c m y k - the pioneer singh, a former ... former v-p, but later bjp chief amit shah identified him...

16
B ringing in Pakistan angle in the Gujarat poll campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that a day before Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar called him “neech”, Aiyar held a meeting at his residence in which for- mer Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a former Vice-President of India and for- mer Foreign Minister of Pakistan as well as the Pakistani High Commissioner to India were present. Modi did not name the former V-P, but later BJP chief Amit Shah identified him as Hamid Ansari. The PM also wondered whether neighbouring Pakistan was keen to make senior Congress leader and Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s polit- ical adviser Ahmed Patel the next Gujarat Chief Minister. Modi referred to a video of former Pakistan Army’s Director General Sardar Arshad Rafique in which he backed Ahmed Patel as the next Gujarat CM. The PM was addressing a huge election rally at north Gujarat town Palanpur bordering Banaskantha. Launching scathing attack on the Congress over these issues, Modi demanded expla- nation from the Opposition party and asked its leadership to “reveal” what exactly tran- spired at that camouflaged meeting. He struck a chord with the people asking them, Dal me kuch kala hai ki nahi?” referring the timing (Gujarat polls) of the meeting. “If it was something in the interest of India, the Congress leadership could have invited Indian officials also. Why you (Congress) didn’t invite them? Or could have informed to Government,” he said, adding that at one front Rafique open- ly backed Patel as the next Gujarat CM and from other front top Congress leaders held meeting with Pakistanis. The next day, the Congress insult- ed underprivileged people, people of Gujarat and Modi, the PM went on to say. It is worth mentioning that posters were seen in some areas of Surat in which an appeal was made to make Patel (who belongs to south Gujarat town Bharuch) Gujarat’s Wazir- e-Alam (Chief Minister) ahead of the first phase of polling. The posters were removed, and Ahmed Patel clarified he was never interested in becoming Gujarat CM. On the local issue of Banaskantha district, Modi said that entire north Gujarat, including Palanpur area, would be developed as Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) passes through the region up to Kandla port in Kutch. Replying to the Congress’ charge of his being ‘friends of few industrialists’, Modi said his Government recognised com- mon people’s achievements and conferred on them national awards which Congress Governments never did. He also gave example of Banaskantha resident Jenabhai, who was given “Padma Shree” award by his Government. Apart from Palanpur, the PM also addressed similar ral- lies at Sanand on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, Kaalol in north Gujarat and Vadodara in view of the second phase of polling to be held on Thursday, December 14. C ongress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of discarding the development agenda and talking only about himself (Modi). Claiming the Modi had nothing left to speak about, Rahul reminded the PM that the election was not about Modi but about the people of Gujarat. Taking in stride the jibes from the BJP for his repeated temple visits during the cam- paigning, Rahul started his sec- ond day of campaigning for the second phase polls after offer- ing prayers at Lord Krishna’s Ranchhod Raiji Mandir here. Claiming that the BJP was forced to shift gear because people did not “buy” its devel- opmental plank, Rahul said the BJP started its campaign on the issue of Narmada. After 4-5 days, the public said they were not getting the river water, the Congress leader noted. “The BJP took a right turn. It said the election will not be contested on Narmada ... Let’s contest it on the issue of Other Backward Classes (OBCs). But then the OBCs said the BJP Government did not do any- thing for them. After five-six days, the BJP made a sharp left turn and said it would take out development yatra and talk about 22 years of develop- ment,” he added. Rahul said he listened to the PM’s speech on Saturday in which “Modiji talked about Modiji for 90 per cent of the time...” “The election is not about Modiji, nor is it about me. It is neither about the BJP nor the Congress. This election is about the future of the people of Gujarat,” he said. Later in a tweet, Rahul said, “Modiji keeps using bad words against me in his speech- es, even today he did so. Rahul Gandhi respects the post of PM. No matter what PM says about me, but I won’t utter even a single bad word about the PM.” T he Haryana Health Department on Saturday filed an FIR against Fortis Hospital in Gurugram under Section 304 (2) (culpable homi- cide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Sushant Lok Police Station in connection with the death of 7-year-old Adya Singh. Adya underwent treatment for dengue at the hospital in September for which her par- ents were charged 16 lakh before she died. On Friday, Adya’s father had filed a complaint against Fortis Hospital in relation to the death of his daughter due to dengue-related complications. A major controversy had erupted after the girl’s family was charged 16 lakh for the treatment. In his complaint, the deceased’s father Jayant Singh held the hospital responsible for culpable homicide and also alleged forgery, cheating, destruction and alteration of evi- dence and criminally negligence in the course of her treatment. Singh accused 18 people, including the chairperson, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Executive Vice- Chairman, Fortis Healthcare, and nine doctors, in the case. Jayant in his compliant specifically accused Dr Vikas Verma, who without informing him removed the ventilator pipes and Ambu-bag attached to the girl. As a result of removing life- sustaining equipment, his daughter died. “An FIR has been registered by Dr BK Rajora, Chief Medical Officer (CMO), civil hospital Gurugram. We received a 50- page FIR against the hospital by the health department. The investigation has been taken up. “ S even years after it was con- ceived, the Government does not want to further delay the ambitious Indian National Defence University (INDU) project. Aiming to ensure that it is operational by next year, the Government plans to table the Bill in this regard in the Winter Session of Parliament starting December 15. Headed by a three-star general, INDU will be a teaching and affiliating uni- versity for the existing training institutions of the three Services like the National Defence Academy (NDA). The objective of this first of its kind institution is to pro- mote strategic thinking, with civilians and Defence person- nel eligible to take admission. The land acquisition process for the university, to be spread over 205 acres and headquartered in Gurugram, is in progress and infrastruc- ture facilities have been par- tially constructed. While the entire construction will take time, to begin with, the uni- versity of national importance will function on ad-hoc basis in New Delhi. The Union Cabinet had approved the setting up such a university in 2010. The then Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, laid the foundation stone of the campus on May 22, 2013. While the idea of such an autonomous institution first came up in 1967, the proposal gathered momentum after Kargil Review Committee rec- ommended having a universi- ty to exclusively study Defence and strategic issues. Moreover, the panel also suggested courses designed to promote expertise among mil- itary and civilian officers in higher Defence management for overarching policy formulation for internal and external secu- rity issues. The selected candidates shall also be thoroughly briefed and trained to deal with emerg- ing security challenges besides informing them about fast changing war fighting doctrines across the world, the Review Committee proposed. A ctor Zaira Wasim alleged she was molested by a co-passenger on board a Delhi- Mumbai flight. The “Dangalactor narrated her ordeal on Instagram via live video. Zaira said she was on an Air Vistara flight from Delhi to Mumbai when a co-passenger sitting behind her put up his feet on her armrest. The airline said it has already submitted initial report to the regulator DGCA about the incident. “So, I was in a flight trav- elling from Delhi to Mumbai today and right behind me one middle-aged man who made my two-hour journey miser- able. I tried to record it on phone to understand it better because the cabin lights were dimmed, I failed to get it... “The lights were dimmed, so it was even worse. It continued for another five to ten minutes and then I was sure of it. He kept nudging my shoulder and continued to move his foot up and down my back and neck,” she said in the video post. In the video, which she recorded immediately after deboarding the flight, Zaira broke down several times. “This is not done, I am dis- turbed... Is this how you’re going to take care of girls? This is not the way anybody should be made to feel. This is terri- ble!” she said. A n 18-year-old boy ended his life by hanging himself from a ceiling fan at his house in Outer Delhi’s Samaipur Badli area on December 7 after he was brutally thrashed by four local goons for objecting to stalking of his sister, police said on Sunday. Family members of the victim, Rohit (name changed), told The Pioneer that the four goons had been stalking and passing lewd comments on his sister for the past few months. Fed up of their misbehavior, Rohit threatened to call the police upon which they thrashed him on Wednesday morning and even threatened to kidnap his sister if he informed the police. Rohit’s family said after his father’s death a few years ago, Rohit took the responsi- bility for his family. He lived with his mother and sister at his uncle’s house in Jeevan Park area of Samaipur Badli and worked as a small-time mechanic.Speaking to The Pioneer, a cousin of Rohit’s said, “On December 6, these four men came to Rohit’s house and beat up him in front of his mother, accusing him of theft. They threatened to kidnap his sister if he informed the police about it.” The following day, Rohit committed suicide, he added. Rajneesh Gupta, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Rohini), said, “On December 7, about 4 pm, information was received from Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital regarding Rohit’s suicide.” No suicide note was found, he added. “Rohit was found hanging from a ceiling fan by his moth- er on Thursday around 2.30pm. In the absence of a sui- cide note, we started inquest proceedings,” said a senior police officer.The officer added, “Initially, Rohit’s family did not suspect foul play. However, after his post-mortem, his fam- ily claimed that a day before he committed suicide, i.e. on Wednesday, Rohit was thrashed by a group of four local goons who had been harassing his elder sister. Goons, identified as Amit, Sunil, Ponkli and a Sikh youth, used to pass lewd comments and make objec- tionable gestures at her. When Rohit came to know about this, he asked them to stop harassing his sister.” “We have verified the claims of Rohit’s family and recorded the state- ment of the mother,” said the police officer. Following a case under sections IPC 354A (mak- ing sexually coloured remarks), 354D (stalking), Section 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) and 306 (abetment to suicide) has been registered at Samaipur Badli police station. Having failed to create awareness among the masses despite having spent lakhs of rupees, the State Health Department on Saturday invited a section of journalists to brief them about the Government schemes and better facilities in Government hospitals, especially in the rural areas. Director, National Health Mission (NHM), Dr BN Chauhan, lamented that despite having run several campaigns regularly, the citizens still prefer to go to the private hospitals. Notably, the health services in Madhya Pradesh are already in ventilator. Two days ago, a tribal woman in Ashok Nagar gave birth to her child in th open just because the labour room of the hospital was locked and there was no sign of a doctor at the hospital. When The Pioneer asked about the facilities provided to the pregnant women in the rural areas and does the health department often inspect whether the patients are receiving proper facilities, Dr Chauhan began to count figures of those patients received facilities. He said that pregnant women are provided free services, yet they do not come to the hospital.On asking again about the inspection, he said, "We do not encourage deliveries at home. But, rural people need to get more awareness about the schemes. But if we are offering the facilities they are of course being provided with it. If required, we send a team from Asha Niketan to talk about the issue in rural areas." Dr Chauhan repeatedly focused on awareness. On the other hand, Director of Health Services Dr KL Sahu said, "This is the only reason we called for a media interaction so that people can know about our facilities and come to the Government hospitals for their treatment." Joint Director Upendra Dubey was also present during the interaction. Bhopal: The Professional Examination Board (PEB) of Madhya Pradesh, also known as Vyapam, here on Sunday denied that any irregularity took place in conducting the examination for patwaris. It also gave a clean chit to the IT firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), which is conducting the recruitment process. It said a fresh examination would be conducted for over 8,000 aspirants who missed the online test held for the post of patwaris on December 9 due to a technical glitch. While talking to media persons here on Sunday, Continued n Page 4 RNI Regn. No. MPENG/2004/13703, Regd. No. L-2/BPLON/41/2006-2008 C M Y K C M Y K

Upload: voduong

Post on 31-Mar-2018

215 views

Category:

Documents


1 download

TRANSCRIPT

������������� ���������������� ��� ���������������������������� ���� �������������� �������� �� ���������������������������� ��������������� ��������������������������� ����� ������ ��������������������������������������������� ��������������������������������� ������ ���� �����!�������"�����������������������#��������� �� #��������������� ����������������� ��� ������ ����� ������������������� ��������������������������������$����������������������������������$�����%����������������������������������������� ����

���������� ������ ���������������������� ���� !�����& ���� ���������� �����������������������&�������������'������������%���������������������������(������������������������� ������ ������������������)�����%������$������ ���������������������&��������%������� �����������(��$��������������������������� ������������ $����%����������������������������������� ����������������������������%��������������� ����������� �������������������*������������������������������������� �������+�������������&����������

"�"�# ��#�� ���# ����������� ��$%&'(����,* ���� �������%�$������������������%������� �����$���������������������������������������������(�������������������&��������������$��������������������������������

�������

�����) �� -���.-/0.1/('#2�/�(3

Bringing in Pakistan angle inthe Gujarat poll campaign,

Prime Minister Narendra Modion Sunday said that a daybefore Congress leader ManiShankar Aiyar called him“neech”, Aiyar held a meetingat his residence in which for-mer Prime MinisterManmohan Singh, a formerVice-President of India and for-mer Foreign Minister ofPakistan as well as the PakistaniHigh Commissioner to Indiawere present.

Modi did not name theformer V-P, but later BJP chiefAmit Shah identified him asHamid Ansari.

The PM also wonderedwhether neighbouring Pakistanwas keen to make seniorCongress leader and Congresspresident Sonia Gandhi’s polit-ical adviser Ahmed Patel thenext Gujarat Chief Minister.

Modi referred to a video offormer Pakistan Army’s

Director General SardarArshad Rafique in which hebacked Ahmed Patel as the nextGujarat CM. The PM wasaddressing a huge election rallyat north Gujarat town Palanpurbordering Banaskantha.

Launching scathing attackon the Congress over these

issues, Modi demanded expla-nation from the Oppositionparty and asked its leadershipto “reveal” what exactly tran-spired at that camouflagedmeeting. He struck a chordwith the people asking them,“Dal me kuch kala hai ki nahi?”referring the timing (Gujarat

polls) of the meeting.“If it was something in the

interest of India, the Congressleadership could have invitedIndian officials also. Why you(Congress) didn’t invite them?Or could have informed toGovernment,” he said, addingthat at one front Rafique open-

ly backed Patel as the nextGujarat CM and from otherfront top Congress leaders heldmeeting with Pakistanis. Thenext day, the Congress insult-ed underprivileged people,people of Gujarat and Modi,the PM went on to say.

It is worth mentioning that

posters were seen in someareas of Surat in which anappeal was made to make Patel(who belongs to south Gujarattown Bharuch) Gujarat’s Wazir-e-Alam (Chief Minister) aheadof the first phase of polling. Theposters were removed, andAhmed Patel clarified he wasnever interested in becomingGujarat CM.

On the local issue ofBanaskantha district, Modisaid that entire north Gujarat,including Palanpur area, wouldbe developed as Delhi-MumbaiIndustrial Corridor (DMIC)passes through the region up toKandla port in Kutch.

Replying to the Congress’charge of his being ‘friends offew industrialists’, Modi said hisGovernment recognised com-mon people’s achievements andconferred on them nationalawards which CongressGovernments never did. Healso gave example ofBanaskantha resident Jenabhai,who was given “Padma Shree”award by his Government.

Apart from Palanpur, thePM also addressed similar ral-lies at Sanand on the outskirtsof Ahmedabad, Kaalol in northGujarat and Vadodara in viewof the second phase of pollingto be held on Thursday,December 14.

#���� ��41/0#2�/�(3

Congress vice-presidentRahul Gandhi on Sunday

accused Prime MinisterNarendra Modi of discardingthe development agenda andtalking only about himself(Modi). Claiming the Modi hadnothing left to speak about,Rahul reminded the PM that theelection was not about Modi butabout the people of Gujarat.

Taking in stride the jibesfrom the BJP for his repeatedtemple visits during the cam-paigning, Rahul started his sec-ond day of campaigning for thesecond phase polls after offer-ing prayers at Lord Krishna’sRanchhod Raiji Mandir here.

Claiming that the BJP wasforced to shift gear becausepeople did not “buy” its devel-opmental plank, Rahul said theBJP started its campaign on theissue of Narmada. After 4-5days, the public said they were

not getting the river water, theCongress leader noted. “TheBJP took a right turn. It said theelection will not be contestedon Narmada ... Let’s contest iton the issue of Other BackwardClasses (OBCs). But then theOBCs said the BJPGovernment did not do any-thing for them. After five-sixdays, the BJP made a sharp leftturn and said it would take outdevelopment yatra and talkabout 22 years of develop-ment,” he added.

Rahul said he listened tothe PM’s speech on Saturday inwhich “Modiji talked aboutModiji for 90 per cent of thetime...” “The election is notabout Modiji, nor is it aboutme. It is neither about the BJPnor the Congress.

This election is about thefuture of the people of Gujarat,”he said.

Later in a tweet, Rahulsaid, “Modiji keeps using badwords against me in his speech-es, even today he did so. RahulGandhi respects the post ofPM. No matter what PM saysabout me, but I won’t utter evena single bad word about thePM.”

#�) ���������#/#/�5

The Haryana HealthDepartment on Saturday

filed an FIR against FortisHospital in Gurugram underSection 304 (2) (culpable homi-cide not amounting to murder)of the Indian Penal Code (IPC)at Sushant Lok Police Station inconnection with the death of 7-year-old Adya Singh.

Adya underwent treatmentfor dengue at the hospital inSeptember for which her par-ents were charged �16 lakhbefore she died.

On Friday, Adya’s fatherhad filed a complaint againstFortis Hospital in relation to thedeath of his daughter due todengue-related complications. Amajor controversy had eruptedafter the girl’s family was charged

�16 lakh for the treatment.In his complaint, the

deceased’s father Jayant Singhheld the hospital responsible forculpable homicide and alsoalleged forgery, cheating,destruction and alteration of evi-dence and criminally negligencein the course of her treatment.

Singh accused 18 people,including the chairperson,Fortis Memorial ResearchInstitute, Executive Vice-Chairman, Fortis Healthcare,and nine doctors, in the case.

Jayant in his compliantspecifically accused Dr VikasVerma, who without informinghim removed the ventilatorpipes and Ambu-bag attachedto the girl.

As a result of removing life-sustaining equipment, hisdaughter died. “An FIR hasbeen registered by Dr BKRajora, Chief Medical Officer(CMO), civil hospitalGurugram. We received a 50-page FIR against the hospital bythe health department. Theinvestigation has been takenup. “

���������� .67�6�'�

Seven years after it was con-ceived, the Government

does not want to further delaythe ambitious Indian NationalDefence University (INDU)project. Aiming to ensure thatit is operational by next year,the Government plans to tablethe Bill in this regard in theWinter Session of Parliamentstarting December 15.

Headed by a three-stargeneral, INDU will be a teaching and affiliating uni-versity for the existing traininginstitutions of the threeServices like the National

Defence Academy (NDA). The objective of this first of

its kind institution is to pro-mote strategic thinking, withcivilians and Defence person-nel eligible to take admission.

The land acquisitionprocess for the university, to bespread over 205 acres andheadquartered in Gurugram, is in progress and infrastruc-ture facilities have been par-tially constructed. While theentire construction will taketime, to begin with, the uni-versity of national importancewill function on ad-hoc basis inNew Delhi.

The Union Cabinet had

approved the setting up such auniversity in 2010. The thenPrime Minister, Manmohan

Singh, laid the foundation stoneof the campus on May 22,2013. While the idea of such an

autonomous institution firstcame up in 1967, the proposalgathered momentum afterKargil Review Committee rec-ommended having a universi-ty to exclusively study Defenceand strategic issues.

Moreover, the panel alsosuggested courses designed topromote expertise among mil-itary and civilian officers inhigher Defence management foroverarching policy formulationfor internal and external secu-rity issues.

The selected candidatesshall also be thoroughly briefedand trained to deal with emerg-ing security challenges besidesinforming them about fastchanging war fighting doctrinesacross the world, the ReviewCommittee proposed.

����������� ��� �����������������������������#���� 55!��

Actor Zaira Wasim allegedshe was molested by a

co-passenger on board a Delhi-Mumbai flight. The “Dangal”actor narrated her ordeal onInstagram via live video.

Zaira said she was on anAir Vistara flight from Delhi toMumbai when a co-passengersitting behind her put up hisfeet on her armrest. The airlinesaid it has already submittedinitial report to the regulatorDGCA about the incident.

“So, I was in a flight trav-elling from Delhi to Mumbai

today and right behind me onemiddle-aged man who mademy two-hour journey miser-able. I tried to record it onphone to understand it betterbecause the cabin lights weredimmed, I failed to get it...

“The lights were dimmed,

so it was even worse. It continued for another

five to ten minutes and then Iwas sure of it. He kept nudgingmy shoulder and continued tomove his foot up and down myback and neck,” she said in thevideo post.

In the video, which sherecorded immediately afterdeboarding the flight, Zairabroke down several times.

“This is not done, I am dis-turbed... Is this how you’regoing to take care of girls? Thisis not the way anybody shouldbe made to feel. This is terri-ble!” she said.

���������� ����������������������������������������������� #��� ��� .67�6�'�

An 18-year-old boy endedhis life by hanging himself

from a ceiling fan at his housein Outer Delhi’s Samaipur Badliarea on December 7 after hewas brutally thrashed by fourlocal goons for objecting tostalking of his sister, police saidon Sunday.

Family members of thevictim, Rohit (name changed),told The Pioneer that the fourgoons had been stalking andpassing lewd comments on hissister for the past few months.Fed up of their misbehavior,Rohit threatened to call thepolice upon which theythrashed him on Wednesdaymorning and even threatenedto kidnap his sister if heinformed the police.

Rohit’s family said afterhis father’s death a few yearsago, Rohit took the responsi-bility for his family. He livedwith his mother and sister at hisuncle’s house in Jeevan Parkarea of Samaipur Badli andworked as a small-timemechanic.Speaking to ThePioneer, a cousin of Rohit’s said,“On December 6, these fourmen came to Rohit’s house andbeat up him in front of hismother, accusing him of theft.They threatened to kidnap hissister if he informed the policeabout it.” The following day,Rohit committed suicide, headded.

Rajneesh Gupta, DeputyCommissioner of Police(Rohini), said, “On December7, about 4 pm, information wasreceived from Baba SahebAmbedkar Hospital regardingRohit’s suicide.” No suicidenote was found, he added.

“Rohit was found hangingfrom a ceiling fan by his moth-er on Thursday around2.30pm. In the absence of a sui-cide note, we started inquestproceedings,” said a seniorpolice officer.The officer added,“Initially, Rohit’s family didnot suspect foul play. However,after his post-mortem, his fam-ily claimed that a day before hecommitted suicide, i.e. onWednesday, Rohit was thrashedby a group of four local goonswho had been harassing hiselder sister. Goons, identifiedas Amit, Sunil, Ponkli and aSikh youth, used to pass lewdcomments and make objec-tionable gestures at her. WhenRohit came to know aboutthis, he asked them to stopharassing his sister.” “We haveverified the claims of Rohit’sfamily and recorded the state-ment of the mother,” said thepolice officer. Following a caseunder sections IPC 354A (mak-ing sexually coloured remarks),354D (stalking), Section 34(Acts done by several personsin furtherance of commonintention) and 306 (abetment tosuicide) has been registered atSamaipur Badli police station.

������������ ��������� ���������������������

������������������ ������ �� �

#���������������������������������� 8 �� ��������������������������,9�$���

.������������������$�����%����+�������������$�������$���-5%����"�������: -

����������� �����!������"�������������������������#�����������$%��

&������������������#���'������������'�

����������� �������������������������������������������������������������������������� �!

����������"��������# ����$�������%�������$������������������������������������������#&' �������������������������� �!

5����������������������;������$������5������������% �����: -���-������������������

������ #��� ���!'1-��Having failed to createawareness among themasses despite having spentlakhs of rupees, the StateHealth Department onSaturday invited a section ofjournalists to brief themabout the Governmentschemes and better facilitiesin Government hospitals,especially in the rural areas.Director, National HealthMission (NHM), Dr BNChauhan, lamented thatdespite having run severalcampaigns regularly, thecitizens still prefer to go tothe private hospitals.Notably, the health servicesin Madhya Pradesh arealready in ventilator. Two

days ago, a tribal woman inAshok Nagar gave birth toher child in th open justbecause the labour room ofthe hospital was locked andthere was no sign of adoctor at the hospital.When The Pioneer askedabout the facilities providedto the pregnant women inthe rural areas and does thehealth department ofteninspect whether the patientsare receiving properfacilities, Dr Chauhanbegan to count figures ofthose patients receivedfacilities. He said thatpregnant women areprovided free services, yetthey do not come to thehospital.On asking againabout the inspection, hesaid, "We do not encourage

deliveries at home. But,rural people need to getmore awareness about theschemes. But if we areoffering the facilities theyare of course being providedwith it. If required, we senda team from Asha Niketanto talk about the issue inrural areas." Dr Chauhanrepeatedly focused onawareness. On the otherhand, Director of HealthServices Dr KL Sahu said,"This is the only reason wecalled for a mediainteraction so that peoplecan know about ourfacilities and come to theGovernment hospitals fortheir treatment." JointDirector Upendra Dubeywas also present during theinteraction.

������������������������������������������������������

Bhopal: The ProfessionalExamination Board (PEB) ofMadhya Pradesh, also knownas Vyapam, here on Sundaydenied that any irregularitytook place in conducting theexamination for patwaris. Italso gave a clean chit to theIT firm Tata ConsultancyServices (TCS), which isconducting the recruitmentprocess.It said a fresh examinationwould be conducted for over8,000 aspirants who missedthe online test held for thepost of patwaris onDecember 9 due to atechnical glitch.

While talking to mediapersons here on Sunday,

Continued n Page 4

��������������������������������

(�����#���)����������������������#*�����$�����������������������"���������)������������!�������������&�������������+����##����#���$�������"�����������������������#���+ �����������

���������� ��������������

�����#���������� � �� ��**� +,*-.�#" ��*+/0�� ,�*<

"��� )(�1*0 ���$� =><?������������6&���� �������$��

�2 3�����4�*5�0 ������� �����

!"#����#$%&'() *�( +#*�$*+'",)+���+'%����+� $�

%�+'!��+����!"��+!$'

RNI Regn. No. MPENG/2004/13703, Regd. No. L-2/BPLON/41/2006-2008

��� !�"(.)��'6/)1�4�1.7�/-�('@!2-.6(��56���"1.�-�/�"A

���-���������-���

������������������� ���

# #�$ �%&'6��6/���

(1/"'!6�/6/�

(!)*�&&/5-�((�"4�7��'�.#(1.-1�(�"/�!6)1/B)�46.67�;

�������� !" ������# $�����%��"&� ��$�

C M Y K

C M Y K

���������+���,� �-.��-�/�

�� ����*�( +# .��('!+/ .�!"%"�*"��001�2304

����������� ������ ����� ���������� ������������������������������������� !"#���$"�!"%&'!�( �������#�)�*����%�+,-*%�������������*#����./01,,2*3�+�+4���� �������251���������671��8����*�+�+%��*9���2*#����7/01,223�+�4*&��������:,;557155,<;;*�� +:,<=<-2-,-0/+'�7����:���������*!%"!���+%�+��'%>?1,,/?2-;,-*!���+%�+�71?#��@%?/2?1,,071,,=*�"!�A!� �!>'��!�+2+,,'��:������*!����*#�� ���)�*%�������B���:��� �C����� ������:#������C������+������:��D����*E���� &���������:'��#F:/,;5/2,,*86:1-;551;5*��� �@�����:E�G��������H����7 ���%�+:,<=0;5;5<--*,<=<1=1<15<* ���H��)@�����:/��8����*�����������������*8�I �!��*���H��)110,20+&���������:,51171-/0//-*1-/0///*1-/0//5+

���������� �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ������������������������������������� ��������������������������������������� ��������������� �� ���������������������������������������������������������� ������������ ����� ��������������� ��������������������������������������������������� ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� �������� �!����������������"���������� ���������������������������� �������������������� ���� ��������������������������������� �����������������������������#��������������������������� ���� ����$����%����&�������������������������� ��������������� �����������������������'����������������������������������� ���������������"��������������������(�����������������������������

������ #��� ��� !'1-��

The youngsters of the cityobserved the World Human

Rights Day on Sunday withorganizing a ‘Walk for HumanRights’.

On Sunday marking theoccasion of International HumanRights Day, Ansh HappinessSociety in association with Youthfor Human Rights Internationalobserved Human Rights Dayand organise a ‘Walk for HumanRights’ at Upper Lake.Peopleshowed their concern towardsHuman Rights and participatedin this walk. Slogans like ‘big orsmall, human rights is for all’ and‘we will fight, for human rights’were actively spoken and encour-age by the people of Bhopal andtook a walk from ‘Boat Club toHotel Ranjeet’.The event was agrand affair. After this walk,some cultural activities wereorganised like musical perfor-mance, poetry and a street play.Musical Performance was per-formed by Yuvraj Puriya, Poetrywas performed by Sunny Kumarand Ankit Panday and street playwas performed by KaafilaGroup.This walk was intended tomake common people realizetheir rights and the need of thehour to make human rights notmere statements but a reality suc-cessfully came into play. Thissuccessfully gave a spark tothink about Human Rights andto make this country a betterplace to live in.It is to be notedthat Human Rights Day isobserved every year onDecember 10. The day theUnited Nations GeneralAssembly adopted, in 1948, theUniversal Declaration of HumanRights. The theme for HumanRights Week 2017 is ‘Humanrights start with you’.

������ #��� � � !'1-��

Passion for cinema, upgrada-tion and the adaption of

trends are the success spells inthe film industry,” said SameerShrivastava, a cinematographerfrom Mumbai.

He was addressing the two-day film festival and technicalworkshop in Sardar VallabhbhaiPolytechnic College that con-cluded on Sunday. He was talk-ing about Contexture CinematicTechniques. In this session ofthree hours, he shared manyshades in the DSLR and Arielcinematography for giving abetter result in the experimentsand low budgets made by him.

Besides, important infor-mation related to photographsand video cameras by HemantParihar, Applied VideographyProfessional, and senior pho-tographer Indira GandhiRashtariya Manav Sanghralaya.Parihar said that after doing athree year course of videography,

students here are searching incinema, news channels and var-ious government, private insti-tutes. Students should also beconnected to the camera's latesttechnology with camera aper-ture, shutter speed and compo-sition during basic photographyhere.

Mukesh Chouke fromMumbai said that he is makinga film in Bhopal in which he willalso cast artists from Bhopal.Hence the students from this col-lege also go to Mumbai and learnall the techniques practically.

In the morning session thestudents were taken to lake andclicked photographs of the beau-tiful sights.

They were explained thetechniques, the angles and theshades, timing and much morewhile the practical workshop.Workshop co-ordinator AshishBhawalkar said that in these twodays we want to create interac-tion with the participants in pho-tography and cinema.

������ #��� ��� !'1-��

Aplay that defined the phi-losophy of life and love, sin

and virtue was beautifully per-formed at Antarang Hall,Bharat Bhavan leaving the the-atre buffs spell-bind. The dancedrama Chitralekha marked theconclusion of Adi Vidrohi the-atre fest on Sunday.z

Chitralekha is a 1934Hindi novel, written byBhagwati Charan Verma andthe play is an adoption of thesame novel. Directed by KamalJoshi, the play was staged bythe artists of Deep KamalTheatre Troupe, Ahmadabad.

It is a love story of ayoung Samant Beejgupta, a

young hermit Kumargiri andthe beautiful dancerChitralekha that took the audi-ence to a philosophical ride oflife’s many twists and turns andhow each one of them becomea victim of their circum-stances.

The play surrounds the lifeof the protagonist of the playChitralekha. Chitralekha, adancer with great beauty andintellect is an empoweredwoman, materialistic, largehearted and honest to thecore.

