ˆˇ˙ ˝ ˙ ˛ ˙ ˆ˚ ˝# - news headlines india · ghaziabad (464), greater noida (460),...

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As air pollution in Delhiplunged to near the emer-

gency level on Wednesday,Delhi Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal said his Governmentis mulling extension of theodd-even scheme with theSupreme Court-mandated anti-pollution authority EPCAordering closure of Delhi-NCRschools till November 15.

However, the SC issued anotice to the DelhiGovernment on a plea chal-lenging the odd-even. The apexcourt had earlier questionedthe Delhi Government as towhat it was achieving from theodd-even scheme by stoppingplying of cars that are less pol-luting compared to two andthree-wheelers and taxis.

The SC directed theGovernment and the CentralPollution Control Board(CPCB) to place before it thedata of pollution in Delhi from

October till November 14 thisyear and from October 1 toDecember 31, 2018.

“Let the Government ofNCT of Delhi... file data in thisregard in the court on thebasis of the previous experienceand whether three-wheelersand taxies are plying more onroads during such restrictionsand relevant data be placed,”

the bench had said.The overall air quality

index in Delhi on Wednesdaywas 454 at 3.30 pm. Rohini wasthe most-polluted area with anAQI of 486, followed by NehruNagar (484) and Jahangirpuri(483). Faridabad (442),Ghaziabad (464), GreaterNoida (460), Gurugram (448)and Noida (468) also choked

on extremely polluted air.While talking about

extending the odd-evenscheme beyond November 15,Kejriwal appealed toOpposition parties to shuntheir resistance to the scheme.“Pollution has increased dras-tically. All of Delhi is demand-ing the odd-even and at such atime the Opposition shouldsupport the people’s wish,” hesaid. The scheme, implement-ed from November 4, is to endon November 15. “If the needarises, we will extend it (odd-even scheme),” the CM said.

Kejriwal blamed stubbleburning in neighbouring Statesfor episodes of rising air pol-lution in Delhi.

“I remember GermanChancellor Angela Merkel wasin Delhi a few days ago... whena public health emergency wasdeclared. What kind of imageof Delhi she must have carriedto her country?” he said.

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The Supreme Court’s rulingon Wednesday disqualify-

ing 17 Congress and JD(S)MLAs in Karnataka but allow-ing them to contest theDecember 5 bypolls has comeas a breather for State ChiefMinister BS Yediyurappa. Ifelected back to the Assembly,these MLAs would bolster hisGovernment sitting on a razorthin majority.

The SC ruling may helpconsolidate Yediyurappa’s shakyhold over the Governmentwith 105 plus one IndependentMLAs vis-à-vis the Opposition.The MLAs are to join the BJPon Thursday and are likely tobe fielded on the 15 Assembly

seats from which they hadwon and where the bypolls areto be held on December 5.

If the rebels do get BJPtickets and manage to win, itwould give a numerical boostto Yediyurappa in theAssembly. The BJP needs towin at least seven seats toensure it achieves the majori-ty (112 seats) on its own.Candidates are required to filetheir nomination papers

between November 11 andNovember 18.

A total of 17 “rebel” MLAs— 14 belonging to theCongress and three to theJD(S) — who resigned from theKarnataka Assembly and were“won over” by the BJP weredisqualified in July this year bythe Assembly Speaker. Thelong-drawn political dramawith “rebel” MLAs ferried outof the State and kept in starhotels subsequently led to thefall of the JD(S)-Congresscoalition Government headedby JD(S) leader HDKumarawamy on July 23 dur-ing a trust vote.

Though upholding theSpeaker’s decision to disquali-fy the MLAs, the Supreme

Court opened a window forthem to enter the Assembly bypermitting them to contest thebypolls for 15 seats. The elec-tions to the remaining twoseats are withheld due to peti-tions related to them pendingin the High Court. The SC can-celled the Speaker’s decision tobar them from contesting polls.

In a strong indictment ofthe Speaker and political par-ties, the 3-member SC Benchsaid there is a growing trend ofSpeakers acting against the“constitutional duty of beingneutral” in addition to politicalparties indulging in horse trad-ing and corrupt practices dueto which citizens are beingdenied Stable Governments.

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Breaking his silence for thefirst time over the

Maharashtra impasse, BJPpresident and Union HomeMinister Amit Shah onWednesday rejected the ShivSena’s claim that it waspromised rotational chief min-istership. He said the Shiv Senahad simply come up with post-electoral conditions that couldnot be accepted.

Seeking to puncture ShivSena chief Uddhav Thackeray’scontentions, Shah wonderedwhy sena didn’t object to theBJP projecting DevendraFadnavis as its Chief Ministercandidate during the election

campaigning. “Before the elec-tions, Prime Minister NarendraModi and I said many times inpublic that if our alliance winsthen Devendra Fadnavis will bethe Chief Minister, no oneobjected back then,” Shah toldnews agency ANI.

“Now they (Shiv Sena)have come up with newdemands which are not accept-able to us,” Shah asserted.

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Less than 24 hours after theimposition of President’s

Rule, efforts to form a non-BJPGovernment began inMaharashtra on Wednesday, asthe Congress and the NCP ini-tiated the process of drawing upa Common MinimumProgramme (CMP) for a three-party Government and theleaders of the Sonia Gandhi-ledparty met Shiv Sena presidentUddhav Thackeray and initi-ated preliminary talks.

Both the NCP andCongress leaders nominatedfive leaders each to formulatea CMP for the three-partyGovernment. “We (Congress

and NCP) will sit across andformulate a CMP for the pro-posed three-party front. Oncewe are ready with the CMP andthrough with other issues relat-ing to power-sharing, we willtalk to the Sena leadership. Wewill take the Sena inputs andconsent on the CMP subse-quently,” a senior Congressleader said.

Simultaneously, NCP pres-ident Sharad Pawar held talkswith his party leaders on theCMP and the power-sharingarrangement for the proposedShiv Sena-NCP-CongressGovernment. The StateCongress leaders held a simi-lar meeting among themselves.

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The JNU administration’smove on Wednesday to

pacify protesting students byrolling back the hostel fee hikepartially for BPL students hasnot gone down well with somestudents who dubbed it as an“eyewash”, and decided to con-tinue with the strike.

The decision was taken atthe varsity’s 283rd ExecutiveCouncil (EC) meeting, HRDSecretary R Subrahmanyamannounced while asking theprotesting students to resumeclasses. The EC meeting wasshifted outside the campus atthe last moment fearing trou-ble by agitators.

Detailed report on P3

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The office of the Chief Justiceof India (CJI) is a public

authority under the Right toInformation (RTI) Act, theSupreme Court held onWednesday but said “judicialindependence has to be kept inmind” while disclosing infor-mation in “public interest”.

In a path-breaking ver-dict, a 5-judge Constitution

Bench headed by Chief JusticeRanjan Gogoi dismissed theappeal filed by the CentralPublic Information Officer andthe Secretary General of theapex court against the DelhiHigh Court’s 2010 judgment.

Writing the judgment onbehalf of the CJI, JusticeDeepak Gupta and himself,Justice Sanjiv Khanna referredto several decisions and view-points to highlight the con-tentious nature of the issue of“transparency, accountabilityand judicial independence”,and said it was necessary that“the question of judicial inde-pendence is accounted for inthe balancing exercise”.

Referring to Constitutionalscheme on setting up of theapex court, the verdict said, “Itis undebatable that theSupreme Court of India is a‘public authority’, as definedvide clause (h) to Section 2 ofthe RTI Act as it has beenestablished and constituted byor under the Constitution.

“The CJI is the competentauthority in the case of theSupreme Court.

Consequently, in terms ofSection 28 of the RTI Act, theCJI is empowered to framerules, which have to be noti-fied..., to carry out provisionsof the RTI Act.”

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The Supreme Court is sched-uled to pronounce on

Thursday its verdict on peti-tions seeking a review of itsjudgment giving a clean chit tothe Modi Government in theRafale fighter jet deal withFrench firm Dassault Aviation.

Also, it is to give its verdicton a batch of petitions seekingre-examination of its decisionto allow entry of women of allage group in Kerala’sSabarimala Temple. Politicalparties, right-wing outfits anddevotees in Kerala are keepingtheir fingers crossed.

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In order to launch consumer-to-consumer solar power

trading on a trial basis, BSESRajdhani Power Limited(BRPL) has entered into anagreement with Australia’sPower Ledger, a global leaderin block-chain technology.

With this, BRPL hasbecome the first discom in thecountry to use Power Ledger’sblock chain based platformfor peer-to-peer (P2P) solartrading. “Consumers withrooftop solar infrastructurecan sell their excess solar ener-gy to their neighbours even ifthey don’t have rooftop solar,using energy trading platform.Thus, even consumers whodon’t have roof-top solar willbenefit by purchasing cheaper

and cleaner electricity, com-pared to the slab-rate of the dis-com, which as consumer wouldotherwise have to pay,” theofficial said.

A senior discom officialsaid that the pilot project willinitially be carried-out amidstthe existing and ‘selected groupof gated community’ (CGHS)solar consumers in Dwarkawho generate around 5-6 MWof solar-power. These con-sumers will be able to tradesolar power their neighboringapartments and buildings usingthis platform rather than lettingit spill-back to the grid, he said.

Amal Sinha, BRPL CEOsaid that theBSES hasbeen embrac-ing emergingtechnologies,

especially in the space ofdemand side management andrenewable.

“This partnership is yetanother testimonial to theseefforts. With the exponentialgrowth in our economy andproduction, the ability to gen-erate clean energy and utilise itacross India without the needfor a fully centralised grid iscritical,” he added.

Sinha further said thatrealising the importance ofdistributed generation, we havealready built an extensiverenewables infrastructure, andthis trial with Power Ledgerwill help us fully utilise that

energy. “Basis the outcome,BRPL and Power Ledger willexpand the trial to includeblock chain enabled solutionsfor group net metering, ‘virtu-al net metering’, electronicvehicles charging and virtualpower plant applications inthe near future,” he added.

Meanwhile, Tata PowerDelhi Distribution Ltd. (TataPower-DDL) claimed that it hasrolled out a pilot project withZoomcar in a phased mannerunder which initially 12 elec-tronic vehicles will be used forcompany’s operations andmaintenance activities in NorthDelhi.

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The Delhi Police has arrest-ed a 36-year-old

‘Proclaimed Offender’ (PO)who had slapped NationalistCongress Party’s (NCP) presi-dent Sharad Pawar at a publicfunction in 2011 and had dis-appeared during the trial innational Capital.

The accused has been iden-tified as Arvinder Singh aliasHarvinder Singh, a resident ofDelhi’s Swaroop Nagar.

Police said the accused wasarrested in November 2011after he assaulted Sharad Pawar,the then Union Minister ofAgriculture at NDMCConvention Hall in New Delhibut the accused disappearedduring the course of trial and

was declared PO by the PatialaHouse in the year 2014.

According to Eish Singhal,the Deputy Commissioner ofPolice (DCP), New Delhi dis-trict, the accused Arvinder wasinvolved in two cases of assaultregistered at Connaught Placeand Parliament Street PoliceStation and he was declared POin both the cases.

“Several visits were made totrace the accused at his native

address but he quietly shifted tosome unknown place. OnNovember 11 this year, specif-ic inputs were received regard-ing the new address of Arvinder.The police team reached theplace, cornered it and nabbedhim. After due verification, theproclaimed offender was arrest-ed under the related sections oflaw,” said the DCP.

“After the assault on SharadPawar, the accused in the year2012 had also assaulted onduty police constable at JantarMantar. A case under section186/353/506 of Indian PenalCode (IPC) was registered atParliament Street PoliceStation,” said the DCP addingthat Arvinder was produced incourt that sent him to judicialcustody.

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In a suspected case of hit-and-run, a two year-old toddler

was allegedly mowed down byan unidentified vehicle in EastDelhi’s Preet Vihar area. Theincident occurred on Tuesdaynight.

The boy has been identi-fied as Priyansh. Police said thathis father, Mohan (26) works asa domestic help at a house inPreet Vihar C-block.

According to JasmeetSingh, the DeputyCommissioner of Police(DCP), East district, a policecontrol room (PCR) call wasreceived around 9.30 pm onTuesday from Max Hospitalthat a 2-year-old child hasbeen admitted to hospital withalleged injury of road trafficaccident.

“During initial investiga-tion, it was revealed that

Priyansh came out of his housein C block, Preet Vihar aloneand was hit by an unknownvehicle. When his father cameout of the house, he foundPriyansh lying unconscious onthe road. He along with hisemployer took the child toMax hospital where the childwas declared brought dead,”said the DCP.

“On the basis of the statement given by the child’s father, a case under sec-tion 279/304-A of the IndianPenal Code (IPC) at PreetVihar Police Station. Furtherpolice teams are scanningCCTV footage in the area toidentify and trace the vehicle,”said the DCP.

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The Police Control Room(PCR) unit of Delhi Police

nabbed a 22-year-old kidnapperred-handed in Delhi’s Rohiniarea on the intervening night ofTuesday and Wednesday. Policesaid the accused is also foundinvolved in six cases of robbery,snatching and Arms Act regis-tered across the nationalCapital.

The accused has been iden-tified as Qasim, a resident ofDelhi’s Kirari area. Accordingto Sharat Kumar Sinha, theDeputy Commissioner ofPolice (DCP), PCR, around1.08 am on Wednesday, a PCRcall was received in which thecaller stated that about 08.30pm, his brother Sunny hadgone to market on his Apache

bike but had not returned yet. “Later , a call was received

from the accused personsdemanding �5,000 for therelease of Sunny . The accusedalso directed them to come atSector 20, Rohini with the ran-som money,” said the DCP.

“Acting on the call a teamon Multi Purpose Vehicle(MPV) along with the com-plainant immediately startedsearching for Sunny andaccused persons. When theyreached near Sector 20 inRohini, the police team saw thebike of Sunny. The police teamimmediately started lookingfor the victim in the nearbyareas and managed to trace thehim in the custody of accusedpersons in a secluded vacantplot,” said the DCP.

“On seeing the police team,the accused persons tried toescape but Qasim was nabbedby the police team while anoth-er accused managed to flee.

Victim was found injured withmultiple stab wounds on hisbody. He was taken to hospitalwhere he is undergoing treat-ment and is said to be in stablecondition,” said the DCP.

“The victim, Sunny, toldpolice that the duo accusedQasim and Mohit were knownto him and they had called himin Sector 20, Rohini. Later theaccused took him near the deserted plot in Sector 20,where they assaulted Sunny by hitting him with brick on his face and stabbing him with a blunt weapon,” said theDCP.

“The accused also robbedthe victim of cash about �4,000as well as his mobile phone. Theaccused persons wanted moremoney and made ransom callsfrom his phone to his familymembers. The accused hasbeen handed over to AmanVihar Police Station for furtheraction,” the DCP added.

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Aplea has been moved in theDelhi High Court seeking

action against those advocateswho allegedly beat up litigants,cops and general public duringthe strike in district courts aftera clash between lawyers and thepolice. A bench of Chief JusticeD N Patel and Justice C HariShankar said on Wednesdaythat issues between the policeand lawyers were being resolved at present and listed thematter for hearing on February11, 2020.

The PIL by Ajay Gautam, asocial activist, has alleged thatprotesting lawyers stopped liti-gants from entering courtpremises to attend their cases inwhich advocates engaged bythem were not appearing due tothe strike. The petition has fur-ther claimed that the continuingstrike in district courts is dis-rupting judicial proceedings inthe subordinate courts.

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Delhi Metro RailCorporation (DMRC) will

start selling tickets for themuch awaited ‘Trade Fair’ inthe national Capital, which isgoing to start from Thursday atPragati Maidan World TradeCentre.

The people who want tovisit and enjoy the InternationalTrade Fair (IITF) can pur-chase tickets from 14thNovember (Tuesday) at the 66Delhi Metro Stations.

“The Delhi Metro RailCorporation will start sellingIndian entry tickets for‘Business Days’(14th Nov to18th Nov 2019)from Thursdayi.e 14th November 2019 and for‘General Public Days’ (19thNov to 27th Nov 2019)fromTuesday i.e 19th November2019,” said a DMRC official.

The officials also said thatall the metro stations where the

tickets will be available for thetrade fair will have continuousannouncements on the plat-forms. However, no IITF tick-ets will be available for sale atPragati Maidan Metro Station.

IITF tickets for bothBusiness as well as GeneralDays can be purchased fromCustomer Care Centres of theseMetro stations from 08.00 amto 4.00 pm, on all days (AtIndraprastha, ITO & Mandi

House MetroStations, tick-ets would besold from09.00 am to04.30 pmonly).

To caterto the rushduring theTrade Fair,a d d i t i o n a lt i c k e t i n gc o u n t e r s ,Guards, offi-

cers and staff will be deployedat Pragati Maidan Metro stationand other stations as required.

The IITF Business DaysVisitors - (Business Days 14thNov to 18th Nov 2019) will beavailable for �500. While, theGeneral Days entry tickets atMetro stations will be sold for�60 for adult, �40 for child onweekdays and on weekendsthe price for adult is �120 andchild is �60.

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Delhi Customs officials have arrested a 57-year-old man for allegedly

trying to smuggle in gold worth about �33 lakhat Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport.

According to a senior Customs official, theaccused was intercepted after his arrival fromBangkok on Tuesday.

“A detailed personal and baggage search of the passenger resulted in the recovery of 937 grams of gold, valued at �32.38 lakh, which were concealed in the pockets of his black colour jacket,” said Kalrav Mishra, theDeputy Commissioner of Customs at IGIAirport.

The gold was seized and the accused wasarrested, he said.

The passenger also admitted to having smuggled in 2.5 kg of gold in his past fivevisits.

“Thus, the total value of the offending good comes out to be �1.18 crore,”Mishra said.

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Asserting that theGovernment healthcare

system in Delhi is on a parwith the private sector, DelhiChief Minister ArvindKejriwal on Wednesday saideven rich people, who canafford treatment at privatehospitals, are visiting MohallaClinics run by his Governmentand this showed their faith inDelhi’s healthcare system.

Kejriwal inspected the firstMohalla Clinic opened by theDelhi Government in theupper-middle-class HemkuntColony in Greater Kailash-I. Hemet patients and the staff dur-ing his inspection and enquiredabout the level of satisfactionamong patients with the facili-ties provided at the MohallaClinic.

He also got his blood pres-sure measured by a doctor.“Never before have people hadsuch faith in Government ser-vices. Even in posh colony inGreater Kailash, Mohalla Clinicsare a hit,” he said.

“I am so glad that all of youhave faith in Government hos-pitals. Earlier, people used topresume that government hos-

pitals would not be goodenough. All the Mohalla Clinicsare in very good condition andare well maintained” he saidinteracting with the local resi-dents. Kamal, a Chirag Enclaveresident said it was her first visitto a Mohalla Clinic and she hada pleasant experience at thefacility. “When those who canafford expensive private hospi-

tals start using Governmentservices as a matter of choice, it’sthe biggest certificate of quali-ty. At a posh GK colony, I foundupper-middle-class residentsusing a Mohalla Clinic. They’revery satisfied. Could you haveimagined this few years ago?”Kejriwal tweeted after theinspection.

The Delhi Government had

set an ambitious target of 1,000mohalla clinics for its flagshipAam Aadmi Mohalla Clinicproject. There are currently 302established Mohalla clinics inthe national Capital, whichserve as Primary HealthcareCentres (PHCs) with around109 essential medicines and212 free diagnostic tests in theirfacilities.

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Accusing the BJP of “betray-ing” residents of unautho-

rised colonies in the nationalCapital, AAP on Wednesdayannounced to hold ‘DhokhaDiwas’ on November 16 acrossall the Assembly constituencieswith the slogan of ‘DhokaNahi, Registry Do’.

AAP Delhi ConvenerGopal Rai said that the leadersof the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) are visiting these coloniesto spread lies regarding the reg-istration for the residents. “Wewill hold rallies and meetingsin every unauthorised colony inevery Vidhan Sabha to exposethe BJP,” he said, adding that allthe Cabinet minister, MLAs,MPs, councillors and seniorleaders will reach out to the res-idents of the unauthorisedcolonies to expose the BJP,” hesaid.

He said that when the AAPexposed the fraud of the Centerabout the online registration

through a website link, theCenter panicked andLieutenant Governor of Delhiimmediately called a meetingwith the officials of the DelhiDevelopment Authority andthereafter the Center tried tohide the reality about the reg-istration process.

Rai further said that the sit-

uation has changed as neitherthe Center nor the L-G isready to disclose whether theregistration process will startbefore the election or not.“This is not the first time theresidents of the unauthorisedcolonies are being fooled.Earlier the Congress govern-ment distributed the provi-

sional certificate to these peo-ple before election and after theelection did nothing,” he said,adding that the BJP is follow-ing the footsteps of theCongress party by openingregistration through the web-site.

In October, the UnionCabinet approved a proposal togrant ownership rights to peo-ple living in unauthorisedcolonies in Delhi.

Housing and Urban AffairsMinister Hardeep Singh Purihad said the Centre wouldalso bring a bill in the WinterSession of Parliament to giverelief to the residents of unau-thorised colonies in the nation-al capital.

The move comes ahead ofAssembly polls in Delhi, sched-uled for early next year.Thedecision is applicable to 1,797identified unauthorisedcolonies spread over 175 squarekm inhabited by people fromlower income groups, Puri hadsaid last month.

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Days after the students ofJawaharlal Nehru

University (JNU) protestedagainst the proposed hostelfee hike, JNU ExecutiveCouncil (EC) in a meetingheld outside the Universitycampus on Wednesday decid-ed to partially rollback thehike in hostel fees.

A representative of theJNU Teachers’ Association(JNUTA), said, “We will issue a statement when wehave clear information. If thereports are to be believed,there is a no rollback but onlycosmetic changes have beenmade.”

The representative alsoadded that they do not considerthe Executive Council legiti-mate since eight members werenot present as the administra-tion did not inform them aboutthe change in venue of the

meeting.

The Executive Committeecame up with the new propos-al, which said the rent for adouble-seater room which wasraised from �10 per month ear-lier to �300 in the draft hasbeen reduced to �100 a monthwhile the rent for the single-seater room, proposed at �600from �20 per month earlier, hasbeen reduced to �200 permonth.

The committee also pro-posed a new scheme for eco-nomic assistance to theEconomically Weaker Section(EWS) students.

“The newly introducedservice charges of �1,700 forsanitation, maintenance, cook,mess helper has not been rolledback nor reduced,” said a stu-dent.

“JNU ExecutiveCommittee announces majorrollback in the hostel fee and

other stipulations. Also pro-poses a scheme for economicassistance to the EWS stu-dents. Time to get back to class-es,” Human ResourceDevelopment (HRD),Secretary, R Subrmanyamtweeted.

Former JNUSU presidentN Sai Balaji termed the HRD Secretary’s tweet on“major rollback” of fee hike“misleading”.

“The HRD Secretary tweeton “Major Roll Back’ of fee hikeis misleading! In order to savetheir face and create a false nar-rative, JNU admin in collusionwith Modi Government is fool-ing students and people of thisc o u n t r y#JNUFeeHikeRemains!” Balajitweeted.

Opposing the proposedhostel manual, the studentsalleged that the JNU authoritieshave increased the hostel feesby around �2,000.

“A hike in mess fee and room rent took the increaseto �4,000 per student. Studentswill also need to pay a refund-able amount of �12,000 as secu-rity deposit, up from �5,500 ear-lier,” students said.

The simmering discontentamong the JNU students com-

munity against the university administration over the proposed fee hike took form of a massive protest on Monday with stu-dents registering their protestin front of Union HRDMinister on the day of the ‘con-vocation’.

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The Delhi Metro RailCorporation (DMRC) is

going to start the constructionof first corridor of Phase IV-Janakpuri West-RK AshramMarg (extension of MagentaLine) by the end of thisNovember. The DMRC onWednesday, awarded the firstcivil contract for the work of28.92 km long section with 10stations.

The 28.92 km long corridorwill be an extension of thealready functioning MagentaLine number-8. Currently theMagenta corridor is spread on alength of about

“This is the first civil con-tract awarded for the construc-tion of Phase — IV project ofDelhi Metro portion fromJanakpuri West — RK AhsramMarg Corridor (Extension ofLine - 8). The work is expectedto start soon by end of thismonth once the pollution leveldecreases and gets normal in thenational Capital,” said an official.

As per the officials, theDMRC has already completedall the preconstruction workssuch as site survey, mapping,Geo technical survey and others.Now, the civil construction workwill start which include the partdesign and construction of ele-vated viaduct, elevated ramp,siding line and station buildings.

DMRC officials said thenational Capital will get anoth-er metro ride by 2023 once theconstruction will begin. “Thework on this corridor is expect-ed to commence by end of

November, 2019 and is sched-uled to be completed within 30months from the commence-ment. The 28.92 km longJanakpuri West — RK AhsramMarg corridor is an extension ofMagenta Line and will come upwith 22 stations,” they added.

The upcoming extensionof Magenta Line — JanakpuriWest — RK Ahsram MargCorridor will have 10 stations atKeshopur, Paschim Vihar,Peeragarhi, Mangolpuri, WestEnclave, Pushpanjali, DeepaliChowk, Madhuban Chowk,Prashant Vihar and NorthPitampura. The section mayhave interchange facility forGreen Line at Peeragarhi/Paschim Vihar besides RKAshram Marg for Blue Line.

Besides, the DMRC hasfloated tender for another fivesection of the three corridors

approved by the Central gov-ernment in March. The totalcorridors under Phase IV is sixand out of the six corridors, theUnion cabinet has approvedthree corridors that isMukundpur-Maujpur, RKAshram-Janakpuri and Westand Aerocity-Tughlakabad cor-ridors.

The phase IV project’s threecorridors with a total length of61.679 km will have 17 under-ground and 29 elevated stations.Out of its total length, 22.359km will be underground and39.32 km will be built as elevat-ed section. metro corridors willbe �24,948.65 crore.

The other three proposedcorridors which have not yetbeen approved by the UnionCabinet are Rithala-Bawana-Narela, Inderlok-Indraprasthaand Lajpat Nagar-Saket G Block.

