp jump in the number ofconfirmed cases to 28,018.Outside mainland China, atleast 260 cases have been con-firmed, including two deaths inHong Kong and thePhilippines.

Hospital workers in HongKong demanding a shutdownof the border with the main-land were on strike for a fourthday. Hong Kong's leader CarrieLam announced a 14-day quar-antine of all travelers enteringHong Kong from the mainlandstarting Saturday, but the gov-ernment has refused to seal theborder entirely.

A Hong Kong medicalunion warned that its 20,000members could resign enmasse if the city’s Hospital

Authority refuses to hold a dia-logue with them over theirdemands. It estimated 7,000were on strike and said thosewho were working were wor-ried about their safety.

The outbreak of the newtype of coronavirus has alsoensnared two cruise ships, withthe passengers and crew nowquarantined on the dockedvessels in Hong Kong andJapan.

Ten passengers confirmedto have the virus were escort-ed off the Diamond Princess ata port near Tokyo, after 10 oth-ers were taken off the previousday. The group taken to hos-pitals Thursday are mostly pas-sengers in their 60s and 70s,four of them Japanese, twoAmericans, two Canadians,one New Zealander and oneTaiwanese. Tests are still pend-ing on others on board whohad symptoms or had contactwith infected people.

More than 3,000 passen-

gers and crew on the HongKong ship, the World Dream,were being screened after threepassengers on a previous voy-age were diagnosed with thevirus. Hong Kong authoritiesalso said they were trying totrack down people who hadbeen on the ship's recent trips.

Xinhua said clinical trialsfor the antiviral drugRemdesivir have beenapproved and the first group ofpatients are expected to starttaking the drug on Thursday.Word of the trials had boostedthe stock price of the drug’smaker, American biotechnolo-gy company Gilead SciencesInc.

Antivirals and other drugscan reduce the severity of thevirus, but “so far, no antiviralshave been proven effective,”said Thanarak Plipat, a doctorand deputy director-general ofThailand’s Disease ControlDepartment of the HealthMinistry. He said there were a

lot of unknowns, “but we havea lot of hope, as well.”

China’s National HealthCommission said the numberof infected patients who were“discharged and cured” stood at1,153 as of Thursday. Detailsweren’t given, but milder caseshave been seen in younger,healthier people. The new virusis in the coronavirus family thatincludes MERS and SARS, andit causes fever, cough andshortness of breath, and insevere cases, pneumonia.

China has strongly defend-ed its epidemic control mea-sures, including locking downseveral cities in central Hubeiprovince, where the outbreakhas been concentrated. Morethan 50 million people areunder virtual quarantine inHubei, but outlying cities,towns and villages have enact-ed varying restrictions andother countries have severelyrestricted travel to and fromChina.

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Pakistan’s bid to call animmediate meeting on

Kashmir by Saudi-ledOrganisation of IslamicCooperation seems to havefailed after Riyadh showingreluctance to the move, accord-ing to a Pakistani media reporton Thursday.

In December, there wereplans to convene a meeting ofthe foreign ministers of theOIC on Kashmir by SaudiArabia, in an apparent move bythe kingdom to please Pakistanwhich skipped a recent summitof Muslim nations in Malaysiaseen by Riyadh as an attempt tocreate a new bloc to replace the57-member grouping led by it.

Prime Minister ImranKhan had confirmed Pakistan’sparticipation in the summithosted by Malaysia, butskipped the event at theeleventh hour due to pressureexerted by Saudi Arabia and theUnited Arab Emirates - keyfinancial backers of the cash-strapped country.

The report by Dawn Newscame ahead of the bloc’s seniorofficials’ meeting in Jeddah onFebruary 9 to make prepara-tions for the Council of ForeignMinisters (CFM).

Islamabad’s feeling ofunease with the OIC over itsfailure to get the CFM’s meet-ing appears to be growing, asRiyadh was showing reluc-tance to convene the meetingon Kashmir on Pakistan’srequest, the report quoted adiplomatic source as saying.

The Jeddah-headquarteredbloc, which is the secondlargest intergovernmental bodyafter the UN, has usually beensupportive of Pakistan andoften sided with Islamabad onthe Kashmir issue.

Prime Minister Khanvoiced frustration over theOIC’s silence on Kashmir dur-ing his visit to Malaysia.

“The reason is that wehave no voice and there is atotal division amongst (us).We can’t even come together asa whole on the OIC meeting onKashmir,” he said this week.

Pakistan has been pushingfor the foreign ministers’ meet-ing on Kashmir since Indiaabrogated the special provi-sions of Kashmir in August lastyear.

Although there has been ameeting of the contact groupon Kashmir on the sidelines ofUN General Assembly sessionin New York and a report bythe OIC’s IndependentPermanent Human RightsCommission on the allegedrights abuses in Kashmir, noprogress could be madetowards the CFM’s meeting.

Foreign Minister ShahMehmood Qureshi, whileunderscoring the importanceof CFM for Pakistan, said it wasneeded to send a clear messagefrom Ummah (community)on the Kashmir issue.

Support from Riyadh isconsidered a must for anymove at the OIC, which isdominated by Saudi Arabiaand other Arab countries fromthe Gulf.

The kingdom has madeseveral proposals to Pakistan to

avoid the CFM including hold-ing of a parliamentary forum orspeakers’ conference fromMuslim countries and, accord-ing to a source, a joint meetingon Palestine and Kashmirissues. Pakistan has persistedwith its proposal so far.

Saudi Arabia, soon afterPakistan’s absence at theMalaysia summit, showed flex-ibility in December on theproposal for the CFM onKashmir. The Saudi flexibility,however, was short-lived asRiyadh reverted to its position.

India, in a major diplo-matic achievement in Marchlast year, addressed the OICmeeting in Abu Dhabi for thefirst time.

India’s participation camedespite strong demand byPakistan to rescind the invi-tation to then External AffairsMinister Sushma Swaraj toaddress the grouping of theOIC which was turned downby the host UAE, resulting inPakistan’s Foreign MinisterQureshi boycotting the ple-nary.

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Fourteen people were injuredat a popular night spot in

central Jerusalem after beingstruck by a vehicle onThursday, in an incident Israelipolice are investigating as a ter-ror attack.

The driver “fled the scene”following the early morningattack at Jerusalem’s FirstStation, an historic rail stop thatnow hosts bars, shops andrestaurants, police spokesmanMicky Rosenfled said.

“Police are searching forthe vehicle,” he added. “Theincident is being investigated asa terror attack.” Among the 14victims, one was left in critical

condition, another had “mod-erate” injuries, while 12 otherswere wounded lightly, Israel’sMagen David emergency med-ical service said on Twitter.

The United Hatzalah med-ical emergency volunteers saidin a statement that due to thenature of the incident, some atthe scene “were suffering fromemotional or psychologicalshock”. There was no immedi-ate indication as to the moti-vation of the possible attack,but Palestinians have carriedout sporadic car-rammings onIsraeli targets.

The incident also comesamid heightened tensionbetween Israel and thePalestinians following the

release of US President DonaldTrump’s controversial MiddleEast Plan. Trump’s peace pro-posals, which he unveiled inWashington last month along-side Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu with noPalestinian representatives pre-sent, have sparked angeramong Palestinians.

There have been protestsand isolated clashes with Israeliforces across the occupied WestBank since the plan wasreleased. A 17-year-oldPalestinian protester was shotdead by Israeli troops in the cityof Hebron on Wednesday.

Israel’s military describedhim as a “violent rioter” armedwith a Molotov cocktail.

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Israeli air strikes killed 12pro-Iran f ighters near

Damascus and in southernSyria early Thursday, theSyrian Obser vator y forHuman Rights said.

Seven foreign fighterswere killed in the Kiswa areasouth of Damascus, whereIranian and pro-Iran foreignfighters are present, theBritain-based war monitorsaid.

Five Syrian members of apro-Iranian group were

killed in the Ezra area ofDaraa province, Observatoryhead Rami Abdel Rahmansaid.

A Syrian army sourcequoted by state news agencySANA said air defencesresponded to two waves ofIsrael i s tr ikes af ter midnight that targeted theDamascus area and thenpositions in Daraa and theadjacent province ofQuneitra.

The source said the attackwounded eight fighters, with-out elaborating on their rankor nationality.

An Israel i armyspokesman contacted by AFPearly Thursday declined tocomment on the strikes.

Since the beginningof the Syrian conflict in

2011, Israel has carried outrepeated str ikes againstSyrian government forces and their allies, Iran andLebanese militant groupHezbollah.

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China said on Thursday thatit has lodged diplomatic

protests with countries whoseairlines have cancelled flights toChinese cities alleging thatthey are spreading panic in thewake of deadly coronavirus.

The death toll in China’snovel coronavirus outbreakwent up to 563 as 73 peopledied on Wednesday, the high-est single day fatalities so far,while total confirmed casesrose sharply to 28,018, Chinesehealth officials said onThursday.

The deadly virus hasspread to more than 25 coun-tries, including India.

Several international air-lines, including Air India andIndiGo, have cancelled flightsto China over fears of the virusspreading across the world, amove which Beijing describedagainst the WHO guidelines.

