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HAPPY NEW YEAR

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The Government of UnionTerritory of Jammu &

Kashmir on Tuesday delivereda “good news” to lakhs of peo-ple of Kashmir Valley by decid-ing to restore short messageservice (SMS) on 40 lakh post-paid mobile phones from mid-night on January 1.

The announcement waswelcomed by the commonpeople even as they continue towait for the restoration ofmobile internet services in thecoming days.

The start of SMS willenable the common people tostay connected with their lovedones staying outside the Valley.

Addressing a Press confer-ence in Jammu, PrincipalSecretary Rohit Kansal, who isthe J&K administration’sspokesperson, said broadbandinternet services in allGovernment-run hospitals andschools were being restoredfrom January 1 across differentparts of Kashmir Valley.

Since August 5, theGovernment had disconnected

mobile and landline phoneservices in Jammu, Kashmirand Ladakh regions.

In the wake of significantimprovement in security sce-nario, the Government hadrestored phone lines but heldback approvals to end the banon internet and SMS.

Kargil, part of the UnionTerritory of Ladakh, got backmobile internet services last

week after a gap of 145 days.But the facility has still not beenrestored in J&K.

Rohit Kansal said theprocess had started onDecember 10 when SMS wasenabled on mobile phones tofacilitate students, scholarshipapplicants, traders and others.They still could not send mes-sages but could receive one-time passwords from machine-

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The Kerala Assembly onTuesday passed a resolution

demanding scrapping of theCitizenship (Amendment) Act(CAA) even as Law MinisterRavi Shankar Prasad saidParliament alone has got pow-ers to pass any law regardingcitizenship and the Centremulled option to introduceonline process to grant citi-zenship to bypass the jurisdic-tion of States.

Setting aside their politicaldifferences, Kerala’s CPI(M)-led Left DemocraticFront(LDF) and OppositionCongress-headed UnitedDemocratic Front(UDF) onceagain came together to launch

a joint offensive against theCentre on the CAA.

While all the members oftwo fronts unanimously sup-ported the resolution and vehe-mently criticised the Centre, ORajagopal, the lone BJP MLAin the 140-member House,opposed the resolution,terming it as “illegal andunconstitutional”.

Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan, who moved the reso-lution and Leader ofOpposition RameshChennithala of the Congress,who seconded it, alleged thatthe CAA was an attempt tomake India a religious nation.

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Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman on Tuesday

unveiled �102 lakh crore ofinfrastructure projects, includ-ing Mumbai-AhmedabadHigh Speed rail, in the next fiveyears to help achieve the targetof USD 5 trillion (around �356lakh crore) economy by 2025.

Addressing a press con-ference, she said PrimeMinister Narendra Modi hadin his Independence Dayspeech spoken of investing�100 lakh crore in infrastruc-ture.

Subsequently, a task forceheaded by the EconomicAffairs Secretary identified�102 lakh crore worth of pro-jects after conducting 70 stakeholder consultations in ashort period of four months,she said.

The Minister said anoth-er �3 lakh crore of projectswill be added to this pipelinethat includes Jewar Airportand Jal Jeevan Mission.

“However, even as we aretalking, I’m happy to say thatprojects are coming in and inthe next couple of weeks, weget additional projects ofworth �3 lakh crore... So in allI think we have about �105lakh crore in total of projectsfor �100 lakh crore commit-ment we made,” the Ministertold reporters here.

Of the �102 lakh croreprojects, �42.7 lakh crore (43per cent) projects are underimplementation, �32.7 lakhcrore (about 33 per cent)worth of projects are at con-ceptualisation stage and �19.1lakh crore (about 19 per cent)worth of projects are underdevelopment, she said.

The projects are spreadacross 22 ministries and 18States and Union Territories,she said, adding theGovernment also intends tolaunch NIP, NationalInfrastructure Pipeline, acoordination mechanism con-sisting of the Centre, statesand also the private sector forinformation disseminationtogether with monitoring theimplementation of this entireframework.

These projects are on topof �51 lakh crore spent by theCentre and the States duringthe last six years, she said.With regard to investment,Sitharaman said that the newpipeline consists of 39 per centprojects each by the Centreand states and the balance by22 per cent by private sectorwhich could increase to 30 per

cent by 2025.Economic Affairs

Secretary Atanu Chakrabortysaid projects worth �13.6 lakhcrore would be implementedduring the current fiscal, fol-lowed of �19.5 lakh crore in2020-21 and �19 lakh crore in2021-22. In the remainingthree years, he said, during2022-23 it would be �13.8 lakhcrore, �12.8 lakh crore in2023-24 while �11.1 lakhcrore in the terminal year of2024-25.

She said the projects iden-tified are in the sectors ofpower, railways, urban devel-opment, digital sector, irriga-tion, mobility, education,health, and others. Thesesectors will form the bulk ofthe infrastructure investmentunder the NationalInfrastructure Pipeline,Sitharaman said.

Nearly �25 lakh crore ofenergy projects have beenlined up, the Minister said,adding that another �20 lakhcrore in road and nearly �14lakh crore spending in railwayprojects have been lined up.The Finance Minister said�102 lakh crore NationalInfrastructure Projects willhelp make India a USD 5 tril-lion economy by 2025.

On the financing, she said,the Government will look atdeepening of debt market andalternative investment fundswhich wil l provide bulk of the debtfinancing necessary for this.“We are looking at varioussteps to reform the PPPbased contracts which have tobe implemented. Dispute res-olution related, enforcementof contracts which is a verycritical component, all this isalso being looked at whenwe’re talking about reformingthe entire process as per thesuggestion given by varioussub-groups under the taskforce,” she said.

She also announced thatthe first edition of AnnualGlobal Investors’ Meet will beheld in the second half of thecoming year to meet investorsat a single platform. UnionMinister for Railways andCommerce and IndustryPiyush Goyal welcomed thedecision and said it will cre-ate jobs, propel growth andenhance ease of living.

“Welcome the decisiontaken under PM@NarendraModiji’s leadershipto boost infra with �102 lakhcrore projects, including a�14 lakh crore push to Rlys.Congratulate FM@NSitharaman ji as this willcreate jobs, propel growthand enhance ease of living,”Goyal tweeted.

Government think tankNITI Aayog CEO AmitabhKant in a tweet sid the initia-tive will impart a major impe-tus to infrastructure develop-ment and financing. CII DGChandrajit Banerjee said theinitiative will provide “much-needed impetus to the overallgrowth of the economy whilealso helping to reach the tar-get of becoming a USD 5 tril-lion economy”.

CBRE (India, Middle East,South East Asia) CEOAnshuman Magazine said it isclear that the government iswilling to do the needful andis ready to take the initiativeby providing required funds.

“Infrastructure projectsworth �102 lakh crore fornext five years under NationalInfrastructure Pipeline willprovide opportunities to allthe stake-holders engaged inareas such as urban develop-ment, renewable sector, rail-ways, irr igation, mobility, education, health,water and digital and willpave the way for long termdevelopment in all otherareas,” he said.

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Bihar Chief Minister NitishKumar on Tuesday sought

to scotch speculation of a riftwith the BJP in the State,asserting “all is well” within thealliance, after JD(U) vice pres-ident Prashant Kishor pitchedfor more seats for his party thanits saffron partner in theAssembly polls, due next year.

“Sab theek hai (all is well),”Kumar told journalists, whosought his response to Kishor’sdemand, which prompted ariposte from BJP leader andDeputy Chief Minister SushilKumar Modi, who had onMonday dubbed Kishor as aperson “engaged in the businessof collating political data andcoining slogans”, and benefitingthe Opposition.

Kishor, an election strate-gist-turned-politician, has beena vocal critic of the CitizenshipAct and the proposed nation-wide NRC.

The JD(U) had voted infavour of the new citizenshiplaw in Parliament but said it isagainst a pan-India NRC.Nitish’s comment came on thesidelines of an event to markthe 14th death anniversary oflate Navin Kishore PrasadSinha, a BJP leader and formerState Minister.

Nitish, who is also theJD(U) national president, madethe comment days after Kishor,in interviews to TV news chan-nels, insisted on the JD(U)getting to contest more seatsthan the BJP since his party wasthe senior alliance partner inthe State.

He also referred to BJPpresident Amit Shah who hadsaid the alliance will face theAssembly polls with NitishKumar as its Chief Ministerialcandidate.

Sushil took umbrage andblasted Kishor, reminding himof his “business” of an electionstrategist. “The 2020 Assemblypolls in the State will be foughtunder the leadership of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andChief Minister Nitish Kumar.

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The “worst period” of coldwave in Delhi is over for

now and icy winds won’t con-tinue from northwest for longdue to “on and off” western dis-turbances, claimed a seniorscientist at a private forecastingagency Skymet Weather.

On Tuesday, the sun shonebright and a layer of fog thatenveloped Delhi dissipated,bringing some relief from coldthat battered the city for overtwo weeks.

The India MeteorologicalDepartment’s (IMD) said therewould be “no cold wave inDelhi till January 4 and tem-peratures will rise”. However,weathermen forecast moderatefog in Delhi on Wednesday andvery light rain on Thursday.

The prolonged cold andabsence of adequate sunshinedue had caused the mercury toplummet drastically, makingDecember the second-coldestand Monday the coldestrecorded day (with a maximumof 9.4 degrees Celsius) since1901. Kuldeep Srivastava, headof the IMD’s regional centre,said Delhi witnessed another“cold day” on Tuesday.

With this, December hasrecorded 18 consecutive “colddays”’, the maximum after 17cold days in December 1997.Easterly winds, gusting up to14-15 kmph pushed fog

towards Punjab and Haryana,making Delhi skies clear,Mahesh Palawat, a senior sci-entist at private forecastingagency Skymet Weather, said.

It caused the minimumtemperature to go up from 2.8degrees Celsius on Monday to4.7 degrees Celsius on Tuesday.The maximum also rose to14.6 degrees Celsius.

“Only four times the meanmaximum temperature forDecember has remained equalto or less than 20 degrees Celsius-- 1919, 1929, 1961 and 1997,”the official said.

The MMT for the monthwas 19.8 degrees Celsius in1919 and 1929, while it was 20degrees Celsius in 1962, theMeT scientist said further.

The IMD said a cold day iswhen the maximum tempera-ture is at least 4.5 notches belownormal. A severe cold day iswhen the maximum tempera-ture is at least 6.5 degreesCelsius below normal.

In weekly weather forecast,the MeT said minimum tem-perature will hover between sixdegrees Celsius and ninedegrees Celsius and maximumtemperature will oscillatebetween 15 degrees Celsius and18.

However, cold wave condi-tions persisted in northernstates of the country on Tuesday,with Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur hit-ting the zero-degree mark.

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The BangladeshGovernment has suspend-

ed mobile telephone servicesalong the borders with India,citing security reasons. Theexpression “in the current cir-cumstances” in the order isbeing linked to anti-CAAprotests in India. The decisionwill affect around 1 croremobile phone users in the area,according to media reports.

The telecom operators sus-pended the networks onMonday within one kilometreof the borders with India, theDhaka Tribune reported.

The Bangladesh

Telecommunication RegulatoryCommission (BTRC), in itsorder to telecommunicationsservice providers —Grameenphone, Teletalk, Robiand Banglalink — on Sunday,said network coverage in theborder areas should be sus-pended until further notice“for the sake of the country’ssecurity in the current cir-cumstances,” it said.

“A high-level meeting ofthe Government took this deci-sion, following which theinstructions were issued,”BTRC Chairman Jahurul

Haque was quoted as saying bybdnews24.

A BTRC official was quot-ed as saying in the DhakaTribune that closure of around2,000 base transceiver stationswould affect 1 crore users in 32districts sharing border withIndia and Myanmar.

According to the report,Home Minister AsaduzzamanKhan Kamal and ForeignMinister AK Abdul Momenexpressed ignorance over theGovernment’s decision.

“I do not have any suchinformation. Let me knowabout it first and then I willcomment,” Kamal said.

Brig Gen (retd) SM Farhad,secretary general of theAssociation of Mobile TelecomOperators of Bangladesh, said,“Mobile network operators inBangladesh are compliant withGovernment regulations;accordingly, the directive onborder network coverage hasalready been implemented.”

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On the New Year’s eve, theIndian Railways

announced fare hike across itsnetwork, excluding suburbantrains, effective from January 1,2020, according to an orderissued on Tuesday. While sub-urban fares remain unchanged,ordinary non-AC, non-subur-ban fares were increased by 1paisa per km of journey. ForAC classes, the fare has beenraised by 4 paise per km.

In the Delhi-KolkataRajdhani, which covers a dis-tance of 1,447 km, the hike atthe rate of 4 paise per km willbe around �58.

The railways alsoannounced a two paise/kmhike in fares of mail/expressnon-AC trains and fourpaise/km hike in the fares ofAC classes.

The fare hike is also applic-able to premium trains such asShatabdi, Rajdhani andDuronto, according to theorder.

According to the order,

there will not be any change inthe reservation fee and super-fast charge and the hike in fareswill not be applicable to tick-ets already booked.

The last such hike wasannounced in 2014-2015 whenfares of all classes of trains wereraised by 14.2 per cent andfreight charges by 6.5 per cent.However, since then, the rail-ways introduced the flexi-farescheme which significantlyraised fares on select trains andlaunched trains like VandeBharat and Tejas Express whichhave relatively higher fares.

Trains with dynamic pric-ing like Suvidha Express werealso introduced.

The railways in a statementsaid the revenue generated bythe “marginal” increase in farewill be used for the moderni-sation of the network. “IndianRailways has continuouslyendeavored to augment pas-senger experience throughmodernization of coaches andprovision of improved facilities over sta-tions.

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Ratibad police nabbed 13gamblers near Neelbad

square in the intervening nightof sunday and Monday andrecovered �53,450 cash andplaying cards from their pos-session.

Acting on a tip off, regard-ing gambling, over a dozenmiscreants were nabbed whowere caught gambling. Thenabbed miscreants were gam-bling behind Bank of Barodanear Neelbad square.

Police said that the nabbedgamblers were identified asNeeraj Patel, Govind Sharma,Deepak Maran, PrakashPrasad , Chetan Guru, SarveshVerma Nishant Guru, PraveenBhandari, Ankit Kumar, SunilKumar, Jeet Kumar, YogeshChandel and Kunal Kapase.

During the investigation,police found that among thenabbed accused, DeepakMaran is a Bajrang Dal activist.Notably, Deepak was alleged offacilitating gambling in thepast and was nabbed this timered handed.

Gamblers were nabbedputting bets in an open areawhich was raided by thepolice. The crime record ofthe nabbed accused would beinvestigated. Later, the gam-blers were granted bail, saidpolice.

On the other hand,Piplani police has booked amiscreant for molesting a 22-

year-old girl at Piplani area onMonday.

On Monday, when thevictim was on her way tohome, the accused, identifiedas Raju Bamne, obstructed herway and molested her. Thevictim managed to escape andinformed parents and later, acomplaint was lodged withpolice.

The victim raised alarmafter which locals rushed toher rescue. The accusedescaped from the spot.

The police have startedinvestigation and registeredcase of molestation.

The victim is a student ofB.Com. She used to be molest-ed by the accused whenevershe used to venture out for anywork and college.

Let us welcome the dawn of2020 with countless hopes,

enthusiasm and positive ener-gies. The year 2019 has gonedown the memory lanes.Always be ready to learn fromfailures and note that failures arenothing but the outcome ofefforts made half–heartedly.Always think that success is rel-ative. Despite sincere efforts, itmay be elusive. So, always be insearch of excellence. I just recalla couplet from classical Urdupoetry in which great poet Halisays– 'Hai Justaju Ki Khoob SeHai Khoobtar Kahan? AbThaharti Hai Dekhiye Jaa KarNazar Kahan?'

It simply means that alwaysbe in search of excellence andkeep the relentless journey onfor excellence. Don't be scaredof failures and never be charmedby successes as they are imper-manent. We fail only when wefail to keep pace with the chang-ing Time, which is merciless. Itnever stops for anyone regard-less of their Socio–economic sta-tus or geographical identities.This is the only precious thing,which everybody has but a fewhave the requisite wisdom toutilise it.

I recall the title of a famouspainting of extremely talentedRussian Jewish painter MarcChagall which reads that TimeIs A River Without Bank. So, ifwe want Time to flow in thedesired direction, we have toembank the River of Time andthis is the challenge all of us haveto take up. No one can help usin this pursuit.

Those, who cultivate friend-ship with the Time finally reachtheir desired destinations andcomfortably meet their targetedgoals. There are certain things,which we can't purchase despiteall our wealth like love, affection,knowledge, trust, sleep, smile,health, friendship and of coursethe powerful Time. We perishevery moment if we waste it. Inthe New Year, take a resolve tobe sensitive about the use ofTime. Respect every momentand keep learning to manage theTime. We may be a judge ofgood or bad Times. We mayenvision brighter things for thefuture or we may be ahead of ourTimes in our thought process-es but the truth is that we haveto Walk with the Time whetheryou are a student, farmer, busi-nessman, rich or poor, you haveto follow the Time.

We cannot see the Time. Weonly experience it just as we can'tsee the air but we feel its veloc-ity. The clocks, however, helps usbut we experience the power ofTime by the change we comeacross. Therefore, ancient wis-dom goes that Time is a greathealer. Every one of us has hisor her own idea of Good Time.

People buy comforts for joys andsleep, but to some, these comenaturally without spending asingle penni. We have to be sen-sitive about Time. So, always beon Time. Imagine the worldwithout clocks, seconds, minuteshours, dates, months and years.

Even without them Timeexisted and will ever exist. Timeis the most complex property ofthe earth and the cosmos. Neverallow a single minute to gowaste. Always attempt to dogreat things and be ready to con-tribute.

I always quote my favouriteAlbert Einstein who said–'Ahundred times every day Iremind myself that my inner andouter life are based on thelabours of other men, living or dead and that Imust exert myself in order togive in the same measure as Ihave received and am still receiv-ing.' I am sure every responsiblecitizen subscribes to these gold-en words.

I wish all the citizens, a veryhappy, healthy and joyful NewYear.

(From the blog of ChiefMinister of Madhya Pradesh)

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In the last one year, theState Government has

taken important decisionsand has also implementedthem for strengthening gov-ernance for welfare of all sec-tions and in the interests ofGovernment servants.

The provision of reser-vation for other backwardclasses was increased from14 to 27 percent by amend-ing the Madhya PradeshPublic Service ScheduledCastes / Scheduled Tribesand B ackward ClassesReser vat ion Act 1994 .Meanwhile, the economical-ly weaker section was given10 percent reservation ineducational institutions andGovernment jobs.

In order to give priorityto the youth of MadhyaPradesh in Government ser-vices, live registration ofcandidates in the employ-ment of f ice was mademandatory.

The State Governmenthas set a maximum age limitof 40 years for the posts to befilled by open competition.In this, the maximum agel imit for SC/ S T / O B C / G o v e r n m e n tC or p orat ion, B oard/Autonomous Institution /Nagar Sainik/Disabled/Women (unreser ved/reserved) etc. has been set as45 years Apart from this, oneyear relaxation has also beengiven in the maximum agelimit for the State Service

Examination 2019 of thePublic Service Commission.

The ‘Aapki Sarkar AapkeDwar’ programme has start-ed in the State. Instructionshave been issued to all theGovernment departments toorganise camps in the devel-opment block headquartersand conduct sudden tours ofthe villages to ensure redres-sal of routine problems andfulfillment of the needs ofthe general public.

Secretaries-in- chargehave been directed to visitthe districts under theircharge at least once a month.

Advertisements werereleased for 5,116 posts in theexaminations conducted byMadhya Pradesh PublicService Commission in thelast one year. Out of these,candidates for 3,784 postswere also selected on the basisof merit. Meanwhile, Sub-divisional Officers (Revenue)were nominated in the dis-tricts to supervise the childcare institutions and the insti-

tutions being operated to pro-vide protection to distressedwomen.

The validity period ofComputer Eff iciencyCertification Examination(CPCT) certificate (scorecard) in InformationTechnology and Computersector in the examinations ofcontract/regular appointmentson various posts inGovernment departments hasbeen increased from 2 years to4 years. Government servantswere entitled to 2 advanceincrements upon family plan-ning operation after twin chil-dren in first pregnancy, sameas the one received after fam-ily planning operation afterone surviving child.

The State Governmentconstituted CabinetCommittees on February 9 tofind solutions to all sensitivematters. In compliance withthis decision of theGovernment, the GeneralAdministration Departmentordered formation of CabinetCommittees on total 16 issuesincluding economic affairs,political issues and consider-ation of representations anddemands of guest teachers,employment assistants andcontract employee organisa-tions, redressal of suspendedforest land claims and invest-ment promotion of ScheduledTribes.

These committees are pre-senting their reports to thegovernment after consider-ing the related issues in regu-lar meetings.

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Sowing the seeds of change,Chief Minister Kamal Nath

is leading the effort to expandcroplands, enhance quality andquantity of yield to ensure fastdevelopment of farming com-munities in Madhya Pradesh.

Announcing a huge farmloan waiver even before assum-ing office a year ago, Nath hasfollowed up with back to backschemes to bolster the farmingsector which contributes near-ly a quarter of the state GDP.

The schemes launchedover the year have been metwith optimism from farmers asthe new systematic plan willhelp control spiralling produc-tion costs and thus ensure thatthe sector continues to remainprofitable despite an upwardtrend in prices.

The farm loan waiver dis-bursements scheme is set toresult in 12 lakh farmers ben-efitting to the tune of �11,675crore while its initial stage, con-cluded earlier this year, culmi-nated with the state govern-ment writing off loans amount-ing to �7,154 crore benefittingover 20 lakh farmers.

In an effort to bring downproduction costs the state gov-ernment is now providing elec-tricity at a 50 percent reducedtariff to farmers for the powerconsumed by agriculturalpumps of up to 10 horsepow-er. Farmers developing theirown seeds can now avail free ofcost examination of their seeds.Farmers can further expectstable prices for their wheatproduce even in case of a

bumper crop in the State.Profitability for Corn and

Soyabean growers has alsobeen ensured by extending tothem the benefits of Bhavantarscheme which pays them thedifference between the officialMinimum Support Price(MSP) and Model Price atwhich the crops are sold. Thecurrent Bhavantar benchmarkprice is �160 higher than thatfixed by the central govern-ment.

Highlighting the efficiencyof State Government efforts,officials at the state agriculturedepartment point towards aconsiderable upswing in thesowing acreage during theKharif season and are opti-mistic of the trend continuingin the Rabi season.

While the acreage of Kharifsowing grew from 132.97 lakhhectares in 2018 to 136.99 lakhhectares in 2019. Similarly, thetarget sowing acreage for 2019Rabi season has been set at119.18 lakh hectares, anincrease of over 2.5 lakhhectares over the previous year.

Considerable expansionhas also been recorded in theorganic farming acreage whichnow stands at 2.13 lakhhectares with the same beingpromoted to 3,828 clusters andgroups.

Organic cotton is apromising sector with MadhyaPradesh accounting for near-ly 35 percent of the total organ-ic cotton production in theworld.

An ongoing pilot project is

testing soil health from amodel village in each devel-opment block, samples fromnearly a lakh of villages havebeen analysed and soil healthcards have been issued toaround one lakh farmers.

All necessary steps havebeen initiated by the KamalNath Government to ensure atimely and steady supply ofUrea and Fertilisers to farmersin the ongoing season.

Political observers inBhopal say the Chief Minister’sefforts seem to be gearedtowards restructuring farmeconomics.

They exude confidencethat sustained efforts in thedirection may soon see thestate reap a rich economicharvest.

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Weather conditions wouldturn harsher as light

rainfall and thundery activi-ties are likely to witness inthree divisions and six dis-tricts in the next 24 hoursaccording to the Met depart-ment forecast.

Shahdol, Jabalpur andHoshangabad divisions andKhandwa, Khargone,Burhanpur, Raisen, Sehore,Ujjain and Dewas districts arelikely to witness light rainfalland thundery activities.

Thundery activities andlight showers are likely to bewitnessed in the State Capitalon Wednesday while day andnight temperatures are likelyto be witnessed at 19 and 10degree Celsius.

Intense cold day condi-tions were witnessed in theState Capital making day tem-

perature to dip to 18.5 degreeCelsius while the night tem-perature provided relief at9.4 degree Celsius.

The visibility dipped toaround 1 km in the earlymorning hours on Tuesday.Datia recorded lowest nighttemperature at 1 degreeCelsius on Monday.

After Datia, it wasTikamgarh which recordedvery low night temperature at2.2 degree Celsius. Nowgongrecorded 3 degree Celsius, Raisen recorded 3.8degree Celsius, Sheopurrecorded 4.6 degree Celsiusand Sidhi recorded 5 degreeCelsius.

Among the nearbyregions of the State CapitalHoshangabad recorded dayand night temperatures withless difference as it wasrecorded at 19.1 and 14degree Celsius respectively.

The Met department hasissued warning of cold waveconditions is Sagar, Rewa,Gwalior and Chambal divi-sions.

Met department hasissued warning of intensecold day conditions and cold

day conditions and dense fogto very dense fog for Sagar,Rewa, Shahdol, Gwalior,Bhopal and Chambal andthese regions would also wit-ness dense to very dense fogconditions in the next 24hours.

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A20-year-old girl committedsuicide by hanging with the

ceiling at his house inGovindpura locality underGovindpura police station arealate in the night on Tuesday.

Police said that thedeceased, Sita Ramdas, com-mitted suicide at her house.The deceased was sufferingfrom depression. In the initialinvestigation, the family mem-bers told police that the

deceased was in depressionbut the family members failedto provide reason behind thedepression which would beinvestigated.

On Tuesday, the deceasedwas found hanging with theceiling. Body was sent for thepost mortem after the prelim-inary investigation.

The police have registereda case under section 174 of theCrPC and started further inves-tigation. The statements offamily members are yet to be

recorded, said police. Policehave not found any suicide notein the investigation whichcould help in revealing the rea-son.

Meanwhile, a 35-year-oldman committed suicide byhanging with the ceiling atParvalia village under Parvaliapolice station area on Tuesday.The police said that thedeceased Sunil Meena Khanwas found hanging with theceiling and declared dead whenrushed to a nearby hospital.

During investigation,police found that the deceasedwas alone at his house. Thedeceased had dispute in thepast but it was not revealed thatthe deceased committed sui-cide due to the dispute. Afterthe preliminary investigationthe police have registered a caseunder section 174 of the CrPCand started further investiga-tion. The reason would beinvestigated and the statementsof the family members wouldbe recorded.

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With a view to minimisethe number of unautho-

rised transactions happeningon ATMs, State Bank of Indiaannounced the launch of OTP-based ATM Withdrawal fortransactions above 10,000between 8 pm and 8 am.

The SBI, in a statementissued on Tuesday, said thatwith the introduction of itsOTP- based Cash WithdrawalFacility, State Bank ATMs haveadded another layer of securi-ty for cash withdrawals. OTPwill be received on the cus-tomer’s mobile number regis-tered with the Bank.

The One-time password(OTP) is a system-generatednumeric string of characters

that authenticates the user fora single transaction. This addi-tional factor of authenticationwill protect State Bank cardholders from unauthorisedATM cash withdrawals.

The OTP Based CashWithdrawal System shall beactive across all State BankATMs wef January 01, 2020between 8 pm and 8 am.

The facility will not requireany major change in the pre-sent process to withdraw cashfrom State Bank ATMs.

However, this facility will notbe applicable for transactions,where a State Bank card hold-er withdraws cash from anoth-er bank’s ATM, because thisfunctionality has not beendeveloped in NationalFinancial Switch (NFS). In thisprocess, once the cardholderenters the amount he wishes towithdraw, the ATM screen dis-plays the OTP screen. Thecustomer has to input / punchthe OTP received on his mobilenumber registered with theBank in this screen for gettingthe cash.

This will safeguard thecustomers against the risk ofunauthorised transactions onaccount of skimmed / clonedcards, while withdrawing cashat State Bank ATMs.

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An 80-year-old man diedafter he was hit by a

speeding truck at Raisen roadunder Bilkharia police sta-tion on Monday. The deceasedwas hit while on his way tohome.

According to the police, anelderly man was rushed tohospital after he was hit by atruck at Raisen road where hewas declared dead.