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Delhi Congress presidentSubhash Chopra on

Wednesday accused the offi-cials of Delhi Government andBJP-led municipalCorporations of entering in thehouses of people forcefully inthe name of checking pollution-causing industriesand also collecting money ille-gally.

He alleged that in the guise

of shutting down pollutingindustries, officials were notonly threatening and harassingowners of non-polluting butalso extorting money fromthem illegally.

“Many industrialists andlabourers met him onWednesday and complainedagainst the harassment metedout to them by the officials.Delhi is already been facinglarge scale unemployment andmany more people will be ren-

dered jobless if non-pollutingindustries are closed down dueto harassment by the officials,”he added.

Chopra said that officialsare harassing non-pollutingindustries in Government-approved industrial areas inDelhi such as Bawana,Mundka, Hasthal, Nangli, Mayapuri and collect-ing money illegally by threat-ening industrialists to seal theirunits.

�� -1&'123/

In order to sensitise peopleparticularly students about

the need to adopt environ-mental friendly lifestyles, anational movement for cleanair was organised at JawaharlalNehru stadium on Wednesdaywith almost 1,500 childrenfrom Delhi-NCR joined it.

The inaugural edition of‘Good Air Summit’ was organ-ised by the ‘Integrated Healthand Wellbeing’ (IHW) Council.

Underlining that clean airis an inalienable right, expertsadvocated the need for con-certed efforts to allow citizensaccess to breathable air. Thefirst of its kind people’s-led ini-tiative seeks to make environ-ment a prominent public healthissue. Justice Swatanter Kumar,former Supreme Court Judgeand former Chairperson ofNational Green Tribunal(NGT), Dr Ajay Mathur andDirector General of ‘TheEnergy and Resources Institute’(TERI) attended the event.

Prakash Javadekar, UnionMinister of Environment,

Forest & Climate Change, whocould not be present due to illhealth, addressed the gatheringthrough a video message. Hesaid “We are a part of the envi-ronment and it is a very impor-tant part of our lives. Planttrees, save water, and conserveenergy. We should make everyeffort to save our environ-

ment,” Justice Swatanter Kumar

said that there are at least 10sources of air pollution thataffect both outdoor and indoorair quality, starting from wide-spread construction activities,to burning of waste and crops,and vehicular pollution. But isclean air not a right of a citizen?

“Is not essential to exercise theright to life as guaranteed bythe Indian Constitution,” heasked?

“We are flouting whatGandhiji asked us to do that weshould give the earth to ournext generation at least in thecondition in which we got it.We need to think about why

there are no solutions to thewaste disposal other than burn-ing them - burning of plastic iscarcinogenic and is the causefor most of the cancers,” hesaid.

“Through our campaigns,we have reached out to studentsand citizens across the countryin a bid to bring about a changein public behaviour and makethe environment a central issuein public discourse,” said KamalNarayan, CEO of IHW. He fur-ther said that our campaigns invarious schools gave us a fan-tastic experience and theenthusiasm of the students wasinfectious. “I believe childrenwill be instrumental in bring-ing about a positive change inour collective consciousnesstowards the environment,” headded.

The Indian Council ofMedical Research estimatesthat air pollution cause one ineight deaths in India last year,besides lowering the averagelife expectancy by 1.7 years. Airpollution causes an approxi-mately 7 million deaths everyyear globally.

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In the wake of severe pollutionlevel, the Delhi Government

on Wednesday announced thatschools in the national capitalwill be closed on Thursdayand Friday. Also, all schools inGhaziabad, Noida will be shutfor two days, said officials.

The decision came after theSupreme Court-mandated anti-pollution authorityEnvironment Pollution(Prevention & Control)Authority ordered the same asthe air quality hovered close to‘emergency’ levels.

“In view of deteriorating airquality because of pollution dueto stubble burning in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi govt hasdecided to close schools tomor-row and day after,” DeputyChief Minister Manish Sisodiatweeted.

The EPCA also extendedthe ban on hot-mix plants andstone-crushers in Delhi-NCRtill November 15.

The apex court had onNovember 4 banned construc-tion and demolition activitiesin the region till further orders.All coal and other fuel-basedindustries, which have notshifted to natural gas or agro-residue, will remain shut inFaridabad, Gurugram,Ghaziabad, Noida,Bahadurgarh, Bhiwadi, GreaterNoida, Sonepat and Panipat tillNovember 15, it said.

In Delhi, industries whichhave not yet shifted to piped nat-ural gas, will not operate duringthe period. Early this month, the Delhi Government shut allschools for four days after EPCAdeclared a public health emer-gency in the Delhi-NCR regionin the wake of rising pollution.

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UN Women has proposed topartner with Keralas

Gender Park to take forwardprojects and campaigns aimedat securing gender parity inSouth Asia. Setting the contextfor the tie-up, officials of theUN Women multi-countryoffice (MCO) had a meetingwith Kerala Minister for

Health and Social Justice KK Shylaja at UN House inNew Delhi last month, wherethe broad framework of the co-

operation came up for discus-sion.

UN Women in New Delhicovers India, Bhutan, Maldivesand Sri Lanka. AMemorandum ofUnderstanding to formalisethe tie-up will be signed in thepresence of Chief MinisterPinarayi Vijayan next month, apress release said onWednesday. As directed by theChief Minister, a detailed pro-ject report on the collaborationis being drawn up.

The partnership aims atmaking The Gender Park, agender equity and empower-

ment initiative, as the SouthAsian hub of UN Women.

Three key areas of co-operation of the partnershipwill be setting up of the GenderData Centre at The GenderPark, Kozhikode, holdingevents during the 64th sessionof Commission on Status ofWomen (CSW64) in March2020 and 75th session of UNGeneral Assembly inSeptember 2020 and launch ofa focussed campaign called 16Days of Activism in Keralafrom November 25 toDecember 10, 2019.

This partnership marks

recognition of Keralas longand hard campaigns and poli-cy initiatives to achieve genderjustice and parity.

It will also help us presentKeralas long-drawn historyand experience in gender equi-ty movement before a widerregional and global audience,the Chief Minister said on theproposal. I am sure that thiscollaboration will broaden anddeepen various pioneering ini-tiatives for gender equity andwomen empowermentlaunched by the Social JusticeDepartment of Kerala throughThe Gender Park, Shylaja said.

From Page 1The Ministry of Earth

Sciences’ air quality monitorSAFAR said Delhi’s neigh-bouring States recorded only480 incidents of stubble burn-ing on Tuesday and the shareof smoke from farm fires inDelhi’s pollution is likely todecrease to 13 per cent onThursday “in spite offavourable transport-level windtrajectory”.

However, air quality is like-ly to improve on Friday with anincrease in wind speed due toa fresh western disturbanceand a dip in farm fires, theSAFAR said on Wednesday.

Delhi-NCR gasped forbreath as the noxious smogresulting from raging farmfires and unfavourable weath-er pushed pollution levels in theregion towards the “emer-gency” zone for the third timein the last 15 days.

Incidents of stubble burn-ing in Haryana and Punjabhave increased and northwest-erly winds have been bringingmore farm fire plume to theDelhi-NCR region, said weath-er experts.

Kejriwal blamed neigh-bouring States, especiallyHaryana and Punjab, for dete-

riorating pollution and saidthe States are burning cropresidue disregarding strictdirections from the SC.

Kejriwal said the numberof farm fires reduced inbetween due to rains inPunjab and Haryana. It ledto a decline in Delhi’s pollu-tion.

“The incidents of stubbleburning have shot up again.These states are not even fol-

lowing the Supreme Court’sdirections. Delhi people aresuffering because of it,” hesaid.

Kejriwal reiterated thatpaddy straw can be used toproduce compressed naturalgas and coal which will alsoincrease the income of farmers.

“I have met many experts.I am myself an engineer.Stubble can be converted intoCNG.

The foundation stone of anindustry that can convertpaddy straw into CNG hasbeen laid. I have talked toIndraprastha Gas Limited andthey are ready to procure allCNG produced from stubble,”he said.

Many factories, which canconvert stubble into coal, havecome up in Punjab. NationalThermal Power CorporationLtd is ready to purchase thecoal produced through thismethod, he said, adding thesemeasures will also help gener-ate employment and increasethe income of farmers.

An AQI between 201 and300 is considered ‘poor’, 301-400 ‘very poor’ and 401-500‘severe’. An AQI above 500falls in the ‘severe plus’ cate-gory.

+�� 666

From Page 1The top court would nec-

essarily include the office ofCJI, it said, adding, “the officeof CJI or for that matter thejudges is not separate from

the SC, and is part and parcelof the SC as a body, authorityand institution”.

The bench said it was nec-essary that question of “judicialindependence is accounted forin the balancing exercise” withRTI.

It cannot be doubted anddebated that independence ofthe judiciary is a matter of“ennobled public concern” anddirectly relates to public welfareand would be one of the factorsto be taken into account inweighing and applying thepublic interest test, said thejudgment, running into 108pages.

“Thus, when public inter-est demands disclosure ofinformation, judicial indepen-dence has to be kept in mindwhile deciding the question ofexercise of discretion,” JusticeKhanna said.

It, however, said the verdict“should not be understood tomean that the independence ofthe judiciary can be achievedonly by denial of access toinformation”.

The verdict, which hasbeen concurred by Justices NVRamana and DY Chandrachudin separate verdicts, said that insome cases judicial indepen-dence may “demand opennessand transparency by furnishingthe information” and in somecases disclosure may not be

needed.Reference to the principle

of judicial independence is notto undermine and avoidaccountability which is anaspect “we perceive andbelieve” has to be taken intoaccount while examining thepublic interest in favour ofdisclosure of information, itsaid.

“Distinction must bedrawn between the final opin-ion or resolutions passed bycollegium with regard toappointment /elevation andtransfer of judges with obser-vations and indicative reasonsand the inputs/data or detailswhich the collegium had exam-ined,” the bench said whilestressing on balancing betweenthe right to information, judi-cial independence and confi-dentiality of personal infor-mation.

The rigour of public inter-est in divulging inputs, data andparticulars of a candidate(probable judge) would be dif-ferent from that of divulgingand furnishing details of theoutput that is the decision, itsaid.

“The public interest testwould have to be applied keep-ing in mind the fiduciary rela-tionship,(if it arises), and alsothe invasion of the right to pri-vacy and breach of the duty ofconfidentiality owed to the

candidate or the informationprovider, resulting from thefurnishing of such details andparticulars,” it said on the col-legium deliberations.

Judicial independence andaccountability “go hand inhand as accountability ensures,and is a facet of judicial inde-pendence. Further, while apply-ing the proportionality test, thetype and nature of the infor-mation is a relevant factor,” itsaid.

It said the transparencyand openness in judicialappointments “juxtaposed”with confidentiality of deliber-ations remain one of the mostdelicate and complex areas.

With the passage of time,there has been a change as con-cerns have been expressed ondisclosure of the names and thereasons for those who had notbeen approved by the col-legium, it added.

Deciding three appeals, thejudgement said it was not pos-sible to answer these ques-tions in absolute terms, and “ineach case, the public interesttest would be applied to weighthe scales and on balancedetermine whether informa-tion should be furnished orwould be exempt.”

Consequently, the topcourt dismissed first appealfiled by CPIO against the HCverdict asking it to furnish

information on SC judges whohad declared their assets.

It, however, partly allowedthe other two appeals of theCPIO of the apex court inwhich it was directed to dis-close complete correspondencewith the then CJI as a newsreport alleged that a UnionMinister had approached aHC Judge to influence his judi-cial decisions.

The second appeal per-tained to seeking file notings onappointment of three judges inSC while superseding somesenior HC judges.

The verdict referred thesetwo cases to the CPIO to re-examine them after followingprocedure under the RTI Act.

��

From Page 1“In these circumstances,

the Parliament is required toreconsider strengthening cer-tain aspects of the TenthSchedule, so that such unde-mocratic practices are dis-couraged,” the Bench said.

The court said the Speakerwas not empowered to dis-qualify any member till the endof the term of the Assembly.Then Karnataka Speaker KRRamesh Kumar had said theMLAs cannot contest electionsuntil the term of the currentAssembly, ending 2023.

The disqualified ‘rebel’MLAs had indirectly facilitat-ed BJP launch itself in the seatof power by reducing the effec-tive strength of KarnatakaAssembly to 208 from 224 andwinning the floor test on July29.

In a recent video goneviral, the Karnataka CM waspurportedly heard saying thatthe Congress and JD(S) MLAshad “sacrificed” a lot to bringBJP in power and lamented theBJP president was not dongneedful for them.

Hours after the court rul-ing, Deputy Chief MinisterCN Ashwathnarayan said thedisqualified MLAs will jointhe BJP on Thursday inBengaluru.

Yediyurappa welcomedthe verdict and said it wasagainst the “conspiracy” ofRamesh Kumar and Congress

leader. Expressing confidencethat the BJP will win all the 15seats, he said the party woulddecide on giving tickets to thedisqualified MLAs.

The Congress, for its part,called for the dismissal of theYediyurappa Government, say-ing the court’s decision uphold-ing the decision disqualifying17 Congress and JD(S) MLAsbut allowing them to contestthe bypolls had exposed theBJP’s ‘Operation Kamal’ in theState.

Reacting to the SC verdict,former Speaker Kumar said,“The Supreme Court hasupheld the disqualification -- tothat extent, it’s a sigh of relief(for me). On the issue of tenure(of disqualification), theSupreme Court has not agreedto my interpretation I willspeak on that after goingthrough the text of the judg-ment.”

The change of Governmentin Karnataka had promptedaccusations that it was broughtabout by purchasing MLAswith “money bags” doingrounds.

Justices NV Ramana,Sanjiv Khanna and KrishnaMurari said the Speaker, beinga neutral person, is expected toact independently while con-ducting the proceedings of theHouse or adjudication peti-tions.

The constitutional respon-sibility endowed upon theSpeaker has to be scrupulous-ly followed and his politicalaffiliations cannot come in theway of adjudication, the apexcourt said.

If the Speaker is not ableto disassociate from his polit-ical party and behaves con-

trary to the spirit of the neu-trality and independence thensuch person does not deserveto be reposed with publictrust and confidence, itadded.

The Bench also deprecatedthe manner in which the dis-qualified MLAs directlyapproached it without firstmoving High Court.

The court said its verdict isbased on facts and circum-stance of the case and does notinterfere in the Speaker’s powerto disqualify members.

Some of these disqualifiedMLAs had argued in the apexcourt that they have an “inde-feasible right” to resign asmembers of the Assembly andthe decision by the thenSpeaker to disqualify themsmacks of “vengeance” and“mala fide”.

During arguments in thematter, senior advocate KapilSibal, appearing for theKarnataka Congress, had con-tended that the then Speaker,who was the master of theAssembly, had exercised hisjurisdiction to disqualify theseMLAs and his decision cannotbe questioned.

Sibal had also submittedthat “the matter needs to bereferred to a ConstitutionBench as it raises matters ofgrave constitutional impor-tance”.

Solicitor General TusharMehta, appearing for the officeof the Karnataka AssemblySpeaker, had submitted thatunder the scheme of theConstitution, a lawmaker has aright to resign and the Speakershould accept it. The currentAssembly Speaker is V HegdeKageri.

��///

From Page 1“We are looking at such a

fool-proof CMP and power-sharing arrangement amongthe three parties that will helpus provide a stable Governmentto the State for full five years.This is independent of ourdiffering ideologies. We willwork towards ensuring that ourideologies do not come in theway of running the three-partyGovernment in the State,” asenior Shiv Sena leader said.

After days of uncertaintythat had delayed the process ofthree non-BJP parties comingtogether to form a Governmentin the State, the Congress for-mally shed its earlier hesitationof going with the Shiv Sena andits leaders held first-ever roundof talks with Shiv Sena presi-dent Uddhav Thackeray onthe sharing of power at a five-star hotel at Bandra-Kurlacomplex in north-westMumbai.

Ahead of Wednesday’smeeting, senior Congress pres-ident Ahmed Patel - who wasin the city for a meeting withNCP president Sharad Pawaron issues relating to theCongress-NCP alliance’s pro-posed tie-up with Shiv Sena -had met Uddhav on Tuesdaynight and set the tone for thedeliberations among the threeparties in the coming days.

Uddhav, accompanied byhis junior party colleaguesVinayak Raut and Milind

Narvekar, met State Congresspresident Balasaheb Thorat,senior party leaders AshokChavan and Manikrao Thakre,at the Hotel Trident for littleover 45 minutes.

Talking briefly to media-persons after the meeting,Uddhav said: “Talks havebegun on a right note. I will letyou know about the outcome ofour talks at a proper time”.

Thorat said he and hissenior party colleagues held a“courtesy meeting” withUddhav, in the context of thedeliberations that seniorCentral leaders had with NCPchief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday.“Ours was as courtesy meetingwith Uddhavji. First, we wouldlike to arrive at mutual under-standing with the NCP onissues relating to theGovernment. After that, we -both the parties - will meet theShiv Sena leaders... At today’smeeting, we discussed withUddhavji as to how move for-ward,” Thorat said.

Before holding talks withUddhav, the State Congressleaders - Thorat, Ashok Chavanand Manikrao Thakre - metShiv Sena spokesperson SanjayRaut at the Leelavati Hospital,where Raut was recuperatingafter an angioplasty carriedout on him on Monday night.Raut was discharged from thehospital later in the afternoon.

Though there has so far notbeen any formula discussion on

the power-sharing arrange-ment among the three parties,a power-sharing formulaemerged from the Congress-NCP camp. Under this formu-la, the Shiv Sena and NCP -which have 56 and 54 MLAsrespectively - will share the postof Chief Minister for a periodof two and half years each,while the Congress - with astrength of 44 MLAs -- will getthe deputy Chief Minister’spost for the entire period of fiveyears. Similarly, the Sena andthe NCP will get 14 ministrieseach, while the Congress willget 11 ministries.

The formula does notthrow light on the crucialSpeaker’s post. All the threeparties are vying for this post,as the Speaker plays a crucialrole in the current Assembly inwhich there may be frequentbattles over numbers duringthe next five years.

Sources in both the NCPand Congress said that theywere agreeable to Sena presi-dent Uddhav Thackeray beingnominated as the ChiefMinister of the three-party forthe first two and a half years.

Earlier in the day, the NCPand Congress nominated fiveleaders each for holding meet-ings and drafting the CMP forthe three-party Government.While leaders like Jayant Patil,Ajit Pawar, Chhagan Bhujbal,Dhananjay Munde and NawabMalik will represent the NCP,the team of the Congress willcomprise Balasaheb Thorat,Ashok Chavan, PrithvirajChavan, Vijay Wadettiwar andManikrao Thakre.

Addressing his party’snewly elected MLAs and lead-ers, Sr Pawar allayed the fearsof legislators about the possi-

bility of a mid-term election inthe State. “The President’s rulewill not come in the way of ourGovernment formation efforts.Be assured that there would notbe mid-term elections in theState,” the NCP president said.

Later in the afternoon, allthe newly elected MLAs of theCongress left Jaipur forMumbai, as the party leader-ship told them that there wasno need for them to remainthere for more time.

Meanwhile, Shiv Senaspokesperson Sanjay Raut reit-erated that his party’s man willbe the next Chief Minister ofMaharashtra.

Raut, speaking to a region-al television channel from hishospital bed, lamented thatthe Shiv Sena could not proveits majority before theGovernor as the Congress andNCP did not give his partytheir letters of support on time.

Raut said that his party’sHindutva agenda would notcome in the way of the forma-tion of a Shiv Sena-led three-party Government in the State.

Asked if he felt uneasybeing at the hospital at a timewhen there was hectic politicalactivity outside, Raut said: “Iam used to doing something orother at all times.

I can’t sit idle. Even whilein the hospital, I wrote an edi-torial for the Sena’s officialmouth-piece Saamana”.

In a related development,former Chief Minister andsenior Congress leaderPrithviraj Chavan alleged theBJP was making desperateattempts to prevent its erstwhileally Shiv Sena from aligningwith his party and the NCP toform a Government inMaharashtra.

�� ///

From Page 1Uddhav had been claiming

that Shah had committed to the2.5-year-each rotational chiefministership for the BJP andShiv Sena.

Defending the Governor’smove to recommendPresident’s Rule in theMaharashtra on Tuesday, Shahsaid the State head had to takeaction since none of the partieshad been able to prove major-ity since the legislativeAssembly term ended onNovember 9. President’s Rulewas imposed in the State onTuesday.

“Before this, in no State wasso much time given, 18 dayswere given.

The Governor invited par-ties only after Assembly tenureended. Neither the Shiv Senanor the Congress-NCP stakedclaim and neither we,” Shahsaid adding “It’s not in ourparty’s tradition to disclosewhat transpires behind closeddoors.”

“If the Sena thinks that itcan revolt and get the people’ssympathy, they don’t reallyknow the public,” he said tak-ing a jibe at the Sena.

The BJP and the Shiv Senatogether have 161 seats, 15 seatsmore than the majority mark of145 in the 288-MLAs strongMaharashtra Assembly.

But the State plunged intopolitical uncertainty after boththe allies entered into a tusslefor power. While the Shiv Senaclaimed that it was assured a50:50 power-sharing deal in theState after winning the elec-tions, the BJP denied makingany such promise.

The Shiv Sena pulled outits lone Minister ArvindSawant from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’sCabinet, signalling the end ofpartnership between the twoparties in Maharashtra.

Shiv Sena has since thenopened negotiations withNDA’s rival alliance partnersNCP and Congress.

��

�� 5 �9/2/�

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Wednesday hoped

that the BRICS summit willenhance the economic andcultural linkages between themember nations as he arrivedin the Brazilian capital to takepart in the two-day meeting.

“Reached Brazil to takepart in the BRICS Summit. Willalso meet various world lead-ers during this visit,” Moditweeted after his arrival here.

On the sidelines of the11th BRICS summit, Modi willmeet Brazilian President JairBolsonaro to discuss ways toenhance the bilateral strategicpartnership.

The Prime Minister isscheduled to hold separatebilateral meetings with RussianPresident Vladimir Putin andChinese President Xi Jinpingon Wednesday.

“I am sure the BRICSSummit will enhance culturaland economic linkages betweenBRICS nations,” he said.

BRICS is the acronymcoined for an association of fivemajor emerging nationaleconomies — Brazil, Russia,India, China and South Africa.

This year’s event is beingheld under the theme BRICS:Economic Growth for an

Innovative Future.This will be the sixth time

Modi is participating in theBRICS summit, his first beingat Fortaleza, also in Brazil in2014.

Describing his welcome as“as vibrant as BRICS itself ”,Spokesperson of the Ministryof External Affairs Raveesh

Kumar tweeted, “PM @naren-dramodi arrives in Brasilia toparticipate in the 11th #BRICSSummit. This year’s Summitunder the theme “BRICS:Economic Growth for anInnovative Future” will furtherstrengthen the traditional tiesamong the BRICS countries.”Brazil is the current chair of the

grouping which represents over3.6 billion people, or half of theworld population and theyhave a combined nominal GDPof USD 16.6 trillion.

During the summit, thefive major economies of theworld will aim to significantlystrengthen their cooperation inscience, technology and inno-vation, Modi said in his depar-ture statement.

The BRICS countries willalso look to enhance coopera-tion on digital economy andbuild mechanisms for counter-terrorism cooperation withinthe BRICS framework, Modisaid.

He would also attend theBRICS business forum closingceremony and the ‘closed’ andplenary sessions of the summit.

In the closed session, thediscussions are expected to befocused on challenges andopportunities for the exercise ofnational sovereignty in thecontemporary world.

This will be followed by theBRICS Plenary Session, wherethe leaders will discuss theintra-BRICS cooperation forthe economic development ofBRICS societies. A BRICSmemorandum of understand-ing between trade and invest-ment promotion agencies isexpected to be signed.

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Researchers from IITGuwahati have developed

a paper-based technologythat can assess the quality andfreshness of milk within 13minutes by changing itscolour. No special equipmentor instrument will berequired.

Pasteurisation is com-monly used to kill themicrobes in milk and varioustests are used to ensure theeffectiveness of the process,according to the researchersled by Pranjal Chandra, anassistant professor at IITGuwahati.

Commonly used testssuch as the methylene bluetest, are time consuming, andcould take many hours forcolour changes to indicate thepresence and absence ofmicrobes.

Commercial phenol-based tests require sophisti-cated spectrophotometersand involve multi-step pro-cedures, which necessitatesdedicated testing centres andskilled personnel.

However, to cut-shortthis time, the research teamwhich included KuldeepMahato, research scholardeveloped a simple visualdetection technique to detectthe quality of milk, withoutthe need for special equip-ment and instruments.

“It would be useful if thequality of milk can be testedat the point of collection ofmilk or even in the homekitchen,” said Dr Chandra,adding that such testingrequires easy-to-operate andportable detection kits.

He explained, “AlkalinePhosphatase (ALP) is a met-

alloprotein found naturally inraw milk samples and is con-sidered an important bio-marker in quality control ofmilk”. It is found in raw milkand is destroyed during pas-teurisation. “ALP is alsofound in higher amounts inthe case of milk derived fromanimals with infection in themammary glands. Detectionof ALP in milk can thuspoint to inadequate pasteuri-sation and perhaps contam-ination.”

“Despite ALP’s recog-nisable detection potentialin native milk, the multi-stepnature, and requirement ofsophisticated bulky analyticalinstruments and trained per-sonnel, to detect ALP, limittheir use as a sensor of milkquality in remote settingsand in home kitchens,” addedChandra.

The researchers usedsimple filter paper, chemical-ly modified it, and loaded itwith a recognition element —anti-ALP — which capturesthe ALP present in the milk.

Upon treatment withthe colour-forming com-pound ‘BCIP’, the capturedcomplex of ALP forms ablue-green coloured precipi-tate, that otherwise does notgives any colour in theabsence of ALP. The inten-sity of the colour indicates theamount of ALP present. Theresearchers used a smart-phone to capture the image ofthe colour. They used theRGB (Red Green Blue) filterin the phone to profile thecolour obtained, which couldbe co-related to the concen-tration. The researchers’ workhas been published in thejournal, Biosensors, andBioelectronics.