The story starts with nar-ration by a professor where hereads about a dialoguebetween the great hermitRatnambar and his disciples,

Shwetank and Vishaldev aboutsins committed by humans.They ultimately conclude thathumans become victims andslaves of circumstance. So,according to Ratnambar thereis no sin and virtue. Everyonedoes deeds according to cir-cumstances that befall them intheir lifetime.

The plot then shifts tofocusing Chitralekha and BeejGupt. One day both of themmeet Yogi Kumargiri.Kumkargiri while in a con-versation with Chitralekhasaid that there is no place forwomen in the society.

Insulted Chitralekharebels and on the other handKumargiri finds himself in a

trap and gets attracted towardsChitralekha. Attractedtowards her Yogi Kumargiritraps himself in the whirlpoolof desires. Woven around anintense love story the playreflects on and fleshes out notjust the various aspects ofhuman nature.

It was a beautiful boldpresentation where audiencefound confluence of lan-guage, culture and contem-porary music.

According to the director,the play was difficult to stageas Chitralekha is contempo-rary and even controversialcharacter. But, the play wasdesigned in such a way thatexplains the concept clearly.

������ #��� ��� !'1-��

Movies focusing on farm-ers, women empower-

ment, youth and security forceswould be some of the high-lights of the upcomingKhajuraho International FilmFestival (KFFI).

The third edition of thefestival will be underway at theWorld Heritage site ofKhajuraho temples onDecember 17. It will be inau-gurated by Madhya PradeshChief Minister Shivraj SinghChouhan.

Manoj Shrivastava,Principal Secretary of MPCulture Department toldreporters this edition of theKFFI would be dedicated toveteran actors - Shashi Kapoor,Om Puri and Tom Alter.

The festival is being organ-ised by the Madhya PradeshCulture Department in coop-eration with PrayasProductions, MP Tourism andthe Urban AdministrationDepartment, he said, adding

that the KFFI would focus onwomen empowerment, farm-ers, youths and security forces.Films based on these subjectswill be screened in the 'TapraTalkies' (Makeshift talkies)section, the main attraction ofthis festival.

This year's festival wouldlast for a week - two dayslonger than the last editionand will be spread acrossthree towns in MP. “For thefirst time, the KFFI is beingorganised across three townsof Bundelkhand- Khajuraho,Panna and Chhatarpur. TheKFFI would also showcaseinternationl movies besidesthose produced in India,” hesaid.

Raja Bundela, actor andfounder of Prayas Productions,said director-producer ShekharKapur would be honoured atthe fest for his achievements inthe international film arena.

Several noted personalitiesof the film industry, such asJackie Shroff, Prem Chopra,Govind Nihlani, Manmohan

Shetty, Govind Namdev,Pankaj Parashar, among others,would attend the festival.

Bundela said these filmpersonalities would holdMaster Classes and share their

insights on acting and film-making techniques. Post thetraining session, three studentswould be shortlisted through acompetition, who would get theopportunity to be trained by

Anupam Kher, Subhash Singhand Ramesh Sippy. Shrivastavasaid the government is in theprocess of formulating a newfilm policy in the state. TheKFFI closes December 23.

����������� ���� ������������ ������������ �������������������������

!�����(������� ��� �����'���

B"����������+������������:������

������������������#�����������������$������������������������������������&�������������������������������!������������*���*������,�!**-���������#��������)��./��01������������+ �����������

$����(������������������������#������� �� ����������������������2��)�����'�����3��&�������������+ �����������

���������*�( +# .��('!+/ .�!"%"�*"��001�2304

��������6������#� � �������� �

��(7 ��(���������� /��$������������������"��������!'6�!���������������������������������������!�������!'6�!������1��������������4(�����6&������������������������������"��� #�����5�4����%#������5������0C������D'/3������������������%5��������#50'/53���'1������������������������������������������������������%(������������� ��������������������� /��$��������������!���������%������������������ �������������$�����������'� ������������������������������������$�������������$�� �������������������4������������������������!���������������������������������/��$�������������������&����������������������������������������������� '��������E�������$� ���������������%����4�����6������%-�:������#50'/3�����������������$��� ���������������$�������������� �������������-����������������������C����������������������������� ����������������

�� � ����# �)�����

��(7 ��'���5�������!����������������������������!����������5������"������������������������������� ����������������� �����������������'���5���������E������$���������������������������������������������&������������$�������������������������������������������&������������� ������������������� /�F���� ���"5+�����������)������������������ ����������(����������������������������������������������%������������� ������������������ �����������������

������ #��� � � !'1-��

Chief Minister Shivraj SinghChouhan said that a mas-

sive and attractive temple ofMa Sabri will be constructed ata cost of Rs 7.5 crore in state toencourage art and culture, tra-dition and dialect of Sahariyatribe.

Sabri Ma’s statue will alsobe installed in the temple. Forthis the community membersshould decide and select landwhich will be made available bythe state government. Chouhanwas addressing the SahariyaSammelan organized in Sesaivillage in Kolaras tehsil ofShivpuri district.

Chouhan performedbhoomi-pujan of KanyaShiksha Parisar to be con-structed at a cost of Rs 27.48crore in Sesai. He distributedbenefits worth Rs 12.75 croreto over 24,600 beneficiaries. Healso handed over land-rightscertificates to 10,156 benefi-

ciaries of Sahariya tribe on theoccasion.

He further said thatSahariya tribe members aresimple, easy going, hard work-ing and honest people whobelieve in Lord Ram and MaSabri. State government hastaken up the responsibility oftheir development and uplift-ment to bring them in themainstream with other com-munities and no stone will beleft unturned in this effort.

The Chief Minister saidthat the farmers of Sahariyacommunity, who have farm butno tool for irrigation, will beprovided free diesel pump withwell for irrigation. The ChiefMinister said that the state gov-ernment has decided to pro-vide wheat, rice and salt at Rsone per kg to Sahariya family.He said that BPL cards will beissued by conducting surveyagain. Ration will be given toSahariya families which donot link their ration card with

Aadhar number also.Chouhan said that special

package will be issued to areafor removing tuberculosis andmalnutrition in Sahariya tribeand adequate fund will be pro-vided for it. Health check upcamp will be held in Sahariyadominated villages. The gov-ernment will provide treat-ment to patient of serious ill-ness in Gwalior, Bhopal andDelhi hospital. Treatment facil-ity will be provided to villagersat local level with the help ofmobile clinic in Sahariya tribedominated areas.

The Chief Minister saidthat the state government hasbeen providing text books,uniforms, scholarships, shoes,cycles and residential facility inhostels and Ashram. Coachingfacility is being provided totribal students for preparingcompetitive examinations.State government has takenresponsibility to pay fee forhigher education.

������ #��� ��� !'1-��

Multi Product SpecialEconomic Zone (SEZ)

has been developed on 1113hectare land in Indore. Asum of Rs 3820 crore hasbeen invested in 49 units inSEZ through which morethan 19,300 persons have gotemployment.

Along with this, IT SEZ hasbeen established at a cost

of Rs 200 crore on 7.99hectare land in Indore.

The Commerce andIndustry Departments hasconstructed ‘Ready to Use’infrastructure area n 43,245square metre for IT compa-nies and industries.

Out of this, 33,022 squaremetre constructed area hasbeen allotted to various units.

At least 12 industrialunits connected with I.T havestarted production in thisfield providing employmentto nearly 2500 persons.Export of nearly Rs 200 crorehas been carried out from theI.T Park in 2016-17.

Financial assistance of

Rs 1,291 crore in 426 claimcases of big industries havebeen made available in vari-ous assistance schemes in2016-17 under IndustrialInvestment PromotionAssistance Scheme.

In 2017-18 up toSeptember 30, 2017, financialassistance of Rs 323.37 crorehas been made available toeligible senior citizens in 82claim cases of big industries.

The integrated organiza-tional infrastructure ofMadhya Pradesh Trade andInvestment Faci l itat ionCorporation Limited and itsassociate company

Madhya PradeshAudyogik Kendra VikasNigam, Bhopal, Indore,Jabalpur, Rewa, Sagar, Ujjainand Industr ia lInfrastructure DevelopmentCorporation, Gwalior hasbeen approved.

Along with this approvalin principle has been pro-vided of merger and absorp-tion of seven associate com-panies of MP TRIFAC inCompany Act.

������ #��� ��� !'1-��

Valuables worth Rs 1 lakhwere burgled from Pragati

Nagar under Awadhpuri policestation area on Saturday.

According to the police,the victim Ravindra Singh hadgone to meet his relatives onDecember 2 and when hereturned on Saturday the lockof the main gate was foundbroken and the house was ran-sacked.

The victim approached thepolice and lodged a complaintstating that he had gone tomeet his relatives along with hisfamily on December 2 andwhen he returned on Saturdayvaluables were burgled.

Gold and silver jewelryand Rs 15000 cash were bur-gled and the total loss in theburglary was around Rs 1 lakh.

Based on the complaintafter preliminary investigationthe police have registered a caseunder section 457 and 380 of

the IPC and have started fur-ther investigation.

Meanwhile, valuablesworth Rs 50,000 were stolenfrom a parked car at DMartsuper market under Misrodpolice station on Saturday.

Police said that the victimVijendra Kumar had gone forshopping at DMart super mar-ket and when he returned glassof window was found brokenand valuables were found miss-ing.

In his complaint the victimstated that the car was parkedoutside the super market anda bag carrying a mobile phone,gold jewelry and Rs 3000 cashwere missing. The total losswas around Rs 50000 claimedthe victim.

The police have registereda case under section 379 of theIPC and have started furtherinvestigation. The securityguard would be questioned inthe further investigation saidthe police.

������ #��� ��� !'1-��

Showcasing the spirit ofadventure in the forces, Hot

Air Ballooning Expeditionorganised by the Army,reached here on Saturday. Thesix-day long expedition wasflagged off from Vadodara onDecember 4. Flying eastwardsover 525 kms, it halted atDhabda, Kabarpada, Ujjain,Ashta and finally toucheddown at Bhopal on 09December 2017.

Public demonstrations,tethered flight for volunteersand aero shows were conduct-ed at Vadodara and Ujjain,which attracted scores ofenthusiastic visitors and gen-erated interest amongst theyouth. School children andNCC cadets were especiallyseen in large numbers at thevenues.

The expedition team com-prising of two balloons and 30members to include flyingcrew and ground crew was ledby Lieutenant Colonel VivekAhlawat and was named,‘Eagles Happiness with Nature’.Aimed at promotingAdventure Sports across states

of Gujarat and MadhyaPradesh, it was organised byArmy Adventure Nodal Centre(Hot Air Ballooning) located atEME Centre, Bhopal.This expe-dition was conducted as part ofadventure activities under theaegis of Army Adventure Wing.It was organised to draw atten-tion of eligible youngsterstowards Army as a career andmotivate them to undertakesuch adventure activities. Theexpedition culminated with theFlag in Ceremony held at EMECentre, Bhopal.

Hot Air Ballooning has itsown set of risks involved. It is noteasy to manoeuvre a balloon asit does not have a steering. Thedirection and speed of the bal-loon is controlled through flowof hot air. Take off is relativelysmooth compared to landing,which is risky. Besides at altitudeof 8000 ft, there are often tur-bulent patches, which test yourskills.

EME Centre in Bhopal isrunning the Army AdventureNodal Centre (Hot AirBallooning) since March 1997.This Node conducts Basic,Intermediate, Instructor and

Refresher courses and hasbeen successful in training

more than 1000 army personsin Hot Air Ballooning. It has

undertaken 13 expeditionsand 60 Aero Shows at various

places across the country, tilldate.

#�� ����(��Minister for Public

Relations, Water Resourcesand Parliamentary AffairsNarottam Mishra said sensi-tiveness is utmost essential inthe society for protection ofhuman rights. Mishra wasaddressing the seminar orga-nized on the occasion ofHuman Rights Day here onSunday.

He mentioned that a spe-cial importance has been givento human rights in IndianConstitution. Mishra furthersaid that the state governmentalso implements recommen-dations of Madhya PradeshState Human RightsCommission with utmost seri-ousness.

Mishra honoured severalpersons who have performedwith excellence in various fieldsduring the programme. MLAsGhnashyam Pironiya, PradeepAgrawal and President ofHuman Rights OrganisationMunnilal Sharma were presentin the programme.

Mishra inspected theDeendyal Rasoi, functioningnear Maa Pitambara Peeth inDatia. He also had meals alongwith the citizens on the occa-sion.

Public Relations MinisterMishra was felicitated bySindhi Community in MataSahab Ashram located at JyotiNagar of Datia. GovindGyanani, Pankaj Shukl, BaldevRaj, Shri Laxman Sahbani andothers were present in the pro-gramme.

Besides, Mishra inaugu-rated and observed trade fairand exhibition at Datia.President Nagar Palika DatiaSubhash Agrawal and VicePresident Yogesh Saxena werealso present in the programme.

Mishra handed overcheques towards PradhanMantri Awas Yojana to 100beneficiaries in the trade fair.Besides, food grains eligibil-ity slips were distributed to 58beneficiaries on the occa-sion.

������ #��� ����!'1-��

Chief Minister Shivraj SinghChouhan said that Kalchuri

Samaj has progressed on thebasis of its strength and hardwork. It is a matter of happinessthat the community has initi-ated women empowermentactivities.The state governmenthas taken several steps for pre-vention of crimes againstwomen. Community shouldstand besides the governmentin this matter.Besides, the stategovernment has startedMukhya Mantri MedhvaiVidhyarthi Yojana for merito-rious students. The familyincome limit will be increasedto Rs 8 lakh from Rs 6 lakh nowunder this scheme. A venturefund of Rs 100 crore has beenestablished for young entre-preneurs. Chouhan urgedyouths to become entrepre-

neurs and contribute in thedevelopment of the

state.Chouhan was addressingthe programme of

Sahastrabaahu Kalchuri Samajhere on Sunday. The Former

Chief Minister Babulal Gaurand Minister of State for

Cooperatives (IndependentCharge) Vishwas Sarang werepresent in theprogramme.National Presidentof Kalchuri Samaj, DilipSuryavanshi stated that schemesmade by the state governmentfor the welfare of poor arebeing followed by other states.He mentioned that the KalchuriSamaj will solemnize marriagesof poor girls once in everymonth now. The Chief MinisterChouhan released a souvenirand a book titling ‘Ek Jhalak’ ofthe Kalchuri Samaj. A citationletter was presented toChouhan in the programme.He blessed newly wedded cou-ples on the occasion.VinodRai, Vijaypal Baliya, MLAsSandeep Jaiswal, Munmun Rai,Ramkumar Baliya, BaleshwarDayal, Ashutosh Malviya werepresent in the programme. Voteof thanks was proposed byOmprakash Chouksey.

������ #��� � � !'1-��

Gautam Nagar police havebooked two miscreants

who opened fire at 20-year-oldyouth near Sai Motors in theearly morning hours onSunday.

Panic prevailed at Berasiaroad near Sai Motors after ayouth was shot at and he sus-tained injury in his right thighand was rushed to a nearbyhospital and later referred toChirayu hospital.

SHO Mukhtar Qureshisaid that the victim was iden-tified as Mohammad Arbazalias Raja of Bagh Farhat Afzawhile the accused were iden-tified as Salman alias Lalaand Shahrukh of Qazi Camp.The two accused were track-ing the movements of the vic-tim as they shot him at around4.30 am which suggests thatthey were waiting for thechance to open fire but it

could not be confirmed thatthey wanted to kill him ortheir intention was to ter-rorise him.

Around a month agoArbaz had a f ight withShahrukh and to settle scoreArbaz was attacked. Shahrukhalong with his accompliceSalman planned the attack.The accused attacked with apistol as a single bullet wasfound in the right thigh of thevictim.

The two were on bikewhile victim was walking. Thetwo escaped and are still miss-ing. Search has been intensi-fied to nab the accused.

The victim and accusedhave been booked earlier andtheir criminal record would beinvestigated. After the pre-liminary investigation thepolice have registered a caseunder section 307 and 34 ofthe IPC and have started fur-ther investigation.

���������� �������� ������ ������ ���

������������� ����������������������

������������� ������"�������� � ������������� ������ ��������

�$�������������������������)������������#���

���� �������������������

�������������������$�������#�����.��

��(7 ���(������������������������������������ ����������������E������� �� ���%�������������������� !����������4������������������&��������������������� ���������������������������������������������������(���������� �������B2���� � ���+����$����� ����������%�� ������������������������������(��������� ������$��������5�� ��1���5����������������������������������������������� ������������������������(���������������� ������������� ������� �������������������� ��������������(����������������������������������������������� ��� �� ���������������������������$� ������!������������������><��� �������������������������!������������������������� �������������������G��������%����������������������������������#��

4�������� �������2���� � ���

4��(��&���������56�����������������)����(������#�������##��6 ������#���7��������������&���������������+ �����������

$����� ����������#$�������������������������)����#����������)�������������)��������������������������������8���8���� ����������������#�������)�����������$�����)��,����������-��&�������������+ �����������

$����� ����������#$������������������������������������������������9���#��.+:;�����"����������#!���������"���������(��!�����������7�����������������������<����=�4�����������������$����������������������&�������������+!���������"���)���$ 4�����(������)�> .�����#�����+

� �����

#���� !/�'5�-/

The Bhanjanagar police onSunday arrested former

Aska NAC chairman SuryaPalai for allegedly giving Suparito Jharkhand's notorious con-tract killer Bablu Paswan, whowas nabbed by the police afteran encounter on Friday.

Police said Surya had hiredBablu to avenge the death of hisbusiness partner and brotherPratap Palai, who was shotdead by his rivals in a movingbus. So, according to plansthree of them, Bablu and oneof his associates along withSurya went in a car towardsBhanjanagar. They had plannedto kill one Rabi Nahak, whowas involved in the murder ofPratap, while he was to be pro-duced in the court.

But police got informa-

tion about the incident fromthe superiors about the plot andaccordingly, they spread adragnet to catch them. Andwhile frisking vehicles, theypolice intercepted the trio, whotried to escape from the spot byfiring on the cops. But Bablureceived gunshot wounds onhis legs and was nabbed. ButSurya and Bablu's associatemanaged to give a slip to thepolice.

Later, the associate wasnabbed in an encounter withthe police, while Surya wastraced and arrested on Saturdaymidnight. Surya is also a his-tory-sheeter and has 18 casespending against him in variouspolice stations. He had paid �3lakh to Bablu and promised topay him �4 lakh after the crimewas executed, police said.

#�� � /�A�#���

Under the Chairmanship ofRevenue Divisional

Commissioner (RDC), south-ern division, T Apang Ao, thefifth Rehabilitation andPeripheral DevelopmentAdvisory Committee (RPDAC)meeting was held here.

Koraput MP JhinnaHikaka, Rajya Sabha MP NBhaskar rao, Rayagada MLAand District Planning BoardChairman Lal Bihari Himirika,Zilla Parishad ChairmanPurushottam Gomango,besides the Rayagada Collectorand other district officials werepresent.

Though the RPDAC meet-ing for Utkal AluminaInternational Limited (UAIL)at Tikiri was held after a longspan of seven years, severalimportant resolutions werepassed like creation of a corpusfund amounting to the tune of�50 lakh for quality education

for the project affected families,reviving the defunct ITI, prop-er utilisation of peripheral fundunder the custody of theCollector, employment to thelocal educated youths, etc.

Quarterly RPDAC meetingwas also stressed by the RDC.

The company representa-tives presented the steps takenregarding development of edu-cation, health and employ-ment in the area.

The representatives fromthe displaced area spoke about

their plight. The Collector wastold to look into the matter ina phased manner. When thequestion of inclusion of villageslike Dimundi, Nuapada,Bhitara Muskuni, Lachhiguda,D Karol and Tikarpada in dis-placed village status list wasraised, the RDC told that nodecision could be taken as thematter was sub judice.

On the other hand, theconstruction workers and otherlabourers of Kashipur blockunder the banner of Sri

Jagannath Utkal AluminaLabour Union affiliated toBharatiya MazdoorSagha(BMS) assembled recent-ly in Kodinga village anddemanded massive plantationaround 20 km periphery of theplant, engaging local contrac-tors, employment at least to onemember of the displaced fam-ilies, employing local labourersin the plant and its ancillaries,constituting a local cooperativefor taking up peripheral devel-opment activities, constitutinga labour wage committeeaccording to Central guide-lines, providing all the facilitiesto labourers and checking redsoil getting flooded into thecultivable land and house, etc.

They also demandedthrough a memorandumbefore the company to make abiennial agreement to increasethe wage of the labourers, pro-vide necessary safety equip-ment, medical facilities, bonus,PF, etc.

Meanwhile, Rayagada BMSpresident Jogeswar Dash said ifthe genuine demands of thelabourers are not met within aparticular timeframe, there willbe severe labour unrest.

�����������������

������������ !����������)����������*� ��#���'�� ���

+����&+,���' �����������������#�'��

����!�"��!��#��� ��$��%����� � �%�����

#���� !'!�.6�7�/

Making the State proud,Odia youth Chandrakant

Acharya won the Sword ofHonour for the best perform-ing cadet at the Indian MilitaryAcademy (IMA) on Saturday.

Chandrakant, who hadjoined the Rashtriya IndianMilitary College (RIMC) atDehradun, received the awardfrom Bangladesh Army ChiefGeneral Abu Belal MuhammadShafiul Huq along with a goldmedal for being the best cadetof the year. Chandrakant'sfather Ajay Kumar Acharya isa Professor of Botany and hismother is a housewife.

With Acharya's winningthe honour, Odisha has wonthe Sword of Honour at IMA,Dehradun for the second con-secutive year. In 2016, the titlehad gone to Pratyush Mohantyof the State.

Chief Minister NaveenPatnaik took to Twitter andcongratulated Acharya for hisachievement. Patnaik wrote,“Congratulations toChandrakant Acharya of Cuttackon being conferred the presti-gious Sword of Honour as thebest performing cadet at IndianMilitary Academy passing outparade. Odisha is proud of hisaccomplishment. Wish him allsuccess in his career.”

?��������"���!$(�"����#4�����

#���� /1/46��

The Kosal Janata Dal (KJD)is committed to hold a

pan-Odisha view as far as theState's development is con-cerned, but the new politicaloutfit would focus on devel-oping the backward districts ofwestern Odisha to begin with,said KJD president BaidyanathMishra while speaking toreporters after a party Stateexecutive meeting here onFriday,

Mishra said Odisha hasmiles to go to carve its placeamong the developed States;and a fits and starts approachto achieve this goal would notachieve the purpose. KJD func-tionaries would tour the west-ern part of Odisha to assess theground reality soon after itsfirst general body meeting onDecember 22 here, whicharound 500 members wouldattend.

The executive passed fourresolutions to strengthen theorganisation besides approv-ing the colour and size of theparty flag. KJD vice-presi-dent Sanat Kumar Pradhan,general secretary ChakrantJena and treasurer LalatenduChoudhury, among others,were present.

�'���"���#����������?�����

������ #��� � � !'1-��

The students securing 70per cent marks in the Class

XII examination will also getthe benefit of the ChiefMinister's Medhavi VidyarthiProtsahan Yojna from nextyear. The scheme will cover allcourses offered in governmentcolleges. The income limit willbe extended to Rs eight lakh.

The industries providingemployment to more than hun-dred youth will now be givenone and a half times more cap-ital subsidy. The Chief MinisterShivraj Singh Chouhan madethese announcements in Dil Seradio programme broadcastfrom AIR on Sunday.

The Chief Minister saidthat the benefit of the ChiefMinister Medhavi VidyarthiProtsahan Yojana will be givento the students in the JEEMain Examination upto 1.5lakhs merit. The criterian ofannual income of the students'family will be increased fromsix to eight lakh rupees. Newcourses will also be coveredunder the scheme so that max-imum number of students

could get the benefit.The Chief Minister said

that the candidates who couldnot appear in the PatwariExamination due to some tech-nical reasons will get a chanceto appear in the examination tobe held on December 29 forthem. The Chief Ministerinformed that about 90,000posts in government sectorwill be filled. Under the ChiefMinister's YouthEmpowerment Mission, 7.5lakh youth will be trained foremployment every year.

Chouhan said thatrenewed campaign to save girlchild will be launched with theparticipation of society inwhich emphasis will be givenon value based education.

The society should comeforward to help and savedaughters. He exhorted thecitizens to come forward andengage themselves in cleaningtheir respective cities and vil-lages. He said that the state gov-ernment is celebrating the birthcentenary of Pandit DeendayalUpadhyayji as The Year ofWelfare of the Poor. All mea-sures have been taken to erad-

icate poverty. He said that eli-gible persons not getting sub-sidized ration will be issuedfood coupon.

A poor person will not bedeprived of getting subsidizedration, he added.

The Chief Ministerreferred to a radical legislationof protecting girl child sayingthat that assaulting girl childwill get capital punishment.

He said that AadiShankaracharya Ekatma Yatrawill be taken out fromDecember 19 to January 22, inwhich soil from different partsof will be collected.

A life size statue of AadiShankarachary will be set up atOmkareshwar. The Yatra willalso spread message of SaveGirl Child.

Chouhan urged the youthto take benefit ofMukhyamantri Yuva UdyamiYojana, Mukhyamantri YuvaSwarozgar Yojana,Mukhyamantri KrishakUdyami Yojana, MukhyamantriAarthik Kalyan Yojana andthose launched by the PrimeMinister Narendra Modi tobecome an entrepreneur.

������ #��� ��� !'1-��

The fizzy shades of imagi-nation over the canvas

made the art lovers of the cityfilled with happiness and pos-itivity. Pooja Sahu a youngartist has done a remarkablework over canvas and createdan art piece that reflect anindividual’s personality.

She has made a mirrordecorated with Madhubaniart. The colourful art aroundthe mirror makes the artpiece look entirely different

and charismatic in its ownway.

It was the concluding dayof a three-day group paintingexhibition ‘Kamli’. The exhi-bition concluded on Sundayat Swaraj Bhavan Art Gallerywith an ecstasy. All threedays of the exhibition, the artlovers had a close look of thepaintings which were theexpressions of the artists.

As many as 80 artistsfrom 6 years to 55 years putup their works at the artgallery leaving the spectators

totally enthralled. The artworks were varied in terms ofage, colour variations andperceptions.

The exhibition was put upby a renowned artist of thecity Raj Saini.

Talking about the exhibi-tion, Raj Saini told ThePioneer, “We began organis-ing Kamli four years back. Westarted off with only 10 artistsand till its fourth year thereare 80 artists who have dis-played their work. It is reallya matter of happiness for me,”

he added.The artists f rom

Bangalore, Bhopal, Ujjain andmany other cities displayedtheir colourful works. On thesecond day of the exhibition,a special workshop was alsoorganised at the SwarajBhavan Art Galler y toenhance the knowledge ofthe artists.

The entire exhibition wasan amalgamation of purityand originality of perceptionsof the artists who think out ofthe box.

������ #��� ��� !'1-��

With the clearing of thecloudy weather condi-

tions temperatures during theday were recorded at higherlevel on Sunday.

The weather conditionsprovided a bit of relief from theharsh weather conditions wit-nessed for the past 3-4 days inthe state capital and similarweather conditions would bewitnessed in the next 2-3 days.

Met official said that theday temperature witnessed atincreased level due to southeasterly winds. A WD isapproaching which wouldincrease the night temperature.With the approach of the WDtemperatures have a rising ten-dency.

Under the present weath-er conditions night tempera-tures are less likely to witnesssteep dip in the next 2-3 days.

Night temperature wasrecorded at 7 degree Celsiuswhich was the lowest in thestate and was recorded atUmaria, Mandla and Gwalior.Significant decrease in the tem-peratures was recorded inJabalpur and Bhopal divisionsand steep decrease in temper-atures was recorded inHoshangabad division.

The night temperature wasrecorded at 10.4 degree Celsiuswhile the day temperature wasrecorded at 27.5 degree Celsius.

Among the major citiesIndore recorded 27.4 degreeCelsius and night temperatureat 13.8 degree Celsius, Gwaliorrecorded day temperature at 28degree Celsius and night tem-perature at 7.4 degree Celsiusand Jabalpur recorded daytemperature at 25.4 degreeCelsius and night temperatureat 7.4 degree Celsius.

The weather conditionswould remain dry in the next24 hours. The day and nighttemperatures would be record-ed around 27 and 11 degreeCelsius respectively. OnlyDamoh and Rajgarh recordedday temperature above 30degree Celsius.

Among the nearby regionsRaisen recorded 8.5 degreeCelsius while other regionswhich recorded low night tem-peratures were Nowgongrecorded night temperature at8.3 degree Celsius andChhindwara recorded 8.2degree Celsius.

-������������#��������

7������������������������������

#���� "'�.��#�/'

Asix-year-old girl, who wasraped and killed in Haryana’s

Uklana area in Hisar, was cre-mated on Sunday, as the agitat-ed locals protested over thegruesome crime.

The girl child was allegedlyabducted from her home, whichis part of a slum-dwellers area inUklana, in the wee hours onSaturday. Her body was foundafter few hours at a distance fromthe place where she was livingwith her family.

“Some unidentified menhad allegedly abducted the girlwhen she was sleeping with hersister and mother in their homein a slum area. The men thenraped and killed her,” the policesaid. The doctors of CivilHospital who conducted thepost- mortem examination saidthat the accused inserted awooden stick into the girl's pri-vate parts, which ruptured herintestine.

“When the body was hand-ed over to us it was soaked inblood,” a kin of the girl told themediapersons in Hisar.

Angered over the incident,the opposition parties, IndianNational Lok Dal (INLD),

Congress and the local residentsdemonstrated against theManohar Lal Khattar led gov-ernment, on the cremationground.

Former Chief MinisterBhupinder Singh Hooda whiledemanding an immediate arrestof the accused said that such bar-baric incidents showed that lawand order machinery in thestate under the BJP governmenthad collapsed.

Things have come to such apass that children were neithersafe in their schools nor athomes, Hooda said while talkingto the mediapersons.

The barbaric incident was achilling reminder of theDecember 16 gangrape case inDelhi in 2012 involving a youngwoman, he said.

Haryana BJP chief SubhashBarala and party's Hisar MLAKamal Gupta and other leaderswere also present at the crema-tion.

A case under variousSections of the Indian PenalCode (IPC) including murder,rape, kidnapping, besides, underthe provisions of the POCSO Acthas been registered. A SpecialInvestigation Team (SIT) hasalso been formed to probe the

incident. However, no arrest hasbeen made in the case, said apolice spokesman.

The police is checkingCCTV footage of the area togather clues, he said.

The incident came to lighton Saturday morning whenpassersby noticed the body of thegirl on a deserted street, thepolice said.

The victim’s family, whowork as labourers, belong to theSapera community hailing fromTohana town in Fatehabad dis-trict. They were living near rail-way lines in Uklana for the lastcouple of years.

Meanwhile, the NationalCommission for Protection ofChild Rights (NCPCR) onSunday condemned the inci-dent and said that they werecoordinating with the state policeto arrest the culprit.

"NCPCR will make everyeffort to talk to the HaryanaPolice so that the culprit iscaught, prosecuted and givenmaximum possible sentence,"said NCPCR advisor KulbirKrishnan while talking to themediapersons.