The deceased was identi-fied as PD Sharma. Policenabbed the truck driver whowas trying to escape the spotleaving the truck. The truckwas seized in the further inves-tigation. Police sent the bodyfor the post mortem. Thepolice have registered a case

under section 304 A of the IPCand started further investiga-tion.

During the investigationpolice found that the deceasedused to work with BHEL andafter retirement he started torun a pan shop.

He was hit while he was onhis way to home from Kankalimandir in the afternoon.

Meanwhile, a 55-year-oldman died on Tuesday whileundergoing treatment whowas hit by a speeding vehiclenear Bank of Baroda underBairagarh police station areaon December 24.

The deceased, identified asNandlal, was found injurednear Bank of Baroda and takento hospital where his conditiondeteriorated on Sunday and he

died on Tuesday.After the death of injured

police have sent the body forpost mortem and a case undersection 304 A of the IPC wasregistered.

Further investigation hasbeen started. The locals wouldbe questioned regarding theaccident, said police.

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Jewellery worth �1 lakh and �25,000 cash were burgled

from Danish Nagar underMisrod police station area onMonday. Police said that thevictim, Surendra Kumar, hadgone to Hyderabad onDecember 18 and when hereturned, the valuables werefound burgled.

A complaint was lodgedwith the police by the victim inwhich the victim stated that heleft the house on December 18and when he returned the doorof the house was open and onentering, the valuables werefound burgled.

In the initial investigation,it was found the victim had goneto Hyderabad and Bangaloreand when he returned housewas found burgled. He claimedthat gold and jewelery worth �1lakh and �25,000 cash were bur-gled. The total loss in the bur-glary is around �1.25 lakh.Domestic help and securityguards would be quizzed in thefurther investigation.

Meanwhile, miscreants tar-

geted house of engineer postedwith PWD department andescaped with valuables worth�1.5 lakh in Chunabhatti areaon Monday.

The victim, RajendraDubey, along with the family,

had gone to Betul on December28 and when he returned valu-ables were found burgled. Thevictim lodged complaint withthe police. The total loss in theburglary is �1.5 lakh in which� 30,000 cash and jewellery over

�1.20 lakh. The police have registered

a case under sections 457 and380 of the IPC and have start-ed further investigation. Thevictim is an executive engineerwith PWD.

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Governor Lalji Tandon,Chief Minister Kamal

Nath, Public Relations MinisterPC Sharma and other CabinetMinisters have extended greet-ings and best wishes to State'speople on New Year.

In his greeting message,the Governor wished lots ofhappiness and success for all inNew Year. The Governor hasurged youths for resolve toactively participate in devel-opment of the State next year.He wished people health, hap-piness and prosperity andhoped that new heights ofdevelopment will be achievedin the state during New Year.

Chief Minister KamalNath, extending greetings andbest wishes to people of thestate, Chief Minister said that2020 will be the year of newresolutions and new parame-ters of development for thestate. He urged the people to bea part of development process-es and always be ready to con-tribute.

Nath said that Madhya

Pradesh has a distinct identi-ty as a State nourishing com-munal harmony and peaceurging the people to furtherenrich the heritage of harmo-ny.

Madhya Pradesh is pro-gressing with the cooperationof all. We would march aheadeven faster in New Year. Nathurged to contribute their mitein making Madhya Pradesh aprosperous and developedstate.

Public Relations Minister

PC Sharma has extended greet-ings and best wishes to state'speople on New Year.

In his greeting message,Sharma wished people happi-ness, health and prosperity. Hesaid that Madhya Pradesh hasscaled new heights of devel-opment in the country. As aresult, Madhya Pradesh isbeing counted among devel-oped States. The Minister saidthat effective and concreteefforts would be made in year2016 to give new dimensions

to state's development. He urged people to work

unitedly with commitment forstate's progress. He also urgedevery citizen to take resolve forthis.

New and RenewableEnergy Minister Harsh Yadav,extending good wishes to thecitizens, said that the comingyear would be more useful forthe people, as the State gov-ernment would take moresteps towards welfare of thepeople.

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!(&$�!�,��*��*��&�$1�"!* !$/�-1��$�)� �"�1$,�$(��&�-&��"/!$/�� &��&1�)&��1�0�"� &"�&$"!- �� &

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In the 30th National Juniorand Sub Junior Canoe Sprint

Championships, the players ofBhopal gave impressive per-formances. The players,exhibiting their immense talentat the championship, bagged 3emedals in different events.

The championship washeld in Bhopal. The medalsinclude 9 gold, 15 silver and 9bronze medals. MadhyaPradesh also bagged the win-ner's title in the junior boys andgirls section of the champi-onship in which academy play-ers played an important role.

The medal winners metDirector Sports and YouthWelfare SL Thoussen onTuesday at TT Nagar Stadium.The Sports Director appreci-ated the great performance ofthe academy winning the tro-phy and medal and encour-aged and congratulated them.

He also discussed with theplayers about his studies andmotivated him to top the exam.On this occasion, the ChiefInstructor of the academyPijush Baroi and the AssistantInstructor Ankush Sharmaalso discussed the game oper-ator and got information aboutthe performance of the players.

These players who wonmedals include Balvir Jat,Yashpal Bandela, Vishal Dangi,Devvrut Singh, SushmaVerma, Aastha Dangi,Shivakanya Verma, NiharikaJasbal and Neha Chabe wereamong the players who wonMadhya Pradesh's gold medalin the National Junior, SubJunior Canoe SprintChampionship. The silvermedalists were AbhishekWaria, Shubham Yadav,Devendra Sen, Neeraj Verma,Shiv Bachchan and bronzemedalists were Sachin Sen,Sonu Verma, AbhishekSendhav and Akshit Baroi.

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The little theatre artists areall set to woo the theatre

lovers of the city. Under thedirection of Saurabh Anant,the artists of Vihaan DramaWorks are rehearsing for theplay Peeli Poonch.

The story has been pickedup from a folk tale whereChandu goes out of the houseto deliver a message and onthe way he meets differentpeople. Similarly, in the playthere is a central characternamed Chandu. Chandu is alitt le kid who has beenassigned to deliver the dreamsof every living creature onearth.

But, who assigns him thisjob? It is none other than the

old lady who spins dreams onthe moon. The play will be aninteresting watch for the the-atre lovers of the city.

The group will stage theplay on January 9 at RavindraBhavan hall. The rigoursrehearsals are going on thesedays for the play.

In the rehearsals thesedays, the instructors of Vihaanare continuously training anddiscussing with all children ontopics related to play, fiction,song, poetry, music, acting etc.It is being tried that imagina-tion of children can be a bet-ter part of this drama.

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The power revenue recoveryis constantly on the rise fol-

lowing the implementation ofthe Indira Griha Jyoti Yojana.More than one crore electrici-ty consumers are being bene-fitted from the scheme.

Total �1,832 crore morerevenue collection has beenmade in year 2019 from Aprilto November compared to lastyear in these months. Thisyear total Rs 2017 crore powerrevenue collection was made inthe month of November, whichis �413 crore more compared tothat of last year in the monthof November. Energy MinisterPriyavrat Singh gave this infor-mation.

The Energy Ministerinformed that the three distri-bution companies of the statehave made outstanding con-tribution so far in revenue col-lection. �596 crore was col-lected by East Zone PowerDistribution Company in

November 2019, � 587 crore byCentral Zone Company and �834 crore by West Zone PowerDistribution Company. �452crore was collected by EastZone Company, �488 crore byCentral Zone Company and �664 crore by West ZoneCompany during the sameperiod last year.

In the month of November,revenue of 31.71 percent morewas collected by East ZoneCompany, 20.38 percent byCentral Zone Company and25.63 percent by West ZoneCompany.

This is the highest in anyone month after company for-

mation.Cash revenue recovery per

unit in the state has increasedfrom �2 and 34 paise last yearto �4 and 14 paise in Novemberthis year. This is 77 percentmore than the same month lastyear. In the Western RegionPower Distribution Company,the percentage of increase inrevenue realization per unit was91.99 percent and in EasternRegion Power DistributionCompany 81.57 percent. Thecash revenue recovery per unitof Indore City Circle is �7.78,Indore O&M Rs 6.16, Singrauli�6.07, Jabalpur City �6.06 andBhopal City is �5.99.

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Acollection of fiction andnon-fiction books was

released at Swami VivekanandaLibrary. The books includeBusiness, Political Science,

Research Methodology,Mythology, Health,Economics. The new collectionis open for issue.

It is to be noted that everyweek new books are launchedin Swami Vivekananda Library.

Library members can reservethese books. This collection isbeing launched in view of theincreasing interest in non-fic-tion.

The books like JeremyDonovan's How to Deliver a

Ted Talk, S. Subramaniam'sEssays in Economics andOther Chairful Themes, MaryBuffett's 7 Secrets to InvestingLike Warren Buffet, IramFatma's India China BorderTrade A Case Study ofSikkimas Nathula and moreare included.

Besides, books like Tino deSa's The Disrobing of Draupadiand Other Stories: This is a col-lection of 11 fiction stories,Raghuraj Rajendran's 3S andOur Health A Short Guide toRewording Life will be helpful

for a good and active lifestyle.It explains in detail about basicdiet, Sunita Narayan's Conflictsof Interest: My Journeythrough India's GreenMovement.

In this book, SunitaNarayan has told about herchallenges that she faced as anenvironmentalist. In this, hehas also mentioned the con-troversies that arose from timeto time.

He also mentioned aboutthe future challenges in theenvironment in India.

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Athick fog engulfed Bhopaland its surrounding areas

on Tuesday morning andaffected train services in theState Capital. The delay intrain services by several hourshas inconvenienced passen-gers greatly.

"The temperature hasdropped to minus in someparts of the country. We arewaiting for the trains to arrivebut there is no update. We arehere with children and con-sidering the spread of diseases,we want officials to provideproper facilities at the sta-tions," a local passenger wait-ing for a Delhi-bound train atthe Habibganj Railway Stationtold.

"All the trains coming fromDelhi have been delayed. Thepassengers are facing difficul-ties. Multiple trains are late by

almost nine hours," a passen-ger Deepanshu said.

Meanwhile, auto drivershave been hit hard due to coldwave conditions. "Due to thesevere cold, people do notchoose to take an auto ride. Weare barely getting any income.There is nothing which canhelp keep us warm; it is gettingdifficult for us to fight cold," anauto driver said.

On Monday morning, dueto dense fog, Delhi-NCR wit-nessed disruption in trafficmovement as visibility droppeddrastically. Due to bad weath-er, flight and railway operationswere affected in the nationalCapital.

According to the IndiaMeteorological Department(IMD), Bhopal is likely toreceive thunderstorm with rainin the next week. Some days areexpected to be foggy, especial-ly in the mornings.

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The Claasical Musicalevening will be organised

in State on January 19. Organised by Pracheen

Kala Kendra, Kolkata. Theevent will feature perfor-mance by Ustad NisarHussian Khan from Jaipurgoing to give his classicalperformance accompanied bymany other renowned artist,The evening will be followedby Dance performance also.

It will be a wonderfulevent for the classical musiclovers of the State.

Pracheen Kala Kendrawas established in the year1956. At present , PracheenKala Kendra is a well knowninstitution imparting quality

education and training in thesubjects of Indian ClassicalMusic including CarnaticMusic (Vocal andInstrumental) , ClassicalDances ( l ike Kathak,Bharatnatyam, Odissi Dance)and Fine Arts (Painting)under Guru Shishyaparampara and conductingexaminations in the field ofperforming and visual arts forthe last 60 years.

Kendra is committed toprovide learner's access tothe classical arts irrespectiveof their age, religion, genderand region keeping in mindthe fundamental values ofIndian philosophy and spiri-tuality.

The event will be held atJabalpur.

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The people of Uttarakhandcan look forward for many

positive developments in theyear 2020. With the state gear-ing itself to oragnise, KumbhMela in the year 2021 atHaridwar on a mega scale,many infrastructure projectsin and around Haridwar are inprogress. The state govern-ment has taken up a target tocomplete all these works in theyear 2020.

A total of �500 Crore areexpected to be spent on theseworks. The ambitious ‘Allweather road’, is also expect-ed to get completed in the year2020. When completed, the�12,000 Crore, 889 km longroad would have a huge pos-

itive impact on the economyof the state. The work onRishikesh—Karnprayag raillink would also get pace in thisyear.With environmentalclearance for the Jamrani damon river Gaula in Nainital dis-trict, the work on the projectis expected to get a boostsoon. The work on Song damproject and Suryadhar Lake inDehradun district would get aboost this year. The lakewould provide gravity water toDehradun city.

The progress of the pro-jects conceptualised duringthe ‘Destination Uttarakhand-Investors summit- 2018’would also be watched withinterest this year. Memorandaof Understanding (MoU)worth �124,000 Crore were

reached between StateGovernment and entrepre-neurs during the summit.

The State Government hasclaimed that 391 projectsworth �17,246 Crore so farhave reached grounding (exe-cution) level. The state gov-ernment is hopeful that atabout 47000 people wouldget jobs in these projects oncethey become operational.

The air on the importantKandi road connecting theGarhwal and Kumaon divi-sions of Uttarakhand is alsoexpected to be cleared thisyear. The road when completewould reduce the distancebetween the two divisions ofthe state and is one of very olddemand of the people. Inhealth sector the ambitious

Atal Ayushman UttarakhandYojana (AAUY) is expected toget further momentum.

So far golden cards of34.25 lakh beneficiariesbelonging to 14.29 lakh fam-ilies have been made.

The state health agency isplanning to make the goldencards of all the left out bene-ficiaries in January 2020.AAUY provides a cover of �5lakh per annum to all 23 lakhfamilies of Uttarakhand inthe panelled hospitals underthe scheme.

Patients can avail benefitof the scheme for 1350 typesof diseases in these hospitals.For treatment in the privateempanelled hospitals, thepatients are needed to bereferred from the government

hospitals. A total of 101 gov-ernment and 74 private hos-pitals so far have been includ-ed in the panel for the scheme.The health department hasalso taken a target to set upIntensive Care Units (ICU) inall the districts in the year2020. The department is alsoexpected to receive 314 newmedical officers this year.

With Chief MinisterTrivendra Singh Rawat direct-ing officials to fill all thevacancies in various depart-ments, the unemployed canexpect mega recruitment dri-ves by the Uttarakhand PublicService Commission (UPSSC)and Uttarakhand SubordinateSer vices SelectionCommission (USSSC) thisyear.

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With the camp followersof former chief minister

and general secretary of AllIndia Congress Committee(AICC), Harish Rawat open-ing a front against leadershipof state unit, the infightingwithin Uttarakhand Congressis bound to increase in thecoming days.

Harish Rawat protégé andDharchula MLA, HarishDhami has already fired asalvo by stating that he wouldnot fight the next assemblyelection on Congress partysymbol if the Harish Rawat iscontinued to be sidelined bythe state leaders.

On his Face-book wall,Dhami said, “HonourableHarish Rawat is not merely aname but is an ideology. In arecent rally of the party somepeople with menial thinkingtried to remove his namewhich is low grade activity.’’

Kedarnath MLA ManojRawat who is considered closeto Harish Rawat also com-mented in support of HarishDhami’s post. He said thatname f irmly remains

entrenched in the hearts ofpeople and no one can removeit. The Harish Rawat camp isfurious at his neglect by theleadership of state Congress.In a recent ‘SamvidhanBachao, Bharat Bachao’ rally,the names of Harish Rawatand former Pradesh CongressCommittee (PCC) chiefKishore Upadhyaya weremissing from the banners,posters and other material.

Political observers arelinking the recent comment ofHarish Rawat in which he hadindicated that he is planningto retire from public life withhis anger at being alienated inthe scheme of things in thestate unit of Congress party.

The seasoned politicianthat he is, Harish Rawatplunged himself in theprotests the party organised inAssam, a day after expressinghis interest to retire. HarishRawat is the in charge of theCongress party in Assam.It ispertinent to mention herethat at least eight out of elevenCongress party MLAs areconsidered to be close toHarish Rawat. It is an opensecret that the Uttarakhand

Congress is a sharply dividedhouse with three major camps.One camp is of the leadersowing allegiance to HarishRawat while other major campis of Pradesh CongressCommittee (PCC) presidentPritam and Leader ofOpposition (LoP) IndiraHridayesh. Third camp,though small in size is ofsupporters of former PCCpresident Kishore Upadhyaya.

In the state unit of theCongress party the supportersof the former CM, HarishRawat are in considerablenumbers.

The political observersare of the opinion that thoughbattered badly in the assemblyelections of 2017 when he lostfrom both assembly seats fromwhere he contested and hugedefeat he suffered in NainitalUdham Singh Nagar parlia-mentary constituency in LokSabha elections of 2019,Harish Rawat is still the tallestand most popular leader ofCongress party in the state.They believe that by alienat-ing him, the Congress partywhich is already in shambleswould get further weakened.

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The agitating Anganwadi workers have threat-ened to resign en masse if their demands are

not accepted. Addressing media persons here onTuesday, the president of the association of theAnganwadi workers, Rekha Negi said that theworkers from different parts of the state are camp-ing at the protest site near parade ground fromlast many days but the state government is pay-ing no heed to their demands.

She said that the Anganwadi workers shouldbe declared State Government employees. Negisaid that the Anganwadi workers are being threat-ened but they are determined to continue theirprotest till their demands are accepted. She saidthat the workers are also contemplating on massresignations. Negi said that the remuneration ofAnganwadi workers should be increased to Rs18000 per month and they should be providedthe remuneration equal to that of UnionGovernment.

She said that the department should relaxtough norms imposed on attendance by mobilephone and others. The department should notlevy fine on the workers when the mobile phonegets damaged or starts malfunctioning. Negi alsosaid that the departmental promotion should begiven to Anganwadi workers and they should beprovided increment associated with seniority.

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From the organisational point ofview, 2019 was a very important year

for the Bharatiya Janata Party in thestate. The year was also marked by var-ious achievements of the BJP govern-ments at the state and the Centre. In2020, the BJP in Uttarakhand willintensify its efforts to propagate correctfacts on various governmental schemesand expose the lies being spread by theopposition, said the BJP State presidentand MP Ajay Bhatt.

Addressing the media, Bhatt saidthat 2019 saw various importantachievements of the BJP. He said, “Wewon various elections in the state.

We won 11 out of 13 districtPanchayat elections, five out of sevenmayoral elections and the for the firsttime in the state’s history won all the fiveLok Sabha seats again. In the past noparty had won from all the parliamen-tary seats for the second consecutivetime.

We also won the PithoragarhVidhan Sabha bypoll. At the nationallevel, we achieved abrogation of sections370 and 35 A from Jammu andKashmir, the effects of which are visi-ble at the global level. While somenations are flummoxed by this, othernations have welcomed and supportedthis development.

The year 2019 was also very sad for

us due to the demise of our senior col-league and then cabinet ministerPrakash Pant. However, the state gov-ernment worked exceedingly with var-ious externally funded projects worthmore than Rs 20,000 crore beingapproved for execution in the state.”

When asked about the party’s pri-

orities for the new year, Bhatt said thatthe BJP will work harder to raiseawareness on the governmentalschemes and facts on various issues.“We will work harder to expose the liesbeing spread by the opposition as in thecase of the Citizenship (Amendment)Act (CAA). The opposition has been

acting in a very irresponsible andchildish manner and we will strive toexpose it. There is a difference betweenrefugees and illegal intruders. Theopposition wants to exploit Rohingyasas a vote-bank but a differentiation hasto be made between genuine refugeesand illegal intruders,” he stressed.

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The governor Baby RaniMaurya and chief minister

Trivendra Singh Rawat havegreeted the citizens on theadvent of the new calendaryear. In her message on the eveof the new year, the governorsaid that 2020 will also mark 20years of the creation ofUttarakhand. She also exhort-ed the citizens to maintain theatmosphere of cordiality whileeradicating the negative aspectsin society.

The chief minister,Trivendra Singh Rawat, in hismessage on the eve of the newyear, said that he had workedto ensure the best for the stateand its people. “ During 2019,we have worked for integrated

development of the state andensuring the benefit of publicwelfare schemes to the com-mon citizen. Various decisionshave been taken to makeUttarakhand among the lead-ing states of India. We haveattempted to ensure that gov-ernmental schemes are exe-cuted effectively on the ground.All necessary attempts havebeen made to ensure that thebenefit of governmentalschemes reaches the last avail-able beneficiary.

The Transfer Act was madeto bring about transparency inthe transfer of government actand strengthen the govern-ment machinery. A zero-toler-ance attitude was adopted toensure transparency and cor-ruption-free governance.” Thechief minister further said thatarrangement was also made forCM border area developmentscheme, CM Kisan Krishi VikasYojana and innovation fund toencourage the youth working

with focus on innovations. He further said that the

Devasthanam Act will facilitatedevelopment of infrastructur-al facilities in the Char Dhamshrines and better facilities forthe pilgrims. This will prove tobe a strong foundation for abetter economy in the futurewith provision also being madefor a separate fund for this pur-pose.

The chief minister alsoreferred to the various effortsand achievements of the stategovernment during 2019 in dif-ferent sectors ranging frommedical health facilities, edu-cation and tourism to agricul-ture and industrial develop-ment. Referring to appoint-ment of doctors, he said thatthe number of doctors postedin mountainous areas now isdouble the number working inthe past. Rawat also appealedto the people of Uttarakhand toplay a positive role in helpingthe government take the state

forward towards achieving newheights.

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The Municipal Corporation ofDehradun (MCD) has issued

demand notices to 73 Governmentdepartments seeking payment ofproperty tax on their buildings.

The municipal commissionerVinay Shankar Pandey said that toset an example the MCD itself hasdeposited property tax on its ownbuilding. The corporation deposit-ed �25 lakh as tax for four yearsafter 20 per cent rebate on theactual amount of �28 lakh.

Pandey informed that demandnotices have been sent to bothgovernment and semi-govern-mental offices. He also informedthat the MCD introduced hadintroduced commercial tax fromthe year 2015-16 under whichcommercial house tax was to becollected from all the Government,semi-Government and privateestablishments of the city andnow the MCD has sent demandnotices to these establishmentsafter paying the tax itself. “Underthe municipal corporation act,only three types of buildings areexempted from the taxes which are

the court, jail and treasury. Apartfrom this all the buildings,Government, semi-governmentand private falls under the taxpayer category,” said Pandey. “Wehave assessed that the corporationwould have to pay Rs seven lakhs

annually as tax. With imposing taxon the corporation’s building, wehave made it clear that when theMCD can impose tax on its ownbuilding then it can impose tax onall the Government and semi-gov-ernment buildings too. The

Government offices are beingapproached continuously in orderto spread the word,” he added.

Deputy municipal commis-sioner Rohitash Sharma said thatthis is happening for the first timethat the MCD has imposed tax on

its own building. “MCD is not sparing any

building from paying the tax andas the corporation’s building alsofalls under the tax bracket, we havealso deposited �25 lakh as prop-erty tax,” said Sharma.

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With high possibility ofa l arge numb er of

tourists pouring in on thenew year’s eve in Dehradunand Mussorie, the districtpolice has appointed a policeforce to maintain peace, lawand order in the district.

The arrangements havebeen done keeping in mindthe different places where anumber of parties and pro-grammes for the new yearwill be conducted on the lastnight of 2019.

The entire city has beendivided into five zones and11 sectors.

A deputy superintendentof police has been made in-charge of each zone whilein-charge of the police sta-tion concerned has beenmade sector in-charge.

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Newly-appointed first-everChief of Defence

Staff(CDS) General BipinRawat on Tuesday said thefocus on Army restructuring,weapon modernisation andnon-contact warfare were someof the highlights of his tenureas Army Chief. The Army is“better prepared” to face anychallenge that may come up atIndia's borders with Pakistanand China, Gen Bipin Rawatsaid.

He demitted officer afterretiring as the Army Chiefand handing over the charge toincoming Chief M MNaravane. Some of the majorartillery gun systems, includingthe M777 American UltraLight Howitzers and the K-9Vajra, and the Sig Sauer assaultrifles were inducted into theforce in his tenure.

“Till now I was Chief ofArmy Staff and my mandatewas limited to the roles andresponsibility I was assigned.Now when I am given a newresponsibility, I will think andwill work according to thenew responsibility and vigour.If someone says that as ArmyChief I was working towardswhether I would be CDS it willbe totally incorrect,” he saidhere after reviewing a ceremo-nial guard of honour outsideSouth Block before retiring. Hewill assume the new responsi-bility on Wednesday. Rawatalso said the Army is better pre-pared to face any challengefrom Pakistan and China.

It was Prime MinisterNarendra Modi himself whobroke the news to Rawat about

his appointment as the CDSduring the farewell dinnerhosted by the former for theoutgoing chief.

Ahead of his taking chargeas the CDS, the Governmenthas issued a notification settingup a new Department ofMilitary Affairs (DMA) with-in the Ministry of Defence. Thenotification issued by theCabinet Secretariat datedDecember 30, 2019 states thatthe CDS will head the DMAand function as a Secretary tothe Government.

As per the guidelinesapproved by the Governmentlast week, the CDS will be afour-star General and will alsofunction as the PrincipalMilitary Adviser to the DefenceMinister and as the PermanentChairman, Chiefs of StaffCommittee (COSC).

The DMA will be the firstdepartment in the defenceministry. The existing ones areDepartment of Defence,Department of DefenceProduction, Department ofDefence Research andDevelopment and Department

of Ex-Servicemen Welfare.The armed forces will be

brought under the ambit of theDMA headed by the CDS whowill deal with issues relating tothe three Services and pro-curement exclusive to theServices except capital acqui-sitions, as per prevalent rulesand procedures. The broadmandate of the CDS includesbringing about jointness in“operations, logistics, trans-port, training, support ser-vices, communications, repairsand maintenance of the threeServices, within three years ofthe first CDS assuming office.”

The mandate of the DMAincludes promoting jointness inprocurement, training andstaffing for the Servicesthrough joint planning andintegration of their require-ments; facilitation of restruc-turing of Military Commandsfor optimal utilisation ofresources by bringing aboutjointness in operations, includ-ing through establishment ofjoint/theatre commands andpromoting use of indigenousequipment by the Services.

New Delhi: Indian Air ForceChief RKS Bhadauria has for-mally inducted the light utili-ty aircraft Dornier into the No.41 'Otters' Squadron, a state-ment issued by the CentralGovernment said on Tuesday

The aircraft was inductedon Monday during a ceremo-ny at the Palam Air ForceStation.

The IAF in 2015 hadsigned a contract to purchase14 Dornier aircraft, which areflight inspection system planes,for Rs 1,090 crore from State-run Hindustan AeronauticsLimited (HAL).

“While the first aircraftwas delivered on November 19,the second is expected to bedelivered in early 2020,” thestatement said.

The Dornier-228 aircraft isa multi-purpose, fuel efficient,rugged, light weight twin tur-boprop aircraft with a retractabletricycle landing gear. PTI

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The new building ofParliament and other struc-

tures are likely to be lower thaniconic India Gate in the rede-velopment plan of Central Vista.The height of India Gate isaround 42 metres.

Top Sources said byFebruary, tenders of the projectwill be floated after getting allpermissions from all concernedauthorities.

Sources said the CentralGovernment will constructeight seven-storey buildings inLutyens' Delhi to accommodateoffices of various ministries,which would be built afterdemolishing a few major build-ings. The ministry of housingand urban affairs has recentlychanged the land use of over100 acres of Rajpath LutyensDelhi.

The redevelopment plan isalso likely to include a triangu-lar Parliament building next tothe existing one, which is expect-ed to be completed by 2022,sources said, adding that there isalso plan to shift the Prime

Minister's residence near theParliament complex.

The existing Parliamentbuilding will remain the same,and offices ministers and MPswill be in a new building.

Sources said that VigyanBhavan, Shastri Bhawan, KrishiBhawan and Transport Bhawanare among other buildings whichare likely to be demolished dur-ing the execution of redevelop-ment of Central Vista.

However, no heritage build-ings will be demolished.

In September this year, theNarendra Modi government hadunveiled its mega plan to rede-velop the over 3-km stretchfrom Rashtrapati Bhavan toIndia Gate in Lutyens' Delhi.

The Government onSeptember 2 floated a request forproposal for the “development orredevelopment of ParliamentBuilding, Common Central

Secretariat and Central Vista.”“We will construct the new

building of Parliament in a plotnear the existing one. We willalso construct eight new build-ings which will accommodateoffices of various ministries. Allbuildings will be lower than theIndia Gate,” sources also said.