�� -1&'123/

Pneumonia is taking toll onIndia’s kids under the age of

five years with one of them suc-cumbing to every 4 minutes tothe preventive disease last year,according to a study by Save theChildren, UNICEF and EveryBreath Counts.

It said that India wasamong the top five countriesresponsible for over half of thechild deaths due to the diseaseglobally that year. Overall,pneumonia claimed 1,27,000under-five children in 2018.Pneumonia is an inflammato-ry disease affecting the lung. Itis characterised by an accu-mulation of fluid in the alveo-

lus, resulting in the obstructionof normal breathing. It is usu-ally caused due to air pollutionbesides poor food intake.

Dr Rajesh Khanna, DeputyDirector of Health andNutrition, Save the Children

said that “Acute malnutrition isassociated with more than halfof childhood pneumoniadeaths. Indoor air pollutioncontributes to 22 per cent andoutdoor air pollution con-tributes to 27 per cent of thesedeaths.”

Just five countries wereresponsible for more than halfof child pneumonia deaths -Nigeria (162,000), India(127,000), Pakistan (58,000),the Democratic Republic ofCongo (40,000) and Ethiopia(32,000), it said.

Globally, pneumonia is themajor cause of paediatric mor-tality, especially in childrenunder 5, claiming the lives ofmore than 800,000 kids every

year, more than 2,000 everyday.

In India 5 per 1,000 livebirths under five mortality ratedue to pneumonia in 2018, thestudy said. “In India, 14 percent of child deaths were due topneumonia in 2017, and itwas the second biggest killer ofchildren under-five in 2017(after wasting). Pneumoniakilled more than 1,27,000 chil-dren under-five in 2018 - morethan 14 children every hour,”the study said.

It further said USD 16 wasspent by the government onhealth per person in 2016 inIndia.

“Every day, nearly 2,200children under the age of five

die from pneu-monia, a curableand mostly pre-ventable disease.Strong globalc o m m i t m e n tand increasedinvestments arecritical to thefight against thisd i s e a s e , ”Henrietta Fore,E x e c u t i v eDirector ofUNICEF said.

Pneumonia is caused bybacteria, viruses or fungi, andleaves children fighting forbreath as their lungs fill withpus and fluid.

Globally, more children

under the age of five died frompneumonia in 2018 than fromany other disease. Around437,000 children under fivedied due to diarrhea and272,000 due to malaria.

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The Central Reserve PoliceForce (CRPF) is conduct-

ing a security review ofCongress chief Sonia Gandhi’sresidence and related arrange-ments after taking over her pro-tective cover from the SpecialProtection Group (SPG).

After the security audit ofGandhi’s residence, comman-dos and other security para-phernalia will be tweaked asper the assessments andrequirements, sources saidwithout any further elabora-tion.

Earlier this month theCentre had decided to with-draw the SPG protection ofGandhi, her son Rahul anddaughter Priyanka GandhiVadra after a review of theirthreat perception by the secu-rity agencies. Following theremoval of SPG cover to theGandhis, the Centre hadaccorded Z + protective coverand tasked the CRPF to takeover their security.

The threat perception ofeach SPG protectee is reviewedevery year as provided in theSPG Act. The current reviewindicates a reduced threat per-ception for Gandhis and theirsecurity can be handled byother forces, government offi-cials had said after the decision.

The Special ProtectionGroup was raised in 1985 afterthe assassination of the thenPrime Minister Indira Gandhito secure the Prime Ministerand their immediate familymembers. Former Prime

Minister and their familymembers were brought underthe SPG cover after the assas-sination of former PM RajivGandhi in 1991.

In August, the SPG cover offormer Prime MinisterManmohan Singh was alsolifted and accorded Z + cate-gory security protection byCRPF commandos.

The SPG security coverentails Advance SecurityLiaison by the commandoswho sanitise the venue inadvance to be visited by theprotectee and a three-layersecurity ring is in place tosecure the VIP from outersecurity cordon manned by thelocal police to elite force’s com-mandos in the proximate secu-rity zone.

The CRPF has a VIPSecurity Wing with a strengthof about six battalions (6,000personnel). However, theCentral Industrial SecurityForce (CISF) is the designatedCentral paramilitary for VIPsecurity.

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The Supreme Court onWednesday struck down

rules in the amended FinanceAct 2017 on tribunals anddirected the Government toreformulate fresh norms withrespect to appointment of tri-bunal members.

A bench headed by ChiefJustice Ranjan Gogoi directedthe Ministry of law to conductimpact study and submit reportto the apex court.

The top court directed thatappointment in tribunalsshould be in accordance withrespective statutes.

�� -1&'123/

The Centre has extendedthe moratorium period for

repayments by six moremonths as the �15,000 croresoft loan scheme for sugarmills is moving at a snail’s pace.Now, the moratorium period isone-and-a-half years. A mora-torium period is a time duringthe loan term when the bor-rower is not required to makeany repayment.

The Centre had announcedthe loan package in two tranch-es — first in June 2018 amount-ing to �4,440 crore and theother in March 2019 of �10,540crore. The objective was to helpmillers in clearing cane arrearsand divert surplus sugar forethanol manufacturing. A soft

loan is a loan that is given at asubsidised interest rate.

“When the soft loanscheme was launched to aug-ment ethanol production in thecountry, one year moratoriumwas provided. This has nowbeen extended to 1.5 years inthe interest of sugar mills andfarmers,” a highly placed sourcesaid. A notification in thisregard will be issued soon, thesource added.

Of 418 applications for theloan, the Food Ministry hasfound 282 eligible. Of this,114 applications have beencleared for loans amounting to�6,139.08 crore, as per officialdata. However, banks havesanctioned the loan to 45 appli-cants and disbursed �900 croreto 33 applicants till September-

end, the data showed. At present, 3-4 lakh tonne

of sugar gets diverted forethanol making. With creationof additional capacity under thescheme, 9-10 lakh tonne ofsugar is expected to be divert-ed for ethanol production.Sugar mills have supplied 175crore litres of ethanol to oilmarketing companies (OMCs)till October 22 of the 2018-19season (October-September)and helped them achieve 5.2per cent blending with petrol

Cane arrear still remainshigh at �9,000 Cr so far thisyear based on sugarcane pricefixed by both Centre and States,as per the Ministry data. Thereis a sugar glut in India, theworld’s second largest sugarproducer after Brazil.

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Despite various measures inplace by the State and

Central Governments, onionscontinue to be sold at �80-�100per kg in many States acrossIndia. In a bid to get rid ofshortage of onion in domesticmarket, the AgricultureMinistry on Wednesdayextended relaxed fumigationnorms for imported onionsup to December 31. Farmersand traders say the onion priceis expected to be lowered byDecember end.

Retail prices of onion in thecountry have remained high formore than a month due to 30-40 per cent decline in kharifonion output because of heavyrains in growing States. Theexcessive rain in key onion pro-ducing states across country

such as Karnataka,Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh,Gujarat, Rajasthan, UttarPradesh, and Bihar, is one ofthe main reasons that have ledto a shortfall in its supply as 50percent crops of onion hasbeen damaged. Another rea-son for price hike is believed tobe the delay in the arrival ofmonsoon, which in turndelayed sowing. This resultedin a cascading effect on arrivalin the mandis.

On the other hand, theIncome Tax Department hasalso surveyed and examiningonion traders in Maharashtra,Delhi and Madhya Pradeshfollowing reports of allegedhoarding of the commodityamid its skyrocketing prices.

On November 6, theMinistry had liberalised fumi-gation provisions under the

Plant Quarantine (PQ) Order,2003 till November 30 to facil-itate import of the key kitchenstaple from Afghanistan, Egypt,Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Turkeyand Iran to boost availabilityand check price rise. In its lat-est order, the Ministry hasextended these relaxed provi-sions till December 31 foronion imports with some con-

ditions. Traders who haveimported onions without fumi-gation or having endorsementof such treatment on phy-tosanitary certificate (PSC) willbe allowed to fumigate in Indiathrough an accredited treat-ment provider, it said.

The consignment will beinspected thoroughly by quar-antine officials and releasedonly if found free from pestsand diseases of concern toIndia, it said.

Also, such consignments ofonions will not be subjected tothe four times additionalinspection fees on account ofnon-compliance of conditionsunder the 2003 PQ Order, itadded.

Presently, imported onionsare allowed in the countryafter the commodity is fumi-gated with methyl bromide

and certified by the exportingnation. Importers are requiredto pay huge charges if found innon-compliance with this pro-vision.

As onion prices fail to cooldown, the Government hasdecided to increase the avail-ability through import of about1 lakh tonnes of onion throughpublic trading companyMMTC, which has alreadyfloated tender for about 4,000tonnes of imports. TheGovernment is facilitating pri-vate imports as well.

Private traders haveinformed the Government thatthey have placed order forimport of 2,400 tonnes of onionwhich would reach India bymonth-end. Another 2,600tonnes will be contracted forarrival in December, sourcessaid.

�� -1&'123/

The Congress onWednesday said the

Supreme Court decision onGovernment diluting appoint-ments to different tribunals willhave far-reaching conse-quences on any future attemptsby the Modi dispensation toabuse the money bill route. Itsought a debate on the issue inParliament.

“I wholeheartedly welcomethe decision of theConstitution Bench of theSupreme Court of India in mycase. I am deeply grateful to theSupreme Court for this deci-sion,” party leader JairamRamesh said.

“It will have far reachingconsequences on any futureattempts by the ModiGovernment to abuse themoney bill route and is also a

reminder to futureGovernments that any attemptat diluting our institutions willnot be allowed,” he said.

Ramesh, who is a peti-tioner in the case, said “it isimportant to have a discussionon the money bill inParliament.” He also claimedthat there has been misuse ofArticle 110 by the Governmentin the last three years, where-by it has been converting keybills as money bills for avoid-ing a vote and passage in RajyaSabha.

He said the five-judgebench wants this issue to besent to a larger bench and thuswill have its consequence onthe Aadhaar bill judgement,which was also given by a five-judge Constitution benchwhere the Supreme Court hassaid it is a money bill.

“It is a victory not for theCongress. This is a very big vic-tory especially for the RajyaSabha and democracy and it isa defeat of the BJP,” he said.Ramesh in his petition hadchallenged the Finance Act of2017 (as notified on March 31,2017) and the rules framedthereunder (notified on June 1,2017) through which theGovernment had sought todilute appointments to nine-teen different tribunals, includ-ing crucial institutions likeNational Green Tribunal andCentral Administrative

Tribunal, among others.Through the rules, the

government extended execu-tive control over these institu-tions by altering the composi-tion of the selection commit-tees and vastly downgradingthe qualifications and experi-ence required to staff thesebodies, he alleged.

“This was done with thefurtive intention of vestinggreater control in the centralgovernment on the appoint-ments of judges to these judi-cial and quasi-judicial bodies,”Ramesh said. “Knowing fullywell the Finance Act (and theRules framed thereunder)would not pass Parliamentarymuster, the Modi Governmentclassified it as a money bill soas to prevent voting in theRajya Sabha,” he said, addingthat the ruling dispensationlacks numbers there.

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The Congress on Wednesdaycalled for the dismissal of the

Yediyurappa Government inKarnataka, saying the SupremeCourt’s decision upholding thedecision disqualifying 17 Congressand JD(S) MLAs but allowingthem to contest the bypolls hadexposed BJP’s ‘Operation Kamal’ inthe State.

“The Supreme Court’s decisionhas exposed the BJP’s ‘OperationKamal’ in Karnataka... TheYediyurappa Government is an‘illegitimate’ Government in termsof law and constitution and shouldbe dismissed immediately,”Congress spokesperson RandeepSurjewala said. He also asked for aninquiry into the role of the BJP lead-ership.

“Public opinion and democra-tic values demand that not shouldonly the ‘illegitimate’ Yediyurappagovernment be sacked, but theBJP’s conspiracy to bring down anelected Government on the basis of

money power of the legislatorsinvestigated. The ‘YediyurappaTapes’ need to beinvestigated.Where did all thisblack money come from? What wasthe role of BJP leadership?” heasked.

His colleague Abhishek ManuSinghvi echoed him and said theYediyurappa government has nomoral right to continue in office anymore. “There is clearly an attempt

by the BJP tod e s t r o ydemocraticv a l u e st h r o u g hs h a m e l e s sdisplay ofm o n e ypower... TheS u p r e m eCourt deci-sion vindi-cates thestand of theS p e a k e ralmost 95 percent. It shows

that ‘Operation Kamal’ is happen-ing everyday and everywhere in thecountry,” Singhvi told reporters.

“It shows that a large numberof Congress-JDS MLAs were luredby the BJP through the use ofmoney power,” he said. Demandingthe resignation of the Karnatakachief minister, he said the BJP’s“character” was now exposed.

“Those who preach to us about

corruption, moral and Gandhianvalues, they have to realise that theyhave to walk the talk,” Singhvi said.A H Vishwanath, one of the dis-qualified MLAs from the JD(S), said he was satisfied withthe decision of the apex court.

“I welcome the judgement ofthe Supreme Court which has nowpermitted all 17 MLAs to contestthe elections,” Vishwanath toldreporters.

The speaker had disqualifiedthe 17 legislators of the rulingCongress-JD(S) coalition ahead ofa trust vote in July.

Then Chief Minister H DKumaraswamy resigned after los-ing the trust vote, paving the wayfor the BJP-led Government in thestate under Yediyurappa.

Bypolls to 15 out of these 17Assembly seats which fell vacantfollowing the disqualification ofMLAs are scheduled on December5 and candidates are required to filetheir nomination papers betweenNovember 11 and November 18.

�� 3+1'�5�'

The Gujarat Government onWednesday announced a relief

package of �700 crore for the farm-ers in the State, whose crops havebeen damaged due to excess rainthis year.

Talking to reporters, DeputyChief Minister Nitin Patel said themove would benefit over four lakhfarmers in the State.

Farmers in Gujarat witnesseddamage to their crops due to excessrains that lashed the State even afterthe monsoon season officiallyended.

“The cabinet meeting heldtoday decided to declare a reliefpackage for farmers who have facedcrop losses due to excess rains in thelast week of October and early partof November,” Patel said.

“We have decided to give a reliefpackage of � 700 crore for the farm-ers. The main crops that have beendamaged are groundnut, cottonand rice...Over four lakh farmerswill benefit from this package,” hesaid.

The relief package will be overand above the crop insurance thatthe companies will provide to the

farmers who under theinsurance cover. Therelief will be given asper the rules of theCentral Government’sCalamity Relief Fund,Patel said.

According to him,a survey is being car-ried out in differentparts of the State toassess the crop damageand it will soon be

completed. “Chief Minister VijayRupani had promised to providerelief to all the farmers even if theyhave not taken crop insurance. Tokeep that promise to the farmers inthe state, this relief package has beenannounced,” he said.

However, the oppositionCongress termed the relief packageto farmers as a mere “lollypop” and

asked the State Government toprovide crop insurance to them.

The Gujarat Government’sannouncement came at a timewhen Congress leader Hardik Patelwas about to end his day- long sym-bolic fast at Paddhari in Rajkot dis-trict over the issue of crop insuranceand farm loan waiver in the wake ofunseasonal rains.

“Farmers are committing sui-cide as they are not paid 100 percent crop insurance. While we wel-come the government’s move (reliefpackage), we want prompt dis-bursement of crop insurance,”Hardik said.

“The BJP Government wasforced to announce a package of Rs700 crore because of the Congress.We will continue our fight for thefarmers in the coming days,” headded.

�� /�4

Rajasthan Chief MinisterAshok Gehlot on

Wednesday said the deathof birds at Sambhar Lake isworrying and protectingflora and fauna remainsone of the top priorities ofthe state government.

Hundreds of birdsincluding NorthernShoveler, Ruddy Shelduck,Plovers, Avocets werefound were found dead on Sundayin the 5-7 km area around theSambhar Lake, a wetland of inter-national importance and key win-tering area for tens of thousands ofmigratory birds.

“Death of birds at SambharLake is very worrying. State govt hastaken all necessary steps to find outwhat is causing loss of avian livesand also to take immediate steps toprevent deaths during this migra-tory season. Protecting flora &fauna remains one of our top pri-orities,” Gehlot said in a tweet.

He said officials are investigat-ing whether it has been caused bywater contamination or algae poi-soning.

“Once investigations are com-plete, we will do everything possi-

ble so that no more birds lose lives,”he said.

Gehlot said a ground-levelassessment has found that due toheavy rains in Sambhar, a numberof new water bodies have formed,raising saline level and causingtoxicity.

He said the Chief Conservatorof Forest as well as several teams ofAnimal Husbandry Departmentare at Sambhar Lake to assess thesituation.

“Both chief wild life warden(CWLW) and CCF are also moni-toring the situation. Water sampleshave been taken and sent for test-ing. Carcasses are sent to Bhopal fortesting for bird flu. Toxicologistshave also been called from SAR-CON, Coimbatore,” he said.

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ASupreme Court lawyer has issueda legal notice to six officials for

stopping supply of free ration andcash-dole to Bru refugees living inrelief camps in Tripura leading to the“death of six persons”, an organisationof the displaced people said onWednesday.

The Ministry of Home Affairshas stopped free ration and cash-doleafter repatriation of the Brus to theirhomeland Mizoram started onOctober 3. It is scheduled to contin-ue till November 30.

The Mizoram Bru DisplacedPeople’s Forum (MBDPF) hadclaimed that six people including

babies have died in relief camps sinceOctober 29 “because of starvation”after the ration supply was stopped tothe 35,000 odd refugees. The TripuraGovernment, however, said fourpeople died and the cause of thedeaths was being ascertained.

Advocate Ali Zia KabirChoudhary sent the legal notice to sixofficials including Tripura DirectorGeneral of Police Akhil KumarShukla, North Tripura DistrictMagistrate Ravel H Kumar and Sub-Divisional Magistrate of KanchanpurAbhedananda Baidya, MBDPF lead-ers said.

When asked by PTI, Baidya saidhe received the notice.

The displaced people had

launched a roadblock atAnandabazar, known for a promi-nent market, at Kanchanpur in NorthTripura district from October 31demanding resumption of cash-doleand free ration to them. Followingassurance from Tripura Deputy ChiefMinister Jishnu Debverma to resumesupply of free ration, the blockade waswithdrawn on October 7.

Baidya said, “The refugees havealready started getting free ration.”

Every adult Bru person living ina camp gets �3.50 in cash and 600grams of rice per day as allowances,while each minor receives �2.50 incash and 300 grams of rice per day,official sources said adding that theyget clothes in every three years.

�� 51-%�24 4

Former Karnataka Chief Ministerand JD(S) leader HD

Kumaraswamy claimed onWednesday the Supreme Court’s ver-dict on the disqualified MLAs “has nomeaning”.

“On the one hand upholding thedisqualification and on the other,allowing them to contest the elec-tion...,” he told reporters.

The apex court upheld the dis-qualification of 17 Congress-JD(S)MLAs on orders of the then Speakerbut paved the way for them to con-test the December 5 bypolls for 15seats.

The court struck down the por-tion of the order of then Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar by which the leg-islators were disqualified till the endof the term of the 15th KarnatakaAssembly. “Without giving power tothe anti-defection law, we pat our backsaying that we have introduced thelaw. What is there in the anti-defec-tion law? To prohibit them (publicrepresentatives) from arbitrary acts ofresigningwhenever they want and canbe easily influenced,”

Kumaraswamysaid.“The way you are encouraging,

your decision has no meaning,”Kumaraswamy said.

“If at all the democracy of thecountry has to survive, some degreeof discipline should be displayed.There is no meaning if the anti-defec-tion law is not respected,” he said.

Asked whether there was any pos-sibility of “compromising” with theBJP, Kumaraswamy said there was noneed for him to do so.

He accused Congress leader andformer Chief Minister Siddaramaiahof creating such a narrative about theJD(S). “When 2018 assembly electionswere held, he asked Rahul Gandhi toannounce that the JD(S) is the B-teamof BJP. The same card he wants to playagain. This time it will not work,”hesaid.

�� 51-%�24 4

Ruling BJP in Karnataka is starring atrebellion in a few of the bypoll-bound

Assembly constituencies amid indications that several of the 17 dis-qualified Congress and JD(S) MLAs whoare set to join the party might get tick-ets to contest the December5 polls.

At least two leaders Raju Kage fromKagwad and Sharath Bachegowda, sonof BJP Chikkaballapura MP BNBacchegowda, have openly revoltedagainst the party upset over indications that they may not get tick-ets to contest the bypolls to 15 con-stituencies.

Both had unsuccessfully contestedthe 2018 assembly elections againstCongress candidates, who are among thedisqualified MLAs.

Kage had already announced hisdecision to quit the BJP and join theCongress, while Sharath on Wednesdaysaid he would file nomination as anindependent in Hoskote.

Sharath’s announcement came on aday when the Supreme Court gave par-tial relief to the disqualified MLAs byallowing them to contest the bypolls and

all eyes are the BJP’s next move onwhether it will give tickets to them.

Chief Minister B S Yediyurappasaid the disqualified MLAs would jointhe BJP on Thursday.

Kage on Wednesday met Congressleader Siddaramaiah and said he was allset to join the party and would file hisnomination from Kagwad on November18.

“Today or tomorrow, I am going toresign from the primary membership ofBJP, he told reporters here.

BJP is likely to field Congress rebelsShrimant Patil and K Sudhakar inKagwad and Hoskote.

Barely two days ago, Congress leaderD K Shivakumar had met Kage andanother BJP member Ashok Pujari ofGokak in Belagavi giving rise to spec-ulations they may be absorbed by theparty and fielded in the bypolls.

�� 51-%�24 4

Karnataka Chief Minister BSYediyurappa on Wednesday wel-

comed the Supreme Court decisionto allow disqualified MLAs to con-test polls, and termed it as verdictagainst the “conspiracy” of the thenSpeaker KR Ramesh Kumar andCongress leader Siddaramaiah.

Expressing confidence that BJPwould win all the 15 seats, wherebypolls are scheduled to be held onDecember 5, he said the partywoulddecide on giving tickets to dis-qualified MLAs.

“The whole country was eager-ly awaiting this verdict. The previ-ous Speaker Ramesh Kumar hadconspired along with Siddaramaiah(Congress leader) — Supreme Courthas given cleardecision to it,”

Yediyurappa said. Welcoming thecourt decision to allow disqualifiedMLAs tocontest the polls, he said,preparations have begun to win allthe seats.

“From tomorrow itself all ourministers and leaders will takeresponsibility. We will put all effortsto win all the seats,” he added.

The Supreme Court onWednesday upheld the disqualification of 17 Congress-JD(S) MLAs by the then Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar but allowed themto contest the December five bypollsin the state.

The court struck down the por-tion of the order of then Speaker bywhich the legislators were disqual-ified till the end of the 15thKarnataka Assembly in 2023.

Responding to a question

whether disqualified MLAswouldget BJP tickets, Yediyurappa said,“we will discuss at the core com-mittee meeting today and take deci-sion by evening”.

Asked if the 17 disqualifiedMLAs — 14 of the Congress andthree belonging to the JDS — will bejoing BJP, he said, “wait till evening.

They are all be coming back inthe evening, I will discuss withthem, also with national leaders andtake an appropriate decision.”

Bypolls to 15 of 17 seats represented by disqualified MLAs,whose resignation and absence fromthe trust vote led to the fall of theCongress-JD(S) coalitionGovernment, and made way for theBJP to come to power, will be heldon December five.

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�� 51-%�24 4

JDS supremo HD Deve Gowda on Wednesdaysaid Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa

can complete his term as he no longer has to worryabout how to manage the disqualified MLAs, whohave been allowed by Supreme Court to contestcoming bypolls.

“With common sense I can say thatYediyurappa was worried about how to managethese 17 people (disqualified Congress-JDSMLAs),” he said when asked to comment on the Supreme Court verdict on theirpetitions.

“We don’t need to bother about him(Yediyurappa). He can run the Government safe-ly for the next three years and four months (remain-der of the term),” he added.

He also ruled out any truck with the Congressin future, especially with its senior leaderSiddaramaiah.”Siddaramaiah is also safe. There isno problem. There is no question of Siddaramaiahand Deve Gowda coming together to form the gov-ernment. He will remain safely as the oppositionleader,” Gowda said.

Hyderabad: AnotherTelangana State RoadTransport Corporation(TSRTC) driver allegedly com-mitted suicide on Wednesdayin Mahabubabad district asthe indefinite stir by theemployees’ unions entered the40th day. A Naresh, 45, con-sumed some poisonous sub-stance at his house in the earlyhours and was rushed to a hos-pital by his family where he

died, policesaid.Already, four RTC employ-

ees had ended their lives andsome others attempted suicidein different parts of Telanganasince the strike began onOctober 5.

A senior police official saidNaresh resorted to the extremestep apparently “upset”whether the ongoing RTC issuewould be resolved.

A purported suicide note

in the name of Naresh alleged-ly mentioned that the StateGovernment was not respond-ing properly to the stir, the offi-cial said and added that itsauthenticity has to be verified.

Scores of TSRTCworkersand employees along withmembers of some political par-ties took his body in a proces-sion from the hospital towardsthe RTC depot raising slogansagainst the Government. PTI

�� /�4

The Congress’ Rajasthanunit on Wednesday

released its manifesto for theNovember 16 civic bodypolls in the State.

The party promises theState’s people that it will doeverything to ensure devel-opment, Chief MinisterAshok Gehlot said afterreleasing the manifesto.

Forty-nine civic bodiesare going to polls onSaturday.

In its manifesto, theCongress has promised tostart urban bus services inBharatpur, Udaipur andBikaner, get work worth Rs3,500 crore done under theSmart City scheme in thenext two years in Jaipur,Udaipur, Kota and Ajmer,and revive the RajasthanUrban Development Fundbesides 25 other promises.

“People have appreciat-ed the Government’s pro-grammes. The Governmentwill once again start the‘Prashashan Sheharo Ki Aur’programme,” the ChiefMinister said.

Keeping in mind that

all-round development ofcities is necessary, theCongress has prepared amanifesto and the govern-ment will work on itspromises, he said.

Development of localbodies took place only whenthe Congress was in power,Gehlot said.

Congress Rajasthanchief and Deputy ChiefMinister Sachin Pilot saidthe good work done by thegovernment will be carriedforward at a rapid pace inthe remaining four years ofthis dispensation and all-round development will bedone.