Several countries includingIndia and the US have alsoannounced travel bans.

Foreign Ministryspokesperson Hua Chunyingtold the media briefing onlineon Thursday that the Chinesegovernment is acting withopenness, transparency and ahigh sense of responsibility insharing information enhancinginternational cooperation indealing with the virus.

“WHO lauded China’s

strong measures and stressedmany times that it does notrecommend and even opposesimposing restrictions on trav-el.

“As some countries havetaken such excessive steps assuspending flights, ICAO(International Civil AviationOrganisation) has also issuedbulletins and encouraged allcountries to follow WHO rec-ommendations,” she said.

“We deplore and opposethose countries who wentagainst WHO’s professionalrecommendations and ICAO’sbulletins and have lodged sternrepresentations with them,”she said.

“Their actions, which

sowed panic among the public,will not help prevent and con-trol the epidemic. They havegravely disrupted normal per-sonnel exchanges, internation-al cooperation and order of theinternational market of airtransportation,” she said.

Hua said China’s civilflights will not be suspended,and the Chinese governmentwill take its nationals homewherever they are.

The Civil AviationAdministration of China hastaken effective measures tominimise the possibility ofvirus spreading in airplanesand to ensure travellers’ safetyand health on internationalflights, she said.

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The Indian-American com-munity here has welcomed

the reported move of the Indianauthorities to track the activitiesof a Houston-based Pakistanievent manager for allegedly fund-ing anti-India activities in the US.

The community memberssaid they have repeatedly raised,with both the foreign and theunion home ministries, the issueof Rehan Siddiqui, who organis-es Bollywood galas in the US,raising funds from his events forperpetrating activities againstIndia in America.

However, they said, nothingwas being done and what irkedthem most was Siddiqui’s con-tinuing event bookings withBollywood stars and singers.

Now, with the Pakistaninational coming under theIndian government’s radar, theIndian-American communitysaid they are “relieved”.

“You can’t allow any anti-India activities go unnoticed forlong and this promoter (Siddiqui)was under investigation for a longtime, but results take time,” offi-cial sources said.

According to reports, Indianauthorities are tracking the activ-ities of Siddiqui, who is also aradio station owner, in the US.

Some well-connected Indiancommunity members allegedthe Pakistani national was usinghuge funds to finance anti-Kashmir activities for the last sev-eral years. His activities, theyclaimed, gained further momen-tum after the abrogation ofArticle 370 that granted specialstatus to Jammu and Kashmir.

Navan D Kaur, a communi-ty member, alleged that Siddiquihelped to organise an anti-Indiarally during the “Howdy Modi”event here last September.

A prominent Indian-American community activisttold PTI, “The Indian commu-nity in Houston is relieved toknow that Rehan finally caughtthe attention of the Indian gov-ernment for his alleged connec-tion with the Pakistani securityagencies and we thank the Indiangovernment for investigating hisyears of anti-India activities here.”

Rajiv Verma, a communityactivist, said Siddiqui became a“darling” of the Bollywood due tohis monopoly over Indian mediaand the entertainment sector inHouston. Siddiqui, he said, ismaking money off the Indiandiaspora’s fascination for filmstars and is using his prosperityto attack the country in return.

Arun Mundra, a globalcommunity leader associated

with various Indian-Americanorganisations, said, “Patriotismand humanity is our top priori-ty. We cannot enjoy any suchentertainment which supportsterrorism.”

As per media reports onWednesday, Bollywood starSalman Khan has cancelled aplanned show in Houston thatwas set to be organised bySiddiqui. The event, ‘Up Close &Personal with Bollywood superstar Salman Khan’, was scheduledfor April 10. The Indian diasporain Houston welcomed Khan’smove. Uma Bhotla, an Indiannational based in Houston, said,“I’m happy that the show hasbeen cancelled.”

Echoing her voice, aBollywood fan said, “When itcomes to the country, SalmanKhan never leaves an opportunityto make fans feel proud. Again hecancelled show in Houston,organised by Siddiqui, who isallegedly raising funds fromevents to finance anti-India activ-ities in the US.”

According to communityactivist Verma, the unsuspectingIndian diaspora had no clue“whom they were feeding”. WithKhan’s decision, a small spannerhas been thrown in the works ofanti-India elements present inHouston, he said.

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Gargle salt water, use herbaleyedrops, steam-clean a

face mask — false claims abouthow to combat a deadlycoranavirus epidemic emergingout of China are flooding theinternet. Social media giantshave promoted their strategiesto combat misinformationrelated to the epidemic, whichhas claimed more than 560lives in China and spread to 24countries.

Twitter, which reported 15million coronavirus-relatedtweets in January, said it hadsuspended auto-suggest searchresults that would likely pro-duce untrustworthy content.

Facebook also said it wastargeting false claims aimed atdiscouraging treatment or tak-ing appropriate precautiouswith the respiratory virus.

“This includes claims relat-ed to false cures or preventionmethods — like drinkingbleach cures the coronavirus —or claims that create confusionabout health resources that areavailable,” Kang-Xing Jin,Facebook’s head of health, saidin a statement.

The World HealthOrganisation (WHO) has also

launched a campaign to dis-credit specific claims, such asthat sesame oil and mouthwashcan effectively kill the virus.

Yet the misinformationcontinues to pollute socialmedia platforms and messag-ing apps. Here is a selection ofthe false claims that AFP, whichhas a specialised fact-checkingteam, has debunked in recentdays:

A claim that the coron-avirus can be cured overnightif sufferers drink freshly boiledgarlic water was shared acrossFacebook, Twitter and YouTubein Pakistan.

“There is no scientific evi-dence to substantiate the claimthat garlic boiled water curesthe novel coronavirus nor isthere any proper medicalresearch available on the sub-ject,” said Dr Wasim Khawaja,an expert at the PakistaniInstitute of Medical Sciences,for an AFP fact-check report.

In the Philippines, videosviewed many millions of claimthe virus can be cured with aneye drop made of sap from alocal shrub that is commonlyused to treat fever and stomachissues.

One 11-minute video,claiming the tinospora crispa

plant is an effective “antibiot-ic” for the virus, was viewedmore than 1.5 million times onFacebook.

There has been no medicalevidence to back this claim.

A video of a purporteddoctor advising people to steamdisposable surgical face masksto reuse them was viewed hun-dreds of thousands of times inmultiple Chinese-languageposts on Facebook, Weibo andYouku.

In Hong Kong, the videowas viewed almost 900,000times within a day after a law-maker shared it on Facebook.

The WHO, the Hong KongRed Cross and the Hong KongCentre for Health Protectionhave all issued warnings againststeaming — or reusing at all —single-use masks.

In the days following SriLanka’s first confirmed coron-avirus case, an article wasshared hundreds of times onFacebook claiming thatasafoetida, a plant often used intraditional Indian medicine,can prevent infection.

The claim was widelyrefuted by health experts whourged Sri Lankans to followofficial Ministry of Health rec-ommendations.

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Nepal’s upcoming nation-al census will for the

first time count the LGBTpopulation in the Himalayannation in order to better allo-cate government jobs andeducation set as ide forminority groups, an officialsaid Thursday.

The LGBT community inNepal has long demandedthat the census taken every 10years include a count of sex-ual minorities.

Nepal’s laws prescribespecial quotas for minoritiesin workplaces, schools andcolleges, and access to dis-counted healthcare, but in theabsence of census data, members of the LGBT com-munity say they haven’tbeen allocated these privi-

leges.The exact population of

LGBT would help determinehow much of the quota inthese jobs and education willgo to them.

Dhundi Raj Lamichane,an official at Nepal’s CentralBureau of Statistics, said the

national census is planned forsummer of 2021 but a trialwill be done next month in afew select districts.

Citizens will be able toidentify themselves as male,female or other sexual gender.

LGBT rights activistshave welcomed governmentmove.

“This is a big step in ourcampaign. This will helpestablish our identity as aminority group in Nepal,”said Sarita K.C. of MitiniNepal , adding that the data will increase the visi-bility of the LGBT commu-nity, which activists estimateincludes about 900,000 peo-ple.

Sexual minorities havemade significant progresssecuring rights in Nepal inrecent years.

A new const itut ionadopted in 2015 forbids alldiscrimination based on sexual orientation, reaffirm-ing a 2008 Supreme Courtruling. Citizenship certifi-cates and passports now allowa “non-male, non-female”category.

Page 13: ˘ˇ ˆ˙ - The Pioneer · PMO and recently violating Supreme Court’s advise against violent agitations. Modi also accused the Congress of discreetly insti-gating anti-CAA agitation

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Almonds used to have about 170 calo-ries per serving. Then researchers

said it was really more like 130. A littlelater, they said the nuts may have evenless.

Calorie counting can be a simple wayto help maintain a healthy weight — don’teat and drink more than you burn. Andthe calorie labels on food packaging seemlike an immutable guide to help you trackwhat you eat. But the shifting numbersfor almonds show how the figures print-ed on nutrition labels may not be as pre-cise as they seem.