In September, UnionHousing and Urban AffairsMinister Hardeep Singh Puri hadsaid the British ruled India for190 years and they had goodarchitects who built buildingswhich is now part of the coun-try's cultural heritage.

“North and South Blocksshould be made museums thatreflect 190 years (of Britishrule)...What will happen to theParliament building? We willconstruct a new building whichwill connect Parliament throughan underground pathway,” Purihad said.

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Union Home Minister AmitShah on Tuesday visited

the headquarters of borderguarding force Sashastra SeemaBal (SSB) here and reviewed itsoperational preparedness alongthe Nepal and Bhutan frontiers.

Shah, who was accompa-nied by Home Secretary AjayBhalla and other senior officials

of his Ministry, was briefedabout the “organisational struc-ture, deployment, operationalachievements and variousfacets as well as concerns” ofthe paramilitary force.

This is his first visit of Shahto the SSB headquarters of theborder-guarding force afterbecoming Home Minister.

He was given a ceremoni-al Guard of Honour uponarrival, officials said.

The minister has recentlyvisited the headquarters ofother Central Armed PoliceForces like the Central ReservePolice Force, the BorderSecurity Force and the Indo-

Tibetan Border Police for oper-ational review.

The officials said the HomeMinister was briefed and givena presentation by senior SSBofficers, led by Director

General (DG) Kumar RajeshChandra, about the force'sdeployment along the 1,751-km India-Nepal and 699-kmIndia-Bhutan borders. SSB isthe Lead Intelligence Agencyon the Nepal and Bhutan fron-tiers which are not only openbut also friendly.

Shah stressed that the SSBshould ensure sanctity of thetwo open borders. While crim-inal elements are required to bechecked effectively, genuinetravelers of the three countriesare provided easy access acrossthe fronts, Shah told the para-military officials.

The Home Minister also

directed the Force to use tech-nology to secure these bordersalong the eastern flank of thecountry, officials said.

The Minister was alsoinformed about the recent pro-curement of SUVs, arms andammunition being used by theForce, they said.

The SSB was raised in theaftermath of the Chineseaggression in 1962 and it is pri-marily tasked to guard India'sborders with Nepal and Bhutanapart from rendering otherduties in the internal securitydomain including anti-Naxaloperations and deployments inJammu and Kashmir.

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Jamshedpur and Indore haveemerged as the cleanest cities

with a population upto 10 lakhand upto 20 lakh respectively inIndia even as the NationalCapital Region (NCR) has out-done capital city Delhi in clean-liness. The findings over a peri-od of two quarters (six months)are part of the ModiGovernment’s flagship pro-gramme Swachh SurvekshanLeague 2020.

According to the findings,Indore was adjudged India'scleanest city for the fourth timein a row. Bhopal stood secondin first quarter results (April toJune), while Rajkot grabbed

the second spot in second quar-ter results (July-September).The third position in the clean-liness survey was bagged bySurat in the first quarter andNavi Mumbai in the secondquarter. In the previous clean-liness survey, the second andthird spots went to Ambikapurin Chhattisgarh and Mysore inKarnataka. These cities did wellamong those with a populationof 10 lakh and above.

Indore has retained the titleof the cleanest city in the lastthree years. This time a total of4,372 cities participated in theleague. SS League 2020 is con-ducted in three quarters (April-June, July-September andOctober-December) with the

objective of sustaining the on-ground performance of citiesalong with monitoring of whenit comes to cleanliness.

Jamshedpur in Jharkhandwas adjudged the cleanest cityamong those with a population

less than 10 lakh in both thequarters. The New DelhiMunicipal Council (NDMC)area in Delhi, which housesVIPs, was in the second spot inthe first quarter now slipped tofifth spot in the second quarter.

Madhya Pradesh's Khargonewas ranked third in both thequarters. In the second quarter,Chandarpur in Maharashtragrabbed the second spot. Mogain Punjab, meanwhile, toppedthe list in terms of rural clean-liness. Among the CantonmentBoards, Tamil Nadu'sSt.Thomas Mount Cantt wasranked 1 in Q1 followed byJhansi Cantt and Delhi Cantt.On the other hand, in Q2,Delhi Cantt spotted the first spotwhile Jhansi cantt and JalandharCantt stood at second and thirdspot. West Bengal has alsoagreed to participate in theSwachh Survekshan rankinglist.

As per the findings,

NDMC, three MunicipalCorporations-East, South andNorth and Delhi Cantonmentwere certified as OpenDefecation Free. Blaming ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal forbeing “solely responsible” forDelhi's “poor” ranking in theCentre's cleanliness survey, Purisaid that other areas in the NCRwere doing better than Delhi incleanliness.

The findings say that EastMCD was ranked 284; SouthMCD 394 and North MCD at328 in the first quarter whilesouth MCD was ranked at 205in the second quarter. Puriadded that neither MCD com-missioners nor Delhi Mayorshould be held responsible for

poor show. Releasing the findings of SS

League 2020, Union Housingand Urban Affairs MinisterHardeep Singh Puri said that thefocus has always been on ensur-ing the sustainability of thesanitation value chain as is evi-dent in the SS League 2020parameters where wastewatertreatment and reuse, and faecalsludge management have beengiven special attention. “TheOpen Defecation Free+,ODF++ and Water plus proto-cols by the ministry work as theguiding document for cities inthis regard,” he said. The fourthedition covered 4237 cities in arecord time of 28 days and wasa fully digitized paperless survey.

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The Congress on Tuesdayraised several questions

over the appointment of GenBipin Rawat as the Chief ofDefence Staff (CDS), saying theGovernment has started on a“wrong foot” on the issue. Theparty also asked whether thecountry was headed on a por-tentous path. The Congresssummed up 2019 saying it willbe remembered for the betray-al of the people's mandate andattempts to rip apart the plur-al fabric of India.

Congress spokespersonManish Tewari said theGovernment has started on awrong foot on the appointmentand only time will unfortu-nately reveal the implications.“With great regret and fullest of

responsibility may I say that thegovernment has started on avery wrong foot with regard toCDS. Time alone unfortunate-ly will reveal the implicationsof this decision,” Tewari said.

He also asked why theappointment of a CDS isfraught with difficulties andambiguities. “What implica-tions does nomenclaturePrincipal Military Advisor toDefence Minister have in rela-tion to the three service chiefsin terms of Military advisetendered to the government?Will the advise of the CDSoverride the advise of therespective Service Chiefs,” heasked.

Tewari wondered if theCDS as PermanentChairperson of Joint Chiefs ofStaff Committee outrank thethree service Chiefs. “Would

the three Chiefs report toDefense Minister throughDefense Secretary or throughCDS now,” he asked.

“What will be the positionof CDS qua Defense Secretary?Would the Defense Secretary interms of Rule 11 of Transactionof Business Rules continue tobe the administrative head ofthe Defense Ministry ? What isthe remit/mandate of the pro-posed Department of MilitaryAffairs?

“Would the CDS overidethe Service Chiefs with regardtri Service agencies and organ-isations. What are the implica-tions of the appointment of aCDS on Civil MilitaryRelations- the equilibrium ofwhich has been India's singu-lar Success since 1947? Are wedown a portentous path,” ques-tioned the former Union

Minister. Senior Congress leader

Ahmed Patel said 2019 is com-ing to an end but the problemsof NDA 3 are only beginning.“2019 will remembered for thebetrayal of the people's man-date and attempts to rip apartIndia's plural fabric. 2019 willbe remembered for theresilience of our students andcommon citizens who chal-

lenged an arrogant and a pow-erful government for its uncon-stitutional moves,” Patel said ina tweet message.

Patel also hoped that 2020will see a resurgence and com-ing together of “pro-Constitution and pro-Indiaforces and defeat this govern-ment's anti-Indian policies”.

Another senior partyleader P Chidambaram said,“Our task is no less than thetask accomplished by AbrahamLincoln in 1865 - to save theConstitution.”

He also said that their firstgreetings for the New Yearmust go to J-K leaders FarooqAbdullah, Omar Abdullah,Mehbooba Mufti and othersdetained since August 5 with-out any charge. “May the NewYear bring them freedom andjustice,” he tweeted.

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Maintaining that a strategyof “resolute punitive

response” has been evolved topunish cross-border terrorism,new Army Chief Gen ManojMukund Naravane on Tuesdayissued a strong warning toPakistan saying India reservesthe right to preemptively strikeat sources of terror threat if theneighbouring country does notstop State-sponsored terror-ism. As for China, GeneralNaravane said India will con-tinue to improve capabilitybuilding along the Northernborder.

General Naravane assumedcharge here as the 28th Chiefof Army Staff from outgoingchief General Bipin Rawat whohanded over the baton to hissuccessor in a ceremony inSouth Block. He is the thirdArmy Chief from the Sikh

Light Infantry after VP Malikand Bikram Singh.

Naravane was serving asthe Vice Chief of Army sinceearly September. Prior to thathe served as the Eastern ArmyCommander and CommanderArmy Training Command(ARTRAC).

“The Pakistan Army'sproxy war design received set-back due to elimination of ter-rorists and decimation of ter-ror networks (by India),” hetold news agencies after takingcharge.

Asked how he will dealwith Pakistan backed terrorism,

he said, “Multiple optionsacross the spectrum of conflictare on the table to respond toany act of terror sponsored orabetted by Pakistan.”

On security challengesalong the 3,500-km borderwith China, Gen Naravanesaid the focus has shifted fromthe Western border to theNorthern border as part of re-balancing priorities. “We willcontinue to improve capabili-ty building along theNorthernborder so we are pre-pared when the need arises,” hesaid.

Referring to the appoint-ment of a Chief of DefenceStaff, he said it will greatlychange the way the defenceestablishment operates and willbring about significant reformsin the entire military system.

He said his main focus asArmy chief will be to make theArmy ready to face any threatat any time. According to him,

the bottomline for reform inthe Army will be to increaseefficiency and operationalreadiness.

An alumnus of theNational DefenceAcademy(NDA) and theIndian MilitaryAcademy(IMA), Naravane wascommissioned into the 7thBattalion, the Sikh LightInfantry in June 1980. He hascommanded a Rashtriya Riflesbattalion in Kashmir, served inthe Assam Rifles and has beenpart of the Indian PeaceKeeping Force in Sri Lankaduring 'Operation Pawan'. Hehas also served as DefenceAttache to Myanmar.

He did his schooling atDnayana PrabodhineePrashala, Pune. He holds aMaster's Degree in DefenceStudies, M. Phil Degree inDefence and ManagementStudies and is currently pur-suing his Doctorate.

New Delhi: The Centre is likely to makethe entire process of granting citizen-ship under the Citizenship AmendmentAct online to bypass States, some ofwhich are dead set against the new leg-islation, officials said on Tuesday.

The Ministry of Home Affairs ismulling the option of doing away withthe present procedure of routing appli-cations for citizenship through the dis-trict magistrate in view of the strongopposition expressed by several States,including Kerala which on Tuesdaypassed a resolution in the Assemblydemanding scrapping of the contro-versial Act.

“We are thinking of designating anew authority instead of the districtmagistrate and make the entire processof application, examination of docu-ments and granting Indian citizenshiponline,” a Home Ministry official said.

If the process becomes complete-ly online, there will be no interventionfrom a State Government at any level.

Besides, the home ministry officialsare of the opinion that the StateGovernments have no power to rejectthe implementation of the CitizenshipAmendment Act as the legislation wasenacted under the Union List of the 7thSchedule of the Constitution.

“The States have no power to denyimplementation of a central law whichis in the Union List,” the top officialfrom the Home Ministry said.

There are 97 items which are underthe Union List that include Defence,External Affairs, Railways, Citizenshipand Naturalisation.

According to the amendedCitizenship Act, members of Hindu,Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christiancommunities who have come from

Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistantill December 31, 2014 and facing reli-gious persecution there will not be treat-ed as illegal immigrants but givenIndian citizenship.

The Act says refugees of the sixcommunities will be given Indian citi-zenship after residing in India for fiveyears, instead of 11 years earlier.

The act also proposes to giveimmunity to such refugees facing legalcases after being found as illegal

migrants.The Kerala Assembly on Tuesday

passed a resolution demanding scrap-ping of the controversial Act, amid rag-ing countrywide protests against the leg-islation.

A number of chief ministers,including those of West Bengal, Punjab,Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh,have already announced that the law is“unconstitutional” and has no place intheir respective State. PTI

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Looking back at 2019, the definingimage of the year captured by TheIndian Express was on its frontpage, ironically on Vijay Divas, ofthe Delhi Police brandishing thick

wooden rods against hijab-clad studentstrying to protect a male student outside theJamia Millia Islamia university. The picturebrought back to memory iconic images ofQutubuddin Ansari pleading for mercywith a sword-wielding Ashok Mochi along-side during the Godhra riots. The monthof December saw a tsunami of protests overthe utterly hasty and misguided CitizenshipAmendment Act (CAA). The lid on thepressure cooker blew off following a his-tory of lynchings, negation of Article 370and the reduction of Jammu & Kashmir toa Union Territory, the passage of the tripletalaq Bill, the victory at Ayodhya — all tar-getting Muslims — concurrent with theyouth’s anger over joblessness and a plum-meting economy.

Even as more than 20 people werekilled across the country during anti-CAAprotests and riots, neither Prime MinisterNarendra Modi nor Home Minister AmitShah uttered a word on the offending CAA.Instead, Modi waxed eloquent over Indiaaspiring to become a $5 trillion economy.Earlier, Shah had said, “You can keepprotesting…CAA-NRC will be imple-mented.” Insensitively, Yogi Adityanath, theChief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, the Statewhich became the fulcrum of protests andmaximum casualties, tweeted: “We will takerevenge.” In pursuing religious agenda, theGovernment is hurting the social fabric ofthe country, which could lead to serious fis-sures in internal security that can dimin-ish national security in turn.

In February, the Indian Air Force (IAF)conducted surgical strikes, claiming with-out any convincing evidence, that nearly300 Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terroristswere killed in Balakot. The mere fact thatthe IAF had entered the Pakistani air spaceand bombed Balakot was commendable.But the Government milked the Balakotstrikes to win the 2019 elections, like it hadutilised the Uri surgical strikes of 2016 towin several State elections. TheGovernment fought the federal electionsover national security, nationalism,Pakistan-bashing and deifying the soldierwhen the reality on defence and nationalsecurity is otherwise: Absence of institu-tional defence reforms and scant attentionto military modernisation due to negligi-ble funding, complex arms procurementprocedures and an ill-though concept of“Make in India.” To the Government’s cred-it are the construction of the National WarMemorial and the appointment of the Chiefof Defence Staff (CDS), another box it willtick in its election manifesto. Whether ornot a CDS will better the uneasy civil-mil-itary relations and streamline defenceplanning, decision-making and defence

preparedness is yet to beknown. Only additionaldefence reforms and budgetscan ensure the same.

Kashmir has been in lock-down for five months nowwithout internet, restrictedaccess to cellphones, the entirepolitical leadership is underdetention and there’s a silentcivil disobedience movement.Digital India will soon bag the“world internet shutdownprize.” In 2018, it claimedrecords in highest frequency,longest duration and 68 percent of the world’s shutdowns.The shutdown and lockdownhave cost the State �20,000crore. Former State Jammu &Kashmir’s downgradation to aUnion Territory is held togeth-er by an overwhelming pres-ence of security forces, who willfeel the heat when an alienat-ed Kashmir reawakens from itshurt and anguish.

New Delhi is crafting newlaws to alter the electoral arith-metic in Jammu & Kashmir sothat Muslim-majority Kashmirdoes not call the shots in the re-engineered Union Territory.The Army, which is now per-manently in aid to the civilauthority in the former State,will probably spend anothergeneration holding it togetherfollowing the missteps of abro-gating Article 370 and 35 A andthe reorganisation of theJammu & Kashmir

Reorganisation Act, 2019,which are all under judicialscrutiny.

The fear of CAA inNational Register of Citizens(NRC)-implemented BJP-ruledAssam and the consternationand protests that have followedin the North-east have rekin-dled the ghosts of the past. Aftersuffering from the ravages ofinsurgencies, the North-east,except Manipur and nowAssam, has been peaceful. TheNagaland Peace Accord of 2015was scheduled to be sealed andsigned on December 11 atKohima in a full and final set-tlement of the Naga politicalquestion, marking a closure tothe mother of all insurgencies.

This did not happen prob-ably for two reasons: Theprotests in the North-east pre-vented Prime Minister Modifrom travelling to Kohima; orcontrary to claims, NSCN (IM)was not ready to sign the finalagreement because of itsdemands for a separate flag andConstitution, two State symbolstaken away from Jammu &Kashmir. NSCN(IM) has thepotential to fish-in troubledwaters in the North-east. Evenwithout its messing around, theNorth-east will remain politi-cally disturbed. It is strategicabsurdity to keep two frontierStates in unrest and disso-nance.

On CAA, India has ruffled

feathers of abiding friends in theneighbourhood, especiallyBangladesh. EU countries, theUS and human rights bodieshave pointed fingers over reli-gious distinctions made in Indiaand human rights violations inlocked-down Kashmir. India’sforeign policy orientation hasvisibly shifted from non-align-ment to issue-based multi-alignment, maintaining strate-gic autonomy. Focus on“Neighbourhood First” and“Act East” has dissipated to thenebulous Indo-Pacific in a bidto contain China rather thanconcentrating on the IndianOcean Region.

The postponed 22nd roundof India-China border talkswere not held in Agra asplanned but in New Delhi dueto CAA protests, which alsotook down India-Japan talks.Since the boundary question hasbeen off the table for some time,the Wang Yi-Doval dialogue ismore about maintaining peaceand tranquillity on the border,based on the Wuhan strategicguidelines. Mandarins in SouthBloc have pretended thatPakistan does not exist in theneighbourhood but its recklessPakistan- bashing has willy-nilly re-hyphenated India withPakistan.

The CAA has brought theidentity issue at the centrestage.The Army was called intoAssam and Tripura for flag

marches. Army Chief Gen BipinRawat and Eastern ArmyCommander Lt Gen AnilChauhan endorsing theGovernment’s hard policy deci-sions was beyond their remit.

The military is one institu-tion that has remained apoliti-cal, professional and secular.The lessons from Blue Star inGolden Temple and the demo-lition of Ayodhya are not forgot-ten. The Army has sizeablenumber of Muslims, who haveproved their loyalty to the tri-colour. It is motivated by regi-mental and generational loyal-ties, derived from izzat, dasturand iqbal (honour, traditionand welfare). Nationalism isonly a later addition.

This last column of 2019ends with a somber signal. Theeconomy is in a shambles andthe country is polarised asnever before. On the externalsecurity front, India faces atwo-front situation. TheGovernment’s partisan agendahas created two internal securi-ty situations in Kashmir and theNorth-east. Looking ahead, onehopes Modi and Shah will actlike Vajpayee and Advani anddiscard their Hindutva projectsto usher in a happier 2020.

(The writer, a retired MajorGeneral, was Commander IPKFSouth, Sri Lanka and foundermember of the Defence PlanningStaff, currently the IntegratedDefence Staff.)

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Sir — The disconnect betweenPrime Minister Narendra Modiand the situation on the groundin the backdrop of the recentprotests over the CitizenshipAmendment Act (CAA) and theNational Register of Citizens(NRC) was more than apparentfrom his recent Mann ki Baataddress to the nation.

The Prime Minister’s speechwas sprinkled with homilies aboutthe dynamism and energy of theyouth and clichés about theirrole in nation-building. But hefailed to acknowledge that theaspiring youth also nurtures adeep-seated distrust of the polit-ical class.

The CAA and the NRCprotests have been spearheaded byyoung volunteers, who haverefused to allow their movementto be hijacked by any politicalparty. An admission by the PrimeMinister of the role of the youthin acting as a catalyst of socialchange would have gone a longway in soothing frayed tempersand possibly cleared the decks fordialogue on contentious issues.

KS PadmanabhanChennai

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Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Deal with anger” (December 30).It would be foolish to outrightlyreject the Central Board of

Secondary Education (CBSE)’s ideaof making schools anger-free zones.We need to look at this issue in amuch more comprehensive man-ner. At times, anger can be good forstudents as it brings within them thefighting spirit and keeps them

motivated to perform better, too.Having said that, like excess ofeverything is bad, too much angercan be fatal as it can harm the over-all personality of the students. Butschools alone must not be given theresponsibility of making their

premises anger-free zones. Angermanagement or professional coun-selling should be the way forward.In this regard, the DelhiGovernment needs to be compli-mented for introducing happinessclasses in schools, which have comea long way in managing stressamong the students. If all schoolsmake it a part of their curriculum,we may have to deal with less anger.

Bal GovindNoida

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Sir — With Delhi witnessing thecoldest winter in 119 years, it is thehomeless, who are the worst affect-ed. They can be seen sleeping onfootpaths adjoining bridges, outsidetemples and parks, but nobody isconcerned. Certain provisions fortemporary night shelters have beenmade by the authorities but theseare serving little purpose. Besidesthe authorities concerned, NGOsneed to take up this issue and wide-ly publicise such shelters for thehomeless.

AkshatVia email

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The year 2019 started with all political par-ties in election mode due to the generalelections and has ended with large-scale

protests due to the Citizenship Amendment Act,2019 (CAA) and the National Register ofCitizens (NRC). The economy and taxation usu-ally take a back seat when the country has sucha volatile environment and this is exactly whathappened in India. By and large, 2019 was notgood on the economic front and the fiscal situ-ation was in such a state of turmoil that it forcedthe Finance Minister to review the situation everyweek and come up with stimulus packages.

Taxation has been a weak area for theNarendra Modi-led Government. Statutorycompliances have reached a saturation level andsome relaxation is needed. Till now theGovernment has paid heed more to the bureau-cracy than the professional fraternity on thisfront. As we enter a new year with a pall of eco-nomic gloom hanging over it, full-fledged eco-nomic and taxation reforms are the need of thenew decade. Here are some reforms theGovernment could consider in the days ahead.

Direct tax reforms: India faced weakdemand in 2019 that led us to the economic slow-down. The Central Government reduced corpo-rate tax rates up to 10 per cent, the biggest cutin the last three decades. As per estimates, thiscost the exchequer around �145,000 crore. TheGovernment reduced corporate tax in anticipa-tion that after the cut businesses would have abetter cash flow and they would invest it further,resulting in employment generation and creationof demand. The results of this cut are expectedin 2020. If the excess investments meet theGovernment’s expectation then they would easethe pressure of rising unemployment. But, if thiscalculated move backfires then it would be a set-back to the Government because it promised alower corporate tax rate. If even after sacrificingrevenue the Government is unable to recovermoney, then it would work on reducing otherdeductions and so on.

Cut in individual income tax rates: The eco-nomic deceleration was due to weak demand. TheGovernment slashed corporate tax and increasedsupply — which was already abundant —whereas the requirement was for increasingdemand. Therefore, to create demand theGovernment could reduce income tax rates andcreate some more sub-slabs. For instance, the cur-rent tax rate is 20 per cent for the �5 lakh to �10lakh slab. This could be reduced to 10 per centand a new slab of �10 lakh to �20 lakh could becreated with a 20 per cent tax rate.

Direct tax code: The current Income Tax Actwas introduced in 1961 and since then the busi-ness environment has changed. It needs a totalrevamp so that a Direct Tax Code (DTC) isrequired. The UPA Government had proposeda DTC but due to differences between PChidambaram and Pranab Mukherjee, it neversaw the light of day. In August the AkhileshRanjan task force submitted its report along witha new draft for the DTC and recommended itsimplementation.

Tax profits by multinationals operating inthe digital space: India has raised apprehensionsat global forums, particularly at the Organisationfor Economic Co-operation and Development(OECD), about profit-sharing by multinationalsoperating in the digital space. Currently, the enti-ty is taxed in the country where it has a physi-

cal presence. “Base Erosion ProfitShifting” Project (BEPS) will beaddressing the core issue of such tax-ation. In the digital world, there is nonexus between physical presence andrevenue generation. While traditionaltaxation statutes take into accountthings like assets and employees locat-ed in the country, in the digital worldthese have become irrelevant to someextent. So perhaps this principle shouldbe modified to a large extent. The intro-duction of “equalisation levy” was thefirst baby step towards such taxationand thus much more comprehensive taxmay be levied on this in the next UnionBudget.

GAAR to SAAR: General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR) are aimed atcurtailing tax avoidance and empow-er authorities to deny benefits toarrangements not having any commer-cial substance other than achieving taxbenefit. Tax avoidance is legal butlarge-scale revenue loss can occur dueto aggressive tax planning. To counterthis, GAAR provisions were intro-duced recently. India also has DoubleTaxation Avoidance Agreements(DTAA) with many countries andthese will override the GAAR exceptwhen there are ImpermissibleAvoidance Arrangements (IAAs). Indiacould also introduce Specific AntiAvoidance Rules (SAAR), aimed atindividuals on case by case provisions.

Reforms expected in Goods andServices Tax: While being introducedGST was called the “Good and SimpleTax” but unfortunately due to thecompliances and complications it is nei-ther simple nor good. Falling GST col-lections and increasing compensationsto States have further complicated theproblems. The Government’s priorityshould be to sort out the mess GST hascreated.

E-Invoice, Q-R codes and invoicereference number: Electronic Invoice

(e-Invoice) is a system in which“Business to Business” (B2B) invoicesare authenticated electronically by GSTNetwork (GSTN) for further use on thecommon GST portal. Under the pro-posed electronic invoicing system, anidentification number will be issuedagainst every invoice by the InvoiceRegistration Portal (IRP) to be managedby the GSTN. E-invoicing will bemandatory from April 1, 2020, for busi-nesses having a turnover of �100 croreor more. It will start on a voluntary andtrail basis from January 1, 2020, if theturnover is �500 crore or more andfrom February 1, 2020, if it is �100 croreor more. It is applicable for B2B invoic-es only and the QR code is required tobe mentioned on B2C invoices. It isapplicable on domestic B2B sales,export sales and sales to SEZ units. Webportals for the same have been notifiedrecently.

New GST returns: In the GSTCouncil meeting held on May 24,2018, on the recommendation of theGroup of Ministers on IT simplification,the GST Council vowed to introduceNew Simple Returns for GST compli-ances. The formats of the new returnslike ANX-1, ANX-2, RET-1/2/3 are inthe public domain and would be avail-able for trial from January. But as ANX-1 and ANX-2 are equivalent to GSTR-1 and GSTR-2 it would be interestingto watch whether these new returns willease off the burden of compliance fromthe taxpayers or further complicate thecurrent problem.

New GST Annual Return forms:If someone has to understand themess created by GST compliances thenone has to see the position of GSTAnnual Returns. GST was introducedon July 1, 2017, and for the FinancialYear (FY) 2017-18 returns were to befiled by December 31, 2018. Now thedate has been further extended toJanuary 31, 2020. Three years after GST

was introduced, the Government is yetto provide a simple form for AnnualReturn. Till the third week ofDecember, the Government was work-ing on providing a new utility/form forreturns for FY 2017-18. So when willreturns for FY 2018-19 and FY 2019-20 be filed?

Real-time availability of ITC:Input Tax Credit (ITC) is the spirit ofGST and seamless credit is its backbone.But the falling GST collections forcedthe Government to introduce provi-sions against the spirit of GST byrestricting 20 per cent credit over andabove the matched GST (GSTR-2A) inNovember and then to 10 per cent inthe December 18 GST Council meet-ing. If the economic slowdown keepson reducing GST Collections then theGovernment would allow only RealTime-matched GST. This may forcecorporates to deal only with largeenterprises and may be detrimental tothe MSME sector.

Compensation to States: WhenGST was introduced the Centrepromised States compensation for loss-es, if any, for collection of indirect taxesviz-a-viz GST. Growth at 14 per centwas promised and agreed upon. In theGST Council meeting, the Governmentasked States to agree to a growth rateof 10 to 12 per cent. This is lower thanthe promised compensation. Will theStates agree to this or not would be seenlater. Also, the Centre is not regular inits payments to States and the Augustcompensation was released just a fewdays before the council meeting. TheGovernment has largely missed itsGST revenue collection target.A newyear comes with new hopes and expec-tations for everyone but for the presentdispensation at the Centre it has comewith more challenges and complicationson the taxation front.