The BJP Governmentran a rhetoric on smartcities. Six years have passedbut no city has turnedsmart, whereas investmentsworth crores were madeunder the ‘Jawaharlal UrbanRenewal Mission’ pro-gramme during the tenureof Prime MinisterManmohan Singh, he said.

The Congress’sRajasthan in-chargeAvinash Pandey said in thelast bypolls, people of thestate gave votes to the poli-cies of the Congress and thegood work done in the lastone year by theGovernment.

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Former Karnataka Speaker KR RameshKumar on Wednesday expressed “sigh of

relief ” as the Supreme Court upheld his deci-sion to disqualify 17 Congress-JD(S) MLAs.

“Supreme Court has upheld the disquali-fication- to that extent, it’s a sigh of relief (forme). On the issue of tenure (of disqualification),Supreme Court has not agreed to my inter-pretation I will speak on that after goingthrough the text of the judgement,” Kumar said.

Speaking to reporters here, he said, he hasgone by the tenth schedule, keeping in mind thepolitical and constitutional morality.

The apex court on Wednesday upheld thedisqualification of 17 Congress-JD(S) MLAs inKarnataka on orders of the Speaker but allowedthem to contest the December 5 bypolls in thestate.

The court struck down the portion of theorder of Kumar by which the legislators weredisqualified till the end of the 15th KarnatakaAssembly in 2023.

In July this year, 17 MLAs were disquali-fied by Kumar based on the complaint ofCongress and JD(S) after their absence and res-ignation from the assembly during the trust voteleading to the collapse of then H DKumaraswamy-led Government.

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Political parties, right wingoutfits and devotees in

Kerala are keeping their fingerscrossed as the Supreme Courtis set to pronounce onThursday its verdict on pleasseeking review of its decision toallow entry of women of all agegroups in the SabarimalaTemple.

The southern State hadwitnessed high drama andprotests by devotees and rightwing activists last year againstthe CPI(M)-led LDFGovernment’s decision toimplement the top court’s order.

The verdict was also crucialfor the LDF Government, ledby Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan, as the beginning of theannual pilgrimage season atSabarimala is just three daysaway.

The portals of the hillshrine, located in a reserve for-est in Western Ghats inPathanamthitta district of thestate, would be opened for thetwo-month-long MandalamMakaravilakku season onNovember 16 evening.

Vijayan had on Saturday

taken stock of the preparationsbeing carried out by variousdepartments to ensure a hassle-free pilgrimage.

DGP Loknath Behara hassaid there will be tight securi-ty during the pilgrimage sea-son.

Over 10,000 police per-sonnel will be deployed inphases in and around theSabarimala Lord Ayyappa tem-ple during the two-month longpilgrimage season.

While the state BJP, onWednesday, expressed hopethat the order on the reviewpetitions, would be in favour ofdevotees, the TravancoreDevaswom Board (TDB), the

autonomous temple bodywhich manages the shrine,appealed to everyone to acceptthe judgment whatever it may.

The apex court, onSeptember 28, 2018, had liftedthe ban that prevented womenand girls between the age of 10and 50 from entering theAyyappa shrine and held thatthis centuries-old Hindu reli-gious practice was illegal andunconstitutional.

The opposition Congressparty and the influential NairService Society (NSS),an out-fit of the forward Nair com-munity, had also vehementlyobjected to the Left

Government’s decision to goahead and implement theverdict.

BJP state general secre-tary M T Ramesh said if theverdict was against devo-tees, the party would seekconstitutional means toaddress the concerns ofdevotees.

“We hope that the ver-dict on the review petitionswill be in favour of devo-tees.

The stand adopted bythe state government was thereason for the earlier judgmentthat came out against the sen-timents of devotees,” he toldreporters.

The stand taken by theapex court in the Ayodhyacase that deity Ram Lallacould be viewed as a specialpersonality, can be applicablein the Sabarimala case also, hesaid.

A Padmakuamr, the out-going president of TDB, saidthe verdict should be accept-ed with self-restraint and peace.

“The Board’s request toeveryone is that we shouldaccept the verdict whatever itmay be. We hope that the state

government will act in accor-dance with the verdict,” hetold TV channels.

Attempts by around adozen women, includingactivists and journalists in the10-50 age group, to climb thesacred hills had come to noughtlast year as frenzied devotees ofLord Ayyappa heckled andhassled them and forced themto retreat.

However, defying protest-ers, two women, in their 40s,had entered the Ayyappa tem-ple in January this year andoffered prayers scripting his-tory.

The apex court, onThursday, will deliver its judg-ment on as many as 65 peti-tions — including 56 reviewpetitions and four fresh writpetitions and five transfer pleas-- which were filed after its ver-dict sparked violent protests inKerala.

A five-judge constitutionbench headed by Chief JusticeRanjan Gogoi had reserved itsdecision on February 6 afterhearing various parties includ-ing those seeking re-consider-ation of the September 28,2018 judgment.

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Adozen people includingpolicemen and BJP work-

ers were injured after saffronactivists clashed with the policeduring an agitation againstalleged “Government apathy”in handling rising dengue casesin Kolkata.

The police lathi-chargedthe protesters and used watercannons to disperse hundredsof charging BJP Yuva Morchasupporters marching towardsthe Kolkata MunicipalCorporation. At least 37 BJPmen including State partyleaders Raju Banjeree werearrested.

“We were protesting peace-fully but the police suddenlystarted charging batons and fir-ing water cannons,” Banerjeesaid asking “how can the policeuse water cannons purchasedwith the tax-payers money.There is no democracy inBengal,” he said.

State BJP president DilipGhosh attacked theGovernment for “reckless han-dling of dengue cases,” adding“the number of dengue infec-tion has more than doubled inthe past fortnight taking the

figure to about 50,000 and theGovernment is hiding facts,”adding “repeated using ofbatons means that theGovernment has lost confi-dence.”

He asked “why will thepeople have to descend on thestreets if everything is fine. Thepeople are agitating becausethey are bearing the brunt ofGovernment apathy,” he main-tained while Kolkata Mayorand senior Minister FirhadHakim said “we don’t have tohide anything. Kolkata is notBalakote that we have to fudgereports.”

Meanwhile allegedTrinamool Congress support-ers shouted “go-back” sloganagainst Union Minister BabulSupriyo while he was visitingthe Bulbul-affected areas ofNamkhana in South 24Parganas.

The Minister would notreact but Dilip Ghosh hit backstrongly to the proceedings

saying, “we have every right tovisit the affected areas as thereare numerous complaints thatGovernment is playing politicsover distributing relief materi-als.”

He said “the Chief Ministeris not allowing the oppositionparties to extend the hand ofcooperation. Prime MinisterNarendra Modi has sent Rs 200crore for relief in advance butshe is not paying heed to our-suggestions. What is the harmif other parties too come in andwork together at this time ofcrisis for the common people.”

Cyclone Bulbul has affect-ed large parts of nine districtsdestroying crops and propertiesworth hundreds of crores.“This has caused a bigger dam-age than Aila,” a State officialsaid.

Meanwhile Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee who was onWednesday touring Basirhatsub-division in North 24Paraganas told in an adminis-trative meeting that “no par-tiality should be shown whiledistributing relief. Politics is inits own place but during griefwe must unite and relief mustbe distributed without seeingpolitical colours.”

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Aday after President’s Rulecame into force in

Maharashtra, the Ministrieshave been ordered to hand overpossessions to the GeneralAdministrative Department(GAD) by Wednesday evening.

The GAD order is applic-able to all ministries, OSDs(Officers on Special Duty)working for ministers, person-al secretaries and personal

assistants.They are directed to submit

telephone bills and return iden-tity cards issued to them to theGAD, the order stated.

They are told to return offi-cial files, confidential docu-ments, office stationary, fur-niture etc.

The Central Rule cameinto force on Tuesday evening,19 days after the fracturedmandate in the State Assemblypolls failed to elect a clearwinner.

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The Shiv Sena will not men-tion in the Supreme Court

on Thursday its plea challeng-ing the Governor’s decision ofnot granting it 3 days time forgetting letter of support forGovernment formation inMaharashtra, according to theparty lawyer.

The lawyer representingShiv Sena in the apex court toldPTI that the party has preferrednot to mention the petition.

Advocate Sunil Fernandes,

who had filed the petition onbehalf of the Shiv Sena, said on Tuesday that theSupreme Court had askedthem to mention the writ peti-tion at 10:30 AM onWednesday.

The lawyer said anotherpetition challenging the impo-sition of President’s rule in thestate was being readied. TheShiv Sena had on Tuesdaymoved the apex court chal-lenging the Maharashtra gov-ernor’s decision but failed to getan urgent hearing in the mat-

ter.The Shiv Sena had sought

a direction from the apex courtto quash the Governor’s deci-sion of not giving it the oppor-tunity to prove majority on thefloor of the House.

The party had claimed itwas invited to form theGovernment on Monday andhad indicated its willingness todo so on Tuesday.

In the petition, the Senahad contended that the gover-nor’s decision was violative ofarticles 14 and 21 of the

Constitution.The plea had said the gov-

ernor’s decision rejecting theclaim of the Shiv Sena, whichis the second largest party with56 MLAs, to form Governmentis “ex facie arbitrary, unconsti-tutional and violative of article14”.

The Shiv Sena was invitedto form the state governmenton November 10 and the peti-tioner had indicated its will-ingness to form theGovernment on November 11,it said

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Authorities are gearing up togive Ayodhya a complete

makeover following theSupreme Court verdict infavour of a Ram temple, withplans to build resorts, a five-starhotel, international bus termi-nal and an airport.

Besides these, the UttarPradesh Government alsoplans to start a cruise on theSaryu river.

Elaborating about thedevelopmental plan, deputydirector Information ofAyodhya division MurlidharSingh said,”Ayodhya TeerthVikas Parishad will be consti-tuted. Plans are on to start rivercruise on Saryu river inAyodhya. It will take almostfour years for Ayodhya tobecome a city like Tirupati,” hesaid.

Singh said work will bestarted at a very fast pace toconstruct an international air-port in Ayodhya, so that thefirst flight can take off by RamNavami (birth celebration ofLord Ram) in April 2020.

He said the expansion ofAyodhya railway station will

also be undertaken apart fromconstruction of an interna-tional bus terminal in the town.

In addition, a flyover mea-suring 5-kilometre- long willcome up between Faizabadand Ayodhya, he said.

Work to construct a five-star hotel and setting up 10resorts in Ayodhya is likely tocommence in December, hesaid. “The temple of Lord Ram,which will be built in Ayodhya,will be the biggest religiousplace in the country. If 2,000craftsmen (kaarigar) will beworking for 8 hours in a day,then the temple will be readyin two-and-half years. So far 65per cent of the stones have beenalready carved,” MurlidharSingh said.

He added that the respon-sibility to look after the area ofnearly 5-kilometre around thetemple will be on the SupremeCourt-mandated trust for con-struction of a temple at the sitein Ayodhya.

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Senior NCP leader and for-mer deputy Chief Minister

Ajit Pawar pulled a fast one onthe media on Wednesday night.Or so it appeared.

There was considerableconfusion and drama sur-rounding the first co-ordina-tion committee scheduled forWednesday night to discussformulation of CommonMinimum Programme (CMP).

After the conflicting ver-sions emerged from both theCongress and the NCP campsas to whether the scheduledmeeting was held at all or not,it was confirmed later in thenight that the meeting wasindeed held at a five-star hotel’sconference room.

Senior leaders of both theparties, including veteranleader Sushilkumar Shinde,Prithviraj Chavan, Balasaheb

Thorat, Vijay Wadettiwar,Ashok Chavan, ManiraoThakre ( all from theCongress), Ajit Pawar, JayantPatil, Dhananjay Munde andNawab Mallik ( all from theNCP) were present.

The Congress and NCPleaders present reviewed themanifestos of the Congress-NCP alliance, which had comeout with a joint manifesto, andthe Shiv Sena. The two partieswill use the manifestos of theCongress-NCP alliance andShiv Sena as the base for theCMP. Given the different ide-ologies, the Congress-NCPleaders also discussed the con-flicting stands/views taken bythe Congress-NCP alliance onehand and the Shiv Sena on theother. If it wants to go with theCongress-NCP alliance, theShiv Sena will have keep itsHindutva agenda on the backburner till they are in alliance

with the two “secular” parties.Now that the Shiv Sena’sprocess of alliance with theCongress-NCP alliance hasbegun, Sena president UddhavThackeray may cancel hisscheduled visit to Ayodhya onNovember 24.

Earlier, while state NCPpresident Jayant Patil claimed

that the meeting was going on,State Congress presidentBalasaheb Thorat said that themeeting was cancelled at thelast minute at the instance ofthe NCP.

The drama unfolded afterNCP’s Legislature Party leaderAjit Pawar emerged out of ameeting that he and other state

party leaders had with chiefSharad Pawar at the latter’s“Silver Oak” residence in southMumbai. He said that the meet-ing, scheduled between theleaders of his party andCongress on Wednesday night,to dwell upon issues relating toCMP, had been cancelled.

“The meeting has beencancelled. I am leaving forBaramati,” Ajit Pawar said.

However, Sharad Pawarclarified later that Ajitdada, asthe Ajit Pawar is known in thestate political circles, was verymuch in Mumbai and themeeting between the NCP andcongress leaders would takeplace in Mumbai on Thursday.“Ajitdada is very much inMumbai. He might have madethe comment in jest that he washeading towards Baramati,” SrPawar said.

State Congress chiefBalasaheb Thorat also con-

firmed that the meeting sched-uled for on Wednesday wascancelled. “We (Congress andNCP leaders) were to meettoday at 7.30 pm. The Congressleaders told us all of suddenthat the meeting is cancelled.We will meet tomorrow,”Thorat said.

Former chief minister andsenior Congress leader AshokChavan said: “We had an inter-nal meeting among theCongress leaders today.... Wewere to meet the NCP leaderstoday. But that meeting is nothappening today. We will meetthem tomorrow”.

Later in the night, StateNCP president Jayant Patilclaimed that the meetingbetween the leaders of his partyand NCP was currently. “ It wasin jest that Ajit Pawar had madethe statement that the meetinghad been cancelled and that hewas going to Baramati”.

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Submission to an inviolable sense ofjustice, order and probity ought tobe at the heart of professionals ren-dering policing and legal servicesto society. The nobility of purpose

in both these professions mandates a cer-tain code of conduct and ethics that positsthe responsibility to the citizenry at largeand, thereby, the nation. Many such man-dates have been legislated, ingrained andtemplatised in the form of standard pro-cedures, processes and even uniformsthat they bear with aplomb and responsi-bility. The allegorical personification ofLady Justice (originally Lustitia, the god-dess of justice in the Greek mythology)with a blindfold, a balance and a sword isdeeply symbolic of those who uphold itstenets as protectors of justice.

Similarly, the khaki uniform of thepolice personnel is freighted with the cit-izen’s charter that explicitly seeks, amongother things, the “maintenance of law andorder in civil society” as a common bondbetween the two services. Many illustriouslawyers and policemen (and policewomen)have conducted themselves with the high-est dignity, civility, service and personal sac-rifices that have been the pride of the soci-ety and the nation.

Yet, the unfortunate spectacle of theviolent clash between policemen and thelawyers at the Tis Hazari court in thenational capital shamed the edifice of jus-tice, which is the shared responsibility ofthese two callings. In an age of recklesssocial media, the free flow of visuals of thefights, accusations and the public protestswas a reflection of institutional breakdownat various levels.

The immediate impact of this whol-ly avoidable fracas goes way beyond theperceptions about these two professions.It speaks volumes about the institutionalone-upmanship, prevailing societal angerand above all, a misplaced sense of enti-tlement that some individuals may carry— all of which could taint the entirety oftheir services. For the sake of nationalsecurity and order, institutional blame-game must be contained with immediateeffect. The High Court-appointed judicialinquiry must ascertain individual acts ofmisdemeanour and those involved mustbe punished, irrespective of their profes-sional callings.

However, the lazy and wanton lust tosully the reputation of either of the insti-tutions can have unfathomable repercus-sions that the nation can ill-afford, giventhat both are unique and irreplaceable ser-vices, often the only source of ensuring jus-tice to the citizenry. To that extent, the actshould be treated as a matter of individual(at best a group of individuals) culpabili-ty or complicity as opposed to a situationwhere the top-brass of either institutionslock horns on behalf of their colleagues.The fact that the violence was triggered by

a seemingly innocuous dis-pute over a parking space reeksof ego, vanity and a sense offiefdom that was involved. Theproverbial “turf-war” furthereroded the citizen’s waningtrust, faith and decorum aboutgovernmental and judicialarms, who are in dire need forreforms and reassurances.

In the melee of excesseswas the regrettable irony of theDelhi Police’s motto of “Shanti,Sewa, Nyaya” (Peace, Serviceand Justice) or indeed, the factthat the lawyers are the ultimaterestorers of the law of the land.The hapless citizenry couldonly mull and reminisce theirown experiences at the handsof either of these two.

Such incidents also give aparallel vent to latent concernsthat have remained unad-dressed for far too long butcontextualising the same tothis incident is to distract fromthe immediacy and specificityof action. The unwarrantedpoliticisation of the incident,with political parties assumingpositions that suit their imme-diate narrative, can only fan thefire. Sane voices, who are eitherin positions of seniority in therespective hierarchies or thosewho have retired from officialservice, would do yeoman ser-vice by insisting on isolating theindividuals concerned in theviolence, as opposed to takinginstitutional positions.

Other collateral concernslike work conditions and offi-cer-soldier relationship in thepolice among others, howevertrue and important in theirown right, are a matter of sep-arate enquiry and resolution. Infact, there has been a plethoraof committees and commis-sions that have identified var-ious reforms pertaining to theefficacy of the judicial andpolicing services.Unfortunately, political willhas been lacking and eveninstitutional lethargy to under-take the recommendationsmade by experts in the field.

A more reassuring arm ofthe Government has been thearmed forces. The principalfactor for this has been the rel-ative isolation from the politi-cisation of its environment,functioning and ethos. In casesof individual culpability per-taining to the rare wrong-doings of a soldier of thearmed forces, care is taken toisolate them from institution-al framework as disciplinecannot be compromised.

Discipline, leadership andsoldiering ethos are made towalk the talk in the armedforces. The finest example ofthis is the “officer-to-soldier”fatality ratio, which is the high-est for any military in theworld. It is the professional cul-ture and standard that are atstake when murmurs abound

of creeping politicisation evenin the armed forces.

The onus is on theGovernment to contain thisincident with speedy interven-tion, resolution and then usherin the much-delayed institu-tional reforms. No society canthrive where a revenue officeris burnt alive during the con-duct of his/her duty, wherepolice-lawyers vandalise pub-lic property, where policemenin uniform protest raising slo-gans, where suicide attemptsfor justice by lawyers are made.Indeed, forgotten from therecent limelight is the unprece-dented tragedy of the warheroes of the armed forces sit-ting on roadside, asking forwhat was rightfully promised inOROP.

There is certainly a powerplay of institutional relevance,elbow-room and assertion atplay. The fight over the park-ing lot was symbolic of the mis-placed sense of entitlementthat is at work with a few thatshame their own institutions.This incident should lead tocorrective introspection andcooling of tempers as opposedto a field day for those whohave vested interest in TRPs,partisan concerns or perpetu-ating the existing systemic rot.

(The writer, a military vet-eran, is a former Lt Governor ofAndaman & Nicobar Islandsand Puducherry)

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Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Fee hike unjust” (November13). There is no doubt that therehas been a significant hike in boththe hostel room fee and one-timemess fee at the Jawaharlal NehruUniversity (JNU) but we alsoneed to ponder as to how longwill the State exchequer keepfunding its students’ subsidisededucation. The monthly fee of�20 for a hostel room is some-thing that really needed to bechanged but at the same time, theauthorities should have held dis-cussions with the stakeholders onthe amount that needed to beincreased. There should havebeen a hike that would not pinchtoo much as students from all sec-tions of the society come to studyin this varsity. While it’s good thatthe authorities have partiallyrolled the proposed fee hike, stu-dents need to introspect whythere should not be a basic hikein their fees when they are beingpart of one of the most soughtafter universities in the country.There has to be some rationalityin this entire issue.

Bal Govind Noida

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Sir — It is given to understandthat an applicant can apply for anormal passport at all Post OfficePassport Sewa Kendras (POPSKs)and Passport Sewa Kendras(PSKs) spread across variousStates. It is further given tounderstand that for tatkal pass-

port applications, an applicant canapproach only a few PSKs locat-ed within the States. Thus, for anapplicant there is no possibility toapply for a tatkal passport at anyPOPSKs located across variousdistrict headquarters.

The current non-availabilityof tatkal appointments at POPSKsis causing much inconvenience tothe applicants. All are compelled

to approach the nearest PSKlocated within the State. Themove, thus, causes inconvenienceto the applicants owing to logis-tical factors to reach the venue.

The Ministry of ExternalAffairs must accept tatkal-basedpassport applications and allotappointments under tatkal quotaat POPSKs, too. The suggestedmove will entail quick processing

of such applications and subse-quently may even reduce theburden of PSKs.

Varun DambalBengaluru

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Sir — As the Chief ElectionCommissioner, TN Seshanbrought many reforms in thecountry’s electoral process, whichincludes the enforcement of theModel Code of Conduct, introduc-tion of voter ID cards for eligiblecandidates and curbing malprac-tices like the exchange of liquor andmoney during elections.

The real tribute to Seshanwould be to enforce one of hisorders where he directed that theballot papers be mixed withoutfail before they were counted sothat polling agents would notknow in which booth who votedand how. This will partially curbthe behaviour of our elected rep-resentatives who tend to tiltdevelopment funds towards thearea that voted for them.

Harvinder Singh ChughJalandhar

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The Regional Comprehensive EconomicPartnership (RCEP) is a conglomeration of10 members of the Association of South

East Asian Nations (ASEAN) viz. Malaysia,Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, ThePhilippines, Myanmar, Brunei, Laos andCambodia plus six others viz. Australia, NewZealand, Japan, South Korea, China and India.If it really sees the light of day with all 16 mem-bers intact, the group will cover 3.6 billion peo-ple or almost 50 per cent of the world’s popula-tion and account for nearly 40 per cent of theglobal GDP (Gross Domestic Product).

India is aiming to double its GDP to $5 tril-lion by 2024-25. To achieve this, it is looking interalia to doubling its exports from the current over$500 billion to $1 trillion and increasing agricul-tural exports 2.5 times from $40 billion to $100billion. In this backdrop, the RCEP with a com-bined GDP of $30 trillion presents, at least onpaper, a huge opportunity that the country can’tafford to miss.

Since 2012 (when the RCEP was mooted),29 rounds of negotiations have already been held.During the ASEAN Summit (November 11-15,2018), Prime Minister Narendra Modi hadcalled for early conclusion of the process. In therecent ministerial gathering held in Bangkok(October 10-12), even as discussions reached adeadlock over a dozen contentious issues, min-isters were given 10 days to iron out the differ-ences. If, they didn’t succeed, Modi, with hisfamed “Midas touch” was expected to make ithappen in the third RCEP leaders’ summit.

However, on November 4, Modi announcedIndia’s decision not to join the group citing that“the present form of the RCEP Agreement doesnot fully reflect the basic spirit and the agreedguiding principles of RCEP. It also does notaddress satisfactorily India’s outstanding issuesand concerns”. So, what are India’s major con-cerns? And, are these valid?

First, India wants the reference date forundertaking tariff reduction to be extended to2019 instead of 2014 planned initially. Since 2014,the Government has raised import duty on 3,500items. In this backdrop, if for the purpose of phas-ing out duties, it were to use 2014 as a referencepoint, this benefit will be lost. The Indian stanceis perfectly logical as the quotation date for com-mencement of tariff cuts has to be in sync withthe date the agreement takes effect.

Second, under the Most Favored Nation(MFN) clause, the investment or service relatedconcessions given to a trading partner under abilateral treaty have to be automatically extend-ed to all other members of the group without anytime gap. India was not inclined to accept this.This stance is illogical. MFN is a cardinal prin-ciple governing World Trade Organisation(WTO) — the international body dealing withglobal rules of trade. India should not be seenas taking a stance which is inconsistent withWTO rules.

Third, India wanted an “automatic triggersafeguard mechanism.” What it really means isthat in the event of import of a particular com-modity exceeding a certain number (also knownas threshold), this clause will automatically kickin, giving the right to the importing country(read: India) to apply higher tariff to prevent asurge. This stance is untenable as it militatesagainst the principle of free international tradebased on comparative advantage.

The rationale behind eliminatingtariffs on goods moving across interna-tional borders is to enable participat-ing countries to maximise their respec-tive gains from trade. This overarchingobjective will be defeated if a membergets the right to automatically increasethe duty, which will prevent the export-ing country from realising the fullpotential of its low cost. Moreover, ifIndia insists on this clause, others toowill want it. In that scenario, all mem-bers will end up compressing the mar-ket for each other.

Additionally, there will be practi-cal problems in determining the thresh-old level (each member would like tokeep it at the lowest level possible forextracting maximum mileage) and thenumber of commodities to be coveredby this dispensation (each member willinsist on having a large number). Theywill end up denying access to the mar-ket for each other instead of expansion,which is the overriding considerationbehind forging a free market area.

India should shun the idea ofautomatic trigger safeguard mecha-nism. Instead, it needs to focus moreon requiring member countries torefrain from giving subsidies, includ-ing “hidden” (as China does by mak-ing fuel, power and other inputs sub-sidised for enterprises) so that a situa-tion of selling commodities at belowcost (or dumping in plain words) inother members’ markets is avoided.Further, it should insist on stricter andtransparent rules of origin to ensurethat China does not use other members’territories to flood the Indian market(it is learnt that our negotiators have notdone enough home work in this area).

Fourth, India is opposing thedemand of other members to seek tradeconcessions in its domestic space.Termed as “ratchet” in trade terminol-ogy, the concept implies that any pol-icy changes will be automatically com-

mitted under RCEP agreement to allmembers after a fixed period. While,India is willing to give concessions inthe services and investment segment,developed countries are pushing forsimilar concessions in goods trade aswell.