Krishnan called the incidentbarbaric, adding he had neverheard such thing before.

-�����������$�����'������������$���

#���� "'�.��#�/'

Hailing media as thefourth and an impor-

tant pillar of democracy,Haryana Chief MinisterManohar Lal on Sundaysaid that as the governmentcould not interfere in theirright to free expressionenshrined in ourConstitution, the mediashould frame its own codeof conduct to ensure thatwhatever media personswrote or telecast, is in theinterest of the society andt h enation.

Manohar Lal was speak-ing as chief guest at the con-cluding session of the two-day national meet of theConfederat ion ofNewspaper and NewsAgency EmployeesOrganizations, here.

The contribution ofmedia to the society couldnot be ignored in the pre-sent-day world but main-taining credibility is a majorchallenge before the media.If they are able to maintaincredibility, they would cer-

tainly be successful in theirmission or profession, hesaid.

Exhorting the mediapersons to take media as amission, he said in the pre-Independence days, lead-ers like Mahatma Gandhiand Lokmanya Tilak hadtaken media as a mission,and not as a profession,with the aim to get thecountry freed from theclutches of Britishers.

Similarly, to achieve suc-cess in the profession, mediapersons should maintain itsimage and credibility. Today,professionals like advocates,doctors and media personsneed to work with mission-ary zeal by sticking to ethicsfor betterment of the soci-ety, said he.

Now-a-days, media hasgrown manifold and so hasthe competition amongthem. The aim of the mediashould be to work to elim-inate social evils from thesociety, enlighten the peopleon several issues and refrainfrom giving news which isnot based on facts, ManoharLal said.

5�������� ��������������@'������"5

#���� "'�.��#�/'

Cold weather conditionsprevailed in most parts of

Punjab and neighbouringHaryana on Sunday.

Punjab’s Bathinda was thecoldest place at 4 degreesCelsius while Amritsar shiv-ered at 5.4 degrees Celsius,down by one degree fromnormal.

Ludhiana, the industrialhub of Punjab, and Patialarecorded minimum at 8.1degrees Celsius and 9.2 degreesCelsius respectively.

Among other places inPunjab where night tempera-ture dropped below normalincluded Faridkot, where themercury settled at 4.8 degreesCelsius. Adampur was equal-ly cold recording minimumtemperature of 5.1 degreesCelsius.

Gurdaspur and Halwaraalso braved the chill recordingrespective lows of 6.9 degreesCelsius and 7.2 degrees Celsius.

In neighbouring Haryana,the minimum in Hisar settledat 4.8 degrees Celsius, fournotches below normal and 5.5degrees Celsius in Narnaul,down by one degree from nor-mal.

Karnal and Bhiwanirecorded minimum tempera-tures at 7 degrees Celsius and8.2 degree Celsius respective-ly.

Chandigarh, the joint cap-ital of Punjab and Haryanarecorded minimum tempera-ture at 10 degree Celsius whilemaximum settled at 26.7degrees.

The maximum tempera-ture recorded in Bhiwani was25.8 degrees, Ambala saw26.4degree Celsius, Narnaul saw 28degrees.

In Punjab, Amritsar sawmaximum temperature at 23degrees, Ludhiana 25.5 degreesand Patiala 25.7 degree Celsius.

The Met Department hasforecast rain at isolated placesin Punjab and Haryana innext 48 hours.

Also, severe cold day con-ditions are likely to prevail dur-ing next 48 hours in both thestates while dense fog wouldalso occur at few places, pre-dicted the MetDepartment.Cold conditionsare set to intensify in neigh-boring Himachal Pradesh withwidespread rainfall and snow-fall predicted on December 11and 14.

"���������������-����$%'������

#���� "'�.��#�/'

British politician of Indianorigin, Lord Diljit Rana

has hired a UEFA licensedcoach named Tommy Taylorto establish a football acad-emy at his native villageSanghol in Punjab’sFatehgarh Sahib district.

"We are establishing aFootball Academy at UnchaPind in Sanghol in collabo-ration with Southall FootballClub, UK, whose chairman isChana Singh Gill," LordRana said here.

Rana felt that there wasno dearth of talent, butstressed that it needs to bespotted and then given anopportunity to excel.

Tommy Taylor said thata talent hunt championshipfrom December 9 at Sangholwill be organised for fewdays involving 42 inter-school teams. Taylor said, "Itis a big programme. We arelooking between 10-12 yearolds, really good players aspossible.

We will keep trying untilwe get the best ones." "The

talented players will be cho-sen and we will nurturethem to become profession-als.

Our ultimate goal is tobuild a national team on thecampus," said Taylor refer-

ring to the already availableinfrastructure in the shape ofLord Rana Education City, acharitable educational insti-tute at Sanghol run by theIndian-origin politician LordRana.

������/���������$���� ���$�������������������

�������������$��$ �������������@��)�������������@��������������&��"����&�������������+ �����������

�!(8�# 9��*-6!��������"������5����(���������%H-6!���������-������������������&��������� ��������$��I��,9������������5�����-�������HH1������$��I%�$���J<<<���� F9%JJ8����������������������������������������������������&������������������������������������ �������� ���������������$��%H������(��������������������������������������&�������$��� ������$���������������������-6!��$��������������������������$��������$�����$������&������������$���������'����������������������������$�$��$����������$�����������$��F,���F8�(�������������,<�F<�������������������������� ������������ �����I*<<������ ����������������(����������$������������������������� �( ���(���"������������������0("�3%�������

/� �&�����

�$3�$�����8�����#�������A!!���������������/B������������

*�( +# .��('!+/ .�!"%"�*"��001�2304

*�( +# .��('!+/ .�!"%"�*"��001�2304 � �����&

� #�������6���.67�6�'�

About 100 out of 400 postsof Director and Deputy

Secretary level are vacant in theCentral Government Ministriesand Departments affecting sev-eral development projects andpolicies announced by theModi Government.

The Group A Director/DySecy post are the most signifi-cant post within the chain ofhierarchy of the Ministry. Theyare the ones who do the paperwork before the files reach theJoint Secretaries (JS), the first inthe chain of decision making.

The largest numbers ofvacant Directors are in thevital Defence Ministry fol-lowed by Department ofEconomic Affairs and HRDMinistry. There are equallylarge number of vacancies in

Home and Urban Affairs min-istries.

A senior Department ofPersonnel and Training(DoPT) official said theDirector level post were creat-ed mainly for the officials of theCentral Secretariat Services(CSS). For some time, the offi-cials of Group A Services likeIRS, ITS, Railway Services,Customs and Excise, PostalServices have “encroached” onthese posts.

“They (IAS, IPS, IRS etc)are now coming as Directors orequivalent post of DeputySecretary to the Central min-istries to enhance their careergrowth into SAG grade (SeniorAdministrative Grade) which ismandatory for a CentralGovernment posting at a laterstage. We can say they haveencroached upon the CSScadre and createdresentmentamongst the Government offi-cials,” explained the official.

As the availability of offi-cers in the rank of Directorsdwindles, the DoPT had tosoften the rules for their post-ings. Keeping in view largenumber of vacancies in thegrade of director, the authori-

ty relaxed the eligibility condi-tion for promotion through anoffice memorandum some timeago.

However, when severalCSS cadre officials were askedabout refusal to join asDirectors, they complainedabout lack of facility providedto them in terms of allowances,accommodations, vehicles(which is on a sharing basiswith one vehicle for twoDirectors) when compared tothe same grade and rank inState.

“Lot of paper work is there

now in all the Ministries andDepartments given the vol-ume of countless schemesannounced simultaneously.The Directors are cut out to ini-tiate the process of schemes byexamining them in detail. Thisis not an easy task given the riskinvolved in it,” rued a CSS cadreofficial.

On the other hand, an IASposted as Director in a Ministrypointed that when one of themis posted as Director, he/shebring in the best practices andenrich the drafting of the gov-ernment polices and schemes.

Eight posts are vacant inDefence, seven in EconomicAffairs, six in Home, five inHosuing and Urban Affairs,four in HRD, three each in var-ious ministries like RuralDevelopment, Commerce,Water Resources; two each inMinistries like Sports, NAT-GRID, Social Justice, DoPT andElection Commission of India.

Similarly, one Directorlevel post remains vacant in atotal of 23 Ministries like Steel,Shipping, Coal, Tribal Affairs,Power, Textiles etc., as per thevacancy notified by the DoPTtill last month.

��������� ����� ��"��������

#��� ��� ��� �)�� ��.67�6�'�

The CPI(M) politburo failedto reach a consensus on

whether it should have a polit-ical understanding with theCongress and other secularparties to oust the BJP-ledGovernment, as it framed itsdraft political report.

A two-day politburo meetdiscussed two notes — one pre-sented by Secretary GeneralSitaram Yechury and the otherby his predecessor PrakashKarat — suggesting the politi-cal approach it should follow inthe coming three years. Sincethe party has not been able toreach any consensus, the draftwill be placed before theCentral Committee.

“The politburo discussedthe draft political report for the

22nd Congress. These discus-sions will now be placed for theCentral committee’s considera-tion at its forthcoming meetingfrom January 19-21 at Kolkata,”the party said in a statement.

Though the politburocould not reach any consensus,efforts will continue to be putin by politburo members avail-able here to reach a consensusso that one note can be sent tothe Central Committee, a partysource said.

In a note to the politburo,Yechury is understood to havesaid that “while there should beno electoral understandingwith the Congress, the partyshould seek the cooperation ofall non-Left parties to oust theModi Government”.

In his note, Yechury hasemphasised that the clause on“not having any political under-standing with the Congress” beremoved from the draft topave a way for consolidation ofsecular forces against the RSS-BJP, a senior party leader said.This stand is being severelyopposed by the Karat faction,

which has a majority in the pre-sent politburo.

Karat in his note is under-stood to have emphasised thatthe BJP is the chief opponentin the present political situationand the CPI(M)’s priorityshould be to defeat the com-munal forces, but there shouldnot be any political under-standing with the Congress.

Karat is of the opinionthat the party should take a tac-tical line in electoral politicsand can have political under-standing with regional partieseven though they are in alliancewith the Congress. Yechurycamp feels this approach is“extremely impractical”.

Interestingly, the CPI(M)has already extended support tothe DMK, a Congress ally, forthe RK Nagar Assembly by-election in Tamil Nadu. Thepolitburo finalised the scheduleof state conferences. Twenty-five State committees will havetheir conferences in the run upto the 22nd Congress to be heldat Hyderabad from April 18-22next year.

#���� .67�6�'�

The Sharad Yadav-led rebelJD(U) faction, which is to

hold a convention afterDecember 18, will shortly movethe Election Commission (EC)to be recognised as a new party.

The Election Commission(EC) had recognised the Biharchief minister Nitish Kumar-led faction as the real JD(U)and accepted its claim over thepoll symbol ‘arrow’.

Former JD(U) general sec-retary and close aide of Yadav,Arun Kumar Shrivastav, saidthey will file an application forbeing recognized as a newParty with the EC in a day ortwo and hold a convention afterthe results of the Gujarat andHimachal Pradesh polls wereannounced on December 18.

Among the names the newparty will seek for itself in itsapplication to the EC areSamajwadi Janata Dal andLoktantrik Janata Dal. TheYadav faction had earlierannounced that it will form anew party after the Gujarat polls.

#��� ��� ��� �)�� ��.67�6�'�

With more than 80 percent medicinal plants

being sourced from the forestin the country, the UnionAyush Ministry has startedinvolving self-help groups(SHGs) and joint forest man-agement committee for prop-er drying and storage of herbalproduce so as to ensure quali-ty and adequate availability.

Given that people are grad-ually turning towards herbal-based alternate traditionalmedicines like Ayurveda,Siddha and Unani which , athree-fold increase in marketsize of Ayurvedic productsfrom $2.5 billion to $8 billionis expected by 2022.

This means, in coming yearsthere will be greater demand forthe medicinal plant species inAyush sector which comprisesAyurveda, Unani and Siddha.

“Forests remain a majorsource for raw materials suchas medicinal plants which aresaid to be rich in disease-cur-ing properties. Therefore, it isnecessary that there is adequateavailability and sustainable uti-lizations of these plants through

their large scale conservationand resource augmentation,”said an official from theMinistry.

At a meeting recently toexamine the draft of NationalPolicy of Medicinal andAromatic Plants, AyushMinister SY Naik echoed sim-ilar views. “The herbal medi-cine sector could also providenew job opportunities to thepeople and India could play aleading role in the global mar-ket of herbal products anddrugs,” he said.

For the creation of marketlinkages, the Government ismulling to identify potentialbuyer and seller of medicinalplants through the regularbuyer seller meets to be orga-nized in the regions, producerof medicinal plants to be edu-cated to take part/involved inmedicinal plants mandies.

For providing market to theherbal products, the govern-ment has already made a begin-ning. The Ayush Ministry recent-ly held first-ever “InternationalArogya 2017”, conference whichsaw participation of delegatesfrom more than 70 countrieswhile more than 250 traditionalmanufacturers showcased their

herbal products.As was evident at the con-

ference, eying the growingexport and domestic market, alarge number of big pharmacompanies have started to redi-rect their business strategy byinvesting large amount offinance in research and man-ufacturing of herbal medicines.Some Government institutionstoo have jumped the fray.

For instance, Lukoskin, atraditional herbal formulationmade from over ten plants bythe extensive R& D by the sci-entists of Defence Research andDevelopment Organisation(DRDO) has found huge mar-ket. It is used to treat vitiligo orleucoderma which is still con-sidered as stigma here, said

Sanchit Sharma from Delhi-based AIMIL Pharma, which ismarketing Lukoskin among astring of herbal products.Worldwide incidence of leuco-derma is reported to be 1 to 2per cent while in India, it’saround 4 to 5 per cent, he noted.

Similarly, anti-diabetesdrug BGR-34, made from theextracts of four herbal plantshas been developed by theCSIR.

Another Governmentagency, the Central Council ofResearch in Ayurvedic Sciences(CCRAS) has developed a newanti-diabetic drug namelyAYUSH-82 from five ayurvedicmedicinal plants. The Ayushminister had informed theParliament last year that the

Council has initiated action tocommercialise AYUSH-82 andtill now Dabur India, KudosLaboratory India and LaGranade Herbs and Pharmahave been given licenses formanufacturing it.

Some other herbal drugsfrom CCRAS house includePuskura Guguluu for heart dis-eases, Varuna for UTI, Brahmiand Mandukparni to promotemental health among others.

“We are witnessing a high-ly receptive environment wherethe value of AYUSH systems iswidely recognised worldwide,translating into growing globaldemand,” said Dr Sanjaya Baru,Secretary General of FICCIwhich had co-sponsored theInternational Arogya 2017 here.

Shomita Biswas, CEO ofthe NMPB stressed on the needof 365 days national campaignon medicinal plants for creat-ing awareness among the gen-eral masses, signing of MoUwith ISRO for involving spacetechnology in relevance to med-icinal plants for Geo-referenc-ing. She also suggested thatGovernment pharmacies canintervene in direct sales/pur-chase of medicinal plants pro-duce from the clusters.

)�� ��#�� ��� .67�6�'�

Russia is expected to startsupplying nuclear reactor

vessels for the KudankulamNuclear Power Plant (KNPP)Units 3 and 4 from July 2018onwards. Work at the KNPPUnits 3, 4 site began this yearfollowing a clearance from theAtomic Energy RegulatoryBoard.

“Reactor vessels will besupplied in accordance with thecontractual obligations of theRussian side. For power Unit 3,delivery is planned for July2018, and for power Unit 4 itwill be in the first half of2019,” said Vladimir Angelov,Director Projects of the ASEGroup of Companies in India.ASE is an engineering divisionof Rosatom State AtomicEnergy Corporation that hascollaborated with NuclearPower Corporation of IndiaLimited for KNPP.

Talking about the currentprogress of manufacturingequipment for the second stageof the power station (Units 3and 4), Angelov said that thecompany is working on pro-curement of equipments.

“The first batch of equip-ment for power Unit 3 of theKudankulam NPP was shippedin the first half of 2016. To date,11 consignments of containershipments with a total of 745shipped units have been made.Two ship consignments, with atotal volume of 22,000 m3, leftthe port of St. Petersburg thisautumn. Now a third consign-ment with a volume of 15,000m3 is being prepared for ship-ment to the Indian customer inDecember 2017,” he said.

Apart from equipments,Russia also supplies nuclear fuelfor the Indian reactors, includ-

ing KNPP under a life-cyclecontract.

Units 3 and 4 will seeincreased participation ofIndian specialists in KNPP.“The participation of Indianspecialists will increase inaccordance with the increasedzone of responsibility of theIndian side compared withtheir obligations related toUnits1 and 2. That applies toconstruction and assemblywork as well as design and sup-ply of equipment,” Angelovadded.

Indian specialists are alsogoing to be part of the RooppurNuclear power Plant thatRussia is building inBangladesh. This will be India’sfirst nuclear power venture ina third country. India andRussia have also agreed forlocalised production of nuclearequipments

“Localisation of Russian-designed fabrication facilities inIndia is one of the topics cur-rently being discussed withour Indian partners.Localisation is primarily a busi-ness project. Therefore, weattach much significance to theeconomics of production.Given this, we have reached anagreement with our partnersthat we will build separateproduction facilities in India tolater deepen localisations weextend the VVER reactor fleetin India. The process will notbe fast, but the agreements inprinciple have already beenreached, and we remain com-mitted to them,” OlegGrigoriev, Senior VicePresident for Commerce andInternational Business ofTVEL, a fuel company ofRosatom, that supplies nuclear fuel to India, told The Pioneer.

'����� ���������������

Locked in a intense poll battle, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi and Congress

vice-president Rahul Gandhi seem to agree onone thing: Gujarati food. While Gujaratisnacks are favourite of the Prime Minister,Rahul also seem to have taken a liking of‘Khakra’, ‘ Phaphda’, Gujrati peanuts, and pick-les during his ongoing poll tour. ‘ You guys havespoiled me, I am gaining weight during thecampaign”, said Rahul who is otherwise a fit-ness freak . He revealed that back in Delhi hisentire kitchen is managed by Gujaratis.

��� ������

Last week, while celebrating 50 years of itssubmarine arm, the Navy had the honour

of hosting 91-year-old former Commander KS Subramaniam. He was the first chief of thefirst submarine, INS Kalvari, inducted into ser-vice in 1967. Despite advanced age, the offi-cer insisted to take part in the event and flewdown from the US. Supreme Commander ofthe Armed Forces Ram Nath Kovind presentedthe Presidential Colours to the unit to markthe event at submarine base in Visakhapatnam.

�������������

After taking several austerity measures theIndian Railway latest directives its employ-

ees, particularly officials, to exchange New Year

greetings through digital mode and emailsonly. All the Rail Board officials, have beenconveyed that printing and purchase of NewYear Greeting cards should be stopped.“Greeting card for New Year may now be sentthrough email only,” said a Railway Board note.

����������

Asenior Information and BroadcastingMinistry officials recently observed that

the ministry is flooded with applications forstarting new TV channels and converting fromregional language channels to trying to Englishtelecast. The officials said several newcomersant to start news channels in the run up to 2019Lok Sabha elections. Ministry is thoroughlychecking the antecedents of the promoters ofeach company applying for TV channel licnece.In the queue for licences are also several newswebsite promoters.

����� �� �������

The officials of the Union Water andSanitation Ministry are in a fix as villages

which had been felicitated for attaining opendefecation free (ODF) status under theSwachchh Bharat Mission (SBM) are goingback to the square one. Worried that it wouldderail their ambitious plans to achieve the tar-gets under the SBM to make India India ODFby 2019, the officials are trying to sensitise themission directors in the states over the issue.

#���� .67�6�'�

Leading US Defence firmsare pushing for a specific

framework in India to ensurethe safety and security of crit-ical technology and classifieddefence information whenthey are shared with the pri-vate sector for joint ventures inthe country.

A top official of the US-India Business Council(USIBC) said they also want aGovernment-to-Governmentagreement to facilitate thetransfer of classified defencetechnology and information tothe Indian private sectorbesides clarity on issues relat-ing to liability, intellectualproperty rights and industri-al safety.

Benjamin Schwartz, seniordirector for Defense andAerospace at the Washington-based USIBC, said there wasno provision for sharing clas-sified defence information byAmerican companies with theIndian private sector at presentand a Government-to-Government agreement wasnecessary to facilitate it.

“US companies are willingto ensure transfer of criticaltechnology to India but theIndian Government has toensure protection of criticaland classified technology,” hetold PTI in an interview.

Schwartz, who held exten-sive talks with the defenceestablishment here on severalsticky issues during a visit toIndia, said under the existingframework, American com-panies can share classifiedinformation and technologywith India’s defence publicsector undertakings (DPSUs)and not with the private sector.

“Right now, there is nomechanism in place to allowthe US companies to extendclassified information to pri-

vate Indian industries,” he said,adding it was for New Delhi toinitiate the process for a gov-ernment-to-government agree-ment to remove the hurdle.

The USIBC has been play-ing a pro-active role in forginggreater collaboration betweenIndian and American defenceindustries.

Holding that theAmerican industry was verysupportive of India’s strategicpartnership model, he saidthe Indian government need-ed to come out with a timelinefor various acquisition pro-grammes, besides establishinga framework for the safety ofclassified information andtechnology.

“They need to establishprocedures to ensure securityof defence technology here.What I mean by it is that thereality in India and also in theUS and around the world isthat information is beingstolen ... We have to set upprocedures to make sure thatour defence technology issecure (in India),” he said.

Schwartz said Washington“definitely” wanted to go for anagreement to facilitate thetransfer of classified informa-tion and technology byAmerican companies to Indiaand that “it is about gettingthings done in New Delhi.”

He said the American pri-vate defence industry was intouch with the Trump admin-istration on the issue of tech-nology transfer to India andthe US government has beenvery supportive of such col-laborations.

“We held extensive con-versations with the US gov-ernment on technology trans-fer. We are very pleased thatthere has been a lot of conti-nuity in US policy. The Trumpadministration wants to con-tinue to prioritise technologyrelease to India. It is alsogoing to be re-articulated inUS law this year,” he said.

Schwartz said the USIBCsupports Modi government’spolicy initiative to ensure alevel playing field for theDPSUs and India’s private sec-tor defence industry.

“We can help support thisthrough an agreement thatwill allow us to share classifiedinformation with the privatesector industry,” he said.

A number of Americandefence giants includingBoeing and Lockheed Martinare eyeing billions of dollars ofcontracts in India and havealready offered to manufacturesome of their key militaryplatforms in India while forg-ing joint ventures with Indiancompanies.

#��� ��� ��� �)�� ��.67�6�'�

BJP leader SubramanianSwamy has urged Prime

Minister’s Office to reconsiderthe decision to disinvest theprofit making strategic infra-structure company Bridges andRoof Co (India) Limited.Questioning the disinvestmentof profit making PSU, Swamysuggested that the companyshould be merged with anoth-er PSU, Engineering ProjectsIndia Ltd.

Swamy pointed out thatDepartment of HeavyIndustries also suggested themerger of Bridges and RoofsCo Ltd with another EngineersProjects India Limited. He saidinstead of considering this sug-gestion, the CabinetCommittee of EconomicAffairs (CCEA) went by the listgiven by the Central PublicSector Enterprises (CPSE) fordisinvestment.

The BJP leader said infra-structure projects require pub-lic sector patronage in view ofthe large investment required.“It appears that the CCEA hadactually approved the propos-al received from CPSE and notfrom the Department of HeavyIndustries which had recom-mended instead the proposal ofmerger of Bridges and Roof CoIndia Limited with anotherPSU Engineering Projects IndiaLimited,” said Swamy.

“The crucial fact is thatboth Bridges and Roof CoIndia Ltd and EngineeringProjects India Limited are longstanding profit making publicsector companies which isimportant consideration of indeciding whether to privatise ornot. Hence I request you toexamine this matter in yourwisdom decide what you con-sider as in the national interest,”he said.

#���� .67�6�'�

As India’s population ages,the number of people living

with dementia is expected todouble by 2035 from current 4.1million suffering from the men-tal disorder. Worldwide too,the scenario is not impressive:population with such disorderis expected to triple from 50million to 152 million by 2050.

Dementia is a syndrome,usually of a chronic or pro-gressive nature, caused by avariety of brain illnesses thataffect memory, thinking,behaviour and ability to per-form everyday activities.

“The number of peopleliving with dementia worldwideis currently estimated at 47 mil-lion and is projected to increaseto 75 million by 2030. Thenumber of cases of dementiaare estimated to almost triple by2050,” according to the WorldHealth Organisation (WHO).

Dementia is overwhelmingnot only for the people who haveit, but also for their caregiversand families. There is a lack ofawareness and understanding ofdementia in most countries,resulting in stigmatization, bar-riers to diagnosis and care, andimpacting carers, families andsocieties physically, psycholog-ically and economically.

Nearly 10 million peopledevelop dementia each year, 6million of them in low- andmiddle-income countries,” saysDr Tedros AdhanomGhebreyesus, Director-Generalof WHO. “The suffering thatresults is enormous. This is analarm call: we must pay greaterattention to this growing chal-lenge and ensure that all peo-ple living with dementia, wher-ever they live, get the care thatthey need.”

With an aim to provide, easyaccess to key dementia data from

member States across the threedomains ie policies, servicedelivery, and information andresearch, the WHO haslaunched the Global DementiaObservatory (GDO), a data andknowledge exchange platform.

“This is the first globalmonitoring system for demen-tia that includes such a com-prehensive range of data,” saidDr Tarun Dua, of WHO’sDepartment of Mental Healthand Substance Abuse. “The sys-tem will not only enable us totrack progress, but just as impor-tantly, to identify areas wherefuture efforts are most needed.”

According to recent reports,in India, approximately, one outof every 16 households with anelder has someone with demen-tia. Yet, dementia remains aneglected area in healthcare,and many families do not seekor get suitable diagnosis or treat-ment for dementia symptoms.

The 19th national confer-ence of the Alzheimer’s &Related Disorders Society ofIndia (ARDISI),held recently inMumbai, stressed on creatingawareness and advocacy withthe government for better facil-ities for persons with dementia.

������ ������� 2�03 ������6" �����������������������

���������� �������������������������������

(8C�4�������4��#�������������)���������

#���$��"%�&''�����" ��� (�����&)���� ���������

� ������ �������������) ������" ��:����������������#��

C���#����#����"������������#������#�����#�#��'7���!����

(��)�*����� +#��,�� ���-#--�-���� ���,�"�-�����. � �����*��-

����$�������3����������������������������)������)����

/�,�� ��-�-�������� ����#+��+*����&0������

�.��� -�-*� � ������,�- � *��-��1��,�� ����

����"��-�+��������� +��1#��*�#���2

,��� ��������"����-�,�������13��-�2�-�,� �,�-��#�

����"��-�+������+��,-��%��"� ,�����

���,������1������-��#-����,�� �3

(�� ,�� ��-�"��+��1��� ��-�3���

��-#� ��!���� ��,��-� ������-��

��� �!� ���!��-�-��� �� ,��

Acouple of weeks ago, thiswriter drove a couple of newBMW cars in Portugal. Atone end was the freneticBMW M5, a car that pro-

duces 600 horsepower from a massivetwin-turbocharged petrol engine. It wasutterly manic and an exemplar of whatmodern automotive engineering canachieve. Yet, there was another car, thatthe German carmaker made a group ofautomotive journalists from across theworld drive with all consideration. Thiswas the BMW i3s, the i standing for‘innovation’ apparently. The car did nothave an internal combustion enginebecause it was an electric car, the ‘s’ in itsname meant ‘sporty’ and the carmakerwanted to show us that even a boxy urbancar could be sporty if pushed, as the basici3 has been around for a few years.

Frankly, in the maze of cobbledstreets that is Lisbon, which is also a hillycity with a lot of steep grades andswitchbacks, the i3s was surprisinglynimble. And when you noticed sportscarsnext to you in the traffic turning dinosaurjuice into noise at a substantial cost, youcouldn’t help but feel pleased that this carcosts next to nothing to run. Of course,you do miss the noise and the rumble thatyou have become accustomed to after twodecades of driving traditional internalcombustion engine vehicles, but this wasan eye-opener. Even with a bit of heavyright footed driving on the coastal high-way astride the mouth of the Targus riverand the Atlantic Ocean, the electricvehicle delivered a surprising amount ofrange. When we returned the car in theevening after over a 100 kilometres of dri-ving, there was still an indicated 160 kilometres of range left.

This experience left me convincedthat vehicles like the BMW i3 are thefuture of urban and regional privatemobility. They have become far more effi-cient than first generation electric vehi-cles like the Reva, which had limitedrange and lacked the very notion of safe-ty. In fact, the major electric vehicle inIndia, the now ubiquitous e-rickshaw, isa safety nightmare, but then again so isbeing a pedestrian in India.

The vehicles made by BMW andTesla are extremely expensive, and evenif they were given tax breaks in India,something that will have to be carefullyconsidered if the ‘Make in India’ goals areto met, a BMW i3 would cost upwardsof �15 lakh. Given that the car is the samesize a large Maruti or Hyundai hatchbackavailable for half that amount, the eco-nomic incentive to buy such a vehicle isnot there. This is why BMW India is mostlikely not going to bring the i3 to thecountry. In this regard, India could

learn a bit from the Nor wegianGovernment that gives a whole host ofincentives to push electric vehicle own-ership and importantly punishes buyersof carbon emitting vehicles.

That said, costs are coming down andtechnology is improving. A good exam-ple would be the success of MahindraRacing in the Formula-E racing champi-onship where the team, through its dri-ver Felix Rosenqvist, is garnering hugesuccess by winning races, thanks to theenergy management software developedin-house by the team. Much like sever-al modern technologies in cars camefrom Formula 1 racing, consumer elec-tric vehicles will see technology trickledown from Formula-E making electriccars more efficient.

With energy density in batteriesgoing up and the per-kilowatt hour ofcost declining sharply, the major issuethat early electric cars faced, that is rangeanxiety (‘Will I run out of charge?’ syn-drome) and performance will beanswered. Possibly with the Suzuki andToyota partnership. The average personwill not buy an electric car for altruisticreasons but when costs come down andan attractive family electric vehicle isavailable for under 10 lakhs, coupled withsome buying incentives and the stunning-ly low running costs even at commercialpower rates, the shift to electric could beas dramatic in India as it was in Norway.

But, and there is always a ‘but’, evenwith such incentives electric vehicles areunviable currently for the mass marketbecause there is one basic issue with suchvehicles. That is a lack of charging infra-structure, and more importantly, there isa lack of reliable grid power in most partsof India, actually in all but a few poshareas of the largest cities in the countrygrid power is reliably unreliable.

Of course, measures are being takento improve this, and India’s massiveinvestments in solar energy will pay offin a decades time. But there needs to seri-ous thought put into newer solutions forour dilapidated grid such as decentrali-sation. Electric mobility will not be pos-sible without a re-thinking of electricitygeneration and distribution in the firstplace. Another thing which needs to beclearly realised is that the huge pushtowards electric mobility, which would becare, buses, trucks and boats, coupled withthe ‘Make in India’ programme, will meanthat India will have to change the para-digm with which it looks at resources.