(The writer is an author and GSTand economics specialist)

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After the just-concludedJharkhand Assembly polls,all eyes are now on Delhi

where Assembly elections are likelyto be held soon. The present AamAadmi Party (AAP) Government’sterm ends in February 2020 and thefight for Delhi is going to be fierceas it is crucial for all players in thefray. They have already sounded thepoll bugle, though polling dates forthe elections, that are set to be thefirst in the new year, are yet to beannounced.

It will be a three-dimensional

fight as the nature of the poll battlein the Capital has changed in the lastfew years with the entry of the AAPin 2013. Earlier it used to be a directfight between the Congress and theBJP.

Whether the BJP will be able togain ground after its thumping vic-tory in the 2019 Lok Sabha pollsremains to be seen. The BJP won allthe seven Lok Sabha seats but if theCongress and the AAP had cometogether the saffron party would nothave won all of them. In the 2014 LokSabha polls, when the Modi waveswept the country, the AAP got 33.1per cent votes while the Congress got15.1 per cent. Their combined voteshare was two percentage pointsmore than that of the BJP.

Though Delhi is a small State theupcoming polls are crucial as it is theCapital of the country. The Congresstoo is hoping to improve its positionin Delhi where it had ruled for threecontinuous terms before losingpower to the AAP. Unfortunately for

the grand old party, it is facing a lead-ership crisis not only at the nation-al level but also at the State level, withindiscipline and groupism doggingit. It appears to be the weakestamong the three parties in the fray.

The polls are taking place in acharged atmosphere amid agitationsagainst the Citizenship AmendmentAct, 2019 (CAA) and the NationalRegister of Citizens (NRC). Theseagitations might continue at leastuntil the Delhi elections are conduct-ed. The agitations have spread allacross the country with the North-east and Uttar Pradesh witnessingnot only unrest but also violence. Thestudents had jumped into the frayafter the highhanded behaviour ofthe Delhi Police at the Jamia MilliaUniversity recently. They have thesupport of many other universitiesnot only in India but also abroad.Added to that, the economy of thecountry is on the slide and normal-cy is yet to return to Jammu andKashmir after the abrogation of

Article 370 in August. The AAP Government and the

Centre are also facing flack on thehigh level of pollution choking theCapital. While Kejriwal is defend-ing his throne, the BJP is keen tocome back to power in a State whereit was strong in the past. In the lasttwo Assembly elections, in 2013and 2015, the AAP polled 29.49 percent and 54.3 per cent votes respec-tively, with the latter giving it anunprecedented majority of 67 seatsout of 70. However, since then,things have not been smooth for theAAP. Many senior party leadershave been expelled and Delhi ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal has beenrepeatedly accused of being author-itarian.

In the fight for Delhi all the play-ers are using social media, holdingpublic meetings and running cam-paigns to target each other. They haveunderstood the power of advertisingin wooing voters and are also reach-ing out to the electorate with their

roadshows, door-to-door campaigns,and so on. Prime Minister NarendraModi himself led the BJP’s campaignlast Sunday as the party is depend-ing on him to capture Delhi after agap of three decades.

The Central Government andthe Delhi Government have been atloggerheads on many issues and dis-agreements over air pollution may setthe tone for the upcoming Assemblypolls. Delhi elections will be foughton local issues surrounding schools,hospitals, power, water, dengue, pol-lution, security and so on and alsothe NRC, CAA and the NationalPopulation Register.

The local BJP is hoping to makeuse of the recent passage of a Bill forregularisation of illegal colonies,which will benefit lakhs of slumdwellers and poor people.

In 2008, the CongressGovernment in Delhi had stormedback to power after it distributed pro-visional certificates to 1,218 unautho-rised colonies.

The BJP has a support baseamong the traders and the middle-income groups in Delhi. While theAAP and the BJP are running theircampaigns at different levels theCongress is lagging. The AAP andthe Congress share a vote base —Muslims and marginalised sectionsof society.

The AAP has launched its pollcampaign, with the slogan of “Acchebeete 5 saal, lage raho Kejriwal (thelast five years have been good, keepgoing Kejriwal).” The party is aheadin terms of its reach in unauthorisedcolonies and slum clusters. In the lastfive years, the Delhi Government hasmade massive investments in creat-ing health, education and civic infra-structure in these areas. The lowerand middle classes are happy with theAAP Government, as they are satis-fied with the way their bread and but-ter issues are tackled. While it is tooearly to predict anything, it is likelyto be advantage AAP.

(The writer is a senior journalist)

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ARajasthan Governmentcommittee found that Kota's

JK Lone Hospital is short of bedsand its functioning needsimprovement but cleared thedoctors there of any lapses overthe recent death of infantsadmitted there, an official said.

At least 91 infants have diedat the Government hospital dur-ing the past month, triggeringopposition criticism and a visitby a team from the NationalCommission for Protection ofChild Rights (NCPCR).

The three-member StateGovernment committee of doctors was sent to investigatethe 10 deaths on December 23and 24.

Earlier, the NCPCR hadserved as show cause notice tothe State Government. “Pigswere found roaming inside thecampus of the hospital,” its chair-person Priyank Kanoongo had

said in it.The State Government panel

found that the hospital wasshort of beds, functioning at 150per cent of its capacity, RajasthanMedical Education SecretaryVaibhav Galriya told PTI onTuesday.

But the committee ruledthat the 10 infants who died onthe two days were given the righttreatment. “The committeesubmitted that eight out of the10 infants were referred fromother hospitals in a critical con-dition and two were born at thehospital itself,” Galriya said.

“Due treatment was given toall of them. The committee hadchecked medical records.Whoever was to be put on ven-tilator, the required treatmentwas provided,” he added.

Moreover, the 10 infantswho died were at higher risk dueto pre-term birth, he said.

Galriya said the committeewas instructed not only to look

into the cause of deaths but alsothe functioning of the hospital.

“The committee said thehospital is working at 150 percent of its capacity. The numberof beds is less than the flow ofpatients. Similar is the situationat the ICUs as well. There is aneed to increase the number ofbeds,” he said. He said instruc-tions have been issued to takesamples to check infections atthe hospital on a monthly basis,

earlier done once in threemonths.

Directions have also beengiven to lay oxygen pipelines,instead of supplying it to theintensive care unit (ICU)through cylinders.

The official said the hospi-tal superintendent was removedfrom the post as a lot of equip-ment lay unused due to the lackof an annual maintenance con-tract.

The AMC process has nowbeen initiated.

He said that the committeeconsidered both the treatmentand the larger systemic issues atthe hospital.

“We are working on both theaspects, and would be workingon improvement of systemicpart so that better treatment canbe given at the hospital,” he said.

The State Government com-mittee included Dr AmarjeetMehta, Dr Rambabu Sharmaand Dr Sunil Bhatnagar.

A panel of BJP MPs also vis-ited the hospital on Tuesday. Thegroup included Lok Sabha MPsJaskaur Meena, LocketChatterjee and Bharati Pawar,and Rajya Sabha MP KantaKardam. Two State BJP leadersalso met the staff on Monday.

The NCPCR team foundthe upkeep at the hospital, where940 infants died during the year,in the “worst condition” withbroken windows and doors.

Kota (Raj): A BJP lawmakers' panel onTuesday slammed Rajasthan Chief MinisterAshok Gehlot for deaths of infants at a Kotahospital, saying he preferred to visitJharkhand for the swearing-in of the new Government there instead of “wiping” tears of dead children's mothers.

The three-member parliamentary panel,comprising Locket Chatterjee, Kanta Kardamand Jaskaur Meena, on Tuesday visited JKLon Hospital, where at least 91 infants havedied in the past month.

Meanwhile, Congress workers lodged aprotest against the visit of the panel by form-ing a human chain outside the hospital andalleged that the BJP was trying to politicisethe issue. “While children were dying in thehospital, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot wentto Jharkhand and was celebrating the for-

mation of the Government there. Mothers ofdead children are still weeping but the CMis not here to wipe their tears,” Chatterjeesaid.

She said none of the Congress workershas come here so far but the BJP MLAs inKota have extended monetary assistance of��50 lakhs for the maintenance of the hos-pital, she said.

She also attacked former Congress chiefRahul Gandhi, saying while he visited otherstates to highlight the issues, then why hegave a miss to Rajasthan, a State where hisparty ruled.

A Rajasthan government committee hadfound that Kota's JK Lon Hospital was shortof beds and its functioning needs improve-ment but cleared the doctors there of anylapses over the recent death of infantsadmitted there. PTI

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With his purported comments onplans to provide poor consumers

quality liquor at cheap rates drawing flak,Karnataka Excise Minister H Nagesh onTuesday clarified there was no such pro-posal before the Government.

“It is true that there is a demand forsupply of good quality liquor at low price.

There was also a proposal in thisregard since 2013, but after becomingExcise Minister, no such proposal has beensubmitted before the Government,” he saidin a statement. The Minister clarifiedthat he had only stated there has been sucha demand for long. “But my statement hasbeen published contrary to the fact in cer-tain sections of the media. I want to reit-

erate that there is no proposal at presentbefore the Government on providingcheap or subsidised liquor,” he said.

Earlier in the day, speaking toreporters, the Minister had spoken aboutthe department considering supply of highquality liquor at cheap rates for the sakeof the poor.

“....We will discuss,we will take gooddecisions, because I too want to dosomething that is new....Want to givecheaper drinks of high quality, this is inmy mind,” he said. The Minister said thepoor too have to live right and collectingmoney should not be the only intention.“...We want to experiment at distilleries,test at labs and then we have to leave it tothe market, not abruptly, we should notdo it for business.”

Jaipur: Rajsthan Chief MinisterAshok Gehlot here on Tuesdaysaid countries are run the basisof their constitution and devel-opment can't be ensured with-out a strong economy.

He said the growth of thecountry depended on its econ-omy, for which “policies of for-mer Prime MinisterManmohan Singh needed to beadopted”. “Countries do notrun on the basis of religion buton the basis of their constitu-tion. Governments are formedon the basis of the constitution.

The basis of growth of any

country is its economy anddevelopment is not possiblewithout a strong economy,” hesaid at a national seminar ofchartered accountants here.

Expressing concern overthe current economic condi-tions in the country, Gehlotsaid under these “adverse cir-cumstances”, the state govern-ment had taken several majorsteps to strengthen the econo-my.

He said the state govern-ment was working with a pol-icy of providing sensitive, trans-parent and accountable gover-nance. PTI

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Mumbai: An electrician was onTuesday arrested for allegedly molest-ing a minor girl in her house aftershowing her pornography, policesaid.

The 11-year-old victim's familyhad called Sushil Chandorkar (36), aresident of Pratikshanagar in Sion, forsome electrical work in the house andhad then left for shopping leaving theminor girl behind, a Wadala TTpolice station official said.

“He started chatting with the girland proceeded to show her porno-graphic clips on his mobile phone.

When the family returned, theyfound the child crying. She told themabout the incident after which thefamily caught hold of the accused,beat him up and handed him over tothe police,” he said.

“The accused has been arrestedunder section 354 (outraging mod-esty) of the Indian Penal Code andProtection of Children from SexualOffences Act.

We will produce him in court forremand,” said Senior InspectorJitendra Bhobe of Wadala TT policestation. PTI

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In an apparent indication of a melt-down in the tensed relationship

between Raj Bhavan and Nabanna(State secretariat) Mamata Banerjeeon Tuesday sent cakes and flowers toGovernor Jagdeep Dhankhar whohas been involved in a twitter war withthe Bengal Chief Minister and herCabinet colleagues over a number ofissues.

What seemed to be a quid pro quofor the “cordial gesture” shown on thepart of the State Government theGovernor signed the Municipal(Amendment) Bill within hours ofreceiving State Education MinisterPartho Chatterjee who saw him at RajBhavan as a special messenger of theChief Minister.

The Bill had been held up in RajBhavan for quite some time now in the

wake of continuous war of wordsbetween the two sides when theChief Minister accused the Governorof being an “RSS man” who was run-ning a parallel administration in theState while the latter lambasted theState administration for failing lawand order and lack of courtesy on awhole lot of issues.

“The meeting wascordial and a lot thingswere discussed,”Chatterjee later saidadding the ChiefMinister had wishedhim a happy year end-ing and a Happy NewYear. “Some importantissues concerning edu-cation were also dis-cussed with theGovernor,” he said.

Meanwhile in anunrelated development the StateGovernment on Tuesday shifted 52officers of the Indian Police Servicescadre. The 52 officers included sevendeputy commissioners of police fromKolkata, sources said.

The SPs of Murshidabad, Jangipurpolice district, South Dinajpur,Barasat, East Midnapore were also

transferred, sources said adding someof the officers were given promotiontoo.

Elsewhere members of the oppo-sition BJP on Tuesday staged a roadblockade near Jadavpur Universityand Jadavpur Police Station protest-ing against the alleged misdemeanorof JU students against their leaders onMonday.

JU students allegedly had a tiffwith the BJP activists near theUniversity campus where the saffronleaders were holding a meeting todrive home the “essence” of theCitizenship Amendment Act.

JU students said during the faceoff one of their lecturers and some stu-dents were roughed up by the BJPmen. The saffron member howeversaid they were in fact attacked by themembers of the CPI(M) and StudentsFederation of India (SFI).

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With the much awaitedexpansion of the

Karnataka Cabinet slated sometime in January, ministerialaspirants continued their lob-bying by making a bee-line toChief Minister BSYediyurappa's residence here.

As Yediyurappa has alreadymade it clear that 11 of the dis-qualified legislators who got re-elected on BJP ticket during theDecember 5 bypolls, will bemade Ministers during theexpansion, lobbying has inten-sified for the five remainingberths in the Cabinet.

Currently there are 18 min-isters including the ChiefMinister in the Cabinet that hasa sanctioned strength is 34.

According to sources,among those who met theChief Minister at his residenceon Tuesday include formerminister and senior legislator Umesh Katti, formerMinister R Shankar and defeat-ed party candidate fromHoskote during the bypollsMTB Nagaraj.

Though there is strongword within the party circlesthat Katti is most likely to beconsidered during the expan-sion, sources said, it needs to be seen howYediyurappa will maintain abalance, as his addition wouldincrease the number ofMinisters from Belagavi districtto four.

There are already twoMinisters-Deputy Chief

Minister Laxman Savadi andWomen and ChildDevelopment MinisterShashikala Jolle from Belagavi-in the cabinet while newlyelected BJP MLA from GokakRamesh Jarkiholi, who hasbeen promised a ministerialberth, also hails from the dis-trict.

Kitti, an eight-time MLAwas among the prominentsenior BJP legislators who weremiffed and sulking after failingto make it in the first round ofcabinet expansion.

Shankar, who has beenpromised a Cabinet berth byYediyurappa through MLCroute, met the Chief Ministerwith an intention to ascertainhis chances, sourcessaid.

Ahmedabad: The BJP won 26 of 30taluka and district panchayat seats onwhich bypolls were held on Sunday,apart from three it won unopposed,leaving the opposition Congress waybehind with just three wins.

One seat was won by anIndependent candidate.In a releaseissued on Tuesday, the State ElectionCommission (SEC) said, “Out oftotal 33 seats, on three seats BJP can-didates won unopposed. Electionswere held on 30 seats, of which BJPwon 26 seats, Congress three seats andone seat went to an Independent can-didate.”

Of the 30 that went to polls, threewere district panchayat seats, with the

Congress having an upper hand withtwo wins against the BJP's one.

The rest 27 were taluka panchayatseats and the break-up of wins wasBJP 25, Congress and Independentone each, it informed.

Gujarat Chief Minister VijayRupani thanked the people for theparty's good show, having got 29 of33 seats, and said “the victory is a pre-cursor to upcoming district and talu-ka panchayat polls”.

Gujarat BJP president JituVaghani said the Congress tried tomislead farmers and the rural popu-lation but people had given them abefitting answer, adding that theopposition party's “divisive' politicshad been rejected. PTI

Mumbai: A 60-year-old manhas been arrested for alleged-ly raping and brutalising a 25-year-old woman under thepretext of giving her job as amaid, Mumbai Police said onTuesday.

Prima facie, the accusedSaleem Zaveri raped thewoman repeatedly at his flatin suburban Bandra, where hestays alone, over a period ofthe last 15 days, a police offi-cer said, adding that theaccused used to insert a can-dle into the private parts of thewoman.

The incident came to lightwhen the woman startedbleeding from her privateparts, following which theaccused took her to Bhabha

Hospital, the officer said.Zaveri was arrested on

Monday night from his flat.Zaveri had lured the woman,who was standing at a bus

stop while looking for shelter,into accompanying him bypromising her job as a maid.

The woman, who hails

from Uttar Pradesh, had cometo Mumbai after fighting withher husband, the officer said,adding that the victim does-n't know anybody in the cityand had a problem in under-standing language.

“Police came to knowabout the incident from thehospital,” Bandra police sta-tion senior inspectorVijaylaxmi Hiremath toldPTI.

The officer said Zaveri'swife had left him 20 years agoand she is currently living inthe USA. A case has been reg-istered against Zaveri undersection 376 (rape) of theIndian Penal Code (IPC), andhe has been remanded topolice custody. PTI

Thane: A 25-year-old man was on Tuesday sentenced tolife imprisonment by a court in Maharashtra's Thane forkilling his girlfriend as he doubted her character.

District Judge VY Jadhav held Swapnil alias BabuHanuman Jadhav guilty under IPC sections 302 (murder)and 376 (rape) and also fined him � 30,000.

The victim, who was 18 at the time, and Jadhav, a liftmechanic, lived in the same locality in Mumbra here andwere in love, said Additional Public Prosecutor SanjayMore. “He used to doubt her character and would also takeobjection to phone calls the victim used to get from afriend.

On April 29, 2014, Jadhav took the victim to a hillockand stabbed her several times and left her to die there. Hersister found her there,” he said. More said Jadhav had ear-lier raped her and also forced her to undergo and abor-tion. PTI

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Union Minister Giriraj Singh onTuesday asserted that the

Opposition parties and “tukde tukdegang” were trying to tread onMuhammad Ali Jinnah's path andspeaking language of Pakistan onCitizenship Amendment Act (CAA)and National Register of Citizens(NRC).

Singh, Minister for AnimalHusbandry, Dairying and Fisheries inthe Narendra Modi Govenrment,alleged that agitations on CAA andNRC were being carried out at thebehest of the opponents “to protectthe infiltrators”.

“The Opposition and tukdetukde gang are not only makingefforts to create panic in the countryon these issues but also want to bring

back the situation of 1947 in thecountry.

“They are trying to do thingswhich even Mughals and Britisherscould not do...,” Singh — who repre-sents Begusarai Lok Sabha seat - toldreporters here at a press conference.

“They (opposition parties) want

to create a civil war like situa-tion in the country by spread-ing confusion on the twinissues in the society,” he said.

“The Opposition is speak-ing the language of Pakistanbesides treading Jinnah's path”,the Minister commented.

He asserted that theCongress and AIMIM chiefAsaduddin Owaisi were tryingto bring back the condition of1947 in the country, but hewould not let Jinnah's ideas and

philosophy fructify in the country.

The firebrand BJP leader charged parties like Congress, RJD,Communists, AIMIM and tukdetukde gang of creating a divisionbetween Hindus and Muslims onceagain.

Guwahati: The tourism sectorin Assam has been severely hitby violent protests against thecontentious Citizenship(Amendment) Act and the lossis an estimated at �� 1,000 crore,a top official said on Tuesday.

The sector was badlyimpacted in December andwill also be in January, two ofthe peak months for touristinflow, Assam TourismDevelopment Corporation(ATDC) chairman JayantaMalla Baruah said here.

The peak tourist season inAssam is from December toMarch and accounts for 48 percent of the sector's contribution for the entire year,he said. “Due to the violentprotests during December, wesuffered badly. We estimate that � 500 crore

will be the loss to the sector forDecember and January each,”he told a press conference here.

The hotel industry alonesuffered a loss of � 60 crore in15 days since December 11,when violence erupted acrossAssam against the CAA.

Along with domestictourists, the flow from abroadalso took a hit after a numberof countries issued travel advi-sories due to the ongoingprotests, Baruah said.

The earnings of the Statefrom the tourism sector is � 2,000-2,500 crore per annum.

“Because of the impact onthe peak season, we expect 30per cent fall in tourist footfallin 2019-20. We hope to slight-ly recover from this situation inFebruary,” he added. PTI

Mumbai: A day after expansionof Maharashtra Cabinet, voic-es of resentment resonated inthe camps of the ruling ShivSena, NCP and Congress crit-icising the choice of new facesby the leadership of respectedparties. On Tuesday evening,supporters of Bhor CongressMLA Sangram Thopte attackedthe party office in Pune toprotest against his non-induc-tion into the State Ministry.

While a section of Congressleaders is upset over non-induc-tion of the party loyalists intothe new council of ministers,leaders of the Sena haveexpressed disapproval overparty seniors and former min-isters not finding place.

On Monday, Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray inducted atotal of 36 ministers in his one-month-old coalition govern-ment comprising the Shiv Sena,NCP and Congress.

Among the 36, 14 ministers(ten Cabinet and four MoS)belonged to the NCP, 12 to theSena (eight Cabinet and fourMoS), and 10 to Congress(eight Cabinet and two MoS).

Hours after the cabinetexpansion on Monday night,NCP MLA from Beed districtPrakash Solanke hadannounced that he will resignon Tuesday, saying he was“unworthy to do politics”.

However, on Tuesday, NCPleadership succeeded in making

him change his mind.Reports of some Sena lead-

ers being unhappy after notbeing inducted into the newcabinet are also doing rounds.

Thackeray has droppedseveral ministers, includingseniors like Ramdas Kadam,Diwakar Raote and RavindraWaikar who were part of theprevious BJP-led Government,in the new Government.

Despite Sena leaders' appealto their workers to maintaindiscipline, a Solapur districtfunctionary of the party, ShailaGodse, resigned over non-induction of former ministerfrom the region, Tanaji Sawant.

Meanwhile, Solapur dis-trict Youth Congress presidentNitin Nagne on Tuesday wrotea letter to party president SoniaGandhi in his blood over non-induction of three-time MLAPraniti Shinde, daughter ofCongress veteran SushilkumarShinde, into the new council ofministers.

A Congress corporatorresigned from the SolapurMunicipal Corporation as wellas a party member in supportof Praniti Shinde. S h i n d esaid, “I accept the decision ofthe party leadership. Since thisis a three-party government,everybody cannot be accom-modated, I will request partyworkers to exercise restraint”. PTI

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Tindivanam (TN): The PattaliMakkal Katchi, which supportedthe amendment to the citizenshiplaw in Rajya Sabha, on Tuesdaycame out against implementing theproposed NRC in Tamil Nadu, say-ing it will create “unnecessaryapprehension and tension” amongpeople.

Citing claims that the NationalPopulation Register was a pilot tothe eventual roll out of the NationalRegister of Citizens (NRC), thePMK, an ally of the rulingAIADMK-led alliance in TamilNadu in which the BJP is also aconstituent, demanded that theCentre dispel misgivings related tothe two measures.

In a resolution at its specialgeneral council meet, the party saidTamil Nadu does not share land

borders with any country andhence, there was no scope forpeople from other countries to ille-gally enter the state.

Besides, the Government hasdata of all the Tamil refugees fromSri Lanka and thus “there is noneed for implementing theNational Register of Citizens inTamil Nadu,” the PMK resolution,copies of which were released to themedia, said.

The meet, held at Omandurnear here, said apart from such fac-tors, if the NRC was prepared “itwill create unnecessary apprehen-sion and tension among the TamilNadu people.”

Therefore, “this meet urges theCentral and State Governments tonot implement the NRC in TamilNadu,” it said. The party's lone

member in Rajya Sabha, AnbumaniRamadoss, a former UnionMinister, had voted with theGovernment on the CitizenshipAmendment Bill that provided forIndian citizenship to persecutedminorities from Pakistan,Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

PMK also urged the Centre to

grant dual citizenship to Sri LankanTamil refugees.

It wanted the Union govern-ment to go in for a pact with theneighbouring island republic tofacilitate the dual citizenship sinceLankans will lose their citizenshipif they were to become nationals ofanother country.

The PMK meet demanded 27per cent reservation for OtherBackward Classes in the All IndiaQuota for medical seats. In gov-ernment sector colleges, 15 per centof graduate medical courses and 50per cent postgraduate seats fallunder the AIQ. A caste wise cen-sus in Tamil Nadu and declaringCauvery basin districts in the stateas a protected farm zone wereamong the other resolutions thatwere adopted. PTI

Aligarh: Days before theAMU is to reopen after its win-ter break, Vice ChancellorTariq Mansoor on Tuesdayregretted police action duringthe anti-CAA protest on cam-pus on December 15 nightand sought to assure studentsof their safety and the right toprotest peacefully.

Prof Mansoor gave theassurance to students and theirparents in an open letter writ-ten to them, nearly a weekbefore the varsity is set toreopen on January 6 after itswinter break.

“I want to tell you and yourfamilies that I regret what hap-pened (on December 15),” the

VC wrote.Referring to the decision to

call in the police on the nightof December 15, he said it wastaken in “good faith and a clearconscience” as it had becomeimperative to disperse the pro-testers who had becomecharged up over the rumourthat two student protesters atJamia Milia Islamia in NewDelhi had been killed.

The vice chancellor madean impassioned appeal to stu-dents “to consider with anopen mind” the circumstanceswhich compelled him to takethe unpleasant decision ofinviting the police to enter thecampus.

In his open letter to stu-dents, Prof Mansoor said hewould “fully share” their con-cerns on any subject providedit is done “in a peaceful anddemocratic manner”.

He sought to assure themthat he has “no intention what-soever” of trying in any way “tosubvert the right of students toprotest peacefully against anylegislation” which they findobjectionable. “You are thefuture of our democracy and allcitizens, especially the young,enjoy the right to share theirviews in the true spirit of ademocratic society,” the vice-chancellor's letter said. PTI

Mumbai: Congress leaderMohammed Arif NaseemKhan on Tuesday said that asin Kerala, the MaharashtraAssembly should pass a reso-lution demanding scrapping of the Citizenship(Amendment) Act (CAA).

Khan, state Congress vicepresident and former Minister,demanded that Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray should con-vene a special sitting of theAssembly for this purpose.Congress is part of the ShivSena-led Government inMaharashtra. The BJP

passed the controversial Act inParliament because it enjoysmajority. I demand that chiefminister convene a special ses-sion of the state legislature toseek withdrawal of the Act,” hesaid.

The Kerala Assembly onTuesday passed a resolutiondemanding scrapping of theCAA, becoming the first state in the country to doso.

Some other non-BJP ruledStates including West Bengalhave announced that they`would not implement' theCAA. PTI

Aurangabad: Shiv Sena's Rajendra Janjalwon the election for Deputy Mayor's post atAurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) inMaharashtra on Tuesday.

The polls were necessitated following theresignation of BJP's Vijay Autade, who steppeddown after the Uddhav Thackeray-ledGovernment had stopped the water supplyscheme meant for Aurangabad, which wassanctioned by the former chief minister.

Of the 115 corporators in the civic body,100 remained present to cast their votes.

While Janjal won the election with 51 votes,BJP- backed independent candidateGokulsingh Malke got 34 votes and Zafar Khanof All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen(AIMIM) got 13 votes.

Congress candidate Afsar Khan withdrewhis form and sent his resignation to party stateunit president Balasaheb Thorat alleging thatthe deputy mayor's post would have been given

to the Congress but the party failed to take ini-tiative.

Meanwhile, speaking to reporters here,Janjal said, “I have won this election by 51 votes.Although my term is short, I will try my levelbest to meet voters' expectations.” Fresh elec-tions will be held for the AMC in April 2020.

The Shiv Sena is the largest party in thecivic body with 29 corporators.While the AIMIM has 24, BJP has 23, Congress11, NCP have four, Bahujan Samaj Party havefive, RPI (Democratic) have two, apart fromthe 17 independents. PTI

Chennai,: Welcoming theKerala Assembly adopting aresolution demanding scrapping of the CitizenshipAmendment Act, DMK onTuesday urged the rulingAIADMK to go in for a simi-lar move in the Tamil Nadu leg-islature against the contentiouslaw to protect the Constitution.

Expressing happiness onadoption of the anti-CAA res-olution in the Kerala Assemblymoved by Chief MinisterPinarayi Vijayan, DMK

president M K Stalin said it wasa welcome move.