Fifth, India is also not comfortablewith the “standstill” clause, whichbinds a member to the current level ofdomestic liberalisation in services;hence can’t be reversed in future. Forinstance, if the Modi Governmentwishes to withdraw the 51 per centForeign Direct Investment (FDI) inmulti-brand retail, which was allowedearlier in 2012 by the UPA dispensation,it won’t be able to do so.

Having taken a policy decision inthe overall interest of our economy,there is nothing wrong in staying withit to ensure stability of the policy envi-ronment.

Finally, India has offered to phaseout Customs Duty on imports fromChina on nearly 74 per cent of the tar-iff lines (jargon for a product as definedin lists of tariff rates; products can besub-divided, the level of detail reflect-ed in the number of digits in theHarmonised System code used to iden-tify the product) as against 90 per centof tariff lines on imports from all othermembers. China refused to join nego-tiations on this offer which it consid-ers highly restrictive.

To sum up, India’s approach tonegotiations on RCEP is overly protec-tionist. Barring shifting the referencedate for undertaking tariff phase out to2019, in all other areas, theGovernment’s stand is not tenable. It isborne out of the fear that joining thegroup will devastate our farmers andsmall-scale industries at the currentjuncture when the economy is in thegrip of a slowdown. Its worry is moreon account of a flood of imports fromChina. This fear is unfounded.

First, under the agreement, tariffelimination is mooted over a reasonablylong period of up to 20 years and itshould be possible to backload most ofit, especially on sensitive items. Anyapprehension of an adverse effect in thenear-term is misplaced. TheGovernment should not allow its deci-sion to be obliterated by the presentstate of the economy.

Second, the handicap of domesticindustry is more due to local factorssuch as the high cost of power, fuel (cur-rently, neither is under the Goods andServices Tax, which means suppliers arenot eligible for Input Tax Credit result-ing in a cascading effect on cost.Besides, the excise duty and ValueAdded Tax are also high), logistics, cap-ital and so on. If only these costs arelowered, “Made in India” productscan compete with the lowest pricedgoods from anywhere in the world.

Third, we also need to look at thepotential that China offers for boost-ing India’s exports. The Chinese econ-omy is undergoing a metaphoricaltransformation from export-driven(until hitherto) to domestic consump-tion and from industry to services.According to an estimate, China hasplans to import goods and servicesworth $12 trillion over five years.India should tap this potential market.

Keeping in mind the criticality ofbeing an integral part of the global sup-ply chain to achieve a $5 trillion econ-omy, India needs to reconsider its deci-sion. The Government should shed itspresent tough stance on MFN, safe-guard mechanism, “standstill” and“ratchet.” On the offer to China, thismay be improved to 80-85 per cent(from the 74 per cent already on thetable). With a flexible mindset, itshould consider joining RCEP which isexpected to be sealed in March 2020.

(The writer is a New Delhi-basedpolicy analyst)

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Many environmental scepticswill write off wind energy asa resource that has literally

gone with the wind and rightly so,as India still has a long way to gobefore it can say that wind power hascome to play a pivotal role in becom-ing the alternate source to fossil fuels.

Having said this, wind energyobviously cannot be written off as ithas tremendous potential that is justwaiting to be tapped. The specificcircumstances in India are not ableto create an enabling environmentfor the full-fledged harnessing of thisamazing pollution-free sustainableand renewable power resource.

The speed at which India is pro-gressing on its wind energy agendais not encouraging whereas the tar-gets the country has set itself are veryambitious.

Why is there such a major dis-connect between plan and action? Isit due to the lack of a cohesive vision?

For instance, India has set anambitious target of achieving 175gigawatt (GW) renewable energycapacity by 2022. As per the Ministryof New and Renewable Energy’s fig-ures, at the end of 2018, India hadan installed capacity of 35 GW.Hence, the jump from 35 GW to 175GW by 2022 sure looks ambitiousand maybe a tad unachievable, notbecause the target is high but becausethere is an absence of aggressive pol-icy-backed implementation effortsand initiatives to achieve the same.

The world is witnessing a majorshift from fossil fuels to renewableenergy, mainly due to the risingawareness regarding their ill-effects.

Thanks to thisawakening, thecost of renewableenergy infrastruc-ture is comingdown rapidly else-where in theworld, but in Indiathis fall in installa-tion rates is nottranslating intorenewed enthusi-asm for windenergy and this isconcerning. The full potential ofwind energy, if and when harnessed,has the ability to mitigate climatechange and pollution together. In ourrenewable energy sector, the empha-sis on grand plans and commitmentsis given primary importance, where-as time-bound execution of projectsis sorely missing. Yet another press-ing factor is going to make relianceon renewable energy compulsorysooner than later. According to a

study by theIndian StatisticalInstitute, the pro-jected domesticsocial cost ofcoal-based powergeneration will betoo high by 2024-25. This willnecessitate reduc-tion in building ofnew coal-basedpower plants andrender the opera-

tions of the existing ones unviable.At a time such as this, a fully-devel-oped portfolio of renewable energyoptions will be able to shoulder theburden of India’s energy demand.However, this portfolio, with a robustGW capacity cannot happenovernight and needs a sufficient runup, which is not happening in thecountry today.

Senior environmentalists andpolicymakers must understand that

though time is short, it is also ripefor harnessing wind energy. This isbecause the technology is availableand energy storage is improvingexponentially as a lot of innovationis taking place. Hence, it will bemuch more easy to adopt windenergy today than ever before.

Wind energy cannot be seen asa back-up resource or a plan B.Renewable power sources, especial-ly the trio of solar, wind and hydropower are going to be the mainstayof the future energy sector of thecountry. To make this happen Indiamust invest appropriately also.

According to the estimates of theUS-based Institute for EnergyEconomics and Financial Analysis(IEEFA), the country will require$500 to $700 billion in renewableenergy and supporting grid invest-ment over the coming decade inorder to meet its renewable energytargets. Some immediate steps can goa long way to counter the wind ener-

gy generation slowdown.India must first, bring policy

consensus and ensure that imple-mentation and execution remain thestrong points of its policy. Also, amonthly monitoring of the hurdlesbeing faced by the renewable ener-gy sector will help in smooth scal-ing up of the wind energy portfolio.

In addition to this, the authori-ties may want to prepare a com-pelling mix of wind and solar ener-gy generation options for small andmedium investors as this will raiseawareness and present a major busi-ness opportunity too. The properand viable storage of energy is anongoing issue, which needs to betaken care of as well.

Wind energy has a potential thatis still waiting to be tapped and Indiacan easily sail through any futureenergy crisis only if it has got thewind in its sails.

(The writer is an environmentaljournalist.)

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New Delhi: Retail price basedconsumer inflation spiked to16-month high of 4.62 percent in October on costlierfood items, reducing the head-room for a rate cut by the RBIin its monetary policy duenext month.

The inflation based onConsumer Price Index (CPI)was 3.99 per cent in Septemberand 3.38 per cent in October2018.

The earlier high wasreported in June 2018 when theretail inflation print wasrecorded at 4.92 per cent.

The inflation in the foodbasket spiked to 7.89 per centin October 2019 as against5.11 per cent the precedingmonth, showed the datareleased by the CentralStatistics Office under theMinistry of Statistics andProgramme Implementation(MoSPI) on Wednesday.

During the month, infla-tion in vegetables spiked to26.10 per cent from 5.40 percent in September, while forfruits it jumped to 4.08 per centfrom 0.83 per cent.

Likewise, the prices ofcereals, meat and fish, eggsgrew at faster pace of 2.16 percent, 9.75 per cent and 6.26 percent, respectively. For pulsesand related products, retail

inflation rose to 11.72 per cent.However, the prices of fuel

and light category continued towitness downward move at (-) 2.02 per cent as against (-)2.18 per cent a month earlier,showed the data.

The retail inflation duringOctober remains above theRBI's comfort level of 4 per cent.

Aditi Nayar, economist atIcra said, looking ahead thepace of normalisation in veg-etable prices will be the key dri-ver of the trend in food infla-tion over the next few months.

"Overall, the CPI inflationmay continue to print higherthan 4 per cent in the remain-der of FY2020, complicatingpolicy choices in light of theslowdown in economic growthmomentum.

"The sharp uptick in theCPI inflation in October 2019

has contrasted with the indus-trial contraction recorded inSeptember 2019. In our view,the extent to which the Q2FY2020 GDP growth readingeases further from the 5 percent recorded in the previousquarter, will influence theMPC's decision on whether tocut rates further, and by howmuch, in the December 2019policy review," she said.

Rahul Gupta, Head ofCurrency, Emkay GlobalFinancial Services, said thissharp rise was especially due touptick in food prices amiderratic monsoon.

"Despite rising inflation,we expect (the) RBI to con-tinue its easing cycle on theback of sluggish growth andweak core inflation and cutrepo rate at December meet-ing," Gupta said. PTI

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Mumbai: Domestic bourseswitnessed a broad-based sell-off on Wednesday as weakmacro data, stumbling rupeeand confusion over US-Chinatrade deal fanned investor wor-ries.

At closing bell, the 30-share BSE Sensex settled 229.02points, or 0.57 points, lower at40,116.06. The index swung386 points during the day.

Likewise, the broader NSENifty dropped 73 points, or0.61 per cent, to close at11,840.45.

In the Sensex pack, YesBank was the top loser, crack-ing 6.51 per cent, followed bySBI, Axis Bank, Vedanta, SunPharma, ICICI Bank, IndusIndBank, ITC, Infosys and TechMahindra -- shedding up to3.69 per cent.

On the other hand, TCS,RIL, HUL, Maruti and NTPCrose up to 3.76 per cent.

Sectorally, BSE metal, real-ty, bankex, basic materials,capital goods, utilities, health-care and finance indices fell up

to 2.27 per cent.While BSE energy, con-

sumer durables and IT indicesrose up to 1.60 per cent.

Broader BSE midcap andsmallcap indices plunged up to1.13 per cent.

Investor sentiment wasdampened by weak macroeco-nomic indicators, suggestingslowdown is deep and therecovery needs more reformmeasures.

The industrial productionshrank by 4.3 per cent inSeptember, registering theweakest performance in sevenyears due to output decline inmanufacturing, mining andelectricity sectors.

"Post the recent rally, thegap between valuation andearnings growth has enlarged.Influencing investors to staycautious ahead of heavy eco-nomic data being released thisweek. Weak economic dataand concerns over slowdown inearnings growth is hurtinginvestor sentiments," VinodNair, Head of Research, Geojit

Financial Services, said. Despite a series of rate cut

from the RBI, core sectorgrowth remains muted andinflation is inching higherwhich may incline RBI to bewatchful in the future, headded.

Market is now eyeing con-sumer price inflation data,which is scheduled to bereleased later in the day, for fur-ther guidance.

Further, an SBI researchreport on Tuesday sharply cutthe country's GDP growthforecast to 5 per cent for FY2019-20 from the earlier pro-jection of 6.1 per cent, raisingconcerns over the health of theeconomy.

A sharp depreciation in theIndian rupee too added toinvestors' woes, traders said.The rupee dropped below the72-level against the US dollarin intra-day trade.

Continued unrest in HongKong led to fall in regionalmarkets, also impacting senti-ment on Indian bourses. PTI

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Mumbai: The rupee nosedived62 paise to hit an over two-month low of 72.09 to the USdollar on Wednesday as poormacro data and lingering wor-ries over US-China trade warweighed on sentiment.

At the interbank foreignexchange, the rupee opened ona weak note at 71.75 against theUS dollar. As the day pro-gressed, it crashed below the72-level and touched the day'slow of 72.10. The Indian unit

finally settled at 72.09 -- regis-tering a fall of 62 paise over itsprevious close.

This is the lowest closinglevel for the rupee sinceSeptember 4.

"Indian rupee fell for thethird day in trot and heads forthe biggest intra-day fall afterSeptember 16 amid contractionin industrial activity. India's IIPfell 4.3 per cent in September...,and is the lowest since October2011," said V K Sharma, Head

PCG & Capital MarketsStrategy, HDFC securities.

In signs of continuingweakness in the economy,India's factory output shrank tothe lowest level in eight yearsas all three broad-based sectorsof capital goods production,consumer durables, and infra-structure and constructiongoods contracted.

The Index of IndustrialProduction (IIP) fell 4.3 per centin September as compared to a

contraction by 1.4 per cent inAugust 2019 and a growth of 4.6per cent in factory output in thesame month a year back, datareleased by the Ministry ofStatistics showed on Monday.

Further, a strong dollaroverseas also brought rupeeunder pressure, dealers said.

Continued unrest in HongKong led to weaker sentimentregionally, also impactingmood in domestic equity andforex markets. Further wors-

ening sentiment, US PresidentDonald Trump dubbed Chinaa cheater on trade even as heseeks an initial settlement tocalm an 18-month trade war,adding to the uncertainty overthe deal between the twocountries.

The dollar index, whichgauges the greenback's strengthagainst a basket of six currencies,rose by 0.02 per cent to 98.32.

However, global crude oilbenchmark Brent Futures fell

1.18 per cent to trade at USD61.33 per barrel.

The 10-year governmentbond yield was down 0.52 percent at 6.53 per cent.

On the equities front, theBSE Sensex ended 229.02points, or 0.57 per cent, lowerat 40,116.06. Similarly, thebroader NSE Nifty fell 73points, or 0.61 per cent, to endat 11,840.45. Indian forex andbond markets were shut onTuesday. PTI

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New Delhi: SpiceJet onWednesday reported wideningof net loss to �462.58 crore in theSeptember quarter as highercosts related to grounding ofBoeing 737 MAX planes andchanges in accounting normsbogged down the no-frills car-rier. With 13 MAX aircraft onthe ground, the airline has ini-tiated the process of seekingreimbursements and claimsfrom Boeing and expressedhope about a 'favourable out-come'.

In a release, SpiceJet said thenet loss of �462.58 crore in thelatest September quarter wasmainly on account of inflatedcosts with respect to MAXgrounding and a seasonally

weak quarter.The figure includes a "loss of

�180.3 crore on account ofaccounting standard Ind AS116". Indian AccountingStandard 116 or Ind AS-116 hascome into force from April 1. Itpertains to principles for recog-nition, presentation and dis-closure of leases. Airlines most-ly opt for sale and lease back ofplanes.

It had a net loss of �389.37crore in 2018 September quar-ter. However, the airline's totalincome jumped to �3,073.50crore in the second quarter ofthe current financial year from�1,902.08 crore in the sameperiod a year ago.

Operating revenue rose to

�2,845.3 crore in the secondquarter of the current fiscalfrom �1,874.8 crore in the sameperiod a year ago.

"With the grounding ofBoeing 737 MAX, the companycontinues to incur various costsand losses with respect to theseaircraft. The company is in theprocess of determining the costsand losses (including opportu-nity losses) incurred by it andhas initiated the process of seek-ing reimbursements and claimsfrom the aircraft manufacturer,"the release said.

Earlier this year, SpiceJetgrounded 13 MAX planes aftera worldwide grounding of suchaircraft in the wake of twodeadly crashes. PTI

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Singapore: As a first step towardsinternationalisation, a pilot demoof BHIM UPI QR-based pay-ments began in Singapore onWednesday with a live transactionat a merchant terminal at theFinTech Festival 2019.

High Commissioner of Indiato Singapore Jawed Ashrafdemonstrated the first transactionunder the pilot run, which willcontinue during the SingaporeFinTech Festival 2019 that isbeing held between November 11and 15.

This QR code-based systemwould allow anyone with a BHIMapp to scan the Singapore QuickResponse Code (SGQR) at NETSterminals in Singapore for pay-ments, said the high commis-

sioner. "This is the first time thatBHIM app has gone interna-tional," he said.

The project is being jointlydeveloped by the NationalPayments Corporation of India(NPCI) and the Network forElectronic Transfers (NETS) ofSingapore. It is targeted to go fullylive by February 2020 and coverthousands of terminals inSingapore, after the Reserve Bankof India's approval.

By February 2020, it is alsoexpected that all RuPay cards,including domestic ones, will beacceptable in Singapore, the HighCommission said in a release onWednesday. This is anotherachievement for fintech cooper-ation between India andSingapore, after the launch ofRuPay International card andSBI's UPI based remittance appin May 2018 by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, who had thenalso suggested the launch ofBHIM UPI QR code-based pay-ments internationally, said thecommission. Ashraf also wit-nessed the signing of a memo-randum of understandingbetween the Trade promotionCouncil of India (TPCI) and theMonetary Authority of Singapore(MAS) for working towardsaccess of the TPCI dashboard toBusiness sans Borders (BSB).

BSB, a project conceived byMAS and Singapore'sInfocomm Media DevelopmentAuthority (IMDA), is a hub forconnecting trade platforms ofsmall and medium enterprises(SMEs). BSB is currently run-ning a pilot with SMEs inSoutheast Asia and India. PTI

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Mumbai: A report on con-sumer goods distribution chan-nels has revealed that whilemodern trade and e-commercehave gained significant revenueshare after the "twin shock" tothe economy, demonetisationand Goods and Services Tax(GST), traditional wholesalehas lost half its revenue share.

"In rural towns or villages,wholesale accounts for 60-70per cent of sales. However,demonetisation and GST com-pliance nearly crippled thischannel, which is still reelingfrom it," said the report byfinancial services groupCentrum .

Post the twin shocks to theeconomy, Centrum said, thetraditional wholesale channelwas reeling under pressure asthey operated on a purely cashbasis.

Wholesale accountsdeclined from 135,000 beforeGST to 66,000 now, as per theestimates built on various inter-actions, Centrum said. This hasled to loss of sales of 8-10 percent and inventory correctionin these outlets.

"Thus, companies whichwere highly reliant on thewholesale channel saw theirrevenue decline, forcing themto rebuild distribution," thereport said.

The report further stressedthat organised wholesale andcash-and-carry are replacingtraditional wholesale providingGST compliance and no cred-it. In the past three years, theyhave doubled their store countto 100. IANS

New Delhi: RBI DeputyGovernor MK Jain onWednesday made a case forincentivising banks to extendloans to poor in backward areasin a bid to promote financialinclusion.

Speaking at an event organ-ised by the National Bank forAgriculture and RuralDevelopment (NABARD), Jainsaid despite impressive growthin formal agriculture granted,there are still several challengeswhich need to be tackled.

Data on the average loantaken by agricultural house-holds indicated that 72 per centof the credit requirement wasmet by institutional sourcesand 28 per cent from non-insti-tutional sources, he said quot-ing NABARD FinancialInclusion Survey Report 2016-17.

Further, the analysis ofstate-wise flow of institutionalagriculture credit has revealeduneven distribution of creditamong states, compared to theircorresponding share in their

overall output, he said. To a certain extent, the

deputy governor said suchregional disparity is on accountof variation in credit absorbtioncapacity of these regions.

"We may also have to thinkof the ways to incentivise banksto lend in these backward areasso that both the demand andsupply side issues areaddressed," he said.

He also exhorted NABARDto think of steps by whichfunds like Rural InfrastructureDevelopment Fund can be ear-marked to the most backwardcredit starved regions of thecountry to ensure faster devel-opment.

Highlighting the other chal-lenge, Jain said the problem offinancial inclusion gets aggra-vated due to lack of legal frame-work for landless cultivators asthe absence of documentary evi-dence becomes a major hin-drance for extending credit tothis segment of the farmingcommunity who take up culti-vation work on oral lease. PTI

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Guwahati: HDFC Bank onWednesday said it will increaseits headcount by 50 per cent to6,000 employees in the north-east (NE) region in the next 2-3 years to cater its networkexpansion plans.

Out of this, the lender willhire around 1,500 people in thenext one year in Assam as thebank plans to increase the num-ber of its branches from 72 to100 in the state, HDFC BankExecutive Vice PresidentSandeep Kumar said.

"North-east is very impor-tant for our business. We cur-rently have 136 branches spread

across the region. Our plan is totake this number to 200 in thenext 2-3 years," Kumar said at apress conference here. To meetthe growing demand and caterto its expansion plans, the bankwill hire more people in comingyears, he said. "At present, wehave 4,000 staffers in the north-east on company rolls. In thenext 2-3 years, our employeestrength in the region will bearound 6,000 people," Kumarsaid. Talking about Assam, thesenior official said that the lendercurrently has 72 branches in thestate and plans to increase it to100 by the end of next year. PTI

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In perhaps the first instance,the finance ministry has

kicked off the exercise to for-mulate the next budget byseeking suggestions on changesin direct and indirect taxesfrom industry and trade asso-ciations. Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman, who hadto announce additional mea-sures to stimulate a slowingeconomy within a month of hermaiden budget being approvedby Parliament, is due to presentthe annual budget for thefinancial year 2020-21 onFebruary 1.

While the ministry holdspre-budget consultations withrepresentatives of different sec-

tors and stakeholders, theDepartment of Revenue in thefinance ministry perhaps forthe first time put out circularseeking suggestions for changesin income tax rates for bothindividuals and corporates aswell as in indirect taxes such asexcise and customs duty.

The November 11 circularasked industry and trade asso-ciations to give “suggestions forchanges in the duty structure,rates and broadening of taxbase on both direct and indi-rect taxes giving economic jus-tification for the same.”

“Your suggestions andviews may be supplementedand justified by relevant statis-tical information about theproduction, prices, revenue

implication of the changes sug-gested and any other informa-tion to support your proposal,”it said.

After her maiden budgeton July 5, Sitharaman onSeptember 20 announced acut in corporate income taxesfor domestic companies to 22per cent from 30 per cent pre-viously. This would bring effec-tive corporate tax rate, includ-ing all additional levies, toabout 25.2 per cent, for com-panies which are not receivingany incentives or exemptions.

New manufacturing com-panies formed after October 1will enjoy a 15 per cent (effec-tive rate of 17 per cent) corpo-rate income tax rate, against 25per cent previously.

The move is estimated toresult in Rs 1.45 lakh crore inrevenue loss for the govern-ment during 2019-20.

Subsequent to this, therehave been demands for areduction in income tax ratesfor individuals as well so as toput more money in the handsof the common man for a con-sumption-led revival of theeconomy. India’s economicgrowth had slipped to a six-year low of 5 per cent in theApril-June quarter and therevival may take a few quartersdespite announcements toboost real estate and financialsectors. “As regards direct taxes,while forwarding your pro-posals, please take into con-sideration the recent initia-

tives of the government toreduce corporate tax ratesapplicable to domestic compa-nies” provided they do notavail of any other tax rebate orconcession, the orders said.

“The government policywith reference to direct taxes inthe medium term is to phaseout tax incentives, deductions,and exemptions while simul-taneously rationalising the ratesof tax. It would be also desir-able that while forwarding thesuggestions/ recommendations,positive externalities arisingout of the said recommenda-tions and their quantificationare also indicated,” it said.

With the GST Council, anumbrella body comprising ofcentral and state ministers, the

final decision-making author-ity on the goods and servicestax (GST), the order said thatGST-related requests are notexamined as part of the annu-al budget. It, however, soughtsuggestions related to cus-tomers and central excise duty.

The suggestions have beensought by November 21.

“The request for correctionof inverted duty structure, ifany for a commodity, shouldnecessarily be supported byvalue addition at each stage ofmanufacturing of the com-modity. It would not be feasi-ble to examine suggestionsthat are either not clearlyexplained or which are not sup-ported by adequate justifica-tion/statistics,” the order said.

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India should stabilise infor-mation technology infra-

structure and consider reduc-tion in multiple compliancesunder the Goods and ServicesTax (GST) to ensure long-termsuccessful implementation ofthe indirect tax regime, sayseveral experts here.

Highlighting the now-abol-ished GST regime in Malaysiaand the nearly 25-year-old con-tinued implementation of theindirect tax in Singapore, theysaid India should now movetowards further simplification ofGST and timely issuance of clar-

ifications considering the variedadvance rulings.

Nirmal Singh, partner-GSTat Nangia Andersen LLP, saidpolicy makers have beenengaged with stakeholders toiron out any impediment andare taking necessary steps toensure smooth implementationand transition to GST.

“However, India shouldwork towards stabilising ITinfrastructure for GST compli-ances and also there should notbe frequent amendments inGST laws besides effective andcareful implementation of anti-profiteering law,” he suggested.

Citing the example of other

countries, Singh said some ofthe reasons debated for abolitionof GST in Malaysia were risingliving costs, inflation and theperception of being not con-sumer/business friendly.

“As opposed to this, Indiahas been able to manage theseaspects,” he said.

According to Lau ZhengZhou, research manager at theInstitute for Democracy andEconomic Affairs (IDEAS),Malaysia started GST effectivefrom April 1, 2015 with thestandard rate of 6 per cent.

However, GST was per-ceived to be broadly unpopularwith the general public and had

partly caused the defeat of thethen government in the May 9,2018 general elections.

“As promised in the electionmanifesto by the new governingcoalition Pakatan Harapan, theGST was zero-rated on June 1,2018 and subsequently replacedwith sales and service tax (SST)starting September 1, 2018,” hesaid.

Referring to GST inMalaysia and Singapore, Lauhighlighted the rebate system inSingapore to cushion the blow.

Asked what lessons couldIndia draw from Singapore andMalaysia, he said compared toMalaysia, Singapore selected a

low rate of GST to start off with,and a rebate system was alsoemployed to soften the blow ofthe GST, which benefited lowerincome groups on an annualincome of less than SGD30,000.

Lau said the collectionsystem is also facilitated byadvanced information tech-nology to help in the account-ing of taxes.

According to SureshVaranasi, partner at law firmAZB & Partners, India stands ina far better position in terms ofimplementation of the GSTlaws as compared to Malaysia.

“However, India should

continue to simplify the tech-nical processes/procedures relat-ing to filing of returns andobtaining refunds to enhancethe ease of doing business inIndia,” he said.

Varanasi said India shouldfocus on rendering the processand procedures easier for thetaxpayers and introduce greaterstability in the GST laws in orderto safeguard itself from a situa-tion like Malaysia.

He said the unique struc-ture of Indian GST laws wouldcontribute significantly to thetotal revenue of India in the longterm and would also enhanceease of doing business.