Last month, Kind said it was lower-ing the calorie counts for its snack bars,even though the ingredients weren’tchanging. The company cited studies thatindicate nuts have fewer digestible calo-ries than previously believed.

Conducted by governmentresearchers with funding from nut pro-ducers, the studies show the inexactmethod of determining calorie countsestablished more than a century ago. Thewidely used system says a gram of car-bohydrates and a gram of protein eachhave four calories, while a gram of fat hasaround nine. Companies can also subtractsome calories based on past estimates ofhow much of different foods are notdigested.

But based on anecdotal comments,researchers suspected more of the nutri-ents in nuts may be expelled in the bath-room than previously estimated. “Ifthey’re not digested, then maybe the calo-rie content is not correct,” said DavidBaer, a co-author of the nut studies at theUS Department of Agriculture, whichfunded the research along with nut pro-ducers like the Almond Board ofCalifornia.

To test the hunch, Baer and col-leagues gave 18 people meals with andwithout raw almonds and instructedthem to return daily with their urine andstool packed in dry ice. The contents wereanalysed to calculate that a serving ofalmonds has about 130 digestible calories,rather than the widely used figure of 170.

A few years later, in 2016, anotherstudy by Baer and colleagues also lookedat the effects of food processing. Theyfound cooking and grinding helpedbreak down cell walls in almonds, free-ing more calories for digestion. Roastedalmonds had slightly more digestiblecalories than raw almonds. When thenuts were ground up into almond butter,

nearly all the calories were digested.Notably, the second study also found

raw almonds had even fewer digestiblecalories than suggested by the first study.Baer attributed the discrepancy to vari-ations in how people digest foods andnatural differences in almonds them-selves.

“It’s unlikely you’re going to get theexact same number every time yourepeat the experiment,” he said. Thealmond studies are among several Baerhas co-authored on the digestibility ofnuts. Another last year was funded by theGlobal Cashew Council and foundcashews had fewer calories than estimat-ed.

Despite his findings, Baer said hethinks the calorie counts used for mostother foods are fairly accurate. Andeven though the US Food and DrugAdministration lets companies use differ-ent methods to determine calorie counts,the agency says products aren’t supposedto have more than 20 per cent more calo-ries than what’s stated on labels.

That’s why health experts said that thecalorie counts on nutrition labels are stillvaluable: They offer general guidance forpeople trying to keep their weight incheck. But it’s even more important to payattention to overall diet and not get hungup on small caloric differences, expertssaid. “That’s not what’s going to make orbreak someone’s attempt at weight man-agement,” said Elizabeth Mayer-Davis, aUniversity of North Carolina nutritionprofessor.

Mayer said that the studies on thecalories in nuts wouldn’t affect her gen-eral advice that they can be part of ahealthy diet. She said it’s more importantto pay attention to how they’re prepared,such as whether sweeteners are added.Kind’s founder, Daniel Lubetzky, said hehopes the studies will help overcome thereluctance some might have about eatingnuts because of their relatively highercalorie counts. The studies also mean thecompany’s most popular bar can nowdrop from 200 to 180 calories, whichcould be a marketing advantage thatsways decisions at the grocery store. “Itcan’t hurt.” Lubetzky said Mars, whichtook a minority stake in Kind in 2017,said it doesn’t have plans to update thecalorie counts for M&M’s with almonds.The Almond Board says it’s not aware ofother companies yet using the lowernumbers. D �

Petite, feminine, pretty,candy floss — some of thewords that come crowding

around as soon as we ascend thesteps to reach Tera Vita, a newrestaurant in Khan Market.Done up in shades of pink andblue, the restaurant has smallniches, quirky posters and morewhich add to its hip youngimage ideal for a girls’ night out.It has an old-world charm whichtransports you to a corner ofEurope. Certainly a place whereyou can click Instagram-worthyimages.

The brain behind the restau-rant is the very young and affa-ble Chahat Jain, who tells us itwas two things that inspired herto start the place. Having trav-elled the world, she felt that therewere certain segments in foodthat lacked authenticity in Indiaand she wanted to plug that gap.The second factor was that herelder brother is one of thefounders of Grub Fest, the mostsuccessful food festival, held inthe capital. “I had a job at handbut the joining date kept gettingdelayed. My brother wanted meto be a part of his team but Iwanted to strike out on myown,” she says.

First, she started out with afood delivery service and thendecided to start a dine-in. theresult was Tera Vita. The restau-rant is named ‘Tera’ after theRoman goddess of the ‘Earth’Terra, while ‘Vita’ translates as‘Life’ in Italian. “Everything here,from the colours and furnitureto the posters and artefacts haveall been selected by me. In factmy family tried to take off someload and bought some pieces butit was not what I had in mindand got it all changed,” she says.

Coming to food, the firstthing that grabbed eyeballs wasInvisible salad because of itsname. I noticed the ingredientsonly later and that made me cer-tain that this was the dish I want-ed to go for. A mix of greenapple, goat cheese, mesclungreens and candied nuts, tossedin a sundried tomato paste madefor a mix that was healthy anddecadent at the same time. Whilethe greens and the fruit made itnice and crunchy, it was the goatcheese which added a smoothtexture, a slightly salty taste andcreaminess to the melange. I

could practically make a mealout of this.

Next up was the Charm bro-colli, which was served withharissa, sour cream and peanutcrumble which combined bothcrunch and smooth texture.However, it was the Heavenbrulee with its warm Italian goatcheese, roasted beetroot, peeledmandarins and roasted walnuts

that had my heart. Not only didit walk the tightrope between thetextures but also balanced theflavours with equal panache.The tart mandarin, slightly sweetbeetroot, nutty sweet walnutand salty cheese were polishedoff the plate in record time. Thisone is certainly a winner onhands. And incidentally, also theowner’s favourite

Another one would be theHouse prawns, cooked withnothing more than roasted gar-lic, onion and olive which wasserved with sourdough crisps.while the prawns were cooked

just right, the garlic added a pun-gent flavour while onions andolives make for value additions.

Certainly the place to headto when you head out with yourgirl gang next time.

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Tata Motors has always puton a show at the Auto Expothanks to their extensive

range of commercial vehicles thatthey have always had the largestfloor area at the Expo for years.The Auto Expo has been wheretheir Chairman Emeritus, RatanTata has dropped some of themost significant cars in the Indianautomotive history. The TataIndica in 1998 and of course, theTata Nano in 2004.

However, this year, nobodyreally expected Tata Motors to doall that much. Their big launch forthe year, the Altroz had alreadybeen launched last month. Butthen again, never doubt the abil-ity. Surprisingly, Tata revived abrand name that had been mori-bund for over a decade, the Sierra.Yes, India’s “original” SportsUtility Vehicle (SUV) had beenreimagined for the electric vehi-cle future and well, Tata Motorsace designer Pratap Bose thoughtit should become a mobile loungeof sorts.

Well, even Tata Motors exec-utives admit that the Sierra won’tend up with polished wood floorsand a lounge set-up, but well, thesliding door could stay. Yet, forsome of us it was another car atthe Tata Motors stand that caughtthe eye, the ‘HBX’ compact SUV.While that will wear anotherbadge when it comes into produc-tion, this sub-compact SUV isalmost certain to make it ontoIndian roads in a slightly modi-fied form by late 2020. And it isthis sub-compact SUV segment,that is below four metres inlength and the compact-SUVsegment (between 4.2-4.4 metresin length) that saw the mostaction at the expo.

In addition to the Tata HBX

concept and Kia’s Sonet concept,both sub-compacts gearing up totake on the market leaders, theHyundai Venus and Maruti-Suzuki Vitara Brezza. Talking ofthe Brezza, it also got a refresh at

the expo, now featuring Suzuki’sK15 engine with 103 horsepow-er, a mild hybrid system and aproper automatic gearbox. AndKia’s Sonet, while also a conceptfor now, is almost in final form

according to Kia’s Global Designchief Karim Habib. The Sonet,which is almost certain to retainthat name, is expected to hitIndian roads around the festiveseason. It is a smart-looking car

and very likely will become a seg-ment leader. Kia also revealed theprice of the Carnival MPV, whichhas been priced at a very impres-sive range between �25-34 lakh,the top Carnival model has gar-nered nearly 70 per cent of the3,500 orders. Quite impressive!

The Volkswagen Group, nowheadlined by Skoda in India hada media night on the Mondaybefore the start of the Expo butbetween Skoda and Volkswagensome pretty neat cars on display.Volkswagen showcased their2021-bound Taigun CompactSUV alongside the longer T-Rocand the seven-seat variant of theTiguan. Skoda showcased theirVision-IN concept which willform the basis of their upcomingCompact SUV, the Taigun andVision-In based on the MQB-A0platform form the basis of theGroup’s ‘India 2.0’ strategy butone can question whether 2021 isgoing to be too late for anylaunch.