“It is the overwhelmingdesire of the people of thiscountry that every state assem-bly should adopt such a reso-lution to guard the basic fea-tures of the Constitution,” theDMK chief said in a Facebookpost. Stalin urged ChiefMinister K to adopt a similarresolution in the Tamil NaduAssembly on January 6 whenthe House convenes for the firstsession of 2020.

The AIADMK has backed

the amendment to theCitizenship Act in Parliamentand been defending it withChief Minister K Palaniswamiappealing to the people not tobelieve in “rumours” beingspread about the CAA. In theKerala Assembly, the rulingCPI(M)-LDF and the opposi-tion Congress headed UDFsupported the resolution whileBJP's lone MLA and formerUnion Minister O Rajagopalrecorded the sole dissentingvoice in the one-day special ses-sion. PTI

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Lucknow: Samajwadi Partypresident Akhilesh Yadav onTuesday accused the BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) of indulgingin appeasement politics only towin elections. Akhilesh Yadavalso took to Twitter and wrote,“Don’t need NRC-NPR, weneed employment.”

Flagging off a cycle rally ofthe party’s legislators fromparty’s headquarters to VidhanBhawan to register protestagainst the National Register ofCitizens (NRC)/NationalPopulation Register (NPR) andCitizenship (Amendment) Act(CAA), Yadav said the NarendraModi Government had broughtCAA to enforce the policy ofdiscrimination on the groundsof religion in giving citizenshipwhich is against the basic struc-ture of the Constitution.

“No one from the BJP candecide whether we are citizensor not. If the need arises, I will

be the first one who will not fillany form, but the question is willyou support it or not? We willnot fill the NPR form. What willyou do? NRC and NPR areagainst the poor and minorities,”he said.

He added that people in theNorth-East and Assam werealso unhappy with the CAA.Yadav claimed that the BJP wasspreading fear among people ofthe country in the name of CAAand NRC.

The SP chief also attackedthe Centre for its decision tostart the work on NPR fromApril next year, saying when allthe details were already pro-vided in Aadhaar, what was theneed to conduct the NPR exer-cise across India.

Yadav said his party wasstrongly against the CAA, NRCand NPR and would keepprotesting against the same.The SP chief also targeted the

Government for failing to takeeffective measures to revive hecountry’s economy and saidthat the banking sector had col-lapsed and demonetisation haddestroyed country’s economy.

He claimed that since thegovernment had failed to createemployment opportunities andrevive the failing economy, itcame up with CAA, NRC andNPR to divert the attention ofpeople from real issues.

During the rally, the SP leg-islators of the SP, with placardsaround their neck, pedalledabout one km to reach VidhanBhawan to attend the specialsession on Tuesday morning.The session was convened forthe ratification by the UPAssembly for the 126thConstitution Amendmentpassed by the Parliament toextend the SC/ST reservation inthe legislature for another 10years. PNS

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At a time when the overalleconomic growth is slow-

ing, Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman's announcementof �102 lakh crore worth ofinvestment in infrastructureprojects over the next fiveyears, can be a trigger forboosting growth, says ICRA.

According to the ratingagency, the construction sectoris likely to be a major benefi-ciary of this increased invest-ment.

The finance minister onTuesday announced the infra-structure project pipeline forthe next five years that will helpthe country nearly double thesize of the GDP to $5 trillion by2025.

"Creation of the nationalinfrastructure pipeline in ashort span of time is a positivestep. The distribution of theinfrastructure investment is inline with our expectations witha major allocation goingtowards transportation, energyand water segments. The front-loading of capex is also positivefor construction sector," ICRA'sSenior Vice-President andGroup-Head, CorporateRatings Shubham Jain said.

According to the sector-wise break-up of projects,�24.54 lakh crore investmentwill flow in the energy sector,and of that �11.7 lakh crore

would be in just the power sec-tor, while road projects willaccount for �19.63 lakh crorewhile another �13.68 lakh crorewould be for railway projects.

Port projects would seespending of �1 lakh crore andairports another �1.43 lakhcrore. �16.29 lakh crore wouldbe spent on urban infrastruc-ture and �3.2 lakh crore in tele-com projects. Jain, howevernoted that while the target ofscaling up investment in infra-structure is achievable, it wouldbe filled with challenges.

"The Centre will requiresupport from the state govern-ments and the private sector toachieve this significant scale-upof investment as these twotogether have to undertakeover 61 per cent of the invest-ment," he said.

Further, reducing bottle-necks and resolving issueswhich have resulted in signif-icant cost and time overrunswill also be vital for efficientutilisation of the planned

investment, Jain added.Meanwhile, welcoming the

move, Anshuman MagazineChairman and CEO, India,South East Asia, Middle Eastand Africa of CBRE, said themove reinforces the govern-ment's commitment towardsmaking India a leading worldeconomy.

Naredco NationalPresident NiranjanHiranandani said the movedovetails with other positivemoves that the governmenthas recently unveiled, and thepositive effects should be visi-ble sooner rather than later.

"The importance of infra-structure development in GDPgrowth has been apparent, theworld over we have seen gov-ernments giving a push toinfrastructure with the aim ofgiving a fillip to economicgrowth. India has been work-ing towards the agenda of giv-ing infrastructure developmentit's due especially in the sce-nario where the economyneeds a fillip," he added.

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The country's fiscal deficit hit114.8 per cent of 2019-20

Budget Estimate at �8.07 lakhcrore at the end of November,official data showed onTuesday.

The fiscal deficit or the gapbetween expenditure and rev-enue was at �8,07,834 crore ason November 30, 2019, accord-ing to the data released by theController General of Accounts(CGA).

The deficit was at 114.8 percent of 2018-19 BudgetEstimate (BE) in the corre-sponding month a year ago.

The Government has esti-mated the fiscal deficit for thecurrent financial year at �7.03lakh crore, aiming to restrictthe deficit at 3.3 per cent of thegross domestic product (GDP).

In September, theGovernment decided to lowerthe tax rate for corporates andhas pegged that it will have animpact of �1.45 lakh crore onits revenue mobilisation.

Tax sops were intended toboost the investment cycle inthe face of slowing GDPgrowth, which dipped to a six-year low of 5 per cent in thefirst quarter of this fiscal. TheGDP growth slipped further toan over six-year low of 4.5 percent in the second quarterended September.

Due to slowdown, the GST

collection has also been sub-dued putting pressure on over-all revenue mobilisation effortof the government.

Faced with a shortfall inrevenue collection, theGovernment has initiated aus-terity measures by revising

downwards the expenditurelimit for the January-Marchperiod of the ongoing financialyear. The Government hasasked all departments torestrict the expenses to 25 percent of the Budget Estimate(BE) in January-March.

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Showing nosigns of

improvement ,the output ofeight core infra-structure indus-tries contractedfor the fourthc o n s e c u t i v emonth inNovember by 1.5per cent, accord-ing to officialdata released onTuesday.

Since August,the eight coreindustries arerecording nega-tive growth.

The outputof coal, crude oil, natural gas,steel, and electricity declined by2.5 per cent, 6 per cent, 6.4 percent, 3.7 per cent and 5.7 percent respectively, according tothe data.

The eight core sectors hadexpanded by 3.3 per cent inNovember 2018.

The growth rate of cementproduction dropped to 4.1 percent from 8.8 per cent in

November 2018. The output of refinery

products and fertilizersincreased by 3.1 per cent and13.6 per cent respectively inNovember 2019 over the year-ago month.

During the April-November period, core indus-tries recorded flat growth (zeroper cent) against 5.1 per cent inthe year-ago period.

New Delhi: Industry chamberPHDCCI said it expects India'seconomy to rebound in 2020and inflation to remain benignon account of reforms such asreduction in corporate tax.

"We believe that speedyimplementation and synchro-nisation of various reforms willrefuel our economic growth tra-jectory soon," PHDCCIPresident DK Aggarwal said.

He adding that 2020 will bea year of economic rebound,wherein the expectation is thatthe economy will regain itsdynamic growth trajectoryonce again and take its positionto become a $5-trillion econo-my by 2024. The PHDChamber of Commerce andIndustry (PHDCCI) presidentsaid the economic reforms in2019 were amazing as the gov-ernment "reduced corporatetax significantly from morethan 30 per cent to an effectiverate of 25.17 per cent and17.01 per cent".

Besides, he observed thatinflation in 2020 will remainbenign except few fluctuationsbecause of weather disruptions.

"At this juncture, the focusof the Government must be torefuel the consumptiondemand with a significantreduction in the direct taxes.Thus, reforms in direct taxationare the need of the hour withremarkable rationalisation oftax rates in the forthcomingBudget," said Aggarwal. PTI

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Jammu and Kashmir adminis-tration on Tuesday announced

abolition of toll posts, includingat Lakhanpur along Jammu-Pathankot highway, a move thatwill lead to a loss of �1,500 croreto the exchequer annually. Thedecision of the abolishment ofthe toll tax from the New Yearwas welcomed by traders whileindustrialists termed the with-drawal of toll tax as a "BlackDeath Warrant for J&KIndustrial Sector".

Announcing the decisionat a press conference here,Principal Secretary, planning,monitoring and developmentRohit Kansal said the govern-ment has decided to set up aHigh Powered Committeeunder the chairmanship ofAdvisor KK Sharma to interactwith various stakeholders andto suggest measures to improvethe competitiveness of localindustry.

"The administration hasdecided to abolish toll tax atLakhanpur and all other postsincluding at Railway Stationsand Airports with effect fromJanuary 1, 2020," he said.

New Delhi: Weeks after the AirIndia chief stated that the air-line's financial situation was"grossly untenable" for sus-taining operations, CivilAviation Minister HardeepSingh Puri clarified on Tuesdaythat the national carrier, whichis incurring a loss of �20-26crore daily, will keep on run-ning till it is privatised.

"Air India is running. AirIndia will keep on running. ButAir India has to be privatisedbecause it is incurring a dailyloss of �20-26 crore. This is tax-payer's money that can bemore profitably spent," he toldreporters here. While disin-vestment-bound Air India'snet loss in 2018-19 was around�8,556 crore, its current totaldebt is around �80,000 crore.

"We made an attempt twoyears ago. That attempt provedto be less than successful. Wehave learnt from that experi-ence. It is our endeavour nowthat we will be issuing anexpression of interest in thecoming few weeks. Hopefully,sooner than later," Puri said.

"We want an Indian entity,for strategic reasons, to beacquiring the company," theminister added.

In 2018, the Governmenthad proposed to offload 76 percent equity share capital of thenational carrier as well as trans-fer the management control toprivate players. PTI

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IL&FS Group is workingtowards addressing a 'signif-

icant portion' of the outstand-ing debt of �94,000 crore byJuly 2020, its chairman UdayKotak said on Tuesday.

The veteran banker saidthe company has emerged as a 'test case' ongroup-wide resolution ofstressed assets.

"The new board is com-mitted to completing the reso-lution process at the earliestand is working towards

addressing a significant portionof addressable debt by July2020," Kotak informed theshareholders at the 32nd annu-al general meeting. This is thefirst AGM conveyed by the newboard.

In October 2018, the gov-ernment had seized control ofthe debt-trapped company andsuperseded its board with oneled by Kotak.

As of October 8, 2018, thegroup had an external fund-based debt of �94,216 crore andan additional non- fund-baseddebt of �5,139 crore.

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With a prolonged liquiditycrisis in the non-banking

finance company (NBFC) seg-ment, real estate continued toreel under pressure in 2019,although the government cameup with a slew of stimulus mea-sures during the year. Thesteps to infuse liquidity andboost demand, however, havenot made any noticeableimpact so far, as sales declined in the second half ofthe year.

According to a report byAnarock Property Consultants,a total of 2.61 lakh units weresold during the year, a year-on-year growth of 5 per cent. Outof the overall sales during the

year across seven major citiesin the country, around 1.47lakh flats were sold in theJanuary-June period, and theremaining 1.14 lakh have been sold so far in the sec-ond half.

Despite the stepsannounced by the government,mostly in the second half of theyear, sales during July-December declined by 22 percent compared to the first half.

"The unrelenting liquiditycrisis, lower-than-expectedbuyer sentiments and falteringGDP growth eventually putbrakes on the overall housinggrowth in the second half of2019," said Anuj Puri,Chairman of Anarock PropertyConsultants.

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India's current account deficit(CAD) narrowed to 0.9 per

cent of GDP, or $6.3 billion, inthe September 2019 quarter, onaccount of lower trade deficit.

It had stood at 2.9 per centof gross domestic product(GDP), or $19 billion, in thecorresponding quarter of 2018-19. On a sequential basis, CADhad printed 2 per cent of GDP,or $14.2 billion, in the June2019 quarter. The currentaccount deficit is the differencebetween foreign exchangeinflows and outflows.

"The contraction in theCAD was primarily on accountof a lower trade deficit at $38.1billion as compared with $50billion a year ago," the Reserve

Bank of India (RBI) said in arelease on Tuesday.

During the first half of thecurrent financial year, CADnarrowed to 1.5 per cent ofGDP from 2.6 per cent in thecorresponding period in 2018-19, on the back of a reductionin the trade deficit, whichshrank to $84.3 billion as com-pared with $95.8 billion a yearago. The trade deficit is the gapbetween the value of importsand exports.

The balance of paymentstood at $5.12 billion in the sec-ond quarter and $19.10 billionduring the first half of this fiscal.

Net foreign direct invest-ment stood at $7.4 billion,almost the same level as in sec-ond quarter of 2018-19.

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Dozens of angry Iraqi Shiitemilitia supporters broke

into the US Embassy com-pound in Baghdad on Tuesdayafter smashing a main door andsetting fire to a reception area,prompting tear gas and soundsof gunfire.

An Associated Pressreporter at the scene saw flamesrising from inside the com-pound and at least three USsoldiers on the roof of the mainembassy building. There was afire at the reception area nearthe parking lot of the com-pound but it was unclear whathad caused it.

A man on a loudspeakerurged the mob not to enter thecompound, saying: “The mes-sage was delivered.”

The embassy attack, one ofthe worst in recent memory, fol-lowed deadly US airstrikes onSunday that killed 25 fighters ofthe Iran-backed militia in Iraq,the Kataeb Hezbollah. The USmilitary said the airstrikes werein retaliation for last week’skilling of an American con-tractor in a rocket attack on anIraqi military base that it hadblamed on the militia.

Dozens of protesters

pushed into the compoundafter smashing the gate used bycars to enter the embassy. Theprotesters, many in militia uni-form, stopped in a corridorafter about 5 meters, and wereonly about 200 meters awayfrom the main building.

Half a dozen US soldierswere seen on the roof of themain building, their guns were

pointed at the protesters.Smoke from the tear gas

rose in the area, and at leastthree of the protesters appearedto have difficulties breathing. Itwasn’t immediately knownwhether the embassy staff hadremained inside the mainbuilding or were evacuated atsome point.

There was no immediate

comment from the USEmbassy.

The protesters hanged aposter on the wall: “America isan aggressor,” and some com-manders of militia factionsloyal to Iran joined the pro-testers. Among those wasHadi al-Amiri, the head of thestate-sanctioned paramilitaryPopular Mobilization Units,

the umbrella group for theIran-backed militias.

Yassine al-Yasseri, Iraq’sinterior minister, also appearedoutside the embassy at onepoint and walked around toinspect the scene.

He told the AP that theprime minister had warnedthe US strikes on the Shiitemilitiamen would have seriousconsequences.

“This is one of the impli-cations,” al-Yasseri said. “Thisis a problem and is embarrass-ing to the government.”

He said more security willbe deployed to separate theprotesters from the embassy, anindication the Iraqi troopswould not move in to break upthe crowd by force.

Earlier, the mob shouted“Down, Down USA!” as thecrowd tried to push inside theembassy grounds, hurlingwater and stones over its walls.They raised yellow militia flagsand taunted the embassy’s secu-rity staff who remained behindthe glass windows in the gates’reception area and also sprayedgraffiti on the wall and win-dows. The graffiti, in red insupport of the KataebHezbollah, read: “Closed in thename of the resistance.”

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Washington has accusedIraqi authorities of hav-

ing failed to “protect” US inter-ests, the day after deadlyAmerican air strikes against apro-Iran group sparked anger.

At least 25 fighters werekilled in Sunday night’s attacks,which were in retaliation forthe death last week of a UScivilian contractor.

“We have warned the Iraqigovernment many times, andwe’ve shared information withthem to try to work with themto carry out their responsibil-ity to protect us,” a senior USState Department official toldreporters in Washington onMonday.

He noted that the US mil-itary and diplomats are in thecountry “upon the invitation ofthe Iraqi government.” “So it’stheir responsibility and duty toprotect us. And they have nottaken the appropriate steps todo so,” he said, speaking oncondition of anonymity.

Multiple attacks have inrecent weeks targeted Iraqibases where Americans are

present. The United States hasblamed the attacks on pro-Iranfactions.

On Sunday, the US-led airstrikes were directed at sever-al bases belonging to theHezbollah Brigades, one of themost radical factions of Hashedal-Shaabi, a Tehran-backedIraqi paramilitary coalition.

The strikes “killed 25 andwounded 51,” according to theHashed, which holds majorsway in Iraq.

The attack was in retalia-tion for the death Friday of aUS civilian contractor inKirkuk in a Hezbollah Brigadesrocket attack.

In a phone call on Monday,Saudi Crown PrinceMohammed bin Salman andUS Secretary of State MikePompeo “agreed that theIranian regime and its proxies continue to be adestabilizing force in theregion and that nations havea right to defend themselvesin the face of these threats,”State Department spokes-woman Morgan Ortagussaid.

Pompeo “underscored

that attacks by the Iranianregime, or their proxies of anyidentity, that harm Americans,our allies, or our interests willbe answered with a decisiveresponse, as demonstrated yes-terday.” Iraq’s governmentdenounced Sunday’s strikesand warned they could affectties with Washington.

The attacks “force Iraq toreview its relations and itssecurity, political and legalframework to protect its sov-ereignty,” the government saidin a statement.

The warning came asdemonstrators torched US flagsin the Shiite-dominated south-ern cities of Basra and Najaf,and in Kirkuk north ofBaghdad, while lawmakerscalled for US troops to bebooted out of Iraq.

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President Donald Trumpsaid on Tuesday he expects

Iraq to “use its forces” to pro-tect the US embassy inBaghdad after pro-Iran pro-testers breached the outer wallof the compound.

“We expect Iraq to use itsforces to protect the Embassy,and so notified!” Trump tweet-ed.

Iraqi supporters of pro-Iran factions attacked theembassy early Tuesday, breach-ing its outer wall and chanting“Death to America” in angerover weekend air strikes thatkilled two dozen fighters.

It was the first time in yearsthat protesters have been ableto reach the US embassy, whichis sheltered behind a series ofcheckpoints in the high-secu-rity Green Zone.

Trump blamed Iran fororganizing the attack andwarned Tehran would be heldaccountable.

“Now Iran is orchestratingan attack on the US Embassy inIraq. They will be held fullyresponsible,” he tweeted.

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Iraq’s Government warnedMonday that its relations

with the United States were atrisk after deadly American airstrikes against a pro-Iran groupsparked anger on the streets,with protesters torching USflags.

Baghdad said it wouldsummon the US ambassadorwhile Washington respondedby accusing Iraqi authorities ofhaving failed to “protect” USinterests.

At least 25 fighters werekilled in Sunday night’s attacks,which saw US planes hit severalbases belonging to theHezbollah Brigades, one of themost radical factions of Hashedal-Shaabi, a Tehran-backed

Iraqi paramilitary coalition.The attacks came as Iraq is

caught up in mounting ten-sions between its allies Tehranand Washington while it alsograpples with huge streetprotests against corruption andIran’s growing political influ-ence in the country.

The strikes “killed 25 andwounded 51, including com-manders and fighters, and thetoll could yet rise,” said theHashed, which holds majorsway in Iraq.

Victims were still beingpulled from the rubble of basesnear Al-Qaim, an Iraqi districtbordering Syria, on Monday, itsaid.

The Hezbollah Brigadessaid they will hold a massfuneral ceremony on Tuesday

in Baghdad near the high-security Green Zone, where theUS embassy is located.

Iraq’s government, actingin a caretaker capacity follow-ing the resignation of primeminister Adel Abdel Mahdi inthe face of street protests,denounced the strikes andwarned they could affect tieswith Washington.

“American forces acted ontheir political priorities, notthose of the Iraqis,” a statementsaid, adding that such strikes“violate the sovereignty of Iraq”.

The attacks “force Iraq toreview its relations and itssecurity, political and legalframework to protect its sov-ereignty”, the governmentadded.

The warning came as

demonstrators torched US flagsin the Shiite-dominated south-ern cities of Basra and Najaf aswell as in Kirkuk, north ofBaghdad, while lawmakerscalled for US troops to bebooted out of Iraq.

In a phone call on Monday,Saudi Crown PrinceMohammed bin Salman andUS Secretary of State MikePompeo “agreed that theIranian regime and its proxiescontinue to be a destabilizingforce in the region and thatnations have a right to defendthemselves in the face of thesethreats,” State Departmentspokeswoman Morgan Ortagussaid.

Pompeo “underscored thatattacks by the Iranian regime,or their proxies of any identi-

ty, that harm Americans, ourallies, or our interests will beanswered with a decisiveresponse, as demonstrated yes-terday.”

Dozens of lawmakerscalled on the government toreview an agreement allowingthe deployment of 5,200 USsoldiers in the country, sayingthe strikes amount to a viola-tion that renders the pact obso-lete.

US Assistant Secretary ofState David Schenker said thestrikes were a “proportionate”response for the death Fridayof a US civilian contractor inKirkuk in a Hezbollah Brigadesrocket attack.

“We don’t want an escala-tion here, we want a de-esca-lation,” he added however.

Abdel Mahdi said he hadbeen forewarned by USDefense Secretary MarkEsper that the US wouldcarry out the attacks.

“He told me the UnitedStates would strike theHezbollah Brigades and Itold him it would be a verydangerous act that could leadto an escalation,” AbdelMahdi said.

Tensions have soaredbetween the United States andIran since Washington pulledout of a multilateral nuclearagreement with Tehran lastyear and imposed cripplingsanctions Iraqi leaders feartheir country could become abattleground between Tehranand Washington.

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Police have detained fivesuspected Islamic State mil-

itants who were allegedly planning to carry out attacks inthe Turkish capital of Ankara during New Year’s Evecelebrations, the state-run news agency reported Tuesday.

Anti-terrorism policedetained the five foreignnationals in early morningraids on their homes, AnadoluAgency reported. It said the

operation was continuing andthat other suspects could alsobe detained.

The suspects were plan-ning “solo” attacks during festivities in the city, the agency reported. It did notelaborate.

The private DHA newsagency said the suspects wereIraqi nationals and wereallegedly trying to obtain gunsand other equipment.

The detentions are part ofa nationwide police securitysweep across the countryahead of the New Year. Closeto 170 suspected IS militantshave been detained in thepast two days, according toAnadolu.

The Islamic State groupclaimed responsibility for anattack at an Istanbul nightclubduring New Year celebrationsin the early hours of 2017. Theattack killed 39 people, most ofthem foreigners.

A wave of attacks byIslamic State and Kurdish mil-itants in the country killed over300 people in 2015 and 2016.

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Months of pro-democracyprotests in Hong Kong

have brought “sadness, anxiety,disappointment and even rage,”the city’s leader said Tuesday,vowing to tackle underlyingsocial and economic problemsin the coming year.

In a News Year’s address,Carrie Lam said that 2019brought “challenges not seenbefore,” and that she would “lis-ten humbly” to help bring anend to the protests, which havefeatured pitched battlesbetween demonstrators andpolice.

However, Lam also rein-forced the importance of the“one country, two systems”framework under which theformer British colony has beenruled by Beijing since 1997, andwhich brooks no challenge tothe ruling Communist Party’sultimate authority.

“We all want to see an endto this predicament,” Lam said.“The situation has caused sad-ness, anxiety, disappointmentand even rage.”

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North Korean leaderKim Jong Un has

called for “diplomatic andmilitary countermeasures”,state media said Tuesday,ahead of a year-end dead-line for Washington tochange its stance on stallednuclear talks withPyongyang.

His latest comments,made during a meeting oftop ruling party officials inPyongyang on Monday, cameahead of his set-piece New Yearspeech that could flesh out athreat to seek a “new way” for-ward after the expiration of theyear-end deadline.

He spoke for seven hoursduring the ruling Workers’Party meeting, the North’s offi-cial KCNA news agency said ina report released Tuesday, call-ing for measures to rebuild itseconomy and “diplomatic andmilitary countermeasures forfirmly preserving the sover-eignty and security” of the iso-lated nation.

The party meeting willcontinue to review an unspec-ified “important document”, itadded.

Talks on denuclearisingthe Korean peninsula havebeen largely deadlocked sincethe second summit betweenKim and US President DonaldTrump collapsed in Hanoi atthe start of this year.

Pyongyang has demandedthe easing of internationalsanctions imposed over itsnuclear and ballistic missileprogrammes, whileWashington insists it takesmore tangible steps towards

giving them up.Speculation has

mounted that Pyongyangcould abandon its mora-torium on intercontinen-tal ballistic missile tests -- although its ominousthreat of a “Christmasgift” to the US appears tohave fizzled.

The North may seethe period running up toSeoul’s April parliamen-tary election next year as

“a window for seeking maxi-mum benefits for minimalconcessions” and try to escalatetensions, said Leif-Eric Easley,a professor at Ewha Universityin Seoul.

“But Kim does not want torisk conflict with the US or lossof Chinese support with exces-sive provocations,” he told AFP.

“So Pyongyang may pro-long diplomatic deadlock untilit becomes clear whether thenext US administration will beled by Trump or someone else.”

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The bilateral ties betweenIndia and South Africa fur-

ther deepened in 2019 with thetwo countries stepping up theircooperation in the area ofdefence and developing a road

map to enhance their strategicpartnership.

South African PresidentCyril Ramaphosa was the chiefguest at the Republic Dayparade in New Delhi on January26. The visit of Ramaphosa, thesecond South African presidentto be the chief guest at theRepublic Day celebrations, wasof high symbolic value andwas very special for both thecountries as India celebrated the150th birth anniversary ofMahatma Gandhi, while SouthAfrica observed the 100th birthanniversary of the anti-apartheid icon, NelsonMandela.

Twenty-four years ago,shortly after the end of theApartheid regime in early 1994,Mandela came to India as theChief Guest at the Republic Dayparade in 1995.

In 1997, India and SouthAfrica signed the StrategicPartnership, called the Red Fort

Declaration. Since then, thebilateral ties between the twocountries have grown strongerwith the two nations havingMoUs in practically all areas.

During his 2019 India visit,President Ramaphosa renewedthe Declaration with the three-year Strategic Programme ofCooperation (2019-2021), whichaims at enhancing bilateralcooperation in a time-boundmanner. The strategic pro-gramme will facilitate expansionof ties in several key areas suchas defence, maritime securityand trade and investment.

India and South Africa alsoresolved to work together toaddress the issue of fugitiveeconomic offenders throughinternational organisations andinstitutions, such as G20,Financial Action Task Force(FATF) and others.

The year 2019 also wit-nessed the first-ever joint India-Africa military training exercise,

which was held in Pune inMarch and was participated bynine countries, including SouthAfrica. The other countrieswhich attended the Indian-Africa Field Training Exercisewere Egypt, Ghana, Nigeria,Senegal, Sudan, Tanzania,Namibia, Mozambique, Uganda,Niger and Zambia.

The bygone year also sawmany Indian companiesexpanding their businesses inSouth Africa.

While, global naturalresources player VedantaResources Ltd — which hasalready invested �3,000 crore inSouth Africa — announced afresh investment of �8,500 croreto expand its mining and alliedoperations, carmaker Mahindra& Mahindra —which is cele-brating 15th year of its opera-tions in the resource-rich coun-try — has inaugurated its SpecialFitment Centre in Gauteng.

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Liverpool appear to have the Premier Leaguetitle wrapped up with a 13-point advantageover second-placed Leicester but the fight

to avoid relegation looks like being a down to thewire tussle.

Just nine points separates ninth-placedCrystal Palace and third from bottom Aston Villa.

Here AFP Sport picks out three pivotal match-es in Wednesday’s action:

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The old adage ‘too good to go down’ shouldapply to Arsenal, who have been a fixture in thetop tier since 1919/20.