Arunabha Ghosh, of the Council ofEnergy, Environment and Water (CEEW)speaks about the increases, often inhigh multiples of several critical metalsand minerals used in battery technolo-gy. China, its companies and its diplomatshave been working overtime to secureresources ranging from Lithium in SouthAmerica to Paladium and Cobalt in

Africa as well as software companies thatdo the grunt work running electric cars,after all modern cars are just computerson wheels. The move to electric mobil-ity cannot be made through pronounce-ments alone, pledges to ‘bulldoze’ theindustry might make for great headlinesbut policy issues need to be answered firstand that needs to be followed up withinfrastructure development.

At the same time, it has to be realisedthat private transportation is not the solu-tion. Even if a dramatic move is made toelectric vehicles over the next twodecades, going electric will not reducecarbon generation from thermal powerplants or in the manufacturing process.

The Transport Minister correctlysaid that the focus has to move to pub-lic transportation inside cities and on thatfront, despite the massive retrofitting ofmass rapid transit systems in Indiacities, governance has failed completelyin most cities. If we are to build trulysmart cities, whether we build new ormake old ones smart, there needs to besmart transportation solutions. Electricpersonal mobility is but one, but it hasthe smaller percentage of marks. Asmart public transportation system acrossIndia’s top 100 cities is the true need ofthe hour. And that will truly electrifyIndia’s economic growth.

(The writer is Managing Editor, The Pioneer)�

�������%������&�������������������!��$��'���"��������������������;������������������������ ������$���;� ����� ����������������������:�����K����������(������������������������$�������-���������

��������������(����� ������������ ���������������� ��������������$������������������������������������(��"��� 2������ ������!���������������������� �������������������� �������$�����������-������������������������������������������$��������������������"��������%���!������������������������������$�������� �������������������� ������������������ ������!���������������������� �����%������������ ��������� �������� ����� ��������������%���������������������G��%�������������������������G������������ ����$������������!����������������������� ����������%� ��������������������������� ��������������%����������������������������������������������������������������������������� ���������������������������������������������� ��� ������!���������&���������������L������������������������������� ���������� ���������

�����������"�����������%�����������������������������������E����%��� �������"���� �� ������� ��������� ������������� ���� �������(�� $���� � ��������� ������ $������ ������ ����% ���������� � ������������ ������� ��% ���� ��� $�������� �� ����� ��� �� ���������������������6&��������������������������$������������������

(��������������������������� ��������� ���$���������������������������$���������M����$���� �������N������ �&��O�����$���� ������������������������������������������������� �������������;�����������������������������������%���$������$��������������� ����������������������������������������%

���&�����%��������������� ������;��������������������� �������������������������������������5�����������%��������!�������������������������� ���������������������������������� ���"����"����.����������������������������������������������������������������� ������������������������%�������%��������������������%����$����������� ������������������������������������������������������������������� ��������������%��������������������������������������������� ������ ����������������� ������������������������������$��������������������� ��%�� ����������%������������������������������� ����������������� ����� ������������������������(����� ���������������������������� �G��������������$���������������������������������������������� ������G��������$�����$�������� ������������������������� ����� ������$�������������������������������������������������� ���� ����� ����������������������������������������

(��������������������!���������������$�������/������������������� �����$��������������������������������������������7������������������������������������������������� ����������� ��������������

������������ ������������������������������������������������ ��� ��&������������������������������� �������������������� ��������-����� ����������������������$��������������������%�������$������������������(����������������������������������� ���������������������������� �������� ������P����������"����������������������������������������������������� ���������������������������������%�����������$������ ��� ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ������������������������������� ������������������������������������������� �������$�������$���� �������5���������������B������������;�����������������������������������$����������7����������$��������������������%$������������������ ��������������������������������������$��%����������������� ��� �������������������������� ����� ���������� ����������� �������������������������������(����������$����������� ���������������

�������������������������������������������������������������$����� ������ �� ����� �� ��� .������� 5���#���������$�������������� ������������������������������������������� ���� � ��� ������% ���� ����� $� ����������$�� ��������� ��� ��� ������������������������������$����"������������������������2��������� �������������������������������������$����������� 5��� ���� ��� /��� 6�����/��������� ��� ����� ������� ������������������������������%�� �����������������������������������$�����������$� ������ ����� ������� ������% � ������������$�����$��������� ��������������$���������� ��������%���� ����� ������������ (�� $����� ���������������������$�����������������

�����������������%���������������������� ����������������M�$����������� ��������� ����������������������� ���������������(�������������������������������������������������������;������������� ���%� ��������$����������������������������%������������� 2������������.�����4����������������������������(������������������������������������������������ ����� ����������������� ������������$�������������������������������������� �������������

(��"�����������������������������������������E������������� ������$������������������$�������� ����$������������������7���������������������$�����������������&������������������������$������������G��������� ��������,< ���������������������������$��������B2����������������������������+��E�������������������������������������������������(����������������������������������������;������+����������������������������������������������������� ������������������������������������������������������ ��%� ��� ���������������������������� ������������ ���������������� ������������������������������%��� ����

&����� �����. ����'�����#����������'����������������� *�

� ��#�'����������������� ������������

���������4*�( +# .��('!+/ .�!"%"�*"��001�2304

/�'���������� ������������������

�*��� �������� � ""�#�����,���������������*����*���0�

������1���������#������' ��'���������*��

�����������

Sir — Criticism should be con-structive and logical; it shouldnot be destructive. Criticismshould not also hurt anyone.Congress leader Mani ShankarAiyar’s criticism of Prime MinisterModi, where he used the wordneech, is highly unparliamentaryand derogatory. The party rightlychucked him out for his jibe. At atime when Gujarat is going to poll,his comments are unwanted anduncalled for. In 2014, Aiyar’s chai-wala remark against the PrimeMinister cost the party dearer. InPakistan too, during a debate, heurged to remove Modi to restorepeace between the two nations. Hiscomments are sure to cost his party.

Gururajan RamachandranOoty

��� ��������������

Sir — It looks like Mani ShankarAiyar, the veteran with anOxbridge education and a foot-in-the-mouth disease, seems to havean irresistible urge to flirt withcontroversy, often creating onehimself. Now he has shot himselfin the foot with his neech aadmicomment on Prime MinisterNarendra Modi. But this wasn’tthe first time Aiyar came up withan outrageous remark. Aiyar’sremark is, in fact, worse thanCongress president Sonia Gandhi’smaut ka saudagar, which wasthrown at Narendra Modi, and theCongress paid the price for it.

Interestingly, Italian-originSonia Gandhi could have claimedinnocence about not knowingHindi well, but Aiyar? I doubt it.

If only the former MP fromTamil Nadu’s Mayiladuthurai hadstuck to his brief, he could haveaverted the ignominy of beingrebuked by Rahul Gandhi and getsuspended from the party .

Incidentally, unlike RahulGandhi’s swift action condemningand sacking Aiyar, no display offorthrightness has come fromPrime Minister Modi, who hasbeen often criticised for followingtrolls who routinely abuse womenand others on social media, oftensending out death threats. Isn’t itcue for BJP to walk the talk andtake action against the serialoffenders in its own camp?

JS Acharya Hyderabad

��������������

Sir — The horrific video of aRajasthan man hacking with anaxe, then pouring kerosene onanother man, a Muslim workernative to Malda in West Bengal, isnot just a clip shot in the sly by abystander, but is about someoneacting it out for the camera. It’spretty much about sending out amessage, one of Hindutva’s unlim-ited majoritarian impunity and theimagined licence to kill membersof the minority community, nowover the idea of interfaith sex. Aftera series of gruesome murders inthe name of gau raksha, we nowseem to have murder as a perfor-mance against interfaith relation-ships. Have we all become versionsof Rwandan hate radios ourselves?

Padmini Raghavendra Secunderabad

���!��� �������!��

� � � � � � � � � � � � � � �

���������##���)������D��22�!�2(7�('��!;98 ��1%(8�

�5��/��(�

����������� ����"���������������#

������� ������!�$��������������������������� ���������� ���������������������������

�#�����%���������������������

�����!

&�������������'�������� �����

4�'�.+�,(�

5���������)��������������)���������������#����)������������������"����+8��������=�����������"��#��!����

(����������)�����������������������������������%����������*���+��������

+*��������������!�(��� ��� �������������������� ��*������� ����� ���������!

,�������+�����������

������'-��.��/��������

+������������"��%�������� "�� ��#�������(

����� �����������������%N�����������O0�����$��I3�(�����5��������������������������������������� ��������������%����&�������������������-��� '����������������&����� ����$�

�����$������$������������������ ������%�����������������'���������������������������(����������������&���� ������������%�� ��������&�������������������������������������������������������� �����������'���� ����������������������� ������� ����� -����5�������.�������5�����F<,>����������������;��������������������$�����������(��������������������$���������� ��������������������

���������������� ������������������������������ ������� ����� �������������������������-����5�������.�������5������������������������ ������$��$���������������;� ��$�����������������!�����:���������,IIJ����������$��������(�����$����������"��������������������������$�������� �������������������������$����$���������$����������-�������������������������� �����$������� �����������������������������#����� ������-��� #��������������%��������������$���$�����$������������� ����(������� �������� $������� ���� ��"���������������� �����/����#������7�����������/�����������������������������������������������������������E��������

" ' 7 2����� 2����

��((����(1('66��(1/$���,����������� ���������������������� ���������� %�������0�����������������������������������!

���������)����������������'#�� �0����

(� �����������)��*���� ������������������� �������������������� ���%���������������������������������������������*����������"��������!

+���'#��������

<�������������������������#�������������E�����"&$<�1��� �������

Distance education was born inEurope but flourished mostlyin Asian and African coun-

tries. This model of education is mostsuitable for the less privileged and theotherwise occupied. Working profes-sionals, housewives and other groupsfind it most convenient as they don’thave to give up their work to pursueeducation. However, the success oflearners depends upon how well theimparting institution supports them.Hence, the role of the institutionbecomes crucial. It is important toexamine the performance of institu-tions and the system, as in the devel-oping countries, a large number oflearners opt for distance education.

Major distance education institu-tions in India are the Indira Gandhi

National Open University (IGNOU)in higher education and the NationalInstitute of Open Schooling (NIOS)for pre-degree. Both institutionstogether cater to nearly six millionlearners from across the country andabroad. No other institution caters toas many learners as they do. TheSchool of Open Learning of theDelhi University has more learners onits roll as compared to any other col-lege of the Delhi University.

Most importantly, distance edu-cation provides flexible conditions forlearning which is most suitable for theless privileged or one’s who areemployed or those who lost the firstopportunity to pursue education. Acase in hand is the training of in-ser-vice untrained teachers in India.

Ever since the Right to EducationAct was passed in 2009, we could trainless than five lakh teachers in a peri-od of five years; as a consequence wefailed to fulfil the promise the Actmade to make available a trainedteacher for every class of 35 to 40learners in primary schools. There wasan estimated deficit of more than 11

lakh teachers in July this year. Therewas no way we could train so manyteachers in a period of two years.

In August this year, the Ministryof Human Resource Developmentidentified NIOS to undertake train-ing of 15 lakh untrained in-serviceteachers against IGNOU, which isrightfully mandated to undertakethe training for reasons well-knownto the MHRD. IGNOU has a largeteacher training department, where-as NIOS does not have great exper-tise in teacher training.Nevertheless, the programme hasalready started showing positiveresponse. We need to analyse thecase with the objective to under-stand how institutions and systemsstop delivering or become vibrant.

Distance education is capable ofcatering to large number of learners,so, the per head cost comes to muchless as compared to traditional meth-ods of classroom-based education.IGNOU was established after carefulthinking and planning. It was giventhe mandate through an Act ofParliament to impart as well as main-

tain the quality of distance educationin the country. While it successfullydelivered in the first two decades ofits establishment, in the last 10 yearsor so, it failed to not only deliver buteven maintain its image. The prestigeits degrees and diplomas command-ed earlier has been falling. Diplomain primary teacher education offeredby IGNOU in the State of Bihar dur-ing 2007-09 was de-recognised by theNational Council of Teacher educa-tion; the statutory body responsiblefor maintaining quality and standardsin teacher education.

IGNOU and distance educationare almost synonyms in the Indiancontext. Any analysis of distanceeducation will most naturally con-verge into analysing IGNOU. It is dif-ferent from any other university in thecountry as its budget does not comefrom the University GrantsCommission (UGC), and, therefore,it has more autonomy than any otheruniversity in the country.

However, by some erroneousdecision, the unit within IGNOU,which was responsible to enforce

quality in the distance education sys-tem, the Distance Education Council(DEC), was shifted to the UGC. Thiswas a violation of the IGNOU Act,which was passed by the Parliament,as IGNOU was given this responsibil-ity through the Act.

The UGC has been averse to dis-tance education. Somehow, the twosystems, which were expected towork in tandem, came at loggerheadsand since the DEC was shifted to theUGC, it has almost been defunct.UGC also does not have the exper-tise required to give leadership anddirection to distance education. Themassive network of distance educa-tion, which comprised of IGNOUand the State open Universities,besides the directorates of distanceeducation of different universities, allgot directionless.

The UGC has squarely failed inproviding the leadership it was expect-ed to give since the DEC was mergedinto it. Surprisingly, educational plan-ners, who have all along been underpressure to increase seats in the high-er education institutions, have not been

able to focus on distance education.Distance open learning could, and hasbeen accommodating large number ofaspirants who are not desirous of pur-suing full-time education but aspire toacquire higher degree.

IGNOU has gone into hiberna-tion in the last couple of years. Thevice chancellor was sent on leavetowards the beginning of 2015 as hecompletely meshed up with the sys-tem and the institution and sincethen, the in-charge vice chancellorshave not taken any initiative to servethe desirous learners.

Institutions’ performance com-pletely depends upon the leadership.IGNOU has been without a leader forvery long. We cannot expect our insti-tutions to perform without a visionaryleader. Private partners are makingefforts and are also performing betterin many cases. If we do not rise to theoccasion now, we may land up in a sit-uation where giving a turnaround to theinstitution may not be possible at all.

(The writer is Chairman, NationalInstitute of Open Schooling. Viewsexpressed are personal).

-��� ����.��������� ����� "

*�( +# .��('!+/ .�!"%"�*"��001�2304

���!��--���#������"�����-��� ���������� �6#� �1������-2����#���!�� ���-2���

��� ���� ���.�- ��!� 7������� ���-��" ���38'#9� ����!��--����1��:���(���:��5���;�

�� ���� ��*�<���!��--=��"�� ��-� �� ���->�6#� � ��!�"����-��" ������� ��*���-������!����-38���,��?���- �������/���?5/�

�1 �$�5��(���1 �$�

Is it not disturbing that nearly one-fourth of the vice chancellors ofcentral universities in the coun-try are facing some sort of aninquiry? The list of completed or

ongoing inquiries includes major play-ers in higher education like the AligarhMuslim University, Indira GandhiNational Open University, DelhiUniversity, Banaras Hindu Universityand even Shanti Niketan!

Vice chancellor of Pondicherrywas removed from the post after hewas found guilty of having submittedforged qualification certificates.Winston Churchill once said it in fullcomprehension: “The price of great-ness is responsibility”. Universitiesbecome great when they excel in cre-ating and disseminating knowledge,human values and above all, human-ism and humaneness. Such a loftyobjective cannot be achieved withoutthe presence of iconic intellectuals andcommitted scholars in laboratories,libraries and classrooms.

Further, they need visionary out-standing academics of repute to leadthese universities. This is what wasachieved by Madan Mohan Malviya. Heinvited individuals to set up variousschools of knowledge and a person ofthe stature of Sarvepalli Radhakrishnanto be the vice chancellor. Considerationsof caste, religion or region were total-ly absent. Yes, India could recall greatcontributions of vice chancellors of thestature of Ashutosh Mukherjee, PunditGanganath Jha, Zakir Husain, TrigunaSen, LK Srimali and others. None of theabove was made to put up an applica-tion, give evidence of 10 years as full-time professorship! Neither were theyinterviewed by the search-cum-selec-tion committee as is the practice invogue at present. Things have changedand that needs no elaboration.

From about 20 universities tobegin with, India can boost of nearly800 at present. It is a large-scaleexpansion that was necessary; andinevitable; to accommodate the grow-ing demands on the higher educationsystem. Absence of inbuilt safeguardsin educational expansion is best exem-plified by the current concerns ondecline of credibility and deteriorationin quality of education, right from theprimary schools to higher educationand research. If over 80 per cent freshgraduates in engineering and manage-ment are not found up to the mark inthe job market, it is time for an inci-sive objective analysis and to take afresh look on the prevailing deficien-cies and emerging demands.

Universities are built around ‘theright people, the right environment andthe right financing’! Radhakrishnan, thevisionary scholar, had very clearlyindicated “Intellectual work is not forall, it is only for the intellectually com-petent.” He further elaborated: “If our

universities, which showed so muchpromise on the eve of independence,now appear to be in a state of disarray,it is because they have been increasing-ly invaded by masses of people whohave no regard for intellectual compe-tence or aptitude for academic work.”

In the context of central universi-ties, right financing is not much of aproblem. Apart from Governmentgrants, these could, with proper lead-ership, receive support from the alum-ni, industry and others who may be inneed of specifically-prepared man-power. However, to create the rightenvironment remains an issue.

Advancing knowledge is the chal-lenge before university dons, and thatis what the nation expects them to beremaining busy with. This cannot beachieved even partially if bureaucraticincursions and political intrusions inuniversity affairs persistently demoralisethe vice chancellor! Recent alterationsin the Institutes of Technology Act havegiven them sufficient autonomy, whichin simple terms means freedom fromthe stranglehold of the bureaucracy! Itcould lead to better appreciation ofextending autonomy to State-fundeduniversities and institutions.

The toughest challenge is to find theright person to head the university. Onlya distinguished academic, who had notlobbied for the position, could functionwith courage and self-confidence. Onlysuch a person could assert the ‘auton-omy’ of the university, which is nowmore of myth than a provision of anyconsequence. For the heads of univer-sities, these are the times of seriouschanges taking place and challengesemerging at an unprecedented pace all

around. Universities have the responsi-bility to nurture ‘power of ideas’ and‘power of imagination’. From this, thesewould provide the necessary climate forthe growth and development of curios-ity and the resulting creativity. The spir-it of entrepreneurship and urge toinnovate is impeded when curiosity andcreativity are suppressed; knowingly orunknowingly! Universities become greatwhen these are staffed and led by per-sons with vision, imbued with an urgeto explore and innovate. Are suchexpectations really Utopian? Probablyyes, as sufficient ground exists for suchapprehensions!

These are the days of intense lob-bying for the vice chancellor’s positionin practically every central and Stateuniversity. It is on the rise as the cred-ibility of the process is diminishing fast.The introduction of AcademicPerformance Index (API) has acceler-ated the prevalence of unfair practicesin academia as evidenced by spurt ofinstant-acceptance journals and ever-increasing numbers of national orinternational seminars. Never beforesuch a farce of seminars been organisedas after the API. It is the number of par-ticipation and publications and not thequality that makes one eligible to movehigher up the ladder. The basic prin-ciple for playing the leadership rolerevolves around the maxim that the jobshould go to the one who deserves itand not the one who demands it. Thedamage that has been done to thegrowth and nurturance of academicleadership is now well-established andthe ever-increasing number of inquiriesbeing instituted against vice chancellorsleaves no doubt about its total unsuit-

ability. Indian academics, right from

schools to universities, are well-versedin successfully confronting deficienciesand even deprivations that they faceregularly. They do so because of theirtraditional commitment to the cause ofpreparing generations ahead andtowards creating new knowledge. Theseunsung heroes are working in theirclassrooms, laboratories and libraries,guiding and mentoring young peoplewithout complaining about anything!It is this category that would never applyand submit copies of high school marksheets, face interview or approachpoliticians and others for favours! It isno longer a myth that unscrupulouspractices are not barred!

Some bold decisions on how toensure right person at the top in uni-versities must be taken without delay.Some of the changes that often emergein formal and informal deliberationsamongst academics deserve in-depthscrutiny. First accept that the existingprocedures have failed. Next, the tenureof the vice chancellor should uni-formly be of five years. The process toappoint the next vice chancellor mustbe initiated well in advance to ensurethat the successor is known at least amonth before the incumbent demitsoffice. Keeping top positions vacant dis-turbs the rhythm of the system andthrows it into a state of uncertainty,which inflicts lasting damages. In sev-eral cases, the Senate, ExecutiveCommittees, and Boards ofManagement must be freed from thepresence of politicians.

(The writer is former Director,NCERT and an educationist).

2�����'�����'������+�������������� ����*@������

%���+- ��-2

���1������������-��"�-��1�#�!������-��������������� �%��������3������ ��-���*�����������1����� �1��#������������-�� � ��-����-�#��-�������*- ������� ����#-3@�����*������ �1���� ��,���,�"������� ��#����"�-3�

8��$��+�#�;�,

������*�����"���� ������������

(�� ������'��������3������������������'���������� �#�� ���'��������'������� ����� ������������������������������#���'�������#���*�������� ����'��' ��'��������'�

�������������� ������������������������������������������������� ������������������������� �������������������������������������� ��������������� ����������������������������������������� ��������������������������� ����

2�(�$'�,

"!�/�(+�

/����������� �����������������$����������������������������������������������������� �������������������� ����������������������

('6(1#'6�("'���6.#6��(1)�.�('6/�#'(

-6/�1.(1'6��('6.�:6/��(A�1.�A�

���(�.#��'6��"��65�"%7'1'��

.1(�1!!�6�)1/('6-1��(�1.%"�.

)."(�1.7�('"1/�#6�.��6�) "1.)��6."6�1.�A�"'�-6/�1."�.���6/(('6

B�(1.15A;1)('6.�:6/��(A%7'�"'��.1751/61)�5A('('�.�

-/1:���1.1)�.A"1.�6C6."6

#���������� �� �������� '������ ��������� ������ ������

�������������� ��� ������ ������������� �������� �������� ����� � ������������������ ����� ����% ������ ���� ��� ���� ����������������������������������)�����5�������/����������������%#�������%�����������$������������������%5�&��������%��������!���%���� ������� �������� � ��� $��� $�$� ����� (�� '������#��������� ��� ��� ������� ��� ������� � )����� ��������%#�������% ������������ ��������#������������������� ���������������������������������������)������%������������������������������������������ ���$����$�������������������(�������#���������%�����������%����������������������� 5�&��������%��������!����

7���� ��� ������� ��$��� ��� ������ ��� ������� ����� $�����������#������������$� ���������������%���� ��������������������������������������������#���������+���������N�� ���O%N�����O%N����� ������������O���N��������������� ������O������������������������������������������$���(��������� ��$��� $������� �� ��������� �&������� ����������%�����������������������������&��������������������$������������������� �����

�������������������������$�����������������������������.�������"������/�����%�����������������������������������������A��%���������������� ����� ������������������� ���� ��������� �� ������ ������% ����� ���� � ��������������������������������������!��������������������������%������������������������$��������������������������������� ��������������������#�������������������������$��������������������������������������������� �������������� �����+������������������

������ ��������������������������������������������%�������������������������������������������� ���������� ����������������(������������������ ������������� �������$���������������� ������������������%���$�����(���������������������������+�%����� ���%���������������$����������������������������� �������������������� ������ ��� ����� 0.��� ���� �� � �������� �������������% ���"����������"���������� ����� ����5�&��������%-���������%��������� ���� ����*F*�����������������%��� ������������������$�������������������,>5�&���������3�

(������������� ����%��������������� �����������$����������������������� �����������������%������������������������� �������0����������3��������������������������E�������'���������%������������ �������������$�����������������������������������%������������� ��������������� �&��������� ��� �� ������� E������ � �����(���� ���%�������������������������������������������������������������� �����������������

1��������������� �������������%���#������������������������"��������%������������������������������������������#��������� �������������������������������$ ����������������������� �������0������Q3������������ ����� ��������������������������������%������������&��������(�����������������������$������������������(������������� $����� ����� �������� ����������� (��� ��� $� ���� � ���#���������������������� ���$�����$���������������� ������������������� ������������ �������%E������������ ��������(���������������������������������$�����������$ ���������������������� ��#��������� �������

�� �� ��������� �� ��������� ���� �� ������ ������% �����������������������������������������������������$��������P���������������� �������������$����������������������%���#���������������������� ���������������������$���� ����� �������������������$���������������E�������)�����%���#���������������������������� ��E�������P������%���� �������������������������������$�������������(����������������%�������������������

�������������������%������������������ �������� �������������$�� ������M ����������%������������������ ����� ��� �� � ����� ������ �� ������M ���� ������$��� �� ��������� �������������������������������������� �� ���������������������������������������)������%������������������������������ ����� ��������������������������� ����������������������������%�����%�����������������������������������������$���������������������� ������ ��������������������������������������������������� ���$��������$�������������������

������ �������� ��������������%���'������#�������������&�����������������������������"�������6���$�����������������������$��������������������� ������ �����������������(�������#�����������������������������$���������� ����������������������������� ���������������������� ������7���������������� ����������������������� ��%���������������$����������������� �&��������������������������.�������� �������������������� ���������������� ����������������6�����������%���������������������������������������$���� �&����������������������

����������������������� ��������� �������� �������������������������� ����!����������������"��������#$

/�266:�/�$�

����*���A

� �����B*�( +# .��('!+/ .�!"%"�*"��001�2304

������� ��##���"'6..��

HRaja, national secretary of the BJP,who is touring and monitoring the

ground situation in the coastal regions ofKanyakumari district ravaged by cycloneOckhi, said that there is a wide conspira-cy behind the agitation launched under theauspices of the priests and nuns belong-ing to the Catholic Church against theCentral and State Governments. “They haddisplayed a banner showing ‘tearfulhomages to Prime Minister and ChiefMinister’. This should be thoroughlyprobed,” Raja told The Pioneer.

The district has been brought to astandstill since Thursday by fisher folk ledby the priests and nuns who are protest-ing against the “indifferent and callous”attitude of the Central and StateGovernments in saving fishermen whowent missing in the aftermath of theCyclone Ockhi. “The Government failedto give us advance information about thecyclones which could have saved the livesof hundreds of fishermen who went fordeep sea fishing from the coastal hamletsin the district,” the protesting fishermentold reporters at Kanyakumari.

Father Ilango, second-in-command,Our Lady of Ransom Church,Kanyakumari said that the rescue and reliefoperations are happening sear the shore-

line while the fishers were fishing 100 to150 nautical miles away from the shore. Helaughed it off when asked why were ban-ners showing tearful homages to PM andCM were displayed by the priests anddemonstrators.

Raja said the search and rescue oper-ations by the Indian Navy and Coast Guard(which are continuing even at the time ofgoing to Press) have traced almost all thefishermen barring 2 to 30 fishermen.“Search operations are on and the Centraland State Governments are in touch withthe State Governments from where themissing fishermen were located. Efforts areon to bring back the fishermen from TamilNadu who reached places like Gujarat,Maharashtra, Karnataka and Lakshdweepback to Kanyakumari,” said Raja.

“The Indian MeteorologicalDepartment and the Indian NationalCentre for Ocean Information Services

(INCOIS) had been warning about theimpending cyclone since November 28itself. The village resource centres func-tioning in the coastal hamlets under thepatronage of the parishes did not pass onthis message to the fishermen’s. There isa hidden agenda behind the protestmarches,” said Raja who is monitoring therescue operations in Kerala.

According to Raja, the fishermen inKanyakumari were demanding the samecompensation package announced by theGovernment of Kerala to their counter-parts in the neighbouring State. “Butfishermen in Kerala are on a path of agi-tation and did not allow even the chiefminister of the State to set his foot in thefishing villages”, said Raja..

Father Ilango said Kerala Governmenthas declared �20 lakh for the fishermen wholost their lives in the cyclone. “We want theTamil Nadu Government to declare an equalcompensation package,” he said.Ramakrishnan Gauthaman, Vedic ScienceResearch Centre, who is working among thefishermen community in Kanyakumari, saidthe Church-funded NGO entrusted withdisseminating the information from IMDto the fishermen failed to do so. “WithNirmala Sitharaman emerging as a leaderwho could connect with the fisher folk, theChurch is wary of losing its stranglehold overthe community that it has been keeping asbonded labourersfor the last two centuries.

�����) �� �'56��!��

Since 2002 Assembly polls,when it comes to Maninagar

Assembly constituency, peopleused to talk about its high-pro-file candidate Narendra Moditill he resigned as MLA andwent on to become PrimeMinister of India in May 2014.

This time BJP resorted toa low-profile businessmanSuresh Patel who also won by-election from Maninagar afterModi’s departure to Delhi.However, again the con-stituency came into limelight asthe Opposition Congress gaveticket to an alumna fromUniversity of Westminster,London as well as IndianInstitute of Management (IIM),Bangalore.

Out of the blue, 34-year-old Shweta’s name came intothe list of candidates for GujaratAssembly elections 2017approved by All India CongressCommittee (AICC) amid somany claimants. Even protestswere staged by Congress work-ers on giving ticket to ‘para-chute candidate’ over locals.

However, the glamorousCongress can-didate consid-ers herself aslocals sayingthat her fatherNarendra Brahmbhattresiding in Maninagar and alsocontested AhmedabadMunicipal Corporation (AMC)elections in 2002.

In fact it was Shweta’sfather who inspired her toenter into politics. Althoughshe was always interested tomake her mark in corporateworld and to achieve this goalShweta took Master’s degree inbusiness administration fromUniversity of Westminster aftercompletion of BBA fromAhmedabad. She also worked

for a brief period as an invest-ment banker with HSBC andDarashaw before joining IIMBangalore to pursue a course inpolitical leadership.

According to her whenshe was working with bankingsector she applied for thecourse and got admission. “It

was a tricky situa-tion whether to carryon with the job or totake a course.

Finally decided tojoin IIM,” she says,

adding that the coursedesigned to create women lead-ership in Parliament and leg-islative Assemblies helped herto determine to jump in toactive politics.

Later on Shweta got a pres-tigious UN Scholarship also.

In 2012 an offer camefrom a Congress leader tocontest Assembly polls butshe turned it down as shewanted to set an ice-crèmeplant in Ahmedabad district.“In the process of setting up

business, I came to know thathow difficult it is to do busi-ness in this country, especial-ly for female. I went oneMinistry to other to get loanfor my venture.

If an educated womanlike me would face such dif-ficulty, imagine what would behappening to those who aresemi-educated or uneducat-ed,” she says.

In the meantime, she wasapproached by Congress lead-ership and finally decided tocontest from ManinagarAssembly seat.

Hopeful of winningShewta said that going byher educational backgroundand one of the few femalefaces in the Assembly pollsacross the State she would beable to win. According to herof the total voters inManinagar constituency, 75per cent are consisting ofwomen and electors less than40 years age which would giveher edge over BJP candidate.

)��6��6�� 41"'�

Kerala’s influential LatinCatholic Church on

Sunday urged Prime MinisterNarendra Modi to visit the fish-ing villages affected by CycloneOckhi on the coasts of Keralaand Tamil Nadu even as thedeath toll in the State in the dis-aster rose to 42.