The Chinese were also at theExpo in force, between MGMotor, the brand used byShanghai Automotive IndustrialCorporation (SAIC) showcasingseveral exciting new modelsincluding their full size SUV theGloster. But the real surprise wasGreat Wall Motors, the Chinesemanufacturer that has just boughtthe General Motors factory inTalegaon. They showcased theentirety of their range includingseveral Haval brand SUV’s.Unfortunately, due to theCoronavirus outbreak most exec-utives from the Chinese operationcould not make it to India for theshow. That and the fact thatmanufacturers like Audi, BMW,Ford and Honda staying away aswell as all of India’s top twowheeler companies made theExpo have a slightly cold feelabout it. But you should still makea beeline to Greater Noida thisweekend.

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Every breath you take andevery move you makeEvery bond you break,

every step you take, I’ll bewatching you

Every single day and everyword you say

Every game you play, everynight you stay, I’ll be watchingyou.”

The 1980s’ song by thegroup, The Police, can seemscary rather than romantic ifsung in present t imes.Imagine, if one morning youfind out that all your person-al data and life is under some-body else’s control and hence,out in public. You are beingconstantly watched and everymove traced. You are hacked.And you have no control overhow to end this surveillance.What do you do?

Hacked , directed byVikram Bhatt, is one suchstory. It revolves around asuccessful businesswoman(played by Hina Khan), who istracked by a 19-year-old lover(played by Rohan Shah). Thefilm highlights how cyber-security and online privacy isin danger these days and howeasily anyone can be a target.

Actor Hina Khan tells usthat Vikram narrated manysuch real incidents. One of hisfriends was stalked so muchthat she was forced to move toa different city. Many are stillunaware of her whereabouts.“It’s so sad. You can’t use yourFacebook, Instagram,Snapchat or any social mediaaccount because a hackermight get to know where youare. You are terrified for therest of your life. It’s very unfor-tunate that a lot of them havetaken their lives because theycan’t deal with it,” says she.

It’s important to realisethat it is easy for hackers tosteal your passwords. We useemail every day and nothingmuch has changed since thefirst one was sent in 1971.However, its use is more wide-spread which has made it eas-ier for individuals to accessother people’s emails and see

what is being sent. We are nowmuch more vulnerable tohackers stealing informationsuch as your contact lists,confidential information andbank details, feels Hina.

Fan of using public WiFi?Yes, it’s convenient and free

but have you ever questionedwhether is it secure? Whileshooting, she learnt that sheneeds to be careful while log-ging on to a public network.She says, “Most WiFi hotspotsdon’t encrypt the informa-tion you send over the inter-

net and if the network requiresa password, it’s most likely nota secured network. If astranger comes to your placeand you give access to yourWiFi, s/he can hack all thedevices in your house. So nowI don’t give my password toanyone. All this is so scary.”

Hina feels that somewhereeven we are responsible. “Wewant to put our best foot for-ward on social media, when itcomes to pictures, tweets andeverything. I go to gym, clickpictures, post them. We alsostore our intimate moments inour galleries. We should not bedoing that. When we are notgoing to post it, why risk it? It’svery important to talk aboutthese things. We might getstuck in relationships wherethere are trust issues. There areways to navigate these but wedon’t do that and get carriedaway,” she points out.

While such shows areintended to make the audienceaware of online crime, dothey also give ideas to peoplewho have a negative mind?Actor Rohan Shah says,“Anyone will watch what theyfind interesting. You cannotsay that you are putting thoseideas in someone’s head as inorder to teach how to dealwith such situations, you haveto show them too, isn’t it? Youcannot make everyone amongthe audience think the sameway. They will eventually thinkdifferent no matter what. Itonly depends on the personand the way s/he looks atthings. Technically, koi kisi kosikha nahi sakta unless vohkhud sikhna nahi chahta. Ateacher can only share thingsand it’s the student who willgrab only what he likes.”

Hina agrees with Rohanand says, “When we make anyfilm, there’s always evil andgood. You can’t just have goodin the film and expect it tosucceed. Do we get inspired byevil? No, right? So it’s up to theperson. Such films are a learn-ing experience for people andnot to put them on the wrongpath.”

It’s the first time thatRohan is playing a dark andnegative character. So howdid he prepare for it? Werethere any references that hehad to take up? He says that tolearn the technicalities of thecharacter, there was a team. “Ijust had to prepare for theemotional quotient, which isto understand the mind of thecharacter. Why is he doingsuch things? My prep wasonly to realise what and why.There were no references assuch. My script was my onlyBible.”

The Yeh Rishta KyaKehlata Hai actor tells us thatshe didn’t give any audition forHacked. When Vikram narrat-ed the script, she wasn’t con-vinced at the first go. “I wasvery confused. I never thoughtI would debut in a film withsuch an impactful topic. Also,this film has been co-writtenby an ethical hacker.Eventually, all this moved me,”says she.

Well, it all seems perfecton the outside but a lot ofuncertainties and challengeshave gone behind Hina’s suc-cess in the industry. Shebelieves that god has beenkind on her. Her mantra is tonever stop working. “I believein the amalgamation of hardwork and destiny. They canmake you reach where youwish to,” says she. So how doesshe cope up with the negativecriticism and trolling towardsher work? She tells us that youcan’t really do anything aboutpeople. She adds, “I just pitythem because all they need isattention. It’s like — kuch tohlog kahenge, logon ka kaam haikehna.”

He was born Issur Danielovitch, a ragman’s son.He died Kirk Douglas, a Hollywood king.

Douglas, the muscular, tempestuous actor withthe dimpled chin, lived out an epic American storyof reinvention and perseverance, from the rich-es he acquired and risked to the parts he took onand the boundaries he defied. Among the mostpopular, versatile and recognisable leading menof the 20th century, he could will himself into arole or a favourite cause as mightily as he willedhimself out of poverty.

Douglas, who died at 103, was a force forchange and symbol of endurance. He is remem-bered now as a final link to a so-called Golden Age,the father of Oscar winner Michael Douglas anda man nearly as old as the industry itself. But inhis prime, he represented a new kind of performer,more independent and adventurous than ClarkGable, Spencer Tracy and other greats of the stu-dio era of the 1930s and 1940s, and more willingto speak his mind. His career began at the peakof the studios’ power and ended in a more diverse,decentralised age that he helped bring about.

Reaching stardom after World War-II, he wasas likely to play cads (the producer in Bad andthe Beautiful, the journalist in Ace in the Hole) ashe was suited for the hero-slave in Spartacus, asalert to the business as he was at home before thecamera. He was producing his own films at a timemost stars were content to act and was workingwith an enviable range of directors, from a youngStanley Kubrick to a middle-aged John Huston,from a genius of noir like Jacques Tourneur to suchmaster satirists as Billy Wilder and Joseph LMankiewicz.

Acting served as escape and as confession. Hisfavourite among dozens of films was the contem-porary Western Lonely are the Brave, which cameout in 1962 and included a line of dialogueDouglas called the most personal he ever spoke,“I’m a loner clear down deep to my very guts.”

He never won a competitive Oscar, but hereceived an honorary one, along with a lifetimeachievement award from the American FilmInstitute, an honorary Golden Globe and aPresidential Medal of Freedom. His standing camein part from his role in the downfall ofHollywood’s blacklist, which ruined the careersof writers suspected of pro-Communist activity.

By the end of the 1950s, the use of bannedwriters was widely known within the industry, butnot to the general public. Douglas, who years ear-lier had reluctantly signed a loyalty oath to get thestarring role in Lust for Life, delivered a crucial

blow when he openly credited the blacklistedOscar winner Dalton Trumbo for script work onSpartacus, the Roman epic about a slave rebellionthat was released in 1960.

The most famous words in a Douglas filmwere said about him, not by him, in Spartacus.Roman officials tell a gathering of slaves their liveswill be spared if they identify their leader. AsDouglas rises, a growing chorus of slaves jumpup and shout, “I’m Spartacus!” Douglas standssilently, a tear rolling down his face.

Critic David Thomson dubbed Douglas “themanic-depressive among Hollywood stars, oneminute bearing down on plot, dialogue andactresses with the gleeful appetite of a man justfreed from Siberia, at other times writhing not justin agony but mutilation and a convincingly hor-rible death.” While filming Lust for Life, he wasso caught up in Vincent Van Gogh he fearedbecoming suicidal himself.

Issur Danielovitch took the name KirkDouglas as he worked his way through theAmerican Academy of Dramatic Arts, choosing“Douglas” because he wanted his last name stillto begin with “D” and “Kirk” because he liked thehard, jagged sound of the “K.”

In March 2009, he appeared in a one-manshow, Before I Forget, recounting his life andfamous friends. The four-night show in the KirkDouglas Theatre in Culver City was sold out. “Youknow, I never wanted to be a film actor,” Douglashad said. “My goal in life was to be a star on stage.Now I know how to do it. Build your own the-atre.” D �

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Page 15: ˘ˇ ˆ˙ - The Pioneer · PMO and recently violating Supreme Court’s advise against violent agitations. Modi also accused the Congress of discreetly insti-gating anti-CAA agitation

��!� ���.�2 The Indian men’shockey team began their FIHHockey Pro League campaignon a fantastic note after defeat-ing the Netherlands in boththeir matches last month. Andthe world No 5 Indian teamnow will face a bigger challengewhen they host world No 1 sideBelgium on 8 February and 9February at the KalingaStadium in Bhubaneswar.India’s Forward GurjantSingh expressed that theIndian set-up is improvingwith each match and isworking towards a commongoal of performing well at theOlympics this year.