However, they are just six points above the

drop zone and new boss Mikel Arteta would prob-ably have preferred an easier opponent thanManchester United as he bids to win his first gameafter a draw and defeat in his opening two match-es in charge.

The United attack will be licking their lips atthe thought of giving the weak Gunners defencea thorough test with goalkeeper Bernd Leno anddefenders Skohdran Mustafi and David Luiz farfrom reliable.

Arteta will want to see more of what his sideproduced in the opening half hour of the 2-1defeat by Chelsea if they are to avoid a fifth suc-cessive home loss in all competitions — their pre-sent run of four is their worst since 1959.

“Individual errors cost you games but I can’tfault the effort, commitment and for putting inplace what we practised,” said Arteta.

However, with confidence at a low ebbdefeat for Arsenal on Wednesday and victory forthird from bottom Aston Villa at Burnley wouldsuck them deeper into the relegation battle.

Hammers pray Moyes delivers in second com-ing

David Moyes may not be welcomed back uni-versally by West Ham fans but if the 55-year-oldsaves them from relegation for a second time likehe did in the 2017-18 season, before being dis-pensed with, then all will be forgiven.

A home game for the side fourth from bot-tom against Bournemouth, who are just a pointabove them in 16th, represents a seemingly idealfirst challenge.

However, their home form has been as woe-ful as Arsenal’s with four successive defeats —equalling their worst run in the Premier League

since November 2005 — and it would not be asurprise to see Moyes energise their attack byselecting both Michail Antonio and SebastienHaller.

The Cherries have largely escaped attentionin their terrible run — just one win in nine —but the pressure may begin to mount on EddieHowe with a defeat.

“It feels great to be home,” said Moyes.“I feel like I’ve got unfinished business.”

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Nigel Pearson engineered a remarkable res-cue act for Leicester in the 2014-15 season — atthe time they were only the third side to escapethe drop having been bottom at Christmas —arguably laying the foundations for their evenmore miraculous title win the following cam-paign.

The 56-year-old — who was relieved of hisduties prior to the league winning season —could be on course to do the same for secondfrom bottom Watford. Their third manager thisterm has guided them to two wins and a drawin four matches since taking over.

This new found confidence was reflected ineasing to a 3-0 win over third from bottom AstonVilla on Saturday — scoring two of their goalsafter they had been reduced to 10 men — andthis will be a much needed weapon when theyhost Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Wolves arrive sitting pretty in seventh placeand on the back of an impressive win over cham-pions Manchester City and considered unluckyto have lost to Liverpool on Sunday.

Pearson for his part will be looking for moreof the same of what he witnessed against Villa:“We showed good intensity. We showed incred-ible unity on the pitch and bench. We have tomake sure that remains high on our agenda —to keep the players together.”

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David Moyes said he would per-form so well in his second spell

as West Ham manager that the own-ers would have no option but torenew his contract when it comes toan end.

The 56-year-old Scotsman,whose reputation took a batteringduring a deeply unsuccessful spell asManchester United boss in 2013-14,signed an 18 month contract with thePremier League strugglers on Sunday.

Moyes was let go by co-ownersDavid Gold and David Sullivan afterthe 2017-18 season despite leadingthe club to survival and a 13th-placefinish.

Moyes, who established his rep-utation with Everton before the

demoralising spell at United, said hewas not bitter about being let go in2018.

“No, because things were donecorrectly — I wasn’t taken on and Iwas told that,” he said on Monday ata press conference ahead ofWednesday’s home game with fellowstrugglers Bournemouth.

“I was disappointed, I’ve said that,but I’ve got another chance to goagain.

“I think it says a lot about theowners, they thought the job I didwas good enough to give me anoth-er opportunity.

“This time I’m going to make itso there’s no choice but to renew.

“There’s a clause in there and I’mgoing to make it impossible to ignorethat, that's my plan.”

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Swedish star ZlatanIbrahimovic will be official-

ly presented as an AC Milanplayer on January 3, the Italianclub confirmed.

Ibrahimovic returns to theside on a six-month deal,promising to help rescue thestruggling Serie A outfit’s sea-son.

The 38-year-old willundergo his medical onThursday, January 2 and willhold his first press conferencethe following day.

“AC Milan announces thatZlatan Ibrahimovic’s pressconference is scheduled forFriday January 3rd at CasaMilan at 10 am.” (0900GMT),”they said in a statement onMonday.

The six-month deal isreported to be worth around3.5 million euros ($3.9 mil-lion) plus bonuses, with theoption of a further year.

It will mark the Swede’ssecond stint with Milan, sevenyears after he left for ParisSaint-Germain.

He played for theRossoneri from 2010-2012scoring 56 goals in 85 appear-ances and helped the clubwin their 18th and last leaguetitle in 2011.

One of the most success-ful clubs in the world, AC

Milan are 11th in the table justseven points above relegation.

“I’m coming back to aclub I hugely respect and tothe city of Milan I love,” theformer Sweden forward saidafter the announcement ofhis return.

“I’ll fight together with myteammates to change thecourse of this season. I will doeverything to make it happen.”

Milan have come up shortin their attacking options withjust 16 goals in 17 games so farthis term.

Ibrahimovic left LosAngeles Galaxy last monthafter a two-year stay havingscored 52 goals in 56 games,allowing to sign with anotherside for free.

He had previously wonthree league titles with InterMilan, and two with Juventus,which were revoked followingthe match-fixing scandal.

Milan’s first game afterthe winter break will be athome against Sampdoria onJanuary 6.

Ibrahimovic started hiscareer at Malmo in his nativeSweden.

He went on to play forAjax, Juventus, Inter,Barcelona, Milan, PSG andManchester United, winningtrophies with all these clubsbut never the ChampionsLeague.

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Former world number oneMaria Sharapova said

Tuesday she still had “a lot offire” as she attempts to resurrecther career after an injury-plagued 2019.

The five-time major winnerwill open her 2020 campaign inBrisbane after being awarded awildcard by organisers in prepa-ration for the Australian Openlater in January.

“To be fair when I wasyounger I never saw myselfplaying past 30,” the 32-year-oldRussian told reporters inBrisbane.

“But I still feel there is a lotin me to give. I still have a lotof fire in me and I am big com-petitor.”

Sharapova has not playedsince a first-round loss tocareer-long rival SerenaWilliams at the US Open inAugust.

She has slipped to 133 inthe world rankings after a 2019season ruined by a shoulderinjury which limited her to 15competitive matches.

“As long as the shoulderstays healthy and my body

allows me to, I hope there is alot of time left for me,” she said.

Sharapova won theBrisbane title in 2015 and joinsa high-class field for next week’sevent spearheaded by Australia’sworld number one AshleighBarty and Australian Openchampion Naomi Osaka.

World number twoKarolina Pliskova is also play-ing as are fellow top 10 starsElina Svitolina, Petra Kvitovaand Kiki Bertens.

“It’s a fresh start after atough last season,” said

Sharapova. "There were a lot ofups and downs, there weretimes when I was ready but theshoulder wasn’t.

“But I have had a fairlygood off season and I am moti-vated to compete. At this pointin my career when I have thatfeeling, it’s a good sign.”

The Brisbane Internationalbegins on January 6, withSharapova then scheduled toplay the Kooyong Classic exhi-bition event in Melbournebefore the opening grand Slamof the year from January 20.

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England’s record goalscorerWayne Rooney will make

his debut for second-tier Derbyagainst Barnsley on Thursday,the club’s manager Phillip Cocuconfirmed.

Rooney, 34, joined Derby asa player-coach from MLS sideDC United but has been ineli-gible to play for his new sideuntil January.

“If a player with the quali-ties, career and the experienceof Rooney (is available) youhave to be very happy and glad

he is here,” said Cocu afterMonday’s 2-1 home win overCharlton in the Championship.

“He’s fit, he can start but hewill need a few games.Expectation will be high whenhe starts playing but we have togive him a few games to buildup his minutes and get in theteam.

“So maybe not perfect fromthe start but it’s important hewill get in the team as soon aspossible so we get a certainshape in our team.”

Rooney’s debut can’t comesoon enough for Derby.

Their win on Mondaymoved them into 17th place inEnglish football’s second-tier.However, they are still ninepoints shy of the play-off spotsand 21 behind the two automat-ic promotion places.

On Monday, teenage mid-fielder Jason Knight scored hisfirst goals in professional foot-ball to give Derby the threepoints, ending a run of sevengames without a win.

Victory came despite theRams playing most of the matcha man down after KrystianBielik was sent off for a crudechallenge on Conor Gallagher.

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Manchester Citywill provide a

test of see how gen-uine Everton’srevival is, CarloAncelott i onTuesday, despite thePremier Leaguechampions’ shakycampaign.

Everton coachAncelotti, 60, hasguided Everton totwo wins in his firsttwo matches incharge since replac-ing Marco Silva,who was sacked inearly Decemberafter they slippedinto the bottomthree.

H o w e v e r ,Ancelotti — one ofonly three managersto have won theChampions Leaguethree times — saysCity will provide amore realist icbarometer onwhere Evertonstand despite thewelcome wins overBurnley and Newcastle.

“Against City this is a fantastic test to see wherewe are at,” Ancelotti said at his pre-match press con-ference.

“They are a really strong team but we can have con-fidence to do our best.

“I think at this moment it is good to have this kindof test.”

Ancelotti, who in his previous stint in England wonthe domestic double with Chelsea in the 2009/10 cam-paign, said City remained a formidable opponent evenif their defence of the league title has gone awry andtrail leaders Liverpool by 14 points.

“Maybe City aren't at the same level as last yearbut they still remain a fantastic team with fantasticplayers and a fantastic manager,” he said.

“It will be really tough to compete with them, butwe need to have the confidence to compete and to befocused on our football.

“We don’t have to look too much to the opponentbecause they are really strong so it's better to be focusedon our idea of football.”

Ancelotti, a two-time European Cup winner as aplayer with the outstanding AC Milan side of the late1980’ and early 90’s, heaped praise on City managerPep Guardiola, who he replaced as Bayern Munichmanager when the Spaniard left to take over City in2016.

“Pep is a fantastic manager,” said Ancelotti.“We’ve met some times, not a lot in games, but I

have a really good relationship (with him) and a lotof respect for him.

“He is a genius; he’s always tried to do somethingspecial on the pitch.”

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Ahat-trick of losses inthe last three rounds

ended Koneru Humpy’shopes of a second title atthe women’s World Rapidand Blitz Championshipsas the IndianGrandmaster finished12th overall in the two-day blitz competitionhere.

Kateryna Lagno ofRussia and Norway’sMagnus Carlsen defend-ed their titles in thewomen’s and men’s blitzcompetition on Monday.

Humpy, who hadclaimed the WorldWomen’s Rapid ChessChampionship title afterdrawing the Armageddongame against Lei Tingjieof China on Saturday, wasplaced second with sevenpoints from nine roundsafter the opening day ofthe blitz competition.

However, the 32-year-old Indian failed to con-tinue in the same vein andended the tournamentwith 10.5 points out of 17games.

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Moyes, who also had unsuc-cessful spells at Spanish sideReal Sociedad and Sunderland,said he had not hesitated whenhe received a phone call from theowners.

“It was very simple whenthey called me,” he said.

“They asked me do I want tocome back and I said 'I can’t wait”.

“We didn’t talk about thepast, we were just talking aboutthe team now, what we have to doand the position we’re in.”

Moyes return has not beenuniversally welcomed by WestHam fans but he said he was theright fit for the job.

“What anybody’s getting is a

very experienced PremierLeague manager, I think there’sarguably only two or three moreexperienced around, and I win,”he said.

“There’s a lot of new modernthings in football but recently Ithink you’ve seen signs of thingsgoing back a bit.

“We do want to keep posses-sion but perhaps possession isnot now seen, even maybe byyourselves (in the media), as thekey to winning games.

“The fans want to see moreattacking football, action andexcitement.

“The biggest thing I want tosee from my team is for the sup-porters to be excited — I wouldlove that to be the case.”

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��0��KIIT Group of Colleges

invites applications for admis-sion to various courses in2020-2021 session. Thecourses offered are BTech(CSE ECE, EEE, civil engi-neering & mechanical engi-neering), MTech (ECE &CSE), MBA, BBA & BCA.

Duration: Four yearsEligibility: Candidates

must have appeared/passedClass XII examination forbachelors degree, andappeared/passed graduationfor masters degree pro-grammes.

Last date to apply: June30, 2020.

��B ��0��The Indian Institute of

Art and Design (IIAD) incollaboration with KingstonSchool of Art, London invitesapplications for admissionsto its undergraduate pro-grammes in fashion design,fashion business management,communication design andinterior architecture & design.

It also offers postgraduateprogrammes in fashion designand fashion business manage-ment.

The institute offers theseprogrammes through its cre-ative studio-based educationand strives to groom the nextgeneration of designers anddesign thinkers at its state-of-the-art campus in New Delhi.

How to apply: Log on towww.iiad.edu.in or contact+9198713 83633.

�� JK Business School (JKBS)

invites applications for admis-sion to its full time AICTEapproved PGDM programme.

Duration: Two yearsEligibility: Graduate in

any discipline from a recog-nised university with mini-mum 50 per cent score is eli-gible to apply for the PGDMprogramme.

How to apply: Log on towww.jkbschool.org or email [email protected].

L ast date to apply :January 31, 2020.

��0��The University of

Strathclyde, Glasgow invitesapplications for admissionsto its BSc Hons ArchitecturalStudies starting in September2020.

Students will be taught ina dynamic studio-based envi-ronment by professional prac-titioners and academics.

The university focuses onengagement with local andinternational communitiesencouraging students to bal-ance the practical realities ofthe world with innovativedesign.

Students will develop cre-ative design skills, and learnabout construction tech-niques, materials and environ-ment informed by an under-standing of architectural his-tory, culture and theory.

Duration: Four yearsEligibility: Minimum 70-

75 per cent in all subjectstaken at Class XII level and thesame at Class X level.

Fee: £18,100 per year forinternational students

How to apply: Log on tohttps://www.strath.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/architec-turalstudies/#contactus [email protected].

��0��The University of

Sheffield, UK invites applica-tions for admissions to its BScArtificial Intelligence andComputer Science with a yearin Industry course starting inSeptember 2020.

Duration: Four yearsEligibility: Minimum 85

per cent in Class XII includ-ing Maths. IELTS grade of 6.5with a minimum of 6.0 in eachcomponent; or an alternativeacceptable English languagequalification.

How to apply: Log on tohttps://www.sheffield.ac.uk/prospectus/courseDetails.do?id=GG752020.

The year 2019 was full of devel-opments in the professional

education space and upskillingplatforms have fared in thebygone months. The key trendswitnessed in the space in 2019 areas follows.

Trend 1: Revenue growth ofed-tech companies

The surge witnessed by ed-tech companies in the profession-al education space, over the lastone year is phenomenal. We haveseen significant growth over thepast one-year with professionalsincreasingly opting for high-qual-ity up-skilling programmes thatcan help them achieve career tran-sitions. We generated around �150crore in revenue in FY19, andexpect to achieve a turnover of�400 crore by the end of this fis-cal and �1000 crore by FY21.

Trend 2: Freshers opting forcourses in Data Science, AI andML

Industry expectations fromfreshers have changed drasticallyover the year. Corporates nowwant to hire professionals that arewell versed in new-age skills likedevops, data science, machinelearning and cloud. We have seengreat demand for our data scienceprogramme that is focused on

fresh graduates looking to build acareer in data science and analyt-ics. Recently, about 60 per cent ofour current batch has alreadybeen placed with an average salarypackage of �5.6 lac per annum (85per cent more as opposed to theusual �3 to �3.5 lac per annum).Several students with one to twoyears of prior experience haveinfact even drawn a 100 per centhike on their salary. This coursehas helped thousands of profes-sionals to bag better roles and paypackages this year.

Trend 3: Tech companiesincreasingly partnering withedtech platforms

Re-skill is the current buzz-word echoing off corporate wallsas companies are driving largescale initiatives among the existingworkforce to build a continuouslearning culture. Skilling hasbecome a priority for organisa-tions. We have made rapid stridesin delivering in-depth and quali-ty pedagogy to the professionalsthrough multiple learning modelsand are now working with corpo-rates to deliver tailor-made pro-grammes keeping in mind theroles and requirements within theorganisation.

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Technology continues todeeply impact every aspect oflife and education is no dif-ferent. The digital divide is

shrinking steadfastly at a rate of fiveper cent annually and internet growthstatistics show that by the year 2028,100 per cent of the world populationwill have internet access. Access tointernet coupled with other techno-logical advancement will complete-ly transform the way education hasbeen imparted till now. Here aresome trends of the immediate future.

Individualised learning plansThousands of years ago India had

the gurukul system. Each child wouldget individualised learning as pertheir ability.Somewhere we lost thiswonderful gift of teaching and learn-ing. Till date students continue tolearn at different speeds yet wechurn them out of schools like fac-tories would churn out goods. We allwish that we could run schools witha smaller student teacher ratio butunfortunately that is not always pos-sible. Technology is helping put for-ward a customised approach whichhelp students learn with techniquesthat interest them the most. ILP willnot only help students learn at theirown pace, but also track and managetheir learning needs. This is especial-ly beneficial for students with learn-ing difficulties who engage better vialistening and speaking mediums.But

most importantly by introducing acustomised learning plan in discus-sion with the student, their buy-in isgreater and the students develop self-reflective abilities.

Online assessments for trackingstudent performance

Online assessment platformshave transformed the way teachersevaluate the performance of thestudents. They are also used byclassroom teachers to understandwhat percentage of the class hasunderstood the didactic and there-fore, plan lessons better.

Students will continue to havea place to express their feelings andthoughts

More and more youngsters arecommitted to bring about positivechange at a large scale basis.Crowdfunding is possible at a clickof a button. There are several plat-forms which gives a voice to stu-dents. They support a cause and feellike they are a part of a larger com-munity and this has been possibledue to technology.

Educators will have to be opento change and adapt to changingtechnology

Educators who aren’t willing toadapt to the technological revolutionrun the risk of becoming redundant.Upgradation of skills will enable edu-cators to widen the technologicalknowledge pool of students and

then leave the choice of utilising theskills up to them. They will have toupskill themselves to be able tokeep pace with the learners.

Game based learningThere are several game based

learning programs for children asyoung as five to six years old whichare helping children learn complexconcepts in a simple and effortlessmanner.There is instant feedbackgiven to the student player. Differentlevels help to track learning progressand gives students and teachers aclear learning pathway to go to thenext level.

School management systemshave changed the way the schoolsnow connect with various stake-holders — parents, students andteachers

More and more schools are nowadopting SMS to develop a compre-hensive eco system where real timeinformation of their childrenis avail-able. It is also a very convenient toolfor working parents. More and moreschools will continue to digitisetheir communication which couldeven include sending out simple cir-culars via email instead of hardcopies.

Schools spaces are evolvingThere will be libraries with no

books, just kindles and tablets.Think labs and innovative centreswill be set up which will support

robotics, artificial intelligence, andproduct designs using 3D printers.Use of virtual reality kits to simulatereal life experiences will increase.

It will be up to instructionaldesigners and educational technolo-gies to make the most of the oppor-tunities provided by technology tochange education so that effectiveand efficient education is available toeveryone everywhere.

While all these positive trendswill be on the rise in the future, adilemma will continue to plague edu-cation leaders.

On one end, schools with accessto international pedagogies, bringyour own device policies and latestgadgets such as VR sets and 3Dprinters, are wondering if they needto reduce screen time and introduceactivities which build character anddevelop motor skills by introducingcarpentry, gardening or Taekwondo,the other upcoming schools arebringing in interactive white boardsand upgrading their ICT labs.

Technology is agreat equaliserand thus those who do not haveaccess to it can be left behind. Butlike with everything in life, moder-ation is the key. The onus lies on bothparents and educators to set bound-aries on utilisation of digital mediaby children.

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Planning a career is a lifelong process, whichbegins by choosing the course stream of your

choice, getting a job and growing in the job. It isimportant to think wisely while selecting the rightcareer and arriving at the right decision. Embarkingon a path which leads to a bright career in futureis not accidental. In fact, the process of choosing acareer is an introspective and important task.

It is important to begin early and to know andlearn about options that lie ahead of you after schoolso that you can make an intelligent and calculateddecision.

Considering there are about 9000 careeroptions in the world, the spectrum of choice is wideranging from humanities to commerce, science tomedicine and engineering, management to defenceamongst others. A plethora of opportunities awaitsstudents of Humanities stream. Designers(interior/exterior, jewellery, fashion/textile), fine arts,photography, print journalism, travel and tourism,law, mass communication, film making, advertis-ing, public relations and hotel industry are a fewoptions to be considered.

With the positive changing scenario around theworld in the realm of economic activity, selectingCommerce as a career option is one of the best tograb. Commerce students get familiar with knowl-edge of business, trade, market fluctuation, basicsof economics, fiscal policies, industrial policies,share market, stock markets and others.Considering the burgeoning activity of market, tal-ented individuals are needed to make a balancebetween demand and supply.

Individuals with careers in science are respon-sible for many of the things we, as a society, ben-efit from every day — ways to prevent and cure dis-eases, new technology, and strategies to help con-

trol climate change. The breadth of careers in engineering spans

from mechanical to electrical, civil, environmen-tal, software, chemical, aerospace, petroleum, geo-logical and mining.

Medicine is the field of health and healing. Notonly that, Medicine is one of the most innovativeand profitable industries worldwide. It is one of theoldest and most respected professions.

Management is one of the largest, most varied,and most interesting areas of work in the globaleconomy. Itincludes but is not restricted to consult-ing, entrepreneurship, human resources, generalmanagement. Non-profit areas and strategic plan-ning are few others to come under its purview.

A career in defence promises one of the mostprestigious and respected positions in the country.It makes a person not only disciplined and strongbut also opens up many avenues of growth.

The choice is yours, choose wisely.

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The Indian Institute of ManagementSambalpur (IIM-S) hosted the 13th

Annual ISDSI conference, an internation-al conference of Indian SubcontinentDecision Sciences Institute (ISDSI). Thetheme of the three-day conference was‘Managing Industry Transformation inPost-Digital Era’.

The main objective of this conference wasto provide a platform for academicians,researchers and practitioners to disseminateresearch, providing insights into the chal-lenges, opportunities, emerging strategies andanalytical tools in the domain of decisionmaking, present case studies on applicationof tools and techniques and explore cutting-edge ideas, results and share experiences.

The conference was attended by over 300professors, scholar and industry managersfrom USA, China, Europe, New Zeeland,South Africa and India. More than 200research papers were presented during thethree days of the conference.

The three days of the conference wit-nessed workshops, panel discussions andkeynote addresses by dignitaries from thecountry and across the globe.

All the sessions stayed in line with themain theme while suggesting ways on howmanagement institutes can continue to thrivein the post digital era and the role of B-schoolsin this age.The sessions focused on how lead-ers can make the best use of availableresources to leverage traditional strengths andcapacities to the fullest.

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The recent years have witnessed asea change in the education sector,especially in terms of increasing

student engagement and improvinglearning outcomes. This development inthe overall learning process can beattributed to innovations like onlinelearning, smart classrooms, and audio-visual (AV) supplements, among others.

With these innovations coupledwith a slew of other new-age concepts— be it role play, peer teaching, or gam-ification —it is clear how schools areactively taking education to new heights.

Here’s looking at some of thesetrends and innovations that are trans-forming education.

Full day schooling/ 9-6 school con-cept: A fresh approach to schooling, the9-6 concept is designed especially formillennial working parents. While stu-dents spend their day indulging in pro-ductive after-school activities, parentscan rest assured that their kids are ingood hands. At 6 pm, after wrapping-upwork, parents can conveniently pick uptheir children and head home as a fam-ily.

As homework and co-curricularactivities are all taken care of at school,the family can then spend quality timetogether after having a remarkably pro-ductive day.

Smart classrooms: Catering to thetech-savvy students of today, numerousschools are creating smart classrooms tomake the entire learning process moreengaging, effective, and fulfilling.

Such classrooms comprise digitalscreens and smart whiteboards thathelp students visually understand con-cepts through rich and interactive mul-timedia content. This can include 2D-3D images, infographics or videos thattruly interest students and boost reten-tion.

Green classrooms: In the wake ofskyrocketing pollution levels in mostIndian cities, it has become critical forschools to change their classroom set-tings and make it safer for students.

To achieve this, many schools areplanting indoor plants and succulentsuch as snake plants, aloe vera, rubberplants, etc. that act as natural air puri-fiers and help eliminate pollutants from

the classrooms. This ensures that whenthey are in school, children can breatheeasy.

Conceptual learning: The ideabehind this approach is to eliminate theage-old practice of rote learning andencourage students to understand thesubjects instead of mugging up the top-ics. It is high time for students to movebeyond the idea of scoring well and focuson enhancing their intellect by under-standing concepts.

Gamification: Gamification is anew fun concept that involves experi-ential learning and games - somethingthat students of all ages would love totake part in. This is why schools areincreasingly associating with technolo-gy players and other non-profit agenciesthat are into crafting interesting gami-fied projects that make learning moreexciting than ever before.

School lockers: In a bid to lightenthe burden of heavy school bags,numer-ous schools are creating locker facilitiesfor students, thus allowing them to leavetheir text and exercise books safely inlockers after school hours. This needbecame mainstream when it was foundthat even Class II and III students werecarrying bags weighing around or morethan 4 kg, which can be harmful to theirback posture at such an early age.

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Internshala hasannounced itsannual scholarship,

Internshala CareerScholarship for Girls(ICSG-2020). ICSG isan annual award of�25,000 which is meantto help advance onegirl’s career in her cho-sen field be it acade-mics, sports, arts, or anyother field.

The scholarship willbe awarded as anallowance for pursuingan internship or under-taking a project in thechosen field, paymenttowards a specialisedtraining program, spe-cial equipment, etc.

Eligibility: AnyIndian girl between theage group of 17 to 23years is eligible to applyfor the scholarship. Toapply, the girls need tofill a form and statetheir career objective.The applications will beshortlisted based onfour elements includingthe fight against odds,achievement, purpose,and need.

For more details,visit: http://bit.ly/ICSG-2020

Application dead-

line: The last dateto apply is by

January 15, 2020.

The University ofSouthern Queenslandinvites applications forUSQ InternationalTuition Fee Scholarship.

Eligibility: Applyfor a Master ofProfessionalAccounting, Master ofInformation Systems,and Master of BusinessAdministration degreelevel course at the uni-versity. Should notalready take any otheraward from USQ andreceived an offer toapply for semester 2 andsemester 3 2019. Havean offer letter, academictranscripts, curriculumvitae, and a passport, ornational identity cardand student visa mustbe submitted. Must havean undergraduatedegree at AQF 7 orequivalent with a mini-mum GPA of 5.0/7.0 or6.0/10.0 overall.

Language require-ment: DemonstratingEnglish language profi-ciency by taking TOEFLor IELTS test is a mustto study this pro-gramme.

How to apply:Online mode.

Application dead-line: February 24, 2020,for new semester 1.

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Employees form the backboneof any entity, irrespective ofthe industry or vertical. Given

the cut-throat completion in thecurrent business landscape,employee engagement has beenobserved to result in enhanced pro-ductivity, reduced staff turnover,improved customer retention andincreased revenue earnings. It is,therefore, the onus of any organi-sation to manage and cater to therequirements of its own work-force.

But, in today’s ever-evolvingwork culture, monetary compen-sations or a high employee-man-ager ratio are no longer consideredtestaments for an efficient employ-ee management ecosystem.

Where does Customer rela-tionship management (CRM) comein here? Contrary to popular belief,a CRM system can be used as anideal employee management tool.Providing a greater sense of controlto senior leaders and HR profes-sionals, CRM is touted as a keyingredient of success of an organ-isation on a whole. Here are the topfive technology trends in the CRMworld for employee management.

��Employee activities are not

always recorded in the system,

which may later cause a discrep-ancy in workforce management.This explains the need for digital-isation of CRM to ensure organi-sations are harnessing the potentialof employees across locations,thereby keeping the productivityhigh. This can be a differentiatingfactor for businesses consideringtoday’s evolving job landscapewhere it’s becoming increasinglycommon for employees to workremotely.