However, relief also trick-led in as more than 200 fisher-men, who had gone for fishingbefore the cyclone broke outand had been trapped in thechoppy Arabian Sea since then,returned to the coast onSunday.

The Church observedSunday as a Prayer Day withspecial Mass, prayers and otherrites in the churches inThiruvananthapuram for thosekilled and had gone missing inthe cyclone. The biggest crowdof believers from the fishingcommunity for Mass andprayers was seen at the StThomas Church in Poonthura

from where a large number offishermen were missing.

The Coast Guard onSunday found the bodies of twofishermen who had gone miss-ing in the cyclone. While onebody was found 120 nauticalmiles off Vizhinjam inThiruvananthapuram, theother was found near theVypeen coast in Kochi. Withthis, the death toll in Ockhi inKerala rose to 42. As perinformal estimates, over 200Kerala fishermen’s are yet toreturn from the sea.

A pastoral letter read outon Sunday at the churches ofthe Latin Catholic Church, towhich most of the cyclone-affected fishermen’s inT h i r u v a n a n t h a p u r a mbelonged, also called for theconstitution of an indepen-dent Fisheries Ministry in theCentre. Presently, the FisheriesDepartment is one of the sev-eral departments coming underthe Agriculture Ministry.

“We request the CentralGovernment that the disasterbrought about by CycloneOckhi should be declared anational calamity consideringits intensity and magnitudeand that the Prime Ministershould visit the tragedy-affect-ed people and places (in theKerala and Tamil Nadu coastal

regions) for making a directevaluation,” the pastoral lettersaid.

The letter, issued on behalfArchbishop M Soosa Pakiam ofT h i r u v a n a n t h a p u r a mArchdiocese of the LatinChurch, asked the Centre totake immediate steps forinstalling permanent systemsaimed at averting suchtragedies in the future. It want-ed the Kerala and CentralGovernments to intensify theefforts to find the fishermenwho had gone missing in thecyclone.

“We also want the processof relief and rehabilitation ofthe cyclone-affected people tobe expedited,” the letter said. Italso urged all the fishermen inthe Thiruvananthapuram areato join the protest march beingtaken out to the Kerala RajBhavan on Monday under theleadership of the Church.

Sunday also saw protestscontinuing in the fishing ham-lets on the coast of Kerala andTamil Nadu. More than 3,000people including fisherwomenand children formed a humanchain in the sea on theKanyakumari coast in TamilNadu demanding intensifica-tion of efforts to rescue the fish-ermen trapped in the sea andhike in the relief assistance.

Meanwhile, 207 fisher-men’s including 27 from Kerala,who had gone to the sea inlong-line operating boats forfishing before the cyclone andhad somehow been able totake refuge in Lakshadweep,returned to Kochi in 18 boatson Sunday with the help of theNavy which has been leadingthe search and rescue opera-tions for the past ten days.

They said they had seenbodies floating in the sea andthat they had witnessed thedestruction of ten boats in thecyclone. “We saw four deadbodies but these were not in acondition to be fished out ofthe water.

The bodies had decayedthat much and were unidenti-fiable,” said a fisherman. Theyalso said that they knew aminimum of 30 boats hadgone missing.

A total of 217 long-line-operation boats had gone to seafrom the Thoppumpady fishingharbor in Kochi before thecyclone. Several of these boatshad reached the coasts ofGujarat, Maharashtra andKarnataka. However, clearinformation is yet to comeabout the fate of the remainingboats and the fishermen inthem, according to leaders offishermen’s associations.

������ ������ �/�.�#�/

Normal life was affected inKashmir Valley on Sunday

on separatists’ call to holdprotests on eve of the interna-tional human rights day. WhileJKLF leader Yasin Malik wasarrested from Maisuma local-ity of Srinagar, several separatistleaders including Syed AliGeelani and Mirwaiz UmarFarooq were kept under house-arrest. The authorities foiled theseparatists’ attempt to presenta memorandum at the UnitedNations Military ObserversGroup in India and Pakistan(UNMOGIP) head office here.

The separatists had extend-ed call for a shutdown againstwhat they called as grosshuman rights violations at thehands of security forces inKashmir. Officials said thatseveral Hurriyat Conferenceleaders were taken into custodywhile restrictions were imposedin old parts of Srinagar inanticipation of law and ordersituation. The police and para-militaries blocked all roadsleading to Lal Chowk area to

thwart separatists’ attempt tomarch towards UNMOGIPoffice.

The march was planned tobe led by JKLF chief YasinMalik who had gone into hid-ing two days ago. On Sundaymorning when Malik surfacedin a mosque in Maisuma local-ity where his residence is alsolocated, a posse of policeimmediately took him intocustody.

Before being arrestedMalik read out the memoran-dum of the joint resistance

leadership (JRL) that was to besubmitted to the UNoffice.

Meanwhile, a completeshutdown was observed acrossthe Valley affecting the normallife. Shops and business estab-lishments were closed and pas-senger traffic was generally offthe roads. However, privatevehicles plied normally. Theauthorities had suspended trainservices between Baramullaand Banihal for the day.

Meanwhile, seniorHurriyat Conference leaderand Muslim Conference chair-

man Professor Abdul GaniBhat on clarified that he did notmeet the Center’s special rep-resentative Dineshwar Sharmaduring his second visit toKashmir last month.

Bhat said that he didn’tmeet Sharma, but met twopersons-one a Kashmiri Panditand another a non-local on theevening of November 27.Newspaper reports had saidthat Bhat was the first separatistleader who clandestinely metSharma who called upon himat his Wazirbagh residence latein the evening on November27.

The reports created furorand a Muslim Conference fac-tion announced expulsion ofBhat from the primary mem-bership of the party. The JRFcomprising Geelani, Mirwaizand Malik has declined toengage with Sharma and Bhat’smeeting was considered asrebuff to Mirwaiz-led faction ofHurriyat Conference.

“Two persons (a KashmiriPandit and another non-local)visited my home on November27 at around 9:30 PM. We had

a general discussion onKashmir. There was no anyother Hurriyat leader present assaid in media circles,” Bhat said.

The separatist leader saidsome people were making“conspiracies and playing aguessing game” to create con-fusion within the leadership.

Bhat said he is a staunchsupporter of dialogue, but therecent initiative of New Delhi“lacks methodology” asPakistan is a prime party toKashmir issue. “WithoutPakistan, no dialogue is fruit-ful,” he said.

Bhat said within next fewdays he will reveal his futurecourse of action, whether heremains in Hurriyat or quits.

“I don’t play politics onblood and tears of masses.There is no place for dictator-ship in a movement.Dictatorship can happen inpolitics but not in a movementwhich is fighting for a cause,”Bhat said.

He said the “collectivenessin leadership ended in 2003”,when the Hurriyat split intotwo factions.

,&���������������� �0�$'�� ����������������"

�C��5���5�;:���?���(

����������� $�������##������������4�����1����������������>FPF<8���� ��������������

"�#���������������#��������� ����������5���D��5����(����(�5����:�?�����':(��/�C

�����������'��������������;�)�������*������������8����$������������������������!������������4������������������������������� �!

2������������,�����'�1������������������ ��������

��"��� �"�#��� 41�4�(�

Bengal Opposition partieshave pooh-poohed Chief

Minister Mamata Banerjee forpainting an embellished pictureof an otherwise disencouragingjob scenario.

Reacting to the ChiefMinister’s “false claims” about“fast developing” employmentscenario in Bengal the LeftFront has said “she is perhapstaking into account the newjobs created by the bomb mak-ersduring election times.”

Banerjee had on Thursdayclaimed that in the past sixyears of her rule herGovernment had generated 81lakh jobs. She said in each oftheState’s 77,247 booths herGovernment had created arecord 105jobs.

Incidentally she had told aFebruary 2016 rally that herGovernmenthad created about68 lakh jobs. “Even if we takeinto account theearlier figurechurned out by the ChiefMinister then we will havetosay that the rate of job cre-

ation has gone down in the past21-22months because duringthis period her Governmenthas managed to createonly 13lakh jobs which brings down toaverage monthly employment-creation rate from 119,930 toabout 59,090” said CPI(M)’sSujanChakrabarty.

Taking Banerjee’s claimswith a pinch of salt Congress’leader Abdul Mannan saidthere was a yawning gapbetween the figures providedby the Trinamool Congress inthe State Assembly and the fig-

ures given by the ChiefMinister.

According to theTrinamool Congress’ officialwebsite, “Bengal ranks 12 interms of lowest unemploymentrate.”

On the other hand FinanceMinistry sources said actualjobs created by theGovernment was less than alakh in the past a few years.This if one took into accountthe yearly recruitment drivetaken by the Government forschool teachers.

The jobs created in thepolice and various otherGovernment departments areof temporary nature (dailywages) which the ChiefMinister has decided to make“permanent in nature but notpermanent.”

This means that theemployees working in these“unsubstantive posts will con-tinue to work till they attain theage of 60. But they will not getother benefits given to thepermanent employees,” sourcessaid.

1���� ����2���3��� ����*����.������

��#������� #7�'�(�

Less than a month after twoelephants were killed on

railway tracks, six elephantswere killed by a speeding trainat Balipara in Sonitpur districtof northern Assam on Sundaymorning leading to wide pub-lic protests in the area.

The incident took placearound 1.30 am on Sundaywhen the speeding Dekargaon-Naharlagun Express hit a herdof wild elephants at Bamgaon,located one kms from Baliparaand killed six elephants of theherd. The herd, comprisingabout 30 elephants, were tryingto cross over to the other sideof the tracks in search of foods.

NF Railway officials saidthat the incident happened atkm 135 between stationsBalipara and Dhalaibeel, whichis not a notified elephant cor-ridor. “The notified elephantcorridors are at km 131 and km144. So the dashing happenedat a non notified area,” an offi-cial said.

“A group of about 30 ele-phants entered the railwaytrack by breaking down barri-er at level crossing . By thattime the train was already inthe section and it was impos-sible to stop the train. It is to bementioned that even if what-sapp groups were in place therewas no information about themovement of elephant herdnear the track,” said the Railwayofficial.

Locals said that the impactof the accident was such thatone of the elephants delivereda still born calf.

On November 19 this yeara speeding train had killedtwo elephants at an area nearThakurkuchi railway stationlocated close to Guwahati.

Hundreds of local peoplelater came out to protest againstthe killing of the six animalsdue to lack of coordinated

efforts between the Forestdepartment and NF Railwayofficials and shouted slogansdemanding immediate inter-vention of the state governmentand the Chief Minister to stopthe tragedy on tracks.

Meanwhile, the AssamEnvironmental NGOs Forumhas expressed profound griefand categorically condemnedthe incident of mowing downof six elephants near Baliparaby the Guwahati NaharlagunExpress.

The Forum has lamentedthe lack of foresightednesswhile planning developmentactivities. “It a shame for a statelike Assam where 40 elephantshave died unnaturally in thelast 100 days.

Railway tracks acrossknown animal corridors haveresulted in the death of at least225 elephants by trains hitssince 2006,” the NGO said in astatement while demandingimmediate intervention of theAssam government to stopsuch menace.

4����������������#������������

&��������#$����������'�,C-���������%����������"�����������������������������=������ ��������������������������%�"������������� �!

��,,�12(3�&4�������

*�( +# .��('!+/ .�!"%"�*"��001�2304 � �����7

� �����)������ !6.#��/

After Gujarat the focus now is on pollbound Karnataka which is crucial

for both the ruling Congress and themajor Opposition BJP. In its quest tomake Congress-mukt Karnataka, afterenthused by BJP national presidentAmit Shah who visited the State, theKarnataka BJP has taken out a ParivartanYatra led by BJP strongman BSYeddyurappa across the State.

Addressing his first yatra rally in ITcity Bengaluru on Sunday Yeddyurappadeclared that if ‘they come back to powerthey will re-open all the cases againstCongress leaders who have been givenclean chit by the Anti-Corruption Bureau(ACB) and other investigating agencies’.

Speaking at the Nava KarnatakaNirmana Parivarthana Yatra Yeddyurappablamed the ruling congress Governmentfor misusing the ACB to give clean chitsto Congress leaders and at the same timeregister false cases against rivals.

“As soon as the BJP comes to power,we will order reviews of all cases where-in clean chits have been given and orderre-investigations. We will send theCongress leaders where they belong,”Yeddyurappa said.

The BJP leaders on the rally got per-sonal in their attack against Congress lead-ers and Yeddyurappa called ChiefMinister Siddaramaiah a “baccha”(kid)reacting to his recent remarks againstPrime Minister Narendra Modi.

Siddaramaiah had recently stated thatModi was afraid of him. “Why shouldModi be scared of you? Yeddyurappaasked, referring to Siddaramaiah in the sin-gular. BJP strongman said the Congressdoes not even have the numbers to be offi-

cial called the Opposition in Parliament.“You claim BJP is a jail and bail party,

but remember you misused the ACB andCID to get a clean chit in FIRs lodgedagainst you. The BJP when it comes topower will reopen the clean chit casesagainst CM ,” said Yeddyurappa.

Union Minister for Parliamentaryaffairs and chemicals and fertilisersAnanth Kumar claimed that while allearnest political leaders dream of develop-ing Bengaluru, Siddaramaiah dreams ofother things.

He said “Unlike others who dream ofdeveloping Bengaluru, Chief Ministerdreams of steel scam at 10 pm, K J Georgeaccused in the M K Ganapathi case and at12 am “colourful” dreams of former ExciseMinister Meti . No need to explain furtheron Meti case,” said Kumar.

In another development actor PrakashRaj has criticised on Union Minister

Ananth Kumar Hegde for equatingNationalism with Hindutva. In a Twitterpost, Raj asked the Karnataka BJP leaderto clarify what he meant when he said“nationalism and Hindutva” are one andmean the same.

“You said, “nationalism and hindut-va are not two different things but are oneand mean the same. Why do you bringin a religion into nationalism? Then whatabout those who are not Hindus, people,who are our country’s pride likeAmbedkar, Adbul kalam, A Rahman,Khuswanth Singh, Amrita Pritam, DrVerghese Kurien... the list goes on. Andwhat about many like me who do nothave a religion, but believe in humani-ty? Aren’t we all the national of our coun-try? Who are you guys... What’s youragenda... Since you believe in ‘janmas’...Are you guys reincarnation of GermansHITLER (sic),” Raj tweeted.

5-�������������������� #���.#���� �"4.17

Chief Minister YogiAdityanath has asked the

students to complete their stud-ies diligently and contribute forthe development of the Statebecause education is the biggestvehicle which can take theState to the path of progress.

Addressing a functionorganised by Maharana PratapShiksha Parishad in Gorakhpurhe said that students shouldsteadfastly follow their career.They should work hard andafter they achieve their goalthey should use their expertisefor the betterment of the State.

“Uttar Pradesh is home toover 21 crore people. The Stateis bestowed with resources butmajority of them haveremained unharnessed. Theprevious Governments haveignored this State and usedthese resources for their per-sonal gain. The BJPGovernment has policy tomake use of these resources notonly to educate youth but alsoto give them employment,”Chief Minister said.

He said it is no secret thatflight of educated youth fromUP to other States is high.Youth from UP are working inChennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai,Banaglore and even in Bengal.This is because they have not

got employment in UP despiteattaining high degree. “ThisBJP Government is committedto ensure that youth getemployment in UP itself. Thetalent of UP should be used forthe development of the State,”he said.

Chief Minister said that UPhas brought a new industrialpolicy under which entrepre-neurs have shown their inter-est to invest in UP. This inter-est has germinated from thefact that this BJP Governmentwas able to give a businessfriendly atmosphere. Once theinvestments start coming thejob avenue will open which inturn will help youth to get job.

“The basic point is thestudents should acquire theknowledge by leading a life ofaustere. The flashy lifestyleleads to a path of confusion.

The best example is the lifestyleof Maharana Pratap. The storygoes like he ate rotis made ofgrass but remained adamant toensure that his resolve to defeatMughals. That resolve shouldfind reflection in the studentsof modern days,” ChiefMinister said.

Union Minister of State forHRD Dr Satyapal Singh saidthat Union Government hasintroduced new chapters toeducate students about ourhistory. But the students shouldinculcate the sanskar and her-itage of India.

In this occasion CM hon-oured the meritorious stu-dents. KLocal MLA RadhaMohan das Agarwal,Mahendra pal, Fateh BahadurSingh and Sheetal pandey tooaddressed the garthering.

#���� �"4.17

The Yogi AdityanathGovernment will seek

approval of its first supplemen-tary budgetary grants duringthe brief Winter Session of theUttar Pradesh Legislature,commencing on December 14.

The session is expected toend by December 22.

The supplementary budgetto the tune of around �15,000crore is expected to be tabledin the Assembly on December18 and is likely to be passed onDecember 20. PrincipalSecretary (Assembly) PradeepKumar Dubey said on Sundaythat the business advisory com-mittee of the house will meeton December 13 to chalk outthe agenda. He said an all-partymeet has also been convenedby Speaker Hridya NarainDikshit on the same day.

This would be the secondsession of the 17th Assembly.The first session was held fromMay 15 to July 27, in which�3.84 lakh crore budget.

The Opposition partieshave decided to hold theirrespective legislature partymeetings on December 12 and13 to chalk out their strategy.

Congress legislature partyleader Ajay Kumar Lalu saidthe Opposition leaders will sittogether next week.

#���� �"4.17

UP Government has said infuture roads with mini-

mum width of 7 meters or twolanes will only be construct-ed in the State. TheGovernment also announcedthe setting up of a high-leveltechnical committee to studyand approve the new technol-ogy that would be adopted forbuilding cost-efficient, envi-ronmentally-friendly anddurable roads in the State.

Addressing a Press confer-ence on Sunday, Deputy ChiefMinister and PWD MinisterKeshav Prasad Maurya saidthat the technical committeewould consist of experts fromthe field of road developmentwhich will be from IndianInstitute of Technology (IIT)and other renowned institu-

tions. The decision for settingup the technical committeewas taken on recommenda-tions of experts who participat-ed in the two-day LucknowConference on RoadTechnology, which ended hereon Saturday.

Union Minister for roadTransport and Highways NitinGadkari, UP Chief Minister

Yogi Adityanath, PWDMinisters from 14 States, andtechnical experts from severalIIT, CRRI, United Kingdom,Netherlands and Germany,attended the conference.Maurya said all the roads to beconstructed in future would beminimum of two lanes. Theexisting roads would bewidened up to 10 meters whilethe new ones, constructed withnew technology, would be notless than seven meters wide.

“Now all the UP roadswould be made through latesttechnology that would ensuredurability of at least 20 yearsagainst the existing five years.The adoption of new technol-ogy is likely to reduce the costby 30 per cent as the debris ofold roads would be recycled,”said the minister. The deputyCM said that the UP

Government would be adopt-ing road technologies beingused in Bihar and Maharashtrain some parts of the state.Also to be introduced is ‘roadambulance’ system that wouldhelp repair potholes.

He, however, said thatthough Chief Minister YogiAdityanath had given time tillDecember 31 to make all thestate highways in the Statepothole-free, it might takesome more time. “I can assurethe people of the state that allthe roads would be free of pot-holes very soon,” he said.Reiterating that the BJPGovernment in the State wouldnot compromise on corruptionand irregularities in road con-struction, Maurya said thatvery soon a meeting of contrac-tors would be held to sharewith them details of the new

road technology. The contrac-tors would also be apprised ofthe Government’s decision offixing the responsibility ofmaintaining the road for 20years after its construction, headded.0

Commenting on third-party inspection of roads, theminister said, an order to thiseffect had been issued and itwould provide ‘third eye’ to thegovernment for keeping acheck on the quality of theroads. “UP is among the fivestates in the country which haspurchased the most ultra-mod-ern road quality check equip-ment,” he added. Asked aboutthe preparations for the January2019 Kumbh mela atAllahabad, Maurya, and anative of Kaushambi districtsaid all works would be com-pleted by October 2018.

#���� �"4.17

In another case of typicaltriple talaq, a Muslim woman

was given instant talaq onFriday after she attended afunction to hail Prime MinisterNarendra Modi for proposinga stringent law to prevent tripletalaq in the country.

The victim woman, Fayra,told reporters in Bareilly onSunday that her husband gaveher triple talaq after she wentto attend a rally thankingPM Narendra Modi over hisGovernment’s plan to bring in

legislation to ban instanttriple talaq. But her husbandDanish, states another reasonfor his action. “I gave hertalaq over her extramaritalaffairs,” he said.

“I didn’t give her tripletalaq. She had an extramaritalaffair, so I divorced her. Heruncle keeps threatening me.She always wore jeans andthings like that. I don’t want tokeep my wife with me. This hasnothing with to do with ModiJi’s rally,” Danish said.

Fayra further alleged thather husband, Danish, has anaffair with his aunt and had ason with her.

“My husband had an affairwith his aunt and even had ason with her. He kept telling mehe’ll give me a divorce. WhenI came back from rally he said

PM Modi can’t do anything toharm him and gave me tripletalaq. He beat up my child andme and threw us out of thehouse,” Fayra said.

“On Friday when I cameback from rally to thankNarendra Modi, Danish saidPM Modi can’t do anything toharm him and instantly gaveme triple talaq. He beat up mychild and me and threw us outof the house,” the wife said.

Meanwhile, police said thatno one has contacted them onthe issue nor any applicationhas been given by the woman.

However this issue foundan echo in the Gujarat electionwhere the BJP raised this issue.Recently, many Muslim womenheld rallies across UP thankingPM for bringing an act againstTriple talaq.

#���� �"4.17

Former Chief MinisterAkhilesh Yadav has asked

the traders and the businesscommunity to get rid of the tagof being the traditional andcommitted voters of the BJPand support the Samajwadiparty as his party alone canfight for protecting their inter-ests. He said the BharatiyaJanata Party Government hasinflicted huge blow to the econ-omy by demonetisation and theGoods and Services Tax.

“Farmers and the tradersare the twin pillars of the econ-omy and this pair is crucial forthe growth of economy. TheBJP by implementing GST anddemonetisation has broken thispair. Its high tome that thetraders and business commu-nity should reconsider theirsupport to the BJP’’ said the SPpresident Akhilesh Yadav while

addressing the meeting of theUP Udyog Vyaapar Sangthan atthe state office e of the partyhere on Sunday.

“Samajwadi party duringthe recent elections of theurban local bodies had giventickets to the traders and it’shigh time that they shouldconsider shifting their alle-giance lock stock and barrel

from the BJP and get rid of thetag of being the pocket bor-ough of the Saffron party’’,said the SP president. He added“the traders during the 2014Lok Sabha elections and thisyear’s state Assembly State elec-tions had overwhelmingly sup-ported the BJP but the saffronparty not only disappointedthem but ruined the trade and

the economy by demonetisa-tion and implementation of theGoods and Services Tax’’.

“The traders are the mostinsecure community in thestate under the BJP rule. Inseveral cases where big tradersand businessman who werevictims of dacoity in Mathura,Sitapur, Varanasi and someother places are yet to beworked out by the State policeand they are living in constantfear of threat to their life andproperty’’, said the SP president.

Akhilesh Yadav said thetraders during the recent elec-tions to the urban local bodieshad expressed their disapprovalof the policies of the BJP result-ing in huge setbacks to the BJPcandidates. He said not onlyclose to 45 percent of the BJPcandidates lost their securitydeposits the vote share of theparty also dipped.

SP general secretary and

Rajya Sabha MP Ram GopalYadav said “its matter of deepregret that whenever there areelections to the State Assemblyor the parliament the tradersvote for the BJP as if it’s theirhabit’’, the BJP has ruined theeconomy and particularly thesmall traders who are part ofthe unorganised sector’’. Headded “as many as 25,000 busi-nessmen have shifted theirbusiness to other countriesafter demonetisation and theimplementation of the GST’’.

SP Rajya Sabha MP andpresident of UP Udyog VyparSangthan, Naresh Agarwalsaid in view of the patently antitrade and business policies ofthe BJP, the traders shouldextend their support to theSamajwadi party. He said thetraders should give a befittingreply to the BJP in 2019 LokSabha by voting against the rul-ing party at the Center and UP.

#���� �"4.17

Sleuths of Special Task Force(STF), Uttar Pradesh busted

a gang of fraudsters fleecinginnocent customers ofmyntra.com portal and nabbed18 miscreants including sixwomen/girls of the gang fromDelhi.

Those arrested were iden-tified as Ratnesh Gupta, AbidAli, Ritik, Udham Baliyan,Ashutosh, Rahul, Alam Khan,Kamal and Gulfarz Alam, all ofDelhi, Rahul of Gaziabad andShubham of Haryana. Thewomen miscreants were iden-tified as Lavyajot, Manju, Usha,Khushi, Neelam, Muskan andAmrita Kumari, all of Delhi.The cops recovered 28 cellphones, a laptop, customerdata record of the portal, 8bank pass-books and otherrelated documents.

The crackdown came afternational nodal security officerof the portal informed to theSTF complaining that some

gang was defrauding the onlinecustomers of the portal servicepersuading them to depositcash in their bank accounts. Healso complained that the fraud-sters were had secured thecustomer data record of theportal and they were luring thecustomers to deposit the cashpromising them bumper prizefor the online purchase they didsome time back.

Subsequently a police team

was pressed into the job and theteam collected details of thephone number from whichthe victims of fraud had got thecall for bumper prize offer. Itsurfaced that the gang wasmaking bulk calls to the cus-tomers through different callcenters which they had openedin different parts of the coun-try. On the basis of digitalanalysis, the sleuths tracked acall centre located in Dwarika

of Delhi. A team later raised thecall centre and rounded up 18persons working at the call cen-ters. The gang leader and hisbrother managed to escapetheir arrest.

During interrogation themiscreants disclosed that thecall center is run by gangleader Yogendra Chaudharyand his brother SandeepChaudhary, both of Mathura.The accused disclosed thatYogendra used to secure cus-tomer data in connivance withthe officials of the portal ser-vice. They further disclosedthat they also had secured dataof another online portal. Aboutthe modus operandi, they dis-closed that they got the moneydeposited in e- wallets once acustomer was trapped. Theylater got the cash transferred toYogendra’s bank account. Acase has been registered atCyber Police station, STF inNOIDA and efforts to trackdown the gang leader and hisbrother are on.

+�������� ����������������'����������������#�����

A���#��������$��������������

�������� ���������*��&����������������4������� ��������-���#���+�,��� ���#!�

� �- � ������!* � ���#�����-#���#�+��� *��1� ��- ����*��-!��- � ��

�.�- ��!�1�"��*��-

�� ������������������.+F�������#����������#�0�BBB#����10 ���� ���������������������"���������"����������������� �!

'����G�����������#$�������$��)��)�$�#�������)����������������������#4�@�������(�"�� �� ����������������� �����������������)��������������"������������������ �!

5-� ����������*���#��������'�����+� ��� (������)������� ���� �5�)��6����������������3��*������35�����������������������������-5 ��$�����������������������������E

('6(��6.(1)((�/-/��6�'�'1��!6�6�

)1/('6�6:6�1-56.(1)

('6((�/-/��6�'%��A�

A1#����(A�.�('

�����##���������)�����)�C ��*�"��6'��!66./6#��(6/6��("A!6/-1��"6�(�(�1.%�()�.

.1����.�6))1/(�(1(/�"4�17.

('6#�.#�6��6/�.�'��!/1('6/

�/61.

*�( +# .��('!+/ .�!"%"�*"��001��2304 ,���*�E�

@���"����������# -���� ��,--�,�%� �-�!,�� 3��-��� �1��#��- � �!*�!���!������������!� ��� ������ ������!��-�� ����!����������"�� !������ ���-������!������!�����# -FF?��������� �����5�?��-���+#

5#��"��*���-��" �"�� �!� ��- � ���������+��-�����!�,���� �� ��� �,�-��1��� ���������+�����!� ��-�*������ �����. �1�"�*��-3�@��������"��,#� ������� -�+*� � � �,�FF:������� ���?�!��!/��� ����"����?#�9���1#�1#+$��

7#1��&88

3����0������#������������������'����������'���������)��������!6.1���/6�

India, led by Commerce andIndustry Minister, SureshPrabhu, is expected to adopt

a four-pronged strategy at theMinisterial Meeting of theWorld Trade Organization(WTO) at Buenos Aries fromDecember 10-13, 2017.

One, in a world that is lean-ing towards regional and bilat-eral trade agreements, Indiawill want the Ministerial tostrongly reaffirm the commit-ment of the 160 member coun-tries to the multilateral plat-form for trade liberalizationand rule making; two, pushhard to get a clear mandate onfinding a permanent solutionto public stock holding foragricultural commodities toaddress food security concerns;three, ensure member coun-tries do not move away fromthe not-yet-concluded DohaDevelopment Agenda by intro-ducing new issues like invest-ment facilitation in WTO'snegotiating mandate; and final-

ly not support any compre-hensive negotiations for anagreement on e-commerce. Ona many of these issues, thoughpositions may slightly vary,India is expected to find sup-port from many other devel-oping countries includingChina and South Africa.

#������������������"The most important issue forIndia will be to drive a con-sensus for a permanent deci-sion on public stock holding foragricultural products thatreflects the demands of a groupof developing countries calledG-33 with strong interests infood security issues likePhilippines and Indonesiabesides India.

New Delhi will want mem-ber countries of WTO to adopta mandate on public stockholding that goes beyond theinterim solution of a perma-nent peace clause that wasagreed at the Ministerial meet-ing at Bali, Indonesia in 2013.One element of the currentlyavailable permanent peace

clause that irks India is theonerous responsibility of com-plying with existing and addi-tional notification require-ments and admitting that thecountry is exceeding, or is atthe risk of exceeding, its ceil-ing of entitlement to provideproduct-specific domesticsupport. India has beenstrongly advocating theremoval of the existing asym-metry in WTO's Agreementon Agriculture where devel-oped countries have far moreleeway than developing coun-tries in subsidizing agricul-tural commodities.

India has, over the last fewyears, invested a lot of itsnegotiating energy on thisissue and will, therefore, expectsome favourable decisionsfrom other member countriesat Buenos Aires.

There could, however, besome roadblocks to finding asolution. First, US has beenconspicuously absent from anyserious negotiations in the runup to Buenos Aires, second EUhas been wanting to link a per-

manent solution with stringentdisciplines on domestic supportprovided by developing coun-tries, includingIndia andthird thecountries areseeking a com-mitment that direct or indirectexports of public stockholdingswill be prohibited.

����� �� The proposal on e-commercefor a possible start of negotia-tions has been doing therounds for several months inGeneva, Switzerland where theWTO is headquartered and isexpected to be among the toppriorities for negotiators at

Buenos Aires. E-commerce is not new to

WTO and has been on the listof to-do nego-

tiations since1998 andIndia would

like the coun-tries to maintain a status quoon the issue. Currently coun-tries have agreed to have amoratorium on duties on alldigital products shippedthrough e-commerce. Thismoratorium has been extend-ed every two years since 1998.

However, in the last one-year the “Friends of E-com-merce” Group at the WTOwhich, include Argentina,Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica,

Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria,Pakistan, Sri Lanka andUruguay have been stating thatthere is a need to push com-prehensive negotiations on e-commerce for “development”.