“This is a very crucial timefor us. Every match is veryimportant for us. We are coor-dinating and playing well as aunit. However, we have toensure that we keep putting upgood performances consistent-

ly. Each and every player in theteam has the Olympics in theirmind and we are workingtowards doing well at the tour-nament,” said the 25-year-old.

The forward added thatthe team is confident ahead oftaking on Belgium since Indiaperformed brilliantly duringtheir tour of Belgium last year.

“We had a great tour ofBelgium last year, we wonall our matches there. Thatresult certainly gives us alot of confidence. All the

FIH Hockey Pro Leaguematches will help us prepare

for the Olympics. All the topteams in the world are playingthis tournament. Now theIndian team is performing well.We beat the Netherlands lastmonth, who are ranked third inthe world. So the team’s moraleis quite high at the moment,”said Gurjant. PNS

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Tokyo 2020 Olympics organ-isers said Thursday the

Games would "go ahead asplanned", slamming misinforma-tion over the new coronavirus fortriggering panic.

Chief executive officerToshiro Muto revealed thatorganisers have set up a taskforce to combat the fast-spread-ing disease that has killed over560 people and infected at least28,000 -- the vast majority inmainland China -- but promisedthat the Games would be notderailed.

"The Olympics will go aheadas planned," he told reportersafter a Paralympic project review.

"It is important to remainobjective and cool-headed. Wedon't want to alarm the public.The infection is still limited andthere is no problem staging theOlympics based on the currentsituation."

International ParalympicCommittee (IPC) spokesmanCraig Spence complained thatscaremongering had created an"info-demic" that could skewpublic perception in the run-upto the Olympics andParalympics.

"Fear is spreading quickerthan the virus," he said.

"It's important we quell thatfear. Only 191 of the total casesare outside mainland China, solet's put things into perspective.

"If you compare those rateswith the common flu, they arestill relatively small numbers,"added Spence.

"The World HealthOrganization (WHO) has notdeclared this a pandemic. Wedealt with the Zika virus in Rioand in these matters we need torely on the experts.

"We will follow the advice ofthe World Health Organization.Every organising committeelooks into countermeasures, andwe have measures in place fromprevious Olympics andParalympics here in Tokyo. It isstandard practice, it's business asusual." More than 20 coun-tries have confirmed cases of theflu-like coronavirus.

������ ����Japan has had no reported

deaths so far, but 45 cases havebeen detected, including at least20 people on a cruise ship car-rying more than 3,700 passen-gers and crew quarantined offYokohama.

The WHO has declared theoutbreak a global health emer-gency. Japan has warned citizensagainst non-essential travel toChina and fast-tracked new rulesincluding limits on entering thecountry as it tries to contain thespread of the virus.

Japanese Prime MinisterShinzo Abe on Thursday pledgedthat preparations for theOlympics would proceed as nor-mal.

"The coronavirus is begin-ning to have an impact ontourism," he said. "But the gov-ernment will continue to steadi-ly prepare for the Games inclose cooperation with the IOC(International OlympicCommittee), the local organisingcommittee and the TokyoMetropolitan Government."

The Japanese governmenthas chartered three flights torepatriate 565 Japanese nationalsfrom Wuhan, the central Chinesecity hardest hit by the virus.Tokyo governor Yuriko Koikepromised at the weekend toimplement "thorough measures"to protect people from the virus.

The health scare has led tothe cancellation of Olympic qual-ifying events in China such asboxing and badminton.

The Tokyo Olympics beginon July 24 with the Paralympicsstarting on August 25.

���+�� ��������

Former chairman of selec-tors MSK Prasad is as big

a fan of MS Dhoni as anyoneelse, although in his chair, itwas his job to 'move on' fromthe stumper and give young-sters a chance.

"As far as we are con-cerned, we are backing young-sters and giving them as manyopportunities to settle welland play long," Prasad wasquoted as saying by Sportstar.

"Mahi will take a decisionfor himself. As a panel mem-ber, if I keep professional dutyaside, I am as big a fan ofDhoni as anyone else. He hasachieved everything under the

sun winning two World Cups,the Champions Trophy, theNo. 1 Status in Tests. Nobodycan question that.

"About his career, he willtake a call. As selectors, ourduty is to move on and iden-tify the next generation ofplayers and keep giving themchances."

Under his watch, RohitSharma blossomed to be oneof the best batters in worldcricket and also cemented hisspot in the Test team as anopener. "Well, Rohit is now anall-format player. His transfor-mation is stunning. We knowhis unbelievable talent in whiteball cricket with those doublecenturies.

"And, in the last four tofive months as a Test opener,he has shown his class. I wishhe has one good away series.That should change his mind-set," opined Prasad.

On Shreyas Iyer, who isIndia's newfound No.4, a posi-tion the team struggled tofind a player for during histenure with Vijay Shankargoing to the World Cup andnot doing well at the spot,Prasad said: "In Tests, we haveHanuma Vihari and Shreyasfor ODIs. Shreyas is doingwell."

Prasad also said whenJasprit Bumrah was out withinjury for a long time, he wastraining in a manner which

meant he would not be rustyon return. Bumrah has beenon-song since making a come-back with the fifth and finalT20I in New Zealand being acase in point where hereturned magical figures of3/12.

"Even though he was rest-ing, he was training in such away that once he came backinto the squad he was notrusty. He was ready from ballone."

Asked about the cases ofKarun Nair and AmbatiRayudu who were not pickeddespite good performances,Prasad said: "I felt seriously forRayudu. I can clearly say that.It was a very touch and go

issue. Our committee alwaysfelt that he should be on theradar of Test selection after the2016 Zimbabwe tour.

"And, I spoke to him as towhy he was not focussing onTest cricket. If you remember,based on the IPL perfor-mances, we picked him forODIs, which may not lookappropriate to many. Then, wefocussed on his fitness forone month at the NCA, helpedhim there. He has delivered toan extent. Unfortunately, I amalso hurt at what happened tohim (apparently referring tothe 2019 World Cup selectionwhen Rayudu was ignored)having played with him. I feelbad for him."

Nair was not persistedwith despite scoring a triplehundred in Tests. With regardto Karun, after the triple cen-tury in the Test match againstEngland, Prasad feels it was acase of missed opportunities.

"Even this year in VijayHazare and Mushtaq AliTrophy tournaments he hasn'tscored much. It has been a caseof either a very big score or astring of poor scores that fol-lowed. Look at Shubman (Gill)or Vihari's consistency. Atleast you should be perform-ing. Everyone talks aboutKarun's triple but what afterthat? I wish Karun does well inRanji to make a comeback," hepointed.

���+�� � �4$�

Former Pakistan pacerShoaib Akhtar has labelled

the U-19 team's semi-finalshow against India as "imma-ture", saying their cricketboard can seek help from for-mer players l ike him,Mohammad Yousuf andYounis Khan.

Pakistan colts lost to Indiaby 10 wickets to crash out ofthe World Cup at the semi-final stage.

Pakistan were skittled outfor 172 and then it was a cake-walk for centurion YashasviJaiswal who remained unbeat-en on 105 with DivyaanshSaxena not out on 59 as Indiawon in 35.2 overs scoring176.

"Don't lose heart. Youneed to learn from failures.These are not setbacks, theseare opportunities. Well doneon reaching the semi-finalbut the better team won,"Akhtar said on his YouTubechannel.

Akhtar termed Pakistan'sground fielding as "patheticand foolish". He lavishedpraise on Jaiswal, saying hewill play for India one day as

he has the hunger."Jaiswal will go places. He

has the hunger to do well. Hewill definitely play for India.India looked so matured. Andthat is because they havematured coaches."

India won the U-19 WorldCup in 2018 with RahulDravid as the head coach.Akhtar cited his example, say-ing if you want the best togroom your youngsters, youneed to spend money onthem.

"They got India's best mid-dle-order batsman RahulDravid for the coaching role inU-19 team.

When you get a big guy,you need to pay him well.Here, Younis Khan went totake the job, the PCB offeredhim a job, and then they arebargaining with him. ‘15 lakhnahi, 13 lakh le lo’ (take � 13lakh and not � 15 lakh). Hesaid 'take it back'. Is that howyou treat your stars?

"There is MohammadYousuf, Younis Khan, I amhere, just ask us. We will helpthe team. You think if wewere a part of U-19 coachingstaff, the team would have per-formed like this?" said Akhtar.

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Crediting Abhinav Bindrafor changing the landscape

of shooting in the country, ris-ing pistol marksman AbhishekVerma on Thursday said thegold medal gave confidence tomany aspiring shooters.

In 2008, Bindra becamethe first Indian to win an indi-vidual gold medal at theOlympic Games at Beijing.

"Abhinav Bindra's goldmedal completely transformedthe shooting landscape in ourcountry. It gave that confi-dence to many aspiring shoot-ers like me that I too can per-form well in the sport and geta medal for my country,"Verma said.