��In this age of digitalisation,

organisations across industries areturning to a host of emergingtechnologies to achieve scalablegrowth. At the same time, CRMsystems are constantly being updat-ed to keep up with this explosivebusiness growth. Unlike tradition-al CRM technology, the modernwork culture calls for CRM inte-gration with smartphones to enablebusinesses to keep a track onemployees, transact, authenticate aswell as report the business activi-ties. This new approach allowscompanies to have access to real-time data, thus bringing a higherlevel of transparency.

��AI-driven CRM activities are

expected to boost global businessrevenues by $1.1 trillion and create8 lakh net-new jobs by 2021,reveals IDC White Paper, com-missioned by Salesforce.

The fact that an increasingnumber of companies are opting forAI-powered CRM tools furtherindicates a growing adoption of thistrend. Whether by facilitating cus-tomer interactions through AI-based chatbots or by offering valu-able insights into consumer behav-iour, artificial intelligence will aug-ment the performance of employ-ees.

For example, SugarCRM hasintroduced an AI-powered toolnamed Hint that helps sales pro-fessionals to find leads and relevantcontact-related information. Moresignificantly, AI could automate andaccelerate repetitive tasks, such asaccumulating and analysing con-sumer data, tracking buying pat-terns, making reports, among oth-ers. This, in turn, will allow employ-ees to focus on other tasks whichrequire human expertise andinsights.

��As predicted by Gartner, “CRM

will be at the heart of digital ini-tiatives in coming years as enter-prises look to create more targeted

interactions in a multichannel envi-ronment.” The research firm alsobilled Internet of Things as the fifthdriver of CRM in the The Nexus ofForces. The explosive growth ofconnected devices in recent yearscan be contributed to the risinginterest towards IoT.

Experts believe that IoT canopen the door to a whole newworld of opportunities for CRM.When it comes to employee man-agement, the influx of IoT can allowcompanies to monitor effectiveness,measure productivity and evaluatethe performance of employees in aseamless and fair manner.

��0��Companies are now taking an

all-encompassing approach toCRM. However, they are also real-izing the importance of segregatingtheir employees into differentgroups as per their roles andresponsibilities. With technology’sinvasion in industries, the USP ofmodern CRM lies in its ability tooffer role-based interfaces thatallow employees to manage theirbusiness activities and workloadmore efficiently. This role-basedinterface can be of particularimportance when the projects arelarge and the stakes are high.

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Market benchmark Sensexslumped 304 points on the

last trading session of 2019,dragged by losses in index-heavyweights RelianceIndustries, HDFC twins, ICICIBank and TCS. After swingingover 423 points intra-day, the30-share BSE Sensex endeddown by 304.26 points, or 0.73per cent, at 41,253.74. Thebroader NSE Nifty closed 87.40points, or 0.71 per cent, downat 12,168.45.

Despite ending on a weaknote in the session, Sensex sky-rocketed 5,185.41 points or14.37 per cent and the Niftysoared 1,305.90 points or 12.02per cent during the entire year.On an annual basis, investorswealth soared by Rs over 11 lakhcrore in 2019 helped by the stu-pendous rally in the stock mar-ket. Signing off 2019, the mar-ket capitalisation (m-cap) ofBSE-listed companies rose by Rs11,05,395.78 crore to Rs1,55,53,861.47 crore.

Rusmik Oza, Sr VP (Headof Fundamental Research-PCG), Kotak Securities Ltdcommented, “CY19 has seen abroad based rally across allregions wherein Indian equitiesunderperformed most of thedeveloped markets and few ofthe emerging markets. Thepolarisation seen in CY18 con-tinued in CY19 with only a

handful of stocks contributingto the returns in Nifty-50.”

“In CY19 till date India hasattracted USD 14.3 billion fromFPIs and USD 7.5 billion fromlocal mutual funds. We expectFPI flows could remain positivein CY20 and SIP flows toremain sticky with annualizedrun rate of USD 14-15 billion,”Oza added. On the last tradingday of 2019, Tech Mahindra wasthe top loser in the Sensexpack, shedding 2.51 per cent,followed by Bajaj Auto, RIL,Hero MotoCorp, IndusIndBank, Mahindra and Mahindra,HDFC and TCS. On the otherhand, NTPC, Sun Pharma,ONGC, PowerGrid andUltraTech Cement were amongthe gainers. During the day, BSEenergy, telecom, auto, teck, ITand finance indices ended up to1.20 per cent lower, while BSEpower, realty and metal indicesrose up to 0.83 per cent.

Vinod Nair, Head ofResearch, Geojit FinancialServices said, “Market witnessedthin trade on the last trading dayof the year with investors shy-ing away from taking freshposition on concerns that gov-ernment will breach its fiscaldeficit target.” He added thatmarkets wrapped up 2019 onthe higher side, with Nifty giv-ing a return of 12 per cent whilemid and small caps underperformed by -5 per cent& -11 per cent.

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Aday after the governmentsaid all operators will be

allowed to participate in theupcoming 5G trials, theDepartment of Telecom (DoT)held a meeting with variousservice providers and equip-ment vendors, includingHuawei, to discuss the way for-ward. The meeting on Tuesday,chaired by Telecom SecretaryAnshu Prakash, lasted for overan hour. An official with one ofthe telcos said that all operatorsattended the meeting.

A Huawei executive, whowas present at the meeting,declined to comment on theproceedings. Telecom MinisterRavi Shankar Prasad onMonday said the governmentwill allocate airwaves to all tele-com service providers for con-ducting trials of super-fastspeed 5G networks.

As things stand today,India will not bar any equip-ment suppliers in the upcom-ing trials for 5G. Asked specif-ically about the status ofHuawei in this context, theminister had said, “All playersmean all players”. This stance isexpected to spell relief for theChinese gear maker, which isfacing curbs in the US, andrivals western equipment mak-ers such as Ericsson.

Many countries, however,have allowed telecom serviceproviders to use Chinese gears.

And now, India has also indi-cated its unwillingness to keepany company out of 5G trials.This implies that all operators,backed by equipment vendorsthey have decided to partnerwith, will be able to participatein the upcoming 5G trials inthe country.

“I would like new innova-tions by Indian players in 5G.5G is future, it is speed.Therefore, we will encouragenew innovations in 5G,” theminister had said on Mondayon the sidelines of a telecomevent. Huawei India CEO JayChen had said in an e-mailstatement to PTI on Mondaythat the company firmlybelieves that only technologyinnovations and high-qualitynetworks will be the key torejuvenating the Indian tele-com industry.

Thanking the Indian gov-ernment for their continuedfaith in the company, Chen hadsaid, “We have our full confi-dence in the Modi governmentto drive 5G in India. We haveour full confidence in Indiangovernment and industry topartner with best technologyfor India’s own long-term ben-efit and also for cross-industrydevelopment.” Huawei is com-mitted to India, the companysaid. The 5G trials are widely-expected to begin betweenJanuary and March. Sourceshad recently said the govern-ment has received seven appli-

cations for 5G trials and addedthat all operators and vendors(including Nokia, Ericsson,Huawei, ZTE and Samsung)are keen to participate.

In September this year,Huawei had said it is hopefulthat the Indian government willtreat all foreign investments“fairly” and had urged theworld’s largest democracy tomake an “independent deci-sion” on permitting 5G trials inthe country. At that time, theChinese firm had also soughtto assure the Indian govern-ment that the company is fullycompliant with regulations inIndia, and of addressing con-cerns around cybersecurity.

Earlier this year, the UShad banned Huawei, theworld’s leader in telecomequipment and the numbertwo smartphone producer,over concerns of security andWashington had been pres-suring other countries torestrict the operations of theChinese telecom firm. The USPresident Donald Trump-ledadministration had placedHuawei and its affiliates on ablacklist, a move that bannedthe Chinese telecom equip-ment company from purchas-ing parts and componentsfrom American firms withoutthe US government approval.However, it had subsequentlyrelaxed some of the restric-tions, to reduce disruption forits customers.

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Telecom regulator Trai onTuesday issued draft rec-

ommendations on ‘networktesting before commerciallaunch of wireline services’ asit mooted a 90-day limit on thetest phase involving trial sub-scribers in such cases. TheTelecom Regulatory Authorityof India (Trai) has soughtstakeholders’ views on thedraft recommendations thatare modelled on the lines sim-ilar to norms that it had pre-viously prescribed in the caseof mobile services.

“Most of the issues raisedduring the consultationprocess for the norms for net-work testing before commer-cial launch for mobile ser-vices, are equally applicable forwireline access services.“However, as per the referencereceived from the Departmentof Telecom (DoT), this con-sultation paper on draft rec-ommendations is issued tosolicit the views of the stake-holders for specifying thenorms of network testingbefore commercial launch ofservices for wireline accessservices,” Trai said.

According to the draft rec-ommendations, a telecom ser-vice provider should beallowed to enrol test sub-scribers in the trial phase tocarry out the network testing

before commercial launch ofits services. “The authorityrecommends that there shouldbe no restriction on the time-limit, if the network testing isconducted using wireline tele-phone test connections givento employees and businesspartners for test purpose only,”it said. The number of test sub-scribers that can be enrolled byan operator in a circle shouldbe limited to 5 per cent of itsinstalled network capacity forthat area. “The service providerwill submit the detailed capac-ity calculations of the networkto DoT and Trai at least 15days before commencingenrolment of test subscribers,”it added.

The draft recommenda-tions also said that there shouldbe a limit of 90 days on the testphase involving test subscribers.“However, if the TSP fails toconclude network testing due tovalid reasons, it may make arepresentation to the licensor,seeking additional time for net-work testing giving detailedjustification, which may bedecided by the licensor on acase-to-case basis. The requisitenorms to be followed for exten-sion of timeline for networktesting may be formulated bythe licensor,” Trai said. Theduration for network testingprovided to the operator shouldnot exceed 180 days, accordingto the draft.

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New Delhi (PTI): Severalcoal-fired power plants, includ-ing those in the national capi-tal region, are likely to havemissed the revised deadline toretrofit equipment to curb airpollution, industry estimatesshowed. A total of 47.95gigawatts thermal power capac-ity missed the December 31,deadline to install Flue GasDesulphurization (FDG) unitsto minimise SO2 emissions, theestimates prepared by privatepower producers showed.

These include coal-firedunits in the national capitalregion. Coal-fired powerplants, which produce three-quarters of India’s electricity,account for some 80 per cent ofindustrial emissions of sulfurand nitrous-oxides, whichcause lung diseases and smog.Power plants were asked toinstall FGD units, which cutemissions of sulfur dioxides, inphases. In all 440 coal-firedplans that produce 166.5 GWhave to comply with the regu-lation by December 2022. Morethan one-third of these had toretrofit equipment byDecember 2019. The powerplants that missed the deadlineto cut emission levels across thecountry included 33 units witha total capacity of 18.12 GW inHaryana, Punjab and UttarPradesh.

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Script Open High Low LTPIBULHSGFIN 306.95 316.80 305.20 313.10TATAMOTORS 184.10 187.90 181.55 185.10RELIANCE 1544.70 1544.70 1509.10 1514.10YESBANK 47.25 48.05 46.35 46.95KOTAKBANK 1688.30 1690.10 1670.50 1684.50ICICIBANK 544.10 544.10 538.10 538.75SBIN 334.90 336.30 332.60 333.70POWERGRID 190.50 192.30 189.35 190.20IDEA 6.19 6.25 5.97 6.16AXISBANK 754.10 765.90 751.20 754.00MARUTI 7416.00 7416.00 7353.60 7367.20CARERATING 548.90 651.20 546.35 640.25TATASTEEL 473.00 475.25 470.20 472.00INFY 732.10 737.50 725.50 731.75HINDALCO 217.50 219.40 215.55 216.10SPICEJET 111.05 117.80 111.05 112.70TATAMTRDVR 76.55 77.60 74.85 77.10NAVINFLUOR 1026.05 1040.00 1001.00 1006.35SADBHAV 111.15 114.10 103.10 107.80LT 1302.00 1310.20 1291.30 1298.95ICICIPRULI 485.50 486.90 480.95 482.50JINDALSTEL 166.00 168.65 165.95 167.70HDFC 2439.05 2439.05 2406.95 2413.45JUBLFOOD 1625.00 1665.00 1622.00 1652.60APOLLOHOSP 1418.00 1454.00 1416.00 1441.55COLPAL 1465.45 1473.00 1457.50 1460.50ZEEL 303.25 304.00 290.40 292.20JUSTDIAL 580.60 584.15 566.00 571.60IBREALEST 59.65 65.20 59.25 65.20AMBUJACEM 195.50 198.30 194.90 196.30TCS 2185.25 2196.80 2158.30 2161.30RBLBANK 343.40 347.55 341.70 344.80BAJFINANCE 4255.00 4266.00 4221.80 4235.10TITAN 1195.05 1203.45 1184.80 1187.60BPCL 492.00 495.90 486.70 491.50BHARTIARTL 460.65 462.45 454.50 455.80PEL 1585.00 1591.10 1516.00 1523.50BANKBARODA 102.95 103.20 101.65 101.90TECHM 781.00 781.00 761.00 762.60HDFCLIFE 638.65 645.50 621.00 625.90INDUSINDBK 1530.00 1531.45 1506.00 1510.60COALINDIA 205.80 212.30 204.55 211.40SAIL 43.15 43.30 42.70 42.90BEML 979.60 999.00 979.60 983.60ACC 1458.60 1459.70 1442.15 1444.65STRTECH 115.60 121.40 115.60 118.45DMART 1892.00 1899.60 1829.20 1838.20ADANIGREEN 166.30 166.50 161.65 166.50TATAGLOBAL 322.00 325.80 319.75 321.05LTI 1777.00 1780.00 1740.75 1748.70VEDL 154.40 155.40 152.15 152.50JSWSTEEL 271.25 272.95 268.20 269.90ADANIENT 209.00 210.65 207.60 207.95ADANIGAS 155.50 164.30 155.50 162.70BOMDYEING 75.40 80.30 75.40 79.25BAJAJ-AUTO 3253.00 3253.00 3179.65 3185.50EICHERMOT 22777.00 22777.00 22400.00 22512.70DISHTV 13.20 13.45 13.04 13.13HDFCBANK 1286.80 1286.80 1269.00 1271.80HCLTECH 569.90 571.35 565.25 568.25ULTRACEMCO 4050.45 4071.85 4029.60 4046.85GODREJPROP 970.00 995.00 965.20 988.35HDFCAMC 3240.00 3240.00 3183.00 3196.50DLF 229.15 234.30 229.15 230.95ICICIGI 1387.00 1409.00 1380.15 1389.40ISEC 417.35 424.40 403.70 406.25RAYMOND 643.00 675.00 641.55 669.40WOCKPHARMA 241.45 242.80 233.35 233.85INDIGO 1346.00 1358.15 1328.00 1333.20HINDUNILVR 1944.00 1946.40 1920.00 1923.25ASIANPAINT 1802.65 1803.00 1781.15 1786.85BATAINDIA 1761.90 1771.80 1745.50 1750.70PNB 64.50 64.80 64.00 64.35INFIBEAM 56.70 57.35 54.20 54.45NCC 55.40 56.35 54.90 56.00GAIL 119.00 122.25 118.85 121.05INFRATEL 255.95 260.50 251.40 252.45SBILIFE 978.00 979.55 958.55 961.80NMDC 127.00 130.70 125.85 128.95SUNPHARMA 431.75 435.35 429.00 432.50RNAM 361.95 362.55 352.05 354.30ASHOKLEY 81.95 82.60 81.25 81.50BANDHANBNK 504.00 516.00 495.20 508.05NTPC 117.00 119.35 116.40 119.05ITC 239.00 239.00 237.50 237.65MGL 1060.00 1076.65 1056.10 1063.70STAR 368.00 368.80 361.20 362.00CRISIL 1835.10 1974.80 1812.00 1910.25BIOCON 291.60 296.70 290.45 293.90AUROPHARMA 464.00 469.20 455.50 457.20ADANIPORTS 366.50 368.65 364.80 365.95VGUARD 212.65 213.25 210.75 211.05L&TFH 118.00 120.00 117.65 118.60GRASIM 737.85 745.85 732.80 743.85PNBHOUSING 433.00 447.80 427.40 434.60PIIND 1459.55 1466.55 1441.20 1447.50M&M 538.80 538.80 530.40 531.45BHEL 42.95 43.80 42.65 43.45MINDTREE 801.15 804.30 795.30 799.20RAJESHEXPO 680.00 691.00 668.00 670.00CGCL 204.10 205.20 200.50 202.70PFC 114.70 118.75 112.70 117.80CANBK 222.00 223.50 220.95 221.30WABAG 168.15 189.50 167.10 183.10GUJGAS 229.30 238.70 229.30 237.60MANAPPURAM 180.60 181.55 177.00 177.40HINDPETRO 267.25 270.55 264.00 264.45

ESCORTS 633.10 635.65 628.50 629.50LUPIN 768.95 773.95 760.50 764.90VOLTAS 663.40 663.40 656.10 659.30MRF 66111.00 66572.00 65880.00 66327.75AVANTI 569.90 590.00 566.15 584.50IOC 127.00 127.50 125.10 125.65DIVISLAB 1838.00 1857.15 1835.00 1846.10HEROMOTOCO 2470.00 2474.90 2434.10 2443.85BAJAJFINSV 9425.00 9442.75 9378.45 9388.55JAICORPLTD 88.10 92.60 87.80 91.00TATACHEM 670.00 678.00 664.00 667.00TVSMOTOR 480.30 481.00 463.40 468.35MOTHERSUMI 149.10 149.70 146.25 146.55FRETAIL 345.20 348.60 339.40 342.00

ABCAPITAL 102.25 104.70 101.65 102.70FEDERALBNK 87.50 89.05 86.90 88.05BBTC 1009.20 1058.00 1006.30 1036.35GODREJAGRO 509.00 520.00 506.10 518.50UPL 588.00 591.25 583.10 584.55BEL 100.00 102.00 99.80 100.10ONGC 127.95 129.25 127.50 128.75CADILAHC 255.50 258.00 253.40 254.20PAGEIND 23666.00 23740.00 23186.85 23368.95SRF 3404.00 3446.30 3404.00 3435.85SRTRANSFIN 1165.00 1176.55 1155.60 1171.50CIPLA 480.50 484.00 477.05 478.45MFSL 541.00 542.75 533.40 534.70HSCL 61.80 63.00 60.35 60.70IGL 429.90 436.35 427.25 428.15OMAXE 157.50 157.50 154.20 155.40LICHSGFIN 438.80 443.80 432.75 434.10GRAPHITE 305.95 307.00 302.80 303.15RECLTD 140.50 144.70 140.25 143.25MUTHOOTFIN 765.55 771.00 760.20 761.35ADANIPOWER 61.95 62.10 61.10 61.80IRB 71.45 75.45 70.80 74.60MEGH 59.10 60.25 56.80 57.05IDFCFIRSTB 45.20 45.35 44.45 45.15HEG 1083.00 1089.10 1061.10 1065.80NBCC 34.50 35.15 34.30 34.85PCJEWELLER 23.30 24.65 23.15 24.40TATAELXSI 837.00 837.00 822.80 825.60BALRAMCHIN 182.90 185.55 181.75 183.35M&MFIN 321.55 326.25 320.00 322.30RAMCOCEM 758.85 764.00 752.95 754.60UNIONBANK 55.20 55.30 54.50 54.80DRREDDY 2890.00 2913.00 2865.10 2877.15NESTLEIND 14890.00 14917.00 14701.10 14789.95SUNTV 446.10 451.35 438.75 440.20UBL 1295.00 1297.05 1266.65 1272.20INDIANB 104.30 104.95 100.60 100.85UJJIVAN 345.00 352.20 345.00 347.55BANKINDIA 69.25 71.35 69.25 70.45WELCORP 144.00 147.80 141.90 144.60NIITTECH 1590.00 1601.15 1579.10 1589.85DELTACORP 198.05 200.80 197.15 197.95WIPRO 248.00 248.55 245.30 245.95AAVAS 1916.35 2000.00 1916.35 1976.90JINDALSAW 71.45 74.75 71.45 73.10POLYCAB 990.10 1000.00 982.20 991.70MARICO 341.25 343.90 340.30 341.75NOCIL 101.80 104.50 101.15 101.50BALKRISIND 991.90 997.20 981.75 990.90CHALET 367.00 395.00 345.10 347.95DABUR 462.75 466.70 457.80 458.40KNRCON 237.00 256.10 235.55 249.55EDELWEISS 113.40 113.70 108.10 109.05GNFC 167.30 167.50 162.45 163.70DIXON 3897.00 3904.20 3789.55 3801.65DEEPAKFERT 98.00 99.00 95.55 97.25VENKYS 1780.10 1788.00 1753.10 1758.20NAUKRI 2544.05 2569.60 2522.00 2530.80SUZLON 1.88 1.89 1.81 1.87BRITANNIA 3047.55 3066.60 3021.25 3027.25DCAL 86.70 87.50 83.05 84.55GLENMARK 346.00 349.30 345.45 347.50RPOWER 3.51 3.54 3.46 3.49GODFRYPHLP 1287.00 1304.00 1267.20 1273.80BASF 1003.10 1010.95 985.45 987.65INDIACEM 69.75 71.90 69.50 71.40HAVELLS 656.00 656.95 646.50 647.10BHARATFORG 492.00 492.85 482.15 483.35INDHOTEL 143.00 145.70 141.45 145.00PVR 1885.00 1913.95 1885.00 1898.70FORCEMOT 1102.00 1112.50 1076.15 1084.90NATIONALUM 44.25 44.40 43.50 43.65PIDILITIND 1401.00 1406.50 1385.10 1387.05

SIEMENS 1513.90 1523.20 1492.70 1496.85DCMSHRIRAM 371.00 399.90 369.20 396.05DBL 397.00 410.80 394.80 402.95EXIDEIND 186.70 187.70 184.75 186.50JMFINANCIL 91.45 94.90 90.10 94.20ITI 93.10 93.85 92.20 92.50TRENT 549.90 551.10 522.80 527.15GLAXO 1620.90 1633.95 1602.40 1608.30FORTIS 130.20 133.85 130.10 132.05AUBANK 801.75 822.15 783.05 805.75BOSCHLTD 15690.00 15800.60 15340.00 15391.30PFIZER 4222.95 4246.45 4185.00 4224.15DEEPAKNI 371.80 377.90 368.85 372.90TATAPOWER 56.50 56.80 56.30 56.50IDFC 39.05 39.55 38.45 39.25TEJASNET 96.60 96.95 79.35 95.10PETRONET 272.40 272.40 267.35 267.90SUNDRMFAST 487.25 503.75 486.00 500.85SUNTECK 414.00 418.00 405.00 415.40JUBILANT 526.80 541.95 523.95 536.75SWANENERGY 108.00 108.15 105.75 107.95ASHOKA 102.20 105.40 98.95 102.45RELCAPITAL 14.55 14.75 14.20 14.75APLAPOLLO 1852.70 1892.90 1850.00 1874.50BAJAJELEC 345.00 359.90 342.00 357.85GDL 123.80 124.50 119.20 122.35PHILIPCARB 119.20 120.25 118.00 118.45AMBER 1143.70 1145.90 1106.30 1116.55QUESS 481.00 495.70 476.00 483.60EQUITAS 108.45 108.45 106.35 106.80RCF 47.30 47.30 46.35 46.60MCX 1180.00 1180.70 1165.00 1167.90AMARAJABAT 725.90 730.00 721.50 724.50ITDC 308.90 319.95 308.05 314.00ABFRL 227.00 233.05 225.00 231.85BERGEPAINT 515.00 516.35 510.80 515.50TIMETECHNO 52.45 58.35 52.45 55.80COROMANDEL 522.10 534.40 520.45 532.30SUDARSCHEM 418.00 418.00 404.60 407.60CUMMINSIND 551.80 555.00 549.00 550.15INTELLECT 138.00 141.50 137.50 138.30SUVEN 308.30 312.95 306.15 306.75JSLHISAR 69.75 77.50 69.30 75.90DHFL 17.90 18.00 16.55 16.80GODREJCP 690.00 692.90 682.20 684.80APOLLOTYRE 165.00 165.50 163.45 163.95JSWENERGY 70.65 70.65 69.00 69.30RESPONIND 92.50 94.50 92.15 92.95CANFINHOME 397.25 401.20 392.65 393.05ASTRAL 1205.00 1205.00 1140.00 1176.35ERIS 458.95 483.25 458.95 473.85KANSAINER 512.25 528.70 508.00 516.85VINATIORGA 1939.50 1993.60 1935.00 1977.60SCI 62.45 62.90 61.60 62.00TATACOFFEE 91.70 94.20 91.45 92.20GICRE 225.15 233.80 224.10 226.40CONCOR 579.05 579.90 571.00 571.90RVNL 22.85 23.25 22.80 22.95METROPOLIS 1427.00 1465.90 1407.90 1455.35SPARC 157.25 158.85 155.70 156.15ADANITRANS 334.95 336.90 330.00 331.90RATNAMANI 1097.15 1105.80 1081.60 1098.30VIPIND 437.00 438.65 429.60 432.15SUPREMEIND 1146.95 1186.00 1138.10 1152.35MASFIN 872.00 888.00 859.00 860.65KEI 466.00 469.05 453.25 457.30NESCO 682.00 686.50 655.00 659.90CHENNPETRO 119.70 126.00 117.45 123.85MOIL 145.00 147.60 143.40 146.05ASTRAZEN 2685.00 2709.55 2605.00 2623.05DCBBANK 169.00 172.65 168.20 171.70GMRINFRA 21.00 21.10 20.65 21.00DALBHARAT 776.00 809.90 761.00 799.95RITES 290.00 291.90 288.15 289.70MIDHANI 157.95 160.75 155.00 155.95CHAMBLFERT 149.95 153.20 148.65 152.05COCHINSHIP 399.60 408.20 397.45 402.65VBL 725.45 726.85 700.30 707.95TORNTPOWER 285.15 287.35 283.00 283.90CEATLTD 1000.50 1002.35 985.00 988.80CASTROLIND 129.35 130.15 128.35 129.35NILKAMAL 1255.00 1368.00 1255.00 1303.45INOXLEISUR 382.95 388.30 380.00 381.25BLUESTARCO 799.40 857.75 799.40 842.80LTTS 1478.95 1487.50 1461.05 1465.60JKTYRE 76.50 76.50 74.70 74.85KAJARIACER 516.70 528.95 516.70 525.25WHIRLPOOL 2400.00 2400.00 2351.75 2370.15BAYERCROP 3582.10 3610.00 3511.00 3562.00GRINDWELL 583.65 605.00 583.00 600.85NIACL 137.80 138.20 133.85 135.35NATCOPHARM 586.00 604.00 576.25 592.85HINDCOPPER 39.35 39.65 38.90 39.15PGHL 4338.00 4450.00 4247.95 4352.30KTKBANK 72.40 72.55 71.80 72.00IDBI 37.15 37.45 36.90 37.00ORIENTBANK 52.00 52.75 51.75 52.05KEC 298.95 303.00 295.10 301.25LINDEINDIA 660.65 678.00 654.55 662.40KALPATPOWR 401.00 411.75 401.00 409.80HEXAWARE 332.50 335.85 331.00 334.85FSL 41.15 41.45 40.70 41.05RADICO 313.50 317.50 310.90 313.40ESSELPRO 180.15 182.40 174.80 176.75HFCL 17.80 18.00 17.45 17.60CROMPTON 244.85 244.85 237.30 239.40PARAGMILK 134.75 135.00 133.50 134.15ALKEM 1999.00 2034.05 1999.00 2013.55