India does not supportany negotiating outcome for e-commerce. India is of theview that there is already amandate for specific technicalcommittees at the WTO tostudy and deliberate on theissue and there is no need tohave any immediate negoti-ating mandate on this issuefor the present. However,there will be reasonably highpressure from countriesincluding the EU for a possi-ble work programme on thisemerging sector.

��� �:���) ��� ��Another proposal at theMinisterial that India will notsupport is the inclusion ofinvestment as a subject fornegotiations within the WTO.India has always been opposedto the introduction of invest-ment in the WTO stating that

it is not a trade issue. There are,however, several proposals onthe table at Buenos Aires sup-porting the inclusion of invest-ment for negotiations at theWTO. One such proposal isfrom “Friends of InvestmentFacilitation For Development”comprising Argentina, Brazil,China, Colombia, Hong Kong,Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan.Besides these there are otherproposals separately fromArgentina and Brazil, one fromChina and another fromMexico, Indonesia, Turkey andAustralia (MIKTA).

The focus of most of theseproposals is to further cross-border investments by includ-ing issues such as improve-ment in regulatory transparen-cy and predictability, stream-lining and speeding up admin-istrative procedures andenhancing international coop-eration and addressing theneeds of developing countries.

���� ���������� �While there is a lot of groundthat needs to be covered in

many issues that are on the tableat the Ministerial, one areawhere countries seem to con-verging is on the issue of fish-ery subsidies. These negotia-tions are primarily aimed at pro-viding a framework to disciplinefisheries subsidies by WTOmembers. However, the out-come will also have to reflect thespecial needs of the developingand least developed countries.

There are several otherissues including discipliningdomestic regulation in ser-vices to proposals to benefitmedium, small and microenterprises. India has somereservations on these propos-als and is not likely to supportany move to take it forward inthe way it exists at present.

Following the inaugural ofthe conference on Sunday,negotiations are expected toget intense over the next threedays and ministers will beunder pressure to ensure thatthe Ministerial deliversenough for countries to keeptheir faith in the multilateraltrading system.

1.�5�.A1)('6�6���6�%('1#'-1��(�1.�5�A���#'(�A:�/A%�.�����6R-6"(6�(1)�.�

�--1/()/155�.A1('6/�6:6�1-�.#"1.(/�6��."���.#

"'�.��.��1('�)/�"�

#���� .67�6�'�

The regulations for grievancehandling procedure underthe Insolvency and

Bankruptcy Code have been noti-fied, wherein the filing fee will berefunded to the stakeholder incase the complaint is found to benot “frivolous or malicious”.

The Insolvency and BankruptcyBoard of India (IBBI), which isimplementing the Code, has noti-fied the regulations and will beapplicable for all stakeholders,including creditors, debtors andservice providers.

Depending on the complaint,the IBBI can order an investigationor issue a show cause notice to theentities concerned.

“The regulations provide for anobjective and transparent proce-dure for disposal of grievancesand complaints by the IBBI, thatdoes not spare a mischievous ser-vice provider, but does not harassan innocent service provider,” theCorporate Affairs Ministry said ina release on Sunday. The IBBIcomes under the ministry.

A large number of cases havebeen filed under the Code, which

came into force last year, and therehave been certain instances ofalleged complaints against entitiesinvolved in the insolvency process.

Under the regulatory frame-work, a complaint can be filedagainst insolvency professionalagency, insolvency professional,insolvency professional entity andinformation utility.

A stakeholder can file a complaintwith details of “suffering, whetherpecuniary or otherwise, the aggriev-ed has undergone; how the conductof the service provider has caused the

suffering of the aggrieved; details ofhis efforts to get the grievanceredressed from the service provider;and how the grievance may beredressed”, the release said.

The complaint can be filed in thespecified form along with a fee of�2,500. “If the complaint is not friv-olous or malicious, the fee will berefunded,” the release said.

In case the IBBI finds that thereis a prima facie case of violation in thematter, then inspection or investiga-tion could be ordered or a show causenotice could be issued.

������ ������������������� ����������&�3�61&#7��- (�����������������$��������$�� �����������������%

������������������%��$�������������������������������������������0�3%����!!������������������������������������ ���������������������������������

NEW DELHI: A gravity-defyingbitcoin rally to over �10 lakh apiece, interspersed with 'stories'of people making crores fromthousands, has left the regulatorsflummoxed amid fears that acomplete lack of regulatoryregime for such cryptocurrenciesmay give rise to 'e-ponzi' scams.

The financial sector watch-dogs, including RBI and Sebi, asalso various government agen-cies, will soon get into a hud-dle to prepare a framework tosafeguard the gullible investorsand to clamp down on thefraudsters who may try tomanipulate the regulatory gaps,a senior official said.

There are quite a few pro-posals on the table and thoseinclude applying to cryptocur-rencies the existing regulationsaimed at checking spread ofponzi schemes or illicit money-pooling activities, money laun-dering and black money gener-ation and circulation, anotherofficial added.

The fear is that sudden spurtof numerous schemes offeringinvestment in virtual currenciesis reminiscent of the plantationscams of 1990s in India and theeponymous 'ponzi' scheme of1920s in the US, the official said.

The jury is still out onwhether such virtual currenciesshould be allowed as legal pay-ment tender or investments,though there are also suggestionsfrom some quarters for allowingthem with necessary checks andbalances.

The officials said the issueneeds to be discussed at the high-est level and one such forumwhere this matter has been dis-cussed in the past and would betaken forward is the FSDC(Financial Stability andDevelopment Council), whosemembers include top govern-ment functionaries and regula-tory heads.

A wider public awarenesscampaign may also be unveiledto make people aware of hugerisks associated with invest-ments in completely-unregu-lated areas like bitcoins andother such virtual currencies,the officials said.

The Reserve Bank hasalready issued multiple warningsabout such risks, while reiterat-ing that it has not given anylicence or authorisation to anyentity or company to operatesuch schemes or deal with bit-coin or any virtual currency.

The RBI has been issuing

such warnings since 2013, thefirst time when the surge in bit-coins caught the attention ofIndians, but the risks have mul-tiplied manifold now in thewake of a significant spurt in thevaluation of many such VCs anda rapid growth in Initial CoinOfferings (ICOs).

Modelled on the InitialPublic Offers or IPOs forissuance of new shares in thestock market, some entitieshave begun resorting to ICOsto raise funds from investors,including HNIs and other indi-viduals, who are getting luredinto claims of huge returnsfrom bitcoins and other suchvariants — apparently gettingminted in the digital world butalso reaching the real worldincluding as wedding gifts.

This trend has led to somesuggesting that the Securities

and Exchange Board of India(Sebi), which regulates capitalmarkets, should regulate thishitherto unregulated area, butothers suggest that the virtualcurrencies should ideally beunder the RBI jurisdiction asthey are payment instruments.

The recent spurt in bitcoinvalue — from under $10,000at start of year to close to$20,000 on Thursday before asharp 20 per cent plunge with-in hours — has largely beenattributed to plans by somederivative exchanges in the USto launch trading in bitcoin-linked derivatives.

The officials ruled out anysuch move in India for the fore-seeable future, even as bitcoinhas reportedly overtaken rupeeas the world's fifth largest cur-rency with the total circulationof nearly $300 billion.

The officials said all regu-latory gaps must be filled fast asthe bitcoin phenomenon is fastcatching the fancy of generalpublic and complaints havebegun to pour in at various lev-els about alleged fraudulentactivities in their names.

In addition to financialrisks — the value of bitcoinshave seen huge falls withinhours — the regulators areworried about their use for illic-it and illegal activities, subject-ing the users to an uninten-tional breach of anti-moneylaundering and combating thefinancing of terrorism laws.

Concerns also emanatefrom some unscrupulous enti-ties indulging in illicit money-pooling activities — common-ly known as ponzi schemes —with the promise of hugereturns from investment in bit-coins and other variants, whichthey claim are minted throughblockchain, a distributed ledgertechnology that was created tomint bitcoins and comprises ofextremely complex algorithmswith several thousand nodes foreach chain.

There is a suspicion thatsome so-called cryptocurren-cies and bitcoin investments

may actually have nothing todo with any blockchain-devel-oped virtual currency and arejust new ways devised byscamsters to ride the wave andwhat they may be offeringcould be 'e-ponzi' schemes, theofficials said.

In India, the term 'ponzi' isoften used for illicit collectiveinvestment schemes, rules forwhich were introduced after abig spurt in illegal money-pooling schemes in 1990s inthe name of plantation com-panies that promised hugereturns from tea and otherplantations.

Of late, several other vari-ants have come to the foreincluding in the name of realestate, agriculture produce,holiday schemes and evendairy farms. The regulatorsnow fear that virtual currenciescould be the latest in this list.

A typical 'ponzi' schemeinvolves the operator collectinga large amount of money frominvestors and paying themreturns from their own moneyor the money collected fromsubsequent investors, ratherthan from profit earned by theperson or the entity operatingsuch a scheme. PTI

��'��������1�3,6����������������� �'��������#�7�������

NEW DELHI: The TelecomCommission is likely to discussthe relief package recommend-ed by an inter-ministerial groupfor the sector in its meetingscheduled for December 21, asenior official said.

The panel, the apex deci-sion making body of theTelecom Department, may alsodiscuss opening of new set ofspectrum — E-band (71-76Gigahertz frequency and 81-86Ghz) and V-band (57-64 Ghzfrequency range) for telecomservices, the official said.

“The IMG recommenda-tions will be placed before theTelecom Commission againalong with legal opinion andTRAI's recommendations onthe spectrum cap on December21,” said a DoT official, who didnot wished to be named.

The IMG recommenda-tions would be sent to theCabinet for a final decision.

The Telecom Commissionin its September meeting hadin-principle approved exten-sion of the time period for thepayment of spectrum bought inauctions by telcos to 16 yearsfrom the current 10 years, asrecommended by the inter-ministerial group (IMG).

The commission alsoapproved recommendation ofthe IMG, which was taskedwith finding solutions for thefinancial difficulties of the tele-

com sector, to lower the inter-est rate charged over penaltiesimposed on service providerswith slight modifications.

The commission hadsought a legal opinion on someof the points it approved at itsprevious meeting inSeptember-end before firmingup its view.

The panel had also soughtviews of the TelecomRegulatory Authority of India(Trai) on IMG's proposal torelax spectrum cap as it willprovide exit path to loss-mak-ing mobile service providersand ease consolidation in thesector.

Trai last month recom-mended that the ceiling onspectrum held by mobile oper-ators within a particular bandshould be removed, while sug-gesting a 50 per cent cap oncombined radiowave holding

in efficient bands like 700MHz, 800 MHz and 900 MHz.

If these suggestions areaccepted by the telecomdepartment, they would pro-vide a major relief for thesoon-to-be-merged IdeaCellular and Vodafone, as theywould have breached the spec-trum caps in certain locationsunder the existing rules.

It would also enable aggres-sive newcomer Reliance Jio topick up additional spectrum, ifneeded, in bands like 800 MHz.

Trai has also suggestedthat the overall cap on holdingspectrum should be raisedfrom the current 25 per cent to35 per cent.

The official added thatsome IMG recommendationslike reduction in various levieson the telecom sector are beingconsidered under the newNational Telecom Policy. PTI

(������"��������������������5#��������������������F,

#���� !6.1���/6�

Commerce andIndustry Minister

Suresh Prabhu on Sundayexuded confidence thatIndia will get support ofWTO member countrieson issues like food securi-ty, Doha DevelopmentAgenda (DDA) and pro-tection to small farmerswhich are dear to India as well as other develop-ing nations.

Ahead of the formal launch of the 11thMinisterial Meeting of the 164-member WorldTrade Organisation (WTO), the minister met therepresentatives of the European Union and par-ticipated in the meetings of the South Centre andG33 grouping.

“Met with the EU and had bilateral meetingswith trade ministers of other countries so that we

have a commonplatform, so whenwe finally push ouragenda there is

enough support for us,” Prabhu said. The minis-ter further said that he was trying to meet tradeministers of those countries which have “oppo-site views” with a view to convince them aboutthe concerns of the developing nations.

Observing that the food security is essentialfor the country, Prabhu said as far as fisheries issueis concerned India would endeavour to protectthe interest of small fishermen.

The other important issue is to push the DohaDevelopment Agenda (DDA) which has not mademuch progress for the past several years. The min-ister also emphasised that he would work withother countries to ensure that WTO remain animportant democratic multilateral institution.

HYDERABAD: The Infosys'move to settle with Securities andExchange Board of India (SEBI)the alleged disclosure lapsesinvolving a severancepact is “perfectly fine”,the company's formerChief Financial Officer,TV Mohandas Pai, saidon Sunday.

He disagreed withthe whistleblower who hasreportedly asked the marketregulator SEBI to prosecutethe IT giant's managementand the Board.

“Settlement is a normalprocess. Anybody can file for set-tlement consent decree fromSEBI. There are very clear norms.SEBI can do it; it's SEBI's pre-rogative,” Pai said.

On the whistleblower askingSEBI to prosecute the manage-ment as well as the board, he said,“That should be ignored.Consent order is fine. SEBIknows what to do best; leave itto SEBI.”

The chairman of AarinCapital and also Manipal GlobalEducation Services stressed thatconsent decrees are a very nor-mal part of any capital market.

“It happens all the time inthe US. It happens in all capitalmarkets because some things aredifficult to prove; companies

don't want to gothrough ordeal of a reg-ulatory action,” he said.

“In capital marketsall over the world, com-panies do file for con-sent so they get over any

regulatory action where there isno fraud, misrepresentation orcriminality,” he said.

“So, there is no criminalityand deliberateness. It's perfectlyfine for the company to file con-sent,” Pai said, adding that thematter in Infosys' case relates tolack of adequate and properdisclosure.

The whistleblower hasargued that a settlement wassimilar to “backdoor agree-ment”, and if Infosys is allowedto do so, then “no whistleblow-er in future will take the pain toexpose any malpractices in thecorporate sector”.

Infosys had last week filedthe application with SEBI tosettle the issues around sever-ance agreement with ex-CFORajiv Bansal. PTI

�� �;��������������������6!� ���%���� �����")1

���������+�2�-��-��"���#-!�"���,�� �!����-2������-����!�

�� ����#����� ���������1�,����%� ��-1�!#��� ���!#���+����"�- ��-���� ���,���������� ��

1�#�- ��-�����,*� �*� �,���#� �� �����!#� ��*�!�-

-��� ��'���������������������##�������������������

���� �

��������� ���������) �)�

*�( +# .��('!+/ .�!"%"�*"��001�2304 ������EE

(�5((��'(�5((��''�5���

"����� �������#������ ������������" ��������! '� -��������'�����/����������������������������������������������$��� �������$��$���A������������������������������������

�� ������ ������������ ������#� � ������� A����+�'�������������$��������$���� �����A�����-������������$������������������%����������������� ��� �����������������%������� ������#������-�����+�"�������0#-"3�������������������#-"������%����������������$������� ���%�������'���������������������,<������ ��������+�������������������������� ����$����������������������%$���������������������&������������

���� ������� � ����������� ���� � � ����<�'9� ������ F<�������"������������������������������ ������������+�������������������������������$������������%���������������������������7����������������������F<,8����������������������������������N�����O%N�����O%N������O���N������������O%���������������������������������������������N�������O%N������������O%N�����#�O%N�����������������O�

� ��,����0�(���������/���� ����� ���0������

#���� 7��'�.#(1.

AWashington Post reporteron Sunday had to tender

an apology after US PresidentDonald Trump asked him to doso for posting an erroneoustweet about his rally in Florida.

Dave Weigel, who coverspolitics for the newspaper, hadposted a picture on his Twitteraccount which showed anempty arena when Trump wasaddressing a public meeting.

Trump, in a tweet, said,“Weigel put out a phony photoof an empty arena hours beforehe arrived at the venue, withthousands of people outside, ontheir way in. Real photos nowshown as I spoke. Packedhouse, many people unable toget in. Demand apology &

retraction from FAKE NEWSWaPo!” said the US Presidentas he posted pictures of theevent.

Weigel apologised withinminutes, and tweeted, “Surething: I apologise. I deleted thephoto after David Martosko ofDaily Mail told me I’d gotten itwrong. Was confused by theimage of you walking in thebottom right corner.”

Despite Weigel’s apology,Trump in a follow-up tweetdemanded that he be fired.

“Weigel of the WashingtonPost just admitted that his pic-ture was a FAKE (fraud?) show-ing an almost empty arena lastnight for my speech in Pensacolawhen, in fact, he knew thearena was packed (as shown alsoon TV). FAKE NEWS, he

should be fired,” he said.Early in the morning,

Trump targeted CNN for itsalleged inaccurate reporting.“Fake News CNN made avicious and purposeful mistakeyesterday. They were caughtred handed, just like lonelyBrian Ross at ABC News (whoshould be immediately fired forhis “mistake”). Watch to see if@CNN fires those responsible,or was it just gross incompe-tence?” he asked.

CNN, in another tweet, hesaid, is the “least trusted namein news”. “CNN’s slogan isCNN, THE MOST TRUSTEDNAME IN NEWS. Everyoneknows this is not true, that thiscould, in fact, be a fraud on theAmerican Public. There aremany outlets that are far moretrusted than Fake News CNN.Their slogan should be CNN,THE LEAST TRUSTEDNAME IN NEWS!” said the USPresident.

Trump has over 44 millionfollowers on Twitter.

�(�����������������������������������������

������������������%(������� ����� ���������������������$� ����

#�� 26/���65

The Israeli military says it hasdestroyed a tunnel built by

the Hamas militant group thatstretched from the Gaza Stripseveral hundred metres intoIsrael.

Lt Col Jonathan Conricus,a military spokesman, toldreporters on Sunday that Israelused a new set of “tools” todestroy the tunnel.

He said forces had detect-ed the tunnel months ago andcontinued to monitor con-struction efforts by Hamasmilitants before demolishing it.

He said the tunnel was notcomplete, but was “very sub-stantial,” equipped with elec-tricity, communications equip-ment and a ventilation system.

It was located about onekilometre from an Israeli com-munity. Israel has placed ahigh priority on halting thetunnel threat since Hamas infil-trated Israel during the 2014war.

���������������������'������������������������E���

�5�(�5�()$�������?���:��)$�������?���:��DD����

�#�� !6�/(

Lebanese security forcesfired tear gas and water

cannons on Sunday at demon-strators near the US embassyas they protested Washington’sdecision to recogniseJerusalem as the capital ofIsrael.

An AFP correspondent inAwkar outside the capitalBeirut said several hundredpro-Palestinian demonstratorshad gathered near the USembassy, located in the area.

They were blocked fromreaching the complex by ametal gate sealing the roadleading to the embassy, andsecurity forces fired tear gasand water cannons to repel

demonstrators who tried toopen the gate by force.

Several people wereinjured by rocks and tear gas,the correspondent said.

There was no immediate

comment from security forces.Protestors waving Palestinianand Lebanese flags, and sport-ing black-and-white checkedkeffiyeh scarves, chanted slo-gans against President Donald

Trump, who on Wednesdayrecognised Jerusalem as Israel’scapital.

A group of demonstratorsset alight an effigy of the USpresident, whose decision hasupended decades of Americandiplomacy and an interna-tional consensus to leave thestatus of Jerusalem to beresolved in negotiations.

The demonstrators includ-ed members of Palestinianparties, as well as LebaneseIslamists and leftists.

Hundreds of thousandsof Palestinian refugees live inLebanon, including those whofled or were expelled fromtheir homes after Israel’sfounding, as well as theirdescendants.

+�����������������������������8" ��'����Cairo: Arab foreign Ministersgathered in the Egyptian capital,Cairo, on Sunday for an emer-gency meeting designed to for-mulate a unified response toPresident Trump’s decision torecognize Jerusalem as Israel’scapital, a move that has sparkedanger and protests in the Arabworld.

The Arab League meeting,which brings together foreignministers from member-states, istaking place as protests contin-ued for three consecutive days inthe West Bank and Gaza Strip.

In Cairo, the head of Egypt’slargest Christian churchannounced he would not meetUS Vice President Mike Pencewhen he visits Cairo onDecember 20. A similar decisionwas made Friday by the head ofAl-Azhar, the world’s supremeseat of learning for SunniMuslims.

Hundreds of worshippersprotested Trump’s decision afterFriday prayers at Al-Azharmosque, but security forces pre-vented them from marching tothe city center.

Trump’s announcement onJerusalem, and his intention to

move the US Embassy there,triggered denunciations fromaround the world, with evenclose allies suggesting he hadneedlessly stirred more conflictin an already volatile region.

The city’s status lies at thecore of the Israeli- Palestiniansconflict, and Trump’s move waswidely perceived as siding withIsrael. Even small crises overJerusalem’s status and that of theholy sites in its ancient Old Cityhave sparked deadly bloodshedin the past.

It was not immediately clearwhat the foreign ministers willdecide on in terms of concretemeasures to counter Trump’sdecision, but Arab diplomatshave spoken of submitting a draftresolution condemning themove to the UN SecurityCouncil d unspecified measurestouching bilateral ties betweenArab League member states andWashington.

The diplomats also specu-lated that an Arab summit mightbe called to convene followingthe foreign ministers’ meeting, aproposition the diplomats saidwas already embraced by sever-al member States.

#�� 2�4�/(�

About 10,000 Indonesianshave rallied outside the

US Embassy in Jakarta insupport of Palestinians anddenouncing President DonaldTrump’s decision to recogniseJerusalem as Israel’s capital.

The protesters are carry-ing banners reading “USEmbassy, Gets Out from AlQuds,” ‘’Free Jerusalem andPalestinians” and “We arewith the Palestinians.” Al-Quds is the Arabic name

for Jerusalem. Today’s protest,organised by the IslamistProsperous Justice Party, wasthe second since Trump’s deci-sion on Thursday.

President Joko “Jokowi”Widodo has strongly con-demned Trump’s move, whichhe described as a violation ofUN resolutions.

Indonesia, as the world’smost populous Muslimnation, has long been a strongsupporter of Palestinians andhas no diplomatic ties with theJewish State.

���������� ���-��123�����-

#���� 4�('5�.�

Nepal’s Left alliance onSunday was heading

towards comfortable majorityin the Parliamentary elections,winning 72 of the 89 seats so farin the historic polls that manyhope will bring the political sta-bility to the country.

The CPN-UML led by for-mer premier KP Oli and theCPN-Maoist led by formerpremier Prachanda have forgedelectoral alliance for both theprovincial and Parliamentaryelections.

According to resultsreleased by the ElectionCommission, the CommunistParty of Nepal-UnifiedMarxist–Leninist (CPN- UML)has won 51 seats while itsalliance partner CPN Maoist-Centre has bagged 21 seats.

The ruling NepaliCongress, which was the largestparty in the last election, won

only 10 seats, according to the tallies.

Two Madhesi parties havewon five seats. The FederalSocialist Forum Nepal led byUpendra Yadav has won 2seats whereas Rastriya JanataParty led by Mahanta Thakurhas bagged 3 seats.

Naya Shakti Party led byformer prime ministerBaburam Bhattarai has won

one seat and an independentwas among winning candi-dates.

The vote counting is inprogress for remaining 76 seats.The house of representativesconsists of 275 members, ofwhich 165 would be electeddirectly under the first-past-the-post system while theremaining 110 will comethrough the proportional rep-resentation system.

Voting in two-phased par-liamentary and provincialAssembly elections were held onNovember 26 and December 7.

In the first phase, pollingwas held in 32 districts, mostly situated in the hilly andmountainous region, in which65 per cent of voters had exer-cised their franchise. In the sec-ond phase, 67 per cent voterturnout was registered.

A total of 1,663 candidatescontested polls forParliamentary seats.

%����;�#���������"���/0���������������"������������

���)�?������+*�1��,������,����;�5������ ������)?��- �����+*�1��),������,���

�������"�1��!������ ���

������1���+� �� �����"�����������,�� �*���� ���-

London: The UK’s Brexit nego-tiator David Davis has describedthe deal struck by Theresa Mayto move to the next phase oftalks as a “statement of intent”.

He said it was not “legallyenforceable” and if the UKfailed to get a trade deal with theEU then it would not pay itsdivorce bill. But he stressed thatthe UK was committed to keep-ing a “frictionless and invisible”Irish border. And it would “finda way” to do this if there was a“no deal” Brexit.

The Brexit secretary alsostressed that the odds of the UKexiting without a deal had“dropped dramatically” follow-ing Friday’s joint EU-UK state-ment in Brussels. And he spelledout the kind of trade deal hewanted with the EU, describingit as “Canada plus plus plus”.

Agencies

5��+�!��&��6�������$������%��������������

London: Gangs of Pakistani-origin men target white girlswith alcohol and drugs beforeraping and sexually abusingthem because due to their Asianheritage they fail to integratewithin British society, an anti-extremism think tank has saidin a new report.

The study by UK-basedQuilliam group calls for greatergovernment support to helpintegrate British Pakistani peo-ple into modern UK society.

“We began thinking wewould debunk the media nar-rative that Asians are over-rep-resented in this specific crime.But, when the final numberscame in we were alarmed anddismayed. For both of us beingof Pakistani heritage, this issueis deeply personal and deeplydisturbing,” said Muna Adil, oneof two authors of the reportcalled ‘Group Based ChildSexual Exploitation: DissectingGrooming Gangs’. PTI

�#�� !�#'���

Iraq’s armed forces held a mil-itary parade in Baghdad on

Sunday to celebrate the victo-ry announced by PrimeMinister Haider al-Abadi overthe Islamic State group.

Abadi on Saturday declaredvictory in Iraq’s three-year warto expel the jihadist group thatat its height endangered thecountry’s very existence.

Iraqi Army units marchedthrough the main square incentral Baghdad as helicoptersand fighter jets flew overhead,witnesses said.

The parade was not broad-cast live and only state mediawere allowed to attend. Abadihad declared a public holidaytoday after making hisannouncement, in which hesaid Iraq had defeated thejihadists “through our unityand our determination”.

The Sunni extremists of ISseized control of large parts ofIraq and neighbouring Syria in2014, declaring a cross- border

“caliphate” and committingwidespread atrocities.

Backed by a US-led coali-tion, Iraqi forces gradually retook

control of all territory lost to thejihadists over the last three years.

Experts warn that ISremains a threat, with the

capacity as an insurgent groupto carry out high-casualtybomb attacks using sleepercells.

London: The ISIS may have lostsignificant ground but it has notbeen yet defeated, British PrimeMinister Theresa May has said,as she warned Iraq that the ter-ror group still poses a threatincluding from across the bor-der.

Iraq’s Prime Minister Haideral-Abadi on Saturday declaredthat the country’s war againstISIS was officially over, claimingthat the terror group no longeroccupied significant territoryin the war-torn country.

May congratulated Abadiand all Iraqis on the “historicmoment”, saying this signals anew chapter towards a morepeaceful, prosperous countrybut warned that a lot moreneeded to be done.

“We must be clear however,that whilst Daesh (ISIS) is fail-ing, they are not yet defeated.They still pose a threat to Iraq,including from over the Syrian

border,” she said in a statementon Saturday.

“This is why, during myvisit, I announced that the UKwill invest 30 million pounds instabilisation support, 20 millionpounds in humanitarian assis-tance and 10 million pounds tosupport counter-terrorist capac-ity building in Iraq,” May said.

May said she was proud thatthe UK, as a leading member ofthe Global Coalition, has stood“shoulder-to-shoulder” withIraq to help them open the newchapter.

“I saw the effects of this firsthand when I visited last week,”she said. The UK has support-ed Iraqi security forces, includ-ing the armed forces and thePeshmerga, in the fight againstISIS and UK aircraft havelaunched over 1,350 air strikesin Iraq and trained over 60,000members of the Iraqi securityforces, she said. PTI

��� � -A1.#A�.#

North Korea on Sunday saidthat a maritime blockade

would be a declaration of war,in reference to one of the newsanctions that the US men-tioned it could impose onPyongyang after its latest bal-listic missile launch.

“The US moves for seablockade can never be tolerat-ed as they constitute a wantonviolation of the sovereigntyand dignity of an independentstate,” an article published inthe state-owned RodongSinmun daily said.

“The US is trying to open-ly take the measure of seablockade against North Koreaand strangle its economy inpeace time. This is part of its

scheme to escalate politicaland economic blockade againstNorth Korea which has lastedfor decades.”

The article said interna-tional treaties establish that theeconomic blockade of a coun-try in times of peace constitutesan illegal act and is consideredan invasion, reports Efe news.

The new sanctions pro-moted by Washington, com-bined with the joint air drillswith South Korea — the largestto date — conducted on theKorean peninsula last week,constitute “hideous war crim-inal acts” to push the situationto an “uncontrollable” cata-strophic phase and to a touch-and-go phase of a war,Pyongyang said.

The article warned US

President Donald Trump that“should they show even theslightest movement to put itsattempt at sea blockade intopractice, it will be followed byan immediate and mercilesscounteraction for self-defencefrom the North Korea”.

On November 29, NorthKorea launched the Hwasong-15, its most advanced inter-continental ballistic missile todate, which has put Pyongyangcloser to being able to target thecontinental US.

As a result, Washington hasdefended imposing new sanc-tions on Pyongyang, whichcould include the total prohi-bition of maritime transport toNorth Korea, according to USSecretary of State, RexTillerson.

�#�� (14A1

Japan will hold a drill with theUS and South Korea this week

to practise jointly detecting air-borne missiles, officials said onSunday amid rising securitythreats from North Korea.

The announcement of thejoint exercise, a sixth such drillsince 2016, comes less than twoweeks after Pyongyang test-fired a ballistic missile whichdropped into the sea insideJapan’s exclusive economic zonein late November.

The drill will be held inwaters near Japan on Mondayand the day after, DefenceMinister Itsunori Onodera saidas he visited a garrison innorthern Japan.

It is aimed at “practisingtracking an object and sharinginformation on it among thethree countries,” said a defenceofficial who declined to be

named.“It will translate into a

measure against ballistic mis-siles,” the official said.

Tensions over the North’sweapons programmes havesoared this year, withPyongyang carrying out itssixth nuclear test as well as aseries of missile launches indefiance of multiple sets of UN

sanctions.The US State Department’s

special representative for NorthKorea policy will travel toJapan and Thailand this weekfor talks on efforts to buildpressure against Pyongyangafter its latest ballistic missiletest.

“The United States looksforward to continuing its part-

nership with both these nationsso that the DPRK will return tocredible talks on denuclearisa-tion,” the department said in astatement.

A senior UN envoy warnedyesterday there was a grave riskthat a miscalculation couldtrigger conflict with NorthKorea as he urged Pyongyangto keep communication chan-nels open after a rare visit to theseclusive state.

Jeffrey Feltman’s trip tothe North — the first by sucha high-ranking UN diplomatsince 2010 — also came afterthe United States and SouthKorea launched their biggest-ever joint air exercise.

North Korea reiterated itsview that these manoeuvreswere a provocation, accusingthe drills of “revealing its inten-tion to mount a surprisenuclear pre-emptive strikeagainst the DPRK”.

Houston: Seven weeks afterSherin Mathews’ body was foundin a culvert by a cadaver dog, thelocation of the 3-year-old Indiantoddler’s final resting place hasbeen revealed.