For the Tokyo Games, thenumber of quotas stands at arecord 15 after a highly success-ful 2019 that saw Indian shoot-ers top all the Rifle-PistolWorld Cups and the season-ending World Cup Finals.

Verma also managed tobook an Olympic quota forIndia by winning the gold inthe 10m air pistol event at theBeijing World Cup.

"I am working really hardtowards honing my skills andgiving my best shot at the 2020Tokyo Olympics," Verma said.

The first edition of theKhelo India University Gamesis being organised inBhubaneshwar from Feb 22February to March 1 Marchand Verma feels the tourna-ment will help get a system inplace for aspiring sports per-sons.

"I think this is the bestthing to have happened forgrassroots level sports in ourcountry, previously there was anational university champi-onship that used to take placebut no one was aware of it," hesaid.

"Firstly with Khelo IndiaYouth Games and now with theKhelo India University gamestaking place I think we finallyhave a system coming in placewhich provides a professionalcompetition space for all aspir-ing athletes of our country."

Verma also said it is veryimportant that parents encour-age their children to take upsports and support them intheir endeavour of becomingan athlete.

"Parents play a huge role inbuilding their children's careerswho are aspiring to pursueprofessional sports. With thegovernment coming up withinitiatives like the Khelo IndiaUniversity Games, I feel it isessential for parents to under-stand that it shouldn't only beabout studies, a career in sportsis ver y much a realist icthought," said the shooter.

���� $ 8!4��

Suryakumar Yadav blazed his wayto 134 to lead Mumbai’s fight backon the third day of their Elite

Group B Ranji Trophy game againstSaurashtra after the domestic giantsconceded 73 runs first-inningslead.

After losing openerBhupen Lalwani (3) early,Surya (134 off 130 balls, 17x4,3x6) and Jay Bista (46) wipedout the deficit in just 16 overs tokeep Mumbai in the hunt at the SCAStadium in Khandheri.

Surya notched up his 14th first-class 100, as he played his usualaggressive game, while Bista playedsecond fiddle.

The duo added 119-runs for thesecond wicket and their partnershipbrought Mumbai back into the con-tention in what is a must-win game.

Surya got a life at 44 and he madeoptimum use of it.

All-rounder Shams Mulani waspromoted to number four and headded 98 runs for the third wicket withSurya as Mumbai looked to gain theupper-hand.

But left-arm orthodox spinnerDharmendrasinh Jadeja, who troubledSurya, won the battle after trappinghim in front of the wicket.

In-form Sarfaraz Khan joinedMulani and the two remained unbeat-en when stumps were drawn withMumbai at 285 for 3, extending thelead by 212 runs.

Earlier, resuming at the overnight257 for 6, Saurashtra overhauledMumbai’s first-innings score of 262.

A gritty unbeaten 84 by ChiragJani helped the hosts take a 73-run firstinnings lead.

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu defeatedBaroda by an innings and 57 runs atMotibaug Ground in Vadodara withright-arm medium pacer K Vigneshtaking a fifer in the second essay.

Due to Vignesh’s heroics with theball, Tamil Nadu dismissed the hostsfor 259 in their second innings to reg-ister an emphatic win and picked upseven points.

His haul included the key wicketof captain Krunal Pandya, who madea defiant 74 (95 balls, 10 fours, 2 sixes),

having him caught in the deep by sub-stitute M Siddharth and DeepakHooda (4).

The 25-year-old medium-pacer,who made a comeback into the teamafter being dropped for the matchagainst Railways (which Tamil Naduwon comprehensively), said it wasgood to be back in the squad andamong wickets too.

“The wicket was good and we hadto really bowl well in the secondinnings because it slightly eased out

after we batted,” Vignesh said.

������������� � ������!� ���.�2� Wicketkeeper batsmanAnuj Rawat’s stroke-filled hundredgave Delhi a slim chance of an outrightwin after Gujarat got the all-importantfirst innings lead in group Aencounter.

In reply to Delhi’s 293, Gujaratscored 335 after starting the day at 269for 4 with Manprit Juneja (124, 190balls) and Dhruv Raval (94)’s 221-run

stand for the fifth wicket proving cru-cial in a 42-run lead.

However left-handed Anuj, a for-mer India U19 captain, then took theattack back to the opposition campwith a superb 133 off 194 balls that had15 fours and two sixes.

Delhi ended the day at 228 for fourwith a lead of 186 runs going into thefinal day.

While the chances of an outrightwin on a good batting track might notbe more than 25 percent but Anuj’sinnings certainly gave Delhi a glimmerof hope if they can get a lead of 275by lunch and get 60 overs at opposi-tion.

“That’s the plan. The wicket isgood for batting but it is slightly up anddown at times. But yes, bowlers needto bend their backs,” said the studentof Rajkumar Sharma, who is also ViratKohli’s coach.

��� �����������+ ��-�2�Goa dished out an all-roundperformance to thrash Nagaland by229 runs inside three days to return tothe top of Plate table.

With a cushion of 142-run firstinnings lead, Snehal Kauthankar (68not out from 63 balls; 9x4s, 1x6) andskipper Amit Verma (66 from 73 balls;6x4s, 2x6s) put together 103 runs in 95balls for the fourth wicket to declaretheir second essay at 221 for four, set-ting a stiff 364 target for the hosts

In reply, only three Nagalandbatsmen reached double digit scoresas they were folded for 134 in 36.4overs to suffer their second defeat thisseason.

Stuart Binny top-scored with 58but there was little support from theother end with Shrikant Mundhe (38)being the other batsman to reach dou-ble figures.

Kabul: Afghanistan haverecalled fast bowler ShapoorZadran for the upcomingthree-match T20I seriesagainst Ireland. Zadran makesa comeback in national colorsafter almost one and a halfyears. The pacer last played aT20I in June 2018 againstBangladesh. The 15-membersquad announced by theAfghanistan Cricket Board(ACB) selection committeealso consists of young all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai.Opening batsman, UsmanGhani, who was not includedin Afghanistan's series againstWest Indies in October 2019,is back in the squad as well.Afghanistan will face Ireland ina three-match T20I serieswhich will be played on March6, 8 and 10 at the GreaterNoida Ground. PTI

��+ � ��������

Fourth-seeded Kwan Soon-woostormed into the singles quarter-finals

at the third of Tata Open Maharashtrawith a hard-fought 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) winagainst India’s Prajnesh Gunneswaran atMhalunge Balewadi Stadium in Pune onThursday.

Despite losing the first set, the IndiaNo 1 put a brilliant show in attempt tocomeback which saw the second setgoing into decider. However, World No88 Soon-woo held his nerves in the tie-breaker to score crucial points andwrapped up the match.

Prajnesh, who entered the SouthAsia’s only ATP Tour tournament, whichis organised by Maharashtra State LawnTennis Association (MSLTA) in associa-tion with Government of Maharashtra,with a direct entry in the main draw,denied his opponent match points on acouple of occasions.

With Prajnesh’s loss in the round of16, India’s challenge came to an end in thesingles.

Earlier Sumit Nagal, RamkumarRamanathan, Sasikumar Mukund andArjun Kadhe lost their respective match-es in the opening round.

Earlier in other singles last-16 match,Australia’s James Duckworth held hisnerves during thrilling three-set 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 over Taro Daniel.Despite losing the first set, the sixth seed-ed Duckworth made timely comeback towin the hard-fought second set. However,the Australian had continued the momen-tum to win the decider easily to completevictory.

In doubles category, pair of RomainArneodo and Andre Begemann caused amajor upset in the tournament as theyknocked out top-seed pair of RobinHaase and Robert Lindstedt with athrashing 6-3, 6-3 win to enter the semi-finals.

However, third seeded Jonathan Erlichand Andrei Vasilevski also made their wayinto the last four. Erlich-Vasilevski hadfought hard before registering 5-7, 6-1, 10-8 win against Italian pair of StefanoTravaglia and Paolo Lorenzi.

%��*����2� Indian tennislegend Leander Paes onThursday confirmed his par-ticipation in the BangaloreOpen ATP Challenger, begin-ning here on February 10.

Paes, who is into hisfarewell season, will be seenin action for one last time onhome soil at the $162,000event at the KSLTA.

“Playing at home in front

of my fellow Indians has alwaysbeen a source of immensepleasure and motivation forme. Bangalore has always hada crowd that understands ten-nis and the vibe of the stadiumand the energy of the city real-ly invigorate me,” said Paes,who is currently playing at theTATA Maharashtra ATP Tourevent in Pune.

The 46-year-old veteranhas 54 ATP Tour doubles titlesbesides eight Grand Slam men’sdoubles crowns and 10 GrandSlam mixed doubles titles. Andwith just three short of 100Grand Slam appearances, Paesis now aiming to play all theSlams this year before signingoff.