Script Open High Low LTPYESBANK 74.60 75.35 67.20 68.25VSTIND 4163.00 4349.95 4163.00 4276.65IBULHSGFIN 240.25 245.40 215.10 218.30ADANIPORTS 388.10 391.55 369.25 370.65RELIANCE 1431.00 1475.00 1430.00 1472.00AUBANK 720.00 814.90 720.00 807.70HDFCAMC 3360.50 3650.00 3360.50 3604.20INFY 695.50 699.95 688.00 691.25RBLBANK 345.80 352.80 329.10 332.75TATASTEEL 401.75 408.45 392.65 396.85DLF 208.05 214.30 201.10 202.05PETRONET 284.00 284.80 278.20 278.70POWERGRID 193.80 194.20 188.30 189.15SBIN 317.45 318.50 305.60 306.55ICICIBANK 496.80 497.45 483.35 485.80ZEEL 303.40 303.40 290.00 290.55TATAMOTORS 171.50 176.00 169.40 170.60TCS 2110.20 2182.00 2110.20 2178.55RNAM 325.70 364.50 325.70 361.50HDFC 2229.75 2232.00 2196.00 2207.70ADANIENT 206.50 210.70 194.35 198.20VEDL 152.25 154.40 147.60 148.25ASHOKLEY 78.70 84.00 77.30 80.60JINDALSTEL 151.15 152.95 140.95 142.05MARUTI 7105.00 7170.00 7099.00 7155.70BRITANNIA 3266.00 3299.00 3218.00 3273.25RAYMOND 750.00 799.90 747.90 791.15INOXLEISUR 360.10 365.00 353.00 354.70HDFCLIFE 571.45 591.90 571.45 588.90INDUSINDBK 1444.90 1462.00 1407.95 1413.85SIEMENS 1680.00 1694.55 1624.80 1633.25MGL 980.00 1046.05 960.20 1004.00AXISBANK 734.70 737.20 706.95 710.25AUROPHARMA 448.00 457.60 427.65 433.40BHARTIARTL 372.50 373.00 366.40 368.50LT 1420.00 1420.00 1389.00 1392.95HDFCBANK 1263.90 1269.75 1254.20 1258.00SUNTV 518.40 520.20 465.00 470.20BHEL 56.70 57.85 54.15 54.55IDEA 3.77 3.99 3.66 3.70JUSTDIAL 553.50 554.00 506.05 512.20BPCL 513.90 523.00 507.90 509.80L&TFH 99.00 100.40 95.25 95.70BAJFINANCE 4188.00 4188.00 4132.60 4143.70BANKBARODA 97.00 97.35 93.00 93.35NAUKRI 2540.00 2684.85 2540.00 2600.25BAJAJFINSV 8888.00 9029.00 8850.00 8982.15MCX 1133.00 1180.00 1121.00 1170.85ADANIPOWER 67.50 67.50 62.30 63.35ITC 259.80 259.80 253.25 253.95BAYERCROP 3466.30 3466.30 3331.00 3340.90PEL 1725.00 1825.00 1725.00 1810.30HINDUNILVR 2083.00 2094.00 2073.60 2090.80TITAN 1156.75 1167.00 1151.15 1159.50KOTAKBANK 1617.00 1627.45 1601.60 1605.45APOLLOHOSP 1444.00 1444.00 1380.00 1389.80

BERGEPAINT 484.10 495.60 478.85 479.90TECHM 768.70 773.85 746.65 756.65GRAPHITE 302.00 313.65 298.65 308.10HEG 1014.75 1077.00 1013.00 1065.75SBILIFE 984.00 999.85 967.00 989.20NCC 57.75 59.55 55.85 56.10SUNPHARMA 420.00 426.70 410.00 411.70DISHTV 14.97 14.97 12.69 13.48MOTHERSUMI 134.60 136.50 132.75 134.35ADANIGREEN 94.50 99.80 94.00 95.95AVANTI 500.00 514.00 472.10 505.70COALINDIA 215.50 215.65 206.30 207.20LUPIN 749.20 759.15 727.30 730.00HINDALCO 197.05 201.90 192.50 193.20BANDHANBNK 554.95 574.50 552.00 564.10PIDILITIND 1321.00 1346.00 1315.00 1323.65SAIL 39.40 39.85 37.55 37.85EDELWEISS 120.60 122.10 114.10 122.10HEROMOTOCO 2589.00 2626.00 2577.00 2588.55GRASIM 758.55 768.80 737.20 739.05EICHERMOT 21376.00 21818.75 21250.00 21350.65JSWSTEEL 250.30 254.60 247.60 248.55AMARAJABAT 718.30 739.70 718.25 732.65JUBLFOOD 1630.00 1630.00 1568.00 1576.35GAIL 130.45 130.45 123.30 123.80COLPAL 1593.25 1602.45 1548.35 1561.25HCLTECH 1150.00 1160.00 1134.50 1143.10EIDPARRY 167.50 195.40 166.40 194.70BOMDYEING 88.50 88.50 82.10 82.75ASIANPAINT 1775.00 1786.50 1756.95 1770.40PNB 62.00 62.50 60.10 60.35DEEPAKNI 369.70 377.45 360.70 361.85NIITTECH 1572.50 1572.50 1479.35 1482.55HINDPETRO 298.90 299.50 288.00 291.40TATAMTRDVR 79.70 81.60 78.00 78.50

VENKYS 1820.00 1820.00 1690.00 1699.30MFSL 470.20 482.10 457.25 472.65ICICIPRULI 532.00 537.50 526.00 529.20GODFRYPHLP 1164.70 1272.00 1164.70 1249.75ULTRACEMCO 4149.90 4169.50 4106.75 4113.95UPL 551.00 554.00 538.65 540.85NMDC 103.50 107.50 100.20 100.75ESCORTS 672.25 673.60 649.15 651.45BATAINDIA 1710.00 1710.00 1677.50 1683.85INDIGO 1480.05 1494.00 1468.00 1477.80M&M 575.00 580.80 572.15 574.80IGL 428.00 430.50 421.70 422.85VOLTAS 686.00 706.95 686.00 702.05TATAGLOBAL 295.00 296.60 287.55 289.10TATAELXSI 807.40 813.20 788.05 791.75DMART 1970.00 1991.35 1954.00 1958.40GODREJPROP 952.50 955.00 927.25 934.40NESTLEIND 14128.00 14328.70 14063.80 14234.75PFC 112.90 113.55 110.30 110.50CEATLTD 972.00 980.00 966.25 971.00TEAMLEASE 2580.00 2600.00 2436.00 2503.20BHARATFORG 428.75 436.05 426.90 428.10FEDERALBNK 83.30 83.90 82.05 82.50TATAPOWER 58.00 58.00 55.05 55.40CANBK 202.50 204.70 195.95 196.85FORTIS 158.00 159.20 153.35 156.70INDHOTEL 151.90 158.00 149.00 155.85SPICEJET 115.40 115.85 113.15 113.70IBVENTURES 142.60 149.00 136.90 147.40PCJEWELLER 34.35 35.40 33.85 34.55EXIDEIND 191.50 193.80 186.25 187.25RAJESHEXPO 680.00 697.40 666.00 685.70DELTACORP 199.35 200.20 191.20 191.70IBREALEST 77.90 79.80 75.10 77.75NTPC 118.20 119.20 117.60 118.25BEL 109.00 109.50 107.25 109.10LICHSGFIN 441.00 443.60 418.00 419.55GMRINFRA 21.90 22.05 20.85 21.05ONGC 140.75 140.75 137.65 138.15SRF 3154.35 3188.00 3131.00 3142.15NBCC 40.90 41.20 39.00 39.15VBL 761.10 770.00 701.30 710.70BDL 345.00 365.00 345.00 351.35NATIONALUM 46.10 46.15 43.20 43.50CONCOR 582.00 591.55 575.10 577.10DIVISLAB 1708.95 1715.35 1660.00 1671.20BEML 980.00 980.00 955.00 961.75IOC 135.60 135.65 133.20 133.85BBTC 1207.90 1246.00 1207.90 1220.05NIACL 152.15 159.75 149.00 150.55BIOCON 263.00 264.00 255.40 256.90BANKINDIA 67.50 67.75 65.00 65.55BAJAJ-AUTO 3239.00 3244.35 3191.30 3204.60WOCKPHARMA 287.60 292.15 282.00 283.65JAICORPLTD 99.45 101.45 97.00 97.50CADILAHC 230.00 232.60 223.60 224.65PFIZER 3991.60 4085.10 3989.20 4000.90ADANIGAS 149.90 151.50 148.10 148.35IDFCFIRSTB 42.85 42.85 41.70 41.85ABB 1457.55 1534.90 1420.00 1491.05UNIONBANK 55.30 55.60 52.40 52.70MRF 63000.00 63462.60 62575.00 62871.15TORNTPOWER 304.20 305.10 293.10 294.70APLLTD 570.00 575.00 561.00 568.05GICRE 275.95 286.50 266.15 270.75ACC 1514.00 1524.30 1485.85 1492.40SPARC 158.50 159.10 152.05 152.90MARICO 372.20 374.25 364.10 366.50DABUR 477.50 480.60 462.25 463.70PNBHOUSING 563.40 567.65 550.45 554.95WIPRO 257.00 258.95 252.20 252.75GLENMARK 291.05 291.40 272.60 274.95ADANITRANS 279.80 287.00 266.05 274.40INFRATEL 221.10 221.20 216.55 218.35SUNTECK 440.00 440.00 406.65 415.45CUMMINSIND 560.80 577.00 560.80 566.05HAVELLS 693.00 703.60 672.00 674.50CIPLA 453.00 455.00 446.25 448.25ICICIGI 1343.00 1369.50 1343.00 1365.20EQUITAS 92.00 92.00 85.35 85.90UJJIVAN 277.60 278.00 265.10 267.90SCI 62.00 62.15 58.60 59.35M&MFIN 331.15 337.65 323.60 326.05KEI 564.00 564.00 536.40 542.05RAIN 105.00 105.00 96.15 98.40GODREJIND 437.00 457.80 425.10 429.00ABCAPITAL 87.00 87.00 83.10 83.40TVSMOTOR 446.20 462.00 446.00 459.80GUJGAS 199.95 204.60 197.50 198.35DRREDDY 2815.00 2823.10 2755.50 2761.90IDBI 33.70 33.85 32.00 32.15GODREJCP 732.80 742.40 721.80 729.45SRTRANSFIN 1121.80 1151.85 1121.45 1130.40WELCORP 140.00 141.90 138.50 139.15MANAPPURAM 167.70 167.70 162.10 162.90APOLLOTYRE 168.45 168.45 162.90 163.45BALRAMCHIN 150.10 150.10 142.65 144.35ZYDUSWELL 1590.05 1626.10 1469.40 1486.95NH 297.00 316.50 289.10 301.60STRTECH 134.10 134.50 130.25 130.65ENGINERSIN 109.70 109.70 101.60 101.85SOBHA 427.90 427.90 400.00 401.80KANSAINER 541.95 544.75 538.55 541.30PVR 1778.00 1778.00 1728.05 1732.55TATACHEM 636.00 641.65 629.30 632.35NATCOPHARM 570.00 570.00 541.50 560.20INFIBEAM 46.00 46.00 44.30 45.40MUTHOOTFIN 668.65 668.85 647.00 649.65QUESS 550.00 550.60 518.30 544.55

JUBILANT 539.85 539.85 514.05 519.45FRETAIL 360.00 360.75 345.35 349.20BALMLAWRIE 207.70 208.00 195.00 196.15OMAXE 187.95 187.95 184.00 184.35ABFRL 201.25 213.90 201.25 210.55COCHINSHIP 412.05 415.10 370.00 402.05BOSCHLTD 15321.00 15450.00 15062.80 15222.35SUDARSCHEM 402.65 415.20 396.50 400.00VINATIORGA 2070.00 2070.00 1929.65 1946.10HEXAWARE 340.00 340.35 328.05 330.10RCOM 0.70 0.70 0.64 0.64HAL 785.20 821.80 785.20 802.25NOCIL 106.95 108.00 103.50 104.40ALKEM 1986.55 2074.85 1986.55 2065.70ADVENZYMES 178.00 182.00 172.50 173.25POLYCAB 881.00 903.00 881.00 888.65ITI 90.75 90.75 86.45 86.95PAGEIND 23766.05 24062.60 23501.80 23664.60SUZLON 2.85 2.88 2.67 2.70IRCON 437.55 447.60 427.05 438.15PHILIPCARB 123.25 126.65 122.50 124.55RITES 289.70 294.50 284.95 287.05HSCL 72.85 73.00 66.00 66.80ISEC 299.00 320.10 299.00 317.35ASTRAZEN 2536.15 2627.75 2513.60 2540.85CASTROLIND 147.00 147.60 144.20 144.90NESCO 600.00 636.25 593.10 604.75AKZOINDIA 2000.00 2000.00 1901.50 1911.75VIPIND 439.30 444.60 415.00 439.853MINDIA 22699.00 22770.00 22065.05 22213.45STAR 393.60 401.25 389.25 391.40AMBUJACEM 202.00 202.05 194.90 195.15GREAVESCOT 134.00 141.10 133.45 137.05JSL 38.40 40.70 36.40 36.60DBL 421.00 424.45 406.25 408.40BAJAJHLDNG 3700.00 3788.20 3700.00 3712.30RECLTD 140.80 141.75 137.60 137.85CHAMBLFERT 171.00 173.45 163.85 164.95RVNL 24.00 24.30 23.75 23.80JKTYRE 68.15 69.55 68.05 68.25IBULISL 93.85 93.85 84.95 85.80IDFC 33.60 36.00 33.50 34.15KEC 274.00 280.00 268.55 277.70DALBHARAT 823.90 826.50 816.00 821.45HFCL 17.10 18.10 16.95 17.55METROPOLIS 1425.00 1440.00 1390.10 1398.15ESSELPRO 134.00 140.80 126.10 134.75WHIRLPOOL 2249.00 2249.00 2125.00 2185.90INDIANB 122.00 123.00 117.35 118.80IPCALAB 1069.40 1097.00 1069.00 1089.70FSL 44.30 44.30 41.50 41.60SWANENERGY 102.00 104.75 101.20 103.80FORCEMOT 1083.25 1104.35 1061.15 1065.15CGPOWER 16.68 16.71 16.13 16.62RCF 51.75 52.35 50.60 51.05LTI 1630.00 1663.00 1630.00 1649.70BIRLACORPN 636.65 667.50 635.20 656.10KTKBANK 78.00 78.00 75.15 75.95COFFEEDAY 42.80 43.30 41.50 43.30INDIACEM 83.90 84.25 82.35 82.50LALPATHLAB 1483.00 1510.00 1476.00 1502.70GLAXO 1625.00 1630.40 1592.00 1604.60IRB 74.75 74.75 71.55 72.80CREDITACC 715.80 744.00 715.00 734.15ABBOTINDIA 11805.00 12051.20 11717.80 11809.20UBL 1279.00 1279.00 1239.00 1241.60GNFC 201.95 202.80 196.00 196.90LINDEINDIA 575.30 598.00 575.00 592.75BALKRISIND 829.95 836.60 817.45 825.75HINDZINC 211.80 211.80 208.00 208.65MINDTREE 683.00 686.60 679.25 682.40MEGH 57.00 59.00 56.80 57.25JSLHISAR 70.90 75.00 70.50 71.05LTTS 1455.60 1455.60 1425.50 1430.25SJVN 25.40 25.75 24.50 24.60SUVEN 289.35 296.55 289.15 294.30TRENT 512.00 516.70 500.00 501.30NHPC 23.90 24.25 23.50 23.65ITDC 380.00 381.00 366.00 368.15OBEROIRLTY 517.75 533.25 515.50 518.75JBCHEPHARM 407.00 408.00 394.00 395.10GRANULES 121.15 121.95 117.30 119.20JINDALSAW 83.70 84.25 81.30 81.75LAKSHVILAS 18.80 20.10 18.70 18.70ATUL 4170.00 4170.00 4015.00 4022.85RADICO 325.35 331.45 319.80 320.90IFCI 7.98 7.98 7.55 7.60PIIND 1414.80 1423.85 1401.25 1412.25BAJAJELEC 320.00 334.50 320.00 325.10SANOFI 6525.00 6600.00 6390.00 6532.35INTELLECT 150.00 155.35 148.55 150.70SOUTHBANK 11.24 11.24 10.75 10.78BAJAJCON 248.10 248.55 237.00 241.45PHOENIXLTD 745.00 745.00 708.25 724.30PGHL 4410.70 4490.00 4301.10 4310.60CHOLAFIN 295.00 301.80 295.00 297.30EIHOTEL 155.00 155.20 150.55 151.50TORNTPHARM 1800.00 1813.60 1768.20 1771.85EMAMILTD 325.50 330.10 323.85 324.60GSPL 213.00 218.50 212.40 216.80TRIDENT 62.40 65.40 62.25 63.45DCMSHRIRAM 333.70 333.70 322.00 325.15NAVINFLUOR 878.65 907.95 874.55 892.50HUDCO 41.50 42.25 41.00 41.40JSWENERGY 74.00 74.10 71.25 71.75MINDACORP 93.50 101.95 85.15 91.50MOTILALOFS 675.15 685.75 663.20 669.05BLISSGVS 138.70 139.40 134.35 134.65MOIL 145.80 148.40 145.15 146.15

WESTLIFE 372.00 372.00 350.00 350.30IEX 142.00 143.80 139.10 141.85CROMPTON 259.60 262.55 257.00 259.25VARROC 473.00 473.00 445.00 449.65DEEPAKFERT 99.00 103.25 98.35 98.75PTC 57.70 57.85 56.45 56.70HONAUT 27610.50 27610.50 27466.00 27542.85SHREECEM 19900.00 20228.75 19693.10 19753.80KAJARIACER 530.00 530.05 519.10 519.85JAGRAN 54.00 57.10 53.55 54.90WELSPUNIND 56.55 56.55 53.75 54.05HINDCOPPER 41.30 41.30 38.75 39.15MAXINDIA 73.90 77.35 73.90 74.60RAMCOCEM 799.15 799.15 786.15 789.70GODREJAGRO 487.00 487.00 477.00 479.30TIMKEN 860.10 878.15 852.25 869.65JISLJALEQS 14.50 14.90 13.80 14.00THYROCARE 543.10 570.35 543.10 564.95WABAG 185.50 185.70 176.90 177.85SFL 1395.00 1397.70 1250.00 1260.25COROMANDEL 481.00 481.00 467.00 476.15ASHOKA 95.35 96.65 93.50 94.05KRBL 206.45 210.95 196.15 201.70LAXMIMACH 3390.00 3390.00 3310.00 3317.00CANFINHOME 395.00 395.05 377.20 380.20SHANKARA 357.75 358.25 335.10 342.00THOMASCOOK 136.30 138.60 133.70 137.05FCONSUMER 25.50 25.50 23.85 24.00MINDAIND 330.00 330.00 324.15 327.05FINEORG 1953.70 1960.00 1870.00 1893.90GSFC 75.65 76.55 73.65 73.80PRESTIGE 308.10 308.10 297.30 299.95VTL 875.00 895.10 869.20 880.45PARAGMILK 132.35 133.50 131.45 132.25CRISIL 1488.80 1488.80 1390.70 1408.15PGHH 11172.15 11285.70 10914.40 10978.25SUPREMEIND 1141.00 1156.00 1121.05 1130.25TATACOFFEE 84.20 84.90 81.25 81.80CARERATING 527.00 529.80 516.95 517.75IIFL 137.00 147.50 135.05 140.75RELCAPITAL 23.30 23.30 23.30 23.30DCBBANK 183.00 183.90 182.00 182.55AAVAS 1531.35 1587.00 1510.50 1525.85PRSMJOHNSN 73.25 73.25 69.00 69.45TV18BRDCST 23.70 23.70 22.55 22.60GILLETTE 7300.95 7308.00 7200.00 7240.05APLAPOLLO 1433.90 1543.95 1418.30 1500.65HEIDELBERG 198.00 198.00 188.40 189.15ASTRAL 1104.00 1111.75 1075.00 1083.25JKCEMENT 1130.10 1184.35 1130.10 1181.35JMFINANCIL 91.50 91.50 87.95 88.70DHFL 25.65 25.65 25.65 25.65GET&D 167.00 190.00 158.50 182.80BLUESTARCO 792.45 801.00 788.90 795.05CUB 215.00 215.00 206.55 207.00HIMATSEIDE 141.00 141.30 132.20 134.10VGUARD 236.25 237.50 232.20 233.15FLFL 395.00 396.00 380.75 394.80JAMNAAUTO 44.65 44.65 43.35 43.65GALAXYSURF 1600.10 1600.10 1573.65 1583.90JYOTHYLAB 176.85 179.80 175.20 176.65CERA 2511.00 2599.00 2491.20 2504.95OIL 164.00 164.00 160.25 160.70SYMPHONY 1282.45 1310.00 1212.10 1234.40MPHASIS 891.30 892.25 883.65 890.70SCHNEIDER 69.50 72.40 68.55 69.30CYIENT 403.35 403.40 397.30 400.10MRPL 48.40 49.30 47.95 48.00ANDHRABANK 17.95 17.95 16.80 17.35REPCOHOME 301.00 310.00 286.55 288.45NBVENTURES 70.60 70.85 58.50 65.50GMDCLTD 63.90 63.95 61.70 61.90REDINGTON 114.95 116.70 110.55 114.35RELAXO 545.00 552.45 545.00 545.70ALBK 25.95 26.20 25.45 25.60BASF 995.00 1020.00 993.60 996.25TNPL 185.00 190.00 184.00 184.90MAHLOG 390.00 402.40 385.40 391.95GDL 87.20 88.30 83.25 83.85AIAENG 1719.00 1719.00 1669.00 1695.45IOB 10.13 10.24 9.92 10.01GICHSGFIN 160.00 163.75 156.65 157.15FINOLEXIND 584.50 592.75 582.50 587.60TIMETECHNO 63.00 63.95 60.60 60.90TATAMETALI 571.55 583.20 567.00 579.85NLCINDIA 55.75 56.00 54.15 54.30SYNDIBANK 27.60 27.60 26.50 26.65DHANUKA 315.00 318.10 295.30 296.95SUPRAJIT 188.00 188.00 170.00 171.30ORIENTBANK 52.35 52.80 50.55 50.80AJANTPHARM 991.65 997.10 979.20 981.60PERSISTENT 618.00 626.90 618.00 624.50ASTERDM 142.85 147.90 141.30 145.95ORIENTELEC 190.00 192.70 189.00 190.10CHENNPETRO 155.00 155.00 146.10 146.45SONATSOFTW 309.50 311.80 305.65 306.25CENTRALBK 20.45 20.45 19.70 19.90MHRIL 229.00 229.00 216.60 218.40FINCABLES 369.60 375.85 358.00 361.35GSKCONS 8876.00 8960.75 8876.00 8933.30J&KBANK 32.25 32.25 30.90 31.05MAHSCOOTER 4770.00 4824.00 4736.50 4785.55CENTRUM 20.05 20.05 17.90 19.25UFLEX 199.00 199.65 195.25 197.40TTKPRESTIG 5995.00 6037.15 5940.20 5955.00CENTURYPLY 169.45 169.45 164.30 165.95ENDURANCE 1099.00 1103.10 1056.05 1080.00WABCOINDIA 6170.00 6170.00 6140.00 6146.10BLUEDART 2225.05 2239.10 2168.00 2180.60

CHALET 320.00 372.15 318.00 345.25MMTC 19.35 19.70 18.80 19.00DCAL 124.50 124.50 120.10 121.70THERMAX 1090.00 1091.75 1065.90 1070.45RALLIS 170.85 173.40 168.70 169.80ALLCARGO 97.00 99.35 96.35 96.55KALPATPOWR 453.85 454.25 441.35 451.00MAHINDCIE 148.30 148.35 141.50 142.65GULFOILLUB 845.00 845.00 805.00 808.25INDOSTAR 189.00 192.40 182.95 183.55GHCL 208.30 208.30 207.00 207.70IFBIND 755.00 776.80 736.05 738.00LUXIND 1215.25 1280.00 1215.25 1252.85ZENSARTECH 191.00 192.70 186.25 187.20RPOWER 4.41 4.41 4.41 4.41OFSS 3133.00 3152.00 3108.20 3125.05SREINFRA 9.79 9.79 9.33 9.54NILKAMAL 1239.95 1280.00 1239.95 1270.40SOMANYCERA 184.75 186.25 182.75 183.45SKFINDIA 2146.00 2154.90 2143.85 2147.35EVEREADY 53.00 54.00 52.00 52.05JPASSOCIAT 2.18 2.18 2.12 2.14CAPPL 400.00 400.00 375.60 378.85KNRCON 237.50 237.50 230.00 230.50LAURUSLABS 367.10 367.10 360.05 360.35LEMONTREE 59.45 59.45 57.50 57.80MAHABANK 11.53 11.70 11.22 11.33PNCINFRA 173.45 178.95 172.45 176.00GESHIP* 302.00 306.00 296.35 303.40HATHWAY 19.65 21.00 19.65 20.30RELINFRA 42.50 42.50 42.50 42.50TEJASNET 74.60 76.00 73.00 73.15INOXWIND 33.40 34.20 33.20 33.65GUJALKALI 412.95 422.20 412.95 414.95MAHLIFE 386.05 400.00 376.00 394.45ITDCEM 55.05 55.80 53.30 53.55GAYAPROJ 102.00 102.00 92.90 93.70JSWHL 2550.00 2550.00 2465.00 2478.25TAKE 111.00 111.70 107.00 108.00VMART 1732.90 1732.90 1659.90 1680.80SHRIRAMCIT 1319.70 1386.75 1319.70 1335.00SYNGENE 335.90 335.90 327.90 329.65TIINDIA 445.00 450.65 441.45 445.55TATAINVEST 835.50 835.50 820.00 820.35ERIS 417.20 418.60 406.00 413.20SADBHAV 121.20 122.00 114.20 118.50SOLARINDS 1050.00 1050.00 1025.00 1026.85SHILPAMED 334.00 334.00 315.30 319.50JKLAKSHMI 304.00 308.10 300.10 300.25LAOPALA 156.00 156.00 147.05 150.85AEGISLOG 164.30 166.10 161.10 165.25TVSSRICHAK 1802.00 1847.05 1753.00 1770.10CARBORUNIV 310.50 310.50 304.00 308.05UCOBANK 13.97 13.97 13.30 13.50CCL 202.00 203.90 197.10 198.80ECLERX 442.00 451.15 440.45 443.40ORIENTCEM 78.20 78.35 75.25 75.35FDC 185.00 185.00 175.00 175.30CORPBANK 16.70 17.00 16.05 16.10SUNDRMFAST 464.30 464.30 454.25 460.35DBCORP 144.70 146.95 142.75 143.35KPRMILL 658.15 661.60 655.00 657.75MASFIN 715.00 726.85 708.35 712.40MAGMA 47.95 48.80 45.20 46.20GPPL 83.00 83.30 82.10 82.30SHK 125.00 126.00 121.00 121.05TRITURBINE 101.40 101.40 100.10 100.10SIS 961.00 989.80 910.00 925.20GEPIL 683.05 700.10 682.50 684.50TVTODAY 300.35 303.00 297.40 299.70HERITGFOOD 326.65 326.85 320.00 324.55CHOLAHLDNG 466.20 474.00 451.55 466.40JCHAC 1935.15 1935.15 1907.50 1911.00APARINDS 510.00 511.50 503.30 509.00RATNAMANI 951.80 958.95 947.65 953.65STARCEMENT 94.30 95.90 93.05 93.05NETWORK18 23.65 23.65 22.80 22.80GRINDWELL 604.80 604.80 585.25 595.90SHOPERSTOP 367.00 368.65 355.65 360.20UNITEDBNK 8.89 8.91 8.10 8.60TCNSBRANDS 704.00 709.45 685.00 685.00MAHSEAMLES 370.75 370.75 361.75 363.75SCHAEFFLER 4221.05 4241.05 4221.00 4228.25