A private ceremony washeld on October 31 for Sherin,the adopted daughter of Indian-American couple WesleyMathews and Sini Mathews,who was found dead in myste-rious circumstances a culvertclose to their home in suburbanDallas. At that time, the buriallocation was kept a secret, con-sidering the intense press andsocial media attention in the case.

PTI

2�� ����������� �4�����������������,����

���'����(����)����������)�������)��*��)����*���� �

� � �()�� �)�����)��+�,��)�(��-�.�� (����'

�� ��������6�����������"�����������C�D������

���������)����������"����������#�������������9�����&������ (

'������������������������������������ ��������0�������������� ��������� ��5� ��

;�)����#�������)�����������������������C���)����

�������������������"��#�������#��������������������#����)����������������������������������#�����#���C���)������(����������#&������;�)���� (

�?��+������� #��*����������"� ��*�����6>-� ����)*����� ���.���� ��

9����- �!��#�

*�( +# .��('!+/ .�!"%"�*"��001�2304 -��� �E�

#���� �'�/�5����

The susceptible technique of Indianbatsmen in seamer-friendly con-ditions was thoroughly exposed as

Sri Lanka comfortably beat India byseven wickets in the first ODI of thethree-match series.

The win also enabled Sri Lankabreak the ignominy of 12 straight defeatsin ODIs and also their first win againstIndia in the current year after losing allinternational matches at home as well asthe Test series here.

It was an inauspicious start to RohitSharma's India captaincy as the hometeam was shot out for 112 in 38.2 overs,a target which the islanders crossed in20.4 overs.

Suranga Lakmal (4/13), NuwanPradeep (2/37) and Angelo Mathews(1/8) stifled the hosts with a fine displayof seam and swing bowling in ideal con-ditions as Thisara Perera won a crucialtoss.

Had former skipper MahendraSingh Dhoni not stood tall amid ruinswith a face-saving 65 off 87 balls, Indiaat one point of time reduced to 29 for 7and in danger of recording their lowestever ODI score.

Their previous lowest was 54 againsta formidable Sri Lanka in Sharjah backin 2000.

During Sri Lanka's chase, UpulTharanga blasted 49 off 46 balls with thehelp of 10 boundaries as the visitorsoverhauled the target with 29.2 overs tospare.

With Sri Lanka taking a 1-0 lead,India's chances of grabbing the No 1 spotin the ICC ODI rankings is pretty min-imal.

With regular skipper Virat Kohlitaking a break due to his impendingmarriage, the Indian top-orderdid not cover itself in glory as thelikes of Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit,Shreyas Iyer, Dinesh Karthiklooked all at sea against movingdelivery.

While most of the batsmenare not Test regulars, the per-formance does raise questionsabout Indian team's ability tocounter seam adn swing.

It was second time on thecurrent tour after the EdenGardens Test that Indian team'sability was put to test and theyagain came a cropper.

Put into bat, Indian batsmenlooked clueless as Lakmal,Pradeep and Mathews with halfof the Indian batting line-up was gonefor just 16 runs and at one stage.

Left tottering at 29 for seven, Dhoni

and Kuldeep Yadav (19) stitched 41 runsin 47 balls for the eighth wicket whichwent a long way in India crossing 100-run mark.

Dhoni clobbered 10 boundariesand two sixes in his crucial knock evenas only two other Indian batsmen --Hardik Pandya (10) and Yadav -- couldreach double-digit figures.

He used his 300-plus ODI experi-ence to counter the seam movement andbounce but didn't get the kind of sup-port that was required from the otherend.

With an early start to the match,Lakmal, who completed his quota of 10overs in a single spell, emerged as thewrecker-in-chief for Sri Lanka, return-ing with impressive figures of 10-4-13-4.

Such was the dominance of theLankan seamers that India scored 11 for3 in the powerplay overs, the lowest 10-over score in an ODI in the last fiveyears, and second-lowest overall.

Sri Lanka put India on the backfootright from the start with Mathews trap-ping opener Shikhar Dhawan in front ofwicket in the last ball of his first over. Theon-field umpire had given not outbefore a review by Sri Lankan teamshowed that the ball had hit him on line.

Lakmal produced some extrabounce with his away going deliveriesand Rohit ended up poking at the ballto be back to the pavillion after the thirdumpire overturned another not outdecision.

With India tottering at 2-2, Karthikjoined debutant Iyer in the middle. Afterfour maiden overs in the first fiveovers, Iyer finally hit the first four andalso got off the mark when he guided aMathews delivery to the mid-wicketboundary.

Living dangerously on the other end,Karthik was then sent back to the hut byLakmal as India ended the powerplayovers at 11 for 3.

Pradeep replaced Mathews even asPerera persisted with Lakmal and itworked as the pacer produced a superbdelivery to induce a thick outside edgeoff Manish Pandey as India slumped to16-4.

Two balls later, Pradeep uprootedIyer's stumps when the debutant inside-edged a delivery onto the stumps as thehosts lost half their side in the 14th over.Pandya then hit a couple of boundariesbefore giving an outside edge to Pradeep.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar could not stayfor long and it was left to Dhoni andYadav to avoid the ignominy of beingbowled out for their lowest ODI total of54 against the same opponent in 2000at Sharjah.

#���� �'�/�5����

His technique against pac-ers was solely missed on

a seaming track here andIndia stand-in- skipper RohitSharma admitted that accom-modating Ajinkya Rahanewas tough as he is considereda specialist opening batsmanin the 50-over format by theteam management.

Rahane, who scored foursuccessive half-centuriesagainst Australia, was todayleft out of the playing XI in thefirst ODI against Sri Lanka,while Shreyas Iyer was hand-ed a maiden cap at No. 3 andManish Pandey was picked forthe No 5 slot.

"I think we made it clearin Sri Lanka that he is an open-ing batsman and we don'twant to keep changing his bat-ting slot. It plays on anyone'smind not just his, if one's bat-ting order is kept on changing.

"We have identified him asan opening batsman and that'sthe only reason he had to sitout. Having said that weunderstand the runs he scoredin the past few series. But wewanted to give these guysPandey, (Kedar) Jadhav, Iyerfair amount of game before westart touring abroad. It'simportant that they take theopportunity," said Rohit atthe post match press confer-ence after India went down byseven wickets.

While none of the Indianbatsman could put up a fight,Mahendra Singh Dhoni stoodamid the ruins with a gritty 65and Rohit heaped praise onthe former skipper.

"He has been at that situ-ation so many times and hasproved himself again andagain. First of all, I neverunderstood why there was atalk of he being in our plansor not. Once he gets runs thewhole conversation changes.

"He showed us again. Iwish one of our top order was

batting, so that we could havegot more runs. But we learnfrom it and move forward,"said Rohit.

Asked if India's battingcollapse is a cause of concernconsidering that India wouldbe touring South Africa for aTest series under same kind ofconditions, Rohit said: "This isa one-day side, I don't thinkthere is any comparison.

"With the Test team westruggled in Kolkata as wellbut any team in those type ofconditions will struggle. I haveseen enough cricket and werecently saw Ashes as well,what was happening there aswell."

Defending India's inex-plicable batting collapse, Rohitsaid Sri Lankan bowlers usedthe tough conditions to theiradvantage. "In conditions likethese, only one or two bats-

men will score, not all batsmenwill score runs. I don't thinkwe played any rash shots, butthey bowled at the right chan-nel, kept us guessing all thetime and batsmen were madeto play all the time. "We knewconditions were going to betough but sometimes whenyou are put in such situations,you have to bat the situation,which means we got to respectthe bowlers. This experiencewill teach us a lot of things asa team. Again if we are put inthat situation we will respondbetter," said the captain.

Rohit applauded Lankanpace troika of Suranga Lakmal(4/13), Nuwan Pradeep (2/37)and Angelo Mathews (1/8),who rattled the hosts with afine display of swing bowling.

"Credit should go to theSri Lankan bowlers, they madefull use of the conditions. Butas a batting unit, days likethese will teach us a lot ofthings, not always will weplay on flat conditions and weas a team want to thrive insuch conditions. If you notice,any bowler bowling in thatchannel would have got wick-ets. For us we were trying tosurvive in those conditionsbecause we knew that if initialovers we get over, wicket willget better but we lost wicketsand we were also not scoringin that pace,” he added.

#���� �'�/�5����

Sri Lanka interim coach Nic Pothas was all praisefor pacer Suranga Lakmal, whose 4/13 in 10 overs

went a long way in island nation's first ODI win 13matches as they beat India by seven wickets in seriesopener.

"Look, Suranga is a world-class bowler. If yougive him the conditions that suits him, doesn't mat-ter to whom he bowls, he is always going to makelife difficult."

"In his career so far, he had bowled on flat, drywickets. You give him some greenery, he will be bril-liant. In South Africa at the start of this year, he wassuperb again. He is a class performer and guts indi-vidual and great guy to have in the team."

An elated Pothas said that his team is slowly get-ting closer to the formula of success.

"We have had guys in this team who have gone

through the processes. We have obviously tried lotof people and we are getting closer and closer to aformula we think will be successful for us in thefuture," Pothas told reporters.

"We are in a nice place. We have built this teamup nicely and we can now hand it to the new coachand he can run with it," he said referring toChandika Hathurusingha, who has been appoint-ed as the Head Coach of the Sri Lanka NationalTeam recently.

Sri Lanka today dismissed India for 112 andthen chased down the total with ease and Pothassaid his team tried a different strategy against Indiatoday.

"It is a good place to be. We enjoyed the win.We haven't had lot of success in white ball cricket.We are at a position now things are quite settled,players understand roles. We used a different strat-egy and very pleased with the way things worked

out for us today," he said."Whenever you play a quality team like India,

you have to adapt. We have seen historically, if youwant to win against India - this game was differ-ent - but you have to play spin well in the middleovers.

"We acknowledged that we have some very goodplayers of spin, worked around the batting line upa bit. We gave ourselves the best chance," Pothas said.

The coach also singled out Angelo Mathews forspecial mention.

"Angelo looked great again. He has got his workload in. The physio has done some great work withhim. He is not full capacity yet. Angelo is world classperformer and the way he handled that situation withthe bat showed how important he is for us."

Asked how close was Dushamantha Chameeragetting a game, the South African said:"He was veryclose but we have got a formula for how we want to

play our ODI cricket. It is tough when you have tomeet tough selections.

"But that is what we are getting paid, it was a toughcall on him. But as I said, Suranga came up with goodsand Nuwan Pradeep on his comeback was awesome.We are happy that everything turned out very well."

Pothas said toss and the no-ball dismissal of UpulTharanga by Jasprit Bumrah were the definingmoments of the match.

"I firmly believe that there were two massivemoments in the game. It had to be said that the tosswas massive in the game and the no ball to UpulTharanga," he said referring to jasprit Bumrah's dis-missal of Upul Tharanga on a No-ball in the sixthover.

"If you lose another one we are suddenly 15 forthree and that is hugely different situation. We havelooked at two situations where for me they sort ofdefined the day."

#���� .�#-/

Karnataka inflicted an inningsand 20 runs defeat on Mumbai

with more than a day to spare in theRanji Trophy quarter-final here onSunday to move into the semi-finalsin convincing fashion.

Karnataka, who took a huge397-run first innings lead overMumbai by scoring a massive 570after bundling out the latter for apaltry 173, bowled out the 41-timechampions for 377 in 114.5 overs inthe second innings to complete acomprehensive victory on day fourof the five-day game at the VCAStadium in Jamtha.

Surya Kumar Yadav made adefiant 108, off 180 balls with 16fours and one six, before he was runout in the pre-lunch session to openthe doors for eight-time title win-ners Karnataka to press ahead andcomplete the rout.

Akash Parkar made 65, in 186balls laced with 11 fours, besidesadding 98 runs for the fourthwicket with Yadav after the twobatsmen commenced the day withMumbai on 120 for three.

Captain Vinay Kumar, whobagged a hat-trick in his six wick-et haul in the first innings, got twocrucial wickets — those of crisisman Lad for 31 and rival captainAditya Tare for a duck — before offspinner Gowtham scythed throughthe lower order to finish with a haulof 6 for 104.

� �"���������� ���� �������6�#���� Young right-handerWrittick Chatterjee struck anunbeaten double hundred as Bengalvirtually killed the Ranji Trophyquarter-final contest againstdefending champions Gujarat witha day's play left.

After Abhimanyu Easwaran(114, 345 balls) had done the pri-

mary job of deflating the Gujaratbowlers on the third day, relative-ly unknown Chatterjee took thecentrestage scoring a career-best213 with Bengal making Gujaratbite the dust with a total of 483 for4.

Easwaran duly completed hissecond century of the match- sev-enth in his 30-match first-class

career before Chatterjee took cen-tre stage. Easwaran's knock had 13boundaries and two sixes.

With an overall lead of 613, thefinal day's play is as inconsequen-tial as it can be unless ManojTiwary wants to press for an out-right win against Parthiv Patel'smen.

� ������������ �������� ����)�6����Bowlers put Delhi oncourse for a memorable win bybowling out Madhya Pradesh for283 in their second innings, givingtheir team a 217-run target tochase on day five of the RanjiTrophy quarterfinal here .

Pacer Vikas Tokas (3/64) andleft-arm spinner Vikas Mishra(4/59) did the bulk of the damageon day four to put their team in astrong position.

Delhi were eight for no loss atstumps with Kunal Chandela andTokas in the middle.

)������)��������������=��� ���������Centuries from captain FaizFazal (119) and Apoorv Wankhade(107) enabled Vidarbha take a firmcontrol of their Ranji Trophy quar-terfinal match against Kerala at theend of the fourth day's play here.

At the close of play, Vidarbhawere comfortably placed at 431 forsix, with an overall lead of 501 runs.

Akshay Wadkar was batting on20 and Karn Sharma was unbeatenon 4 when the stumps were drawn.

#�� '�5��(1.

Alengthy rain break in the middle of the afternoonSunday helped change the trajectory of the second

day of the cricket test between New Zealand and the WestIndies, contributing to another collapse by the Caribbeanside's middle order.

The West Indies were 87-2, replying to NewZealand's first innings of 373, when rain began to fallaround the middle of the second session. No further playwas possible before tea or for the first 20 minutes of thefinal session. When the players returned, heavy overcastconditions helped promote swing and the West Indieslost four wickets for 48 runs, including their captain KraiggBrathwaite for 66, as they suffered their third collapse inas many innings in the series.

A feisty innings of 35 from 45 balls from wicketkeeperShane Dowrich and a partnership of 35 for the eighthwicket between Raymon Reifer and Kemar Roachhelped slow the decline and allowed the West Indies avoidthe follow on.

At stumps they were 215-8, trail-ing New Zealand by 158 runs, withReifer not out 22 and MiguelCummins 10 not out. Reifer, on testdebut, played a bold late hand, defying the New Zealandbowlers for 107 minutes.

The loss of Shai Hope (28), Roston Chase (12), SunilAmbris (2) and Brathwaite after the rain break Sundayfollowed that pattern. After having made a relatively solidbeginning the innings began to teeter and lost its foun-dation when Brathwaite was out at 135-6 after having bat-ted for just under three hours.

The increased swing became evident in the dismissalof Hope who received a ball from Tim Southee whichangled into him, straightened and which the batsmanedged to Ross Taylor at first slip. Chase then received a

ball from Colin de Grandhomme which also shapedenough to beat the bat and to hit off stumps.

Ambris earned a rare distinction in test cricket whenhe was out hit wicket for the second time in the only three

innings of his test career. He was out inthat fashion for a first ball duck on hisdebut in the first test at Wellington andhe suffered the same fate Sunday, becom-ing one of only three batsmen in test his-

tory to be out hit wicket more than once in their careers.Brathwaite then fell to a superb catch by Southee off

de Grandhomme. Southee first took the ball above hishead at short cover, lost his grip on it briefly and thendived forward to catch it again, one-handed, just abovethe turf.

Earlier on Sunday, a quickfire last-wicket partnershipof 61 in 41 minutes between Southee and Boult strength-ened New Zealand's overnight position.

Boult struck an unbeaten 37 from 27 balls andSouthee hit 31 which helped New Zealand reach 373 inits first innings.

9�'����:��"9�������������#�������3����� ���,F������������������1��+��������5����!���%�����������������������8 �������������������������%����������, <

:��������������������������������������������������������������$�������,,F����� ����

1������������������;������������������������*>�����������������4������������$��F>%,IJ9�����,<<�������7�����������������$����.����$��,9%,II=������������������������

;�� ������������;� � ��������������������������������������������������������;�������

������������������*>��F9�=���������������������$��FI%F<<<

�������������

FIGURATIVELY

*��������������������������������)������D�����

�������������� ��������������������������"������

����� ��� �����+�����%�� ���89 *����#���&<����'���������*��������������������

����8�� ����)���(���� �����9�)��*���:�:;��� �$

�,�(�'3(,�

@���"����� �1������,<����=�-��

������!+ -,���� � G-� ������*��-��������� �

-� ��# �8 ������ ������ ����,

%�"H������3�����������,;-G�����&�������������0�#0������

�����������������7���������,;-����)��������"������#$��)��3�(���������,�- �!

(�����$����"�G%�����������"��������)������������������!������.��?�!������������� �!

��� �<�2������� ==%�>;=?

@�-$+��+99�$��/1(��+#��A$#�0#��� ��

'��=BC

Aging is a part of life and noone can escape this transi-tion. A child grows into an

adult and with every passing dayage takes a toll on each one of us.However, the experience an elder-ly person accumulates is valuable.Therefore we can say that ourelders are similar to a guide whocan steer us through the toughjourney of life, successfully.

Elders are very important foran equitable growth of society. Anysocial setup is considered morecultured if its people treat theirsenior citizens with respect andcare. A society devoid of blessingsfrom its senior people surely runsdown the drain in absence of anyguidance. All energy and no expe-rience could act a source of con-flict in the society leading to acomplete chaos and anarchy. Eldersare very important in the busyworld of today where most of themarried couples are working. Itresults in no time for their kidswhich end up swayed in wrongdirection in absence of right teach-ings. It is therefore imperative tohave elders in your family so thatour future generation grows upwith required moral value andknowledge of culture.

It is always in the interest of the

younger lot to offer respect to theirelders. Just like a soldier fightinga war commands respect from hisfellow countrymen for all the upsand down he has overcome, youmust respect your elders as theyalso have seen life closely and arealways willing to share their expe-riences and guide us through.Experiences from their life can actas a torchbearer for us in the longrun.

It is very important that ouryoung generation knows whataging is like and should be awarethat aging is the harsh reality of life.Only lucky people reach that partof life. We should be caringtowards them and must know thatone day we would be old too.Hopefully, when we get old theothers show same kindness andconcern towards us.

We should never forget thistruth that it is just because of ourelders that we are enjoying our lifeon this planet. It takes nothing tothank our elders every now andthen and add sense of dignity intotheir, perhaps eventless, lives. Asmall thanking gesture could addhuge energy into their weakeningbones. A blessing from them couldlead us to new highs.

Elders are like the trees of wis-dom. Therefore it is very importantto preserve their wisdom and passon to the next generation so thatthe continuity remains intact. It isalways fruitful to allow the cultureto pass on from one generation toother in its purest form so that oursociety remains enriched in values.

We know that they love us , but

don’t we ? One of the simplest rea-son to respect the elders is that welove them . They care for us whenwe are sick , cook for us , care forus , talk to us teach us and love usmore than life itself. We love them, we follow them and their words.They show us their love by the actsof kindness and care , we show itby respect . The touching of feet inmorning or daily evening walks arenot just a rule , they are what showsour love . Respect is part of love ,love doesn’t exist without respect

and respect is one of many signs oflove .

To let the elders know you carejust respect their words and actions. This will cement your relation andtrust will multiply in no time. Lifebecomes easier for us when wehave our elders on our side duringour struggles. Helping a needyelder is always satisfying and feedsone with a sense of gratitude.There is no better feeling than car-rying their basket full of groceriesfrom the market to their place.

This endeavor of yours could winyou respect in their eyes and ulti-mately in those of the society.

One of the most importantpoint that stresses upon the needof keeping elders happy and beingin their good books is that theycould help the administration ofour country in drafting and fram-ing new policies.

As they are well versed withthe ground realities of the country,their experience is valuable incoming up with new rules of co-

existence with energizing thoughtsfrom the youngsters.

The confusion of teen andtension of early twenties and frus-tration of late twenties , what if wehave en experienced person toguide us through it all ? Someonewho knows what it feels like to bein love ? to be indecisive about life? to not know what to do ? to dealwith peer pressure ? to deal withfamily pressure ? Well , wake uppeople ! we al l have thesefriend/philosopher/guide . Look

around and take your pick . Lifehands you trouble and solves it foryou as well . we have the puzzlesand a key that solves all puzzle .Respect the help for it is whatmakes life livable

Like a high-five after a splen-did race , the player deserve it . Itdoesn’t mean they will stop run-ning or never run again , the high-five justifies the achievement andis a mark of respect . The tippingof hat in presence of successfulman is not to pacify the man but

to show our respect . Our eldershave run a nice long race , theyhave won and as form of kinshipwe respect them .

Life would be tasteless withoutappreciation and respect s the up-est form of appreciation. Weshouldn’t respect them just becausewe should , we should respect thembecause we want to.

A new member of team followsa legacy and later becomes the flagbearer . This cycle works only if itsbased on respect .

5;�5��(��?��4&5(�5��.�����������������# ������1�����*�� �����'����� �����������#�����'�=�!��*�������������1���������� ����� ���*�������������'������� ������������=

� ��-�"��*�,��� � � � ��#�*�#�!�!���� ���%���-��� �!��!�-���%�����-��#��

+������ � !��!��-� �����-����� *��1���1�3�5��*

�#%*����������� � ��� ��1��1�3�@��-��#���+�

���!� ����- ��,����,#- %���� � ����

�*������#���+����� ��3�:���1#��*2��������!� ���� ���� ���-�-���-,��%�����--�������� ����-�#-3�

C M Y K

C M Y K

����� ������%/����7������������������64���������� ������� �������������������� ����%������%���$

N(�������������$������������������������$������������������������%������������������$������5�������%��������$������4���������������������� ��������� ��������������������%O����4������

N7������������������$�����;�������� ������������������������������&������������ �������������������������������������� ������%O���������

����%������%���%'!1;��������������%�����������������7���������K�S4�����G�!���������$��� �������$���� �����������$������5�������%���������������� ���������������������������������������� �������

H����(D�-���-���G ���!��--�"�>-������(:��� ����������� ����#��� �������������������������������������������6��������������������������� �������� �� ����M 7�(��7����%��������������� �����������!�����������5������������������%��� ��� �����4����2�����

1������������������������� ���������������������6�������@N(���������������� ��������������������������������������������� ������������ �������������������%�����$������������������$������� $����������������������������������������������;������ ��;������������(�������������������������������������������������������������$�������$��������O

�������� ������� ��������$�������������1���������%(�����%���������� ���������������� ���������������%��������������������� ������������ ������������������@N7������������������������TQ���������������������O

(�����%F<%��������������@NA����������������;��������O

(���������� ���������������������������@N(����������$���������������������O

*�( +# .��('!+/ .�!"%"�*"��001�2304 "�"� *�E

������������������+��+%�-���

H�%����-��!�,�1�����-�������-�!���!1�����,��-��*-�� �� 3� G-��-��!��+��- ���I���#�

9%� �#- �,�-����� ��������������1+��3;�����!����,������-���1�--���2�����"���#� ���,#-����- �#,�� -���%�� +�2-��!�����-� ��,� �1--*� ��-�-��� ���� ��*�# �1#���� �,����*��-�,+��>8���(��������

The iconic electric tram hasundertaken a long journey

starting from British Calcutta in1902 to modern Kolkata tracks toa museum near Gurgaon. Onecan still witness this eco-friend-ly vehicle in the city of joy. But,for those of you who aren’t sofamiliar with it or want to live theKolkata diaries can find it sta-tioned at The Heritage TransportMuseum-showcasing evolutionof Indian transportation.

The Tram No 204, acquiredfrom Calcutta TramwaysCompany (CTC) in September, isamongst the last few survivingwood bodied trams. Interestingly,this tram has served the residentsfor the almost seven decades. Thetwo-coach tram, with a totallength of 57 feet and a breadth of7 feet, weighs 18 tons and can seat

61 passengers, marking fouryear anniversary of the HeritageTransport Museum.

They have tried to restore theold world charm through ancienttickets, visual tour of the historyof trams in India through thescreen, photographs et al.

Tarun Thakral, founder andManaging Trustee of TheHeritage Transport Museum said,“Tram is a popular mode oftransport in Kolkata and as atransport museum we wanted topay a tribute. We approachedCTC and told them that we wantan antique wooden tram that wecan revamp for our visitors to give

them the feel of the bygone era.Half of them don’t even knowabout trams, especially the

younger generation. We havevisitors who confuse it with a trainand our intention is to educatethem that this mode of transportis still operational. We have triedto depict its history in a small waythrough posters, tickets andmovie which otherwise people

have forgotton about.” The movieis made by a UK based companywhich specialises in historicalfilms.

The earliest electric tram inIndia dates back to 1902. Headded that this tram is made ofpolished kikar wood and theyhave replaced the wood panels,flooring, fans, lamps et al. Theauthenticity can be seen throughads of bygone era. In earliertimes, trams used to operate inChennai, Delhi and Mumbai.“Around 1960 buses started com-ing in and administration thoughtthat they were slow moving andcaused an obstruction to thetraffic. Due to which most ofthem were shut down from time

to time. I personally feel thattrams are completely non-pollut-ing but sadly they are discontin-ued in almost all the cities.However, Prague, CzechRepublic, Vienna, San Franciscoand many others still have evolvedversions of it. Here, it didn’t hap-pen and thus its traces lies in gold-en pages not on tracks.”

Thakral opened this museumdue to his passion for trans-portation. “In 2006 I made a trustand few years later I approachedIndian government with the ideaof a transport museum. Throughthe help of government grant,donation from various corpora-tions, Individuals and loaned theremaining amount, this museumwas opened for public in 2013.Each year we add a new elementbe it coined car, classic maruti 800with smileys, exhibits et al.”

The USP of this transportmuseum lies in the array ofacquired exhibits, grafitti, artinstallations and their vision tooffer a one of its kind experienceto their visitors, something theycan take back as an inspiration. Ithouses classic cars, aeroplanes,two wheelers, ships, carts and alsoIndian jugaad.

�����D ����������

Superstar Salman Khan, whowent international with his

Dabangg film franchise through hisfirst live concert in Australia, NewZealand, Melbourne, Sydney inAustralia and Auckland to entertainthe Indian diaspora, was in Delhito kick start the domestic tour.Appropriately he was in total recallmode and recapped his debut per-formance in Delhi just after therelease of his film, Maine PyaarKyun Kiya. Reminiscing thosedays, Khan shared, “I still remem-ber that performance as I forgot thesteps midway. The audience was soloud that I lost track of the music,so I ended up walking across thestage, waving at the crowd and gavefew flying kisses, and by that timethe song ended.” Like a profession-al artist, he managed to hide hisnervousness all through the act.

With the international successthe tour has witnessed, especiallyin Birmingham where the showwas houseful and a big hit, this wasbound to be a success. Khan feelsthe success was entirely a teameffort. “Taking time from one’s hec-tic schedule was the most difficultpart. Since, everyone has beenworking on different projects, final-ising a particular date for concerts

has been the most challengingpart.”

The last tour in Auckland wasa starry event and had actor AkshayKumar joining Salman andSonakshi on the stage. Sonakshi,who wrapped up the concert beforegetting on to her new film Ittefaq,had shared a lot of pictures andvideos on her social media profilestoo.

The show was directed andscripted by Sohail Khan. Bollywoodstars Sonakshi Sinha, Kriti Sanon,Prabhudheva, Badshah, DaisyShah, Zareen Khan and ManishPaul joined Salman at JawaharlalNehru Stadium.

�����D ����������

What better way to spend awinter’s evening than ayellow light falling on

the tree bearing the colourfulprayer flags, the sent of the holyincense, live music consisting ofcymbals, drums and trumpets inthe background, and the powerfulmask performance by the monksof the Hemis monastery, Ladakh.

The performance also markedthe closing of the two day long fes-tival celebrating the BuddhistHeritage. An attempt to emphasiseand raise awareness of this rich andcommon heritage shared by BIM-STEC, an international organisa-tion comprising of India,

Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand,Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan. Dueto the geographical contiguity of thecountries they share a commonsocial, cultural and religious link-ages.

The festival also marks the 20thanniversary of this unique organ-isation group, a BIMSTECBuddhism Festival Bodhi Parva:BIMSTEC Festival of BuddhistHeritage, presented by the BIM-STEC division of the Ministry ofExternal Affairs.

Chams (Mask dances) aresacred plays performed around thecentral flagpole. They are essential-ly a part of Tantric tradition, per-formed only in the gompas that fol-low the Tantric Vajrayana teachingsand where the monks performtantric worship. Yanakpo Chan(Black head dance), black capdance, Shawa (Buffalo and deer)and Singey Wang chan (Liondance) were performed. Chamba,a monk who headed the team ofmonks said, “Since they areDharma protectors, they can not beperformed outside gonpas. Theones that were performed here areout of the few that are allowed sincethey don’t contain any religious

chantings. They are particularlybased on certain steps.” For the onesbearing religious significance, amonth long meditation is requiredby the monk who performs it, amonth long process of recitingprayers. “If the scared attires aretaken outside, they might bring

chaos.”Monks adorned bright, colour-

ful brocades with vibrantly deco-rated and richly embellished papermache or copper-gilded masksand simulated combat betweengood spirits and evil demons.

The visitors also witnessed an

experience of the union of narra-tion and technology in the SpiritualTechno Zone — a blend of twotrending technologies, augmentedand virtual reality with the impor-tant points of Buddha’s life to hisenlightenment. Leaving the view-ers in tranquility and spirituallyenriched.

The exhibition, BenevolentGaze – Buddhist imprints in artwas curated by Anubhav Nathand Vikram Lall. This illustrat-ed the historical interconnected-ness of these countries as man-ifested through architecture asso-ciated with Buddhist practiceand philosophy.

The exhibition presented therich and fascinating Buddhistheritage in these countries whilehighlighting the strategies ofnegotiation, exchange, and trans-

formation between Indic ideasand indigenous architecturalknowledge systems, as well as thespecific material and symbolicmeaning of the architecturalforms of several Buddhist mon-uments.

However, the Food Trailserving cuisines from the BIM-STEC countries was a little dis-appointing. Though there was along wait for the momos fromNepal, which claimed to betossed ina spicy tomato garlicsauce, were hardly justifying thelocal cuisine. While the Chamsfrom Ladakh were given greatimportance, there was no sign ofthe local cuisine, which mighthave boosted interest and helpederadicate the ignorance of thepeople who assume the local cul-ture to be similar to the East

Asian counties.The Minister of State

(Independent Charge) ofCulture, Dr Mahesh Sharmasaid: “Buddhism is the bindingforce between the BIMSTECcountries. The world expects alot from the message of peace,love and compassion, which wasgiven by Lord Buddha, not onlyto any one country, but to all ofhumanity.”

“Buddhism is a theme whichcombines all of us culturally. I amconfident that you will all bene-fit from the various elements ofthe Festival. It will provide usunique ideas to increase aware-ness about Buddhism among theyouth,” added Minister forCulture, Tourism and CivilAviation, Government of Nepal,Jeetendra Narayan Dev.