“To my Bangalore friends,fans and tennis lovers, I amlooking forward to entertainingall of you One Last Roar time.See you guys soon,” said Paes,who last played in Bengaluru inthe Davis Cup 2014 when hepartnered with RohanBopanna. PTI

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3'�����������*���� ����������&����� ���� ���(�0��# �5���� ���?&������ ��(��*���!����.�2 After a marvelousstart of their Pro League cam-paign which saw them defeatAustralia and New Zealandaway from home, WorldChampions and world No 1Belgium Belgian team led byexperienced midfielderThomas Briels, arrived in theBhubaneswar brimming withconfidence ahead of their twomatches against hosts India.

Expressing delight at theprospect of playing India atthe iconic Kalinga HockeyStadium, Briels said he’s look-ing forward to playing at thevenue where his side lifted theFIH Men’s Hockey WorldCup trophy in 2018. “It feelsreally good to be back in thecity where we became theWorld Champions. And I’m

expecting a great round ofmatches against India, whohave also improved massive-ly in the past couple of years,”said the 32-year-old.

Commenting on oppo-nents India, Briels said heexpects a good fight , “Indiais looking really sharp aswell, and they have beenplaying well which is some-thing we saw in their initialtwo matches against theDutch. We expect a toughcouple of matches, and itsgoing to be a good fight for usas well. Of course, we arewary of the threat that theypossess, but we are reallyexcited to play a tough oppo-nent like India so we canimprove further before theOlympics.” PNS

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Thomas Mueller weighed inwith a goal and an assist as

holders Bayern Munich edged a 4-3 thriller with Hoffenheim onWednesday to reach the GermanCup quarter-finals.

Mueller’s golden run contin-ued at the Allianz Arena to leavehim with seven goals and nineassists in the 14 games since HansiFlick replaced Niko Kovac ascoach last November.

Not to be outdone, Mueller’sstrike partner Lewandowskiclaimed two goals in the third-round tie.

However, Hoffenheim’sIsraeli forward Munas Dabburcaused Bayern a few nervousmoments with two late goals as thevisitors threatened a fightback

from 4-1 down.“In the second half, we gave

too much ball away and let themcome back into the game,” admit-ted Bayern winger Serge Gnabry.

“We have to look atthat, howeverwe had a

lot of fun going forward in attack.”It was Mueller who had

calmed Bayern’s early nerves,forcing an own goal fromBenjamin Huebner to equalise

after Bayern defender JeromeBoateng had turned the ballinto his own net.

Mueller then gave Bayerna 2-1 lead before Lewandowskinetted either side of half-timeto extend their lead beforeHoffenheim’s late fightback.

Bayern are the biggest nameinto the last eight after RB Leipzigand Borussia Dortmund bothcrashed out on Tuesday toEintracht Frankfurt and WerderBremen respectively.

Also, a goal by Argentinianstriker Lucas Alario helped BayerLeverkusen to a 2-1 win at sec-ond-division side VfB Stuttgart.

� �� �2 Jose Mourinho admittedTottenham got lucky after SonHeung-min’s late penalty secured adramatic 3-2 win againstSouthampton in Wednesday’s FACup fourth-round replay.

Mourinho’s side were 12 minutesaway from being knocked out aftersquandering the first-half lead givento them by Jack Stephens’ own goal.

Shane Long and Danny Ingsscored as Southampton hit back to

take the lead at the TottenhamHotspur Stadium.

But Lucas Moura equalisedbefore Son won and convertedthe decisive penalty with just twominutes left.

“I have to be honest and sayI think the best team lost on thepitch but my team were theones with more heart and wentto their limit,” Mourinho said.“We suffered but we deserved to

win because we were in our limits.Southampton were fresher than usbut we played with our souls andheart and gave absolutely every-thing.”

Tottenham, who last won the FACup in 1991, will host strugglingNorwich in the fifth round in the firstweek of March.

North Londoners are without amajor trophy of any kind since the2008 League Cup & Mourinho woulddearly love to end that drought, buthis team will have to improve signif-icantly on this erratic display. AFP

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Pakistan’s confidence is boosted byBangladesh appearing vulnerablewithout Mushfiqur Rahim and

Shakib Al Hasan for the first Test start-ing on Friday.

Mushfiqur withdrew from the Testbecause of security concerns, while all-rounder Shakib is suspended.

Pakistan captain Azhar Ali said onThursday they must reap the advantageat Pindi Cricket Stadium.

“Test matches are always played onyour strength and at the moment wefeel our fast bowling is our strength,”Azhar said.

“They are missing a coupleof key players and on currentform we can say we have anupper hand. You take advantagein your home conditions.”

Young fast bowlers Naseem Shahand Shaheen Afridi, along withMohammad Abbas, snared 16 wicketsbetween them in December whenPakistan beat Sri Lanka by 263 runs inthe second test at Karachi.

The Pakistan top order also cashedin, as Azhar, Abid Ali, Shan Masoodand Babar Azam scored centuries atKarachi.

Abid, who also scored a century ondebut in the washed out RawalpindiTest against Sri Lanka, has a chance to

match former India captainMohammad Azharuddin’s record ofthree centuries in his first three Tests.

Bangladesh still has some claws,including opening batsman TamimIqbal, who scored a triple century lastweek in a domestic first-class game;Liton Das, who will keep wickets in the

absence of Mushfiqur; MohammadMithun and captain Mominul Haque.

“We have to play our best game tobeat Bangladesh,” Azhar said.

“Even though they don’t have seniorplayers, they have (other) players whocan give match-winning performances.We have to not give them a chance.”

Pakistan has 80 points in the worldTest championship, while Bangladeshhas none after losing both of its testsagainst India in India.

Mominul said they were still con-fident even without Mushiqur.

“When you don’t have one of yourbest players, sometimes it’s a bit diffi-cult, but on the other hand you can sayit’s a good opportunity for a new play-er,” Mominul said.

“(Our) expectation is we are goingto play good cricket here. We are notgood enough overseas, so we have to tryto improve ourselves here.”

Bangladesh has split its tour ofPakistan into three legs. Pakistan wonthe Twenty20 series 2-0 in January.After this first Test, Bangladesh will

return from April 3-9 for a one-off one-day international and the second Testat Karachi.

������Pakistan: Azhar Ali (captain), Abid Ali,Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, FaheemAshraf, Bilal Asif, Fawad Alam, HarisSohail, Imam-ul-Haq, Imran Khan,Mohammad Abbas, MohammadRizwan, Naseem Shah, Shaheen ShahAfridi, Shan Masood, Yasir ShahBangladesh: Mominul Haque (captain),Tamim Iqbal, Saif Hassan, NajmulHossain Shanto, Mahmudullah,Mohammad Mithun, Liton Das, TaijulIslam, Nayeem Hasan, Ebadot Hossain,Abu Jayed, Al-Amin Hossain, RubelHossain, Soumya Sarkar.

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-�2 Lazio equalled a 21-year club recordfor staying undefeated but missed thechance to move second in Serie A, beingheld to a goalless draw by Hellas Verona onWednesday.

The match had been rescheduled fromlast December, when Lazio beat Juventus towin the Italian Super Cup in Saudi Arabia.

Simone Inzaghi’ side closed to within apoint of second-placed Inter Milan.

The Romans are four points behindleaders Juventus and 11 points clearof fourth-placed Atalanta who occu-py the final Champions Leagueberth, ahead of Roma on goal differ-ence.

“The game was intense. Despitethe disappointing result, we came

away satisfied,” said Inzaghi.“We had 27 shots on goal, hit the post

twice. I can’t ask the team for more.“Results count, but so do performances,

and the lads gave it everything.”Lazio matched their longest unbeaten

Serie A run of 17 consecutive matches, thefeat of the 1999 side coached by Sven-GoranEriksson.

“It’s a record that pleases me,” saidInzaghi who played for the team underEriksson and helped Lazio lift their lastScudetto in the 1999-2000 season. AFP

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The Indian women’s cricketteam will have to address its

batting woes when it takes onEngland Women in a crucialleague match of the T20 tri-series here today.

A mid innings slump led toIndia’s four-wicket defeat intheir previous match againsthosts Australia. This was afterbeating England by five wicketsin the tournament-opener lastweek.

Except for opener SmritiMandhana (35) and captainHarmanpreet Kaur (28), Indianbatters showed complete lack ofapplication on a pitch offeringextra bounce at Canberra. Indialost their last six wickets for 21runs to concede the match withseven balls to spare.

The Indian bowling attackdid all it could, stretching thegame till the penultimate overbut there were not enough runs

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Top England fast bowler Jofra Archerwas on Thursday ruled out of the

upcoming Indian Premier League due toa stress fracture in his right elbow.

The England and Wales CricketBoard confirmed that Archer, who playsfor the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, willalso miss England’s Test tour of SriLanka. He is expected to be out of actionfor three months.

“Archer underwent further scans onhis injured right elbow yesterday in theUK which confirmed a low grade stressfracture,” said the ECB in a statement.

“He will now commence an injuryrehabilitation programme with the ECBmedical team with a view to be ready forthe international summer campaign start-ing in June against the West Indies in athree-match Test series,” it added.

Archer experienced discomfort in hisright elbow during the series in SouthAfrica when he could only play theBoxing Day Test.