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 11908.30 11946.80 11823.20 11840.45 -73.00BRITANNIA 3271.00 3299.00 3200.00 3270.75 151.20TCS 2118.00 2183.80 2118.00 2179.00 78.05RELIANCE 1430.00 1475.90 1430.00 1469.10 41.30NESTLEIND 14108.45 14329.60 14070.25 14223.00 114.55BAJAJFINSV 8888.00 9027.00 8855.55 8970.00 66.70HINDUNILVR 2084.00 2094.90 2072.45 2091.10 9.75TITAN 1155.70 1167.00 1150.10 1158.00 2.30NTPC 117.90 119.25 117.55 118.40 0.15MARUTI 7130.00 7169.85 7095.00 7145.00 7.70EICHERMOT 21370.00 21824.00 21200.00 21386.00 9.10HEROMOTOCO2585.00 2627.70 2575.40 2594.00 0.00HCLTECH 1150.00 1156.10 1134.70 1142.90 -3.05ASIANPAINT 1773.75 1787.00 1756.70 1769.00 -4.95M&M 574.00 580.90 572.00 573.05 -1.95ULTRACEMCO 4137.05 4172.40 4105.10 4122.35 -14.70HDFCBANK 1261.95 1270.00 1253.60 1258.00 -6.75KOTAKBANK 1617.00 1628.00 1601.10 1606.00 -10.90BAJFINANCE 4166.90 4175.00 4132.00 4136.55 -32.50BAJAJ-AUTO 3230.00 3245.00 3190.80 3204.00 -33.35TATAMOTORS 171.50 176.00 169.40 170.20 -1.80INFRATEL 221.90 221.90 216.05 218.20 -2.35ONGC 139.10 140.40 137.50 137.50 -1.60HDFC 2227.95 2231.95 2195.45 2207.45 -27.10IOC 135.60 135.60 133.15 133.95 -1.65COALINDIA 215.90 216.00 206.20 207.10 -2.75WIPRO 257.30 259.00 252.15 252.95 -3.50POWERGRID 192.00 194.35 188.30 189.10 -2.65UPL 551.00 553.75 538.50 541.00 -7.85BHARTIARTL 372.10 373.40 366.15 366.15 -5.35BPCL 514.00 523.00 507.40 510.00 -7.60LT 1418.45 1419.85 1389.05 1393.80 -23.20JSWSTEEL 251.50 254.70 247.35 247.75 -4.15CIPLA 452.00 455.00 446.00 446.55 -8.30INFY 696.50 700.00 687.75 691.45 -12.95ICICIBANK 496.80 497.50 483.30 487.00 -9.80TATASTEEL 400.90 408.85 392.70 393.45 -8.00DRREDDY 2820.00 2823.85 2755.00 2758.00 -57.75SUNPHARMA 420.00 426.90 410.00 412.55 -8.90TECHM 768.00 773.80 746.00 754.05 -16.35ITC 258.90 259.25 253.15 253.70 -5.75INDUSINDBK 1445.00 1462.45 1408.55 1411.20 -33.85AXISBANK 733.70 737.40 707.85 710.20 -23.50VEDL 152.40 154.45 147.65 147.70 -5.00HINDALCO 197.05 201.95 192.35 193.50 -6.65SBIN 316.05 318.60 305.65 306.85 -11.40GRASIM 760.00 768.85 736.25 739.00 -28.10ADANIPORTS 391.00 391.80 369.40 370.80 -17.10ZEEL 302.30 302.30 290.00 291.20 -14.20GAIL 129.90 129.90 123.25 124.05 -6.30YESBANK 74.40 75.30 67.10 68.85 -4.15

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 28535.85 28746.45 28214.20 28298.60 -152.55HDFCAMC 3385.00 3650.00 3376.05 3644.95 298.15HDFCLIFE 572.00 593.00 572.00 591.00 20.00BANDHANBNK 552.25 574.70 552.25 564.65 14.80SBILIFE 984.50 1000.95 966.20 992.90 22.95ICICIGI 1345.20 1369.00 1342.95 1365.55 26.75ASHOKLEY 78.50 82.65 77.20 80.45 1.25NHPC 23.95 24.25 23.50 23.70 0.35PEL 1769.40 1824.50 1761.55 1804.85 23.80SRTRANSFIN 1119.95 1151.95 1119.95 1131.90 11.95PIDILITIND 1321.00 1346.40 1314.60 1332.90 11.80ICICIPRULI 531.95 537.30 526.15 528.90 3.95BAJAJHLDNG 3711.00 3787.55 3707.45 3722.65 11.80MOTHERSUMI 134.20 136.45 132.75 134.45 0.25OFSS 3110.00 3154.15 3106.00 3110.00 -9.00SHREECEM 19825.00 20268.75 19700.00 19713.20 -70.80INDIGO 1482.00 1494.95 1466.40 1476.00 -5.35UBL 1252.00 1260.00 1237.00 1240.20 -6.20DMART 1969.80 1989.95 1952.50 1952.50 -13.70BERGEPAINT 489.00 495.00 478.70 479.50 -4.15BOSCHLTD 15299.95 15495.00 15052.10 15198.85 -132.80GODREJCP 733.00 743.10 720.00 726.00 -6.60LUPIN 754.00 758.80 727.00 729.05 -6.70CONCOR 582.00 591.70 575.10 576.80 -5.55ACC 1505.20 1525.00 1485.00 1490.00 -14.45HINDZINC 210.30 210.90 208.00 208.05 -2.25AUROPHARMA 445.00 457.95 427.65 432.45 -5.25MCDOWELL-N 627.90 634.00 617.90 619.00 -8.00NIACL 152.40 159.40 148.55 149.70 -2.15MARICO 371.30 374.35 363.85 365.80 -5.50PAGEIND 23987.00 24140.60 23500.00 23600.00 -392.75PETRONET 284.00 285.00 278.00 278.25 -4.80COLPAL 1599.00 1602.60 1547.70 1560.00 -29.85PFC 113.00 113.60 110.30 110.60 -2.20HINDPETRO 296.90 299.50 288.00 292.45 -6.25CADILAHC 231.85 232.55 223.15 225.50 -4.95PNB 61.85 62.50 60.05 60.35 -1.35DABUR 479.00 480.65 462.45 465.00 -11.05PGHH 11208.00 11299.00 10940.00 10940.00 -267.90NMDC 103.75 107.50 100.25 101.15 -2.50SIEMENS 1689.00 1695.00 1624.00 1632.00 -43.20DIVISLAB 1710.00 1719.00 1660.00 1665.50 -45.05HAVELLS 693.50 704.10 671.70 674.25 -18.40BIOCON 262.25 264.15 255.05 256.50 -7.00DLF 210.20 214.40 201.15 202.05 -5.60AMBUJACEM 200.15 202.20 194.55 194.60 -5.55BANKBARODA 97.00 97.35 93.00 93.45 -3.05L&TFH 99.15 100.40 95.10 95.40 -3.55GICRE 273.80 286.70 265.00 270.10 -10.95IDEA 3.75 4.00 3.65 3.70 -0.30IBULHSGFIN 241.00 245.60 215.20 218.10 -20.45

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The government will pushOccupational Safety, Health

and Working Conditions(OSH) Code in the Budget ses-sion of Parliament for approval,said Labour Minister SantoshGangwar on Wednesday.

The Code was introducedin the Lok Sabha on July 23,2019. It is expected to enhancethe coverage of workers man-ifold and also merge 13 centrallabour laws into a single codewhich would apply to all estab-lishments employing 10 ormore workers.

It will subsume 13 labourlaws relating to safety, healthand working conditions. Theseinclude the Factories Act, 1948,the Mines Act, 1952, and theContract Labour (Regulationand Abolition) Act, 1970.

“We will definitely bringthe Occupational Safety, Healthand Working Conditions(OSH) Code, 2019, in theBudget Session. Parliamentarystanding committee has soughtpublic comments on the Code,”the minister told reporter onthe sidelines of an event ofEmployees’ State InsuranceCorporation (ESIC).

The Budget session ofParliament is most likely to bescheduled in last week ofJanuary.

In labour reforms, the gov-ernment has already receivedParliament approval for Codeon Wages. The OSH Code willbe the second in line for thenod. The government intendsto concise 44 labour laws intofour broad codes on wages,OSH, social security and indus-trial relations.

The minister also said thePrime Minister was apprisedand briefed about the thirdcode (Code on Social Security)and the government wants allfour codes to become a realityas soon as possible.

When asked about status ofother two codes on social secu-rity and industrial relations hesaid, “There is tripartite processto firm up draft laws on labourissues. We dont want to do any-thing in haste. The discus-sions are on. We want to bringthose to Parliament at the ear-liest”.

The Code on OSH pro-poses one registration for anestablishment instead of mul-tiple registrations. Presently,six labour acts out of 13 providefor separate registration of theestablishment.

This will create a cen-tralised data base and pro-mote ease of doing business. Atpresent, separate registration isrequired to be obtained underthe six Acts.

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Pro-democracy protesters onWednesday stepped up a “blossom

everywhere” campaign of road blocksand vandalism across Hong Kong thathas crippled the international financialhub this week and ignited some of theworst violence in five months of unrest.

The new phase in the crisis,which has forced schools and shop-ping malls to close as well as the shut-down of large chunks of the vital trainnetwork, has prompted police towarn the city is on the verge of “totalcollapse” and a “breakdown”.

China, facing the biggest chal-lenge to its rule of the territory sinceit was handed back by the British in1997, has insisted it will not buckle tothe pressure and warned of eventougher security measures.

As they have since the start of theweek, protesters on Wednesdaychoked roads and blocked trafficwith anything they could lay theirhands on including bricks, bicycles,couches and other materials.

Key arterials routes were targetedin morning and after-work peak hours.

Various lines on the subway — useddaily by more than half of the city’s 7.5million people — were also suspended,forcing many workers to stay at home.

In the Central business district,hundreds of people left their offices atlunchtime to join the more hardcoreprotesters setting up barricades outsideluxury-item shops and headquarters ofbig financial firms.

Masked protesters dressed in theirsignature black were also locked in aseries of tense standoffs at universitycampuses, following intense clashes onTuesday night that saw police fire teargas and rubber bullets.

Highlighting the growing securi-ty fears, mainland Chinese studentsbegan fleeing Hong Kong on busesand boats back across the border,according to police and universities,although it was not immediately clearhow many had left.

The chaos was part of the large-ly leaderless protest movement’s newstrategy branded “blossom every-

where”, in which small groups targetas many parts of the city as possibleto cause maximum disruption andstretch police resources.

Kabul: At least seven peoplewere killed and seven othersinjured on Wednesday in a carbomb attack in a northeastneighbourhood of the Afghancapital, where military andcivilian airports and a foreignmilitary base are located, saidsources.

The explosion occurred ataround 7.25 am local time inthe northeast of the Afghancapital, where a governmentcomplex is also located, Efenews quoted Afghan InteriorMinistry spokesperson NasratRahimi as saying in a statement.

The spokesman later toldEFE that the attack was con-ducted by a suicide bomber,who used a van loaded withexplosives and blew up thevehicle on the main street.

IANS

Beijing: Beijing is investigatinga Taiwanese man on suspicion ofengaging in activities that endan-ger national security, Chinesemedia reported on Wednesday— the third such case to cometo light in three months.

Shih Cheng-ping, a retiredprofessor at the National TaiwanNormal University and chiefeconomist for Chinese con-glomerate Huaxia Group, dis-appeared after entering themainland in August of last year,according to Taiwanese media.

Ma Xiaoguang, spokesmanof the State Council TaiwanAffairs Office, said Wednesdaythat Shih was being investigated“for suspected activities endan-gering national security,” accord-ing to state-run People’s Daily.

AFP

New York: Researchers, usingdata from NASA’s MarsReconnaissance Orbiter, havefound deposits of hydrated sil-ica — a mineral good at pre-serving chemical signatures oflife — in a crater on the RedPlanet where the US spaceorganisation plans to land arover next year.

The study, published in thejournal Geophysical ResearchLetters, noted that the crater,named Jazero, contains a largedelta deposit formed by ancientrivers that fed an ancient lake.

The researchers, includingthose from Brown University inthe US, used the CompactReconnaissance ImagingSpectrometer for Mars(CRISM) instrument that fliesaboard NASA’s MarsReconnaissance Orbiter, andapplied big data analysis meth-ods to tease out the weak spec-tral signature of the silicadeposits.

They said the delta would

have concentrated a wealth ofmaterial from a vast watershed,similar to deltas on the Earthwhich are good at preservingsigns of life.

According to theresearchers, finding hydratedsilica at Jezero, increases thepreservation potential of chem-ical signatures of life.

They said, one of the sili-ca deposits was found on theedge of the delta at low eleva-tion.

“The material that formsthe bottom layer of a delta issometimes the most productivein terms of preserving biosig-natures. So if you can find thatbottomset layer, and that layerhas a lot of silica in it, that’s adouble bonus,” said study co-author Jack Mustard, a profes-sor at Brown University.

The study noted that theminerals may have formed inthe discovered region, and mayrepresent the bottom layer ofthe delta deposit. PTI

Glenreagh (Australia):Australians on Wednesdaybegan sifting through the ashesof hundreds of bushfires thathave ravaged the country,relieved that their worst fearswere unrealised —but wary ofa long and brutal summerahead.

Firefighters were still bat-tling around 140 blazes acrossthe country’s eastern seaboard,but a respite from “catastroph-ic” weather conditions meantthe danger from many fires wasdowngraded.

The northern state ofQueensland remained on highalert, with residents on thenorth shore of popular holidaytown Noosa told to “leaveimmediately” to avoid an“unpredictable” fire burningnearby.

AFP

Washington/Ankara: Turkish PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdogan will meet his UScounterpart Donald Trump at the WhiteHouse on Wednesday.

The development comes only a monthafter Trump, wrote a letter to Erdogan, call-ing him a “fool” over Turkey’s military offen-sive in Syria.

Erdogan’s visit to the US comes amidtense relations between the two NATO allies,Arab News reported.

The tensions between US and Turkeyescalated after Ankara launched a militaryoffensive in northeast Syria againstWashington-backed Kurdish forces, who arefighting against the terror group IslamicState.

Washington is also angered overAnkara’s purchase of the Russian S-400 mis-sile defence system. The US has halted thedelivery of support equipment and suppliesto Turkey for F-35 jet fighter jets. It has alsothreatened to impose sanctions on Turkeyover the Russian defence purchase.

However, Erdogan’s latest visit to theWhite House might serve to smooth overdifferences and provide a boost to bilater-al trade relations. IANS

Gaza City: Israeli airstrikeskilled more Islamic Jihad mil-itants in Gaza on Wednesday asrocket fire toward Israelresumed after a brief overnightlull, raising the death toll in thestrip to 18 Palestinians in theheaviest round of fighting inmonths.

The military said morethan 250 rockets have beenfired at Israeli communitiessince the violence erupted fol-lowing an Israeli airstrike thatkilled a senior Islamic Jihadcommander accused of beingthe mastermind of recentattacks. Israel stepped up its bat-tle against Iran and its proxiesacross the region.

The latest fighting broughtlife in much of Israel to astandstill. Schools remainedclosed in Israeli communitiesnear the Gaza border and

restrictions on public gatheringscontinued as rockets raineddown.

Those attacks came afterthe early morning strike onTuesday killed Bahaa Abu el-Atta and his wife as they weresleeping. Rocket fire from Gazareached as far north as Tel Aviv,and two people were woundedby shrapnel.

Prime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu told a specialCabinet meeting that Israel hasno interest in sparking a widerconfrontation but warned theIranian-backed Islamic Jihadthat Israel will keep poundingthem until the rockets stop.

“They know we will con-tinue to strike them withoutmercy,” Netanyahu said. “Theyhave one choice: either stopthese attacks or absorb moreand more blows.” AFP

Washington: The closed doorsof the Trump impeachmentinvestigation are swinging wideopen.

When the gavel strikes atthe start of the House hearingWednesday morning, Americaand the rest of the world willhave the chance to see and hearfor themselves for the firsttime about President DonaldTrump’s actions towardUkraine and consider whetherthey are, in fact, impeachableoffenses.

It’s a remarkable moment,even for a White House full ofthem.

All on TV, committee lead-ers will set the stage , thencomes the main feature: Twoseasoned diplomats, WilliamTaylor, the graying formerinfantry officer now charged’affaires in Ukraine, andGeorge Kent, the deputy assis-tant secretary in Washington,

telling the striking, if some-times complicated story of apresident allegedly using for-eign policy for personal andpolitical gain ahead of the 2020election.

So far, the narrative is split-ting Americans, mostly alongthe same lines as Trump’sunusual presidency. TheConstitution sets a dramatic,but vague, bar for impeach-ment, and there’s no consensusyet that Trump’s actions at theheart of the inquiry meet thethreshold of “high crimes andmisdemeanors.”

Whether Wednesday’s pro-ceedings begin to end a presi-dency or help secure Trump’sposition, it’s certain that hischaotic term has finally arrivedat a place he cannot control anda force, the constitutional sys-tem of checks and balances,that he cannot ignore.

AP

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Police have increased securityaround Hong Kong and its uni-

versity campuses as they brace formore violence after sharp clashesovernight with anti-government protesters.

Many subway and rail stationswere closed Wednesday after theprotesters blocked commutes andvandalized trains. Classes were sus-pended at schools and universities.

Police and protesters battled onmultiple fronts overnight at theChinese University of Hong Kong.

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Washington: The US House ofRepresentatives opened itsmomentous first televised hear-ing Wednesday on whether toimpeach President DonaldTrump, as Democrats seek tomake the case to the public thathe abused his power for politi-cal gain.

Two career diplomats —acting ambassador to UkraineWilliam Taylor and DeputyAssistant Secretary of State forEuropean and Eurasian AffairsGeorge Kent — are testifyingbefore the House IntelligenceCommittee in what is expectedto be a fiery showdown betweenDemocrats and Trump’sRepublican backers. AFP

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Decked up in a faded green denimjacket paired with a grey t-shirt,

actor Sidharth Malhotra seemed hisusual warm self, sipping coffee, quitecontrary to the breakout role he isattempting through a stasis in hiscareer. The actor who has usually donestylish and suave roles, will be seendelivering massy dialogues, sportinga street-style headband in hisforthcoming f i lm,Marjaavaan.

The actor said, “Ihaven’t played such a larg-er than life character andquintessential hero break-ing chains before. It feltgood, looking powerfulon screen and portray-ing a character whichhas such a strongaura.”

Directed byMilap MilanZaveri, the film isa love story ofRaghu (played bySidharth) andZoya (played byTara Sutaria)whose world isturned upsidedown when a verti-cally challenged(dwarf) gang leader(played by RiteishDeshmukh) with harm-ful intentions makes anentry.

Sidharth said that thefilm has the typical dramaand entertainment like anyother commercial Hindi film.It’s not a true story but aworld that we have created.The audience has aplethora of elements tolove in the film, be itthe love story or actionor the hero-villaindrama.

Bollywood has beenfull of romantic andaction films, which havehad tragic endings. The actor

tells us why this one isdifferent. “The story-line! It has some inter-esting dynamicsattached to it. The cou-ple is in their happyspace until a tragedyhits later. Its turningpoint will force theaudience to dig deep-er. And that’s the fun

of it,” said he.Raghu, an orphan

boy who is brought up inthe suburban areas ofMumbai, meets Zoya, whois speech-impaired. Shehas to express her emo-tions without dialogues.And for Sidharth, thisbecame the most interest-ing part of the film. He said,

“The emotions being por-trayed in the film are very

nuanced and etched in its narra-tive. It is an innocent love story,which will make the audience feelbad with its tragedy too. I too felt itwhen I heard the script.”

‘Masjid aur mandir dono milenge’(We will get both, temple and

mosque), the actor can be seen say-ing in the trailer. It seems as if the film

has a take on the ongoing religiousindifferences in the country. But theactor said that it’s a “hard core” lovestory and doesn’t intend to be a mes-sage. He then recalled an incident andsaid, “I wanted my character to havea universal name that doesn’t repre-sent any religion. But when I wasnamed Raghu, it seemed inclinedtowards a religion. So I was given fourtattoos on my fist which represent thefour most famous religions of thecountry. And because I am an

orphan, for me every religion is thesame. I loved this as a thought.Though the film is not about this butit’s a subtle attempt to throw light onthis topic.”

Since the film stars Riteish oppo-site Sidharth, which would remindone of Ek Villain, rumours have it thatthe film is its sequel. Denying suchclaims, the actor said that it hasmore of thrill and drama. “I wish Icould tell you how different they arebut then I’ll end up telling you thewhole story. So you’ll have to watchthe film and discover for yourself,”said he.

Sidharth had to work a lot on hisphysique because he had to look strongenough for the action sequences. Eventhe styling and personal attitude wasworked upon. He had to give his bodylanguage a new flair, be it while wear-ing the headband, lighting a matchstickor delivering dialogues in a way thatstreet thugs do. But the actor seemedprepared for all the risks. “There’s noeasy or safe film. Even while I was doingEk Villain, where I have played astrong character, people were doubtingme. But that was my �100 crore film.This profession is about embracing theuncertainties and believing that nocharacter is safe,” said he.

This is an era where all the youngactors are competing for the same rolesin content-driven films. How does heplan to stay ahead of them? “I havealways done different films. On onehand there is Ek Villain while on theother, there is Kapoor And Sons. Theyare very opposite characters. Andwhen you see that the audience acceptsyou in the variety that you offer, it opensup a larger variety of script. However,it has to excite me personally regard-less of what somebody else is doing. Ifyou see my trajectory of work whetherit’s a love story or murder mystery oraction film I have always tried to staydifferent. My current film is screwed toa different flavour of action love story.”

The actor, who made hisBollywood debut from Student Of TheYear alongside Alia Bhatt and VarunDhawan, seemed to be the mostpromising one. However, after sevenyears of the film, the other two seemto have a better career graph. Whenasked about it, Sidharth said, “I don’thave my ears to what people say. I thinkthat’s irrelevant. What matters is thekind of choices I make in films. The boxoffice is more important. We are alldoing different kinds of films. Noactor is sticking to one zone. Everyone’sexperimenting and doing variety. EveryFriday is different. I have had Fridaysthat were beyond my expectations andI have had the ones which were not upto my expectations. That is how theindustry is, very unpredictable. Thegood thing which I feel over the yearsis that now there’s no fear of theunknown. I have seen successes andfailures and it adds to me as a per-former.”

(The film releases on November15.)

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Nita Ambani, the founder and chairperson ofthe Reliance Foundation, has been elected an

honourary trustee of New York’s MetropolitanMuseum of Art, the arts powerhouse of the US.

Announcing her election by the board, themuseum’s chairman Daniel Brodsky said, “MrsA m b a n i ’ scommitmentto The Metand to pre-serving andp r o m o t i n gIndia’s art andculture istruly excep-tional. Hersupport hasan enormousimpact on theM u s e u m ’ sability tostudy and dis-play art fromevery cornerof the world.”

RelianceFoundationhas sponsored key cultural events such as TheElephanta Festival, and Abbaji, the annual concertof master musician Ustad Zakir Hussain, in itsmission to recognise the cultural legends of Indiaand ensure their relevance to a younger genera-tion.

With Reliance Foundation’s sponsorship, theMet will hold next year the exhibition — Tree andSerpent: Early Buddhist Art in India, 200 B.C.–A.D.400 that will cover topics such as 17th-centuryMughal art and contemporary Indian sculpture.

The museum said that “in her role as founderand chairperson of Reliance Foundation, MrsAmbani has impacted the lives of more than 34million people across India through the organi-sation’s initiatives in rural transformation, health,education, sports for development, disasterresponse, arts, culture and heritage, and urbanrenewal.”

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The best gift we could give a child isof wonder and a free mindspace,which lets him or her imagine a blue

leaf and a green sky. But the question ishow can we make education a multi-sen-sorial experience rather than just a digi-tal one in today’s time, especially for tod-dlers and kindergarteners? In a blogabout using imaginative inquiry in theclassroom, advanced skills teacher and lec-turer Tim Taylor argued that children learnbest when they are playing. He writes,“Children need to be engaged in theirlearning. They learn best when it matters

to them as it’s contextualised in mean-ingful ways. Then, they have a sense

of ownership. The best learning I’vebeen involved in has not been

delivered to a class, but built,over time, in collaborationwith students. Explored,examined and argued over.”