� ����������� �������������������%���5�.4'�. �����������$��� !������������$���������������������������� !���

>3&.+�/��32/

�4(%(��4?<$(%

(����������$���������������������E������������%��������(�/.('�4/���!�4/�(�4� ��

5�������� ���������$������������������ ������ ��� ���������������$������������!��������������������!�5�(6"���������%�����.#6�� -��21/

�&/�(+3&7-�,/&�,�(1

N6:6/A1.6'��!66.71/4�.#1.��))6/6.(

-/126"(�%)�.�����.#�-�/(�"��/

��(6)1/"1."6/(�'��!66.('651�(

"'���6.#�.#-�/(O

�#11���� �-����2��.���-�2���� �*�1���2�1�����-���2���������1�,����������--� ��-2��� ��#.#���-38 ?��;�:��������

/3-411'(33,14���#/�:3'/(1&��;�����$��������������������������������������������������������������%$���������������������$� ���$�����������$�������������������������$��������������%�����������-��������"������� 5�������������������

� ��������������������$������������;��������������������$���%����������� �����������������������$� ���$����������������������������%�����������E������%���� ��������������������������������������������(:���������������������$� ���$������ ����������������$�����������&��0!5�3�"������)���������%N7��������������������$���������������������� ������������������%�������������$���%������������� ����� ��������!5���O

��������� ��!���! "���#!�$�����������#3�4(12�3&�/�61+3(1#��1�39#�&#1(�����������������������������������������������������%������������ ������������������������������������������������������������������������

/���������4�����������:���������%-��%��������� "�����;5������������%�����������������������������������������������%����������������.�����%���������������������������� �����������������N(�� �������� ������������������������������������������� ������$�$��� ��������&�����������������%����������������� ��������%O����:����������N"��������������������������������������������������$�$�����������������$�$����� �������������

(������������������������������$� �����������������������������������������������%�����������������(�� ����������������������������������� �����������������������������������������������������G�������������������.�7����������������������� �������������������-�� �����(�����7��� ����������������$��������������������������� ���$��������������������� ����$������������������������M ��������������������������N(������������������������ ������������������������������$������������%O����7��� ����(��������������������������������������������M �����������������������M ���������������� ������ ���������������������������������������� ������������

�����G���������������;���������������� ������&��������������� ����������������������M ���$� ������������������������������������������������� ���������%������������������������-���5�������;������(!���-��������������/�������"������(�� �������$��������������������$������N����������������O�������������������� �������0$������������������3����������������������������� ����������������������-���5#��������%N(��������������$�����������������������$������������������������������������������������������ ������������������������������G���������O

������������������������������� ���������&�������������������� � ��� ������������������������������������� ��� ����������� �������� �������������������$�������������������� �������������������������(�������������� ���)��������)���� ����������������$�������������� ���������&�������������������� � ��� ���������������������������������������-�� �����6���.����������,F����������������������� ��6&�������������(������������"�����:��������������� #��������������)���� ����������������$�������������������������������������������.��������%N.�����������������������������������������%$������������ �������������������$����� �����������������������������������������O

*�( +# .��('!+/ .�!"%"�*"��001�2304

It’s a known fact that religion isdeeply rooted in man and from

time immemorial it has been adominating factor in man and hisways of thinking and behaviour.When one looks at the presentworld situation, especially as itexists between some countries, oreven within India, between itsvarious religious communities,one comes to the conclusion thatreligions also have been a majorcause of strife and turmoil in theworld. Therefore, the questionthat arises is, are religions of anyreal benefit to mankind? Havethey not caused confusion andconflicts? When we give animpartial thought to this chargeagainst 'religions in general, wefind that, to a great extent, it istrue. However, it should also benoted that though this chargepoints to the fact that there areserious flaws, deformities and dis-crepancies in the existing reli-gions, it does not necessarilyimply that religion, even in its realform also is unnecessary, for thetruth remains that it fulfils man’smany needs. It was not so longback when Swami Vivekanandareflected on the necessity of theconcept of universal religion forthe society. He realized the natureof man, according to whichmankind in the whole world hasbeen trying to look beyond in thequest of his ultimate destiny orsearch for God. Therefore, thewhole of the world community istoday expecting a religion, whichis acceptable to all. It is an undeniable fact that everynormal person wants to discov-er the meaning of his worldlyexistence and wants to knowhimself and the Creator and alsothe goal or purpose of his life, andit is this kind of study which, usu-ally, goes by the name 'religion orspiritual knowledge'. So, if wekeep in mind this natural inquis-itiveness of man, we will have toadmit that it has truly been saidthat religion fulfils a great psy-chological need of man and thatGod is very much needed inman's life for His qualities ofTruth, Justice, Love, Kindnessand Uprightness and also becausefaith in Him gives the man a feel-ing of security and sustenance inmoral values. But, people arenow really sick of religions whichgive man faith in imaginary,multitudinous man-gods andwhich tend to divide mankindinto warring factions. They wanta religion that offers them onerealistic, universal, loving andkind God who unites mankindand Who, though incorporeal, isa person with Whom they canhave a living relationship as of amother, father, friend, philoso-pher and guide. They want a reli-gion that tells of a God,Who, though infallibleand full of wisdom,is not egoistic orauthoritarianand unap-pro achablebut is onewho helpsand is easyto access.M o r e o v e r,people nowdon't want areligion whichoffers them animaginary heavenor gives them a fearof an imaginaryhell. Instead, theywant a religionwhich gives themuprightness andhappiness in thisver y l i fe and

enlightens them how to trans-form this very world of sufferingsthat is the hell in paradise. It isthis religion, which is universal,altruistic and practicable. Majority of people across theworld believe that God is one andtruth is one. If that is the case,then why do we have so manymessengers and why do we havedifferent messages? If God's mes-sage is for establishing true dhar-ma on earth, then it should haveunified all humans instead ofdividing them. Isn’t it? Till date,thousands of religious heads havecome on earth and preachedabout dharma but there neverwas more adharma in the worldbefore than in the world we nowlive in. Why is it so? We mustunderstand a fact that religiouspreceptors come into the worldand shine their light of purity andgoodness so that humanity's faithin Lord is restored or sustained.Their teachings help people holdonto their belief in goodnessand God. However, liberationand salvation, purification andworld transformation, the estab-lishment of dharma and destruc-tion of evil are tasks done by LordHimself when HE himself rein-carnates at the end of Iron Age.Hence, true seekers of truthshould understand that God issupreme, omnipotent and omni-scient. He is the creator andhence HE alone has the wisdomand power to redeem the wholecreation to its original pure state.He is the Seed that emergeswhen world tree becomes old andthe new tree has to come out.Thus, through HIS directlyimparted wisdom the gates of lib-eration and salvation open upand that is why HE is known asthe Purifier, Liberator and Guide.

So, as wise children ofONE Lord, it is our

duty to followHIM to reach

our final des-t ination ofGolden Age.

/����������$������� ��������������� ���� ���������������������%����/�2A1#� !/�'5�45�/ .�4.2 2�

"�"� *�5��������6�E&

�����! �!�$��! �%��$��$����

012� �&� ��#�+9

An increase in suicide ratesamong the US teens occurredat the same time social media

use surged and a new analysis sug-gests there may be a link.

Suicide rates for teens rosebetween 2010 and 2015 after theyhad declined for nearly two decades,according to data from the federalCenters for Disease Control andPrevention. Why the rates went upisn’t known.

The study doesn’t answer thequestion, but it suggests that one fac-tor could be rising social media use.Recent teen suicides have beenblamed on cyberbullying, and socialmedia posts depicting “perfect” livesmay be taking a toll on teens’ men-tal health, researchers say.

“After hours of scrolling throughInstagram feeds, I just feel worseabout myself because I feel left out,”said Caitlin Hearty, a 17-year-oldLittleton, Colorado, high schoolsenior who helped organise anoffline campaign last month afterseveral local teen suicides.

“No one posts the bad thingsthey're going through,” said ChloeSchilling, also 17, who helped withthe campaign, in which hundreds ofteens agreed not to use the internet

or social media for one month.The study’s authors looked at

CDC suicide reports from 2009-15and results of two surveys given toU.S. high school students to measureattitudes, behaviors and interests.About half a million teens ages 13 to18 were involved. They were askedabout use of electronic devices,social media, print media, televisionand time spent with friends.Questions about mood includedfrequency of feeling hopeless andconsidering or attempting suicide.

The researchers didn’t examinecircumstances surrounding individ-ual suicides. Dr Christine Moutier,chief medical officer at theAmerican Foundation for SuicidePrevention, said the study providesweak evidence for a popular theo-ry and that many factors influenceteen suicide.

Past research suggests social-networking sites can promote hap-piness if used to engage directlywith other users, rather than just tocovet glossy photos of someoneelse’s exotic holiday or lavish wed-ding. This distinction is a -reminderthat social media is what users bringto it — their attitudes shape theirexperiences, both on and offline.

The study was published in thejournal Clinical PsychologicalScience.

Data highlighted in the studyinclude:� Teens’ use of electronic devicesincluding smartphones for at leastfive hours daily more than doubled,from 8 percent in 2009 to 19percent in 2015. These teens were70 per cent more likely to havesuicidal thoughts or actions thanthose who reported one hour ofdaily use.� In 2015, 36 per cent of all teensreported feeling desperately sad orhopeless, or thinking about,planning or attempting suicide, upfrom 32 per cent in 2009. For girls,the rates were higher — 45 percent in 2015 versus 40 per cent in2009.� In 2009, 58 per cent of 12thgrade girls used social mediaevery day or nearly every day; by2015, 87 per centused socialmedia every day or nearly everyday. They were 14 per cent morelikely to be depressed than thosewho used social media lessfrequently.

“We need to stop thinking ofsmartphones as harmless,” said

study author Jean Twenge, apsychology professor at San DiegoState University who studiesgenerational trends. She said,“There’s a tendency to say, ‘Oh,teens are just communicating withtheir friends.’ Monitoring kids’ useof smartphones and social media isimportant, and so is settingreasonable limits.”

Dr Victor Strasburger, a teenmedicine specialist at theUniversity of New Mexico, said thestudy only implies a connectionbetween teen suicides, depressionand social media. He added Itshows the need for more researchon new technology, Strasburgersaid.

He noted that skeptics whothink social media is being unfairlycriticised compare it with so-calledvices of past generations: “Whendime-store books came out, whencomic books came out, whentelevision came out, when rock androll first started, people were saying‘This is the end of the world’.”

With its immediacy,anonymity, and potential forbullying, social media has a uniquepotential for causing real harm, hesaid. “Parents don’t really get that,”Strasburger added.

As long as atomic bombsexist, a disaster is

inevitable, said the head ofthe International Campaignto Abolish Nuclear Weapons,the winner of this year’sNobel Peace Prize. “We arefacing a clear choice rightnow: The end of nuclearweapons or the end of us,”Beatrice Fihn told a newsconference at the NorwegianNobel Committee.

“An impulsive tantrum, acalculated military escala-tion, a terrorist or cyberattackor a complete accident — wewill see the use of nuclearweapons unless they are elim-inated,” she warned.

“These weapons do notmake us safe, they are not adeterrent, they only spurother states to pursue theirown nuclear weapons. And ifyou are not comfortable withKim Jong-un having nuclearweapons, then you are notcomfortable with nuclear

weapons. If you’re not com-fortable with Donald Trumphaving nuclear weapons, thenyou are not comfortable withnuclear weapons,” Fihn said.

International Campaignto Abolish Nuclear Weapons(ICAN), which brings togeth-er more than 450 organisa-tions, was a driving forcebehind an international treatyon banning nuclear weaponsthat was passed this year. Sofar, 53 countries have signedup, but only three have rati-fied it — the treaty needs rat-ification by 50 to go intoeffect.

No nuclear power hassigned the treaty. Three majornuclear powers — the UnitedStates, Britain and France —have said they will not sendtheir ambassadors to Sunday’sNobel prize-awarding cere-

mony in the Norwegian cap-ital.

Satsuko Thurlow, a sur-vivor of the Hiroshima atom-ic bombing who is to acceptthe prize along with Fihn,said she was “not too sur-prised” at the diplomaticsnub.

“This is not the first timethey have behaved that way... they tried in many differ-ent ways to sabotage, to dis-credit, what we tried to do,”she said. “Maybe this showsthey are really annoyed atwhat success we have had sofar.”

International Campaignto Abolish Nuclear Weaponson Saturday installed 1,000red paper cranes outside theNorwegian Parliament. Thecranes were made by childrenin Hiroshima, site of the

world’s first atomic bombattack in 1945.

In its lengthy award cita-tion, the committee saidICAN “has been a drivingforce in prevailing upon theworld’s nations to pledge tocooperate with all relevantstakeholders in efforts tostigmatise, prohibit and elim-inate nuclear weapons. Todate, 108 states have madesuch a commitment, knownas the Humanitarian Pledge.”

The award comesmonths after 122 UN mem-ber states acceded to thenuclear ban treaty on July 2,2017. The ban on nuclearweapons will come into forceonce the treaty is ratified by50 states, and it will be bind-ing under international lawfor all the countries that areparty to the treaty.

+�'����������'����������������������������� ����'������������* �������������������?�� ��������������� �#��� ������#�����'��1��� ������������

(��1�&,11&���#�41%�3#���+14��#3�&#�41

-��'�������������'����#��#���������������"����������$�����.������7������0�"�.3����������� ����$����������������������������$�����������������������������������������

,/1�#�1&#13963�#1��&3�(/1�4�

�)(6/'1/�1)�"/1���.#

('/1#'�.�(�#/�5

)66��%�2�()66�71/�6

�!1(5A�6�)!6"��6�)66�

�6)(1(M�������� ����

*�( +# .��('!+/ .�!"%"�*"��001�2304 -��� �E4

#���� !'!�.6�7�/

India reclaimed the bronzemedal at the Hockey WorldLeague (HWL) Final after

eking out a close 2-1 win over adepleted but spirited Germany inthe third-fourth place classifica-tion match here on Sunday.

It was always going to be aDavid vs Goliath task forGermany as they were already adepleted side before start of thestart of the match having lost fiveplayers to illness and injuries.

For the Germans, who had 13players at its disposal in thesemi-final against Australia yes-terday, it became bad to worse asthey had just 11 players to playwith, including reserve goal-keeper Mark Appel, in the bronzemedal match after two moreplayers fell ill.

But Germany dished out alion-hearted performance andnot only restricted the margin to2-1 but also gave India the Indiadefence a run for their moneywith as many as 13 shots at thegoal as against the home team's12.

The Germans also had morepenalty corners than India as theysecured seven as against thehosts' four.

They might be down withnumber of players, but theGermans once again producedstructured hockey and not onlyheld the attack for 21 minutes butalso managed to sneak in a goal.

The Indians were lacklustreand below-par on Sunday andhad it been a full strengthGerman side the script of thematch could very well have beendifferent.

Indian took the lead in 21stminute through SV Sunil beforeGermany equalised through its

reserve custodian Mark Appel(36th).

A penalty corner conversionby Harmanpreet Singh in the 54thminute sealed the win and thethird place for the Indians.

India had also won thebronze in the last edition of the

tournament in Raipur in 2015.The Germans showed great

determination and fighting spir-it to not only hold India — butalso create more and betteropportunities in the first quarter.

Germany did not give Indiaany clear cut chance but created

a few and also secured the firstpenalty corner of the first quar-ter in the 14th minute but it waswell defended by the Indians.

Soon after Germany captainMark Grambusch, who himselfplayed with fever, got a goodopportunity but his shot from left

side was just wide of the target.The determined Germans

continued in the same vein andearned two more penalty cornersin the 19th minute but Indiangoalkeeper Suraj Karkera madevaliant saves to keep a clean slatefor the hosts.

In the very next minute,Germany got another short cor-ner but the script turned out to bethe same as Niklas Bruns failed toget the better of Karkera onceagain.

But an opportunist India tookthe lead in the very next moveagainst the run of play when Sunilscored from a rebound.

It was set up by HarmanpreetSingh's defence splitting ball toAkashdeep Singh inside the D buthis reverse shot was saved byGerman custodian Tobias Haukeand from the resultant reboundSunil scored to give India thelead.

Despite playing with only 11players and one goal down, theGermans kept up the pressure onthe Indian defence and in theprocess secured two more penal-ty corners in quick successionbefore half time but they failed tomake use of the chances.

India had the first shot at thegoal after the change of ends butAkashdeep's shot in the 33rdminute was kept away by Hauke.

The Germans showed theyare not here to just make numbersand entertain the crowd as theystunned India three minutes laterwhen their reserve goalkeeperMark Appel, who played as astriker today because of illness toa number of teammates, tappedin skipper Mark Grambusch'spass to draw parity.

India secured three back-to-back penalty corners in a span oftwo minutes the last of which wasconverted by Harmanpreet witha powerful, low grounded flick totake the lead which they managedto hold on despite last-ditchefforts from the Germans whofailed to utilise another penaltycorner in the dying minutes of the match.

#���� !�/���(07!3

Aser Dipanda Dicka struck twice topower Mohun Bagan to a 5-0

thrashing of Churchill Brothers asanother goal fest was witnessed in theI-League football fixture at the BarasatStadium here on Sunday.

On a rain-drenched afternoon, itwas also raining goals after AnsumanaKromah (23rd minute) opened thescoring, firing in from just outside thebox, before Dipanda Dicka (34th, 46th)made it 3-0 after the break.

Having set up two, formerMohammedan Sporting midfielderSheikh Faiaz (49th) notched his maid-en goal of the I-League before captainSony Norde (84th) joined the partydespite struggling with a knee injury.

Man-of-the-match Dicka had afine run in the stoppage time andalmost made it 6-0 for Mohun Bagan buthe missed his hat-trick from a sitter tospare Churchill further embarrassment.

Mohun Bagan and Minerva Punjabnow have seven points each after threerounds but the Kolkata giants have a goaldifference of six as compared to three ofthe Ludhiana outfit.

Despite their superlative victory,Mohun Bagan had some concerns asfour of their players, including Haitianstar player Norde, were down with theirrespective injuries on the artificial turf.

Norde entered his name into thescoresheet after brilliantly cutting infrom the left to convert a powerful shotfrom the edge of the box but he soonstarted limping and was attended by thephysio.

Having exhausted all his substitu-

tions, coach Sanjoy Sen had no optionas Norde was seen continuing with theproceedings with a strapped knee.

Earlier, Kromah also looked to be inpain with a groin injury and wasreplaced by Rana Gharami, whileJapanese medio Yuta Kinowaki (collarbone) was stretchered off to ambulancein the seventh minute and defenderArijit Bagui (ankle) too was replaced.

But Mohun Bagan enjoyed a 60 percent possession and ruled the roost tohand Churchill Brothers a second defeatin as many matches.

Kromah looked in imperious formagainst his former team and missed achance in the 18th minute but he did nothave to wait long.

Faiaz set the opening goal forKromah from a corner as the Liberianstruck with power and precision andChurchill Brother goalkeeper JamesKithan looked absolutely clueless.

Last season's top scorer, Dicka dou-

bled the lead to bring an end to his goaldrought from a thorough ball as he onlyhad the goalkeeper to beat inside the boxand he put it past Kithan with minimumfuss.

Mohun Bagan took less than 30 sec-onds after the break to add to their tallywhen Dicka made most of a cross byFaiaz from the right to finish things instyle.

With hardly any tackle from theChurchill Brothers' defence, Dicka madefull use of the cross and targeted thespace near the post to put the ball intothe net. Former Mohammedan Sportingmidfielder Faiaz then notched his maid-en I-League goal from yet anotherdefensive lapse by the Goans.

A howler by Monday Osagie leftKromah inside the box as he dribbledpast his former teammates to set it upfor a surging Faiaz to make full use ofthe open space, while Norde sealed the rout.

����� 2�5�'6�-/

FC Pune City joined the toppers in the IndianSuper League after claiming a well deserved

1-0 victory over Jamshedpur FC at the JRD TataSports Complex here on Sunday.

FC Pune City defender Adil Khan's goal atthe half hour mark proved to be the differencebetween the two sides as Pune registered theirthird win in five matches to accumulate ninepoints, the same as leaders Bengaluru FC, FCGoa and Chennaiyin FC.

Lalchhuanmawia Fanai was sent off for Punebut Ranko Popovic's side defended resolutely totake all three points and hand Jamshedpur FCtheir first loss in the league.

It took FC Pune City 30 minutes to breakthrough the Jamshedpur FC defence that hadkept four consecutive clean sheets in the ISL.Mehtab Hossain's foul on Marcelinho gave Punea chance to launch one into the opposition boxwhere Adil Khan converted at the back post.Pune won the first header from Marcelinho'sfree-kick and Khan side-footed it home.

Steve Coppell's men reacted well aftergoing a goal down. The home team immediatelyput Pune under an extended spell of pressureand in the 44th minute, they had the ball in theopposition net.

Matheus Trindade's cross from the left wasturned into a Pune goal by Izu Azuka, but theNigerian was flagged offside before he could cel-ebrate.

Two minutes into the second half, Pune hada great chance to double their lead. EmilianoAlfaro released Diego Carlos on the right whodrilled in a low cross across the face of the goal.Both Marcelinho and Isaac were in the box butfailed to turn the ball home.

Unable to break through the Pune defence,Steve Coppell brought on Kervens Belfort toreplace Trindade in the 66th minute but it wasPopovic's side that looked likely to pull one moreahead.

With just 10 minutes left on the clock, Pune'sefforts to take all three points suffered a big blowafter Lalchhuanmawia Fanai was given themarching orders for his foul on Bikash Jairu. ThePune left-back was already on a yellow cardwhen he was adjudged to have caught Jairu withhis flailing arm.

But even with a man down, the visitors heldon to their lead to secure full points.

#�� !�/"6�1.�

Cristiano Ronaldo celebrated hisfifth Ballon d'Or award by

leading Real Madrid to victory onSaturday, while Valencia kept thepressure on Spanish league leaderBarcelona.

Ronaldo presented his trophyfor the best player in football toReal Madrid's fans then scoredtwice as Sevilla was routed 5-0 atSantiago Bernabeu Stadium.

Ronaldo received the honoron Thursday in Paris, his fifth tro-phy equaling Barcelona rival LionelMessi.

After soaking up the ovationbefore kickoff from his fans,Ronaldo went on to have his bestperformance in the league this sea-son. His brace earned him anoth-er loud round of applause when hewas substituted late.

Second-place Valencia need-ed a late penalty converted by DaniParejo to see off Celta Vigo 2-1 andpull to within two points ofBarcelona before the pacesetter vis-its Villarreal on Sunday.

Madrid moved into thirdplace, five points behind Barcelona.

Sevilla entered the game inthe Spanish capital tied on pointswith a Madrid side that was with-out first-choice defenders SergioRamos and Dani Carvajal andmidfielder Casemiro, who wereall suspended for one match, andinjured center back RaphaelVarane.

But with Ronaldo and com-pany on song, Zinedine Zidane'sbunch decided the match withfive goals before halftime.

Two of Madrid's reserveplayers who got starts to patch upits defense, Nacho Fernandez and19-year-old Achraf Hakimi,scored for the hosts.

Sevilla's nightmare started inthe third minute when SimonKjaer failed to clear a corner kick.Instead, the ball hit teammateLuis Muriel in the shoulder andbounced toward the goal, whereFernandez only had to direct itin.

������������"Valencia bounced back from

its first loss of the season, toGetafe, by fending off a Celta sidethat was threatening to take pointsfrom its visit to Mestalla Stadium.

Valencia started strong; strik-er Simone Zaza jumped high at thenear post to head in Parejo's cor-ner kick. Zaza's 10th league goalmade him the second leadingscorer behind Messi on 13.

Iago Aspas netted his ninthgoal to pull Celta level just afterhalftime, and Celta was in controluntil Pablo Hernandez fouledNacho Gil in the area.

Parejo's penalty slipped undergoalie Ruben Blanco, who didn'tget enough hand on the ball.

TOUGH TO BEATPromoted club Getafe once

again proved hard to beat as itclimbed into seventh place afterdrawing with Eibar 0-0.

Getafe has lost only once in itslast seven league matches.

BREATHING ROOMDeportivo edged Leganes 1-0

at home for its first victory in fiverounds, letting it move three pointsabove the relegation zone.

#�� �1.�1.

Chelsea's bid to retain the EnglishPremier League title faltered again.

West Ham handed the Blues theirfourth loss of the season on Saturday by1-0.

Chelsea remained 11 points behindleader Manchester City, which faces sec-ond-place Manchester United onSunday. Marko Arnautovic's early strikewas backed up by a resilient defensivedisplay that ended an eight-game win-less run for the hosts, and gave new man-ager David Moyes a first victory.

Third-place Chelsea will be lookingover its shoulder after Tottenhamthrashed Stoke 5-1 to win for the firsttime in five league games.

Burnley stayed level on points withSpurs as it beat 10-man Watford 1-0.

Also, Swansea rose off the bottomof the league after its first win in twomonths, switching with Crystal Palace,which blew a win when ChristianBenteke missed a late penalty shot.

��� ����� West Ham's opening intensity was

rewarded after six minutes when

Arnautovic applied a fitting finish to aflowing move.

From then on West Ham retreated,often defending with all 11 players insideits own third of the pitch at the OlympicStadium, with the tactic limiting Chelseato very few opportunities.

For the second time this season,Chelsea allowed an opponent to end along winless run.

West Ham hadn't won in eight

league games. Crystal Palace lost its firstseven games until Chelsea’s visit.

���� ���) ��Tottenham became the first side in

league history to win four consecutivegames against the same opponent byfour goals after it thrashed Stoke 5-1.

Harry Kane found the net twice, SonHeung-min and Christian Eriksen alsoscored, and Ryan Shawcross put the ballinto both goals.

# �����������Crystal Palace manager Roy

Hodgson was left explaining himself tofans after Benteke wasted an opportu-nity to secure a precious win. His last-minute penalty was saved by goalkeep-er Asmir Begovic. Luka Milivojevic con-verted a first-half penalty but Benteketook responsibility for the late attempt.

��� �������Leicester registered a third consec-

utive league win after beating Newcastle3-2 in a thriller at St. James' Park.

Newcastle forward Ayoze Perez'sown goal four minutes from the end lift-ed the Foxes to eighth in the table.

��"�� ���##�������������� ����#��������!����������������������������� ������� �����$ �� '���� �� (��� �������%�������� 5��� �E�� /���� ��� ��� ���������� ������ (����������������������������% �������� 2������� �����$% ��� ��������� ��� �������� (�����F< �������% ��������� ��� (��� ���� � ��� � ���������� ���� � ������ �������������������������$������������� �����5��� �E�� �� ���� �� ���$�������H7�����������������������(����������������$���� $�������(��� ������� ��� ��������������������5�������������� $� ��� ���� ������� � ��� ����%H!��������� "������ !���� ��������� .�G���'��������������������� ���������!����� ���������;��������H(��������$�������������� ����� ������%H �� ����� 5��� �E�� ���!��������� �� => (���� ����� F<,,% ������������������������$����������6������%���������������������������������������$%��� ���� �������� �����������(�����F<���� ���5����� �5����G� �������� ����%������������ ���(����E��� ���������������%����������������������(����$������F<<I���F<,,�

�������������>��"������ ��������� ����� (�� $��� � ������ ���������2������!�����;������ ���������������� ���� �� ��� ��$������ ����� ����% ��� ����� ��� �� ��� ���� �������% �� ���� ������������� �� � ���� � �������� ������ �����!�����;�$������ �������� ��������������� �������% ���������� ����� �������%-����� ������� 1 ���� � ��� ��$������/���� ���� 06���3 ������ �������% ����-(�� (���������������������!�����%J>%�����������������'���������� �� ���/�������!�������� ���� � ������� ������;� ��������� ��)����� �� ��� :�������� ������ ������� ����%������� ����� ��������� �� ��� ���������%������!��������������������$�� ������������� �� �����$�� , �� ���� 2������!�����% $�� �� ��� ����������� �� )���������� � ��� �� �� � ����� ����� �� :��������������� �� ������ ��� ����� ���$���% ���� ����������

�"���>�����? ����� �����6�� ������� ����# ������������������������������������6������;� ������������� ������ ������������ ���� �������� ������ ��� ��� ���� ��� ������������ ��� ��������; ��� �������� 6���������������������������$�� ������������ ����������������������������� ���6����������� $������ !�� ������� ��� ��������� ������� ������������ ����������������� ��� ���� � ������ 6������ ������ 2������������ �������� � ������ ��������� H�;��$��� ������� ��� ����% �� ��% � ���;� ���� �������� �� ����%H ������� ���� ��������� ���������HA�����������������������������������������������������������;���� ����%H��������H��;������� ���������������������;�����������$�������������������������������)����%����;������������������� �����H������������������������ ����������������� H� ����� ����%�$�������%H�������H(���;�� ���� ��� � ������ � ���� � % ������;������������%����;���������;���������H

6������ ������ �����������@���#�� �� �����-����� ���� 2��� /�� ��� '���������$������$���G��������������������;�����������������,<�������"�����������,<� /� ��L-����� �� 7��� "���% 2���� ��������� 2������ �� ���������� $���G� �� ������;� ,<���� -�����%����� ���� ������ ��������� ���� ���������� ����G�� /�G�� ���1���� ����� $������ 2���% �� $�� ��� (������������������'�����������������������$���G� �� ��� �����;� ,<� ��� -������ '��� ���% ����� ���� ��������� ���� .������-���������� ��� '������ ����% ������ ���(��� ������ ������� ����� ����� ����������������� $���G� ������� ����� 2��� �� ������������;�,<5���-����������������(��������� �� ��� �����% ������ �� ��� ���$�����&������� �����%#�����/�������$�����������'��������,,����������� ���� �������%�����;������������������� �������%��&��������������$���G��

A�� �������>��������������+,*5������� ����� ��������5������� � ����� ��A����� �������������/����������������/�������������� ���� ������������������������B4���������;����������������� �,%8*9����� �����������F<,8 ,J��F<,I F<�(�������� � H���������������H �� ���������� � ������ ������% �� ��� ������������� �� ������������� ������ �� � ���� ������������ �����������% ��������������������% �������� ����������� ����������� �����������% �� ����� (�� ��������������� ������ ��� ������ ������ ���������%��������� �� �����������% ��������� ������%������ ������ �������% �������� �� �&��������%����������� ��������� ��� ������ �������%����/������� 9�'%���

� � � ' � � �������� ����<��������/-�9������������ $���� ������ �������%���������������������$�����������#������F ,

���������, ��' �����3�9����� �������'��������������.����#����#������"���. B������

��/����)�����&������=?�"���)������: B"�� (����/�������� ���� ���A����� ����D��������������"��EF=

� � ��%�����#����� *���,��# �-� ��+��%� ���#!�

���$,-����#������1���� � ����%�� 1�#����-�# �"�����

-��� -���� �������

�������=��������(�����������5 ;���� (

$����&����3�������������,�����#����-�����������������������������������&�������

!������������������"������,0>-�����������������#����������������������������������������)���@�������������4<;*����������������������&��)����"�� �!