The 24-year-old Barbados born pacerhas represented England in seven Testsand 14 ODIs, taking 30 and 23 wicketsrespectively. He has also played a T20I.

His absence is a big blow to theRajasthan Royals ahead of the IPL begin-ning next month.

In 21 IPL games, Archer has pickedup 26 wickets at an average of 23.69.

In his maiden IPL season in 2018, hetook 15 wickets in 10 games at 21.66before taking 11 in as many games at 26.45the following season.

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New Zealand batsman Henry Nicholls onThursday said the ODI squad did not carrythe baggage of the T20 side which was

blanked by India and that reflected in its highest runchase in 50-over cricket.

Riding on Ross Taylor’s 21st hundred, the hostschased down their highest total in ODIs onWednesday to take a 1-0 lead in the three-matchseries.

“We didn’t feel it as part of the group comingin. So I wasn’t feeling any pressure and there is noneed to prove anything. It was a small ground anda big chase, so it was nice we were able to do that,”Nicholls said in Auckland on Thursday.

“It was great, our biggest chase ever in ODIcricket and it was good to be able to contribute init. In the past, playing India in India, we have hada couple of chases around the 300-mark and oth-ers we got close to. It was nice to do that again athome, and to actually win the game, it was great,”he added.

Taylor smacked an unbeaten 109, with TomLatham knocking 69 off 48 balls. Their partnershipbroke India’s bowling strength in the middle overs.Nicholls paid rich tribute to the two senior batsmen.

“Having someone like that at number four, espe-cially with Kane Williamson not being there as well,the experience he brings is immense. It is not justabout the runs, because batting with him in the mid-dle, you keep having those conversations that helpyour batting too.

“The dimensions of the ground helped us andhe certainly likes batting there. It was a great part-nership and great knock from him. Ross being theretill the end to be not out and win the game wasimmense for us.”

On Lathham’s knock, he said: “Tom and I haveplayed together for a long time, so I have certainlyseen him play like that before. He is very versatileand adaptive to the game scenario and conditions.The way he started, well it was slow, 2 off 10 ballsor something.

“But he managed to put the pressure back onKuldeep (Yadav) and their other spinners. Being cap-tain he led from the front and that partnershipchanged the game for us,” said Nicholls.

The batsman said he will continue to open aslong as the management wants, despite suggestionthat Latham could move up top given his form.

“Opening is not too different. I am used to bat-ting in a few different spots. I was opening a bit forCanterbury coming into this series. So I am tryingto form a new partnership up top with MartinGuptill, and get those platforms in,” he signed off.

+$���$2 The star-studdedcharity match to raise fundsfor Australia’s bushfire victims,which will see SachinTendulkar as coach one of theteams, has been shifted fromthe SCG because of forecast oftorrential rain and will now beplayed in Melbourne onSunday.

The match, named‘Bushfire Cricket Bash’, wasearlier scheduled at the SCGon Saturday but will now beheld at Melbourne’s JunctionOval on Sunday.

Indian batting legendTendulkar will coach theRicky Ponting XI whileAustralia Test skipper TimPaine will manage the otherteam to be captained by for-mer Australia wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist.

Shane Warne was to leadthe side but as a result of thechange of date, he will not beavailable for the match due toprior commitments, andGilchrist will take over ascaptain.

Tendulkar’s side will fea-ture a star-studded top orderin the form of Justin Langer,Matthew Hayden andPonting, who scored thou-sands of runs in Australia’sTest side during their decorat-ed careers.

Following that, legendarytrio in the Ponting XI will beBrian Lara, Australianwomen’s player Elyse Villaniand teenage sensation PhoebeLitchfield, who rose to promi-nence in this season’s RebelWomen’s Big Bash League.

Wasim Akram and BrettLee as well as Brad Haddin,Dan Christian and AustralianRules football great LukeHodge are other members.

Gilchrist XI also boasts apowerful top order as well fea-ture the legendary openerhimself, former Australia starsShane Watson and BradHodge and Indian greatYuvraj Singh.

Former Australiawomen’s team captain AlexBlackwell, Andrew Symonds,Windies legend CourtneyWalsh, AFL great NickRiewoldt, recently-retiredAustralia fast bowler PeterSiddle and leg-spinner FawadAhmed. Australia’s Test skip-per Tim Paine has beennamed coach.

Two more names will beadded to the Gilchrist XIover the coming days, withthe late rescheduling of thematch forcing some players todrop out, like formerAustralia captains SteveWaugh and Michael Clarke,and former batsman MichaelHussey.

The game was scheduledas a curtain-raiser to the T20Big Bash League final, butwith downpours expectedCricket Australia (CA) said itwould no longer be possible.

“Change of plans! Toensure the SCG is in the bestpossible condition for the BBLfinal, we’ve made the call to notgo ahead with Saturday’sBushfire Cricket Bash at theSCG,” CA tweeted.

The match will be a 10-over-per-side contest, with afive-over Powerplay, no bowl-ing restrictions, and battersunable to get out from the firstball they face. Bowlers will nothave over limits, fielders cansub on and off as it suits, whilecaptains will have the abilityto sub batters in and out dur-ing an innings. PTI

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$�����������������������������on the board.

The tournament,which is an importantpreparatory event aheadof the T20 World Cup, isintriguingly poised withall the three teams on 2points from as manymatches after one winand one defeat each.

The Indianbatters, especial-ly in the middleand lower order,will need to produce amuch-improved showagainst England to bright-en their chances of reach-ing the final.

“Our lower orderdefinitely needs to bata lot better, especiallywhen the top-order

doesn’t get runs. However,really appreciate the per-formance of bowlers,”Harmanpreet said.

Harmanpreet, who

has been the top run scor-er for her side, will haveto once again lead fromthe front while hopingthat young Shafali Vermafires on top of the Indianinnings.

Another key middle-order batter VedaKrishnamurthy is due a

big inningsafter two fail-ures whileo n e - d o w n

Rodrigues also needs tocome good on Friday foran Indian win.

The England teamwas lucky to have wonagainst Australia viaSuper Over in their pre-vious match but it battedwell in both the matches.

A lot will depend oncaptain Heather Knightwho has been in red-hotform with two back-to-back half centuries.

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��%��2 Four-time championAustralia’s skipper Meg Lanningbelieves the upcoming ICCTwenty20 World Cup has thepotential to turn around the fortuneof women’s cricket across the globe.

The ICC Women’s T20 WorldCup will be hosted by Australiafrom February 21 to March 8 andLanning said with so much hypeand buzz around, the tournamenthas the potential to infuse life intowomen’s cricket.

“This tournament can be a realturning point for women’s sportaround the world, it’s a really bigevent, there’s a lot of talk around it— certainly more hype than I’veever experienced before — sohopefully that’s a sign of everyonejumping on board and gettinginvolved,” Lanning wrote in her col-umn for the ICC.

“Hopefully we can look backon this tournament as a realmoment from which women’s

sport takes off.”The event will kickstart with

title-holders Australia taking onIndia in the tournament-opener inSydney and Lanning said their onlygoal is to feature in the March 8final at the Melbourne CricketGround.

“Having taken in an incredibleatmosphere at a sold-out MCG, thechance to lead my country infront of a full house would be anhonour to experience,” she said.

“There are a few hurdles to getover before we can think about theMCG, but to play there in the ICCWomen’s T20 World Cup Final, onInternational Women’s Day, wouldbe amazing for all of us.

“We’re very aware of what weneed to do to get there, there’s a lotof hard work involved and we needto make sure we start off well in thatfirst game against India and gofrom there. There are no guaran-tees in this sport,” she added. PTI

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��������������������*��?�$����������.�2�Top Pakistan batsman BabarAzam is set to be named captain of thenational ODI squad after having alreadyreplaced wicketkeeper batsman SarfarazAhmed as skipper in the T20 format.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)in October had dropped Sarfaraz fromthe Test and T20 squads in a surprisedecision while naming Azhar Ali as cap-tain in the longer format and Babar forthe shorter version.

But the PCB didn’t name a captainfor the ODI format as Pakistan’s next50-over assignment will be a lonematch against Bangladesh on April 3here.

Critics, however, pointed out thatany decision to replace Sarfaraz as cap-tain in ODI format is not going to beeasy as the wicketkeeper-batsman ledPakistan to six straight wins last yearstarting with the World Cup leaguestage matches.

The Board and selectors havealready faced some criticism over

replacing Sarfaraz as captain and alsodropping him as a player after he tookPakistan to the world number one rank-ing in this format.

“There is no way the PCB orselectors can now justify not keepingSarfaraz in the ODI team or replacinghim with Babar Azam. It would begreat injustice with a fine captain anda player,” former chief selector and headcoach Mohsin Khan said.

He said it was acceptable to changeSarfaraz as captain in Test cricket butnot to drop him as a player for the Testand T20 formats.

“There was pressure on Sarfaraz ascaptain for all three formats but he isstill the ideal choice for the white ballformats,” Khan said.

Former Test batsman Ramiz Rajanoted that given Babar’s status asbeing the number one batsman forPakistan in all three formats, heappeared to be the logical choice to leadin ODIs. AFP


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