Over the time, teachershave believed that play has lit-tle or no place in the class-

room. However, the idea isevolving. As most of the children

today are completely dependent onlearning apps to pick up things, a lot

of schools are deliberately taking chil-dren out and making them sit in gar-dens for the real touch and feel. Theyare teaching them the importance ofbonding by giving them various tasks.But the question arises again — how

can we not make them more depen-dent on these apps and focus on

learning through real experi-ences.

Speaker, author, educationand life transformer, and

founder of TLIPedagogics, Marion

Hopfgartner tells usthat children are

attracted to allthese digitaltools becausesince dayone, they

have observed their parents using phones,laptops and other digital devices. So theytry to “imitate” what they see. For toddlers,imitation follows a four-step process —watching and listening, processing theinformation, attempting to copy a behav-iour and then practising. For instance, lan-guage development. If parents are moreinclined towards reading books, childrenwill capture it and naturally, they will bemore interested in that rather than usingthe gadgets. “When education becomes areal life experience, the child will followhis/her natural impulses. Hence, the sur-rounding plays a vital role. Using all fivesenses, the child will take informationfrom the surrounding and process it. Fora kid, the world is always multidimension-al. For example, take an apple. When thekid eats it, s/he first looks at it, understandsits shape, colour and much more. So themost important thing in real life experi-ence is not to create a scenario but ratherto live it with the child and let them be apart of it,” says the expert, who has beenhonoured as the Ambassador of Peace andawarded as an international speaker oneducation.

Children are always curious abouteverything and they are born with theinterest to learn, points out Marion. Andthis is exactly what Amit Verma, CEO ofMakebot, believes. He says, “The creativ-ity factor in early childhood is very sharpand it goes down over a period when thechild stops practising innovation. Thishappens due to a lot of structured learn-ing over the period of time. Hence, it isvery important to keep the curiosity andcreativity factor high in every child.When we involve children at an early agewith hands on activities, their minds gettuned to experiential learning methodolo-gies. This enables them to learn things bypractising and creating a strong andlong-term self-learning ability, which alsoforms a strong foundation at an earlystage.”

Marion adds that it is important thatwe place a special focus on guiding chil-

dren towards being autonomous and ableto easily adapt to challenges. A recentresearch has emphasised on the need toadopt ‘modern thinking models’ for theearly childhood education on the lines ofthose adopted in the West, namely,Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences,Vygotsky’s theory of socio-cultural learn-ing, tools of the mind and many more. Justlike everything else, educational needs ofchildren are changing at a very high pace,believes Shakti Chaturvedi, a researcher inthe Centre for Historical Studies atJawaharlal Nehru University. He saysthat just subjecting them to mathemati-cal tables, mugging up poems and mem-orising the names of animals is not goingto help. “They need to be exposed to ‘expe-riences’ no matter how trivial. They mustbe allowed the time of their choice forextra-curricular activities to fetch maxi-mum output. Such style of pedagogy keepsthem hooked. Activity-based learningand curriculum gives each child theappropriate time to find his/her acumenand develop an interest. Most important-ly, it allows them an opportunity to nar-rate stories and voice their opinions.These attempts certainly yield greatresults,” he adds.

Effective learning comes with move-ment, touch, music, audio and visual, feelsNitin Pandey, co-founder and CEO ofParentune.com. For him, digital learningisn’t bad by any means but he says that itneeds to be done in a balanced manner.“Learning practically and through inter-personal interactions are equally impor-tant for a child’s mental development. Andto get that going, curricula need to gobeyond the screen and move towards amulti-sensory approach of learning. Thisis especially important in the early years(18 months toddlers to nine-year-olds), asthis is the time when cognitive develop-ment is at its peak,” he believes.

It has been revealed in a report thatpractical learning not only aids children’smental and physical health but it teachesthem risk taking and problem-solving

skills, enhances imagination, indepen-dence and creativity too. Even thoughAshwani Kumar Prithviwasi, founder andprincipal of Delhi Collage of Art, feels thatif children are getting something usefulfrom digital learning apps, it should bewelcomed. However, he also suggeststhat students must be taken out in the play-ground for the real touch and feel. He sug-gests that gardening should be a subjectin the curriculum as it can stimulate themand help activate their senses. “When chil-dren themselves grow plants and nurturethem, their first-hand experience makesthem learn more. This should be observedby the schools that how much time is givenon knowledge through textbooks and howmuch is dedicated to outdoor activities. It’snot always okay to say no to children fromplaying in mud. Being protective is fine butthen this restriction that their parents puton them makes them opt for electronics,”he says.

Nowadays, a very strong part whichhas been missing from children’s lives isthe art of storytelling, Anita Sharma, prin-cipal of SD Public School, Pitampura, tellsus. “The stories narrated by parents orgrandparents, where children wereexposed to our culture, traditions and her-itage and also to many morals in life at avery early age, are not a part of their livesanymore. Communication, languagedevelopment, expressions, control overemotions, empathy and sense of belong-ing, many such skills and values were auto-matically infused with the storytelling.Apart from all educational activities andevents happening at school, parents mustdevelop the habit of reading and sharingstories with their children,” says she.

Undoubtedly, the Indian educationsystem is very dynamic and provides a lotof flexibility in delivering the right set ofknowledge and skills to students. “Whenwe use existing curriculum and create aninter-disciplinary approach around itrather than creating a parallel programme,it synchronises with what the child is learn-ing today. Through innovative deliverytechniques, the entire process becomesinteractive,” says Amit.

He points out another factor. “Theintroduction of the ‘edutainment’ mode oflearning — through various real lifeproblem-solving challenges, competitionstargetted toward life skills, communitybuilding for like minded innovators, fuel-ing new age ideas through project build-ing/prototyping. The learning whichcomes out of edutainment not only pre-pares the children for future but also opensvistas to start thinking on innovationwhich is what required for forthcominggenerations since we don’t know what kindof jobs would be there in the future,” addsAmit.

To create more awareness aroundmultidimensional experiential learningand edutainment, experts suggest that wehave to bring the ecosystem togetherincluding parents, children and education-al institutions. Since parents today are alsoconcerned with kids’ screen time going upalarmingly. The same time can be used tobuilding something creative and by doingnew things which are going to be part offuture like, coding, story building, robot-ics, artificial intelligence, project building,mechanics and much more. This allowsstudents to see things in practice and willaligns their thoughts with real world sce-narios.

But could this approach also beadapted for secondary education? Orshould there be a point when learningstops being a game? Do you think inno-vative approaches to teaching are some ofthe most effective ways to motivate stu-dents and that secondary schools shouldlook to primaries for inspiration?

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The two-day media fest, Spandan 2019, organised by the stu-dents of journalism and mass communication of theVivekananda Institute of Professional Studies, lived up tothe epithet of it being among the best media schools in thecountry. The exercise aimed at sharpening skills of the stu-

dents not just at managing an event but also creating and marketingthem. The event began with Media Panchayat, a panel discussionbetween eminent media persons Ashok Tandon, KG Suresh andMadhukar Upadhyay on the issue of ethics and survival in today’smedia. Over the next two days, 12 competitive events and skill devel-opment workshops were held. Waterman of India Rajendra Singh, aMagsaysay awardee, addressed the participants on day-two on the needto conserve water. Singh also gave away awards to the winners of theSpandan-IFUNA film festival on water conservation, the prizes forwhich were sponsored by HP. The finale of the two-day media fêtewas Dastan-i-Cinema, which celebrated the 100 years of Hindi cine-ma with Devika Rani to Deepika Padukone walking on the same stageas well as from Ashok Kumar to Akshay Kumar. The two-hour exhi-bition of the art of cinema included multimedia presentations and liveperformances by actors, dancers and musicians. There were 150 stu-dents present, who achieved the goal of creating and conquering thestage for themselves.

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GoStops, India’s fastest grow-ing chain of youth traveller

hostels, has raised an undis-closed amount of funds as partof its recent funding roundfrom angel investors.

The round also saw partic-ipation from investors likeNitish Mittersain (founder andMD of Nazara Games), SorabhAgarwal (ex-MD at CopalPartners), Sameer Walia(founder and ex-MD at TheSmart Cube), Rohit Shankar(co-founder of Dimdim.com),Sunil Kumar Singhvi (owner atSouth Handlooms) and othersenior corporate executives.

Delhi-based GoStops isplanning to expand its presenceacross the country by dou-bling their bed capacity withinthe next 12 months. GoStops

also plans to utilise these fundsto enhance its product offeringsthrough investment in technol-ogy and training, add new rev-enue streams, strengthen itsmarketing and build a team tohandle the next phase of

growth.Besides the basic services

like high-quality beds in air-conditioned dorms and privaterooms, 24x7 CCTV securityand café, the hostel offers sev-eral facilities like mini theatre,

football and pool table, aesthet-ically designed work and loungeareas. There are speciallydesigned common areas foractivities and socialising sothat travellers can explore var-ious destinations together.

“Many short stay options(hotels and guest houses) avail-able within youth budget are ofpoor and unpredictable quali-ty and not very user-friendly.We aim to solve this problemfor the youth by offering afford-able, social and experientialhostels. Growing number ofyouth prefer community living(fostering growth of co-livingand co-working) and they arewilling to share rooms andfacilities for greater qualityaccommodation,” said PallaviAgarwal, co-founder and CEO.

Recently, Zee Musiclaunched the Laung Song

which is composed by KingSultan. The song has urbanbeats and its modern lyrics aregiven by Meet, and is sung byDR Harsh, Simrita andRamneek.

The song is a fusion ofPunjabi and Western music.Its video, directed by SoniSingh, is equally appealing.She excels in recreating setsthat are not often seen inPunjabi music videos. Thesong introduces singer DRHarsh who is also a dancer. Hesaid, “While I was working asa dancer, I used to casuallysing as well. But then some ofmy friends said that I sing welland suggested me to try it.”

After giving it a thought,he tried his hands at singing.

“When I sang in the studio, itgave me confidence. Andlater, when I saw people’sreactions, I was sure aboutpursuing my career in music,”added he.

Talking about his chal-lenges, the dancer-turned-singer said that he was aworker in Delhi Metro duringhis initial days in the city.“When I came to Delhi withmy brother, I never thought Iwould come this far. But slow-ly and gradually, I am doinggood in my career. I believe inthe philosophy of no pain, nogain. If we win without anystruggles, we won’t realise thedepth of our achievements.My family, friends and rela-tives have been a constantsupport system during myjourney,” said he.

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd announcedthe launch of its new #HerDrive cam-

paign for its compact SUV model, theXUV300. The campaign was launched incollaboration with actress and automobileenthusiast Gul Panag. The first initiativeunder #HerDrive has been kick-started withan eight-city tour, where women car-buy-ers are being invited to Mahindra show-rooms to champion the cause of breakingthrough gender stereotypes and choosing theunconventional paths.

The event will see women driving in acavalcade across the city in MahindraXUV300s with Gul Panag driving the leadvehicle. There will also be a greeting sessionwith the actress and stand-up comedy actsby comedians Sejal Bhat and Urooj Ashfaqas well as an A-Cappella performance by theband, Aflatunes.

Speaking about this new campaign,Veejay Ram Nakra, chief of Sales andMarketing, Automotive Division, Mahindra& Mahindra Ltd., said, “The aim of the#HerDrive campaign is to amplify andacknowledge the evolving role of women

who are pursuing unconventional paths inlife. The movement also aims to change theperception and present the idea that womendon’t belong behind the wheel. It is set toencourage them to break away from drivingstereotypes. In fact, we have seen a substan-tial increase in the number of SUV womenbuyers, especially with the launch of theXUV300. With the campaign, we want toexpress our gratitude to our customers andinspire more women to experience thebrand.”

The on-ground activation of the#HerDrive campaign has been completed infive cities — Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru,Chennai and Chandigarh. The celebrationswill continue from Delhi to Hyderabad andKolkata in its subsequent editions. Mahindraalso launched a music anthem, LadkiBindaas Hai.

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Hours after arriving inDushanbe, the capital ofTajikistan, India head

coach Igor Stimac stated that theBlue Tigers need to overcome“tough challenges” imposed byAfghanistan, besides bravingadversities, when they face-off inthe Group E encounter of theFIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 andAFC Asian Cup China 2023 pre-liminary joint QualificationRound 2 match at the RepublicanCentral Stadium in Dushanbetoday.

“We know how difficult thisgame is going to be for us. Weboth (India and Afghanistan)have already faced Qatar andBangladesh in the qualifiers. Wesee Afghanistan as a physical sidewith good composure. They havesome players who also have theexperience of playing in Europe.They are not in the top division,but playing in Europe alwaysgives you an extra bit of confi-dence. They have stamina andthey’ll pose a tough challenge forus,” Stimac said in the pre-matchpress conference held inDushanbe on Wednesday morn-ing.

The city welcomed BlueTigers contingent with chillyweather as the mercury hoveredaround 6-7°C. However, despitethe low temperature, the fightingspirit of the Indian team remainshigh as ever.

“As a player, you have to beconfident and face every chal-lenge head-on. That’s why we arehere. Yes, the conditions have notbeen in our favour to someextent but that won’t have anyeffect when the referee blows thewhistle. If we can execute thecoach’s plans on the pitch, we cansurely hope for a good result,” abuoyant Pronay Halder voiced atthe official press conference.

Meanwhile, experienced cen-tre back Anas Edathodika flewback home late on Tuesday owingto a family emergency. “Anas(Edathodika) is having a toughtime. Our thoughts are with himand his family. He has been aninstrumental member of thesquad and we will miss him. Theonus is now on the other playersto take the mantle and deliver onthe pitch,” Stimac added.

The Coach analysed the BlueTigers’ last match againstBangladesh as well, saying, “Themost difficult games are thosewhen people who are followingyou, write the result before thegame starts. We witnessed itagainst Qatar as well asBangladesh. When Bangladeshcame, they were defending with10 players and were looking tocounter-attack. Without takingaway any credit from them, we

earned a point against them. Wecan’t forget that they were lead-ing until the 87th minute.”

The gaffer also maintainedthat India’s passion for the beau-tiful game is changing and theBlue Tigers will try their level bestto fulfil the expectations and grabtheir first win in the joint quali-fication round.

“We are happy that people inIndia are following us with lots ofpassion now. They have a greatexpectation on us and we'll tryour level best to make themhappy,” he said.

Meanwhile, AnoushDastagiv, Afghanistan headCoach mentioned though it’snot their own country, they get“confidence” when they play inDushanbe.

“Yes, geographically it’s farfrom own country and we wouldhave been happier if we couldhave gotten the chance to play inour own country. But, playing inTajikistan has always given usmuch-needed confidence. Wehave beaten Cambodia,Bangladesh here and settled witha draw against Tajikistan, Jordan.Those results will surely give usa psychological boost,” Dastagivsaid.

“Here, people speak our lan-guage. We feel at home.Whenever we play in front ofAfghani crowd, we never fail toget positive results. We hope wecan get something closer to thaton Thursday as well,” he added.

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�� He is new to captaincy but Bangladeshskipper Mominul Haque is confident that theadded responsibility will not affect his batting,which will be crucial to his team’s chances ofupstaging an accomplished India in the Testseries.

The 28-year-old Mominul has replacedShakib Al hasan as five-day format skipper.

“I am not feeling pressure just because Ihave been appointed captain. The way I bat-ted before captaincy, I will bat in the same waynow,” said the left-hander, who is also theteam’s premier batsman with eight hundreds.

“I always try to think about the posi-tive aspects. There are a few positives inbeing captain as well. Your knowledge aboutthe game increases. You tend to becomemore responsible as a player. So I think, itwill help me improve my performance,” headded.

Mominul feels that since expectationsfrom his side are not particularly high, the pres-sure is also a bit less.

Asked about India’s pace bowling might,Mominul said: “India is such a team that theycan challenge different opponents in differentways.

“May be they will challenge us with spinattack. We are ready to face both spin and paceattack challenge from India. Definitely, it willbe tough for us. But we are preparing to faceit.”

Asked what has changed in Bangladeshcricket in nearly two decades from the timethey first played a Test in 2000, Mominulpointed at the attitudinal shift.

“I think the mentality of players haschanged. Players have become more disci-plined. Also they are more eager to play five-day games as well,” he said.

While Virat Kohli termed MustafizurRahaman as a threat, Mominul didn’t disclosewhether the pacer will be a part of playing XI.

“We have not planned about the team andthe playing eleven has not been selected yet.You will know tomorrow (today) if he plays,”he said.

Asked about missing Shakib and TamimIqbal, Mominul said others are more aware inthe absence of the two stalwarts.

“I think three players are missing becauseShakib bhai is equal to two players. Yes, it willbe challenging. But there is no scope of think-ing about it too much now,” he said. PTI

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The action begins with thered cherry but the focus isfirmly on the pink ball as a

formidable India looks to over-power a depleted-but-grittyBangladesh in the first Test of atwo-match series starting here atHolkar stadium today.

The rubber opens here but thebuzz and the talk has been con-sistently centered on the secondgame in Kolkata, which will beplayed under lights — a historicfirst for both the teams.

This is also that one series inthe World Test Championship cal-endar, in which Virat Kohli’smen, currently in the “pink ofform”, can steamroll the rag-tagopposition well inside four days.

In fact, on paper, it is difficultto imagine how Bangladesh, with-out Tamim Iqbal and the suspend-ed Shakib Al Hasan, will even beable to compete in a format,which has been their weakest tilldate.

Having crushed South Africain their last series, this Indianteam, with inarguably their great-est-ever pace unit till date, willdefinitely be too hot to handle fora side whose best batsman —skipper Mominul Haque — hasless than 10 Test hundreds (eight).

Although Mushfiqur Rahimand Mahmudullah Riyad arecommitted cricketers but in thelongest format, they aren’t exact-ly formidable names.

Compare that to India’s pre-mier willow wielders — Kohli (26hundreds), Ajinkya Rahane (11),Cheteshwar Pujara (18). Theyhave 50 plus ton collectively andit will be one hell of a task forMustafizur Rahaman, Taijul Islamand Mehidy Hasan Miraj to stopthis line-up.

And before these three evencome into play, Bangladesh willhave to deal with openers MayankAgarwal and the indomitableRohit Sharma, who can makemincemeat of their bowlingattack.

Add to it, India’s bowlingunit with 800-plus scalps, this isone contest where the ‘David’looks incapable of slaying theproverbial ‘Goliath’.

Not to forget that Bangladesh,in their last Test match under the

mercurial Shakib’s leadership, lostto Afghanistan in a one-off game.

The Indians, however, do notwant to take anything for grant-ed.

“Bangladesh is a very goodteam. We played very well againstSouth Africa but that’s past now.With (World) Test Championship,every match is equally important.We like to take one game at a timewhich is Indore now,” vice-captainRahane said.

“We completely respect the

Bangladesh team and we aregoing to play to our strengthrather than thinking about theirs,”he added.

The track at the Holkar sta-dium has always been a battingparadise with ridiculously shortside boundaries but there isbounce on offer.

Mohammed Shami andUmesh Yadav are certainties inthe pace line-up while RavindraJadeja and Ravichandran Ashwinare expected to make the squad.

Kohli indicated that IshantSharma will be playing as thethird seamer instead of an addi-tional spinner.

“Yeah that seems pretty like-ly looking at the pitch. Alsobecause of the way Umesh hasbowled, Shami obviously hasbeen brilliant. Bumrah isn’t fit yet.Ishant’s probably been our mostconsistent bowler in the last twoyears and a big big reason for oursuccess in Test cricket is his abil-ity to just keep bowling in thesame area and the others comeand pick up wickets,” he said.

“But also he has picked up 4-5 wickets on many occasionswhen he’s gone through a greatspell. So I think his experiencewill always be handy for theteam.”

For Bangladesh’s young guns,the ‘biggest test’ in the Test willbe to stretch this Indian team to

the fifth day which looks unlike-ly at the moment.

SQUADSIndia (12): Rohit Sharma,Mayank Agarwal, CheteshwarPujara, Virat Kohli (captain),Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja,Wriddhiman Saha (wk),Ravichandran Ashwin,Mohammed Shami, UmeshYadav, Ishant Sharma, KuldeepYadav. Reserves: Shubman Gill,Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant.Bangladesh: Mominul Haque(captain), Imrul Kayes,Mushfiqur Rahim (wk),Mahmudullah Riyad,Mohammed Mithun, LitonKumar Das, Mehidy Hasan Miraj,Mustafizur Rahaman, NaeemHasan, Saif Hasan, ShadmanIslam, Taijul Islam, Abu Jayed,Ebadot Hossain, Al AminHossain.

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The pink ball swings more than thered one but how it would behave

after getting old, especially when dewwill be a factor, is keeping India skip-per Virat Kohli intrigued ahead ofteam’s historic day-night Test.

The pink ball Test is still a fewdays away but Kohli, on the eve of theseries-opener, was busy answeringquestions related to the second Teststarting November 22.

“I think it’s a new way to bringexcitement to Test cricket. The pinkball I played yesterday (on Tuesday),I felt it swings a lot more as comparedto the red ball because there’s extralacquer (quote of paint) on the ballwhich doesn’t go away too fast. Andthe seam holds upright quite a bit,”the skipper’s initial observationseemed in sync with what his deputyAjinkya Rahane had assessed.

Kohli said they are yet to figureout how the old ball will behave dur-ing November evenings in Kolkata.

“If the pitch has extra help for thebowlers, then they will be in thegame, especially fast bowlersthroughout the course of the Testmatch. I don’t know how the old ballbehaves because with the dew and thelacquer going off, it will be interest-ing to see how much the old balldoes,” the skipper said.

However he made it clear that fora pink ball to be effective, it is impor-tant to have lively tracks.

“With the pink ball havingenough life in the pitch will be veryimportant factor.”

The Indian team did not practicewith the pink ball under lights but didtake a few throw-downs on Tuesdayto adjust to the colour of the new ball.

“I hadn’t played with the pinkball before. I was given an opportu-nity to try and I wanted to. So thatwas my mind-set behind playing withthe pink ball. You require extra con-centration to pick the pink ball sud-denly when you’re playing with thered ball.

“It was to work on the reflexes alittle bit as well. Because when youplay with the red ball in the net andyou arrive at the pink ball, it gets verydifficult to pick, which can be the casein the game as well. To get into thatzone was the reason behind it,” heexplained.

The skipper also maintainedthat while the hype about the day-night Test is understandable, thefocus of his team is firmly on the firstgame. A testimony to that was no‘pink ball’ training on the eve of thematch.

“In Test cricket, I don’t think youcan afford to take focus away. Noteven one session, not even one over.With the red ball you need to beabsolutely precise in your focus,every game that you play, every ballthat you play, every situation that youare in. Our prime focus is tomorrow’sTest match.

“We are looking forward to thatfirst and then we will focus on thepink ball later,” he made it clear.

On the opposition, Kohli termedMustafizur Rahaman as the man towatch out for.

“He is a very good bowler so he’sgoing be a threat, a key player forBangladesh. He’s an experiencedbowler. He knows the Indian bats-men as well, having played the IPL.So, it’s a challenge but we must lookforward to those challenges,” Kohlisaid.

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World Champion P V Sindhumade a positive start to her

campaign but Saina Nehwal andSameer Verma were ousted from theHong Kong Open after sufferingcontrasting defeats in the openinground of the $400,000 event here onWednesday.

Sixth seed Sindhu, took 36minutes to see off world No 19 KimGa Eun of Korea 21-15, 21-16 toprogress to the second round.

She will face Thailand’sBusanan Ongbamrungphan next.

HS Prannoy also crossed theopening hurdle, beating China’sHuang Yu Xiang 21-17, 21-17 in 44minutes to a clash with sixth seedIndonesian Jonatan Christie.

Joining Prannoy in the secondround are Parupalli Kashyap,Kidambi Srikanth and qualifierSourav Verma.

While Kashyap defeated KentaNishimoto of Japan 21-18, 16-21,21-10, Sourabh got the better of

France’s Brice Leverdez 21-11, 21-15.

Srikanth will take on compatri-ot Sourabh in the second round.

Kashyap, though, has a toughsecond round encounter as he is upagainst second seed Chou TienChen of Taipei.

But it was curtains for eighthseed Saina, who suffered her fifthfirst-round loss in the last six tour-naments, going down 13-21, 20-22to China’s Cai Yan Yan in thewomen’s singles for the second suc-cessive time.

World No 16 Sameer fought for54 minutes before going to WangTzu Wei of Chinese Taipei 11-21,21-13, 8-21 in the opening match.It was his third successive loss in theopening round.

Women’s doubles pair ofAshwini Ponnappa and N SikkiReddy also couldn’t cross the open-ing round, losing 13-21, 12-21 toDenmark’s Maiken Fruergaard andSara Thygesen.

Men’s doubles pair ofSatwiksairaj Rankireddy and ChiragShetty also bowed out in the open-ing round, losing 21-17, 16-21, 17-21 against Japanese pair of TakuroHoki Yugo Kobayashi.

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England’s plan to celebrate their1,000th international by qualify-

ing for Euro 2020 in serene styleagainst Montenegro at Wembleytoday has been ripped up by GarethSouthgate’s decision to drop RaheemSterling.

The Manchester City wingerwas involved in a physical confronta-tion with Liverpool defender JoeGomez at England’s training base onMonday as emotions spilled overfrom the highly-anticipated PremierLeague clash between the two clubson Sunday.

Sterling has been the star of aqualifying campaign dominated by

off-field issues where the ThreeLions have largely let their footballdo the talking on it.

Bar a shock defeat to the CzechRepublic last month, the WorldCup semi-finalists have shown whythey will be among the favourites towin a first major tournament in 54years next summer.

Sterling has scored eight of hisside’s 26 goals in six games as he hasblossomed into one of the world’sbest players for club and countrysince failing to find his best form atthe World Cup 18 months ago.

He has also been a leading fig-ure as England have stood up to theracist abuse suffered by a number ofplayers in Montenegro and Bulgaria.

Sterling could even return toaction as soon as Sunday whenSouthgate’s men travel to Kosovo.

England will hope there is noth-ing riding on that match for them asa point against the side ranked 61stin the world today will be enough toguarantee qualification.

Even in Sterling’s absence,Southgate is blessed with an array ofattacking talent including HarryKane, Jadon Sancho and MarcusRashford that should continueEngland’s free-scoring form.

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