CHOLAFIN 306.40 308.50 304.35 305.65ENGINERSIN 98.65 99.90 98.65 98.95RELAXO 613.95 625.00 613.95 615.50OBEROIRLTY 529.80 533.55 526.00 530.95MPHASIS 900.70 932.30 898.45 920.70GAYAPROJ 77.50 81.00 77.50 79.40ABBOTINDIA 13181.00 13207.90 13014.05 13073.05TATAINVEST 815.85 815.85 803.00 807.95GSFC 69.00 71.80 69.00 70.00TIMKEN 917.45 937.45 917.45 921.55LEMONTREE 64.00 64.05 62.50 64.00CESC 745.15 747.00 735.55 737.25PRESTIGE 340.10 342.40 334.70 337.85IPCALAB 1141.90 1150.00 1134.00 1134.90TV18BRDCST 21.20 21.85 21.10 21.15SOBHA 405.95 411.00 400.00 401.00RAIN 98.00 99.70 97.55 98.60MAHINDCIE 165.50 169.25 163.40 164.75MOTILALOFS 764.30 772.40 755.00 760.75AKZOINDIA 1944.40 1974.45 1925.00 1967.80NBVENTURES 75.00 77.55 73.55 74.25IEX 142.00 143.20 141.35 142.50SCHAEFFLER 4644.20 4750.00 4593.15 4698.45KRBL 284.20 290.45 281.40 285.25LALPATHLAB 1496.65 1498.25 1490.00 1492.85MRPL 44.00 45.10 43.30 44.80IBULISL 81.90 86.25 81.90 86.25SOUTHBANK 10.14 10.16 10.07 10.11EIDPARRY 201.30 205.50 201.00 201.55BAJAJHLDNG 3440.00 3440.00 3395.60 3410.75BAJAJCON 232.20 241.00 231.80 236.45GHCL 184.20 188.15 183.90 184.40ATUL 4085.00 4105.20 4050.00 4053.30HINDZINC 209.95 211.85 209.40 209.70FCONSUMER 23.05 23.10 22.40 22.50BLISSGVS 150.05 151.75 149.15 150.95MAXINDIA 80.10 84.00 79.50 81.70THERMAX 1055.40 1094.00 1041.55 1085.55ALBK 19.00 19.00 18.70 18.80HONAUT 27009.30 27500.00 26969.00 27500.00PHOENIXLTD 835.55 845.25 826.85 831.05ARVINDFASN 383.65 403.95 381.90 392.60JISLJALEQS 7.80 8.13 7.80 7.96TORNTPHARM 1858.10 1870.00 1842.80 1846.95PNCINFRA 189.35 193.20 187.35 191.65APLLTD 574.85 594.50 568.75 571.30SCHNEIDER 69.50 69.55 66.00 66.30GILLETTE 6601.00 6620.35 6565.50 6580.40SHREECEM 20451.00 20508.15 20340.65 20357.45IRCON 412.95 413.00 401.30 402.00TCNSBRANDS 645.00 649.00 611.00 625.70OIL 152.10 153.35 151.70 153.05AEGISLOG 188.00 194.35 186.30 193.50NLCINDIA 56.45 57.40 56.40 57.15MINDACORP 100.00 104.45 99.80 100.15LAXMIMACH 3341.95 3380.00 3290.00 3295.55JAMNAAUTO 47.80 47.80 46.30 46.60NHPC 24.00 24.15 23.90 23.95ASTERDM 157.20 162.00 157.20 160.60JSL 37.45 39.05 37.45 38.60PERSISTENT 676.75 676.75 669.85 672.20HUDCO 35.85 36.30 35.85 36.05IFCI 6.45 6.67 6.45 6.62CYIENT 411.50 412.80 407.35 409.45DHANUKA 425.40 425.45 400.00 411.55THYROCARE 537.25 553.95 534.65 546.90SIS 978.00 978.00 968.00 971.65BIRLACORPN 592.80 612.00 591.00 610.20SUPRAJIT 185.40 199.70 184.90 196.95

MMTC 18.80 19.10 18.70 18.80PTC 55.70 57.20 55.00 56.50IOB 11.65 11.65 11.21 11.26JYOTHYLAB 149.00 149.00 146.80 147.05VAIBHAVGBL 810.00 831.90 810.00 829.30MINDAIND 361.00 361.00 350.00 351.55GUJALKALI 423.50 424.00 416.60 418.55TRIDENT 6.80 6.80 6.60 6.75JBCHEPHARM 430.25 432.20 424.10 425.80AJANTPHARM 961.50 978.00 951.50 974.85UFLEX 200.90 204.00 196.15 201.60BALMLAWRIE 124.80 125.60 124.55 124.75HEIDELBERG 175.00 178.90 174.40 174.85HIMATSEIDE 123.00 126.60 120.20 124.05GSKCONS 8335.55 8384.90 8286.25 8308.10CREDITACC 764.00 769.30 755.00 767.15ECLERX 556.00 577.00 553.95 569.45EIHOTEL 142.00 142.90 140.15 142.40CUB 235.50 235.50 232.85 234.50CENTRALBK 17.85 18.00 17.80 17.90J&KBANK 30.00 30.15 29.80 29.90SJVN 25.10 25.55 25.00 25.45

TCIEXP 748.10 755.00 736.15 742.45WELSPUNIND 48.25 48.50 47.90 48.05EMAMILTD 307.10 310.05 305.20 309.80TAKE 100.30 101.00 99.00 99.45GREAVESCOT 132.20 134.25 131.95 133.90SANOFI 6942.85 7039.30 6942.85 7015.55SKFINDIA 2157.70 2185.85 2144.75 2166.60GSPL 218.65 220.00 216.50 219.40INOXWIND 34.70 36.85 34.60 35.40REPCOHOME 316.85 320.40 315.85 316.90CAPPL 302.00 302.00 299.40 301.00GRANULES 123.75 125.00 122.90 123.10CERA 2611.65 2705.00 2603.05 2691.55IIFL 140.00 140.20 137.20 139.50OFSS 2750.80 2750.80 2738.95 2739.55CORPBANK 25.45 25.45 25.00 25.15SYNDIBANK 27.95 28.10 27.65 27.80ADVENZYMES 165.00 167.35 164.90 165.25INDOSTAR 176.05 190.00 176.05 180.65ITDCEM 53.25 55.30 53.00 55.30GESHIP 307.20 307.50 297.25 298.75SONATSOFTW 306.30 310.00 304.95 309.25PGHH 11510.00 11549.00 11365.00 11461.35GALAXYSURF 1506.85 1506.85 1479.65 1501.10SOLARINDS 1055.00 1070.00 1049.50 1063.10ENDURANCE 1057.65 1090.00 1047.00 1077.75RELINFRA 29.40 29.40 29.40 29.40TATAMETALI 613.00 619.50 607.90 611.30MAHSCOOTER 4423.00 4474.85 4423.00 4447.00REDINGTON 115.10 118.75 115.10 117.65ANDHRABANK 17.10 17.25 16.60 16.75UCOBANK 16.90 16.90 16.60 16.70WABCOINDIA 6480.75 6493.40 6432.00 6476.00FINOLEXIND 547.00 548.65 540.75 545.75JKCEMENT 1155.00 1173.45 1154.00 1169.753MINDIA 21613.30 21613.30 21225.00 21347.10MAHLIFE 396.00 403.75 389.35 399.30GPPL 86.00 89.65 85.15 88.25SYNGENE 322.30 323.55 318.00 321.55GEPIL 735.90 750.00 727.30 743.85SOMANYCERA 212.35 214.90 212.35 213.35CHOLAHLDNG 498.00 505.00 496.60 497.20BDL 296.70 298.50 293.00 294.50TVTODAY 241.95 242.15 240.00 242.00LUXIND 1291.05 1299.60 1282.15 1285.75WESTLIFE 346.40 347.80 342.50 342.65FINCABLES 365.00 378.35 364.90 370.75SHANKARA 322.00 323.95 312.50 313.45VARROC 417.00 419.90 413.35 416.75FDC 219.40 219.40 210.00 212.20HERITGFOOD 353.00 367.00 348.00 364.00PRSMJOHNSN 61.95 63.50 61.95 62.80RALLIS 169.00 169.80 167.75 168.30GMDCLTD 62.15 62.30 61.20 61.45JAGRAN* 64.85 64.85 62.45 63.00ALLCARGO 98.35 98.50 97.20 97.35MAHSEAMLES 376.25 379.50 375.60 377.85MHRIL 224.80 229.95 224.80 227.20GICHSGFIN 156.70 157.95 155.70 156.35MAHLOG 405.00 405.00 394.45 402.85VSTIND 4297.80 4297.80 4206.00 4216.60MAHABANK 12.89 13.22 12.85 12.96FINEORG 1967.85 1967.85 1939.70 1943.00GET&D 149.15 150.25 147.00 147.40NH 309.90 310.50 307.00 307.20TTKPRESTIG 5735.35 5764.35 5685.50 5709.15ORIENTELEC 190.25 190.30 187.20 188.05GARFIBRES 1183.00 1209.00 1183.00 1206.40TVSSRICHAK 1680.00 1680.00 1648.00 1648.45JKLAKSHMI 280.00 281.00 276.00 279.40VMART 1670.50 1670.50 1647.00 1653.40ORIENTCEM 69.05 69.85 68.25 69.65CENTURYPLY 161.95 162.55 160.25 160.80ZYDUSWELL 1499.00 1499.00 1463.00 1470.70LAKSHVILAS 17.65 17.75 17.15 17.25HATHWAY 19.20 20.40 19.20 20.10NETWORK18 24.70 24.85 24.00 24.20LAURUSLABS 358.00 360.50 358.00 359.55SHK 111.05 112.75 109.45 110.35SYMPHONY 1150.15 1165.70 1150.15 1160.75KPITTECH 94.10 94.75 92.40 94.15IFBIND 683.55 683.55 666.00 667.95TIINDIA 485.00 485.25 480.60 482.45HAL 729.60 735.00 727.30 731.60DBCORP 134.50 134.50 132.70 134.25GULFOILLUB 825.00 825.00 805.00 809.05GODREJIND 425.60 427.00 423.75 424.90UNITEDBNK 8.81 8.95 8.80 8.87CCL 197.45 202.95 197.45 201.25JCHAC 1910.00 1950.00 1882.65 1923.45BLUEDART 2190.05 2207.10 2184.00 2194.30SHRIRAMCIT 1374.70 1422.20 1374.70 1413.20LAOPALA 145.30 148.20 143.25 145.90TEAMLEASE 2485.20 2486.10 2471.05 2481.15MAGMA 53.90 54.50 53.30 54.20VRLLOG 278.00 282.60 273.55 275.20ZENSARTECH 174.10 175.00 172.90 174.95CARBORUNIV 322.90 322.90 319.15 320.40VTL 993.95 995.60 986.45 995.15CENTRUM 18.95 19.70 18.85 19.60AIAENG 1650.00 1650.00 1630.00 1650.00FLFL 400.00 406.35 398.85 402.10SHILPAMED 282.50 286.10 281.75 281.75STARCEMENT 89.00 89.05 87.80 88.95TNPL 169.30 169.30 167.95 168.80KPRMILL 658.15 661.35 654.25 656.65SHOPERSTOP 365.15 373.45 363.90 370.85SFL 1274.95 1274.95 1260.00 1262.85

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 12247.10 12247.10 12151.80 12168.45 -87.40COALINDIA 205.00 212.45 204.45 211.45 5.65NTPC 116.55 119.70 116.35 119.00 2.45GAIL 118.90 122.30 118.80 121.10 2.20GRASIM 737.00 746.10 732.90 745.00 8.25TATAMOTORS 184.00 187.90 181.55 184.65 0.95SUNPHARMA 430.10 435.40 428.70 432.30 2.15ONGC 127.20 129.25 127.20 128.55 0.60LT 1300.00 1310.00 1291.15 1305.00 2.70POWERGRID 189.50 192.25 189.25 190.60 0.30ULTRACEMCO 4051.95 4072.00 4030.00 4055.00 3.05ADANIPORTS 366.00 368.65 364.90 366.20 0.25HCLTECH 569.10 571.50 565.05 569.00 -0.30INFY 729.70 737.75 725.45 732.00 -0.90ITC 238.55 238.95 237.40 237.80 -0.40SBIN 334.40 336.35 332.55 333.80 -0.60BAJAJFINSV 9422.40 9444.95 9379.00 9420.00 -19.20AXISBANK 753.85 765.85 751.40 752.50 -1.60BPCL 492.00 496.00 486.35 491.45 -1.60TITAN 1195.00 1203.70 1184.20 1189.90 -3.85KOTAKBANK 1690.40 1691.25 1670.35 1685.00 -5.40BRITANNIA 3046.00 3066.80 3020.00 3036.00 -11.35JSWSTEEL 270.00 273.00 268.15 270.00 -1.10CIPLA 479.95 484.30 476.95 477.90 -2.05BAJFINANCE 4247.00 4266.40 4218.60 4225.00 -18.30HDFCBANK 1281.95 1281.95 1268.65 1275.50 -6.65NESTLEIND 14864.00 14924.30 14710.00 14771.90 -80.00MARUTI 7412.50 7412.50 7355.25 7370.00 -46.25DRREDDY 2890.00 2914.85 2864.05 2869.55 -19.30ASIANPAINT 1805.00 1805.00 1781.10 1790.20 -12.10IOC 126.55 127.50 125.00 125.70 -0.90YESBANK 47.30 48.05 46.35 47.00 -0.35TCS 2189.00 2197.00 2157.45 2165.00 -18.20TATASTEEL 472.65 475.30 469.50 470.75 -4.00HINDUNILVR 1940.00 1946.60 1920.10 1920.30 -16.95UPL 590.20 591.70 583.00 584.00 -5.35ICICIBANK 543.80 543.80 538.00 538.65 -5.30BHARTIARTL 460.00 462.50 454.50 456.00 -4.50HINDALCO 217.00 219.40 215.50 215.80 -2.15HDFC 2433.00 2435.00 2406.55 2413.05 -25.20M&M 538.65 538.65 530.60 531.25 -5.65INFRATEL 255.50 260.65 251.25 252.50 -2.80WIPRO 247.70 248.60 245.30 246.10 -2.85INDUSINDBK 1531.40 1534.80 1505.00 1511.65 -19.75HEROMOTOCO2466.50 2474.00 2433.45 2446.00 -33.05VEDL 154.00 155.50 152.00 152.25 -2.25EICHERMOT 22780.00 22780.00 22386.75 22400.05 -384.45RELIANCE 1542.00 1543.70 1508.05 1516.00 -28.20BAJAJ-AUTO 3251.00 3251.00 3175.55 3180.00 -71.95TECHM 780.05 780.95 760.00 761.20 -21.50ZEEL 302.80 304.00 290.30 292.00 -10.80

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 28495.00 28549.50 28270.25 28307.55 -177.30PFC 114.40 118.80 112.60 117.65 3.45IBULHSGFIN 306.85 316.90 305.40 312.55 5.70NMDC 127.70 130.80 125.75 129.00 2.05MCDOWELL-N 597.00 605.00 595.00 599.10 7.15BANDHANBNK 504.65 516.15 495.10 509.80 5.15IDEA 6.15 6.25 5.95 6.20 0.05BIOCON 291.40 296.70 290.50 293.50 1.75SRTRANSFIN 1159.85 1177.45 1154.10 1169.30 6.50HINDZINC 209.80 211.95 209.15 209.70 0.85GICRE 225.00 233.75 223.40 226.00 0.90AMBUJACEM 195.70 198.25 194.65 196.30 0.65BERGEPAINT 516.00 516.70 510.50 516.00 0.80PNB 64.40 64.85 64.00 64.45 0.05NHPC 24.00 24.20 23.90 24.00 0.00NIACL 135.55 138.45 133.60 135.00 -0.10OFSS 2758.50 2772.30 2734.40 2739.00 -9.95L&TFH 118.80 120.00 117.60 118.30 -0.45BAJAJHLDNG 3449.60 3449.60 3395.00 3417.00 -13.00ICICIGI 1385.00 1409.90 1380.00 1381.10 -5.65ACC 1454.50 1460.00 1441.55 1447.00 -6.05ASHOKLEY 81.85 82.60 81.20 81.45 -0.35PETRONET 269.60 271.00 267.50 268.05 -1.40SHREECEM 20489.00 20519.45 20330.35 20387.95 -109.40MARICO 341.65 343.80 340.50 340.75 -1.90CADILAHC 256.00 258.00 253.50 253.85 -1.50COLPAL 1460.00 1472.95 1457.00 1457.00 -8.70DIVISLAB 1852.00 1857.20 1835.10 1838.15 -11.05LUPIN 766.50 773.90 760.35 765.00 -4.90CONCOR 578.70 580.00 570.95 572.85 -3.85INDIGO 1345.00 1358.80 1328.25 1333.60 -9.50ICICIPRULI 485.00 487.05 480.80 482.05 -3.75UBL 1278.65 1296.25 1266.10 1268.65 -10.05HAVELLS 652.80 657.55 646.25 647.30 -5.50DABUR 462.60 466.80 457.50 458.00 -4.60GODREJCP 690.80 692.95 681.70 681.70 -6.95HINDPETRO 266.85 270.60 264.00 264.15 -3.05PGHH 11547.85 11550.00 11356.00 11360.00 -136.35BANKBARODA 102.90 103.20 101.55 101.65 -1.25DLF 232.00 234.35 230.00 230.30 -2.95HDFCAMC 3235.00 3237.75 3185.00 3190.00 -43.40PIDILITIND 1400.95 1406.85 1385.15 1387.00 -19.65SIEMENS 1515.00 1524.00 1492.70 1497.00 -21.25SBILIFE 976.00 980.00 958.15 961.10 -15.25AUROPHARMA 463.50 468.90 455.50 457.30 -7.95MOTHERSUMI 149.20 149.80 146.15 146.60 -2.55HDFCLIFE 637.90 646.00 620.75 622.50 -13.65PAGEIND 23700.00 23749.95 23150.00 23240.00 -521.55BOSCHLTD 15700.00 15820.00 15326.20 15340.00 -350.45DMART 1893.00 1898.85 1827.05 1840.00 -43.55PEL 1590.00 1592.00 1515.40 1523.10 -61.95

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India speedster JaspritBumrah on Tuesdaydescribed 2019 as a year of

“accomplishments, learning andmemories” on and off the fieldand said he was eagerly lookingforward to another successfulyear in 2020.

“2019 has been a year ofaccomplishments, learning,hard work and making memo-ries, on the field and off it too.And on the last day of the year,I’m looking forward to every-thing that 2020 has to offer!”Bumrah wrote on his twitterhandle along with a few picturesof his achievements in the yeargone by.

In 2019, Bumrah not onlyemerged as India's pace spear-head in all three formats of thegame, but also became one ofthe best bowlers of the world.

Bumrah, 26, finished 2019as the numero uno bowler inone-day cricket while occupy-

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Skipper Priyam Garg’s fifty wentin vain as India Under-19 team

suffered a five-wicket loss toSouth Africa in an inconsequen-tial third Youth ODI at the BuffaloPark here.

Before this match, IndiaUnder-19 had already taken anunassailable 2-0 lead after winningthe first two matches of the series.

Sent into bat on Monday,India under-19 team lost threewickets before crossing the fifty-

run mark with Achille Cloetestriking twice for the hosts.

Garg and N Tilak Varma (25)then steadied the ship as the twoadded 58 runs together.

The partnership was brokenwhen Garg, who scored 52, got outsoon after India Under-19 reachedhundred. N Tilak Varma got outsoon after as South Africa restrict-ed India Under-19 to 192 for 8 onthe board.

For South Africa Under-19,Pheku Moletsane (2/36) picked uptwo wickets and was involved in

two run-outs.South Africa Under-19 then

returned to overhaul the targetwith 10 balls to spare, riding onJonathan Bird's 121-ball 88.

Chasing 193 runs to win,South Africa Under-19 lost BryceParsons (15) in the ninth over aftera first-wicket partnership of 35runs.

Opener Andrew Louw (31)and Bird then shared a 49-runstand for the second wicket beforethe former and Levert Manje (0)departed in space of a run.

Luke Beaufort (14) then gavecompany to Bird as they shared a48-run partnership to take SouthAfrica Under-19 to 130.

Jack Lees (29) and Bird thenadded 67 runs before YashasviJaiswal dismissed the former in the48th over.

Bird then took South AfricaUnder-19 home.

Brief Scores:South Africa Under-19 193/5

(Jonathan Bird 88 not out,Andrew Louw 31; Yashasvi Jaiswal2/40) beat India Under-19 192/8(Priyam Garg 52, N Tilak Varma25; Pheku Moletsane 2/36) by fivewickets.

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Former India fielding coach Trevor Penneyhas been appointed as the assistant coach

of West Indies cricket team for limited-oversformats.

Warwickshire stalwart Penney has beenhanded a two-year contract by Cricket WestIndies.

Cricket West Indies stated in a statementthat the 51-year-old Penney’s area of exper-tise is fielding and he will work with the WestIndies team in white-ball formats (One-DayInternationals and T20 Internationals).

He will join the WestIndies team on January2 as they start prepara-tions for the upcominginternational home seriesagainst Ireland. The tourwill feature three ODIs and asmany T20s from January 7 to19.

“I’m thrilled and excited tobe given this opportunity to workwith this brilliant bunch of crick-eters and staff led by Kieron Pollardand Phil Simmons,” Penney said.

“I’ve been lucky enough overthe last few years to work with sev-

eral members of the squad and the Caribbeanis like ‘home away from home’ for me beinginvolved in the CPL.

“We have two big T20 World Cups com-ing up (in Australia 2020 and India 2021) andit's my aim to try and improve everybody andbe as good as we can and hopefully win thosetwo major ICC events for the great people ofthe West Indies.”

Penney, who played 158 first-class and291 List A matches for Warwickshire, has vastcoaching experience, having worked with sev-eral international teams, including India, Sri

Lanka, Netherlands and USA.He has also served as assistant

coach at King’s XI Punjab, DeccanChargers and Kolkata KnightRiders in the Indian PremierLeague as well as assistant coach

with the St Lucia Zouks and StKitts & Nevis Patriots in the

Caribbean Premier League(CPL).

Most recently hewas part of the

Barbados Tridentcoaching staff dur-

ing their success-ful campaign inthe 2019 CPL.

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The International Cricket Councilhas found a backer in England as

the sport’s apex body plans to scrapfive-day Tests from 2023 to ease play-er workload in a crowded calendar.

The ICC could make four-dayTests mandatory from 2023 as part ofthe World Test Championship, primar-ily to free up the crowded calendar.

“We believe it could provide a sus-tainable solution to the complexscheduling needs and player work-loads we face as a global sport," an ECBspokesperson was quoted as saying in‘Daily Telegraph’.

Tests have been played over fivedays through most of their 140-yearhistory.

If four-day Tests are held duringthe 2015-2023 cycle, it would free up335 days of scheduled cricket.

A four-day Test is not a new con-cept with the last one played betweenEngland and Ireland earlier this year.South Africa and Zimbabwe tooplayed one in 2017.

“We’re definite proponents of thefour-day Test concept, but cautiouslyso, as we understand it's an emotivetopic for players, fans and others whohave concerns about challenging theheritage of Test cricket.”

Indian cricket board presidentSourav Ganguly has said it is too earlyto make a comment on the matter.

Last week, Cricket Australia’schief executive Kevin Roberts saidmandatory four-day Tests are “some-thing that we have got to seriously con-sider”.

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Former South Africa pacer Makhaya Ntinifeels the seeds of Virat Kohli’s stardom were

sown at the U-19 World Cupback in 2008 when he cap-tained the Indian team to thetitle.

“If you look at players likeVirat Kohli and Kagiso Rabada,they all started playing U-19cricket and representing theircountry in the U-19 World Cup,and look where they are today,” Ntiniwrote in a column for the ICC.

“A lot of the big players now start-ed in the U-19 World Cup, and that iswhere you can get noticed and be seenby the world.”

The next edition will be held in SouthAfrica from January 17 to February 9.

“Cricket is one of the biggest games inSouth Africa, especially when it comes tothe young fellows. They have got theirheroes — you're talking about the likes ofQuinton de Kock and Rabada,” saidNtini.

“These guys have not been pickedfrom nowhere —they played in the U19World Cup. The key for the guys play-ing at South Africa 2020 is to look atthem and how far they've gone, andwhere they are now.

“Without a doubt, the U19 World Cup helpsdevelop young players as people as well as justcricketers. At the age of 19 or younger, you’restill trying to understand how you can learnabout the game, and the U19 World Cup helpsthem develop and learn to stand up for them-selves.”

Ntini’s son Thando also played in the 2018edition of the U-19 World Cup.

“I’ve got very fond memoriesof watching my son, Thando,

play U-19 internationalcricket, and I was part ofthat age-group as well.

“The experience wascertainly a delight, and it’s

great that players can expressthemselves and become the

heroes of the future forthe countries they

are representing.“I think that

experience is soimportant forthem,” addedNtini, whoplayed 101Tests and173 ODIs,taking 390and 266

w i c k e t srespectively.

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Just below the “Big Three” ofVirat Kohli, Steve Smith and

Kane Williamson in the ICCTest rankings for batters,Marnus Labuschagne feels hissecret to quicksilver success isfocusing on the process and notthinking of the result.

Currently ranked fourth in

the ICC Test rankings,Australia’s newfound No. 3started the year in 110th place.But following scores of 63 and19 in Australia’s 247-run win inthe Boxing Day Test and withthree hundreds already to hisname in 13 Tests, there is nostopping for the 25-year old.

“I just keeping it processdriven and not on results,”

Labuschagne toldcricket.com.au after the PertTest against New Zealand.

“Making sure that everyinnings I come in with a clearmind and making sure I'mplaying what’s in front ofme and not what’shappened in thepast and notwhat I want toachieve — it’sr ight in themoment.

“Apart from that I’m justloving it.

“It’s a great team to be apart of and the way we’replaying at the moment is real-ly enjoyable.”

Labuschagne’s rise startedfrom the Ashes when he wasused as Test cricket’s first everconcussion substitute.

Filling in for Steve Smith,Labuschagne posted a gritty59 in the second innings atLord’s and did not look backsince with 353 runs at 50 asAustralia retained the urn ina 2-2 series draw.

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England coach ChrisSilverwood has hinted that

either of veterans JamesAnderson or Stuart Broadmight be dropped for the sec-ond Test against South Africato make room for a spinner.

A 107-run defeat in theseries-opening Boxing DayTest in Centurion has onceagain spelled out England'sred-ball troubles.

Adding to their woes, ill-ness bout within the squadthat laid low 10 people at var-ious times has only com-pounded matters, withDominic Sibley latest to jointhe long list of players to havebeen afflicted.

Spinner Jack Leach hasnow regained fitness and thecoach said they are willing totake a hard call if need be. Inthe first Test, England went foran all pace attack.

“In Jimmy (Anderson)and Stuart (Broad), we have awealth of experience and we’dbe really stupid not to take thatinto consideration everygame,” Silverwood was quot-ed as saying by ICC.

“But, equally, you wantyour youngsters to comethrough, and if we’re going tomake room for a spinner,we’ve got to have a look atwhich seamers are right forthis pitch. If there’s a big deci-sion, we're not afraid to makeit.”

The Newlands pitch isone of the few in the countrythat assists spin bowling, andSilverwood was well aware ofthat fact.”We’ve got to look atplaying a spinner atNewlands,” he said. “We’ll godown there and do what wealways do - look through therecords, what features where,and who is going to havemost impact on that game.We'll do our homework and gofrom there."

England Test captain JoeRoot also echoed these senti-ments ahead of the secondTest.

“It’s a fine balance. You’vegot to look at the surface andat an attack you feel is bestgoing to counter that and bestcounter the opposition,” hesaid.

“I think the ideal scenariois to have people pushingthem [Anderson and Broad]all the time, so that they’reconstantly trying to improvethemselves. They’ve got fantas-tic records behind them andthey’ve produced fantasticthings for England in the veryrecent past.

“You don’t want to wishthose guys away or look backand think, ‘we’ve forced Jimmy

Anderson out.”Silverwood said that

illness and adversity havemade his team strongerand let the players comecloser.

“I think there’s someaspects from this Testthat have galvanised us,”he said. “We’ve seen a

lot of character, a lotof guts and a lot ofbravery from a fewof the guys that

have been poorlybut have gotthemselves out

there, gotthemselves upfor it andshown a lot

of fight. I’mproud of the

guys in that respect.”The second Test of the

four-match series beginsFriday, January 3.

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ing the sixth spot in ICC Testbowlers rankings.

In the year gone by, he alsoachieved a rare feat, becomingonly the third Indian to scalpa hat-trick in Tests afterHarbhajan Singh and IrfanPathan.

Bumrah picked up 62, 103and 51 wickets respectivelyfrom 12 Tests, 58 ODIs and 42T20Is that he played for Indiaso far.

But the right-arm pacer hasbeen out of action since Augustafter India’s tour of the WestIndies because of a stress frac-ture on his back.

Bumrah, however, hasrecovered from the injury andis set to make his return in thethree-match T20 series againstSri Lanka starting in Guwahation January 5.

He has also been picked inthe squad for the three-matchODI series against Australia tobegin in Mumbai on January 14after the Sri Lanka rubber.

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